I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.
~John Burroughs
~John Burroughs
~ Monday ~
I went to one bank to pay our mortgage in person. For days, I had been checking our bank account online to if my husband's paycheck from the new company had been direct deposited, but it had not. However, we did get it later in the mail--YAY! I was very happy, but I would have to go back out in the afternoon to another bank to deposit it, because it would be a few days in clearing. While out, I thought I would stop into the grocery store near the bank to see if they had any markdowns in organics and specials on natural ice cream where I get an entire container for the price of a double dip of the less natural types at the shops.
While in that grocery store, after I had removed our ice cream selection from the freezer and placed them into my cart, I ran into another homeschool/4-H mother and we talked for about 30 minutes during which time she gave me her phone number...again (I think this makes the third time I have had to ask for it.) As we talked I asked if she would be feeding and caring for the horses on Friday evening at the Sweet Beulahland Farm. This is the farm owned by Miss Annette, the leader of the 4-H Horse and Pony club. I have wanted to take part in this activity for the past year, but just usually did not have a vehicle or money or time as that is near the time I am leaving to pick up my husband at the airport. She said she would be there so we finally parted, I with much softer ice cream by then, planning to see each other the next evening at the 4-H meeting. I placed the ice cream in a cooler and stopped at a dollar store on the way home to pick up baskets and candy for the 4-H community project, which only took a few minutes.
~ Tuesday ~
The March 4-H meeting is always a long one. The meeting included two presentations, which are required of participating older members, and then a tackiest prom queen and king contest where the children are judged by ages. After adjournment, the children prepared the Easter baskets to be given out at a nearby children's home.
My daughter picked out her own outfit for the contest, I only made suggestions about mismatching her footwear and fixing her hair into four ponytails and a braid with the part of one ponytail pulled over into another and lots of hair loose in various areas. Frankly, I thought there were too many others far tackier than she, but the Princess won third place for her age group!
~ Wednesday ~
I fast on Wednesdays, homeschool, and prepare for the next days errands and so this was a more typical day for this not so typical week. However, I decided to fast for a few more days as my weight had risen just above that mark that I promised myself was to be my limit from now on after losing the weight during the 40-day fast six months ago.
~ Thursday ~
Now the one thing I can say about Thursdays is that they are never typical, especially when I am fasting. Errands differ as necessary. I had looked online for all the specials in organics and checked the sales flyers. Good thing too because when I arrived at my favorite co-op grocery store they had not yet placed all the sales tags. This causes me to take more time at the register trying to be sure the sale items were in the system and then for us to try to figure out if the selected variety I wanted is in the "selected varieties" on sale as they are not listed in the flyer.
Then it is practically across the street, a very busy street, to another much larger organic/natural foods chain store for natural meat and a few items that I cannot get at the other place and fewer that are cheaper there.
After driving about forty minutes to get to those stores, I then drive another thirty minutes to Miss Trudy's for the Princess' piano lesson. On the way home I stop in at the bank to make a withdraw since my husband's paycheck cleared--YAY!
~ Friday ~
When I awoke yesterday, I tried to shake off two disturbing dreams I had during an less than restful night, which I tend to have when fasting. This the third day of the fast and it is always the worse one.
I began making another batch of granola in my slow cooker early, still trying out my own recipes. Once the Princess was up, dressed, and beds were made, we went out to feed the rabbits. It was a colder day because of the wind so I did not disturb the babies.
The Princess and I set aside the morning for her to write a poem for a children's talent contest hosted by our church's district. The Princess entered four categories: witing - poetry, solo instrumental - piano (the Bach piece she was recently judged on), visual arts - drawing, and visual arts - painting. The poem needed to be submitted with a post date no later than yesterday and so she wrote a poem that I will post later after the judging. I am now irritated with myself that I did not make a copy of it, because it was in her own handwriting with a drawing at the bottom. I only made her rewrite about three times because, although she loves to write, it is not always as neatly as I would like and I know she can do, especially for something like this.
She was sure happy to have it done at lunch time and so was I!
Because the weather report looked as if it would be raining all weekend and we had to go to the post office to send out her entry, I decided we should get our water refills at a store along the way instead of waiting until after church on Sunday.
Why not also get my raw milk because we have less than half a gallon left? We can fit that in before we go to Sweet Beulahland Farm, which is halfway on the way back home, where we will be helping with Miss Annette's horses.
Now since we are going to the farms, I should call the another homeschool/4-H mother who I ran into in a store earlier this week (when I was also out depositing my husband's first paycheck with the new company--YAY!) because I know she likes to get the milk but has not been able to afford to go out there and she will be bringing her children to feed the horses too.
I call using my headset on my phone—What a wonderful invention!—so my hands are free to break up the granola in the slow cooker and get it into a container. Yes, she would like a gallon of milk. We talked a bit and somehow she mentioned that she loves sourdough bread but lost her starter some time ago. I have some starter if you would like. "That would be wonderful! Uh-oh, Miss Annette is calling me." Call me back to let me know if there is a change about going to her place but soon as I am going to leave in just a few minutes. Poor Miss Annette has a migraine and is very sick with it, so we will have to care for the horses ourselves without her supervision. Of course, because I am a chatty person, I end up leaving half an hour later than I hoped to and feel rushed.
As we drive to our destinations, we see more things are blooming now than just daffodils, like the pear trees, forsythia, red bud tees, and pink magnolias! We make it to the store first and then the post office both not having long lines, thankfully, with plenty of time to get our milk. I see father and son, both who work the farm with a few hands. After I had gone into their little unmanned store to get the first two of eight gallons of milk and noticing there are no eggs, I see the father walking up with smiles. Last time I was here, I paid for eggs and then forgot to take them with me. He laughs..."That is how we make our money! They are cleaning eggs right now, would you like a dozen?" Thank you! The son comes out and asks when was the last time we were there. A few weeks ago at least. "We have baby sheep," he says as he is pointing to the petting barn where they have tours. The Princess is off like a shot. Hey, where's your jacket?
The wind has picked up, especially out in the open on the farms. We arrived at Sweet Beulahland Farm a bit early and have to wait about twenty minutes, so I read the beginning of a chapter book about a girl and her horse that the Princess brought with her purchased at Goodwill a few weeks ago with her own spending money. She decides to anxiously look out the window. After two other families arrive, the children fed and watered the horses, cleaned the stalls, and played in the back field while the adults retreated out of the wind into the barn. I fitted a new halter on one mare because the children were to short to do it.
Time to leave! Milk was exchanged for the cost and the sourdough starter was given. Then we came home to unpack Dragon Heart (the name of the newest vehicle) and put water on shelves in the garage and milk in the freezer. Then it is time to feed rabbits, dog, and cat. For dinner, a warming soup is appealing. Then some time to look on the Internet for a program my husband needs but I find out, after three long time-wasting attempts, it is too big to email to him.
So...after feeding and placing my sourdough starter, we are off to bed half an hour early as we are getting up a half and hour earlier to prepare for the time change next weekend.
~ Saturday ~
It is still in the works but so far....
I am still fasting but my energy has returned. I should have mentioned that except for Wednesday, my regular fast day each week and usually water only, this is a fast like I did for the forty day one so I am still drinking teas and some watered down milk.
I made and kneaded my sourdough to bake a loaf later today. Great day for baking when it is damp!
To my surprise, I was greeted by a pair of eyes in the bunny nest! They are now nine days old and typically they begin opening their eyes around the tenth day. So far only two of the larger baby rabbits have opened their eyes and are lifting those tiny ears. They are all well covered with white fur now. A few are still on the puny side, but they are healthy and active, so it all looks very good in our rabbitry.
Then I began to write a post for my blog, which is taking me longer than I hoped, as I had forgotten how much we did this week. Now I need to get pictures done yet too to post and send in an email to my husband. As soon as I am done with the pictures, I suppose you will see my post. I have a big project I have been working on also, but I do not want to give it away, just in case my husband peeks in here because it is supposed to be a surprise, but it will not be a good one if I do not get back to working on it right now. On the other hand, I have been hanging out at my computer hoping to catch a Skype call from my husband as we did not talk yesterday at all. It's time to knead some dough, too.
~ Sunday? ~
Oh, and the weather experts changed their forecast. It rained some Friday night and sprinkled Saturday morning, but Sunday is going to be mostly sunny, they are saying now, so I could have held off on a few of those errands, but Monday I need to get the plates for Dragon Heart so it is just as well that I have only church services on Sunday and rest in between...but who knows what Sunday will bring?
Whew!
I went to one bank to pay our mortgage in person. For days, I had been checking our bank account online to if my husband's paycheck from the new company had been direct deposited, but it had not. However, we did get it later in the mail--YAY! I was very happy, but I would have to go back out in the afternoon to another bank to deposit it, because it would be a few days in clearing. While out, I thought I would stop into the grocery store near the bank to see if they had any markdowns in organics and specials on natural ice cream where I get an entire container for the price of a double dip of the less natural types at the shops.
While in that grocery store, after I had removed our ice cream selection from the freezer and placed them into my cart, I ran into another homeschool/4-H mother and we talked for about 30 minutes during which time she gave me her phone number...again (I think this makes the third time I have had to ask for it.) As we talked I asked if she would be feeding and caring for the horses on Friday evening at the Sweet Beulahland Farm. This is the farm owned by Miss Annette, the leader of the 4-H Horse and Pony club. I have wanted to take part in this activity for the past year, but just usually did not have a vehicle or money or time as that is near the time I am leaving to pick up my husband at the airport. She said she would be there so we finally parted, I with much softer ice cream by then, planning to see each other the next evening at the 4-H meeting. I placed the ice cream in a cooler and stopped at a dollar store on the way home to pick up baskets and candy for the 4-H community project, which only took a few minutes.
~ Tuesday ~
My daughter picked out her own outfit for the contest, I only made suggestions about mismatching her footwear and fixing her hair into four ponytails and a braid with the part of one ponytail pulled over into another and lots of hair loose in various areas. Frankly, I thought there were too many others far tackier than she, but the Princess won third place for her age group!
~ Wednesday ~
I fast on Wednesdays, homeschool, and prepare for the next days errands and so this was a more typical day for this not so typical week. However, I decided to fast for a few more days as my weight had risen just above that mark that I promised myself was to be my limit from now on after losing the weight during the 40-day fast six months ago.
~ Thursday ~
Now the one thing I can say about Thursdays is that they are never typical, especially when I am fasting. Errands differ as necessary. I had looked online for all the specials in organics and checked the sales flyers. Good thing too because when I arrived at my favorite co-op grocery store they had not yet placed all the sales tags. This causes me to take more time at the register trying to be sure the sale items were in the system and then for us to try to figure out if the selected variety I wanted is in the "selected varieties" on sale as they are not listed in the flyer.
Then it is practically across the street, a very busy street, to another much larger organic/natural foods chain store for natural meat and a few items that I cannot get at the other place and fewer that are cheaper there.
After driving about forty minutes to get to those stores, I then drive another thirty minutes to Miss Trudy's for the Princess' piano lesson. On the way home I stop in at the bank to make a withdraw since my husband's paycheck cleared--YAY!
~ Friday ~
When I awoke yesterday, I tried to shake off two disturbing dreams I had during an less than restful night, which I tend to have when fasting. This the third day of the fast and it is always the worse one.
I began making another batch of granola in my slow cooker early, still trying out my own recipes. Once the Princess was up, dressed, and beds were made, we went out to feed the rabbits. It was a colder day because of the wind so I did not disturb the babies.
The Princess and I set aside the morning for her to write a poem for a children's talent contest hosted by our church's district. The Princess entered four categories: witing - poetry, solo instrumental - piano (the Bach piece she was recently judged on), visual arts - drawing, and visual arts - painting. The poem needed to be submitted with a post date no later than yesterday and so she wrote a poem that I will post later after the judging. I am now irritated with myself that I did not make a copy of it, because it was in her own handwriting with a drawing at the bottom. I only made her rewrite about three times because, although she loves to write, it is not always as neatly as I would like and I know she can do, especially for something like this.
She was sure happy to have it done at lunch time and so was I!
Because the weather report looked as if it would be raining all weekend and we had to go to the post office to send out her entry, I decided we should get our water refills at a store along the way instead of waiting until after church on Sunday.
Why not also get my raw milk because we have less than half a gallon left? We can fit that in before we go to Sweet Beulahland Farm, which is halfway on the way back home, where we will be helping with Miss Annette's horses.
Now since we are going to the farms, I should call the another homeschool/4-H mother who I ran into in a store earlier this week (when I was also out depositing my husband's first paycheck with the new company--YAY!) because I know she likes to get the milk but has not been able to afford to go out there and she will be bringing her children to feed the horses too.
I call using my headset on my phone—What a wonderful invention!—so my hands are free to break up the granola in the slow cooker and get it into a container. Yes, she would like a gallon of milk. We talked a bit and somehow she mentioned that she loves sourdough bread but lost her starter some time ago. I have some starter if you would like. "That would be wonderful! Uh-oh, Miss Annette is calling me." Call me back to let me know if there is a change about going to her place but soon as I am going to leave in just a few minutes. Poor Miss Annette has a migraine and is very sick with it, so we will have to care for the horses ourselves without her supervision. Of course, because I am a chatty person, I end up leaving half an hour later than I hoped to and feel rushed.
As we drive to our destinations, we see more things are blooming now than just daffodils, like the pear trees, forsythia, red bud tees, and pink magnolias! We make it to the store first and then the post office both not having long lines, thankfully, with plenty of time to get our milk. I see father and son, both who work the farm with a few hands. After I had gone into their little unmanned store to get the first two of eight gallons of milk and noticing there are no eggs, I see the father walking up with smiles. Last time I was here, I paid for eggs and then forgot to take them with me. He laughs..."That is how we make our money! They are cleaning eggs right now, would you like a dozen?" Thank you! The son comes out and asks when was the last time we were there. A few weeks ago at least. "We have baby sheep," he says as he is pointing to the petting barn where they have tours. The Princess is off like a shot. Hey, where's your jacket?
The wind has picked up, especially out in the open on the farms. We arrived at Sweet Beulahland Farm a bit early and have to wait about twenty minutes, so I read the beginning of a chapter book about a girl and her horse that the Princess brought with her purchased at Goodwill a few weeks ago with her own spending money. She decides to anxiously look out the window. After two other families arrive, the children fed and watered the horses, cleaned the stalls, and played in the back field while the adults retreated out of the wind into the barn. I fitted a new halter on one mare because the children were to short to do it.
Time to leave! Milk was exchanged for the cost and the sourdough starter was given. Then we came home to unpack Dragon Heart (the name of the newest vehicle) and put water on shelves in the garage and milk in the freezer. Then it is time to feed rabbits, dog, and cat. For dinner, a warming soup is appealing. Then some time to look on the Internet for a program my husband needs but I find out, after three long time-wasting attempts, it is too big to email to him.
So...after feeding and placing my sourdough starter, we are off to bed half an hour early as we are getting up a half and hour earlier to prepare for the time change next weekend.
~ Saturday ~
It is still in the works but so far....
I am still fasting but my energy has returned. I should have mentioned that except for Wednesday, my regular fast day each week and usually water only, this is a fast like I did for the forty day one so I am still drinking teas and some watered down milk.
I made and kneaded my sourdough to bake a loaf later today. Great day for baking when it is damp!
Then I began to write a post for my blog, which is taking me longer than I hoped, as I had forgotten how much we did this week. Now I need to get pictures done yet too to post and send in an email to my husband. As soon as I am done with the pictures, I suppose you will see my post. I have a big project I have been working on also, but I do not want to give it away, just in case my husband peeks in here because it is supposed to be a surprise, but it will not be a good one if I do not get back to working on it right now. On the other hand, I have been hanging out at my computer hoping to catch a Skype call from my husband as we did not talk yesterday at all. It's time to knead some dough, too.
~ Sunday? ~
Oh, and the weather experts changed their forecast. It rained some Friday night and sprinkled Saturday morning, but Sunday is going to be mostly sunny, they are saying now, so I could have held off on a few of those errands, but Monday I need to get the plates for Dragon Heart so it is just as well that I have only church services on Sunday and rest in between...but who knows what Sunday will bring?
Whew!
~ Thank you, my Lord, for kindnesses shared and this gifted child who surprises me with what she writes and draws. Help me to finish the project I started before my husband's homecoming. ~
