My Sabbath Song

1 Corinthians 13:7-13

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

Prayer

“Growing” in Your Love

Dearest Jesus….. hear my song and my praises. Thank you for your love. Please take me into your love, the love that I can never earn. I confess that I fail…..and I do not always 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 Your love for me has no bounds, and cannot be withdrawn.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 grow in this gift of perfect love from You.

• AMEN •

 

 

Holiday Wreaths by CONTESSA

ANNOUNCEMENT

We are coming up on November 1st and our Holiday Wreath Ad will be published in the newest Forum Newsletter. Hopefully you will receive it electronically or in your mail by November 10th. Please look for our Ad and give us a call early,  to place your order for one of our personally created wreaths.

•••••••••••••••••

THE GARDEN CONTESSA is offering “live” Evergreen Door Wreaths (28”) for the Holidays. Complete with colorful  three (3) inch wide festive ribbon, woodland “white tipped” pine cones, small  colorful holiday balls, Holly Berries, a string of (50) battery operated “fairy lights” complete with batteries and a wreath hanging bracket. We will arrange personal delivery direct to your door. $65 complete.

Please phone or txt 703-548-1882. 

email:  ContessasHome@gmail.com

FINAL Orders by Dec 15th. Payment by check please. By ”special order” we can string holiday “live” evergreen garlands on your stair railings or over your front door. Ten days notice required for garlands, with a separate fee, depending on quantity needed. 

 

Happy Holidays from CONTESSA!

Valley Drive our Ongoing Client

BEFORE

The plan. English Boxwood trimming prior to winter. And so yes….. we accomplished a light trimming yesterday. They have been neglected and so with time we can square them up. But we did not do an aggressive trim. First off it would freak out our customer, and second we want to allow the bushes a small window to grow before we start trimming deeper.

Before we arrived on the scene, the other plantings in the beds were crowding the Boxwoods. We’ve opened up their space to allow air circulation, better exposure to sun and we’ve tidied and created cuttings on lower branches to stimulate some new growth, and we cleaned  up the bed floor to help with new growth. So now, with this small trim yesterday to the tops and sides, we are hopeful the bushes will begin a new growth pattern. Small corrections at first  so that we can encourage them to fill in.

AFTER

”Contessa” says…. It’s all good!

 

One Year Old…..Maple Tree

This small but gorgeous Maple Tree caught my eye this morning. One week ago it was green. Look at its simple beauty. It replaces a fairly large tree that fell three years ago. This new tree was planted by our community one year ago and has been slightly neglected because it’s directly In front of a property that is vacant. It’s owner is absent for two years now. 

We have watered and cared for it for two years because we have clients on either side. Right now it is showing it’s true colors. I often wonder if we really look at our trees.

When I was a child I lived in a quite large house on a corner with enormous trees. I was lucky enough to be taught about the trees where I lived. We had such a high regard for them. It seems to me that we are all so busy doing what we do, that we might be missing the extraordinary beauty of the trees right in our own neighborhood.

Trees are alive and moving and giving us shade and protection. I guess I just wonder if we really notice and appreciate them. So I challenge you to walk our community and see if you can find a favorite, especially now while they are taking on the glorious colors of our fall season. Then visit your new tree often. You will see that this simple act will change your life. It really…..will.

“Contessa” says….. it’s all good!

My Path…..

You have seen a photo of this spot before in a previous post, as i posted it last week in a collage of fall. My intent was to stimulate you to take a lovely solitary fall walk in the woods or along a stream, or along a country road. It is a fall walking path that inspires me to find a path of my own.

I have yet to take a physical walk along a fall path this year. But I am planning to do this on my weekend coming up. I hope you have a place near you, a trail through the woods or along a lakeshore, a park or an open grassy field. If you can find a path and are lucky enough to visit it weekly you will gain a new appreciation for the changing season and likely see things you have never seen before.  In fact, the big fall picture can be so beautiful…. but think about looking for the little things on your walk in “your path.” You may become overwhelmed at the beauty of Gods changing fall season. The tiniest bird, the rustle of the leaves as you shuffle through them, the sounds of birds in a wooded spot. All of nature is so worth seeing, listening too and really hearing.

I personally find that “the path” I choose often leads me to wonderful reflection. I think on the light and sun as it sweeps through the trees creating shadows. I think about the small noises of creatures making their way to find a food source or their partner. I feel the breeze and see how it moves the leaves, and I observe the trees making sounds that you know are fall sounds.

Be still now…and hear God calling you. Gods calling your voice and calling your heart to ponder all of His creation.  These simple nature walks can enliven your inner spirit and bring you the opportunity to “communion” with Him while you are “walking on your path.”

Prayer

….. my Father God in stillness I come to you now. I open my heart, my eyes and my soul to share a special time with you. Your creation is so amazing and I am so blessed to see it, to hear it and to be in it. Thank you for my full life. Thank you for blessed time with you in this very moment. Thank you my Lord, that I can appreciate yet another of your   beautiful fall seasons.  Thank you for “my path.”

• AMEN •

Our Preston Road Client

BEFORE

This video shows an early fall clean up of three weeks ago when we were asked to remove the eight Hosta that filled in the back area of the flower garden bed. So we took them down, anticipating their eventual return in the spring. When we finished this clean up we covered the area with mulch to make the project clean up look finished.

During this past week our client made a decision to look at new perennial bushes for the Hosta location.

So we made a date to visit the nursery on Sunday. While there she found a lovely bush that she really liked. We purchased five (5) bushes.

Today  we dug up all the Hosta root balls and prepared the soil and the pretty deep holes as these were 3 gallon containers. We purchased two, 1 Cu Ft bags of organic garden soil to place in the holes, we loosened all the root balls and planted the bushes. It was quite a trick, as there were plenty of larger tree roots in that location. But we think we picked good locations for all five bushes. We think they are nicely appointed to “show off”  their beautiful flowers and variegated foliage. We think they look lovely. 

We purchased one bag of mulch to finalize and spread Blood Meal around all the bushes to keep the squirrels at bay from  digging….,to bury their nuts. ha!

To wrap up we watered using a Miracle Grow Plant Food water wand.

Everything is looking just great. 

It was a lot of fun and while there we had several passers-by who had comments. A nice weather afternoon. 69 degrees and cloudy. GREAT gardening weather.

AFTER VIDEO

“Contessa” says….. it’s all good.

Martha Custis, 1200 block, repeat client

  BEFORE

We have previously worked forc this client who lives in Texas. But he has a rental property here, and we have just completed a fall cleanup for  him. The transaction was seamless. We provided the work, communicated times and scope of the job and we invoiced by txt,  and he paid us using VENMO. So convenient and so easy. It’s not a complicated job,  but it sure needed a refresh. The great thing is he trusts our work,  and we’ve built a solid working relationship.  He’s pleased and said, “as always…..perfect…and thank you.”

 AFTER

”CONTESSA” says…..it’s all good!

THE GARDEN MUSEUM – U.K.

Houseplant Festival this weekend! We’re filling the museum with our favourite plant stalls for all your indoor jungle needs this weekend – from sustainably grown houseplants, succulents, cacti and orchids to terrariums, beautiful pots, planters, tools and more. Plus a jam-packed programme of activities including: James Wong on indoor ecosystems Jane Perrone on how to propagate your houseplants Barbican Head Gardener Marta Lowcewicz on gardening houseplants in the Barbican Conservatory Free plant swap hosted by London Terrariums Make a terrarium with Plant Designs Sat 22 – Sun 23 October, 10am – 5pm £7 Standard, £6 Friends, £6 Young Fronds Book tickets Our Retail Manager Elef looks through hundreds of images and objects in the Garden Museum collection to design unique greetings cards with. His most recent find is this lithographic illustration from an 1861 book about growing indoor plants. These cards will be among the special selection of houseplant themed ephemera in the Garden Museum Shop this weekend for the Houseplant Festival: books, cards, tools, gifts and more! Book tickets Plant Science Lecture Leif Bersweden: Where the Wildflowers Grow In 2021, Leif Bersweden went on a big botanical adventure around Britain and Ireland with his bike, travelling from Hampshire’s Bluebell woods to the shores of Shetland, to track down our most intriguing and well-known plants, with the people who love them most dearly. Leif’s latest book, Where the Wildflowers Grow, follows him on that journey as he botanises his way through an entire calendar year, meeting our plants, telling their stories and exploring people’s connection to their local flora. Plants are capable of extraordinary things that we rarely hear about or give them credit for, and Leif is here to share their ways with new audiences. This talk, like the book, is all about the joy of engaging with nature, the importance of plants for our climate, and celebrating our unbelievable botanical diversity This talk is part of our new Plant Science Lecture series organised by the Garden Museum’s Plant Science Educator Samia Qureshi.  Fri 25 November, 7pm £15 Standard, £5 Students / Young Fronds Book tickets October Half-Term We have cooking, art, science and nature activities coming up this half-term for all ages, inspired by our new exhibition Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits! Highlights include: Family Art Workshop: Autumnal Trees in Print A monoprint is a one-off print which involves drawing on the back of paper whilst pressing onto ink. We will look at and feel the texture of some of the trees outside at the Garden Museum and collect some autumnal leaves which we can make some rubbings and prints from. We will then experiment with mono-printing using a roller and ink. Be prepared to get a bit messy! Mon 24 October, 2pm £2 per child Book tickets Twilight Bat Walk Hosted by Lambeth Council’s ‘borough ecologist’ Dr Iain Boulton, we’ll be looking for bats and bat activity on this evening walk round Archbishops Park next to the Museum. The walk, which normally lasts for an hour, will use tools such as bat detectors to listen for bats, and hopefully you’ll also see them as your eyes get used to the dark! Find out about the origins, importance and lifestyles of our British bats, and what we can do to help protect and encourage them. Tues 25 October, 6pm £10 Adults, kids go free! Book tickets Magical Moss and Fantastic Ferns Join us to learn about the plant science of moss and ferns! In this workshop we will collect samples of moss and ferns from the tombs and walls in our gardens. Then we’ll examine our samples under a range of different microscopes, looking at fern leaves known as fronds and learning about plant structures and life cycles. We will use the leaves to make fern prints on fabric or paper using paint or hammers which you can take home at the end of the session. Tues 27 October, 2pm £2 per child Book tickets Object of the Week Flowers on a Red Chair (1998), Lucian Freud Freud’s worn-out, red upholstered chair on wheels was a staple in his studio and has appeared in six canvases. A relatively unusual painting for the artist, Flowers on a Red Chair is a poetic meditation on absence and presence and the role flowers play in the aftermath of loss. Casually abandoned on the empty chair, Freud’s flowers gesture towards the inconsistent nature of memory. He may be revisiting the tradition of the Dutch still-life in which flower compositions remind us of death—the memento mori—in a wholly domestic, understated, and very intimate scene. Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits is open until 5 March Book a visit Images: Houseplant Festival 2021 (c) Graham Lacdao; Where the Wild Flowers Grow cover courtesy of Leif Bersweden; Ferns in the Garden Museum courtyard photo by Matt Collins; Flowers on a Red Chair, 1998 (oil on canvas) Freud, Lucian, Private Collection © The Lucian Freud Archive, Bridgeman Images Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

This email was sent to contessashome@gmail.com

Window Box….. Garden Lettuce

 
BUTTERCRUNCH LETTUCE

Today we are going to plant lettuce using a window box with half potting mix, compost and high quality garden soil. We have no pests like squirrels and temps are prime for lettuce to grow ….before winter  Let’s see if we can accomplish this. Always wanted  to try doing this, so looking forward to the  result. Seed packet was only $1.89.  Fun!

 

”Contessa” says……it’s all goid! 

Fall at a Glance…..a week

This gallery contains 20 photos.