spring…… as I am walking

With our current up and down temps, wind and sun behind the clouds, it looks incomplete. Give it a few days….. and some glorious sunshine….it will birth itself. Lovely tiny buds.

“Contessa”

Lenten Reflections

CLAIM YOUR BLESSINGS

Good Morning my Holy God…..help me to recognize your glory in every blessing you have graciously given me. Help me notice your blessings especially in others, no matter what they may be going through. I want to notice the light of the Moon, the growing flowers, fruits and vegetables, the clear blue sky and puffy clouds. Slow me down and give me gratitude for all your many blessings. May I show you gratitude for all your gifts. I want to savor every moment you have given me. I wish to make my home in your generous spirit today.

Thank you my Father God for a new day. 

•AMEN•

Life… into Focus

March 28

John 4:35

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

▶︎ LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL

Not only is it easy, it is natural for people to turn their focus inward. We tend to watch out for number 1 – ourselves. In our passage, Jesus directs His disciples toward the window of the world. He shows them the fields where they should focus – fields heavy with hurting people, seeking people, and confused people, who all needed Jesus. We, too, live in a world that desperately needs Jesus. He wants to redirect our focus from inward to outward – to stop looking out for number 1 and to start looking out for those who need the Living Water He freely offers to all people. So take time this very day to ask the Lord to fill your heart with a vision for the needy world, and to allow you to see the world as He sees it.

Sunday Lent Reflection

 

LIVE THE PLAN

Today I reflect on my wounds. Am I living them for Christ or just thinking of them inside of me?

Jesus set an example for us; it is better to feel your wounds deep in your soul than to talk about them. In silence you absorb them into your heart. You can write about them, talk to yourself about them, and try to figure them out and “why.” This will not give you any true healing. You need to let your wounds go down into your innermost heart. Then you can “live through them” and you will see that they will not destroy you.

1 Peter 2:21

If you endure (being beaten) when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered wounds for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

Prayer 

My God of healing. I am afraid of pain, suffering and hurt. Help me to avoid accepting my wounds. I ask that you help me to graciously accept your mercy to help me heal my wounds; your mercy to help me live through the pain, and journey with me as I receive your JOY on the other side.

•AMEN•

 

Gardening Assignments Next Week

 

Hello my Gardening Friends,

It seems we are still experiencing some chill. Spring is officially here, but one day we are at 72 degrees and the next down to below 30 degrees at night. And so it goes in VIrginia. We adapt. 

Monday we do have a 4 pm gardening consult at a single family home on Valley Drive. Our homeowners have just completed an outside exterior home renovation, so now the garden beds need to be recreated. Right down our alley. We love to start a project from scratch, and we love bed creation. We are looking forward to this consultation. It might be quite a chilly afternoon but our homeowners both work, and they are anxious to begin.

Tuesday we are “OPEN” for a  booking…… just in case it might warm up and you may need us. You are welcome to call us and reserve this spot. 

Wednesday we just took a booking for a spring cleanup on Mt Eagle in the 1500 block. Our client was with us last fall. We are always happy to hear back from a repeat guest. A very small front yard, but we enjoy bringing a fresh new tidy look. It appears it might be a mostly cloudy day but temps are very favorable. We will enjoy this assignment.

Thursday we will go shopping at Merrifield Garden Center  with our Ms. Peggy. We are selecting new bushes for her common ground courtyard bed. She has lived in the 1200 block of Martha Custis for thirty years and she wants, at her cost, to upgrade the center courtyard bed. We will fix her up by helping her select and plant the bushes for this location.   Our pleasure indeed. In the latter half of November we cleared the bed, so it’s ready. We will of course amend this bed with new soil and top it off with fresh mulch.

Whiie at the nursery we will select a new Rose Bush for her neighbor who has rented out his unit. The “General” was our client last year. He lives in Texas and we are overseeing his outside property. We will invoice him via txt

A potential new client that we visited with on Saturday, who lives on Holmes Lane is going to meet up with us, and we are helping her to select bushes to plant in front of her newly installed A/C/Heater unit. This install is required by Parkfairfax for code/esthetics. If she finds and chooses bushes,  we will complete the install.

It could be somewhat of a full week…. dependent on our weather. Having said this, we are happy to talk with any potential “new clients.”  Do call us if you want to schedule an appointment. 

“CONTESSA” says …… it’s a good thing!

Saturday Lent Reflection

 

TRUE LISTENING

Often I am surrounded by so much noise that I don’t truly hear God when he is speaking to me. If I tune out and don’t truly listen, I miss the direction that he is calling me to. I have become deaf. I need to develop a discipline for listening,  or I may wonder off track and miss what He is telling me. He is always with me and speaking to me, but I don’t always hear. If I truly listen, I develop an obedience and I listen.

PRAYER

Dear Holy God….I believe that you have given my soul your grace. When I don’t hear your voice I feel  alone. Help me to always listen for your voice…..in the silence of my own soul. Lord I am here to listen. Come to me soon. I am present and I am listening. AMEN  

Sharing…THE GARDEN MUSEUM

The Garden Contessa subscribes to this online publication. May we share today. You too can subscribe. We’ve been following for a while. Sometimes the content would be more conducive to those living in the UK, but in our world of growing and gardening, there are always new things to learn.  ENJOY! 

The City That Sold the Sun Creeping buttercups, oxeye daises, field poppies, yarrow, lavender, daffodils, sedum, verbena, sunflowers and paeonies are some of the flowers which will vanish from London’s parks if a proposal by the Greater London Authority to allow over-shadowing by high-rise buildings becomes official policy for the city.  On Monday 21st March 2022, the spring equinox, we released our publication ‘The City that Sold the Sun’, as part of our campaign to protect outdoor spaces from being overshadowed by tall buildings. We are grateful to the National Garden Scheme who has funded the publication which includes contributions from: Sue Stuart-Smith – psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and author of The Well-Gardened Mind Mathew Frith – Director of Policy & Research at London Wildlife Trust Dr Sam Everington – Professor and GP Samia Qureshi – Garden Museum Science Learning Officer Read ‘The City That Sold the Sun’ Watch this explanation of our sunlight for London campaign – presented by London Assembly Member for the Green Party Sian Berry, Garden Museum Director Christopher Woodward, Director of Policy & Research at London Wildlife Trust Mathew Frith, and George Plumptre, CEO of the National Gardens Scheme. Exhibition catalogue available now! Wild & Cultivated: Fashioning the Rose The rose and fashion are inextricably entwined. Roses, like fashion, are a luxury and they are ephemeral. They are both ‘shown’ seasonally, their appeal is multi-sensorial, and they each incite passion and obsession. This accompanying catalogue to our new exhibition Wild & Cultivated: Fashioning the Rose is written by curator Amy de la Haye and set designer Simon Costin. Discover how artists, designers and writers throughout history have explored the symbolism of this fragrant flower and its deterrent thorns – a conjunction of opposites – to draw out illusions to love, beauty, death, gender and sexuality, sin, and rites of passage. Illustrated with images of the fashion, photography and floral ephemera shown in the exhibition. £20 (plus postage) Order your copy Livestream this week Marian Boswall: Sustainable Garden Join us for a talk with landscape architect Marian Boswall to celebrate the launch of her new book Sustainable Garden, in conversation with garden designer and BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Arit Anderson. In Sustainable Garden, Marian walks us through the process of creating and managing a sustainable outdoor space, offering insights and projects designed to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle: whether it’s by harnessing natural energy, converting to peat-free compost, reducing your consumption of plastic, saving seeds or creating garden areas from reclaimed materials. Tickets to attend in person are now sold out, but the event will be livestreamed online to enjoy from home! Those who book the livestream can either watch live or enjoy the recording later at a time that suits you.  Tues 29 March, 7pm £10 livestream only Book tickets Vogue: ‘The Garden Museum’s Wild & Cultivated Exhibition Is A Potted History Of The Rose In Fashion’ ‘There is perhaps no flower on earth that holds more symbolism – and more fashion influence – than the rose, as the Garden Museum’s latest exhibition makes beautifully clear.’ Curator Amy de la Haye picks six fabulous fashion highlights of our new exhibition Wild & Cultivated: Fashioning the Rose in this interview with Vogue. Keep reading Object of the Week: The Perfect Watering Can (1897) We can’t help but wonder why this didn’t catch on! This advert published in 1897 in The Horticultural List extols the virtues of an inventive new watering can, with which “a bed fifteen feet in diameter can be watered with the greatest ease without treading on the soil”. Explore our collection Images: The City That Sold the Sun photo by Rachel Warne; Primrose Archer Dressed In Flowers From My Garden, Hackney © Tim Walker Studio; Sustainable Gardens book cover courtesy of Marian Boswall; ‘The Perfect Watering Can’, Garden Museum Collection Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

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Chili….for a Chilly Weekend and our favorite healthy Kale Salad.

Our White Bean Turkey “Chili” is appropriate for our chilly weekend ahead. Prepared with white beans, green peppers, onions, fire roasted tomatoes, garlic and fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish. It will cook for a couple hours. Our chili powder is a special ingredient; it is salt free, and made by the Morton Bassett Co of San Francisco. 100% organic, it has a unique spicy taste and aroma. It is all natural, gluten free and no MSG. As the chili simmers in our Crock Pot it will take on a rich chili powder glow and it will thicken. A dollop of white Rice is a great side.

We are going to accompany our Chili with our very popular Kale Salad. You can find a recipe for Kale Salad just about anywhere now, because Kale has become so popular and there are many variations. Add strawberries or dried cranberries or apples, if they appeal to you. We like it on its own. The main ingredients are lots of fresh garlic, your best extra virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, ground milled salt and pepper, and the “finale” is to top it off with the very best quality –  freshly grated Parmesan Romano cheese.  Sprinkle on top slivered almonds. Delish…..

ENJOY!

Acknowledge God’s Love

God loves me not because of anything I have done to earn it, but because in total freedom He has decided to love me. It is difficult to comprehend getting something for nothing.

Prayer

My Most High God, please take me into your love, the love that I can never earn. I confess that I fail…..and I do not deserve your forgiveness. My human self believes that this love is something I earn. I believe that others will only love me if I act as if I love  them. Your love for me has no bounds, and cannot be withdrawn. I am in awe. My Father God….. grant me the grace to accept this gift from You.   AMEN

Morning Prayer

Dear God my Father in heaven,

I come before You right now to lay my worry and my intense thinking at Your feet. When I think too much and worry, I ask you to remind me of Your power and Your grace. Fill me with Your peace, as I trust in You and You alone. I know I can’t figure myself out on my own, but I also know that I have You, Lord, and You have already paid the ultimate price to carry me to safety.

For this I thank you, Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN