I took a break from gardening today...kind of. All I did was water. We are having a beautiful sunny day with brisk wind and that's drying everything out in a hurry. But that's not the reason I took a break. I finished the touch-up painting on my mom's kitchen wall this morning and that involved using three different colors and waiting for it to dry, etc.

While I was painting, Rhiannon made up three batches of jelly. Two were black raspberry and one was blackberry. The berries came from our fence rows last summer. It was way past time to get them out of the freezer and into jars! It turned out well, but jelly-making is a lot of work. It's especially challenging with dark berries. Much washing of utensils and wiping of counters, then bleaching the sinks and cloths. Lots of work before it's all said and done. But the reward is well worth it!

Well, the economic downturn has finally hit the preacher's household. Clint is now a part-time pastor for the first time in 17 years. Yesterday was his first day on part time. We are fine with the change this will bring to our lives, although it will mean tightening up a bit with our spending. I suppose that means you can expect more money-saving tips on my blog as I discover ever increasing ways to cut the budget! Many churches and ministries are suffering financially right now and this is nothing that is unique to us.

Many people have been asking me lately when the sequel to "The Fields of May" is coming out. Well......I'd like to say 'real soon,' but truthfully, I don't know. Here's a little update. When I wrote "The Fields of May," it took me quite a while and I really took my time. I started about 10 years ago and then never pushed myself to publish it. It was all in handwritten journals. I had no working knowledge of a computer in those days. The sequel is in the same form, written soon after I finished the first book. I have been working all winter off and on to commit the sequel to type from the journals it is in. It's a very slow process as alot of editing happens at the same time and frankly, I've just not been too diligent about it. At the same time, suddenly this winter I got a brainstorm of ideas for a third book to add to the series and spent much time writing on that. This one will carry the lives of the characters even further into the next generation and several of the "scenes" draw on my experiences in travel. That's a little hint that I'll leave for you to read when it comes out! That one will go faster since I am writing it directly on the computer and no handwritten journals will have to be copied.

Another complication to the sequel is the fact that even after it is typed, I will have to purchase a newer updated computer program and re-do it somehow. My program is not exactly perfectly suited to what is needed in the publishing world. So that factor slows the process down as well. Also finances figure in. Pray for me if you think of it. I'd like to move ahead on this since there is interest from many readers of "The Fields of May" for more in the series.

The garden changed "faces" again today. Many lavendar irises popped open as well as some daisies. It's really nice out there. The "herbaceous border" is in full bloom with lots of lavender, white, and purple irises open right now. For some reason those in the border open sooner that the ones in the English garden. Other little flowers are peeking in amongst the tall irises vying for attention. I'm really happy with the look of that border this year. Other years it seemed scraggly, but now it's pretty full and impressive. I do have a few concerns for when the irises are done. I hope something else that I've forgotten pops up to take their places. I try each year to divide things from the English garden and bring them out there to fill in. It's always exciting to see what come up that you hadn't remembered.

I lost all but three of my sixteen tomato plants. First they got drowned the day after they were planted, then they got frosted, then scorched and wind whipped. I guess in a sense, if you combine all those factors it was kind of like being freeze-dried. I suppose they will have to be replaced. I wasn't looking forward to another investment in plants.