The Life of Mrs. Miles

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Thank you so much for your continued faithfulness to my blog. Summers usually find my entries spotty at best - generally because we are travelling. This year we're enjoying just being home but 'hiding out', so I'm able to post. I just need to keep a balance so we really do take some downtime. Sherry D. - you blew me away yesterday with your kind words -its humbling to know that as I'm obedient to share what God provides, meets your needs. What more could a person desire? Every time this happens to me its a direct confirmation of the value of my blogging. Even so - I too, appreciate the time and effort I know it takes to leave a heartfelt comment. Kind words are the water to a dry and thirsty soul - and some days your words have quenched me. There are SO MANY of you who faithfully uplift me in words each day, I can't possibly list you all here - but thanks from the bottom of my heart!

I know I've said this time and time again, but what you read here is truly of the Lord. When I started my blog - and especially as I did not even know, really, what a blog was, I prayed and asked the Lord to take command of my blog - that it would be my 'work'. I've never looked back. Sometimes I wonder what on earth I might share with readers, and will I be able to create elements which are unique and people can use? Well, you are all proof that His hand is on this blog.

Blessed is he who has found his work;
let him ask no other blessedness.

"Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established."

Proverbs 16:3

My last blog entry was about how God uses our afflictions to teach us to have empathy for others. Later that same day, Miles and I were reading scripture when we came across the following:

"We cannot do good to others save at a cost to ourselves, and our afflictions are the price we pay for our ability to sympathize. He who would be a helper, must first be a sufferer. He who would be a saviour must somewhere and somehow have been upon a cross; and we cannot have the highest happiness of life in succoring others without the tasting the cup which Jesus drank, and submitting to the baptism wherewith He was baptized.

The most comforting of David's psalms were pressed out by suffering; and if Paul had not had his thorn in the flesh we had missed much of that tenderness which quivers in so many of his letters.

The present circumstance, which presses so hard against you (if surrendered to Christ), is the best shaped tool in the Father's hand to chisel you for eternity. Trust him, then. Do not push away the instrument lest you lose its work."

I hope you like my element - of course it was another thrift store inspired one! It was a belt - I'm sure some of you may even have one of these lurking in your closet - or you could have been the one to donate this one in the first place. Don't laugh, it's happened to me more than once! I've even posted my 'buys' on my blog, only to have readers email me to give me the history on that particular item! Kind of a strange and wonderful feeling.

Speaking of elements - embellishments - accessories (yes, my mind goes randomly from one thought to another) ... so I'm thinking accessories because I meant to share about what our daughter brought for me recently... (after all, this IS my very own show and tell )

double-click to view larger!

What a good girl, she not only bought me this bag - which I adore and haul around everywhere, but she gave me a neat hair band too. Better than the gift itself, she showed me how to style my locks into a 'do' that I'd never dreamed I'd be wearing at my age. See, both our daughters and my dear, sweet husband encourage and dress me so I don't do the natural slide into polyester-dom with age. Now, saying that, polyester HAS come a long ways since my other/grandmother wore it. Thanks Sweetie, for your thoughtful and cool gift!

My Little Blister (Nina) and Zach

I also didn't have my pictures uploaded of Nina and Zach. I made them stand out in the rain, reluctantly, I might add, to take it. So here thems are!

My knee was feeling good enough to go for a short bike ride with B. on Wednesday. We stuck to the flat roads and walked up the hills. I admire her tenacity in working to keep our small corner of the world free and clear of invasive and noxious weeds. You see, most people will read about and talk about these problem plants, but only a few are actually moved to do something about it. Even the newspaper carried some feature articles recently regarding some plants. How can we inspire our young folks to care about the removal of these pesky plants unless we set the example. I've got a grin pasted on my face as I travel along with B. because if you're out in your yard and you've got weeds or trash laying about she's going to have a conversation with you.

I'm not poking fun at my dear friend - I really do admire her. Most people would not want to get involved. But she has such a lovely way about her. She never talks down to folks, and never makes them feel as if she's judging them. She always takes the time to help people identify which weeds are the offenders and offers helpful suggestions on what they might do to help get them under control. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty (though she's bright enough to bring gloves etc) She's not afraid of good, hard work. She's not shy to be seen pulling weeds on the skirt of a busy highway. Shes resourceful enough to use 'found' grocery bags to fill with odd bits of trash along her route and she uses whatever implement she needs to loosen weed roots (eg: a small straight stick works well for shallow rooted plants)

Puncture Vine { Tribulus terrestris }

On our ride B. showed me many Puncture Vine plants. Tribulus terrestris is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World in southern Europe, southern Asia, throughout Africa, and in northern Australia. It can thrive even in desert climates and poor soil. Like many weedy species, this plant has many common names. Puncture Vine, Caltrop, Yellow Vine, and Goathead are the most widely used; others include automobile-weed, bindy eye, bindii, bullhead, burnut, burra gokhroo, calthrops, cat's head, common dubbeltjie, devil's thorn, devil's weed, doublegee, dubbeltje, gokshura, ground bur-nut, isiHoho, land caltrop, Maltese cross, Mexican sandbur, puncture weed, rose, small caltrops, sticker, tackweed, and Texas sandbur (also T. micrococcus).

As I imagine many of you don't know exactly what a Puncture Vine is. It is painful - get one in your foot and it can make you dance! It is expensive - we have so many here that the bike and hardware stores make a lot of money replacing tubes for tires. The stems radiate from the crown to a diameter of about 10 cm to over 1 m, often branching. They are usually prostrate, forming flat patches, though they may grow more upwards in shade or among taller plants. The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats' or bulls' heads. It is considered an invasive species.

It has been reported that Puncture Vine seeds have been used in homicidal weapons in southern Africa; murderers smear them with the poisonous juice of Acokanthera venenata and put them where victims are likely to step.

At any rate, I'm going to join B. on Monday to try and rid our small area of this vexatious flora. We will arm ourselves with some sharp instruments, good gloves and thick soled shoes and spend a few hours to clear up the largest ones we can find. Now is an ideal time to dig them up, before they go to seed. At the least we will be able to lessen the spread in this area, and just perhaps we may be able to inspire someone, anyone to do the same. All it takes is one person to start a chain effect!

Why not share here, the things you do to make your corner of the world a better place?

So my thinker has wandered on another tangent. Puncture Vine - sharp - thorn - thorns - Jesus and His crown of thorns. The mocking soldiers as they painfully crushed the crown of them into his skull. For us. Thorn in the side. Blocked by thorns. Seeds falling among the thorns. Thorn among the lilys.

John 19:2
The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe

Judges 2:3
Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.

Proverbs 15:19
The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

Mark 4:7
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.

Song of Solomon 2:2
Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.

Can you think of a thorn the same, again, my friends?

Tomato Hornworms

As I was waiting on Miles last evening, as he nipped back into the house to retrieve an item, B. beckoned me from the garden. When I met her there, she had these big uglies to share. Whoa, they are horrific enough observed from a distance, but when one gets down to their size via macro... ewww! It's like being in a miniature sci-fi scene. This is probably the result of a childhood exposure to a movie that scared the pants off of me. I had to be very young indeed. The movie was called Ants - and it was about some ants in a scientist's lab - they consumed colossal amounts of sugar and grew to gargantuan proportions. These ants went about hunting people and crushing them in their immense mandibles.

Actually, when I could remove myself from being afraid of the big 'ol tomato worms then they do sorta make me think of a Chinese Dragon - the sort in parades with all the people inside...

So of course I had to do some research on this critter too. Seems the the larval stage of this creature is the Hawkmoth, which is common in our Americas. From what I'm reading too, I'd best be out checking the tomato plants close to the stems, as the caterpillars are difficult to spot due to their coloration. Not only this - they like eggplants, potatoes and... (ack, please not Miles beloved) peppers!

Enough of bugs for now - I'd best get along with my day. May yours be Blessed.

Today in History:

1376 - According to legend, a Pied Piper rid the German town of Hamelin of its rats. When the townspeople refused to pay the piper for his deed, he mesmerized their children with his tunes. The children followed him out of town never to be seen again. Historians now say that the legend is based on events that took place in 1284 when young men left Hamelin to find work in other lands.

1604 - King James and Bishop Bancroft worked out a set of 14 instructions to the translators of the King James version of the Bible on this date. The instructions were designed to ensure that, despite the variety of views among the translators, the forth-coming work would be a Protestant Bible and the Bible names be "retained as near as may be" to the original. It was requested that when the translators had completed work on their assigned sections, that they should confer together on what had been done. The King James Version is often referred to as the most successful work ever done by a committee.

1894 - The first automobile road race took place in France and was run over a distance of 78 miles from Paris to Rouen. The previous record average speed of 13.6 mph was broken in this race by Count De Dion.

1900 - Fifty-five American athletes completed their domination of the second modern Olympic games held in Paris. The games reopened in 1896 after a lapse of 1,500 years.

1926 - In a stunt at New York's Mitchell Field, Babe Ruth, a private in the National Guard, caught a baseball dropped from an airplane. The plane was at an altitude of 250 feet and traveling at about 100 miles-per-hour.

1933 - Aviator Wiley H. Post ended the first solo flight around the world. His flight lasted for 7 days, 18 hours, and 45 minutes. His famous plane was called the "Winnie Mae". Two years earlier he flew around the world, but on that occasion was accompanied by navigator Harold Gatty. Post died in a plane crash in 1935.

1933 - Today, Caterina Jarboro became the first black prima donna of an opera company. At the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, she performed "Aida."

1985 - Country singer Dolly Parton announced plans to open a 400 acre theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The name for this new amusement park? Dollywood.

BARB'S HANDY TIP # 294
Good Summer Reads for Kids

Ah, the middle of summer ... ah... the newness of vacation wearing off for the kids. Why not check out this list of good summer reading books for kids, compliments of NPR Radio?

NPR KIDS BOOK LIST