Chickens and Stuff

So here we are again all revved up post holidays. Feeling fine and happy to be back in the dirt and gardening once again. The Black Hills in South Dakota were awesome would recommend going there to anyone looking for a vacation destination, lots to see and do. Doesn`t matter how old you are there is something for anyone.
We had some stresses pre trip, our stupid chickens started to peck one another to death. Hense the term "hen-pecked". It sure drove us crazy because you go check on them and they are all pecking one hen until it was bald and bleeding. Then we had to do away with the poor beaten thing because it was sufering and half dead anyway. We started with 9 birds and we are down to 3! What is going to happen? there will be one hen left and she`ll peck herself then. I asked the farmer who sold us them, and he said this sort of thing happens some times and yes they can even peck themselves. It upsets the kids to see the bloody battered picked on hen but oh well part of life and they realize a new lesson about the animal kingdom. The fittest usually survive or in this case the most stupid aggressive one survives.
So, the mosiquitoes have been relentless since the beginning of June, one goes out to just sinply see how hot it is and the darn critters bite you until you can hardly stand it. Do any of you get these wee ferocious varmints in your part of the world? I swear that when I get to heaven that will be one of the issues I have with the Lord, why in the world did He create these creatures. All they do is wreak havoc on all of the warm-blooded creatures like me and the animals. So, with that said I have an almost 10 year old son breathing down my neck begging me to end this blog so he can go on the net and look up something re: Lord of the Rings, drives me crazy. Oh well could be worse, catch ya all later.

Gardening and Trips

Its that time of year again and I`m nutso trying to plant everything in site. At least this year I wasn`t outside planting the day of my daughter`s birthday party. I actually stayed focused and attended all the little kids quite dutifully. I must tell you those parties do me in. So much work for a couple of hours of complete frenzy. I hope she enjoys it, I sure am glad when its all over. Anyway we leave on a trip to the Black Hills in 2 weeks. I`ve never been, and I`m looking forward to going. There sure is a lot to see and do down there, we`ve been researching and have been amazed at the endless amount of fun activities we can participate in if we can afford it. Everything costs money. I`m starting to wonder if even the buffalo will have signs around thir necks saying $2.00 for a picture, yikes! My friend who I mentioned awhile back has miraculously been healed of her lymphoma cancer. Praise God for that. So back to my gardening, it`s 3a.m. and I`m wasting away here at work with complete exhaustion since I didn`t nap before my shift, because I had to go pick up some more plants at the greenhouses around here. I was hoping to save time when I get back home so I could just get planting. The weather man is forcasting a torrential downfall today so all my running around may have been useless. Hope you all are well, gotta go.

Mother`s Day

I feel awful you guys said such nice stuff about me it makes me want to blog some more. I know I haven`t been around much lately but life has really been busy. Then when I get to work I`ve been so busy delivering babies that on my breaks, if I get a break I just want to rest, so that`s why I have not been around.
Today is Mother`s Day and I`m at work helping women become mothers. I wrote an article in our little local paper. It was a competition for Mother`s Day and surprise I was one of the stories that was picked. I`m going to try and scan it and some how get it on this site, or I`ll just type the entire thing out for you all. You don`t have a choice you have to read it.
Well I cannot figure out how to scan it and I actually left it at home, so I`ll improvise and give you the bit that I remember.
Learning How to Live

When I was a little girl I was like most girls and I played with dolls. I dreamed that one day I would become a Mommy and believed that this dream would come true. When I was a young adult I became the parent critic, judging every move that parents made and secretly judged them knowing my ideal way of parenting would reign supreme.
Well the day finally arrived when I actually became a parent. I still remember when they pulled that baby from my body and I gazed upon his dimpled cherub-like face it was love at first sight.After a very brief time with my child I quickly realized my supreme ideas were just that---ideas. I never knew what hit me. Being a parent has been the most challenging role I have and will ever play. The battle scenes that I endure seem endless. I do like to think that the joys out weigh the difficult times, but these days one never knows.
I`d like to recall a few of those moments. I remember after a particularily exhausting battle where the kids had broken every rule in the book, I tried a desperate measure and yelled"Why do you guys listen to your Father better then you listen to me?" My middle child promptly answered "Because he`s harder on us." I retorted back, " I can change that you know!" Needless to say they still listen to their Father better then me. But I can use that to my advantage too, by saying something I always vowed I never say,"Just you wait until your Father gets home!" Another such battle scene memory was when I attempted to be ever so holy and quote scripture during a war zone. It was intense so I used the tried and true"Honour your Father and Mother in the Lord for this is right", and" do you kids know that this is one of the only commands that has a promise with it? The promise is that you will have a long and healthy life." Well imagine my shock when my cute little girl without a blink of her eye replied angrily "I don`t care if I die young!" All my zest just left me and although I can laugh now there was no laughing at the time.
All kidding aside, I enjoy being a mother. Why else would I stay at home and homeschool the 3 kids? It has been the only role in my life that has molded me or forced me into becoming a better human being. It also has made me respect and understand my own mother greatly. It`s a role that has kept me on my knees and closer to my Lord and Savior.
When all is said and done, at the end of my life, I know without
a doubt, that having been a mother, I will have lived life to the fullest. They teach me daily how I should live my life. . . just like they live their lives--like a child. Here is a poem I wrote that explains my last statement.
No Wonder
It is no wonder Christ said to be like a child,
In our faith, trust, obedience and love
I watch my son, and smile. . .
As the world unfolds before his eyes
His wee life reveals an excitement
That has somehow died in me long ago.
A flower, a rock, an insect, a squirrel
His face lights up with pure joy.
What innocence, what refreshing wonder.
I envy the newness in each of his days.
No boredom, no duty, no responsibility.
When will he discover the everyday day?
Life`s disappointments? And heart wrenching pain?
Oh Lord! Please help me to save him from it all!
Teach me his secret again, Renew in me your child-like freshness,
So I may keep him forever young;
Always forgiving, always accepting, always loving.
Oh, no wonder, we must be a child once more.

Hope you enjoyed that, see ya later.

Basic Life

Sometimes I sit and wonder what profound thing can I say to entice you people to read my blog and then I realize that it doesn`t take much to entice you all so I just talk about my basic life as it really is, Basic! I thought of Nettie the other day when I went into the store Fruits n` Passion to buy Darlene`s birthday present. Talk about expensive, it sure smell nice in there, I wish I could have bought something for myself too. Ended up getting her something that smells like coconut, I think her husband was excited as her when he took a whiff of the stuff. I feel sorry for you guys cause I get to actually see Darlene face to face, and you guys just get the cyber space woman. She is so much fun, one feels like they have just received a kiss from an angel after spending time with her. The other day we were quite the pair, she sat outside with a tube top and shorts, while I was fully clothed and had 2 blankets on [which her dear hubby retrieved for me]It was only 18 degrees celcius , with a nippy wind. Dar even has a sunburn already. She loves life and lives it to the fullest. I think the child-like qualities of refreshedness and her ability to laugh so freely make her a want to be with kind of person. Also, her honesty, gotta have that we live in such a world of pride and pretend, a bit of honesty keeps us humble. Enough on Darlene, onto me. Okay that`s it now not much to say about me, same old, same old.

Answers to Questions

Okay I`m madder than mad, I just typed out a bunch of answers to questions and they disappeared. It wouldn`t be a big deal but I type so slow. Here`s a second attempt to Cindy-lou`s questions. The first question is answered on her blog-site
2. I have been a nurse for 20 yrs. this year, I know that is long. My favorite thing about nursing is interacting with all the different people. I really like it when I have helped someone and I go home feeling useful and worthwhile.
3.The name I think God would call me by is " Tenacious One" , since I`m such a hard learner or perhaps " Sincere Seeker", or whatever. All I know is that He calls me His own and that makes me feel like dancing.
4.If I was a song what song would I be? I chose "From a Distance" sung by a variety of singers, Bette Midler and Kathy Mattea are 2 of them. I chose this one because from a distance things can look rosy but up close I struggle really quite a lot. God sees my heart and He knows who I am, real or fake, and He still loves me.
5.I drive a dirt bike because that`s all we can afford and I don`t have my motorcycle license and therefore I cannot drive on streets, just out in the country.
There are my answers for Cindy-lou, I have yet to answer Darlene`s questions and hers are nutsy, catch ya later.

Motorcycle Momma

So, with the great weather we`ve been having, i.e. anything above 0 degrees celcius, we have taken all the motorized fun vehicles out to experience the joy of freedom. Yesterday, I was reliving my teens. Here I am 40 yrs. old and I felt like a kid again speeding around the dike around our property. I was riding our dirt bike, don`t ask me the rpms. cause I don`t know. If you ask me the color, that`s another story, but its not relevant. Yes, a bunch of memories came flooding back of the days on the farm when I would whip out to the fields to see where Dad was at with the harvesting or to bring him back for supper. He never liked riding with me on the bike. I was always known as the careless or rather carefree driver. I`m constantly reminded of the time someone drove onto the yard when I was driving the lawn tractor and because I was looking the other way, waving at the company I ran into the barn. Yes, the barn, a big red hiproofed style barn, most people would have seen it but , heh, at least you can`t fault me for being unfriendly. As I was riding I thanked God for my health and the agility and ability to be able to still ride. I know a lot of women my age would stay away from a dirt bike or just get a ride on one not ride it themselves. But, heh, I`m not a lot of women. I love a challenge, the unfortunate thing about this characteristic is my children have inherited it. Especially my girls. They always look like they have survived a wind storm with their hair. If I comment on their appearance its always a "I don`t care, what I look like". They will always try to climb the highest tree, and beat anybody at anything. As I type the 3 kids are playing lego together but it sounds like there is a war going on. I thought lego was a calm creative hobby, not with my kids there is always someone beating another person in something. Oh well, onto the next topic. Like I said before we have a dike around our area. I don`t know if you were up to date on world affairs in the spring of 1997, but the area I live in is the place that experienced a huge flood. The Canadian armed forcess were inlisted to help fight off natures war with flooding. Well, after that flood a dike was built around many a home and towns. Every year a few roads are covered with water due to the rising of the nearby river. Once again we are limited to our access out of here. The road I usually jog on is covered with water. It makes for an inconveience but as long as its only temporary. I hope the water levels never reach above the dike since it was built a metre higher than the 1997 flood levels. Our home could be wrecked or worse someone could drown if they don`t evacuate in time. Well, gotta go make supper, see ya. Oh and Darlene I received your 5 questions and I will get my answers to you soon.

Spring is in the Air, Thank God for that

There are so many things to be thankful for these days, I am just full of praise for our maker. Today has been a day that God has really impressed upon me His magnitude of gifts. I`ve been reading a book lately about the power of praise and it is hitting home to me what praise is all about. When I was a younger lady, my Grandma would often say to me "Count your blessings Cindy, don`t always be so focused on yourself, count your blessings and you`ll soon see how blessed you are." Well it`s taken me several years but I think I`m finally getting it. Here is a small list of some of my praise items;
The Canadian geese are flying north again, what a welcoming sign of spring.
The snow is melting.
With the melting snow, my driveway is clear and I`ve been playing some basketball with my son, making memories and having fun.
The kids have their bikes out and are tearing up and down the roads.
We made fresh cookies yesterday.
I went out for tea with a friend today, while her teen-age daughter babysat my kids for free.[nice break for me and the kids got a break from me]
My neighbor walked by our house today and saw me playing basketball with my son, and she knows I like to jog but I`m not always able because the kids are not able to stay home alone yet. So she offerred to watch them and continued to shoot hoops with my son so I could quickly go for a jog.
We got the motorized go-cart out today and whipped all around, it was fun.
We had a great tasting barbeque for supper, and were able to cook outdoors without wearing parkas.
The Wednesday night Bible study is going good.
My friend`s cancer is keeping at bay for the moment.
And the list could go on and on. I hope all of you learned to count your blessings sooner than I did, it does the heart good. Even when all seems lost there is always something to praise God for, if you have an attitude of praise. Cindy