Be Still: A P52 Photo Post

Dear friends,

This week's Project 52 photo theme is "Be Still." (The link goes up on Friday.) I know my selection of photos to link might seem odd, and certainly out of place with the rest of this post, but here it is:

Badger Sleep Balm
(There's a pretty cool video 
at the end of the linked page --
showing how they make this stuff!)

Why this for "Be Still"? 

Because the container is cute,

and more importantly,this organic essential oil salve works.

My mom gave it to me a while back but I hadn't tried it yet.

I remembered it because we've had really sick kids in the house,

and they've had a mighty hard time sleeping with fevers.

A little of this rubbed on the temples brings on the groggies!

I know, because I tried it myself, 

and within minutes, I was ready to zonk!

So, for a fretful child who can't sleep,

Badger Sleep Balm might help them to "Be Still"!

OK, enough unsolicited commercial.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Isaac and his great grandma (my mother)

My mom flew down to Florida a week ago. Besides visiting my new grandbaby, Isaac, she has a tradition of taking each of her grandchildren on a "12 year old trip" of their choice.  Micah chose the Everglades because he is an avid photographer and birder. (His photos will take another whole post by themselves, when he's ready!) Last Thursday, on their second morning down there, Mom lost her balance on a nature trail, fell down hard, and hurt her hand and shoulder.  She didn't want to ruin Micah's sight seeing, so she waited until after dinner to go to the hospital, where she was told she had a fracture in her hand and got a cast.  (She went to her doctor at home in Maryland, and they said it is just badly bruised and gave her a removable splint.  That's good news!) She still managed to keep going on their adventure, complete with alligators and airboats, until Saturday afternoon, even longer than originally planned!  My mom is a real trooper!  She knows how to "Be Still" and not complain!  (That's important, because she's also the primary caregiver for my 97 year old grandmother!)

Mom also planned an extra few days to spend with us, especially since my second grandson was born three weeks ago. We did a 550 piece jigsaw puzzle, went to church, ate dessert at Denny's, played our traditional game of Scotch Bridge, and more.

"Bless Our Home"

We worked on the puzzle a good part of Saturday afternoon and evening. There were so many of us working at the table that I took a picture with my iPod of my section of the puzzle from the box lid so I could take a tray of pieces and do them by myself without passing the box back and forth. As we got toward the end, we counted and thought we had a few pieces missing. Andrew and Lydia were each holding out to put in the last piece and finally agreed to put them in at the same time.  Right after that, Naomi laughed and pulled out a piece she had been hiding so she could put it in last. We all got a kick out of that! But then Micah, who hadn't worked on the puzzle at all, leaned over and unexpectedly discovered the last missing piece under the table, so he managed to put in the very last piece!

Apple crisp and ice cream

Scotch Bridge with my
Blue Ridge Mountain playing cards

I teach at a home school co-op on Monday afternoons,

but we made plans to visit Leu Gardens that morning

with my oldest daughter Mary and her two little guys, Jacob and Isaac.

(Free admission the first Monday of each month!)

If I had to choose a "Be Still" photo from Leu Gardens, 

it might be this one -- except for one thing!

This butterfly would not "be still"!

It kept flitting from plant to plant.

It's a good thing my iPod takes really fast photos!

A "flying flower"

This would be my next pick for "Be Still."

My grandson Isaac slept soundly most of the time.

Maybe his Mommy used Sleep Balm on him?

Isaac and his grandma (that's me!)

Shadows on the path

I had never noticed the holes
in this kind of huge leaf before.
These weren't holes chewed by insects, though.
They grow that way!
(Yes, I know I am easily amused!)
Jacob is easily amused, too,
particularly fascinated with "wawa"
even if it is just a little in a puddle.
He cried when we pulled him away to move on...

We headed for the rose garden first, but....

Where are the roses that usually bloom
up behind the fountains?
Every bush (dozens of them!)
had been pruned back to the stump!

A pruned push is "being still"
-- remaining dormant,
getting ready for brand new growth
and full blossoms.
We humans do that sometimes
in various seasons of life.

There were still plenty of other gorgeous flowers.
I loved the variations of pinks in this camellia.

 

More "wawa" for Jacob and his Mommy!

And more easy amusement for Grandma,
who even takes pictures of bubbles in the "wawa."

    

Jacob didn't want to leave the fountain either,
but I carried him over to the lake
to see more "wawa" and some turtles.

Jacob throwing the bread into the water

  

One big turtle (on the left, with fish swimming over his back)
and several smaller turtles.

We were trying to feed the turtles,
but the fish always kept getting to the bread first,
this time right over the big turtle's head!

  Two more cute little Jacob photos.

Can you tell I'm a Grandma?

Be still 

before the LORD and wait patiently for him; 

do not fret when men succeed in their ways, 

when they carry out their wicked schemes.  

Psalm 37:7

Jesus got up, rebuked the wind 

and said to the waves, “Quiet! 

Be still!” 

Then the wind died down 

and it was completely calm.

Mark 4:39

Be still, 

and know that I am God; 

I will be exalted among the nations, 

I will be exalted in the earth. 

Amos 46:10

Still,
Virginia Knowles
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

Click here to see Project 52!

(This Friday's theme: Be Still.)