The weather today in my neck of the woods:

A comforting rain is coming down outside with some thunder boomers every half hour or so.  A great day to sleep in (which I did) and to pursue some creative projects (which I will). A great day of rest after doing yard work the better part of yesterday in the great Florida sunshine with a slight breeze that we were blessed to experience yesterday.

A simple pleasure:

An ice cold glass of lemonade – filled to the brim with ice and sugar….which I am enjoying as I type this.

I am thankful:

For all the documents I have regarding both my husband’s genealogy and my own genealogy.

From the kitchen:

Took the grill out of “storage” last weekend and it’s ready for the steaks to be grilled tonight.

What is a good (very easy) side dish for grilled steaks????

Also will make Lasagna today so my junk food junkies will have something substantial to choose from on the nights I teach this coming week.

From the learning rooms:

Florida Virtual School has been such a blessing for Samantha’s educational pursuits. It is a great fit for her learning style. Miss Sam recently commented that English and World History are her favorite subjects.

Algebra continues to present it’s obstacles but Miss Sam works diligently in overcoming them with the help of her fabulous Algebra teacher. She would never have received the intense hands on help that is provided her through Florida Virtual School in our local public schools. Algebra would have continued to defeat her.

Biology continues to present it’s obstacle’s to me. Case in point…a recent fossil experiment:

I am (still) reading:

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It is a very intense novel. I believe it will find it’s way into the category of “literary classics” much like Dostoyevsky – one of my favorite authors.

In the line up:

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler

Dracula by Bram Stoker

On My Mind:

For the past two weeks I have been having doubts about how I utilize my “quiet time with God”.  I always read my Bible….I have studied all of the New Testament and now am working on 1 Kings.  But I also have four other books that I read a chapter a day from.

In recent days I have found that this time is becoming less inspirational and more routine. Leaving me feeling less inspired and just “mucking” along in ordinary life.

I went to teach my classes last Wednesday night with this less than inspiring attitude. Not quite the “blues” but very much resembling the “blahs”.

And there in the classrooms at CFCC God whispered…”I Am still here”. My students lifted me up and out of my “ordinariness” and had me joining in their “extraordinariness”.

Creative Projects:

• Have recently begun to get serious with my genealogical studies. I FINALLY signed up for Ancestry.com (I mentioned doing that in THIS POST dated June 22, 2009). Miss Sam really loves learning all about her ancestors. It can be very overwhelming but I am slowly learning to “categorize” information. Ancestry.com has also been an enormous help in “growing” our family tree.
• Continuing to work on my photo/essays. The first step is compiling the “best of the best” into a workable portfolio – I have several more pages to go and then it’s…let the writing begin. I had been planning on going to the beach to “muse” over certain photos but that has been “delayed due to rain”.

Hearth and Home:

Continued to work on the side gardens yesterday. Therefore, not much in the way of “shoulds” was accomplished inside the house. Isn’t that the way it “ought” and “should” be????????

The tools of the trade.

The theme this year is…container gardens…container gardens…container gardens.

Although I am not a lover of Marigolds….these were buy one 6 pak and get the second one free. Could not resist.

And here are my “big boy” tomatoes, a squash plant, and a sweet red bell pepper plant. Yum.

I laugh:

Because northerners think we Floridians don’t experience the change of seasons. Well…..I have a whole backyard full of half raked leaves that visually say otherwise.

Inspirational Quote I’m  Sharing:

A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting. ~ Oswald Chambers ~

Picture thoughts  I am sharing of future backyard projects:

Hook the rain barrel up to the gutter…should have done it yesterday…it sure would fill up today…but I was too blasted tired by the time the sun was setting.

What to do….what to do…what to do…with all these bricks?? They will eventually be the border for the back garden.

And here is the back garden (not the veggie…it’s not been built yet). As you can see….still a work in progress. Must get my strength back to lift that rake and shovel.

And then I must confess…we need to make time to clean our gutters. Is that a tree growing out of one??????? No sense in hooking up the rain barrel until the gutters are clean.

As per Miss Sam’s request…I will be increasing My Daybook entries as she “likes these ones best”. (Hmmmm…how is that English class going????)