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Getting exercise in the last year or so had been increasingly difficult.   I've become what I have always dreaded; a pc potato.

I work at a computer for most of the day.   This gives ample time for me to... become ample.

But today was a fabulous day.   Michael's plans fell through.  He was going to be gone with a friend at a park all day, hiking, running, playing sports, swimming, and whatever else two energetic young men can find to do.    Staying home was a bit of a let down for him.

Gladly this all worked out into my favor.   I had determined that while he was gone I was going to find ways to be active all day long, whether walking in the beautiful weather, doing some dancing, perhaps some exercise DVDs, etc.    But instead, I got to be active with my son.

We spent some time practicing Shitō-Ryū karate, did some calisthenics, then headed out to the barn loft for some working out up there, rope climbing, and clearing out more areas to hang the rings later on.  We've got to go find our power drill this week.   It's hard to find anything these days.  We and our stuff are like ships in the night, perpetually missing any contact.  I wish someone on that ship would cannon shoot some supplies over.  ---  A batch of freshly baked cookies to the first person who can find my checks AND give them to me.

I had a grand time walking for a couple of miles down our country road, while Michael ran circles around me in his newly acquired ACUs and hiking boots, his black A shirt, and him stopping every few minutes to roll out another set of pushups.

We met some colorful characters along the way.    Had some callouts from one house that I'd rather not have had.  Then we had an enjoyable conversation with some motorcyclists who were retracing a ride after having dropped and lost their keys somewhere in the last few hours.

By the time we got back we were really missing our old pool that we'd have jumped into and floated away our sweaty exhaustion from a grand Saturday oot and aboot, as our Canny friend would say.  But we enjoyed sitting on the front porch in the shade for a while to cool off.

Nice view from the rocking chairs. 



Now we are done playing some games and eating dinner and both of us looking forward to a good night's sleep.I am gonna be sore tomorrow!

Grateful for achy happiness,

~Faith

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You Know You Need Rest When...

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1.  On the way to take your man-child to Man Class, you have pillows in the back seat so you can steal a nap in a parking lot somewhere...

and

2.  The policewoman who pulls you over for speeding over roads on which everyone is going the same MPH, but you happened to be the one passing by when she flipped on her radar, asks you if you are on drugs because you look just, well, awful.  

Ah well, no matter!   I am achieving yet another first adventure.  I am writing a blog post from a McDonald's booth.   I have a wadded up red and white paper bag in which lies an empty French fry holder just to my right, alongside an icy swig of caffeine, and to my left is a lovely bouquet of white daisies.  I just reached out to see if they are real and sure enough!

I did bring along a book in case I feel like reading.  "The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch".   A VERY cool read, if I do say so.  But I'm pretty sure this will keep me busy.

I had half prepared a post about our annual winter ballet production.  But I sort of got carried away with the photos.   My long term blogging friends are well aware of this weakness I have for telling a story with images. So now I am trying to decide how to whittle down over a hundred photos to less than a dozen.   Eeny-meeny-miney-mo...

Instead, I will bludgeon you with a few photos of Michael, the man child.   You haven't seen a lot of him lately.  Actually, neither have I.   He's rather busy with adventures of is own.    Well, OK.   It's true I do see a lot of him, but it feels like I don't as I have to frequently share him with all his activities.   

He has taken to making some humorous videos.  Here is a self portrait while explaining 'hats' to the world.



Flipping out in gymnastics with some friends.



All dressed up and ready for both weddings and office cleaning.  What a versatile young man!



A mobile video.   This one on the subject of strange things that happen in parking lots while waiting for your mother.



At a Seder dinner we celebrated last month.



He asked for gift certificates to the local Home Improvement Center to begin his collection of quality tools.  He is very happy to have two nice chests (semi) full of tools with lifetime warranties.  Those are expensive so it didn't go as far as filling them, but he's got a great start.



Wish I could show you his belt ceremony from martial arts earlier this week, but I missed it.   I was sleeping in the car outside....

However, he is doing really well at it.   He is enjoying all sorts of violent things lately.   All that testosterone, you know.

This is not Michael.  It's one of his friends who kindly posed for some portraits for Michael's photography class while they were out and about.  But this is often how Michael looks; blended into the local surroundings, wearing lots of ammo -  and a huge grin.



OK.   I should be getting a text any minute now, giving me an estimated time of departure for going and picking him up.

Grateful for caffeine these days,

~Faith

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Anne Frank and Saturday Ups and Downs

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After a lovely Friday of work, school, and more work, we went to town to try to get in as much office cleaning as we could before heading off to meet friends and see The Diary of Anne Frank, in which several of our friends are performing.

They did a fabulous job!  It was even better than the one we saw a couple of years ago, and had cool audience participation as though we were in a prison camp - with guards all around us.  They nabbed Josh, drug him out and shot him.   However, in his next life, he also became a prison guard for the rest of the play.   Lots of sniffles in the audience.   It is heart wrenching, knowing what evil man does to one another, but I was determined not to run any mascara, and I was thoroughly successful - lots of focus on chewing my delicious, if rubbery, mint chewing gum, during particularly touching moments.

My dashing young man and I went to Taco Bell afterwards, had a great time chowing down on a 12 pack of tacos and talking about the evening. 

Today was a day of ups and downs!

I was all set to break myself into posting pics again, but I actually broke my camera today. Yes, I had a good cry over it, too. Boohoo!

This was the first day Michael and I have stayed home all day in - I have no idea how long. It was strange, but just a bit like Heaven. The weather was wonderful. I baked and glazed a ham that had been oinking at me every time I opened the fridge.

And about the time we got around to doing anything else, I went outside with my board, my borrowed wood burner and a nice glass of iced tea and proceeded to torture the Bible verse plaque I mentioned.

Out on the front porch in a comfy rocking chair with birds singing madly all around.

Opening the kit...

Perusing the selection of tips...

Cool!  It has a soldering tip as well.  That will come in handy later, while working on Michael's Airsoft gun modifications.  I actually decide that the soldering tip will work the best for my lettering as well.

It's been a long time since I did any wood burning.  The reasons it has been a long time came flooding back.  Either I always have low-performance tools, or it takes a maddeningly longer time than I have the patience for.   But I was determined.  One letter, two letters...

And, in my exuberance, I flipped that board around - knocking my camera right off the table. In hind sight, if I'd just never gotten up to go check it, and just pretended it never happened, I'd have been a lot happier.

Michael arrived within moments to see what his mother was sobbing about and did his best to take the lens apart and fix it, but it was pretty munched.

No way around it, if the body of the camera is OK, I've got to get a new lens.  After this point, most of the photos are going to a bit poorer in quality, as my good camera is now merely collecting dust.

Anyhow, we had a great day despite that little tragedy.

We planted 3 blueberry bushes that I took with me when we left the farm, as well as some blackberry plants in pots I'd brought along.  Here are some of the first photos of our current digs.   Speaking of digs...  If at all possible, you must enlist help to dig into the red clay.

Here's the sweet little picket gate that is the passageway between the garden area and the yard.  Is this not adorable?   Not sure what that shrub is, but it's going to be some sort of fruit.  And the peonies smell wonderful.

Yes, the man child is hard at work as I bring out supplies and another shovel.  That's a very old apple tree on the other side of the fence, along the road.

I cried "Uncle!" and finally forked over for peat moss.  I think I have a tendency to  expect things from plants they are not ready to give.  "You have dirt, sun, rain, darn it.  I am not going to dump another 5 dollars because you want more than that!"   But after quite a few failed blueberries... I bought the bag.  This was about 10 bucks and will probably do about 5 bushes.  I've heard of people using an entire bag in a really big hole, and even planting bushes directly INTO the bags, but I asked a professional blueberry guy what he did, which was mix about half and half.  So that's what we are doing.

Right there in the hole with our stirrer.

OK, this one was not mixed well enough.  Plant was removed, earth mixed up, and plant replaced.

Then we mulched the three bushes and sat down, imagining sweet, juicy blueberries, which we will probably not get to eat, unless we dig them back up again, as this is not our home.  However, SOMEone SOMEday will have some nice berries.

We put in some tomato plants, Grape, Roma, and a Better Boy or something similar (lost the tag).

The owner, unbeknownst to us, also gave permission to another person to run some cattle on the nine acres and will be just beyond this fence.   He put in some electric fencing to keep them back but, in the interest of tomato safety, we will probably move the wires just a little bit further away from our succulent tomatoes.

I don't want to put much in the ground, as we don't know how long we'll be here, but I had no where else to put them and I can always dig them up again. All our friends are already overflowing with plants we gave away.

We had a great time cleaning out the loft in the barn, getting it ready for a hangout place and workout area for the guys.

Lovely view, lovely day.   Looking toward the mountains on the walk from the house to the barn.

The whole bottom of the barn is about like this.  Difficult to navigate.  Nothing of value, just stuff.  We hope to sort it, stack it neatly, and be able to utilize some space here and there.

Heading up to the old hay loft.

This is to be Michael's indoor hangout area and workout room.  But it needs some CPR first.   First thing is to remove all the poles that are stretching across the rafters, so we can get some head room.  They mostly used this for drying tobacco, many years ago, so they are all over the place.  I have no idea how old this hay is.

Looking down through the maze of rafters and tobacco poles.

I've already been moving some of the bales that could still be grasped.  Michael is putting off going and getting the rake and broom, surveying his domain.  Remember Mikka?  We had to send her away to a friend for a couple of months, but she's back with us.

That side over there is rotted through, as the roof is missing in a few places, but when clear, we'll know exactly where NOT to step.  Plus it will dry out more quickly and rot more slowly.

Boy, I wish I could move like a cat!

Handing tools up through the hay loft door.  Of course he jumps out.  Using the barn stairs and regular door would be so boring.

Coon poo?   It's everywhere.

That's better!

We can use this old hay for mulch when we need it, so we're keeping it near the loft door for now.  When it's gone, he'll have another 100 square feet of space to use.

One rotted area, and one broken rafter over here, means not a lot of use unless we decide to repair it.  there is enough old spare scrap wood laying around that we could do it, but the roof hole remains, so it would only be a temporary fix.  It would last beyond our stay here, however.

At this point my head is stuffy, I'm sneezing... what's going on????

Great Scott, Batman! I think I might be getting allergic to something. I could not believe how badly my sinus passages behaved while we worked in the barn! This is just not right. I don't DO allergies!

After enjoying the sound of a short rain on the metal roof of the barn, we headed back up to the house. Michael tried his hand at wood burning and worked on one of his Airsoft guns, getting ready for his next team outing.

I cut my first bouquet of peonies here, they smell amazing!

Grateful for ports in storms,

~ Faith

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Ballet Rehearsals

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The crunch is on. We've got rehearsals all week.

Here are a few photos I took from Saturday's run through.



This is Cinderella.





And here is Prince Charming!





Michael has three parts; the tailor for the bratty step-sisters, a dancer at the Palace Ball, and here he is as a "boy who throws rocks at the bluebird".




And a scene of grand ballet, featuring the fairies.



He's having a great time. It's quite a thing to be involved in a production like this, but great memories of friends, a shared project, learning and being pushed to do things you have never done before. He is quite tired, though.

So is this mom!

~Faith

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God's Watchcare Over Us.

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Things have been tough financially for a while. My DH has been in contempt of court for nearly three months, and we have received very little to live on. If it were not for our office cleaning jobs and the help of others we'd have been unable to make it at all.

Our faithful little minivan, which is always a mess because it sees constant use as transportation to home school activities, work, window washings, as well as being our farm vehicle until we can find a way to repair the truck, has needed repair for months.

I've put it off, not having any money to do so, and hoping it would come in. It hasn't. But every day the car has become worse and worse, until last night I decided I was simply afraid to drive it. You see, the front wheels wobble while we roll, and riding in there is rather like sitting on a drunken, trotting pony. Not to mention that now a clunking noise accompanies every single wobble. I had Michael check it yesterday to be sure, and you should have seen his face when he got back in the car.

We are down to our last 20 dollars after I buy gas today and pay the phone bill. And the power bill is coming due. It's going to be almost 300 dollars. Yikes! There is no money for repairs. None.

But the Lord has always provided for us when things were tight. And this has been no exception. The Lord moved someone to pay to have our car repaired. I get to take it in today, if any place is open on this holiday.

Ever since my husband left us it has been this way. When we can't make it, the Lord provides. He gives my husband the opportunity to do so, but when he does not, the Lord does it Himself, through our brothers and sisters in Christ who know our need and respond because of their love for Him. Every year I have to find a way to come up with property taxes, every year there has been, somehow, a miraculous way that they've been paid. Miracle may be too strong a word, but it was certainly obvious that the Lord moved someone to act on our behalf. How many times has someone quietly handed us gas money, or a gift card to the grocery store, and Christmas presents? Too many to count.

I cannot say Michael and I deserve to be cared for this way. We don't. But He cares for us anyway. There are others areas of our life that we have lost a lot in, and the Lord did not prevent it. All I can say is that I know He loves all those who love His Son. And He cares for us in the very best way. It's just we often don't agree that it's best at the time.

Our prayer is to somehow be a blessing to our Father and Yeshua, and be a blessing to all those around us.

The greatest commandment?

Matthew 22:37

Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

These two verses alone are enough to keep me busy reining in my sin nature 24 hours a day and, I hope, blessing my Creator and Father, who loves me.

Please take the time to watch the video below.

May you be richly blessed today, in exactly the way the Lord knows is best for you.

~Faith



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She's BACK!

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My beloved camera!





Thank you, so much, dear blog friend who provided the funds to repair my camera! Such generosity overwhelms me.

I am greatly looking forward to begin blogging more in earnest again. Things are quite busy, and only going to get busier as spring approaches. Spring is probably going to be coming on this year like a whispery little butterfly, battered about by icy chunks of air, but it will come eventually.

In the mean time, here is what a portion of our schedule looks like this month. See all those highlighted circles?



Those are merely the continued rehearsals, classes, and set work for the ballet Michael is in. As you can see, we are doing a lot of running around. But that's another wonderful thing about home schooling; all the really cool learning experiences you get to share together as a family, and with friends.

So, dear friends, thank you for hanging around and cheering me on, despite being without my precious picture box now for three months. It felt like a lifetime.

I'm photographing items to sell on eBay today, what a chore! But a nice way to spend all this indoor time.

Busily working,

~Faith

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