a dandelion diary
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We all see them standing there.  Rumpled clothes with faraway eyes and cardboard signs.  We glance quickly and hope they don’t look back. 

 

We are curious but unsure.  We wonder who they are and how they got to this place.  We think they need help.  We think they need hope.  We forget they need love.    

 

The light turns green and we are on our way.  We go back to our cozy lives.  They remain.  We pretend we are so different.  We are not. 

 

I pass by a homeless man today and with an empty wallet all I have to offer is my half drank iced tea which I choose to keep.  What I do share is eye contact and a smile, which he returns in kind. 
 
 


                                                   image via Pinterest                                                         

 

Two fragile human beings, full of our own weaknesses and flaws, created in God’s likeness.  We are the same.  And that's how God loves us both...the same.

In our house we have a junk drawer.    A drawer full of junk.  A space where we gather the "bits and bobs "of our household that seem to have no other place.  (Please tell me you have one too!)  Inside you will find tape, regular and masking, a ruler, a measuring tape, a calculator, a mini stapler, matches, a glue stick, super glue, AAA and AA batteries, a screw driver and a deck of cards. 

From time to time other things that have no home or, let's face it, we are too lazy to put elsewhere find their way inside.  This may or may not include a rubber band from a newspaper, a business card, a paint brush, a cellophane wrapped car found at the bottom of the cereal box and possibly a bread crumb or two (smile).

But the star of the drawer has always been a pair of blue handled shears - aka The Blue Scissors.  And yes, they deserve to be capitalized.  Honestly I don't remember when we got them.  It seems as if they have always been there ready and waiting for the job at hand.  We have used them to cut out school photos, clip coupons, prune flowers and trim art projects.  They have been glued and gummed up numerous times and with a quick washing seem good as new. 

The problem with The Blue Scissors is that they seem to have a mind of their own and tend to wander off now and again.  This has been a problem off and on over many years.  Nobody takes them, No One ever misplaces them and Somebody always blames Another.  

They are never gone for long though and always reappear to be used another day.  That is until a few months ago.  They disappeared, vanished completely!  Dspite looking everywhere I could think of and hoping for their return, they were just gone. 

I tried a pair of old, black handled ones from a desk drawer but they didn't stand up to the abuse.  We used a tiny pair from the pencil cup but they couldn't stand the pressure.  Finally, resolved they were not coming back, I replaced them with a lighter blue handled pair from a tool kit.  They were a second best to The Blue Scissors but we were moving on.

Then, mysteriously, a couple weeks ago, without warning at all, I reached in to get the light blue handled pair and there they were:  THE Blue Scissors!  Oh the joy! 

I immediately began to spread the news and speculate who returned them but no one would fess up.  Me?  I am chalking it up to a (September) Christmas miracle of sorts.        

Just to the left of my desk is a window.  A window you can often find me looking out when I should be doing other tasks.  There is just so much to see out there beyond the window.
 
Recently two large, black crows sitting side by side on a wire beyond that window caught my attention.  The one on the left was squawking and carrying on looking at the crow on the right.  The crow on the right had no response.  The loud crow would pause and then start right back in again as if scolding its friend on the wire.  The poor crow on the receiving end of the outburst just hung its head and looked away.  The apparent scolding kept up until finally the cranky crow left and flew to another nearby wire. 
 
Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a>
 
 
My eyes were fixed on the dejected crow.  It just sat there with no movement.  No lifting his head.  No looking for the friend that had left.   
 
After a short while a third crow appeared and just sat beside the sad and dejected looking one.  They both just sat there.  After a little time had passed the sad crow lifted his head and looked up again.  Hope was restored.   
 
And I thought - how often do we spend our time nagging and scolding when maybe we should just come along side someone and simply love them…
Sometimes, try as you may, there is just no beauty to be found.  Such is the case with this:


This is our very unattractive electrical box cover.  It's to the right of our back door in the kitchen and on display for all to see.  Depending on the decor of the kitchen at the time we have covered it with a wooden printers tray, a fabric calendar and a, fortunate to find, picture that fit the space.  Since our recent updates to the kitchen I have needed a new cover-up and, inspired by some printed pillows on Pinterest, was able to come up with this quick fix.

I first had the Mr. put together a simple wooden frame slightly wider than the box and somewhat longer to coordinate with the objects on the adjacent wall.  I decided to use a piece of drop cloth to cover the frame measuring it to overlap just slightly. 


Next step was attaching the drop cloth to the frame with a staple gun.  (This is a view of the finished product from the back since I neglected to get a photo for this step.)


The next step was creating a pattern on the computer.  I used Edwardian Script ITC font, size 280 in lower case in Microsoft Word.  There was no need to use bold print with this size font!  It took a couple tries to come up with the right sizing before settling on this and printing it out.  I then cut around each word making it easier to arrange them on the canvas I created. 





Living in the Pacific Northwest we often have gray skies so this saying seemed very appropriate!  

Next up was placing them on the canvas and slipping a small piece of tracing paper below and tracing the outline of the letters with a pen.  (I chose to staple the fabric on the frame before this step so I had to place books underneath to create a hard surface to work on.  Doing it over again I think I may choose to create the canvas completely before attaching to the frame.)

Now on to the paint.  I used regular craft paint and did not add a fabric medium.  They went on well for me and I ended up using two coats of each color. 


The colors I chose showed up well on the drop cloth canvas and the use of gray for the word "gray" and yellow for the "sunshine" was a fun touch! 

The finished product:



A much more beautiful space with little time and little money involved.  Even with gray skies, this makes me happy!






     



The sun is warm today but there is an ever so slight nip in the air.  Many of our potted plants have begun a slow decline and our night time temperatures have dipped as low as the mid thirties.  But there are still glorious flowers to celebrate.

 
The big heads of the dahlias are reaching for the waning rays of warmth.


 

 
This tropical beauty is working overtime to bring a few last blossoms before being moved to the warmer confines of indoors until this time next year.




 
The beautiful purple/blue hydrangea blooms are ready to be savored in at least one more early autumn arrangement. 




 

I am thoroughly enjoying the last drops of summer on this last Saturday of the season.  I hope you are too…
 
I could aspire to be a rose, regal and lovely, scented or not, with thorns at the ready to keep others at bay.  Some would choose to be a daisy, cheerful and sweet bringing joy in massive bouquets.  Others may wish to be a sprig of lavender, beautifully colored and lavishly fragranced, calming senses and inspiring dreams. 

As for me, I can't quite shake the notion of the common dandelion and it's unashamed golden glory.  Some may see a mere weed but I see much more.

I see a perennial plant that never gives up, keeps coming back.  A deeply rooted specimen of vegetation that is, as we have all no doubt experienced, difficult to exterminate.  A plant whose petals open with the morning sun and close with the blanket of evening day.  A gathering of faith. 

Its tender leaves are used for nourishment in salads, sauteed or steamed while the milky, white sap of the stem has been known to soothe bee stings and blisters.  Undoubtedly a useful piece of greenery as it readies itself to turn to seed.  A collection of hope. 

The golden flower head can change into the white, globular seed head overnight.  Each seed has a tiny parachute that spreads far and wide in the wind.  An orb of potential.  A child's innocent wish.  A scattering of love.


"A weed is just a plant whose virtues have yet been discovered."  Ralph Waldo Emerson


Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a>



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Welcome! My name is Mindy. I live in the rural Pacific Northwest where we celebrate life in the country. I dip my toes in writing, decorating, DIY, baking, classic literature, gardening and photography. I strive to find beauty in the ordinary and blessing in the extraordinary.

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