Tuesday, March 18, 2008

limitations and abundance

I thought dyeing Easter eggs with natural dyes sounded pretty cool.  And, I had this chard languishing in my kitchen; I picked it in a hurry last Saturday, when the garden was being dug up.  I used part of it then, but didn't really have a plan for the rest.  I have observed how the red stems turn my chard-artichoke dip pink, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Just in case you were wondering, chard is not effective as a dye.  Neither the deep green leafy parts nor the garishly bright pink stems had any noticeable affect on my eggs.

Guess I should stick with the plants the recommend.  But hey: now my kitchen smells like stewed chard...

In other news and adventures, I'm feeling pretty blessed these days.  I mean, sure, I'm still dealing with the depression of Matt's deployment departure, but other folks have sure been good to me lately.

First, my obsessive lurking around crafty blogs led me to a fun give-away on Betty Ninja's site--and I won her drawing.  I'm waiting anxiously for the happy hedgehog to appear in my mailbox...  Then, I happened upon Oodles and Oodles' clothespin apron giveaway, and won again.  Now I can hang clothes in style on my new backyard clothesline.  Such a run of blogging grace!

Then, at work yesterday, two women in the office showered me with a magical sunflower basket of goodness--with cookies and a fun t-shirt and music and chocolate and lots more.  Just 'cause they were thinking of me and wanted to cheer me up.

All that's not even counting the carrot-dill bread Marian and Wayne brought by--or their avocado tree which is now planted in the yard.  Or the window and door trim my in-laws installed yesterday and today.  Or the books my brother sent me in the mail.  Or the care package from my mom.

So: today, deployment sucks, but it sure is beautiful to know that I'm surrounded by lots of caring folks and beautiful, thoughtful things!

I'm trying to ride out this wave of happy vibes and see if it will sustain me through an attempt to de-clutter my house.  It'd take a miracle...

2 comments:

karen said...

Thanks for the gift of your time, Molly.

Ryan and I really enjoyed all of our activities in your yard and home today. It's nice to be able to plant with the hope of watching something grow.

And it continues to be a joy for me to help in any little way to continue to make your house a home. Staining the threshold, I couldn't help but remember those sanding days and all the life we've traveled in between.

May your Holy Week be sustaining.

(And I'm looking for that same decluttering miracle but impressed and inspired by your progress!)

feminist_mom said...

molly, your new fence is gorgeous and the pic of karen/ryan with new little rows.... inch by inch is the JD song i love! i think i too have suffered from depression with matt's deployment and other things so reaching out helps.. i hope you receive a new strange box in your new mailbox soon.... what does your mailbox look like? love, mom
PS inquiring minds want to know!!