a little warped

Yesterday our ladies met with the weekly Bible study, and the main focus was Judges 4 & 5, about Deborah.  I think I shocked the group when I said the whole "song" in chapter 4 sounded a lot like a political rally to me. My group was still shaking their heads and laughing about that as we left.

But I was serious.

Read it with Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin in mind, and tell me that's not a political rally.

signs of spring

Before we left for AL, NC had been experiencing a nice burst of warm weather. Our bush was blooming out back (the blooms are now all dead and frozen looking, but they'll bounce back)...

 and I spotted the chicken hawk down at the pier.

 I tried photographing it through the binoculars. While I could see it quite clearly, it didn't photograph too well. But you can see part of the tail stripes. I saw it flying on the road a few days later, not far from where my chickens were hanging out. It made me a little thankful we didn't have any young ones. I've never seen them eat a full grown chicken, though they will eat a pullet (one that's 3-4 months old).

So while many people find them beautiful and amazing, I always look for a bunny or squirrel when I see one, and then count my chickens. They're not scared of humans, either.

A week ago today

A week ago today we were very tired, and when I called the hospital to see how Mom's night went, Dad said they would be coming home before the day was out. I know that hospitals can take a very long time and that lunch time would be the earliest she would be home, and early to late evening could also be a very real possibility. Dad didn't want us to drive back to B'ham and told us not to come. So we did something I've wanted to do for a long time but have never had the time to do when "go home". I visited what was "home" to me. And it was good, and it was heartbreaking.

 The town of Cordova is slowly rebounding from the two tornadoes that devastated the area six years ago. There's a new town hall, a new fire station, as well as several other changes. But the picture above is one of the views that absolutely made me gasp. The parking lot where I took the photo is from the Cordova Free Will Baptist Church, where my Dad pastored. For the 14 years I lived there, the only thing you could see from this spot was trees. The brick building to the left (part of the Methodist Church) was not visible, and is across Green Ave. The white building with blue awnings is down the hill and halfway across what used to be downtown. It would not have even been visible from the Methodist parking lot when I was growing up. Its location is the old hardware store my uncle managed, but is now the new Piggly Wiggly (aka "The Pig"), the town's new and only grocery store. (The old store was at the base of the hill and was damaged by the tornadoes. 3 of the 4 people who died were in that area.) And the white houses in the distance? That's clear across the railroad tracks, not far from the post office. Had I not known where I was, I don't think I'd have recognized my little mill town. It reminded me of all those small towns you pass through in the mountains. I so wish there was a before picture to show you just how stark the difference is.

 The parsonage front view from Green Ave. It has a different roof from when I lived there, and the two trees are cut down from the front yard. I loved those trees only because they offered shade when cutting grass. But the growth of trees and shrubs in places they shouldn't be (there's two sets of steps not visible here), and the crawl space door is totally gone. The house looks abandoned. I know the church is all but gone and they don't have a preacher, but with so many people needing homes I would have thought they'd have at least rented it out.

 And the view from the back side, but is/was used as the main entrance. Left is the garage and washer/dryer hook-ups, the indented area is a screened in porch. First three windows is the kitchen area, next two was the den (sometimes used by us a bedroom), the next double windows were a small bedroom, then the last two windows goes to the larger bedroom which my sisters and I all shared at various points.

 The screen door is missing to the porch. And our family put up the basketball goal, though this is not the one we installed. And another shocking view to the left of the house...used to be solid trees. Driving down Green Ave was always like driving through a canopy of greenery in the spring. It looked like a forest across the road.

Several houses have burned in the neighborhood or simply been neglected. It was so sad to see. So many good and happy memories from that little part of town.

But it was nice to have a few hours to drive around and show Bobby where I went to school and places that he's heard stories about but never seen. And I now understand how Mom's generation who lived there when the mill was open and the mines were running full force would shake their head during my youth and talk about how the town used to look. I fear in 20 years there may not be a town unless things change.

it made me smile

The ladies in our church do a Bible/book study from time to time. Usually we read 2-3 chapters, or half a book, before meeting to discuss it. This time we're actually doing a Bible study called Life Principles from Women of the Bible. I took the book with me this past week thinking I'd have time to do a little while I was in Alabama for Mom's heart procedure. Mom saw it on the table, and wanted to know all about it. The next morning when I came out to make breakfast, she was working through lesson one. She had also read the introduction of the authors, and made a comment of how strange it was that all three were men. At one point she flipped through the book and saw a quote I had written in the back from our teacher. Last night as I was working on a lesson, I felt a sheet of paper that I didn't remember being in there:

It made me laugh. And I thought it was neat that Mom was leaving Bible verses for me. I'm almost tempted to purchase her a copy so she can work through it as well.

trending now...

What we're watching on Netflix: When Calls The Heart, season one

What I'm reading: None Like Him, by Jen Wilkin and Civil War Blunders, (and a Bible study on a few women of the Bible by AMG)

Current Quilt Projects: Saturday Sampler (a block of the month), Gemstones (last year's Gatherings project), Modern Neutrals (this year's Gatherings project)

What Quilt Projects I'm Thinking About: an artistic pond quilt, an artistic farm quilt, Farmhouse Vintage, a 2"square pattern and a Bear Claw pattern

Current non-quilt projects: cracking 2016 pecans, editing old home videos

Upcoming household project: the garden and possible signage

An area we're seriously lacking in: hospitality. I don't think we've had a family over to the house in over a year.

My new favorite quote: I can do anything, but I cannot do everything.

eggs

Many, many years ago I cooked a goose egg for Bobby. Fried it, to be exact. And before it was done cooking, I was getting queasy. I couldn't bring myself to eat it. Fast forward many years, and we've lost all our male geese, meaning all our eggs are unfertilized. There's no point in incubating them, and the female geese will never be able to hatch them, no matter how hard they try. So what are we to do with all these eggs?

Thanks to google, I've learned that goose eggs are best scrambled or as an omelette. If used in baking, the ratio is 1 goose egg equals 2 large chicken eggs (I would have guessed 3), but since they are mostly yolk, a chicken egg or egg whites needs to be added to the mix or it will be heavier. So I scrambled one with a chicken egg the other morning. It didn't taste bad; actually tasted like a chicken egg; but I still had a hard time eating my whole part.

Comparison: before beating the goose egg and chicken egg together. 

So if any of you local readers are interested in eating goose eggs, let me know. I have about 8 that need a "home".

baby steps

As the flu and stomach bug rages all around, we're staying busy. I FINALLY finished the puzzle I started back in January during the snow days. As if it wasn't challenging enough, the puzzle was two-sided, meaning the same picture is also printed from the back, but turned a different direction, and is cut from both sides. After a point, that part became slightly helpful. If you weren't certain a piece truly fit (it wasn't fully interlocking), you could flip it over and see whether or not it matched from the back. Once I realized the left border was incorrectly placed in a few spots, things started improving dramatically. I asked Bobby early on if he wanted to help. He informed me he has never been that bored in his life, ever.

I hate to tear it up and put it back in the box after spending literally hours completing it, but I'll never hang a picture of penguins in my house. It's just not my thing. But it's done. :)