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In recent years, in my learning about the tradition of Advent, it became important to me to display a lit star outside of our house during the weeks before Christmas. I think that's my reminder of what we're celebrating here.  It kind of keeps me grounded during the Christmas season.  And i can hope that others will see it and be reminded too. I ran out of batteries, so i don't have pictures.  But we are enjoying the advent season this year with a front-of-the-house full of Christmas lights (including advent star), an antique Christmas tree i found in the attic, and a couple strings of Christmas lights draped around our bedroom, which i'm thinking of keeping year 'round because they're so nice. Somehow we managed to do all of this the day after Thanksgiving. I don't know if that has ever happened before.  But there's something peaceful about being in celebration mode.  To be getting ready for something fun and exciting.  To be thinking of others an...

Today is Thanksgiving. You probably knew that. Thanksgiving is my favorite "holiday," partly because it seems to be the least infiltrated by commercialism and whatnot. It's about giving thanks, hence the name.  It was about giving thanks in the very beginning, and it is about giving thanks now.  I think it might be God's favorite holiday too. O.k., for some people, it's about eating as much as possible and then yelling at a football game.  But even those folks generally get some thankfulness in there somewhere. Let's pretend for minute, that we're all at a Thanksgiving table together, and we're doing the thing where you go around the table, and each person tells what he or she is thankful for.  And right now it's my turn.  You're welcome to take your turn in the comments, by the way. Recently i read (yes, i'm telling you what i'm thankful for) Psalm 106, which at first glance, is a little tedious and boring in comparison to ma...

Before anything, it is my desire to honor God.  With my life, with my blogging, with my words, though i sometimes mess that up pretty good, it is my desire to honor God. To that end, in response to what i believe to be the urgings of the Holy Spirit, i am about to get very quiet...blog wise.  After several years of blogging, and almost two years of blogging semi-daily (is that really a term?), i don't have anything to say but that i think the Lord wants me to get quiet.  And i don't think i'll be able to go to sleep until i obey. Writing this blog has been a great joy to me, but to everything there is a season. I have learned what it means to live with the consequences of disobedience, and  won't live there again if i can help it.  While i usually write here only once a day, it does take up many of my thoughts.  Perhaps the Lord wants to be more wrapped up in those thoughts than He has been. I don't know. I know i love Him, and i want to do what H...

At my house, we have a whole lot of these groovy hollow logs sitting about here and there.  They're pieces of a hollow tree GSSH, or in this case CWSH (Chainsaw Wielding Super Hero), cut down last year.  They make great decoration, in my countrified opinion, and i simply like looking at them. Yesterday, i was wandering around, calling a wandering dog to come home, when i looked down and saw this. Really pretty scene.  Very sneaky chickens.

Yesterday, i canned a pumpkin.  That was fun. But when it was all finished, i knew something was amiss. See how there's liquid only half way up?  It was supposed to be all the way up.  And it was when i started. When i started canning the pumpkin, knowing i plan to use it before the year's out, i said that i would do it as a learning experience.  I sure did learn something. Here's what i learned:  when using a pressure canner, it is important to allow the pressure to decrease slowly after canning, leaving the weight in its place.  Otherwise, the pressure decreases faster in the canner than in the jars, and some rule of physics forces the jars to give up their liquid.  And that's what happened to me. Successful learning experience. In other news, i let my chicks out of their pen today.  It has been a whole week since i put them in it, but there were flaws in my system , and they escaped a couple of those days.  The point is...toni...

The winter chill seems to have settled in, here in the woods...finally.  We haven't run the air conditioner for several days now. There's something very nice about darkness at 7 pm.  It means animals in bed and fed, and me in my pajamas by  8pm. And that means plenty of time to work on Christmas presents and whatnot for the holidays. The chill also means i can bake and can and all sorts of things, without breaking a sweat in the house. And that's what i did today.  And i crafted after dark for way too long, so that now i don't have much to blog because i have grown sleepy. Good night. I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. ~ Psalm 4:8 ~

I've been wanting to tell you this little story for a few days, but first i need to explain a little bit about chickens. I have two full grown roosters.    Rocky is the oldest, the head honcho.  He has proven himself as the great protector, food finder, and romancer. Edgar is the junior rooster, most likely a son of Rocky.  He's really just reached maturity, and he's definitely still learning the ropes.   Now i need to explain about the prime directive.  God made chicken brains very small, but He packed information in there very efficiently.  In the brain of a rooster, He packed the importance of watching for danger, looking for food, and in both cases, warning or calling to then hens to let them know what's going on.  If you ever see this exchange, it's very cute. But most dominant in the mind of a rooster, is the prime directive, the importance of keeping hens fertile, which isn't nearly as cute.  Also, in the social order...

I've just finished making notes on my sample ballot, so that i'll remember who i do and don't want to vote for when GSSH and i go to the polls this afternoon. This is Election Day. Voting is a right, responsibility, and privilege, which is held in high esteem in this household.  I think that voting is sacred and something very few, if any of us really understand the true importance of.  Thus, as i made my picks for all the different positions, i prayed.  My God knows everything about every candidate and every race, including the future.  So i mostly want to vote for Him . All that was just to say that i hope your vote is counted today too.  And if, for some reason, you're unable to vote today, i hope you'll make certain you're able to vote next time.  It's too important to let it go.  So many lives have been paid to give us this freedom.  Let us not ever let that be taken for granted, or it may be taken away. Tonight at my house, will be a...

I usually forget the significance of November 1st until it arrives, and then i think, "Hey!  This is a special day, isn't it?"  Eleven years ago today, we were on our way home to Texas, for the first time as a married couple.  We had no idea what would challenges would meet us by the end of the day, but at least we would be in Texas.  I thought i had written this story before, but i can't seem to find it, so here's a walk down memory lane. When GSSH and i got married in 1998, we lived in Ohio.  And by October 1999, our youthful stupidity (i tried to think of a nicer word; it just wouldn't come) had us facing eviction from our high priced apartment, and we decided it was time to make the move back home to Texas.  We stuffed every corner of our poor beautiful LeSabre with as much of our belongings as we could, kissed my mom and dad goodbye, and drove off.  With less than $300 between us (gas was cheaper back then, y'all), one set of keys, and everythin...