It has been....a good year or so since I have updated this blog. Part of the reason was because the last post was just so.....perfect. I loved keeping up the post of the provision of the Lord on that page. He is so kind, so merciful, so perfect.
Also, I have been deep into other projects, life, etc. I am not even sure if this blog will continue, but I was so greatly heartened today by another blog I saw, that I was moved to post on mine. The new blog is this one: http://aspiring-homemaker.blogspot.com It was a balm for my soul this morning.
I so greatly admire these women who find such peace and joy in keeping their own house. They see such beauty, there is such simplicity. I know that this can become an idol to some of us--we cannot worship the past, nor the life that is different than what we have. The Lord puts us where we are for the reason He sees fit. The woman who lives in a 762 sf condo in the middle of a large city is just as right there as the woman who lives on 10 acres in the country (ahem, or the southern girl who was planted quite firmly in the snow for the past 11 years...but I digress... lolol).
I know that that is a lesson the Lord is teaching me--that there is a season and a time. I just turned 40, my eldest child is about to be a junior in high school, and my husband is retiring in the next year. OH what a tumultuous time this is for me, what a soul searching "Holy COW where did the time go? Have I missed my own life while waiting for it to start?!?!?!" sort of feeling the past few months have been!
But the Lord is merciful. There is TIME. One of the greatest gifts He gives us is ETERNITY. He has been working on me every single day of these 11 years. I have changed tremendously since we pulled into North Pole Alaska so many years ago, with a newborn and a 3 year old. There is time. There is time. There is time.
So here I sit, ready to start blogging again. I think that my struggles of "Who am I? What is my purpose? What is the life that the Lord wants for me?" are very common at this stage of human development--almost like a second adolescence. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Showing posts with label Alaska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alaska. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Stuck Under A Ladder
My beautiful sisters in Christ!
Time to tell on myself a bit with a positively RIDICULOUS happening last week.
We have been working on getting our house trim painted, etc.
We have two ladders. One is a regular 6' ladder and one is a HUGE ladder that I think is 20 feet long, and that telescopes in on itself like a fire truck ladder. I needed this one to do a lot of the high trim on the house, as we have a 1.5 story house.
Ok, now TWS is still limited in his lifting ability, so it has mainly been me hefting this ladder. I am a fairly sturdy woman, so that had not been a problem. However, that morning we had put a new piece on the ladder. It is a large semi- circle metal brace thingie that is supposed to be wider than a window so that you can lean the ladder up at a window without the ladder top resting on the glass.
This thing is phenom. It makes the ladder much more steady. And heavy. Just heavy enough to tip the scales (pun fully intended) away from my ability to wrangle the ladder. I can lift it, but cannot really control it because of the extra weight. A couple of times the kids heard the ladder CRASH to the ground because all I could do was swing it away from the house, not guide carefully.
Ok I was painting trim in the front, and at one point I needed to move this ladder over a foot or so. In order to move it, I had to slide it under the edge of the roof, under two cross braces, and then back up under the roof edge all without smashing the ladder into our large, beautiful, and new triple pane windows (no, I did not break the windows!).
I was not strong enough to stand behind the ladder properly and pull the ladder to myself. So I got under the ladder and tried to "walk" the rungs to make the ladder stand up. However, the feet of the ladder were in soft dirt and kept sliding. I was afraid I would break the glass, so I figured I would just put the ladder on my shoulders and walk it out to the yard to adjust.
So I slid the ladder down until my head was in between two rungs and the ladder sides were resting on my shoulders. I walk out to the yard, away from the windows, with my head through the rungs and my arms just keeping the ladder steady.
Then I tried to lift the ladder off of my shoulders. Uh oh.
I soon realize my arms seriously had no strength left after toting, painting, and hefting all day. I could not budge the ladder over my head! Ok, no problem, just put the ladder back on my shoulders and rest a bit and try again....
And again....
And again.
Greeeaaaat. I'm stuck.
The ridiculousness of the situation started to hit me and I got an attack of the giggles, which makes lifting the ladder REALLY TRULY ENTIRELY impossible at this point. But I still do not get that it is entirely impossible. I keep asking myself "No, seriously....am I really stuck? As in...stuck?? Cause I do not want to call out the cavalry just in time to lift the ladder off of my own head.". Try again. Nope, I am really seriously stuck.
So I called my mom who was inside, but she did not hear me. THEN I call to TWS who was in the garage on the far side of the house, but of course he could not hear me.
So much for cavalry.
"AHA!" I thought to myself "Just slide my shoulders through the rungs and slide the ladder down off of me like a skirt!". However, I soon found out that the...ahem...sturdiness of my shoulder means they do NOT fit through the rungs.
Then I start to panic just a little (ok, not panic, but get a bit concerned!). I have my head stuck through a ladder, my arms are too weak to lift it, and no one can hear me. My frame is strong enough to hold the ladder at the moment, but for how long? Do I need to flag down a passing motorist? Would YOU stop for a woman waving wildly wearing a 20' ladder around her neck like an accessorizing gone horribly awry?
I mull my options as my shoulders start to ache. I mean....can someone DIE this way? How long can I stand there? Should I sit? What if I cannot get back up??
I figured I would have to walk to TWS to get his help. But there is no easy way to get to him. My truck is between him and me and I do not want to accidentally hit my truck with this ridiculous piece of paint splattered bling. So that means I would have to walk off the property, down the street, and back up into the other side of our circular drive way, again the view of neighbors and motorists. What would YOU think if you saw this dreadful living see-saw ambling down the side of the road? Yeah. Well at least if someone called the cops, they might be able to get this blasted thing off my head.
I actually would have paid to see that happen...to see the police show up and extricate me from this ladder. They could also call the fire department...they know about ladders, right? Maybe I could get on the local news (we have a REALLY small town) "Local woman attacked by her own ladder! Chaos at the scene! The fire department worked frantically to rescue a woman from her own ladder which apparently turned on her as she was trying to transport it. After several tense minutes of uncontrolled guffawing, the ladder was tranquilized and removed from the woman's shoulders. The woman was taken to a local Ace Hardware as a safety precaution and was later released. Officials will not release the name of the woman, but c'mon, how many cross eyed, headcovering women do we see around here? She's the one who had those blue underarms that one time...".
Ok, so in the end, the police did not have to be called. The neighbors did not have a chance to laugh, and I did not get on the 6 o'clock news. It occurred to me that I might take the ladder off like a sweater instead of a skirt, and ducked my head until it slid off of my shoulders. Sweet Success!
(btw, I have not been on that ladder since. I am tired of painting. And it is raining, so I just play Bejeweled Twist all day instead.)
:)
Time to tell on myself a bit with a positively RIDICULOUS happening last week.
We have been working on getting our house trim painted, etc.
We have two ladders. One is a regular 6' ladder and one is a HUGE ladder that I think is 20 feet long, and that telescopes in on itself like a fire truck ladder. I needed this one to do a lot of the high trim on the house, as we have a 1.5 story house.
Ok, now TWS is still limited in his lifting ability, so it has mainly been me hefting this ladder. I am a fairly sturdy woman, so that had not been a problem. However, that morning we had put a new piece on the ladder. It is a large semi- circle metal brace thingie that is supposed to be wider than a window so that you can lean the ladder up at a window without the ladder top resting on the glass.
This thing is phenom. It makes the ladder much more steady. And heavy. Just heavy enough to tip the scales (pun fully intended) away from my ability to wrangle the ladder. I can lift it, but cannot really control it because of the extra weight. A couple of times the kids heard the ladder CRASH to the ground because all I could do was swing it away from the house, not guide carefully.
Ok I was painting trim in the front, and at one point I needed to move this ladder over a foot or so. In order to move it, I had to slide it under the edge of the roof, under two cross braces, and then back up under the roof edge all without smashing the ladder into our large, beautiful, and new triple pane windows (no, I did not break the windows!).
I was not strong enough to stand behind the ladder properly and pull the ladder to myself. So I got under the ladder and tried to "walk" the rungs to make the ladder stand up. However, the feet of the ladder were in soft dirt and kept sliding. I was afraid I would break the glass, so I figured I would just put the ladder on my shoulders and walk it out to the yard to adjust.
So I slid the ladder down until my head was in between two rungs and the ladder sides were resting on my shoulders. I walk out to the yard, away from the windows, with my head through the rungs and my arms just keeping the ladder steady.
Then I tried to lift the ladder off of my shoulders. Uh oh.
I soon realize my arms seriously had no strength left after toting, painting, and hefting all day. I could not budge the ladder over my head! Ok, no problem, just put the ladder back on my shoulders and rest a bit and try again....
And again....
And again.
Greeeaaaat. I'm stuck.
The ridiculousness of the situation started to hit me and I got an attack of the giggles, which makes lifting the ladder REALLY TRULY ENTIRELY impossible at this point. But I still do not get that it is entirely impossible. I keep asking myself "No, seriously....am I really stuck? As in...stuck?? Cause I do not want to call out the cavalry just in time to lift the ladder off of my own head.". Try again. Nope, I am really seriously stuck.
So I called my mom who was inside, but she did not hear me. THEN I call to TWS who was in the garage on the far side of the house, but of course he could not hear me.
So much for cavalry.
"AHA!" I thought to myself "Just slide my shoulders through the rungs and slide the ladder down off of me like a skirt!". However, I soon found out that the...ahem...sturdiness of my shoulder means they do NOT fit through the rungs.
Then I start to panic just a little (ok, not panic, but get a bit concerned!). I have my head stuck through a ladder, my arms are too weak to lift it, and no one can hear me. My frame is strong enough to hold the ladder at the moment, but for how long? Do I need to flag down a passing motorist? Would YOU stop for a woman waving wildly wearing a 20' ladder around her neck like an accessorizing gone horribly awry?
I mull my options as my shoulders start to ache. I mean....can someone DIE this way? How long can I stand there? Should I sit? What if I cannot get back up??
I figured I would have to walk to TWS to get his help. But there is no easy way to get to him. My truck is between him and me and I do not want to accidentally hit my truck with this ridiculous piece of paint splattered bling. So that means I would have to walk off the property, down the street, and back up into the other side of our circular drive way, again the view of neighbors and motorists. What would YOU think if you saw this dreadful living see-saw ambling down the side of the road? Yeah. Well at least if someone called the cops, they might be able to get this blasted thing off my head.
I actually would have paid to see that happen...to see the police show up and extricate me from this ladder. They could also call the fire department...they know about ladders, right? Maybe I could get on the local news (we have a REALLY small town) "Local woman attacked by her own ladder! Chaos at the scene! The fire department worked frantically to rescue a woman from her own ladder which apparently turned on her as she was trying to transport it. After several tense minutes of uncontrolled guffawing, the ladder was tranquilized and removed from the woman's shoulders. The woman was taken to a local Ace Hardware as a safety precaution and was later released. Officials will not release the name of the woman, but c'mon, how many cross eyed, headcovering women do we see around here? She's the one who had those blue underarms that one time...".
Ok, so in the end, the police did not have to be called. The neighbors did not have a chance to laugh, and I did not get on the 6 o'clock news. It occurred to me that I might take the ladder off like a sweater instead of a skirt, and ducked my head until it slid off of my shoulders. Sweet Success!
(btw, I have not been on that ladder since. I am tired of painting. And it is raining, so I just play Bejeweled Twist all day instead.)
:)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Mt Redoubt Eruption Tracking
My beautiful sisters in Christ!
For those of you who are homeschooling OR are just interested, we have a volcano in Alaska that is about to blow. It is Mt. Redoubt. Here are some very interesting links that you can click on to watch the show. They are not sure when it is going to blow, but it is VERY active right now. The glaciers on the mountain are melting and getting larger holes in them.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt - CI
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt%20-%20Hut
http://twitter.com/alaska_avo
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webicorders/webicorder.php?volcname=Redoubt
The last shows the seismograph of the area with LOTS of activity. you read it left to right, just like a book. Each vertical line marks one minute (30 minutes across the graph). It is UTC time, not alaska time, so this is current, but it looks like it is from tonight.
(BTW, this is far from me! We are not in its path.)
Thougt it might be neat to track! Volcanoes are one of my fav things. I was in the NW when Mt. St Helens blew. I was a child and I remember it being black as night at 3 pm in the afternoon. The next day ash was everywhere, and everything was so very still. No wind, no birds singing, just still and grey.
We were to stay inside as much as possible because the ash is bad for the lungs. School was cancelled. You had to wear a mask when you went outside. I was young but remember being so worried about my mom and uncle who were outside trying to shovel the ash. I carried a little bottle of the ash on a necklace around my neck for a long time. It was fine and soft as flour.
~smile~ When I was young, I was very concerned about forces of nature (still am passionate about studying them and preparing for them). Mom said that I had asked if there were volcanoes or tornadoes in Washington State before we moved there. She assured me that there wasn't, but we ended up having BOTH! She did not realize that two extremely rare events would occur!
I have been through many natural disasters in my life. Let me take this moment to strongly encourage you to consider what disasters can occur in your area and prepare for them. It is not unreasonable to prepare, AS LONG AS you put your FAITH in the Lord, not your preparations (something that is very easy to miss doing!). If the Lord has provided for you, consider putting some by so that you can be a blessing to your family AND those who could not prepare. You will have the opportunity to show the grace of the Lord if you can help others during a disaster, as opposed to requiring others to help you. :)
Pray about it and see what the Lord says. Do NOT stress or be anxious. It is like house insurance--you do not quake in fear that your house is going to burn down, or get hit by a tornado, but you carry insurance just in case.
Being prepared with food, medicine, warm clothing, battery operated lights (or solar lights for those of you who actually HAVE sun during the year hee hee!), safe heating and alternate cooking supplies will just be some "insurance", not your lifeline. The Lord is our lifeline :-) Preparations and knowledge are the blessings He gives to help us.
God Bless you all! :-)
For those of you who are homeschooling OR are just interested, we have a volcano in Alaska that is about to blow. It is Mt. Redoubt. Here are some very interesting links that you can click on to watch the show. They are not sure when it is going to blow, but it is VERY active right now. The glaciers on the mountain are melting and getting larger holes in them.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt - CI
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam.php?cam=Redoubt%20-%20Hut
http://twitter.com/alaska_avo
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webicorders/webicorder.php?volcname=Redoubt
The last shows the seismograph of the area with LOTS of activity. you read it left to right, just like a book. Each vertical line marks one minute (30 minutes across the graph). It is UTC time, not alaska time, so this is current, but it looks like it is from tonight.
(BTW, this is far from me! We are not in its path.)
Thougt it might be neat to track! Volcanoes are one of my fav things. I was in the NW when Mt. St Helens blew. I was a child and I remember it being black as night at 3 pm in the afternoon. The next day ash was everywhere, and everything was so very still. No wind, no birds singing, just still and grey.
We were to stay inside as much as possible because the ash is bad for the lungs. School was cancelled. You had to wear a mask when you went outside. I was young but remember being so worried about my mom and uncle who were outside trying to shovel the ash. I carried a little bottle of the ash on a necklace around my neck for a long time. It was fine and soft as flour.
~smile~ When I was young, I was very concerned about forces of nature (still am passionate about studying them and preparing for them). Mom said that I had asked if there were volcanoes or tornadoes in Washington State before we moved there. She assured me that there wasn't, but we ended up having BOTH! She did not realize that two extremely rare events would occur!
I have been through many natural disasters in my life. Let me take this moment to strongly encourage you to consider what disasters can occur in your area and prepare for them. It is not unreasonable to prepare, AS LONG AS you put your FAITH in the Lord, not your preparations (something that is very easy to miss doing!). If the Lord has provided for you, consider putting some by so that you can be a blessing to your family AND those who could not prepare. You will have the opportunity to show the grace of the Lord if you can help others during a disaster, as opposed to requiring others to help you. :)
Pray about it and see what the Lord says. Do NOT stress or be anxious. It is like house insurance--you do not quake in fear that your house is going to burn down, or get hit by a tornado, but you carry insurance just in case.
Being prepared with food, medicine, warm clothing, battery operated lights (or solar lights for those of you who actually HAVE sun during the year hee hee!), safe heating and alternate cooking supplies will just be some "insurance", not your lifeline. The Lord is our lifeline :-) Preparations and knowledge are the blessings He gives to help us.
God Bless you all! :-)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Alaska Weather
My BEAUTIFUL sisters in Christ!
Well, I guess with me it is feast or famine...after so long of posting nothing, I have so much I want to talk to you about!
This post is going to be about the recent cold weather in Alaska. Did I say cold? I mean SERIOUSLY cold. I have not gone to town in about two weeks (except to take the folks to the airport). Our coldest was -56 (or somewhere around there) and the warmest has been about -35.
What can you do at those temps? Ummm....Well you can do the "tourist tricks" for one! You can take a cup of HOT coffee (make it as hot as you want) and toss it up in the air. It will "POOF!" freeze and blow away in a cloud of frozen vapor BEFORE it hits the ground. No, seriously!
You can also take a balloon filled with air outside and poke it with a fork and it will stay inflated. You have to do this quickly, because if you wait too long, the air in the balloon condenses and makes it hard to stick a fork in. If you take it back inside, it will just sort of deflate. At no time will it "pop". OH and you can make pretty designs on the balloon itself by lightly pressing your finger tip on it--it makes little star bursts in the latex itself.
You can also chip ice away from the INSIDE of the triple paned windows. You can drive on square tires (your tires get frozen when you park, and when you drive, you can feel the "cathunk, cathunk" of flat sided tires until they warm up and round out). You can freeze a thermometer (I thought we just had a warm spot in our yard, but apparently the thermometer had frozen up....some how that just seems so ironic to me!).
We have something called "ice fog"--it can get incredibly thick and very dangerous. Remember the hot coffee tourist trick I mentioned? Same sort of thing, but this does not blow away. It is made from car exhaust, exhaust from chimneys, etc. The air get so still and so cold, that all that moisture from the exhaust just stays there, near the ground, and builds the more cars that drive. It sure makes the sky pretty though! It diffuses the sun so the sun looks HUGE, and also makes everything have a very soft edge. The scenery is painted in a pale blue light, with hints of pink and yellow and lavender. It is pretty amazing looking.
Here is a link to a webcam that is in Fairbanks where they have a LOT of ice fog. If you look in the next couple of days, you should be able to see it, though they are supposed to be getting warmer temps at some point. http://www.newsminer.com/arcticcam/
We do not have very much daylight yet, so it is hard to catch when it is light there. But if you can see it, it will be one of the coldest looking views you might have ever seen!
It is too cold to snow, btw. I have never lived anywhere where it had to WARM UP to snow. That is still just weird to me! hee hee!
That's it for the Alaska weather report! Stay tuned to this station 4 months from now when we will still have snow and ice (though hopefully not be on the wrong side of zero degrees!)!
Well, I guess with me it is feast or famine...after so long of posting nothing, I have so much I want to talk to you about!
This post is going to be about the recent cold weather in Alaska. Did I say cold? I mean SERIOUSLY cold. I have not gone to town in about two weeks (except to take the folks to the airport). Our coldest was -56 (or somewhere around there) and the warmest has been about -35.
What can you do at those temps? Ummm....Well you can do the "tourist tricks" for one! You can take a cup of HOT coffee (make it as hot as you want) and toss it up in the air. It will "POOF!" freeze and blow away in a cloud of frozen vapor BEFORE it hits the ground. No, seriously!
You can also take a balloon filled with air outside and poke it with a fork and it will stay inflated. You have to do this quickly, because if you wait too long, the air in the balloon condenses and makes it hard to stick a fork in. If you take it back inside, it will just sort of deflate. At no time will it "pop". OH and you can make pretty designs on the balloon itself by lightly pressing your finger tip on it--it makes little star bursts in the latex itself.
You can also chip ice away from the INSIDE of the triple paned windows. You can drive on square tires (your tires get frozen when you park, and when you drive, you can feel the "cathunk, cathunk" of flat sided tires until they warm up and round out). You can freeze a thermometer (I thought we just had a warm spot in our yard, but apparently the thermometer had frozen up....some how that just seems so ironic to me!).
We have something called "ice fog"--it can get incredibly thick and very dangerous. Remember the hot coffee tourist trick I mentioned? Same sort of thing, but this does not blow away. It is made from car exhaust, exhaust from chimneys, etc. The air get so still and so cold, that all that moisture from the exhaust just stays there, near the ground, and builds the more cars that drive. It sure makes the sky pretty though! It diffuses the sun so the sun looks HUGE, and also makes everything have a very soft edge. The scenery is painted in a pale blue light, with hints of pink and yellow and lavender. It is pretty amazing looking.
Here is a link to a webcam that is in Fairbanks where they have a LOT of ice fog. If you look in the next couple of days, you should be able to see it, though they are supposed to be getting warmer temps at some point. http://www.newsminer.com/arcticcam/
We do not have very much daylight yet, so it is hard to catch when it is light there. But if you can see it, it will be one of the coldest looking views you might have ever seen!
It is too cold to snow, btw. I have never lived anywhere where it had to WARM UP to snow. That is still just weird to me! hee hee!
That's it for the Alaska weather report! Stay tuned to this station 4 months from now when we will still have snow and ice (though hopefully not be on the wrong side of zero degrees!)!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
APRONS!
My beautiful sisters!
I FINALLY got pictures taken of the aprons I made for the bazaar! (Actually these pictures are the ones I brought home--I sold out of other patterns I had brought).
I got out TWS's light box thing. I must say that it was a bear to set up! I would have liked a LOT more light, but this will do for now :-). I would love a plexi set up where the walls of the box are actually brightly lit. Sounds like a job for Super Sweetie!
I am not trying to brag, but I REALLY love these aprons. I have two that I have kept (plus one for Precious) and they just always look nice. I can throw them in the washer and dryer with anything (no special washing) and they come out looking beautiful! I feel very pretty in them when I am cooking or scrubbing out the bathroom or whatever :-).
This is the size of the adult aprons. That is me, but I had not done my hair, so I did not let Precious take a picture of my head hee hee!
Here is Precious modeling the little girl's aprons. She is tiny, but the aprons are tinier!
Here are some adult aprons
I FINALLY got pictures taken of the aprons I made for the bazaar! (Actually these pictures are the ones I brought home--I sold out of other patterns I had brought).
I got out TWS's light box thing. I must say that it was a bear to set up! I would have liked a LOT more light, but this will do for now :-). I would love a plexi set up where the walls of the box are actually brightly lit. Sounds like a job for Super Sweetie!
I am not trying to brag, but I REALLY love these aprons. I have two that I have kept (plus one for Precious) and they just always look nice. I can throw them in the washer and dryer with anything (no special washing) and they come out looking beautiful! I feel very pretty in them when I am cooking or scrubbing out the bathroom or whatever :-).
This is the size of the adult aprons. That is me, but I had not done my hair, so I did not let Precious take a picture of my head hee hee!
Here is Precious modeling the little girl's aprons. She is tiny, but the aprons are tinier!
Here are some adult aprons
More adult aprons
Here are the little girl aprons.
They sold very well at the bazaar. I definitely cannot complain! The hardest thing was convincing customers that these were to WEAR EVERY DAY to keep their clothing clean :-).
Here are the little girl aprons.
They sold very well at the bazaar. I definitely cannot complain! The hardest thing was convincing customers that these were to WEAR EVERY DAY to keep their clothing clean :-).
I am grateful to the Lord for how much ended up selling! It makes you feel good to know that people like what you have made.
I also brought soap, as my one loyal customer convinced me to. That also sold well! I will post pictures of the soap in the next entry. I sold more with the aprons and the soap than I used to with soap and other things (milk bath, bath fizzies, etc), and it was a LOT less work.
Did I tell you that Precious made earrings to sell at the bazaar? She used sculpey clay and baked it and made adorable earrings which she sold for a dollar a pair. I think she must have taken over 70 pairs to the bazaar! (She hand lettered a sign in crayon and put each pair in a little baggie and everything. She was ready for the bazaar DAYS before I was!) I praise the Lord for His kindness to her! At first she was not selling anything--just one pair--and she was SO upset. We had a talk, and I prayed that the Lord would allow her to sell more, and suddenly she was swamped! She ended up making about $40!!
Anyway, thank you for your prayers and well wishes for the bazaar! It was a blast and I kinda wish I had made more aprons and signed up for another bazaar. The season here is short. This bazaar was a great one--low table fee and pretty well visited. There are other bigger ones that I would have liked to have tried as well just for grins. Maybe next year!
God bless you my sisters in the Lord!
PS, the formatting on this post is atrocious, but I cannot figure out how to fix it! The top photo is supposed to include my other arm AND there are supposed to be spaces between the paragraphs! Sorry about that!
Monday, September 29, 2008
A note....
My wonderful sisters, given to me in grace.....
You know, I seem to follow deep posts with lighter ones. :-)
You may not know that I do not have any biological sisters. I have a brother (whom I love DEARLY...he is definitely the golden son of the family :-) ). But I sort of have had a little desire to have a sister, especially in these later years.
But then I realized that I HAVE sisters. I have sisters in Christ. Now, to many, that is just words "Brother Joe and Sister Sue". But to me, those are NOT just words. To me, that is a promise, a blessing. I have sisters! I have many sisters!
I have Sisters in Christ who are also related to me in some way (Jeninlaw, Colastie, Precious Heart, among others). I have Sisters in Christ who are also friends of my heart. And I have Sisters in Christ whom I have never met, but who I still ponder and consider and pray for.
That makes me happy :-).
I made an incredible recipe the other day out of a cookbook called "Just 4 Things". I got it from Jo Anns (for some reason, craft stores seem to have great cookbooks that are cheap and colorful--my kinda cookbook!). It was a roast that used a lot of onions and then a Guinness Stout and cooked for hours. I used an arm roast, which is pretty tough I think normally (as far as I know it is anyway....i am SO bad about knowing which meat cut is good!). But this recipe made it literally melt in your mouth. It was altogether pleasant!
I am eager to get this book-type thing about anxiety disorders (OCD, panic disorder, and chronic anxiety disorder, etc) set up. I am going to try to get copies printed, but I also want to put everything on the web. The Lord healed me for free, and I want to provide the information He gave me for free to others. I am not sure if a website or a blog is better. I am not sure if it is better if I restrict it to those who pm me first OR if I should just leave it out in public. I am not sure if I should just have the website with no posting, or if I should have a forum as well (forums can be pretty touchy.). I have no idea how the best way is to present this information, and would gladly take input if anyone has a suggestion.
We got our first snow this weekend. Not enough to play in, but enough to let us know that winter is here :-). I am excited about building fires in the woodstove. I really love that! We homeschool in that room, and my sewing machine is there, so it is all tucked in and cozy, a room for the most blessed of homemaking and home keeping and home experiencing. I just need a (very small) loveseat to go in there because we do not have any really comfortable seating except a rocking chair.
Please pray for Colastie and The Colonel as they travel to get more tests done on Colastie. The Lord has been working in our lives with Colastie's illness for years, and the blessings have been too numerous to count! Please pray that He will continue to give her improving health for many years to come!
I cannot wait to try my tomatoes that we finished inside. I have some tiny transparent yellow ones, some very green (they are supposed to be green!) ones, a dark burgundy one, and a few red ones that are not smooth, but are sort of ...... can't describe it. Kind of pleated looking.
OH! And I went out and dug up potatoes! I use potatoes as bedding plants because they are cheap and big lol. Frankly I was about out of giggles for how un-summerlike this summer was, but TWS told me that I needed to go dig up the potatoes and see what there was. Yeah well....sigh....
So one evening, he dug up a few and he got several potatoes! Then i knew I was not getting out of this without me getting in there and digging up a few. So the other day I dug up as many as I could. WOWOWOWOOWOWOOWOW! What a bountiful harvest of yukon gold and purple potatoes! And digging for them was actually kinda fun :-). It was like a treasure hunt. Now, when you plant a potato, at least up here, the one you plant sometimes just turns into icky goo....ugh. So it was a high stakes treasure hunt--would I find a little purple gem? A bit of yukon gold? Or gooey toxic slime? I wore gloves lolol.
Mostly the dirt did not stick to the potatoes, so when you unearthed them, they looked so pretty! It was really a blessing. Now I have no idea what to do with them! I do not like mashed potatoes, and these are too small to cut into french fries. But I think I am going to dice them and oven roast them...the family likes that :-).
Ok, my dear sisters, it is time for me to get BUSY. I have some sewing to do! OH that reminds me! Many years ago I used to make and sell soaps, milk bath, bath salts, etc at bazaars around here. I dressed up in costume (the one I wore to the Victorian tea). It was fun but hard work. Up here there is a really independent spirit, plus not a lot of turn over in people. So after the novelty of you wears off, the same people who go to the same bazaars know what you sell and may not come by the table to see if you have anything new. We stopped doing this a couple of years ago. Just was not worth the hassel of doing the bazaars.
BUT I have one customer who has been faithful all these years. Her husband, apparently, does not want to use any soap but the one I make (it is REALLY REALLY moisturizing. I mean REALLY). So a couple times during the year, she buys whole batches of soap from me. :-). She just recently got a couple of other people buying the soap as well! I had also mentioned to her on the phone that I was going to do a bazaar. When I delivered the soap to her she was SO excited! She said "If you don't mind, I want to volunteer to sell the soap for you at the bazaar!". She had told lots of people that that was her plan! I felt so bad when I said "Ummm.....I am not selling soap at the bazaar, I am selling aprons.". She looked stunned! I said "But you are my only customer!". We had a good chuckle about that, and she informed me that I do not do a good job of selling my soap and that she needs to sell it for me because I am too modest about it, but she has no problem gushing over it to other people--she cracks me up! :-)
SO....it looks like I might be selling aprons at one end of the table and making soap for her to sell at the other end! She has so much energy, it will be a blast to have her keeping me company :-).
So I need to get to sewing the aprons. I am really excited about them because I have not seen anything similar, even online! We will see how they go at the bazaar! If they do not sell, people can expect a lot of aprons at Christmas lolol. :-).
You know, I seem to follow deep posts with lighter ones. :-)
You may not know that I do not have any biological sisters. I have a brother (whom I love DEARLY...he is definitely the golden son of the family :-) ). But I sort of have had a little desire to have a sister, especially in these later years.
But then I realized that I HAVE sisters. I have sisters in Christ. Now, to many, that is just words "Brother Joe and Sister Sue". But to me, those are NOT just words. To me, that is a promise, a blessing. I have sisters! I have many sisters!
I have Sisters in Christ who are also related to me in some way (Jeninlaw, Colastie, Precious Heart, among others). I have Sisters in Christ who are also friends of my heart. And I have Sisters in Christ whom I have never met, but who I still ponder and consider and pray for.
That makes me happy :-).
I made an incredible recipe the other day out of a cookbook called "Just 4 Things". I got it from Jo Anns (for some reason, craft stores seem to have great cookbooks that are cheap and colorful--my kinda cookbook!). It was a roast that used a lot of onions and then a Guinness Stout and cooked for hours. I used an arm roast, which is pretty tough I think normally (as far as I know it is anyway....i am SO bad about knowing which meat cut is good!). But this recipe made it literally melt in your mouth. It was altogether pleasant!
I am eager to get this book-type thing about anxiety disorders (OCD, panic disorder, and chronic anxiety disorder, etc) set up. I am going to try to get copies printed, but I also want to put everything on the web. The Lord healed me for free, and I want to provide the information He gave me for free to others. I am not sure if a website or a blog is better. I am not sure if it is better if I restrict it to those who pm me first OR if I should just leave it out in public. I am not sure if I should just have the website with no posting, or if I should have a forum as well (forums can be pretty touchy.). I have no idea how the best way is to present this information, and would gladly take input if anyone has a suggestion.
We got our first snow this weekend. Not enough to play in, but enough to let us know that winter is here :-). I am excited about building fires in the woodstove. I really love that! We homeschool in that room, and my sewing machine is there, so it is all tucked in and cozy, a room for the most blessed of homemaking and home keeping and home experiencing. I just need a (very small) loveseat to go in there because we do not have any really comfortable seating except a rocking chair.
Please pray for Colastie and The Colonel as they travel to get more tests done on Colastie. The Lord has been working in our lives with Colastie's illness for years, and the blessings have been too numerous to count! Please pray that He will continue to give her improving health for many years to come!
I cannot wait to try my tomatoes that we finished inside. I have some tiny transparent yellow ones, some very green (they are supposed to be green!) ones, a dark burgundy one, and a few red ones that are not smooth, but are sort of ...... can't describe it. Kind of pleated looking.
OH! And I went out and dug up potatoes! I use potatoes as bedding plants because they are cheap and big lol. Frankly I was about out of giggles for how un-summerlike this summer was, but TWS told me that I needed to go dig up the potatoes and see what there was. Yeah well....sigh....
So one evening, he dug up a few and he got several potatoes! Then i knew I was not getting out of this without me getting in there and digging up a few. So the other day I dug up as many as I could. WOWOWOWOOWOWOOWOW! What a bountiful harvest of yukon gold and purple potatoes! And digging for them was actually kinda fun :-). It was like a treasure hunt. Now, when you plant a potato, at least up here, the one you plant sometimes just turns into icky goo....ugh. So it was a high stakes treasure hunt--would I find a little purple gem? A bit of yukon gold? Or gooey toxic slime? I wore gloves lolol.
Mostly the dirt did not stick to the potatoes, so when you unearthed them, they looked so pretty! It was really a blessing. Now I have no idea what to do with them! I do not like mashed potatoes, and these are too small to cut into french fries. But I think I am going to dice them and oven roast them...the family likes that :-).
Ok, my dear sisters, it is time for me to get BUSY. I have some sewing to do! OH that reminds me! Many years ago I used to make and sell soaps, milk bath, bath salts, etc at bazaars around here. I dressed up in costume (the one I wore to the Victorian tea). It was fun but hard work. Up here there is a really independent spirit, plus not a lot of turn over in people. So after the novelty of you wears off, the same people who go to the same bazaars know what you sell and may not come by the table to see if you have anything new. We stopped doing this a couple of years ago. Just was not worth the hassel of doing the bazaars.
BUT I have one customer who has been faithful all these years. Her husband, apparently, does not want to use any soap but the one I make (it is REALLY REALLY moisturizing. I mean REALLY). So a couple times during the year, she buys whole batches of soap from me. :-). She just recently got a couple of other people buying the soap as well! I had also mentioned to her on the phone that I was going to do a bazaar. When I delivered the soap to her she was SO excited! She said "If you don't mind, I want to volunteer to sell the soap for you at the bazaar!". She had told lots of people that that was her plan! I felt so bad when I said "Ummm.....I am not selling soap at the bazaar, I am selling aprons.". She looked stunned! I said "But you are my only customer!". We had a good chuckle about that, and she informed me that I do not do a good job of selling my soap and that she needs to sell it for me because I am too modest about it, but she has no problem gushing over it to other people--she cracks me up! :-)
SO....it looks like I might be selling aprons at one end of the table and making soap for her to sell at the other end! She has so much energy, it will be a blast to have her keeping me company :-).
So I need to get to sewing the aprons. I am really excited about them because I have not seen anything similar, even online! We will see how they go at the bazaar! If they do not sell, people can expect a lot of aprons at Christmas lolol. :-).
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
More pictures from yesterday...
My beautiful graceful sisters!
Here are some more pictures from yesterday~
Heavy-laden sky
Have a blessed day my sisters!
Here are some more pictures from yesterday~
Heavy-laden sky
Have a blessed day my sisters!
The Lord's majesty in autumn
My beautiful, wonderful sisters!!!
Auumn is HERE in Alaska. The leaves are falling like snow (making my kitty crazy!), and yesterday looked like a good day to take some pictures to show y'all. I am working on finding contentment and peace where I am, when I am, how I am, and this is part of it...by recognizing the glory of God all around me!
I wish these pictures had come out just a little bit better....I cannot describe the golden color here. When the sun is out, especially, it looks like you are walking in the heart of the sun, as everything is positively glowing with gold light. Even the white fence and trim of the house looks luminescent! Unfortunately, my camera skills are not adequate enough to show how truly beautiful it looks, but at least here is an idea :)
Spruce and paperbark birch
Auumn is HERE in Alaska. The leaves are falling like snow (making my kitty crazy!), and yesterday looked like a good day to take some pictures to show y'all. I am working on finding contentment and peace where I am, when I am, how I am, and this is part of it...by recognizing the glory of God all around me!
I wish these pictures had come out just a little bit better....I cannot describe the golden color here. When the sun is out, especially, it looks like you are walking in the heart of the sun, as everything is positively glowing with gold light. Even the white fence and trim of the house looks luminescent! Unfortunately, my camera skills are not adequate enough to show how truly beautiful it looks, but at least here is an idea :)
Spruce and paperbark birch
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Random thoughts...
My beautiful Sisters in Christ!
We all have times in our lives where time seems to be creeping at a snail's pace, the sky is grey, the routine is blah....what do you do when that happens?
There are times where life is not bad at all, it is just very....plain. Which is DEFINITELY good in many ways! But sometimes we just get that feeling like after we have taken a nap too late in the afternoon--kinda groggy.
I must admit, I am having one of those days :-). The week has been a rather stressful in some ways, but has been a blessing in others. TWS has been working dreadful hours, but I am grateful that he is working! Our fuel oil and gas are unutterably expensive, but our legislature just passed an emergency fuel bill that will give each person who is eligible for the PFD a check for $1200!!! What a mercy from God!
It is just sort of a slow day, and I feel a bit like I am waiting for a bus after traveling for many days--kinda weary, kinda restless. :-)
I have been following the Russia/Georgia mess online. I am amazed, and sorrowed, that the affair of a political person takes precedence over a potentially explosive situation. I wonder what our society is THINKING. On foxnews.com, their top story is a group of peafowl (peacocks) that are bugging an affluent Florida neighborhood. I just must wonder why this is such a big news topic as opposed to the conflict that might spill over into something bigger.
Ah, let's think of something else for a bit! I made homemade pasta today. I used flour, powdered eggs, salt, and water. I have a pasta rolling machine, but to be honest I have never really been able to make that work. The other day, however, I found a simple little pasta cutter with about 6 cutting blades set close together. I just roll out the dough and then roll that cutter through it. I READ that some Italian mothers placed a clean sheet on the bedspread and spread the pasta on there to dry.....I just used a wire rack. I am not sure how I would explain raw pasta on the bed.
I have been training the cat....this one
He is such a goof ball. He likes to be on his back more than any cat I have ever seen!!! He will go to sleep if you cradle him like a baby! And he gets grouchy if you try to actually click the mouse instead of petting him to sleep with BOTH hands...what a maroon! :-)
We all have times in our lives where time seems to be creeping at a snail's pace, the sky is grey, the routine is blah....what do you do when that happens?
There are times where life is not bad at all, it is just very....plain. Which is DEFINITELY good in many ways! But sometimes we just get that feeling like after we have taken a nap too late in the afternoon--kinda groggy.
I must admit, I am having one of those days :-). The week has been a rather stressful in some ways, but has been a blessing in others. TWS has been working dreadful hours, but I am grateful that he is working! Our fuel oil and gas are unutterably expensive, but our legislature just passed an emergency fuel bill that will give each person who is eligible for the PFD a check for $1200!!! What a mercy from God!
It is just sort of a slow day, and I feel a bit like I am waiting for a bus after traveling for many days--kinda weary, kinda restless. :-)
I have been following the Russia/Georgia mess online. I am amazed, and sorrowed, that the affair of a political person takes precedence over a potentially explosive situation. I wonder what our society is THINKING. On foxnews.com, their top story is a group of peafowl (peacocks) that are bugging an affluent Florida neighborhood. I just must wonder why this is such a big news topic as opposed to the conflict that might spill over into something bigger.
Ah, let's think of something else for a bit! I made homemade pasta today. I used flour, powdered eggs, salt, and water. I have a pasta rolling machine, but to be honest I have never really been able to make that work. The other day, however, I found a simple little pasta cutter with about 6 cutting blades set close together. I just roll out the dough and then roll that cutter through it. I READ that some Italian mothers placed a clean sheet on the bedspread and spread the pasta on there to dry.....I just used a wire rack. I am not sure how I would explain raw pasta on the bed.
I have been training the cat....this one
He is such a goof ball. He likes to be on his back more than any cat I have ever seen!!! He will go to sleep if you cradle him like a baby! And he gets grouchy if you try to actually click the mouse instead of petting him to sleep with BOTH hands...what a maroon! :-)
Anyway, this cat has one REALLY bad habit (well besides his ambush attacks on bare ankles, and his occasion "Kitty from above!" jump to tag your shoulder)...he likes to bolt outside of the door. He is an indoor kitty--it is really too cold here for him to be an outdoor kitty, plus I like having an indoor cat. He is getting bolder in his runs out the door--he used to stop right on the porch, but now he is tearing around under the deck. (though last time he escaped, it was during the recent rain. He is not fond of water, and ran right into a puddle that was up to his ankles! He just stood there immoble, probably thinking "Oh NO! What do I do now, everything is WET!". lol)
He is VERY hard to catch when he does that, so I knew it was time to train him like I trained the other cats we have had. I would give them wet cat food when I say "Heeeerrreee kittykittykittykitTEE". They learned to come IMMEDIATELY when called, which has saved us from many a lost cat, and has made it so I do not have to try to fish them out from behind some piece of furniture. Last night I started his training and he picked up QUICK! So now maybe he will not run off if he gets out. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who has a cat or a dog--a special call that they think means the very best of treats. (frankly *I* would come running if someone waved a donut and called "HEEEERRREE SparrowsparrowsparrOOOH!!")
Anyway, back to our original thoughts...what do you do when you are having a grey day? Nothing is wrong, blessings are abounding, but you just feel a bit restless and unmotivated at the same time? :-)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
A Chickadeeee Emergenceeee
Hello Beautiful Sisters!
Yesterday we had a chickadee emergency!
Little man heard a commotion in the woodstove, and we found a black capped chickadee!
Chickadees are one of my favorite birds. They hang out with us all winter, are not that scared of humans (especially if there is food around), and are generally to adorable for words....
Unless they are covered with ashes and soot and I have to try to wrangle them out of the house. Then they are less cute :).
We have had at least three birds in our house since we have been here. Last time I tried to fish a chickadee out of the woodstove, it escaped into my house. Picture two kids and one mom trying to guide a frantic featherduster through either of two doors. You ever try to herd a bird? They are a lot less cooperative than herding, say, two year olds or cats or something....
So my goal was to try to get the bird out of the woodstove in some sort of container.
I needed a net, but I did not have one handy, except for the one we use for the fishtank. I figure odds of me actually getting the bird in a net that size without it escaping into the house was like.....nil.
So I figured that I would try to get a big black trash bag and open the door to the woodstove VVEERRYY carefully and see if I could get it in the bag, close it tight, and get it to the front door without it escaping.
Though my wrist is the skinniest part of me, it is still bigger than the bird. So if I try to sneak my hand in, there are plenty of holes for that little bugger to fly out of and they are ALL face level--my face. Plus, because I would be essentially pinning my own arm in a giant cast iron box, I would be helpless (and probably would squish my arm trying to slam the door back). I could just picture myself hollering and flailing while the kids scream and the bird panics. That image was SO rich in my imagination that I spent many minutes yesterday afternoon in "paralysis by analysis"--unable to actually do what needed to be done.
Now, let me say this. I am not afraid of birds at all. Not in the least. But you know what it is like when a tiny little flying thing comes RIGHT at your face....you are GOING to holler and swat. And then try to chase the thing all through the house. So I was REALLY trying to avoid that.
OH Did I mention the CAT? Yes, my "no-peripheral-vision, falls-off-the-couch-when-he-stretches, runs-into-walls-because-he-looks-backwards-when-he-runs, situationally-unaware" cat caught the tiniest bit of movement in the smoked glass (I bet the bird was a lot more thankful to be IN the woodstove at that moment!). The cat saw the bird in the glass, then walked BEHIND the woodstove to see if he could outflank the bugger before we shoved him in the bedroom and shut the door.
Ok, so plan "A" was to get the black trashbag around enough of the woodstove door so that the bird could not escape, and then wait for him to say "Oh, big black noisy hole that seems to be collapsing.....maybe that is my way out" and duck in the bag. (you know, it seemed a lot more reasonable at the time). Precious' job was to hold the top right corner of the bag against the stove AND to record the event on her camera, Little Man's job was to hold the bottom right of the bag against the stove AND shine the light in the woodstove, and my job was to press the bag against the left side of the stove, open the door, and try to look like I knew what I was doing.
Problem: bag was WAY too small for the opening, the children are positively BRILLIANT, but not terribly coordinated, and the bird is not stupid. No, the bird did not escape (through any of the holes that we left gaping around the edge of the bag), but he also did not cooperate. Time to shut the door and regroup.
Regrouping involved a terribly ridiculous idea of me just reaching in there and grabbing him while Little Man directed my actions (he was the only one with a flashlight, and I could not see in because of the way I had to sit to get into the door). Yeah, yeah...I know. However, this idea DID afford me the opportunity to look positively heroic in Precious' eyes. She kept saying "WOW mom, you are so brave!". (Quandry: do I confess that I have my own personal Alfred Hitchcock moment lodged firmly in my brain, which is why I have not actually TRIED to grab the bird? Or do I just nod with a serene, humble-yet-wisdom-of-the-ages smile?)
While regrouping, we discovered that the bird would fly part way up the flue. I figured that if we could be REALLY quick, we could put the bag UNDER the flue when he did that so he would fall into the bag. We called this "Plan B" and were quite proud of ourselves of coming up with TWO (wholly useless) plans.
Wonder Sweetie called when my right arm was deep in the bowels of the woodstove. After I extricated myself, he mentioned that he has BIGGER black bags (drum liners) in the garage. EXCELLENT. As I walk in with my newly acquired SUPER big black bag, I hear Precious hollering from downstairs at the top of her lungs "PLAN B! PLAN B!". I raced downstairs, but was too late to implement Plan B--the chickadee had come back out of the flue.
Anyway, Wonder Sweetie saved the day...again. The drum liner actually fit over the WHOLE hole. Little Man and I managed to hold the edge of the bag around the outside of the hole. Then we waited. I tried to make the bag look more open by stretching it out, and Little Man kept peeking in with his flashlight to see where the bird was. Eventually we were rewarded with the sound of bird feet on plastic. The bird got dumb enough to explore the liner, and Little Man and I got the bag closed without much of a problem.
We let the bird go, then let the cat go. He went right down to the woodstove and actually put a paw on the handle trying to open it! (He has figured out that handles and doorknobs are the key to happiness. I thank the Lord that He did not give cats opposable thumbs!).
It's a good thing those little birds are cute! We might have had chickadee soup for supper!
The captive...
Still captive....
Yeah, Plan B is NOT going to work....
Wonder Sweetie saves the day!
Yesterday we had a chickadee emergency!
Little man heard a commotion in the woodstove, and we found a black capped chickadee!
Chickadees are one of my favorite birds. They hang out with us all winter, are not that scared of humans (especially if there is food around), and are generally to adorable for words....
Unless they are covered with ashes and soot and I have to try to wrangle them out of the house. Then they are less cute :).
We have had at least three birds in our house since we have been here. Last time I tried to fish a chickadee out of the woodstove, it escaped into my house. Picture two kids and one mom trying to guide a frantic featherduster through either of two doors. You ever try to herd a bird? They are a lot less cooperative than herding, say, two year olds or cats or something....
So my goal was to try to get the bird out of the woodstove in some sort of container.
I needed a net, but I did not have one handy, except for the one we use for the fishtank. I figure odds of me actually getting the bird in a net that size without it escaping into the house was like.....nil.
So I figured that I would try to get a big black trash bag and open the door to the woodstove VVEERRYY carefully and see if I could get it in the bag, close it tight, and get it to the front door without it escaping.
Though my wrist is the skinniest part of me, it is still bigger than the bird. So if I try to sneak my hand in, there are plenty of holes for that little bugger to fly out of and they are ALL face level--my face. Plus, because I would be essentially pinning my own arm in a giant cast iron box, I would be helpless (and probably would squish my arm trying to slam the door back). I could just picture myself hollering and flailing while the kids scream and the bird panics. That image was SO rich in my imagination that I spent many minutes yesterday afternoon in "paralysis by analysis"--unable to actually do what needed to be done.
Now, let me say this. I am not afraid of birds at all. Not in the least. But you know what it is like when a tiny little flying thing comes RIGHT at your face....you are GOING to holler and swat. And then try to chase the thing all through the house. So I was REALLY trying to avoid that.
OH Did I mention the CAT? Yes, my "no-peripheral-vision, falls-off-the-couch-when-he-stretches, runs-into-walls-because-he-looks-backwards-when-he-runs, situationally-unaware" cat caught the tiniest bit of movement in the smoked glass (I bet the bird was a lot more thankful to be IN the woodstove at that moment!). The cat saw the bird in the glass, then walked BEHIND the woodstove to see if he could outflank the bugger before we shoved him in the bedroom and shut the door.
Ok, so plan "A" was to get the black trashbag around enough of the woodstove door so that the bird could not escape, and then wait for him to say "Oh, big black noisy hole that seems to be collapsing.....maybe that is my way out" and duck in the bag. (you know, it seemed a lot more reasonable at the time). Precious' job was to hold the top right corner of the bag against the stove AND to record the event on her camera, Little Man's job was to hold the bottom right of the bag against the stove AND shine the light in the woodstove, and my job was to press the bag against the left side of the stove, open the door, and try to look like I knew what I was doing.
Problem: bag was WAY too small for the opening, the children are positively BRILLIANT, but not terribly coordinated, and the bird is not stupid. No, the bird did not escape (through any of the holes that we left gaping around the edge of the bag), but he also did not cooperate. Time to shut the door and regroup.
Regrouping involved a terribly ridiculous idea of me just reaching in there and grabbing him while Little Man directed my actions (he was the only one with a flashlight, and I could not see in because of the way I had to sit to get into the door). Yeah, yeah...I know. However, this idea DID afford me the opportunity to look positively heroic in Precious' eyes. She kept saying "WOW mom, you are so brave!". (Quandry: do I confess that I have my own personal Alfred Hitchcock moment lodged firmly in my brain, which is why I have not actually TRIED to grab the bird? Or do I just nod with a serene, humble-yet-wisdom-of-the-ages smile?)
While regrouping, we discovered that the bird would fly part way up the flue. I figured that if we could be REALLY quick, we could put the bag UNDER the flue when he did that so he would fall into the bag. We called this "Plan B" and were quite proud of ourselves of coming up with TWO (wholly useless) plans.
Wonder Sweetie called when my right arm was deep in the bowels of the woodstove. After I extricated myself, he mentioned that he has BIGGER black bags (drum liners) in the garage. EXCELLENT. As I walk in with my newly acquired SUPER big black bag, I hear Precious hollering from downstairs at the top of her lungs "PLAN B! PLAN B!". I raced downstairs, but was too late to implement Plan B--the chickadee had come back out of the flue.
Anyway, Wonder Sweetie saved the day...again. The drum liner actually fit over the WHOLE hole. Little Man and I managed to hold the edge of the bag around the outside of the hole. Then we waited. I tried to make the bag look more open by stretching it out, and Little Man kept peeking in with his flashlight to see where the bird was. Eventually we were rewarded with the sound of bird feet on plastic. The bird got dumb enough to explore the liner, and Little Man and I got the bag closed without much of a problem.
We let the bird go, then let the cat go. He went right down to the woodstove and actually put a paw on the handle trying to open it! (He has figured out that handles and doorknobs are the key to happiness. I thank the Lord that He did not give cats opposable thumbs!).
It's a good thing those little birds are cute! We might have had chickadee soup for supper!
The stove......
The captive...
Still captive....
Yeah, Plan B is NOT going to work....
Wonder Sweetie saves the day!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
What You Can Do In a Dress
I went dresses only several years ago. I cannot say how much I love it! I changed for Biblical reasons, but to be honest, it was not that hard--I think dresses are beautiful and uniquely feminine. While there are discussions on the whys and wherefores of "dresses only" regarding the Bible, here I just want to address the practicality of dresses only.
There used to be a wonderful feature on Ladies Against Feminism (one of my favorite sites) called "Through the week in feminine dress". It showed women going about their duties in dresses. I do not think it has been updated recently, so I thought I would share a few pictures of myself in dress showing how you can do pretty much anything in them.
BTW, people think that you have to wear pantyhose and pumps if you put on a dress--nothing could be further from the truth. You can think of a cotton skirt like a pair of capris or jeans, and wear whatever you might wear with those. I wear socks and boots, sandals, wellies, tennis shoes, whatever. I almost NEVER wear hose, though I do often wear long johns or bloomers if I think I might be doing something energetic.
You can.....
Work at the archery shop (the kids got to come with me!!)....
mush dogs....
teach archery lessons...
There used to be a wonderful feature on Ladies Against Feminism (one of my favorite sites) called "Through the week in feminine dress". It showed women going about their duties in dresses. I do not think it has been updated recently, so I thought I would share a few pictures of myself in dress showing how you can do pretty much anything in them.
BTW, people think that you have to wear pantyhose and pumps if you put on a dress--nothing could be further from the truth. You can think of a cotton skirt like a pair of capris or jeans, and wear whatever you might wear with those. I wear socks and boots, sandals, wellies, tennis shoes, whatever. I almost NEVER wear hose, though I do often wear long johns or bloomers if I think I might be doing something energetic.
You can.....
Work at the archery shop (the kids got to come with me!!)....
mush dogs....
teach archery lessons...
go fishing....
do yard work.....
go boating.....
ride horses.
I have put up fence at night at 30 below, carry wood, worked sled dog races, lounged on the beach in Florida in summer, hiked, painted the fence, everything. Anything that one could do in jeans, one can do in a skirt, the only consideration is getting the right length and width of skirt (riding horses requires more material than, say, mopping the floor).
Are skirts and dresses comfortable? I will be honest, I find them MUCH more comfortable than jeans, and I am not just saying that. I do not like feeling "bound" in the legs, the seat, or the belly. Skirts allow a greater freedom of movement. Also, skirts are warmer in the winter (because they keep the air that is warmed from your body trapped around your legs in the same manner that a blanket keeps the air warmed by your body trapped around you when you wrap up in one). I wear my skirts at minus 50 degrees F with nothing more than heavy duty silk long johns (from cabelas).
Skirts are also MUCH cooler in the summer than jeans, or even shorts! Your legs stay "in the shade" with a skirt on, as opposed to having the suns rays hit your legs. Plus, because summer skirts tend to be more light and airy, there is more airflow that can pass through and around your legs, so you stay MUCH cooler.
(I must say I have also been so thankful for full skirts when out watching, say, a soccer game, and was able to wrap my young children in the skirt to keep them warm as they sat at my feet!)
So, for practical reasons, there are few, if any, things that you cannot do safely in a skirt. They are just a blessing all over!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A Precious Heart
Beautiful Sisters....
What an evening this has been for me and my daughter....
While unloading dishes, I cut my thumb. Not life threatening but boy it stings! Following in the footsteps of the most stoic person I know, I wrapped my thumb in a paper towel to continue making supper. I kinda wanted sympathy of some sort (in the form of "Oh mom, we will finish unloading the dishes for you!"). However what I got was Precious not even looking away from the TV as she said "Well, don't bleed on the dishes". XSIGHX!!!!!!
What an evening this has been for me and my daughter....
While unloading dishes, I cut my thumb. Not life threatening but boy it stings! Following in the footsteps of the most stoic person I know, I wrapped my thumb in a paper towel to continue making supper. I kinda wanted sympathy of some sort (in the form of "Oh mom, we will finish unloading the dishes for you!"). However what I got was Precious not even looking away from the TV as she said "Well, don't bleed on the dishes". XSIGHX!!!!!!
However, after a phenomenal meal of a modified caprese salad (instructions above), I went to put up cherries that I had bought last week. They were on sale for either 4 or 6 dollar a lb (I cannot remember which--I either bought 4 lbs at $6 or 6 lbs at $4 a lb). Every day I have been trying to get around to putting up the cherries in the freezer, but as I mentioned previously, this week has been all about painting, celebrations, etc.
So this evening I went to put them up and found them moulded. I was BEYOND irritated, I was crushed. All that money wasted! I wanted to cry but couldn't. Wonder Sweetie tried to console me, but I would have none of it, tbh. I was frustrated at Alaska for the high prices, frustrated at how I want to be more productive in the garden, but have such little time due to our short growing season, frustrated with myself, frustrated with the store, just all over frustrated. The nobler part of me tried to remember that everything happens for a reason (which I do firmly believe) and that the Lord provides (which I know) but I was not having any logic either. I just wanted to be mad, and to have Wonder Sweetie breeze in and say "Oh I forgot to mention, we are moving somewhere in the south....".
I grumbled about the waste of that money out loud. Apparently Precious overheard me mention that the cherries were $20. After I put up the grapes (that were slightly less per lb, but still pricey, BUT did not mould), Precious handed me a homemade envelope "for the cherries". I opened it up...she gave me $20 from her own money!
Now, of course I could not take her money at all**, but I just thought that was so sweet. It also made me think of my irritation, my reaction, and that little pitchers have big ears (grin).
Now, of course I could not take her money at all**, but I just thought that was so sweet. It also made me think of my irritation, my reaction, and that little pitchers have big ears (grin).
I thank the Lord for the Precious Heart who lives in my house :-).
(**I know that she gave from the heart and I did not want her to think that her offering was being rejected, so I told her that instead of me taking her $20, that maybe she would just allow me not to pay her the $5 I owe her for her secretarial duties last week. She agreed, but I am still thinking of slipping her the $5 later...I do not want to dismiss her charity, and therefore damage her giving spirit, but I also do not want her to suffer for my lack of planning.)
(**I know that she gave from the heart and I did not want her to think that her offering was being rejected, so I told her that instead of me taking her $20, that maybe she would just allow me not to pay her the $5 I owe her for her secretarial duties last week. She agreed, but I am still thinking of slipping her the $5 later...I do not want to dismiss her charity, and therefore damage her giving spirit, but I also do not want her to suffer for my lack of planning.)
More nighttime in Alaska
Here are a few pictures I took at about 3:20 am a few nights ago. These are a lot better than the other one on the "Life In Alaska" post (partly because it was not raining!). The pictures are still not the best, but I was trying to take pictures left handed while keeping the cat from getting out of the door (smile).
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Life in Alaska
Sometimes people want to know what life is like in Alaska. I thought I would post some interesting things when they come up...
1. Three of the waitstaff at Chili's seemed to be native Russians....at least that was their first language. There are a lot of people of Russian descent here, which is very interesting to me!
2. The Wonder Sweetie and I went to an extremely nice jewelry store for our anniversary present, and heard the very mild mannered manager fellow and a saleslady discussing with a customer what caliber of bullet is best for bear attacks. Yes, that is actually something to consider. We had a griz sow and two cubs a couple of doors down from us several years ago.
3. Fireworks (even the really good ones!) are legal in Alaska, at least in most places. However, there is ENTIRELY too much light to enjoy them much this time of year. I think we are just going to get the ones that release little paper parachutes for the kids to catch, and save the really great fireworks for the New Years (the other time they are allowed to sell fireworks).
4. How light is it this time of year? Well at the darkest point of night, it is just like an overcast daytime where you live--it has been impossible to see stars for at least a month or two. We are losing a great deal of light every day, though we will not notice it for several weeks yet. At this time of year the sun rises at 3 something am and sets the following morning after midnight (that cracks me up that the sun does not SET until the following day!). The picture above is at 2:30 am during a rain....it would be lighter if it was not raining so hard! It is hard to tell, but it is light enough to read. If i can get a better picture, I will.)
5. We do not have a lottery, we have the Nenana Ice Classic, where you bet when the Tanana river ice will break up.
This is the first installment of "Life in Alaska". If you have any questions, please let me know! I love talking about Alaska.
1. Three of the waitstaff at Chili's seemed to be native Russians....at least that was their first language. There are a lot of people of Russian descent here, which is very interesting to me!
2. The Wonder Sweetie and I went to an extremely nice jewelry store for our anniversary present, and heard the very mild mannered manager fellow and a saleslady discussing with a customer what caliber of bullet is best for bear attacks. Yes, that is actually something to consider. We had a griz sow and two cubs a couple of doors down from us several years ago.
3. Fireworks (even the really good ones!) are legal in Alaska, at least in most places. However, there is ENTIRELY too much light to enjoy them much this time of year. I think we are just going to get the ones that release little paper parachutes for the kids to catch, and save the really great fireworks for the New Years (the other time they are allowed to sell fireworks).
4. How light is it this time of year? Well at the darkest point of night, it is just like an overcast daytime where you live--it has been impossible to see stars for at least a month or two. We are losing a great deal of light every day, though we will not notice it for several weeks yet. At this time of year the sun rises at 3 something am and sets the following morning after midnight (that cracks me up that the sun does not SET until the following day!). The picture above is at 2:30 am during a rain....it would be lighter if it was not raining so hard! It is hard to tell, but it is light enough to read. If i can get a better picture, I will.)
5. We do not have a lottery, we have the Nenana Ice Classic, where you bet when the Tanana river ice will break up.
This is the first installment of "Life in Alaska". If you have any questions, please let me know! I love talking about Alaska.
Victorian Tea
Hello everyone!
What a blessed day this turned out to be! Precious and I went to a Victorian Tea in the botanical gardens here. It was a blessing from the Lord. It showed me how He really works everything out, how He puts things in our path, and how He helps us.
Let me begin at the beginning...
Last week the Wonder Sweetie needed some things from town. After shopping we quickly pulled into the local nursery for some fertilizer for our tomatoes. I stayed in the car, deep in thought and struggle with the Lord about something I cannot remember now (funny how that happens!). WS came out with an advertisement for this tea--he thought I might be interested.
To be honest, I was but I thought it would be too expensive for tickets for me and Precious and for the costumes (which were not necessary but encouraged). Wonder Sweetie insisted, so I bought the tickets and spent the past week scrambling for supplies for our costumes. Thank the Lord I had most of a Victorian outfit for myself, but Precious did not have anything. I looked for a pattern and found none, so it was pretty much whatever I could manage. The fact that there was no pattern was a blessing--the dress turned out so much better than it would have with a pattern (the Lord just let everything work perfectly!)! I spent most of the week sewing and decorating hats--I love that the Victorian era is very fond of "stuff on things", like birds on a hat or ribbons on a skirt, etc.
Parenthetically, I also spent an inordinate amount of time chasing off the cat who figured that there is also no place in the house so comfy as the skirt on the floor that I am on my hands and knees trying to carefully pin. Oh and I discovered he stole a satin rose for my costume, which I had to hunt down. Our best moment, though, was when he thought that under Precious's skirt (while she was wearing it) was the PERFECT place to hide and conduct surprise kitty attacks on me. I finally had to get the squirt gun. Precious did not even complain when I lifted the hem of her skirt to fire salvo after salvo of water at the cat who rolling in the tulle around her ankles!
The show itself was superb. Everyone was so very nice! There were many people in costume. They had tents set up around the gardens where you could find something to eat, tea to drink, crafts to do, or craftsmen to talk to. They had a quintet in the upper part of the garden and a dulcimer player in the lower part. Yesterday Precious and I watched Greer Garson in Pride and Prejudice just to get in the mood, and the tea today was very much like the scene of the picnic at the Bingley's.
I wish I could set up a place where people could just come, talk quietly, homeschool in the shade, putter in the flowers, have spontaneous instrument playing, bring their art supplies and paint the Lord's bounty, gather together to do some charity work....all in the fresh air and pretty surroundings (Victorian Dress optional!).
I cannot count how many people asked if they could take a picture of Precious and me, though my favorite request came at the end of the tea. I was taking down the number in my Treo of a fellow who is part of a dance group, and a teenager came up chuckling and said "Can I take a picture of you in your Victorian dress, typing on your Blackberry?". I loved the irony in that picture!
The day was wonderful for Precious. She has been having some struggles lately, and it was a wonderful chance to get out, be pretty and delicate, feel the sun and the breeze, take pictures, and be surrounded by beauty and grace in everyone and everything around her. She is usually pretty reserved (her best compliment is usually a mildly surprised "That's not bad"), but has thanked us profusely for the experience. I direct the thanks and praise to God who arranged an incidental, spur of the moment, "let me just run in and grab something" stop at a store into one of the best days we have had in a long, long while. I realize more and more that He WILL arrange things, will put things in our path. Also, though His chastisement is painful at times, His bounty for each of us individually is overwhelming. He has specific bounty for each of us, specific kindnesses that come at just the right time. He is altogether wonderful.
What a blessed day this turned out to be! Precious and I went to a Victorian Tea in the botanical gardens here. It was a blessing from the Lord. It showed me how He really works everything out, how He puts things in our path, and how He helps us.
Let me begin at the beginning...
Last week the Wonder Sweetie needed some things from town. After shopping we quickly pulled into the local nursery for some fertilizer for our tomatoes. I stayed in the car, deep in thought and struggle with the Lord about something I cannot remember now (funny how that happens!). WS came out with an advertisement for this tea--he thought I might be interested.
To be honest, I was but I thought it would be too expensive for tickets for me and Precious and for the costumes (which were not necessary but encouraged). Wonder Sweetie insisted, so I bought the tickets and spent the past week scrambling for supplies for our costumes. Thank the Lord I had most of a Victorian outfit for myself, but Precious did not have anything. I looked for a pattern and found none, so it was pretty much whatever I could manage. The fact that there was no pattern was a blessing--the dress turned out so much better than it would have with a pattern (the Lord just let everything work perfectly!)! I spent most of the week sewing and decorating hats--I love that the Victorian era is very fond of "stuff on things", like birds on a hat or ribbons on a skirt, etc.
Parenthetically, I also spent an inordinate amount of time chasing off the cat who figured that there is also no place in the house so comfy as the skirt on the floor that I am on my hands and knees trying to carefully pin. Oh and I discovered he stole a satin rose for my costume, which I had to hunt down. Our best moment, though, was when he thought that under Precious's skirt (while she was wearing it) was the PERFECT place to hide and conduct surprise kitty attacks on me. I finally had to get the squirt gun. Precious did not even complain when I lifted the hem of her skirt to fire salvo after salvo of water at the cat who rolling in the tulle around her ankles!
The show itself was superb. Everyone was so very nice! There were many people in costume. They had tents set up around the gardens where you could find something to eat, tea to drink, crafts to do, or craftsmen to talk to. They had a quintet in the upper part of the garden and a dulcimer player in the lower part. Yesterday Precious and I watched Greer Garson in Pride and Prejudice just to get in the mood, and the tea today was very much like the scene of the picnic at the Bingley's.
I wish I could set up a place where people could just come, talk quietly, homeschool in the shade, putter in the flowers, have spontaneous instrument playing, bring their art supplies and paint the Lord's bounty, gather together to do some charity work....all in the fresh air and pretty surroundings (Victorian Dress optional!).
I cannot count how many people asked if they could take a picture of Precious and me, though my favorite request came at the end of the tea. I was taking down the number in my Treo of a fellow who is part of a dance group, and a teenager came up chuckling and said "Can I take a picture of you in your Victorian dress, typing on your Blackberry?". I loved the irony in that picture!
The day was wonderful for Precious. She has been having some struggles lately, and it was a wonderful chance to get out, be pretty and delicate, feel the sun and the breeze, take pictures, and be surrounded by beauty and grace in everyone and everything around her. She is usually pretty reserved (her best compliment is usually a mildly surprised "That's not bad"), but has thanked us profusely for the experience. I direct the thanks and praise to God who arranged an incidental, spur of the moment, "let me just run in and grab something" stop at a store into one of the best days we have had in a long, long while. I realize more and more that He WILL arrange things, will put things in our path. Also, though His chastisement is painful at times, His bounty for each of us individually is overwhelming. He has specific bounty for each of us, specific kindnesses that come at just the right time. He is altogether wonderful.
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