Photo Friday: “Every Good & Perfect Gift…”

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17

Fencing off the neighbors!

Photo Friday this week takes a look at some of the work going on around my parents’ home next door. It’s a beautiful cottage, but there is a tremendous amount to be done around the property, and I have a hard enough time as it is keeping up with Maul-Hall.

Fortunately we have friends with not only the willingness but the expertise. So when the obvious disrepair of mum and dad’s fencing moved from concerning to catastrophic, Joe came over and we hatched a plan. Demolish the old fence, set new posts, build new framing, cut down and reuse the existing boards, enclose a smaller area.

The way Joe worked to recycle as much material as possible involved responsible stewardship, artisanal craftsmanship, good old-fashioned hard work, and artistic expression – all resulting in a hybrid product that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Thanks, Joe, for your consistent and faithful witness to excellence.

2 – Gardening:

Then, as you can see right after the fence photos, Rebekah has decided to grab mum and dad’s front garden with both hands.

We will get to the newly fenced area eventually. But for now the steep slope down from the street to the cottage has long been overrun. So we removed huge amounts of low hanging branches, trash trees, misplaced shrubs, weeds, debris, etc. Rebekah is now in the process of doing what is essentially an archaeological dig to discover clues as to how the original owners in the 1980’s and 90’s planted the space.

She has already uncovered extensive liriope, several different bulbs, and various flowering shrubs. It is going to be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Now she is retired, Rebekah says, she can take “the long view” to gardening. This means that she doesn’t feel she has to do everything all at one time because she won’t be able to get back in the garden for who knows how long. Now she can plan things out for days, work as carefully and gently as possible, and know she can (and will) always do more tomorrow… or the next day… or the next.

This makes me happy because I know gardening makes her happy.

– mum and dad’s unruly front garden, and Rebekah working in their yard

3 – Grandchildren:

The selection begins with a rare “shareable” photo of Mr. T. in Bahrain. The family is settled into their spacious high rise apartment, Andrew and Alicia are glad to be teaching in the American School, and Mr. T. is growing by leaps and bounds. Here he is, looking out over the view.

Meanwhile in Miami David turned 10, Beks loves life with a fierce enthusiasm, and Geoffrey is happy, engaged, and full with vibrant life.

Naomi and Craig must be exhausted!

– Mr. T., the newly minted 10-year-old, Beks playing with Geoffrey

4 – Beautiful fall evenings:

Finally – and you have to scroll to the end to see this, Rebekah channelled her inner Girl Scout and fired up the fire pit. We pulled out folding chairs, I served a cup of tea, and we simply enjoyed a few quiet moments together listening to the wood crackle and feeling the cool fresh air.

Things may be different now. But when were they ever the same? One thing that holds consistent and beautiful truth is the foundation on which our lives are built.