First Rooster

Friends of ours blessed us with chickens last fall.  Hens and a rooster.  Another first for our family, we soon found that we liked having them around.  Our rooster enjoyed being the sole man in the flock after competing with two others at his former home and losing.  One evening he was atop the coop crowing to his heart's content when the master tired of waiting.  It was time for that rooster to go in the coop for the night, and he decided to hurry him on his way. 

OBT grabbed Pippin from the roof of the coop and stuffed him inside.  Well, that must have hurt Pippin's feelings for he did crow again for the longest time.  Then one morning when I was in the chicken yard, Pippin found his crow.  I laughed again and again as he crowed over and over.

Pippin had his favorite hens, and he took good care of them.  There were others though that he attacked.  For a while after a neck mauling, one hen stayed out of the chicken yard and became more tame than the rest.  She stayed close to the house and even ate from the bird feeder.  As time wore on and our rooster attacked another hen, the head roo decided that Pippin must go.  He was captured and cooped up in the coop for a while with food and water.  At first his girls lingered near the coop in hopes that he would come out and watch over them again.  It was not to be.

Then the master found out about another rooster, reputed to be gentle with the hens.  I offered to pick it up since I would be in the area and did.  He too was in the coop when we arrived.  The children and I enjoyed his crowing on the way home.  Then it was decision time.  Time to get rid of the old rooster so that the new rooster could take his rightful place.

OBT used his hatchet (Every blade we had was dull) to chop away at Pippin's neck.  He soon went to sleep for good.  OBT had talked to his co-worker who grew up on a farm about how to properly do this; I had Living With Chickens from the library on hand.  He bled the bird while I boiled the water.  We dunked his feathery body in the hot water, and the feathers came right off.  In the house he went to be cleaned and gutted.  Then in the sink in an ice water bath, drained, and in the freezer until cooking time.  At church last Saturday I told some of the older sisters about him, and one of them said that rooster made good chicken and dumplings.  That sounds good to me, and so Mr. Pippin, soon into the pot you will go.  I sure hope that you taste good!  Oh, and by the way, the new, gentle roo is doing just fine.

Primitive

Last Sunday our family visited Smoky Mountain Primitive Baptist again.  We look forward to our times with the people there.  The pastor's wife is battling breast cancer, and I was thankful to get to visit with her again and maybe encourage her.  It made me think about my own battles with cancer and what was most important to me then.  Just knowing that someone cared about me, cared whether I lived or died, that mattered a lot then.  It does now, but in a different way.  Then I was in a scary place.  A place of fears and a feeling of a lack of control.  Then I really needed help on my way.  I could not face things on my own.  I needed a Savior - Someone who is all powerful and who loves me, really and truly loves me.  He was there.

Two Sundays ago our family was in Kentucky.  A church in Mt. Sterling asked OBT to come and preach during their annual meeting.  We had visited this church before and always enjoy our times with the saints gathered there.  We stayed at the pastor's home and are immeasurably blessed by their friendship and love for us.  We were blessed by the meeting and the fellowship of those we spent time with - some we know well; others we just met.  God richly fed us, and we thank Him for all blessings.

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." - Romans 14:17

Our house has problems that need to be fixed.  The estimate was very high.  The insurance denied coverage.  Then the Lord sent two preachers to help us.  He is good and worthy of all praise.

What We Read - August 2010

Encyclopedia Brown finds the clues by Donald J. Sobol

Eddycat teaches telephone skills by Ada Barnett

A Bedtime Book by Joan Walsh Anglund

Wildflower tea by Ethel Pochocki

ABC cats by Kathy Darling

Two little trains by Margaret Wise Brown

The vegetable show by Laurene Krasny Brown

Kirsten saves the day by Janet Beeler Shaw
Kirsten learns a lesson

The little lame prince by Rosemary Wells

Mountains and Molehills

Cheez Wiz and I have been talking about the difference between a mountain and a molehill lately.  There is a difference, and we all need to have the right perspective to be able to see it.  Too often I find myself drifting back into that state of consciousness where I do not have the mind of Christ and am walking by sight, my own sight, and not looking unto Jesus.  Then my Lord lovingly and graciously gets my attention again, and I wake up and wonder how long have I been in this dream-like condition trying to get by on my own strength and not doing a very good job of it.

Yesterday after OBT got home, these words strongly came to me 'His presence disperses my sorrows and fears, and bids me rejoice in my Lord."  Wow!  At first I could not remember which hymn these words are from.  Then I remembered "How Lovely the Place".  We are still waiting on the Lord and feeling closer to Him as we feel right now our need for Him.

Larva and Pupa

Last week after opening the front door for the Schwann's man, the children spotted a caterpillar.  We brought him in and by the next morning he had transformed into a chrysalis.  My best guess is that he is a Buckeye which seems appropriate seeing that we live in the Buckeye State.  If he emerges (hopefully in the next week or two), then we should be able to easily identify him.

Then one morning this week while Cheez Wiz and I were outside tending to the animals, CW heard the electric fence popping.  When I took a look, some Queen Anne's lace, wet with dew, was touching the fence and what was on the Queen Anne's lace?  A Swallowtail caterpillar!  I knew that they ate Queen Anne's lace and have looked for them off and on since we moved here (there is an abundance of QAL growing where we live).  This is the first cat I have seen.  We brought it in and fixed up a place for it complete with plenty of leaves and stick.  What more could a caterpillar ask for?

As of today it is in position and looks ready to form a chrysalis anytime now.  I would not be surprised to find one in its place tomorrow morning.  We hope!

Hope Realized

Today has been a day where I happily spent time in the kitchen.  Today is a day where we had no need to go anywhere and could stay home.  A favorite kind of day of mine.  So I took pumpkin, corn, and squash and chopped, baked, and blanched, then cooled and froze our produce blessings. 

Lately we have received some bad news.  It was unexpected, and right now we are taking it one day at a time.  Yet in light of this life does go on.  The world does not stop for bad news.  I think that is a good thing to help my mind not dwell on things that bring me down.  Also the Lord is giving us peace and strength to trust Him as the situation is in many ways out of our control.  We are praying more diligently and praying for the Lord's will - whatever that means. 

This summer I wrote myself a note in big letters and placed it in the kitchen where I would see it every day.  At the top it says R-E-L-A-X and underneath are the words L-E-A-N, R-E-S-T, B-E-L-I-E-V-E, T-R-U-S-T.  They are reminders to myself of how I ought to be living.  I need to be reminded.  How about you?

What We Read - July 2010

The man who walked between the towers by Mordicai Gerstein

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

LMNO peas by Keith Baker

All in a Day by Cynthia Rylant

Noodle Man by April Pulley Sayre

Being a pig is nice by Sally Lloyd-Jones