Another Quiet Sunday

Yesterday we worshiped. After lunch Snowflake and I curled up for a catnap in the sun porch and enjoyed the wood stove. The timer beeped in the kitchen, and I rose to go out and check on the expectant mommy. No calf.

Since I am trying to drop a few pounds, I decided I needed to stay outside for a while. I wandered around the buildings and took a few snapshots—you’ll see some of them over the next week. Then I headed down the road towards the woods. At first I was cold and so I pulled my hood up over my ears to protect them from the wind. Little did I know that by the time I headed home I’d be taking my coat off in an attempt to cool myself down! I found some tracks along the side of the road and listened to the twitter of the sparrows in the valley. By the time I made it to the top of the second hill, I had decided to commit myself to walking through the deep snow that would take me into the woods. I followed our neighbor’s dog's prints for a while and then found another set of prints. Can you guess whose they are?


This track was about the size of a 5 year old's hand. Any guesses?

I tramped through deep snow, taking my time; I was in no hurry. Deep into the woods I found a pile of brush. I wonder who lives there? There were deer prints all around and lots of prints like the photo above. I weaved through the brush and trees until I made it back to the road and slowly headed home. The western sun was magnificent.

The western sky 

The calf was born in the wee hours of the morning. When my husband went out at 2:00 a.m., he returned to tell us that the front hooves of the calf were visible. By 2:30 the baby had been born. I’ll post one of the pictures, but I think it was hard to get a good one at 2:30 in the middle of the night. In the photo the baby was trying to find the right place for mommy’s milk and was sniffing a little to close to the front. She was still wet and mommy would be spending quite a bit of the night licking her off and cleaning her up. The mother’s attention is important for both of them since it stimulates the baby’s circulatory system, and it helps the mother’s uterus to contract back to normal size. The colostrum will provide the calf immunities.

Hug Me and calf

Today is another school day. We are getting a little snow. Perhaps I will wander out later to see our newest baby. But for now, I need to get my children doing school, my laundry into the washing machine, and my thoughts together for the day. Have a wonderful Monday!

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Thoughts from my Big Green Chair

Psalm 63:1, 2-4 “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

You are the lover of my soul, my bridegroom in whom I delight! How could I fulfill my longings without you? How can I continue to breath and have life except that you come to quench my thirst and satisfy my innermost desires?

“I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

Oh weary body! Do not forget that you are made of flesh and spirit. Do not deny the soul the time it needs to seek the face of God. The flesh grows old, but the spirit is eternal.

Leg of Lamb

Coming soon...(Did you need this today?)

Click to enlarge.

At the dinner table today I announced to the family that I was going to start cooking meals that I do not enjoy. They all stopped eating long enough to look at my face and try to make sense out of my statement. My husband was the first to comprehend.

“Lasagna!” (I’m allergic to dairy.)

For dinner today I served leg of lamb, green beans baked in a mushroom sauce and sprinkled with those crisp dehydrated onions, spaetzle with lamb gravy, and baked apples. This fare is not appropriate for anyone trying to lose weight.

Now that Hug Me is in her pen waiting for the arrival of her calf(ves?), the family is taking turns checking on her progress. Thursday night my husband’s alarm went off at 2:00 a.m.; he pulled on his winter gear and headed out to check on the girl. Saturday night Bethany did the task; it is her show cow. I had her tell me when she was leaving and when she got back into the house—you know, Donna B. is afraid one of her poohs will put his car in the ditch; I’m afraid mine is going to slip on the ice and have to wait until dawn for us to find her. Last night my husband did the 2:00 check. Today they both will be attending an afternoon meeting and I will do the midwifery duties. We are on an hour-by-hour examination—and hope that the event takes place today during waking hours. Who knows, though? It could be a couple of days yet!

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Thoughts from my Big Green Chair

Psalm 62:1 "My soul finds rest in God alone.”

This is why I sit in my Big Green Chair each day. Without some time carved out of my busy schedule to sit in the presence of the One Who Gives My Soul Rest, I would be less: less of a mother, less of a wife, less of a daughter, sister, homemaker, homeschooler, friend.

Blessings!

Saturday Weigh-In: Week 1

Today I took down my beautiful Celestial Wonders calendar that I purchased through Sky and Telescope. I did not look to see what was going on in the skies, rather I wrote numbers on each Saturday. I started with how much I weighed today and then decreased it by .5 lb. each Saturday. I am starting a diet. Anyone want to join me? Since my new scales measures my weight in .5 lb. increments, I decided I would take advantage of it and require myself to lose that much each week.

I know from experience my body has a cycle of gaining and losing. Some weeks I can lose 2 lbs. where other weeks I gain 3. LOL! I figure if I put down the required weight on my calendar right now, then I can count the extra I lost one week as a success for the weeks I gain—as long as I keep at or below the number on my calendar. Does this make sense to you? I am told that the weight we take off slowly is weight that is most likely to stay off. This is pretty slow, I guess, considering it will be the end of April before I see the last of these 10 lbs. At that point I will reevaluate whether I need to set another goal or if that is where I want to remain.

So next Saturday I’ll let you know…

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Mystery Unveiled

While out walking a couple of days ago I came across several animal tracks, but most of them did not show up well enough to post. I took one nice print and cropped it, which made it appear much larger than it really was…and that is what you saw in yesterday’s posting—one kitty cat print taken from a long path of paw prints that I followed through the pine trees outside our home.

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Thoughts from my Big Green Chair

Psalm 61:4 “I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.”

It would be pleasant to know that all things were safe, never having to be concerned about our children, never to worry over health issues.

I know we live under the Shadow of the Almighty; we are always under His watchful eye. His promises for our security are eternal. The security He offers, however, is not always what we long for in the here–and-now.

Who was it that said that if we had all we longed for here on earth, we would be content to stay here rather than straining towards the goal, towards the time when we would be made perfect?

Blessings!

Friday morning's sunrise: Pink and blue

The Comment Page

You crack me up! When I went into my comments a couple of days ago, I was greeted with great things.

Kim said, “The Madame Bovary slip is very, very funny, but not nearly as funny as the greeting you gave me at the ClassEd Chat a couple of weeks ago!”

You might want to hear about this. We are members of a Yahoo group called ClassEd. Every Tuesday night we have chat. We had planned to meet at a designated time. When Kim came on line, she typed, “Hello!” I responded in like manner, only I failed to notice that my flying fingers had not included the “o”.

Oops!

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Did you notice that Bob and Carmen left a “cow-ment”? I decided that I had to go and see what the California cows were up to. What a riot!

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Janie recalled that I had started my blog with a comment on the Psalm I was reading. I think that got dropped when I took a couple of weeks off trying to get my bearings in Blogworld. I will have to consider going back to something—perhaps “thoughts from my green chair”, the place I have my daily quiet time. Thanks, Janie!

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And then the issue with all that goofy lingo on my blog! Donna is right—it’s like having a poppy seed stuck in your teeth, and of course, everyone but you can see it! LOL! I’m glad I could get rid of it—at least in the future blogs. All of you were soooooo sweet about it! Thanks!.

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Diane, I’ve never read Mitford….something to add to my reading list?

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If you didn’t click on the photo of “Red”, Jacob’s steer, then you really ought to do it. There is nothing like a big nose that fills the whole screen…

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Thoughts from my Big Green Chair

I haven’t had my quiet time yet this morning, but I can type what I wrote yesterday in my journal. It isn’t from the Psalm—I got distracted and didn’t write anything from the scripture I was reading! Here it is:

While I sat in my big green chair reading, a flutter of bright red outside my window drew my attention to the snow bank near the end of the pines along the lane. It perched on top the drift that just yesterday I attempted to cross; the snow, coming up to my hip, had made me retreat. The beautiful male cardinal no doubt left dainty tracks next to the monstrous Grand Canyons I’d left behind. I wondered what he had found there to attract him to roost upon such a pile of icy cold. Another bird swooped down on top of him and the two fluttered off across the lane and into the standing pines. Might it have been his mate?

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I love each and every one of your comments. It makes me feel connected with those of you who pass by my blog each day.

Blessings!

Tracks in the snow. Can you identify it?

Test

This is a test. Let us see if those goofy thingamajigs still pop up or if I've conquered the monster. How crazy it is to find out that I've had all this gobledegoop dancing around my blog page without my knowing it! I normally use Mozilla, but when I opened Internet Explorer today, there it was!

I went in and tried Susan's idea. I tried Leigh Ann's suggestions from TWTM boards, but I could only remove some of them--and sometimes whole paragraphs vanish!

Someday I'll have to learn html, but right now I'm too busy reading Madame Ovary...

Jean

Help! (An Added Addendum to the Day)

Donna B. tells me that she sees all the computer-ese on my blog when she reads it—you know the stuff that tells where the paragraphs end and when things are tabbed. This is NOT suppose to be there!!!

Do you see this?????? How do I get rid of it?????

Yikes!

Jean

Temper Tantrum

“I DON’T WANT TO!” Stomp. “I DON’T WANNA DO IT! I DID IT YESTERDAY, AND I DID IT THE DAY BEFORE, AND I DID IT A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER DAYS! I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! I’M NOT GONNA DO IT!” Stomp, stomp.

If I had said that to my mom when I was a kid, she’d have found her 18” wooden ruler and applied it, but nothing like that happens in my house today. Nobody applies the 18” ruler. In fact, no one does anything at all. You’d think someone would do something about it, wouldn’t you? But they don’t. Why? Because I’m the mommy, and when I have a temper tantrum, they sigh and roll their eyes.

“BUT I DON’T WANT TO DO THE LAUNDRY! I DON’T WANT TO MAKE SUPPER! AND I DON’T WANT TO GRADE ONE MORE ESSAY!”

“Oh, mom! You are so silly,” they say and then walk away.

Sometimes I think I still need a mommy. I do still have one, but she doesn’t ever use her ruler anymore. I’m supposed to do what is right because I know it is the right thing to do. What did Davy Crockett say? “Be always sure you are right—then go ahead.”

Sigh.

What shall I make for supper?

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One of my sons was washing dishes after getting home from AWANA tonight. The children had to finish the chores that had not gotten done before we’d left for town. I was stoking the stove when a tall young man walked into the kitchen and said to his brother, “I can wash those dishes for you if you want to go out and haul wood.”

Who is that, and what did he do with my son?

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Blessings!

Morning view from my kitchen window. Company's here! I'd bet very few of you had this kind of visitor in your driveway today!

That, Too

“Ebay is the ultimate garage sale.”

—Wisdom from JM, my son

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It felt good. I knew I was going to have a hard time getting through the doorways, but it isn’t everyday that you get that heady feeling. I read the comments on my blog yesterday and Kim said, “We feel blessed to know you.” Janie said, “I really agree with you,” and Diane, “That’s it exactly.” Carmen and Bob posted, too—4 comments in one day.

Puffed up. That was it. I must be good!

Before I had the chance to see if I could manage to get down the stairwell and negotiate my big head through the door, I overheard a conversation downstairs between the siblings in my household.

“GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!”

“Ha-ha-ha! It’s not even hot. I cooled it down!”

“I DON’T CARE! YOU HAD THAT QUARTER HEATING UP ON THE WOOD STOVE! I DON’T WANT IT ANYWHERE NEAR ME. MOM!”

PFfffffftt. All that hot air came spluttering out.

One does not need to be too worried about pride around here. I have boys who love to tease their sister and a daughter who loves to tell the boys what to do. I think we are a rather “normal” household with all its warts and dirty laundry (and there is a lot of this when working with beef cattle).

Oh, well. A few moments of self-perceived fame probably never hurt anyone, right?

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I’m working on the literature list that I want my daughter to read in 11^th grade. I need to decide if I am going to go ahead and jump into Plato and Augustine or if I am going to stay with the likes of Moby Dick and Madame Bovary. When Susan Wise Bauer was on Wisconsin Public Radio last year to discuss her new book, The Well-Educated Mind, I got the opportunity to ask her if she would recommend substituting the book lists in her new book for the book lists in The Well-Trained Mind for my daughter’s 11^th and 12^th grade years. She said that if I did so she’d recommend her reading the novels and poetry sections.

Decisions, decisions.

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When I typed Madame Bovary, my spell check decided there was something wrong. It wanted me to title the book Madame Ovary. I think not.

Don’t forget to laugh.


"Feed me or I'll eat your camera."

Full Circle

Eleven years ago I was working through my first year of homeschooling. My oldest child was 6, and I was worried that I would not be able to put my own curriculum together well enough. My cousins assured me that I would be better off if I were to avoid the boxed curriculums.

I had considered homeschooling a long time before I even had children. Teaching English as a 2^nd Language in the public schools gave me insight into other cultures—Japanese, Swiss, Chinese —that had a different perspective on education. I was impressed with children who wanted to learn so badly that they complained when their siblings were given the honor of more homework than they.

I read the current materials available on homeschooling—considerably less than what you can find today. I decided that I would like to do classical but had no idea how to do it. I chose to give my children “the best basic education” that I could give.

Seven years later I hit burnout. I spent the year doing as little as possible without cheating my children of a year of school, and I worked on regrouping. That is when I read The Well-Trained Mind, and was able to add some missing pieces to my program. I’ve been doing my best to give my children a Christian classical education ever since.

We added Latin and Logic. We upgraded our expectations on literature, grammar, and composition. We added more subjects and spent more time doing school each day.

Until now. I discovered this year that I am looking for ways to cut back. Even though I have many friends who are doing so much more, I find myself wanting to do a little bit less. When school is done for the day, I want time left for the children to do their household and farm chores, be involved in 4-H and the homeschool play, and have some time to be creative, time to sit and ponder, time to be quiet, time for solitude. Some of my friends’ children are taking AP courses and honors classes. They are doing college level history and advanced science. These are not bad goals, if that is what they want to do, mind you. It’s just not where I am right now. Just last week my friend made a comment about saving college for college and doing high school in high school. Her statement put into words what I had been trying to describe to her.

So now I need to plan ahead for next year: 11^th, 9^th, and 7^th grades. I’m not going to take much out of my schedule, but I’m not going to look for the most advanced text I can find, either. I want that “best basic education”, just like I started out doing. I’m not going to throw out the classical—I’m sold on that. Logic and Latin will remain; I may not do as many years of Logic, and we may not do the hardest of the rhetoric stage literature, but we will keep up the effort to do our best. As far as I know, I am not raising any Einsteins, so I’ll be content with faithful Christians with a very good education, who take their rolls as citizens of this world seriously. I want them to know how to laugh and to celebrate as well as to work hard and set high goals.

I don’t think I adhere to the saying on the poster that decorated the teacher’s lounge so many years ago: Life is uncertain; eat dessert first. However, I can say that we need to be sure that we take time to enjoy life, share the good times with our families, and pass on a love for living.

It seems we frequently have to struggle to find a balance in life, do we not?

Blessings.

Last night's full moon (click on photo to enlarge)

Compromise

Today it finally happened. She sat there looking unhappy with me, but I began to remove the ornaments anyway. Once the lights were off, I removed its top. By the time there were only a few branches left, she had licked her lips in disapproval several times; now she was glaring at me.

I disturbed her even more when I removed the tree stand. She moved over a wee bit, but it was quite clear she had no intention of allowing me to remove the green and red quilted window seat that she had called her own for the last month.

A plea for mercy

I left her to her own thoughts, and rummaged around in the basement to find an old rug. I returned, and carefully placed the folded rug in the center of the bay window. Hmmm. She pondered it. Then she walked over and sniffed. She carefully sat down upon it and sniffed some more. Then she turned and looked out the window, ignoring me. I slipped the last remnant of Christmas out of the room and tossed it into the laundry.

Success. The books are back in the bay window, and although we’ve been doing school for some time since the holidays ended, it now looks more official. Now she sits between the teacher’s manuals and flashcards.

Life is good!

An acceptable substitute 

Our new baby with her coat (she was born yesterday)--she doesn't seem to mind it's being dirty; it's warm! 

Snow

The weatherman promised us a storm. It began slowly yesterday afternoon with snowflakes drifting in the air. The wind was raw—damp and biting. Everyone was glad to stay home for a quiet evening. This morning I was awakened by my husband’s alarm at 5:30. My fuzzy brain could not figure out why he would be getting up so early on such a snowy morn. His reply? The neighbor’s needed their driveway plowed out for the milk truck. My husband has a good relationship with our Amish neighbors—they do a lot for each other. When we need help, they are always willing to offer a strong back and a loaf of homemade bread!

I slept in. Around 7:30 India Ink and Snowflake decided they would eat me if I did not pull the cat food out of the cupboard, so I rolled out of bed to greet a fairyland draped in billowing blankets of white. As the cats and I headed down the stairs, the doorbell rang. Oh, dear. In my robe, I looked out to see who was there. Our Amish neighbor was looking for my husband. I peaked out and told him I had not seen him back home yet. He told me that they had the horses out and were ready to pull his truck out of the snow bank. Oh. Nice. OoooKaaaay.

If only I had realized how close they were I would have snapped a picture for you. They were outside my window--one 4-wheel drive pickup being pulled by 4 horses...

My husband is now in for breakfast and a chance to warm his toes. He’ll go out to do chores and check to see if Hug Me needs to be put into the shed—we need to watch her for her delivery since she lost her twins last year. It is a cold day for new calves to be born! The calf in the picture on my main page of my Web site is now wearing a coat like the picture I posted a couple of days ago here on my blog. Those little guys are so cute wearing winter coats!

When I get out with my camera today, I’ll see if I can snap a scene or two of our snow-covered world and post it. Have a good weekend!

It's Up!

When I rework my site for spring, I'll make the corrections for the class schedules. It is just too much work for now! I think I have the other errors fixed--if you find any, let me know. Thanks.

Welcome to Fairview!

Web Site Blues

I spent all day yesterday working on updating my Web site. I loaded it at 10:00 p.m. only to find numerous errors and links that did not work. So I'll be working on it again today, and I hope to be able to announce that it is ready and working very soon!

Blessings!

From the Photo Album

I just thought I'd post a few of my favorite pictures here today.
You can click on the photo to enlarge it.
Happy Thursday!

Taking care of our babies

A successful attack

The Hearth 

Mommy and baby heading out  

The Homestead 

Our Homeschool Meeting

I headed out to visit a friend last night. She and I are about the only two who attend our homeschool meeting anymore, so we’ve started meeting in each other’s homes; once we went out to a restaurant to chat. Her children are smaller than mine—the youngest is a one-year-old, and the oldest is in 4^th grade. I did not realize it was snowing when I left, but by the time I got through the near-by town, the snow was blowing hard enough that I had to dim my headlights to see where I was going. Some spots of the little country road were covered with so much moving snow that I could not see the road. I decided I was close enough to her home that I would keep going. I’m glad I did.

I started knitting a sweater for her son when he was born, and last night I finally had it done enough to try it on him. Thankfully he has not grown too big for it! When I get the little hood attached, I’ll take a photo and post it. I use to knit a lot, but I’ve found myself avoiding my knitting basket at night. I do so much close-up work with my eyes all day that by the time evening comes I don’t care to do more. I’m glad I have it almost done, though. He’s cute as a button wearing that little blue sweater with his dark hair and eyes shining out from the little blue hood!

We chatted about school and our children and talked about the books we were using. I told her about my daughter’s trying out for the homeschool play yesterday. But before long, we both decided I needed to head home in case the roads were getting worse. I bundled up and headed out to the car. The windshield was iced over so I used my new scraper to clean off the windows, and then I pulled out onto the road. The snow had stopped falling. Down in the long, winding valley there was not much wind. I could not help but think of the poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”. Everything was white, and the woods on both sides of the road were “lovely, dark and deep”. At the top of the hill, the wind was still blowing and the roads were icy. I made my way through the twists and turns at about 40 miles an hour. All the way home there was not a single car behind me. Of course, the cats came out to greet me when I drove down the lane.

It’s nice to have friends.

The Birdfeeder

January

I’ve enjoyed this week’s comments. If you were my neighbors we could gather ‘round for a walk and a cup of hot chocolate by the hearth!

I did go for a walk Sunday afternoon. I bundled up with snow pants and a down coat. I pulled my hat down to my eyelashes, and my neck scarf up over my face to protect from the wind. I was comfortably warm. I headed down the lane past the pine trees and then up the hill on the road that runs by the farm. The only sound I heard was the wind until I came to the valley where the grasses grow tall. There I heard the call of a crow—and noticed that a few of them and a flock of sparrows were battling away as they always do, swooping and defending.

I turned to walk back towards home. Heading out, the wind was at my back; coming home, it was in my face. I pulled the scarf and hat close together so that there was only a slit left between. I pushed my mittened hands into my pockets for a little more protection from the wind and made my way back up the hill. The sun was already in the western sky, and the snow covered ground looked icy and stark, a time of rest for the land.

I love this time of year. When the land lies cold and quiet, my soul is set free to ponder life and reevaluate directions taken. It is as my poem says, “A snow-covered world is a balm that penetrates bone and marrow, soul and spirit.” I think I’ll take the liberty to print that again, today. Blessings!

Shades of White

The stillness of a landscape draped in the silence of an early morning snow...
The sky and earth blend in shades of white
Bringing all that I can see from my window into uniform serenity.

A snow-covered world is a balm that penetrates bone and marrow, soul and spirit.
My soul is set free in quiet song. It brings to us a time of rest.

Lay down the great burden of hurried life and step lightly onto the stage.
The room is silent, empty.
Laugh and cry; dance. Unveil the depths within.

It is time to be set free.

Jean in Wisconsin

The road by my house

Coming down the lane 

Zero Degree Astronomy

As we drove to church this morning, the car thermometer registered –10. When it is this cold, the moist lining of the nose feels like it is icing over with each inhalation and you have to exhale through the nose to warm it back up again—this would be a bad time to have a cold.

I bet you all wanted to hear that today.

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Last night my daughter and I drove to our astronomy club meeting. We parked our car and walked down the icy path to where the telescopes and buildings were. The moon could be seen shining ghost-like through the clouds. No stars were visible.

Inside one person had gotten there early and had the fireplace going. We had hoped to do outside viewing. Our 2^nd choice was to be shown how to run the computer for the various star charts and programs, but the computer was getting fixed. The dome over the computerized telescope wasn’t working right; it was covered in ice and could not open all the way, but we decided to see if we could be instructed on how to use the telescope’s “Go To” anyway. Nope. It wasn’t working at 0 degrees, either.

At last enough people arrived and the man who had planned to lead the February meeting stepped in and talked to us about astrospectroscopy. I’m still trying to find the Messier objects and he’s taking pictures with his telescope and camera that show what type of elements a star is made of by the use of the spectrum. I guess we all have to start somewhere, right?

We drove home through the shivering night. All the cats came out of their warm dens to see what we humans were doing out and about at that cold hour.
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I think I’ll bundle up and take a short walk down the lane to smell the fresh air and listen to crunching snow under my feet. I wonder if any birds will be singing on some sunny branch or if the cats will accompany me—some usually do.

Life is good.

Want to walk with me?

Saturday

I had to ask my daughter what to talk about today. She said that I should let you know that Hug Me is due soon. Hug Me is the name of one of her cows. Last year she bore twins that came too early, and they did not survive. This year she is very large, and we are wondering if she is carrying twins again. Her mother, Kiss Me, is the cow we lost last spring. She has two sisters, Love Me and Kiss Me, Too. If we have the opportunity, we will try to get some pictures of the calving for you.

While I was sitting here, staring at the computer, Snowflake decided to join me. His little nose discovered that the catnip I had picked and dried last summer was sitting on the shelf next to my computer. At first I could not figure out why he was sitting here beside me with his nose wiggling while he made such a strange half-mewing and half-purring sound in his throat! I found an old sock and stuffed it. Should I assume that the wild look he has in his eye is a thank you?


Wild Thing

Yesterday my daughter was trying to study biology. This was one time when farm life got in the way of a good education…

Studying Biology?
Have a great weekend!

A January Morning

It was suppose to be cold this morning—perhaps the coldest day in January. However, when I got up to stoke the stove, the thermometer read a little above zero. Here in my corner of Wisconsin, really cold means below zero—10 to 20 below (Fahrenheit). When it gets that cold there are lots of warnings about keeping children safe and pets protected, especially if there is a strong wind included. When I stepped out on the deck to dump the ash, I did not notice any wind. It was just a very crisp morning with Venus shining close to the horizon in a cloud-streaked sky; soon the Morning Star will be too close to the sun to see, and before we know it, she will have circled around enough to become our Evening Star. Venus is one of the nicest planets to watch—she’s so big you can always pick her out. And since her orbit is close to the sun, you always find her in the sky just before sunrise or just after sunset. If you can, try to find her in the next few mornings.

Today will be a busy day with school and grocery shopping this morning. We always try to keep Friday to a half a day of school, so we’ve invited our cousins for an afternoon visit. The boys love it when they come, but I think they would like it even more if we allowed them to pack their bags and spend the night in the woods. They will have to be content with tramping around over there this afternoon. It looks like it will be sunny and glorious for hiking outdoors!

What do you have planned for the day?

Blessings!


Ruffy's paw in the air means, "I'm cold!"

The Delete Key

This morning I could not sleep. Just before bed last night I had looked over my daughter’s schedule for this school year and decided that my goals were set a little too high. All that work simply could not get done in one year, even if we worked through the summer. I woke up this morning and those thoughts were still haunting me.

I rose and fed the kitties. I stoked the stove. I checked my email and glanced over the TWTM boards to see if anything was happening. Then I opened my daughter’s sophomore file in Word and exercised the delete key.

I feel much better. A few good books are not going to be read in literature class, but her list still looks impressive. A little tweaking of other subjects helped, too. There is still too much to finish by the end of May, but I think it will take some of the stress out of the year.

Don’t you wish there were more delete keys in life? I’d love a delete key in the laundry room. Housekeeping and meals would be great—let’s have 2 meals a day and laundry only on Tuesdays and Fridays!

I think the use of a mental delete key might be useful, as well. Whenever those thoughts that overwhelm us or emotions that serve no good purpose started pestering, we could banish them with one small button.

On the other hand, if life could be handled so easily, I think we would be at a great disadvantage. It would be like the sitcoms where all the problems of life are solved in 30 minutes or less. If we did not have to struggle to keep our thoughts and lives in order, would we grow stronger and more able to cope with life? Or would we miss the character building necessary to become men and women who would follow God whatever the cost? Would we grow dependent upon our delete keys to make life comfortable and pain-free? Today when I am stuffing laundry into the washer and wiping down the kitchen cupboards, I think I’ll try viewing the tasks as a gift rather than a burden. Isn’t that better than a delete key?

Blessings.

Piles and Piles

My paperwork has been ignored for too many days; I wonder if I piled it in one stack if it I would be taller than I am? I suppose it depends what I include in that stack. I have photos that need to be put in albums, schoolwork that needs to be corrected and filed away for college transcripts, Christmas cards that I have not yet mailed, books that I have started reading but not finished, and knitting pattern books through which I have been searching. Awana camp, driver’s education, and the National Latin Exam forms need to be filled out. I’m not sure I want to know what else is in those piles!

I’d guess that most people have piles, although I must admit I do know one person who never allowed piles in her house. If her husband did not take care of his “designated pile”, she threw it away--not exactly what marital peace was made of, but her house was always perfectly neat. If you come to my house, please remember that we live here!

I suppose my piles represent who I am more than I’d like to admit. As I journey through life, I find myself making little piles of “to do” in my mind: do what is pleasing to God, keep a gentle spirit, put the needs of others first, improve the efficiency of housekeeping and laundry. As I walk through the day, I have great thoughts of all the things I need to do, but often forget to follow through. Thoughts go flitting through my mind, but before I can catch them and make them into something good, my mind has moved on or been interrupted. At times, I find myself running up against one of those piles that have not been tended, and I know that I considered it important once, but have done nothing about it.

So what do we do with this kind of pile? Some can be added to lists, others to New Year’s resolutions. Some can be described in our journals for later perusal. Sometimes we need to lift a quick prayer and continue on, letting One Larger Than Us deal with the pile.

How do you handle piles?

Growing Up

The meats team made it home, and my daughter came bubbling in to tell us all! I think she will be moving very slowly today! I appreciate your keeping her in your prayers—I can’t imagine being the only driver and going from Denver to Wisconsin in one day and still be driving safely by the end of the day!

I recall some of the trips I took as a child. I was a member of a Christian youth singing group called Tioshpa Christian Singers—Tioshpa is a Sioux Indian word meaning “a gathering of the family”. We took off to tour a few churches for part of a week once a year. We had a wonderful time, and I think it was important to spend some time out from under mom and dad before I was on my own. Being out with a group of teens is part of growing up—it involves learning how to make wise decisions. I am grateful for my teen years, grateful for the decisions I made.

I don’t remember a day in my life when I did not believe in God. I went to church and was taught the Gospel from the beginning. In my junior high years a missionary from Bangladesh named Kathy Bleisie (I’m sorry, I don’t remember how to spell her name) talked to me; she told me that I was getting to an age where I needed to embrace the faith in which my parents raised me—and that I would have the choice of remaining faithful. She said that as children grow, there comes a time when they need to take over the responsibility for their walk with God. That day I went out to a swing hung in a tall oak tree and contemplated what that meant—and never looked back. I am grateful for that woman who God placed in my life. I am certain that I avoided a lot of rebellion, pain, and sorrow because of the decisions I made that day.

Now the question is, “How do we pass this torch onto our children?”

Blessings.

The Results Are In!

My daughter has been attending the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, this weekend. She traveled there to compete in the national meats competition. They needed to be able to identify 130 meat cuts (beef, pork and lamb) and to rank several cuts of meat and carcasses of the same animals, giving reasons to a judge for the order that they placed them—with no notes in front of them.

Last year our county’s meats time won Wisconsin’s 4-H competition, which opened the opportunity for them to represent our state in Denver. Out of the twelve teams participating, Wisconsin’s team came in 4^th. Out of the 48 individuals who were there, Bethany came in 10^th.

Congratulations, team! We are proud of your hard work!

Please keep them in your prayers as they head home tomorrow. They plan to leave at 5:00 a.m. and arrive here around 11:00 p.m. My concerns are for the weather and for the drivers—they have two cars and have only two drivers. I’d rather they make that long drive in two days! I’ll be grateful when they get back home safely.

Sleepy Sunday

It is good that it is Sunday. As I sit here typing, the noise level in my little computer area is rather high. It seems one of my sons has Snowflake in his room while the other son wants to play with the kitty. How do you get a cat out of a brother’s room without going in to get the cat? You attach a play mouse to the end of your fishing rod (no hook, mind you), and you toss the mouse within range of the cat. When the cat pounces, the goal is to drag the mouse out of the room. However, if the cat is faster than you, you might discover that your rod and line are not quite up to the task…

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Yesterday my mother and I attended my uncle’s funeral. I enjoyed my time visiting with my cousins. If I remember right, my aunt and uncle have 13 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. It was delightful to catch up with family news and to meet the children who had grown so much that I had to be introduced to them once more!

I’ve been pondering what I experienced yesterday. I find myself wondering just what kind of a legacy I will leave behind for my family. My aunt and uncle raised their five children knowing that church and faith was the center of their lives. As I listened to the stories of their dad, I was struck with the beauty of a family whose children are carrying that legacy onto the next generations. I saw no evidence of family strife, but could feel the joy the family had at being together, intermingled with the grief that comes when we need to say good-bye to someone who is dear to us. The stories that they told of the memories they hold made us laugh and cry. I chuckled at the comment that now that my uncle has arrived, they are all quite certain that there will be no squeaking doors or dripping faucets in those heavenly mansions. We are all comforted by the thought of our grandparents and their five sons taking part in a joyous family reunion, which some day we will join.

In all its joys and sorrows, life is good.

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We have not heard from Bethany today. This morning they will have the awards banquet and find out how their team has done. I’ll keep you posted!

Blessings!

The Beauty of Winter

It’s beautiful outside! All the branches on the trees are coated with snow, and all is swept clean by the draping of white across the land. Since I sent my digital camera with my daughter, I cannot snap a shot this morning, but I will post a picture from an earlier time—my husband on his little tractor plowing out the lane. You can see the row of trees behind him. Those are the trees I spoke of earlier that use to be a row of pines. It burned a few years ago leaving young softwood trees and wild berries. This is where I sat to listen to the sounds of winter that I wrote about a couple of days ago.

Plowing Snow

Yesterday my daughter called from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and then again at 10:00 last night to let us know that they had gotten in for the night. There was a lot of laughing going on in the background and she couldn’t talk long because the girls had decided to take advantage of the swimming pool before turning in, and she didn’t want to miss that! I’m glad she is having fun.

Well, even though I had had good intentions, the tree is still standing in the bay window. I guess we celebrated Epiphany by curling up with books. I’m still reading A Sand County Almanac and am really enjoying it. There’s so much information about the land and the animals. I had to chuckle as I read:

"If your eyes are strong, you may search the sky and see him, wings aquiver, circling among the wooly clouds. If your eyes are weak, don’t try it; just watch the fence posts. Soon a flash of silver will tell you on which post the plover has alighted and folded his long wings. Whoever invented the word ‘grace’ must have seen the wing-folding of the plover.

There he sits; his whole being says it’s your next move to absent yourself from his domain. The country records may allege that you own this pasture, but the plover airily rules out such trivial legalities. He has just flown 4000 miles to reassert the title he got from the Indians, and until the young plovers are a-wing, this pasture is his, and none may trespass without his protest."

The animals on “our” land would tell me the same thing!

It’s Friday! A short day of school and the weekend begins. Tomorrow I will be going to my uncle’s funeral, taking my mom with me. This is the passing of another generation—the last of my father’s four brothers. It gives us reason to pause and reflect. If I do not get something posted tonight, I may not post tomorrow since I will be leaving early and will probably get back just in time to head out to join our astronomy club to take a look at the comet flying near the Pleiades. Fun!

Blessings on you and yours!