Graduation and moving on from there

Hello my dear friends.

Natasha's window finally!

I have a lot to share with you at this time so I suggest you pull up a chair and grab an iced coffee or whatever beverage of choice.  It has been a great couple of weeks and a tough couple of weeks.  First of all the great couple of weeks.  Graduation!  It was so nice.  I wish we could have had everyone up here to celebrate Tasha, but that is not possible. The speeches were so

Don't touch, it's mine!

great and so personal pointing to my beautiful daughter, it was very touching.  I did a speech, Sean did one and so did Logan.  Tom welcomed everyone and that was nice too.  The room was decorated nicely and a lot of people came.  That really

Decoration

meant a lot to us because the drive for a lot of people was not just down the street.  After the speeches we prayed for Tasha, which I thought was the most important part of the whole celebration.  Then we ate, and let me tell you there was a lot of food.  I had prepared a ziti and it was pretty good.  We have enough left over for the next day to share with the church after service.  I got a little choked up at the end of my speech but, well that was that.  I actually almost

Valedictorian and class prez.

forgot to introduce Tasha for her speech.  She did such a great job.  Her speech was honest and addressed a lot of people in her "audience", reminiscing.  After dinner and all that, we proceeded to the house.  Yeah, we lost Dave and his family on the way.  I don't know how.  It just happened.  But he was found and that was good.  I really didn't want Dave to be driving around Windsor county for the rest of his life.  As we (about 15 people) stormed the house, remembering it is a work in progress, we did have our first accident.  Tom had been working like crazy to get some of the upstairs floorboards in and thus the whole upstairs ladder-downstairs hole into the basement had shifted, leaving the downstairs hole just a little more open.  The dog was very excited to see all the people coming to see him and he got a little too excited and ..... yes he fell into the basement!  Of course there was great concern for the poor pup, and he was a little shaken up.  He was very apologetic that he fell into the basement, looking at Tom: What did I do wrong?  Funny at this point, but really not at that point.  But he is fine.  His tailbone hurt for a few days but that was all.

So sorry for falling.

We visited for a while and people left (of course they are not here anymore so it would stand to reason that people left at some point, but I just wanted to point out the obvious).  My sister and George stayed a little while, which was great because we got to visit a little one on one.  I was a little distracted with so many people and so I kind of tried to spend some time with everyone.  I hope I did.  Anyway, moving on, I am rambling, sorry!  Focus Anne, focus.

So graduation was a success, with the minor disaster of falling dogs.  Doesn't happen every day.  I mentioned the floor boards.  Tom, my wonderful hubby, wanted to have Natasha's room all finished with the boards and he sure did.  He worked like a madman (he is not, please understand that).

Drying floorboards

Some of Tasha's floor.

It is wonderful to walk upstairs and have some floor boards.  We have to be careful, splinters, but both sides of the stairs, that is both Logan and Tasha's rooms, are done.  Now we just have half the floor upstairs to be done.  I am very happy about that.  

At this point we are quite happy and comfy up in our little house.  We are still working on the water but it is coming along.  Tom has been researching power and he is ready to start working on it.  The limiting factor is funds but, God provides.  He is waiting to be hired by the school bus company and they are quite happy to have him.  So, when you see a school bus, it might be Tom driving it.  A word to the wise, be careful!!!  I'm kidding.  He is looking forward to start.  He already has a very bright vest to wear in the parking lot.  He is going for his bus/truck drivers license soon and then he will be able to have a route.  I just hope that the house won't come to a stand still, which I am sure it won't.

In the meantime, fall is upon us almost.  I am getting ready to homeschool again.  In fact I just mailed my core study this morning and it is now in the hands of the authorities.  Well, I know which Authority is mine so I am sure that the core study will go through.  It will be really quite a change for me, since it will only be my Logan and I doing school together.  Boy, that I have to get used to this.  Tasha will be around, which is nice, but she will be doing her school online and working.  She has gotten into a nice routine and it is not so crazy at home anymore.  We do tend to eat later than we have, though. 

The "kids" took a bike ride down to our new covered bridge the other day.  Tasha took some really nice pictures and I would like to share them with you.  (Thanks Tash.)  I will put them at the end of the blog. 

But now, to me (remember that this blog is all about me, people, so stay with me here!) and the more serious stuff, the spiritual stuff.  I told the family since we declared ourselves once more publicly, we would have some, em shall we say, issues.  The enemy always seems to slip in when things are going really good.  And sure enough he did.  Sean and I went down to CT for him to shoe my friend Julie's ponies.  We had a great time and lots of laughing with his friend and we enjoyed a nice visit with grandma and grandpa.  I also got to visit with Julie a bit and that was a treat.  And it was pouring!!  Well, when we got back home, things just were not right in my heart.  I was totally out of sorts.  I was disgruntled with everything.  There was such a cloud on my heart.  And then things just got worse from there on. I finally realized that I was "naked", without the Armor of God, and that the fiery darts of the enemy were getting through to my heart.   I once again had to deal with my old enemy fear and he won, for a while.  I just couldn't stop that old-in-the-gut feeling of fear.  I was totally aware of it, but couldn't shake it.  It just spread throughout my whole being.  I wanted so to stay in His presence as I had done with Tasha's graduation.  It took some time for me to get there.  He had to reassure me and reassure me and then slap me in the face to wake me up!  Oh yes, I consider myself slapped and rebuked.  I needed it!  I am so glad for the divine slap I received.  It was much needed.  I have to say that fear is very real, but scripture warns us not to succumb to it.  I was driving in CT and God sent me a reminder through the Christian radio station down there.  I have missed that station, since it has always been a great encouragement from God.  So once again I was told not to fear.  This morning I had some time to reflect on this.  I have been told that courage is standing firm despite feeling fear.  I don't think that is quite right.  God tells us not to fear.  We have to lean in Him when things get tough and BELIEVE that He is capable to take care of our situation and those around us.  So the God Who put this world together, who knew me in my

Beautifully created

mother's womb, knew and anticipated where I was going to be today, right now.  Can I believe and trust that?  I would say yeah, for sure.  Can I trust that if He tells me not to fear that He is the answer to my problems and everything that is going on, that he has my family in His hands, and that there is really nothing I can do except to stay and abide in Him? 

And what is this abide in Him, anyway?  I have been thinking and meditating on that a lot.  We are reading a wonderful book by a Muslim woman in Pakistan, who became a Christian late in life.  She felt His presence with her and learned to stay in His presence.  Wow, I have felt God's presence, but never have I realized that it might be nice to stay in His presence.  The world and business and my fear and my wants and my, my, my, my.......  Do you get the picture, because I am beginning to get the picture as I write this.  (I will digress for a moment so bear with me.)  This blog helps me work through things spiritually, so as I am writing, a lot of times I am working through things.  Anyway, back on track. Do you get the picture, because I am starting to.  There has to be a complete and utter surrender or else the weeds, the cares of this world start taking over, squashing what He has for you.  Eternal life in Christ!  I need to put my wants before Him every day, every moment until I am abiding in Him without question.  Tom has managed to do that, so it can be done.  I am still not quite there.  Why is that?  What is He trying to show me?  He showed me something that I didn't like this morning, therefore the slap.  So my response is?  The only response I can give.  HE IS LORD, HE IS RISEN AND IN HIM IS ETERNAL LIFE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE, FAITH, TRUTH, MERCY, MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE. And against those, there is no law, meaning no rebuke for us.  So, my prayer is to abide, to rest in Him, and Him alone.  Everything else is just extra, just fluff.  When I do that, I will have eternal life, life in Christ.

Find that eternal life, my friends.  It is the only thing that saves, that makes this life here worth living.  It is mine to grasp right now right here in the middle of turmoil, it is yours too.   Our pastor said something really great last weekend.  In this world there are always problems.  If you follow the world, you will be encountering difficulties, if you follow Christ you will too.  But, there is rest in Christ, and I choose to follow Him.

Bartonsville Bridge

Here are some of the pictures Tasha took.  Enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

Logan the clown

Lovely daughter of the King

I don't think so!

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends. 

Living life in an unfinished house

Greetings friends.  How is everyone?  We are managing with temperatures rather unusually high.  It's funny, all around us people are loosing their garden vegetables and we are having to water again daily.

View to the garden

 Since we have planted in raised beds, we are a little dryer than everyone around us.  We are quite thankful for that.  Our corn is a little pitiful, but our beans are doing well as are our grapes and our potatoes.  I can't wait for them to be harvested.  Our wonderful Rutabagas are doing great too.  Their leaves are huge.  The peach tree is full of beautiful fruits.  Our raspberries are coming along nicely.  We will not talk about our blueberries (what blueberries). Logan harvested our strawberries well, they were yummy. 

Current bushes

The bushes in the foreground are our currents.  Logan sampled some the other day and he was busy spitting them out.  They are too tart for him.  They do have a different aftertaste.


Our wood piles have shrunk a lot.  Cutting the boards is exhausting, especially in this weather.  Tom and Sean split the work.  Sean was working on the hemlock pile and Tom took the hard wood pile.  It was so encouraging to see them both go to work at the pile.  They were doing quite well.  We have a few of the hemlock boards ready to go, but it is slow work.  And that brings me to my post today.

Before side window upstairs

The house went up so quickly and so smoothly that we all figured, no problem.  We will be done in no time.  But then, life happens.  I think I mentioned it in another blog.  The weather plays a huge role when you are working outside.  Tom and I were going to Claremont yesterday and we decided we needed to talk about what our priorities are.  He has been feeling a little like Moses, he shared.  Everyone wants, expects this and that.  He is only one person.  So he really wanted me to get down to what was important for me.  That was really difficult for me.  In the past couple of weeks God has been talking to me about the things that I do have.  It is so easy to get into the mindset that I am entitled to everything.  A bigger house, a bigger property etc.  You name it.  Our society is based on bigger, more, that is better.

It started a few weeks ago, when I started planning Natasha's graduation.  She is such a special and beautiful

young lady and I wanted to make the day special.  We have a few things coming up in 

The uniform

August and I knew that I would have it in August.  Our church has a great set up.  There is a kitchen and a wonderful back area that is flat, where the young people can run around to play volleyball and baseball if they choose.  So I thought, there is no way the church is booked on the 3rd.  So being who I am I decided to have it then, before checking with our pastor.  Well, upon checking, there is a wedding that same day at the church.  How rude.  They could move the wedding, right?  Well, I didn't want to interfere with the wedding, and brought this new piece of information home to Tom.  In a very Tom-like fashion he asked why we couldn't have it at the house.  Well, hello Tom, I thought.  Where have you been?  Inconceivable!!!  Totally out of the question.  The more Tom and I thought, the more I began to realize that God has provided every (and I mean every) need the family has had.  Why was I so afraid that He wouldn't provide what we need for Tasha's graduation, even if it were at the house.  Whoa!  The pit of my stomach went lurching.  The fear roared its ugly head again.  No way, not possible for something good to come out of this.  And then I thought about it.  At night I see the stars and who am I?  I am a daughter of the One who stretched the heavens and put the stars into their spots.  Hello, I think he can handle a little thing like a graduation.  So I decided to put that trust completely again into the hands of the One Who is very capable.  I was meeting with some people for VBS (I did the crafts!!! ME, can you imagine?:>)  and mentioned my predicament.  The pastor of the Congregational church, who was in the meeting, immediately offered her church and facility.  Wow, I didn't see that one coming.  Have it at a different church?  You bet you.  I was thrilled.  Talking to our pastor the weekend following, he mentioned that the church would be available after 1PM.  In time for our little celebration.  Well, make up your mind, will you, God!  Where to have it.  So, the moral of the story thus far, is that I needed to let go, once again, of my expectations and just rest that He was going to take care of this whole thing.  And He sure did.  So, our little celebration is at the Baptist church with the nice outdoor area.

Holding a ladder for the window installation

What does that have to do with the house, you wonder?  I once again needed to be able to trust that God is going to take care of little things.  So here we are back to the discussion Tom and I were going to have yesterday.  Am I willing to accept what has been given to me and consider anything else a blessing?  Or do I put my foot down, and make things happen, pestering my poor hubby every step of the way.  What is really important?  Is having beautifully crafted wooden floors and cabinets really important?  I came to the realization that really, what is important is that we have a good relationship with each other, that we enjoy being around each other.

Eating at Lake Champlain

 I have to think of what we have.  We have so much!!  It is such an awesome blessing to have my husband right outside the door.  If I am mad at him I get to throw something at him right away and not have to wait for hours! :>  I am kidding!  The last time I threw something at him I waited all day.  The kids see their parents have a good time together, sometimes have words (mostly on my part), but you can't really teach them how to handle marital relationship any better than that.
So what God was asking once again, like so many times in my life, are you willing to trust my perfect timing?  That lesson is so hard for me to learn.  But it comes down to the basics again and again.  Do I really trust

that God is God?  Do I think that I have better ways and that my ways are better than His?  I always want to be in the driving seat.  But He just asks me to move over.  He wants to be in that seat.  If I let Him, He makes things beautiful. 

I have decided, over and over again, that yes, God is God and His ways are better and that I should rely on His perfect timing.  So, it is a difficult process, since I would love to have a finished house, with wood floors and maple cabinets galore.  But in the meantime, I have been given a house that is in the process of being finished and completed.  In all things do I then rely on Christ to come through for me? 

Yes, because He makes it beautiful and complete.  The house building is like my life.  God is finishing me bit by bit.  It takes a little time and I have to wait for His refining fire to get me through.  When that house is finished, there will be rejoicing, but in the meantime, there is a lot of rejoicing in what is before me.  I have 4 really great people with me on this.  What a blessing that is.  To me, that is more important than what color my siding is.  God's timing is perfect!

By the way, my daughter now is employed at The Subway (no not Subway), a family run business.  She loves it and is very excited.  Enjoy this beautiful video.

Having some fun

Greetings everyone!

Hello again my friends and family.  I hope and pray you are all doing well.  Yes, we are still around and doing well, thank you for asking.  We are fast approaching summer (3 more days and Vermont is officially in the month of summer).  We are looking forward to some warmer weather, possibly.  Things are moving along slowly but surely.  Tomorrow Logan and I get to go and be evaluated for the year.  I am a little quaking in my boots, because this is a new thing we are doing, but I know that we are well prepared and we have met with the evaluator before and she is very nice.  Logan has had a pretty good year, looking back at it all.  I didn't really realize just how much we have done, including building a house.  So we get to go there tomorrow in the morning and present what Logan has done.  I have included some photographs of things he has done in my folder.  Right now, however, I am in the process of filing for a new Green Card.  Yuck!!!  No, I will not become a US citizen in any near future.  So I am muddling through the paperwork, but no complaints.

Logan and I (we had Natasha come too) were so blessed this last week to be asked to farm sit for the Gustafson family.  Many will recall that they opened their home to us while we were building last year.  They had a chance to go out west, something they had planned to do, once their oldest daughter was out of diapers (she is 20 years old now, I believe).  They have a slew of animals, which makes going away very difficult.

Here they come!

To start with there are a lot of chickens.  There are the big chickens, pictured here, which are separated from the teenaged chickens and the meat chickens.  Anyone who has had experience with chickens can verify this information.  Logan had a blast with the meat chickens.  We needed to herd them in and out of their chicken house and that was just too much fun for him.  He just ran after them and chased them good.  They got their exercise with him around.

I am the guard dog!

 Then there was little Suzie.  Y'all know I like my dogs big, but this little bundle of wiggleness just won my heart.  She is so happy and so sweet.  She is actually missing one leg (she took on a bear, I believe).  But that doesn't stop her from enjoying life at all.  She was very sad in the beginning when her family left but at the end, she followed me around everywhere and would sit in front of me and stare at me.  Very interesting.  Of course we spoiled her immensely.  She is so spoilable.

Did you say Cookie?

Loving on Suzie

 

Enter into the melee!

I am beautiful and I love my girls!

  There was also the rooster, who was very nice.  I actually petted him quite a bit.  Tom grabbed some of the chickens and put them inside.  They were difficult to grab.

We are not so innocent really!

And then there were the 3 kittens.  They have just made it to their first birthday.  There is also the old cat (I think she is 16 years old).  These kittens were quite a lot of fun and Logan did a really good job with the littler boxes and playing with them.  There were also a couple of ducks, who I will not mention anything further on them.  We are NOT having ducks!!!  But for me, the most fun was .............  You have guessed it.

Food!!!

Horses!  They have 3 horses and I loved, loved playing with them and being around them.. I actually got to ride and I thoroughly enjoyed that as many, who know me, can imagine.  The best part was their bathroom and kitchen.  We ate very well this week.  I cooked and baked many a day.  Their showers worked very well.  I believe there is a definite pert on having your own shower.

Logan enjoyed himself a lot.  They have a nice flat area and he was able to ride a scooter and play wiffle ball with his siblings and Tom.

Yeahhhhh

When we got back to the house it seemed that things were just normal again.  We really didn't miss the bathroom, that much (all right a little bit, but we can live with it).  Cooking on the camp stove is not that bad (Tasha, what are you cooking tonight?) and the shower thing works itself out too.  Tom is constructing a place to hold our wood in the winter.  It is just a quick shelter, because he doesn't want to take out too much time.  Also, he is busy cutting boards for our floor.  He has about 1/4 of the downstairs boards cut.  That is very good, since the bathroom will follow :) as soon as the floor is done.

Starting work on wood structure

That is really all for now.  I hope you are all doing well.  I wish all dads a happy Father's day, and want to say that I have 2 wonderful dads here on earth.  My Papi and my father-in-law.  They are both very special to me and I wish them both a wonderful day.

God bless.

 

One more thing!

Hey again.  I bet you didn't think you'd hear from me this quickly.  I just wanted to share something with you very quickly and please DON'T TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY, please.  I want to share this because of how great everything worked out to the glory of God. 

The way I see it this morning was a miracle and a great work of God's protection!  Not, woe is us and look at what could have happened.  It is what did happen that matters the most.  Do I have you on the edge of your seats?!?!?  Hehe.  Good.

So here we go.  There once was a tree, growing happily amongst its friends.  It grew for years and years until one day this crazy guy came along and chopped down all its friends.  Little Ashy (let's call it that) cried for his little friends but also sighed a sigh of relief that it could still grow and get bigger.  Well, the years were not really friendly to little Ashy.  It did grow but it also became bug infested.  Little critters started eating at its bark and burrowing under its skin.  It became all itchy.  The man with the chain saw and his annoying people started building this house right there.

One day, the man came out to inspect Ashy.  He didn't like the fact that Ashy was too close to his saw mill and also he thought that the tree would take out the house if it ever became more diseased.  So, he decided to take it down.

This morning we took it down.  Sean was off from work and he and Tom set up the tree making sure that they tied it off to go away from the house.  We prayed (really good thing too) and he asked us to leave the house as soon as we heard the chain saw start.  Chain saw starts, and we kind of run out of the house.  Sean is watching the tree with it tied off toward him.  The rest of us sit down among our cold frames and watch and pray.  The wind was all wrong!  It was pushing little Ashy toward the house!  Tom waited, I prayed, as he watched the leaves.  At some point the wind shifted and he decided to slowly make his final cut.  The chains saw has a new blade and it cut through little Ashy like butter.  As the tree started going, all I could see that it was going the opposite direction we wanted it to.  It fell instead toward the house!  Ever so slowly.  It was like I saw the last three years flash before my eyes (not really, but kind of).  Tom was running in the direction the tree was falling as well!  As soon as the thing hit the ground Sean was sprinting toward the tree and Tom was yelling he was fine.  The tree... well the house...

Damage assessment!

And this is where I am so thankful and that this is such a miracle, such a provision of God.  We can look at this and say, the tree hit the house!  Yup, it did.  Natasha ran into the house and checked all the windows.

From the first floor

None of them were broken.  The house was still standing.  The foundation was not broken, the Tyvec was just scratched.  Only one of the basement windows had its molding broken.  Tom already fixed that. 

It looks pretty bad on the outside

Logan was really excited and happy and was bounding around singing.  I just sat quietly on Ashy's big trunk.  Ashy is pretty huge.  It will give us beautiful floor boards.  The rest will be great wood for burning.  As I sat there I contemplated the joy I felt.  No, I was not hopping around but the tree had fallen without causing any major damage.  A couple feet to the left and it could have take out the house.  A couple of feet to the right and it could have taken out our generator.  It didn't even touch the bikes.  It missed Tom's saw mill completely.  How could I not have been thankful and praising the great God of the universe. 

The way I see it, everything worked out for good.  There is a verse in the bible, "All things work for good for those who are in Christ Jesus".  I don't know where that is right now, but it sure is true.

So I felt that this is really a cool story to share.  All the brush is cut up and in a pile.  The tree fell so that we can put it right onto the saw mill without a problem.  It will give us a lot of board length because the tree was nice and straight.  Tom would have had to have taken it down eventually or it would have fallen onto the house.  It was naturally inclined to do so.  So controlled, it came down and landed where it was supposed to.  I still am in a little bit of awe of what happened.

This does not mean that we are going to throw in the towel and move back to CT and buy a home and all that.  This does not mean that Tom and Sean are done taking down trees (Sean is doing that right now for the nice lady Natasha works with).  It means that we will forge ahead full steam ahead and whatever happens, God has our back! Amen on that!!!

I hope you have a good day.

Wanted, rain

Yes he is sitting in the driver's seat

Greetings from a very dusty and dry Vermont.  We have been in need of rain and we finally got some.  We were so thankful because after our little drain pipe dried up, we needed to find another place to water our raised beds.  And it was down the very steep hill at the bottom of the ravine.  We have a stream there and it is going really well (for now, thank God).  It is just down the hill and through territory infested with pesky (according to Chet) squirrels and chipmunks.  So the first morning, after the demise of the drain pipe, I went to start the watering.  We do this first thing and it usually takes a while. The kids and I were supposed to water the plants but as I scrambled down the hill I was just overcome with this intense feeling of not being able to do this.  I was crying and throwing a fit, because the kids were not helping me!!!  Come on, now, all right.  This is what we have to do!!  And just this feeling of entitlement came over me.  My back hurt, my legs were going to be tired and I had just had it.  I threw the bottles into the water and sobbed defiantly!  Why was this all so hard!  Couldn't we live like everyone else and have running water and a spickit for our plants.  Well, of course we could, but that is not what we have right now.  The kids and I have been learning about meekness and it is basically giving up our rights to anything.  It doesn't mean that we will never have running water and we don't want it.  It means being content with not having running water, living out of boxes, sleeping on the floor, cooking on a 2 burner camping stove, storing some food in coolers outside, having no floor or walls and running to the town when we have to go or the outhouse or the little girls woods.  It means I need to be content with what I have been given.  Some days this is harder than others.

Like for instance, Tom has been building his own saw mill.  Yes, his own saw mill.  He researched it and is slowly and painstakingly putting it together.

The door to Narnia

 

Diving down, not head first!

I wish this thing had a manual

I think this will work

How did we get up here?

I hope the tree is strong enough

So it is not going too well (from a worldly standard).  The thing is really impressive and it looks like it could work, but it is not working at this point.  He is getting closer and closer to the point of working it but in the meantime, I still have no floors or bathroom or walls, stairs to the upstairs and so on.  It dawned to me that even though I could insist on the right to have Tom hurry up and finish these things, I really didn't have the right to.  That right belongs in God's very capable hands.  It seems that this is a very hard lesson for me to learn because He seems to be bringing it up over and over again.  When the house was on the market, it sold exactly at the right time and I should not have spent time fussing and complaining over how it was not selling.  The sawmill will be built, the house will be finished in God's perfect timing.  Whether or not Tom will finish it before he has to go back to work is entirely up to Him since He know what needs to be done.  The only thing I can do is to control my heart and my attitude before a righteous God.

Go Logan!

So other than that we have been quite busy.  Logan and I are doing really well with school.  We would like to finish by the 14th of June, the date of our evaluation.  We are sprinting along in history (his favorite) and are getting through science (it is bug time :)).  Language lessons are flying by and we are well on our way.  We have finished our cursive book.  My mother sent Logan a special fountain pen from Germany and he is loving it.  He is still loving swimming and is doing really well.

Sean now has 2 clients up here.  The first one came about 3 weeks ago and they are neighbors of ours down the street.  They have 3 minies (Sean is used to that).  The other one is this weekend and it is a trim in New Hampshire.  He is really happy about that and I don't think he minds sharing that.  He now has magnets for his truck with his logo and his info on it.  Looks really professional.  I am so glad for him He was able to attend one of his friend's graduation from college here in VT last weekend.  He was really happy that he was able to do that. 

Natasha is on the other computer right now filling a job application out for a local super market.  She is just going to see what comes of it.  We are still planning on a graduation this summer.

this is my garden!

   She has been helping one of the ladies from church with her garden.  She is loving it.  This lady is so wonderful and she is teaching Tasha so much about gardening and about herbs.  They have a lot of fun digging in the garden and she actually put a fat, gooey worm on Logan's shoulder yesterday morning.  Logan took a large leap and screamed like a little girl because he thought it was a huge spider.  This is my daughter who wouldn't get her hands dirty!  My she has come a long way.  It is a good thing Logan forgave her.  It could have turned ugly!!  We could have had a worm fight on our hands.

 The garden here is coming along just fine.  We were in desperate need for rain and we did get it.  Things are going well.  We were just replanting today because some things just haven't come up yet. 

Peach blossoms

Rain for the plants

The trees were flowering, of course not the apple trees.  The peaches and our grapes flowered and so we were quite happy about that. 






Chet is still hanging in there well.  We have upped his food (a lot!) and he is quite a chubby German Short haired Pointer.  I laugh at him and tickle his belly sticking up when he is laying down.  He still has some issues but he will make it.  He was hilarious the other day.  He was chasing another chipmunk and the thing just disappeared.  After looking around and sniffing he became quite indignant that the thing didn't just show up to let him chase it.  So with an indignant sigh, he marked his spot right where the chipmunk had disappeared and walked away.  Tom was laughing quite hard at him.

Really it is still cold here!

Mouse!?!?!?!?

 Other than that, yes Logan had his first driving stint the other day.  I am glad to say the car, the driver and the passenger are recovering well.  No, kidding.  He did well.  He pushed the gas and break and Tom steered .  I guess that is what boys do up here.  There ain't much else to do really.  Oh, yes of course.  There is always a house to build. 


This weekend there may be some tree felling.  Then we may go and see bald eagles.  We tried to do that on Mother's day but Tom conveniently twisted his ankle.  Yes, I know.  He was faking it.  He just wanted to sleep.  Anyway, so I hope the weather will be as nice as it was last weekend.  I am dying to see them.

That reminds me, happy Mother's day all you mothers and God bless.

Enjoy this song.