Life on the Hill

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More home in a dome (or our new room in progress)

Here are some pictures from the new room Richard is building.  He suspended work on this long enough to build the green house but it will be done before the hot weather gets here, we hope.

                               Here is the foundation being laid with Rocker the dog supervising

  This building technique consists of the shell of the dome made with insulation foam.

 This produces a form which he covers in hardware cloth --- really a wire mesh with little 1/2

opening -- and this is covered with concrete.  The concrete makes a stucco like finish and is very strong. 

                                                            The dome is 24 ft diameter with a dual level interior connected to the boy's dome and the main house. There is a cool little staircase from the lower level to the upper level.

This room will be( I think) an activity room for my quilting and the musical instruments.  I will have my little haven to do quilting while watching tv or listening to music as well as the guys having a place to do their art and playing. Also there will be built in bookcases for our library.

Ready, Set, .....Grow!!!!

OK .... So I was raised with a great, huge garden.  I mean 10 ft tomato TREES.  You could get lost going down the aisles to pick the veggies the plants grew so big!  My dad was, and still is, an avid gardener,   as long as you can eat it --- he can grow it.  He doesn't like fooling with just pretties --- you must eat it.  Anyway, he moved an hour and a half away and moved his garden with him, so ALAS no more free freshly grown veggies.  I like the IDEA of gardening --- just not the bugs,  which torment me no matter how much deep Woods OFF I use,  and the south Alabama heat which my redheaded fair skinned self can't tolerate in any amount that make gardening doable.  But with the worsening economy and the growing teenage boys, I need to grow more food and teach the boys the time honored ways of gardening. ( As in "There's a weed over there boys ---- pull it!)

Enter Stage Left my DH.  After hearing me talk about it, he decided to do something about it and given his penchant for domes  -- the dome greenhouse came quickly about.  Really, he built it in only a few days and for very little money.  Here I can start my seedlings for the spring garden now,  and then, after the heat of the long summer has past, I can grow summer crops in the comfortable, bug free enviroment of my own little dome world.  It also gives me a way to get my Vit D dose during the winter and get a little exercise.

Back view of Greenhouse dome.  16 ft in diameter. 8 ft ceiling

Front view --- not quite finished.  The tricky part is adding the entrance without comprimising the structural intergrity of the dome,

I ordered my seeds from the seed catalog (Burpees -- with a $5 off online coupon)  last week and hope to get them started later this week.  My mouth waters just thinking of the 3 types of tomatoes, the yellow crookneck squash, red sweet peppers, okra, icebox watermelons waiting to be grown and eaten this summer. I also ordered some of the "red mulch" and plastic tomato trays to do an experiment to see if they really increase your tomato yeilds by 20 - 40 %.  I will blog this experiment to let you know how it goes. I also like pretty flowers so some of those will be sown too. I will buy shelled peas, butterbeans and corn. They are way too much work and I will gladly pay my local organic homeschool farm family to grow, pick and shell them for me to put up in the freezer this summer.

  I will do a small winter/spring garden with new potatoes, sugar snap peas, carrots and little green onions. This will be a container garden using plastic buckets gleened for free from the bakery from Sam's Club.  The soil around our house is pure sand and clay and therefore not sutable for growing much but sticker bushes and I don't have time to build a raised bed before they need to get into the ground ---hence the buckets. I will fill them with bagged soil and partially bury them in a sunny spot --- or rather the guys will bury them --- I will stand and point to where I want them.

When we start the summer garden we will have a tractor driving friend bush hog and disc up the "bottome land" into a suitable garden spot.  We live on the side of a hill of sand but at the base of the hill is pretty rich soil.  We will probably have to put up a welded wire fence to keep out the critters who live in the woods.

So --- Here we grow!  (Yes I hear you groan --- I specialize in bad puns much to my oldest son's dismay). Stay tuned for new developments!

A busy Christmas

We just got home from a trip to family and friends for Christmas.  We left on Tuesday after having an impromtu lunch with good friends and went east to Colombus to see Aunt Estelle, my DH's aunt who is in her late 80s. She fell on Saturday and broke her pelvis in 3 places.  She was already in the rehab hospital by Tuesday but doing very well -- she is made of tough stuff and didn't utter a complaint about the pain or the situation but very upbeat and glad to see all of us.  From there we went to see some church friends we haven't seen since moving from the Dothan area and had a wonderful visit with them.  They are dear people whom we have known since we were children.  Then we went to see Aunt Mary who is 91 and still lives alone.  Her mind is sharp and her heart is huge.  She talks about the Lord and how good He is to her.  Finally we reached our destination --- my DH's homeplace and his family.

We had a Christmas Eve celebration at my cousin Lea's home.  This was a throwback to the Christmases of my childhood when my parents and brother and my aunt and 2 cousins Chip and Lea would always have Christmas Eve with my grandparents.  It was a loud and lovely time with lots of love and presents and laughter.  Now my grandparents and mom are gone to be with the Lord and we kids have kids (and grandkids in my brother's case) of our own and are scattered to the wind but at least some of us could get together. In later years my husbands whole family would also gather with us, which made it more special.  This Christmas we had my aunt and uncle, Lea and her DH and son and my whole family.  My heart was full watching my sons play with little Sam, Lea's son, and knowing that memories were being made, friendships built.  Cousins are special and my sons don't get to be with theirs very often.

Christmas day began as it has with the last 19, with a son waking us up and letting us know it is Christmas!----Get up!!!!  My husband read the story of Jesus from Matthew and Luke and we asked questions of the boys to see if they were really listening. (they were) Then the presents.  It was a blessed Christmas with practical as well as fun gifts and lots of love.

Then came the work.  We ended up working almost all of the waking hours for the next 2 days completing repairs on my MIL's home.  She had a severe plumbing problem and both toliets had to be taken up and one replaced.  What  a job!!!!!!! He also had to repair the ceiling in the living room and install a DW in the kitchen. 

We finally reached my Dad's home 1 1/2 days late.  The 3 younger boys, Richard and my dad went fishing in the pond.  Brennan caught 2 --- one of them a whopper catfish, Garrett caught a small cat and Jonah didn't get a whale or any other swimming thing.

We reached back home at 1 am on Sun AM and were we tired!!!! Now we have to recover from our vacation!!!

If you ask, you'd better be prepared for the answer!

Our congregation is small. Only about 12 families.  The Lord has given us a desire in the last year to reach out more to the community and show His Love so we asked Him what we should do.  That's the thing.  Don't ask unless you want the answer, because He WILL answer.  And when he does, you can't say "But I don't have the time" or "but that isn't what I had in mind". In fact, the answer will probably be something you could not have dreamed of, because of course, His ways are so far above our ways.  We started by putting together a couple of Thanksgiving baskets last year----which grew to 8 baskets.  That may not seem like much to you, but remember, we are small and most are older and living on a very limited income.  But the Lord showed us our riches in Him by putting families in our path that really didn't have anything ---- and what a joy and a priviledge to help them!!

Then, our pastor's wife started making prayer shawls.  You know what they are, right?  They are lap coverings or shawls crocheted for a particular person and the one making the blanket prays for the recipient during the construction.  It really is a tangible reminder to one who is sick or needy that someone loves them and is praying for them.  That got some of us thinking of what else we could do along the same line.  I used to quilt a lot and love to, but have not taken the time or replaced my broken machine.  Seeing Pam's shawls rekindled a drive to make something for someone else.  I pondered this for several weeks, then the Lord gave me an answer.  I was at work and my pt had lost her 21 wk baby.  I had nothing to send home with this mom ---all our baby clothing and blankets were too big.  Someone experiencing this kind of loss needs somthing soft, something tangible to hold on to when they grieve, that connects them to the baby and it's birth.  So I found a pattern for a tiny pocket blanket we could make and give to the hospital for the parents experiencing this kind of loss.  So now on Wednesdays, some of us meet down at the church with a few sewing machines and fabric, and sew.  I hope we are able to use this time together to do something for someone that will help them feel His love.

We have also been approached by some friends of our family who are administrators of a homeschool cover school.  In Alabama, we legally homeschool by being under a church ministry or "umbrella" school.  Our church has had a homeschool ministry for almost 20 years now but it has been primarily for our members or family.  Well, our friend's cover school is losing their sponsorship because the church that has been covering them is closing their doors.  They have asked us to be their sponsor --- and they have over 200 families in their organization!  Again, an opportunity to minister to the community.  This will spur us to create that website I have felt led to put up and give our pastors and congregation (esp my DH) encouragement to write  --- we will have a Pastor's corner on their website where we answer bibical questions and post articles about the Bible and the Christian walk.

So, the Lord has answered our question.  Now we must not be weary in well doing, but look to Him to multipy our efforts to make enough time for all He has called us to do.

Those firey trials which are to try you (Or Thank you Lord for the pain)

The Lord has brought me through a firey trial in the last year, and I have learned much of Him and of me and still stuggle with the thorn left in the flesh.  2007 started with a downward spiral of my health.  Now I have taken care of sick people my whole life, been sick a few times myself, but this is something different.  Upper abdominal pain - severe- that doesn't go away.  I went to MD's here in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Atlanta, but no one could tell me what it was or what could treat it.  Over the first 5 months of the year, I lost my energy to the point I was on the couch or bed all but about 4 hours a day, was losing 5 lbs a month and developed joint pain from head to toe.  I truly knew what it was like to be in constant pain.   during this same time I became ill, my brother was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.  My family was now having to take care of me instead of my taking care of them.

During the onset of this condition, the Lord taught me many lessons as well as using my condition to teach others lessons.  My Dear friend Pam taught me to thank the Lord for the pain.  Seems strange doesn't it ....to thank him for hurting worse than I have ever hurt and it just doesn't stop?  But the Bible says to know Jesus is to know the fellowship of his sufferings.  And I know that nothing in a child of God's life happens by accident ,,,there is always a reason for it ....even if he never chooses to reveal it to us.  So I knew there was a reason and a purpose for the pain and I thanked Him for it.  I also learned to praise him no matter what.

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is , the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate (share) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
 
 
Isn't that just wonderful?!
One of the lessons Jesus is teaching me through all this I have been through this year is just to praise Him.  I wish I could say it the way I feel it.
Praise Him
When you feel so dry.
Praise Him
When you can't feel Him
Praise Him
When you are caught in the storm
Praise HIm
When you are consumed with pain
Praise Him
When you open your eyes in the morning
Praise Him
When you lay your head down at night
Praise Him
When you sorrow
Praise Him
When you can't sleep at night
Praise Him
When you can feel your sin
Praise Him
When you can't see HIs Face ---Look up from yourself and PRAISE HIM
The more life pulls you down ---Lift up your arms and PRAISE HIM
No matter what -- He is worthy of our praise!

Update on the Trying Times

The Story goes on....

The first week of this month we found out the answer to the question of "Where did the kidney stone go?  It went NOWHERE. It was still there, lurking...waiting to raise it's ugly spikes again and throw my DH in agony again.  He awoke to pain and nausea again.  I called ahead of time to get admit orders before we got there, but there was not one single bed available in the 200 bed hospital, so we were left in the pergatory of ER overflow beds again. This time, I insisted that the urologist go get that stone OUT OF THERE.  Late that afternoon, they blasted that sucker with a laser and washed it out. It took another 5 days to completely get over it, but he is fine now.

While I was watching my husband fighting this terrible pain and misery, I asked the Lord to give us people of faith to care for him, people who looked to Him for guidance. When we went to the holding area before surgery, I listened to the Rn and the CRNA talking and found out the CRNA was a minister.  We had a wonderful talk about the Lord and His mercies while we were waiting for the surgeon to get there.  Then I found out the RN was the sister in law of a friend of mine from home. She was so wonderful!!!! She even came and sat with me and our pastor in the waiting room until we got Richard recovered and into the car to go home.... and that was after a 12 hour shift!!!! Thank you Lord for answered prayers.

practicing Contentment and ego slaying

Have you ever noticed that when you determine to serve others and and put down the old man, that you really see how selfish and proud you are? That is what is what has been shown to me this year.  Selfishness and pride are my bane. Yet I lack the faith to ask the Lord to slay my ego for me, because I am fearful of what that will mean. I know perfect love castest off fear, yet I fear. I had purposed to serve my family and my patients without needing to be thanked or recognized for my sacrifice.  I failed. Despite my best efforts, I still ended up at times feeling taken for granted or needing to be patted on the back for my work.  I wanted to do it "as unto the Lord" but I found myself asking for recognition from those that I serve rather than leaving the recognition up to the Lord. Even though I felt I had asked the Lord to help me, I guess I was trying to do it with my own effort.

And I have a question,.... To practice contentment, does that mean you don't desire more than you have? Can you be content in whatever state you are in, yet desire something more?  More spiritual growth? More living space? More Jesus? I have asked that question of the Spirit, but haven't recieved the answer yet. I AM thankful for what the Lord has given me,,,, my family, my faith, my living space and so much more. Yet I desire more spiritual growth, more Jesus, and honestly, I desire to finish our house for many reasons.  I have recieved some of the answer.... but I haven't been able to fully explain it to others.  The scripture says the Lord gives us the desires of our hearts.  This doesn't mean if we want a Mecedes, he will give it to us.  It means He makes us want what He wants for us, and then He gives it to us.  What I don't see yet, is , does this just pertain to spiritual things or can it apply to natural things too?

A trying time

Thnak you for your encouragement to write something new, Mama Duke.

The last 2 weeks have been a trying time for us.  2 weeks ago my husband began feeling ill in a general sense.  He has been under an unusual amount of stress at work so I thought it was related to that. He took a couple of days off at the end of the week, and I was glad.  I worked all day on Saturday, but he stayed home with the boys and they "piddled" around (which is south Alabama for not doing much of anything) then went over to my Aunt and Uncle's house to watch The Game ( at my house, that is Auburn football).  He had a attack of really bad back pain and nausea while he was there, but it resolved on it's own.  Sunday, he stayed home from church, which is unusual for him.  Sunday night he woke me up at 3:30 AM saying he was hurting so bad he needed to go to the ER......so off we went.  As we had suspected that night, it turned out to be his 3rd kidney stone.  The said it was small enough to pass so they gave him high octane pain and nausea meds and sent him home.  He used the meds as often as he could but by Tuesday night, we were back.  After waiting in the waiting room for 3 hours in pain, they finally got him back and got his pain relieved.  Imagine my distress when the on call urologist refused to admit him.  Well, I haven't been a RN for almost 20 years without learning how much good a well placed, old fashioned hissy fit will accomplished and I figured this was a good time and place, because I was NOT bringing this man home with me in that condtion.  Mission accomplished.  I got them to call his primary MD at home and tell him who we were and that I wanted him admited and the dear man he is, he agreed. (it helps that I have known him for years).  They had no empty beds in the whole hospital, so we stayed in the ER until 4:30, when one opened up.

It was a trying week. He was in pain and nauseated and having to take very strong IV meds until Thursday.  They wouldn't go get the stone as he had had done before when we lived in Dothan.  The whole ordeal reminded me why I work in women and children's health. ....don't like dealing with sick men in pain!!!! By Friday  he was feeling much better, but no one could tell us for sure if he had passed it or not, but since his pain and nausea went away, we went home.  We did learn he has another stone up in his kidney that can make it's appearance at any time.

Which brings me to the spiritual side of our ordeal. My DH has been focused on the scripture " the fellowship of His suffering" and he feels like some of what he has gone through is in answer to his questions to the Lord on this matter.  Jesus did endure unimaginable suffering while he was here, in all kinds of ways.  Richard has since recanted to desire to know more of His suffering, he says he's had enough.  Seeing him go through this and the other ordeals he has been through of late, makes me know even more what a remarkable Elder Brother we have. As verily man, to go through what he went through like a lamb to the slaughter, never opening his mouth to complain or utter an unkind word to or about the ones around him, is indeed astonishing.  I have learned more of what practicing Agape love is all about.  Loving when someone is acting unlovable.  Loving no matter what.  Loving the way Christ loves us.  I get just a glimpse of it sometimes.  Oh to be able to love like that always!!!!! And by the way, learning to be thankful for the opportunities to love like that.

More on Dome Homes

I didn't mention before that the dome homes can be a do it yourself project.  Albeta domes (see link above) sells relatively inexpensive kits that can be shipped to your location and erected yourself.  They are color coded and the instructions are easy to follow if you are fairly good at construction. Or Al will come do it for you.  My DH wanted to use his own design so that is why we didn't use Al's kits. The first link is to his old website and the second is to his new one.  He doesn't have prices listed on the new one and the kit prices are outdated on the first one, but you can email or call him to get the updated prices.

Married to a classic

Today we had a party for my DH's 50th birthday.  We have been together half his life now and more than half of mine!  I had a suprise birthday party and for once it went off without a hitch. He didn't catch wind of it and was completely suprised. We had all the church members there and had wonderful fellowship. The kids and I gave him a IPOD so that he can "tune" out the chatter at work and focus on uplifting music and podcasts.  Its more than we usually spend on a birthday present but you don't turn 50 every day!

I look back on the past 25 years and I am humbled by how the Lord has worked in our lives and how he has shaped my husband (and me) into the man he is today. A very loving, and attentive man who loves the Lord and seeks to serve Him with his life. I can see how the Lord has taken us through the very hard times and moulded me into a very different wife than I was those many years ago. 

Years ago, about 10 years ago, there was a time I really wanted to leave. But the Lord gave me a view of what life would be like for me and my boys if I did, and he showed me that if I would look to him to work his work in my life and my marriage, my faith would be rewarded with a wholeness I couldnt imagine then. Then he led me to the book The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie OMartian.  I could really see through her words that I was not the wife I should be and that I really had to submit to the Lord first and he would then enable me to be the kind of submissive wife that would glorify Him and please my husband.Now, 10 years later, I can't tell you that it is always peaches and cream, but we have a deeper love and committment to each other through the Lord than I could ever see during that difficult time. I now quickly take every struggle to Him and beg Him to intercede for me with my husband. If I feel taken for granted, or need more attention, (don't we all sometimes) I ask the Lord to show it to my husband, and he always does.  If my husband is grumpy or troubled, I ask the Lord to speak to him and give him a Word and to show me how to help him and he always does. Look to the Lord for ALL of your needs and he is faithful beyond what man can imagine.

Our dome of a home in progress

Dome of a home

We bought this property when we moved here to Prattville Al 1 1/2 years ago. It is beautiful land, on a hillside about 100 ft high overlooking trees, untouched woodlands to the back.  We cleared an area about 70 ft up and proceded to try to build our dream home,  a geodesic dome home. We had only the money we had been able to save over the past 5 years so were attempting to build it ourselves with the help from the church family.  Last summer, my husband had to have surgery so building was suspended for 6 weeks, not to mention that heavy labor in 100 degree temp with tropical humidity is almost impossible...at least for middle agers.  Then, just after he recovered, I became sick and was out of work for 14 weeks ...and there went the savings.  Anyway, we proceded to try to get a loan to continue and ran into the problem of getting an engineer to stamp the plans my husband made.  The only problem is,   they all want several thousand dollars to stamp the drawings. We try to live by faith though, so I am trusting the delays are of the Lord and that when it is right, he will make the way clear for us.  So if anyone knows a Christian structural engineer who would like to help us stamp our drawings and feels a calling to do so....let me know. We now live in a 10x70 ft trailer on our property.  It is crowded, no doubt, with 6 people, but it is ours and it is paid for.  I am practicing contentment for what God has given us and patience to wait on him to improve our living space.

Why a dome home you say?

Geodesic domes are some of the most cost effective structures to build.  Their overall design means you can put up walls anywhere you want, or none at all because there are no load bearing walls in the interior.

They are the absolute strongest structure you can build.  In all the devistation from last years hurricanes, you can see domes standing when all structures around them are rubble.

They are the most energy effecient structures made.  They use about 1/4 of the energy of a "normal" home.

Our design is 2 connected domes, one for main living space and master bedroom and one for the boys.  Ours is a 40ft diameter dome on 8 ft riser walls making it 38 ft walls. The boys is a 32 ft 2 story home with the lower level bermed for energy effeciency and tornado shelter.  The bottom floor contains bedrooms and top floor is open floor plan for school./playroom. My dh is a structural steel drafter and drew up the plans himself.

I have included some links to a friend's site if you want more information on domes.

http://www.albatadomes.com/

http://domebuilder.wecre8.com/about.htm

Al is a great guy and knows bunches about domes.  He does good quality work if you are interested in a dome home of your own. (Wow sound Seussian doesn't it)

Glad to meet you

This is my intial entry to blogging. I didn't even know what it meant until a few days ago. Sooo here I go.  My life is not facinating nor is my writing but if you like the ramblings of a busy wife, mom, teacher, daughter, sister, nurse.....read on.

My dh Richard and I have been married 18 years, have spent 25 years together. I love him more now than I ever have...the Lord has blessed our marriage.  WE have 4 arrows in our quiver....all sons ages 17, 12 9, 7.  They are active competitive normal boys.  This is our 5th year homeschooling. We were called to this life and are thankful for it although if I said I wasn't overwhelmed sometimes I would be lying. God is good to provide help this year as we are involved with a co-op and have church family who are also helping.

I am also a RN and work in Labor and Delivery at a local hospital ....usually 25-30 hours a week.  It is a job I enjoy, but it takes it toil emotionally.  It can be the happiest or the saddest place. I see so many children coming into desparate situations. 

My dh was ordained to the ministry in July.  We attend a Primitive Baptist church and are so thankful for our church family.  Our church is very small and very involved in each other's daily lives. We try to center our lives on living for Christ.Always looking for ways to serve his people.