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Tuesday, 07 July 2009

  • This Brings On A Smile

    One of the things around home that makes me smile lately is that my baby chicks have been adopted by two broody hens. The hens were so frustrated with trying to set and raise a brood in the nestboxes in our henhouse since we kept taking their eggs that I decided to pop them into the cage with my chicks and see if they would settle down into it and mother the chicks. Since it has been such a cool summer it is handy to have two hens adopt the chicks. They keep the chicks warm and there is no need for a light for warmth. It will also be nice when it comes time to blend the new clutch of chens in with the older hens. The foster mothers will protect the chicks and keep the old hens and rooster from attacking them.

    Besides the practical aspects, I'm happy to watch the two broody hens be soooo proud of themselves and so happy to have accumulated a nice batch of babies. It does look kind of silly for the two hens to be trying to fit 29 chicks under their wings and now that they are comfortable with each other and with the batch of chicks they  often have little chicks climbing all over them, including their heads and necks when I go out to feed and refill their waterers.

    Other than that the peas are plumping up in the garden, a handful of strawberries have ripened, a second batch of rhubarb is gracing my kitchen counter and the old hens are laying lots and lots of eggs. The summer squash seeds have not germinated and the cucumbers came up but are sitting there not making any progress. The cool weather is not so good for groiwng those kinds of things. The tomato plants are slowly getting bigger but not blossoming yet. Day lilies are starting to bloom and the sweet pea blossoms are opening up today. I have a planting of them together along the bank above the driveway. I like the way they look with the bright orange sticking up out of the bright and pale pink blossoms and the swirls of green leaves too.
     
    My cherry trees are starting to inch towards ripe fruit. It is late this year too.

    I'm still basking in the afterglow of our Fourth of July holiday weekend. It was lots of fun to have a bit of time with our two grandsons who our oldest daughter and her hubby brought to visit. The kids loved the ducklings, kittens, cats, chickens, Guinea Hens, Chickens, pen of chicks with broody hens. We went fishing and both boys managed to catch a fish . Which was no small feat for Big Grandpa to pull off as he was the main helper with the two year old and the one year old fisherman. The one year old was pretty excited to watch the fish swimming around in the bucket after they were caught and proceeded to toss our extra bobbers in the bucket with them and then into the creek below the dam. Big Grandpa took off his shoes and rolled up his pants to retireve them with a smile after I discovered where they were now.

    We enjoyed the parade and fireworks and a picnic in town by the deer park. Our little one year old grandson insisted that the deer were dogs. He was certain that they were dogs and would not be persuaded to even try to say the word deer. He did mange to say chicken, cat, kitten, duck, grandpa, down, up and lots of others but not deer. Every time I pointed to the deer and told him they were deer he answered dog,dog,dog dog dog. Also when the fireworks began he frowned and intoned bad bad bad. It was fun to listen to both the boys and to share the day with our other offspring who manageed to carve out time. Another married daughter who is pregnant and her hubby came to the parade and picnic and their baby performed right on cue so her sister got to feel lots of kicks and squirms during the picnic. The sons in law had great discussions about birth and why is is scary and exciting from a guy perspective. Our youngest got to share her hopes and dreams with her siblings and we all cheered for son who was in two local parades, including the one we watched.


     

Sunday, 28 June 2009

  • Currently
    Kon-Tiki - Across the Pacific by Raft
    By Thor Heyerdahl
    see related

    In the Eye of the Storm

    It's a quiet Sunday morning. I don't have to teach Sunday school, make snacks for between the services or even breakfast for my hubby or offspring.  I enjoy doing all those things. I like feeling needed. The ability to fill the gaps and asnwer the questions is fulfilling at times. The opportunities to use what I am and have what it takes. The times when God fills in the gaps and I feel like I'm doing things, somtimes very little things, the way He wants them done. Is a great feeling.

    But today is the opposite I'm enjoying the morning so much. I have no radio or cds playing. I can hear the birds singing outside even without opening a window. This is an ideal morning and quite the opposite of the joliting awake ant then vaulting along through a volley of questions and needs that most mornings seem to be. It's a peaceful pause.

    LIfe has been a busy busy process of leaping just before the crack opens up too wide to leap across lately. And sometimes it's even been a challengen to quickly find the materials and build some kind of bridge to get across from here to there before it's too late to help so and so because the crack has widened and the chasm is opening up and I have to get over there before it's too late for him or her over there and try to help with their private crissis.

    Yes God has been directing me. I have been feeling very much a part of several things that He is doing and I am being His feet and hands and ears and eyes.

    It's really strange how that kind of thing comes in torrents like sudden rainstorms and windstorms. I cling to God and make my way through them holding out a hand or finger to some  He seems to be directing me towards. Looking and anticiapating the next step.

    Today, feels like the eye of the storm. It's not over. But I have a badly needed pause to catch my breath. And then the winds and the rain and the thunder and lightening will begin again.

    But this morning for a few hours I am sitting in the eye of the storm. I know it worn't be long and I'll be off and battling for each step. I have lived through tonadoes before and God is reminding me that I will make it through this one too. The sky is that yellow that makes those who have lived through tonadoes before feel sick and edgy. I'm using a metaphor or course, the sky here is blue this morning, but in my mind's eye it's yellow.

    Matthew 5

    The Beatitudes
     1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
     3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
          for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
     4Blessed are those who mourn,
          for they will be comforted.
     5Blessed are the meek,
          for they will inherit the earth.
     6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
          for they will be filled.
     7Blessed are the merciful,
          for they will be shown mercy.
     8Blessed are the pure in heart,
          for they will see God.
     9Blessed are the peacemakers,
          for they will be called sons of God.
     10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
          for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

     11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.



Friday, 12 June 2009

  • Wedding flowers

        Here's the link to the  wedding flowers  as botanyhead posted on her blog!
  • Listen and One thing Leads to Another

    There is a halfeaten rhubarb crisp in the kitchen on the counter, fresh  sugar cookies baked cookies there too and two fresh loaves of wheat berry bread cooling turned on their sides on the stovetop. Also my garden is being transformed from a patch of very healthy wilderness to a more olderly patch of vegetables and flowers and I have baby chicks and ducks churruping to me from the upstairs bathroom. So life feels more summerish and a bit more fun today!!

    I babysat a lamb for a friend this week. I stopped to see her and tell her I was praying for her grandbaby who was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and found her in tears over a little black lamb whose mother had died in the night. She explained that she had to go away for three days and did not know what to do with the lamb and asked if I would take her. I said, "Why not!? I'm planning to be home." so we packed her in the back end of the Tracker and I stuffed the box of lamb formula and bottles in the car beside the baby chicks and ducks and sacks of feed and started off on an adventure. It was intersting right off the bat to arrive home with the car so full of babies. Son was suprised and a bit miffed at first that I was asking him to drop everything and lend a hand but he cheered up and helped unload the menagerie.

    They've all been doing well since I got them home exept for  the first night when I woke several times to mournful baa baa baa and struggled to feed the lanb in the middle of the night. Then went back to bed only to be awakened by the loud alarming chirping of a panicked bunch of Aracauna chicks who had somehow decided to take a dip in the water dish and were now freezing cold. So I dried them off and took the water out of the box for the rest of the night just for good measure. The ducks had no such misadventure and the rest of the night went fine.

    The cats were curious about the lamb and the lamb was curious about them too but they never did quite get to the point of being friendly to each other.

    The whole incident was exciting because I felt God pushimg me to stop and tell my friend that I was praying for her granddaughter, which lead to a great discussion, and the opportunity to help her by farmsitting the lamb and to a nice visit by her and her hubby with me, Song and my hubby when they dropped by at the end of the three days to retrieve their lamb. It all makes me think that it is good to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit because you never know quite where it all is leading but it is always leading to a nice chain of events that wouldn't be able to happen without listening.

    And it was just the other day that I was talking to my little granddaughter about why she had pictures of ears and hands in a section of her midweek church club book. I was explaining that prayer involves both listening and talking to God. Then I came home to my sad house where our old dog had died while I was gone for the weekend. The next day I got a phone call from the feed store to come pick up my chicks who were not supposed to be in yet, and I thought to ask if there were any extra ducks, since Song was sad about the dog dying and I knew she wanted ducks. Yes they had some extras. So I got six. Then I stopped and visited my friend and got the loan of the lamb!! So then our sad house turned happy and very very busy too.

    Now that the lamb is gone back to the farm where she belongs it seems so quiet and I have had time to do some baking. That's why I have the counter full of baked goods. The house smells good and I feel like a happy homemaker today!!

Tuesday, 02 June 2009

  • Currently
    Business By The Book: Complete Guide of Biblical Principles for the Workplace
    By Larry Burkett
    see related

    Seeing a Thread Running Through my Week

      This afternoon our neighbor dropped her baby off for Song to keep an eye on while she tackles her list of tasks so I'm writing this blog to the tune of Gemini's children's songs to which the baby is singing goo goo goo ahhh while Song bounces him and cuddles him. The birds are piping up with their spring songs outside the window each time the cd switches to the next tune. It's fun to have this little visitor this afternoon. I think we get as much as we give in this babysitting plan. It perks the whole household up to have a neighbor drop by with her baby!

      Isn't that how a lot of things are?
     
      You get as much or more than you give.

      This past weekend as hubby and  I were preparing to skip downstate to go to a wedding of a friend I got a phone call from my eldest offspring, who was heading there to do the flower arrangements, boutineres and corsages. "Could you skip out and pick some lilacs for the bride?" she asked. I was really excited and relieved to get that call because at that point I did not have a clear idea of what to give the bride and groom for a wedding gift other than a jar of maple syrup. So Song and I took a trip to a couple of old pioneer farmsteads in our area which have been deserted for a couple of generations to pick armsful of lilacs just beginning to open. Then hubby and I stuffed the car with our weekend togs and the posies and headed off on our adventure while Song headed to her mystery party and our aging cocker spaniel held down the fort by himself with help from the cats, kittens and chickens!

      Our gift of flowers and time spent later that night making arrangements with our eldest then more time the next day baby watching and helping to arrange the arrangements at the church We had to juggle the grandkids back and forth as well as the flowers to get the bouquets in the right spots before the young couple exchanged their vows!  But again all that giving made me feel more full not emptier. It was fun to do something for several somebodies who needed it.

      On the way back from the wedding  and reception we stopped to buy lunch meat, cheese, bread and fruit for our Sunday afternoon meal we expected to have with our middle child who has been busily moving back to the north and for the meal I had promised to help the teenagers prepare for themselves on Sunday night. Our time was filled with a rush to the next thing as we stopped on our way back north yet another time to pick up our recent college grad so she could be with us at the Sunday service we would be attending to install my son in law in his new position in a neighboring town as youth and child director for a congregation there.

      Then Sunday I lined up and smiled and prayed and smiled some more as I watched the installation and toured the new apartment home where the two are poised to become three and are feeling their way into a new start in a new place. I was there along with my son in law's parents, hubby and three of my offspring. The head pastor treated us to a lunch of pizza and ice cream cones after the two services. I left my daughter with a cantaloupe to enjoy later which I had brought along to be part of lunch. But we didn't need it or the pasta she was planning to cook since the pastor provided a spur of the moment lunch for all of us at the church!

      Which brings me to another thing I've been pondering lately.

      God provides in some odd ways sometimes.

      It's fun to watch really.

      I often hold up needs and ask God  what is going to happen to make this possible.

      This past week I have seen God provide not only a way to give a meaningful gift to a bride and groom, an unexpected  meal on Sunday afternoon,  some meat to fill our freezer, plants to fill out our vegetable garden, wild mushrooms, and  leeks, some things to put away in my present box for graduation,Father's Day, birthday, and Christmas gifts. Some  of these things have been free and some have been at a tremendous savings, like the sewing machine I picked up at a yard sale for $10,  and the big box of diotomaceaous earth for a couple of bucks which will help to rid my garden of slugs this summer.  One of the more  interesting things happened Sunday night as I was waiting for the teens to get back from the service project they were out doing. I noticed somebody had brought two nearly dead bouquets of flowers into the Chapel kitchen and left them. Since I had some time on my hands I took the two bouquets apart and made a smaller arrangement out of the still good Stargazer lilies and some greenery. Later that night  I gave  it away with instructions to bring the vase  back to the kitchen when the flowers fade. I made another little bouquet of dried yellow roses and pinned that on the bulletin board outside the church kitchen. One person's trash became something somebody else could treasure! It only took a little time and listening to my Father's voice.

    Jeremiah 33:3 (New International Version)

    3 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'






     

sloggy

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    • Name: Candace
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About Me

  • Two of my joys in life are playing with food, especially other people's and drawing with words! I'm a Christian cleverly disguised as a homemaker,wife,mama,grandmama, gardener,mushroompicker,fluteplayer, singer,chauffeur,seamstress, caterer, maid,and tutor.

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  • crackerchuck
    It just may be that I will get into xanga...facebook is rather busy...am a bit out of breath because of it...or maybe that is because I worked out this morning...anyway, Sloggy, I enjoyed your words on "hope". Faith, hope and especially love are words that have new meaning in recent words. More on t
  • stalkdebbie
    hi there, yeah you're welcome. Thanks for the comment!
  • Letustalk1
    Thanks for your comment on my site where I posted about WWII. We need to be able to be strong in our foreign policy and need someone to be our President who has experience. Becker
  • Jessemommy
    "So it is your job and your paycheck will be waiting in heaven for you some day." This made put a big smile on my face :D Shoot, kids need me now for a disaster, but thank you again :D
  • sloggy
    Yes. Hi there
    • Posted 8/27/2007 7:58 AM
    • by sloggy
  • from_mine_to_yours
    HI