garden and art

bee balm bud (say that three times fast)

Yesterday, I got an email from a dear friend from our old church. We did not leave our old church in the best of standing. We left in protest of something that was done. However, we did try to maintain some of our friendships. However, our lives and our friends lives were separated by time and space and we made new friends at our new church.

J emailed me yesterday she asking for help with a collage. A mutual friend,E, had lost her father recently. She had lost a brother rather suddenly two years ago. At both funerals Q&A1 from the Heidelberg Catechism was central. In addition, E, who is a gifted composer, had written music for the Q&A1.

J wanted to make a collage for E using the music and the catechism and she wasn't sure how to go about it so she emailed me. We talked on the phone last night and it was fun to do a little catching up. This morning before I got out of bed, I had an inspiration about how this collage should be done. I called J and she was pleased with my idea.

J's need provided me with inspiration and focus. And today, while still tired, I have zest.

these are calendula (pot marigold) buds - I picked off my blossoms a few days ago to make a beauty cream - calendula is different from the common marigold that we see in mass plantings here in the US those are African marigold of a species known as tagetes.

this is an African marigold (tagetes)

hosta buds

feverfew

feverfew in front of the leaves of some of my variegated iris

feverfew and a sunflower leaf in the foreground

I have yet to taste a tomato - don't you think this one has a pretty shape?

I needed to take a photo of a frame for J so she could see what I was proposing she buy for the collage. Since I had the camera out, I went out into the yard. Photography nearly always improves my mood - it is prayer, worship, and praise for me.

Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 1 Q&A 1

Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.