One Lucky Night

 One Lucky Night

I gifted my husband a membership to the Ruffed Grouse Society in 2017. We have not been able to attend the annual banquet in the past because of how busy our past month of May calendars have been. 2019 was going to be the year. We attended our first banquet.

We enjoyed a fun meal, games and meeting new people.

We did not know anyone at the banquet. I looked around for two open seats and friendly smiles. 

We asked if the two empty seats were taken, they were not.

We laughed and cheered. Our table ended up lucky as can be. 

All of us at the table won several prizes.

We won the most! I could not believe it. Each time they called the winning number 1119! That was us! We won the loot below. Jeremy won a new gun for grouse hunting.

We won a canvas bag, a homemade picnic basket, 50lbs of bird seed, a glass cutting board and the gun. What a lucky night!

Jeremy went to register the gun. As he was doing that. I was visiting with our new friends about how fun the evening was. We had talked kids, hunting, dogs and living in Wisconsin through out the evening.

Just before the one couple was about to depart for the night, they asked me if I liked plants?

Do I like plants?!? 

They said they had extra plugs for creating hanging baskets. If I would like some I could take as many as I like. 

Well, the running joke around this house is I do not come home without a plant of some kind. 

Two weeks ago I came home with a bush. It was going to go on a burn pile. It needed rescue.

My boys are always saying "What has mom brought home now?"

How fun it was for us to call them to let them know we had a great night. Dad won a hunting gun! And mom, she met another plant person and she is bringing home more plants.

 

One Lucky Day

May 31, 1997

I married my best friend.

Have a blessed weekend my friends.

 

Be Safe, Love Mom

"I died during the battle, Mom." I went to save two other buddies and got shot going across to help them. I was hit in the leg. My battle buddies tried to save me, but they goofed up the call for the Medi Vac."

The above was the conversation I had with Sam after he completed The Forge. 

Click below to learn more about The Forge.

The Forge

I have learned a lot about becoming a Military Mom. 

We learn to let go.

10 weeks of no communication .. but snail mail. Oh how I loved that snail mail.

We did not hear from Sam for the first two and half weeks. I will say that was hard. I had no way of knowing how he was doing, if he was making friends, if he was succeeding. 

During The Forge I really felt it. I wanted to know how he was doing. I had this urgency to go help him. It all can be hard to explain, all this emotion was coming up inside me.

Again.. more letting go.. little by little.

Quiet courage and fierce determination to help those who need it. That is what I see in our son Sam. I am so very proud of what he has accomplished and what he is going to do in the future.

At the same time I will be honest. I worry.

In my previous post I shared that Sam would be deployed to help with floods, wildfires and hurricanes. His recruiter gently reminded us that he can be called up for battle as well. 

I pray for peace. That our world will get along and not feel the need to kill each other. 

I think about my grandpa Sam and the Greatest Generation.

I think about my dear friend Marv who helped in the Korean War.

I think about our family friends who helped in Vietnam. 

I think about our neighbor Pat who helped in the Gulf War.

Those who we sent care packages during the War on Terror, Cathy, Brendon and Gabe.

When I get anxious I continue to look up: to the stars, the sun and the moon. I tend my garden. I pull weeds, look for bees, butterflies and listen close to the birds. I look up in the tree tops, I watch the leaves wave in the wind and I look to the heavens.

Be Safe Sam!

Love, Mom

All gave some

Some gave all

Remember them this Memorial Day!

Help needed .. Corn Lily

My cousin recently made a bulb order for dahlia and gladiolus. 

She received her order and a free bag of corn lily.

She knows nothing about corn lily, never heard of them. She came to  me for help, but I too, have never heard of corn lily.

Do any of you know about corn lily? 

Easy to grow? Tips or tricks? Do you dig them up in the autumn? 

Thank you for the help!

 

 

Joy List Monday

Joy List Monday

♥ a weekly ritual ♥

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties

and graces that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day

 ♥ the orioles are back and nesting in a tree in our neighbors yard

 ♥ our little wren is back and looking for a summer place to rent out.. he has been looking at two of our birdhouses

♥ a morning dove is nesting in the nook of our small shed

♥ we celebrated a birthday this past week

♥ our son is back to Wisconsin 

A friend asked him what his favorite thing was that he was back to Wisconsin.

He said the weather! He was happy to get back to Wisconsin weather.

Some would say that is crazy! This boy does not like hot, summer in Georgia was something he was excited to miss out on.

 Graduation from AIT at Fort Gordon, Georgia

Hold tight to the dreams you have today and walk with God in their direction.

 Sam is now officially a part of the Wisconsin National Guard.

He will be attending college in August at Chippewa Valley Technical College for Computer Programming and Software Development.

During his time at college he will continue to attend monthly drills with the Guards. He will have a two week training each summer. Sam has signed up with the Guards for six years.

Some of you have asked what will he do in the Guards. If he is called up to help he is communications. He is in the Signal Corps. 

If Wisconsin has a flood, he may get called to help. If Wisconsin has a forest fire, he may get called to help. Other states can ask for help from our Guards. Florida asked for help during the hurricane. Prayers for all of those who help keep us safe, police, firefighters, military and more.

Thank you again for all the support!

 ♥

Carla

  

It is Planting Time!

Hello Friends,

Just a note that I will be away from the office for a few days. I am helping with our Master Gardener Plant Sale. 

Planting time is here for The Little Garden That Could. Once things warm up here in Wisconsin, we all start to move quick on our spring clean up, planting and other chores.

 I will be back soon with garden updates, graduation photos and more.

Take Care 

♥

Carla

 

Happy Mother's Day

Little me and my mom.

Happy Mother's Day

A very special Mother's Day for me. Sam is back to Wisconsin.

♥

Mother Says

Famous Last Words

If you don't stop, your face will freeze like that.

I only have two hands.

Let me kiss it and make it better.

Because I said so.

Because I am your mother.

Go ask your father.

Eat it, it is good for you.

Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it has been.

I don't care who started it.

Get your hair out of your face.

You call that music?

Clear your plate, there are starving children.

Money doesn't grow on trees.

If all your friends jumped off a cliff would you do it too?

Don't ever forget that I love you.

You'll always be my Baby.

 

 

   

Pollinator Sky Rise

 St. Paul,  Minnesota has a Pollinator Sky Rise in the park areas in hopes to help Urban Pollinators.

Como Park Offers Home for the Pollinators 

The above link is an article about the idea of the Sky Rise for Pollinators.

 

“This is a great big beautiful sculpture that can draw people in and get them to pay attention in ways they might not have otherwise before,” Lovelee said.

I loved what Amanda Lovelee said in the interview. Getting people to be aware of our loss of pollinators is the first step. What a fun idea with this beautiful sculpture. It will get people to stop and think about things for a moment. They may decide to do more research and see how they can help. 

Good Luck Urban Pollinators.. hope you find this Sky Rise, Home Sweet Home.

 

And the winner is..

Kris from Junk Chic Cottage 

Click here to visit Junk Chic Cottage

Kris won The Stroll in the Garden card collection from The Little Garden That Could.

The Little Garden That Could 

Joy List Monday

Joy List Monday

♥ a weekly reminder ♥

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces

that make life magical and to set aside time

for gratitude each day

♥ little seedlings continue to grow 

 ♥ a warm sunny weekend 

♥ completing items off my To Do List

♥ spending time with friends

♥ learning how to play a new game  Pickle Ball

I am a fan of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. They just released a new single Family! It is such a fun song and true of our family.

♥ Sam will be arriving home Thursday. Praying for air travel to be safe. May the journey for all to go well as Sam's classmates travel back to family and friends and start their careers in the National Guard or other branch of military. ♥

Thank you to all of you for the support and prayers during this time for our family and Sam.

Some old fashioned things..

"Some old fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat."

Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Close your eyes and listen to the sounds of nature.. crickets chirping, doves cooing, geese honking, bees buzzing.

It is quite a performance and it is all for free.

 ♥

Have a blessed weekend my friends.

Carla

Happy May Day and a Giveaway

Happy May Day

May is here! Spring has sprung!

Here in Northwest Wisconsin flowers will soon be blooming and we will be busy in our gardens.

Enter to win the above photo cards.

All you have to do is leave a comment and in that comment share with me your favorite flower and why it is your favorite. 

If you would like to find out the meaning of your favorite flower, click the below website 

The New Language of Flowers

 and share the meaning with us.

 I am getting all excited to open The Flower Shack!

 I will have some new items available in The Flower Sack

 and at my website The Little Garden That Could

 Photo Cards are available at my website and at The Flower Shack.

 Succulent Log Planters are available at my website and at The Flower Shack.

Garden Tours and The Art of Flower Bouquets

I have tours and make & take bouquet workshops available this summer. 

All of that information is located on the Tour Page of the website.

Daybreak .. an adult day care program for folks with dementia came for a tour last summer. 

The power of flowers and memory. 

 And of course.. seasonal bouquets are available.

The winner of the giveaway will be announced on Wednesday, May 8th. 

Happy May Day