Monthly Archives: May 2012

Hummingbirds are back!

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We noticed a hummingbird outside our dining room window on May 1st.  We normally have a nectar feeder out there, but didn’t have it out yet.  So, we whipped up a batch of nectar this week, and hung up the feeder.  🙂

Here’s what we do to fill a feeder our size:

Boil 3 cups water & pour into glass measuring pitcher.

Add 168 grams or 3/4 cup organic, evaporated cane juice (since we don’t buy white sugar anymore, the birds get what we get…).

Mix until dissolved, cool, add to feeder.

It usually takes “our” hummingbirds about one week to polish this amount off. 🙂

Here’s a view from our dining room window.  A trio of bird seed, suet, and nectar!  🙂

mud boot – left foot – size 7 (men’s)

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I love finding uses for items that can no longer be used for their intended purpose.  (Like old t-shirts into rags, light bulbs into crafts, etc…)

But, alas, I cannot find a use for a perfectly good left-footed mud boot…

We all have a pair of these boots, and they are an important staple of farm-chore life.  They keep our feet dry & mud-free because they are tall & easily sprayed off.

After months of wear, I ALWAYS get a hole in my right boot where my foot bends.  Oh, I keep wearing my boots, hole & all, for as long as I can.  But once I feel like I’m walking on a sponge, if we have the funds, I get a new pair.  This always leaves me in a bit of a dilemma, though, because I hate to throw out a perfectly good left-footed boot!

So, I welcome any ideas for a men’s, left-footed, size 7 (women’s size 9) mud boot…

Or it sure would be fun to find someone with the same issue on the other foot –  we could do a mud boot swap, lol! 🙂

Redeeming the “nooks & crannies”

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Michael asked me what was wrong the other morning, as I was a bit frazzled & cranky.  Both boys were eating breakfast, but stopped to look at me for my answer.  I started to explain how there are just so many “things” we’re trying to get done right now, but some days it seems like you’re going backwards.  Everything seems to depend on something else to be done FIRST.  I sometimes struggle with where to begin, and in my uncertainty, I allow my circumstances to determine my attitude.

Both boys listened to my ramble & acted as though they understood… Then Michael said he was amazed at all the “nooks & crannies” there were… I smiled.  He WAS listening! 🙂

Made me reflect on my daily prayers.  I KNOW that the Lord is in control.  I KNOW that since I am one of His children, I am on the side of Victory in the end.  I KNOW the words to pray for His Strength to get me through this day, and I KNOW the words to pray at the end of the day to thank Him for helping me throughout the day… SO, why is it, I allow Satan to win in the “nooks & crannies”??   Well, I know the answer to that, too:  Because “we live in the shadow of ‘the fall’.”

Father, I thank you for pointing out that You don’t just want to help me with the overall picture – You care about even the most mundane tasks.  Clarity will come if I allow Your Peace to roadblock Satan’s traps.  Seep into all my “nooks and crannies”, Lord.  May I allow You to help me be victorious in all the little battles throughout my day, and may I remember this lesson, fresh each day.  Amen. 🙂

One of my favorite music groups is Selah.  They sing a song called “Unredeemed”, that I absolutely love, and have on my playlist.  One of my favorite lines is, “We live in the shadow of the fall.  But the cross says these are all:  Places, where grace is, soon to be… so amazing…”  Just thought I’d share the rest of the words.  🙂

The cruelest world
The coldest heart
The deepest wound
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter nights
The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every lie that gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But you never know the miracle the Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed