The Needle in a Haystack

I Bet You've Wonder WHere I've been...

Weeeeeelllll, its this

Not the dead mouse, although that is disturbing.... but the pollen....I went back over my blog since 2007 and every year in either March or April I have had ear infections, bronchitis, pnemonia or at least a bad cold. This year is no different.... bronchitis again.... and it makes me angry...

  So last night I had to rally myself in one of these coughing fits and just realize that if I cough, then there must be a reason God wants me to cough.... or I wouldn't cough... a tough thing to think about when your sick, but true...... its really about trust you know...

  This is a week when I should be transplanting veggies and building chicken coops... but Chris is picking up the slack wonderfully... and I have nothing to do but get well ( and laundry)...

  Our fig tree and apple trees are blooming .... we stuck them in the ground as twigs and waited so many months to trust these sticks would be trees!

.... now I just hope I like figs ;)

  I did have a bit of down time to crochet some little bunnies for a nursing home...

These from Whiskers and Wool are precious and easy to work up

 

  Leaving you with a song today.. that really blessed my socks off... have a fine day...all day long!

 

I

Jan. 10th, 2012

..The shoppe was extra busy this weekend. Sunday's usually take a bunch out of us with church service and then the usual Sunday crowd.   This Sunday after church I attended the funeral for the mother of a fellow vendor at the market. I have never seen so many folks in my life! I also had never experienced a funeral where they had flower bearers. A group of women chosen by the family to walk in front of the family into the church. I was asked if I would do this.  Honored... humbled.. totally new experince..

  I was just drained by the time we both got home and very thankful for the gift of cabbage and homemade sausage that were given to us that afternoon.   I haven't tasted sausage that good in ages! 

 

  Monday we had errands in Durham, I came home and paked away all the Christmas stuff, and headed out again.  I had crocheted another batch of baby things for the NICU at Wake Med in Raleigh were my oldest spent his first days of life over 30 years ago. They took such great care of them I try and thank them each year with some of my crocheted things. I pray for each baby and their family who will recieve the items.  I know how hard it is to have a wee one all connected to tubes and wires.  I was fortunate that Josh's friend Christy works at Wake Med so it saved a trip for me having to hand deliver them.

  After that stop I went to my first sewing class at the local community college.  I can tell this is going to be so much fun! The ladies are just the sweetest and I know it will be like a big hen party on Monday nights. I already have my first project to work on ready to go .

  No new projects for my 15 crazies.  I still want to start 15 but the not finishing part is hitting me in the OCD department so I am finishing up a couple of things before I do something new.

  Bible reading is going strong though. starting Gen 27 tomorrow and finishing up chapter 8 in Matt. I woke up so grumpy this a.m. and knew that the thing I needed was some Bible time....

Crystal's book came out today!  Check it out...  Next week I will be offering a give away of her book so stay tuned... It is a MUST have...

  Chris started us on a work out plan along with our bike riding today.  After much research he chose convict conditioning  I am not entirely sure what Chris thinks we need to condition for but I do know that the more I exercise the less my artiritis flairs and for me that is worth going into convict mode over.

    I had a great hour long phone visit with my Grams, I think we covered and solved most of the worlds problems..as always..

  Thought I would share our Bible verse for today.... its a keeper:

1Thess 5:17

pray continually....

..and have a fine day... all day long!

Catching Up

Yesterday morning we had our first appointments at the Duke Bone Marrow Transplant Center

 It was truely one of the most humbling experiences I have had in awhile.  As soon as you hit the door you scrub up and don a mask. There is a room full of patients and loved ones all masked up.   I spent the whole time in the waiting room silently praying for each person...Chris got through his procedures fine but we both left very emotionally drained. 

  We have been enjoying the garden bounty.  One of our favorite things is fresh pico de gallo

Pico de Gallo

2 lg tomatoes

1 onion

1 jalepeno ( more if you like really hot)

1 bunch of cilantro

chop and mix the above and then add the juice of two limes and allow to sit in the fridge over night..

eat with chips, or on grilled chicken.  We keep the fridge stocked with the stuff!

 

.. A visit to MeMe Rose blog reminded me I am not the only one touched by orphaned handiwork.

 

I have been amiss at posting our menus lately... mostly because in the summer we don't have a wide variety of meals... with temps spiking to the 100's every day lately our appetites are down and we avoid anything that might heat up the house more then it is already.

Monday:

Turkey Burgers ( our new favorite food)

tomato, cucumber onion salad

Tues: grilled salmon with pico de Gallo

          cole slaw

Wed: Southwest Roll Ups

Jalopeno poppers ( recipe from my friend Kristy)

Thurs:  Homemade Pizza and salad.

Fri:  Homemade chicken salad and tomato/cucumber/onion salad

Sat: Grilled hotdogs

I have been toying with the idea of asking the menfolk to make an outdoor oven for me as a Christmas present this year. I am still doing research on them

Miranda has one over at Nutured By Love

Mel has one at Day by Day

I am seriously thinking my yard needs one.... I worked at a pizza shoppe for many years and know all about cooking a great pizza in a wood fired oven...

 

   Time to hang some clothes on the line... great thing is they dry in about a half hour in this heat!

 

Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.  James 5:14

 

Have a fine day... all day long!

To Remember D-Day... Bedford ,VA

 It seemed only natural as we were doing a job in Bedford Va this week to visit the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va... Humbling.... very humbling......

   Bedford was chosen because of the number of those lost in one day per capita was greater then anywhere else in the country.  Out of the 3200 residents in  the town, 19 lost their life that day.  despite the 98 degree temps we braved the heat to walk the trail.... and we were brought to tears as we witnessed a woman who had brought her father, a survivor of Normandy to pay his respects... as he took out his hankerchief we cried with him... not even pretending it was sweat.... its Ok to look and some what understand what those young men were going through... the heat, the high cliffs, the bullets splashing the water as they tried to storm the shore.... a buddy down...the will to survive.... the heart to do what was right.....

  The beaches at Normandy were not beaches as we know them her on teh East Coast... but cliffs that were crumbling and jagged

 This statue was a gift from the French, the bottom half of the face was blown off by a shell.... a grim reminder....

  If you are anywhere near Bedford Va ( beautiful countryside by the way), we highly suggest you visit the memorial.  You can read more about it HERE AT THE D_DAY MEMORIAL website.

Deuteronomy 20:8 (KJV):
8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.

Thank you...........

A Day @ The End of the Road

We knew the weather was going to be beautiful today so we had made plans last night to do yard work today.  Friday, Sat & Sundays are always so busy for us that we knew it would be Monday before we could get much needed garden/hen/yard work complete.

  Breakfast was  cinnamon toast on homemade bread stuck under the broiler for a bit and coffee and hot tea.  I decided to try a London Fog that Miranda @ Nurtured By Love and mentioned.  I am so glad I did.  Perfect with cinnamon toast!~

 We both pitched in with critter feeding  and house chores and then headed out to the hardware store. The goal was to buy enough posts and netting to increase the chicken yard and double the garden size this year.  we had budgeted 200.00 for post, netting, plants, tools  etc...we came in at 191.00  so there is a bit for some seeds we had wanted to try and possibly some things to get the worm farm up and going again.

  So, while Chris set post... I was in charge of zip ties

I am happy to report we got them all set and the chciekn area complete along with the fencing around the garden area.

Something had to be done about Whitey Bird ,our rooster, reports had come back from 1/4 mile down the road he was making the daily trek  and terroizing  small children trying to play.  so... no more free range birds.   We are also getting 3 of Josh's Rhode Island Red  as he is getting some differnt type and we were in need of some hens.

.. Trapped!

While hanging out clothes this morning we found a baby woodpecker had fallen out of the nest.

  I moved the baby a bit closer to where the tree was but with so many cats and wild animals I doubt he is going to make it.  I had thought briefly  of trying to keep it alive.  I've never had very good luck with that. 

  We had burritos for dinner .  I made a double batch so we could eat taco sald tomorrow night  for dinner.

  All week the three of us have been piling our winter clothes we no longer need in the dining room  so after the fencing was done and Chris mowed the front area I boxed up the clothes to take to Harbor House Thrift, that supports our local battered women shelter.

  we are about to settle in for the evening with a good movie and prepare for our first day in our new location for the business.

   As Chris and I were tending to the fallen little bird we could not help but think of the Bible verse Matthew 10:29

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

  If our Father watches over a small bird so closely, image what he does in our own lives.....

 ..I needed to remember that as I got word that my dear Grams had taken a fall and has probably broken her hip. She is 92 and they have transported her to a much larger hospital where hopefully the orthopedist can fix her up good as new!

  But, God is in control... so we must continue to have a fine day.....all day long

 

Gratitude... Day 26,27,28,28,30

Finishing out the month with my gratefulness.... things have been so  busy...and promise to get busier ...I absolutely promise I will do better posting our handmade Christmas adventure this year....starting tomorrow....

  so ..pick 5..in any combination.... for these are the earthly things I am most grateful for...

Gratitude... Day 25

I love good memories they arelike a photo album in my mind... complete with feelings...

Remember Thanksgiving mornings?  The pies had been baked... my mom had been up early to prepe the bird and make the stuffing ( our family was always inside the bird sausage stuffing types)..and I always took a turn to get my hands messy while mixing and stuffing.... and then it was blanket on the sofa with my brothers to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  We each had our favorite balloon characters and tolerated the bands waiting for the next one... and then it was time for me to be back in the kitchen................to stir the gravy...a tiresome task... making sure it didn't stick... and watching for the bubbles..at just the right moment to remove from the heat...

...good memories

Embrace your good memories...travel safe if you need to....and have a fine day...all day long!

Gratitude Day 24

Grateful for God's gift of marriage... and the new sister , neice and nephews that brought me today...

Celebrate....and have a fine day...all day long!

Gratitude Day 23

Yesterday our work took us to the eastern part of the state.... we had a fabulous time riding the back roads, stopping and taking pictures of the cottona nd peanut harvests... oh how I love those tiny quaint southern towns... We decided to ride through Roanoke Rapids and split a hotdog...and we were suprised when we hit a traffic stop at the bridge... they didn't even ask for license but asked if we had picked anyone up.....odd.... we drove a bit further and relaized 95 had been shut down...hmmm maybe a wreck... we had dinner and hit the road again.... the back roads home... hwy 158...and we were stopped again.... " is it  just you int he car?.. did you see anyone"....

 We knew something was up and gave Josh a call... sure enough ..officer down....we felt a mix of relief and sadness....it wasn't Eric, Josh's old room mate... but it was a buddy of his that Josh takes classes with....we pulled over and prayed...

..a few miles up the road we were stopped again.... "may I search your trunk".... is it just you two in the car..." the young sherriff looked shaken... we prayed for him too.....

Officer Taylor was shot three times... right now he is stable... the man and woman who shot him are still at large...we ask that you pray for John...

..and we are so very grateful for men and women who are willing to step up to the plate for our saftey...

..pray for those in harms way.....and thank an officer...and ahve a fine day.... all day long...

Gratitude Day 20, 21 &22

Saturday night listening to country, gospel and rockabilly at the Ridgeway Opry House

A much awaited purple heart was finally awarded...bittersweet.. yes, a proud mama.... a member of a club I didn't ask to join

..and my littlest of cousins stealing the hearts of thousands touring as Billy Elliot....my gratitude comes not so much for having someone in our family in the spotlight.... but more that the Aussie cousins were able to come for a face to face visit ... to share a meal... to laugh... to chat... to be family....not with a spotlight... not with a curtain call... but across a table with a bowl of hot soup and the happiness coming not from applause... but from the homemade cookies and hugs...

Love your family for who they are on the insides...and have a fine day...all day long!

P.S.... thanks GpaD for the gratitude stacking tip!