A Simple Woman’s Daybook…

For Today…

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Looking out my window…

I’m looking at the ‘chicken planter’ on the walkway, which is now holding sunflowers for the month of August.  (I change the flowers every month or two)  I’m also noticing “the girls” (our hens) who are walking around in the yard.  I can hear the hum of Ed’s tractor outside, as well.

I am thinking…

this year is going by really fast!  In about four more weeks, I’ll have another birthday.  How is it possible that I’m almost 63 years old?!  My birthday will quickly be followed by Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Before I know it, 2017 will be history–and so will I, eventually.

I am thankful…

for the many blessings God has given me in my lifetime!  Forty-five years of marriage to a wonderful man, three grown children who make us proud, the three loving spouses of those grown children, four precious grandchildren (who are growing up too quickly!) a home that’s paid for, comfortable & reliable transportation, plenty of food to eat, enough money to meet our needs, and, last, but not least, a new church family.  God is good!

One of my favorite things…

is enjoying the quietness and freshness of an early morning.  It’s my favorite part of the day, even though it involves cleaning out the chicken coops!

I am creating…
some crafts to do with the children at church.  I’ve been helping some with the Wednesday night children’s class.  It’s been many years since I’ve done anything like that!  So far we’ve done sand art and made a ‘colors of faith’ key chain.

I am wearing…

a blue flowered ‘house dress’.  I prefer wearing comfortable dresses when I’m relaxing at home.  I suppose that makes me ‘officially’ an old woman, but who cares?

I am reading…

Charles Stanley’s Life Principles Daily Bible and Twelve Challenges Churches Face by Mark Dever.  I highly recommend the Life Principles Daily Bible.  I’ve learned so much through reading this bible and Dr. Stanley’s commentaries.

Watching…

Big Brother, Outdaughtered, Counting On, Bull, and Fixer Upper on television. Last night we watched an old movie, Problem Child, starring John Ritter.  They don’t make movies like that anymore.  I laughed until my sides hurt.

Listening to…

a couple of new cds by a local Christian artist named John Wingate.  John sang at our church on Sunday night, and he’s quite talented!

I am hoping…

to spend another day at St. Simon’s Island before too long.  We haven’t spent much time there this summer.

I am learning…

how to make a pound cake!  In about three weeks our church will be selling bar-b-que dinners, and the ladies of the church will be asked to make pound cakes (among other things) for this event.

In my kitchen…
I’ve been baking pound cakes!  I’ve never been able to make a good pound cake.  I’ve tried several recipes, and the cake always tasted bland or the texture wasn’t right.  Recently, I stumbled upon a recipe for Whipping Cream Pound Cake on the back of a Swans Down cake flour box.  The first time I used the recipe I had instant success!  A few days later, I baked a second cake, and it turned out great, too.  If you’re looking for a good pound cake recipe, try this one!   I recently learned how to make ham & cheese sliders, as well.

In the school room…
the grandchildren will be gearing up to start home-school in about 3 more weeks.  Public school is already beginning in some places.

In my garden…
we have  peanuts, some sweet potatoes, one row of butter beans, and three rows of peas growing for a fall harvest.

Post Script…

This has been the year of the rattlesnake, which bothers me because we are surrounded by woods on three sides.  Almost every week somebody in our area is killing a snake  Take a look at what our neighbor killed a couple of weeks ago:

photo via Facebook

Shared Quote…
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  Psalms 3: 5-6

A moment from my day…

Last weekend our youngest son rented a giant water slide, and put it in our yard.  All four of the grandchildren had a blast playing on that thing.  If only I had the energy to climb and slide as many times as they did…  Oh to be young again!

Thanks to Peggy Hostetler for hosting this fun meme @ The Simple Woman’s Daybook

 

Random Thoughts On Monday…

Let me begin the week by wishing someone special a very happy birthday! Our youngest son, Brad, was born, thirty-one years ago, today. Brad was a very welcomed surprise addition to the family, and our family wouldn’t be the same without him.  Delivering Brad proved to be difficult (10 lbs, 9 oz. natural childbirth), but raising Brad was easy. He was a delightful, easy-going, baby and child, always willing to go along with whatever his siblings wanted to do.

Brad made good grades in school (except for the year he refused to do a required project, and had to repeat the class), and worked his way through high school and college, at a local bank, paying most of his tuition costs, himself. Brad’s easy-going personality kicked into overdrive during adolescence, and he got along well with everyone.   My chief complaints with Brad, as a teen, were these: his room was always a mess, he was tardy to high school a lot, and he was [and still is] a procrastinator.

The years have flown by, and now our baby boy is a grown man with a family of his own. In fact, we took note, this weekend, when we celebrated his birthday a little early, that, on this birthday, Brad is [almost] one-half as old as his mama!  I celebrated my 31st birthday, shortly after giving birth to him.

Happy Birthday, Brad!

In other news, I’m happy to report that Ed mowed down most of our garden over the weekend! I don’t know which one of us was the happiest to see it go, but it’s gone.  The last of our tomatoes are in the kitchen, still waiting to be canned, but, after that, we’re done!  Look out beach, here we come–as soon as I am able to travel!  I haven’t been feeling my best, lately.

Man, this summer heat is really oppressive!  Being outside is miserable, unless you go out first thing every morning, which I do.  Once I finish with my chores, I just stay inside until late in the afternoons.  Ed spends more time outside than I do, but the heat doesn’t seem to bother him as much as it does me.  I’m hoping the temperatures will be a little milder under our favorite oak tree at St. Simon’s Island, when I get there.  The highs are supposed to be in the upper 90’s all of this week.

We’ve had a couple of news worthy incidents happen in our area, lately.  First of all, a few days ago, our oldest son spotted a rattle snake crossing the road beside his house.  He ran over the snake with his car, but it didn’t kill it.  So he called our son-in-law, who went down and shot it.  This makes me nervous, because this is the same road I walk on for exercise!  I’m always vigilant, but I’ll need to be extra vigilant from now on!

Late one afternoon, last week, a freak storm blew up.  The wind was so gusty, it blew our grandsons’ trampoline out of their yard, and across the road! (the same road with the snake crossing)  The trampoline flew up on its way out of the yard, hit the roof of the back porch, and did a little damage there, too.  Fortunately, our oldest son was driving his wife’s car that day, or her car would have been parked in the path of the flying trampoline, as well.

Fortunately, the trampoline looked worse than it actually turned out to be. It’s been repaired, and is still usable, thank goodness.

Today has started off with a bang–literally!  A family of squirrels recently moved into the pine trees above my windmill/flower garden.  They’ve been making quite a mess, while feasting on pine cones each day!  This morning, Ed declared war on them by shooting up among the trees with his shotgun–at 7:30 in the morning!  Would you believe two of the squirrels actually had the nerve to stay in place after being shot at?  They vacated following the second shot, but I’m sure they’ll be back. I got a look at them, and they looked mighty fat and happy!

In other morning excitement, for the second day in a row, we had to give another one of our hens a cold-water bath! (Yes, we bathed a hen before attending church, yesterday!)  Actually, in this heat, that cold water felt pretty good to me. Once caught, Mrs. Hen didn’t put up much of a fight while in the cold water, so she may have felt the same way!  Hopefully, the second cold bath will be enough to break Mrs. Broody Hen out of her cycle of wanting to sit on eggs.  Ah, we live such an adventurous life, don’t we?!  With that thought in mind, I’ll close by saying…

Have a great Monday!

A ‘Taxing’ Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Hello, and welcome to The Wednesday Hodgepodge.  As always, thank you so much to our gracious hostess, Joyce, for providing another set of ‘taxing’ questions 🙂  Just kidding, Joyce!  Without further delay, let’s get right to today’s questions and my answers, shall we?

1. What’s the last thing you did that could be described as ‘taxing’?

That’s a ‘no brainer’, working in our vegetable garden!  It’s taken us several days to get everything planted, now there’s the process of keeping it watered, fertilized, and as weed-free as possible, while it grows.  It can be quite a ‘taxing’ process, sometimes.

2. If you could plant a garden of anything, what would be in it?

We did plant a garden, and I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could plant anything!  We have planted onions, potatoes, three kinds of peas, three kinds of beans, okra, corn, squash, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, watermelons, gourds, and two rows of zinnias and sunflowers!  Whew!  What more could I possibly ask for?

3. April 10-16 is National Library Week…will you celebrate with a visit to your nearest library? When did you last make a trip to the library? What are y!ou reading right now? What’s one title on your want-to-read list?

No, I won’t be going to the library this week.  The last time I made a trip to the library was probably six years ago.  Occasionally, I used to accompany my daughter and granddaughter to “story time” on Wednesdays, but then my granddaughter grew up.

As for reading, I’m still making my way through “The Guardian”, by Nicholas Sparks.  I have dozens of books on the shelf, waiting to be read, and several on my Kindle, but I may read Dolly Pardon’s autobiography, entitled “Dolly”, next.

4. Share a saying or an old wives tale you heard while growing up, you believed to be true or that you paid attention to ‘just in case’?

I always heard, and observed, the “no swimming immediately after eating” rule.  We waited about thirty minutes after eating before swimming.  I never open an umbrella indoors, either–just in case it might bring bad luck.

5. Are you a fan of onions? Garlic? Ginger? What’s a dish you love that contains one, two or all three items listed?

I like onions, but I don’t consider myself a huge fan of them.  I don’t care much for garlic or ginger, at all.  My favorite dish containing onions is “fried onion rings” (wouldn’t ya’ know), but I rarely eat them.

6. Where does nurturing end and indulging begin? What are some skills or qualities you think a person needs to posses in order to be viewed as mature?

That’s a good question, one I’m not sure I have the answer to, but I do think some parents of teenagers, and even young adults, fail to see [and draw] the line between nurturing and indulging.  As a result, we see “needy” adults, who have trouble standing on their own two feet, even late into life, sometimes.

Foremost, I think a person needs to be responsible to be viewed as mature.  Responsible for conducting themselves properly, responsible for taking care of their things, and responsible for handling money properly, etc.  They also need to be held responsible for the consequences of not being responsible.

7. What leading figure in any field would you like to hear speak, and why?

I can’t think of anyone, at this particular time!  However, I do remember, way back in the day, wishing I could hear Billy Graham speak, in person.

Random:

I’ve neglected to mention what I found in the hen house the other day.  Imagine my surprise when I went out there, early one morning, and saw this:

All of the sudden, in my mind, I kept hearing the farmer [at Tractor Supply] saying “Be sure to watch out for snakes in your hen house!”  It has been four years since I met that farmer, and I have to admit, I’d grown complacent.

I called for Ed, who was feeding the cats, and said, “I need some help!” I didn’t run away, like I usually do, but I did go into the house to grab my camera. After my picture session, Ed caught the snake and “relocated” it–over near my storage shed.  Gee, thanks, honey!  Needless to say, I’ve loaded my storage shed with fresh moth balls, to, hopefully, repel snakes.

Monday Madness…

It’s a brand new week, and I’d like to believe that it’s going to be a good one!  The good news is, the tree trimmers are finished, so there won’t be any more destruction going on around our house–at least I sure hope not!

The bad news is, I’m starting out the week with another dentist appointment 😦 because I’m having more dental problems!  I just don’t understand what’s going on with my teeth.  My latest mishap happened while I was eating a pork chop!

To get my day off to a proper start, I’m participating in the Monday Quiz.  Here are today’s questions:

1. What is your favorite pair of shoes?

My favorite pair of shoes was my very first pair of Crocs.  I bought them back in 2006, and I wore them completely out! Sadly, I retired them to the trash can, just last week.  However, being the blogger that I am, I had to photograph them before I tossed them…  I have other Crocs, but my first pair will always be my favorite!

2. Do you get embarrassed easily?

Yes, I sure do.  It doesn’t take much to make me blush.

3. What makes you cringe?

Crying or unruly children in restaurants or stores!  

4. July 29th is National Lasagna day… are you celebrating?  What kind of lasagna do you prefer?

No, I won’t be celebrating, but I do love Lasagna!  My favorite lasagna is made from a recipe that originally belonged to our former pastor’s wife, and it’s delicious.

My question for you is:

5.  When was the last time you saw a snake, and where was it?

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Weekend recap:

The last time I posted, I was feeling very frustrated and was looking for a ‘silver lining’ to the perpetual cloud that has been hanging over our house!  I’m happy to report that I think things are beginning to look up, somewhat :).

We’ve actually had a three-day reprieve from daily rain showers, and all trees have now been cleared away.  We won’t talk about how bad the yard looks, or the fact that our riding lawn mower is currently broken, thanks to Ed running over the protective netting on our blueberry bush!  We also won’t talk about how my cd player and my photo printer both died last week, or how Ed lost his cell phone the week before that!

After an exasperating day on Wednesday, the tree trimmers took Thursday and Friday off.  You may recall, on Wednesday, they busted our water line, cut the Dish Network cable, and bogged the Bobcat down in our yard.  The trimmers returned bright and early, on Saturday, ready to finish the job.  The day went smoothly–right up until they ran over Ed’s pitch fork and flattened the tire on their Bobcat!  Ed’s pitch fork didn’t fare too well either!

The trimmers worked non-stop, on Saturday, not even breaking for lunch.  I tell you, these men were determined to finish with us on Saturday!  Did I mention that it also started to rain again during the course of the day and their Bobcat almost bogged down again?  I don’t know who was more relieved when the job was finished, us or the workers!  Ed asked Tim, the boss, if he’d be willing to come back if we needed him again.  He said, “Yes, as long as it’s dry!”  I joked and said he’d probably ignore our call when he saw our number come up on his phone!

Unfortunately, we had to call the Dish Network people again, on Friday, because the technician neglected to bury the spliced cable back in the ground on Wednesday!  He merely spliced and taped the cable, then left, but we didn’t notice the cable still laying on top of the ground until Thursday, because our yard is a bit of a mess.  Another technician came out on Saturday and buried the cable for us.

As the Dish Network technician was leaving, on Saturday, he stopped just down the lane from our house and killed a rattlesnake as it was crossing the road!  This was quite interesting, because just two hours before, I ran over (with my car) another rattlesnake crossing the road–on that same little dirt lane!  Two rattlesnakes in one day is scary!  I couldn’t help but wonder if they were running away from the tree trimmers!

Speaking of snakes, our daughter nearly stepped on one last week, because it was stretched out in front of her door!  Fortunately, her snake was a non-poisonous one, but it nearly gave her heart failure!  Around here, the summer of 2013 seems to be the year of the snake.  There have been seven sightings/killings, in and around our yard this summer!

That’s it for me today.  I must get going to meet with my dentist–again.  This will make visit number four, since the end of May!  Ouch, that hurts–in more ways than one.  I’m trying to think positive, so thank goodness for dental insurance, it helps with the pain.

House For Sale…Snakes Included!

I hate snakes!  I am scared to death of them.  As far as I’m concerned, all snakes are deadly!  Coming in contact with one, could make me have a heart attack!

Every now and then we have a snake visitor around our house.  In fact, just this week, my son had a snake in his yard–and he summoned my husband to come and kill it.  I wasn’t there, and I’m glad I missed that event!  I think it involved my husband missing a couple of blows to the snake, the snake striking at him, and my daughter screaming, while sitting with her brother in the car!  If I’d been there, I would’ve been in the car screaming, too…

Perhaps it was my dislike for snakes that drew my attention to a news story on Yahoo yesterday.  The story was about a house in Idaho that has been foreclosed on twice, in recent years, because it’s infested with thousands of garter snakes!  Can you imagine?  I can’t!

The Idaho Snake House

The story went on to say that the “Idaho snake house” was actually built in 1920, then remodeled in 2006.  Apparently, in recent years, this house has become a place where garter snakes gather in masses to hibernate for the winter!  Thousands of snakes slither through the yard, the crawl space, the walls, the ceilings, and across the floors of the house!  Former owners of the house even woke up to find snakes in their bed!  One former owner  reported reaching for a light pull one evening–only to discover it was actually a snake!

If all that’s not disgusting enough, the story goes on to say that although the snakes are harmless, they tend to give off “malodorous secretions” when alarmed, and can even leave your well water tasting a bit like the snakes smell!  Doesn’t that make you want to rush to the tap for a glass of water?!  Nothing like having “malodorous”  snake slime all over the place either!

Chase Bank has taken the “Idaho snake house” off the market, for now, and plans to seal the foundation, and install a barrier around the foundation to prevent future snake access.  Because the house was apparently featured on “Animal Planet” earlier this year, Chase now has the task of getting rid of the snakes without harming them. (Ha!)  They plan to have the snakes trapped and relocated–as soon as it warms up a bit more, and the snakes begin to crawl!  I say put a tent over the house, and gas ’em all…In my opinion, the only good snake is a dead one!

If you’d like to move to Idaho, and wouldn’t mind sharing your home with a few thousand snakes, I’ll bet you can purchase this house C-H-E-A-P !  If you’re the curious kind, take a look at some video of the “snake house” (and some of its inhabitants) which is posted on YouTube. The family featured in the clip was the first family to let the house go into foreclosure because of the snakes.

Sakes Alive! The Snakes Are Crawlin’…

I don’t know what has been happening in your neck of the woods lately, but around here, the snakes are crawlin’!  If you remember, t’s only been a few weeks since our son-in-law found a snake stretched out in the middle of his hallway.

Well, last week, while Jennifer was spending time recovering at her grandparents house, one night she walked out into the hallway of their house to find a tiny snake slithering on their floor, as well!  She called for her grandparents, and her grandfather quickly took care of the snake.  Jenn is doing great, by the way–the path reports are all back and the doctor says she’s cancer free…Yay!  She is getting out and about some now, and seems to be doing good.  She has about 3 more weeks of recovery before resuming her work schedule again.  Thank you for those prayers on her behalf 🙂  Now where was I?  Oh, yes, talking about snakes!

Just last week our son-in-law’s aunt had more snake adventures–of epic proportion–over at her house!  Clint’s aunt and her family killed four–yes, that’s four–snakes in their house!  Three of the little snakes were found in the bathroom leading in from under their car port, while the fourth snake was found under the carport.  These snakes weren’t all found at the same time, but they were all about the same size, leading the aunt to believe that some snake eggs may have been hatching in the vicinity of that bathroom!  I think Clint’s aunt actually packed her bags and went on a short visit to her daughter’s house–and I don’t blame her!  Meanwhile, her husband and son have been on snake patrol…

Finally, on Saturday evening our daughter was mowing the grass between her yard and ours.  She noticed one of our many cats in the grass, and he seemed to be circling something in an effort to keep it from getting away.  Upon further investigation, Brandy discovered a moccasin coiled and ready to strike!  She quickly summoned her husband who happily killed the slimy intruder!  That’s the first moccasin that we’ve ever seen in the yard–in 33 years of living here!  Now, if it will just be 33 more years until we see the next one–that will be too soon!