My Piece of Heaven on Earth

Coming up with titles for my blog posts is hard. Take today for instance.  What could I call what I wanted to write so that you would want to read it, yet you wouldn't feel misled?  I thought about many titles including:

 "Life on the Funny Farm" That might be taken wrongly.  I'm not crazy, you know.
 "Who's Who In My Sanctuary" Some might think I would be sharing about people in my church.  Nope.
 "Friends, Furry and Feathered" I don't want to talk about pets.

Living on five acres located miles from town is interesting, not because I hardly ever see people who aren't encased in a tin can and holding a steering wheel in their hands, but because there is a forest full of critters all around our area. I know about the animals I've personally seen and the ones I've heard with my own ears, but the others? They are out there.

First off, there was my surprise visitor one late night last fall.  The only reason I was aware of him was because the motion sensor on my porch light picked him up. After seeing the light go on, I went to the all-glass front door and looked out. There he was in all his black and white glory--my fat, striped, slow, waddling skunk .  I don't know what he was looking for, but I sure didn't want him to see me see him.  I backed off real fast.  I haven't seen him since, but I haven't stayed up all night waiting for my porch light to switch on either.

Then there was the masked intruder who also triggered the motion sensor.  Yes, he was masked, but he was also bushy tailed.  My raccoon, meandering across the concrete on his way to the driveway, was fun to watch as long as he was on a mission somewhere other than my front porch.

Cats!  They are feral cats. They are wild cats, but they are my cats.  They live in the area I call home.  Besides, they are cats who help keep the mouse population in check. The black, short tailed one hasn't been around for months now--just disappeared like cats do around here. The black, long-tailed one had been gone for quit awhile too, then reappeared for several minutes a few days ago. Just as quickly he then disappeared into the trees. But the curious thing are the two young cats that were napping on my porch the other afternoon.  I had never seen them before. One was all black with a long tail and the other was a yellow striped one with a short tail. As soon as they saw me the yellow one took off, but the black one stayed, closed his eyes and continued his nap in the sun before moseying off to who knows where.  I haven't seen them since.

I know my chipmunks are around here. I see one occasionally. But my most favoritist (excuse my English) furry visitors are my deer. Take yesterday for example.  As I looked out my kitchen window toward the back yard, I became aware of two, furry, brown legs under the shaking, jiggling, apple tree.  Slowly, the other two legs came into view. Then the entire body appeared as mama deer dropped to all fours, munching on an apple and leaves. I know her babies were not too far off, eating the grass.  I also know they were taking note of their mother's change in dining habits. I love watching that deer family, and am thankful my tree is tall enough that, when they have supped on all they can reach, there will still be ample apples for my family to enjoy.

So much for my furry friends.  I'm not going to talk about the coyotes. I've never seen one in my yard, but I hear them occasionally at night. They sound so eerie. I did mention disappearing cats didn't I?

Then there are my feathered friends. I wake up to my crows every morning as they loudly debate the day's events. Sparrows, juncos, and chickadees are also in the mix, though drowned out.  What I would like to know is why some birds chirp and sing while others scream and yell. Yes, crows and jays, I'm talking about your racket.

Then there is the rat-a-tat-tat of my red-headed woodpecker as he drills his way around the trunk and limbs of my magnolia tree. The holes then fill with sap that traps bugs.  Smart birds, those woodpeckers. My Stellar Jay is also a rat-a-tatter. He bangs on the top of my porch posts. I think he is just establishing his territory. I'm pretty sure he and his mate had a nest in the nearby fir tree this spring. I'm also pretty sure he is the one rat-a-tatting on my roof, too.  He had better be careful or he will dull the tip of his beak on those new, super-dee-duper composition shingles.

Of course, there are my flickers, starlings, robins, goldfinches, red-winged black birds, swallows, hawks and eagles.  Some of the most beautiful birds I've seen arrive every spring when the red-hot pokers are starting to go to seed.  Those are my cedar waxwings. They are gorgeous.

Oh, did I mention my humming birds? They're beautiful too. Actually, birds, if you are reading this, you all have a beauty of your own.

These are my furry and feathered friends who live in my sanctuary with me.  They are the ones I see. They are the ones I enjoy.  There is one, though, I know lives here.  I have never seen him, but he makes his presence known. I don't enjoy him at all. Although silent, he is the most intrusive, most impossible to ignore of all my creatures, MR. MOLE. Enough said.

There you have it, life on the funny farm, who's who in my sanctuary, my friends, furry and feathered. We all live here on my piece of heaven on earth. Everyday I'm thankful that my creator God blessed me with so much variety of life in my small space in his infinite universe.  Wow.

Have a God day.  I plan to.

Actions and Reactions

Don't try to write a blog while lying on your back, deep in thought, with your eyes closed because when you next open your eyes it will be an hour later, you still don't know what you're are going to write, and your laptop screen will still be blank.

Please don't ask me how I know, but oh that nap was nice.
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I woke up this morning around...who knows what time it was.  I don't have a clock in my bedroom and my cell phone was on the dresser.  The main thing for me is the fact that I woke up.  From the amount of light in the room I figured it was around 6-6:30.  Since there was no sign of sunshine, it could have been 8 o'clock and extremely cloudy for all I knew.

I laid there for a long time. I thought about important things. I dozed off. I thought about more important things. I dozed off again.  The sun came out. I stayed in bed.

I wanted to cry.  Why?

I didn't want to go to church.  Why?

I didn't want to go on vacation in a week. Why?

Who knows the answer to the whys of life? I never would have asked myself why a couple years ago.That was B.T. (before therapy) Obviously, I do now. I do ask myself the whys, but don't always stick around to find the answers.

Anyway, I did get up.  It was 7:30 according to the clock in the bathroom.

I didn't cry. Why? I no longer felt like it.

I did go to church. Why? I wanted to.

I will go on vacation even though I will probably fight it all the way to the airport.  But why fight a trip to Maui with my kids?  I need to find the answer to that question.

Now, back to church. Our youth pastor preached on John 5 about pruning and abiding. His sermon was good, but here is the word God spoke loudly and clearly to me today. I heard it not only through the sermon, but also through a missions testimony. It was a reminder I needed to hear once again.

My actions sometimes reveal that I am trying (by myself) to please God, but my reactions always reveal if I am letting (with the Spirit's help) God change me. 

Thank you Lord, I'm glad I went to church today.

Adventure in Randomness Continued

I have decided to let you all read yesterday afternoon's randomness that I continued writing after posting my morning's random thoughts.  During my lunch time of yummy green salad I just listened to Bibi, the African Gray Parrot, and typed what she was saying.  This bird not only amazes me, she also amuses me. I need all the amusing I can get. Here is a portion of her afternoon monologue as she sat on her perch and watched the household activities. None of this was prompted by her owners.

Want some water? Pop (makes popping sound) corn.
Bye, bye, bye.
Gobble, gobble, gobble.  What's a turkey?
See ya morning. Good morn.
Bah bye. Want to go bye bye.
Step up.
Want to take a shower.
Doooo, doooo, dooo.
Smart Jane. Jane. Loki.
Hello Beebs. Peek a boo.
Purple. That's red, blue, yellow. That's purple.  So what's this? Purple.
Touch red.  Red. Good girl.
Good night.  See ya morning. I love you sooo much.
How many?  One, two, three.  Three berries.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (pause) 6.  One berries.
Go on road trip, Beebs. Go bye bye.  I'll miss you.
(Makes water sound)  I want to take a shower.
How ya dooooin?
Buenos dias.
Ready to go back.
Rock Band
Want some? Some Yogurt. Want some water?

Next on my list of house blessing opportunities today is mop the utility room floor, clean utility sinks, toilet, and counter.  OK! Let's get busy.  Might as well start a load of clothes while I am at it.  This adventure is scheduled for 2-3 pm.  I'll be back soon.

Afternoon randomness #2
      Observation: I have a stupid headache.
      Complaint: I don't like it one bit.
      Question to self:  Self, would I like it any better if it were a smart headache?
      Answer:  No, I don't think so, but I've never had a smart one.

My stupid headache is from the fumes of disinfectant and carpet cleaner. Perfumes, air fresheners, and odoriferous flowers like Easter lilies do the same thing to me. Give me the smell of bacon, chocolate cake, and pizza any day. As for my schedule, I just threw it out the window. The 3-4 pm weed eating expedition will be postponed an hour  Now, where is the aspirin?

Afternoon randomness #3
My hour postponement is up.  My schedule says, "Use weed eater by sun room steps." Well, here is where the rubber hits the road or my head hits the pillow. My head still aches, but not too badly. It is only four o'clock and stays light until 9.  The Olympics start at 8.  My daughter invited me over to watch with her family. Here's the plan.  Pamper myself and baby the headache until 5.  Use the weed eater for 30 minutes or until battery runs down, heat up left-over spaghetti, eat, fold clothes, go watch the Olympics.

Friday

Here's what really happened the rest of  yesterday's afternoon.  I took an aspirin, laid myself down, downloaded a computer game, then went outside to use the weed eater.  Guess what.  It didn't want to eat.  For some reason, it wasn't charged enough to do diddly. I came back inside and, like the weed eater, did diddly the rest of the afternoon and evening.  Didn't even watch the Olympics.

Afternoon Randomness #4  What does "diddly" mean anyway?  It's one of those expressions I grew up with along with my dad's "Hold 'er Knute (Newt)" which he used as a warning to think again or slow down. My grandmother's use of "Oh fudge" was the extent of her profanity. She was pretty upset if those words ever came out of her prim and proper English mouth.

Ooops, I didn't grow up with "diddly". At least I used it correctly. It was first used in 1964 and means "nothing", as does diddly squat. Hold 'er Newt's origin is unknown, but Oh fudge originated in the 1700s. Fudge has to do with something that doesn't turn out as expected. The candy is called fudge because a girl making caramel goofed up.  I'm sure glad she did. It's amazing what you can find on the Internet. I won't go into the urban slang meanings of any of these expressions.  They're X rated--at least in my book.

I guess it really is wise to watch what one says.  The expressions we grew up with could have very different meanings today. That's "too bad, so sad", but who know what that means to today's kids.  I'll just have to do as it says in James 5 and let my yes be yes and my no be no.

I know, I know, I just took the James reference out of context.  He was talking about swearing oaths and I'm talking about using slang expressions, adages, maxims, etc. But, if what I say does not bless or edify, maybe I should keep my mouth shut. So, "No, my weed eater didn't work yesterday.  Yes, it worked this afternoon".  Is "work" an OK word to use? What about" weed eater" I sure hope they're G rated.

Afternoon Randomness #5  May all our words be G rated --- God approved.

Have a God evening.

Adventure in Randomness

Are you ready for an adventure in randomness? Well, I am.  So here is what's happening on my blog today.  I have a schedule made for my house work, including time frames.  For example, from 9-10 I dusted and decluttered the dressers and night stands in my bedroom, watered the plants, stalked elusive cobwebs, threw out receipts that were stashed on a cute basket on a dresser, put away my "outdoor" work clothes, and emptied the bathroom trash.  That was all finished by 9:45.  Hooray.

So, for the 15 minutes I have left, I will write about whatever comes to mind before my 10-10:30 time slot when I will attack the master bath.

Here goes the first few minutes of randomness.

Randomness #1      I'm listening to Watch the Birdie on USTREAM on my laptop like I do every day.  This is what Bibi, the African Gray Parrot, is saying at the moment.

Kelly's cooking    Tortilla     Cook fish     Potato     What's a chip?
Let's see Jane     Jane's a puppy  (Jane is not a puppy, she is a human cousin.  Her puppy is Loki)
OOOOh
Here you go Beebs     Put it right there
Go on road trip     See ya later
Want a berry     Nutrafaber (Brand of bird food)
Want to go outside?
Gold fish     It's rice     Tortilla
I want to step up
Drink some water     Eat your grape
Doooo, doooo, doooo, doooo.  (Bibi sings often)

There you have it.  My first minutes of randomness.  Now, to mop the bathroom, swish the toilet, and clean under the bathroom sink.

Randomness #2   When I was mowing the yard last week I noticed a couple blue feathers in the grass. I assume they are from the Stellar Jays that love sitting in my trees and scolding me when I walk underneath. Yesterday I noticed a couple more blue feathers in my driveway. Now, when I went out to get the mail, I counted the new feathers.  Five was the total--five beautiful flight feathers.  I tell you they are flight feathers because they aren't the little downy feathers like the ones you find stuck on your kitchen window when a bird hits it, or the ones scattered around the porch after the feral cat in the area hunted down a slow bird. The feathers around my yard are definitely the long, strong flight feathers that are shed during the molting season.  So I guess my object lesson for the day is "Out with the old, in with the new."

On to the dusting, de-cobwebbing, and vacuuming of bedroom number 2.

Randomness #3   Who are Alice White, Colleen Moore, and Lloyd Hughes? Well, I've never met nor seen them, but their photographs are hanging on the guest room wall.  I just dusted them. The only thing I know about those people is they were Hollywood "movie stars" who worked for Paramount Studio in the era of black and white films. That is also the time my husband's aunt supervised Paramount's switchboard operation. These silent screen stares who autographed their photos for Aunt Claire stare out at me every time I dust them. Now, almost 90 years after their pictures were taken, they are still captured in black and white and still silent. Their silence is ironic because not one of these stars successfully made the transition into talking movies.  There must be a lesson here somewhere.  Maybe it is, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak..."

There is a spot on my hall carpet that I am tackling next.  Wish me luck.

The spot came out much easier than I thought it would.  I think I should do a happy dance. If only I had some music playing right now.

Randomness #4    Never, never, never squeeze your hand under the washer and dryer to see what is there! YIKES.  Here is what I found:
1.  Lint--lots and lots of lint
2.  A wad of chewed bubble gum.  I think that is what it was.  It was pink anyway, and linty
3.  Several pieces of gravel
4.  A door stop.  I wondered where that had gone.
5.  A screw driver bit that disappeared into thin air several years ago.

I know there is a lesson here.  You never know what you will find when you take the time to clean out the places you have been ignoring for years. Sure, you will find garbage, junk, or lint to discard, but you may also find something that you thought you had lost forever.  And I am not talking about the physical realm.

It is now time for lunch.  I still have my afternoon chores, tasks, jobs, adventure, or whatever they are ahead of me, but that is all the randomness on the blog for today.  I will continue writing for the fun of it.  Who knows, maybe tomorrow I will let you discover more about what my crazy brain did and where it went this afternoon.

I've had fun.  I hope you did too.

Have a God rest of your day.  I plan to.

Morning at McDonalds

9:30 Tuesday Morning

Here I sit at McDonalds deciding what to write today.  I have accomplished what I set out to do when I was making plans last night. I planned to get up reasonably early, if you call 7 o'clock reasonably early and wash my hair. That didn't go exactly as predetermined. What should have been easy, wasn't. You see, I had my granddaughters here for a couple days. That should explain why my shampoo was practically gone--not completely gone, just practically gone. I had forgotten about teenage girls, showers, and hair.

Anyway, I finally got my hair washed,  then I packed up my granddaughters' stuff that they had left here (clothes, make up, books, blankets, pillows, hair bands). My plan was to take that stuff to their house and have them lug the piles from my car into their rooms. Off I drove.  Then, as the kids say these days, "Fail." No one was home.

You have got to be kidding.  Seven-thirty AM and no one is home.  Vacation Bible School doesn't start until 9:00.Where in the world could they be?  They were at the school because one of the girls was working out at the gym before VBS. You have got to be kidding!

That meant that I made several trips from the car to the house with bags of stuff and an armload of bedding. For your information, it is quite a challenge to maneuver ones way up stairs that have 2 dogs, 1 chicken, and 1 duck standing there welcoming you with quacking, clucking, and barking, but not moving out of your way. Thankfully, I did make it up the stairs and back down several times without breaking my neck.

With that accomplished, I stopped at my son's house to feed 5 fish, 4 cats, and 2 rabbits.  They should be back this afternoon from camping. They, meaning my son's family.  The animals didn't leave. Well, the dog did leave with the family, but the rest were just hanging out at home. Then, when all the critters were fed and watered, I come into town, parked myself here at McDonalds with a cup of coffee and a sausage-egg McMuffin to make a list of what I have to get done before I head off for Hawaii in a couple weeks.

That is done.  Hooray.  The list is made. The jobs are do-able, and I'm ready for a nap.  Just kidding.

Now I will write my blog, then head home.  No, before I head over the bridge toward home I must stop at the gas station.  I need to get gas for the mower and fill up the car while I'm at it. Then, finally, at last, I will head home.

It feels good to be set for the week.  I know exactly what needs to be done, when I am going to do it, and I have the supplies I need to get the work done. All is wonderful.

There is only one problem with all this planning stuff.  Life happens and things don't go as anticipated.  I'm OK with that. Planning is the fun part.

Now for my blog, it has written itself, so I'm off to get gas.

Have a God day everyone.  I know I will.

In The Blink of An Eye

Can you answer these questions for me?  How can my house be shiny and tidy one day and dusty and messy the next?  How can my fridge be clean and full of good stuff one day and messed up with nothing appetizing to eat the next? How can my grand kids be struggling to stay upright on a bicycle one day and driving a car the next?  And the biggest poser of all is this, how can my grandsons who were playing "Heaven" and "David and Goliath" one day be getting married the next?

How does that all happen?  It seems like "Abracadabra" and little babies become little boys. "Hocus pocus" and little boys become young men.  Then poof, young men have become husbands.  Over night, in the blink of an eye, a snap of the fingers, the babies are gone and men have appeared in their place.  It doesn't make sense, does it?

Oh yes it does. It took those babies several years to learn what they could and couldn't do, touch and not touch, say and not say.  Many more years were required to learn to settle disputes with words instead of hands and feet, to respect and obey their parents, to work hard and cooperatively.  They needed more time still to learn about the mysterious opposite sex, handling money and busy schedules, and holding jobs.

Woven throughout all their learning was God. From a childhood game when the oldest grandson couldn't play God's guitar because it was too heavy for him to lift to the compassion of the younger brother who cried because we didn't comb Great-grandma's hair before we left the nursing home (she had had an oil treatment to her head) God was evident in their lives.  There were church services, Christian schools, mission trips and youth groups to encourage spiritual growth. And, there were the prayers of family and teaching of parents.

Many of our prayers, offered up in faith and rooted in trust, have been answered. It is so exciting to see those babies/boys/men take on the world as men of God. Even more exciting, at least to me, is meeting the young women who are now my new granddaughters. These are the little girls I prayed for years ago--unknown to me, but known to God.  I prayed for their parents, their families, their protection and their safety. I also prayed for their spiritual development. Now I am getting to know them as the beautiful women they  are.

Well, it has taken twenty plus years for all this to happen--for prayers to be answered. And, it is not over yet.  There are more prayers to be prayed, prayers for vision and guidance, children and ministries, safety and health, wisdom and faith.  Oh, the list is long.

Then, twenty years from now, which will seem like over night, in the blink of an eye, a snap of the fingers, and a poof, we will once again shake our heads and ask ourselves my original question.  Does it make sense that everything seems to have changed over night?

Of course it does.  God's plans, when we think about them, always make sense. His way is so perfect.

As for my house and refrigerator, God doesn't bring about changes there,  He has to keep me motivated to bring about order to my chaos. He is an expert at that. I wish I could do it like he does, by just speaking the words. Maybe......?

"Let the carpet be vacuumed."

 It didn't work.

   

Meet Noah

I love little ones. Let me introduce you to one I wish you could meet.  His name is Noah. He is sooooo cute and charming that you can't help but immediately fall in love with the little guy, especially if you are a sucker for big brown eyes and long eye lashes. Just those eyes alone will melt your heart.

Although he has been walking for about six-seven weeks now, he still occasionally trips over a toy on the floor if he isn't paying attention to where he is going, but for the most part he is pretty steady on his feet and can run fairly well.

Like all youngsters, he loves exploring his ever expanding world.  That means he has to smell everything, taste most of it, and try eating whatever catches his fancy, much to our chagrin. Hopefully he will learn fairly quickly that not everything that can go into the mouth is meant to be eaten.

And talk about looking forlorn when it is time for a nap, you haven't seen anything yet.  When I see his big, sad, brown eyes looking up at me and hear his whimpering cry, I just want to say, "Come on, little Noah, you can sit on Nana's lap for awhile."  But I had better not spoil him yet.

He not only warmed my heart within the first minutes I met him, he also made me smile at his antics.  Don't you just love it when a little one is moving around as quickly as possible on all fours, his nose just twitching at the new smells, and all the while his ears are dragging on the ground?

Oh, did I failed to mention that Noah was a Basset Hound puppy? I did, didn't I. Sorry about that.

Little Noah was adopted just a few days ago by my grandson and his fiance.  They are getting married on Friday. Then the handsome, blue eyed groom, his beautiful, brown eyed bride, and their adorable, brown eyed puppy will all move into a cute little apartment to start their new life together. I'm sure they will have lots of Noah stories to tell in the not-so-distant future.