Thursday, January 26, 2012

Artsy ...oh...fartsy:[

Friend showed me a cute jewelry project,
Hers was a very pretty necklace.
She showed me how to make it
...sort of...
and this is what came out of my first effort.
Yikes!  
To me it looks like a crown of thorns around a Trinity of beads.
 Not very pretty.
The beads captivated me and i wanted to do something...
(i'll try again & see what happens)
Since i do not wear necklaces very often i decided this will go in a window to catch this glorious Southwest Sunshine streaming so warmly through our windows.
Not to brag .... but it's somewhere firmly between 70 and 80 degrees right now.
That's why i love this place and why we are here.
Sure Summers sizzle in the 100++'s
and i love it then too!

For my friends in the
Lone Star State:
i'm very glad to hear news that The drought in Texas may be on it's way out.
We had rain last week.
i still have not made it out to watch the Washes run
during these downpours.
Perhaps we'll live nearer one in the future.

Our yard is the only one with Green in it
since we are the only one's not using weedkiller.  
..B.B. bought me a neon green weed-whacker that matches my kitchen walls..
hahahahahahahahah!!
i Love it!!


oh oh

The Anti-bugg man just drove up 
across the street.
>:[
So much
for going out to enjoy
Beeing a
Weed Whacko!
We
are seriously looking at the idea of picking up an old motor home
& moving out to the
Boondocks
sooner than later.
The future
may
Bee
Nearer
Hummmmm.
Perhaps it's time to go watch the 
WASH.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Grace & Mercy

X

A bazzilion years ago
in a land
that seems
So
Far Away...
i drove this road between home, that never felt like home
and college...
one of several attempts to finish with some sort of vocation or degree.
This is what it looks like today,
it looked much the same when i drove down it in my 62 Volvo pt.1800.
Today
i was checking road conditions to see what kind of greeting we should expect should we make a run up to see family who still live up in this neighborhood.
i remember this spot in particular because my sporty little bucket of bolts, bailing wire & chewing gum was threatening to take a dump
Right here X.

i was going to follow through with a long desired dream of becoming a
horse trainer.
The college offered a course that was supposed to prepare a person for the business aspect as well as the business end of Horse Husbandry.
i learned more about Sheep, Cows, pigs and operating various tractors and farm equipment as the Horse program was on the decline the year i attended.
The advisers who promoted their 'Farm management program'
Declined to inform me of this fact.
 But
For the most part i did enjoy being the oldest student living in the farm dorm with a mess of snotty nosed barely out of high school kids who
 of course
 Knew it all.

i learned
 Never: turn your back on a sheep...they're not as soft and cuddly as they look.
They're also not too bright...and when not acclimated to people... they're really tough to shepherd.
i never knew and animal to run away from feeding time but it was quite a sight to see a whole flock .... flock to the opposite side of a field..
it seemed even stupider to me to have to run around to that other side... and chase them back to the waiting piles of hay...but we tried waiting them out and they would not come to eat even when we were gone. Of course in the soggy conditions all that hard work racking, baling and hauling would be spoiled if left for long.
The farm students grew and processed all the hay used for livestock so we all quickly learned the value of a single bale of hay.

These ewes had been on range before our term to work them began in the fall.
All had been bred
and all would have just as soon stayed hidden out in the rough to forage but with lambing season due at the end of our first semester we had to have them in on pasture and supplemental feed to ensure
a healthy springy ...Spring for all.
Our farm manager knew about sheep and some of the other students knew about sheep.
 i knew
NOTHING.
There was one person who Really Knew sheep..my *Boom-mate*.
(*our laughter was explosive*, according to our co-dormies)
We spent many hours laughing Loudly..about the rediculous things in life.
College students and farm animals.
there wasn't much difference.
Nothing seemed to faze my Boom-mate ...not even our know it all young-uns who ignored her wisdom and obvious shepherding prowess.
One evening she warned that a number of ewes were showing signs of lambing...
the other farm students had better things to do that night than round up a bunch of unruley sheep.
They vetoed her call to bring them in from the field they were sharing with the cows.
 Before the rising of the sun 'Boom-mate' and i were awaken to calls from our early morning revelers
"come quick "....
"Your Sheep are dropping lambs like bombs!"
(Funny how they became OUR sheep at this inoppertune moment.)
indeed they were...
and like a bomber in the sky these skittish would-be mama sheep were hightailing it away from thier precious dropped packages.
The ever curious cows were mooving in to investigate the blessed events happening all over their field and the Ewes weren't sticking around to protect their babies.
He tends His flock like a shepherd;
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them
close to His Heart;
He gently leads
those that have young.
Isaiah 40:11

Hindsight is such a thing isn't it?

Looking back i can think of a million things we
coulda/shoulda done differently.
 Wisdom pointed us to follow the one who had proven herself
a Shepherdess: my Boom-mate,
and we learned more about people and sheep that day than in the previous months all running in our own directions.

What a mad dash it was to find these little puddles of just birthed lifeforms.
All we could do at that time was to hope to match babies to Mama's
try to get mama's scent onto lambies so they could attach and recieve the all important colostrum ...first milk... that ensures a thriving, healthy lamb.
We didn't lose too many that day
or after as we moved them all into lambing stalls.
But we learned
the value of a single
 little
fuzzy
life.

When He saw the crowds,
He had compassion on them,
because they were harassed and helpless,
like sheep without a
Shepherd.

Matthew 9:36

Friday, January 13, 2012

Wearing wall ornaments

i posted this picture of the goofy green socks my sweet Sister sent a while back...
i think for my birthday(?) 
OH Yes...
it was the 49-er post.


i need to go back to blogger school so i can finally learn how to do things like ..adding links to other Posts
AND
Links to Other peoples lovely blogs i follow on the side bar.
(whatever that's called)
A while back
my bugbombed brain discovered, and latched on to:
* finding cool music videos and
*sending really crummy pictures to my Blog from our cell phone ...
so i kinda went OVERboard .. with That new knowledge for a bit.
Thanks for puttin' up with me!
Anyways...
i was able to take these sock 'ornaments' off the wall this week ...
it's finally cool enough to stuff my toes into socks...
AND...and ...and...
much Cooler is:
The edema has gone down even more this last month... 
i can fit these "Wild things" on my feet comfortably now!
YaY!
in FACT i discovered quite happily that my favorite pair of running shoes are back to being just right.
(i sound like Goldy Locks;)

*Sadly*
i STILL can't make comments on my own Posts despite attempts at several solutions. So...
here i go So-ing again.
(Perhaps i need to take up Sewing....again...
Hmmm.
 i have a great old pre world war II sewing machine,
buried under storage boxes.)

The Year end stuff:
Christmas and Holiday bustle; did a number on my heart this year.
i wanted to go see peoples;
family..friends.
But they all live North or west where it's either too cold or too polluted for me to be half way able to cope with little things, much less the excitement of
catching up on SO much life.
Their lives have all moved rapidly forward  --->
Babies...New homes...new careers.. new boyfriends & Hubby's!
---->All that living.---->
As it should be.

i'm still somewhere back in a warp of time;
<~~
still not quite able to conceive of time passing.
<~~~~
Not sure if this is a Fibro/chemical thing
or just
a
me
thing.
Everybuddy is so Buzzzzzy!
i used to bee...
buzzz
but when i look at everybody else it seems to me
now
i'm just going backwards

Zzzzzz...UB!

x'cept

i've got my crazy socks and running shoes on now ...
Ha Ha!
ya better run peoples .... cause i'm gonna catch UP!

eeeeheeheeheehee!

picture from:
ICANHASCHEEZBURGER.COM
Web-site.
Have you discovered this place
YET??
it'll trap you like a Real web for certain!








Thursday, January 5, 2012

IN YOUR PRESENCE

Romans 8:26-27
26)In the same way,
the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know
what we ought to pray for,
 but the Spirit
himself
intercedes for us
 with groans that words cannot express.

27) And he who searches our hearts
knows the mind of the Spirit,
because
 the Spirit intercedes
for the saints in accordance with God's will.





This was our reading this morning.

Can you just hear the Spirit taking up our prayers to God with

"Groans that words cannot express"

This
is just 
Awesome.


This also is one of the songs i sing
when i need to remember where i belong.


..me..
a lump
 of clay
invited
to be
in the
presence
of our

..Creator..

Inexpressible.

Oh!
 We started into Genesis again
in the Evenings
and are going to try to keep to
 the Schedule.

4 chapters a day.

It's Not too late to Join us.

Come meet Melchizedek:
~King of Salem ~
Priest of God Most High.
Genesis 14:18

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Hinei Ma Tov Umanaim

 Today started Beautifully.
Hub-Bee & i popped out of bed, fed our waiting Ther-a-pets
after rounding Abbys up from her outside patrol;
Sat down for coffee and the WORD.
We got behind on our reading 'cause we read less than the required 4 Chapters a day to make the schedule, so we are just in the middle of Romans. 
We Did read EVERY day.. but  got so engrossed in study we took more time to really absorb what we were reading.
 *Have YOU ever read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations...
all the way through as you would a Novel?  
Well,
 in the beginning of 2011 we embarked on the "read the Bible in a Year" program and it has been SO illuminating..
Sure, My Hub is a Pastor...we've both read Gods Word...
How many times? Who knows?
it doesn't matter.
What does matter is that Each and every time it is read The WORD speaks to us in fresh and exhilarating ways...
almost as if we have not seen or heard some of it before.
INDEED:
"For the word of GOD is living and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
Hebrews 4:12

After We ate breakfast and my Love went off to work for the day i decided to listen to a radio program where the host does allot of commentary and just basic yammering on air.
The usual host was out because of the New-Year holiday.
The alternative host completely obliterated the usual programing that starts off with a wonderful Gospel song as a way to start the day,
 and played instead the usual secular fare the station is known for.
Not BAD stuff; just not the inspirational sweetness we have become accustomed to.
Before i knew what hit me i realized i was highly
Perturbed
 and
sporting a
rather Rotten attitude.
BIG-HUGE change from the mornings lovely start.

i realized it was the company i was keeping.
Sweet as these radio folks can be at times; i've noticed they have a tendancy to find and dwell in some particularly negative mindsets.

Not that i expect the world to be all Pollyanna and all that...
Negative surrounds us in this world today... the news is not always happy, sappy slap your knee & do a jig kinda stuff
I Know This.
i Know the truth isn't always comfortable, sweetness and light,
and in order for "the Truth to set us free" we must often dig up the negative root and give it a good examination to determine what to do with it.
But i also know how damaging a negative attitude can be to us.
Chronic negativity can ruin a persons health ..
 heart and soul.
Ask me how i KNOW this
:<
Y'all thought i was the epitome of a shiney new copper penny;
 Huh?)
Yah i KNOW.
In this new year i will venture to tell a deeper version of my experiences.
 Negativity played a big role in the developement of my present health issues,
 though i want to make sure to seperate myself from it ...keep hurtfull things at bay...
Not Dwell within those walls again.
i have a new home now...
 a new environment...
We are living the fact that we are
"A New Creation"
LIVING it...
This is different than merely Acknowledging it.
i know and love many folks who have the same trouble as i was prone to for many years;
i will never poo-poo or negate thier feelings
even as i fight to remain within a place of joy & peace in my soul.

What i want to do for Them,
 for You,
for Us; 
...is This...
....As i did this morning...
Instead of just sitting there,feeling the steam coming from my ears
 i will get up
and
CHANGE THE CHANNEL.
I will remember:
 "How Good and How pleasant
 it is For Brothers
(& Sisters)
to Dwell together..
IN UNITY."
Psalm133:1



... i got up,
 raised my hands,
and Abby & i  
danced around the living room coffee table...

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from GOD's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Hebrews 4:13

please join me
Brothers & Sisters.
 &
For Our Sweethearts with Knee issues & other complications:

You can dance with your arms and hands in the air
but
stay off
your feet until your doctor says so.
You hear?

Because We LOVE You!

<3

Happy New Year!