what I'm getting for Christmas

I don't know about you, but I'm getting the glory of God for Christmas.

My youngest takes after his Dad so much, especially in his passion for giving carefully selected, thoughtful gifts to those he loves.

The other day, with a sparkle in his eye, and a sincere look on his small handsome face, he announced to me that he is giving me the "glory of God" for Christmas.

Wow... Really?
"Yes Mommy, the glory of God."

Since then, when I get crabby or fed up with the slushy, sticky, dirty, or crumbly mess my kids have just made, my young one says, "The glory of God, Mom, remember I'm giving you the glory of God."

What is the glory of God? I'm not exactly sure - but I've heard it said that God's glory is everything that makes up God; His authority, power, and sovereignty. I also know that the Psalms mention God's glory a lot, and Pslam 19 says , "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands."

Is a little first grader really going to give me the glory of God for Christmas? I highly doubt it. But the great thing is, I am getting it for Christmas. And so are you. God himself has blessed us with it, in the gift of His son. Emmanuel=God with us. We get God, and His glory. He gave us the gift of Himself. Isn't it ironic that this gift that comes from a child?

Gifts for Gardeners

I am thrilled and honored to be among the Botanical Art sites chosen in Kathy Purdy’s article on “Gifts for Gardeners”

Kathy writes the very informative “Cold weather Gardening Blog” as well as a new blog entitled “Blogging Art and Practice which contains good information for those of us still trying to get the hang of blogging.

Kathy is also an accomplished photographer and the beautiful flower pictures on her gardening blog transport me right back to my garden in July. That’s a great place to be this time of year in Wisconsin!

free organic reading material

A $23.94 value! Stonyfield organic yogurt is really good (I like the lowfat vanilla), and they are offering a free one year subscription to Organic Gardening magazine, when you collect 4 specially marked yogurt container lids. Bless their hearts! Hurry, you only have until the end of next month.

chasmanthium latfolium

Have you started to think about next year's garden yet? I have. I generally don't allow myself to look at the shiny new garden catalogs until I've got my Christmas cards written...but I gave myself permission for one quick peek, and then an hour later...

At any rate, the picture at the right is a quick scan I took of an awesome, but under-utilized ornamental grass called Northern Sea Oats. I like to use them in my botanical art and pressed flower cards because they're beautiful, but better yet, the unusual seed heads are perfectly flat - no pressing needed!

They start out a beautiful spring green, mature to a rich sage green, and finally turn an impressive bronze color in the fall. I have them planted in one of my flower gardens, and they do a wonderful job screening a hose I keep there. They also keep their color well, making them perfect for dried flower arrangements.

Northern Sea Oats aren't always easy to find, but they are beginning to show up in seed and garden catalogs now and then. Keep an eye out for them - and if you can't find them in your catalogs, try Ebay in the spring.

time marches on

I have crow’s feet. Crinkly wrinkles radiating from the outside corners of my eyes.

On Friday, I met with two good friends, for our semi-annual get-together at Panera. We’ve known each other since grade school, and times flies when we get together and catch each other up on our lives. At one point, while we were in the midst of a good laugh, I was surprised to see my two friends had pretty noticeable crow’s feet when they laughed. I smugly breathed a prayer of thanks that I don’t have those yet.

Well, my delusion didn’t last long.

That night, while brushing my teeth, I smiled broadly into the mirror, just to confirm my earlier conclusion. What I saw horrified me. I have crow’s feet. Huge, canyon-like wrinkles that come out of nowhere when I smile. Rats. I guess I never really smile at myself when looking at the mirror.

Jimmy Buffet (of all people) once said that wrinkle will only go where the smiles have been. I guess if wrinkles are a result of smiles, I’ll take smiles over smooth skin.