I went out on Monday and bought some Heirloom Roses. Yesterday, I was out trying to dig holes for them and about 14 inches down I ran into solid rock. I need my husband to help me with that I think. So far, he doesn't seem to enthusiastic. But, they say one big secret to roses is they need to send their roots deep.
To look outside in our yard right now you'd never know I've been working so hard on gardening this year. The grass is long. There are holes all over the place and not too many flowers. But, as I look around I see progress...real progress, and I'm excited about it. Most of my flower beds are tilled and I've started flower starts. It's been a cold Spring and everything in our vegetable and fruit garden is a little behind, but there's progress there too. We got in the potatoes and the onions early. We should see the "fruit" (literally) of the strawberry beds my husband put in last year. I've also made some starts for the garden. Some of them, like the broccoli, got eaten up by the bunnies, but that's OK. I think, Lord willing, it will be a great garden year.
Ironically, I think we've gotten to the point where we've figured out gardening with tomatoes and potatoes. And, it looks like I'm giving them up. I was having a ton of joint pain that was causing me to not sleep at night...in my hands and feet, but also my hips. I've heard of nightshade plants causing havok in some people, although I generally thought that was about older people with active arthritis. As it turns out giving up tomatoes and potatoes and peppers, just straightaway took away the pain. And, if I cheat just a little, I get stiff hands and feet the next day. So, I'm doing that. It's funny, it's not hard to give up at all...Except that I was cooking like 85% of my meals with a substantial amount of nightshade plants.
I have also been in pain in some other ways.
The muscles of my arms and legs would ache when I went to sleep. I figured out this was from iron deficiency. I get this when I'm pregnant, even when my tests come back (on the low end of) normal for iron. As long as I remember to take iron, I'm fine on this.
Then, also I've had issues with painful varicose veins. Throbbing. Since this last pregnancy. Really, I don't know what to do about this, other than wear the stockings, which I don't like to do. Also, I've been walking this week (third day in a row), but that hasn't seem to help yet.
I'm waiting to hear about my daughters and dance. I'm waiting on the Lord too, I guess. I felt, all last year, like I need to give up some activity with my girls this next year. We've been doing dance, violin (including orchestra), and art. But, especially as the year ended, the girls were settled into not wanting to give up dance. Well, ok, I said but they'd have to give up something. I told them I felt playing a musical instrument wasn't an extra, but was a necessity (but perhaps Orchestra class is an extra, I'm still pondering that). They were ok with giving up art. I'm surprised really. And, I was a bit torn. My oldest daughter has a really special GIFT for art. The middle one not so much, but she still loves her art class and is thriving all the same.
So, the girls go to a Christian dance program, which includes some pretty good training. They test the girls each year in order to determine their placement. Both of the girls got held back this year, when girls their same age and experience level got moved up. The younger of the two girls (my middle girl) has issues with balance and being consistent about what she does with her feet. I'm not too surprised there. My older daughter is a lot less flexible than others in her group, but when I watch her she pays attention a lot more than others. She has also gained greatly in her flexibility. Anyhow, I think both my girls would benefit from going ahead, rather than staying in the same class. There are a lot of girls in their same age group and so I realize that dance is a competitive thing and that it isn't all about whether my own girls would benefit.
So, I was a little sad about that and not feeling the most positive about that, especially because I was so seriously considering what I was going to do next year. Then, after the recital, I looked at next years schedule and the dance studio had totally changed the schedule. It used to be that all the girls would be taking their classes on the same day. One girl would take two days, but her sister was previously scheduled to take a class right before her on one of her days. I also have a preschooler wanting to get into dance. The way the schedule works now, they would go to dance on four separate days, and this is without any increase in the amount of training they would be getting. So, I have an e-mail in to the dance studio asking for an exception to their training schedule. I'm waiting to hear back. I'm not very comfortable over the phone, especially when I'm trying to ask for something, or the topic is a bit uncomfortable. So, I'm waiting. We just can't do four days of dance. And, if my girls aren't making progress in that activity, I wonder if it's the best choice. They want it. But, my husband and I are paying for it and I have to look out for the peace in our household. We can't take on everything.
Also, we were involved in a local school district program for the Orchestra and Art. Well, it looks like the funding will be removed for that. So, we'd have to pay for those out of pocket.
So, I'm waiting to hear from the dance program, but also waiting on the Lord to hear which activities He wants us involved in.
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