The feeling that I come away with after watching The Guardian is much like how a guy walks away from a movie like 300 (I think that's the name), tough, re-energized, feeling like he can take on the world. (At least that's what I think I've gathered from my husband and brother-in-law.) By the way, I just felt exhausted mentally and emotionally after watching 300. But, that's another tale.
Back to yesterday...I came away from this particular episode thankful beyond words that our family of 3 is so blessed with two sets of grandparents that love us more than we could even imagine. (I have 18 months of love for my child under my belt, they have more than 30 years.Wow.) We feel success, self-confidence, humility and so much more because of the love that those 4 people show us. And, that's not to mention our extended families who lavish love on us, too. Daily, I think about the 7 little ones that we brought into our home over the course of the 4 years that we were part of the foster system. I cannot begin to imagine the lack of love that I experience that is so prevalent in their lives. I am thankful for my God - that He gave me the kind of life that so many dream about. And, we are so grateful and thankful for the people that love us enough to care for us so openly and tangibly.
Okay. Climbing down off my soapbox now.
The past month has been a welcome relief from the anguish of hammering and loud construction. My folks were here several weeks ago, Charley's folks were here this past weekend and my folks (newly retired! Yay!) will be back again this weekend! The painting, gardening, cleaning, babysitting and so much more has been my saving grace. The dads worked on window trim, window sills, etc. while the moms loved on John, made dinners, cleaned up dinners, and painted, painted, painted. Amidst all of that we have made numerous trips to the garden to gather cucumbers, a few now-ripe tomatoes, some herbs, swiss chard, etc.
We have had so much rain this season that our squash, zucchini, etc. are not producing.
Charley makes yummy swiss chard...sauteed in a little olive oil with onion, garlic, and red cooking wine.
We are gathering eggs daily from our hens. Hmmm....let me amend that...we are now down to 1 hen, our Black Star. She is currently forlornly clucking at me from the front porch step. We tried free-range without fencing...we locked our hens up at night though. However, our 2 Buff hens who were so sweet, have now met their Maker by means of a sly fox. He sits in wait in the woods several yards from the house, and when the hens go take their afternoon siesta in the shade, he strikes. Our neighbor told Charley to stake down our one remaining chicken and put me on the front porch with our gun and wait for the fox to re-appear. Mmmm...not likely going to happen, that scenario. We'll have to envision that one in our imagination.
So, we are down to one hen. She is lonely. Our other neighbor said she's scaling back on her laying hens and will give us a few to replace our girls. We really couldn't keep up with the eggs that our 3 girls were laying, though! We hope to be able to give away or sell our excess in the future.
And, I need to mention that we have kittens. Yep, 5 babies were born about 4 weeks ago. They are in a box on our front porch where their mother cares for them so lovingly. It's been sweet to watch John interact with them. He is not afraid nor his he too rough. He is an amazing child and this mother is so proud that he is my son!
As fun as this rambling is...my fingers are tired. I'll sign off now.
I'll leave you with a few images of guess who!? Shoe shopping...
I pray for each of you daily!
Love,
Jackie
1 comment:
So good to hear from you, Jackie! Those pictures of John are too cute. He is getting so big! Did I ever send you the video I took of him at THOGL? If not and you want it, just let me know!
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