This morning I went blackberry picking before it got too hot. Yesterday I had to work many hours in my website designing business and felt so un-domestic, so out of touch with my home and children. I just had to get out and do something domestic. There are tons of blackberries around here in the woods, so I’m hoping to go picking every day. I want to stock our freezer for blackberry cobblers, muffins, and more for the upcoming year. I also have a friend who’s going to teach me how to make jams. I’m so looking forward to that! I’m so thankful that God provided this home for us in the woods, with such a kind landlord. Often I have thought that we would never have a home like this, a home of my dreams. How God loves to surprise His children! How gracious He is!
Last month was a very hard month for my family. There was a burglary and robbery in the family (not us). The robbery has effected my family deeply and permanently. You never know how it effects you until it happens to you. My dad got me a shotgun and taught me how to shoot it. I feel so much safer. I can defend us if need be and can also kill snakes or rabid animals. We all laughed as my father, sitting in my rocking chair on the porch, relayed the story of how his mother toted a shotgun when she felt danger nearby. She would sling it over her shoulder like a soldier. One time some convicts got loose from a road detail, and the authorities came by to tell her. She told them plainly she wasn’t scared. When she had to make a trip to the outhouse that night, she peppered it good with her shotgun, just in case. My Dad said the next morning, when he and his brothers used the privy, daylight streamed in from all the holes in the walls!:) I love hearing about my grandmothers. I’m told often that I’m much like my Dad’s mother.
May was also heartbreaking because my Beloved’s dear mother was very ill most of the month and then went on to be with Jesus. It was terribly hard for me to be so far away from my dearest Tim during this time. I cried so many tears for him and for his mother. I prayed so often, all during the day, for them. I prayed so often that I’d be a blessing and a comfort to Tim. I have not lost my mother, so I did not know how he felt. The Lord did answer and helped me to know what to say. It is comforting for us to know that she is in Heaven, with no more pain and no more problems.
We are year-round homeschoolers, which makes it easier for me during the school year. I can take off anytime I need to. I arrange our schedule to accommodate all the birthdays we have going on in the summer, along with holidays and VBS. The last couple of weeks we have done “light schooling” so that I can get some things caught up around here. I have a list that is 1 1/2 pages long! Things on my list include reformatting the girls’ computer (done), put away paper piles (one pile a day so I don’t get overwhelmed), make homemade cards, organize attic, clean and organize kitchen (started), make phone calls, make CD’s of purchased music, plant flowers (done), and plant seeds. There are many more things on my list. As I look over it, I see I have much more accomplished than I realized!
The children have been swimming in the afternoons, which gives me some much-needed quiet time. We have an above-ground pool that we purchased used from a friend for only $50. She upgraded to a larger one. This is our second summer using it, and we are so thankful for it. Sometimes the chemicals are a strain for me to purchase, but they really are not too high in cost. God truly provides!
We started a family newsletter like the Pickwick Papers in Little Women. We mailed it to family members and close friends. Two stories were about a murder on our street (my dad killed a snake) and a girl buried alive (like one buries another at the beach leaving the head and feet exposed). Our newsletter went over so well and extracted so much laughter and joy from the readers. I have had folks asking about the next edition, which is on my list to do. The girls are honing their writing skills and enjoying making notes like reporters on possible stories. They love, love, love the old tv series The Incredible Hulk
, so they enjoy playing the role of Jack McGee.:)
Monday I received our subscription to The Girlhood Home Companion along with The Gift of Family Writing by Jill Novak. They came only a day or so after I ordered them, which really surprised me and thrilled me. I did not realize that the magazine was for Moms too and have just delighted in looking through them. I am reading The Gift of Family Writing and am just loving it. I have always loved diaries, journals, and writing. I have novels that I wrote as a teenager. I have always been fascinated with writers like John Boy Walton and Jo March. The Gift of Family Writing is just wonderful and reaffirms me in my love of writing.
I had quit keeping my journal regularly over the years while raising little ones, and felt because I didn’t write everyday, that I couldn’t write at all (my perfectionism showing itself). While reading Carrie Bender Amish books
(that a dear friend shipped to me in a huge box one Christmas!), I started writing again. Carrie Bender books are written in journal form and include little quotes, poems, and recipes with each entry. Sometimes days or weeks or missed, and then the entries pick back up. They are such a joy to read and encourage me in my spiritual life, in homemaking and mothering, and in writing. I purchased some pretty pens and stickers and try to write in my journal after my devotions in the mornings on the porch. I don’t write every day, but I try to write regularly. If I write an email or blog post like this that is newsy, I will print it out and paste it inside. I add Bible verses often and sometimes other quotes and poems. I even keep perfume samples from magazines inside to make it smell nice. I believe future generations depend on us keeping track of history now. My girls have just delighted reading my diary when I was a girl and a teenager. There were a lot of good laughs and a lot of remembrances. I wish my mother and grandmothers had kept diaries!
When we first moved here, our landlord told us that we could not fish in the pond. Undoubtedly he has had people take advantage. Last week he up and told me that we could go fishing anytime we wanted because we have been such good renters. My girls love fishing and were so delighted. While looking at the pond, my dad has often drooled, so he was thrilled to hear the news. He took the girls fishing, and they caught 20 something fish. They were all bream, with one catfish. We had a delicious fish fry at my folks house. How good it feels to eat something that cost nothing, that you got from nature!
We have been watching a family of tufted titmice every day. There are 3 babies who are just about as big as their folks. They fluff their wings nearly constantly and cry for food as they follow their folks around. They try to do what their folks do with humorous results.:)
One day I saw a fox in the edge of the woods, and so we rushed outside to follow him. We lost sight of him, but heard the birds carrying on in a nearby thicket. We got to the thicket, then waited. We heard crashing about, and I told the girls to watch. Foxy came out, looked right at us, then trotted into the woods. What a special gift God gave us to allow us to see him so close up! I just wish I had brought my camera!:(
Wilbur our guinea pig has had to go back and forth to the veterinarian due to a skin infection. We pray that she will get well soon. She has an excellent doctor who keeps in close contact. He loves Miss Wilbur.:)
Our cat Autumn brought home a little baby bunny, which my oldest daughter and I rescued. We kept him for a little while, then released him over prayers that he would be safe. State law says we could not keep him.:(
