Thankful Thursday

I cleaned my bathroom today.

That may not be big news at your house, but it is around here.  I tend to keep it picked up, slightly swiped regularly, but not what I (or anyone else) would call cleaned.

I had a little laugh at myself when I realized that I am trying to moisturize myself into looking younger.

I have night cream, day cream, extra-emollient cream (it is so good that it will soften my feet), microdermabrasion cream, eye cream, cream to fade age spots, cream to cover up age spots, creams with names that I can't pronounce because they are in another language but someone told me they are creamy and good for aging skin.

I even have one called Precious Cream.  I haven't opened it, yet.  Because it is precious.

The years that brought the age and the wrinkles that need the creams have also brought great blessings.  I noticed a deeper wrinkle yesterday when I looked in the mirror.  The great thing is that the mirror was being held by Lily as she put makeup on my face.

I am so thankful for the blessings of the day I had yesterday.  I spent special, one-on-one time with two of our grandchildren and talked with and hugged the other three. I had meaningful conversations with two of our children, two of their spouses, my mother, both sisters, a sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, and my husband.  I feel a peace that completely passes any understanding I could have had in my youth.  I am aware of the perfect, total, and complete love that God has for me.

I am learning to love the skin I am in.

I just want to keep it moisturized.

Shiloh's last stand

 Our sweet Shiloh took her last look over her domain yesterday.

She had been sick for several months.  We gave her steroids, we gave her antibiotics, we fed her hot dogs, we put ice in her water, and we let her sleep in the house every time she wanted to.  And yesterday morning she let us know that she had gone as far as she could go.  She sat at the top of a ridge looking over the creek, both of us knowing that it was her last look at her territory.  She was calm, peaceful, and regal to her very end.

Shiloh was my friend and constant companion.  She refused to be trained to walk on a leash or ride in the back of Daryl's truck, but she was with us every minute possible when we were outside.  She was a homebody, but her home included about 50 acres.  She ran and swam over every bit of those acres during her life and had a life most dogs only dream of.  When dogs run in their sleep, most of them are dreaming of adventures.  Shiloh was reliving hers.

Last night Daryl dug a grave for Shiloh on the Indian mound next to Scarlett.  We raked the dirt over her resting body and then stood there arm in arm remembering her, grateful that she was free from her suffering.

Later, as we laid in bed holding hands, we shared our favorite memories.

     We thought of the times she swam upstream in the river, never tiring.

     And the time she dove right into a beaver den, just checking it all out.

     There was the time that Jackie forgot to close the door to our house tightly.  No one was home all week so Shiloh nudged the door open and spent the week having the run of the whole place.  Jackie came home first to find every bed slept in by a muddy dog, toilet paper covering the den floor, some of our clothes had been taken outside and used as a bed, hats had been chewed on.  We have often thought of how much fun she must have had those days.

     She had learned to be a friend to cats and a herder of chickens.

     We wondered how, with all of her wondering in the woods, she was only bitten by snakes three times.

     We could not think of one time in her whole life that she ever showed any real anger.

     We wondered if she ever caught even one squirrel.  Or if she ever intended to anyway.

Many years ago John and Anna had a collie that had health problems and he had to be put to sleep.  His name was Ace and he had not been active for several weeks or months before he died.  David, not knowing that Ace had died that day, told us at dinner that he had seen a strange thing while walking around the farm.  He had seen Ace running down the road with a white towel tied to his neck like a cape.  The only explanation was that David had seen Ace's freed body doing what he had wanted to do in life.

Last night Caleb came out and took the kayaks up the river.  When Daryl and I saw him pull the kayaks out of his truck and walk them down the boat ramp, we looked at each other with the same thought.  We know that if Shiloh had an opportunity to do what Ace did, she would be running ahead of Caleb, jumping into the water.  Reveling in her renewed energy and health.  I would like to have seen it again.

We miss you, sweet girl.

Retreat

Photo from scottriverlodge.com

Today, Daryl and I are arriving at this beautiful place in northern California.  

In his early 20's a man named Gene Johnson made a promise to God that if He would provide the resources, Gene would invest them in a way that would have eternal value.  This beautiful place is the fulfillment of that promise. Scott River Lodge is a retreat for husbands and wives set in the Klamath National Forest on the Scott River.  The Lodge is an extension of the JH Ranch which has been a retreat ministering to parents and children since 1980.    You can go to Scottriverlodge.com to see all of the details.

We are looking forward to whatever the week brings....

Bath time for Della

Yes, this picture is fuzzy, dark and just low-down not very good.  But, it was the only way to snap one of a chicken taking a bath.  Miss Della here doesn't want me to take a picture of her taking a bath, a sentiment I can totally understand.

A chicken bath can be a long, drawn out process.  First she digs a shallow tub in the coolest dirt she can find.  In this case she is under the trampoline.  Then she sits down in her bath tub and uses her feathers to throw dirt all over herself, in and around every little feather.  Then comes the soaking.  She just sits and enjoys the peace and quiet.  After her little soak she stands up and fluffs her feathers up until she is a round ball of a chicken.  Then comes the shaking off of the dirt.  This process makes a little dust storm that surrounds her whole body in cool, dry cleanliness.

Aaahhhh......

Tea Party Girls

I love having granddaughters.

They like to dress up, put on makeup, play with dolls, giggle, and take naps together in the "Princess Room".  They give me advice on what to wear, and what not to wear.  They like to hold hands -- with me and with each other.

 They pretend to be mommies, nurses, and teachers.  They are bossy.  They are snuggly.

And they love tea parties.

Thankful Thursday

This is how I feel about cutting grass:

Somebody has to clean all this away.

somebody, SOMEBODY

has to, you see

Then she picked out a somebody 

and it was me.

        (paraphrase from The Cat In The Hat)

I have been a grass cutter since I was in the second grade.  Some years other people have had the primary responsibility to keep the yard mowed, but for most years since I was eight, I have been the lawn mowing queen.  Many times I have quoted those lines from Dr. Suess's book.  SOMEBODY has to do it.  Why not me?

I've had some great machines to work with, but none better than the Kubota with the 6 foot deck we use now.  If you don't mind the bumpy parts of the yard and keep the speed pretty high, all of the grass around here can be cut in about 3 1/2 hours.  That's not bad for the several acres that we try to keep well-groomed.

But, just because it is my responsibility to cut the grass and just because I have a great mower, it doesn't mean that I don't enjoy some help.

This week Daryl changed the blades, changed the oil, and did some other mechanical things I don't know a thing about.

Today he cut the grass.

That feels like love to me.  And I am so thankful.

If not for summer...

My favorite season has always been Fall.

I love everything about it:  crispy leaves, fire pits, football, cool weather, October.

And if my favorite season is fall, I'd have to say that my least favorite is Summer.  I feel bad to say that, really.  Summer is full of happiness, sun, water, flowers, warmth, no school, vacations.  It's just that I never enjoy the summer as much as the other three seasons.

Last week, though, I was walking through the yard, feeling the heat beating down, noticing all of the grass that needed to be cut when I realized something....

The reason I love Fall so much is because of the contrast it brings to the summer.

Without summer, I wouldn't know how to appreciate fall.  Without the oppressive heat and humidity I wouldn't know the joy of a cool, crisp morning.

When this thought entered my mind, I realized that so much of my life is that way.  Without some poverty, I can't fully appreciate some wealth.  Without some sickness, I can't be fully grateful for my health.  Without pain, my muscles don't get strong.

Without summer, there is no fall.

God's plan is perfect in all its ways.  I love it when I can see it so clearly.

My boys of summer

Summer

boys

sprinkler

horse swing

shirts off

sunshine

popsicles

laughter

cousins

Summer

Thankful Thursday

I had a flat tire yesterday.  That is only the second one I have had since Daryl and I got married.  32 years ago!  So, I've been blessed.  Of course, I'm talking about a flat tire on my truck.  If I was talking about the lawn tractor, it would be a different flat tire story entirely.  I have become proficient at using an air compressor on that crazy thing.

I was driving home on the interstate when I heard a loud roar.  My first thought was to look out the windows to see if there was a semi close by.  When I didn't see another truck, I thought of an airplane.  I was driving along a stretch of interstate that has corn fields on either side and sometimes a crop duster will fly low making his passes over the crops.  It wasn't an airplane, though, so the only other option was that it was me!

I quickly pulled off the interstate, got out and saw that one of the rear tires was as flat as a pancake.  I have no idea how I didn't feel it, but I didn't.  As quickly as I felt the aggravation of the circumstance, I began to feel immense gratitude and started counting my blessings.

#1.  As I was pulling off the highway, I had to go around a state trooper who had someone else pulled over. He was sitting in his gray SUV, blue lights flashing from several places on his truck.  Because he was there, traffic was pulling into the middle lane instead of zooming past in the lane closest to us.

#2.  Daryl answered my call to him on the first ring, and without any question he left his office and came right away to change the tire.  I am so grateful to him for his total willingness to help me.  And I'm thankful for the 8 other people I thought of who would have dropped everything to come help me had I needed them.

#3.  After the state trooper finished with the other car, he pulled up behind me.  He got out to see if I needed anything and looked at the tire.  When I told him that Daryl was on his way, he said that he would stay behind me so that I wouldn't get hit from behind.  He even offered to help change the tire.

#4.  Capital Tractor and six members of our family were only about two miles away so Daryl and I went there to pick up a bigger car jack.  They gave it to us gladly and would have all jumped in the truck to help if we needed them.

#5.  While Daryl was working on changing the tire I had two jobs.  My first job was to read the instruction manual from my truck to find out where the tire jack was and how to release the spare.  Since the trooper had moved on when we left to get the jack, my second job was to watch the traffic.  This was so I could let Daryl know if we were about to die.  He just wanted to know, I guess, because by the time I would have been able to see that a car was headed our way it would have been too late to get away.  I was so grateful for the many, many people who changed over into the middle lane.  I wanted to wave at them and blow kisses, but decided against that.

#6.  The spare tire was almost flat, wouldn't you know!  After it was on the truck I drove slowly to the nearest gas station.  When I pulled up beside the air hose, a truck driver standing there immediately asked if I needed air and offered to put it in for me.  Daryl drove up behind me, so I didn't need his help, but he offered his air gauge to us, too.

#7.  It was pretty hot standing out on the side of the interstate.  And even hotter for Daryl as he worked to change a tire.  But, the high on Saturday is predicted to be 103.  By comparison, 94 wasn't too bad.

So, on this Thursday I am thankful for the kindness of strangers and the love of family.  I was shown in a living story that I am not alone.

Not even close.

And, I'm thankful to God for the way he provides and the way he protects.

You call this a sale?

I saw this on the sale page at the Terrain website yesterday:

Japanese Hand Rake

$15.95 

$16.00

I'm just not sure that saving that nickle is going to make me buy this handy rake!