The Wood's Secret Garden

Little Susie was not only scared to death of bees, she was also highly allergic. In fact, her fear kept her indoors most of the year accept for those months where the temperatures dropped low enough to keep the bees and wasps asleep. Susie had never heard about "winter bees" so she was shocked to find one getting a drink at the bird bath just outside the kitchen door. The little bee startled her and instead of filling the bird bath with more fresh water she ran back into the house. She was torn between her desire to make sure the little birds had fresh water each day and her fear of the bees. She waited a few hours in hopes that they would all go away. She looked out the window and it appeared that the coast was clear so she ventured outside with her two gallon jugs full of fresh water. As she approached the bird bath everything initially looked fine. No bees flying around. But, as she got closer she saw a little bee floating face down in the water with its wings spread. It h...

At 62 years old, I am finding that the more I learn the more I realize just how little I actually know.  At 62, I am also observing that young people, who may have learned a little, seem to think they have nothing to learn from others and that they need not even question themselves about anything they think or do. So I wrote this little poem. If we can't laugh at ourselves, the problem is much bigger than we can even imagine.

So blessed to have had my Nephew, Jared Duba, not only do the voice over for this wonderful story; but also, post it on his YouTube channel.  I hope you will take the time to watch. 

  While photographing all the lovely "weeds" in our "Bee Lawn" this year, I realized that I had a miniature Floral Shop, of my very own at my feet; and, not only that, but every single flower was free--and, there were a lot of them!  At the very same time, I also realized that I could make all the miniature flower arrangements that I wanted to--and I wanted to! Now, I realize that that probably sounds very strange to most of you.  But, it makes a great deal of sense to anyone who knows me well.   They know: #1 - Never, ever send me cut flowers!  I hate watching something so beautiful and expensive slowly die; and, #2 - I love the art of flower arranging especially Ikebana. So, here I was with a lovely morning and tons of miniature flowers of all different kinds (even little tiny "mock Strawberries)! As I was cutting them, I was thinking about what I could use as vases and initially thought that thimbles would work; but I only had two and they were actually ...

"What is it like?" they ask. So many people have asked me, "What is it like to go Viral on Social Media. So, below are the Good, Bad and Best things I have ex perienced: #1 Worst Things about going Viral You realize how bad you look and sound on video (“Really? Is that me?) Clearly, this has been a reality check and I think I would have preferred living in my delusion.  And you realize just how cracked and in need of repair your driveway is.  My goodness. #1 Good Thing about going Viral More people get to enjoy the gift God has given me, which has opened up great opportunities to meet new people and talk about truly, meaningful things and establish new relationships with people around the world who I would have never had the opportunity to have met had this not happened. #1 Best Thing about going Viral A woman who was grieving the loss of her mother; deeply depressed, and, who had lost all joy, wrote to me wanting to tell me what a difference that my art ha...

This year, for my Birthday, my husband bought me something I have wanted for years--a Power Washer.  From the very first time I used one to help a girlfriend get her mom's house ready to sell, I have wanted one for my very own.  There is something so therapeutic about seeing dirty siding, fences, bricks and cement go from yuck to clean. Over the past month, I have power washed everything I could find: the patio, the fence, the siding on the shop, several dirty shutters; and, even the garbage cans.  I was putting off tackling the biggest project (the driveway) until I had a full day to work on it. Well, this opened up a whole new world for me.  When I realized how long it would take (we have a very long and very dirty driveway) I decided to turn it into an art project.  I realized that I could do word art in one tenth the time that it would take to power wash the entire driveway and it would allow me to leave most of the dirty part dirty.  As pleased as ...