I totally had to pull out the camera.
Ridiculous, I know.
But you're not gonna see that everyday!
It's a giant cow!
Yep, I'm a dork. -sigh-
Christine
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Get Along "Little" Dogie
Saw this last night as we drove home from an excursion into Wisconsin.
I totally had to pull out the camera.
Ridiculous, I know.
But you're not gonna see that everyday!
It's a giant cow!
Yep, I'm a dork. -sigh-
Christine
I totally had to pull out the camera.
Ridiculous, I know.
But you're not gonna see that everyday!
It's a giant cow!
Yep, I'm a dork. -sigh-
Christine
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
A Few Things About Chickens
Hurray! The garden is finally enclosed!
We chose to remove a section of the garden this spring to build our chicken coop in its place...the chicken coop that took what felt like forever to build because of the crazy weather we had this Spring. You may remember from a previous blog post that every time we made a little progress on the coop it snowed. -Bah-
Well, we finally got the garden fence attached to the coop! The garden is now completely enclosed. I'll say it again...HURRAY!!!
No more rabbits eating my snap peas and cilantro! Now it's mine! All mine! Mwah ha ha ha!
Eh hem. Sorry.
It's not that I'm unwilling to share the abundance of my garden's harvest, it's just that I'm not willing to share it with the rabbits. Who eat it all! Who leave nothing for anyone else! Who don't even say so much as a thank you ma'am.
-grrrrr-
Anyway...
We didn't plant much in the garden, due to the fact that it hadn't yet been enclosed and I knew the rabbits would eat EVERYTHING, but we did get a few things planted and they are coming along nicely. Or I should say, what the rabbits haven't eaten is coming along nicely. My poor cilantro. -sigh-
Rabbits!
I'm going to take a deep breath now.
Okay, that's better.
We should get a few tomatoes.
We have two snap pea plants that managed to evade the rabbits. They'll provide a nice little snack.
I'll even get a few cucumbers. Fresh cucumbers from the garden, oh yeah!
I can't wait to enjoy the harvest.
And the chickens are enjoying the added space to run.
The original plan was to build a small run for the chickens between the coop and garden. The Husband and I decided to attach the garden directly to the coop giving the chickens the entire space to spread their wings so to speak.
Funny thing about chickens, even with all the extra space, they like to stick together.
We've learned that the saying birds of a feather flock together is serious business.
We've also learned that for all their cute, cuddly looks,
chickens have some killer claws!
Yikes!
We'll forgive them though. Those claws make for short work digging up weeds in the garden.
Love those chickens!
And the thing that has surprised me most, chickens drop a lot, a whole lot, of feathers!
Who knew?
Okay they knew, but no one told me!
Time to make some feather pillows?
Christine
We chose to remove a section of the garden this spring to build our chicken coop in its place...the chicken coop that took what felt like forever to build because of the crazy weather we had this Spring. You may remember from a previous blog post that every time we made a little progress on the coop it snowed. -Bah-
Well, we finally got the garden fence attached to the coop! The garden is now completely enclosed. I'll say it again...HURRAY!!!
No more rabbits eating my snap peas and cilantro! Now it's mine! All mine! Mwah ha ha ha!
Eh hem. Sorry.
It's not that I'm unwilling to share the abundance of my garden's harvest, it's just that I'm not willing to share it with the rabbits. Who eat it all! Who leave nothing for anyone else! Who don't even say so much as a thank you ma'am.
-grrrrr-
Anyway...
We didn't plant much in the garden, due to the fact that it hadn't yet been enclosed and I knew the rabbits would eat EVERYTHING, but we did get a few things planted and they are coming along nicely. Or I should say, what the rabbits haven't eaten is coming along nicely. My poor cilantro. -sigh-
Rabbits!
I'm going to take a deep breath now.
Okay, that's better.
We should get a few tomatoes.
We have two snap pea plants that managed to evade the rabbits. They'll provide a nice little snack.
I'll even get a few cucumbers. Fresh cucumbers from the garden, oh yeah!
I can't wait to enjoy the harvest.
And the chickens are enjoying the added space to run.
The original plan was to build a small run for the chickens between the coop and garden. The Husband and I decided to attach the garden directly to the coop giving the chickens the entire space to spread their wings so to speak.
Funny thing about chickens, even with all the extra space, they like to stick together.
We've learned that the saying birds of a feather flock together is serious business.
We've also learned that for all their cute, cuddly looks,
chickens have some killer claws!
Yikes!
We'll forgive them though. Those claws make for short work digging up weeds in the garden.
Love those chickens!
And the thing that has surprised me most, chickens drop a lot, a whole lot, of feathers!
Who knew?
Okay they knew, but no one told me!
Time to make some feather pillows?
Christine
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Warning: Not A Step Stool
This is a shoe rack.
It is not a step stool!
A shoe rack is designed to provide a place for one to neatly store their shoes. Sometimes children will actually use the shoe rack and put their shoes away in a nice, neat fashion. Sometimes children's shoes will still land in a messy pile on the floor, often just inches from the shoe rack. -sigh-
A shoe rack is not designed to be used as a step stool for one who wants to reach the top shelf of their closet.
A shoe rack is likely to collapse if used as a step stool.
A collapsed shoe rack is likely to have exposed screws that are very sharp and able to leave a deep gash in a person's foot.
A deep gash that may require a 2 hour visit to the emergency room for 10 stitches! -ouch-
There may be a lot of movie watching at our house the next few days.
I'll try to limit the amount of times I look at my teenage daughter with sympathetic mommy eyes and say, "My poor baby!"
Christine
It is not a step stool!
A shoe rack is designed to provide a place for one to neatly store their shoes. Sometimes children will actually use the shoe rack and put their shoes away in a nice, neat fashion. Sometimes children's shoes will still land in a messy pile on the floor, often just inches from the shoe rack. -sigh-
A shoe rack is not designed to be used as a step stool for one who wants to reach the top shelf of their closet.
A shoe rack is likely to collapse if used as a step stool.
A collapsed shoe rack is likely to have exposed screws that are very sharp and able to leave a deep gash in a person's foot.
A deep gash that may require a 2 hour visit to the emergency room for 10 stitches! -ouch-
There may be a lot of movie watching at our house the next few days.
I'll try to limit the amount of times I look at my teenage daughter with sympathetic mommy eyes and say, "My poor baby!"
Christine
Friday, July 5, 2013
The Fourth
Swimming, and playing in the sand.
Red, white, and blue decorations!
Food, fun, and frolicking children!
A moment, with hearts full of gratitude to those who have fought for our freedom, to pledge our allegiance to the United States of America.
Glow sticks!
And of course, lots of bursting in air - complete with oohs and aahs!
All done in the company of good friends! It was a fourth to remember!
Christine
Red, white, and blue decorations!
Food, fun, and frolicking children!
A moment, with hearts full of gratitude to those who have fought for our freedom, to pledge our allegiance to the United States of America.
Glow sticks!
And of course, lots of bursting in air - complete with oohs and aahs!
All done in the company of good friends! It was a fourth to remember!
Christine
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
The Deeper Fruit
Strawberries!
Red, ripe, sweet Strawberries! Picked fresh from the fields today! Mmmmmm
A trip to the strawberry fields has always felt like the kickoff of summer to me.
I hear ya. Kind of a late kickoff this year. Strawberry picking in Minnesota is usually finished long before the first week of July rolls around.
Well, better late than never I say. And the strawberries taste just as sweet the first week of July!
The girls and I have been picking strawberries together for years.
And for all of these years, I've sent the girls into the row ahead of me with our flat for collecting the berries between us. Not only has this arrangement worked well for getting photos of the girls as they've worked (they're still so darn cute! Please don't tell them I said they're cute! Apparently cute is no longer allowed at their ages),
but it has also allowed me to come along after them and clear out any fruit they didn't dig deep enough into the strawberry plants to find.
As children they would skim through and grab the easiest to locate berries. They were eager to keep moving forward. They missed a lot of good fruit. Fruit hidden deep in the plant. Fruit that needed some digging deep to find.
I noticed this year that the girls have learned to slow down. They gathered much more fruit this year than they had in the past.
This got me to thinking.
Our faith walk is much the same.
Galatians 5:22-23a But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There are times when I want to reach for the easiest fruit.
I want to love, but I only want to be loving when it's easy.
I want peace, but do I allow God to give me peace only if life is making me feel happy.
I want to be long-suffering/patient, but sometimes things really annoy me!!
I want to have self-control, but not when it comes to chocolate or Starbucks please.
Yep, grabbing at that surface fruit, so I can quickly move on to the next thing, is very appealing. But if I allow myself to be content with that I will miss out on the best fruit! I will miss out on abundant fruit!
I want to love in a way that is willing to sacrifice!
I want peace that passes my understanding! Peace that comforts after the death of a close friend! Peace that rests in God knowing that He will overcome the hardest situations in my life!
I want patience that waits for the Lord's timing, that endures through the hard times, that sees the bigger picture!
I want self-control so my focus is on His glory and satisfaction not just my own.
I want joy and long-suffering, kindness and goodness, faithfulness and gentleness! I want them in abundance!
This is the fruit the Lord wants to give each of us! He wants us to have it in abundance! All we have to do is gather it. All that is required is slowing down and digging deep...deep into scripture...deep into prayer...deep into trusting God. Then we shall reap a harvest that cannot be contained!
Christine
Red, ripe, sweet Strawberries! Picked fresh from the fields today! Mmmmmm
A trip to the strawberry fields has always felt like the kickoff of summer to me.
I hear ya. Kind of a late kickoff this year. Strawberry picking in Minnesota is usually finished long before the first week of July rolls around.
Well, better late than never I say. And the strawberries taste just as sweet the first week of July!
The girls and I have been picking strawberries together for years.
And for all of these years, I've sent the girls into the row ahead of me with our flat for collecting the berries between us. Not only has this arrangement worked well for getting photos of the girls as they've worked (they're still so darn cute! Please don't tell them I said they're cute! Apparently cute is no longer allowed at their ages),
but it has also allowed me to come along after them and clear out any fruit they didn't dig deep enough into the strawberry plants to find.
As children they would skim through and grab the easiest to locate berries. They were eager to keep moving forward. They missed a lot of good fruit. Fruit hidden deep in the plant. Fruit that needed some digging deep to find.
I noticed this year that the girls have learned to slow down. They gathered much more fruit this year than they had in the past.
This got me to thinking.
Our faith walk is much the same.
Galatians 5:22-23a But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There are times when I want to reach for the easiest fruit.
I want to love, but I only want to be loving when it's easy.
I want peace, but do I allow God to give me peace only if life is making me feel happy.
I want to be long-suffering/patient, but sometimes things really annoy me!!
I want to have self-control, but not when it comes to chocolate or Starbucks please.
Yep, grabbing at that surface fruit, so I can quickly move on to the next thing, is very appealing. But if I allow myself to be content with that I will miss out on the best fruit! I will miss out on abundant fruit!
I want to love in a way that is willing to sacrifice!
I want peace that passes my understanding! Peace that comforts after the death of a close friend! Peace that rests in God knowing that He will overcome the hardest situations in my life!
I want patience that waits for the Lord's timing, that endures through the hard times, that sees the bigger picture!
I want self-control so my focus is on His glory and satisfaction not just my own.
I want joy and long-suffering, kindness and goodness, faithfulness and gentleness! I want them in abundance!
This is the fruit the Lord wants to give each of us! He wants us to have it in abundance! All we have to do is gather it. All that is required is slowing down and digging deep...deep into scripture...deep into prayer...deep into trusting God. Then we shall reap a harvest that cannot be contained!
Christine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)