Random Musings

I have been weighed and found wanting. (No, certainly not on the physical scales!) Several years ago Bobby got two puppies as an early birthday present. One of them was injured when we came home one night, though I'm not sure how. I took the pup to the vet, fully expecting them to put it to sleep. Instead, I came home with a 6 week old puppy that had a cast on its right front leg and a cast on the back left leg, along with instructions to keep the dog inside. If there's one thing my mother instilled in me, it's the principle that animals are outdoor animals (with an exception of goldfish). I shocked myself by putting the pup in the laundry room, and during the day I would even let him hang out in the kitchen. Week one was okay. Week number two he became a horrible toddler. When I closed the door to the laundry room to go to the grocery store, he went crazy. He peed on his cast. I came home to the screen on the window totally shredded. At night, he would howl until I...

...there was a girl who was very fastidious in meeting her obligations and tending to her projects. When a guest entered her house, you could open the closet doors in the hallway and find a place to hang your coat, for there were never boxes of projectors or old films awaiting a convenient time to be converted into VHS or DVD. The closet was nice and neat and clean and organized. And should the guest, after hanging up her jacket in the hall closet, wish to open the other closet and choose a game to play, then she could simply do so. For the owner of the house would never ever open those doors, frantically pull out bows and wrapping paper, and in a panicked moment of desperation dump an entire container out upside down so as to find a matching item and get out the door to prevent being even later than she already is, and simply close the door on the mess. Nothing so preposterous would happen in this world, for this girl not only starts and finishes projects in a timely manner, but s...

This last month it seems family and friends have been besieged with problems. Health problems, emotional needs, crisis situations, car wrecks, tornadoes (my hometown was hit Sat night), and changes in the family set-up, loss of jobs, fear of losing jobs, and the pain of watching co-workers lose their jobs when you keep yours. This morning as I read about the pain and hurt in their lives, I am reminded of that passage from Isaiah 43:2 "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Sharon Daniels' talk from Matthew, where Christ was in the boat with the disciples DURING THE STORM comes to mind. He was there with them, the entire time, even when they ignored Him. He was there, ready to offer assistance, just waiting for them to ask. He was there, even when they were afraid their lives were over. He ...

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law introduced me to her favorite peanut butter: crunchy honey roasted It was very sweet, and absolutely delicious. I immediately assumed that meant it was extra fattening. Nevertheless, I bought a jar for my husband who likes crunchy peanut butter. (I'm a creamy girl, unless I'm cooking with it and then I like the nuts.) This past week while buying me a new jar of creamy peanut butter, I tried out the kind that is 33% less sugar and salt, and it was absolutely horrible. I can assure you, the only thing it will be used for is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But as I'm putting the jar back into the pantry, I decided to make myself feel better about eating something that wasn't all that great, and I checked the calorie content. Not bad, I thought. 190 calories for 2 T of pb. It's 40 calories less than the regular. And to make myself feel even better, I checked the honey roasted crunchy stuff, which is super duper sweet. 190 c...

Ever since our hens started laying, we have had what the grocery store would consider medium-sized to large eggs. Then this spring we started getting one jumbo egg about every three days. It makes the other eggs seem quite small. So imagine my shock to collect eggs one day last week and find only four eggs (we normally have 5-6 a day), and one of them was HUGE. I can't close the egg carton lid with it inside, and had I not personally picked it up from the enclosed nesting area in the hen house, I would have emphatically stated it was a duck egg from somewhere. Seriously. The day we cook this egg, I will only need to cook one egg for breakfast. I almost feel sorry for the hen that laid it. Below is a sample of our normal egg, followed by the jumbo, and the monster egg from this week. I probably should have put the two light brown eggs together so you can see how large the jumbo is compared to its normal size (the one on the end). Either way, we are still in shock at having ...

Henside the Beltline Tour d'Coop is scheduled for May 15 from 10am to 4pm. Basically you take canned goods to a ticket location in exchange for a map/ticket of all the tour stops. (The canned goods are given to the Raleigh Food Bank.) Then you pick which (or all) of the 21 houses along the beltline you want to visit. The chicken owner is available to answer from questions, and you are able to check out the birds and their henhouse. Some owners even have educational posters and displays for visitors. I'm always amazed at the creativity Raleigh city owners use in making such a small space a clean and creative farm area. Seeing as the young girls have an activity at church that morning, it'll be after lunch before Bobby and I head out (this will be our third year to go), but it's always an interesting and informative event. If you're interested in participating in the tour, visit http://hensidethebeltline.blogspot.com for more information.

Today on the radio I heard the beginning of this program highlighting a book with a title like "When Sinners Marry". It caught my attention, so I actually listened. (I usually flip stations as soon as the talk starts.) The man was talking about a situation when he took his wife out on a date to a very nice restaurant. During the course of the meal, he made an "observation", which she didn't take very well. He said had he been wise, he could have diverted the conversation or immediately tried to make amends, but instead he escalated the situation. He said his wife was very upset and disappointed. One of the "hosts" on the show grabbed his cell phone and actually called his wife. She started laughing, said she remembered the incident though she didn't remember what it was about, just that it happened. They started talking about forgiveness, and either my brain started chasing rabbits or I switched stations, not sure which. But either way, it ...

One of the things I enjoyed (most of the time) about working was that it forced me to wisely use what little spare time I had. This week I've been assisting with proctoring achievement tests for the homeschoolers in our church, and it has reminded me somewhat of my working days. The last three days I've examined my calendar each morning to see what errands I could fit into my spare time instead of floating from task to task. (Yes, I can picture my fellow "mother friends" tilting their heads in puzzlement as such a crazy concept. One of the few blessings of being childless...my time is mostly my own.) So here's a run-down of this crazy week: Monday night : swept, scrubbed and revarnished the exposed wood in front of the computer desk (which is why I haven't been on-line this week). Tuesday: Testing in the am, garden shopping at Lowes, second coat of varnish on the floors, planting plants all afternoon, out with hubby and Mom-in-law, laundry Wednesday: Tes...

Thursday in preparation for our trip I finished planting the garden. Today I sadly inventoried all the dead transplants, AND the mole/vole hills. Mrs. Hudson at the Hardware store recommends planting a caster bean plant at each corner of the garden. The beans are deadly for many animals (yes, the very bean that caster oil comes from!) so we don't want to plant it and risk losing the geese, chickens, and dogs. So for my tomato and pepper plants, I am now back to square one and hoping that the moles didn't eat all the other seeds I planted. I'm now also debating whether or not to head to square two and buy some sturdy plants to transplant instead of all the wimpy seedlings I grew. And the video of our fowl friends' pecking order refuses to load on my blog, so that crazy scenario might have to wait for another time. And another day passes as we rush into summer.

Well, it might not happen today, but I have almost all of the needed supplies for my garden fence. If all goes well, before we leave on our mini vacation Friday, the remainder of the garden will be tilled, fertilized, planted, watered, and fenced in. No chickens eating my tomatoes, watermelon, or cucumbers. (Yes, I'm still holding out hope my wimpy tomatoes will grow up.) And if I plant peas, hopefully no deer stripping the stalks clean. AND, today is the LAST day of election training. WHoooHOOO! I'll still have to skim through the manual before May 4, but at least all of my training will be over. I'm still debating whether or not to apply for the early voting positions in November. Speaking of jobs, I'm entertaining the possibility of working for Bobby's uncle one day a week starting in May and running through the summer. He operates Ball's produce and needs someone to oversee the produce stand at one of the markets where he sells. I'm debating abou...

We live we love We forgive and never give up ‘Cause the days we are given are gifts from above Today we remember to live and to love Life is such a gift So how does the story end Well this is your story and it all depends So don’t let it become true Get out and do what we were meant to do… (excerpts from Superchick's "We Live") This is one of the two songs that has been occupying my brain and thoughts lately. (The other song is "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac.) Many of you know that last June I half-heartily started trying to lose weight, and that in August I started regularly going to the local wellness center. It's now eight months in, and I've been a little discouraged lately. Yet this past week I've also realized how silly my discouragement has been/is. Here's the reality: In eight months my blood pressure has dropped away from the high border zone and the high bp headaches have stopped. I have successfully lost and ...

About two weeks ago a certain kindergarten teacher passed off to me a little ziploc bag full of ooey -gooey starter. I came home, googled the directions and sundry recipes for it, and the process began. By day ten I was debating whether or not this Friendship bread stuff was really a very friendly thing. But the end of day ten, I realized one very important thing: MATH is important! The directions are simple for day ten: Add 1 c milk, 1 c flour, 1 c sugar, stir. Pour out 3 cups into containers to give friends (or to make bread), and keep the last cup to continue the yeast process. Simple, right? That means you'll have four containers after everything is said and done. One for the starter, one for my cinnamon rolls, one for bread. So somewhere in my warped thinking, that equaled four. (Yes, I may have two bachelors and an associates degree, but I'm NOT smarter than a fifth grader!) As it comes time to knead the cinnamon rolls, the goop is still, well, goop . Then I ...

A year ago a friend approached me with an idea she had. I told her idea was a LOT of work and left it at that. Since that time she has mentioned it twice. Then last week she brought it up AGAIN and even threw out a bit of a challenge: she wanted me to help write her idea or else teach her how to do it. Again, I told her how much work this idea was, how much time was involved, and how it would require working a bare minimum of 3 months in advance, six months preferably, blah, blah , blah. So Sunday morning, when I should have really been focusing on the message in the Easter drama, my brain kicks into overdrive and I find myself thinking of various plot lines, focal points, and potential stage designs. In other words, her idea, despite my protests, has taken root in my brain. I've even decided what the next/first step of action for us is. Creativity is a wonderful thing. It can also be a bit scary and overwhelming. At this point I don't want to go into a lot of details a...

Chickens like to scratch. A lot. All the pine straw underneath the pine trees is daily moved into various positions, making it look as if it has either been freshly raked or put out. All the pine straw and mulch the boys meticulously put out around my flowers and trees lasted a grand total of two days before the chickens removed it from wherever it was. And now...they are scratching up my garden. I finally started seeing a few onion and potato shoots today. After watering the rows, I turned around, and there is a potato eye (seedling) on top of the row that wasn't there before. Beside it, you guessed it, a chicken. I quickly scooped the seed up, dug a hole, replanted it, took two steps, turned around, and two chickens were there scratching. That fence may have to go up this week after all. Meanwhile, as the temps rise, so does the smell. One nice thing about winter is that their house only needs cleaning every 3-4 weeks. But as the heat rises, the smell does, so it has to b...

Fancy flowers face the road Little crowns of yellow gold Brightness as the sun unfolds The shining glory we behold. Red ramps take on a yellow hue Wheel tracks made by rolling through And make impressions in the floor of yellow tires and shoes galore. Black-green pond with yellow film You'd never see the fish within Fish food blends with yellow coat 'Til catfish break with their vacummous float. The sky in Raleigh has the strangest view, Like a dust storm ravaging the skyline blue. It's the strangest sight I've ever seen... this much pollen in the spring.

I've witnessed the budding trees, the blooming flowers, the production of eggs, the geese nesting, and now the pollen onslaught, but I'm still in a bit of shock that it's not only spring, not only Easter, but that we're entering our first week of April! This month promises to be a busy though somewhat fun month. Election training -okay, that one isn't really fun, but it does mean I'll get a very small paycheck before the summer starts which is nice. CBC Home-school Testing - For one week I'll simply be touching base with a testing supervisor to see how things are going for her and the high schoolers, and then for one week I'll be overseeing the testing for most of our church's home-schooled kids. The tests and information packets are in, so that means sometime this week I get to read through all the instructions and materials and pass out the director's manuals to the appropriate proctors. Not a hard job. ? A CBC Quilter's Group - This is...

In a few weeks now almost any garden center you enter will have nice strong-stalked tomato plants for you to purchase and transplant in your garden. This year I thought I'd give the old-fashioned way a try and satisfy my early planting urges in the process. Three weeks ago I was thrilled when little shoots started poking their heads up out of the soil, and even more thrilled a week later when the bell peppers started doing the same. Since it was working, I decided to go ahead and plant the rest of the seeds. Then last week I forgot to bring them back inside at night, thus allowing Lucy & Linus to do what they love to do best: empty any container within their reach. So my nicely separated plant containers (the ones that survived) are no longer separated. And by the end of this month when it comes time to plant them outside, who knows whether or not I'll be able to recognize the difference between a pepper plant and a tomato plant. IF. That's the operative word. For my...