Dear Reader:

“All is well” with my fountain finally ..after many trials and tribulations.

The problem with the fountain was that it kept letting too much water splash out of the basin … if I forgot to turn off the electric switch to the motor for a long period of time… the water would be dangerously low…not covering the motor…I could possibly burn it up.

So every morning… when I woke up and I could hear the fountain running ( meaning I had forgotten to turn off the switch again) my mouth went dry.

Too many of these early morning (potential) disasters awaited me so I stopped turning it on. But I missed it so….I loved going out in the evenings and sitting on the bench listening to the gurgling waters.

About a week ago…I decided to try to give it a good spring cleaning and noticed something as I worked. The water wasn’t level…it was deeper in the front (without it even being on) than the sides and the back…so when the fountain water flowed down off the umbrella it slowly fell over the top of the basin until almost all the water was gone.

When Tim stopped by I explained my observation and with one piece of plywood hidden under the base to level it better… the problem is gone and “all is well again.”.

This makes me so happy because you remember I specifically wanted to create a garden that encompassed all five senses: sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch.

Now I have it all…even a magical sound emitted from the fountain.

If one walks the garden path towards the fountain…halfway there on the other side of the yard near… the fence with the painted windows…you can hear the fountain gurgling louder than if you stood right in front of the fountain.

I should have paid more attention in my science classes…but obviously there is some kind of vacuum or something that is carrying the sound waves across the garden and yard. It is so cool!!!!

I wanted a magical moon gate garden and it is the fountain that has brought the magic to it!

…”All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

This quote I fondly remember Grandmother Wilson repeating and it  has a most interesting story behind it.

ALL SHALL BE WELL

Julian of Norwich was an anchoress—a woman who set herself apart for God and lived isolated in a cell in the 1300’s. She felt like the only way to get answers, that had troubled her all her life, was to almost die and get a peek into the other world…the world of spiritual answers…what we would call a ‘near-death’ experience.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) Julian became seriously ill when she was only thirty…physicians believed her illness incurable and, even Julian herself, thought herself on the brink of death.

While in this near-death state. (between 9 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon)…she saw and heard fifteen visions of truth about questions she had pondered most of her life…while seeing Jesus, Mary, and glimpses of heaven.

The 13th (vision or showing) produced the most famous answer … the quote Grandmother Wilson used.

In her thirteenth showing, Julian receives a comforting answer to a question that has long troubled her:

“In my folly, before this time I often wondered why, by the great foreseeing wisdom of God, the onset of sin was not prevented: for then, I thought, all should have been well. This impulse [of thought] was much to be avoided, but nevertheless I mourned and sorrowed because of it, without reason and discretion.

“But Jesus, who in this vision informed me of all that is needed by me, answered with these words and said: ‘It was necessary that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.’

Source: “All Shall Be Well” Dan Graves- In Context

* If you would like to see a statue of Julian of Norwich and read more about her fascinating life….this is a good one:

Julian of Norwich ~ Mystic, Theologian and Anchoress ..

In other words…when things go bad….”All is good.” Right Betsy?

*Update on Betsy’s health…her heart problems have minimalized….and she continues to be carefully monitored for any potential reoccurrence. She has a new job and life is good…”All is good.”

So until tomorrow…Remind us Father to place our faith and trust in you…You have assured us that ‘All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.’ 

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* The garden fairies are up to their tricks again. Yesterday the doorbell rang and when I got there the postal truck was turning the corner. A box was sitting on the porch…I opened it up and look what was in it…

I shook my head in disbelief…now what? A typed message was on the receipt for the original fairy door ordered but since it was out of stock this newer (most expensive) door was replacing the other… the company hoped that was okay and have a good day.

So for the least expensive fairy door…I ended up with two doors for the price of one….a “fairy” good deal!

It used to be if a plant didn’t bloom I wasn’t interested in it…but all that is changing now…I am starting to appreciate the ground covering plants with their different shades of green and/or speckled colors with diverse textures

For example: This beautiful (yellow green) coleus is named “Electric Lime” and it takes my breath away. Its texture is so fun to touch.

Hostas are another plant that I have come to appreciate…I keep one in a container on the deck and miraculously it is happy so far.

One of my neighbors has the biggest hosta plant I have ever seen…(the photo doesn’t do it justice)…it is at least three feet across (or more) and two feel tall vertically. When I asked him the name he said he didn’t know the technical name for this particular hosta…he just called it “Big-Ass” hosta. (Works for me!)

Kaitlyn sent this photo of her and Tommy taken a couple of years ago…and by the way…if worry is one of your worst enemies…you are not alone. Kaitlyn addresses this issue in her blog- swicegoodyoga