Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Haven: Day Four

I did much better at making our home a haven today because we were home! We had sort of a slow start this morning as the littles all slept late and I stayed in bed and worked on some Bible Study things for almost two hours!

The girls piled up in my bed with some paper dolls which then moved to the fridge, it was a great start to the day!

I got my chores done and made banana bread, cookies and a yummy dessert! Mid-morning I was putting sheets on the girls beds and saw our neighbor across the street out pulling weeds. The girls really wanted to go over and "help her" so we all went over and at least one of helped pull weeds.

The girls wanted to invite her for lunch and she offered her picnic table as a place to eat - so I came home and fixed salads for us and cheese, crackers, fruit for the younger crowd and we all had a nice lunch together! Very impromptu and a welcome treat in our day! Her husband came home just before I got there with lunch and said the nicest prayer for our children and family, it brought tears to my eyes and I was very blessed by being with them today.

I finished working on a Holy Days family guide I'll be sharing before Lent starts next Wednesday and went to church to hear the girls sing.

Ok, please help me on this one - I've watched so many of you wonderful bloggers force bulbs inside in the Spring and every year I've wanted to join you! This year, I saved tulip bulbs in my fridge all winter to make them think they were dormant and when I took them out they were so dried up I had to dispose of them.

In my ignorance, I hoped I could get some fresh bulbs and just plant them and get them to bloom all at once. However, I am guessing that bulbs like tulips and hyacinths or even daffodils only are available in the Fall?

So, have you ever forced bulbs inside? How do you store the bulbs over the winter and take care of them so they are ready in the Spring? Hopefully I can try again next year...

For tomorrow my goals are:

* Continue in a few chores around the house: vacuum, dust and sweep kitchen floor

* Bless a friend

* Do something for my husband

Looking forward to reading your posts and ideas! May God bless you as you make your home a haven!

7 comments:

pippasmum said...

What a lovely day! Spending time in Bible study while cozy in bed sounds like a wonderful way to start the day. Sometimes, first thing in the morning, the kids, the animals and Dh and I have a bit of a lie in - it's truly my favourite time!
I would love to learn how to force bulbs, too. In the spring, I buy potted bulbs at the grocery store when they are on sale and I'd like to try to do something with the bulbs instead of seeing them go to waste once the flowers are done.

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

Hi Monica,
Oh, I do LOVE the sight of a Bible opened up, with notes written in it ;) :) I LOVe that. Let's see, I blessed a friend this week. Well, technically last week. I had a coule of extra cookbooks that I wanted to send her. She loved cookbooks, but doesn't always have the money to buy them. I had two that I didn't need. One was an extra copy I won in a contest. The other was a purchase. So I sent both of those to her. Plus some extra copies of Mary Jane's Farm magazine. We both love country style decorating, or anything feminine, frilly, vintage etc. She received the package today. Her husband brought it in. She was was so su rprised. It felt really good to read her reaction :) :) :)

I really love these "Haven" posts. Very good!!! Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

Anonymous said...

Monica i love you morning and your impromtu lunch with your neighbor! Beautiful. Your haven days are encouraging me to do something, my things have been outside,but it is still making a lovely haven :-). Thanks and Lord Bless you~tammyp

Jodi said...

Sounds like you had a WONDERFUL day! Thank you for posting all these "nuggets" of great ideas!

Yesterday, my son ended up having a *minor* allergic reaction in Kindergarten and I had to pick him up early from school. Inspired by your posts, and a post from Katie at "Blessed Femininity" I decided to quickly throw together a picnic lunch for everyone. (We live in Wisconsin, so we stayed inside!) My three little ones were so excited, and they couldn't stop saying "You're the best-est Mom ever!" Melted this Momma's heart...

Mrs. T. said...

What a beautiful day!T I enjoyed hearing about it :). Times with neighbors are a blessing!

I look forward to hearing about the bulbs. My birthday was a few weeks ago and my mom gave me a window box full of bulbs hyacinth she had forced. They were beautiful!

LynnMarie said...

OK the fact that you can eat outside and pull weeds has me very jealous right now! We have over 4 feet of snow and temps will not hit 0 today!!! Ok I am glad you have sping, just can you please send some my way He..he.. I have forced bulbs, they are stored in the garage over the winter since it's cold in there. Remember, we are up north. A freezer is too "drying"for bulbs. Do you have a celler? Is it heated? If not then maybe that would be the place for you. I hope some of your southern readers have tips for you. You can always call a plant nursery in your area and tap into there knowledge. Enjoy your day.

Debra said...

Sounds like the perfect day!

I had a haircut at 9 and then came home to finish up some work that needed to be fed ex'd yesterday. I was able to do a couple loads of laundry before I had to run out to my hubby's office to help him and get my package mailed. Then off to my daughter's school to help out.

Unfortunately, I know nothing about bulbs! Good luck.