Thankful Thursday

Today is Thankful Thursday. When I sit down here
at the computer to write my Thankful Thursday,
I sometimes want to just be a whiner and say, how
tired I am and how my back hurts, and then I say to myself,
buck-up!!! No one comes here to hear about that kind
of stuff. I guess I should tell you why, I am tired and why
my back is tired. Because really it is all good. It is something
to be thankful for too.

Today, it was cloudy, if you cranked the air down and
didn't go outside, you could even pretend it was a fall day. But
it isn't. It is hot. There is a hurricane in Mexico and we are
getting lots of moisture and thunderclouds and that kind
of stuff but it is still 99, I wanted to bake today. I have
been putting it off so today, I said, I am just going to cook.

I made these, two great big pans of these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.
I got the recipe here They are from Good Eats. Ever since
I read her post I have been thinking about them. I will say,
they make a ton and dough recipe is a lovely bread and the
orange color from the pumpkin makes them look so nice.

It was a bit like If You Give a Mouse A Cookie. because I had
leftover pumpkin so I baked two loaves of pumpkin bread.
Then I was making a big dinner tonight. My husband's birthday
is coming so I like to make the week before kinda special and cook
the things he loves. So tonight I fixed meat loaf, mashed potatoes,
gravy, and green beans and yeast rolls.

After I got the cinnamon rolls raising in the pan I started on the dinner
preparation. I was thinking as I was cooking, that I am so thankful that
I have food to cook. I am so thankful I can cook in this nice cool house.
I am thankful for my two ovens so I can cook lots more faster.

I am thankful that I can stand on my feet for five hours and then
my family will come in the door and there will be good food to eat.
I am thankful that I come from such a long line of woman who cooked
good food. I am thankful for my girls who cook good food for their families.

I am thankful to God who provides all things for us to enjoy. So just standing
in the kitchen there is so much to be thankful for and even though my feet are
tired, I know that my family has snacks, and breakfast and lunch tomorrow.

Some times I think the biggest blessing of my life has been the chance to be
a wife and mother. Of course I wear lots of hats but what woman doesn't.
I can say today that I have so many gifts and privileges that sometimes,
I do take them for granted.

I also wanted to say to all of my blogging friends I am thankful for you.
You have given me confidence to be who I am and sometimes I ponder,
that writing this blog and having someone read it has been the biggest blessing
of all. It has given me courage to live out loud. So I want to thank each and everyone
of you who have come into my heart and have given me joy.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Speaking of Books

I can never figure out how it is I have a blog about gardening
when for most of my life, my love has been books.
I know about books, I know very little about gardening.
Yet, I don't write about them very much. When it comes
to books, it is my vice. I love books, and I am drawn to them
and now, because I feel like such a hoarder, I try and stay away
from them, and only borrow them from the library.

I thought today I would share what I am currently reading.
1. The Bible, I am reading Proverbs, Psalms, Mark and
this week Ephesians.
2. Lies Woman believe by Nancy Leigh De Moss

I haven't read it in a long time, but I was going through
the books in my shed and I came across it and I thought,
I think I need to read this again and just check to see if
I am falling for any lies. I will let you know, I think I have
let some stuff creep in like worry and anxiety and stuff like
that I am praying that God will show me where I need to be
corrected.
3.

I am reading this too and praying my way through it
for all mothers. It is a sweet book with lovely pictures.

4.

I got these at the library and I love them, because I read
mysteries but they have to be Cozy Mysteries. No sex,
no graphic murder, and as my husband says, " She reads books
that no one does anything but goes around and talks to everyone."
These all take place around a lady who owns a Stitchery store. I just
love them. They have a pattern in the back of the book.
5.

The last book I am currently reading is this one
Alien Encounters, by Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman.
Don't tell me you have never wondered about Aliens.
My son who is 15 started asking about Aliens and Alien
Abductions and weird stuff like that. My older son
had been reading the Book of Revelation out loud to him and
he started asking questions. I have undertook a study
in this from a Christian point of view. It has been rather
enlightening. As Solomon put it," really there is nothing new
under the sun."
I think my son is learning that it is okay to ask questions, it
is okay to wonder about things like this. There are no wrong questions.
I will do my best to find out the answers.
Not to mention, I admit to being drawn to spooky things. Like
just today I was reading, when Jesus is walking on the water and the disciples
are in the boat and the waves are crashing all around, and they
think it is a ghost. In Mark it doesn't mention Peter getting out of the
boat. Just Jesus walking on the water and going as if to walk on by.
Jesus doesn't say there aren't ghosts. Or yesterday when we are reading
about the demon possessed man, and Jesus asks the demons their name and
they tell him that they are Legion because they are many and they
ask him to not send them away but to let them go into the pigs
and they do then the pigs jump off the cliff.
I mean, okay don't you ever wonder about passages like that.
They are spooky. So I think about them and try to figure out
after the 2000 pigs were dead, were the demons also or
did they go somewhere else.
(Mark chapters 5-6)

So that is what I have been reading. I don't read nearly as much
as I used to, I read once in Stephen King On Writing ( I don't recommend
it by the way, he cusses too much.) But he said, he reads 80 books a year.
That if you want to be a writer you need to read at least that much or more.
I wasn't writing but I wanted to beat his record. So always in the back
of my mind is I have to read more than 80 books a year.

I didn't even cover the books I am doing for school this week, like
The Gold Bug and Other Stories by Edgar Allen Poe
The Mystery of History,
My boys are doing dictation the poem by Edgar Allan Poe,
"Annabel Lee"
Such a great poem, by doing dictation with them, I get them to
memorize great poems. I might tackle
"The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert W. Service.
as the next dictation. The reason
I love books so much is in no other medium are you given
glimpses into the the minds of people who write. That is
why hands down I think the Bible is best, not only is it
a book written outside of time, it was written for us as
manual on life. Not to mention we see into the mind of God.
How wonderful is that.
It just give me chills.
Have a great Wednesday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Decorating For October

This weekend since the pumpkins are gone, I took the sign
I had out in the garden and put in in my flower bed
in the front yard. I thought it looked okay.

This morning even though we are going to have record
temperatures this week I thought October is this week.
I really like September but I am madly in love with October.
In October, my husband will be older than me, and he gets
to be married to a younger woman for 6 months. ;)

My first baby who is now my oldest daughter was born
in October. She will be 29, Wow, I still remember when I had her, so clearly
and the doctor said it was a girl, and I knew I would never be the same.
My Dad came in to the recovery room as I was holding her in my arms,
and I was crying and I said, " Oh Dad, I am so sorry, I ever hurt you,
I just didn't know how much you loved me." It was just me and him and
he held his first grand daughter and it was so special.

It had been a very special week, not only did he get a first grand daughter,
after years and years our family finally won Grand Champion
steer at the Fair. Our family had shown cattle and that was the
year we finally won. It was a good week. My Dad was so happy.

October the air starts to have a tang of sweetness, like a crisp, bite
from a perfect apple. Or that first sip of apple cider. October
puts on all of her clothes and dresses up for fall. She is
shameless in the selection of her reds, browns, her yellows.

I think I always have fallen in love in October. My husband before
he was my husband came to tell me good-bye in September before
he left for college. By October, I knew he would meet some sweet
little coed and I would loose him forever. I know it was October,
when it dawned on me, what would happen to me if I lost him.
I wouldn't date him because he was my best friend. In October,
I realized, if he married me we could always be best friends.
I am a bit slow.

In October I want to grab my grandchildren and dance around the room
with them and sing silly songs. I would always dance with my own children
in October when they were small. Now they all tower over me.

I worked on this today. My pumpkin was a little bare.
I took the crow and stuff off and put it on the above sign.
So I cut out some shapes and put them on it to liven it up.

I put my pumpkins on the railings today. I hope that
this heat won't make them go bad. I just don't have room
in my fridge to keep them cold. I know this heat is going
to be going away and it will be replaced with air that is
wonderful and every morning to wake up is such a joy.

I hope you have a lovely Tuesday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Terror From The Skies

This was the closest I could get to this Sharp-Shined Hawk.
I was surprised how close it let me get before it flew off
to the other part of the fence.

I kept hearing my chickens going crazy, and I would look out
and not see anything. Finally, I decided I had better go down and
check. As I walked toward the chicken house, I saw it sitting
on the fence.

My big hens can go into the little house but my Bantams don't
really have a place to hide. I could tell that the hawk had been
sitting there saying really mean things.
From where I was standing I could see my white silkie hen
hiding her head under a board with her back to the hawk.

As I stood there, I imagined the hawk, in a really scary voice saying,
" Little hen, little hen, I have a cook book and I am going to make deep
fried chicken legs, and chicken breasts in wine sauce, and chicken fricassee."
I was almost sure of it the way they were acting.
Because as I got close, I could see it's beak opening and closing as if it
were talking to me.

My big hens when I opened the door to see if they were okay, were all
hiding under the perches and some had even got in the nesting boxes and
had their little heads in the back so they wouldn't see anything coming.

I know that this hawk spends it's winters here. It has been awhile since
it as sat on the fence and stared at my chickens. The rooster next door will
yell and jump up and down and get really mad as the hawk sits on his fence.
But I have never seen it try to get one of that roosters hens.

My hens, have no roosters which I am still kicking myself. I have a hen who thinks
maybe being a rooster might be more fun and is starting to be a little roostery to my
other innocent hens. She might have to visit ole mister hatchet. I have never done that
but it is starting to cross my mind.

I will have to be very careful now when I let my hens out in the yard. I will have
to be home and I can't be doing something and not paying attention, because well,
Now I have terror from the skies to get my flock.
I hope your week will be off to a good start.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Work and Being a Farm Girl

We did it, we got the cantaloupes, the corn and
the pumpkins taken out today. Doesn't the dirt
look nice. It was about 4 hours of work but
I think worth it. Now I don't have the sound of
things rustling through the corn. I am so jumpy when
I am out there and when sometimes the sound
of the wind going through the corn stalks and I am
out there by myself, I get so jumpy I have to go back
in the yard. I am kind of a chicken. I know that there
are lots of critters that I can't recognize from the tracks,
so sometimes my mind does run away with me.

I took a picture of the green trash cans filled with corn
stalks. I keep thinking I should decorate with them.
but I have been sneezing and coughing and crying
now for about...4 hours since all of the ripping out of
the garden. I really don't want to get around it.

This is the last bit of pumpkins. I had small green ones
on the vine but as I was walking through the vines
I could see so many, creepy squash beetles. Oh
it was so terrible. One plant must have had a thousand
on it. I kicked it with my foot and it was just like kicking
over a ant hill. I have never seen so many of those icky
things. I have seen them around all of my life. We called them
stink bugs. I didn't know they are like ticks and they suck
the juices from the plants and fruit. They don't bother
the stone fruit, but they are on my sunflower stalks.

So we just took out the pumpkins. My poor husband was on the tractor
and they kept flying up at him. I could hardly stand it. I just had to walk
away because they were flying at me too. Next week, I hope it is a bit
cooler and we can take out the sunflowers and my tomatoes. I have
pretty vines just no tomatoes. We will leave the peppers until the first
frost.

I never could get my video to work so I am going to just do this post instead.
I don't know how to jump through the hoops to get it to play. I mean if you have
a Facebook account my son said you could view it that way. But I am not really sure
if it would work and I am tired of messing with it.
Sometimes things work and sometimes they don't but I learned how the
Edit Html thing works at the top of blogger so that was cool so it wasn't a
total waste.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. I know it is a bit early but that way
with two posts it will make up for my video that didn't work. :)

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Odds and Ends of Saturday

I still have a few pumpkins growing. I am trying to
let them grow as long as possible. I have already thought
about the variety's that I am growing next year. Maybe
I will just grow pumpkins. :)

This being Saturday, I thought I would post one
of my son's videos. I live in the same house with my
four youngest children. I home school two of them, full time.
We have most of our meals together.
The video my son posted on his Facebook was a year
long project. I never knew. If you watch is a second
time you will see all of the different people that visit here
even in one photo is one of my grandsons.

I never knew until the day he posted it. Sometimes
it makes me feel weird like maybe I don't really live
here all of the the time. It is Saturday and I read
the Pioneer Woman's tips for posting posts and my
daughter told me about another guy who was at a
blogging conference about how you need to mix it
up a bit on your blog, so today this is my attempt
to mix it up.
Well, I can't get the silly thing to work now, I am not sure
how to link it to facebook and everyone who knows is still
asleep. So much for my new blogging skills.
I will try to get it fixed later. Sorry.


It makes me sad, to see how fast time goes by, and how much
they change from day to day. I always feel like it is sand slipping
through my fingers.
So, something different on Saturday.
I hope you have a very nice Saturday. I am going to be ripping out
the corn, the cantaloupe. Not to mention, if my husband reads this
he has it in writing.
Have a lovely day.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Fiber Friday

Today for Fiber Friday, I thought I would get my little
quilts ready so I could do the hand sewing on them.
I love doing hand sewing the best. There is just
something comforting about sitting and doing handwork.
I loved this little quilt and it was a fun little project to do.


Here is some more progress on my rug. It is really getting
big and it is heavy. You know because I have never done
a big rug before, so I had no idea how heavy they get.
I am using the punch needle and I do like it. I was noticing
that when I use a rug hook I use my left hand. When I use
a Amy Oxford Punch Needle I use my right. I wonder why
that is? I also noticed that using a rotary cutter today, I
use my right hand. I am left handed.


This is my counted-cross stitch I have been working
on too. I loved working the letters. I had so much fun.
Someday I will learn to do this over two threads but
I just can't see. I tried linen and I finally gave up and just
did it on this. I was using those clip on magnifiers and
magnifying glass and bright light, and what little I could see to
do, by the time I took the magnifiers off my eyes were crossing.
I was dizzy so I guess me and all of that beautiful linen will
never meet.


This is my little punch needle I drew myself, I wanted
to see how Monk's cloth worked. I don't like Monk's
cloth for punch needle. It has been fun to see but it
has been a total experiment I won't repeat.

I cut out a couple more quilts today and hopefully I will
get them finished next week and I cut some shapes out
of pine so I can do those this weekend. I had made a pine
pumpkin last year and it looks really bare so I am going to
work some more on it this weekend.
I hope you have a great Friday.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Thankful Thursday

We are officially into fall, or Autumn. Today the wind chimes
are singing in the beautiful morning air. The weather
is having a bit of a change and as in spring, I go crazy in the fall.
I noticed this morning the light had changed.

Just a simple leaf became a work of art. I have always
been drawn to heart-shapes in nature.
But this morning, I was drawn to the magic that seemed to be
all around me.
I could feel the air that ran across my skin finer than silk.
The trees were dancing for me as their leaves shimmered
in the glorious light with the blue of the sky as
a wonderful roof.

The light seemed to make all things glow. What I love
about morning glories is they take sun light into itself
to make their whole being glow from inside.
Like the beauty of a woman with a baby growing inside of her.
The glow that comes from within that speaks to the quiet beauty
of new life.
When the Holy Spirit comes to live within you,
the Greek word means " quickening." When a woman goes to the
doctor the doctor will ask, " When did you first feel the quickening?"
Which means the first butterfly kiss of the baby moving in your tummy.
So is the sweetness of the Holy Spirit that draws all men unto Himself.
We begin a new life and everything becomes new and all the old has passed
away.

"God wanted us to choose to love Him. Our freedom to choose that would have
been meaningless if we had not also been free not to love Him.
The freedom to obey depends on the freedom to disobey.
The will of God is always bigger, different, far better than we could
dream."
(Elisabeth Elliot)
Today is a all of my dreams come true kind of day.

Today the grass beneath my feet was filled with diamonds.
The flowers were all wearing jewels on the petals that sparkled
in the light.

Even the leaves wore the beauty well. Oh I am so thankful
to wake up mornings such as this, to be able to sing of the Glory
of God and be so very thankful today, that I am alive.
Today I will keep my eyes open to all of the magic
that lives in the world.
I hope your Thursday, will be lovely and as filled with
joy and promise and all things good.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Getting Caught Up On Wednesday

I was thinking today that I had not blogged about
what was really in our attic. Do you remember earlier
in the summer when my husband was out of town, and
I mentioned getting woke up by something in the attic?

It has been a constant problem. My husband and I have
walked around the house banging on walls, looking into
every nook and crevasse. Got behind the wood pile,
banged on the walls, but couldn't duplicate the sound
we would hear every morning. We have had the pest control
climb in the attics and look, the one good thing is she saw
not sign of pests anywhere.

The other morning at 4:16 as it goes through the attic my husband
jumps out of bed and by the time he gets to the doors it has stopped.
It keeps waking my daughter because she thinks someone is trying to
break in the door.
The next morning 4:16 it happens again, I mumble," it has to be mechanical,
because it happens at 4:16 every day". For my husband
he then knows what it is, our automatic sprinklers start the first cycle
at 4:00 AM and then the second starts at 4:16. He knew then he had
a valve was going out. He went out and started the sprinkler timer
again when he got home from work and sure enough it goes through the attic
just like some critter is running though duct work. It was the water pipes.
He changed out the valve this weekend and no more scary sounds.
I think though I have been conditioned to wake up at 4:16. :)



I made this pie today. I don't eat this stuff. But I did
have a piece of this and I will tell you up front. Dangerous.
Extremely Dangerous. It is a good pie to take somewhere
that it will get eaten up and don't bring home any leftovers.

Remember when last week I bought a new Taste of Home Magazine?
It is from there.
Mile-High Peanut Butter Brownie Pie

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, ( or be good and make your own.)
thawed.
1 box (15 1/2 ounces) brownie mix
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons water
1 egg
1 cup powdered sugar
1 package (8ounces) Cream Cheese softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping thawed
2 Tablespoons peanuts chopped
2 Tablespoons mini chips

1. Heat oven to 350degrees F. Unroll pie crust; place in
ungreased 9 in pie plate. Flute edge.
2. In a medium bowl, stir the brownie mix, peanut butter
chips, oil, water, and egg for 50 strokes with a spoon.
Pour into crust lined pie plate.
3. Bake 30-40 minutes. Covering edge of crust with strips of foil
after 15-20 minutes if browning to quickly. Cook until brownie is
set and crust is golden brown.
Cool slightly about 20 minutes.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until completely cooled.
4. In a medium bowl beat cream cheese, peanut butter and
powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth. Fold in whipped
topping. Spread over brownie layer. Sprinkle with peanuts and
mini chips. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Store
covered in Refrigerator.

Now what I changed.
I only used about 4 ounces of cream cheese and 6 ounces of
vanilla yogurt.
I used fat free Cool Whip
Next time I think I would use my own brownie recipe for the
brownie layer. I am thinking too I might try it with either a
graham cracker crust or maybe no crust at all.
I am thinking of using the top part with the cream cheese and peanut
butter over a banana cream pie. My son who is a peanut butter and banana
fan thought that would be good.

It should be even cooler Wednesday so I might even bake something else.
It feels so nice to cook when the breeze is coming in from outside.
I hope you have a lovely Wednesday.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Could It Be Fall?

I got up this morning and it was cloudy. It smelled
like rain, just a bit and there was the smell of brown leaves.
It is hard to describe the smell of brown leaves, but it
is a tiny bit like dirt, and humus and leaves. Living in
California, I am by September tired of abundant
sunshine. That is what the weather report always
says, abundant sunshine. I am ready for some weather.
I like weather.

I was sitting outside, last night. The windows were open
and the air conditioners off. My son was sitting at the piano
playing sometimes the songs that live in my soul.
I wondered how it is that he knows what to play when I am
sitting outside. The dogs are at my feet.
The sky has turned purple and there is a faint outline of
the sun setting, as the last of the light fades from the sky.

There are killdeers flying up above and crying the plaintive
cry. I see a very large flock of geese flying overhead. I realize they
are racing the sun. I think it is the largest flock I have seen in a long
while. I watched as the V shape changed as the leader fell back
and was replaced by a new one.

As I am sitting there I am aware of a shadow silently,
walking toward me. I think I hear the sound of the grass
and her little cat feet before I see the white bib glowing in
the last of the light. It is the cat, who would rather
stay outside all night than come into the house.
She talks to me as I pick her up and put her in the garage.
It makes me wonder at all that she sees as she is crouched
in the weeds. Pretending she is a jungle cat waiting for
her prey.

I am glad fall is almost here. I am glad that it will be time
to wear long pants, and sweatshirts and watch the fire
glowing in the fire place. I will be glad that the garden
will be gone and in its place clean dirt waiting for the dreams
of next year.
Have a lovely Tuesday.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Out of the Bee Business

Notice anything missing? Yep, the bee hive.
We are out of the bee hive business. Ever since the day
we robbed the bees, something odd was going on,
for a couple of weeks they were so mad that just
walking by was a...adventure. Then as time when
on each morning I noticed less and less activity.

Yesterday, I stood and I didn't see a single bee.
This morning we decided to look in the hive.
Every thing was gone, packed up and vanished.
Only thing is, they left everything put back in order.
The frames we had robbed that had been a mess when we
put them back. They were all cleaned up and put in shape.
But the deeper we got into the box we found no brood, no
honey and no bees.
Nothing. It was kind of weird because there had been so many bees
a month ago.

We took everything apart and put it on our " don't-
know-where-to-put-this-pile. I am a bit sad, but not
that sad. I am not going to get anymore bees I know that.
I learned so much, I hate being stung. The dog is allergic
to bees, my husband is allergic to bees. They were not
nice bees. I was afraid that my grand children would get
stung. I learned I won't just order whatever bees you have
on hand. I think I had some kind of hybrid killer bee type.
They never did settle down. Then when we robbed them,
they just packed up and moved.

I think the correct term is Bee Hive Collapse. There were no
dead bees every thing was gone. There was no foul brood or anything.
I think what is so strange in the second super that was full of honey two weeks ago it
was all gone as well. I guess it is the UFO of bee keeping.
I was telling my husband this morning, good, I am glad I am out
of the bee business, I might not be a farm girl anymore, maybe I will be
a beach girl, or a get your fingernails manicured girl, or a shopping full time
girl, I think I will always be a chicken girl. I don't know about gardening girl.
Pretty sick of that. But it is fall and I have a huge garden to pull out
and get ready... oops... I almost slipped... did you see that next year part.
I guess I will stay a Farm Girl. :)

Have a great Monday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Buried. (Original Metal Song)

My oldest son wrote the music and played the music
and did the whole video, I just thought I would
post it tonight. I thought it was a great song.
Thanks for watching.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Simply Sunday

I am writing this post on Saturday night. I will tell you
a secret, I always write my posts the night before.
I hope you won't feel ripped off, but it is easier to
write after I have the dinner dishes done and the
troops fed and the house has settled down for the evening.

I picked my last basket of peaches today. I was sort of sad.
The only thing left on the fruit trees are the Pomegranates.
Which I am looking forward to in October. They are so pretty.
I also picked these 4 walnuts. I have had this lovely
walnut tree but when I had my horse I let him out one
day and he ate that poor walnut tree down to a nub.

It has been trying to recover ever since. So to get 4 walnuts
was a big deal to me today. I am having a bit of a fight with
the parrots. I don't mind to much when they eat my sunflowers.
Their next favorite crop is nuts. So for a couple years in a row,
they have got to the almonds before I have. I would like just a few.
I really enjoy raw almonds.

This is the first gourd that I did something with.
it is okay for a first project. I learned a lot. Don't use
a small jigsaw while you are holding the gourd between
your legs. Sometimes the jigsaw slips. The same goes
for using a serrated knife. Use a blade with a straight blade.
I stood and looked at exacto knives at Michaels.
I kind of shivered to myself, those things would really cut my leg.
My gourd had lots more teeth but I slipped so it only left him with two.

I am going to have to use a vise next time. These gourds are really
dry and seasoned. They are much harder to cut than a nice soft pumpkin.
I have also been kicking around the idea of just spray painting them
and leaving the seeds and every thing inside. They rattle kind
of nice and some evening when I am bored I could grab one and jump
up and down and do a little rain dance. :)

Well, as I guy I used to listen to on the radio would say when he
signed off at night, " Well, this is how it looks from my fencepost."
I hope you have a lovely Sunday.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)