“The RoseBouquet”

‘ll give you a break from my gardening news for this week, but I am excited to report that my neighbours on the east side put up a nice white mesh wire fence yesterday. Brad is planning to put in a gate for my car too, since changing the fence meant that my old gate had no fence post to hang on. It will be a much better gate than I had! I just have to wait another week for that gate.

I tried to say yesterday that I would contribute financially to this fence and gate as soon as I can, but Brad insisted that I did not have to do that. They were prepared to absorb this expense. Wow! Praise God!

Tomorrow is Canada Day, our nation’s birthday, and on Saturday is Independence Day for our American neighbours. I guess people celebrate it differently, even within their own country. I heard on the radio that there are all kinds of events going on here in Saskatoon, to help people celebrate together and with government officials participating.

For many years we’ve had a good border/fence between Canada and the USA. We’ve been able to cross back and forth freely. The threat of terrorists has changed all that, and it is now more difficult to cross. In the past I’ve crossed over with nothing more than my driver’s license or birth certificate to prove I was a harmless Canadian. Now as of today or tomorrow, everyone has to have a passport or visa, which costs $80-100 and has to be renewed every so many years. Three, I think. I’m hoping that will not affect our attitudes towards one another.

I don’t know about you, but I must confess that I’ve often used this Canada Day holiday as an extra work day. I happen to need one this week, so I’ll spend it here in the office, but I’ll be doing something rather unusual. Something I don’t normally allow time for. I’ll tell you more in the next section.

Let me take this opportunity though to wish all my Canadian friends a very Happy Canada Day, and all my American friends a great and exciting Independence Day. (Hey, maybe, because the statutory holiday falls on a weekend, you’ll get another day off, making for a long weekend! Lucky you!)

My research has led me to choose to continue to work on the web businesses I already have on the go, but to focus more intently in July on finishing my upgrading of the sites, and then to push harder at serious affiliate marketing of products that will pay me a good commission. I’ve come to see that there is great potential here, but I’ve been slow at arriving because I’ve been spreading myself so thin, and forgetting what I’m doing in each one.

Well, I sort of remember, but sometimes you get lost in the details and forget the bigger picture. I’m sitting on a lot of potential in the six websites I have right now. It’s time to develop them to the full, and then reap the results.

Well, I had thought I might spend all of June in research, but the month is not quite over, so since last Thursday, I’ve been working at clearing up various computer and printer problems lying around here. I got the sound to work on this computer on Thursday and that cheered me up tremendously. It has bothered me since I bought it after Christmas, but I never took time to dig into how to fix it.

Have you ever had a Give-away?

I’ve got about half a dozen printers or more here, the older inkjet models, so I’ve been testing them to see if I can get them to work. I’m concluding that I really should unload most of them. In fact, yesterday Joe brought up a black ink only laser printer that works immediately. So I’ve announced that I have a table full of printers and a flatbed scanner and some other computer parts to give away tomorrow. I belong to this email group called Full Circle, where you can announce give-aways, and people come to pick them up. That’s what I’m hoping will happen tomorrow - and why I plan to be in the office, even though none of the other offices in this building will be open.

What is not gone by the end of the week, I will probably load into the car and take to SarCan, our recycling depot.

Then next week I will plunge into my new working agenda.

I took time for a sewing binge on Saturday. I still need to go buy zippers but then I should have two pairs of pants and a top done soon.

Do you like to sew in the summer too?

If so, I bet you’ll love Darlin’ Bonne’s Shoppe in my book, Ruthe’s Secret Roses. Ruthe helps a friend in need by sharing her dream of a dress designing shop. Oh the fun and experiences they have there! You ought to order this novel!
e-Book edition Softcover edition.

Here at Western Tract Mission (WTM) we have a number of single people who are just gracious humble volunteers. On the Board it is becoming a standing joke that we want more singles as they work harder and are more available for committee work and special projects.

In this day and age, it can be hard to find someone willing to wash windows, forsooth go up a ladder to scrap old paint and to re-paint some window frames.

Today one of these Board members, Wayne Senger, is outside scraping and painting the window frames. I just went out to check on him and took a few photos. I think he deserves a bouquet today for his humble service. He works night shifts in a grocery distribution center, so he is sacrificing some sleep hours for this.

Wayne Senger - painting windows for Western Tract Mission.

My flowers and garden are still my main concern at home. For two weeks I have been faithfully watering everything after supper, but my giant impatiens were not happy at all. Towards the weekend the marigolds were catching their breath and deciding to put down roots and bloom where they were planted.

On Saturday morning I was away at our WTM Walkathon fund-raiser .(I didn’t walk, but took photos and counted the pledges and monies to see who the winners of the prizes were, and saw to it that the food was laid out when the walkers arrived at the Kinsmen Park). When I got home I was too hot and tired to work outside as planned, so I went inside and did some sewing.

Sunday morning I was thrilled to see God was taking the watering shift for the day. It was a marvelous steady soaker, sometimes letting up for a couple of hours, and then starting over again. When I looked out of my back porch windows I almost thought I could see the plants growing! The little starter leaves on my pumpkins, etc, seemed to have doubled in size from the morning when I left for church, and at 5 p.m., when I took a supper over to my brother Tom’s, to celebrate Father’s Day with him. (Got drenched when I returned!)

By the end of the day, my irises which were budding in the morning, had burst into bloom!

I tell you, I have to marvel and thank Someone when I consider that even with my busy long days at the computer, by spending a couple of Saturday sowing and planting and half a hour after supper watering, I can see such beauties spring up all around me. I am very pleased. I CAN fit in gardening after all!

In fact, on Saturday evening, while I was watering and tidying up around the back door, I spotted some places to sow some more flowers. I haven’t got to all those spots yet, but last night I happily sowed some more stuff in the front flowerbeds. I can hardly wait until that area is all airy and bright with flowers!

Oh, the giant impatiens? Turns out they need MORE water, but not on top of the plant, under the leaves.

Am I still working on my research project? Yes, I am.

Tell me, how often do you dream up some fantastic plan that will lead to your prosperity and a chance to help others at the same time? So how many of those plans have come to pass?

Exactly! I’ve daydreamed about several ideas over the years. When the first big one didn’t happen it took me a while to realize that it was at least fodder for a novel. Slowly, over 30 years I wrote and re-wrote it many times. On Sunday after church I was introduced to another author, and I realized that I still need to throw myself into a push to sell that book. Publishing alone isn’t enough if you don’t follow through. Right now, though, it has to be on the back burner while I set up some streams of income to support myself while I do that.

I’ve dreamed up several business ideas and in my vivid imagination they were were as good as done. However, now as I’m researching this one web business idea, I’m discovering that to make a dream come true you really do need to check into the nitty gritty parts of it, dissect it and see whether it is really feasible. You can be in for some interesting surprises.

I need another morning or so to wrapup my weighing of pros and cons, and making a decision, but already I’ve learned that although that dream could be made doable, it would not bring in quite the fantastic results that I had imaged. With determination and hard work I could make it happen. However, I have been open to God’s leading and was willing to let go of that idea if it turns out not to be a wise move. In the process, I’ve re-learned something I had already learned from SiteBuildIt! (SBI), and now I’m leaning towards an approach much more in line with what I’ve already been doing that should have less stress and pressure in it.

It’s better not to leave it hanging as a tantalizing dream, for my imagination will build an empire around it in my head, so I need to do a bit more organized thinking. Dreams only become plans when we do some methodical thinking and research and take some actions.

Sunday was Father’s Day and I was thinking back to my Dad, I realized that he had taught me some wise things. I made a list, and guess what, I found at least seven. So I’ve just turned that into an article for the Ruthe’s Roses section.

In my research last week, I came across an e-book by Chris Rempel, who calls himself a lazy super-affiliate. From his website I was able to guess his method of operation, and had a notion that it was not lazy, but he had devised some ways to simplify his pattern and thus he could produce one profitable affiliate site after another.

I’m not lazy, and have learned some smart research skills of my own, so I checked him out and discovered some other sites he has produced, and finally decided that I would have to buy his e-book to make sure there wasn’t something I was missing.

Turns out, it is very well written, and I guessed pretty close to his secret ways. I did pick up some ideas that I was not aware of, but his book showed me that I was on the right path in some things I already do. So I think it was a wise move.

Should you want to have a look too, go see Ruthe's Roses — Ruth @ 11:16 am

Although my Dad wasn’t perfect or well-educated, there are some valuable things he taught me. I was counting them up on Father’s Day, and I see at least seven key lessons I learned from Dad.

Frugal
Dad taught me to be frugal and not to waste things. He had grown up on his parents’ homestead where they had to make do with what they had, or invent the item they needed. In his later years he sometimes allowed himself a treat, like an ice cream cone, and even some power tools, but for the most part he squirreled away anything that might be useful or that wasn’t totally used up, or that might have a second life as a part of a gizmo for something else.

I was not allowed to waste in his home either. Lights should only be on in the room we were actually in, but if something broke, I could count on him to go find the part or something that would do in its place. A lot of the people in our small town knew that too. They would show up at the door and ask if he has a strap for this, or an attachment for that. He would walk off and come back with just the thing.

Oddly enough, though I chaffed at it all those years, I now find myself thinking in similar ways, and making do.

Resourceful
Of course, this kind of resourceful thinking meant that Dad could solve problems easier. When something seemed totally impossible, Dad would sit down and stare at it for a while. Then he would try this, and if it didn’t quite work, he’d try again another way, and another, until he had it figured out.

I used to think I was just interested in crafts, but now I realize that most of them are problem-solving efforts, and ways to have something nice without having to buy it or spend any money. Odd, isn’t it, how being thrifty and frugal ties in with resourcefulness?

Creative
When one is resourceful often enough, you soon slip over the vague edge into creativity. This happened to Dad many times too. I am sure it happens to me and to anyone else who gives their mind freedom to explore possibilities.

Storytelling
Can creative people stay away from stories? Dad couldn’t. The older he got the more he told. Sometimes he got them mixed up, so I was glad that back in the 1980s I had asked him for specific stories and I put them into a book I called, “Grandpa’s Stories.”

Dad did not like fast moving, shooting and shouting TV dramas, but he was never happier than when we had company and he could launch into some of his own stories of things he remembered from way back when, or stories that he had heard. In the long days of winter, he would pick up books and read them too, something he never had time for when we children were young and he had to see that we could have food to eat.

Again, it seems strange, but I have loved to read ever since I started school, and I love to write and tell stories orally too. People who meet me now, all marvel at how quickly I slip into a storyteller mode. It happens without me intending to do so.

Show Emotions
Dad felt things deeply and reacted from an open and unreserved heart. Tears came to his eyes easily over anything that moved him, and he could shout when his anger was aroused, he was in many ways a little boy who had never learned to hide his feelings.

I have learned to cover up my true feelings with certain people, and to focus on the other person more when I meet people, but deep down inside my emotions brim up close to the surface. Tears come easily to me too, when touched. It doesn’t always mean I’m sad. It just means I have a soft heart and spirit and I identify quickly with anyone who is experiencing intense emotions.

Mom was not like that. She could bottle it up quite tightly. But I know that if I try that tactic I soon get sick. When I’m upset I need to take time for a good cry - for my health’s sake.

Time for People
Those who are not afraid to show their emotion can discern the emotions of others better and identify with them. Despite Dad’s lack of education, he seem to be drawn to people. Tact was not his forte but he greeted anyone and everyone warmly, and welcomed them into his home, and was loathe to let them leave.

If you have been to my home - or office - you will be smiling, for I do that too. Even when I meet new people in church or on the street, or at any event, it does not take me long to introduce myself - or even without introduction, begin a new friendship. Clearly, I am a lot like Dad, or have learned my ways from him.

Impatient to See Jesus
Especially in Dad’s last few years, he yearned and longed to see Jesus, and loved to hear any preacher who would talk about the soon return of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

I too, look forward to the rapture of the Church, and believe it will happen very soon. Going to Heaven is a very welcome prospect, and I set my heart to not want to hesitate for even a second when that trumpet blows, which only those will hear who are truly ready and waiting.

Yes, I can celebrate Father’s Day by recalling these seven wise things my Dad taught me. I am blessed!

The hot summer weather arrived on Friday as if it were jumping on us! Earlier last week I was still dressing in multiple layers and even throwing a shawl over my legs because it was so chilly in my office. Friday it warmed up and over the weekend got HOT. Yesterday I was melting here.

Well, I’m not quite a sugar cube, so I haven’t dissolved yet. But yesterday I went downstairs and hunted for a fan. I am sure there are better ways to set the thermostat for the air-conditioning, but I’m not getting them right, and Joe is not in until tomorrow.

I do recall that it was downright chilly in here last summer from the A/C.

How much time do you spend watering your plants? Maybe you can hum the tune to this major responsibility.

I’ve discovered that if I have a garden and flowers in containers I need to water them. Daily. The poor marigolds look shriveled and some have fallen over. My giantico impatiens on the front steps are getting curled up, brittle leaves and the flowers are falling off. Can it be that I’m watering them too much? Or is it really the heat?

It takes at least 30 minutes or more after supper, to water everything by hand. I have done some other weeding and edging but in small stages. Saturday I tried to sort out the coupling for my garden hoses. I found I have some soaker hoses of Dad’s, but even after I went to buy a package of couplings, I could not get them connected up right. I’m waiting for a good neighbour to be outside at the right time.

Early on Saturday my neighbours on the east side took down that pathetic green wood fence and are planning to put up a nice new wire-mesh fence. Brad even says I’ll get a new gate out of that. Wow, I am so blessed with good neighbours!

I’ve used supplements for my health for years, but in just the last year or so I’ve come to discover a much better source online. Puritans Pride. I’ve added a store and links to this supplier on my aloe-vera-and-handy-herbs.com site, but for your convenience I’m including some direct links right here. For a short time they offer free shipping on orders over $50, and they also have a buy 1 get another 1 free offer.

Free Shipping on $50 or more at Puritan’s Pride. No code necessary. Valid 6.14.09 to 6.20.09

Buy 1 Get 1 Free Puritan’s Pride Products. No code necessary. Valid 6.14.09 to 6.27.09

Here’s another tip… if you keep in touch with this site, and get their catalogues in the mail (with each order), you’ll find there are times when they have extra special sales like buy 1 get 1 free, and buy 2 and get 3 free. I tell you, I like those best!