Dr. Dad

Years ago, Andy mentioned that he thought he would have liked to be an EMT or a paramedic. Maybe because of that, he was always the one called upon to doctor skinned knees and "fix" hurt and bleeding children at our house. Well, maybe that wasn't the only reason. He may have gotten that job by default since I tend to get lightheaded and whoozy at the sight of blood. Andy has the compassion to go along with his doctoring skills. He even enjoys making hospital visits and is tender toward those who are hurting.

So back in the days when we were raising puppies, he was the one to give them their shots. He got quite good at it, in fact, so good that he's still doing it even though we don't have puppies any more. Amy called and said her puppies were ready to be sold and needed their shots, so would Dad mind??? Of course not, it was an excuse to see her & the kids again. So Tuesday was puppy shot day.

All done!

Fun with the kids

Andy's doctoring reminded me that I thought I had a picture of my dad doctoring a cow. And here it is! Like father(-in-law), like son(-in-law).
And speaking of my dad, I can't believe it's been 12 years since he's left us for a better world. I'm sure he's a lot happier where he is and not worried at all about the economy or anything else that occupies our minds these days. Of course, we miss him, though, and look forward to seeing him again. What a blessed hope!

More backyard flower pictures:

I am very happy with these coneflowers. They really took off this year.
And aren't these black-eyed Susans looking cheerful?

What do I want?

I was feeling out of sorts yesterday, unhappy with some circumstances, tired of other situations, just generally feeling low. Thankfully, the Lord reminded me of something I heard Pastor Mark say last week: when you're feeling angry, bad, etc., ask yourself: "What do I want?"

So I did ask myself that question. What I want is:

1. peace and quiet

2. to stay at home and work in my gardens

3. no responsibilities for a while

Ouch...I want what I want. So these are the current idols of my heart. Any time I want something more than I want God, I make that my idol. God's first commandment is: "You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3) These may all be good things, but not if I want them too much.

I had to ask God's forgiveness for putting these things first and foremost in my heart and ask Him to rearrange my priorities. I want HIM. "God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him." So if life is hard or pressures are mounting, I can still be happy in Jesus. He is all I need and He supplies all my needs, even strength to endure and joy in my heart. "The joy of the Lord is my strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)

Going Green & Goings On

We are joining the 21st century and putting in solar power. I think it's ironic that in order to go green, we have to cut down so many trees.

On Friday 3 guys were here laying the groundwork, putting in the stakes that will hold the solar panels. They arrived at 7:00 am and worked all day.It will be another 3 weeks before the panels arrive to be installed.
In order to get maximum sunshine on the spot, there was one more tree that needed to come down. So C & C came down again on Saturday afternoon for the occasion. Andy worked all morning doing prep work and clearing some brush so Christian could get at the tree. Then the 2 of them worked at getting it down. Christy and I were watching and wondering if the tree was going to fall on the truck or the garden, but why worry with the expert at work. He brought the tree down in just the right spot. What a guy!The kids had fun on the swing set and at the pond.
Before the family arrived in the afternoon, I attended Joanna's bridal shower. Joanna was Amy's "sister" and my 4th daughter when she and Amy were little. She lived right next to us and the 2 girls were always together, usually concocting some kind of adventure. So now Joanna is getting married. I made cucumber sandwiches to help out with the food.
We've been enjoying having Daniel with us for 2 months. His time is almost up and he will be leaving in another 3 weeks. He has enlivened our dinner conversations. He is quite a reader and has given a list of recommended books for us to read. He is also very appreciative of the meals I make and I've been impressed with his initiative in helping to clear the table and put dishes in the dishwasher after the meals. He can come back any time!

Mini Retreat

Sometimes the best way to relax and get some rest is to get away from it all. So we just got back from 3 days in the Poconos. A friend has a house there that she graciously invited us to enjoy.It was quiet and away from everything. I did nothing except read books, lie in the sun and take naps. Well, one day I went with Andy down to the pool, but I just sat there, too.

There is a lot of wildlife there and we saw a number of deer along the side of the road. They seemed almost tame. And a highlight, we actually saw a bear! We were driving back to our house from visiting the grocery store, when just ahead a bear went galloping across the road. I had just mentioned to Andy that I wondered if there were bear in the area, and there was the answer to my musing!Sorry...no picture of the bear!

The best dressed doll...

I finished another outfit for Grace's doll today, this time a jogging outfit. It turned out very cute. The windbreaker nylon pants have trim up the pant legs. The fleece jacket has a separating zipper and pockets with zippers.
Even with all that detail, I was amazed at how quickly it went together.

Can you believe how tall this coneflower got?! It comes above my shoulder!

Lilacs

I have always loved lilacs. They hint of romance with their aromatic fragrance and beautiful flowers and who doesn't love romance!!! I recently received a Garden Gate magazine that had an article about lilacs. I was surprised to learn how many colors there are. I knew of the deep purple, white and lilac, but there are also blue, pink and yellow varieties. There are actually over one thousand varieties! There are also single and double petal varieties. Bushes can grow tall, as much as 30 feet. And, there are dwarf sizes which only grow about three feet high.

When our guest Beth was here, she bought me a lilac bush. I knew my mother had the deep purple and white varieties, so I came up with the idea to make a lilac garden. When we were at my Mother's a couple of weeks ago, we dug up some white and some deep purple and planted in our future lilac garden. Then we went and bought 2 more bushes, dwarf lilac variety, and got some fencing. On Monday, Andy worked at putting up the fence as a backdrop to the lilacs, then mulched and here we are:
I can't wait now for spring to see if they'll bloom this first year!

Another project we worked on was to move the forsythia bush. I had originally planted it in back of the 3 mailboxes at the road, but it grew so much so fast that it was becoming a hazard trying to get out of the driveway. So I got some perennials and planted them in that spot after we moved the forsythia back from the road. Now we can see to get out and don't have to wonder if someone is coming! As you can see from this spring picture, the forsythia is right in the line of vision.
I wish I could do something to hide this ugly pole. Yuck!

My ice plants are very beautiful this year.
All that work tired us out so yesterday afternoon, we drove down to Harrisonville Lake with our lounge chairs and did some serious relaxing. It was a beautiful day so it was easy to enjoy being there.

The News from Jersey

It was good to be home this week. It was busy but not frantically so. I was able to accomplish some things that had been put off for a while, like weeding my flower gardens. I spent almost 4 hours early Tuesday morning outside in the gardens. I got around the whole house, just needing to do one last garden, which I hope to attack tomorrow. Speaking of attacking, the mosquitoes love to attack me, and I have 6 or 7 bites on my arms from Tuesday. I wonder what God had in mind when he made mosquitoes, other than to be food for bats, which I don't like either!

I took a few more pictures of flowers in the yard.

Here is my hydrangea bush that is outdoing itself this year. It has both pink and blue blossoms on the same bush. (Never mind the green gunk on the shed siding - one of these days, we'll get around to cleaning that.)
I didn't realize coneflowers got so tall. I'm impressed!
And here's my butterfly bush. I like the blue flowers against the white house.
In other news, our upstairs tenant turned 21 this week, so I resurrected an oldie, but goodie recipe that I used to make: Chicken & Ham Rollups. It calls for a 1/4 cup of dry white wine, plus some other things, but I thought that would be comical to serve for his birthday. I also made a blueberry cream cheese pound cake. Andy's mom and dad joined us for the party, which was Thursday evening.
I was able to spend an hour or so in the evenings before bed to sew the doll clothes for Grace's doll. The skirt was a cinch to do and went together easily, but the top was a stretchy crushed velvet and kept getting caught in a bunch under the stitchplate of the sewing machine. If it had been for me or one of the kids, I would have thrown it away and started over on a different material, but after it was all done, it didn't look too bad. Plus, after Grace put the outfit on the doll, I later found that same doll in her fancy outfit in a corner on the floor. Well, she did look good sitting there all "dolled up!"
If someone tells you to smile, here is an example of what you should look like.
Yesterday was the 4th of July and we chose to spend the day with C & C because at this point, they are unable to take the whole family out for long excursions. It's still too stressful for Patrick to be with large groups of people. Andy & I desire to be as supportive and encouraging as we can to them in their calling and mission to their family.

I did some preparatory baking and cooking on Friday night and we left fairly early Saturday morning. Christy had asked me to bring rolls. The last time I had bought rolls, I didn't like them. They were hard and on the stale side. So I got the bright idea to see if I could make some. I found this recipe online that looked easy and didn't take long and voila...
I also made a pasta salad and blueberry dessert.
Andy and Christian worked on some finishing touches to the addition/house, then Christian grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for our dinner. It was a good day, enjoying the kids and being together.

I am very thankful for the freedom we still enjoy in our nation, but even more I'm eternally grateful for the freedom I enjoy in Christ. ...He "has freed us from our sins by His blood." (Rev. 1:5) and we are also ..."free from accusation." (Colossians 1:22)

My chains are gone, I've been set FREE,
My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
And like a flood His mercy reigns,
Unending love, amazing grace.
Words by Chris Tomlin & Louis Giglio