Grow where you are planted

I saw a church sign just the other day, with this old but true saying "Grow where you are planted". I have come to realize the truth in this, for me. 8 years ago, we bought this house, because of location, it was only 2 miles from the school our daughter was attending, in the school district we had chosen, if she was going to public school; right off the expressways, making it easy for my husband to go to work, and in a nice, quiet neighborhood oh and the house is huge, because our nucleus family at that time was large (my father in law and 2 teen age kids, along with our youngest daughter). The size of our close family has changed, father in law has passed, both teenagers are now grown (and I have grandchildren) and along the way, I fell in love with the idea of living more "out in the country". Hubby is ok with that idea, because his retirement job he has been working towards, would require us to live within the county and that county is further east than Tulsa is, so we would be looking at moving. But, I have come to realize the dream is just that at this point in my life, because 1)Daughter still has at least 2 years of high school, then college that will be done here in town 2) My health will not allow me to work a large acreage and 3) My only close family is my brother and family, who currently live only a few miles from me, which makes it easy to visit, and I am not willing to give that up.

So, I am attempting to grow where I have been planted. How do I choose to do this?

Well, the first thing is that my business is not location centered, I can do it anywhere, but would like to stay in OK, so that I can continue as a producer for the OK Food Coop. The second is I am making improvements in my home; at first, those improvements where more directed at selling appeal, but now I have changed my to making improvements that will work better for my family and are pleasing to us. Third, I continue to plant and grow my gardens, including putting in a full orchard. Fourth, I know all my close neighbors by site, and my close neighbors (sides and across the street) by talking with them, but later in the spring, or early summer, I am going to have a get together of some kind, and invite all of them, just so that we can speak more, and feel more security with knowing others will look out for us and each other.

As I said, I am busy planting, so I am going to go out and do a little today, even though it is cooler than the last week has been, but all the early garden plants need to be in NOW, so I must finish !
The winners of the last 2 weeks contest are Tumbleweed and Kathi. I will contact you later today for addresses.
One further note, because of the exposure to dirt, sun and wind, my hands and arms become extremely dry and cracked. I combat it with my Healing Salve. I spread it liberally on, right before bedtime and it heals and moisturizes at the same time
http://www.healingherbals.org/Ouch.htm