Happy National Puppy Day!!!
In honor of the day, here's a photo of our favorite fur baby, Rocky.  He drives me absolutely crazy, but I love this little spotted dog!  I even named my personal Instagram account and my garden plot after him the_spotted_dog_garden.  So enjoy your day Rocko!!

Speaking of gardens...that's what I'm pondering today.  I have a little area in our yard where, a couple of years ago, my husband built two raised boxes for me to plant herbs and tomatoes. As soon as we had those two boxes filled with dirt and planted I decided we needed two more boxes, but the hubs was not so inclined and didn't want to spend the cash to build more so,  I had to improvise and use some old vinyl fence posts.  And yes, with his help, we laid those old posts, end to end, so that now I have four boxes to plant in.  That first summer my boxes grew like gangbusters, and I had lots of yummy garden pleasures.  Needless to say that WAS my hobby that summer - I don't think I had time to paint one canvas during the whole time I was off for summer break, which is when most of my hobby time occurs. 

Well, also that year I moved classrooms, and due to the fact that I am very impatient by the time summer break is rolling around, I decided to move everything myself in about 2 days.  All that moving included about 10 boxes of hardbound picture books.  Needless to say, by the time I had packed, moved and unpacked all those boxes - ALONE - I had inflicted a "slight tear to my left shoulder muscle"... OUCH!!!  Lots of ice, lots of tears, lots of chiropractor visits and physical therapy, and let's not forget - lots of whining...and still (as hardheaded as they come) lots of digging in the garden.  So the next year, I scaled down my planting (to the tune of just 2 boxes and the rest of the garden was filled with sunflowers) and did plenty more hobbies, like painting and taking up making wire wrapped jewelry.  I loved that so much that I opened an Etsy store... worked it really well during the summer and fall - but as soon as the holidays came around and Kindergarten started swinging in high gear - Etsy took a nose dive!  But, it's all still there, waiting to be purchased and shipped out...plus I've even created more pieces that I've got to add to the listings, during this Spring Break which ends in 2 days.  (I'm a true glutton for punishment.)

 Anyway, during the holidays this past winter I had talked myself into ONLY planting container pots for my fresh herbs this year.  Yes, I've got those "pots" planted since it's Spring Break and they consist of: 2 1/2 raised beds!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING?????  What am I thinking?!!  Let's just say I should have pondered this a little longer!

Yes sir, there you have it!  The first box has five short rows of Arugula and about six short rows of Cherry Belle radishes.  The second box has 40 onion sets and a few garlic sets!!!  Then another box is planted with different varieties of flowers for cutting and making bouquets!  Not to mention, the two large container pots of thyme, tarragon, basil and parsley.  Oh my word, I know exactly what I will be pondering this summer..... Fresh from the garden!

It just doesn't get any better than this - having plenty to do and never enough time to do it all!  But that's what makes life fun and gives me material for ........Pondering Life from the Porch.
 See you next time, Christye
Job 8:16 "He thrives before the sun, and his shoots spread out over his garden."

Just what is ......Pondering?

   The definition of ponder is to deliberate on, dwell on, chew over, puzzle over, etc......  So, how about you,...do you ever ponder?  In my current season of life I tend to ponder many different things - work, home, kids, extended family, friends, hobbies, dreams, the past, and the future, like the blissful life of retirement.    My favorite place to ponder is on my front porch.  I love to sit on my porch in the cool early mornings of summer, hot cup of coffee in hand, listening to all the sounds that come with the morning.  It's here that I plan my day - whether it be gardening, working on a painting, creating a piece of jewelry or just scrubbing tubs and toilets - my porch is my place to "ponder" or plan.
    During the other three seasons here in Arkansas, I must ponder in the afternoons, because I'm a kindergarten teacher - and there's NO TIME TO PONDER during my work-day. So when I get home in the late afternoons I usually grab something to drink and head to the porch.  There are a few warm afternoons in the winter when I can sit outside, but usually I'm sitting just inside my entry way where the sun will stream in through a window and I can ponder and reflect on my day.
     I remember many years ago pondering about the word "ponder" during a bible study on Mary the mother of Jesus.  If you read in Luke 2 verse 19 the scripture says; "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  There she was a young mother, I'm sure sitting on the porch of her tent,  watching a sleeping baby and dwelling on, puzzling over and deliberating on the meaning of this child's life.  What a magnificent example for all mothers, young like Mary or not so young like me.
    As I mentioned earlier I teach Kindergarten, that's my Superpower, but there's more to me than being a teacher.  During my first college experience my classes were in the arts. It was six years later that I earned a degree in Mass Communication. Honestly teaching is a grand part of any communication job - it's just that the people you are working with don't consider themselves to be students, but they are.  Later, after having our own children, I decided to enter the true education field and I earned my elementary education license.
But my love of the arts has always stayed a big part of my life...and dreams, and closets, and boxes, and ...well you get the point.  I'm constantly learning a new technique or trying a new color palette.  Those are the things I ponder the most!  Creating is a part of me and I never want to live without having a project in progress, or even a couple of projects if you ask my husband.  I have an Etsy shop where I have my handmade jewelry for sale and hopefully soon I will be adding hand painted canvases to my shop.
   So that's where this blog comes in.... it's here that I can share my projects, or bounce ideas off. You may see big mess ups as well as beautiful inspirations.  There may be recipes to share or garden pests to eliminate, right along with acrylic paintings and wearable art pieces. I'll be adding posts occasionally until school is out in May, but come summer I'll post everyday.   My hope is that this blog will evolve, both aesthetically and emotionally,  into a place where sharing is fun and where we all learn something new and fresh from each other and grow to be a better person today than we were yesterday.
    I hope that you will want to join me here and let's Ponder Life from the Porch.