The View From Here

Here is something else new to us.  At the end of May we decided to plant a vegetable garden.  We had talked about this for a while and had just not gotten around to it up to this point.  Those of you who know anything about a garden know that we squeaked in just at the last moment to plant.  The reason we decided to do this on such short notice was that we came across a way that would be fairly quick and inexpensive other wise we probably would have put it off again.  We tried what is called “square-foot gardening”.  Here is what it looks like.

The next step was planting the plants as seen next.

So here we are with all of our nice and very little plants at the end of May.  The squares you see that have nothing in them are lying to you.  (The beans are hiding there)  Now our responsibility was to water.  And so we did.

As you can see above the bean plants are finally coming out!  This happened practically overnight.  We were getting worried that our bean plants might not even sprout but after about a week they came up all at once.  I came home for lunch and a few had started coming up.  I watered them and by the time I came home there were about double of them.  Amazing!  This last picture is the most recent one (as of a few days ago) and you can really see a difference.  The thing that has astonished us the most was the cantelope plant (it is at the top in the picture above). It had stayed about the same size up until about a week ago.  Look in the picture below (top right hand side on this one and you will see how big it has gotten in about a week.

As you can see we have gotten smarter as we go.  The soaker hose makes it much easier to water.  All the beans are growing up and we are expecting some real vegetables soon.  We have already harvested one jalapeno.  One of our bell peppers that was starting to grow got blown off in a storm we had a few nights ago.  Sad.

So there you have it.  Our first garden.  I will keep you updated on how it goes.

Brian

Since I have been up here in Canada I have noticed a few funny things I would like to share with you. I am sure there are things like this back home but I think I notice them more up here. The first few things are some posters and signs I saw which having an iPhone made it very convenient to take pictures of them so that you can enjoy them as well. I know that these are intended to be serious but sometimes the things we take most seriously in life can also be the funniest. Click each one to see a larger version you can read.

I thought this one was funny because when I read it a Brian Regan voice pop into my head that said, “no, really……think about it”. (If you haven’t heard Brian Regan you really must) If it can cut metal do I really have to think about what it can do to me? Can you just see some one standing there, cutting metal with the thing, getting gum on their hand, and attempting to wash it off with the water gun they have? Maybe some things aren’t as obvious to some people.

This one was funny just because the guy is holding a bomb. “If it seems unsafe……” Hmmmm. Again, another Brian Regan voice, “Well, it seems…….it seems that this thing is about to blow up in my hand.”

This was in the bathroom trailer at the site. I don’t know what is in the water but we were not supposed to drink it. That isn’t even the funny part. The funny part is that someone tried to mark out the “Do Not” part of the sign. As if people would see it and think, “oh, I guess I can drink the water now”. Also, did the person who did this really think this would be a funny prank? What is in that water anyway? I am assuming it will at least make you sick hopefully not more than that. I guess they thought that if they got their co-workers sick that they would have more work to do?

This sign was on the door at the end of hallway in the lodge at which we stayed. This was the only way to get out! You had to go through this door to get back to the lobby. I guess they think they can make more money if they trap people in the hall with their rooms. Does the “all times” refer to when you need to go through it? I opened it just enough to squeeze through. I hope that is ok.

So there you have it. Serious/Funny signs in Canada. I’ll also throw this one out there. A guy I met up there kept using the phrase “once upon a day”. I guess that is the equivalent of “one time” or “one day” but I thought it was amusing too. See? My trip to Canada was completely productive.

Brian

Well, I hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving as I had. For starters, I got to sleep in a bit which is always nice and then spend a nice restful morning with my wife. Next, it starts snowing (check out some more pictures here). I am not talking about typical Texas snow here. This stuff was coming down hard. I think we ended up with about 3-4 inches at least. So we drove to my parents house in the snow where family and food were waiting. My family has the very interesting tradition of eating fajitas on Thanksgiving. I actually love this. So we ate and played in the snow for a while and then we went to watch a movie at the theater. I remember working at the theater and having to work holidays. What a bummer. We saw a hilarious movie called Enchanted. If you like Disney/fairytale movies this is definitely one you should see. It brings the fairytale world into our real world which is amazingly funny. After that we went to my wifes family’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Two big meals in one day. Is there a better way to gain weight? I submit that there is not! This one was the traditional kind which I really enjoy as well. We then watched Shrek The Third, another movie good at making fun of fairytales. Finally we drove home (in the snow) from which I am writing this post.

A day like today reminds me of all the things I am thankful for. I guess that is what it was made for. I am so thankful for my wife. I am thankful for my family (both of them!). I am thankful for the nation I live in where people can celebrate this way. I am thankful for Jesus who gave me all these things. A day like today also reminds me of all the things I hold on to so closely. Everyone of these things could be taken from me in an instant. (you can read this post I wrote about this topic) I pray that I am not so comfortable with having these things that I take them for granted. It is so easy to do. Don’t be so busy with life that the precious things slip by unnoticed. God has given us these moments. May they be for His glory in our lives!

Brian