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This summer, i got to spend a lot of time hatching chicks.  SO much fun! But for some reason, i started having some formation anomalies in some of my chicks in every single hatch.  In the beginning, i didn't have any place set up to keep any special needs, chicks, and i assumed it was an anomaly, and not a trend.  So....i would do the wise farmer thing and um....return the deformed chicks to the earth, so to speak. Pretty much always, the deformed chicks would be "late hatchers."  They would take longer to make it out of their shells than the main group, and all too often not make it, in spite of my attempts to help. In response to this pattern, i became very frustrated, instituting a policy that late hatchers would not be helped - or even allowed to try to finish hatching - once the main group was finished hatching and ready to go to market, remaining eggs, mid-hatch or otherwise, would be "cleaned up." This policy lasted about one hatch. My ch...

Sometimes i think that writing about deep spiritual thoughts is something i should do only sometimes.  But you know, i turned 39 this year.  I'm pretty sure deep spiritual thoughts, might just be part of who i am.  I think i'll stop fighting it. So here's one for you. Recently, i heard a little story on the radio, told by the Christian singer, Mandisa, telling her inspiration for one of her songs.  The song is irrelevant to this particular deep thought (it's Overcomer), but the story made me think. I'm rusty on the writing, and i'm trying to cram some decent blogging into an insufficient time slot, so try to ignore the non-smoothness of this post. The story is about a friend (of Mandisa, not me), who heartbreakingly (if it's not a word, it certainly should be) became pregnant with her second child AND learned that she had breast cancer, in the same short season of life.  This friend had to go through prenatal care and chemotherapy at the same time, a...

I have attempted to write a new entry in this blog a few times since April 8.  I have thought about it quite a bit more than that. I have often envied the consistent writers i observe.  But it seems, that this writer requires times of ... what do you call it ... sequester?  Something like that. They say bloggers shouldn't blog about blogging, but.  Well, i guess i just don't care.  I'm not here for a popularity contest, but i do hope that sometimes God can use my words to give a laugh, a smile, a thought, a comfort, a peace, a wisdom, or a guffah to those who read it.  Looks like i spelled that wrong....let's see....that's supposed to be a guffaw?  Yes, the lack of squiggly red lines tells me google thinks that's correct. I think part of my problem isn't really that i don't have anything to say.  It's that i have so many things going on in my mind and my heart and my life, that i can't settle on any one thing long enough to explore it. ...

Today i ran across an article on Facebook, that caught my attention.  The headline reading something to the effect of "FINALLY, WE HAVE PROOF THAT STARBUCKS IS SATAN!" That's not what it said.  But that is what they were getting at. (I'll post a link to the real article later, so you can see for yourself.) Now, i was certainly skeptical that Starbucks had been proven to be Satan, but attention-getting headlines, get attention, and this one got mine.  I followed the link to an article published in an online magazine aimed at Christian readers, written by an author whose column title is given to the idea that she is watching out for us and warning us of what's out there. The writer of the article tells the story of a legitimately displeased Starbucks customer who had been sold two yummy coffee-based wonderments the tops of which were decorated in caramel, by an artsy barrista, one with a pentagram (it's the same star you've drawn since you were six,...

I'm not sure if i know how to say the thing that i want to say. Sometimes, i go for long spells without writing because i don't know how to share the things that i'm learning from the experiences in my life, in a beneficial lighting.  You know, in a way that doesn't come off sounding like a plea for pity. I guess everyone probably wants a little pity sometimes, some acknowledgement that whatever they are going through really stinks, a LOT!  But generally, it isn't helpful. I also don't want to sound like i'm complaining about my life in any way.  Complaining is ugly in general, and  besides that, complaining compromises the process of growth, of seeing past the circumstances, into the lessons that God can teach us through them, if we let Him. But most of the so-called troubles we go through are merely interruptions of inconvenience in our fast-paced, luxurious lives of automation. The legitimacy of our troubles can easily be brought into perspectiv...

 I had thought that the chicken coop would be entering a time of extreme chaos by now. I now have these six itty bitties and their protective mama, six of these medium bitties,    and these two big ol' bitties, who have remained unexpectedly tolerant of all the kiddos wandering around these days.... Every morning and evening and in between, when i visit my growing flock, i am re-surprised by the peace in the coop.  I'm super thankful.  Caring for chickens is great therapy for every kind of stress, and even more so when they're peaceful and happy. On Monday, i have plans to begin incubating a heavy addition to the flock population, which may indeed fulfill my chaotic expectations.  That will be fun too. This is another picture of the mama and her babies because they're beautiful. In other news, our scaredy cat has found a hiding place behind a drawer in our laundry room and does not seem to have a great desire for re...

Ever since it sunk in that my beloved Columbo, my yellow tabby scaredy cat, who i raised from a kitten, really wasn't coming home anymore, i have been keeping my internet eyes open for who might be the next feline presence in our little home. Cats are the exception.  In my home, on our wannabefarmer, we have always had a rule that everyone has a job.  Chickens lay eggs and provide meat.  Dogs protect chickens and guard the homestead.  Ducks make baby ducks for eating. Bees make honey. Crickets feed chickens.  Etc.  Etc.  Etc. But cats.  Their presence makes me happy, and so they get to stay.  And if they can do so without throwing up in the super hero's chair or going doo doo on the floor, they can stay in the house where it's warm...or cool....depending on the season, and they can frolic in the woods as they wish. While we were still in Michigan, i saw a post from someone local who was looking for a country home for a mama...