1. Aloha! On August 21, 1959 Hawaii officially became a US state. Have you ever been? Upon arrival would you prefer an orchid or a hibiscus to tuck behind your ear?  No, I've never been to Hawaii.  I'd like to travel someday.  I'd like to see other places, Hawaii being one of them.  It's one of those dreams that I have a feeling will never come true, but my real home is in Heaven and I'll be content to go there.  I'm a flower fanatic, so either one would be just great but the orchid would probably last longer.

2. Since we're talking tropical...what's your favorite food or beverage made with pineapple?  Mmmmm I like pineapple.  I like fruit cake, but only if it has big chunks of pineapple.  I like pineapple coolers... chunks of ice (I brake mine up with a rolling pin - no wonder my pie crust has divits), plain yogurt (if you feel especially "sinful" get the whole milk yogurt), and crushed pineapple in a blender... I have an immersion type blender, so there is very little clean-up and lots of enjoyment.  I do like pineapple, but wild blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are even "yummier"!

some fresh wild blackberries and raspberries from around our property

3. Do you believe in soul mates? Explain.I'm assuming you mean as a mate for life kind of "soul mate" as opposed to a "kindred spirit".  I think there is the mate that God has chosen, but if you don't get it right, God can cause love to grow.  We often don't get it right in life and God comes to our rescue over and over.  If we wait on His guidance in our lives we will be in the right place at the right time.  If not we must settle for what we have and what we have can be sweet if we look to Jesus.

So I guess the answer is "yes", I believe there is a perfect mate if God intends for there to be a mate.

4. Share a memory about the house you grew up in. My brother and I grew up in a lot of different houses.  I guess the one I remember most vividly is a small trailer we had in Maine.  My brother probably remembers it better since he's 4 years older than me.  This was a trailer smaller than many modern camper trailers, in fact it was about the same size as the camper I live in right now.  The back room was divided in two with a partition.  My brother had one side and I had the other.  We both had a small closet with drawers under that my father had added.  My parents slept on a hide-a-bed in the front of the trailer.  It was VERY small, no indoor plumbing and wood heat, but it was also a wonderful home with lots of love.  I especially remember Christmases there.  My father loved to tease us about Santa Claus and we always got big boxes from our relatives far away.  My grandmother would sent the most delicious fruit cake (with whole cherries and big chunks of pineapple) all the way from Bellingham, WA to Alexandar, ME... check out a map... that about as far away as you can go east to west and still be in the USA.

5. Are you comfortable with silence? Yes!  I love it when I can think quietly or read quietly.  There are other times when I like noise.

6. You spot a giant spider on your bedroom wall...what's your next move? (all spiders are giant, right?) Funny you should ask... we have an abundance of giant barn spiders... I mean giant.  They live around our camper door and entry way and kill a huge number of flies and moths.  So I keep them.  I should name them since I talk to them frequently and tell them they better get busy reducing the fly population or their lives are in danger.

7. My idea of fun does NOT include the normal stuff that people think of as fun.  I would prefer to take a hike in the woods than go shopping.  I would prefer to spend time in the garden pulling weeds or picking veggies.  I would prefer to watch the ducks swimming in the pond and interacting or sit with a good book or do some cross stitch or sewing.  Those are my idea of fun.  I don't like to spend money at an amusement park, or go to a crowded place with lots of loud music etc.

8. Insert your own random thought here. I had a really grumpy night Monday night.  It was hot in the house and because of Mr. D's allergies we had to close up the house early in the evening.  I had not done all my cleaning on Saturday because of the "chicken swap" that ended up with no sales.  I can't believe no one wanted those beautiful Muscovy ducks.  We have 24 of them that hatched this spring and no one wants any of them which means we will be feeding them until butchering time and then have to kill them all **sniff** 



my sweetie at the "chicken swap" with all our little ducks


Then I thought how foolish it was to be ugly like that in my heart.  Think of all the blessings I have.  I have a wonderful husband who puts up with me when I'm grumpy and shouldn't have to.  I have a beautiful daughter living right next door with my very cute grandson (4 months old) who had for the past two weeks washed all my laundry and hung it out for me in the sun.  God had given us a beautiful piece of property to live on and a night sky filled with a "gazillion" stars.  I have so many blessings I don't even have time to list them all or do I have the space here or anywhere for that matter. 

Norman James Peel,  4 mos, 6 days

My grumpy evening was short-lived.  I would like to abolish all grumpiness but it seems to gradually creep up on me.  It's not invited and when it arrives I kick it out right away, but the damage it can do in that very short period of time is phenominal.

I would like to say "never again", but that would not be true.  I will strive for that though.

Hope you all have a wonderful day... no grumpiness allowed!

Tour of the "Blogosphere"

Had a little time today to swing around the blogosphere.  It's great to see you are all busy and happy and productive and it's great to drop in and visit for a couple minutes from Australia, to Pennylvania, to Kansas, to Missouri, and back to New Hampshire.  Isn't it amazing?  What a difference from just a few years back when the only way to communicate economically was to mail a letter.  It took some time to write the letter and then to get it from the desk to the mailbox with postage, then sometimes you'd get a return letter, sometimes not. 

I went to visit my friend Sharmayne from Australia.  It's fun to see the changing seasons for her.  Right now she's in the midst of the winter season and we're in the midst of summer.  She makes soaps and is very talented with yarn.  Stop in and see some of her handiwork.  She also sells her soap, but not sure what the postage would be like to get it to the states.  Unfortunately the internet has it's limitations.

Then there's my blogging friend Gina from Pennsylvania  who is also very talented and a great mom with a wonderful family who all get together for fun events like butchering, canning, and just plain good fun.  Her latest post was about their new chickens.  We have that in common and gardening... I love to hear about her garden.  She also has the most adorable children.  Gina's a reader, who often gives book reviews.  I've ordered a few of the books she has recommended.

Then I get to visit with my friend Connie from Missouri.  She has such encouraging posts.  It's fun to get those in my email box nearly every day.  She also has a wonderful family with three adorable children.  She will be homeschooling this year, so pray for her as she takes this on as well as caring for a toddler.  Lots of you moms out there know what that's going to be like.
She shared this gem the other day and it made me laugh outloud!!!

Then there's my Kansas buddy Linda who is the bestest cooker.  I love to hear about her yummy recipes and what a talent she is with a needle in hand.  She lives on a farm with horses, sheep, chickens and kitties.  I also get her posts via email and it's always such an encouragement to hear all about her family and job and farm life and crafts and cooking adventures.  Hey, Linda, do any of your recipes fail???

Finally back home to our "neck of the woods".  I love my friend Mrs. T's  blog.  She always has something encouraging to say in her posts.  She puts me to shame with my measily few posts over this past year.  She also has many adventures and many yummy recipes to share.  Even though I get to see Mrs T often and get to taste some of those yummy recipes, I still like reading her blog when I have opportunity.

You all encourage me and inspire me to get going and get things done and get creative.  Love ya all even if I don't comment all the time... I'm lurking. 

This is only a sampling of the blogs that I visit, but ones I highly recommend for others to read and follow as well.  If I could give them all an award, I would.

Hello From the Millett Farm

The garden is growing and producing and we are thankful.  We've had beans, peas, and cucumber so far, but lots more on the way.  Joanna's nasturtium are drawing in the hummingbirds and the sunflowers are drawing in the bumblebees.  My grandson was here through the month of July and we had loads of fun and he was able to go to camp at The Wilds of New England for two weeks through the grace of God.  We sent him home exhausted and in the middle of a crazy rain storm. 

It has been a great summer so far with many blessings and work to do.  My job has been extremely busy... good for job security, but exhausting too.  We've been enjoying the new deck and the outdoor fireplace.  We've had numerous visit from bear but not pictures since they like to visit at night and no one wants to go be too friendly with them. 

The 28 little ducklings are growing up and now go out and enjoying the duck yard.  Here they are going on a "playdate" under all the momma's watchful eyes.  They really didn't want me out there taking pictures of them. 

Our meat birds are getting "meaty".  I gotta get busy and use up last year's chickens before we put in this years.  Won't be long till butchering day arrives.  They seem to be quite healthy.

They are "waddling" well. - * 3steps, plop * 3 steps, plop* -  That's how they get around.

More pictures later so that you can see more of what's happening on the farm.

Just a word about the grace of God. I Corinthians 12:9 "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."  God's grace is something I do not deserve and certainly is not something I can earn.  In fact the more I lean on the Lord, the more grace he shows.  The more I try to do things on my own the more challenging life becomes.  I know in my head that God has my times in his hands and that the more time I spend with Him the more precious He is to me, but life just seems to crowd out these thoughts and I find myself floundering, like Peter on the stormy sea.  I wonder what I'm going to do about this or that and don't think so much about when I'll get to spend some more time with God in prayer or in the Word.  God seems to always catch me when I'm falling and bring me back to that place where I am listening to Him again.  Oh foolish human that I am.  When will I ever learn that without God I can do nothing.  Unless He is the builder there is no soundness to the structure.  Unless I abide in Him my life will be fruitless.  I wonder how many others struggle with this very thing.  I'm sure there are other's out there who get into this vicious cycle.  If you have any helpful hints, let me know.  

It's a beautiful sunny day out there today.  Even though I woke up with a terrific headache, the pain is easing up and I'm at work with a full staff today, so it won't be too crazy.  God is good to me again.

Have a great day! 

Isaiah 61

Wow... it's been a month since I wrote anything here on this blog.  I want you all to know that it is not because I'm loosing interest.  I want to post more often.  There are too few minutes in the day and far more pressing issues.  I know you all understand where I'm coming from.  I love you all and have been keeping up "sort of" with you all and praying for you all too.

Just thought you'd enjoy and little New Hampshire "GREEN" today.  My garden is coming right along, though it is about 1/3 the size of past years.  The reason for that is we will be filling in the back end to level it off and Mr. D thinks that may happen this summer sometime.  So... the chickens have full reign over 2/3 of our garden space eating weeds and bugs and not really doing that good of a job, I might add.  They have cleared about 1/2 of the unused space and the other 1/2 is thick with weeds.

What I did plant this year is thriving thus far.  We've had perfect growing weather so far.  A little rain, a little sun/heat.

I was reminded of a passage of scripture which I have used for the title of this post.  The whole chapter is lovely, but I thought of verse 11:

"For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations"



The tomatoes, Jet Star, and Amish Paste





Jacob Cattle beans for shell and dry beans



The strawberries:  these are the June bearers which I replanted into rows this year after they had berries.  I will be mulching these after they are done spreading their daughters.



The peas, haven't harvested any yest, but they've gone way past their fencing and are loaded with blossoms and small pods.  Soon we'll have some fresh peas.



Finally going to have a blueberry crop.  This is year 3 for these 6 new bushes.  When we moved we had to leave behind our beautiful blueberry bushes.  It was VERY sad, but the new ones are starting to produce now.  Thank you Lord.



Parsnips gone wild.  I have never had parsnips to this (biennial), But they won't be harvested till next spring anyway.  Hope they're not too woody.




 

oregano



wildflowers that came back from seed... 1/2 are in the chicken yard and 1/2 in the herb garden.  We'll see how many survive after construction ends.



One side of the greenhouse.  Got some little stars from the craft store and this is my favorite combination of flowers for the window box.  I plant these every year.  One 6 pack of each will do 2 boxes, so VERY economical.



This is the sign Joanna made for me a couple years ago.  The little birdhouse in the window box is supposed to be attached to the branch of the tree, but it came off and I haven't reattached it yet. 

Happy July from the Millett Farm.

CALLING ALL BIRD-LOVERS

Just a short post...

check this out.  Fledging Red Tailed Hawks at Cornell.... live feed.  Might take a little time to start the live feed, but very interesting.  One took off this morning and is perched in some nearby oak trees.  Another is about to fly... sitting on an outside ledge.  Another is still in the nest eating meals that the mother is bringing.

Check it out if you can.

I'm going to do it!  Hodge Podge Wednesday and it's actually Wednesday.  I usually don't even get to read these till Thursday or Friday, but this week sounded like interesting questions.  I'm linking up to Conny's blog  and to Joyce's blog and will share my humble opinions:

1. My daughter2 is graduating from university this month and plans to teach elementary school. What are three qualities you most want to see evidenced in a teacher? 

I was a teacher at several different Christian schools for 15+ years, not counting the years I went to school and did student teaching.   I think a teacher should always seek to grow and update their own education.  They will be able to relate to what's going on in the world of the children they are responsible for.  Lead by example.  Always be ready to answer lots of questions and ask questions that will promote thoughtful answers.  Follow Christ's examples when He taught.  I had the privilege of teaching science and math in the 7th - 12th grades.  I wish often that I was still teaching.  My career change was based on our financial need more than anything else.

2. You can tell a lot about a person by_____________________.

... the way they treat others and how they react under stress.  ...for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.  Luke 6:45

3. What song makes you think spring?

Vivaldi - "Spring"  from "The Four Seasons" 

4. May 1st is Mother Goose Day...share your favorite nursery rhyme.

Who on earth comes up with this "Mother Goose Day"... I was never really that fond of "Mother Goose" stories.  I was more of a Dr Seuss kinda mom.  My girls remember those stories well and "The Hungry Thing".  I like SOME of the old Mother Goose illustrations though but others are just scary.



like this one is so warm and inviting...





but others are like this...  whoever came up with this evil looking Humpty Dumpty?  Yikes!



5. What makes someone unforgettable?

I'm sorry to say that I most often remember those who were hurtful.  I don't mean to do that and usually wish I could just forget, but those memories stick.  I do remember many who have been helpful and kind or just fun to be around.
6. Should music and/or art be part of a well rounded education?

Absolutely!!!  It has been studied and found that learning to read music or play an instrument excel in other academic areas as well.  My daughter the artist has a better frame of mind when she is doing art or creating.  She is more relaxed and easy going.  When she is kept from her creativity by work or other stuff going on in her life, she can get depressed and anxious.  I think some people are just hard-wired that way.
7. What social situations make you flustered or nervous?

I get really nervous and/or embarrassed when receiving recognition for something I've done whether it is good or bad.  I've been in both situations.  I don't like to go to the hairdressers, 'cause the focus is on me.  I don't like "awards" where the focus is on me.  I've been asked to speak at certain times and even though I spent all those years teaching and loved it so, I still get almost sick to my stomach when I have to get up in front of my peers.  It is getting better as I get older, but still panics me.
8. Insert your own random thought here.

My random thoughts at this time are really in the forms of prayers.  Prayers for a young girl who is practically homeless and I have no way of helping, prayers for a friend who just had surgery on her throat and I can't go visit till Thursday, prayers for my daughters and their boys, prayers for our house that it will somehow get together before next winter and I won't have to live in a camper unless I want to actually go camping.  My mind is flooded with thoughts, but no answers, so I just pray about them.  What else is there to do?  I'm waiting for clear direction which I know will come eventually, but the waiting is not fun.

Two Week update

Well, if I don't get this done, it will be a three week update.  Joanna and Norman are doing very well.  All good check-ups.  She's going through the nesting phase a little late..  I came home last night after work and she had the mattress off the bed and was condensing and storing winter stuff and putting things in order. Actually in a camper this needs to be done on a continual basis or there is no room for you to move. 

Mr. D was away for a couple days to the Middletown Bible Conf, in Middletown, CT.  I would have loved to go, but took two days off already for the birth of Norman.  It gave me some time to spend with Joanna so we went out to eat Monday.  We haven't been to a restaurant in a long time, so this was  a very special treat.  Then last night we had homemade bean/rice burritos together. 

The worst part of Mr. D being gone is of course I miss him.  The next worst thing is having to take care of the "stock" (chickens and ducks).  It's been raining for a few days and all around the coop is a greasy muddy mess.  I somehow avoided landing in it.  YEA!  Actually, taking care of the birds is not a bad thing, just getting up so early when I'd much rather be Z-z-z-z-z-z-z :)

from Google images... this is Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington State.
I've been to this park... when I was very young.  Scenes like this are common.  Isn't it beautiful with all the spring flower?

We are planning the garden.  I ordered a few seeds, but most likely we'll not plant too many new things this year.  Our garden is looking pretty good right now.  The chickens have been out there all fall/spring eating anything that's green and bugs and stuff.  It needs to be tilled, but otherwise the weeds are gone and it should be much easier to get ready.

Hmmmm... must have slept wrong on my wrist last night 'cause it's really achy this morning... hard to type.  Just took my watch off, maybe that will help.

Back to the garden.

I bought some different beans this year.  Mr. D loves the Romano pole beans, but they don't have fruit until late summer.  This year I want to supplement them with some "potash" to see if the vines will produce more and earlier.  We always add manure which is rich in nitrogen and the plants are lush and green usually, but the Romano beans don't produce a lot of fruit.  I think it'd be good to add some other nutrients to see if that will help.

So this year I'll plant Romano, asparagus beans, and Ruth Bible beans on the fencing and some half runner Amish Gnuddel beans.  I've heard good things about the Gnuddel and I'll grow them on the corn as the seller suggested.  I'm hoping they'll make good dry beans for winter soups.

We'll also have Jacob Cattle bush beans for shell type beans and dry.  I have eaten these as green beans, but they're sorta stringy. 

Other things we'll have are Lutz Winter Keeper beets, Amish Paste tomatoes, stakeless tomatoes, our own "Dan" squash which is a good hard winter variety, straight neck summer squash and zucchini.  There will also be spring peas, and parsnips that have overwintered.  The herb garden will have a few new things.  I'll try again to grow some lavender.  I'll also put in some Basil of a different variety. 
I think I bought some more strawberry chard seed too.

In the flower bed I hope to dig up and transplant a few items, making them more visable and improving the bed they are in.   Mr. D has put the chicken egg box right in front of the flower bed and I just think it needs some "shaping up".  I had originally just put that flower bed in quickly so that my flowers would survive when we moved.  Now it needs some help.

Gotta love spring.  It's been cold this week and rainy, but looks like the weekend will be glorious.  I'll post some pictures of the progress.

Happy Day to you!