{a local event}

 A local event. A complete phenomenon for someone feeling mildly displaced in life. Maybe feeling a "part" of the community is not a big deal to you. Maybe you don't care if you don't know your neighbors. Maybe you don't care if you don't know anyone besides those you go to church with and socialize with on a regular basis. I do, however, care. I like to go into town and see a random person that I would not otherwise know except for some connection by way of a business transaction or the such like. It helps one to feel a part of the community. And I like community. I like familiar. Since our move in the Fall of 2009, it's been an adjustment. A big one. It seemed like in Washington, we knew lots of community people. Matt had lots of customers, one of whom was the Mayor of our town, and all of her neighbors on that same street. I worked for a family in Washington for a couple of months and that ONE connection has brought me so much joy... That first fabulous family introduced me to another fabulous family who I proceeded to work for for a couple of years... In which time I also kept working for Fabulous Family #1 {medical transcribing} all the while strengthening my bonds with Fabulous Family #2 and transporting their kids to and from school and activities therefore getting to know people at their school and places of activity, which in turn {yes, I'm going somewhere with this rambling sentence} led me to know lots of people in the community! And on and on it goes. I loved that. And to think- I STILL work for Fabulous Family #1. What a blessing a little connection can be.

A few weeks back, my Mom's business {Forest Hill Gardens} which I am actively a part of, was invited to be a part of a local event. {http://www.gatheringatgarst.com/} We spent much time thinking and planning our booth... dreaming and scheming how to be an attractive vendor... We loaded the truck and the trailer, not once, but twice, and hauled our wares to Greenville. We spent many hours setting up the display in the sweltering heat and I even made the comment to my Mom... "I would have been so happy to have just stayed home today."... We were completely unsure of what to expect as this was the first year for this event... and was all our hard work and sweat going to be labor in vain?!
Saturday morning rolled around... and what turned out to be a VERY fun day was off to a great start with the sale of a stone table and chair set she has had for quite some time. Matt was able to sell {2} of his fabulous reclaimed lumber picnic tables for a nice price, and also 2 other pieces he had built out of reclaimed lumber. {I am still bemoaning the source of the reclaimed lumber- an old pool deck here on our property. Yes, we could have had a pool, but rather we are the source of reclaimed lumber picnic tables.} The community came and went all day and acquaintances and small connections were made. Neighbors of ours were met and the feeling of "local" was strengthened. Neighbors I already knew came by and wondered if we had any extra tomatoes in our garden... I love that. As a matter of fact, next year, I might just garden for the entire neighborhood so that I can get better acquainted with them. People in this area are very nostalgic, I decided. When trying to "place" one, they ask where you live. When I tell them we "bought the old White Springs Garden Center place and are restoring it" they light up like the fourth of July. People remember a beautiful property that was let go for many years and many people are excited to see it being revived... which in turn, excites me that someone is actually noticing the heaps and loads of efforts we dump into our property to try to fix what others neglected.
It may seem like such a trivial thing to you, this community thing. But really, at the end of the day, it isn't such a small thing to be "community". I really think that God intended for us to love our neighbors when He gave us that command. How can we do that if we are not reaching out even if it IS by way of business transaction? It's really just as simple as the Bible says.

So. Here are some pictures of our local event. The one that has me totally inspired about living in Darke County, Ohio.

{from the front. *note* my fabulous hubby's hand-built table. pretty stylish for a picnic table, eh?}





{the side view.}



{another piece of my husbands crafty craftmanship. i can, however, take credit for the planting.}

{my moms handiwork. amazing if i must say so myself. she's amazing.}

{another of matt's tables with forest hill gardens loot. the combination makes for scrumptious appeal. don't you think?}

{regardless of my cheap camera... this is such a gorgeous photo. it helps that i love this succulent planting anyways.}



{campo de' fiori pottery. its italian. and it is absolutely the best thing. ever. a must collect collection.}

{an attractive little display, in my opinion.}

{the stone table and chairs that sold first thing.}

In other news:

{layne asher. this sweet, squishy little boy is getting into just about everything.}

{they are enamored with each other. and with boy things. its so amazing to me. and so heart-warming. really. nothing has probably ever touched me more than my 2 littles loving each others presence.}

{and there is no one as famous as daddy. not to be taken lightly- they do have the best daddy. ever.}



My days have been filled with gardening and canning. I have so far canned one batch of those dreadful 14-day pickles that Matt loves. I got about 30 qt. of green beans. And since I have slews {is that a word?} of bell peppers, I'm soon going to start chopping them and freezing them. I still have alot of "gardening" ahead of me: apples, pears, peaches, tomatoes...

I leave you with this thought in regards to my rant on community: see if you can find someone who is NOT in your church, NOT in your workplace, and NOT on your normal beaten path to bless this week. And I bet you'll be blessed.