A Perfect Day for A Walk

                 "Expect to have hope rekindled.  Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.
                  The dry seasons in life do not last.  The spring rains will come again." 
                                                     ~Sarah Ban Breathnach
 We were asked by our neighbor to watch their 3 small dogs this week-end. I had to go over by eight this morning to let them out and feed them. This is the picture that met me this morning as I pulled up the shade. I love our dogwood tree and it is so full of blooms. The birds were singing and the squirrels were scampering about and I stopped and thanked the Lord for all the nature He gave us to enjoy. He wants us to stop and enjoy and lift our hands and hearts to Him with all the praise we can muster. That is our thanks to Him.

 I took this as I came home this evening. I love the shadows on the blooms. You see one of the many projects John is working on. This was some sort of parking area and he wants it to be all grass and friends can all pull around to the back of the mobile home. Remember this summer when we bought this place the yard was weeds head high. I appreciate all the hard work John has done.

 This just came up wild and this is the first I saw blooms on it. Anyone know what this is? I know the butterflies love the blooms! They just would not allow me to take their pictures.....wonder why?

 I love wild violets. As a child I would find a patch of them and sit down and pick a hand full and hurry home to put them in a vase. My grandma loved them and I would take her some in the spring. During this move my antique cup and saucers disappeared. That still hurts! I had about 8 different ones and a tea pot. But they are in my memory and that is what counts.

 Our neighbor has these around his mobile home but they do not know what they are called. Maybe one of you can tell me this too.

I found a big patch of these too. The pink is so pretty.

 My seeds are coming up and some are doing good. I hope we can soon put the out in the garden. I have tomatoes, hot peppers, Brussel Sprouts, and herbs are growing each day. I have some raised beds with arugula, cabbage, broccoli, Chinese broccoli, 2 types of lettuce, onions, garlic, spinach and rosemary. I soon can cut some arugula and lettuce and I am excited about that. I am seeing with the price of groceries I need to put up as much as we can grow.
 I have some ideas to keep me using my blog more. So check back soon.

The Wonder of a Child and mom.

                                           While we try to teach our children all about life,
                                           Our children teach us what life is all about.
                                                       ~Angela Schwindt~



  Mom has really been on a down mood lately. She has been staying in bed most of the day and seldom coming out to see what is going on. Several neighbors have come by and wanted her to come out and visit but she refused. I am back to taking 3 meals a day to her in her room. We have offered to take her with us but it is always a "No". The doctor suggested I do not ask her again and make her ask me. So we will try that.
 Mom does not want me to take in breakfast until noon so she can sleep. Today the neighbors granddaughter came over to visit. I am making her a felt book with dolls and each page of the book will have a room and she can play with the dolls .....it is a grown up version of a busy book. Catie is 5. I started to get mom's tray together and she asked me who that was for. So I told her. She decided she would carry the tray with me and I figured it was worth a try. She opened the door and said in a happy voice "Good Morning. Time to get up." Mom looked surprised but just had to smile back at the happy face greeting her. Catie told mom what each thing was on her tray and told her she needed to eat it all. She than took in the things I am working on and shared them with mom and just kept chatting. She saw the picture of dad and asked who he was and mom told her. She than told the child that she just wanted to die and go to him. It was quiet in the room and as I went to the room to rescue Catie I held this,"Well, so what? We all have to die. We do not go to a person because we go to God.
Don't you know that?" Mom was sure taken back. Catie kept on playing until her dad came by to get her.
Mom came out of the room and said that girl was sure smart. She went back to her room but I know she has something to think about.

 Children are a gift to us. They help us see what life is really about. They love in an unconditional way and they look at us with awe and learn from us. Catie saw a lady that needed love and a friend and so she did what she could to give mom that. Mom looked rough but Catie did not see that. At one point mom asked her if she knew how old she was. Catie thought and replied "15 I think." Mom laughed and that was music to my ears. She told her she would be 89 in June unless she died and Catie wondered why she would want to do that. When she left she told mom she feels sorry for her......That should be food for thought too.

 This poem is one I love and I want to share it with you.

God Made Little Girls
Author: Unknown

God made the world with its towering trees,
majestic mountains and restless seas,
then paused and said, "It needs one more thing."
Someone to laugh and dance and sing,
to walk in the woods and gather flowers,
to commune with nature in quiet hours.
So God made little girls
with laughing eyes and bouncing curls,
with joyful hearts, and beautiful smiles,
enchanting ways and feminine wiles.
And when He'd completed the task He'd begun,
he was pleased and proud of the job He'd done.
For the world when seen through a little girl's eyes
greatly resembles paradise.

OUR TRAIL and more....

I love to walk this trail! I love the brisk air that sends scarlet, yellow, orange and brown leaves chasing each other.......I love the greens of the pines, holly and cedar trees that are now so very clear as you see the landscape changing. The shuffling of leaves under my feet is simply a fun sound that takes me back to my childhood.

John took these pictures as he and Sparky walked. Sparky seems to love fall too.
I added some of my favorite Autumn quotes under the trail pictures.

"October gave a party;The leaves by hundreds came-The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,And leaves of every name.The Sunshine spread a carpet,And everything was grand,Miss Weather led the dancing,Professor Wind the band."
- George Cooper, October's Party

"Listen ...With faint dry sound,Like steps of passing ghosts,The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break free from the trees And fall."

- Adelaide Crapsey, 1878-1914, November Night

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn."

- Elizabeth Lawrence

This is standing in front of John's shop looking toward our home. He has lots of ideas to do natural landscape from seedlings in the wooded area. When you see this next year I know it will look better. We plan to replace the back door in one of the next months. This door had been entered by force too and was repaired so we could get by. John planted grass in all the bare yard. On this side of the car was a fire pit that I cleaned up. I look 6 wheel barrow loads of garbage back to the trash pile. It took me hours to do that and 3 loads of ashes on top of that.

I had to watch for the many needles in this mess......since there was not a stove in the house the neighbor said they cooked out in the fire pit as they would have a party that lasted a week or more......she was one scared lady and I sure do understand.

John loves this shed. He has organized inside and has a really nice work area. When we came here you could not even see this building. In the front was a mound of rotten wood, mangled tin and all kinds of junk along with bags of garbage. There were old tires and containers full of empty cans of lye and stuff that they used to make meth.....it was a sobering sight. John spent days working through all of this and than burning what he could.

BEFORE AND AFTER

Our front yard is such a wonderful and beautiful spot. Fall is beautiful and this dogwood tree is really a brilliant red.

I have meant to do this ever since we moved to Franklin, Ga. But as you all will see we had our work cut out for us. It has been the most rewarding adventure of my life. I have been so thankful for John's ability to see what needs to be done and the fact the Lord allowed him to have the strength to do it along with the help of Ryan and our friends Douglas and Jane. Without the 3 of them we would not have been able to do it as quickly as we did.

These pictures only show the before pictures after we took out bags of garbage out so that we could walk and see the place. The other reason is many of those bags contained raw garbage and the smell was a killer!

This is the kitchen before we cleaned it up. It had not had a stove of refrigerator for a long time. We were told they were sold to make the meth....The roaches were in plenty in this kitchen....it gave me a fit to even be in there but I toughened up and got it clean! Than as I cleaned John came behind and caulked so they would be sealed out. The furniture left here was full of stains, roaches and the smoke smell....the combination was horrible. We kept nothing.....

This is looking out the kitchen window now. John loves his plants and so we added the stand for the winter. I love doing the dishes and watching the birds. Our land goes back the path in the center of the picture.

The dinning area was piled to the ceiling with bags and boxes. This was a horrible build in that was also full of roaches and we had to pull it out so we could add a bit of room for our dinning table.

The dinning area is now a wonderful place to eat. I have the table set for John's birthday here and the pecan pie cake I made was a real keeper! We had our neighbor couple over for the meal and I used the china that Nicole gave me several years ago.

The living area was full of garbage and 2 huge sofas. The door had been forced open by the GBI when they did the raid on this house. Our friend Kenny was helping change the locks. This carpet was blue at one time.....these folks had at least 4 dogs in here and had never cleaned the carpet......full ash trays were in plenty and you would not have dared to sit on the furniture!

I am so thankful that we could change the carpets and make the living areas a wonderful place to be. I watch birds from my chair and just feel at such peace. We gave away over 1/2 of our furniture and stuff but we have now what we need. I like that we could simply our lives.

The yard was full of trash.....beer cans....an ugly fire pit with 5 gallon cans cans for seats all around it. John collected 45 tires from all over the yard. The barn/shed was full of 7 couches and garbage bags to the roof. It filled a 30 foot construction dumpster and John had to haul off a ton of junk beside that and burned wood for 5 days. We still have the tires to get rid of the tires.

The front yard had stuff growing as tall as we are and it took days to mow it down....all we had was a push mower and the neighbors joked it was a bush hog for John. But he got the job done.

I have more pictures but I think you all get the feel of the place......It is now a wonderful home and we love it! There is much work to be done but that will come. Right now John needs to rest and get back his strength. You all come and see us!

It is a beautiful day here at Massanutten. This photo John took in Shenandoah National Park. It is called Pitt Spring Run. He has been enjoying getting out to snap pictures. We stayed in the 70's yesterday and it was quite cool last night.

Mom is hanging on in a way. Her desire to go and be with daddy is strong and her focus is on that. She has a birthday coming .....June 18....and she wants to be gone by than. It is depressing to go into her room and know this is what you are going to hear. Now I understand living with your husband for 65 years and him not being with you now must be hard. That I understand.

Last night I was thinking about this and hoping I would never put my kids through this. As I lay there it came to me....I can chose to live each day I have to the fullest. I can and will be grateful for what I do have and those around me that I love. I will do whatever I can to lighten the load of those I meet. I will care for the earth God gave us and continue to enjoy the nature He gave us to enjoy. I will allow His joy to fill my heart.

You may ask why I am sharing this......mom has always held a lot of bitterness and resentment in her heart. Sometimes she can hide it but as this dementia gets worse those feelings are so toxic and strong. I often get very heavy just having to go back that hall to care for her. My cheerfulness upsets her and she will remark why an I happy....I can barely walk she will tell me and I have a sick husband. I tell her that at least I can get around and I love John just as he is and she tells me to go on out......Or she may tell me look at my 2 front teeth that are missing and telling me don't I see nobody cares......and I tell he at least I can still chew my food.....and so that is our sharing time......If I show her pictures of the grand kids she will brighten.

We will be in our old age the worst we are now......The bad points seem to come to the surface.

Mon has stayed in a negative frame of mind and she has become stuck in that frame.
When we look at all the inner clutter that is in our lives, hearts and souls, what do we find? We find resentments.Resentment is a lack of acceptance and a lack of forgiveness. This leads to bitterness and we all know bitterness kills.
I love the story of Joseph. Read this verse.....

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
You might want to read or re-read his inspiring story from Genesis 30-50. Joseph is a good example of someone who turned the offenses of others against him into good not only for himself but the ones who offended him. Because he found victory over his offenses, he saved a nation and a people.

This quote sums it up for me.....

"The difference between holding on to a hurt or releasing it with forgiveness is like the difference between laying your head down at night on a pillow filled with thorns or a pillow filled with rose petals." (Loren Fincher)

Think about the clutter in your life and with God's help clean it up and enjoy life.....God gives us the gift of life and we need to show others how to grow older with Hid joy and the zest for life....living each day we have with gratitude.

I love my mom but how I wish she would have accepted the Joy of the Lord and let go of the bitterness she has stored up all he life......I will learn from her!

SNOW DAYS

We sure are living in a "Winter Wonderland". I am reminded of this by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Come, see the north-wind's masonry, Out of an unseen quarry evermore Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer Curves his white bastions with projected roof Round every windward stake, or tree, or door. Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work So fanciful, so savage, naught cares he For number or proportion.

I watched the beauty around us unfold and I was reminded of how the beautiful white covers the dirty spots and transforms them into beauty. God does that for us. He takes the mess of our lives and makes them pure and white.

As for mom...she is doing OK some days and slipping the next. As I told the nurse I am never sure which one I will see in the morning nor do I know which one will be there when I take her night pills and tuck her in. I know she is lonely and gets no visitors. It has been at least 3 months since anyone was here she knew. The boys do go back from time to time as well as their mother and that is good....we did get her out to a birthday tea for the oldest boy I home school. But she went right back into her safe little world. Her appetite is getting less and less except for her snacks....Uncle Bobby's made her day with a package of chocolates, Pa. Dutch Bologna and books to read. Than a friend of mine sent her some more books, socks and good smelling soap. These packages are very special to mom and let her know she is still loved. She needs that. I am reminded that her days are numbered and I try to enjoy the good times we have.

I think we had around 20 inches of snow and these pictures taken from inside the house tell the story.

Sick and Our Anniversary

I have been so sick with the H1N1 or swine flu and I had pneumonia with it. I am slowly gaining back some strength.

Yesterday laughter and song came from our home....what a treat! It was our 21st anniversary!

Mary Ellen the mom of the 2 boys I home school arranged for her whole family to come and bring finger foods to celebrate our special day. She knows how I miss family! So they came at 10AM. I have added pictures of the families that were here.....This is her, her husband and my 2 boys!

Grandma and grandpa Shirk are just simply precious! They have welcomed us into the family with open arms and I can tell you I miss my grandma and the aunties more when I am around them!

Fred and Lois and their 4 children.....Fred was a cook when mom and dad were at the Mennonite home here and they loved him! He is a pastor also. He had a wonderful devotions for us.....than his one daughters read a beautiful poem. Mom remembers him and they have a special relationship that brings her peace.

Eunice and Steve and their 7 kids....they are the ones that have a market down from us and allowed me to sell my felt items there and cards. Eunice and I have a special sister relationship and I treasure her family! The younger ones sang a carol and Natalie the oldest plays the harp and the one next to her sang in a most beautiful clear voice. Natalie played the harp as we sang many carols.

Mom and Steve's youngest daughter....She loves mom and mom responds to her too. Mom wants to have a tea party with her next week.

The boys surprised me with saying Luke 2 together and they did it without a mistake! We had homemade cookies, fruit trays, tortilla wraps and she made the best tortillas from scratch! Garden Pizza and I made meatballs and a cheese tray. What good food! I was wiped by the time they left....but happy. I just cannot get my strength back and still cough a lot...my voice is coming back a bit at a time. Ryan told me yesterday I did not sound older than grandma. He says it like he sees it! Last night was rough but this morning I feel a bit better. This swine flu is awful! Yesterday was the best anniversary we had and we are grateful for precious new family!