Girls Camp Revisted

Between the ages of 12 and 17 I spent a week each summer at our church’s Girl’s Camp in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  We spent a week in the wilderness each year learning all kinds of survival skills, including one year having to cook all three meals, every day, over an open fire – not a good food week!

My favorite memory of Girl’s Camp was the day the boys came to camp – or at least a couple of boys.  There was a lake near our camp and one day during the week the boys showed up with a couple of boats and we got to go boating.  That was the only day at camp I actually put makeup on!

You can see what a fourteen year old beauty I was – can you guess which one I am?  Enter a comment at the end of the post and let’s see if you guess right!

This past week I went back to Girls Camp – this time with my two daughters to our church’s Girls Camp in Sandy, Oregon.

I now know why each year when my daughters return from Girls Camp they are tired and hoarse!  There is not much sleeping that goes on and there is a lot of yelling!

My oldest daughter was a counselor at camp this year, in fact she was her younger sister’s counselor.  Counselors look a lot different now a days than they did when I was at camp….

and so do the campers…..

As crazy as the girls look and as crazy as they acted, it was an amazing week.  I loved the opportunity I had to escape from the world, forget about my phone, my email, and focus on the girls and the beautiful outdoors.

I had the opportunity to share with them, through the lessons we taught,  the amazing potential they have and the ability they have to choose – choose their actions and their attitude.

At the end of the week each girl was presented with a white box that represented the sweet, innocent spirit they came to earth with.  There was a pretty pink ribbon tied around the box.

On the outside of the box was a saying that I actually have on my kitchen wall….

Each day comes bearing its’ own gifts….untie the ribbons

I hope that each girl left camp with the knowledge that their potential is great – that each day is a gift, a gift that just needs to be opened by them and that even when they can’t choose what happens to them they can choose their reaction and attitude.

Now, off to bed to catch up on some of that sleep…..

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Apron Addiction

I am not really sure if addiction is the right word but I admit I really love aprons.

I have always been an apron wearer – even before it was the “in” thing to do!  (If you didn’t know, aprons are really “in” right now!)

Thanks to my 4-H sewing teacher in the 3rd grade the first thing I ever learned to sew was an apron.

I wear an apron a lot – anytime I am in the kitchen (I am a very messy cook), when I am cleaning the house (I am a very messy cleaner) and when I am in the garden (yes, I am a messy gardener too).

And much to my two teenage daughter’s horror I have even been known to go out in public with my apron on!

I have quite a collection of aprons.  A friend jokingly (or maybe she wasn’t joking) said that I had an apron to match every outfit!  I have aprons I have bought, ones that have been made by friends and lately I have gotten into making my own aprons.

I even joined an apron swap I found on a blog I visit.  Here is the apron I made for Tracy in Alabama – hope she likes it.

While I was at it I had to make another new one for myself too!

And in case you are wondering – those are not my slim little hips.  My hips have birthed four babies!  That is my slim hipped 14 year old dancer daughter.  Thanks for being my model Tessa.

Since we are on the topic of aprons I thought I’d share with you the story of one of my favorite aprons.

Fourteen years ago I was on a “girl’s weekend away” with my Beach Babe group.  On the way to the beach I was reading aloud excerpts from the book Living a Beautiful Life.

When I read the following section all 5 of us burst out laughing…

“When I return from the office I put on an attractive apron and unwind by freshening up the house.  Somehow this simple act – putting on an apron – sets the stage for my tidying up ritual and I go about the apartment attending to little things.”

We got a huge kick out of it and have joked about it over the years.  The idea of each of us getting home from work and putting on an attractive apron to “tidy up”  was just too funny.

Well, the next time we got together, April, one of the group had a gift for each of us – yep, you guessed it – an “attractive apron”.

Here they are!  (Yes, the top part of the apron is detachable and also doubles as hot pot holders!)

I don’t think this is what Alexandra Stoddard, author of Living a Beautiful Life, had  in mind but we sure have gotten a lot of enjoyment and laughs out of them!  They have managed to show up at various events, parties, BBQ’s, holiday gatherings, even the wedding reception of one of the Beach Babe’s daughters!

So next time you have some “freshening” up to do – don’t forget the attractive apron!

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Graduation Girls

Fourteen years ago when we moved into our current house the first person we met in our new neighborhood was three year old Hannah.  We met her as she was riding her bike with training wheels out in our cul de sac.  With a pacifier in her mouth she introduced her self as “Hannah Banana.”

My three year old daughter Cali and Hannah became fast friends and soon were inseperable.  They did everything together!

They played for hours together…

They celebrated holidays together…Halloween, Easter, Christmas ……

They started the first day of Kindergarten and every other first day of school for the next 12 years together…..

They lost teeth together….

They made music together….

and they competed together….

They vacationed together…

and then the scary day when they even learned to drive together…..

This past weekend they graduated from high school together….

…and we celebrated their success and achievement with a joint graduation party.  The highlight of the party was a special DVD my sweet friend Lorri put together for us.  It was a compilation of the many, many photographs we have of Cali and Hannah together over the years.  Accompanied by music we watched these two beautiful girls grow up before our eyes.  As neighbors, friends and family watched there were many tears!

Tears of happiness, tears of gratitude for the opportunity we have had to watch these two sweet girls grow into such beautiful young woman and tears of sadness that the time went so quickly.

Both girls are ready to start a new journey and adventure in their life as they leave for college in the fall.  Hannah is off to Oregon State and Cali to Brigham Young University in Utah.  Although they will be miles apart they will also be connected, their lives have been changed because they have known each other  – changed for good.

I chose the song “For Good” from Wicked to accompany the pictures on the DVD because I love the message of that song.  Here are the words….

‘I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason

bringing something we must learn

 and we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them

and we help them in return

 now I don’t know if I believe that that is true

but I know I’m who I am today because I knew you…

like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes the sun,

like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood…

who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? 

But because I knew you I have been changed for good.

It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime

so let me say before we part

so much of me is what I have learned from you

you’ll be with me,

like a handprint on my heart

now whatever way our stories may end

I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend…

Like a ship blown from it’s mooring by a wind off the sea

like a seed dropped by a skybird in a distant wood

who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?

But because I knew you… I have been changed for good.

We love you Cali and Hannah!!  Happy graduation!

Our lives have been changed for good because we knew you!

The journey begins……

 

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Thriller, Filler and Spiller

I am a little late with my posting this week.  We  are in the middle of high school graduation and there are 25 graduation related activities on our calendar so I am doing my best to keep up!

Since I have a gardening theme going on Mondays the last couple of weeks I thought I’d share with you one of my containers I put together this past week. (even though it is Tuesday today!)

I am really late in getting my flower pots planted this year.  Mother’s Day is usually my target date but this year it just didn’t happen.

Since I seem to work well under pressure I decided that the graduation party we hosted in our garden this past Saturday would be my deadline!

The past year I have had fun trying some new plants in my pots – trying to get away from the typical geraniums, marigolds, lobelia, pansies, petunias etc.  I have tried to use more perennials.  Not only does it save me money in the long run because these plants come back up year after year, but I found them to be lower maintenance too.  Not as much deadheading!

Last year I read an article in Fine Gardening about “Thrillers, Fillers & Spillers…a surefire recipe for planting success.”  The concept is that in each of your flower pots you should have at least one of each – a thriller, a filler, and a spiller.

A thriller is an anchor plant, a centerpiece plant.  They are attention getters, usually tall, upright plants.  They tend to have more structure to them and become the backbone or framework for the other plants in the pot.

I select my thriller plant first.  The color and texture of the thriller helps me as I choose the filler and spiller.

My thriller in this pot was a fun new grass I found – Electric Pink Cordyline Banksii.  The great magenta pink color of the this plant became the theme for the pot.

Next, the Filler.  A Filler is a plant that will fill in and surround the Thriller.  They tend to mound and fill up the pot.  I usually put 2-3 fillers in a pot.  I like my pots to look full fast so I tend to cram in as many as I can – remember I’m an impatient person!

My Fillers in this pot are a great new geranium I found Crystal Palace Gem.   It has a great bright lime leaf.  It gets a red flower but I will cut the flower off as the red just won’t go with the colors of the pot!

I also used  one of my favorite annuals – Coleus.  This particular one is Peter’s Wonder and the green and magenta colors go perfect with the rest of the plants.  I use to think you could only use coleus in the shade but I was wrong!  Mine thrive in full sun too.

The third filler is a Purple Shamrock Hebe.  It has a great lime green variegation with purple stems.

Finally – my Spiller.  I only had room for one Spiller in this pot but will sometimes use a couple.  The Spillers are placed toward the edge of the pot and they will drape and flow over the edge of the pot as they grow.  The Spiller I used is a diascia, one of my favorite Spillers.  I love the colorful, dainty little flower.

Do you have a favorite plant you like to use in your containers that is different or “not the norm”?  I’d love to hear.

Happy Planting!

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