My God's a Great God!

For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 96:4

I can't find the lyrics for this song, but as I remember it went like this...

My God's a Great God, and worthy to be praised.

My God's a Great God! Oh praise His holy name!

He made the world so great, He keeps me by His grace,

and soon I'll see His face.

My God's so Great!

All's well here.  We've had a wonderful/tiring week and are ready for the weekend.  Just wanted to share a couple of pictures that I retrieved off a friend's FB page this week.

Brandon went golfing with the youth group from church last Friday... had a wonderful time.  Best score too.  Not bad for not knowing how to mini golf.

Seems he's grown about 10 inches since last year.  Can't believe he'll be 13 in September.

He's at The Wild's of New England for camp this week and I hope it has been a wonderful time for him 

in every way.  

A few cute ideas from FB this week....

great use for old dresser drawers... I must have a few of those around somewhere.

If not, I'm gonna keep my eye open for some.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Yippee!!!

The Family is All Together

Last night Heather and Brandon arrived.  They have moved back home.  Heather will be working at the same place I work.  Brandon will now live close enough to see him every day if I like.  Joanna and Heather may share a rental which would be good for both of them at this point in their lives.  

Mr. D has already given Brandon the chore of taking the lawn tractor and changing the ice and checking the eggs in the egg box.  He was excited about being able to drive the lawn tractor down the driveway.  Not exactly a "go cart" but better that walking the hill.

We have one of these little birds (Dark-eyed Junco) defending his nest from intruding males... aka reflections in the car mirrors.  He has made quite a mess all over the sides of 3 cars now.  I hope those chicks hatch soon and he moves on.  They are cute little birds and no lack of stamina.  I've admired his energy in attacking those mirrors.  They are friendly too.  I was weeding in the garden last week one was sitting on the post in the garden watching me the whole time and when I was done, he just flew away.  

We received our little chicks yesterday.  I haven't been down to see them yet.  I did go in and spread straw around in preparation for them and then Mr. D bought some wood shavings to lay down too.  They are so cute when they are little.  Then they grow up... 'nuf said.

We have had a good soaking rain last night and this morning.  Just what the garden needed.  I can hardly wait to get down there and pull weeds and see what's coming up now.  I think I will have some brussel sprouts this year.  We started them early and they are doing quite well.  Should have plenty of tomatoes, cukes, and squash.  We had some old bean seeds that we planted and those aren't coming up, so I may have to ditch that idea and go with some other type of bean that is faster growing.  I did pick up some "Blue Lake" but would like to get some "Northeaster" which I looked for at the local seed places, but cannot find.  Reasonable people have already planted all their crops.  I hope these beans make it 'cause it would be really sad not to have a good crop of beans to put up this year.  We always have a couple bushel baskets full and we like green beans very much.  

Isaiah 58:11

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

More later... lunch break is over.

Exhausting Weekend

I am totally exhausted after the weekend.  The thing is, I looked around the house and it looks like I didn't do much, but I did.  The floor tiles were all coming up inside our front door, so I pulled a bunch off... they just popped off and laid down some linoleum.  That made a huge difference.  I don't care for the color of the flooring, but it was free, so no complaints here.  I took down one very small shelf and put up two much larger shelves to house Doug's hat, gloves, cds and tapes and anything else he desires to put up there.

I moved the small shelf to near his place at the table to put more of his things on.  I'm going to be happy when he gets his own space in the mobile home for this stuff.  It takes over my living space in the camper.  I also took out all the empty canning jars, which gave me a little more kitchen space.  I moved out the couch and cleaned behind it the walls and floor till they sparkled.

I degreased the ceiling... well nearly all of it... its hard to believe that it gets so dirty over the winter, but with all the cooking we do in such a small space this happens.  Cleaning the ceiling makes such a change it looks like a new house.

I still have the bathroom area to deep clean... walls, ceiling, closets etc.  It will be nice to get all my summer clothes out finally since it is getting warmer now.   Joanna and Norman and I went for our first swim this summer at Spectacle Pond Sunday afternoon.  I expected the water to be too cold, but it was nice and warm.  Norman wasn't quite sure of the deep water but played contentedly in the sand with his buckets and toys.  I was so tired after making supper that I just hung up a few more loads of clothes to dry, cleaned the toilet, did the dishes and went to bed and slept like a log.

Mr. D has been sick for a couple day now, but on Saturday he took our little friend Michael to the Groton fishing derby where he got second prize.  Great job Michael!  We will be having trout for supper since it was free fishing after the derby and Mr. D came home with 4 nice trout.  Michael got five nice size ones too.  Hope he enjoyed his fish.

I watched Norman also on Saturday night, so Joanna could go fishing with her friend Tabitha.  She brought home a good sized hornpout and we'll be having that along with our trout.  Norman was climbing out of his pack and play, so Joanna made in into a Jr. bed for him so he doesn't hurt himself climbing out all the time.  On Sunday morning I heard rustling around and soon the pitter patter of little feet and next thing I knew there was cold feet at my back.  "I hungry", he says.  So we both got up and got breakfast and our day was started at 6 am.   I could have snoozed a little longer, but I don't think he would have let me.

No pictures yet, but I've been thinking about it.  Just doesn't seem to be enough time to get that done.

Have a happy day.

borrowed from someone's FB page

SPRING GARDEN UPDATE

Guess I'd better get on the ball and get some blogging done.  I have no pictures this time, but I want to take some early garden pictures and post them here.


I had prepared the garden space as best I could over the previous couple of weeks.  I tightened the fencing for the pole beans, raked up all the debris from last year and removed any remaining stakes and wire cages.  I dug up the remaining strawberries and potted them.  Last winter was brutal on them and out of hundreds of plants I had only 60  or so that I potted up for replanting .  We reserved a small area of the garden for them to go back in. I will mulch them with straw this year to see if we can give them a good start for next year.  They are June bearers, so they need the whole summer to gain strength for next spring.

We got the garden in last weekend over the span of 3 days because it kept raining us out.

This is how the weekend went.  Saturday was a washout.  Everytime we got ready to do anything it would downpour, so the garden was very soggy and we didn't want to rototill the mud, so we waited.  We went to the livestock auction and bought some stuff... a tent, a drumel tool set, and a set of wire brushes for cleaning furnaces that Mr. D had his eye on.  I went to the store and did a little shopping for paper products we needed... hmmm... I know... work at a paper company and buy my paper towels and toilet paper at the store?  The problem is that right now I have no place to store an 80 roll case of toilet paper.  When I DO have space I will buy it from work since it's way cheaper there.  That was how our Saturday went.  By the time we got home, the weather was clearing up but now I had 3 loads of soggy laundry on the clothesline and the garden was way too wet to work in.  I left it there in hopes that Sunday would be better.

Sunday had a beautiful start.  However we did have a bit of rain.  By the time we got home from church around 2 pm the garden had dried out and so we went ahead with the tilling.  I apologize to all those who believe that Sunday is a day of rest.  In the farming world we do what we can while the sun shines.  We have Sunday School, Morning Worship, we share a meal and then an afternoon Worship/sharing time this week was the closing Patch Club performance.  Wonderful morning of fellowship and worship and learning.  The afternoon is used for catching up on what we could not get done Saturday.

We got all the tilling done and pulled the plants from the greenhouse and got those down to the garden area and pulled the seeds we wanted in.  We also cleaned up the greenhouse a little, rearranging stuff that gets literally thrown in during the winter.  We also had a sick chicken in there this spring, so the coop area which is in the back of the greenhouse was opened up and stuff had to be moved around to accommodate for the sick hen.  We washed up the tiller and got that taken care of and our Sunday was done.  Whew!  Hit the hay early that day.

Monday dawned grey.  I thought we may not be able to get in the garden, so we got everything ready and then ran a few errands.  Went to get milk at the farm, looked a few places for some Italian pole bean seeds which I had failed to purchase earlier (thought I had).  By the time we got back home, the sun was shining and it had turned into a beautiful day.  We got home and got going with the planting.

Planted this year:

4 types of tomatoes,  4 Gilberte Paste,  2 Beefstake (one of Joanna's she had started and one we picked up at the auction), 6 Jet Star (our favorite), and 4 Grape tomatoes for snacking :)
Roma Pole Beans (we couldn't find any seed to buy so planted some old seed *thickly* to see if they will come up... if not we may have to resort to another earlier pole bean.
Shell beans - two short rows
Beets - Lutz winter keepers that were started earlier in the greenhouse
Cucumber - we had some Straight 8 started, but they got fried one day in the little greenhouse, so had lots of pickling cukes left and planted all those.
Peas - Sugarsnap seed
a short row of carrot seed - for nibbling, radishes for that purpose too.
Brussel sprouts started in the greenhouse
Kale - seed
Swiss Chard - seed
Dill - started in greenhouse
Basil - started in greenhouse

We have about 60 or so squash plants still in the little greenhouse, so those will need to be planted, but we decided to plant the squash in old tires this year.  Last year the squash took over in the garden and the other plants suffered, so this year they are banned.  We are planting them on the hill where they will get lots of sunshine and they will be out of the garden with lots of room to spread out.

We have 25 old tires spread all over the top of the hill and we will fill those with compost and top soil and then plant with the baby squash plants.  It's going to be another busy weekend!!

We've determined that there are 3 things that we need to have lots of this year for canning and freezing... squash, tomatoes, pickles.  We are nearly out of all of these.  We are out of canned tomatoes which Mr. D like to make tomato bisque on those cold winter nights.  We eat squash with nearly every meal is we have time and Mr. D like pickles in any sandwich he eats, so we use lots of those and we are almost out.  I also want lots of green beans in the freezer because with Brandon living close by its one of the vegetables he enjoys.

We've been eating dandelion greens for the past two weeks.  Mr. D pulled them out of the compost pile.  They are quite good with butter and a bit of vinegar.  I have enjoyed them, though I make Mr. D clean them.

Happy Friday to you all.

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!

Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!

Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!

Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!

Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!

Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!

Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!

Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!

Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!

Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

Happy Resurrection Day to all of you!  I haven't been able to post much here because we have been very busy, but busy is good especially when it means that the snow is going away and spring is coming.  I hope to post a few pictures here soon so that you can see that the snow IS really going down.  We had about 4 inches on Tuesday night, but it's mostly all gone now and I've ordered some heating mats for the greenhouse as I expect this Spring to be a bit on the cold side and late planting.  All of that is in God's hands, but I will be ready for whatever He may send me. 

Hallelujah!  He is risen.  Because of the resurrection we have hope of eternity with Him.  Let the whole world know!



Hodge Podge 04/09/14

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. When did you last 'shower attention on someone or have attention 'showered' on you? Did you love it or did all that attention make you squirm?

I don’t like it when people make a big deal out of something I’ve done or said. I’m rather a private person. I enjoy doing special things for people, but it’s a little embarrassing if they make a big “to-do” about it. It doesn’t stop me from doing it though, ‘cause we should never stop doing special things for people.

2. Share a favorite 'spring break' memory. Not talking about just the college 'spring break' thing, but any favorite spring break memory you'd like to share. Keep it family friendly please!

I love every thing about spring. I enjoy being out of doors finally, since I don’t do winter sports I am all stiff and sore for the first few weeks of warmer weather, but it is so enjoyable I don’t even care. This morning I went out to get in the car for work and just stood there for a few minutes just breathing it all in and listening to the sounds of spring… snow melting/dripping, new bird voices we haven’t heard all winter long chirping, breeze through the leafless branches… and feeling WARM for the first time in months.

3. It's National Pecan Month...are you a fan? If so, what's your favorite dish that calls for pecans?

My favorite pie is pecan. I recently found a recipe for pecans, dipped in egg white and brown sugar then baked in the oven till crisp. Wow! Those are some yummy pecans.

4. 'Put all your eggs in one basket', 'egg on your face', rotten egg', 'walk on eggshells' or 'a good egg'...which eggs-pression could most recently be applied to your own life?

We have chicken and twice a week I wash and box eggs for sale in our egg box and for sale at the Co-op. It is a big job and usually takes me and hour or more to label boxes and wash the eggs and then box them up and get them ready to go. As much as I like eggs… eating them that is… I don’t care for this job. I am grateful for the money that it generates. We haven’t had much over our expenses yet, but the ducks are laying well this year before anyone elses have started laying, so we have been able to sell many duck eggs at the co-op and that is a bit better money.

5. In my experience___________.

It is energizing having a clean house and chores done and not feeling guilty sitting down to do some cross stitch in the evening, or go out for a walk. Doesn’t happen too often because as the saying goes, “a woman’s work is never done”. But once in a while I get caught up and when I do it is an exhilarating feeling.

6. What's a favorite song with the word rain in its title or lyrics?

Lyrics to The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down (Winnie The Pooh And The Blustery Day)

The rain rain rain came down down down

In rushing, rising riv'lets,
'Til the river crept out of it's bed
And crept right into Piglet's!

Poor Piglet, he was frightened,
With quite a rightful fright.
And so, in desperation
A message he did write.

He placed it in a bottle
And it floated out of sight.

And the rain rain rain came down down down

So Piglet started bailing.
He was unaware, atop his chair,
While bailing he was sailing!

And the rain rain rain came down down down

And the flood rose up up upper.
Pooh, too, was caught and so he thought,
"I must rescue my supper!"

Ten honey pots he rescued,
Enough to see him through,
But as he sopped up his supper,
The river sopped up Pooh!

And the water twirled and tossed him
In a honey pot canoe!

The rain rain rain came down down down...

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down (Winnie The Pooh And The Blustery Day) Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/

7. What does the word hope mean to you?

My Hope is in the Lord
By Norman J. Clayton

My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Him-self for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin at Cal-va-ry.

CHORUS:
For me He died;
For me He lives,
And everlasting life
And light He free-ly gives.

No merit of my own
His anger to suppress
My only hope is found
In Jesus' righteousness

And now for me He stands
Before the Father's throne
He shows His wounded hands
And names me as His own

His grace has planned it all
'Tis mine but to believe
And recognize His work of love
And Christ receive


8. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m too tired to have any "random" thought... I'm having enough trouble just with the purposeful thinking.