The doghouse in the sunroom

The doghouse in my sunroom is not a good design feature, but seeing as how it has rained all morning, it's a good decision.  My plan is to get him to where he will come out of it on his own and go back in.  Then I will move it to the back yard.  I took him out once this morning -in the rain.  He wasn't impressed.  I mopped his doghouse out and he laid on the floor and watched.  I fed him two hands full of feed and then he ate about a cup full from the dish - probably a cup and a half or so.  When he started trying to go back into my plants, I showed him the doghouse door and he went inside and lay down.  He pulls away from my hand unless I have a treat or something in it.  I'll try to work with him on and off today and see how far we get.  I think he'll be a good dog when he gets over it!

So the pup is ours

So the labmix pup is ours now.  He's in a doghouse in my sunroom!  He's pretty terrified of the whole situation right now.  Amanda got him to take food from her, but he doesn't trust me yet.  He was more receptive to Louis than me, but Amanda's the only one he's responded personally to.  I will let him get used to the doghouse and then take it out back when he has sufficiently claimed it as his own.  He may be a little younger than the lady said.   I'd guess four months or so.  He really looks like a lab, but he's not very big.  Big feet though.  I'll be patient for awhile and let him grow toward us.  He may have been undernourished or he may be a runt.  But looking at him, I'd say he's between 4 and 5 months.

Lots of stuff got done

Lots of stuff got done.  The bluberries are all in.  The pergolah is up sans a few cross pieces and a few brace pieces.  The ground is ready for some zinna seed.  In chopping through the vines at the side of the new pergolah, we found a large crop of quickly ripening dew berries.  I cut some more asparagus and pulled some leeks.  I started the top walkway into my garden (rock covers paper).  We haven't yet gotten the puppy.  We'll have to see how that goes.  He disappeared while we were getting ready to go get him.  But all in all, it's been a good day.  I hope yours has been blessed as well.

weakness and strength

It seems the more my life requires toughness, the more I need the strength of others.  I was told once that is weakness.  I don't think it is.  I think when you recognize where you might be weak and call for covering you become stronger.  Where you see a chasm that might engulf you, asking for help to build the bridge allows you to advance with confidence.  When the waters rise, having others help you sandbag your world while helping them sandbag theirs allows you to breathe and rest enough to gain strength for the next onslaught.  I am truly strong as I understand my vulnerabilities and trust others who are trustworthy.  Blessings.

the coffee's good

well the morning was cloudy and we've had mist but not real rain.  our ground could use it. i'm going to have to water soon if rains don't come.  we got a rain yesterday morning, but it wasn't enough to wet much.  the news on the homefront is . . . . . the coffee's good.  the progress we've see so far is . . . . . . well, the coffee's good.  our trust is not in the goodness of coffee.  be blessed this day.

If I were wise

If I were as wise as I talk like I am, I'd make a lot better choices.  If I understood faith like I think I understand faith, I would see a lot more change in my world.  If I understood people as much as I act like I do, I'd have much more compassion and be able to help a lot more.  Yet, I seek wisdom and continue to advance blindly. I desire faith and speak my desire for things and results.  I advise and admonish through the security of scripture, yet react with the insecurities of a horribly flawed human.  I thank my God that my frailty does not effect his ability, wisdom or will.  His promises do not depend on my veracity.  Be blessed my friends.

'mama'

She always talks about how bad she wanted a family and how desperately she loved her children.  Funny, that's not the message I ever got.  How could we be so close and miss each other so far.  I only planned the birth of one child.  So I wonder how those kids relate to me when they think of 'mama'. - Okay, I mean when they aren't mad at me.  Then I know the answer.  I have a lot of memories.  I wonder how many are colored by personal feelings and opinions.  Maybe the reason we can't change the past, is because it may have not even happened that way.  Lot's of reflections this cool but promising morning. . . . . . . The coffee is good.  The trash is out.  Monday is a memory and Tuesday is to be discovered.  Be blessed my friends.

Perhaps

We made a mad dash across 3 states and back in two days.  We brought our daughter back with us for some healing and reconstruction.  I have asked myseft a dozen times "What are we doing?"  Well we are doing what we believe is right and best.  If it should fail or fall apart, I believe we will still know we tried to make a difference in her life.  The fact that her little girl is in another state and in the arms of another woman is a torment to all three of us.  We will face it with as much grace and faith as possible.  For now, we will simply try to reconstruct life as it should be now.  We need prayer and wise, kind people to fall into at critical moments. . . . . . . . . . . .The world is becoming brighter and stronger with each day.  The baby birds were gone from the nest when we returned home.  There is no real clue as to what happened.  Perhaps they flew for the first time as baby birds do.  Perhaps they were blown out.  But no trace is available to see either way. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I hope your day is contented, your grace and faith are enough for your trials, your coffee is good, and you are blessed beyond measure.

tying up ends

I am washing bedding and tying up ends.  We will begin a sad but hopeful trek this evening 6 ish.  Only one lesson today is about to begin and the rest of the day working on what my hands find to do to keep my mind from finding things to do.The sun is shining, the babies are growing, and the coffee is just right.  Blessings.

Recalculating

Recalculating.  Turn right; turn right; turn right; turn right.  Recalculating.  Turn left; turn left; turn left; turn left.  Recalculating. . . . .

We are flawed, our source is not.

I've cleared my schedule for Friday.  We will make a flying trip toward the unknown as soon as my mr. gets home from work tomorrow night.  Prayers are appreciated from the praying people.  What needs to be done seems next to impossible, but then we are weak and flawed.  Our source is not.

The sun rose precisely

The coffee is reeeeeally good this morning!! I will be in the studio on and off throughout the day.  I hope to get in the garden later.  My devotions with mom began as a teeth and heart grinding experience.  Eventually, she stopped and said "are you there?"  I said "yes I'm just listening."  So she dropped it and we went on.  It turned to be a day with little fellowship, but we got through it.  There's always another day, I hope.  On the home front, the coffee's good and the sun rose precisely when it was supposed to.  Be blessed this day my friends.

Each time I come

Each time I come to post, my mind is so full and my heart so heavy that I write, proof read, delete and walk away. For those who know, pray. For those who don't, forgive my distance. When a triviality presents itself I will post non-essentials and some will decide I have become dull and shallow and am not worth your time. It is what it is. But I hope your day is blessed.

much amiss in my world

It's cool and rainy and my heart feels the same.  Just too much amiss in my world today.

Enough already

Sometimes I feel that my mind and emotions are caught in the loop of a B grade doomsday movie. I generally am a positive person, but the cataclysmic explosions just don't seem to stop and the landscape is already wiped out.  Enough already.  But then I cannot just let it be.  I just keep pushing play.  I need to get out more!

a lazy morning

It's been a lazy morning.  I don't really know why some days are like this.  I woke very early but didn't get up until a lot later.  I got my trash out and then called my mother who was sure it was Monday evening and not Tuesday morning.  When I finally convinced her, we read together and then she had to get off the phone to get ready for her days tasks. . . . . . . .  I've lazied about in my jammies all day and now it's almost one and I need to put real clothes on.  (I did some house cleaning and such but not a huge lot)  I will have lessons in a couple of hours and I need to make up clay for a student project coming up. . . . . . . . . Life has not settled down and my spirit is still quite uneasy about family matters.  Sometimes when I begin concentrating prayer in an area, things just explode into chaos and I find myself hoping it wasn't my prayer that brought it into being.  I say that halfway joking. . . . . . .  My world is green and blooming about me.  I love the cool, gorgeous mornings and the warm breezy afternoons of spring.  And I love that it cools off quickly and invites a fire in my pit in the evenings. . . . . . I hope your day is blessed and rewarding.

Who made this mess?

My heart is wanting to write.  There are words just under the surface.  But my mind is clouded and thick with things that need processed like laundry piled in an easy chair.  I want to scream "Who made this mess?" but it doesn't really matter.  And now my mind knows that it must sharpen up and entertain ideas beneficial to other commitments.  So, like a good host expecting company, I gather up the 'stuff' I don't have time to fix and get it out of the way.  I hide it in a back room and shut the door understanding that it will accumulate until the job breaks through to another need, another time when I will open the door and say "Who made this mess?" knowing that it doesn't really matter.  I will decide then how to deal with the need inside.  But that will be another day, another hour.  May this day be profitable and blessed.

a blessed Easter

I wish you all a blessed Easter.  My world is resurrecting daily in celebration.  His sacrifice and reclaiming of life is my hope and ultimate joy.

an okay day

I got the wisteria tied up.  Whew it had grown a lot.  The grapes are trimmed and tied up and full of grape wannabees.  The raspberries are all tied up and putting on berries.  The front side stucco is FINISHED! well the first coat anyway and the back side of the gate post has the first coat as well.  I got a little more stucco trim on the south wall.  It has been an okay day.  I hope yours has been blessed as well.

quiet cool

I woke early.  It's been a nice quiet cool and misty morning.  I've done a couple loads of laundry and cleaned and put away in the kitchen.  I spent a little while catching up on FB and oggling pictures of my brand new great grand daughter while sipping on a delicious cup of pinon coffee.  . . . . . . It should be a good day, though I will be in the studio for the bulk of it.  I got my herb garden finished yesterday.  I also got the pool a little more clean and began pulling weeds out of my garden spot to prepare for plantings.  Plans for my hill and waterfall remake came into focus a little as I worked.  I'm anxious to get going on all of it.  We are going to put a pergola on the main deck beside the swimming pool and should be able to begin replacing the roof on our back section soon.  Spring energizes me, but I know there is only so much time, energy and money for all I want to do. . . . . . I hope your day is good and productive and brings a greatful heart and lots of love with its passage.  Blessings friends.

3 weeks full

For 3 weeks I've had guests in my home.  First came Kenlei.  She's kinda quiet when not accompanied by other children, but she tagged along, visited and played about my world for a couple of days before she was joined by Olivia.  Then she and Liv played and helped until Kenlei's mom got her in the wee hours of Monday. . . . . . . .  Liv is noisy and bouncy and always at the top of my world.  I used to say she was high maintenance, but not so much now.  She's just very visible and hearable.  She's high energy, intelligent and likes to be where her gramma is.  She likes to sit on me and work with me and play with me.  She likes me to show her things and teach her things and be in her day.  For a week and a day before my niece and her grandson came, she blessed my home with her happy.  She got to play with Dante for a little over a day before she had to go home.  I love just about all parts of having her in my world. . . . . . . . . . . .  And then there was Cathy and Dante.  We walked and talked (I really do talk a lot) and exercised and drove and cooked and just about everything else.  Today they got in her shiny blue car and drove away, leaving my house ghostly quiet and my heart feeling a little bit empty.  It's just been so full that it will take some getting used to. . . . . . . . . . We did do a lot, but not everything I had hoped to do.  Perhaps if I didn't 'talk' quite so much we could have done more, but there it goes.  It was a nice week with moments of definite sweetness.  It left me with the hope that I didn't wear her out verbally or physically too much.  It left me with the desire to set my world in order.  It left me determined to create more and prepare more and grow as a person.  And it left me hungry for the next opportunity to share my life and my space with those I love.  I pray that you are blessed and surrounded with those you love and those who love you.