THE ARRIVAL

The dreary days and weeks drag by as we gaze out the window at the gray sky and cold, wet earth. Mama and Papa have searched page after page in every seed catalog they can find and checked and rechecked their supply of saved seed from last years gardens. The wild creatures, still hidden in the trees have nearly depleted their winter food supply, and wait expectantly.
Then one morning to the thrill of all, Lady Sun comes peeping through the gray sky and melts the frost from the earth. She steams as her vapors arise and emerald blades of new grass appear. The robin comes and furiously scratches the sod in search of a nice fat worm.
The squirrels scamper from their tree houses and nibble nourishing maple seeds and the woolly old raccoon lumbers out from his cozy cave and climbs the fir tree to survey it all.
Papa oils the mower anticipating the chore he will dread by the end of summer as Mama joyfully digs her eager fingers into the cool, damp earth to remove a dandelion that has stayed too long according to the size of it's long root.

The children race to the swing and soar joyfully, each trying to swing highest. Squeals of delight echo throughout the small valley.

The birds begin their noisy courtship and the bees faithfully search out pollen to refill the cells in their hive.

Lady Sun smiles down upon the earth and warms it back to life as Old Man Winter slowly slogs away. Another glorious spring has arrived wearing all the lovely green shades with splashes of Daffodil's, vibrant patches of violets and snowdrops, primroses of course the golden crocus.

Our Father sees it all. It's just as He planned. Seasons for rest and seasons for refreshing.

I'm sure he smiles knowing what delightful surprises he has planned for me to find in my gardens.

HAPPY SPRING

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GET YOUR PRAYIN' SHOES ON

Today my friend John called and asked for prayer for his long time friend Gunter who has been fighting cancer for over a year. He has lost over fifty pounds from past chemo side effects and unfortunately the cancer has spread.

It is now in his esophagus, stomach, liver, chest and shoulders.

He is beginning a new chemo tomorrow. his wife Maria is very concerned about the side effects all of which can leave the patient very weak.

I realize that a diagnosis like this may seem hopeless to those who do not know the of the loving power of Almighty Jehovah God, but to those of us who know Him we are certain that nothing is to small or to large for him to fix.

Please pray for Gunter's healing and for he and his wife Maria to be strengthened spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Please take this request to your prayer meetings and churches, and lets bombard the heaven's with prayer.

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I thank God for this blog and for each of you.

God Bless

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GIRLS WANTED!

photo is borrowed

The following letter was sent to a local newspaper way back in 1890, apparently by a very desperate fellow!

" We want girls. Girls who can get themselves into good shape to go to a dance. The boys are getting tired of receiving invitations with the request that you "bring ladies."

They are like apples, very scarce. We want girls who will go to church and to Bible class on Sunday, and that kind who can draw a congregation of the other sex and who will take a buggy ride after the lesson is over. This will help the livery business and also the sale of residence lots, for buggies are the vehicles in which homes are first thought of by many people.

We want girls who can wait on a table, and who can smile us into an appetite when stomack (sic) bitters are impotent, and who will make the boys regular at their meals.

We want girls for sweethearts, so that when one of us gets an arm shot off, or kicked by a mule, or thrown from a bucking horse and is laid away for repair he can hear a gentle voice and see the glitter of a crystal tear spoken and dropped in unconscious sympathy for his pain.

We want fat and funny girls to make us smile all over, and lean and fragile ones to hang upon our arms, and petite blondes who show themselves on sunny days, and stately brunettes so beautiful in the twilight."

I can't imagine if any ladies responded to this desperate plea.

My personal response to his request,

"suck it up, George!"

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HODGE-PODGE

I found this cute country reminder on the net.

This old black & White photo has a story.
Mom usually made us a special dinner on Sunday. Sometimes her savory pot roast, browned on all sides, smothered in onions and garlic with potatoes and carrots roasted all around it. And other times a pork roast with applesauce or a variety of wild meats cooked as only mom could cook, for three hungry kids and a starving husband. Weekdays I remember a lot of potatoes and bean soup. I still remember the tantalizing fragrance of potatoes and onions frying as I played outside. It sure made me realize how hungry I was!
We had a mini farm with chickens and geese, turkeys, pigs and rabbits.
If mom decided to make a chicken dinner, dad chose the chicken and killed it, then mom held it by the legs and dunked it into a bucket of scalding water to loosen the feathers and yep, my little sister Bonnie and I did the plucking. In this picture we are sitting outside which is the proper place for such a chore. It smells awful! What you see in the picture is the chicken's naked tail sticking up. Oh how I hated plucking that part. MERCY! And we didn't even have latex gloves back then!!
When the plucking was finished, mom tightly rolled up newspapers to make a torch of one end and used this to singe all the hair off the chicken. Another awful smell! Yes they really do have hair under all the feathers. Then she took it into the kitchen and with a pile of newspaper underneath it she cleaned all the entrails out, saving the liver, gizzard and heart then cut the chicken into serving size pieces. I always wanted to be outside when the cleaning was done. The smell was atrocious. After it was washed and cooled she rolled it in flour, salt and pepper then fried it until it was golden crisp and ready for the table. It sure smelled different frying that it did during the cleaning. When I remember all the preparation I am horrified that I could even eat it, but I did and it was delicious!
When I married and had a family I cleaned and cooked a lot of chickens and turkeys but I could never kill anything.
Changing the subject, look what I found at a second hand store. It is a Bernd*es crepe skillet. These sell on Am*azon for $40-$50 dollars but I paid about $5. 50! I don't make crepes but I can cook just about anything I want in it as long as it doesn't run over the low edge. I suppose I could even cook a 'chicken' in it! :)


Ok-Ok I know I am really jumping the gun here, but I recently learned I am going to be great grandma for the 15th time come July. We don't know if it will be a boy or a girl yet but when I learned the name chosen for a little girl, I just had to run with it!
I had three girls and two boys so I know how precious and loveable they both are. However, when I learned that a little girl will be called LILLIAN ISABELLA It just tickled me. My maternal grandma's name was Lillian and I love the idea of a grandchild with her name. Besides I think a nickname of Lilybelle when she is a baby is just precious.
"Mama Aimee if you see this please don't get upset with the nickname. Remember I'm becoming well seasoned and allowances must be made. :)"

A rose is a rose and these beautiful roses were given to me for my birthday at a delicious lunch my girls had for me. I am trying to start one of these and hope it works. They are fragrant too!

This sweet picture always touches me so deeply. My mother was eighty-two and her great-great granddaughter Julia was two and a half. Mother suffered from Alzheimer and by the time this picture was taken she didn't know who her family were most of the time. She was always cold so I kept her wrapped in blankets and afghans.

This day little Julia asked me for lipstick so I gave her some. Even at her young age she knew how to apply it. After she did her own lips she asked G-G-Grandma if she wanted some too. Mother understood lipstick and made her dear lips ready to receive this little gift of love from a precious child she didn't know.

Another sweet memory captured. Thanks to my trusty camera.

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Thought for today

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Dear Father,

Help me to bridle my tongue,

So that on judgement day

I will not be found guilty of assualt

with a deadly weapon!

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God Bless you all!

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