Heritage Homestead Ramblings

Looking Up

2012-02-08T18:41:00.000-06:00

After some very springlike weather we are back to the drab and cold of winter. After all, it IS February, right? Still seeing flocks of geese flying north...

There were, amazingly, many more geese that I couldn't fit into the picture.

(I was aiming for the geese and the moon)

We must be right along a migratory route.

I'm loving it!!

That same night, after it was dark, another flock flew over our house.

I was outside for some reason or another.

The moon was so bright

and they just shimmered in the moonlight,

honking happily away.

A unique experience for sure.

The kids say that I am getting obsessed with taking pictures of the sky for the Project Sky :: 365 group on flickr. I'm always looking up anyway and I'm working on trying to remember to take my camera out with me whenever I go outside. It never fails that when I forget it I miss a fabulous shot!! :-)

So much beauty just right over our heads! Look up and enjoy!!

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is hidden from its heat.

Psalm 19:1-6

Happy Birthday Daughter #3

2012-02-07T19:07:00.000-06:00

Last week was Daughter #3's 17th birthday.

17???

How can this be?

Even she can't believe it!! :-)

Such a beautiful and sweet girl!!

The "balm of Gilead" of our family.

A soul soother.

She wanted Jello cake for her birthday cake. Blueberry

Our fancy dinnerware!! ;-)

Convenience wins over elegance at our birthday parties!

Son #3 came in his new ride.

It's his first vehicle.

It's very nice. :-)

He brought some of the cousins along!!

And took Daughter #2 back with him to my sister's when he left.

She doesn't really want to leave.

But she doesn't want to stay with all of our cramped "togetherness". :-)

It was a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday Dear Daughter #3

Hand Made Pay It Forward 2012... Pass it on!!

2012-02-02T19:49:00.000-06:00

Found this on Tombstone Tidings blog and thought I'd torture myself with another crazy fun thing to do that I don't have time for!! Ha Ha!! No seriously, it sounds like a lot of fun!! And definitely worth the time!!

Here's the rules...

As part of the Hand Made Pay It Forward 2012, I hereby pledge to send something hand made by me to the first five people who leave comments. But wait! Before you hit that publish button, there's a catch! YOU first-five-commenters have to pledge to do the same. It doesn't matter what you make, how complicated, or simple, it is. And you have to pledge to send them out by the end of 2012. So, there is no deadline looming over your shoulder, breathing guilt fumes down your collar. You have the whole year.

So leave me a comment and I will send you something handmade by myself before 2012 is over. :-)

Happy Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T08:37:00.000-06:00

Growing up, my family wasn't one for celebrating every little holiday. But I can remember how we looked forward to knowing if spring would come early or not (usually not!) with the arrival of Groundhog Day. :-) Oh, the mystical forsight of the Groundhog--what great power he holds!!

So what does 2012 have in store for us? Why it will be 6 more weeks of winter according to Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil who saw his shadow bright and early this morning.

Boooooooo...

And a ray of hope... Staten Island Chuck didn't see his shadow today.

Yaaaaayyy...

(Punxsutawney Phil) Gene J. Puskar/AP

Oh the conflict!!! It's just SO wrong!! But I think that Mike Johnston, vice president of the Inner Circle (for Punxsutawney Phil) says it best...

"He's never been wrong." Phil is "incapable of error," he said, because the groundhog smartly avoids being site-specific in his prognostications. "If Phil predicts six more weeks of winter", said Johnston, "I guarantee you someone's going to have six more weeks of winter."

And there you have it!! Ha Ha!!

Happy

Groundhog

Day!!

A Little Less...

2012-02-01T18:45:00.000-06:00

Well, it's the first of February and I have decided that I will not be blogging daily. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out does it?? Cause I haven't been doing it to begin with. There are days that I'm not home or just not able to post. But this is my official statement. ;-)

When we moved last summer I had packed up all of our business stuff and we just stuffed it here and there all willy nilly like. But the time of reckoning is upon me... Tax time. Now I've got to dig it all out and get it all organized again. Sigh. Hours of organizing. Hours and hours of organizing. Gotta love procrastination!!

So I'll be back to posting less frequently--as I have time.

My latest submission to Project Sky:: 365

A Surprise in the Compost Pile...

2012-01-30T12:47:00.000-06:00

A bee!! In my compost pile!! IN JANUARY!!! I am officially freaked out!! :-)

I saw my 3rd large flock of geese this month headed north this morning.

Perhaps there is good reason for my early Spring Fever???

Hmmm... Very curious.

Got my onion seeds planted:

1) Red Burgundy Onions

2) Australian Brown Onions

3) Southport Red Globe Onions

Need to pick up another bag of seed starter to get my rhubarb and asparagus planted too!!

A Trip Down Musical Memory Lane

2012-01-26T22:32:00.000-06:00

Today I've had to spend some time in front of the computer working on getting our tax stuff ready (I tend to procrastinate so it's usually quite the task!). I thought that I would get onto YouTube and listen to some music while I was working. I found myself tracking down some very special vintage Christian music.

When I received Christ on Easter morning in 1988 one of the first things that happened was that a young man, a member of the church, handed me several cassette tapes of Christian music--Petra, Sheila Walsh, BJ Thomas and a few others. This young man was led by the Lord to share his music tapes. From the moment that I was saved I knew that I would no longer be listening to the music that I had formerly been "enjoying"--it just wasn't acceptable. And the Lord knew that I would need to fill that big part of me with something that was acceptable.

Some of my favorite artists in the late 80's and early 90's are...

Psalm 1 was the first song that I heard on Christian radio that I had to have!!

Melody Green was my inspiration for many of my Pro Life convictions.

I loved Rich Mullins' passion and depth.

I loved all things Steve Camp!!

Awesome stuff!!

This CD calmed the beast in me MANY times!!

Rare CD that I would listen to over and over again!

I love "Casual Christian"!! I still have this CD from all those years ago.

There was a lot of meat in this music. As I listened again today to some of my old favorites I can see where much of my radical passion came from. I was occasionally uhm... perhaps a little too passionate. But oh the exhileration of being so newly in love with Jesus!! Sometimes I wonder that I didn't just die of rapturous joy!! Nothing can describe it.

The contemporary Christian music of today seems to lack some of the radical passion that existed "way back when". I miss these "Greats" who have bowed out of the music scene or have gone on to Heaven. And I'm thankful for the strong foundation in me that some of this vintage music helped form.

2012-01-25T20:30:00.000-06:00

Our family are huge Stargate fans (well of SG1 and Atlantis anyway). We've been re-watching the Atlantis series and really enjoying it. I've never really liked Jason Momoa's character Ronon Dex...

though everyone else in the family thinks he's great. I don't know why I didn't really like him--but I didn't.

The kids always talked about how much that Son #3 resembled Jason Momoa...

the caveman brow, the hair (kinda), the facial hair, the violence--oh wait a minute--maybe not the violence so much. :-) The eyebrows are different of course and nothing is exactly the same. But there is a similarity.

One day he sent me this (excuse the cursor on his beard)...

Pretty cool huh? Funny thing. This time as we're going through the series I'm finding myself feeling much more fond of Ronon. :-)

Meet Fluffy

2012-01-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

A few months ago we had a stray cat show up around our place.

For many weeks it kept it's distance and I assumed that she had a home nearby and was just out cattin'. Eventually DH's uncle (who lives next door) decided to be friendly and feed it. I guess she decided that she liked it here!! But all wasn't well. He said that she bullied the other cats (that belong to my in-laws who are snowbirding in Texas right now), ran them off and ate up all the food. It turned into a big deal. I liked the cat (but I like most all cats!!) and thought it would be nice to have it around. DH nor his uncle were hip with this idea at all cause DH's dad is very particular about his cats--especially one, Tiger. DH's uncle says that he would be evicted from the homestead before Tiger. I'm not so sure he's not right!! ;-)

Soon it somehow became our responsibility to find it a new home. A shelter. Dump it. Bring it inside our mobile home. Something!! Just get rid of it so it wouldn't bother to the other cats!! Sigh. Then we discover that the shelters were full--and I refuse to dump an animal!! DH doesn't like animals, this cat has long hair--and we just plain don't have a very good track record when it comes to cats. Sigh.

So one day with all of this drama going on I'm outside working on cleaning up the yard a bit (it was a nice day) and I hear this voice--not audible but in my head, "As you do unto this cat so it will be done unto you". Yeah. I know. Totally cuckoo!! And I'm thinking, there is no way that I'm saying any of this to DH. He's desperate to get rid of this cat and he'll think I'm nuts and resorting to drastic measures to keep the cat (which I was ok with finding it another home). Lol!! But the message sounded so totally ominous and I now doubly wasn't having any part of dumping this cat!!

A few days pass and we had kind of quit talking about the cat (who comes when you call "Fluffy" by the way). We're driving to the store and he mentions the cat. I'm thinking "I will not say anything! I will not say anything!" and feeling like I should say something. I pray silently, "Lord if you want this cat to stay with us you will have to do a work in my husband's heart cause he just doesn't like animals and we already have more than he wants!!" Finally I can't stand it anymore and I tell him what I "heard". He says that he's been thinking that we should just keep the cat and he wanted to buy some cat food while we're out. And that's what we did.

The very next day it was really cold outside and when I opened the door that morning "Fluffy" ran inside. DH remarks that the cat was inside and I told him that it was really cold out. From that moment she became OUR cat.

She goes in and out as she pleases (with a human opening the door for her of course!), behaves very well and the dogs get along with her great. And she's very loving too. I'm impressed!!

So the other day while I was out taking pictures of the starlings she's hanging out with me and I snap this shot of her!! I haven't done anything to the picture except resize it for putting up here. It cracks me up everytime I look at it!! In fact, Son #6 tells me to stop looking at it cause my laughing is "too noisy"!! LOL!!

Some creatures just don't like having their picture taken!!

Here's a "sweeter" picture...

Starlings

2012-01-23T08:24:00.001-06:00

We had a big flock of starlings flying around the house yesterday. I got a few pictures but the best ones were lost because: first my memory stick was full and then shortly after I deleted a few my battery died. DH will testify that this is the story of my life when it comes to pictures!! I've learned to live with it and not be too disappointed. :-) Anyway, I thought that these turned out pretty good.

Just one of the trees they were roosting in.

It's incredible how noisy they are!! At one point I saw a hawk flying from one of the trees. He must have had enough of their noise and decided to move on! :-)

The Longest Way Video... So Cool!! Check it out!!

2012-01-22T12:36:00.001-06:00

My kids all love this video. I think it's pretty cool too. Who hasn't wanted to do something like this at least once?? I STILL wanna do something like that!! :-)

I don't know what I will do if YouTube ever shuts down. Our family uses it all the time!! I'm thinking about this because of SOPA and PIPA and I'm sad that my favorite photo editing site Picnik is closing down!!! I know all good things must come to an end but... Sigh.

Happy Birthday Uno

2012-01-21T10:37:00.000-06:00

Last week marked Uno's first birthday. He is the first puppy that we've ever raised from birth. What fun it's been!! So I thought I'd post some pictures chronicling his first year...

Just hours after birth.

He was the only puppy and he was huge!

I had to help her get him out.

Napping with Daughter #2 while his momma was receiving

a much needed break. Olivia was a very

devoted momma!!

Learning to eat solid food.

Playing with the little boys stuffed Luigi (Super Mario Bros.).

He was up and about in no time.

Since he was the only puppy we had to work hard

to give him lots to do. With no sisters or brothers

to play with, we wanted to make sure that he wasn't too

hard on his momma!

Puppies do a lot of sleeping!!

And they do love to snuggle!!

So do the children!!

Playing!!

Daughter #4 was his "real" mommy.

Olivia nursed him but Daughter #4 took care of him full time.

Playing with me. He's still pretty tiny in this picture--but very feisty!

If he wasn't sleeping or eating he was playing!!

Still good friends with Luigi.

We have to keep Luigi put up because he's still Uno's

favorite toy! Amazingly he remains in decent shape for

the abuse he's taken.

Trying to figure out the sit and spin.

"But I'm not sleepy!!!"

Getting pretty big!! Isn't he so cute?

Chewing on me again!!

Playtime with his momma outside.

He gets pretty rough.

Such a big boy now!!

His most recent picture taken just after Christmas.

This is what all wiener dogs do in the winter if they can...

spend as much time in front of the space heater as possible!!

Happy Birthday

Uno!!!

Happiness or Joy

2012-01-20T18:22:00.000-06:00

Ok, just call me a hippie but I really love this quote!!

But honestly "happiness" means different things to different people. I guess you could say that happiness is relevant. I think that the word "joy" is the emotion that I strive for most. It is more like a state of being actually than an emotion or feeling. We can feel joy even in the hardest trials if we choose. But it sure is hard to be happy when it feels like life is raining on your parade. Joy is found deep inside and it is a choice. It should be the life theme of a Christian--to be a light to a world living in darkness and pain. Instead of asking "why me?" when things go wrong, I say, "why NOT me?" What makes ME so special that bad things shouldn't happen to me? :-) Accept the hardship and feel the joy in the midst of it. It's simply a matter of perspective. If we lack joy we can always pray for it!!

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

But I still really love the John Lennon quote too!! :-)

Internet Blackouts!! Oppose SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-18T13:57:00.000-06:00

Please help protect the Internet!!! Oppose the SOPA and PIPA legislation!!! For general info view this video. To take action visit here. Sign the petition please!!

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Project Sky 365

2012-01-17T20:18:00.000-06:00

I'm joining up on Project Sky 365. I so often have my eyes trained on the skies that this is a perfect match for me!! It's ironic that when I was growing up my best friend would find loads of money--coins, dollars and all sorts of valuables--while I, on the other hand, was always too busy looking up. :-)

I won't be posting daily sky pictures but probably once a week or so. Now I have another good excuse to run around with my camera in hand. :-)

Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28, 1963

2012-01-16T11:52:00.001-06:00

Many people, on this day, will no doubt be inundated with all things Martin Luther King Jr. :-) But how many people have ever really heard or read his "I Have A Dream" speech? In these uncertain times we are living in, and having felt a bit of persecution over the past year due to our circumstances, his words ring a little clearer for me. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who feels a little discriminated against because we aren't rich, have unlimited resources and fantastic health (not part of the 1% per se). So if you've never heard the MLKjr speech or watched the video and you are here reading this, you have absolutely no excuse now. Bwaaa-Haaa-Haaa-Haaa!!! I've posted the video and the text to the speech. The text comes from American Rhetoric.

Thank you Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for your vision. You are assuredly in a place of peace and equality, resting in the arms of Jesus.

Martin Luther King Jr.

I Have a Dream
August 28, 1963

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Book/CDs by Michael E. Eidenmuller, Published by McGraw-Hill (2008)

¹ Amos 5:24 (rendered precisely in The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible)

2 Isaiah 40:4-5 (King James Version of the Holy Bible). Quotation marks are excluded from part of this moment in the text because King's rendering of Isaiah 40:4 does not precisely follow the KJV version from which he quotes (e.g., "hill" and "mountain" are reversed in the KJV). King's rendering of Isaiah 40:5, however, is precisely quoted from the KJV.

3 At: http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm

The Sun's Warmth

2012-01-15T20:02:00.000-06:00

This afternoon I was out walking around and saw this in my in-laws backyard. The difference between where the sun is and where the sun has not yet been.

The warmth of the sun on a winter's day is a wonder to behold. I'm sure that this is really ho-hum for most people but I find so many of the Lord's works truly amazing--that He created the sun for light and warmth. I guess you could say that I'm a pretty simple person. :-) Yes, that's me. Simple and "earthy".

I've been thinking a lot about greenhouses lately--particularly the geo-dome models. I would LOVE to have this...

The 51' model

You could live in there!! :-) I'm thinking of citrus trees and of tomatoes in the winter. Then there's lettuce, carrots, peas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, etc... that are naturally cool season veggies.

Also I would love to learn more about solar power as well. But that's a very complicated topic for my mind at the present. :-) Perhaps someday.

Wishing you all warmth and sunshine. :-)

Blooming In Adversity

2012-01-14T09:20:00.000-06:00

I saw this courageous fellow peeking out of the snow this morning. I've always admired the tenacity of dandelions but I admit that I was pretty impressed with this guy. I mean he couldn't help it if just a week and a half ago it was in the 60's (one day it got up to 70) and he thought it a fine time to bloom. And now it's snowed and dipped down into the lower teens at night these past few nights with blustery northern winds. But what choice does he have? And such is life.

When life throws us a little nasty weather we can choose to poke our heads above it all and be a little cheerful color in a drab, wintery world--to be a reminder that winter will pass and spring will come again.

As long as the earth exists seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

A Little Bit of White Stuff...

2012-01-12T11:11:00.000-06:00

Was waiting for us this morning when we woke up. We got home late last night (this morning at 1:45am actually) and it was just a sporadic light drizzly rain. There was about an inch+ of snow on the ground this morning. I feel frustrated when it snows at a time of day when we aren't able to truly watch and enjoy. We are having a few flurries but I want to see it SNOW. If it's gotta be cold and nasty we might as well have snow!!

A Little Miscellany

2012-01-11T09:51:00.000-06:00

Today I will be going to pick up Daughter #2 to bring her home for a little visit. She's been feeling a bit homesick so we thought she should come for a few days. I'm sure shopping and cooking and maybe a craft project or two will be in order. :-)

She sent me this picture of her eating a deer leg. I'm sure it was delicious but it just doesn't sound all that appetizing when put that way... "eating a deer leg" ;-)

I was looking through my picture file and realized that I hadn't posted this one yet. Such a cool sky picture!! Another one taken while out walking the dogs early in the morning. Amazing how that few minutes a day has enriched my life so much!!

This week I will be scouring the grocery stores for Blood Oranges. Our family are blood orange freaks!! I could buy them buy the dozens and we'll eat them up in no time!!

Photo courtesy of Simply Recipes

Now that they are in season again... I'm planning to make some Blood Orange Marmalade over the weekend or early next week.

Since the past year had been such an uncertain one with...

sorting,

packing,

moving,

unpacking,

more sorting

and trying to make all of our belongings fit into a tiny mobile home

(still a work in progress!!)...

I haven't had time to do any canning. I've missed it terribly.

So, I'm hoping that I can work some "putting food by" into our schedule. I'd like to do some little something at least once a month--or more oftten if I can swing it. That's my new goal anyway!! I'll be keeping you updated.

Beautiful Misty Morning

2012-01-10T19:21:00.000-06:00

I took this picture this morning from my in-laws side of the property. Such a beautiful misty morning we had today. From this point the highway (2 lanes) is probably 40 feet away or so. Beyond that (up higher) are the railroad tracks. While we have the highway and RR tracks so close and there is a lot of noise from them, we are still pretty rural--surrounded by farmland all around. In real life you can see the hills in the background much better than in the picture. Those hills are actually Illinois. That's how close to the Mississippi River we are in Missouri. (The first house that DH and I bought when our oldest boys were small was on the slough of the Mississippi River.)

Even with the highway so close to us (about 150 feet from our mobile home) there is an abundance of wildlife here--bunnies, squirrels, possums, skunks, raccoons, and lots and lots of birds. In the spring it sounds like a bird sanctuary outside!! I was surprised a couple of days ago to see robins hopping along on the ground. Robins in January. Rather unusual for this area.

With the colder winter weather (though it's been unusually mild so far this year) it hasn't been as pleasant walking our little dogs in the morning--but I'm usually rewarded by some beautiful sight or pleasant form of nature. Very enjoyable if not a bit chilly. :-)

More Garden Stuff

2012-01-09T17:02:00.001-06:00

Seeds are happily stratifying...

Do you see my heirloom pumpkin to the back left

of this picture? I STILL have not got around to

processing it (it's so pretty!). And that's not all.

I have another one (plain orange) in the schoolroom

too that needs processing.

(blush!)

I'd like to pause time for a week (or month)

and just catch up on everything I'm behind on!!

I won these beauties on eBay. 120 seeds of Wisconsin heirloom pickling cucumbers. I've never grown the black spiny kind before. I've read lots of good things about them. Fingers crossed!!

I'm starting to go through my seeds to take inventory. So many seeds I'd like to buy but alas, no money. I will do whatever I have to do to buy these though...

Indigo Rose Tomatoes from Territorial Seed Co.

Oh!! These are so exciting!!

Perhaps I should rename my blog "Heritage Homestead GARDEN Ramblings". ;-)

Time to Start Stratifying Seeds

2012-01-06T17:36:00.000-06:00

I was reminded today that I needed to get my seeds stratifying--which basically means to put them through a winter of sorts. To read about how to do it you can go here. Some years I remember to do this but most years I forget until it's too late!! By happy chance I came across a reminder today!! :-) Since we've moved I will be starting all over with many of the perennials that I had at the other place.

So here's what I'm going to put into the fridge for some chilling...

Amado Coneflower
Joe Pye Weed
Munstead Lavender
White Japanese Rose (rosa rugosa)
Valerian
Stinging Nettles

I will be planting inside shortly...

Precoce D' Argenteuil Asparagus
Naranjilla (a tropical garden berry)
Victoria Rhubarb
Australian Brown Onion
Red Burgundy Onion
Southport Red Globe Onion

The Onions will grow to be sets to place in the garden later this spring. I've never grown onions from seed before so this ought to be interesting. :-) I'm also planning to sow some Stevia and grow it as a houseplant. I've tried sowing it before and it never grew so we will see what happens.

A gardener's work is never done!!

Secret Lives of Cats and Dogs!

2012-01-05T11:14:00.000-06:00

The diaries are pretty close to my own personal observations from owning various cats and dogs most of my life. But the video really cracks me up!! Poor kitty having a secret identity crisis!!

The Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

The Cat's Diary

(Day 983 of My Captivity)

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. B*st*rds!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ...

Giggle!!

Garden Dreaming

2012-01-04T12:06:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite times of the year for gardening--the dreaming stage. In my mind's eye I see lush, green plants overflowing with their fruits of my hard labor (dreaming doesn't cause blisters and sore muscles!!); carefully mulched ground with not a weed in sight; dark, rich soil nurturing the plants; and no lack of water to be found. Not to mention all of the happy faced, willing workers that are just wishing for more work to do to help their momma out with. I can dream can't I? :-)

Last year I got my tomato plants in late--way too late. It was the middle of June. Yikes!! I was figuring that a few tomatoes was better than NO tomatoes. And right I was--but still. They would have done much better if there had been more sun.

When I was planting my tomato plants my father-in-law came out to watch and commented several times that where I was planting didn't have enough sun. He stated each time about how much sun his front yard got--until finally I got a little naughty and challenged him. "So you're saying that you want me to plant my tomatoes in your front yard?" His mouth kind of fell open and he stuttered, "No. No that's not what I meant!! No, I think this is a good place to plant them." And then he decided that there was something somewhere that needed his attention!! Ha Ha!! I had a good laugh. Shame on me, I know. But it was a little comical.

Aside from my in-laws front yard, there is an area next to our neighbor's fence line that gets abundant sunshine (one of the benefits of all of our surrounding mature trees is LOTS of shade. But shade isn't a garden's friend, let me tell you!). It is about 10 by 60 feet or so. That's where I plan to plant our tomatoes next year. My cage supports are large (18-24 inches in diameter and 6 feet tall) so I plan to grow vining plants (pickling cucumbers, small pumpkins, gourds, etc...) along the south side of the outside of the cages to try to utilize as much space as possible. I will plant our green beans in the area that we planted our tomatoes last year. DH has said that we can trim a few branches to get a little more sunlight onto the plants. I have this crazy desire to grow and process/store ALL of our veggies for a year. Probably won't happen but it's nice to dream.

I prefer to use non-hybrid, open pollinated, heirloom seeds (those that produce seeds that you can save and replant next year) to help protect the diversity of the many plants provided by our wonderfully created earth. No hybrid tomato can hold a candle to it's far superior heirloom cousin!! The amazing colors and tastes!! Who cares if they're a little less uniform and ripen at different times? Why go for ordinary when you can have the unique and unusual? And that's just tomatoes! So many amazing plants to discover!! I'm obsessed!!

Some of my favorite mail order seed suppliers...

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Seed Savers Exchange

Seeds of Change

Territorial Seed Company

Pinetree Garden Seeds (no catalog picture available yet)

Totally Tomatoes

Le Jardin du Gourmet Artistic Gardens (herb seed in small inexpensive packets)

Occasionally, just for fun, when I have a few minutes to call my own I like to search eBay for "heirloom" plants and seeds. Amazing.

I'm SOOOOO... looking forward to spring!! I was having "spring fever" long before winter even officially started! :-)

Shearing a "Mop Head"

2012-01-03T11:34:00.000-06:00

For nearly a year Son #5 has been growing his hair out. First it was just parental negligence. ;-) Then it became an experiment. With the exception of Son #1 all of my boys have wanted to grow their hair out.

Son #2 started growing his out when he was about 14 or so. (these 2 pictures are scans so the quality stinks)

And he usually kept it in a ponytail.

(look how skinny he is!!)

Then Son #3 had long hair for a long time.

Gelled in natural ringlets

Straightened with a hair straightener.

So yesterday I decided that I had had enough of looking at Son #5's Mop Head!

This is brushed out. When it wasn't brushed... Wow!

Doesn't it sorta look like he's wearing a wig?

MUCH better!!!

He's 11 so he'll have plenty of time to regrow it if he wants.

My Bible for 2012

2012-01-02T09:25:00.000-06:00

Each year I try to read from a different (version) bible for a new perspective. I'm amazed at the many choices that we have nowadays! ;-)

This year my dad and step-mom sent us The Expositior's Study Bible (KJV) Crossfire Edition for Christmas. It's from Jimmy Swaggart Ministries and is actually a teen/young adult bible.

I'm enjoying the commentary as it's directly after the scripture addressed. Bible and Commentary in one. It makes for good retention and better understanding all the way around. Granted, I don't agree with everything the commentary presents but overall it's very informative. The older kids are impressed with it as well.

As a rule I try to read 3-5 chapters each day. Our local radio station JoyFM has a nifty little chart that any box checker should love!! You can find it here. Print it up if you like and chart your progress. Or just wing it and read as much as you are able on a daily (or nearly so) basis. I confess that I've never made it all the way through in one year but I continue to strive for that goal. :-)

Hello 2012

2012-01-01T14:29:00.001-06:00

For a number of years now I have considered blogging daily. Life can be so unpredictable for me at times and I don't like committing to something that I may not be able to fulfill. So I'm going to commit to the best of my ability to blog on a (near) daily basis. I am especially enamored of the "daily picture" type of daily blogging--so that is my plan. There will be days of course that I won't be able to blog, I'm sure. Someone will be sick or I will not be home. But it's something I want to do and have wanted to do for awhile. It'll be a challenge, I know!!

I'm not doing resolutions this year. But my hope is that we will move forward and make progress in each positive area of our lives and have victory in areas that need some work. :-)

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19

Goodbye 2011

2011-12-31T18:40:00.002-06:00

OK, I confess that I've been a bit naughty by not posting an update as promised. And I fully expected to get at least one lump of coal for Christmas (and I didn't!! Yay!!) :-)

I've taken a serious Internet vacation these past two months and have scarecly been on a computer for anything. Very refreshing. But my brain still looks at nearly everything as potential blog posts!! Ha Ha!! I've missed blogging and reading other blogs.

I hope and pray that everyone had a blessed holiday season!!

I thought I'd wrap up 2011 with a few pictures that I've taken during my break and wanted to share...

While out shopping one day we stopped in at a Hallmark shop and I found these... I was SO in love!!!

I worked out a pattern in my mind and this is how it turned out. Actually this wasn't the first one that I made but this is the one that I took a picture of--it's for my daughter-in-law for her birthday this past week.

Mind you, I really don't crochet well and only know a few stitches but these just kind of came together on their own. Sometimes I can just look at something and work it out in my head way easier than trying to follow someone else's pattern. *I* was happy with it anyway.

One day while outside (shortly before Thanksgiving) I came across this gigantic sycamore leaf. 17 inches from tip to tip. And it was a beautiful leaf too--shiny and heavy.

Son #6 demonstrating how big this leaf was!

Look at the size of this egg. A double yolker?

Yep (The egg with two yolks at the top is that huge egg)!! Our family loves eggs fried in butter with the yolk all runny. Mmmm...

Pecan Bars made with the pecans that we foraged from a nearby conservation area. You can read about it here. They were so yummy!!

Our micro-Christmas. Thanks to my mom and DH's parents we got to have a little bit of Christmas this year. These were our presents for Christmas Eve. My youngest sister had sent presents that I kept hidden so that we had more to open on Christmas morning.

My mom also sent us this giant goody box from Swiss Colony. We are still working on eating all of this delicious stuff. There was a lot of goodies!! :-)

I saved the best picture for last... On Thanksgiving Day I got to meet my newest grandson for the first time!! Isn't he a total doll? What a sweet baby!!

Happy New Year!!!

I pray that you will have a blessed 2012!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-24T07:44:00.000-06:00

MUCH to be thankful for this year!! So many years of being thankful--but this year in our down and out circumstances I feel even more thankful because of what we DO have!! :-)

I've been MIA for awhile and promise to post soon. Life has been busy and there have been days that I haven't even had a chance to sit down in front of the computer at all!! Not even to peruse blogs!! Crazy, I know. :-)

I am praying that you all have a super-de-duper, fantastical, Thanksgiving!!

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

2011-11-10T07:56:00.008-06:00

Today is the 36th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I grew up loving the Gordon Lightfoot tribute to the event and thought that I would share. This video isn't the highest quality but it is informative and shows pictures of the captain and crew.

In remembrance...

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy

With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more

Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty

That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed

When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side

Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin

As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most

With a crew and good captain well seasoned

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms

When they left fully loaded for Cleveland

Then later that night when the ship's bell rang

Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound

When the wave broke over the railing

And every man knew, as the captain did too

'Twas the witch of November come stealin'

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait

When the gales of November came slashin'

When afternoon came it was freezing rain

In the face of a hurricane west wind

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck

Sayin' "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya"

At seven PM a main hatchway caved in

He said, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya"

The captain wired in he had water comin' in

And the good ship and crew was in peril

And later that night when his lights went out of sight

Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Does anyone know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?

The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay

If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her

They might have split up or they might have capsized

They may have broke deep and took water

And all that remains is the faces and the names

Of the wives and the sons and the daughters

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings

In the rooms of her ice-water mansion

Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams

The islands and bays are for sportsmen

And farther below, Lake Ontario

Takes in what Lake Erie can send her

And the iron boats go as the mariners all know

With the gales of November remembered

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed

In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral

The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times

For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead

When the gales of November come early

Why I Love Homeschooling...

2011-11-05T20:35:00.000-05:00

I try to explain to my children that learning is a lifelong adventure. They think it would be nice to just get it over and done with and go about their merry way. (Annoying Loud Buzz!!) Wrong answer!! Honestly, I've learned a lot more than I ever realized that I would just by teaching my own children. It's great to learn (sometimes re-learn) things right along with them. For instance...

We've been studying predator insects in Science. I recognized a critter that I had taken a picture of in early September of 2010 that I wasn't familiar with at the time.

I learned that this was a Goldenrod Spider. They are unique in the fact that they can change their colors from yellow to white to camouflage themselves. Why this one was still white on a yellow sunflower, I don't know. But it was really cool to see. They ambush their victims by blending in with their surroundings and then grab ahold of them, injecting their venom to paralyze them. Then they suck out their prey's juices. Mmmm. It's a cruel world sometimes, is it not? They feed on the insects that come to the flowers for the nectar. In my picture this spider has a bumblebee.

I also learned just today that the birds that I've been trying to identify that make the large flocks in the fall are Starlings. They come into the wooded area next door to us. Not in a huge flock (murmuration) but enough to make it sound like a wild jungle outside.

Check out this amazing video...

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

The Starling isn't native to North America and can be an invasive nuisance. But don't ruin my joy with these facts!! I love to see their flocks in the fall and I'm happy to know what they are now!! :-)

I also discovered a new bird watching site: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They'll send you a free birdwatching calendar if you sign up for one. And they have curriculum for homeschoolers too. :-) Pretty cool!!

I try to make it a point to learn something new everyday. Sometimes it just happens without thought or effort. I am concerned however, that each new bit of information that I learn pushes out some old piece of data that I had stored away!! I'm terrified that I will have to recall some old important tidbit someday that will have gotten replaced by something new. ;-)

Final Sunrise Observation, An Egg and A Brave Nuthatch

2011-11-02T21:05:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd give a final update on my sunrise observations...

Taken September 1st at a little after 7am. Sun is behind the silos.

Taken October 1st at a little after 7:15am. The sun is quite a bit farther to the South and not nearly as high.

Taken November 1st at a little after 7am. Sun still hasn't risen.

I think that it's been really interesting to observe these changes. I've noticed this through the years but never paid this close of attention.

And remember way back in the begining of September when I said that we would be expecting eggs by the end of that month? Well, as usual, it took quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. I don't know who comes up with the "start laying eggs at 21 weeks" rule!! It's never happened for us!! But finally, yesterday I found this little egg in their laying box!! Hooray!!

I found another one this morning!! Woo Hoo!! I LOVE farm fresh eggs from chickens that I can put a face to. :-)

While walking down our driveway today I saw this cute little White Breasted Nuthatch on one of the Sycamore trees. He just hopped around on the tree when I came closer. Normally birds will fly away. Not this little guy though. I ran in and grabbed the camera and got a couple of shots before he decided to skedaddle. They are always one of my favorite birds around the winter birdfeeder. It's always funny to see them climbing around upside down.

Halloween Fun

2011-10-31T20:17:00.001-05:00

Daughter #2 decided to go trick or treating with the cousins again this year. She went as an "explorer". Very cute! She said that she got tons of candy cause she was having people put it all in her knapsack and it just kept filling up. :-) So there's a great halloween tip--bring a BIG bag.

She's always said that she would like to meet Johnny Depp.

Not quite. But close.

Apparently he was a very good Captain Jack.

They were all impressed!

As for the rest of us, we're just hanging out at home with some snacks and about to watch our family Halloween specials: Garfield's Halloween, Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Monster House if we have time. Yeah, we sure are party animals, huh? Ha ha!!

Hope everybody has a safe, fun night.

Feeling a Little Sad and Frustrated

2011-10-27T06:55:00.000-05:00

We learned yesterday that our old homestead was sold. Our neighbor bought it. It's the same neighbor who's barn we are using to store some of our stuff that we haven't been able to finish moving to the new homestead yet. He owns land on 2 adjacent sides of the property and he wanted to be able to move his cattle around more easily. We knew he wanted the property and we're happy he could buy it.

What saddens and frustrates me is that we worked SO HARD to try to refinance our loan--we owed right at $100,000. We had already paid 12 years worth of payments (almost $900 a month) and had put down $30,000 of our own money when we bought the place...28 acres, a 40x60 barn, a 30x70 warehouse and a 4 bedroom double wide mobile home. (If you don't want to figure all that up yourself, we had invested well over $150,000 in total--which was more than we originally bought the place for! So they had already easily gotten their money back)

Our House

Our Warehouse

Our Barn (and backyard)

We had missed a few payments when DH was unable to get around very well (before his back surgery) and things were really starting to fall apart. Our mortgage company said they would work with us to get the loan refinanced due to hardship circumstances. We had to pay 3 monthly reduced payments to prove that we could pay the payments while they worked on redoing the paperwork. Three months came and went. We knew that our original loan had been bought several times but we discovered that the current holder was now Freddie Mac (why don't us little guys have any say in all of that? We chose our lender to begin with and then they have to switch it all around!) There was always some little thing that wasn't quite right. A line was missed here. An initial missed there. They were short on staff to process the loans. They needed more time. And on and on it went.

Finally they told us to just pay three more reduced payments while they continued to work on our loan. Three MORE months come and went. Still no sign of being close to refinancing. So we continue to send in our reduced payments until one day we get a foreclosure notice saying that if we don't pay up all of the back missed payments (they accused us of not paying our full monthly payment--Duh!) and the phenomenal fees and penalties they tacked on--totalling almost $9,000--they would foreclose on our home. We continued to call and call (the wait time to speak to an actual person was almost an hour!! Each time!!) and they continued to assure us that they were working hard on our refi and everything would be ok. Friends and family told us they were lying and that if we wanted to save our home we would have to file bankruptcy. So at the very last minute that's what we did. Surprise, surprise. They DIDN'T get the paperwork finished.

To make a long story short, we had to convert the Chapter 13 over to Chapter 7 because our financial circumstances continued to degrade. We still tried to keep the house but they continued to add fees and penalties and toward the end we owed the mortgage company well more than our original loan was for nearly 13 years before! So we let it go. And everything else too. We wanted to keep our house more than any of the other stuff--so what was the point any more?

Brace yourself...

Our neighbor paid $48,000 for our property. (a moment of respectful silence for our grief please)

We worked so hard and spent so much time trying to secure a simple refinance for $100,000 to keep our home and property. We jumped through every hoop they threw at us. They sold it for less than half of that. I guess they figured "What the heck! We've already got our money back over the years."

I'm happy for our neighbor. He got a great deal. I'm envious.

This is just a prime examply of why our country/government (Freddie Mac is a government lender) is in such a financial mess right now. There's just no intelligence to be found!!! "Why no, we can't refinance that loan for $100,000 and make oodles of money over the long haul!! Lets throw this family out of their home since they've done everything we've asked!! Oh, and lets sell the property for less than half of what they would have paid for it and a fraction of what it's worth!! Yeah, that's the smartest way to handle it, don'tcha think? Duuuuuhhhhhh."

So this morning's thoughts are "God is in control. He has ordained this. He is working in our lives for our good. Thank You Lord." I don't understand. But I know that He has a plan. I will strive to rest in Him and keep my heart open to the new adventure He has plunked us down in the middle of.

Lemony Snicket's 13 Observations About Occupy Wall St.

2011-10-26T10:56:00.000-05:00

(I had, once upon a time, attempted to read the "Unfortunate Events" series but became way too depressed to continue. Those poor Baudelaire orphans!! Maybe someday, when I've recovered from our own "Series of Unfortunate Events", I shall continue... Until then, I thought this was good!!...)

Unfortunate

Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance

1. If you work hard, and become successful, it does not necessarily mean you are successful because you worked hard, just as if you are tall with long hair it doesn't mean you would be a midget if you were bald.

2. "Fortune" is a word for having a lot of money and for having a lot of luck, but that does not mean the word has two definitions.

3. Money is like a child - rarely unaccompanied. When it disappears, look to those who were supposed to be keeping an eye on it while you were at the grocery store. You might also look for someone who has a lot of extra children sitting around, with long, suspicious explanations for how they got there.

4. People who say money doesn't matter are like people who say cake doesn't matter - it's probably because they've already had a few slices.

5. There may not be a reason to share your cake. It is, after all, yours. You probably baked it yourself, in an oven of your own construction with ingredients you harvested yourself. It may be possible to keep your entire cake while explaining to any nearby hungry people just how reasonable you are.

6. Nobody wants to fall into a safety net, because it means the structure in which they've been living is in a state of collapse and they have no choice but to tumble downwards. However, it beats the alternative.

7. Someone feeling wronged is like someone feeling thirsty. Don't tell them they aren't. Sit with them and have a drink.

8. Don't ask yourself if something is fair. Ask someone else - a stranger in the street, for example.

9. People gathering in the streets feeling wronged tend to be loud, as it is difficult to make oneself heard on the other side of an impressive edifice.

10. It is not always the job of people shouting outside impressive buildings to solve problems. It is often the job of the people inside, who have paper, pens, desks, and an impressive view.

11. Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

12. If you have a large crowd shouting outside your building, there might not be room for a safety net if you're the one tumbling down when it collapses.

13. 99 percent is a very large percentage. For instance, easily 99 percent of people want a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and the occasional slice of cake for dessert. Surely an arrangement can be made with that niggling 1 percent who disagree.

Giving credit where it's due...
Article on OccupyWriters
Article on SOTT where I saw it

Goodbye Indian Summer... (and a few other things)

2011-10-25T20:26:00.000-05:00

Goodbye Indian Summer...
You will be missed.

I will miss the way that your warm, soft light carressed my skin.

The way your azure sky dazzled my eyes.

The sweet and spicy smell of the leaves in the sun.

Tomorrow there will be rain.
And cooler temperatures will be here to stay.

But Indian Summer lives on in my heart.

I LOVE FALL!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daughter #4 took this picture of our Moonshadow Hyacinth Beans that I planted in Mid July.

I knew that they would never make beans--but they are so beautiful in flower that I couldn't resist. I never really got to put in a garden and so I was overwhelmed with desire to plant something!! My Uncle gave me the seeds when we were at his house after my Grandma's funeral in October of 2008. He called them "Jefferson Beans" because Thomas Jefferson grew them in his gardens at Monticello. I had been wanting to order some but since they are mostly ornamental (the bean pods can be stir fried while small but they become poisonous when they are mature and beyond) I always spent my money on more sensible seeds. I'm so glad that he gave these to me and that I decided to grow some--even if it was only for a few short months and without any harvest. I still have enough seeds left to plant this coming spring too. My uncle was very generous. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A really cool thing happened last night. I had one of my lifelong, heartfelt desires fulfilled!! And I wasn't even aware of it at the time!!...

My daughters were walking outside at about 8pm or so and called me to come out and see this weird sight. The sky was glowing red to the north. We have a lot of light pollution from the neighbors dusk to dawn lights so it was pretty faint. It really was weird!! I thought that maybe they had a light on that was reflecting off of their red barn and that maybe that was reflecting off of moisture in the air or something. Then today we discovered from some news articles that what we had seen was Aurora Borealis!!

This picture was taken in Independence, MO courtesy of Tobias Billings that I found on NASA's site.

What we saw was much duller and not nearly as visable. But I know now, it really was aurora borealis!! It's cloudy tonight so we won't be able to see it again if it comes down this far. :-( I'm just so thankful that we got to see it at all!! Even if I didn't know what it was at the time.

Foraging For Pecans

2011-10-22T08:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we were able to visit the Cuivre Island Conservation Area again to gather some pecans.

Daughter #2 picking up pecans while Son #4 has a "stick duel" with imaginary villans.

The stick that he had "whizzing" through the air is behind him.

The parking area with the smaller pecan trees.

Sadly, there's a lot of graffiti that has been covered over on the rocks.

Why do people have to destroy?

Son #4 just sitting around.

"The force is strong with this one."

(The branch is hanging by fishing line.)

The Jedi Warrior from another angle.

Checking out the riverbank.

Really cool "crooked" tree.

Reminds me of being pregnant. ;-)

Lookin up!!

Cool bark.

Daughter #2 and I managed to gather up almost 4 lbs of pecans (3 lbs 11 oz so saith the scale). Son #4 wasn't a lot of help (his 10 or so he picked is in that basket somewhere)--but he's so charming that we overlooked his lack of enthusiasm. ;-)

The persimmons weren't quite ready yet.

I had to park in someone's driveway while the kids hopped out to grab a few.

The ripe ones were pretty good.

We'll have to make another trip before the wildlife eats them all up.

We saw some "scat" (polite for animal poop) with persimmon seeds in it.

I was going to take a picture but the kids said that was going just a bit too far for their vanity!!

Occupy...

2011-10-20T18:47:00.000-05:00

Who's with me???

Giggle!!

Girls Day Out

2011-10-20T12:47:00.000-05:00

On Monday I took the oldest two daughters out for a bit of shopping. Daughter #2 is home for a few days and wanted a girls day out--and I needed to do some grocery shopping. So off we went.

We took a detour to a little conservation site down on the river. When we pulled into the parking area there was a man I guessed to be gathering nuts who gave us a perturbed glance as we parked. Perhaps he thought we were encroaching upon his harvesting turf. We let him be though I was very curious to know what he was gathering!

After a little walk and some pictures we moseyed on back to our truck and I noticed that the guy had moved on so I felt free to check things out. They were pecans. Not very big ones but they looked pretty nice. When we left and were driving out I noticed a tree loaded with persimons close to the highway on the side of the road. We should have a pretty good frost tonight (good for the persimons) and we had some strong winds these past couple of days (good for bringing down the pecans) so we will probably find ourselves back out that way tomorrow morning. I can't wait!!

Wildflowers in a woodland scene. Some of the trees were the pecan trees.

Rainbow Web

2011-10-17T08:09:00.000-05:00

The other morning I was out walking the dogs and rounded the corner of our RV to head back inside and I saw this...

(I ran in and grabbed the camera)

A beautiful rainbow of colors on a spiders web. The sun was hitting the dew on the web just perfectly.

About 15 minutes later. You can see the colors start to fade and shift as the sun rises higher into the sky.

I love the artistry of spiderwebs. This is a great time of year for taking pictures of webs--but this rainbow in the web was a real bonus for me. Twice the beauty!!

Can you see all the dirt and pollen floating in the air? Our sinuses have been giving us a fit!! I thought it was difficult living in the "Oak Pollen Capital of the World" aka The Ozarks--but this has been worse. Across the highway is a field of corn that they've been harvesting. Lots of dust and mold from that to really swell our sinuses. Thankfully harvest doesn't last long.

Meet the Sycamores

2011-10-15T09:36:00.000-05:00

Although our new place is roughly only about 150 miles from the old one, the terrain and flora are much different here. I am enjoying my time getting to know the plants and trees that we have here on the new homestead (even though we lived here many years ago, I wasn't into "nature stuff" then). I'm trying to get to know them as well as I can. Many are old friends and some are completely new to me.

One of the most wonderful things about living here is enjoying all of the mature (huge) trees. Not so great for gardening but very stately and beautiful to look at.

At the old place down in the Ozarks there were SO many oaks. It seems like that's practically all there were! Ugly oak trees that grew too close together. The leaves turned a dull brown color in the fall and hung on until spring. Boring. Here we have interesting Oaks whose leaves turn a beautiful deep red and fall off the tree, Maples, Elms and lots of others I haven't gotten to know very well.

I've been trying to figure out for some time who the giant trees in the front and back yards are. Up toward the top the bark peels away to a white smooth texture. "Birch" said my husband. Giggle. "No, sweetheart. Not birch. Birch doesn't grow that big!" These guys are probably over 70 feet tall and really wide. Big trees.

So one day I'm downloading an ebook from the Homeschool Freebie of the Day. It was a very nice book about identifying trees. As I start going through it I stumble upon the discovery that our mystery trees are Sycamores. See, I had always wondered but just never took the time to figure it out. And then the information just dropped into my lap. "Hi! My name is Sycamore. I've seen you out and about in the neighborhood and thought I'd introduce myself." ;-)

(I cannot get far enough away to fit the whole trees into the pictures. Sorry.)

The Sycamore in the front yard that gives lots of shade to our RVs.

The Sycamore in the back yard. (the old house in the background

is abandoned and not liveable. This is the back of the house--our RVs are in front of it)

Looking up.

The leaf on the left is just about 11 inches and the one on the right is a little over 3 inches.

We've seen leaves bigger than the big one and some smaller than the small one.

The smooth white bark showing at the middle to top of the tree.

The rough, chunky bark at the base of the tree.

The seed ball that becomes fluff and flies away in the spring.

I've wondered for many years what fall would be like here when all these enormous trees lose their leaves. And now we get to experience it!! Fall is my favorite season. :-) I'm lovin it!!

I Am Woman

2011-10-08T08:44:00.000-05:00

A woman goes through so many changes in her lifetime, does she not? Little girl to budding woman. From budding woman to young mother. From young mother to an experienced woman. From an experienced woman to a woman of wisdom--a "wise-woman". I know that this progression isn't always true for every woman--but it has been this way so far in my life--which seems fairly common.

It has been over a year and one month since Aunty Flo has come to call at my doorstep. My mother has always told me that menopause starts early in our family. In my mid thirties I was able to stave it off by using supplements and progesterone cream but here at 45 (with diabetes) I cannot ignore the obvious any longer. My heart longs for more babies still yet but that longing is dying down a little more and a little more as time passes by. It is like watching Indian Summer fade away with the knowledge that Fall is here to stay.

Part of me is sad to see my youth fly away. Another part of me is emerging. It is strong and wise and I feel a sense of power that I've never felt before. As I walk on the same ground that I walked in my youth--when my first children were just babies--I see so much more now than my eyes were capable of seeing at that age. There is freedom. I am amazed at who I am today compared to who I was then. And I giggle to think of how smart I thought I was!!

I have a deeper respect for the women who have gone before me. I feel a connection that was never there before. I feel a welcoming. This getting older thing isn't all bad. Beauty is fading but the calm and the strength is so very pleasing.

I am woman!! I am emerging Crone!!

Hanging Out The Laundry

2011-10-05T08:24:00.004-05:00

Being financially ~~devastated~~ challenged has allowed us to get back to the basics in many areas of life. I have always enjoyed doing many of the simple old fashioned things. Hanging laundry has always been one of them.

I can remember "helping" my mom hang out the laundry when I was about 6 or so. I remember this clearly because I burst through the clothes that she was hanging up as I belted out "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" at the top of my lungs. My mom just about jumped 2 feet off the ground and squealed about how I scared her half to death!! Oh how I loved scaring my mom!! As I got older I came up with many creative ways to improve my techniques. Doesn't she look so innocent and unsuspecting??? I'm so evil!!

Uh, where were we? Oh, yeah. Laundry...

I love natural things. Forget plastic when you can have something natural!! I LOVE wicker laundry baskets!

I had a friend once question my wisdom, wondering why in the world I wasted money on something that was so "flimsy" and would just fall apart. I defended myself saying that plastic doesn't last nearly as long!! And would it shock you to know that this basket is almost 20 years old?

OK, it does look a little worse for the wear but, in it's defense, it's went through quite a few puppies and babies and children and toys... PLUS laundry. I still use it even now. I have some others that are almost just as old that are doing storage duty right now since they're in better shape.

And isn't this handy dandy little clothespin apron just the cutest thing??

See the embroidered clothespin on the pockets?

I bought this apron at WalMart on clearance for a couple of dollars a few years back and just stuck it away for "someday". Our clothesline at the old place was overgrown by tree branches and the clothes ended up crawling with bugs and spiders galore!! Yikes!! So I was waiting for DH to trim the branches before I could hang out clothes again. And I waited and I waited... It just wasn't the highest priority on his list of important things to do. :-)

Instead of thinking about the loss of "convenience"...

Now I have plenty of opportunity to use my apron and my beloved basket.

It's all about perspective.

A Guard Dog's Tale

2011-10-03T09:49:00.001-05:00

This is Lila...

She's part Black Lab and part Chow. One cold January morning nearly 12 years ago I dreamed that we found a fluffy, black puppy in our barn. So when the kids rushed into my bedroom hollering, "Mom we found a puppy in the barn!!!" I said, "Yeah, I know!" Only to realize, of course, that I had only been dreaming. She was exactly the same black fluffball I saw in my dream. Go figure.

This is Daisy...

She's our Great Pyrenees that we bought in early spring of 2010. Honestly I think that her previous owners had some inbreeding thing going on because Daisy just isn't what a GP ought to be. Right from the get-go she hated being with the other animals. She only wanted to be with us. If we put her in with the goats and sheep she would terrorize them by grabbing their tails with her teeth while they drug her all through the fields bawling to high heaven!! She jumps on us (though we worked from day one on this issue knowing that it's not such a big deal at first--but who needs a 100 pound monster jumping on you. We have to train the goats not to jump on us too!!), tears up everything she can, steals things and hides them and is a general pain in the behind. I'm committed to our animals and feel a strong sense of responsibility. Sigh. So we keep holding out that one of these days she will mellow out and be a good dog--though she'll never be a good livestock dog short of a divine healing! But there is one thing she does very well with all her heart...

Guard Lila...

It's comical really. She's obsessed with guarding Lila.

The move has been really hard on Daisy and Lila. They both grew up wandering our 32+ acres of ground and also the neighbor's endless fields. Now they are stuck in a fenced-in back yard. We live on a highway with two dog kennels bordering our property. So they have to be fenced. I console myself that they will adjust in time. Right?

Daisy can scale the chain link fence just like the Velociraptor inside the compound on Jurassic Park 3. So she isn't just fenced in. We have to chain her up as well. She's on a nice long "run" but sometimes Lila is just too far away for her liking. Bark, bark, BARK!!!

It's been stressful!! Lila has issues with noises--particularly gunshots, fireworks and thunder. She goes beserk and has to come inside to be with us. MORE barking from Daisy!!

And what will we do when Lila finally passes away???? I hate to think!! She's definitely getting old!! Sigh.

For now we just take it all one day at a time.

Sunrise

2011-10-01T08:12:00.000-05:00

In the past few months I have seen more sunrises than I have in my entire life combined. It all started back in June while still living at our other house--when we just didn't have enough money to pay our electric bill and they shut our electric off. That was 3 days after my birthday and a couple of days before we moved the children here. You know, when you live by lamp light you end up going to bed early. Like when it gets too dark to see. Lamp light isn't that bright. Especially when you're trying to conserve your oil. :-)

So, needless to say, if you go to bed when it gets dark, you wake up when it starts getting light. That's when those pesky flies that hid from your flyswatter the day before start buzzing around and landing on your face while you're trying to squeeze in those last few minutes of sleep--before the sun is too dazzling to remain sleeping. It's just too frustrating to stay in bed!

After we moved the children up here to the new place DH and I still had to spend a LOT of time at the old place sorting, packing and moving. We never did have the electricity restored and the habit of going to be early and getting up early just stuck. And that's from someone who grew up with a dad who worked 2nd shift and was allowed to wait up for him many nights. Later DH worked 2nd shift and we only had one vehicle--so I had to take him to work and pick him up many times. It was natural for us to go to bed late and get up late. Even after 2nd shift was just a thing of the past.

Ironically, since we've moved here our Dachshunds get up early too. When it starts to get light outside our two males, Oliver and Uno are at the door of our travel trailer whining to go out. So out of bed I climb and into the chilly morning we go. And that's where I get to witness one of God's most beautiful creations... Sunrise.

It's been interesting to watch the sun come up later and move toward the south as the month has progressed.

This was taken on Sept 1st at a couple of minutes past 7am.

This was taken this morning (a month later) at around 7:15.

See how different the sun's position is.

Cool!

Ha Ha Tonka Outtakes

2011-09-29T07:46:00.000-05:00

It's a fact. I am easily amused. I laugh... All. The. Time. Back before DH and I started dating I was seeing his cousin (not really dating) but he "broke up" with me cause he just hated my laugh. How miserable his life would be had we stayed together!!

I try not to laugh at other people (especially when they're watching!!) but I do so many dumb things myself that I have a constant source of amusement!! It's important to me to be the first one to laugh at myself so that others have the permission to laugh along. I am a terrible source of embarassment to my children. Ha! It's great! ;-)

So I get especially tickled when we get really goofy pictures that are just right to share...

"And then you realize.

You've seen her kind of eyes.

Watching you from underneath a rock!"

Little did she know, that's a big patch of poison ivy right in front of her!! Yikes!! No harm done though. Thankfully!!

And I love this one!! It makes me laugh everytime I see it!! It's great!!

For our "formal" pictures at the "shelter" we did some for just all us girls (we did some for the boys as well, the children, the adults and individuals too).

I'm laughing. Everyone else is trying to play it cool...

I'm laughing hysterically.

My sister is laughing.

My mom is trying to keep her composure.

Oops! She lost it!!

And now most of us are having a good laugh!

The worst part is that I started it... and there wasn't even anything to laugh about!!

And how about this one!!

I warned you!! I AM easily amused!!

So what do you expect when you're at a place that means "Laughing Waters"?!

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine...

Group Picture

2011-09-27T09:50:00.001-05:00

I've been working on editing our Ha Ha Tonka photos (we took a LOT of pictures between everyone there with cameras) but I thought I'd go ahead and post this one now...

Do you know how difficult it is to get a group this size to all have a happy face (but not too happpy!!!) when it comes time to take pictures? Generally we have to take a bunch and by the time we finally give up EVERYBODY is grumpy!! Ha Ha!!

It was a great day with gorgeous weather!! We had a lot of fun!!

The New Arrival

2011-09-25T08:33:00.000-05:00

It's a boy!! I'm a Grammy (or Boppy as Grandson #1 calls me!) again!! What a cutie!!

Changes

2011-09-24T07:46:00.000-05:00

Life is always changing, isn't it? I love for things to stay the same--but how boring would that be?? :-) And some changes are a real blessing!!

Today Son #1's wife is being induced and will deliver Grandson #3.

Please pray with me that all will go well.

And then there's changes that are blessings in different ways. Yesterday Daughter #2 left to go stay with my Sister for a while.

She's going to finish up her high school work (yes, she's a bit behind) where it's a little more quiet and not so crazy. She'll also have a part time job and be helping my sister around their place. Not to mention that she'll be having lots of fun with all the Cousins. Ah, to be young and have your whole life ahead of you. :-)

Today we will be having our annual outing at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. I'll post pictures when I am able.

A Nostalgic Lesson in Life

2011-09-23T10:54:00.001-05:00

The mobile home that we are renovating isn't just any old trailer. It has a special history to our family. When our 2 oldest boys were just tiny things we lived there for about a year or so. It's been "remodeled" several times so it doesn't really look the same on the inside anymore. Especially since DH has gutted the back half!

I've gotten to tell the our younger children the story of the time that Son #1 stood up in his bed and threw a melamine cup into Son #2's crib, hitting him in the head (resulting in a nice scar above his eyebrow). And how we had our pieces of furniture arranged. And of the time that Son #2 had a seizure while we were watching Star Wars (#4 "A New Hope" which was technically #1 in the series at that time) and we had to rush him to the hospital in a terrible snowstorm (we've connected the dots and think that it was a bad reaction to a round of immunizations!). The children love to hear these stories about the big brothers that they don't get to see very often anymore.

It's not hard to remember living in this mobile home. It seems like only a short time ago. And yet eons.

Please forgive the poor quality of these scanned photos. They have been through a flood. (We saved the best of them, but we lost many.) These were taken between fall of 1983 to summer of 1984.

Son #1 playing in front of Paw-Paw's shop (next door).

Paw-Paw still works from this shop repairing boat motors 28 years later.

Son #1 is not quite 2 and Son #2 not quite 6 months.

I know that they look very docile but they were a bit of a handful !

Son #1 wearing Mommy's shirt!! What a ham!!

Son #2 with his Snoopy sling.

This picture was taken shortly before we moved.

I lifted him up to a sitting position by his arms one day

after he woke up from his nap and his shoulder popped out of socket!

It happened once more a few months later when I was swinging him

around by his arms. Scary. Hospital trip both times.

We would have lived in the mobile home a bit longer if the hot water heater wouldn't have gone out. I lived with it for a couple of weeks but finally gave DH an ultimatum... Fix it/replace it or I was leaving!! I couldn't be expected to do laundry and bathe children with no hot water!!! Never one to back down from a good challenge, DH let me pack up and move back to my parents!! It's funny now with a lot of time and maturity under our belts. But back then, in the throes of youth and emotion (hormones!!) it was very serious business!! And to think that here we are, 27 years later, living here again and having to do dishes and laundry in cold water and heat water for baths what with our very limited electric resources (SOON to be remedied!!). The Lord is never one to let a good lesson in wisdom and maturity go to waste!! He is gracious to let us continue to take the tests again and again until we pass!! Chin up. Smile on my face. One foot in front of the other. Let's do it right this time!!

A Photo Update

2011-09-07T15:03:00.000-05:00

When we first moved here to DH's parent's place there was a neighbor living in the other mobile home behind the one that we were planning to move into: a single middle aged guy with health issues.

Shortly after we started moving things in Mr. Neighbor decided that he was going to stay with his brother in Wisconsin for a month to see if any of his health issues improved. We watered his plants and vegetables while he was gone. Since he had hinted that he might move to Wisconsin permanently before he left it was no surprise when he came back at the end of the month and started packing. He said that his health hadn't really improved but he had decided that he wanted to live near his brother. After he was gone it was decided that we would take dominion over the other trailer too and use them both to live in (one for our daughters and one for Mom, Dad and Sons #4, 5 and 6). Thankfully this trailer is in better shape but still needs a lot of work before winter sets in. It will be our daughter's home. What a beauty, huh?

This is the official "Before" picture

DH is the "insulation factor" king and hates to pay high heating and cooling bills. So it was no surprise that the insulation behind the paneling was not acceptable to him. And can you see why?

The insulation was only about 1/2 inch thick!!!

The wall studs aren't even 2 inches thick. We've decided that this trailer was originally destined for Hawaii since they really don't bother with issues of heating and cooling.

We are planning to add on to the studs and put in new insulation. We will also do the same for the ceiling. I'll be posting progress on all that.

The first time we met our former neighbor he let us know that the huge tire in the yard was off limits. He had flower bulbs planted there, he explained. Elephant ears and Cannas. When he moved he let me have them. :-)

Remember back in early May when we got these little cuties?

Now here they are all grown up in the "Chicken Tractor". They should star laying later this month. Yay!!

Not too long ago I had seen on Sitemeter that someone had came to my blog from Google seaching the words "where to buy garlic now that Travis Weedman is gone". Gone? So I googled "Travis Weedman" and discovered that he had passed away this last spring. Not only did that make me really sad but brought fear to my heart! See, I was planning on just leaving the sadly (VERY sadly) neglected garlic behind at the old place in what was once my garden. I was planning to just buy new garlic from Travis and start all over. With this new information my new passion/obsession was to "Save Travis' Garlic!" So out I went into the heat with my head spinning from a bout of vertigo (it comes and goes--mostly "comes" here lately) to dig up all the garlic I could find. Not an easy task since everything was seriously overgrown and it was way past time to have harvested. Thankfully, I got everything I could and was even able to keep it separate. Now if I can just find my diagram of where everything was planted so I know what's what!!

This is the garlic to mince and dehydrate.

I saved the best of it all to replant later this fall.

Maybe someday I will have enough to sell some of

"Travis Weedman's Garlic"

for those who are really missing him.

Courage

2011-08-30T20:35:00.004-05:00

I confess that going through down and out hard times are just plain rough. We discovered this really uplifting song by Orianthi featuring Lacey of Flyleaf (we are Flyleaf fans!) . Very inspirational!! The video is fantastic and I thought that it was ironic that they were in an old Winnebago similar to the one my daughters are staying in while we work to remodel our old mobile home we will be moving into before winter (see this post).

Courage

Take all my vicious words

And turn them into something good

Take all my pre-conceptions

And let the truth be understood

Take all my prized possessions

Leave only what I need

Take all my pieces of doubt

And let me be what's underneath

Courage is when you're afraid,

But you keep on moving anyway

Courage is when you're in pain,

But you keep on living anyway

We all have excuses

Why we're living in fear

Something in us dies

Like a bird with broken wings

It's not how high he flies,

But the song he sings

Courage is when you're afraid,

But you keep on moving anyway

Courage is when you're in pain,

But you keep on living anyway

It's not how many times

You've been knocked down

It's how many times you get back up

Courage is when you've lost your way,

But you find your strength anyway

Courage is when you're afraid

Courage is a burning faith,

Courage is when you make a change,

And you keep on living anyway

You keep on giving anyway

Courage is when you're in pain

But you keep moving anyway

You keep on loving anyway

Almost Finished...

2011-08-27T20:31:00.000-05:00

We are nearly done moving everything. Well, almost. We ended up moving a lot of our stuff to a neighbor's barn nearby because we were simply out of time. After stopping by one day to check on us, he was compassionate to our plight and told us to move as much as we could into his unused barn. There just wasn't enough time to haul everything in such small trailer loads over a 150 miles away and get it all out of there. It's only a temporary solution and we will have to eventually (soon) get it all out of the neighbor's barn--but at least we're not under so much pressure. For now.

I took a few pictures with my camera phone of our hillbilly uhaul. :-) This load wasn't as humorous as the first load I posted about last time but you get the general idea...

Daughter #2 was a big help!!

My nephew (Cousin #2) was a life saving, TOTAL blessing!! Without his help we could never have made it!! (I realize this picture is really grainy but I love it!!)

We made a new friend. He's a handsome young black rat snake.

He tolerated Sons #5 and 6 for a little while but then got pretty agitated until Daughter #2 took him back.

He really enjoyed his time with Daughter #2.

Tomorrow we have to go back to "the old, old house" (as Son #6 calls it) to pick up the last few things and load up our big dogs and bring them home. I hope we survive the journey. Hopefully they won't be too car sick and they behave themselves!!! DH just isn't the biggest animal lover and this situation is potentially hazardous!! This should be our last trip for a little while until we have to start bringing stuff back from the neighbor's barn. It will be nice to have a chance to live a normal life again for a little while. :-)

The UNbeverly Hillbillies

2011-08-18T09:20:00.000-05:00

Well, this is just the move that never ends!! We've spent the last week still yet sorting, loading and moving even more stuff from the old place!! The house is pretty much a done deal but DH has SO MUCH business stuff. We have a 40x60 building and a 30x70 building full of his stuff. It's really slow going since he has to have lots of help--he still can't get around too well and is still in a lot of pain. I'm hoping that when we get this move done he can take some time off to get well and heal up. Back surgery doesn't do a lot of good when you can't take the time off to complete the final healing. It's been over a year now. :-(

I had a good laugh when he took off with the last load of house stuff we loaded up. We don't have the money for a regular moving trailer or van at this point so we are using our little 4x8 metal trailer like this one...

When we had it all loaded up with lots of the miscellaneous that was saved for last I confess that it looked like a gypsy caravan or something. As DH was driving off with it I thought "No. More like the Beverly Hillbillies!!" We even had chairs piled on top to hold stuff down (not sitting upright though).

I wish I had taken a picture but hindsight 20/20. Ironically, DH had to drive to a jobsite in a nice subdivision that morning and he likened it to the Beverly Hillbillies too when a woman walking her dog commented on it!! Giggle. But we are like the REVERSE of the Beverly Hillbillies!! And I'm ok with that.

Momma's Boy

2011-08-08T09:05:00.002-05:00

I confess that our youngest, Son #6, is a "momma's boy". And I tell him, "Never let anyone tell you that's a bad thing!" Ha Ha!! Seriously, he loves his mommy. He wants to be constantly nearby. He's okay doing his own thing if he knows I'm close at hand but he doesn't like for me to go anywhere without him.

Recently we had a conversation that showed me the depth of his heart...

As you may recall, we're living the camping lifestyle right now so we have to do all of our water use needs (like washing dishes) separate from our living quarters. Well, this little guy had a hankering for some Ramen noodles so we had to walk down to our trailer (that we will SOON start remodeling) to fetch a pan for his soup. There was a storm some distance away and we could hear the thunder. I was carrying the pan back to our travel trailer.

He asked me, "Mommy, is this pan metal?"

I told him that it was.

He said, "You should let me carry it."

He knows a bit about lightning safety and knows that metal + lightning/thunder = danger.

I told him that it was OK. I could carry it.

Then he said, "I'll carry it. I couldn't live without you."

I mulled that over for a brief second and then suggested that we BOTH carry it.

He was happy with that.

At a Crossroads

2011-08-04T10:20:00.000-05:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about my little blog space here. I've been trying to decide whether to keep plugging through this dark spot in our lives, trying to be real (I say "trying" simply because sometimes--many times--things are so bleak to me that I can't even bring myself to share the truth of it. Often I don't post, not because I am too busy, but simply because I don't have anything uplifting to say. And you know what they say, "If you don't have anything nice to say"...) or to just simply shut things down.

I am a regular reader over at Lynnette Kraft's blog and have read her list of thoughts in why we should/shouldn't continue to blog. I confess that I don't feel like I have enough to offer at this point to justify anyone's precious time. Will anyone be edified by reading about how our family has lost everything that we spent years working for? Can I benefit mankind by sharing our struggles as we are humbled to the point that we have joined the down-and-out masses in the food pantry lines or that marital bliss doesn't easily coexist with money that is nowhere to be found and the needs are still everpresent? And it's not that we're all about money and worldly possessions. It's just that in this society--with a family our size, it's pretty necessary. A roof over our heads, a vehicle to drive, food to eat, utilities to pay, clothes to buy/make, school books/supplies, herbs and vitamins, etc... These things are pretty important. These are issues that we are dealing with but I find it difficult to share. It's just not "uplifting" and "edifying" and we feel so defeated at this point.

And yet I hope in the future. In a God who says that He will never leave us or forsake us. I do pray that the "light at the end of the tunnel" isn't the express train about to devastate what's left of our shattered lives.
I have faith that our Heavenly Father is with us, holding us up with His mighty right hand. Though this has been some of the hardest times of our lives I will continue to trust in Him. I am curious to see how He will work all of this our for our good. We know that we are not to worry about the future and to seek Him for our daily needs.

There have been several blogs that I have followed in the past of women/families who have been going through devastating circumstances in their lives and they have quit blogging altogether (or perhaps just gave up on that particular blog and started a new one. I don't know.). I've wondered about them and prayed for them wishing that I could be privy to their lives longer to find out how things worked out--if they worked out. I know that sometimes things don't turn out like we plan. Life is hard.

I will be in prayer for the future of this blog. I long to share about the peace and beauty of our lives--a victorious life. But right now we are still in the "wrestling" stage and things are far from beautiful though He gives me peace to continue to trust in Him--the One who knows where this crazy thing we call life is headed.

This post is not an attempt to win devotion or get comments. A hug would be nice. ;-) I just wanted to share my thoughts. (I always appreciate prayer on behalf of our family if the Lord so leads.)

As The World Turns...

2011-07-25T14:47:00.000-05:00

I confess that our life is a dizzy mess right now but YIKES!!! I spent a whole week suffering from vertigo like nothing I've ever experienced before!... See, last Monday we grilled burgers and I made macaroni and cheese and with our current camping lifestyle I took the macaroni outside to drain the water off rather than pouring it down our drain and then having to drain all that later. I found a nice poison ivy plant nearby and started pouring the previously boiling water on top of it. Up came this really moldy, musty, earthy smell and I thought "Gee that was dumb!" I know that people can die from inhaling smoke from burning poison ivy but what about just pouring hot water on it and breathing the steam? So I moved over and finished pouring the rest out. Up came the same smell--maybe stronger. When I went back inside I told DH about what I had done and let him know that if I turned up sick out of the blue--well, there might be something to it. Lo and behold if I didn't wake up dizzy the next morning. It just got progressively worse day by day with Friday being the worst. It was like being on a never ending carnival ride!! I threw up and was nauseated all the time at the peak. BLAH!!

I feel terrible for anyone who struggles with vertigo on a regular basis. I basically lost almost a whole week of my life. Now I don't know if the macaroni and cheese incident was the real culprit or not since I was feeling very vitamin depleted and upped my vitamin intake (OK...started taking my vitamins again like I should!) and felt relief nearly right away. Either way, I'm pretty much back to my normal "dizzy" self. ;-) The world has stopped spinning for the most part and I can drive again! Woo Hoo!! It's the little things in life...

U~P~H~E~A~V~A~L

2011-07-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that, as a child, I loved moving. Even 13 years ago, moving wasn't difficult. I feel OLD and exhausted. :-( We are neither here nor there. DH and I, along with Son #6 (who would rather spend long, tedious hours "helping" his mommy pack and clean up the old place than stay at the new place without me) are spending our weeks half here and half there. Daughters #1 and 3 are staying with my sister until the move is finally final. The rest of the children are at the new place with their Grandma and PawPaw. It's tedious and I hate being apart with all of the un-normalness of it all. I long for ordinary, boring days!! I know it's coming soon since we are almost done with moving and cleaning.

So far nothing has really worked out as we had planned and everything has taken twice as long as we figured (or longer!). DH tries really hard to do as much as he can but he still has so much pain in his back. (I think he would get better if he could just take some time to rest and heal--it's been less than a year since his spinal fusion surgery.) I have gotten stronger than I ever thought possible with each heavy box or item I lift and load/unload. My blood sugar readings are consistently lower (sometimes way too low!) with all of the extra exercise. I usually manage to keep myself in good spirits but I confess that sometimes I fail miserably.

We are still working to get electricity into the new place (a 1960s mobile home with an addition) and are living in our recently purchased 1978 travel trailer while working on getting our 1976 Winnebago RV drivable to bring to the new place. The children have been amazingly adaptable and don't fuss about the inconvenience of any of it (which is something that I cannot claim for myself!).

The plan is for me, DH and the boys to live in the 1960s mobile home, Daughters #2 and 4 to share the 1978 travel trailer and Daughters #1 and 3 to share the 1976 Winnebago RV. I remember when I was in my teens how one of my big dreams was to live in a travel trailer! :-) I've always been fascinated with houses on wheels.

I'll post pictures when I have a little more time and my head has cleared a bit. At least we do have Internet again finally!! It's practically shameful how much we've come to rely on Internet access--and how grumpy I am without it!! (blush!)

Just thought I'd check in.

Revelation Song

2011-06-09T19:20:00.000-05:00

Last week we needed to borrow the pickup truck Son #3 drives

I drove him home in our Jeep Commander with Daughters #2 and 3 tagging along. After we dropped him off and headed back home I turned on the radio. We have 2 Christian stations to choose from--our local station KCVO here at the Lake of the Ozarks and KLOVE--so we switch back and forth a lot when there's something on that we don't care much for. Well a song came on by Phillips Craig and Dean that I hadn't heard in some time--their "Revelation Song". "Sweet" I thought. A couple of songs later I swapped stations because I didn't like what was playing and the other station was playing that same song, the "Revelation Song" and I was like "Whoa that's just weird!!" I mean what are the chances, right?

The next morning I headed back out to pick Son #3 up and bring him back to our house so he could do some work (family business work). I had Daughter #2 with me and I turned the radio on (normally we listen to CDs). I was really surprised to hear "Revelation Song" AGAIN and thought to myself, "If we hear that song again I'll..." but I just couldn't think of anything crazy enough to add on. I wish I would've said it out loud so that Daughter #2 could've heard me since it was just a few minutes later when I switched stations that it was playing yet AGAIN on the other station. So we heard a song 4 times in less than 12 hours that I rarely ever hear and isn't even a new release. And since I don't believe in coincidences I believe that this song is something that the Lord definitely wanted me to hear. :-) And since I love to share...

Blessed Everyday Life

2011-05-29T14:57:00.001-05:00

Aside from the everyday drama of packing and moving we've been busy with little surprises here and there.

We've been bartering with our neighbor who is a very resourceful junk collector/seller/trader. :-) And we have lots of junk that he's had his eye on!! We traded him a couple of riding lawn mowers that had some minor issues and our old International grain truck that we bought several years ago at an auction (no, we don't farm but I'm sure DH had some important purpose in mind when he bought it. It does have a nice hydraulic lift on the bed that caught his eye! Boys and their toys!!) for this nicely kept old-timer RV. It's in really good condition for it's age and the guy who owned it before our neighbor must've been a Boy Scout because he was prepared!! DH found replacement peices to nearly every little thing that might someday need replacing!! Drawers and cabinets full of stuff--lightbulbs, mechanical things, motor parts, etc... He's in camper heaven!! ;-)

1976 Winnebago Class C.

Whimsical hood ornament

It's quite the step down from what we have and will be giving up but it'll be great for a couple of the girls to stay in until we find more permanent arrangements. Then maybe we can use it to travel again someday. :-)

Son #1 brought his family over for a little visit yesterday and the kids loved seeing their nephews!!

Daughter #3 with Grandson #2

Son #6 with Grandson #1

They discovered a little snapping turtle that the dogs were barking at. We thought it best to save the dogs from getting hurt!! Those snapping turtles are not to be trifled with!!

The 13 year Cicadas have been humming away around our house. The kids like to collect their skins that they grow out of. :-) They are quite a few and they don't live long so we've got dead ones laying around all over too. I always enjoy the cicadas and their noise every time they are here. I like the regular ones too.

A couple of days ago Daughters #2 and 4 discovered a birds nest outside of their window in one of our Rose of Sharon bushes. A mommy Cardinal is setting on eggs most of the day though the girls have said that the daddy comes around too.

There were 3 eggs when we took this picture 2 days ago but the girls said that she laid another egg yesterday.

I'm a little afraid that the cats might find the nest since it's only about 5 feet off the ground and not super protected. We're looking forward to hopefully getting to see the baby birds hatch and grow a bit before we have to leave for good.

Storms and More Storms

2011-05-26T19:26:00.000-05:00

Here in Missouri we've been seeing our share of storms this past week--both here at home here at the Lake of the Ozarks and also when we are up at the new place near O'Fallon. Several of the storms have been severe and yesterday the tornado warning sirens went off--there were several funnel clouds spotted and one or two actually touched down . We were prepared to take cover and just love our wonderful hand crank flashlight/radio combo to help us keep tabs on the storms. A very handy, dandy item to have around for many occasions!

MegaBRITE Self-Powered AM/FM Radio Flashlight

We're about 190 miles from Joplin. I'm thankful that, all in all, we've been respectively safe. And my heart is broken as I look at the many pictures and read the stories about the tornado and the lives that it affected--and took. I cannot imagine the fear the survivors must feel as each new storm rolls in. I'll admit that it's all given me a much more healthy respect for these wicked works of nature. I'm thankful that, even though we will be living in a mobile home (as a friend so tongue in cheek once said, "Don't you know, God hates mobile homes!"), DH's parents have a basement for shelter (next door).

A couple of pictures taken yesterday...

The view from the back of our warehouse.

The rain was just starting to come down in heavy sheets.

A weak rainbow over our warehouse a couple of hours after the storm

The Poop Scoop...

2011-05-20T11:43:00.000-05:00

We've been doing some brainstorming recently about one of our concerns with the new place we are moving to (no we still haven't moved though we are getting a tiny bit closer!). The septic system isn't very good at all and is quickly overloaded. And who needs or wants pooling septic waste in their front yard? Our original intention was to use the bathroom in our RV and drive it to the nearby State Park for an overnight visit once a week or so and dump the tanks there. But since our financial status continues to slowly spiral downhill with our business, we've come to the conclusion that we just cannot afford to keep the RV and have surrendered that in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy as well. That puts at losing everything except just our basic personal possessions. Very humbling indeed.

Anywho...

We've tossed around the idea of just putting in a whole new septic system but WOW!! That's really expensive!! And not really an option.

So here's my brightest idea thus far...

BioLet 60 XL Deluxe Waterless Composting Toilet

This idea is, of course, not for the squeamish at heart. But desperate times calls for desperate measures, right? Well honestly, with my backwoods, homesteading, survival interests this is something that has always intrigued me. And many times throughout my lifetime the only toilet facilities available were outhouses. The composting toilet is much better (I have no aversion to using an outhouse though I'm not fond of public ones) I'm trying to decide between the electric and non-electric models. Having had a bit of experience with power outages a few times, a stinky toilet is pretty nasty! ;-)

Living in a flood zone plays on my thoughts too. When it floods (which isn't often) you know that septic matter is in the flood waters--even from perfectly working septic systems. So this is a way to not contribute to that nastiness too.

I will keep my readers informed of our final decisions. I know you're on the edge of your seats!! Giggle

Some links if you're interested...

for general info on how the toilets work...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composting_toilet
http://www.letsgogreen.com/how-composting-toilets-work.html

for my choice of composting toilets.

http://www.biolet.com/

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T10:49:00.000-05:00

Just because I said that we're not having any Mother's Day festivities around these here parts doesn't mean that I am boycotting the day!! :-) I hope all you moms out there have a fantastical day!!

I'm so thankful for my Mom!!

And my Stepmom!!

And my Daughter-in Law who is mom to my precious grandsons!!

And all the other mom's in my life!!

Thanks for your hard work and dedication in making your kids lives richer and this world a better place!!

I'm Still Here... Barely :-)

2011-05-07T12:37:00.001-05:00

Not a lot of time for the computer nowadays. Still unearthing, sorting, packing and moving a lifetime's worth of accumulations for a family of 12. Why are we such packrats anyways?? You'd think that I grew up in the Great Depression or something!!

It's looking like we will be able to stay in this place for another couple of months (which is a good thing with the snails pace at which I'm getting things done!) but we're hoping to be totally moved by the first part of June. Hopefully it's not just wishful thinking. Seems like everytime I'm getting somewhere some distraction comes along. But such is life--well, mine anyway.

Here's the latest additions to our family...

There are

5 Americanas (Easter Egg Chicken): green, blue, or pinkish colored eggs
5 Golden Laced Wyandottes: brown eggs
5 Welsummers: dark brown speckled eggs

All are pullets (females: hens) ordered from Cackle Hatchery. Or at least they are supposed to be. Sometimes we get a cockerel (male: rooster) by mistake. But if we don't end up with a male I'll have to go to our local farm supply store and buy one. We like the protection they give to the hens and want our eggs to be fertilized.

We've had them for a few days now and they're doing great!! We love having chickens.

On a health note...
As if I didn't have enough trouble with my blood sugar (keeping it down), I've been worried lately about Son #3 keeping his high enough. Hypoglycemia and diabetes both run in our families (and usually go hand in hand at different stages of life).

He gave me quite the scare yesterday!! He and Daughter #2 were staying over at the Cousins house for the weekend and had went to WalMart. Some of the Cousins were donating blood at the Mobile Red Cross site there and Son #3 was waiting for them when he got to feeling really lousy. He decided to go into WalMart and buy a soda figuring that his blood sugar was too low. Well sure enough! He said he got in the door and woke up on the floor. He said that there was no one around and he must have come out of it really quickly. Sadly he busted up his chin and broke a tooth. To do his momma proud, he refused to go to the hospital (stubborness, dislike of doctors, and lack of money appears to run in our family!). My sister has a lot of good practical, hands on medical knowledge so I had her do a assessment to see how he was and she said that his chin could probably use stitches but he was refusing to go. So they put some Tienchi Powder on the wound with some added liquid Band-aid.

He'll probably have to get some work done to the broken tooth soon. It was in the back (probably weakened by a cavity) so it's not noticible. I told him that he was very fortunate that he didn't bite of his tongue or something!! (DH had a cousin who fell down and bit his tongue clean down the middle--longways. Yeah, really. Go figure!)

What a ham...

Happy Mother's Day!!!
We are not celebrating this year for various, personal reasons. But I hope all of you have a wonderful Mother's Day!!

I'm hoping to be able to catch up on all the blogs that I follow soon! I sure miss everybody!! :-)

2011-05-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

Lost:

One golden hour,

Studded with sixty diamond minutes.

No reward offered,

for it is GONE FOR EVER

Blog Interrupted

2011-04-14T16:22:00.000-05:00

My life has been crazy lately.

Not much of a surprise!!

I will be back...

when I have a bit more time...

a blogging break of sorts.

My Seedlings

2011-03-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

3 to 4 weeks ago I started my tomato and pepper seedlings. The sunniest window in our house in the winter/spring is our schoolroom windows--so that's where the seedlings have been residing and growing happily. I confess that some of them are a bit leggy--ok VERY leggy!! But in a few days I'll be moving them to 3" peat pots and fertilizing them. They'll bulk right up in no time. (If you look carefully you can see the children's window art--Crayola window colors--and our planet window clings.)

I planted most of the Jiffy pellets (cells) with 2 tomato seeds because my seeds were old. There are 72 cells and at last count I have 103 tomato plants. I can't bring myself to thin tomato seedlings but just divide them up and give away the excess. :-)

I planted lots of heirloom varieties

Amish Paste
Ananas Noire
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Big Red
Black Sea Man
Chocolate Cherry
Chocolate Nyagous
Delicious
Jerry's German Giant
Kellog's Breakfast
Matt's Wild Cherry
Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge
Orange King
Pineapple
Purple Calabash
Super Italian Paste
Tsenj Prinz
White Beauty
Yellow Beefsteak (don't know the particular name)
Pineapple Tomatillo
Purple Tomatillo
Heirloom Mix of about 60 different varieties--just for fun

The tray on the left side is my peppers. I planted 20 peat pots with sweet pepper and 20 with hot peppers.

The sweet varieties are...

California Wonder
Chocolate Beauty
Diamond
Golden California Wonder
Orange Bell
Purple Beauty
Yolo Wonder

The Golden California Wonder and Yolo Wonders didn't come up at all and only one of the California Wonders came up (though you can find the CA Wonders for sale just about anywhere).

The Hot Peppers are...

Ancho
Jalapeno
Long Red Cayenne
Red Cheese Pimento
Hot Pepper Mix (some are hybrids)

The Jiffy Pellet tray on the right is full of Munstead Lavender seedlings and Dwarf Pampas Grass that I plan to plant along a wooden fence at our new place where we are moving.

I have to get myself in gear and get my flower and herb seeds planted. I'll have to start new perinial herbs to plant at our new house. I'll post an update when those are up and growing. :-)

Freaky Weather and a "Thank You"

2011-03-26T22:12:00.000-05:00

Old Man Winter came to call today. I was SO not expecting him again, thinking he had tucked his tail between his legs and mosey-ed on up north. Ha! Nevermind that it was 80 degrees just a few days ago and today we have 3 inches of snow on the ground. First we had sleet and then heavy snow. Sometimes the snow flakes were truly miniature snowballs. I tramped through the snow when we had a little over an inch and took some pictures (click on the pictures for a larger view)...

From our front porch

A Cardinal in our forsythia bush

The daffodils along the edge of the woods

Blossoms on the peach tree

Blossoms on the plum tree

But the most amazing thing (to me) was the thunder we had mid afternoon. Just a couple of long, loud booms but I've never experience "thunder-snow" before. :-)

Normally if something like this would happen at this time of year I would be worrying over fruit loss and damage. But what with everything going on, I just kind of felt like "well, that's life, I suppose." It seems like we have a heavy frost nearly every year anyway.

I confess that I have fretted over wondering whether my goats new owners have shelter for them and whether they were stranded out in the weather. But there's not much I can do about any of that. :-(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I haven't had much time on the computer these past few days (gee, I wonder why!) but I did want to say thanks to everyone who e-mailed and commented on my posts about our financial crisis--thanks so much for your love and support!! It means so much to me!! <3 <3 <3

Two "Startling" Discoveries

2011-03-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

In less than one week I've made two discoveries that have just rocked my world. OK so maybe that's a bit over the top but they were pretty amazing--to me anyway.

I am very auditory. In order to learn new things and retain the knowledge I have to say things out loud. Sometimes when DH is working on a vehicle he will take me along for a test drive so that I can listen and note "strange" noises. And he always takes me along to test drive a new car/truck. Also I can recognize voices way better than I can remember faces. :-) So that leads to my discoveries...

1) As I was sitting on the couch watching a Scooby Doo episode with Son #6 (which was one of his birthday gifts) I happened to look up during the credits and saw the name Casey Kasem. Stunned, I closed my eyes and immediately visualized Shaggy. For many, many years I've listened to Shaggy and thought "I know that voice" but being that searching down that info wasn't something very high on my list of priorities, I just never really gave it a second thought once the show was over. Well, I grew up listening to America's Top 40 and enjoyed listening to Casey Kasem and knew his voice. And now I know he's Shaggy too.

Jinkies!! Mystery solved!!

2) Son #2 turned us on to a Grits song that we really love. Normally I don't really care for Grits but this song "Fly Away" is Grits shining glory (in my humble opinion). Well, there was this other voice that wasn't rap-ish and didn't quite seem to belong yet fit perfectly. It seemed so familiar and yet I couldn't place it. Then I happened to look the song up on YouTube and saw "Fly Away by Grits featuring Mack Powell". Whoa!! Mack Powell of Third Day!! I love Third Day!! So then it was so obvious I couldn't see how I could've missed it!!

When I told Son #3 of my discovery he said that he really didn't expect that--Mack Powell to be singing with a rap band. I told him yeah, but you wouldn't expect a 45 year old, homeschooling mom of 10 to be listening to it either!! :-)

If I was stranded on a deserted island and could have one song with me "Fly Away" would be the one!!

I won't post the song here since it's blatantly rap but you can find it on YouTube if you're terribly interested (make sure it's "featuring Mack Powell").

And now you're privy to some of my most innermost thought processes!! Scary huh? Ha Ha!!

Coming Clean, Getting Real, Fessing Up (Part Two)

2011-03-22T12:42:00.002-05:00

When we filed bankruptcy, our goal was to save our house. We've lived here for almost 13 years now. Perhaps it's not so much that we wanted to stay here, but rather we didn't want to have to pack everything up and move it all somewhere else. Do you know how much stuff a family of 12 collects over that many years???? And yes, we do wish that we could continue to live here since we've invested so much of our life here--our farm animals, building up our garden area, our orchard, our warehouse that holds our business materials, our pets, etc... But since we can't make the Chapter 13 payments anymore, Chapter 7 is our only recourse. If we were to be able to keep the house with Chapter 7 we would have to pay the amount outstanding (over $10,000 now) and that isn't an option. So "pack it all up" is our new reality.

So where are we going, you ask. We are blessed that DH's parents have an available mobile home (rental) that we can move into north of St. Louis next door to their place. It's small. We are planning to keep our RV so that we will have enough room for our family to live in. The RV will house our daughters and the mobile home the rest of us (me, DH and the 3 little boys).

We don't have room for farm animals there so we've found new homes for them--which has all but broke my heart!

Some of our Shetland Sheep

Some of our Nubian Goats

My favorite Nubian doe.

We will be taking our 3 dachshunds and our older black lab/chow mix dog Lila. She is actually Son #1's dog but he isn't able to take her since he lives on a highway with no fence (we will have a nice, large fenced in back yard). We will be living next to the highway as well so cannot take the cats (I highly doubt they would stay in the backyard!). And of course the parakeets will be coming with us too.

So we still have yet to find homes for the 4 cats and Great Pyrenees dog Daisy. The GP is worth quite a bit and a great guard dog--but I can't even seem to give her away. I hate to think of what might become of our pets--especially our cats. We have a friend whom I haven't seen in some time who does rescue work that I may have to call.

We are trying to approach this as an adventure (which is what life is, isn't it?) and see the positives. I will have a large space to garden in and DH's parents have a large above-ground pool the children love to swim in. We will be closer to many great places to shop (Whole Foods Mkt. and Michaels), attractions to visit (museums, St. Louis Zoo, Six Flags) and favorite restaurants (Lions Choice and White Castle). This is the area we used to live in. Essentially, we are coming full circle. We got married and lived next door to DH's parents in one of their rental places and then moved away--many moves!--and now we are returning to where we started. It feels right. Sad, but right.

I considered changing the name of my blog with the move but where we are moving is still our "heritage" since this is where my husband grew up and will probably inherit someday (in the very distant future hopefully!). So perhaps my blog name is even more fitting. Granted, our homested will be of the more urban variety but I'm feeling up for the challenge. :-)

I would deeply appreciate prayer for our family. Change is hard for us. I'm not sure how soon we can get everything moved but we're hoping to have it all done before mid-April or sooner. I will continue to post here about our daily life and of our progress with the move. Thanks for patiently bearing with my long drawn out tale if you've made it this far!! <3

Coming Clean, Getting Real, Fessing Up... (Part One)

2011-03-21T17:41:00.000-05:00

And all that jazz!!

Most of the time I am a very optimistic person and try to stay focused on the positives of life. It's not that I don't feel the need to be "real" or anything. With all the bad stuff going on all around us I'd just like my little corner of the world to be a bright spot--at least as much as I can make it.  Plus there are lots of things in life we don't really want to talk about unless we have to. Right? But there comes a time when we just have to be honest about what's going on in our lives. So now it's time that I explain some of what we've been going through and share our "news" that I hinted about some time ago--(and some of what I've been asking for prayer for--for about a year now).

I'm sure that you've heard that wise piece of advice, "Never say 'never'". Well, once upon a time, I said with genuine, heartfelt passion "We will NEVER file bankruptcy!!" Sigh. So here's the story...

In early 2008 our family business was doing great and we had our 3 oldest sons working for us (and doing a spectacular job at that!). But things really started falling off. We persuaded our friend from Virginia into coming back to Missouri to help us out and advise us financially (and fix our computers and make us laugh!) but the economy was bad enough that it wasn't something that he could really help with. He did, however, buy our "fixer upper" home that we had bought in 1996 with intentions of fixing up and selling but just didn't have the time (so we bought and moved to the farm where we currently live).  Our friend moved onto another job, Son #2 moved to Hawaii and eventually Son #1 had to find another job because we simply couldn't afford to pay him what he needed and still pay our bills though he tried his best to help us however he could. Son #3 continued to work for us but he still had to learn a lot of things since he had really just been a "helper" for the other boys.

Then DH's back went out. With the profits from the sale of our house and the help of credit cards we were able to stay afloat financially for some time. Eventually though, there was no buffer and we just couldn't pay our bills anymore. We tried working with our creditors and some were as good as gold (pun intended!!). The creditor for our home--not so much. We got behind on our payments and they told us that they would refinance our loan but we had to make 3 reduced trial payments--which we did. It seemed fishy from the get-go when we asked them what happened after the trial payments: "Don't worry about that", they said. "Most people don't even make it that far." ?????   Well we planned to!! This was our home we were talking about--our farm and warehouse for our business!! Three trial payments came and went and we were still no closer to getting the refinance finalized. "Just make three more payments" they said.  At the end of those payments we got a letter in the mail saying that if we didn't pay up the full amount of money we owed them (which includes what we were late on from DH not being able to work plus the money that we "shorted" them by making those trial payments totalling to be around $7,000) they were going to foreclose on our home. When we talked to them they said that this was normal procedure and that the refi would be done just before the deadline for foreclosure. We waited and waited. DH called them nearly everyday but there was never any new news. Friends and family told us that if we wanted to save our house we would have to file bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure. Finally out of desperation that's what we did--Chapter 13. Everything went into effect just a day or two before the foreclosure. Do we think that they would have had the refi ready by the foreclosure date. Not at all!! They were just playing us along.

Since we filed the Chapter 13 bankruptcy our situation has continued to worsen so much so that we cannot make our payments to the trustee anymore. We will now have to file Chapter 7. With all of my being this is something that I do not want to do!! We've prayed, asked for help and prayer and examined all of our options--including me going back to work.

We know that we created this disaster by living beyond our means and presuming upon the future. We have no one to blame but ourselves--though DH throws some of the responsibility onto "the economy", I know the truth.

So our big announcement is... We're Moving!!!

To be continued...

Happy Birthday Son #6

2011-03-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

The kiddos have all been sick with some sort of fever/coughing thing for about 2 weeks now--not just one of them sick that long but first one and then another and then another... So I wasn't sure that we were going to be able to have a party for Son #6 or not. I had ordered the cake a few days ago and hoped he would be better but this thing has really hung on. He's not a cake eater anyway and so I finished up his shopping and we just dove on in and had the party. Son #1 and his family didn't come since we didn't want to risk them getting sick but Son #3 and Cousin #2 were here (they are here most every day so it was no big deal--they've been exposed). Coughing and all, he was super excited!! I had ordered a Scooby Doo cake for him since he's so into Scooby Doo right now! I think it's so cool that he loves Scooby as much as I did when I was his age. :-)

I forgot to pick up birthday wrapping paper. We used Christmas paper instead!! I don't think he even noticed!! :-)

Best Buddies!! Finally a dog who is just as rough as he is and doesn't run away!!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!

Coldframe Experiment: The Results Are In (and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!)

2011-03-17T12:01:00.000-05:00

Last November Son #3 and I built a makeshift coldframe out of 1 inch insulation board and duct tape. We planted a mix of winter lettuce and mustard greens seedlings. Our intentions were to put dirt around it and add hinges to the glass door. But as fate would have it, we didn't do anything else at all...

I checked on things from time to time but the glass was so foggy with moisture (mostly between the two panes of glass) that it was incredibly hard to see in. All I could really see was just green. So I figured that something was growing in there! :-) We had some days--maybe even a week--that the temperatures were in the single digits or lower. Very cold! I didn't really expect that my lettuce and greens would actually live much less thrive!! So here's what I found when Daughter #2 and I lifted the (really heavy!!) glass...

Can you see what's left of the melting snow? And all that mud? I love spring!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I'm really enjoying the green in my life!!!

It Did What Last Night???

2011-03-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

Checked the weather last night before bed and they were calling for rain changing to snow with a possibility of up to an inch of accumulation. I woke up right as it was getting light outside and saw that it was white out. "Well there's that snow they were talking about" I thought to myself. A little bit later I got a call from Son #3... "Hey could you come pull me out of the ditch?" Then I really looked outside.

There was at least 4 inches on the ground and it was still coming down. I tramped around in the snow for at least half an hour looking for our tow chain (yes, the same one that DH hauled me around the driveway in our old wrecked box truck with not so long ago!) but couldn't find it anywhere. DH isn't the most organized guy and he has a terrible memory so before we could manage to locate it, somebody helped pull Son #3 out of the ditch with their truck.

Last Friday the temps were in the low 70s and in just a few days that's the anticipated high again. Never a dull moment!!

Yesterday was Cousin #2's (my nephew) 20th birthday. Due to circumstances beyond his control he was stranded at our house for the day. So we did the best we could for a last minute celebration sans any presents (besides his requested meal).

Happy birthday and welcome to your 20s!!

Our Week in Pictures

2011-03-04T21:21:00.000-06:00

Decided to spend a little time putting some pictures up here of this past week.

We FINALLY got to have Daughter #3's birthday party last weekend!!! We kept trying and something would happen--namely someone else would get sick or someone couldn't be here... or something!! But it just all kind of fell together and... Whew!! I'm glad we finally got to celebrate this poor girls birthday!!

Momma always gets the honor of cutting and serving the birthday cake!! It was very tasty!! Daughter #4 did the (cake) decorating this year.

Grandson #1 "helping" unwrap gifts. You can see by the look on his face that he has some experience with this kind of heart shaped gift. That's the nice thing about having a birthday around Valentines Day--all sorts of sweets and love themed things to buy.

Grandson #2 trying to figure out the Sit 'n Spin.

Uno trying to figure out the Sit 'n Spin.

Cousin #2 (which is technically my Nephew #2) always cracks me up!!

Hail on our front porch. I wasn't home for this event but Daughter #4 took this picture. We normally don't get hail this early in the year. And some years we don't even get it at all. Usually it only happens when I forget to bring in my seedlings as I'm working to harden them off for planting--and they get ruined.

Nap time!! Son #6 snuggling the puppy while Olivia keeps tabs.

As you can see, our life is kind of ho hum, but we like it this way. On the flip side when it gets crazy (see my March 2nd post) it's pretty crazy!! Ho hum is good. :-)

Please Excuse the Mess...

2011-03-03T17:05:00.000-06:00

I've decided to go ahead and merge my Healthy Living, Gardening, and Ramblings blog into just one and am in the process of exporting the other two here. So far I've gotten the Healthy Living one mostly done. So if things look a little weird, that's probably why. I will be working on it a little here and a little there as I can. I just don't have the time to devote to all three blogs and want to see if I can do better with just having it all here. Each of the other blog posts will be in their own labels. Thanks for your patience.

Just Another Day in My Life

2011-03-02T12:57:00.000-06:00

Yesterday DH needed a little help. From time to time he asks me to help him accomplish some grand scheme of some sort or another. There's nothing small about the way his mind thinks!! Most of the time it's nothing too hard--or frightful. But on other occasions... It's flattering to think that he feels I'm up to the challenge.
So what did he ask, you wonder. A little background first... Quite a few years ago we had a box (delivery) truck for our business and we were looking at buying some carpeting for our RV and had driven the truck to the wholesale carpet place about an hour from home. It was a Sunday. What we didn't know was that they closed early on Sundays and had to turn around and head back home after we discovered that they were already closed. On the way home, there we were just driving along minding our own business when a huge deer (a doe) leaped out of the grassy median and right into our path. DH grunted and I understood that he meant "duck and cover". I let out a little yell upon impact and got a mouthful of safety glass (the windshield). Thankfully, DH only got a broken hand. (I probably fractured my ankle but being the anti-medical person I am, I didn't mention it until we were safely home and hobbled around for the next 6 months until one day it just stopped bothering me.) Unfortunately, the truck was totaled! Everyone who saw the truck said that it looked like we hit an elephant not a deer! We had the truck towed home where it's been parked and used for storage.

    Now to the present... DH decided that we needed to get this truck out of it's parking space and get it ready to be towed so that he can hook it up to the back of our RV and use it to haul some things we need to move. In order to do this he had to hook the truck up to our Jeep Commander with a tow chain and pull it out of it's spot where it's been parked all of these years. Guess who he wanted to steer the truck while he pulled? Yup. That would be me. I learned long ago that it's usually just easier to go along happily with his ~~crazy ideas~~ uhm, grand schemes. And so that's what I did. The thing that I noticed first was that the steering wheel didn't turn but turning the key on fixed that (duh!). The next thing that I noticed was that the brake pedal just stuck to the floor when I pushed on it. So he insists that the brakes are just stuck and we need to drive it around our circle driveway to free them up. Boy was I not liking the sound of this idea! He assured me that if the truck gets away from me and I can't stop it I can just run it into a tree. That is so against all of my thought processes and desires for safety. You know I'm not an amature stunt car driver and am, after all, just a girl! No matter!! So off we go down the driveway. The direction we were going goes downhill, then turns out into our little gravel road in front of our house and then back uphill and up to our house.
     As we take off and head downhill I start to become alarmed at how fast I was starting to go and began pushing on the brake with all my might. Nothing. By then I'm squealing very loudly and hanging onto the steering wheel with my right hand while fumbling around for the emergency brake with my left hand. No luck (the emergency brake turned out to be on the right side of the steering wheel above the shifter but it wouldn't have mattered anyway since it didn't work either!). I started picking up more speed and kept creeping closer to DH in the Commander and was wondering how I was going to be able to turn out onto the gravel road without losing control or flipping over. Fortunately the road was really squishy from all the rain we've gotten in the past week so that slowed me down a bit. And there was no traffic either--which hadn't crossed my mind until I was right there. And all this time I'm still squealing and pumping the nonexistant brake. The Commander finally gets further away, the chain tightens back up and we turn the corner back into our driveway to go up the hill and back up to where we started. Amazingly the truck stopped at the top and I survived. I was shaken and done with that whole idea!! Fortunately DH decided on a different plan and I was free to go.
     Son #4 and #5 had been outside during the whole ordeal and I asked them if they heard me "screaming". They said "YES!" And then Son #4 said "I heard you. And I thought..." He couldn't bring himself to go any farther but I finished for him saying "You thought I was a gonner didn't you". We all had a good laugh and DH thanked me for being a good sport. But boy are my legs and arms sore today from trying to make that brake work and wrestling that steering wheel!!

Thoughts of Spring Blog Party

2011-03-01T10:57:00.001-06:00

Hey!! The blog party at Lynnette Kraft's is ON!!! There's giveaways and lots of fun to be had!! Join on in won'tcha?!!

Q & A...

How would people describe your personality? (If they could only use ONE word.) Are they right?
Goofy! Absolutely. Awww Shucks! I hope they mean it in a loving, endearing way. :-)

What celebrity/celebrities would create a “Star-Struck” feeling if you saw them in real life?
Leonard Nimoy/Spock, Patrick Stewart/Jean-Luc Picard, William Shatner/James T. Kirk Yep! I'm a Trekkie! Honestly, I would be just fine if I never meet a celebrity!! I mean, what are the chances?

Who is your favorite blogger? Why?
Gosh, I love all my bloggyland friends and love each of their blogs for their own uniqueness. Some blogs are creative, some thought provoking, some just sharing daily life (like mine), some funny and inspiring. They're all great!!

What is your comfort food/drink?
Chocolate and Pepsi--neither of which I am supposed to have since anymore since I was diagnosed with diabetes last summer. Boo Hoo!! I do occasionally indulge though.

Be brave – tell us something very random and weird about yourself.
I'm always the first to laugh at myself. I figure that if I do something stupid others are gonna laugh--so I might as well give them permission by laughing first! That doesn't sound too weird but most people take themselves WAY too seriously!!

Do you have a strong desire to do something you’ve never done? What is it?
Hang Glide!! But I'm scared of heights. Oh how cool it would be to jump off a cliff with "wings" and soar with the eagles!

Movies: Action, Drama, Romantic Comedy, Documentary, Comedy? What are your favorite genres?
Comedy--but not too crude. I like a lot of "kids" movies that are funny. I like action too. Our family favorite has been the Stargate SG1 and Atlantis series! I cannot count how many times we've watched them through!

Books: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Biographies, True Stories, Self-Help, Devotional/Study? What are your favorite types of reading material?
Fiction and Self Help--sometimes at the same time with one book on the table and another by my bed. But I read a little bit of everything--except for secular romance novels (and usually not Christian ones either with the exception of Beverly Lewis if you can classify those as "romance")

Music: Funk, Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Film Score, Blues, Classic Rock, Crooner, Alternative, Heavy Metal, Techno? What are your favorite types?
Nature sounds with instrumental, Alternative Christian (Hard Rock, Rap, Screamo) Quite the combination, huh? I like soundtracks too--and yes, Jared Kraft's is fantastic!!

If you inherited a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do with your money?
Buy acreage in the San Juan Islands in Washington.

Name one weakness of yours (confession is good for the soul).
Not sticking to my low carb diet like I should!!

If you could live anywhere at all (and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?
The San Juan Islands in Washington. :-)

Strange Talent? Can you juggle basketballs, put your legs behind your head or some perform some other strange feat?
Nothing strange--I'm pretty "normal".

What’s something you consider yourself to be good at? (Don’t worry, it’s not bragging, it’s acknowledging a God given gift).
Cooking from scratch maybe. Perhaps I'm a little too good!

What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of?
Freshly mown grass and lilacs.

When you leave a social gathering, do you wish: You would have talked more or You would have talked less?
Usually more. I'm pretty shy.

If money wasn’t a factor, what stores would you shop in?
Hobby Lobby, Michaels, JoAnns, Whole Foods Mkt.

What is your greatest fear?
Drowning or being trapped under water.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Being married for 29 1/2 years.

What are your favorite animals?
As an animal lover, it's hard to choose. We've owned dogs, cats and birds nearly all of my life so probably those three but not necessarily in that order. My favorite pet has been our White Faced Cockatiel who accidentally got out the door and flew away. :-( I'd love to get another but am afraid that there would never be another like our Polly.

Are you a hopeless romantic?
I think being "romantic" is way more than about physical romance between a couple. I am terrible about seeing life through rose colored glasses much of the time. It doesn't sound like a bad thing but most people nowadays consider that a character flaw. I just can't help myself. So yes, I guess that qualifies as "hopeless".

What movie or book character can you most relate to?
Pollyanna

Happy Birthday Son #1 (and also Cousin #3)

2011-02-22T19:06:00.001-06:00

Thought I'd post some fun pictures of Son #1 since today is his birthday. :-) Please note that his early pictures have very poor quality since they've been through a flood in 1993. We lost so many of our pictures so I am thankful for the ones we were able to salvage.

His hospital birth picture. At age 15, thanks to pitocin, I had a really HARD and fast labor and birth--the doctors obviously wanted to give me the worst possible birth experience so I'd make sure to never make that "mistake" again!! Little did they know that I just wanted to have a better experience and do it right next time!! He doesn't look too impressed to have made his grand entrance into this cruel, cold world does he?

What a charmer!! Do you see the line of drool running down his chin? Turns out that extra salivary glands run in DH's family. He could soak a bib in just a few minutes!! I've never seen anything like it!!

Age 4 with his brother (Son #2). This was taken at day care when I worked part time. They never really fussed about having to go to day care and enjoyed playing with the other kids and especially liked snack time.

Age 11. This was during the time period when we got flooded. It was a really hard time for him because we lost our home and had to move away from both sets of grandparents and everything that he loved. He got pretty depressed. It was rough.

Age 18 (or so). Family vacation at Galveston Island State Park.

2010. Doing what he loves best--building blocks with the little ones.

Today his co-workers took him out to lunch for his birthday to a really nice Mexican restaurant. After the meal the staff brought out a big sombrero for him to wear while they sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Then they gave him his peice of cake--and proceded to shove it in his face!! He said that he was kind of suspicious when the sombrero came out and all the guys got out their cell phones for pictures!...

Happy Birthday

Sweetheart!!!

Also a big Happy Birthday to Cousin #3!!! It's the big *18*!!! :-)

Thoughts of Spring Blog Party over at Lynnette Krafts March 1-8, 2011!!!

2011-02-21T11:27:00.001-06:00

Woo Hoo!! It's a blog party!! Lynnett Kraft is hosting a blog party from March 1st to March 8th!! Lots of great prizes and good fun to be had--most importantly, meeting new bloggers and making new friends!! Woo Hoo!! Hope to see ya'll there!!

Happy Birthday to My Dad!!

2011-02-20T09:31:00.001-06:00

My Dad and his wife--my Stepmom

February is a busy month for birthdays in our family. First Daughter #3 has hers at the beginning of the month. And today is my Dad's birthday!! Then in a couple of days Son #1 and Cousin #3 share a birthday.

So Happy Birthday Dad!!! I love you!!!

((((((((((Big Hug))))))))))

Exciting News...

2011-02-18T10:35:00.023-06:00

Just thought I'd share some exciting news!! I'm gonna be a Grammy (or rather "Boppy"--Grandson #1's name for me) again. Son #1 and his wife are expecting their new arrival in September. Her pregnancies are "high risk" since she has a "bicornate uterus" (heart shaped) and needs to have a cerclage (to stitch close her uterus) around 16 weeks. So prayers are always appreciated. :-) They're hoping for a little girl this time but will be happy with another boy if that's what the Lord chooses. :-)

Feeling Better

2011-02-17T22:06:00.000-06:00

I survived!!! In fact the whole family is on the mend now except for Son #3 who is just in his first few days of it. He doesn't live here at home with us anymore though he is here most days (he works for our small business). Whether he caught it from us or somewhere else, I don't know. I just know that it seems like everyone has it. Crazy!! I'm happy to be on the upside again and hoping to be back to my old self soon. :-)

After this long week and a half break in school I will be glad to be getting back into our regular routine (or whatever passes for "regular" around here!). At first the children were too sick to do anything and then I was. That's one of the things I love about homeschooling. I can tailor our activities to our needs. Since we school year round we don't really have scheduled breaks and just take off as needed. Our family doesn't do a strict schedule very well. Going with the flow works best for us. :-)

Uno is growing like a weed and is finding his way around the house surprisingly well. I'd swear that we have more pictures of this puppy than I do of each of my babies!! It's been so much fun to "help" Olivia raise this puppy. She's working on weaning him now--and I don't blame her a bit since his little teeth are very sharp! I'm still not too keen on breeding her again and having to deal with a whole litter next time!!

That classic weiner dog/seal look!! Don't you think seals look like weiner dogs with no ears? :-)

Snoozing with Daughter #4 who happens to be his "real" mother.

Happy Valentines Day!!

2011-02-14T10:18:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Sniffle, Sniffle
Cough, Cough
Sneeze, Sneeze and Sneeze again!!
Boo Hoo!! I hate being sick!!

A Miserable Interruption

2011-02-12T19:56:00.000-06:00

We interupt this blog for... The flu. Boo Hoo!! We're all sick to varying degrees. Some are over the hump and getting better and some (like me) are just into the first miserable few days. I'm longing for healthier days and hope to see them again soon!

Snow and Pictures

2011-02-04T23:13:00.001-06:00

We are still snowed in from Tuesday's blizzard. DH has been getting out and about but I prefer to just hang out here at home. We have limited access to the Internet here and I'm glad that I brought home my computer from the office so that I could use it while we've been NOT going out in the cold, snowy weather. I still haven't gotten out to take pictures but daughter #4 took this one of our house. We have between 18 and 24 inches. The drifts are taller. We're not going to be doing Daughter #3's birthday party this weekend since travel is still not up to par. Not to mention that we are supposed to get another inch or two tonight. Have I mentioned that I'm ready for spring????

This is our swingset in the backyard (in sad need of repair. But since the little boys are getting so big it's probably time to find it a new home).

Check out this "Ice Age" picture! (I was referred to this site--not something that I endorse!! Just thought the picture was pretty cool!--pun intended). Of course this picture doesn't depict the ice and nasty stuff that they've been getting down south either!

During my computer time I've been mixing things up here on my blog a bit. I'm thinking of closing down my garden and health blogs (since I don't have time for all three) and just posting everything here in their own categories. I haven't fully decided yet.

If life continues to lead us down the path that we have been traveling I will have some other news to share soon (no, sadly I'm not pregnant). I'm just not quite ready yet. So stay tuned. In the next few weeks I'll be ready. Sorry to be so cryptic but I need to work myself into it. Hopefully it's going to be a good thing and quite exciting. And difficult and stressful too. ;-)

Uno is continuing to grow and is starting to play and loves to be held and played with. Olivia isn't too impressed with him trying to play with her so we try to keep a stuffed animal with him (since he doesn't have any brothers or sisters for companions). We've begun to feed him puppy food "gruel" and he seems to like it.

So we're just enjoying life in the slow lane. Getting school done without distractions and having a great time being housebound. Unfortunately Daughter #2 came down with some sort of cold and I'm hoping and praying that we don't all get it too!! I really don't care for being sick!!

Spring!!!

2011-02-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel

The verdict is in!!! Staten Island Chuck has determined that we will have an early spring this year!! Oh yeah!! I'm ready!! I'm ready!! For Spring!! I'm ready!! I'm ready!!

Ok, never mind that yesterday we had a blizzard here in Missouri and it's going to take forever for this stuff to melt off. I'm guessing that we got about 2 feet of snow!! It's hard to tell with the drifts and whatnot. There is over 2 feet of the white stuff on our front porch where the little boys have tunneled through--their version of an igloo! Yep, though it was well below freezing yesterday and the winds were howling with white-out conditions my kids were outside as much as I would let them. They didn't care a bit about hypothermia risks!! :-)

Yesterday was Daughter #3's birthday. Not just any birthday but her Sweet 16th birthday!!!

Sadly, the festivities will have to wait until the roads are a bit clearer--to accomodate our guests. We're hoping for this Saturday but we'll have to wait and see. She's used to it though. Seems like it's something or another postponing her party nearly every year. Poor girl!!

I'll try to get out a bit and take some pictures of the snow to post. Actually I'll probably just send out brave and adventerous Daughter #2 who loves the snow--our Ice Princess.

I Will Be Free

2011-01-30T19:37:00.001-06:00

I'm re-reading Hinds' Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard.

Need to feel loved by our Savior? Want to feel special--that there's no one else like you in the Lord's eyes? Do you need reassurance that you are worthy--that if you were the only soul in the world, Jesus would have still went to the cross just for you? Are you discouraged? Do you need to feel forgiveness and compassion? This is the book for you!!! Oh, to wrap your heart around the Lover of our souls.

As I've been reading, I keep thinking of this song by Cindy Morgan--I Will Be Free. I don't know whether she wrote it with this book in mind--but it fits so beautifully.

I Will Be Free

Cindy Morgan

The mountains are steep

And the valleys low

Already I'm weary

But I have so far to go

Oh, and Sorrow holds my hand

And Suffering sings me songs

But when I close my eyes

I know to whom I belong

Who makes me strong

I will be free

I will be free to run the mountains

I will be free

Free to drink from the living fountain

Oh, I'll never turn back

'Cause He waits for me

Oh, I will be free

A wise man, a rich man

In pauper's clothes

A Shepherd to lead us

Through the land of woes

Though many battles I have lost

So many rivers yet to cross

But when my eyes behold the Son

Who bore my loss, who paid the cost

I will be free

I will be free to run the mountains

I will be free

Free to drink from the living fountain

Oh, I'll never turn back

'Cause He waits for me

Oh, I will be free

Oh, and I'll dance on silver moonlight

And I'll walk through velvet fields

Oh, and I'll run into the arms

The arms that set me free

I will be free

I will be free to run the mountains

I will be free

Free to drink from the living fountain

Oh, I'll never turn back

'Cause He waits....

I'll never turn back

Don't you ever turn back

Because someday, someday we're gonna see

That we will be free

Puppy Update

2011-01-29T14:13:00.000-06:00

We've been watching with amazement as Olivia's puppy has grown and developed. We've named him Uno. :-) He is just adorible. He is 2.5 weeks in this picture and still looks very tiny. Which he is.

But when you see him next to his momma...

What a big honkin puppy!! :-) Perhaps it's because he doesn't have to share any of his momma's milk. Or that she's such a good and attentive momma. Or maybe it's because he's so loved by everybody and forever being petted and tended to. :-)

One of my reasons for not wanting to breed Olivia was that she has "imperfections" such as a brown nose and green eyes. Not desirable traits for passing along to future generations. But since she has such a terrific personality and is loved by everyone she meets it would be a blessing to pass on her personality. Would you believe me when I tell you that since the puppy's birth her nose has darkened so much so that you could almost call it black and that her eyes are still light but they are nearly brown. Go figure!!

Can you see the difference? Obviously the lighting is different but she really has changed a lot. :-)

How to Handle Adversity

2011-01-28T10:05:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading Charles Stanley"s "How to Handle Adversity. Excellent book!!

Mind you I am typing this with a very sore finger with a big bandaid on it. I was using my vegetable slicer similar to this one...

Only with my naivety (read: stupidity!!) and experience using it, I wasn't using the thingie that goes on top to protect your fingers. You know where this is going right? Do you know what a 1/8 inch deep cut that's a little longer than 1/4 inch long at the tip of you index finger on the hand you use most feels like??? Not pleasant!! I'm sure I could have went in and got stitches but, resourceful woman that I am (who really dislikes going to the dr!!), I just mixed up some Tien Chi powder and water to make a paste, globbed it on and wrapped it with a bandaid. I love that stuff!! You should check it out!!

Anyway, all that to say that I am no stranger to adversity!! :-)

This book is an excellent resource in learning some of the reasons for adversity, where adversity comes from and what our attitude should be while we're walking through it.

Many people assume wrongly that adversity is a punishment for sin (think of Job and of Jesus healing the man born blind in John 9). I find that it's very ironic how when things are going well and blessings are falling from heaven like rain from a stormcloud people generally don't walk around proclaiming how righteous a person you must be that the Lord would bless you so abundantly!! But as soon as things go south whispers abound in curiosity (or in downright accusations!) of what sins you must have committed to be treated so poorly by the Lord. In a way there is blessing because you discover who really loves you and is committed to stick with you through the hard times rather than those going along for the ride during the good times--those fair weather friends, if you will.

Adversity has many benefits. It gives you compassion for others in similar circumstances. And while adversity is not pleasant while you are going through it, many times there is that peace that passes understanding the Lord grants to those who walk through hard times with a humble heart and a longing to do His will--even if it hurts. Also I have felt the closest to the Lord in the midst of adversity than when blessings are being poured out. "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18)

So even if you are not in the middle of adversity, this is a great read and will help you understand much more about adversity than most people know and you can be a blessing to those who are going through tough times. The Lord calls us to love and support those in need.

Love Defined...

2011-01-27T16:17:00.000-06:00

And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is Patient

Able to accept bad luck, pain, delays, or disappointments calmly.

Love is Kind

Being of good nature; good-hearted; considerate.

It does not Envy

A feeling of unhappiness or dislike caused by wanting what someone else has or gets; jealousy.

It does not Boast

To speak with too much pride about oneself or what one does, knows, or owns.

It is not Proud

Having too high opinion of oneself; arrogant.

It is not Rude

Showing poor manners; not polite.

It is not Self-Seeking

Interested only in gaining an advantage over others, not in sharing or cooperating.

It is not easily Angered

A strong feeling of being mad at someone or something.

It keeps no record of Wrongs

Behavior that is morally or socially unacceptable.

Love does not delight in Evil

Bad behavior; sinfulness; wickedness.

But rejoices with the Truth

A thing that is true.

It always Protects

To keep safe from danger or harm; guard; defend.

Always Trusts

Belief or faith in someone or something.

Always Hopes

A feeling that something one wishes for will happen.

Always Perseveres

To persist steadily in an action or belief, usually over a long period and especially despite problems or difficulties.

Love never Fails

To be unsuccessful in trying to do something.

Daughter #1 wrote this up to print and frame as a gift for a family member--but I want one for our home as well!! I love the way the definitions bring each attribute to life. Who else needs to have it spelled out so clearly besides me? Ha Ha!!

The Pieces Fit

2011-01-26T15:55:00.000-06:00

This is the song that is calming the "inner beast" at this point in time in my life. When I'm stressed out I just listen to it over and over and it helps me know that in spite of everything that is so very messed up in my life God still loves me and is working everything out in His own way for my benefit. :-)

Heritage Homestead Ramblings

Looking Up

Happy Birthday Daughter #3

Hand Made Pay It Forward 2012... Pass it on!!

Happy Groundhog Day

A Little Less...

A Surprise in the Compost Pile...

A Trip Down Musical Memory Lane

Meet Fluffy

Starlings

The Longest Way Video... So Cool!! Check it out!!

Happy Birthday Uno

Happiness or Joy

Internet Blackouts!! Oppose SOPA and PIPA

Project Sky 365

Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28, 1963

The Sun's Warmth

Blooming In Adversity

A Little Bit of White Stuff...

A Little Miscellany

Beautiful Misty Morning

More Garden Stuff

Time to Start Stratifying Seeds

Secret Lives of Cats and Dogs!

Garden Dreaming

Shearing a "Mop Head"

My Bible for 2012

Hello 2012

Goodbye 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Why I Love Homeschooling...

Final Sunrise Observation, An Egg and A Brave Nuthatch

Halloween Fun

Feeling a Little Sad and Frustrated

Lemony Snicket's 13 Observations About Occupy Wall St.

Goodbye Indian Summer... (and a few other things)

Foraging For Pecans

Occupy...

Girls Day Out

Rainbow Web

Meet the Sycamores

I Am Woman

Hanging Out The Laundry

A Guard Dog's Tale

Sunrise

Ha Ha Tonka Outtakes

Group Picture

The New Arrival

Changes

A Nostalgic Lesson in Life

A Photo Update

Courage

Almost Finished...

The UNbeverly Hillbillies

Momma's Boy

At a Crossroads

As The World Turns...

*U~P~H~E~A~V~A~L*

Revelation Song

Blessed Everyday Life

Storms and More Storms

The Poop Scoop...

Happy Mother's Day

I'm Still Here... Barely :-)

Blog Interrupted

My Seedlings

Freaky Weather and a "Thank You"

Two "Startling" Discoveries

Coming Clean, Getting Real, Fessing Up (Part Two)

Coming Clean, Getting Real, Fessing Up... (Part One)

Happy Birthday Son #6

Coldframe Experiment: The Results Are In (and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!)

It Did What Last Night???

Our Week in Pictures

Please Excuse the Mess...

Just Another Day in My Life

Thoughts of Spring Blog Party

Happy Birthday Son #1 (and also Cousin #3)

Thoughts of Spring Blog Party over at Lynnette Krafts March 1-8, 2011!!!

U~P~H~E~A~V~A~L