Summer is in full swing.

Relief from the heat of June found it's way here in Allen, Texas when for three glorious days we were blessed with downpours of heavenly sent rain! Mornings remain quite comfortable still allowing for walks and rides on our trike, see below right. By 10:30 the heat begins to be noticeable. This morning we rode till 11:30. Riding is cooler to begin with so is pleasant longer as the heat increases. Also, the sun was covered by clouds most of our ride. Watering our plants grass and now our trees is essencial. Bigger trees are losing limbs because of lack of water. I water individual trees showing signs of stress in the morning and evening for extended periods to help them recover. A rose of mine has not progressed as some of my others. My son, who has experience with plants and landscaping, says the lack of water is the primary reason for loss of limbs and less growth of plants like my rose. Since I planted nine hybrid tea roses all at the same time early in the spring the growth of the group is of interest to me. Having provided Miracle Grow Rose Food on a three month time period and the other roses are growing more shoots of new growth than the one mentioned before. The coincidence that that rose is planted next to the tree that has lost several branches due to stress was brought to my attention by my son. Food can only do so much. Water, he said,is essential for both. I would welcome input from those who are experiencing this same or other conditions in their plants. I have removed yellow leaves from my roses, a sign of Rust. Also, a spray with pepper juice,a product of the "Dirt Doctor", deters bugs on plants.Seven Dust helps deter a webbing on the roses. I look forward to any response related to these issues. Thanks Kathie

Memorial Day Sale! PRICES LOWEST EVER! Through Monday

Memorial Day Sale!If you've ever been to my shop you know I have handmade beautiful items. Their prices are SLASHED!Sale ends Tues. June 1st. See some pictures at: http://www.katscozykrafts.etsy.com NOW to see what your missing. Kat

Summer is right around the corner!

My husband, Gary, and I are really counting the days till he will be out of school. He teaches in Garland. We have recently converted out Yamaha V-Star into a trike. We plan to take some day trips and two or three day trips to really get used to riding. The stearing is much different than without the trike. More like a car as those of you who have experienced the trike know. Here are some pics of our new trike. Kathie

I love my roses!

Anyone who has roses knows they are a lot of work. I recently put in 9 rose bushes and they were gorgeous. The blooms were perfection. Then the blooms died and all I have are the pictures I took. I've watered them and fed them and deadheaded them. My husband says they will get new buds soon. I sure hope so. If you have advice on why or what I can do to produce more buds I'd sure appreciate your help. Have a great week. Kathie

News about Beth Moore studies and her new book.

Any of you who know of Beth Moore or have studied her materials have got to read her new book about Insecurity. Now me, I'm not so insecure but I'm loving this book. You can find it anywhere really. The title is "So Long Insecurity you've been a bad friend to us". The last bible study I finished last month was "Believing God" and was only second to "Living Beyond Yourself" which was the first one I studied and had a profound influence not only in my life but on how I viewed the Bible. Up until I was introduced to Beth Moore Studies I could not get through Genesis let alone the whole Bible. King James is very difficult for me to interpret. The NIV version New International Version is clear and in my language, English from here in Texas. Beth's approach is amazing. She picks a topic and goes through the Bible to find biblical verse pertaining to the topic. Somehow she makes the subject come to life. Did you know that God had all our lives and experiences planned before the beginning of the world? And one study compared all the profecies from the Old Testament to the actual event taking place in the New Testament. So there were prophecies of Jesus birth in the Old Testament that validate Jesus as the Son of God in the New Testament. And better yet. Jesus was in existance before the World was created. Believing God did all of the above. Now I'm studying "Jesus, the One and Only" Even though I know the story of Mary's visit by Gabrial and Joseph accepting her as his wife even though she was carrying God's child,
Beth goes into detail about the events and asks questions of we girls as to how we would feel in her position and what would we do. She really wants us to put ourselves into her situation. Details are included like aafter Gabrial came to her and told her she would carry God's child where did she go? Well she went 50 to 70 miles on foot to see Elizabeth who was ccarrying a child, at advanced age I might add,who was to be John the bBaptist. It's funny how Beth mentions that Elizabeth had to borrow maternity clothes from her friend's granddaughters and that she was not likely to blame her wrinkled skin and gray hair on this child she was carrying. She's a hoot! Beth,that is. So if you haven't gotten into the Bible yet because it's to difficult, get an NIV version and a workbook at Mardel or other Christian stores or get into a class at a church near you. The classes get a discount so it's cheaper and they show the videos Beth has made. If you don't know of any place that have her classes,call any Baptist Church and ask if they have the classes. I'm not Baptist but I take classes at the Baptist Church in Allen every time they are offered. I could not wait till fall to start another class so I got a workbook on"Jesus,The One and Only" and do it on my own with my Bible. I find myself drawn to this book often in the morning and sometimes even in the evening when I have quiet time by myself. Comuning with the Lord through Beth Moore is a blessing I crave. She is the real deal. And You can hear and see her on the Robinson's daily show on angel network on dish network and Direct probably too on Wednesday at 6:30 the first 15 minutes of the show. I record it so I don't miss any of them. Hope you will tune her in or get her study books or take a class. God loves us all and our children too. If we learn about the Bible it will give us understanding of the promises he has made to all of us for just believing Him and in his son Jesus that will be passed on to our ancestors if we teach our children how to praise and show respect God and Jesus. The Holy Spirit is within each of us if we acknowledge Jesus as our savior and open our hearts to the spirit of God, ask for forgiveness of our sins through Jesus, who died for all our sins,thank God for forgiveness and ask Him to pour the Holy Spirit into our hearts and minds in every space. We must do this EVERY day in our quiet time to have a personal relationship with God and Jesus. Thanking God for forgiving our sins is essential for the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts and minds. All these things are supported by bible verses throughout our lessons. I never looked up any bible verses till I found Beth Moore. She makes you look them up and they're there to see for yourself what she teaches. She's not preachy and is not perfect,her words, has had hard times and overcome hardships in her life. Sorry if I got carried away. I just want others to know the Lord as I do from my study of Beth Moore's materials. Love in Christ, Kathie

Spring has Sprung

Hi everyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's day. I did. My hb spoiled me rotten. Check out my Spring Flowers pics on Flikr.com. And my hb's new Trike. He actually got a kit and transformed our Yamaha cruiser into a Trike for a substancial savings! We are lookng forward to taking trips this summer to Colorado or Montana. The guys from Yamaha in Allen on hwy 5 did the work and Matt helped order the kit. He gave all the measurments to the company; my hb actually ordered it himself to save more money. It all took place at the Allen Yamaha Dealers. They are the best!

I'm having an After Mom's day sale till Friday. Buy one get another for 25% off and don't pay till an adjusted invoice comes to you from PayPal. Get somethings you like for less. Hugs, Kat

Spring Showers bring May Flowers

Hope you all are flourishing in our spring weather. I just finished the most enlightening and spiritually beneficial bible study by Beth Moore! "Believing God". I highly recommend it to everyone. It can be found at most Christian book stores. It's another "life changer" by my favorite shield of faith speakers. And it is entirely scripture based.

I don't know if I've shared the influence that comes over me each year at this time to plant something, bulbs,flowers,my husband,kidding about the last one. Well, I hate to plant but I love the beauty once I've done it. I've decided it's my Mother's influence because she always had a beautiful garden. So, thanks Mom for sending it to me. Not to leave Dad out, he influences me to mow and trim. Our Son is mowing for me now. He's 38 and doesn't break a sweat and does it in no time including the weedeating! Bless him. His Dad can't do much with his osteo arthritis except teach school, which is definitely enough. Can't believe this school year is almost over! Go graduates!

Hoping not to sound like I'm bragging but since his shoulder surgery my man can't pick up our big motorcycle that I ride with him. Soooo, he bought a kit to make it into a trike so we can still ride. We are anxiousely awaiting it's transformation. It could be in a couple of days. Our Yamaha dealer is doing the work beginning Monday. Those of you who know how much the trike costs will be greatly surprised to know it is much less if you change a bike using a kit. Google trike kits for more info.

Lots of people are suffering around the world. My prayers go out to all of those in disasters and suffering from terrible diseases. Closer to home, friends of ours are experiencing dire problems as I'm sure yours are too. I pray every day for help and wisdom in the care of these people from God to the doctors and nurses and caregivers around these people.

Thanks for checking in today. God Bless you. Hugs, Kat