Visitors

Ok this summer I am hanging out with a few friends, working in the Garden, and drinking  fruit Nectar. Grace tenderstitch is going to Fall in Love this Summer and get over her Depression. Nothing like a little Limerence to get the Dopamine going!

Bennet Wimmer

Bennet Wimmer rose early as was his custom. He glanced downward at his wrinkled trousers and made a half hearted attempt to smooth the horizontal lines. He reminded himself that his appearance was not as important as it use to be. He was ambivalent about that as well as the decision he had made to return to his Mother's home, and assist her as her health  failed. She was gone now for several weeks and he missed her. He also missed his old life as a professor of Botany at the Mosswood College in Littletwig, Florida.
Bennet stood before the bathroom mirror in his Mother's home and realized that it was his home now. He was not entirely comfortable with his inheritance, and felt like a child who had been given a set of hand me downs, and was expected to be grateful.
That was not exactly true,Bennet thought to himself. He loved it here. Truthfully, the property where he had grown up was almost sacred to him. The inspiration for his vocation had come from climbing in the trees, eating the wild raspberries and pruning the apple trees. There were so many things to be sorted out, not the least of which was the direction of his own life in "Retirement."
Bennet slipped his feet into his walking shoes, and headed out the door to survey his property. It was time to make some decisions about where to begin his new life.
The spring had come and was about to exit into full summer. He climbed the gently sloping yard to the field beyond. It had once been plowed and produced a great deal of garden vegetables; tomatoes, corn, and squash. He made a mental note to check the seed catalog for short season vegetable seeds. A hawk called over head and Bennet looked up. He watched the bird glide to a distant tree and light there, looking down at him. He hiked his long legs across his field in the direction of the trees, and hawk and the fence to his neighbor's property. The hawk called noisily from the tops of a maple, as if to summon him . "I am coming," thought Bennet as he crested the slope. He wondered momentarily at this thought, fanciful as it was. "I remember this place," Bennet said aloud. He climbed the wide gate that joined the ends of an old stone fence. The fence had crumbled in some places but was largely intact. It neatly hemmed an emerald patch of pastureland. The morning sun illuminated the green and it seemed to glow golden. Bennet Wimmer, stood like he did as a child, with his feet on the bottom rung of the gate and looked at the northern pasture of the Tenderstitch farm.

Here's what we did today. We went to Marie Selby Botannical Gardens. Its here in Sarasota. It is one of my Favorite Places to go...ever. Here are some photos I took today while we wandered along.

Sale on MY ETSY

Sale on My Etsy. Althea and Willa are greatly reduced! See my Etsy on the LEFT. Have a lovely DAY!!!

THE WINNER IS.....

I used the above HIGHLY Scientific method for the Apple angel drawing, and DAH-DAH!!!!!
Blueberries in the Field
is the WINNER. YAH!!!!!
Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

GRACE'S DREAM

"Moths do Not sting?" thought Grace as she stumbled back into the house. "That was supposed to make me feel Better? How about if I take a flyswatter to her overconfident little wings?...ManMOTH? Hmmph!"
Grace wanted to sulk. Maude had hurt her feelings that was certainly true, but there was something that Maude had said that had let a thought  flutter loose in her head. It wandered just out of touch, ahead of her grasp somehow. Grace tried to calm herself enough to review the words that Maude had uttered. "Martyr" echoed down the halls of her self esteem. Well, I don't think so, thought Grace...but then again...she considered.Grace retreated from the thought and felt her own cheek, hot with anger.
Anger. real and right there at the surface. Maude's remarks and careless retorts had made her feel angry, or had she been angry before then?  Angry. She had been so angry. And Anger realized made her feel Frightened and Anxious. Like she was going to take a ride on a wild beast, romp about and destroy the Garden. That  night Grace had a dream. It was dark and there was something dripping on her head. She realized that she was covered by leaves and lay at the bottom of a large and suffocating Pile. The earth was gathered round close to her, pressed to shoulders with its rich loamy odor. At first, she panicked and  tried to sit bolt upright, struggling for a bit of air. The leaves were gentle hands that pressed her down , down , down until she was sure she lay in a cave. All the while, there was something that dripped and dribbled on her head. Squinting she looked up to catch bits and pieces of her exchange with Maude, dribbling down through the ceiling of leaves above her. "Martyr" was the last thing that dripped through the mass, splashing coldly across her forehead, before she slept.

GRACE SPEAKS

"What is depression," began Grace. "What is it? I wish I could define it singularly, sum it up in a word, but its Bigger than a word, more invasive than a word and has ugly roots in the corners of my Being..."
"It is a Bad feeling. Complicated and malignant. Its like a sucker fish that travels unwelcome right upon the back of any good mood you have. Leeching the very light or Joy out of moments that are meant to be happy. Depression is sadness, Maude. It is grief, doubt, and anger suck in your gut, tunneled down deep. It is anger at yourself for Not doing something about the things that you can do SOMETHING about. It makes all the world look flat and the colors look faded. It makes all ideas seem either too big to actualize, or too trite to try or to stupid to begin. Its negativity Maude. Self defeating Negativity. It makes pain worse, and sleep a nightmare."
Maude looked up at Grace and said simply "Go on Grace."
"What is worse is I am not sure why I feel this way."
"Well, I hear there have been some goings on around here Grace. Something about an attack of the pie-rats and Prunella Fig-Pink melting into the floorboards of your own Bedroom? Is it true she wanted the Baggaraggs for herself?"
Grace thought for a minute and replied  "Yes, I guess that's all so, but I think that's not what is really bothering me Maude.."
"Well, what the hell is it THEN???" Insisted Maude, who was not a patient Therapist.
"I am Tired. Tired of ..." Grace thought a minute. "I am just tired." She finished resigned to leave the end undiscovered. She knew what she was tired of but saying it would make it even uglier, like exposing a terrible and shameful wound.
"I think you'd better out with it Grace," said Maude. "Otherwise we will be here all NIGHT !"
Grace drew an imaginary line in her palm with her forefinger, and let out a sigh. "Jeez Maude, ...you are coming up a bit short on the sympathy."
"You don't need Sympathy Grace, you need a can opener from what I can see."
"I take care of everyone. " Grace said at last. "I am tired, and no one takes care of Me."
Maude rubbed her antennae together and smiled. "That's because you never let anyone take care of you Grace. I am going out to get myself taken care of right this Minute, find myself a nice big Mothman." Maude giggled and added "See ya tomorrow night and you'd better look up Martyr in the dictionary because your picture is right there next to it. Hahahaha"                                                                                 Maude Fluttered off Leaving Grace with her mouth hanging open.

BAGGARAGGS GIVEAWAY

Please sign up and leave a comment to be a part of this giveaway. Its Apple Angel, and she is looking for a home. Apple Angel celebrates the Life of  Johnny Appleseed, an American Pioneeer nurseyman who introduced APPLES into large regions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He was a living Legend because of his KIND and generous Nature, encouraging others to Plant his APPLE seeds. Oh, I almost forgot about the date of the drawing....HOW ABOUT MOTHER"S DAY?  Doesn't give us too much time, so HURRY up and SIGN UP!!!! 

Conversations with Maude

You have heard curse words before I am sure, so I do not need to use any here. What Grace heard interspersed with the tapping noise were the curses of Maude the Moth as she bammed, bammed, bammed into the Light on the back Porch.

"Would you (bam) mind turning (Bam bam) that Damn (bam) thing OFF? " This was Maude's request and Highly directive remark to Grace.
Scrambling, Grace ran for the switch that brought a partial darkness to the porch. The Moonlight leaked through the tree branches, and illuminated the spot where Maude rested exhausted on the silvered leaf of a pothos.
She cursed again, and said "OK Grace, what is it? You turned on the light and called me. Now what is it? Jeez, I have a headache." She rubbed an antennae over her tiny head.
It was Grace's turn to curse, which she did quietly. "I am so sorry Maude. Really. I didn't think...hadn't remembered that leaving the light on like that would send for you...I mean...I have been so ..." Grace could not finish. She stammered and did not finish. To say that she was depressed was an acknowledgement of something she did not wish to face.
Maude peered over at her. "What's wrong with you Grace? You cocooning?"
"Cocooning?" replied Grace bewildered.
"Yeah, the word is you can't get out of Bed. I thought maybe you were going into a cocoon, transforming yourself... You know like we Moths do. I thought maybe you called me to show off your new wings. I was going to congratulate you."
"I am not Transforming, Maude." Grace replied sadly. "I am just depressed," she admitted.
"Depressed? What is "depressed" Grace?"
" I don't really want to have this discussion with you Maude," began Grace in an agitated voice. She stopped herself. Who would listen to her? Who did she wish to have share in this problem? This burden.
"Look Grace, you ask me to come here. Summoned me with the light. I don't know what Depression is, I ask a simple question  because I don't know.What is Depression?" Maude looked up with an earnestness that Softened Grace's anger. Maude's antennae were crossed at the tips, and there was concern in her voice.
Grace looked at her hands. She took a deep breath and felt the skin tingle around her chest.  She felt a rise of sadness in her gut and the tears fell. She began to speak.

Tapping

There was no Breakfast that day in the Baggaraggs. No lunch and No Teatime either. Grace stayed in Bed with her eyes closed and drifted, with the annoying awareness that an Abba song intruded non stop in her ears. Her mind seemed to play an endless round of Super Trooper.There was a puddle of saliva that crusted onto the side of her mouth and dribbled over onto her pillow.
She did not care. At times she was hot, and then she was cold. The covers flapped back and forth to adjust to her temperature.
No one disturbed her and had they tried Murray would have issued a growl that would have sent them scurrying.
The Evening came. The light faded and the shadows in the corners of the room were melting into darkness. Grace realized she has spent the entire day in bed. There was the niggling sense of guilt over time wasted, friends not fed, chores ignored.She righted herself at the bedside and sat with her head drooping. Murray rested his head on her knee, and under her hand. They did not speak.
Grace unfolded her self into a stretch. Tentatively searching the spots at the limits of her joints where the pain would come. Trying to avoid the hot discomfort. Arthritis.
An awareness of an unfamiliar tapping sound intruded. Grace momentarily considered ignoring it, but somehow drew a line against her apathy to investigate the noise.
The back porch light was on, had been since the night before. Grace hiked her pajama bottoms up with a hand and held them at her stomach. like a sleep walker, stiff and uncertain, she walked towards the light, and what seemed to be the source of the tapping. The rest of the house was dark.

I am working on this Young Lady. She will be a Pretty Face. ..not my normal eyes ascew, Raggedy Rompus. Does anyone  want to know how to make a doll? Here are some Photos of her progress. I have boxed off the bottom so she will sit nicely.

Edwina

Here is Little Edwina. She wears her emotions on her face. You can tell what she is thinking, BUT she can tell what you are thinking TOO.

The DIM, the return to Grace Tenderstitch

It is Spring in the Baggaraggs. The Jack in the Pulpits have edged their way through the forest floor. Forsythia wears the Blossoms of Yellow Easter gloves.The leaves have budded through the bark to make the first few green knuckles appear on the end of naked limbs. The bulbs are up and each day they gain strength and reach up with stronger fingers. The forest begins to gain its green luminescence again. The Light is a Living Thing, and all the Baggaraggian Inhabitants rejoice at the coming of the Warm Time. Grace knows none of this. The verdant new start begins without her. Grace is awakened in the early morning hours, while it is still dark, to the sound of twittering and excited birds. The energy with which they communicate their happiness annoys Grace. She is angry to admit this even to herself.  She wishes for quiet. She has nothing to say to the day. No greeting and no plan that she feels she can actuate. 
Her Animal friends speak quietly in the kitchen while they wait for their breakfast. If we listen this is what we hear:
"Grace still sleeping?" This remark is whispered by Ernie the weasel to Myron the Mole.
"Oi, she twill sleep her life aways. I'ze hungry Ern. Why won't she gettin up? Tis springtimes. I smell It."
"She Hibernates, and she is wearing a Flat Face when she wakes," said Ernie who was more Psychologically oriented for a Weasel then one might expect.
"I think she has a what they call a Darkness on her. That's when you disappear into your Own Shadow, get lost and become part of the DIM," Ernie added.
"Oi, I'Ze Hungry Ern," replied the Mole, who could  not comprehend the Idea of the DIM.
Grace stirred and rose. Her movements were slow and seemed painful. Murray rose to greet her. He agreed with Ernie's assessment about the DIM and he wanted the old Grace back.

Strong and Brave and Cancer free

Here is a Photo of My sister Shelly. She and her Husband Doug are Inn Keepers in Brandon, Vermont. That's their Logo right to the left. The Lilac Inn. If you click on it , it will take you to the prettiest Inn I have ever seen.

My sister is very Brave, Very Strong and is now Cancer Free. I am Thankful to God for that. I love her alot. Ladies Please have your Mammograms. It might save your Life.

He has Risen!

Happy Easter to all of you Folks that follow my blog. Christ has Risen indeed.