Duster in Hand

Another beautiful fall morning. Hubby is on his way home today so things are looking pretty good. Sun is shining, sky is blue...

I have been doing some cleanup around the house as a person tends to 'let things go' when you don't have to ... end of story! So, although I felt everything was 'homey' it was time to put a few things away! Looks much better now that it's done. Still, there's a number of things that belong to my mom that 'need a home' and until I figure that out, they will be bundled up (again) and shelved.

We have a new girl starting at work full time. She started yesterday and already I can see a change in my co-worker. Less pressured. Even though she has to train this new girl, it is and will be a load off of her. Hopefully the new girl will enjoy what's she doing and will be around for awhile. Anyway, things seem hopeful.

Well, I finished my coffee so I guess that's the end of my coffee break. Guess it is off to more cleaning...

Remembering a morning coffee break in Phoenix in Nov 2010

A new day

A few days have gone by since I last posted. A lot has happened but nothing that I can or should share with the world. All I can say is that people are hurting all around me. I can be thankful that I am not except for my concern for them. Decisions we make or allow others to make for us. That tiny change in direction of what's right to feel good for the moment turns out to be caos and hurt in the present.

 I met with two different people this weekend and both have situations that could have been avoided if they each had more confidence in themself and knowledge of who they were and could be. They did not. Lack of self confidence often leads us to wrong choices.

I am unable to change their situations - they will have to do that. Once they gain the strength, are given other options, then hopefully they will make the right choices. Another opportunity. It will have them at the same place really - having to make a choice - the right choice - the best choice for them. I pray they will each have the strength to do it right this time.

A beautiful morning again. Here's hoping I can make the best of it.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Harvest Time

I went to the farm this week and enjoyed all the harvest activities. It is always amazing how things 'go wrong' when you least expect it and yet it gets fixed and away they go again. Weather always plays a hand in activities and this week was no different. A little rain overnight and then they have to wait till the wind picks up, the sun starts shining and things start to dry out again. In the meantime, repair this, fix that, order this and begin something else. I spent the day with John on the new combine. It was fun. A long day and very surprising. I wondered if it would be boring but it wasn't. Every row is different and every bunch of canola goes into the combine differently it seems. Always watching and correcting.



Big Machines




Night farming



Row after row after row



Reflection

It is absolutely beautiful this morning. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and there is no wind. Well, there is a slight breeze that you can see and hear in the willow trees in our backyard but that is more a visual prop for a beautiful morning! My computer says it is only 5 C which is so deceiving as it feels a lot warmer than that. It must be the sunshine! I sat outside with my coffee to read my bible and enjoyed the birds and the freshness in the air.

John is harvesting and he said it had rained so they were 'down' for a day but hopefully it would be sunny today and the wind would dry things and they would be back at it again! This morning, I was reading Psalm 65 (in particular 9-13) and thinking of farming at the same time (oops I guess I was distracted), however, these verses stood out to me:

YOU care for the land and water it; YOU enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so YOU have ordained it. YOU drench its furrows and level its ridges; YOU soften it with showers and bless its crops. YOU crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

How much closer can you get to visualizing harvest time than that!

I also had to dig up a few of God's creations in our front lawn again. They seem to enjoy the rainy weather. I had to dig out three mushrooms and I hope that is it for awhile. It is not a 'mushroom ring' simply the odd one here and there. Thankfully. Nevertheless, we don't want them on our front lawn!

Well, back to household chores...

Extremely Loud

and Incredibly Close is a very powerful movie. I clicked on it accidentally last night and caught the last half. I had to watch the whole thing over again this afternoon to get the whole story.

Sept 11, 2001 I remember John left for work and I turned on the t.v. to catch the weather report. I never watch t.v. during the day but for some reason I did that day. The drama in New York was just beginning and I was watching it live as they were talking about what had just happened. Soon after, the 2nd plane crashed into the tower. I still remember the sick feeling in my stomach when I saw that plane approaching and just knew it was no accident. For months after that event I watched the skies.

I can't watch shows about that event as they bring back all those emotions. Not sure why I even started watching this one - perhaps it was the child's point of view that got me. Many tears were shed again. Though I know it was simply a story, I wonder how close it is to someone's realty? The young actor was amazing - Thomas Horn.  Worth the watch.

Mushroom Magic - Not!!

My husband has been away this week at the farm but one of the last things he 'asked' me to do was to watch for any mushrooms growing out of our lawn. The weather conditions have been perfect for them this year and they seem to pop up out of nowhere. Before he left, he cut the grass so they would be  easy to spot. I guess I took a day 'off' as when I looked out the window this morning there were mushrooms growing in six or seven different locations on the front lawn! YIKES!!!! I dropped everything I was doing to go and get the special tool from the garage and started to dig them out. Some of them were pretty big and I left a hole (literally a hole) in the ground to make sure I got the whole root system!

I cannot believe that those things just popped up over night but I have to say that they were NOT there yesterday at noon! Guess the weather was just right for them. Anyway, I will now be on ALERT for any suspicious growths.

Mushrooms anyone?

Seeing Double or Triple

I tried using Walmart's website to download some photos for reproduction. I have done this many times and have also run into trouble many times if I try to print off too many. Yesterday, was a troubled time!

I went through the same steps I always do but for whatever reasons this time, I uploaded the same pictures three times.

 Don't ask me how. It just seemed that they were not uploading and I was in the same place as when I started. In the end, I had 48 pictures uploaded and I believe I only wanted 18. By the time I got to the last step of 'cropping' the photos, I realized I was cropping the same photos three times! Then to try and backtrack which photos were duplicated was a process in itself. Up and down the page I went trying to 'delete' the second and third copy. It took me long enough in the first place to decide WHICH photos I wanted to print off and then I had to go up and down the page, trying to recall which photos were still duplicated or triplicated (if that is a word)!!

I realize it is only 19 cents a copy but it was the point of it all. I did not want or need triplicates. I thought I had removed the duplicates or triplicates but by the time I went to Checkout, the number they were charging me for was still the same! Not sure how that happened. Finally, I just deleted the whole thing and got out of the website. What a waste of time!!  Today, I will take my memory stick over to Walmart and do the whole thing again. Maybe it will work better there.

Just thinking about...

We were cleaning the garage out this weekend and I had to go through a box of things from when mom passed away. It was letters and cards and a few pictures. Of course, I can't just throw it out - I have to read everyone and see if there is anything I should keep or maybe know about! It took me most of Monday to go through it all. I read all her Christmas cards over the last many years as well as birthday greetings from friends and family and personal letters from relatives. I felt like mom was here again.

I found a few love letters between mom and dad and an 'old flame's' response to mom's rejection. I do recall her telling me about this gentleman but didn't know too many details. Not that the letter includes much other than good insight on mom's behalf as he did not take the rejection very well. Definitely jealous and possessive. What I read was not 'love'. Anyway, thankfully, mom moved on and within a few months met up with our dad and within six months they were married. Now that's love!!

In the garage, we found the old name plate for our folks home which dad made. We were going to throw it out but I see it never made it into the garbage.

 

It now sits in its own place in our garage!

It's sad to think of our lives being 'tossed' after we die through the dissection of what's important to us now as opposed to what had meaning to them! I know myself that I have many, many, many cards and letters of my own that I often read and re-read or just simply look at from time to time. Not sure if my daughter would be too interested in reading each of them - in fact - I'm quite sure she would not. Different personality altogether!  However, I think she will have to go through a lot of things as I notice I do tuck stuff ($) here and there and tend to accumulate in the most unlikely places.  Perhaps I will try to clean up my act before she has to do too much of it herself!

On a totally different note...here is a picture of our little neighborhood rabbit which likes to sleep in the dirt next to our flower bed under the window. He's often there in the winter too but a different colour!

Enjoyable Moments with Grandkids

Today is the day I start to walk again. Oh no, it's not that I have been incapacitated by an accident. No, I just have stopped doing any scheduled exercise over the past 6 or more months! It's time to begin again! At least as I sit here and write this blog my intentions are very good! Hopefully, when I get up off this chair, it will be to go and put on my running shoes and actually WALK OUT THE DOOR.  Not, get up and go do the dishes, iron or any of a number of other things I could do instead!

I thought I would just show a few pics of our grandkids at their last visit here. Who can resist seeing them eh?

New hockey equipment for Ethan & Josh

Alicia at her horse riding camp outside Edmonton

Ethan (left) (skateboard out of sight) and Josh on his new scooter!

Grace enjoying the surprise water spouts!

Alicia at the playground

Grace - all played out!! sound asleep sitting up!