Plant and Animal Lover

Plant and Animal Lover

Our daughter, schooled in Landscape Architecture, loves plants and animals (usually more than people since they don't talk back)!  She has settled comfortably in her new home and totally loves spending her leisure time in her yard growing her garden and tending to her plants and pets.  She has three cats, but Fuzz is the elusive one and is hardly ever seen.  He is solid black.  The other two are quite lovable and are content to socialize with us!

She lived in New Mexico for a while, and Bubby, the Alpha and Guard-Cat is a transplant from there.  She rescued him when he was a kitten lost in the snow, nursing him back to health after he was hit by a car.  He is her big 20-pound baby.

Purslane, AKA Pursy or P, is second in command.  Loving plants as she does, P is named after purslane, a succulent weed/herb that is gaining popularity as edible landscaping.  Soft, succulent purslane leaves have more omega-3 fatty acids than in some of the fish oils.  If you are a vegetarian and pledge to avoid all forms of animal products, then here is the answer!  Go for this healthy dark-green leafy vegetable and soon you will forget fish!
Botanically, this herbaceous leafy vegetable belongs to the family of Portulacaceae and scientifically known as Portulaca oleracea.  Other common names in place for this green leafy vegetable are pursley, pigweed, or verdolaga.

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea).

Purslane herb.

This summer she made two raised beds and planted tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries, and peppers, not to mention the many varieties of flowers in her flower beds.

 Recently she put out three hummingbird feeders, and much to her surprise, the hummers are flocking to them daily and emptying them almost as quickly as she fills them up!  They have given her many hours of enjoyment, although she has to keep her spray hose ready to spray the cats if they decide to go after the little hummingbirds!

 She has taken these great pictures with her phone, if you can believe it!  Aren't they amazing? 

Cosmos

Butterfly bush

Exodus 20:8-11

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Hebrews 4:9-11

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

In Mark 2:27, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."  The point is that God wants us to take time to rest.   People who regularly observe the Sabbath will tell you that the Bible knows what it is talking about.  Those who set aside one day to rest each week will find that they are rejuvenated and much more productive on the other six days.  While it can be a challenge in today's society to set aside a day of rest, observing the Sabbath can result in much greater productivity.  Everyone needs a regular break.

So glad you stopped by today.  Hope you will rest on this Sunday and enjoy all the blessings God has given you!