The Joys of Lavender

July 1, 2025
 
Beloved:

          My first lavender harvest of the year, from smaller plants the bumble bees are no longer working.  They are still swarming my lavender phenom dawn to dusk, with occasional runs to other flowers in my yard, but the lavender seems to be their main source of pollen.  Their tiny butts and legs are coated in the purple dust.  I trimmed the finished plants back to a few inches above wood, as the video instructed and carried in a tray-full of flowers.  It took almost three hours to strip and trim every stem.  Tonight I’ll bundle, tie, then hang them in my attic to dry.  My kitchen smells so, so good.
          Gardening calms me down like nothing else.  What some find tedious quiets my mind and narrows my focus to a tiny patch of dirt, so that what is happening there is all that is happening in the world, at least for a moment.  Busy bugs and wiggly worms about their humifying business give me cause for hope in the Creator who keeps creation spinning just outside our usual sightline.
          Gardening also makes me tired, not from mental fatigue but from the up and down to the ground, all that bending over and carrying the rainwater I collect in buckets.  Dragging water hoses, gathering limbs and sweeping up the driveway, again.  All of it counts as exercise, which the doctor says is no longer a choice if I want to live a long time.  I want to live a long, long time.  The best is taking a bedtime shower to scrub away the dirt and cool the itchy skin, to slide into sheets all clean and tired, like when I was a little kid in summer pajamas my mom made.  Clean and tired sleep is the best sleep in summertime.
          The weather is the best it’s been in two weeks.  I hope you can get outside. 

~peace & prayers,
pastor annette

Recipe:  The Chicken Salad I’ve Been Making Lately

• 1 chicken breast (about 10 oz) 
• ½ cup diced celery
• ½ cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp sliced almonds
• 1 Tbsp Cavenders Greek Seasoning, plus more to taste
• salt & pepper to taste​

          Put chicken and enough water to cover in a heavy pot, add 1 tbsp greek seasoning and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes, until meat falls apart easily.  Allow meat to cool and then shred into a medium bowl.  Add celery, almonds, mayo, salt, pepper and greek seasoning to taste.  Cover in the fridge.