Choice Morsels

My life journey transitioned in 2020 when my husband of 38 years unxpectedly died in December that year. I was numb for months, yet still functioning thru day to day life. The Lord sustained me, granting me insights into my husbands death.  Now, looking back aside from those high-points, that first year is kind of a blur. Of course, priorities changed.  First thing I did,  right after his death, was adopt a cat from a local no-kill shelter. (She picked me!) We had a plan to adopt anyway and I enjoy a cat for companionship.  His death totally rearranged my life--I had to rearrange my daily routine, rearrange my house, my closets, my social activities... I'm still with the Navigators, doing ministry in the town I live in that's outside a military base, though now alone without my life partner. I don't have family in town or any children. So figuring out comfortable social activates to get myself out among human interaction became #1.  I joined a a local garden clu...

Spring means all garden is popping with flowers! Easter Lilies along my front walk: My Pink Hydrangea & "Zara" Clematis putting on a nice show! This is on the corner of my house by the back patio. My huge Coneflower out front! This must be around 40-42 inches in height, but Coneflowers can be quite large & bushy.

  A little known fact about me is I was once was an active member of an Official Star Trek Club.  It was around the spring of 1988. My husband and I were living in Eglin Air Force Base Housing at the time and we saw listed in the personal ads in the Base newspaper that someone was seeking people interested in participating in a Star Trek Club. So, we were immediately interested and called the provided phone number. Turned out it was a couple right there in Base Housing. who only lived a few streets away from us, named Chris & Tammy. We promptly met them and soon we and a few others became regular Club attendees. To become an "Official Chapter of Starfleet," we first had to choose a name for our club, which was considered our "ship," then we registered formally with whoever managed the Trek Club regional chapters in Florida at that time. It had to be a unique name not being used by any other club.  Then we members in order to become "official crew members,...

I have 2 Amaryllis, each in a container out in my front beds: one is a dark, solid red and the other is this reddish-orange & white. Both have been faithful to bloom for like 15 years! Today's other picture is Chinese Stonecrop in one of my patio containers, which is just now starting to bloom. I'm not quite sure how it got there exactly, but it looks really good!

My Greatest Triumph Many years ago, my husband and I took a 6-week beginner's course in Foil Fencing.  Now foil fencing swords are thin and straight with a protective cover on the tip. It's more of a classic dueling style of swordsmanship. Victory in foil fencing is gained by getting past your opponents sword defense to stick your sword point against their chest.  It's all about stance and form and is tends to be over fairly quickly. I believe our instructor used the 3 touch point method for a match. The fencing stance form generally taught is French: you stand in a sideways position, sword in one hand aimed at opponent while your other arm is held aloft behind you, bent at the elbow. (Think of any Three Musketeer movie you've ever seen---this is their stance.) The general over-all goal of foil fencing is to keep the body area that can be stabbed by the opponent to a minimum. However, it's important to understand, in fencing, it's not about strength but rather a...

  Thanks to a garden club, I've learned how to better care for my rose bush and this year it's thriving! It's thick, bushy and covered in blooms! This is a Julia Child Floribunda Rose. I selected it because I wanted a smaller size rose for my front flower bed and this one grows a max of 3 feet tall and wide. I learned from the garden club the proper time to trim a rose and that's what has made it so bushy. Roses here in Northwest Florida need to be trimmed and shaped the week of Valentine's Day, Feb 14.  The right time will vary from growing zone to growing zone in different places where it's colder, but the correct time in any zone is evident when leaf buds are showing along the stems with even a few small leaves beginning to pop out. The other important thing is buying some Rose Food and fertilizing according to directions.  Tons are dark blue Bachelor Buttons are blooming adjacent to this yellow rose, so the show of blue and yellow is quite striking!