Tag Archives: Brave

Flowers Near Me

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Have you ever walked through a grocery store and happened upon the fresh flower market? The aroma hits you like a wave of spring, as the colours create the canvas for some obscure collage of pastels with pops of red and green. The bouquets all wrapped up in crinkly cellophane or dotted wrapping paper. Buckets of fresh cut stems and little pots of flowering plants. Petite teddy bears and foil balloons with tiny cards to send wishes of joy, sympathy and love. It certainly is a feast for the senses. A friend of mine recently posted that she succomed to the calling and bought herself a potted beauty in pink! A personal pick-me-up, she wrote. So many of us are anticipating the fresh coming of spring, with its hope for warmer weather, fragrant earth, and a blip of colour peeking out of the garden. Especially after a year of lock downs, stay-at-home orders and Covid-19.

I never used to like flowers in the garden. Gardens should be practical. Food and useful stuff. Sure, I love a beautiful English Rose Garden, or a field of happy sunflowers, but anything more than a few potted geraniums to keep away the bugs, and it’s fine with me. This year, I am mellowing. Or maybe I am just experimenting with the whole sow and see theme. This year, I picked up flower seeds. Last year we tried a few Candula in hopes to make herbal “tea” – but the few blossoms we tried were not worth the brewing. Our sunflowers were tall, but few, and quickly eaten up by squirrels.

This year I picked up dahlia and nasturtium (you can eat those…practical!). We might even try wild mixes of sweet pea and butterfly-loving wildflowers. Why not?! Maybe I need to break out of my practical mode and be brave (ooh #wordoftheyear) and try my hand at something “impractical”. Or just convince myself that flowers are practical. Self care, perhaps? A personal pick me up? Maybe these flower fun-facts will convince me they belong in my urban garden:

  • nasturtium, pansies, roses, sunflowers and violets are all edible… as are daisies, dandelions, hibiscus and honeysuckle (Check out our post on dandelion honey… so yum!)
  • broccoli is actually a flower!! (also edible…duh)
  • sunflowers are “hyperaccumulators” and suck up all kinds of toxins in the soil… they were even used to clean up the nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima (athensscienceobserver.com)
  •  the juice from bluebell flowers was used historically to make glue
  • in Holland in the 1600’s, tulips bulbs were more valuable than gold

All this flower fun makes me wonder… did God just have fun with flowers? Throw splashes of colour here and there? Add weird shapes and patterns just to be creative? Hey, why not make some of them edible while we are at it? Or be able to suck up some some toxic waste that He knew we would mess up His world with in the future? An interesting muse… and a question I may add to my Heaven list for when I get there and have coffee with Adam and Eve. The science gal in me wants to just look at the flowering facts of pollination and seed and fruit production. But why not make practical things pretty too? Flowers. You’ve got to admit they are nice to look at, aren’t they? And most of them smell pretty good. Perhaps they are God’s personal pick-me-ups, too. Created just for fun, to be enjoyed by the quiet observer who might just plant a few in the garden — just to sow and see.

photo via littlehouseoffour.com

One Word

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Happy New Year! Welcome back! Thanks for being patient with my little break and can we say: Thank the Lord 2020 is over! It’s a new year and new beginnings. I know 2020 was trying for many of you … and the pollutants of Covid-19 and the great pandemic are still oozing into the beginnings of 2021. I know we are not out of the woods yet, but I am hoping things will be “recuperating” and heading in the right direction in the next few months. Perhaps you’ve been out of work, or juggling work at home with school online, and you’ve been social distanced from the ones you love. This Holiday Season was different for so many, and yet positivity rained in with family bonds, Zoom socials and making a difference in the best way we knew how. Blessings on all of you who tried and survived! And hugs for those who struggled and still survived!

Life has a way of inching along in spite of our best efforts… pandemic or not. And that’s just where I’m feeling it this week… my house is a disaster, it’s been crazy busy at work, and the blog has been put on the back burner once again. I had big plans to organize content and research topics, and make your reading experience enlightening and thought-provoking — yet here I am again just thinking about stuff. Where does the time go?? So, here’s to still catching up…

In my thoughts this week: resolutions. Why not, it’s a New Year, right? Yet, in my “aimless” scrolling during what “chill time” I did manage, the great internet had me pondering posts of a new idea for me… all under the #OneWord. Several very smart people in my small circle of influence have embraced the idea of a “theme word” for the year if you will, a focus, rather than a resolution. Digging a little deeper, I discovered I’m behind in the game; the one word for a year idea has been around for awhile. There are several websites, blogs and pins dedicated to helping one focus on your “word for the year” (Check out this “quiz” on DaySpring.com or #OneWord365 for inspiration). I’m in for the ride. I might not be all life coach, journal gung ho…but One big word for the year sounds like it is worth a try.

I suppose the idea is to help you narrow down your aspirations. To carry a simple phrase, rather than specific goals. This way, your “theme” can carry over to various aspects of your life: health, spiritual, your work world, or your home world. So, how does one pick a word? They tell me to pray, asking God to focus my thoughts on what He wants me to accomplish. They suggest list a few words, then refine and refocus. Reflecting on the year that has past and what God’s leading you towards in the future, what is He saying? It’s tough to listen, though. I find that when I am awakened in the middle of the night, it’s God’s way of getting my attention, so that’s usually when we “chat” (I’m a pretty sound sleeper, so if I am up, there must be a reason, right? Like Samuel and Eli, my response is “Okay, I’m awake, God… what’s up?”). Once all that “musing” is done, commit to the “Word”… use it as a monthly, weekly, daily focus and see where it leads you!

Alright-y then… are you dying to know what my #OneWord is? My introvert self is cringing at being vulnerable with ya’ll… which explains the word and all its connotations. Will you hold me accountable? Will you remind me to Trust in the Almighty when I fail my word? Will you encourage me through your comments and posts when I write about my adventures with said word this year? Okay then: my word for 2021 is to be:

BRAVE

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments… do you have a word for 2021? Have I inspired you to think of one? Share with me! And join me at mittonmusings.com each week as I “muse” about something new, and share in the adventure!