Share Your World | On The Deck With The Usual Suspects

/ Ally Bean

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Re: what I mentioned last week that I was looking forward to doing. On our deck we now have a small herb + vegetable garden with the usual suspects: [l to r] Italian Oregano, Rosemary, Husky Cherry Red Tomatoes, Cute Stuff Gold Peppers, and Sweet Mint.

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• Wanting something to quench your thirst, what would you drink?

Water… or maybe Iced Tea.  Of course what is Iced Tea but Water fancied up, so my final answer, Alex, is: what is water?

• Complete this sentence:  Never In My Life Have I…. 

Wanted to go to the moon.

• If you could be given any gift what would it be?

Are we talking gift, like a present? Or are we talking gift, like a skill? Or a superpower?  I need a bit of clarification here before I can gift the world with my answer.  😉

• What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something productive?

I’m a good sleeper, so I rarely deal with sleeplessness.  But when I do, I lie in bed and compose blog posts in my head.  This tends to put me back to sleep almost instantly.  🙂

• Optional Bonus Question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

Last week’s gratitude award goes to the needy selfish people who caused me angst and trouble– which then lead me to remember one of my favorite hymns, It Is Well with My Soul.  I share a beautiful rendition of this hymn, sung a cappella by Sisters, below. In the rotunda!

This week’s looking forward to something goes to having lunch with an articulate out-of-town friend who I’ve known for year and agrees with me that most of the people who we know are whacked.  We’ll have much to talk about.  Imagine that!

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This post is part of Cee’s Share Your World Weekly Writing Challenge.

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51 thoughts on “Share Your World | On The Deck With The Usual Suspects”

  1. Love the mini garden, as well as the beds around your home. Not sure why but I have a fondness in my heart for brick homes, always have. I wonder if it goes back to the grandparents home of my childhood best friend, Patrick. Back then, when kids could ride their bikes for hours and miles and no one cared a hoot, we would head off down a few blocks and over a few more and appear at his grandparents door. We had hours worth of play in their garden and backyard, and of course treats as well.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, thank you. The little garden of pots keeps us in herbs and just enough veggies. Most of the houses around here are brick so I think of it as normal. Interesting to hear from someone who has a different experience. I remember goofing off outside as a child, no one much cared what I did as long as I came back home at the proper time. Different world, eh?

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I feel like the better part of moon enjoyment is seeing it in the sky. Surely we have the best vantage point? (And all the air…)
    I never can get rosemary to grow in a pot :/
    I love “It Is Well With My Soul” and shall listen to it now as I read other posts.

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    • joey, I agree with you. I want to see the moon, enjoy its glow and subtle changes from afar. I like a little mystery in my life.

      I can’t kill rosemary in a pot! Seriously. Sometimes it grows all winter sitting out on our front stoop.

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      • I think that’s wonderful. I am totally not jealous, not even a smidge. The ideal place to grow it is IN A POT! so you can take it INSIDE IN THE WINTER!
        People said more drainage, I did more drainage. People said southern exposure, I did southern exposure. Finally, I put it in the ground. The one and only advantage I see to it being where I plant it is that at the end of summer, we brush past it and release its fragrance. (But that could happen with a pot…)
        I did have rosemary til January in 2016, but that’s as far as I got WHAT WITH IT IN THE GROUND AND ALL.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Hi, Ally –
    Water: I totally agree. Best drink ever.
    Moon: I’m also with you on wishing to remain firmly grounded on planet earth.
    Best Gift: Please say that I can choose a ‘superpower’!
    Sleep: I am totally jealous that you sleep easily through the night. I agree with the strategy that ‘composing blog posts in one’s head’ does bring on sleep more quickly!
    Gratitude – I’m so sorry to hear about needy-selfish people causing you grief. I hope all is well now!
    Thanks for sharing your world!

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    • Donna, water is the answer that just about everyone says for this question. We’re all so healthy! 🙂

      Please feel free to give yourself the gift of a superpower. Make it a good one!

      The annoying people are behind me now. I’ve learned from them, and won’t go down those rabbit holes again! I’m a kind Bean, but I won’t be drawn in again.

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  4. Do you put some of your mint in your iced tea?

    I think that’s a great distinction re: the Gift Question. My problem with these sorts of things is that I invariably get Too Thinky. Like, for superpower: I’d love to be able to fly, but would I be too cold? Would I hurt myself landing? That sort of thing. Sigh. And what about all the Stuff I’d want to bring with me?

    When I can’t sleep, I toss and turn, then I take mental tours of places I’ve been as a child, like my grandmother’s house, my elementary school, the house I grew up in. I go to each room and try to recall what was there, etc. It’s so tedious that I eventually fall asleep.

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    • nance, I do put mint in my iced tea. And in my Mint Juleps!

      I know what you mean about overthinking the gift question. I’m a planner, so I need to have all the details set in my mind before I’ll do anything. I mean, I get it: where would you put all that stuff while you were flying? I’d need to know this, too.

      Good way to fall asleep. I’ll try it next time.

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  5. Every year I declare that I’m done with gardening and that I will only grow a pot or two such as yours. And every year, I manage to make a liar of myself.

    Lovely song – sends chills – I had not heard this one before, so thank you!

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    • Maggie, I used to plant more pots– lots more pots– of veggies and herbs. But I think I’ve entered my minimalist gardening stage, so these five plants are it for this year.

      Happy to know you liked the hymn. It gives me chills to hear Sisters sing it, too. I feel at peace.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. You seem to have a green thumb. We’ve planted tomatoes both in pots and in the ground. And never had a good crop. I stick with perennials and native plants. We have a huge rosemary plant right beside our driveway that lasts year after year. I love the smell!
    The sisters singing It is Well With my Soul were fantastic…absolutely beautiful!!
    I’m on enough meds that I never have trouble sleeping..LOL!
    We are looking forward to going to Ireland Friday. Can’t wait! It’s a trip I’ve always wanted to take.

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    • Beth, they say my grandmother had a green thumb, so maybe it’s from her? I really don’t know what I’m doing, but I have a good time of it. I adore the scent of rosemary, too. It’s the plant of remembrance which makes me like it even more. Enjoy Ireland. I did… all those long years ago.

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    • Akilah, I don’t really have an answer to the gift question regardless of any clarification about it.

      I hadn’t thought about how hymns refocus energy when stressed, but you’re right. I learned most of them as a child in church choir. Many of the hymns have stayed with me to this day.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. I’m sending my bunnies over to your yard for snacks. I intend to have a pot of herbs this year. Last year I put parsley in my fenced in garden and the enticing smell was too much for the groundhogs. They climbed over the fence, damaging my beloved tiny tomato plants, to get to the parsley. Boogers!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Loved your answers, loved the Sisters’ rendition of It Is Well With My Soul, love that you already have herbs growing in a pot – we have a very short growing season, and dare not plant anything tender outside before a week or so into June. Then there are those years where we have frost every month – my gardening efforts have grown less and less each year I’m here.

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    • Carol, I’m glad that you liked Sisters singing the hymn in the rotunda. It charmed the socks off of me.

      We have a decent enough amount of time to grow herbs and vegetables, but the deer and rabbits will eat anything planted in the ground. That’s why I do the pots up on our elevated deck. So far those critters haven’t figured out how to walk up the steps.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Zounds. Sounds like best kind of friend to have.
    Gifts are tricky. (Wonder if super heroes ever want to regift their super power gift because they are exhausted and just want to be average?)
    Dad always jokes we went to church for the singing…and we sort of belted it out ( much to my brother’s and mom’s irritation..but the joyful noise thing – and they couldn’t complain) Still love those old old ones from long ago. (Did you ever hear Tennessee Earnie Ford’s hymns or Elvis’? Old back in the hills music)

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    • philmouse, I’ve never thought about whether or not a superhero can regift his or her superpower. Perhaps I’m too grounded to even entertain such thoughts!

      As a kid I was in all sorts of church choirs and we belted it out for Jesus, the apostles & the congregation to hear. *Hallelujah*

      I’ve heard Elvis singing hymns but not Tennessee Ernie Ford. Old-time religion at its finest, I do believe.

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  13. Your garden looks great.

    If I could have ANY gift/present. . . it would be red ripe tomatoes every week for a year! If I could have ANY gift/superpower. . . it would be time travel.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I’ve never wanted to go to the moon either… I’m quite content to view it from planet Earth thank you very much. I guess if my gift was the superpower of being able to transport myself anywhere quickly and safely, I might want to go… but I think I’d prefer somewhere warmer… with a beach… and with margaritas (which are mainly water too, btw… I’m pretty sure, anyway).

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  15. It’s good that you sleep well at night. I start off well–fall right asleep–but I’ll often wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back to sleep. I’ve learned not to fight it. I keep a book nearby and just start reading if I’m not back to sleep within 30 minutes. Usually, after 10-15 minutes of reading, my mind has quieted down enough and it’s off to Zzzzz land I go.

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    • Carrie, your attitude/plan about what do about sleeplessness sounds smart. Should I get to a point where I wake-up mid-snooze, I’ll remember it. Well, that is if composing blog posts in my mind doesn’t put me right back to sleep. 😉

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    • Margaret, our grass is almost too green this spring. A mild winter + wet spring have caused this.

      YEP, no more 5 a.m. alarms for you once you retire. [Unless for some nutty reason you want to get up that early… then have at it!]

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  19. Love your pot garden. I’ve worked a wonderful-for-me arrangement with my brother who has the green thumb in the family. He grows enough (way more than enough!) to share with us, and I grow flowers to share with him. My part of the deal is much easier, because I’ve chosen hard-to-kill perennials that give me endless blooms and entourages of bees to enjoy.

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    • Deborah, thank you. I like to do the pots up on the deck so that the deer and rabbits can’t get my herbs + vegetables. Plus the pots look cute!

      Your system with your brother is a good one– especially considering how you’ve “rigged” the system in your favor. 😉

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