Friday, September 30, 2016

Honor you mother and father

I don't have a relationship with my mother.  My father is gone now and I didn't have much of one with him either.  There has been no disrespect.  No fights.  No words.  Just different lives.  Different opinions.  One wants everything on their terms only.  And one doesn't.  One wants to live and let live. The other one doesn't.

There are some who say that by not having a relationship with them is breaking God's commandment to honor you parents.  I don't think it does, but I can't be totally sure.  I guess God will tell me someday.

In the meantime, I guess, I could go over the scriptures with a fine toothed comb and come up with a bunch of references that support my position.  The position that it's best for my emotional well being to be "disconnected".  That it's better for my spiritual well being to not have to compromise my faith in order to have a relationship.

Of course I could also find many references that support the cause of making amends, having a relationship, keeping the peace.  Even if it goes against all I really feel is best.

sigh...........I guess I will just wait on God to tell me Himself which way is right.

And in the meantime, I will have to rely on God's forgiveness.............I know He understands this complex human dilemma.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Whats going on?

Here is what is going on around these parts these days.....

Home:  I love it here!  I could stay here and never leave...unless I was going to get a grand boy or girl!
I worked on reorganizing the really big bookshelf in my craft room.  Jeff just built me an even bigger one this week!  It's going in the dining room.  I need more space to store books and toys I don't want the kids to have free reign with.  So I will be off loading my old bookshelf and organizing the new one as soon as he gets it in and anchored to the wall.

Cooking:  I'm trying to get back into making a menu, then shopping, then actually sticking with the plan!

So far in the last couple of weeks i have made a pumpkin pie and a dutch apple pie.  Both are totally gone!  The next pies I make will go into the freezer that is for sure.  I also made pumpkin butter in the crock pot and it came out really good.  I used pumpkin flesh that I had cooked last year, scooped out and stuck in the freezer.  I just took it out and let it drain really well and then pureed it in the food processor.

Garden:  I've slowly been pulling up spent plants and feeding them to the chickens.  This way the beds will gradually get cleaned out over the next few weeks.  The sun is moving much lower across the sky and my garden is half in the shade now.  I am going to build some new beds next year in other areas around the yard to take advantage of sunnier spots and the plan is to concentrate on a couple beds being veggies that can grow in the shade!  I cut all of my basil yesterday and its all ready for me to make pesto later on today.
I am now getting 2 eggs daily.  I'm hoping the other 7 start laying soon and continue through the winter months.  I'm already keeping a light on in the coop to make sure they get about 14 hours of light.

Work:  Well!  I gave my notice at my job and my last day will be the 14th of October.  I will only be working 1 day a week for the next couple of weeks, so essentially, I'm done.  It is sad, but also a big relief.  Things went downhill in the last few months and got to the point that they couldn't be fixed.  So the plan is for me to take off the next six months and then look for something else.  All I'm going to want is 1 day a week.  I'm thinking a craft store???

Family:  Everyone was over yesterday for lunch and haircuts.  Jeff is the barber of the family.  He did 7 haircuts yesterday.  He had a couple whiners and one all out crier.  But he got the job done!

Health:  I'm trying to walk again.  I have Achilles tendinitis and it is a nuisance!  I'm remembering to stretch before walking and to ice after.  I'm sticking to 30 minutes or less and it's mostly on the treadmill.  I've put notes up on the fridge to remind me to take my supplements:
I started taking cod liver oil + vitamin d in addition to a B-complex, and turmeric (golden paste)
The B-complex gives me more energy and the turmeric helps with my aches and pains (and mood too, I think)  The cod liver oil is supposed to help with lots of things, primarily immune.  We shall see.

Until next time!

Friday, September 23, 2016

civil unrest

I am pretty far removed from the civil unrest that seems to be plaguing the more populated areas of this country.  The state of Maine has a low minority population.  That is not why I moved here.  I moved here because it has a low population, white or otherwise!

I don't have any answers to the problems in this country, other than looking to God in prayer to guide us and help us.  Without the Holy Spirit guiding us in love we will be lost.  We will be guided by our own human thoughts and desires.

My thoughts on the whole police vs. black citizens issues are this:

we are seeing the results of a society that has turned its back on God.  Descriptions of such a society are in scripture.  We know it, we are seeing it.  If the majority of young people are educated in a public system that denies God, then we are going to reap the rotten fruit of a spiritless society.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that every child that attends public schools will grow up to deny God.  But they will not have a strong enough faith to withstand the onslaught of false teachings and thoughts that exist in this world.  They will not be strong enough to not want to be like everyone else.  That is what we are seeing. Its sheep mentality.  Take one away and you can teach them.  When they are in a herd, they want to think like the herd.  This is truth.

Protesting?  I approve of peaceful protests that don't infringe on anyone else's right to peace.
Rioting, Looting, Destroying is not protesting.  It is anarchy.
It does nothing to further your cause.  It puts everyone else on edge and then it's inevitable that more lives will be lost.  Because of fear.  I can't say I can understand the fear a black person has.  I can't say I can understand the fear a police officer has.  They both have fear.  Both of their fears are justifiable.

I am your average "white" wife, mother, grandmother.  I home schooled.  I taught my children to respect authority.  I taught my children to work hard.  There are no really easy, good jobs here in our neck of the woods, but I taught them to work for what they wanted.  Do whatever it takes.  Any job. Just do it.  We could have given them anything they wanted.  But we didn't.  They had to earn it.  Their love and fear of God factors into everything they do.  They were never young people who ran amok.  I've never been inner city dirt poor so i don't have that perspective.  I've never been upper class white suburban either.  Those seem to be the two classes of people that are out there causing the violence.  The rest are just trying to keep on going, working and praying, black and white.  Just trying to protect their families.

If you want your "world" to be a certain way then you have to go out and "create" it.  If you create it by violence then it will be a violent world.  If you create it by serving God through loving your family and loving others and working hard to provide what is needed, then your world will be peaceful and orderly.

The choice is yours.


Sunday, September 18, 2016

What's going on?

Here is what's going on!

Home:  Just when you think you have a plan for how your home should be......it will change!  I have been planning on making my dining room into just a dining room.  What was I thinking?!   I was thinking of getting a few pieces of furniture (jelly cupboards) to store my serving pieces in (which are in totes in a closet at the moment)  I've decided to get a piece of fitness equipment instead.  That is what is going in the dining room because the room we use for fitness equipment (previously a bedroom) is full and we can't place it well in there.  Health trumps fancy storage plain and simple.  So I am going through stuff and what has no meaning is going to Goodwill.  Hubby is building a really large bookshelf for me because the one I have is too small so I will utilize the very top shelves of that for some of the platters and serving pieces I use a lot.  For now.

Crafting:  I'm adding this category because I am a crafter!  I dabble in a lot of different things.  This week I went to Joann Fabrics and spent 2 hours walking around and deciding on a pattern (for baby granddaughter stuff) and fabrics for a few different sewing projects.  This week we crafted these pumpkins from scrap wood.  Hubby cut and sanded and I painted.  We are a team on the wink!




Garden:  Still picking green beans and some cucumbers.  There are a few little pumpkins still growing and my dwarf sunflowers bloomed.  Late, but then again I planted them late.  I pruned my raspberries, transplanted some back into line and mulched heavily with straw.  The blueberries got a heavy mulch of pine needles.  I worked on my compost pile  which is growing crazy since I got chickens because of the straw from the pen.  I keep the pen nice and dry so I change out the straw weekly.  Otherwise I've been doing some fall weeding in different flower beds.  The leaves are changing and some are falling here in northern New England.  I've been pulling up random plants that are done producing and feeding them to the chickens.  They loved the squash plants!  This way I will get the garden all cleaned up in bits and pieces.

Family:  We had a family get together yesterday for our son's 30th birthday.  This is my second child to hit this milestone age!  His party was planned and executed by his wife.  I didn't bake the cake, but I did get to frost the cupcakes.  Ask me if I liked not being in charge of my son's birthday cake.  I dare you! haha!  We have six grandchildren, 5 of them being boys 2 1/2 to 5 years of age.  I was ready to go home at the end of the party.  I don't always hold my tongue when it comes to behaviors I see, I really was trying yesterday and I didn't always succeed.  I have to remember that they are not my children and my input is not always welcome.

Home school:  We had a picnic on Wednesday for our grandson's first official day of homeschooling.  As I previously mentioned, I purchased the Horizons preschool curriculum from Alpha and Omega.  I take their lesson plan and rewrite it into an outline for my daughter in law and son to follow.  Then I assemble everything they will need to complete the lessons, crafts, activities, etc.  I love doing this! It is a start and a learning process as we go along.


Work:  This past week I only worked 10 hours!  I loved it.  This is what I want and I can't seem to get right now.  The company I work for knows what I want, but we are always so short staffed.  I usually work 20 hours a week, but this week I have 35 scheduled hours.  I am going to try to whittle that down a bit to 30 and I am going to take lots of deep breaths.

Until next time!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

don't call me Miss Karen

Do you allow children to call you by your first name?

It's time to correct the wrongs committed by my generation.  When I was a child in the 1960's, I don't recall ever calling any adult by their first name.  It was Aunt, Uncle, Mr. Mrs.  It was respectful.  It's what you were taught to do.

Then the 1970's came along with all of the so -called "freedoms" and the respect went right out the window.  some people even went so far as to use first names with their parents!!

When my generation started their families, it became popular to call neighbors, babysitters, teachers, nearly every adult in a child's life by their first names.  I think some people thought it respectful to teach their kids to say "Miss Karen" instead of "Mrs. Smith".  It's not.

Living in the North, we were not raised to say "ma'am" and "sir".  I'm not sure why we weren't taught that way, but it is kind of sad.

I would like to see my grandchildren taught to speak respectfully to all adults and to not use their first names.  This is a little off-topic, but I don't like the habit of giving titles to people.  An example would be calling people "aunt" or "uncle"  when they are not related.  This is confusing to children.

I also would like to see my grandchildren speak to adults using the titles "ma'am" and "sir"  We teach them to say "please" and "thank you"  Let's teach them to use respectful titles when speaking to their elders. If we require it when they are young, then it will become habit.

It's not to late to start this!  This current generation is ready and willing to learn!

Sunday, September 11, 2016

what's going on?

We have been having a bit of a drought here along the downeast maine coast, but last night and this morning it rained A LOT!  That should help a bit!  It has also been warm and humid the last few days and this evening I have had to shut down all of the windows its so chilly.  Yesterday we cleaned the stovepipe so I know those chilly fall days are coming right along!

Home:  I have been trying really hard to keep a to-do list for all of the projects I need to do or want to do around the house.  The problem is that when I'm in the midst of one project I find more to write down so the list just grows!  But I love being home and doing home-related things, so it's a good thing!  I have been trying to pare things down a bit and simplify my life a little more so there is a box in the back of my van to take to goodwill.  That is a feeling I like.

Garden:  Julie picked a bowl full of green beans today and I picked a couple of wanky cucumbers!  I still have kale and swiss chard that I feed to my chickens because I didn't plant much.  There are a few baby bear pumpkins coming on and turning orange.  The zinnias and the cosmos are beautiful.  I didn't dry herbs this year because I still have so much from last year.  But I did make some flavored vodkas!  I made chocolate mint vodka and anise hyssop vodka.  I made simple syrup to keep in the fridge to add to it.  Yummm!

Family:  Everyone was over today and it was a wonderful day.  I wasn't sure what to make for lunch so I went through the freezer and came up with ingredients for a breakfast casserole to which I added pumpkin bread and white bread, salad, cantaloupe, and glazed carrots.  Then I made chocolate chip cookie bars and ice cream for dessert.  The boys all played well together and little miss Sophie got happily handed around the room for everyone to enjoy!  I love those times when a gathering all goes well.

Work:  I've had another stressful and somewhat aggravating week.  But there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.  At the end of this month I should be able to cut my scheduled hours back to 15.  I will probably have 20 hours still but only if I choose to.  What I really want is to be scheduled 10 hours and fill in when needed and I want.  We will see what happens.

Homeschool:  Ethan (4) will "officially" start homeschool preschool this Wednesday.  We are going to kick off the school year with a picnic and playdate at the park.  I've been preparing his lesson plans from Horizon curriculum (A & O)  I gather what is needed and give his parents the lessons to teach.  They are responsible for the extras like arts and crafts and what not.  I will keep all of these lesson plans to use for all of the rest as they come along.

Wishing everyone a terrific week!

Friday, September 2, 2016

pig's snout

Proverbs 11:22

A beautiful woman who lacks discretion
is like a gold ring
in a pig's snout.

I came across this description a few days ago in my bible study as I was looking something else up.

Something in my jumbled head said "write about this"

so here I go:

discretion:  the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.

I'm going to talk about having discretion in the way a woman dresses.  Dressing in such a way that you keep what should be private, private.

This summer I've been nursing a sore heel.  Since I think doctors are a waste of time and money (for the most part)  I diagnosed myself as having achilles tendinitis and prescribed stretching and resting.  I did this using Google, of course.

Anyway.............

I have spent a lot of time out in public......sitting and waiting for my client rather than walking, walking, walking.  Some call it "people watching"  Mostly at Walmart.

I have seen more skin, tattoos, and piercings this summer than I care to tell you.  I am disgusted.
And before you think that its a worldly problem, I gotta say it happens at church also.  I now have a new rule for church, if someone is dressed inappropriately (in my opinion)  I leave.

Now, here is an admission:  I wore some short shorts back in the day.  And out in public at times.  But, here is the point.  I was never taught any better and when I learned how a woman should dress I changed and taught my daughter the right way.

So, I can't "make" woman dress modestly.  I can't make them wear shorts and skirts and shirts of a longer length  I can't make them cover up their cleavage and their crack.  I can't make them act like a lady.  If they want to be like a pig with a gold ring in their nose with which they are led around by the whims of the world, then so be it.

The funny thing about the inappropriate attire is that women say its unfair to put restrictions on how they dress.  You know what is unfair?  Women think they are being treated "equal" when they are really being exploited in the name of fairness.