• New Year’s Resolutions

    This is February already! What am I doing writing about New Year’s resolutions? I’ve been so busy, I haven’t even made any resolutions yet. This year, I’ve decided to start a new system: Since most of us break our resolutions within the first three weeks of January, I decided to wait until February to begin work on the new year! What are New Year resolutions anyway? When I was younger, they were a thoughtful look at the past year to choose new and better goals for the next. As the years rolled by, I found I chose many of the…

  • Leveling the playing field

    My last blog stimulated some GREAT conversation. One of the interesting subjects has been “sharing the wealth,” or more accurately “leveling the playing field” financially. When I have asked if we should raid bank accounts of people like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs people have agreed that is not appropriate, but leveling the playing field a little is important. My question is: How do we level the playing field and keep our capitalistic economy, and where does the money come from to level the playing field?

  • Occupy Wall Street?

    You know, I have been trying to figure out what the Occupy Wall Street movement is trying to accomplish. From what I can tell, the main complaints are corporate greed, the unbelievable salaries of some of the Wall Street executives and the disparity of the “Haves” and the “Have nots” in our country. How can a protest of this kind affect that?   I can understand the frustration of unemployment, under-employment and insecure employment. My family has been dealing with all three of those, and I believe those are some of the real reasons people are protesting. But what do…

  • Counting blessings

    I know this sounds a little trite, but I am truly blessed… Not because I am working more than full time, but because I have the work. Not because I have two jobs, but because I love both jobs. Plants and words have been a huge part of my sanity my entire life. Not because my body argues with me on a regular basis, but because I have a functional body to argue with. Not because I have nine grandchildren, but because I am building relationships with them and feel loved by them. Not because I have been married to…

  • Collecting seeds

    It seems like all I can talk about is gardening. That’s not the case, but I’m going to do one more blog about gardening before I move on to other things. This wonderful fall weather has made it easy to gradually ready the yard for winter, rather than breeze through like a whirling dervish to complete everything over one weekend. It also has allowed for me to collect seeds from the various annuals I planted. One of the most interesting vines I planted this year was the Egyptian pea vine. The seed is a very interesting black pea with white…

  • The war is over

    Ever since the Chinese Lantern Plants started peaking out of soil the insects decided they are delectable. Hundreds of the interesting little creatures descended on the fine leaves. Normally, I co-exist well with insects, as long as they stay outside. I leave them alone and study their fascinating tiny bodies. But this year, they are destroying my plants. I declared war and started looking for ways to rid my flower bed of those pests. Leaning toward organic gardening, I decided to try an insecticide made with herb oils. Even after dousing the leaves, the lacy holes continued to appear. Next…

Copyright © 2026 Natures Canvas – Log in