Gardening Can Be Fun (or funny)

My daughter in law will never let me hear the end of it if I mention her name in this post, so I just won't ... but this is a little story that is so typical of my family and one that is too good not to share !!
Now, being a gardener is something she is not well known for by any means.  In fact, she is a terrible gardener, cannot raise anything I know of except kids!  Poor little thing plants and sets out flowers every single spring, hoping this will be the year her thumb suddenly becomes a lovely shade of green.  Ain't happening!!  I am here to tell you, she has the worse looking flowers in the county and I might venture so far as to say the entire state!
Her sweet and dear husband (my son, I will proudly add) takes such pride in having the most productive  vegetable garden anywhere around!  I swear he can plant anything in that garden and it fairly thrives.
They have an abundant supply of vegetables fresh from the garden the entire growing season, while the poor flower beds surrounding their house ... well, I just don't know how to put it delicately so I will say not another word about it.  Wild horses could not pull the words out of my mouth or force me to write them!!!  Now THAT is loyalty and love for my daughter in law if I do say so myself.
Okay, so my little daughter in law has expressed her wish to become a great gardener, to know the ropes, what does it take to grow those lush, beautiful flower beds like the ones across the street.  My son, being the considerate man he was raised to be, found a 'how to garden' book online and sent for it as a surprise to her.
Upon its arrival, she sat, devouring every word, confident this book held the key and perhaps this year would be THE one.  My son asked quietly if she noticed who the book was addressed to.  She picked up the box it arrived in, looked at the address label which read (no proclaimed)     Ima Gardener   along with the remainder of their address!!!!!!!  Her actual name was nowhere to be seen and there was already an order form for more gardening books and magazines filled out boldly with the name, Ima Gardener!!!

I am actually not much better.  I used to have a row of potted plants on the wall as you came in the front door of our house.  I watered the heck out of them for days, then would not water them for weeks, then I would remember and drown them again.  Anyway, they looked pretty pitiful. My kids began calling it 'death row' and one of my friends said my plants were the only ones she ever saw that looked worse than hers!!!
I just love my kids! They are so much fun.
Be sweet!!!

Come on, Grandma, You Know You Can Do It

My grand daughter, Caitlyn

I have been playing around all morning when I should have been doing something else!  I made this scrapbook page of my grand daughter.  This is Mike's daughter.  She is and has always been his little angel.  That girl is every bit as pretty inside as she is out!  She is too, too sweet!  She was quite the little monster when she was little, I will tell you!  Into everything except what she was supposed to be!  I could not keep up with her no matter how hard I tried.  I had only to be distracted for a second to find she was out of sight and I had not one inkling which direction she had taken!  I have spent lots of time yelling her name, though of course she never answered, just kept playing or whatever had taken all her attention. I hunted till I finally tracked her down and only then, when she saw me, did she bother to answer, "Here I am!". 
She was my little buddy and when I was so sick, she MADE me walk even when I would rather not.  She would say, "Come on, Grandma, you know you can do it."  and with her prodding me along, I did.  At times I was amazed at the strength I summoned when I had thought I had none.  Doubtful I could not have done it without my sweet little baby girl telling me to hurry and don't be a slow poke!   No one could stay sick long with her around!  She was having none of that self pity, none of that "I can't" or "I"m too tired".  It was always, "Come on, Grandma, you know you can do it!"  She was right ... I could!!!!
So, all of you, be sweet, and always remember whatever you want to accomplish in life, you know you can do it!!!!

Blue Roses

I had scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies, and
headed for the checkout counter, only to be blocked in the
narrow aisle by a young man who appeared to be about
sixteen-years-old. I wasn't in a hurry, so I patiently waited
for the boy to realize that I was there.
This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud voice, "Mommy, I'm over here." It was obvious now, he was mentally challenged, and also
startled as he turned and saw me standing so close to him,
waiting to squeeze by. His eyes widened and surprise
exploded on his face as I said, "Hey Buddy, what's your
name?" "My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother," he
responded proudly.
"Wow," I said, "that's a cool name; I wish my name was
Denny, but my name is Steve."
"Steve, like Stevarino?" he asked.
"Yes," I answered. "How old are you Denny?"
"How old am I now, Mommy?" he asked his mother as she
slowly came over from the next aisle..
"You're fifteen-years-old Denny; now be a good boy and let
the man pass by." I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for
several more minutes about summer, bicycles, and school.
I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because
he was the center of someone's attention. He then abruptly
turned and headed toward the toy section. Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked
me for taking the time to talk with her son. She told me that
most people wouldn't even look at him, much less talk to
him. I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said
something I have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow, and pink roses in God's Garden; however, "Blue Roses" are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness. You see, Denny is a Blue Rose and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from God. She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she
asked, "Who are you?"
Without thinking I said, "Oh, I'm probably just a dandelion
but I sure love living in God's garden."
She reached out, squeezed my hand, and said, "God bless
you!" and then I had tears in my eyes.
May I suggest that the next time you see a BLUE ROSE, don't turn your head and walk off. Take the time to smile and say Hello. Why? Because, by the grace of GOD, this mother or father could be you. This could be your child, grandchild, niece, or nephew.
What a difference a moment can mean to that person or their family.

From an old dandelion!

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.

"People will forget what you said, People will forget what you
did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

The above story was sent to me by a friend and is so touching it deserves to be shared.  Most people are so kind and so lovingly accept our "blue roses".
My own little "blue rose" (a grandson) was voted "most likely to be remembered" by his senior class.
Everywhere we went for miles around, people knew him and came up, smiling, to talk to him.  He remembers ever single bit of it too!  He was allowed to graduate with his class if we chose or attend school 2 more years. We let him decide and he chose graduating with the class he had gone to school with, though he was in a "special" class, he was always included in every activity and his picture in the cap and gown and the one at the prom are treasures indeed!!!
Be sweet and treat others as you would like to be treated!

Hugs and "Hi, Miss Puff!"

No, Christian, Great Grammy Polly has NOT had her hug today!! 
Somehow the day never goes quite the way it needs to without a good hug.  A hug from anyone will do, but that hug from someone special just puts an oomph in your day that nothing else quite does!!!  My grandchildren give the best hugs in the world, at least it seems to me they do. 
I am positive it IS just me and that every grandma thinks her grandchildren have hugs as sweet as honey, but I swear when I get those big bear hugs from the boys, I just feel like asking, "Okay, now, Lord, what can I do for you today?" 
Michael is a teenager now and has always squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe, and I always tell him how I miss those big bear hugs when I don't get to see him for a while!!!
How I got from 'hugs' to this is a mystery to me as well as you, but I am thinking of the time Michael told me once when he was quite small that I reminded him of Miss Puff.  He had to go into a long explanation of how Miss Puff was on Sponge Bob!!  I thought it was so sweet ... Miss Puff!! 
AS I walked through the living room one day where he was sprawled watching cartoons he said, "Wait, Grandma, Miss Puff is going to be on here."  I was so excited and sat with him till my namesake made her entrance into Sponge Bob's watery world. 
I was shocked speechless when I saw Miss Puff was a big fat blow fish!!!!  I had envisioned her as an angelic little creature with such a sweet little name!  I was not about to let my little guy see my disappointed face as I exclaimed cheerfully how cute Miss Puff was and anyone worth their salt should be honored that their grandson was reminded of her when he saw Miss Puff!!
We still laugh about that and just a few days ago, I had a Facebook message from him that said simply,
"Hi, Miss Puff."

Be sweet!

Sunshine Award

Mary Anne Gruen of the Starlight Blog gave me the sunshine award!!!  I love this award!!  It is so colorful and to me also full of meaning.  I am happy to receive this award and feel very honored that Mary Anne chose me as one of her recipients.  If you have not been to visit her blog, I hope you will and I can guarantee you will find a gorgeous blog loaded with great pictures.  I have to tell you this ... Mary Anne has a dog named "Virginia".  Don't you just love that?  She has posted a picture of Virginia sitting beside a branch that had fallen from a white pine.  I just love the story in that post and now I love her dog as well!!  My name is(are you ready for this?) Virginia Paulette!! 

Now, most people wonder how in the world anyone ever got "Polly" from that!  My mom told me that my grandpa started calling me "Polly" when I was only a few days old and soon everybody followed suit.  I have lifelong friends who don't know my name is not actually Polly.

When I was a child, my dad would call. "Polly" and if I didn't answer or come right away, he said in a voice that could not be ignored, "Paulette!"  You better believe when my dad called me Paulette, I knew for sure I had best get moving!! 

My sweet little daddy stayed with me the last 2 years of his life, because he was so lonely and almost grieved himself to death when my mom died of a massive heart attack.  They not only were husband and wife, but best friends.   He came to my door one day, knocked (which he never did) and I asked what was he doing out there knocking, to get in here!!  He said, "Sis, can I stay with you for a couple of days?  Every where I look I see 'my buddy' and my doctor says I have to be out of the house a few days, because all I can do when I am home is cry and think of your mama."  I said , "Why are you asking?  I love you and you will stay as long as you want or need to." 

He could not even go back to get his clothes.  Bless his sweet little heart.  I went to get his clothes and whatever else he needed and he never went home again!!!  He stayed with me until he went to Heaven to be with 'his buddy'. 

I said all that to say this ... even when I grew into an adult with children of my own, when my daddy said "Paulette!"  I got moving!!  When he became very sick and needed something, he would call me and if I didn't hear him or respond the first few times he called me, I will never, ever forget, he would say in that voice that simply could not be ignored, "Paulette!" and you better believe I went running!!!

All this because Mary Anne has a dog named Virginia!!  Now I know why I tell my kids I haven't lost my marbles, but they are pretty well scattered now!

Thank you for the Sunshine Award.  That has quite a ring to it ... a Sunshine Award from the Starlight Blog.

Be sweet, all!