Of Blue on Blue

One of the moms I do childcare for lost both her grandparents within two weeks. 

Her Grandma's funeral is today.

Lloyd and Shirley were married for 63 years 

and raised their large family in this community

They were well known and loved and will be missed by many!.

Death has a way of kindling the flame of awareness within us!

Awareness of the brevity of life even if lived to a ripe old age!

Awareness of the preciousness 

of what may appear commonplace

until it is no more!

So let's linger longer

... over supper,

on garden benches

lets dance in the rain,

delight in the sunrise,

...and such, 

Before what may seem commonplace

slips from our touch

Where yester-twilight’s countryside

Was veiled with deeper blue on blue

Soft pink, the ink of morning-tide

Seeps through the heavens far and wide

To melt the mantle twixt the view

And toll the bell of life-to-do

How faithfully new morning breaks

Through bars to hold the stars at bay

While we tend to soon-morrow’s wakes

Of toil and trust’s relentless stakes

While seasons subtly ebb away

The gap twixt grace and Judgement Day

A sense of something more endears

Us to the precious peal of grace

For with life’s gathered, dwindling years

That like a little mist appears

And soon no fingertip can trace

We cherish more, the commonplace

Of smiles to wear and help to lend

Of gratitude for mercies new

While moments fall and seasons wend

Their way from beginning to end

Where, who knows who will next pass through

The veil that deepens, blue on blue

Each day on earth, a gift of grace

Time like an easel, splashed with pleas

Lord, teach us to treasure each face

Of loved ones still in our embrace

Before A Final Brushstroke frees

A Masterpiece of memories

We tread the sacred breadth of Now

Absorbed by little life-to-do

As breath-by-breath winnows the bough

Of blooms we often miss somehow

Until Death lowers blue on blue

And draws another face from view

© Janet Martin

James 4:14-15

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.

What is your life?

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead, you ought to say,

“If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

For What His Grace Allots...(and update on my niece)

Life is beautiful (even in the broken)

Is it not the broken that enhances the beauty?!

(see end of post for update on my niece)

Life is not perfect.

Love is far from perfect

(though we have Jesus who demonstrated perfect love toward us)

we are broken people each in our own personal situations of

'try, try again' to make the best with what we have.

Life's road is full of ruts

It can be easy to get stuck in one without realizing it;

attitudes, habits, etc.

But with each morning comes God's mercies renewed

and fresh grace and opportunity to do the best with what we have.

Futile to look to the neighbors garden wishing for their lot/plot...

(the above is the part I wrote this morning 

before Duty took over and turned it into an evening post)

this little tot is simply peering through the fence to enjoy the view!

So I decided to join her and just enjoy it too💖

futile to peer over the fence to pine for greener lot/plot

and overlook due diligence wishing for what is not

nor is there any common sense on looking back too long

today becomes the recompense tomorrow hinges on

what does it profit you or I to wallow in dismay

what matters now is how we tie up loose ends of Today

before it is too late to make the most of what will be

The Past when twilight bars the gates where today used to be 

the same sun sets and rises on a world of fellowmen 

the whetting stone of life's surprises vexes our ken

where some will bless and some will curse and some will just stand by

for better or for worse each circumstance waits our reply 

sometimes a little stumble jolts us to reality

and helps to keep us humble in the opportunity

where, pray we honor Providence with what His grace allots

rather than peer over the fence and pine for greener plots

Janet Martin

1 Pet. 4:10-11

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, 

as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 

 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. 

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,

 so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. 

To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. 

Amen.

Update on my niece who suffered

multiple injuries in an accident almost 2 weeks ago...

The doctors are amazed at her progress!

Yesterday she was released from Sick Kids

and granted permission to go home for a few days 

before starting rehab next week!

She still tires very easily.

She turns 15 tomorrow!

We are so happy for her to be able to celebrate this

milestone at home with her family!

No visitors allowed (due to Covid-risks)

and prayers for continued healing appreciated! 

We are very thankful for the healing

God's grace has allotted so far!

October (and a foodie finish!)

 Blushing hydrangea where autumn frosts flirt...

Shiny red apple for dinner dessert...

Blushing hydrangea where autumn frosts flirt

Shiny red apple for dinner dessert

Sassy wind sashaying through grand ballrooms

Scattered with tatters from lofty-tree looms

Landscapes, rain-glossy run slightly awry

With watercolors unfurled from the sky

Summer’s orange embers twixt plowed furrows glow

Warming our spirits on hearths primed for snow

One day soft kitten-like purrs kiss our cheeks

The next day mittens where b-r-r-risker breeze tweaks

Bronze burnished ambience startled with white

Maple-tree halos soft-doffed overnight

Hunger is teased and appeased thoroughly

Fresh from the oven or garden or tree

Gathered with humble and thankful hurrah

For autumn’s opulent cornucopia

Cooks in a quandary of pure delight

At endless options for dinner tonight

Cattails like sentry in russet wool coats

Puddles like miniature lakes full of boats

Wishes like milkweed-silk bursting from seams

Flashes of silver on backdrop of dreams

South-facing backyards like sudden sun-spas

Woodlands like grandstands of fading applause

October blazes with glory of fall

Capturing gazes where vistas enthrall

Making hearts ever so happy and sad

World full of wonder driving poets mad

Reasoning ruffled by fading veneers

Leaf-song turned into a trickle of tears

October offers a bount’ous buffet

So much to sample from its ample tray

So much to savour with eyes-ears-nose-mouth

Flavors and colors, east, west, north and south

October shimmers and glimmers until

Each candle is snuffed on Autumn's windowsill

© Janet Martin

Cooks in a quandary of pure delight

At endless options for dinner tonight...

I love this kind of quandary!😊 

I was torn between homemade pizza to use some of the last

of fresh garden peppers, onions etc.

I am also craving cabbage rolls

and squash apple bake, but as I rooted through the fridge

to make sure there wasn't some forgotten vittles, sure enough,

I found some pulled pork which needed to be used

so I made a

Pulled Pork Calzone.

The dough was a wad I had frozen from a previous pizza dough batch 

so ended up being not quite as puffy as fresh dough would be.

Spread dough on baking stone or pan

Layer filling down the center;

pulled pork, chopped onion, peppers, parsley and shredded mozz. cheese.

bring ends together in the middle and pinch

then flip over so seam is on the bottom 

Score top if desired

Bake at 375 or 400 for approx. 30 min.

Let cool slightly and serve.

Perfect with a side of coleslaw!😋

This coleslaw consisted of chopped green cabbage, red onion,

chopped green peppers, toasted flax and sunflower seeds with soy dressing

Soy Dressing

shake soy sauce, your choice of vinegar, (white, apple-cider, balsamic etc.)

black pepper, desired amount of sweetness

in honey or white sugar, after well blended add oil. 

Shake, shake, shake, pour YUM!

all amounts eye-balled😐

Dessert if needed will be an apple!

no room right now😛

Enough

 

 "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, 

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him." 

Colossians 3:17

I started this post at daybreak

(first four lines)

Tonight I tried to get the rusty gears in my head to turn

and pick it up where it left off...

wow! cr-e-e-a-k! 

Great outdoor day!

And wow-some skies all day long!

Under those great skies a lot of flower bulbs got dug,

but muddy hands most of the day so no pictures.

I did stop for a cup of black-currant and mint-leaf tea.

The currant bush had freshly budded leaves.

Those leaves make a fantastic tea when brewed.

Dawn breaks the bud to unveil pastel petals of a Bloom

Today spills from the impalpable shuttle of yon loom

In strands that run through hearts and hands with stark yet subtle ease

To strew behind the art that hangs in mist-kissed galleries

Seasons tumble through treetops while we watch, always spellbound

By nature’s show that never stops, on time’s merry-go-round

Beauty takes no vacation; winter, spring, summer and fall

Exalts without cessation, the Creator of it all

When twilight draws dusk’s curtain blush then blue then black as coal

When all we know for certain is that God is in control

It is enough. To bid us join with nature’s symphony

To exalt He who did and does so much for you and me

© Janet Martin

Autumn Awe-frames

 

autumn keeps swiveling our heads

and slowing our feet

and snuffing want-lists 'neath the tread

of beauty, bittersweet

autumn mellows landscapes and pleas

as woodland bows/boughs untwist

a color-burst of symphonies

that melt like morning mist

autumn is like a painter's gift

each tree a pedestal

showcasing works of art that drift

down petal by petal

autumn enhances ways we trod

with backdrops blue and gold

*where duty serves its honoured squad

with wonders to behold

autumn unravels foliage-fronds

and from its lisle weaves

with tatters from a loom of wands

a counterpane of leaves

© Janet Martin

* my brother and his wife must leave the joys of farming and home-making duties

to other hands as they spend all the time they can with their daughter who is hospitalized

after being injured in an accident last weekend.

She is progressing well but healing simply takes time/patience!

We are excited to see what this week brings in this journey.

but it makes we who are blessed to be able to perform our duties feel

like part of an honoured squad, does it not?!!

With a morning like this my head feels like its on a swivel,

photo-opps everywhere!

Hallelujah, What a Promise

Inspired by my sister-in-law's mom's funeral message and prayers

of hope, comfort and exhortation...

The minister who opened the funeral service stated

'If it were not for people dying a minister’s words would be vanity.'

Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

What a privilege and wonder to we who, partakers of

God’s compassion, grace and comfort cannot drain His wells of love

What a hope we have through Jesus; debt no ram could reimburse

Paid upon the cross that frees us from mortal’s inherent curse

Hark! an open invitation, calls to all ‘come unto me’

Beckons to each tribe and nation with salvation’s guarantee

What a blessing to be bidden to draw from Mercy’s wellspring

Though His reasoning is hidden, God is good in everything

Hallelujah, what a Savior, man’s preaching is not in vain

Resurrection’s glorious favour turns death into life again

By one sin we all were blighted; by one death we are set free

By grace we are all invited to a Banquet yet to be

What a joy in spite sorrow, what a peace instills the gale

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, Jesus Christ will never fail

What a journey dust-to-dust is, paved with prayers and washed with tears

What a life of learning trust is, before Jesus reappears

Hallelujah, what a Promise keeps us pressing to the Prize

What a little vapour time is before death opens our eyes

© Janet Martin

Lam.3:24

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Battle Cry...

Yea, though we walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, we will fear no evil.

Your rod and Your staff comfort us...

clinging to these verses this morning

from Psalm 23

Please, join us in praying for this situation!!

Missionary group confirms kidnapping of one Canadian, 16 Americans in Haiti

What next?!! I cried as this headline surfaced

and prayers weep and plead on their behalf!

What next we cry 

as sorrows try

and Trial wields its rod

What next for sheep

In the Shepherd's keep?

The goodness and mercy of God!

Prayer is the believer's battle cry!

If God is for us who can be against us?

Rom.8:31

Wars without and wars within

God, deliver us from sin...

The wars that wage within us can stage bitter battle zones

Where wars that wage without conflict where reasoning intones

Where, while we dally in the valley because hills look hard

Windows of opportunity expire, shut and barred

To trust the Lord with all our hearts and not logic of thought

Is to yield humbly, and to seek first the kingdom of God

In all our ways acknowledge Him, and turn the other cheek

For the spirit is willing but the flesh is oh, so weak

To fall is not to fail; it is to learn to grasp the Hand

That leads not to temptation but helps us securely stand

Our Father, who art in Heaven, You are truth and light

Through you the grace is given that will fit us for the fight

Your Word is a lamp to our feet, a light unto our path

And suffering is not a foretaste of Your righteous wrath

But is like a refining fire burning off the dross

To see if what remains is broken chains beneath the cross

© Janet Martin

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

 he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: 

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

 thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Portrait of October

(still waiting for weather and freedom to work together amiably,

 for a colorful woodland wander/wonder trek.)

These shots were taken on a hike on Monday

 but the trees had not reached their peaks in colours yet

October’s trees are knitted scarves unraveled leaf by leaf

In rivers ruddy fleets embark to ports unmarked, unknown

The aftermath of flowers reminds us that life is brief

Its path of hours more than roulette wheels of dust and stone

October’s artist brushes fleeting frescoes, russet- gold

Where one day the world blushes and the next its colors thin

A sentimental charmer and a body growing old

A Beulah Land for farmer as harvest is gathered in

October’s wind chills to the bone and thrills through heart and soul

It riles the woodland’s dappled domes until they disappear

A Romeo, a scavenger, a tide that takes its toll

From glory to surrender, leaf by leaf and tear by tear

October’s days run wild with ways to spark wonder and praise

Earth’s hills and valleys set ablaze; awe unstoppers its flask

Outpoured where autumn’s Magnum Opus astonishes gaze

While we shoulder the onus of each season’s tender task

October’s umber halls are decked in melodies undone

Where summer’s ballads spilled unchecked through night, morning and noon

But now the bow as it is drawn across strings, season-spun

Begins to slow the tempo on a cello out of tune

© Janet Martin