we have hatching!

Yesterday we stopped turning eggs 1-3. One was chirping. And tonight there was the 4-pointed star shape they make when they first break the egg! By this time tomorrow night, we should have a gosling!

craziness

It's been of those weeks. You know, the kind where you have something every single night and your to do list, which you're not at home to do, keeps growing larger. And today was supposed to be our next to last day of extreme craziness. Until I did what I do best...I got sick.

This morning, with help from my brother-in-law, I was supposed to install a new wire for the underground fence. The one we put in previously was breaking, causing the dog's warning signal to disconnect. He had other things to do this morning, so we didn't get started until around 11am. Yeah, the hottest part of the day. So I get a headache, then I get way too hot, and get sick. So poor Tim finished the remainder of the yard, and it took him almost all day.

One guy did show up and helped for a little over an hour. He was returning to Charlotte, had just finished a job here, and the guy didn't pay him. So he was looking for any kind of work to help him buy gas to get home. I think he was our temporary angel.

We were supposed to go to Duke this afternoon to visit Lauren, but I didn't get back up until almost 4pm. So maybe I'll get some laundry done before bedtime. Maybe.

mousy hair

I have a new hair dresser. Thanks Nancy!

And as always, I left the shop, and my hair had some volume. It looked cool. Then I rode in the car for 15 minutes, walk in the door...flat head. Never fails. I envy people with thick hair or curly hair. (And no, I don't consider envy the same as covetousness. I'm happy for them, and I enjoy seeing their beautiful hair, and when people like Dottie Dunn straighten their gorgeous curls, I accept that as their choice and bite my tongue every time I walk by...your hair does look good, Dottie, in case you're reading this!)

Both of my sisters and all my nieces have a full head of hair. I can blow-dry my hair very quickly. Theirs will take a minimum of 20 minutes. So I guess I'm thankful for my mousy hair. If I had a full head of hair in addition to being a non-morning person, I think there might be problems.

randomness

do you ever feel
as if your heart is just too full for words?

when a friend is broken and hurting

when the world looks fresh after God gives it a bath

when a child quietly and simply prays

when a little "stinker" starts a round of giggles during prayer time

when you watch a parent suffer, agonizing over their child

when a co-worker shortens her normal hour complaint time to 5 minutes

when I check something off my to-do list

when I'm reminded of my purpose for being

when life proves again, "my grace is sufficient"...

when I not only understand, but also appreciate that the family of Christ is truly a family...even with its bad habits

when your feelings run the gamut of emotions in a day's time,

and yet there are no words to describe your thoughts,

but there's a contented disquiet.

the fisherman tales

99.9% of the time I like where I live.

This afternoon I was reminded of the .1% of why I don't:

1. People I don't know (always of the male gender between the ages of 16-70something) drive up, ask to fish, without introducing themselves. Many (like the two shirtless teenagers today) are polite; some are rude. Do they really think that will convince me to say yes?!
2. People I don't know (always of the male gender between the ages of 16-70something) drive up, ask to hunt, without introducing themselves. Their rationale is that they use: safe guns, arrows, spears, etc. Now, there actually has been two men who were VERY nice, gave me their business card and a list of references and contact information so I could call them back. I actually felt bad for telling them no.
3. Teenagers (and sometimes their Dads) who 4-wheel behind our house without permission.
4. a Dirt road...dust, dust, dust, dust, dust. Did I mention dust?
5. and last but not least, coming home to find people I don't know fishing in the pond, and I'm at home alone.

I guess those are valid reasons to keep my dogs.

the fuel debate

I am scared of propane. When I was in HS, we felt the neighborhood shake. I thought a train had de-railed downtown, but then a few minutes later we heard sirens heading our way. We went outside, and there were flames and smoke billowing about a block away. Turns out the house had a gas leak. The lady in the kitchen died; the man in the living room had 80% of his body burned, and died several months later. It was never determined whether his smoking or her cooking caused the explosion.
In China, we had to cook with gas. Our propane tanks were almost as tall as me. There were countless stories of them catching fire as people hauled them up and down the many flights of steps, or wrecked their bikes (with the tank strapped on the back bar, of course).
So now we are thinking (yes, we're still discussing it after several years) of purchasing a grill. Several years ago my brother-in-law bought me the cheapest grill he could find so we could have grilled hamburgers while he was here. It was charcoal, and other than cleaning it (and only having one lesson on how to cook on it) it was okay. Now, my father and brother both have invested in gas grills and love them. Bobby thinks it will be easier to clean. But I still struggle with the fact that there'll be this little gas tank underneath where I'm cooking, that they can spring leaks, or get cobwebs in them causing the gas to back up, or I'll have to haul the stupid thing in my car when it empties and haul a FULL tank back home. That just doesn't appeal to me. So the fuel debate continues. Do we purchase a nice charcoal grill like my Dad had when I was growing up and teach myself how to grill, or do we go with the gas and its horrors and the easy clean-up? My brother-in-law is coming back to visit the first week in July, so I ought to make a decision before then. Decisions, decisions.

good news/bad news

Yesterday the dog people came (thanks for calling them again, Bobby!) and fixed the fence. Yeah! But it's still nesting season for the geese. OH NO! I scooped up the one remaining egg from the nest of the diligent goose and brought it inside. I was hoping maybe today I could find another egg (I like to put them into the incubator in groups of two or more.) This morning the dogs were still in the yard, but were going crazy at something down by the pond. Bobby went to investigate, and it turns out they were yelping at a nesting goose. The other geese finally came and pitched in, and held the dogs at bay...for a while. Before we had finished breakfast I see Lucy running around with her jaw almost dislocated. She's got an egg in her mouth. I figured it was a lost cause, but then realized she still had the thing in her mouth. She'd put it down, roll it, pick it back up again and run with it. So I headed outside. She didn't want to give it to me, but she finally conceded - AND THERE'S NOT A SCRATCH NOR PUNCTURE IN THE EGG! It's just slobbery wet. So while I feel bad for the poor goose that was trying so hard, I am thankful there's two more eggs to go into the incubator. I think it's too late to build the nesting pen I had planned, but I might still go ahead and put something up just in case these do hatch. I want them to move freely without the dogs chasing them.

To the left are the eggs from two years ago. I put the eggs in as I found them, and they hatched on different days. It was sad. The one lone gosling would peck at the other eggs and wouldn't get a response. Last year I was a little smarter and put them all in at the same time, and they all hatched within 24 hours. It was almost as if you could hear them encouraging each other on. And I'm hoping the dogs will keep the predators away this year!