Sunday~ Photo's.. Mutterings.. and even a Poem..

"It's important for survival that children have their own experiences, the kind they learn from. The kind their parents arrange for are not as useful. Good parents are the hardiest to get rid of." ~ Garrison Keillor

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."
~ Andy Warhol

"I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday." ~ Henry IV


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Weekly Winners~

~ Three brother finches settled in for the night in a dipper gourd that I grew and recycled into a little house for the babies that hatched here in the spring..

~ I love to recycle... this old igloo cooler no longer able to hold water.. now holds rich potting soil and waits on my porch steps for this summers second round of planting.. Already this summer it has furnished us with a bounty of yellow squash.. I'm thinking maybe I'll fill it with zinnia seeds to finish off the summer and keep it filled with bright blooms until frost!





~ I love listening to the roosters crow every morning.. ~ I love photo's of the chickens.. This group shot shows a Rooster named Uncle and a few of his wives.. Yes they all have names..

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Unconscious Mutterings~ #393

1- Coma ::~ isn't that like sleep.. no phones.. no dogs to walk.. will I dream? I'll pass.. but thanks for the offer of some time off..

2- Aristotle :: ~ "Happiness depends upon ourselves." ~Aristotle
I often quote him.. he was smarter than me..

3- Pink Eye::~ don't look at me with that eye.. go get some drops.. that's contagious you know..
I have never had it and do not want it..

4- Expensive ::~ everything I want is expensive.. even the cheap things I don't want are expensive..

5- Dancer ::~ when I was four or five I wanted to be a dancer.. Frank even put me a bar on the back of the smoke house and Mary was my Ballet teacher.. she found all the poses in the encyclopedia..

6- Lipstick ::~ Nope.. I'll pass on that too.. well maybe a little light pink.. or Blood red.. should it match my eye shadow or my nail polish?.. or my shoes?

7- Buffer ::~ I have a duck named buffer because he has spent his whole life protecting the smallest duck from the bully.. they were grown and laying eggs when I realized that he was courting her.. suitor isn't nearly as good a name as buffer..

8- Stilettos ::~ somehow these words all are beginning to sound like someone went to a show.. I can't wear those crazy shoes.. I'd break my neck...

9- Booming ::~ I know a few people with Booming voices.. I always wish I could turn them down a notch or two.. late at night cars pass by on the highway with their radios booming.. I would be so deaf from that gibberish noise..

10- Rap ::~ I have listened to rap.. no choice.. had teens.. they had it booming until I unplugged their stereo.. but thankfully they played the cleaned up a little bit version while they lived here.. afraid I'd burn it I reckon.. sometimes I want to rap someone on the head.. Miss Dunbar rapped my knuckles with her ruler.. when I talked in the first grade.. my poor knuckles were always red and she broke a few rulers.. finally she put me in the closet.. I hated it and rapped on the door loudly until she let me out..

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Spiritual Sundays~

Half Baked Blessings

a phone that keeps ringing
rattling my poor ears..

my friend causing anger
after all of these years?

walking these dogs
to no known avail

just walking and sniffing
and two wagging tails..

children come visiting
and then leave a mess..

to what their purpose
anyone could guess..

my feet are swollen
I have a head ache

some days my blessings
come to me half Baked..

so now dear Father
I hand this mess to you..

and ask that you guide me
in all that I do..
amen and amen..

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
8-8-2010

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I have added a few new memes to my blog.. I guess you could say I am trying them on for size.. I am jiggling things around and some of what used to be here is now on my other.. new. blog.. Patsy's Photos.. This is my first try at Spiritual Sunday.. I have to say that today has not been one to feel completely blessed by.. Phones ringing .. both of them.. a friend who I have known a million years wanting to be contrary today and her silliness striking me in just the wrong way at a bad moment.. Thankfully I held my temper... I guess there is a blessing in that.. I'd hate to have to train a new very bestest forever friend... Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Have a great Sunday!

Patsy

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Thankfully it's Friday!~ Here I am with Advice for the "Kids"!

"A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language."
~ W. H. Auden

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool."
~ Richard Feynman

"There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life when he has a raging urge to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure."
~ Mark Twain


Oh what a week this has been.. the older I get the faster times flies.. I want to slow things down and sit in the shade and rest a minute... I heard someone recently say that they ~ "thought that big tsunami.. you know the one that wiped out half of everything but America?.. and killed a thousand people over there in Africa.. I think that thing rocked the world and throwed time out of whack.. that's why we are so hot all the time.. I think anyway!"
~ and sometimes in my very wildest imaginings.. I am almost inclined to agree with him.. Time seems to move faster and faster.. I have a lot to say still.. I have a lot of things to tell people.. I'm going to be 50 this year... I have children who are part of the group I was never going to trust.. you know who you are those of you who are over thirty!... My youngest child was born yesterday.. yesterday I tell you and now she is planning a wedding.. what's up with that?? She asked me what I was planning to wear as mother of the bride.. I wanted to say a straight jacket! It is crazy that time has moved so fast.. I tell people who have a new baby.. slow time down as much as you can.. they will spread their wings and fly long before you will be ready to set them free! Now on to some things for my "kids!"

1~) ~ Listening to your enemies is not a sign of weakness nor defeat... ~ actually I would say don't have enemies but sometimes you just do.. but even they are entitled to have their own opinion.. the fact that it is different from yours doesn't make it any less worthy.. you should at least hear what they have to say... and if you can't come to an agreement.. listen as they talk to others.. you might hear their plans for the next few days.. consider their route and plan a place to whop them with a brick! OK. OK.... Maybe not.. I know I shouldn't encourage violence.. and if you hit them just right there won't be any.. one whop and they fall.. I am very careful to never ever make plans out loud.. that's why I am the whopper and not the whoppee!

2~) Before you complain and whine.. take time to count your blessings. ~ I myself am guilty of over looking simple blessings like food and a roof over my head.. I have not always been so blessed.. some of my adult life was tough.. I try to remember so I will know how to survive should fate and circumstance cast me back there.. times are tough for everyone now.. statistics say that most people are one paycheck away from failure.. If you have a job.. be thankful.. if you have food in your cabinet or refrigerator.. feel blessed... and if you have friends and family to comfort you in the darkest hours.. be grateful.. Now quit that whining and complaining.. I just told you times are tough.. roll with the punches or stay on the ground.. but watch out for flying bricks.. tough times can create new enemies from old friends who were so busy watching your hard earned blessings that they forgot to count their own..

3~)" Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else." ~ this quote is from Leonardo Da Vinci ~ I like it.. I wonder what he ever failed at? What else could you do? Try to learn a second talent.. Maybe you can cook and clean?.. or sing and dance?
Can you do something else? can you make a living doing something else?.. what if you had too?.. I have held a huge variety of jobs.. factory worker.. baby sitter... grill cook.. hotel desk clerk.. laundress.. housekeeper.. old people sitter.. cashier... It sounds easy enough to say that you will never need a different job.. but it also never hurts to be prepared... Learn how to do something else.. it might be important some day..

4~) A 7 year old can sometimes teach a 49 year old profound things about life. ~ this past week-end Kirstin and Emily and Luke came by just as we were eating.. Kirstin (Luke's daughter) likes potato chips and cookies and hot-dogs and cheetos and stuff.. like all kids.. she rather have that than real food.. again like all kids.. she wanted some junk.. not pork steak or veggies like the rest of us were having.. Luke cut her up a Pork chop and said well we have to eat some real food too.. I watched her eating.. washing each bite down with good healthy water.. she loves water but not beans.. she talked to me while she ate and I watched.. I noticed that every once in a while she counted and naturally I counted to.. 15 tiny bites then 14 and on and on.. finally she got down to only five and asked me where her Daddy was... I told her he and Dave were outside.. she ran out and then came hurrying back and hopped back up to the kitchen table and pulled three bites off to one side.. I asked her where she had been and she said to ask her daddy how many was half.... apparently he had told her to eat half.. I laughed and told her she had ate half a while ago.. she said he told her eat three more bites.. I told her again she had already eaten more than half.. she smiled and said I guess he doesn't have to know.. I was all set to agree with her and take away the plate but she sighed and said.. " But, it would be wrong to tell my Daddy a lie!" ~ I was speechless.. I know a few adults "kids" who could learn something from Kirstin.. she quickly ate the three tiny bites.. not really a whole bite between the three pieces.. I gotta tell Y'all that I had her some tater chips already in her bowl before she could put her fork down.. do I think she will stay that honest??.. I hope so.. But I know the world might teach her to lie.. we should all take time to hear what our children say and to love the child in them.. maybe you don't have a child of your own but I'll bet you know one.. do what you can to teach them good things.. and try to remember that if they hear you ( adults) lie.. they will think it is OK to tell a tale of their own..

5-) ~ Paint velvet beans~ Do something simply because it is fun.. pull the seed pods from your grandma's wisteria vine and paint them... buy a coloring book.. a bedtime story book or something that is simple fun.. then do it when you need to relax and forget that you are grown.. be seven years old again..color.. climb that big tree in the woods behind your house.. dance in the rain.. stomp in a puddle.. let the child deep inside you run loose. Buy some sidewalk chalk and sneak outside and color the neighborhood sidewalks in the middle of the night.. be sure you go down the street from your own house though.. draw bright big flowers in red and purple.. and sneaking creeping snakes in lime green and blue... draw grinning happy faces.. then wake up early to watch the early morning joggers or pet owners as they discover your art.. That way you can have fun twice.. can you really imagine living in a big city and waking up to walk your dog and finding a mural of huge bright bold flowers around your neighborhood block.. and chalk washes right off with the hose.. in fact I have a bucket full.. you should see my patio sometimes..
I know I say over and over have simple fun.. I think that concept in life is one of the most important.. I hope I have instilled ways to have simple fun into the minds of all of my "kids"..
If I haven't I'll be glad to load a bunch of you up and go on a wild flower hunt.. I don't know though.. I might not be able to get thirteen of you into my car these days!

I loved my kids and everyone Else's kids.. I was the hot spot in the trailer park.. the trailer where "Miss Meany" lived but where all the kids came around the string fence to knock politely on the door.. Miss Meany would talk with you when things were wrong at home and listen to you when you wanted to complain about how wrong your folks were.. then she would send you home with good advice and a lightened heart.. Sometimes.. Many times.. almost all the times.. a kid just needs someone to listen with out judging them.. Today's kids are wild and getting wilder.. their own parents are sometimes little more than kids themselves.. The children are our future.. be a listening ear for your own and other children.. lay flat down.. belly flopped.. in the grass and let a small child tell you their thoughts.. you might really be surprised at how profound their little minds really are.. Did you think that because they are innocent that they were dumb? Their brain is clicking faster than even time can travel.. even if time was knocked outta whack by a tsunami.. fast is for spinning in circles.. roller coasters and running a foot race.. let slow be for living and laughing and loving! Have a Fun and fabulous Friday!
Patsy

Sometimes I feel a little Dark!

"Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only for wallowing in." ~ Katherine Mansfield

"It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret."
~ Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"Never regret yesterday. Life is in you today, and you make your tomorrow."
~ L. Ron Hubbard

"Look at your past. Your past has determined where you are at this moment. What you do today will determine where you are tomorrow. Are you moving forward or standing still?" ~ Unknown


Each of us have gone through some dark times in our lives. I personally have at times wondered if I would ever see good times again. I have to tell you that even though we may go through dark times or what seems like very hard times; we will always come through them somehow and there is always a brighter day for us somewhere near. I think sometimes we have to look around at things other people are suffering through to appreciate our own "hard times"! Most days when I see what others are dealing with I feel very blessed not to have to contend with those particular troubles.

I have had a past that was often filled with issues. We moved a lot. Money was a rarity. I cried tears enough to drown an elephant. Trust was broken and lives fell apart. I survived and though I walked through some dark days I soon found a new Path into a new light! I regret nothing of my life. For even in those dark moments I was learning and growing. I am who I am today because of the tears I shed back then!

These two poems were written during very dark days of my life. I am sure that everyone knows we all have those dark days. It is how we come through those darkest of days that shapes the person we will become. If you feel that the world is a dreary place right now look around you.. somewhere there is a person who will allow you to see that their are others with worse problems.
Don't stand still! Move forward ~ even if an inch feels like a mile! I try to look for a blessing of some kind even if it is small every day. I am blessed in many ways but just as a sample ~ I have a roof over my head and food to eat.... I am wearing clothes and am warm... I have family... I am sane. ~ ( well I think I am sane - If I am not same I don't know it yet and so am still blessed!)
Have a great day!
Patsy





Stolen Emotions

What wickedness have you wrought?

A shadow of betrayal drowns us

as my perceptions shudder.

Once we drank of paradise;

Innocent and glad hearted.

But your heart perished...

A feverish vision of lies.

emotions follow pain,

pain follows memories

Love dissolved.

in a storm of bitterness

I condemn you.

By: Patricia Sawyer

1992

Torn Apart

The cloak of night falls

without a sound,

Cold and alone are we.

the understanding for which you pine

flares once, then dies.

swallowed by your obscessions

All hope must end.

Your heart desires no more.

how could YOU not understand?

Our dark emotions surround us,

crying....

Save us from ourselves.

By: Patricia Sawyer

1992

Sometimes It's Easier Done than Said.

"Poets are like magicians, searching for magical phrases to pull rabbits out of people's souls."
~ Glade Byron Addams

"Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold." ~ Zelda Fitzgerald

"Blessings be with them, and eternal praise, Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares!- The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs Of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays."
~ William Wordsworth


Some days words wake me up from a sound sleep. Bouncing around jumping up and down.. Shouting Write me Down; Write me down!! Other days they hide deep in my heart and say "NO Not today" when I ask them to come out and play. What's a poet to do? On those days when words escape me, I usually try and coax them out by taking a walk through my pine trees. Sometimes they like the smell of pine and a few will peek out at me. They might even write a whole poem for me. But thankfully those days have been few and far between for me lately. I write something almost every single day. I don't always share what I write. Sometimes it is just personal thoughts and I feel they might be way too much information for someone else. You know the kids wouldn't like it if I wrote about Me and Dave and Love. I can hear them gagging even at the thought of such a posting. Other times I have written something that came from my heart and even though I may have loved it myself; Upon reading it over I have realized that someone who still lives in this world may not like it for one reason or the other. Those thoughts will stay with me till they can't hurt the feelings of anyone living. I don't want to hurt another by my words.

I often write from presented word lists or even a title. Sometimes I am right on the mark about what a person has felt as they wrote the words to me.. Other times I fear I am off by a mile. That is because words may have a different meaning to me and someone else. For instance, I recently mentioned a bent over tree in a poem. That tree really exists. My brother and sister knew what tree I meant and where it was. Others even e-mailed me to say they also knew of a bent over tree and where was my tree?! I think they wanted to see if I had been in their woods! One man sent me a private message to inform me that a tree could not grow bent over. It would, he said perish and die. Sadly I now inform him that he is wrong. It would be easier to show him a tree that lived and thrived bent over than to argue with him. I think it lived because we as kids ran up and down it so many times filling it's heart with laughter and also tears. Even after I was grown and had children I went to that safe haven to cry a few times. I bet that tree could coax words from me on even the darkest of days!

Sometimes I might touch a person and have words pour over me from their touch. Thankfully that also is rare or I would forever keep my hands in my pockets. I don't always understand the words that I feel when this happens. Recently I had a very special Niece to be hospitalized because her baby had decided that it was time. Needless to say, neither the doctors or even us thought it was time. I along with my Best friend decided to take a trip to see her. We hoped to cheer her up. We spent a few minutes with her but could see that she was tired. I hugged her as I got ready to leave the room and I felt almost as if words would burst from me. They were electrified. The main word I felt was Blessing. I didn't dare write anything in front of either her or My best friend, Sheri. I myself could see no Blessing in her situation. I just knew they would think me crazy as a bedbug if I wrote what I was thinking. I was half afrid for my sanity myself. I promised myself I wouldn't forget the words. I would write them down as soon as I had one single second by myself.

Sheri and I left the hospital and being hungry as we always are when we get the chance for a day out, we decided to stop at Ryans and eat before heading home. As soon as I sat down at the table and she was fixing her plate I scribbled on a Napkin the words to My poem for tonight. Then before she came back to the table I folded it and hid it away to protect myself from those who would have had me comitted for thinking about blessings at a time like we were having. I Have had time to think things over since this was written and I have come to understand that His early birth truly was a blessing. For his death was coming either way. By being born early he was a gift to us all for two weeks. He gave us as a family a common interest to pray about, pulling us together in that regard. He wrapped his tiny finger around his mother's finger for a second one day. The only chance she had to hold his hand. So tiny and yet so beautiful; so perfect. Heart and soul we all Prayed and hoped. Sadly, he was not to stay in this world. We were only blessed By Aiden for two weeks. But I personally thank God for the blessing of his life! Sometimes it's easier to count your blessings when they are good things. I do know how hard it is to understand. But I believe that all things work together for the Good that God intends for us all. I once told My Grandma that sometimes I didn't understand. and she replied." Lord, Child, you will do a whole heap better if you will just accept and count it ALL as blessings. There is no Understanding sometimes till long after you have accepted." Sometimes it's easier to just accept. Sometimes that's easier said than done. Other times it's easier to accept if you don't have to do a lot of talking about it too.. Those times it's easier done than said! Please continue to pray for the parents and families of all the tiny babies who barely visit our lives.! Blessings for only a moment in time! I hope you enjoy today's poem. Be thankful for all blessings that come your way. Be careful to count them every once in a while.
Have a great day!
Patsy

Blessing

Bound By a
Love Never ending.
Every sweet breath
Something special.
So exciting; So perfect.
I am Overjoyed.
Nothing prepared me for this.
God, I thank you for this Blessing!

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
(12-?- 2008) On a Napkin~
1-23-2009 final draft

A Lazy, but Peaceful Sunday!

"God almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures." ~Francis Bacon~

I haven't felt like doing much today. I have been kinda lazy. I have a school program for Emily tonight. I have ONE more school Program for Emily! EVER!!

She graduates next Friday night.

"There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Today is also the Day Cooper is supposed to start his long drive from New Mexico to South Carolina. Feel free to Pray that he will be blessed with Traveling mercies. I won't be worth much till he is home. I will be in a rotten mood. Worried beyond reason maybe.. But, I think Most parents understand where I'm coming from on this! He is nineteen and driving this trip alone!

I think now maybe Y'all who are parents will understand why I have spent the day outside in my Garden. Dragging a rake or two around as I cleaned the garden and rested there having a little word here and there as I worked, with God! Seeking and finding a peacefulness today. Remembering when I moved here and all of this seven acres was a field of broom-straw. How my children and later, Dave's two as well, grew up here. Played here and worked here in the gardens with me many many times. I have decided to share this part of my Gardens with all of You! Please enjoy your journey to Patsy's Gardens.

"A garden is a delight to the eye and a solace for the soul." ~ Sadi ~

"Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the Soul" ~The Koran~





















"Earth laughs in flower." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson~

"If you seek a mind at peace, a heart that cannot harden, go find a door that opens wide upon a lovely garden." ~Unknown~

If any of my family and friends comes to my house and I don't answer their knock upon my door, they look for me in the garden before they leave. There is always a chance I am there. I have two friends who look for me there first. Deb And Thoi! I know they just want to sneak a cutting or maybe say a word to the man upstairs without me. I don't mind. If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods you too will be welcome to walk through my Garden. where string beans grow in five gallon buckets and fish swim in everything from kiddy pools to barrels. I hope you have enjoyed my garden today. Remember to love the earth treat her with kindness. Stop and smell a flower every chance you get. And remember that with GOD ~ ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
Have a great day!
Patsy !