Gina's tidbits: Blessings Come Back Twofold!

Good Afternoon, or whatever is the best greeting to you, in your part of the world!

We just celebrated Canada Day on July 1st! Today is July 4th, the American Day of Celebration. We all have so much to be thankful for! The freedom to enjoy and appreciate special barbecues with families, friends, and neighbours. As well as to remember and honour all those who have made sacrifices and a difference in gaining our democracy and our independence.

To recap a bittidz, we were invited to a neighbour's for a barbecue a couple of weeks ago. It was lovely; and a nice evening was spent enjoying wonderful food with gracious people on their newly renovated and cosy patio. Anyway, a day or two later, we discover that 'someone' had put in some very real looking green leaves in our front cornflower blue pots, which have colourful begonias of reds, pinks, peach and whites. The extra bit of green foliage really spruces the flowers up; looks very realistic! It was done anonymously; we wrote a THANK YOU! on a piece of cardboard, so 'whomever' was kind enough to have done that, will have seen it and know that we appreciated their simple tidbit of kindness.

We have been giving away various plants (ie Bravehearts that Alan has germinated from seeds), clematis, mint, and other spices to various friends and neighbours. So we think it was one of them. One of our friends, a couple (our age), popped by with a bottle of red wine (red wine is considered healthy) as a thank you. Alan has given them a number of tid plants. His wife had been recently diagnosed with cancer and it would appear that the operation for removing the tumour was successful. Amen.

In a nutshell, our garden is thriving with life! Friends and neighbours stop to admire the garden; as well as the dogs who drag their owners to our gate for their treats. If nothing else, everyone feels uplifted (including the dogs! LOL!) after they have been by. This bolsters our spirits as well. We are enjoying several spices / herbs in our meals; be it on meat, chicken, veggies, in salads, sauces, soups etc. This has been the best year yet for our bittid patch of produce.

We have planted 32 geraniums and they are now starting to come into magnificent colourful bloom. We got them as bit seedlings several weeks ago; and we are appreciating their specialness of being 'late bloomers.'

We have had a lot on the go and it is amazing how quickly the time flies by. We had 'Sheba' with us for a tidbitz time and she just left yesterday. She is an eleven year young Golden Lab and what a joy! Nice, friendly, gentle temperament; 'talks', wags her tail a lot, is smart, obedient, well trained, and loves her walks and fetching the ball. When we had to drive to the 'Big City' the other day, we took her with us. She was 'talking' all the while, wagging her tail non stop. The windows were down a bittid, so she could safely enjoy the fresh air! Methinks if we were to have another family pet, I would consider a Golden Lab. When her family came to pick her up, she literally growled at them; as if she did not want to leave. Afterall, she was still enjoying her 'summer holiday.' LOL! Her family feel this is like a 'second home' to her; so we look forward to having her stay with us again. Methinks it is very tidbit true that 'good dogs' have good owners.

Also, my Mum passed away on July 2nd; so we did a rememberance 'Skal to Absent Friends' to her. I can almost see her, as if it were tid yesterday. It does not feel as if several years have gone by. She taught me much as well; and she had a certain style, a grace, an elegance, and a 'generosity of spirit.' She was from an 'era' gone by; and both Alan and I were brought up in that old fashioned era as well.

Tidbit - A gentle smile, a kind word of encouragement, a random act of kindness is uplifting. If more people treated each other better, there would be less stress, less grief in the world. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Bittid - Always have a joyful and thankful heart and Trust in Him. Be a Blessing to all those you meet! It comes back twofold!