Happy Birthday Mom!!

A mom is often someone you take for granted. She is always there. She listens to you and if you can't tell anyone else you can tell her. Please don't take your Mom's for granted. They are special precious people that God put in your life. Call your Mom and tell her that you love her. Tell her why she is special to you. Ask her all the questions about family history that only she knows. Write down your answers.

God called my Mom home just over 4 years ago. Today is my dear sweet Mother's birthday. The love I have for her is so intense and is matched by the intense loss I feel. She was kind and left a legacy of helping others and reaching out in love. She had the softest skin and always smelled so nice.

Happy Birthday Mom!!! I love you and miss you!!

The End is Near!!

I really don't like Glenn's name calling in this, but the video clip of the congressman is really disturbing.... Isn't there someway like calling for a count or something? How is this allowed to stand? I encourage each of you to watch it and get a glimpse of where we are headed.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/videos/?uri=channels/338017/621304

Racing goats, turkeys and other stuff....

Today the weather is cloudy and the high is around 49 degrees. I have a fire going, so the house is plenty warm. I have not had much to take pictures of lately. I guess the pictures are often what prompts me to blog. :)

Yesterday I was talking with my sweet mother-in-law. We were basically done, and I happened to look out the window and there was something large and brown out there. I looked to see if Star was inside with me.. she was. It was a goat. I told my mother-in-law that there was a goat in my yard and I did not own goats. Then I saw a second goat. I told her I would have to go. :) When I saw the first goat, I thought it might be from across the way. Joshua recently told me about a goat that lives over there. Joshua went out on a run. When he went by the farm where this goat lives, it came out and joined him. He said it was crazy, this goat just ran along beside him. Sometimes it would try to get in front of him. Other times it lagged behind and he would tell it to come on and it would put on a burst of speed and catch up. He ran pretty far (maybe about a mile) and the goat tired out. He called Brittany and she came with the truck. Joshua put the goat in the back of the truck and got in to hold it. They took it home. The gate was open, so they put it in the pasture and closed the gate. :) When I saw the second goat, I knew they were the Wonderful Neighbor's because the racing goat is the only goat over there. I love to call the WN and report an animal out because it is rare I get to do that. They on the other hand have gotten to call me often with those words. :) I went out and got the goats and held them until they came to get them.

I am actually in the middle of cleaning the kitchen. I took a short break to sit down and thought I would write a post. I have Christmas carols playing in the background. My house is a huge disorganized mess. I am waiting to get the base board put up on the new wall. Then I will scoot the furniture for that wall in place. I need help moving the piano out from the other wall to paint. I have stuff sitting on one end of my dining room table waiting on the room to be done. I hope some things get done this weekend.

My Dad and Alice will be going back to Florida next week. :( I don't blame them, but I will miss them. We got to see them quite a bit this summer, for which I am thankful. We are going to see them at least once more before they leave.

We will be going to Michael's parents for Thanksgiving dinner. I will take the green beans and my Mom's Cranberry Jello Salad. I am not sure what else. We supply the turkeys as well, but don't cook them.

Well, it is back to the kitchen to continue on. Have a great weekend!!!

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Swagbucks

Swagbucks is one of those gimmicks that really works. We have been using the Swagbucks tool bar for all of our searches on the internet. We just recently cashed some in and bought a replacement phone for the house with it. Thanks for those of you who signed up under our name and have used it, because you have help to add to our bucks. Try it!! Click on the banner above and use it for all your internet searches. You will be surprised at how quickly they add up. :)

This And That

Yesterday was a good day. Brittany came over and helped me paint 2 walls. There are more walls to paint, but things need to be done before we can get to them. We had Christmas carols playing as we worked.

I also got bread made. I needed to make bread, or my poor man would be without a sandwich.

After we did chores, we had to go up and get feed which made for a late night for us. We enjoy the time driving because we can talk and share.

Nancy asked about what happened with Issue 2. Unfortunately it passed. We have yet to see what all it will bring with it. :(

Hope things are going well with you and yours!!

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Count Your Blessings Monday!!

Here is an opportunity for all of us to give thanks unto the Lord for a blessing in our lives. If you would like to take part great. If not that is OK too. If you would like to share your blessing, just leave it in the comments. If you want to use the picture above and list a blessing on your own site, then leave a URL to your site in the comments. There is no pressure here. I just know that I am incredibly blessed and I would like to share that and give thanks to Him who all blessing come from. This is a way that we can encourage one another. I know that I am often encouraged when someone shares a blessing with me. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!!

Today, I want to share the blessing of wonderful weekend. On Saturday, Michael stayed home to do things around the house and Brittany and I went and ran errands together. I really enjoyed our time together.

Then on Sunday afternoon, Michael and I went for a long drive on back roads. It was gorgeous. Here are some pictures from our drive.

Someone had painted on this rock to make it look like a groundhog or something.

Cracker Barrel Gift Card!!

Barb over at Bella Vista is hosting a give away to celebrate her 200th post. She is giving away a gift card to Cracker Barrel. Head on over and sign up. :)

Wonderful Giveaway!!

Lauren over at A Corner Pillar is giving away a basket of goodies from her Etsy shop. Go on over and enter for a chance to win. :) Tell her Marci sent you!!

Now that's an EGG!!!

My husband has big hands. Last night he came in and showed me the egg that you see on the left in this first picture. It is a nice sized egg. He said, "If this is a grade A jumbo, then what is this one?" Then he showed me the egg on the right. All I said was, "OUCH!!"

Here is the egg in with its buddies. :)

I had it for breakfast this morning. It was a double yoker!!

I love the red of these berries agains the blue sky.

As you can see, almost all the leaves are gone now. You can see our house and barn from the road. Also, the traffic noise is louder and I keep thinking someone is here. So does the dog.

Thanksgiving is coming up. What are YOU thankful for?

Self-Control in a Wired World

I recently posted a video by Josh Harris where he was eaten by a bean bag. Here is another video by him that really is worth watching.

Pumpkin Encouragement!! :)

We did not grow any pumpkins this year. I am not sure why, because we did have some seeds. However, I was able to purchase 6 small pie pumpkins from the Amish for 50 cents each. I finally processed them. From 6 little pumpkins I got 9 pints of puree. I was thrilled. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love pumpkin stuff. My dear friend and Wonderful Neighbor told me that she thought of me today. She saw that a pumpkin latte was offered somewhere. I would have to draw the line there. Don't mess with my coffee!! :) No flavors of any sort other than strong black coffee!!

Things have slowed down here a bit. My sweet man stayed home from work today. He was feeling puny. The Wonderful Neighbors did chores for us this evening. It was their night to milk, but they did the turkeys and pigs as well. I am not sure what we do without them.

We have had another beautiful day today. I am so grateful for each one, because soon I know that winter will shut us in.

I look all around me, and there are so many people going through things. I don't know what I would do without the Lord. About 23 years ago, my Dad was in a head on collision with a drunk driver. Actually, the drunk driver was killed. My Dad had a long and painful walk of recovery. I found a plaque that I gave to him. I had never seen that saying before and I have not seen it since. It says something close to, "Sometimes God calms the storm. Other times God carries the child and lets the storm rage.". We all face storms in life. We can't judge the severity of another person's storm because we are not in their shoes. Michael shared some verses in Hebrews on Sunday. He read part of chapter 2 and all of chapter 3. He talked about the following verses.

Heb 3:12-13 Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

This does mean to encourage each other in doing right and staying the course, but I think it also means to lift up and encourage through hard times. I can't tell you how many times I have struggled and God sent someone or had them call, or they sent me an email. I have gotten a couple of emails recently from people who shared with me how I encouraged them and touched their life. That really encouraged me. They even made me cry. I have also touched base with a couple of people who have shared how my Mom touched their lives. This encourages me as well. I want to be like her!!! We can be so self focused sometimes. Our lives are so busy, that it is hard sometimes to find the time to reach out. I need to do it more.

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Count Your Blessings Monday!!

Here is an opportunity for all of us to give thanks unto the Lord for a blessing in our lives. If you would like to take part great. If not that is OK too. If you would like to share your blessing, just leave it in the comments. If you want to use the picture above and list a blessing on your own site, then leave a URL to your site in the comments. There is no pressure here. I just know that I am incredibly blessed and I would like to share that and give thanks to Him who all blessing come from. This is a way that we can encourage one another. I know that I am often encouraged when someone shares a blessing with me. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!!

Joshua has finished the wall. We just need to paint it now. He and Brittany came over Saturday night. He sanded the drywall and primed the wall. We will get it painted and put up a baseboard. We had some cold weather earlier last week. It was down into the upper 20's. We really noticed a difference in the warmth of the house with this wall up.

Here is a picture from when we first moved in. You can see doors with plexiglass on the other side of the table. Our table is not there anymore, but that is where the wall went.

Here you can see the new wall and the one set of doors that remains. That will always be an opening, so we will leave the doors up to keep the cold out.

Here is the wall now that it is primed.

I am also VERY grateful for the beautiful weather we are having. It has been in the upper 60's or low 70's for a couple of days and I think it is supposed to be that way for a couple more.

What are you thankful for?

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A Gorgeous Day!!

I am not sure how this day could have been any nicer. My sweet man was home with me. We got to do our errands together. We found some really good deals also. It is 66 degrees, and very sunny. There is a nice breeze blowing. It is the kind of day that makes you want to be outside!

We moved the sheep fence today to let them have some fresh grass. They are literally, right out our front door. The wind is blowing and it is really blowing their wool around. You can see how wooly they are.

This is Pepper looking at me. She is the flock leader and also the bravest one. She will come right up to us. She won't do that for strangers, but she will come to either Michael or me.

This is my mum. It was not very spectacular.

You can see how bare the trees are now. The ones still with leaves are almost all Oaks. They will keep those leaves until the snow or wind knocks them off or the spring leaves push them off.

Hope you are having a good day today.

Ezek 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.

Winter Is Coming!!

The weather has turned cooler again. The lows at night have been in the upper 20's. The highs are anywhere from the Mid 40's to the low 50's.

There does not seem to be a lot to take pictures of. Most of the leaves are off the trees now. The Oaks keep many of their leaves until Spring. We do have a Bradford Pear in the front yard that is still green though. :)

We still have not decided what to do about sheep. I have scheduled 3 in to the butcher at the end of December. I need to see if I can sell them. We are just not sure yet. However, their wool is REALLY thick for this time of year. We may be in for a very cold winter again. The wool is just gorgeous. I hate to not be able to sheer them and get the wool.

Star turned 12 last month. She still seems to be going strong. She goes on walks with me.

This was the driveway a couple of days ago. This is looking toward the turn to the road.

This is looking back the other way toward the house.

I found a whole patch of these. They look like polka dot hearts!!!

The road is looking bare.

Just another interesting growth. :)

Food, Inc.

This movie has been in the theaters, but came out on DVD today. I believe that every home in America should watch it at least once. It shows what the problem is and that WE are the solution. We vote for how our food is processed and where it comes from every time we spend at a grocery store, local farm or farmer's market. If you can watch this movie and go on eating like you do now, something is wrong.

Go here and watch the trailer. We got it from Netflix, but we should all call our libraries and ask them to get a copy.

Don't Forget To Vote!!

Please don't forget to vote tomorrow.... especially Ohioans. Vote NO on issue 2!!!!

Count Your Blessings Monday!!

Here is an opportunity for all of us to give thanks unto the Lord for a blessing in our lives. If you would like to take part great. If not that is OK too. If you would like to share your blessing, just leave it in the comments. If you want to use the picture above and list a blessing on your own site, then leave a URL to your site in the comments. There is no pressure here. I just know that I am incredibly blessed and I would like to share that and give thanks to Him who all blessing come from. This is a way that we can encourage one another. I know that I am often encouraged when someone shares a blessing with me. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!!

Today, I am counting my blessings as family. I got to spend time with family this weekend. Joshua came over on Saturday afternoon and put up a wall for me. It was good to have him around and to just talk with him. Brittany came for part of the time and they stayed for dinner. On Sunday, we had a birthday party for my Dad. His birthday was really on Saturday, but we had the party on Sunday. Three of my brothers and their family were there, including my new little Great-Niece.

Sometimes family is taken for granted, but we need to take the time for them.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's birthday. He is still up here in Ohio, so we are having a party for him tomorrow. I am so thankful and blessed to have my Dad still with me.

Happy Birthday Dad!!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here he is at the top of the lighthouse in Ponce Inlet, Florida.

This is my Dad and I.

This is my Dad and Mom.

Here he is with some of his granddaughters.

This is Dad and his wife, Alice.

Issue #2 Again

I am going to mention Issue #2 in Ohio again. It is a very important issue and we are trying to get the word out. Someone told me that a caller called in to Glenn Beck's program on Friday and asked about it. She was for it. He basically told her it was more government and bigger government with no oversight. He said you see the battle coming and instead of fighting you are opting for the suicide pill.

Please, please research and check out this link to the Ohio Liberty Council. This is not something we need or want. It is going to give them an open door to tell us what to do on our farms and with our animals. This is major because it is ammending our Constitution. It will not stop the Humane Society or PETA from trying to bring HSUS to our state.

Here is another post that gives more information!!!

It Is Almost Done...

Today, was absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! It was sunny and 77 degrees. Tonight we are supposed to get rain. The low tonight is going to be 50 and that is the high tomorrow. The low tomorrow night will be around 34. That makes today even more special. I went out and took a walk again with Star. You can see how the driveway changes every day. There are lots more leaves on the ground and fewer on the trees.

I tried to capture some pictures where the sunlight was peaking through highlighting something.

As you can see some trees are already bare and some still have many leaves.

I just love this site. It is across the road from us. The sun was really playing on it as the wind blew and leaves moved around.

The road is starting to look more bare.

Here is the cornfield. You can see the rows from this angle.

I loved this. The oak leaves you see are not from the tree they are on. They fell from higher up. The sun was shining through them and they looked like a stained glass window.

Here you can see the leaves dancing in the sunshine.

I stood on the driveway and took a video trying to let you see and feel what it was like. The wind was blowing and you heard leaves moving and the trees were swaying. It captured some of that, but nothing like it was to be standing out in it.