Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Drought Turns Clay Soil into Powder

 

The fragrance stops people caught in a breeze flowing through the garden. Everyone loves the butterflies because their 100% lawn environment does not attract butterflies, bees, or birds.

We had some significant rains, but we also had hot weather. The backyard is more like powder than soil. 



I have rain from the barrels, so I used that to move some clethra, aka Summer Sweet. I call it Cinnabon for the combination of cinnamon and a sweetness that invites bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. People also call the shrub Hummingbird.

I get the most scent in the fall when a breeze sweeps through the garden and the other flowers are no longer dominant (mints, Joe Pye, roses). This is a good time to plant or move shrubs, so I am having fun with that.

I moved three in the backyard to give them more sun and to offer our doggy daycare neighbor the beauty and fragrance of  the shrubs.

To prepare a new spot, I dig a small area (clay soil, often hard as a rock) and pour a bucket of water on it. Overnight it will soften but may need another bucket or even a deeper hole to contain moist soil.

To move the shrub I first pour plenty of water on it, often two days in a row. A narrow, heavy duty spade works well to dislodge the root system and lift the shrub by its main branch. The transplanted get extra rainwater from the barrel afterwards. My family heritage as a French peasant carrying water and digging weeds makes the chores automatical.

I could not resist even more Hummingbird shrubs in the front yard, so I have been nurturing them as well. I will move the smaller ones around because it is fun, relaxing, and encouraging for those who want to do the same.

The main Cinnabon in the front sprouted a clone  so I will try moving the small version along the backyard fence.

The front yard was almost foggy with fragrance this year, and everyone enjoyed the bees, butterflies, birds, and hummingbirds. Variety builds up the populations, and the Lord of Creation manages their unique jobs and attributes.

Hard work that we enjoy is called a hobby, and I am happy to be burdened in such a relaxing way. 



Moby Dick Challenge Accepted - And It Rebounds!

 


I challenged a Lutheran librarian to read Moby Dick, or he volunteered. I did such a good job in encouraging another reader that I decided to read the novel again.

One stuffy reviewer said it lacked humor, which made me laugh. The novel  is packed with humor, without trying to be funny.

Look for the Easton Press edition in used book stores. They used it as bait to get readers to join their series of classics.


Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 18 - "...These commandments were given to the end that we might become conscious whether we really love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and in addition our neighbor as ourselves..."

 



Complete Sermon - Trinity 18 - The Two Greatest Commandments - Christ Is David's Son And David's Lord


4. As if the Lord would say: He who possesses love to God, and love to his neighbor, has all things, and therefore fulfills the law; for the whole law and all the prophets point to these two themes, namely: how God and our neighbor are to be loved.

5. Now one may wish to ask: How can you harmonize this statement, that all things are to be comprehended in these two commandments, since there was given to the Jews circumcision and many other commandments? To answer this, let us see in the first place how Christ explains the law, namely, that it must be kept with the heart. In other words, the law must be spiritually comprehended; for he who does not lay hold of the law with the heart and with the Spirit, will certainly not fulfill it. Therefore the Lord here gives to the lawyer the ground and real substance of the law, and says that these are the greatest commandments, to love God with the heart and our neighbor as ourselves.

From this it follows that he, who is not circumcised, who does not fast nor pray, is not doing it from the heart; even though he may perform external acts, he nevertheless does nothing before God, for God looketh on the heart, and not on our acts, 1 Samuel 16:7. It will not profit a man at all, no matter what work he may perform, if his heart is not in it.

6. From this arises another question: Since works are of no profit to a man, why then did God give so many commandments to the Jews? To this I answer, these commandments were given to the end that we might become conscious whether we really love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and in addition our neighbor as ourselves; for St. Paul says in Romans 7:7 (3:20), that the law is nothing but a consciousness and a revelation of sin. What would I know of sin, if there were no law to reveal it to me?

Here now is the law that saith: Thou shalt love God with thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself. This we fulfill if we do all that the law requires; but we are not doing it. Hence he shows us where we are lacking, and that, while we ought really to do something, we are doing nothing.

7. That the Jews had to practice circumcision was indeed a foolish ceremony, yea, a command offensive to reason, even though it were given by God still to-day. What service was it to God, to burden his people with this grievous commandment? What good was it to him, or what service to a neighbor? Yea, and it did not profit the Jew, who was circumcised. Why then did God give the command? In order that this commandment and law might show them whether they really loved God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind, and whether they did it willingly or not. For if there were a devout heart, it would say: I verily do not know why God gave me circumcision, inasmuch as it does not profit any one, neither God, nor me, nor my neighbor; but since it is well pleasing to God, I will nevertheless do it, even though it be considered a trifling and despised act. Hence, circumcision was an exercise of the commandment, Thou shalt love God with all thy heart.

8. It was also a foolish command God gave to Abraham, to slay his son, Genesis 22:2. For if reason had been the judge in this, both it and all mankind would have come to no other conclusion than this: It is an unfriendly and hostile command, how can it be from God, since God himself said to Abraham that he would multiply his seed through this son, and it would become as innumerable as the stars of the firmament and as the sand by the sea. Therefore it was a foolish commandment, a grievous, hard and unbearable commandment. But what did Abraham do? He closes his senses, takes his reason captive, and obeys the voice of God, goes, and does as God commanded him.

By this he proved that he obeyed from the heart; otherwise, even if he had put his son to death a hundred times, God would not have cared for it; but God was pleased that the deed came from his heart and was done in true love to God; yea, it came from a heart that must have thought: Even if my son dies, God is almighty and faithful, he will keep his word, he will find ways and means beyond that which I am able to devise; only obey, there is no danger. Had he not had this boldness and this faith, how could his fatherheart have killed his only and well beloved son?

Just When I Thought I Was OUT, They Pull Me Back In!


I thought I was done with posts on nutrition, but a relative said, "The posts encourage me to talk to my daughters about food."

  1. Every fad diet with a name is going to rebound with blubber once the victim has built up a terrible craving.
  2. Habits trump diets...always.
  3. Our bodies obey the habits.
The magic formula is pretty simple - the cheaper and rawer the food, the better the nutrition and lower the calories.

Taking away the killer foods slowly seems to be the best way to escape the yo-yo diet (the one all the food fad promoters crave love).

One approach is to look at all the ingredients and gradually remove the worst ones, one step at a time:
  1. Any drive-thru.
  2. Bread and butter.
  3. Ice cream, ice milk, and desserts.
  4. Sugared drinks and fake sugared drinks.
  5. Milk and milk products (fat)
  6. Cheese and pizza (fat and salt).
  7. Hard candies.
  8. Soft candies.
  9. Donuts and really good bakeries.
  10. High salt proportions in canned food (sometimes) and always in prepared food.
  11. Frozen raw food that is "seasoned," loaded with salt and much more expensive.
  12. Cereal and other tactics that keep moving calories into the digestive track, all day and all night.
Getting away from one old favorite at a time lets the brain say, "You actually ate that garbage?"
or
"Are you going to save those beans for snow melt during the next ice storm?"
or
"Did my bathroom scale just say - One person at a time?"

Fresh fruit can go bad, so it is important to load up on lots of it, plus varieties of raw fruit. Two big apples will eliminate craving for apple pie. Bananas are a great breakfast with black coffee, much tastier than potassium pills. Citrus is an all-out assault on colds, sniffles, flu.

Fresh salads work for many people - volume is no handicap. I like chopped, frozen greens, which blend into home-made stew for every lunch. 

My first epiphany with vegetables was microwaving a large bag of frozen green beans and eating them with a little butter. That was so good and satisfying that I began to start filling up on vegetables and greens.

The last big change is adding - daily - raw walnuts  (or almonds) and ground flax seed. They supply all kinds of good nutrition.

My grocery cart now has:
Fresh fruit, usually apples, oranges, blueberries.
Chopped frozen greens and vegetables
Some eggs and sausage to share with Charlie Sue.

 Charlie Sue - Patterdale Terrier