10 Cuttin Sage

I just celebrated a birthday.... 59 as a matter of fact.  I’m not ashamed to admit my age because it really doesn’t matter.  As I get older and increase in years, gray hair (thank you, God, for good colorists), wrinkles (from enjoying way too much sun in my fair-skinned youth), and joint pain (from way too much gardening), I can’t think of anything I would have changed or done differently.  I wouldn’t have traded those sun-filled days by pool and beach for anything! Those are the best memories I have!  The joint pain is proof of my love for gardening (my garden spaces are really quite beautiful) and I won’t give up the spade and shovel until my fingers are completely frozen.  The gray hair is easy to cover up.  So I’m thankful for good health and I will wear these signs of aging with pride and I’ll keep on plugging away until I literally can’t anymore. Age truly is just a state of mind and, as I am no longer young, (well, Aunt Blanche thinks I look like a t...

Last Friday, I took a trip to a honeybee farm about 3 hours from home to pick up my 2 boxes of honeybees that I had ordered a couple of months ago.  This was not without a heavy load of anxiety and trepidation.  With Mr. Dodson gone, I knew I was completely on my own.  I could not fathom the experience of traveling 3 hours with 30,000 honeybees in my car.  My fear level was pretty high, I must admit.  My daughter, The Teacher, said it was like a Fear Factor episode!  (But I didn’t win a million dollars).  Thank goodness it was a beautiful, sunny, “sapphire throne” kind of day and I focused on prayer and scripture all the way to the farm and back.  It’s amazing (although it shouldn’t be) how prayer and scripture meditation bring peace (that surpasses all understanding).  So a focus primarily on Philippians 4:13 and Philippians 4:6-7 brought me (through the Holy Spirit) the peace I needed to get through that journey. I got home that evenin...

The Ocracoke Work Week came and went quickly and not without its usual frustration!   The new kitchen island with the beautiful hand-painted Mexican tile never got installed; in fact, never even made it down to Ocracoke because the cabinet maker didn’t get it finished in time. Therefore, that project will have to wait until the next trip..... The washing machine broke down after the first load which caused quite a bit of consternation (on my part) since all the bedding had to be washed..... It took 3 attempted deliveries of 3 sheets of plywood to get one correct sheet to fix the boathouse floor which got warped during the Hurricane Matthew flooding...... 2 porch chairs which had been repaired by the furniture company went missing.  Seems they got delivered to the wrong cottage....... The Doer accidentally drilled a hole in the gas line which precluded us from using the stove and oven until it got fixed by the gas company.....(so thankful he doesn’t smoke...

I have the best husband in the world.  No really, I do literally have the best husband on earth.  In fact, I should get the trophy for the best husband on earth!  Now, I know some women who would fight tooth and nail over who has the best husband in the world.....  but I still think I’d win. My husband has more common sense than anyone I’ve ever known. He is extremely handy, well-organized, very talented, and is able to do absolutely anything he puts his mind to doing.  And whatever he does, he does it correctly and to perfection.  He is amazing to me, especially when I think back through our 30 years together and all we’ve done and been through together.  Oh yes, I should mention that our 30th anniversary is next month! He was a dad who, despite having an extremely demanding work schedule, managed to make every sporting event, recital, awards banquet, school meeting, vacation trip, and  activity that was important to our daughters.  He...

I feel a little...unfaithful...  I’ve been to Ocracoke twice and didn’t write about it.   In fact, I went for 2 whole weeks last September (a huge indulgence) AND spent New Year's there (a first) and.... no posts! We’ve even started a new reno project for this year... I just haven’t felt the desire to write.   Not sure why..... For starters, life has flown by and stayed busy, busy, busy.  And I think maybe I’ve overdone the whole sunset, porch- sleeping, seafood-eating, wine-drinking-on-the-dock-with-the- ducks kind of thing. There’s not much more to Ocracoke than that (oh, but how wonderful!) But now I do have the desire to update!   The 2 weeks in September were heavenly. First week was reconnecting with an old friend (by old I mean friend from back when we were birthing babies in church (well, in the hospital actually) and doing church stuff and pot luck fellowships together. Time and distance eventually pulled us apart but when this sweet friend l...

So... last summer I decided to become a beekeeper.  It just seemed like a cool thing to do...you know, like, for the environment and stuff.   Actually I was driving down a street near my house about 2 years ago and saw a “Honey for Sale” sign out in the front yard of someone’s home.  I stopped because I love local honey (and its health benefits, of course).   When I knocked on the door, the owner of the house, Mr. Dodson, came to greet me.  He was 86 years old and had been keeping bees for about 30 years. He sold his honey every summer and was happy to see that he had a new customer.  He offered to show me his backyard hives.  I was fascinated by them and had never seen beehives up close and personal.  I caught the “bug” so to speak-- pun intended.  The next visit I actually donned a jacket and veil and he let me accompany him as he opened up one hive to do a hive check.  The buzzing of the bees was both startling ...

I could probably write 100 blog posts about all that has happened in life since I last wrote 5 months ago in February: The Wedding of the Hospitality Manager and her Engineer in April and all the precious moments surrounding it, the advent of a son in the family, the life and times of a woman (me) sandwiched between 2 generations, the loss of The Golden Retriever for 24 hours (which almost broke my heart but strengthened my faith), 2 visits to Ocracoke Island during this time frame, another visit to Hatteras (where I currently am) for my hubby’s family’s 15th annual beach trip, my new hobby as a Beek (beekeeper); I could go on and on. And all of these things have been completely enwrapped, enfolded, surrounded, enveloped, cradled, covered, encompassed, hemmed in, hugged (you get the picture, and thank you, Roget) in God’s precious grace which I have written about time and time again.   But perhaps the most purposeful and meaningful activity I’ve had is the time I’m...