I Love Ricky, by Lucy

I love Ricky.  I love the man he is.  I love the man he has been in my life and the man he will become.  He has only exhibited selflessness and service, solidity and strength.  He faces each day with a grateful and giving heart.  He walks in integrity and truth.  He seeks God's will and His way.  He is sometimes (okay a lot of the time) silly and surprising.  And weird.  He makes me laugh.  And he is kind.  I love Ricky and he loves me, I know.


  

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.  Ephesians 3:20

Happy Feet

We have found that we need to outfit ourselves properly for our new Texas country environment.  The outer, under, and foot wear we have were perfect for the Colorado city summers and winters with snow, but not so much here.  Let's consider the foot wear - I have definitely found mine inappropriate.  Who knew my birkies wouldn't serve me well here?  They are my favorite shoe.  So supportive and comfortable.  We've been besties for a long time now.  My closet - or currently, unpacked, stored boxes - contains many versions of birkies.  In the Summer here they were fine -  except when working on the farm.  And now that cold, wet weather has arrived they are useless.  And the same goes for Crocs.  Yes, Crocs.  Catkid loves his Crocs.  He refuses to give them up.  And they are okay for the wet, but not the wet cold.  Anyway, I've begun my search for proper "on the farm" footwear for the family.  Recently I was introduced to muck boots.  They are for working in the muck.  And since much of our place has turned into muck with all of the recent rain, I'm very interested.  Apparently there are also the locally popular snake boots.  Maybe we should wear those out in the pasture?  Then there are riding and roping boots.  I'm not planning on doing any of that.  Work boots.  Yes, I'll work out here.  Steel toed boots - probably not.  Western boots I won't need.  Oh, my.  You know the saying - if Mom's not happy, nobody's happy.  Well, Mom's not happy unless her, and her family's feet are happy.  I'm on a quest for happy feet all around.

Fresh Poolfood

It has been raining a lot and we have pools, or gigantically humongous puddles, of water all around our house. We're in talks with a man to bring in a load of rock for placement in our low areas around the house as early as this week, but for now we have standing pools.  If you search awhile you'll find little frogs in the pools and mudbugs or crawfish crawling out of the mud.  We also have a pool in our back pasture.  Much bigger than the aforementioned puddles, but as pools around here go, not so big.  Not a swimming pool, but a pool for fishing, froggigging, and watering livestock/farm animals - when we acquire some.  The pool was almost dry when we arrived.  We had it dug out to increase its size and depth.  After several inches of rain recently it is filling up.   In West Texas, pools are known as tanks.  I believe up North they are referred to as ponds.  Apparently there is a whole science to maintaining a pool.  So far all we've learned is that we need to go out and shoot the turtles and snakes, which will also act as target practice.  They kill the fish.  We also know that a pool must have a gradual hill on one side, if you have livestock, so they can walk in and out of the pool.  This also prevents them from just "dropping" off the side of the pool into the water. Our pool has this.  I will be learning more about pools.

More pool-talk -  I'm hoping to find a frog gig.  Don't know if they make them anymore.  When I was young we would go froggigging around pools.   In the pitch dark, with flashlights, wearing wading boots that protected you from the water and snakes.  Of course when we'd spot a snake head we'd shoot it.  We'd bring the frogs back to the house in a tow sack, cut off the heads, skin and clean them, salt and batter them, and drop them into a hot frying pan of oil.  They'd jump just a little while cooking, but they were wonderful.  Talk about fresh poolfood.



(The top photo is before the rains.  The bottom, after. )

Piles and Eyesores

All weather conditions were good last evening to burn the burn pile.  If you're not from the country you may not know what a burn pile is so let me tell you.  It is a pile of stuff that needs burnin'.  We started one in the pasture in August because we begin generating a lot of non-household trash as the farmhouse renovation commenced.  Everyone out here in the country has piles.  Guess that didn't look quite right.  Everyone out here in the country creates burn piles.  Due to the drought last Summer there were statewide county burn bans.  We've recently had enough rain for the ban to be lifted and it was cloudy, humid, and still last night so we lit it.  The pile had grown to about eight feet tall and twelve feet around.  It was a biggy.  What happened was an old horse rancher came by yesterday to see if he might want to keep horses in our pasture.  I've decided I don't want to keep his horses.  Anyway, he saw our pile and said that it would be an excellent day to burn.  So we did.  It burned throughout the night and was smoldering this morning.  A couple of weekends ago a neighbor down the road lit about six or seven burn piles.  The only problem was the wind was kickin' and blowin', yea, straight toward our place.  I was grateful my metal box is basically air tight.  I just wouldn't let anyone come and go, opening the door and filling it with smoke.  That was NOT a good day to burn. Glad to see ours basically gone this morning.  It was getting to be an eyesore.  

Listen To The Falling Of The Gentle Rain and Here Comes The Sun

The scene out my window this morning is dark, gray, and cloudy.  There is a "wet" in the air.  There is a gentle, almost invisible, but I can hear it falling on my metal roof and it creates a calming rhythm for my day, rain.  Actually I think it was just the dripping trees.  Of course, there is also my daily ever changing backyard scape, for instance, the ladders, saw tables, sheets of galvanized corrugated tin, outdoor furniture, leaves, rope lights, five scampering kittens, and the Overgrown Puppy, we've decided to call Marmaduke*on the blog, frolicking with the scampering kittens, all of which are all wet.  The trees are changing their colors and beyond the fence into the pasture across the way I see the neighbor's two mules, a grey and a white, which he has offered to give us and we declined the offer.  But I digress.  The thoughts going through my head are "the four day rain outlook wasn't forecast to begin this a.m., but for this p.m.",  "now we can't work on the rabbit hutch project phase I"  and "it sure will be messy and icky when the man delivers the chicken coop" and "they won't be able to finish the roof phase I as planned".  Then as I write I see the sun beginning to shine through the clouds.  And suddenly I began to feel my emotional and mental "mode and mood" begin to change.  With the peaking sun and the promising light my vision and plan for the day takes a new shape.  The light brings me hope for better, brighter today.




 
*  Marmaduke isn't a great dane, she is a German Shepherd Malwa, who looks a lot like Marmaduke.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  John 8:12

Best Laid Plans - Fifteen Weeks

Okay, so we had our "plan".  Our plan was that Hubby would work from home doing his design and engineering and we would renovate the farm house and upstart a small farm at the same time.  But today Hubby started a job in town.  When he wasn't even looking he was offered a job!  And it is one he will enjoy with like-minded folks!  Who knew?  Now I am certainly grateful for his job, which is a miracle in itself in this economy- but I find myself wondering how I am going to get into a livable house anytime soon.  It has now been fifteen weeks in the camphouse and counting.  When will I be in my own bed?  Have a working kitchen?  Build the rabbit hutch, the chicken coop?  Prep the soil for planting?  And SO much more.  I must say I am feeling incapable, discouraged, and concerned regarding these many things.  Then I remember His Word and His promises. "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."  "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."  "I lift up my eyes to the mountain - where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD,  the Maker of heaven and earth."  And once again, I rest in Him.

Oh, Deer.

Warning.  This may be offensive to some.  I was party to the killing of a deer.  I did not shoot it.  But, I did encourage the hunt and when some of us women folk saw the men walking back to the house with the deer slung over a set of shoulders, like a woman would wear a mink stole, I cheered and ran out to greet them.  Yes.  I did.  And as they were dressing the deer outside that cold wet foggy late afternoon into cold bonechilling dark evening I took Catkid out for a "science" class. (We find many everyday opportunities to learn here.)  Later we were blessed with some of the venison and we are planning to make deer jerky with our dehydrator.  We've made beef jerky from a most excellent beef * before which turn out five star, so we'll see.

The country life is different indeed.  And we are really lovin' it!

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  I Thessalonians 5:18

* http://www.docscows.com/