Blessings from the Little Farm | ||||
Saturday Blessings To You All!My DH and I have the weekend off from our bakery. Since we stopped taking wedding cake orders, our Saturdays are becoming a day off. The bakery is open today but is more manageable without the added stress that wedding cakes bring. He is so tired (me too). The economy is hitting our business hard, as ingredient costs soar and customers are holding onto their dollars. It's a HUGE worry. It seems that donuts and cake are not as popular as they once were. I am not sure if we are going to visit Mom & Dad this weekend. I was with them 3 days so far, trying to help them get back into a good routine at home. My mother is resisting home healthcare and I seem to be the "heavy." The nurse was out to assess mom on Weds. and mom told her "fibs" about her health situation. I am sure that the nurse saw through them to the truth. Mom needs some of His Grace to shine on her BIG TIME. I ordered a wheelchair from Medicare for mom. The one she is using is over twenty years old and heavy - I cannot lift it to put it in the trunk of their car. My dad struggles with it. Mom will not even want to use the new one. This may become another battle of the wills. She can only have one ambulatory aid from Medicare every 5 years, so I opted for the wheelchair instead of the "4-wheeler" walker that I promised her. Right now she is using a like new walker borrowed from our friend. But, she wants to walk without any aids and without physical therapy or a nurse visiting her twice a week. Prayer is needed. Mom sleeps and lives on a loveseat in their living room that has to be at least 15 years old. It has broken into due the the constant use. My DH said that he could fix it but it is so old...my DH, in his exhausted state, wishes that he could stay home in his chair and "veg out." I wish my dad would see that spending a few hundred dollars to purchase a new one for mom is a good idea. I have been stepping on my mom and dad toes since she fell last month, butting into their lives BIG time. I feel like a fly stuck in honey around them. I see their needs so clearly...but, do they? Now, that's the question of the day! Dad said that I could take care of their bills, write the checks but that he would sign them. So. I asked that the mail be put in one central location so that I could find the bills. Mom lost their water bill aleady and she was only home two days! Dad now has a basket in their laundry room devoted to the mail, if he only remembers... I should be at work helping my DH with the battles that he faces on a daily basis trying to figure out how to help stabilize our business, which is on a rocky course instead of worrying about and helping mom and dad. I want to visit them twice a week and spend the rest of the week at work but I am torn between two needs. And, then there are personal needs that are not being met. Right now, no time to think about us, about him, about me. If only...(prayer is needed BIG Time!) Seven Tag A very Seven Tag 7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die 7 Things I CANNOT Do 7 Things That I Love About My Mom 7 Things I Say The Most 7 Movies I Could Watch Over And Over 7 Books I Love 7 People I Want To Tag 3. ALadyBug Miracles Happen Pt 1 Shw and Tell
Posted by Encouragement Along the Way
11:44 AM, May. 16, 2008 .. Posted in Tags .. 6 comments .. Link It seems I have been writing this all week. How do I put into words Miracles performed by God? I am so inadequate. After all I am simply the conduit God chose to use and words just seem to fall short. For nine years I have been praying for God to heal my knees. The Arthritis pain had made it necessary for me to get shots every few months just to be able to do the most simple of tasks. I cannot recall the last time I could get on my knees to pray or get on the floor to play with my grandchildren. Nine years ago I was told I would need my knees replaced, but they wanted me to be on the other side of 50 first. God never does anything haphazard or by coincidence. So this year when I had a couple of episodes when I could not walk at all I knew the time had come to Surrender. The doctors would ask what I had done. The first time was stand up out of a chair. The second time simply woke up. Three shots in four months, said now is the time to surrender my will to God’s. Surrender was the word that came to the forefront whenever I prayed. Surrender the choice of my surgeon to the Lord. Surrender the timing to Jesus after all so much has been accomplished in the last nine years in Knee replacement. Surrender my idea of God restoring my feeble knees to God’s way of giving me knees that will not wear out. God is my Great Physician and I trust Him to met my knees His way. So I surrender. As I surrender, I discover a few things about knee surgery. It is kind of like being pregnant, everyone has a horror story to share and all at once I am surrounded by Job’s companions. If I had gone straight from the doctor’s off ice to the operating room this would have been so easy. I had such peace, I knew it was time. But God had a different idea. He wanted to make certain my peace was in Him alone. Each tale of pain and failure chipped way at my peace. One person said this is ten times more painful than anything you have ever experienced, even childbirth. After each tale of whoa came the pronouncement,” but once it is over you will be so glad you did t!” I reminded myself over and over that there is no fear in love and Jesus loves me perfectly. I had waited nine years. I know this is the right time. Even the timing of my surgery was perfect. Because of the snows we had had in January, our Bible Study was a week behind. We needed that extra week. We had the closing luncheon with everyone but returned the following Wednesday for one more class. The next Wednesday, May 7 would be my surgery. I surrendered to the timing, to the surgery, to the doctor. When Pastor Larry announced we were going to have a healing service concern filled my heart. I had been to churches all over the I was so blessed listening to Pastor Larry teach about Jesus healing the sick. My heart relaxed as he spoke about what healing is and what it is not. When Pastor Larry told them not to throw out their meds until after they saw the doctor, I relaxed. I had had too many girlfriends toss their lithium at the pronouncement that they had been healed to dire consequences. Perhaps this would be balanced? When Pastor Larry reminded the congregation of God’s Sovereignty I praised the Lord and began to pry for those needing prayer. Since my healing was just ten days away, I didn’t see a need to go forward for prayer. Imagine my surprise when I turned to Mike and asked him if He wanted to go forward for prayerwith me. I knew the Holy Spirit was asking me to surrender to Him, to trust Him. Coming out of the Charismania of the 80’s I had continently placed the Holy Spirit in the corner of my heart. Surrendering to the nudging of the Holy Spirit had us standing in line waiting for prayer. But prayer for what?
(I can only type a little at a time, so hopefully part two will be done by next Friday) in the meantime, head over to Canadagirl's blog and see what everyone s up to this week. Thank you for all your prayers. You are dearly loved. New scene~
Posted by MargoMargolia
11:33 AM, May. 16, 2008 .. Posted in Reach for the Stars writing program and scribblings .. 0 comments .. Link New Scene~ Yes, Mrs. Marlow was right the rafting scene didn’t hold much interest for me. So with her permission I’m going to write a different scene. Here it is: Summary: A Stranger threatens Margaret Campbell. Before you read this please keep in mind that this paragraph is from James’ point of view, since it is from a different chapter. Scene: As I got closer the quarters something didn’t feel right, it was too quiet. I set the trunk down at the door and peered into the gloomy room. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust; Margaret was toward the back of the room, her eyes wide and staring. The man in front of her wasn’t much larger than I was but he was definitely older. “I’m warning you, if you don’t leave now you’ll regret you ever set foot in here!” Margaret threatened the stranger. “Now sugar..” “Don’t you ever dare to call me that!” “Sure, now if you’ll just come with me I can show ya a real good time.” “I’m sorry I have responsibilities here, now if you’ll be so kind as to leave.” She hinted. “All right if you won’t cooperate then I’ll just have to convince you-” as the man made a dive for her she moved to the side. The man stumbled to his feet, but as he whirled on her he found himself staring down the barrel of a Derringer. “w-w-where’d ya get th-that?” he asked stuttered. Margaret smile grimly “my papa taught me to carry it. Now I want you to walk out that door and never come back here again, do you understand me?” “And what if I don’t?” the man asked, Smirking. “Then I’ll be forced to use this weapon.” She sounded firm but the slight tremor in her voice ruined her bluff. “You won’t use that, it probably doesn’t even have bullets in it.” The man moved toward her and the gun went off. He felt his shoulder where the bullet had clipped him. “I missed on purpose I won’t do it again.” She promised, her voice deadly. “All right I’ll leave but you’ll regret this!” he sneered at her. “I’m sure I will.” She watched him retreat before lowering the gun and leaning against the wall. I walked in and she jumped, pointing the pistol at me. “It’s just me.” She uncocked the gun and put it in her dress pocket. “I’m sorry, a man was in here and..” “I know, did he hurt you?” she walked over to the table and sat down. “He only scratched my hand, it’s fine.” I set the trunk down and sat next to her. “Are you Okay?” I asked, she was shaking really hard. “No, that was the most terrifying that has ever happened to me.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and he laid her head on my shoulder. “It’s all right, I don’t think he’ll come back around here again! Where did you get that pistol?” she wasn’t shaking quite as hard now. “My papa gave it to me, I always carry it when I travel.” “He taught you well, I was right you are a good shot!” She smiled. I hope you like it! Tell me if you have any suggestions to make it better! Also you may have noticed I used the word ‘good’ in there, while it is a dead word, I think that it is acceptable since it was something people would use in everyday conversations, so I think that it is fine where it is, however if it is not then please let me know and I’ll change it. Thanks! Show N Tell Go see Mary at Canada Girl for more Show N Tells.
I'm an Aide in a once a week homeschool class for kindergarteners and first graders, and one of their classes is Spanish. The teacher had drawn pictures of animals on the board, and was working his way through the Spanish names for them. When he got to 'fish' he gave them the word for a single fish. Then he added the word used for more than one fish. At that point this little fellow excitedly raised his hand and seriously asked, "What's the word if there are no fish?" The teacher looked over at me, I smiled with a shrug, and the teacher said, "Well, I guess we wouldn't be talking about fish, then, would we..." I just love these kids!  the Christian bearhaha this is really funny, I have also heard it about a priest but the aithiest is more funny! An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that evolution had created. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!", he said to himself. As he was walking along the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. When he turned to see what the casue was, he saw a 7-foot grizzly charging right towards him. He ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing, He ran even faster, crying in fear. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him. At that moment, the Atheist cried out "Oh my God!...." Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, "You deny my existence for all of these years; teach others I don''t exist; and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?" The atheist looked directly into the light "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as Christian now, but perhaps could you make the bear a Christian?" "Very well," said the voice. The light went out. The river ran again. And the sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear dropped his right paw ..... brought both paws together...bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful." The garden isn't doing well
Posted by naturalpaths
8:44 AM, May. 16, 2008 .. Posted in Gardening and Nature .. 1 comments .. Link It's been a while since I've posted anything here. I've been too preoccupied with the wildfires. Pop over to my personal blog to read about that.
The 35mph winds Sunday and Monday did not do my corn any favors. Several stalks are leaning and despite our efforts to rectify the situation, they continue to lean. I may try to stake them this weekend ... I may not. I will admit I am feeling rather defeated in my gardening efforts and along with being tired from the events of this week (wildfires) I just don't have my heart in it right now. All the green beans are gone. Our temps jumped from the 80's to 95* and they all died. The pickleworms destroyed all the cucumber plants. I am down to 2 zucchini plants from 5 ... whether the remaining 2 make it is yet to be seen. I am down to 1 squash plant from 4 ... whether it holds on is yet to be seen. They look okay from a distance, but I need to make time and give them a thorough inspection. They may still be infested with pickleworms. I have let things slide so badly this week. Keeping abreast of the wildfire situation was more important.
The okra is still doing okay. We enjoyed our first batch of fried okra a couple of nights ago. I could eat it until I'm literally sick!
We still have not had rain and now there is not even dew on the ground in the mornings. I am strongly feeling my attempts at watering the garden on my own are a failing effort. We did have our first sunflower open up yesterday so that was a beautiful thing to see.
I have also noticed that my singapore plumeria seems to be thriving since I gave it a dose of fish emulsion the other week when I put it on the garden plants. I really need to repot it soon.
Mama Cat
Show & Tell Friday - Garden Time
Spring is three weeks late here in Minnesota - and the farmers (and gardeners) are sure crying about it. I usually like to put in our garden the first week in May (the tubers (onions/potatoes) even sooner) - but because of our cold weather, I'm just now getting down to business - and even at that, watching the forecast closely in case I have to cover my young plants at night. My Herb Garden Chives, Thyme, Parsley, Sage, Sweet Basil, Lavander (2 plants), Rosemary, Stevia (3 plants), and Oregano. Many of these plants freeze out each winter and I have to replant. My NEW Strawberry Pyramid (Thank You DH)
I know a lot of you are already picking and preserving strawberries, but this is what they look like up here. The girls planted 18 plants and we look forward to them multiplying and filling in this frame.
The aftermath
Posted by naturalpaths
8:24 AM, 16 May 2008 .. Posted in The Place We Call Home .. 6 comments .. Link Even with gas prices so ridiculously high, we took a quick drive around our immediate area last evening. I just could not wrap my brain around how 3600+ acres burned ... now I can! To say my jaw dropped open and stayed open is an understatement. It's just as devastating as hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004, but in a completely different way. The landscape around here is going to look quite different for a long while .......
To say that the firefighters did an amazing job is also an understatement. They saved so many structures. It took my breath away to see homes and barns where everything around them was completely burned yet they are still standing untouched. Bravo, bravo, bravo to the firefighters! There are some homes and structures we could never see before due to dense trees and foliage surrounding them ... they are clearly visible now.......
As I said before, unfortunately some homes, vehicles, and other structures were totally destroyed.......
We are at 70% containment in my immediate area as of this morning. The hot spots are continuing to be monitored for flare ups. We have a small chance of rain this afternoon.
Show and Tell Friday~ Willow Tree Collection
Posted by Canadagirl
10:32 PM, May. 15, 2008 .. Posted in Show and Tell Friday .. 25 comments .. Link
Its that time again...
I would like to share something that I just adore.... Willow Tree figurines. My 1ds gave me my latest Willow Tree collector on Mothers Day. I was sooooo teary eyed. "Mother and son"
"Sister and brother" was given to me by my hubby's Aunt K. at Christmas.
"Me Casa" My 2ds and 3ds gave this to me just shortly after we moved into "The House That God Built". They gave to me for my birthday.
"Heart of Gold" was given to me by my 1ds on my birthday.
Now.... *** Remeber in Show and Tell Friday ...the best way to get a comment is to give a comment. ***
If you want to join us just... ~Make a Show and Tell Post and make sure it is wholesome. It can be pretty much what ever you want to share. It could be about you ...or your family ....or what is going on in your homeschooling.
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Yesterday (Thur) was Sundance's 1st Birthday! (Photo by Ladybug). He's no longer a foal, but a yearling - and what a sweetie. 
