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I've started making an effort to take better care of my clothes, especially my work clothes, which are more pricey than the colorful array of t-shirts i used to buy from the t-shirt bin at Wal-mart.  When i was staying home and keeping the chickens company, i could refresh my entire wardrobe for under $100.  But in the office, i try to class it up a little. One of my efforts toward extending the life of my wardrobe is to wash my clothes less often.  (Don't say "ew." Let me 'splain.)  One of the worst things for your clothes, besides spilling bleach on them or running over them with the four wheeler, is washing them in the washing machine.  Every time you beat the dirt outo f them in your washer, your shortening their lives a little extra.  And if you're me, and you're using a laundromat washing machine, it's even worse.  Then again, not washing your clothes is one of the worst things for your friendships and work relationships and especially ...

I've had a little writer's block lately, which is weird for me.  Usually, if i just sit down and write, it all comes out.  But lately, it's been sticky. Twice in a row, i sat down to write, spent minutes and hours pounding something out, only to not publish it.  One of those times, i was trying to illustrate the difference between a man's and a woman's response to frustration.  I couldn't remember the real-life example that made me think of it, so i attempted to write a silly story to illustrate my point. Turned out to be way too much story, and not nearly enough point, so i abandoned ship. Thankfully, my though-having super hero gave me the quintessential example for modern day Americans, and i am back to writing. My point (spoiler alert) is that men and women express emotion, often the very same emotion, in very different ways.  To make it worse, they can respond to exactly the same stimulus, with completely different emotions. The instruction (s...

I am learning that farming is sometimes a lot of trial and error, and sometimes compromise. On the whole, i am a proponent of keeping my animals in as natural a condition as possible.  Thus, i am uncomfortable with situations such as rabbits in cages, birds with clipped wings to keep them from flying, and naturally foraging animals who eat nothing but store-bought feed inside roofed buildings. As it turns out, however, i am not the owner of hundreds of acres many miles from modern traffic, and it seems that it is dangerous for ducks who can fly and are not fenced in to live too near a highway.  Because, ducks seem to be completely oblivious to the danger of moving automobiles.  And thus, i found my Wally, far from home and much much too far gone to return home, if you get my drift. R.I.P., Wally, you were one excellent duck. The very next day, one of my female ducks disappeared, only to return whole and happy, nearly a week later.  Apparently she...

In my recent delvation into marriage advice, the subject of forgiveness has come up to some questions, so i thought i would do a spot on what forgiveness is.  And to get the best information, we have to go to the one who knows how to forgive:  Jesus. Jesus, God's Son, paid the physical penalty for our sins, the sins of all man, when He died on the cross, paying in advance, for every sin YOU and I would ever commit.  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and you have accepted His payment for your sin and agreed to live a life submitted to Him, then you are obligated to forgive those who sin against you. For the sake of some limited entertainment value, i'm going to paraphrase the parable of the unforgiving servant, told in Matthew, chapter 18. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ King Kindly and like a Gobillion Dollars There once was a king, (we'll call him King Kindly 'cause names are helpful when telling a story), and he has a lot of servants, and apparently he...

Today, i am sick. I don't like sick.  Sick really gets in my way. But i have a lovely husband who understands and is lying low with me instead of our previously scheduled activities, which involved not lying low. This gives me opportunity for a brief update on life here in Rogers Country. Updates: It turns out that ducks like to go for long walks in heavy traffic, and this habit can be detrimental to their health. We are re-thinking the duck operation The vending business got the Kaibash put on it, almost before it started walking, because sometimes corporate offices think things are conflicts of interests that we do not think are conflicts of interests.  We are looking for a buyer for the vending machine. The keyhole garden, that some of you have asked about, is on a temporary hold because the sun doth blaze.  I'm working up my courage to get out there in the heat and getter done, but it's not happening today. My lettuce in the window is lovely, but i ...