Mid Year Check on 2021 Word of the Year - Cultivate

Back in January, I did this post:  2021 Word of the Year Cultivate  

Cultivate - prepare and use land ....... check

Cultivate - tend to plants in garden .......check

Cultivate - grow, maintain, culture in heath ..... check

Cultivate - acquire, develop, ability ..... check

I guess, Cultivate, was my word.

I haven't posted much about how I tried to apply this word to my daily life, but I have.  Not just literally, as in gardening, but mentally as in saying "no" to things and "yes" to me.

Have you ever taken the Enneagram Personality Test?  Here is a link: Enneagram Test should you want to find out your number.

Justine had Anna and I do the test.  It's really interesting!  The more I learn about my number the more I can laugh at myself.  

I'm a 7

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.

P.S.  I added the last part of this post, so that you can understand me better....ahahaha.  I always hear, "I know you're busy"  First, we ALL are busy.  Second, learning to say "no" to (whatever) and "yes" to me, will be something I will be getting on to cultivating.    

Key Personality Traits of the 7

• Always on the go
• Wide range of interests
• Childlike enthusiasm and energy
• Curious, sparkling eyes
• Many ongoing professional and creative projects
• Upbeat and optimistic; glass-half-full outlook
• Well-liked and popular among peers

• Sevens are often very imaginative and creative. They excel in coming up with new ideas and initiating experiences. However, they can struggle with focus and self-discipline.

• • Flexibility, happiness and novelty. Variety is the Enthusiast’s bread (not spice!) of life.
  • Enthusiasts seek out eye-opening experiences and sensations — to take in and see the value and meaning in everything.
  • Open-mindedness paired with a non-judgmental attitude is what makes the Enthusiast tick. They believe each person should be given the chance to explore all they possibly can; each moment has its beauty, as long as you look carefully enough.

It's a Tea Garden

I had to and still have to reclaim some raised beds this year.  They are too "quacky" and hard to maintain.   

I was late to shop the greenhouses, but I found lots of herbs for like $0.75 each.  Our daughter, Justine, had just mentioned something about a tea garden idea.  Well, little herb, you can come home with me.

I had Al put these cattle panels up, mostly to keep the deer out of the beds.  They are great for that, but not so easy to weed through.  I am able to lift up the one end and then balance it on a board or something.  Well, easier said than done....

I didn't even know I did this to my arm, until a few hours later.  There was like a "goose egg" under the skin and my armpit was sore.  I know it got "pinched" in a square of the panel, but I just kept working.

We did this bed last year.  Al planted some horseradish in a contained area on the end.  I filled the rest with flowers.  I really love Zinnias!  The ones not blooming yet, I did from seed, and they are going to be white and green.  

Al finally was able to cut our hay.  We have clay soil and we had a ton of rain in past few weeks which made it too wet to drive on.

We have a window of several nice days in a row, so time to cut the hay.  As it was, his tractor tires were getting wet.  He is on vacation too, so it works perfectly.  Good Lord willing, nothing will break and we can bale it.   It was a perfect day.  I drove the 4 wheeler up to the top of our property and took the last picture.  Our time here, our stewardship of this land, has been one of my greatest blessings.  

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.  

Wordless Wednesday Mid July

 

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.

Motivational Monday - No Magic Pills

Good Monday Morning.  

I hinted at this post in my previous one.  Inspiration came from the hours I spent weeding my garden last week.  Oh, I love how it looks now!  Worth every minute of the effort!

I have had, no I take that back, I ALWAYS have people ask me questions.  From, "Who is your neighbor who sells eggs?"  "What is the contact information for?"  "Do you know how much this old clock is worth?"  "Could you come over and price all the items for my garage sale?" "What time is the...?"  I could come up with dozens of examples.  I don't really understand why I'm the 411 to all of this?  Some questions are nice, but others rather nosy.  Truthfully, I will stop what I am doing, go look up the information and then send it to them.  I mean, can't you do that?  I know this sounds snarky, but I need to put my time into perspective.  Especially when questions relate to my business.  I don't need to be that helpful.  

So, with 5 gallon pail in waiting and my kneeling along rows in need of weeding, I came up with this post.  There is "no magic pills."  I've used that on my girls over the years.  Mostly, because I happen to come from a line of "magic pill seekers" that is as much of a reality as it is metaphorically.  I don't even know if that is grammatically correct, but you get what I mean.  

So the best way to write this, is to do it this way.

"How do you get your garden looking so nice?"  "There is no magic pills, it's just hard work!"

"How did you lose your weight?"  "There is no magic pills, it's just hard work!"

"How do you organize a huge event like the Ringle Harvest Day?"  "There is no magic pills, it's just hard work!"

"How do you set up an online estate sale business?"  "There is no magic pills, it's just hard work!"

"How did you stay married 33 years?"  "There is no magic pills, it's just hard work!"

"How did you get your kids to do their chores?"  "There is no magic pills, it's just hard work!"

I could give more, but you get where this is going.  In fact, I have  to say EVERY thing in my life that I feel I've been successful at it is the result of HARD work.  Of course, it goes without saying, I know the Lord helps me.  It is He who gave me my "gifts."  It's what I do with what He has given that matters.  

I know, how is 'this' motivating? 

Well, first, stop thinking about doing and do it.  For me, that was watching others on YouTube with beautiful gardens.  I could look at theirs, seek their "magic pill" tips, or get off my butt and weed mine - hard work.  I could go through each of those questions above as examples and tell you my revelation to how to make it happen - all of them are the result of hard work.

So, second, stop looking for the "magic pill" in what you seek and make it happen.  Do the work.  Put in the effort.  Stop making excuses (I'm famous for that one!).  

And, third, the reward of it, that is the motivation.  If you would have asked me 2 weeks ago, "how is your garden doing?"  I was about to give up again.  Just let it go and let the weeds take over.  But, I MADE myself go out there and do it.  Now, I have to make myself not go out there because I like it so much.  I have to take that same motivation and apply it to my next task.  I can scroll instagram and look at other's organized (fill in the blank), seek their "magic pill" of tips on how to keep it that way....or, I could just get off my butt and do it.  

My hopes in sharing the "good, bad and ugly" about Dicky Bird in my blog, is that you take something from each vulnerable moment and lesson I post about.  Trust me when I say, there is "no magic pill" to making yourself do something, "it's just hard work."  You are worth the investment.

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.  

Mid Summer Garden Tour

 

We tried a few different things this year with our garden.  First, we made it a bit smaller, of course, now I don't have enough room for all seeds I started.  Also, I LOVE my greenhouse Al built me last year!  I am out there every day, I just love it.  I have a tenant, a cat faced orb weaver spider.  They are very beneficial as they eat garden insects.  This one had a black and white hornet caught in her web.  My own Charlotte's Web.  I don't mind her and she doesn't mind me.  

I am behind with my blogging and haven't shared it yet, but I was on vacation with my daughter in early June.  My garden, for the most part, had a later start.  You have to keep up with the weeding, which is the hardest part of gardening.  Anyway....I spent this past week working on weeding.  I go out early and in my pj's and barefoot, I like to feel the dirt between my toes.  

I just pick, pull and fill a pail, then dump it over the fence.  

I can't wait to see how my "3 Sisters" area looks in the fall.  I did indian corn, Hopi black sunflowers, 1,000 year old cave beans and Lakota squash.  

I remember asking a friend of mine, who has a beautiful, huge garden, "how do you not have any weeds or how do you keep your garden looking so nice?"  She said, "well, it's hard work, but you just keep at it" I was thinking about this while I was weeding and came up with a future blog post or two.  

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.  

Show & Sell Saturday - Mexican Redware Pottery

 Mexican Redware Pottery gained popularity in the 1920-30's as highways opened up for tourists going to and from Mexico.   As Americans were able to gain access to boarder cities and bring home affordable trinkets and pottery.  Major department stores of that time took notice.  Soon many of these hand painted pieces were showing up at W.H. Macy in New York, Kaufmann's in Pittsburg and Leonard's in Chicago giving them some northern exposure.

There were a few major pottery communities in Mexico, where one could find an immense thriving artistic center that had a 400 year tradition in the region.  These were, Guadalajara, San Pedro Tlaquepague and Tonala.  Tonala was a thriving community of artisans steeped in clay traditions all living and working next to each other.  San Pedro Tlaquepaque was known for the shops and studios set up for the outside visitor.  This area was know for it's "live working artists" and tourists would flock to.  

Tlaquepapue is the common word used for the glazed pottery depiciting everyday imagery, landscapes of the times or of "Old Mexico."  These pieces when produced and purchased as momentos of a vacation, were very affordable.  Prices stayed affordable for collectors up until the 1990's. 

However, as of late, there has been an increased interest in the brighly colored pottery for a modern day twist on the BoHo design and "Traveler" staging and styling scene.  Both of which, the older Millennials are drawn to.  

I will be posting some Mexican Redware tomorrow morning on here:  Town Hall Trinkets Online Estate Sales  I can ship too.  

I hope you enjoyed this little show & tell, now I hope to sell it.   

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin. 

Old Recipe - Cherry Cobbler

 I do like old cookbooks.  I don't look first to them as I once did.  A Pinterest search is much faster.  However, I have been getting so annoyed with the links, too many ads!  I only clicked to see your recipe, not "what celebrity child looks like their famous parent?"  But, I look...and then, I'm not interested in baking anymore...ahahha.  No, not that extreme, but it is all too distracting.  

Lisa and I have been working on a living estate sale for the past few weeks.  We have found some neat things.  While cleaning out their root cellar/pantry room, we found a cherry pitter.  We decided to mark it $5 and after I thought about it, I bought it for that.  With Rainier cherries, a new pitter, I made this.

Cherry Cobbler

Cobblers are so quick, easy and most ingredients are on hand.  Any, ANY, fruit would be good in this.  

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.