I think it's fair to say that baseball season is done.  12 yo ds was hoping to make all stars, and was nominated, but didn't get selected.  Which isn't a terribly bad thing, considering related costs and all the stinky politics connected to the process.  It would be nice if the adults let it be more about the kids, but unfortunately, we heard more of the politics in the last 2 weeks than in all the preceeding season.  Still, 12 yo had a great season.  We saw God work things out on his behalf so that he had the opportunity to play more at his position (catcher) than we expected.  Coach tended to switch his 2 main catchers back and forth much of the season, but when the other child was sick early in the season, ds got the chance to catch more.  Again, at the end of the season, just before playoffs, the other catcher injured himself, which allowed for ds to finish the season as the only catcher.  A couple of times during the season, umpires who also coach and manage in the league complimented his catching and blocking, and hopefully, he will have the opportunity to continue working at it through the year.

Meantime, the garden is in full swing, most of our veggies are planted, with some filling in needed of additional radishes and carrots and onions.  A few tomatoes are formed, along with a couple of tiny squash.  Another month, and we ought to be well on our way.  I picked a bowl of spinach leaves for salad last weekend, but they never made it into the salad...the kids kept snacking.  Grin!  It's not a bad thing for kids to like spinach.  My lettuce is all bitter.  I don't know if it's due to the heat at the time I planted, as we've had very mild weather the last few weeks.  I'm puzzled. 

Otherwise, not much news from the ranch.  I'm looking at some crochet projects for our fall festival, including playing with wire crochet.  Looking forward to those lazy summer days where we don't have sports every other day, or more.  Soccer signups are imminent, and summer will fly, as usual.  With at least 4 kiddos wanting to play soccer, the fall will be even busier this year.  Gonna breathe deep and relish these days!

Blessings!

A little over a month ago, a memorial service was held for the brother-in-law of a good friend of mine.  During the time in which select friends and family members shared about the man, one of the most prolific comments came from an unsaved person.  He urged those present to get the movie, "Hook", and went on to describe a little of Peter Pan growing up and becoming a pirate.  It hit me right then and there that this was oh, so appropriate for the modern day church. 

Having gone on to download the movie to my phone, record on television dvr, etc., I've watched a few times and mulled it over a lot.  It's really good, and extremely sobering.  My 'puter is losing power at the moment, and I'll have to sign off for the night, but I'm hoping to do a few entries on my observations.  Suffice it to say, if you are a Christian and have seen the movie, there is some great stuff to consider, lest ye grow up as a pirate rather than become as one of "these" (children)! 

Blessings!

We had a brief heatwave, 90+ temps, followed by a cooldown.  I started leveling and defining areas in the garden, and yesterday, May 1, planted my first plants of the season.  Unfortunately, I already see signs of Bermuda grass, and lots of little tomatillo sprouts.  No need to worry about that crop.  My first 54 plants were mostly peppers.  10 tomato plants, 44 varying peppers.  My mom was worried that I wouldn't have room for the plants she has started for me.  Given the picture (below), I think there's no worry.  That's the tomato/pepper area, not hardly full.



The other area in view will be cucumbers, to the right, green summer/winter squash.  Behind the area pictured, my yellow summer squash, and my blue pumpkins.  The remaining area to the right will be corn, and to the left and back, melons.  Directly to the left, beans and peas.  To the left of the cukes, the greenhouse.

Getting lots of sun, and trying to adjust to the heat, I'm glad of the cool breeze the last couple of days.  Everyone is looking forward to pool temps getting tolerable.  The 90 degree weather sort of did it, but not enough.  The pool is still in the 60's.  BRRRR!!! 

We celebrated my eldest dd's 16th b/day this week.  She's not ready to drive yet, but we did have a fun day.  We attempted to make a special Mexican cake, and it didn't come out quite as anticipated.  It was still quite yummy.  Next week, we have another birthday, and then, a little break.  Not so much break, though, when it comes to baseball.  Lots of practice, and ds is working hard.  He went 3 for 3 tonight, which is great, given his challenges at bat most games thus far! 

You know where I'll be for the next several weeks, given the above!  If I'm not in the garden, I intend to be in the pool...once it warms up enough! 

Blessings from the ranch!

Clouded day...
Disciples' dismay,
Darkness covers the land;
The veil is rent...
The humbled tent,
Laid in a rich man's tomb.
But Spirit yielded,
Evil fielded
With great and mighty blow!
Tomb could not contain,
No!
Power of man
Could not restrain!
Yea, He is risen!
He lives!


Clouded minds
Of cloudy hearts
Could not fathom
The holy work.
Prophetic hope,
They could not grasp...
Prophetic work
Fulfilled at their hands,
And yet, forgiveness begged
On their behalf!


Life we grasp to fathom,
Hope we love and long to know
More deeply;
Life abundant,
Lived more sweetly
In the truth of His forgiving...
No, not one of us deserving.
He gave His life,
Once for all.
Yea!
He rose,
Once for all.
Ascended,
Once for all.
And He shall soon return
For those who will heed His call.
The cloud of witnesses testify,
He is coming again!
He is alive!
Yea!
He is risen!
Give praise!


A.D.W.

The 500th...oughta be a poem...don't you think?  I'm sure it should.  I have enough in my file that there should be one I could finish.  Or maybe just a repost of some of my favorites?  Nah.  A new poem, definitely.  Got a great line or two the other night, driving home from baseball, watching the bunnies dash across the road.  Maybe that will be the one.  Maybe.  In the meantime, just a little ranchy stuff here today.

I have a hatch of araucanas underway. 



Started the 30th of March, due the 19th or so of April.  Of the 42 I began with, 18 made the cut when candled...4 or 5 of those are questionable.  You can usually see veins developing, the questionable ones were dark and blobby,  but I didn't see veins...I'll candle next week and decide. 

We did a little more concrete Monday afternoon, and hubby poured the insides of the block and set posts for the east side of the greenhouse.  We also screwed on a couple of sheets of polycarbonate sheets to see how they would work.  Should be good, though a little creative energy will go into putting the puzzle together, as we piece in recycled trampoline parts, and figure out what to do on ends, how to vent, etc.  But it's in progress, and that's the biggest thing. 

Baseball is going well enough.  God shows His providence in the details.  12 yo catches, but he's not the only one.  He hasn't been worked at the position in the last couple of practices, so I've been tossing balls at him to practice blocking.  Last game started very late, and the kids were not real with it.  The other catcher started the game, and Benny was put in at 2nd base in the 2nd inning, then pulled back out 3rd inning.  He was getting his gear on to go in at catcher for the second half of the game, when the ump pointed out he couldn't play because he'd been in, then taken out.  However, the catcher was the last batter, and the ball hit his elbow real hard.  Due to the injury, coach was able to put Benny in.  Even in the midst of someone else's error, he still got to play at his preferred position.  I hate the politics of organized kids' sports, but I am mindful of the fact that God is in control of the details, and if we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).  Not that He will give us everything our heart desires, but that our desire will be His, and that He is able to show Himself strong on our behalf. 

I don't know how to embed youtube video, but this one I'm linking is pretty interesting...the ending question, what does it all mean?  Try Daniel 12:4, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

March didn't exactly go out like a lamb, here.  Well, it wasn't windy on the last day, so if that's out like a lamb, then maybe I'm wrong.  Don't think so, though.    Today was windy, and on the weekend, we had horrible winds, very harsh.  Yesterday's break allowed us to complete a task that gets us a step closer to a green house.  DH had dug a footing the previous week, and last night the concrete was poured and a layer of block layed.  We're looking at a good sized green house taking up my former tomato and pepper area.  Recently, we measured a bit, and calculated an approximation of 5,000 square feet of garden space.  Approximately.  The Green house area is perhaps 20 X 20, give or take.  Hubby measured, and I'm sure he told me, but I didn't retain.  I'm good at math, but not at remembering random numbers. 


 Tuesday morning, of course, reminded me why we don't need to plant yet.  31 degrees when DH left for work.  I spoke with a worker at Home Depot this afternoon, who said she lost the couple of tomato plants she had planted because of the drop in temperature.  Even in Vegas, the date for last frost is mid-April.  And I'm reminded that my late planting last year, first week of June, did not keep me from having a fantastic garden! 


In other ranchy matters, I believe my 4 young ducklings are beginning to lay, as we have had some small duck eggs this week.  Actually, probably 3 are hens, one seems to be a male mallard.  He has a defective beak, but he survived, so far so good.  These are the younguns we hatched last fall after the geese killed our male mallard. 


I'm rather disappointed that I am not getting any dark chocolate colored eggs.  DS is certain that all the remaining youngsters are roos, which is very frustrating.  I was looking forward to the pretty eggs, really.  As for my cute little araucanas, we set a hatch of eggs Monday.  42 cute little blue eggs, due to hatch around the 19th.  Hoping that turns out well. 


Baseball season is in full swing, and ds is hoping to get to play catcher.  He finished the first game, playing 3 of 5 innings.  However, there are 3 catchers on the team, so he's going to have to work hard.  The catcher for the high school baseball team (and his father, who is a great coach) have been helping our lad, but he's gonna have to earn the right to play the position.  His sisters love helping him train, throwing balls for him to block, and having him do crunches when he misses.  They are far harsher taskmasters than I. 


Desert wildlife is interesting, and the bunny population seems to be up.  The salt cedar are leafing out, and blooms will not be far behind.  Haven't seen any coyotes lately, but with all the bunnies around, I suspect they'll be around as well.  The kids are antsy for the weather to get to swimming temperatures, and have been trying to get the dirt from all these windstorms out of the pool. 

That's life on the ranch these days, as the temperatures and air currents fluctuate, and likewise, temperaments of toddlers and teens.  Summer can wait, but I wouldn't mind the low 80's at all.  The dust, I do mind, but I'll deal with it for the sake of a beautiful mountain view.  Even now, I can type and look through my front window, watching the changing colors of sunset upon the range just East of us.  From the back, a different view, entirely.  God's creation is amazing.

Blessings!

I really need to have the kids start nature notebooks.  We've had some lovely experiences the last few days, and it would be nice to have them docu-draw...lol...can I invent that term?

The weekend was fun, as we went to Death Valley along with my parents and a couple of my siblings and their families.  The flower bloom is much later than last year, when we went the first weekend of March.  Whereas last year there were massive areas of yellow, this year we only found patches along the roadside.  The signs are there, though, and in a couple more weeks, there should be plenty of floral splendour for all!  We saw some patches of deep purple on the roadside, my favorite.  Also, a couple of five-spots hidden amidst it all. 



We spent much of the afternoon near the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center, where a big tree over the creek occupied most of the kids for the afternoon, while the big folks relaxed and chatted.  One of the siblings headed back to Vegas, while the rest of us travelled on to Beatty...not far from home, but we spent the night so we could see the cousins in the morning, and visit the Death Valley Nut and Candy Co. 

After making our morning purchases and saying farewell, we headed home.  We decided to return via Furnace Creek, as it was only 25 miles more than the straight shot on 95, but far more interesting scenery. 

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More nature study yesterday, we got together with a family midday at a nearby park.  On previous visits, we've noticed a huge nest in one of the trees.  This time we saw the mama bird, a very large hawk, as a passerby was kind enough to identify.  We could hear it's cries, the high pitched tones of the little ones, and it came and went a few times, apparently feeding its babies.  Very interesting.

The temperatures have kicked up to the low 80's this afternoon, and it's feeling warm.  The breeze is nice.  Garden work is in gear, though planting is yet a ways off.  A report on the news concerned me, stating that many seed companies are running out of some seeds.  I made my orders asap, and was unable to get a few things.  Nothing essential, thankfully, and one, I found locally.  Still, I'm glad I got that done. 

We're saving our auracana eggs, and I hope to get them incubating later in the week.  In the meantime, it will be more mornings outside as we adjust to the temperatures.

Blessings from the ranch!

One of the hens layed a humongous egg today! 



Our hunch was that it was a double yolker...




Yepper!

A visiting children's theatre group was kind enough to put on a workshop for local homeschoolers this afternoon.  About a half hour, it was fun, though some of my kiddos weren't very interested.  Others were pretty pleased with the activity.  Different tools a person uses for acting were discussed, each followed by a short demonstration game with volunteers from the audience.  Observation, memorization, concentration, and imagination were all modeled.  It was humorous to watch the younger of the attendees attempt to perform given tasks.  The funniest moment for me was 8 yo son, who volunteered in a game which had each person demonstrate one task, and think up another for the next person to do.  8 yo had the next person model "plungering a toilet".  LOL.  Boy humor all the way, baby! 

A nice break in the routine,  it was a great chance to get together with some others, and as a bonus, get back on track with library books.  Even better, it was happy hour at Sonic.  Ya' gotta love it when you can get everyone a little treat on the way home for less than 7$!!!!  Fun, fun, fun!

AAAACCCKKKK!!!!  I just lost my entire post. 

The weekend was well spent, as we ordered 10 yds of mulch, and moved the big pile wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow, bucket by bucket, into the garden.  The kiddos were tremendously helpful, as they moved, I raked.  For those who've followed my garden stories, the raking was no small task. My back is reminding me!  We may do more mulch.  DH roto-tilled once it was all spread out, another huge job.  Once all the tilling is done for the season, we'll have some heavy duty leveling to do, as some areas were problematic last year.  In the meantime, I'm looking forward to getting seeds ordered.  DH picked up a couple of large tomato plants last week at Costco.  I expect to have a better selection this year, as our planting will be a little more timely. 

The ducklings are about 4 months old, and we moved them into the main duck area last weekend.  They still hang out close to their former area, right at the fence.  Guess they miss the little chickens.  Most of the chickens we hatched last fall are now laying.  I think I have two hens hatched from the dark eggs I got last fall, and anyday now, they should be laying.  Hopefully.  I'm so overrun in eggs, right now, that I think I'm going to set aside the auracana eggs for a new hatch. 

At any rate, that's the news from the ranch.  Windy March, garden thoughts, busy kids to work the plot!  LOL!

Blessings!

It's a challenging start to the day when DD, caretaker of all waterfowl, comes back in asking for help because one of the geese is out.  I thought, "Oh, no, the dogs will get it."  Fortunately, they weren't a threat, it was outside of the entire property.  Relief.  It wasn't leaving, either, because it's partner was still inside the fence.  They kept walking together, one inside and one out.  DD tried to grab it, but if you know geese, you know they are a little intimidating up close and personal.  A hissing goose is a scary sight.  I got a bucket, at her request.  Good enough.  She got close, and put the bucket over it's head.  However, DS was dragging a bit, and not yet out to help.  She couldn't control the silly goose (pun intended), and it was soon running the fence again with it's partner.  DS came along with a requested blanket.  Bucket over the head of goose, almost containing the whole critter, and blanket underneath, they got enough of a hold that the poor honking and hissing creature was powerless.  They dropped it as gently as they could over the fence, and the dazed creature emerged from the bucket, somewhat relieved to be back in it's pen with partner and goats.  And that  is problem solving in progress!

Blessings from the ranch!

If you've been listening to much news lately, I'm sure you've heard as much as I have about how put out so many folks are because they were responsible, and now they're having to foot the tax bill for the bailout of irresponsible homeowners who bought too much house or used their house like an ATM or took crazy loans out, etc. etc. etc.  I don't know that I've adopted that particular attitude, but I know it's a mess, and it's not an easy fix one way or another. 

An interesting thought did come to mind, though, a few days ago, the story of the prodigal son.  I realized that there is an attitude that is prevalent in media and such, an attitude of outrage at the people who were frivolous, who took their homes, their inheritance of sorts, that big investment of one's life, and spent foolishly to the point of poverty, foreclosure, bankruptcy.  When the son returns home, hoping merely to find employment and sheltered in his father's home, he is received with a far better than hoped for reception...from his father.  The big brother, however?  Not so much. He is offended and outraged.  "Dad, don't you see how he was irresponsible?  Don't you see how bad he blew it?  Why are you killing the fatted calf to reward that behavior?  I did all the right things.  I was responsible.  You never killed a fatted calf for me.  Something's not right about it, Dad."

The dad wasn't rewarding the behavior.  He was rejoicing over the return of his lost son.  Perhaps, from a national perspective, it's not the same.  But, the high and mighty tone is the same.  Perhaps some folks were frivolous.  But many were not.  They did what they could to keep their heads above water.  The domino effect took it's toll.  And the unsympathetic voices of the land broadbrush all.  I have no answers.  I just realize that God doesn't always see worldly events the way we do, and that those speaking so critically may have done all the right things, but aren't necessarily right in their attitudes. 

 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?  Micah 6:8

Thankfully, God is a loving Father, who welcomes with open arms the one who humbly returns to Him upon blowing it.  His economy will never collapse, and His promises will never fail.  That treasure, I can invest in, that treasure I can bank on, and that treasure, though it makes no sense to the lost one, is the one I count on most.  The dividends are worth the sacrifices in this life.

Oreo says hello!

Starbuck, and Dottie, too.





Nicely tilled soil...we still have to work on some areas...the bermuda grass was troublesome last year.


The temperatures in the day are nice, nights still chilly.  Planting is a ways off.  But lots to do in the meantime.  I need to get my seeds ordered, and we picked up an old trampoline for more parts...will be working those into fencing, supports, etc.  Hubby joked about cutting the goats back some more on their space to increase the size of the garden.  I informed him that I have quite enough garden to deal with for the coming season.  LOL! 

Anyhow, season's change is close...trees are beginning to bud a bit, and hubby noticed the leaves starting on some of the salt cedar.  Can't wait for the purple ones!  Of course, there are challenges, namely, hay fever.

Baseball season begins tomorrow, and though only one of the kids will be playing, that will be quite enough to keep us busy.  Hoping that the first practice goes well.

Blessings!