Monday, June 25, 2012

Vacation

Hi all -

I am off on a vacation with the family.  I hope we don't fight to much and hope we all stay safe.  I need to get away from the stress of everyday life and rush rush rush.

Take care and I promise to be back soon with stories and this and that.



Monday, June 18, 2012

Tribute to Mia

I hate writing this. It brings up the hurt and pain but Mia deserves a tribute so I will do this.


She was our little pumpkin. We rescued her, gave her a good life for the time we had her. She learned to smile with us!

Last Thursday she had a seizure. She had not had one for over a month with her new medication.  We went to check on her later in the evening and poor Mia had gotten worse. She was ice cold and her bowels had let loose.  We immediately called the vet and he said it sounded like she was in hypoglycemic shock.  We gave her some honey, held her to warm her. She seemed to perk up a bit so we put her in a box wrapped in towels by our bed.  In the morning she seemed a lot perkier but still could not stand. She drank water but was unable to keep food down.  We nestled her in her kennel and went to check on her at lunch.

Lunchtime visit was NOT good. She was worse so we took her into the vet. While there she began vomiting blood. We didn't want to admit it but it was time to say good-bye.

Mia can now run and play and chase cars. We miss her terribly. I miss her toenail tapping on the floor, her running right behind me no matter where I went. I miss her playing with me in the morning and rubbing on my leg like a cat.

You were a good girl Mia. (*sniff*) I miss you pumpkin!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

It's only 10 - why is it so hard???

I mean just look at them, individually they are not hard or difficult. They all make sense and make you a better person for doing them.  Our shortsightedness, our me - me - me attitude, our laziness, our excuse making, and many more all lead to messing these 10 simple things up each and every day.
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

Now you may think, I never do this. I believe in God and not a gold statue. I'm safe! Sorry, not so fast. Money, jobs, material things are all lumped into this other gods category. When something like that new pair of shoes comes up even when you have 50 pair at home...Shoe god has won and you have sinned.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.

I actually get upset when people use the GD or JC in cursing but sinful me rarely says anything to that person doing the swearing. Isn't that just as bad accepting someone else saying it?  Plus even though I rarely use those names in vain I do use other curse words. I think that is a sin also because swearing only brings negativity into your life.
3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

I have a lot of troubles with this one. Yes I go to church but sometimes make feeble excuses not to go. I also work a LOT on Sundays. I catch up on home chores that do not get done during the week when I am working long hours.  I need to learn how to slow down and enjoy everything good I have in my life.  Take a breather people!
4. Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother.

No matter how mad you get at your parents, respect them. This needs to occur no matter what their age. Even if you are an adult, respect them. They really did do the best they could and helped to mold you into what you are today. Both the good and the bad. If they were bad parents you learned what not to do. If they were great parents, they modeled you into good things you can use when you become a parent. If they are gone, still honor them.
5. Thou shalt not kill.

 Boy this should be an easy one right?  I mean I have never physically killed another human being but there maybe more to this one.  I believe you can kill another person's spirit just from hurting them with words.  I know some of my hopes and dreams as a person were killed and stopped just by an others words. Be careful what you say in addition to what you do.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Another one that by it self should be easy but in today's technological society I think the devil is winning this one. Porn and sex are all over every technology media device out there. Plus it is in so many other media such as billboards, books, and every where you turn.  It is not only men who do this. The women always try to act so innocent on this one but they are just as bad!  I don't think you should become an isolationist but you do need to try to limit your exposure to this sort of thing.
7. Thou shalt not steal.

This one is crazy.  When I think about it I was told in one breath not to do this but in the next breath if someone gave me extra change back I was to shut up and keep it???? Definitely not right but that is how I was brought up. In no way does it make it right, just pointing out that even in a Christian household things are sinful.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

This one is easy to break and not even think about. How many times did you see something that was not right going on and you either walked, bicycled, or drove right by thinking oh someone else can help them out. What if the shoe was on the other foot? What if it was you that was needing help and everyone just passed you by?  Be nice to others. Do the right thing. Pay it forward.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.

This is another one in today's society that is easy to make excuses for not following. Cell phones are a great example. EVERYONE has to have the iPhone. Even if they have no idea how to use it or why they need it so bad. Joe has it and says its the best so I need it to! Suri sounds like fun so I just HAVE to have it. Do you really? Stand back and think about it. Do you have a legitimate need or are you just coveting?
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

This ties into #9 only expands to include everything other than the house. God will give you what you need. Be happy with what you have and enjoy the good things in life. I know easier said than done. Wake up tomorrow and try harder.

Please remember these are just my rambling thoughts. I am sure God would look upon my words and find many things I should have said better, differently, or more clearly. I am trying to do my best to think about and explain them to possibly help someone else see the message.
One thing I have learned in my years on earth - the right thing is ALWAYS the harder thing to do. It is way easier to be bad, mad, accusatory, gossip. Heck some of them even temporarily feel better but in the end never the right thing in God's eye.

We have one thing that makes following these 10 items impossible - our sinful nature. It's in our blood to disobey. To be "naughty" and disobey our Father.  Talk about a catch - 22 to be in.  Zowie. I don't have any answers just ideas to try.

I guess I will sum it up with this:
THANK YOU LORD for sending Jesus to die for our sins. We need it badly!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

How doth thy garden grow?

Isn't it amazing how quickly plants will grow if you leave them to just do their thing?


Garden update:

First we will start with the pond, which is a water garden to me.  You can see we have a small waterfall which a horrible algae bloom has taken place (grumble).  The lily is blooming but when I took this picture it was early morning and not quite out yet. It is a beautiful dark pink. I can see it peeking out in this photo but you have to know where to look. You can see the purple flowers in the foreground of a different water plant. The water iris are finished blooming. They are the tall reed looking things in the photo.  I need to get the algae under control and the pond will be great. We have the fish and some local frogs also in there.

Here is kind of a neat shot of one of my apple trees. The apples are doing OK. Not a lot of them but the ones we have are growing nicely. I liked this shot as the apples are still small.
This shot is blurry but I wanted to get close and show you how blackberries start out. Our bushes are just loaded with fruit. I can't wait to show you how big and different they look when ready to pick!  Some are still blooming as you can see at the bottom of the photo. (white flowers)
Next we have our peach trees. How many peaches can you see? I count 5 in this span of 6 inches or so. The trees are loaded with fruit. We have a lot that drops off but you can see how large they are getting all ready. I can't imagine how big they will be in another month. It kind of scares me as peaches have such soft wood that the trees break easily. Last year we lost over half of our smallest and newest tree.  I will be keeping my fingers crossed for no big wind storms to hurt these delicate trees.
Here we are finally to the vegetable garden. This is an overall shot showing potatoes on the left, sweet corn on the right, cucumbers and onions in the back. All doing fairly well.
Here are the potatoes and onions with a couple sunflowers.  I read the kids a book about the giant in the back yard - at the end of the book you discover it is a sunflower. Fun book and it makes me smile at the sunflowers towering over the garden keeping watch.
This shot is sweetcorn in foreground, tomatoes and peppers on the upper right and upper left is supposed to be carrots...I haven't seen any yet so I don't know if they will appear or not. Still hoping.  Our green beans are an epic failure. We have planted twice and the seeds keep rotting in the ground. Big sad face. I have no idea why that is happening this year.

I love my gardens and yard as you can tell. I'll try to keep doing updates this summer. I hope you enjoy following my garden as much as I like blogging about it!