Ode to the Garden God...

To the Garden God...
Thank you that my garden is growing so prolifically.
I appreciate the gesture.
The cucumbers are crazy,
The beans are busting out,
The mosquitoes are biting,
The potatoes are potato,
The summer squash is seasoned,
The tomatoes are heavenly,
The zucchini is zowsa.
Thank you,
from a garden ho :P

The bittersweet memories of childhood

This is not necessarily a tribute to a dead singer. Just some meandering thoughts from my childhood I'm writing for my sake or whoever loves the innocence of our younger days.
As a child, I only thought about faith and what could be, the good parts of life and hope for a wonderful future. This wasn't because I led a sheltered existence either, I was very emotionally abused and physically too at times. But as a child I had a love for music and literature that helped me transcend the harshness of life. It lifted me above the pain of everyday living. I know this was a gift from my Savior, I have no doubt.
So too I have to weigh in on Michael Jackson's death. I'm heartbroken. Not because of what Michael Jackson became, but because of what he once was to me in my childhood. His music was a big part of lifting me away from the pain and helping me to hang on and have a faith that I wasn't taught by my mother.
What Michael became is much cause for debate. I tend to hope that he wasn't the pedophile that some folks paint him as. I tend to hope the he was very eccentric because of the pain of his own childhood. But I'm not the judge of who he became. I just loved his music. Even as I got older I admired his talent (secretly as not to make my ex mad ;).
But his death shows that he was no God even though to some folks he probably will become one now. He was just a man with many failings.

My tribute is to the bittersweet memories of my childhood. A time when the negative part of the world we live in was in the background and not in the foreground of my mind. A time when I didn't have to worry as much about what could happen because I believed what was best. A time when faith was my survival and music and books were there to comfort me. And a time when I listened to I'll be there over and over and over again on my little 45 records on my small little turntable.

Josiah Stevenson-The Long Run

To say that I'm proud is an understatement. But will forgo the mushy mommy jargon. This is a music video that is a collaboration of Josiah and a friend, Neil McCormack. I think it looks wonderful but decide for yourself. ;)
http://neilmccormack.com/longrun.mov

This is a hmmm? post

Tale of Two Houses

House #1
A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern 'snow belt' area. It's in the South.

---

House #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every 'green' feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

The water (usually 67 degrees F) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

~~~~~
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ;
It is the abode of the 'Environmentalist' Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas ;
It is the residence of the Ex-President of the United States , George W. Bush.

An 'inconvenient truth.'

I sure hope this gets passed to everyone!
And, yes ... I DID check Snopes prior to forwarding it.

Disney Copies their own movies!

Surprise, surprise

My Politics

I try very hard not to interfere with the affairs of politics, except to vote my conscience. But a friend of mine sent this to me and I am posting because I believe with my whole heart that it is a valid important message for us today as a people. I see apathy all around me in the world. I would say I might even have fallen prey to it at times. I hope this little reminder helps us remember.

Cycle of Democracy

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury.

"From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:

"From bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty;
from liberty to abundance;
from abundance to selfishness;
from selfishness to apathy;
from apathy to dependence;
from dependency back again into bondage."

Dr. Alexander Tytler, a Scot professor, wrote a scholarly tome, from which this concept comes, called "The Athenian Republic" which was published shortly before the thirteen American colonies gained independence from Britain.. "Google" him to learn more.

In publishing a handout on the "Cycle" in 1994 I noted that the national debt had reached a staggering $4.5 trillion dollars. A year ago (Oct. 1, '07) it had soared to $9.06 trillion! Barely one year later (Oct. 17, '08) it is $10.3 trillion!! Our forebears thought of debt as slavery. They would be shocked at what their descendants have done. - - John Wrisley.

Time Keeps on Slipping

Thing are just getting a little beyond me to be honest. Trying to keep up with having an online business and try to bring in extra revenue is so time consuming. If I looked at it like I did in the beginning, a fun venue or hobby that might bring in a little extra pocket change so I could continue to do what I love, instead of an actual job that I have to go to every day and drudge along in it, I would be fine. But no, I have to make everything I do for fun into work. I've realized how works oriented I am still. My need to perform and perform well in one setting detracts from performing well in other areas. Of course, you can't tell me that, I'm superwoman. I can do it all.
This world is a changing and time does keep on slipping into the future. Steve Miller had it right.
And here I am trying with all my heart to stop and smell the roses with my faith, husband, and children along with me and I cannot keep up. My Lord does not require this out of me, my husband doesn't require this of me, nor do my children. So why do I time and time again get caught up in this never ending hamster wheel?
I'm going to jump off that wheel for a while and stop and enjoy what God has given me. I might even get to actually blog more about what I enjoy. What a release! Hallelujah!

Here is a sweet lovely artist I found on you tube. I think she sums it up really well for me. I hope anyone who stops by will listen and enjoy. It's time for all of us to revitalize.

Bugs, yuck.

So sorry for the lack of posts of anything interesting in the last week and a half. My family has all come down with these little bugs twice each. I haven't been bitten yet, knock on wood, but I am feeling so run down with taking care of all.
Hope to blog soon and get back to talking to all of the sweet people who follow me and to catch up on my own reading.
Blessings,
Marsha

A little worn out

I've had so much excitement here lately with the giveaway and trying to keep up with my shop. This past week sales have picked up which makes me very happy, hopefully they will stay that way as long as I can keep finding and creating interesting items to add. I'm going to take a few days break on blogging. I've got some precious cargo coming in from college and I want to spend some time with them.

I'm leaving you with a little music video today in tribute to my mom who passed away 2 years ago on March 27th. If you have ever read my shop announcement, you will know that she was the inspiration for the opening of Everything Nana.

And the winner is......

Drum roll please...
Mrs. B -yea, clap, clap, woo hoo,

My son Cody graciously drew the name from my little Chinese takeout box. Almost everyone had two chances because most guessed right about how many children I have. I want to let everyone know I appreciate the time they took to look at my little shop and comment. It's this kind of feedback that helps me understand what direction I should be going in.
I got to know Mrs. B last year when she asked me if I would participate in her bloggy contest, the 31 days of Halloween. I enjoyed getting to know her and reading her blog, "Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom".
She also has started a non pagan bloggy titled
http://crunchygranolajerseymom.blogspot.com/

So...this isn't the end. I will have another blog giveaway in April or May, but please stop by and see me before then, leave a comment or two. I'm planning on blogging about my uninteresting life, throw in some homespun wisdom, talk about crafting and vintage, and maybe bring some wicked snarzy humor into the mix as well. I'm trying very hard to stay away from politics right now, but you might have to put up with some of that as well.
Bye for now, back to fairyland.....