Late Bloomers: The Joy of the End of the Season Fruit

 

I was in the garden this morning and noticed these raspberries.  All the others are gone, but these ones were late in blooming.  I had forgotten about them, but as I was looking for other produce, I saw the red berries.  It is so wonderful to find some raspberries when you thought they were finished.  It really is exciting.  One more chance to enjoy the fruits of your labors.  

As I have thought of this, I have thought of people who are late bloomers.  They may feel bad because they are just behind a bit.  Others seems to get there first, be finished with tasks first, etc.  It is easy to feel like you aren't doing as well when you take longer.  I think as people age, and slow down, they may also have similar feelings.  So, for those who are still trying to figure out what to be when they grow up, or worrying about taking a bit longer doing things, think of these little raspberries and the joy they bring by being later than others.  So, bloom when you are ready!

We May Be in Hard Times Now, but Things Will Get Better

 We have a Romeo cherry bush in front of our house.  It is on the other side of the Juliet cherry bush.  No kidding: that is what they are really called.  I thought in honor of Shakespeare, that I would put one bush on each side and not together.  Anyway, back to Romeo.  The cherries aren't super sweet, but they are much better to eat fresh than the sour cherries.  A few months ago, our Romeo cherry bush had dozens and dozens of blossoms.  The whole tree was covered in white blossoms.  Then the temperature got below freezing and we ended up getting only about 6 cherries total.  Wow, what a difference!  

With the coronavirus this past year, many people who were doing well are facing really hard challenges.  It may be a job or it may be losing family members.  Whatever it is, it reminded me of my Romeo cherry bush.  This year it only had the six cherries, but there is next year.  Things will be better and I have hope for the future.  We all have setbacks at times, but what matters is that we just keep plugging away through them knowing that there is a bright future ahead of us.  It may not be next month or next year, but it is there in the future at some time. 

Wishing all of you who have had struggles the best from the gals here at Spendwise Moms.  

The More You Give, The More You Receive

 We have been picking and eating a lot of lettuce this summer.  Our lettuce is still producing and it has done better this year than any other year.  The only thing we did differently, was to pick it more regularly.  It seems the more you pick, the more it grows.  That doesn't seem to make sense on paper, but if you stop picking lettuce, it will start to go to seed pretty soon after.  

So, how can this relate to life.  Well, it seems that the more we share, the more we receive as well.  Hoarding or being selfish just stops the flow of things.  For example,  when I was in college, someone told me that they didn't have any money left to buy food that week.  I decided to give her $20 and just cut back on some things for myself.  Coming home after I gave her the money, I looked in my wallet and there was the same amount of money there as there was before I gave her the money.  I wish money multiplied like George Bailey had hoped when he put two dollars in the safe, but that is not the case.  To this day, I don't have an answer as to how that happened, but it did.

Next example, a couple of years ago we gave some money to someone in need.  Within a few days, we received an unexpected bonus from work.  Mind you, we don't give things to others just to get something ourselves, but I have found over and over in my life that is the way it goes.  You pass on your kids clothes to someone else and someone offers their kids clothes to you.  

I have just found in my life that whenever I do things to bless others, my own life is blessed as well in so many ways.  

There is Always Enough of What You Really Need

 One thing my garden has taught me is that I am never tempted to eat too many veggies, no matter how good they taste.  For some reason, when you eat vegetables that are good for you, you can definitely get enough.  There are other things, though, that there never seems to be enough.  Cheddar Ruffles are one of my vices.  I can't buy them very often, if ever.  They have some chemical in them that makes me forget all sense of self control.  I just can't seem to get enough no matter how hard I try.  That is probably because they aren't good for me.  I bought some for a video I was making and I would be feeling better today if I just hadn't opened them.  One chip is all it takes and I am addicted.  

Of course picture was taken BEFORE I opened them.  I even had to ask my husband to hide them from me.  I have learned that it is best for me not to buy chips.  And, most of the time I do that now.  

Whether it is buying junk food or more stuff that we don't need just because it is a good price, it seems like we just can't get enough of the things we don't need.  Vegetables, on the other hand, are something that are really good for us and it is hard to eat too many.  Our bodies can get enough of the good things we need.  

I think I will go have a snack of green beans now that the chips are out of the house and hidden from me....

Little Bits Add Up

 Our neighbors have a beautiful garden.  They have hired people to do some things, but one thing I have noticed is that my neighbor comes up multiple times in the day and spends just a few minutes.  Sometimes it is pulling up weeks in a small area.  Sometimes it is watering a plant here or there.  But, those little things add up.  

This morning when I was taking out the compost, I decided to spend just 2-3 minutes pulling weeds in one area of the raspberry patch.  I didn't get all of them, but I pulled about 8 hand fulls and it looks better than it did.  If I did this regularly, imagine how much could get done.

A few years ago, I read a post about someone sharing how they canned 1 1/2 cups of jelly.  I thought to myself, "What a waste of time!"  It takes a while to heat up water to can and to cook the jelly, etc.  But, within a few weeks, this person had a lot of things canned, just by doing a little at a time.  Things don't always ripen at the same time with a garden, so doing a little at a time has some real merit.

Zucchini and green beans are really coming on.  So, instead of trying to eat it all fresh, which is my preferred way, I decided to just freeze some.  Today it was just 1 bag of green beans.  Yesterday it was a bag of shredded zucchini and 2 bags of onions.  It may not seems like much, but little by little I am getting quite a good amount of frozen veggies.  This year has been a bad year for raspberries.  Temperatures were below freezing later in the spring and it did some damage to some of the plants.  But, because I froze a bag of raspberries here and there last year, we have enough raspberries to make it through this year as well.  Little  bits add up.  

This morning I had a load of dishes to do.  I wasn't too excited to do them, so I turned on the timer and gave myself 5 minutes to get done as much as I could.  It was amazing that I could empty and fill in that time.  Sometimes it takes a little more than 5 minutes, but not much more.  The kitchen is clean and looks great, and it was only 5 minutes of work that made the difference.  

We may not feel like doing a little bit makes a difference so it isn't worth the time.  Try it for a week and you will see what a difference it can make.  It is easy to do and it is amazing how good you feel seeing the progress.  Whether it is decluttering, cleaning, gardening or whatever else you do.  Little bits really add up to make a difference.  

So, take a few minutes and do something small...

Bloom Where You Are Planted

 

This morning when I was out watering in the front of our house, I noticed this beautiful wildflower.  Look how it is growing right at the edge of the dirt by the cement.  The soil isn't very good there either, but it somehow grew into a beautiful wildflower nonetheless.  It reminded me how maybe some people may be discouraged, especially during this pandemic, because things have been a bit difficult and they have struggled.  But, as this little wildflower is a great example of, we can bloom where we are planted.  Things may not go the way we want, but we always have the choice to find a way to do the best we can with what we have.  That doesn't mean it is easy, but it can be done.

Here is another example with a limelight zucchini plant I planted right at the side of the grass because I didn't know where else to put it.  It has produced three beautiful zucchinis so far.  We honestly didn't think it would grow, since it is also in a bad spot of the front yard.  The deer have come and eaten some of its leaves as well.  But, it keeps growing and producing good zucchini for us to enjoy.  All odds were against this little guy, but somehow he found a way to survive.  

We can learn from growing plants.  It may be easier to grow in good soil, but you can also bloom where you are planted if it isn't as easy as other places.  So, if you are someone who has been hit hard with this whole pandemic, take some time to focus on your blessings and pray for help to conquer the challenges you are faced with.  You CAN do it.