Almost Thanksgiving

Good Morning! Its almost time for Thanksgiving. This has been one fast year don't you think?
2020 is just around the corner. We have been busy getting the house ready. Ron should and hopefully finish the roof today. Then we will begin painting well, not real soon, because we have some great storms coming next week. I feel sorry for people who have to travel this next week.

I imagine we will get frost next week. The snow is supposed to be really low. Perfect for cooking. I love cooking on rainy days and I love a  gloomy Thanksgiving.  A couple of weeks ago a lady in my Thursday morning Bible Study invited me to Bible Study Fellowship. For the day class. I haven't gone to the day class since 1989. I went with all of the kids to the evening women's class when I had all of the kids home. So its been awhile. I enjoyed it so much I signed up. Now I go to Wednesday and Thursday.

Its so different from years ago. What is different too is me. For one thing I am 30 years older. The baby I had then is thirty. I was thinking about it sitting there in the church last week. How my life has changed from then to now. I ran across a verse yesterday that said it better than I can.

"I am accomplishing a work in your days. A work which you will never believe though some one should describe it to you." Acts 13:41

I have never seen that verse before and I have gone through this study, Acts of the Apostles, three times.
I think it will be my verse for 2020. I will cling to this as God continues to lead us to the next chapter of our life. But looking back at our life has been just that, because if someone would have told me that my life would be as it continues to be, I would not believe it.

I am very, very thankful and very small. Do you ever feel very small? When you look around you and think, "how can this be me?" I do all of the time. I think of the dark threads, that outline the light threads, and I see how the pattern of my life continues to focus and get more and more clear. Things 30 years ago that I thought I had to have, are not the things I need now. Looking at houses, because I have a little bit, I find really all I need is something to keep the rain off and a few garden beds to feed us. I still never can buy a house for what it looks inside, but for what is out in the yard.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week. When we built this house in 2001, the Lord gave me this verse." How long will you mourn? Fill your lamp with oil and GO, I will send thee. I have provided." 1 Samuel 6:1" Twenty years later, as I look back, God did just what He said, He has provided and took care of us in ways I never dreamed. I am also glad he gave me a new verse.

There is a book title I love. "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.?" I have one of my legs out of the boat now, but I am still clinging to the side of the boat. I hope to at least to walk on water in 2020.

Have a lovely and blessed Thanksgiving.

~Kim~

Life continues to move as such a fast pace. We have doubled in number from when this picture was taken and they have gone out to other places to make their impact on the world. God is good.

My Every Once in a While Post

Happy Great Morning to you. Are you having a great fall? Its been a lovely October here.
We have been working on the house. I imagine we will be working on the house until the day we move out. The front yard and back yard are planted in rye grass now. We have the laundry room painted.
We are even talking of painting the inside of the garage. I thought I would tell you, no we won't be leaving California. Except to go see our kids and grandkids in the other states they live in. We still have four living here. Not to mention, sometimes I feel like the captain that goes down with the ship.
The state I was born into, doesn't look like the one I live in now. But, it is home. There are still things we love about it more than the things we hate.

 

I did this rug and got it finished and bound. Its my design and I sold the other one. Its called Rise and Shine. I do love rug hooking and this time of year is my favorite time for binding. I just love to sit with a warm rug on my lap. I really don't mind binding when its cooler. I have a few more to bind that I put away when the weather was hot.

 

As I have been looking around at houses that we might buy, I realize I always look at houses for the wrong reasons. Our first house, it was for our own house to live in and have babies. In our second house, it was because the house was so much bigger and had four bathrooms and more bedrooms and it had berry vines in the back yard.  When we built this house it wasn't for the house but for the dirt. Lots and lots of dirt. Its river bottom land and perfect for growing.

Now I find myself looking at houses, not so much for the inside because I know I can change it. I look to see about the backyard. When my Mom and Dad bought their last house as I was asking my Mom what her house was like. She said," well it has a creek, and ponds and the best barns. It has woods and pastures and its so quiet. Its just beautiful." I said," but what about the inside?" I said, "well??" and she was silent for a bit and she said, " We never saw the inside of the house before we bought it, they wouldn't let us come inside, but it has a lovely front porch and it sits off the road."

I said, " You are inside now, what does it look like?" She was silent for a moment, and said,"  well, it has a very nice fireplace and wood box and shelves and its very pretty." I said, " Mom??" How's the kitchen? She said, " Well the kitchen sink is falling through the floor because the kitchen floor is rotted but we can fix it. By the time we made it to visit them, her house was the cutest house I ever saw and the neatest farm house. In my mind it was the best kind of house. By then they had a wonderful lake and our kids were so much younger then and it was paradise. So what that taught me, is you can make anything a home. So as I look at houses, I never look so much at what the house looks like on the outside, nor do I really care much for the inside, I do care about the backyard. So I am sure what ever we find it will be be just perfect. I want to be close to the airport so we can jump on a plane and go on trips to celebrate birthdays and all of those special times I miss now.

 I find that I have a good lesson about life. Ron was going to be and is on jury duty. As I was anticipating this, in my mind I saw him coming home exhausted and emotionally spent. Its a six week  trial. I saw all of these horrible things he was going to have to deal with. Then  this week, the trial began. Not at all what I expected. He doesn't go to court, until it starts at nine. He gets a two hour lunch. Then he goes back to court and its over at 2:30. He comes home and they told him at work he could just come home and work from here. It has been like a vacation. He had made friends and not at all like the picture I had painted in my mind. I imagine that moving and all of that will be not what I expect and not like all of my fears. I am a very serious player of the what if game.

Its that time of year, I start wanting to listen to Charles Dickens and curl up with a rug hooking project and sit in front of a fire. I want to dream of what ever it is that God has in mind for us. I will just keep doing the next thing and keeping a quiet heart.

Have a wonderful day, where ever you are. I hope the leaves are changing and you have blue skies.

~Kim~

It’s not what the world holds for you. It is what you bring to it. 

(Lucy Maud Montgomery) 

Today Feels Like Fall

 

  Today finally feels like fall. I am noticing a few of the trees starting to change. Its even cloudy, so its a perfect Saturday. My goodness I was gone almost six weeks. I did think, maybe I should just wait until October and skip September all together. I can't believe that September is just racing by.

 

It was a lovely summer. The garden was fantastic. I was able to put up so much food. We drove up to Northern California and we saw Ben and Megan and the boys. It was a lovely time.

 

They have grown so much. I think that being out there in North Carolina and getting to be boys agrees with them.

 

There was so much fantastic stuff to see and do.  Its a long way up there from here. Its almost six hours from here. I haven't been up that way since I was a kid. It just shocks me how much water is up there.

 

I just loved these pumpkins. I took pictures of everything I would like to grow someday.
I managed to finish up a rug. I wanted to get it finished so I could put it out for fall.

The original pattern is by Buttermilk Basin. I wanted a bigger rug so I could put it in front of my fireplace, so I added a few things. I have had this pattern for so long.

 

 So for the bittersweet part of this story today. I have been absent from blogging because we have been working on the house so we can sell it. We hope to get it on the market in the spring. So at this point, all I can think that this will be goodbye to my field of dreams. I wanted one last garden before I leave. It was a nice way to shut that door. We will continue to get the house ready for the next person who lives here and I hope they will love it as much as we have loved it. With the our grand children living in different states, we think that its time to be more mobile. To just be able to jump on a plane and go to them when we can. To not miss birthdays and all of that jazz.

I have thought and thought and prayed and prayed, and we both figure that this is the best time to down size. A house is just a house. It takes people to make it a home. This is a family house and it really makes me sad now that its not filled with people who will slam doors, and run upstairs and swim in the pool and run and climb trees. Now that I have told you, maybe I can blog more. I just couldn't sit down and write this post until today. Its not sad really, its just going to be a new adventure. Ron and I will be married 40 years in April. I think its a good time to find that promised land. A place that I don't have to worry about water, and heat and the crazy government of California.

Thank you so much for being such an important part of my life. I hope you still stop by every now and then. I will bring you along this next journey.

~Kim~

And the night shall be filled with music,
      And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
      And as silently steal away.

Mid August

 

What a lovely summer its been. Just the right kind. Not too many 110 days, just a normal summer.
The garden is tired, and I am tired of it. Its still so nice to go out in the early morning. I sit in my chair under the trees. My hens get as close as they can and preen and doze and I love the peace of the early morning. There are hummingbirds everywhere in the garden this time of morning and I watch them as they fly about the flowers and the squash blossoms. My sunflowers are starting to get tired, but the finches are so happy and you can hear them chatting to each other as they sway from the tops of the sunflowers as they harvest sunflower seeds. My little Jack be Little's are ready to be harvested but I keep putting it off, so maybe they will last lots longer if I harvest in September.

I have just loved seeing these little bees just covered in pollen and so loaded down, I wonder how they fly.
I would say this last week as been like the opening lines in Tale of Two Cities," It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
The best of times, is that Peter got a job back in our town. Yay, he starts in September. He will be moving back and I am so happy. I will be back to having two boys at home for awhile still yet.

The worst of times this week, is that while we were sleeping someone came in our backyard and went through our garage bathroom and into our garage and went though our cars. They went through the cabinets in the garage. They went through my shed outside. We still wonder what they were looking for as it seems so odd the things that were stolen. A very old BB gun, some blueberries and blackberries I had in the fridge. They took Ron's change he had in his car, but dropped it all over the porch. They broke in our truck outside, but left a dollar on the ground. They dropped the charger block they would use to charge their devices. They stole Ron's case for his glasses. They stole paint cans from my craft cupboard, but left them sitting on our trash cans in the back. It still feels like someone invaded though. They turned the light on in the outside bathroom, which shines in our bedroom which woke up Ron so he may have scared them off. Who knows. We will of course, be on guard. The funny thing was I had strawberries and raspberries in the back fridge but they didn't take them. Odd isn't it?

 

I am working on a fall rug. I even dyed wool this week. September is around the corner. We also lost one of our kitties last week. She was 20 years old. She died quietly in her box. I knew it was coming and I wasn't prepared how upset I got. She grew up with all of the kids and she was still hunting for mice in my chicken house until last week. She always acted more like a dog, than a cat. She came when you called and she followed me out or Ron out when ever we were outside. I am so glad she didn't suffer and I am so glad I didn't have to take her to be put to sleep.

I am so thankful though, that that person or persons didn't make it in the house. I am glad they only got stuff that doesn't matter. But the police say, they will be back. They were looking around. So it will be that we have to be even more on our game. The first thing though that came to my mind was this:
 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:19-21)

 

Its not the things I worry about but people. So that was my week. Good and bad, but all learning experiences. My heart sings in spite of it all because Peter is coming home. Ben and Megan are good, the Arizona people are good, all of the people who live here are good. Lots of challenges all of the time but God is always good, all of the time.

I send you blessings upon blessings from my house to yours,

~Kim~

"Keep looking up...the secret to life---Snoopy"

Hello August!

 

Good Morning! Happy August! Most the time in August, I am so tired of summer. I think this is the first time in years and years, I am so happy to see August. This has been more of the weather that I remember as a child. Warm, yet not weeks and weeks of over 105 or higher. I have thoroughly enjoyed this garden.


It has I think far exceeded my expectations.

Its so hard to get a good photo of all of the work I have stored in jars. I am like Silas Marner, in that I look in here and chuckle to myself at all of this food we have grown in our garden. I think I will have to relocate the stuff on the top shelf, if I can anything else. Most of the time, by August the bugs and heat have completely decimated our plants. I have not been completely organic this year. That food grade sulpher has been such a lifesaver. Not to mention having things growing on the arches rather than on the ground. I have so many little pumpkins growing this year.

This year we planted brown onions. I have to say it has been to my favorite thing. I have used them so much and walking out and getting a onion when I need it has been awesome. I have used so many and this is the last of the crop. I will be planting this again.

 I had to share this picture of the gang that now lives in North Carolina. I totally loved seeing them like this and it brings back so many memories of how when ours were all home at that age how we would spend summer days. I think being outside in a hammock is so cool.

 

I love these arches so much.  There is just something about going inside a tunnel. I sit and watch hummingbirds and finches that love this area. In fact the other day when I was picking food, I think I was being dive bombed by a hummer.

I know when I sat down here I had a million things I wanted to talk to you about. I just wanted to say hi and I can't believe we are into August now. You know what that means right? Fall is around the corner. I will enjoy August, but knowing that the promise of fall is waiting in the winds just makes me so happy.
Have a wonderful week,

"August rushes by like desert rainfall,
A flood of frenzied upheaval,
Expected,
But still catching me unprepared.
Like a matchflame
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away."
-  Elizabeth Maua Taylor

Crazy, Busy Summer!

 

I thought I would do a small update post.  Its still rocking and rolling in Ridgecrest. We don't feel the earthquakes unless they are five or greater. Which hasn't been the case recently. All of my canning is still in the pantry floor. I have continued to can produce from the garden. This morning I picked a bushel and a half of peaches. I have to do something with them. I did make a yummy cobbler. The peaches are cling so they are so nice to work with.

 

On July 12th, we started painting the inside of the house. We have painted so far, our bedroom, our bathroom, the office and the guest bathroom. We are painting the master closet today. It looks so pretty and clean. I have been de-cluttering as I go along. I cannot believe how much stuff I have hung onto and now it seems silly that it meant so much to me. One of the things that bugs me is the hundreds of notebook/diary's that I have. I was looking through one today from 2004, gosh I was such a crazy busy woman. I read my entry to Ron which I have no memory of at all. Just as an aside,
I say, " The washing machine caught on fire today." What? How can it be I can't remember that at all.
You would think I would remember that. I also noticed how much I took the kids to the dentist. Oh and piano lessons.

 

I was going through photo albums. I can't do that too much as I really get sad. Time just seems to go by so fast. I am going to continue going through each closet one by one until I can get the house in shape. In the spring when I got rid of all of the clutter out there in my shed that was wonderful. Now it feels just as nice getting the house cleaned. There are times when I hesitate about throwing something away, and I make myself say, " It doesn't love you." Then I can do that.

 

We should hit 109 tomorrow, It will pretty much finish off my flowers. My poor garden just looks so sad and wilty with this kind of heat.  It has though pretty much been a nice summer. We have had such a cool summer compared to summers past.

I just wanted to give you an update. Things are good and since we are told to live one day at a time. I am trying to do that. With so many earthquakes it really narrows my vision.

I hope all of you are  okay, and I send you my love,

~Kim~

I read this quote when I was reading a book. I have thought and thought about it. I would say it really shook me to the core.

Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.”
– Albert Einstein

Summer Days

 

I just wanted to send you a greeting of the rock and roll capitol. On July 4th we had a 6.4 earthquake. The largest I have ever been in before. Then on the next day, we had a 7.1 Again, bigger than anything I have been in my life. Ron and I were out in the garden with the second big one hit. So surreal sitting in the pasture watching the peaceful evening as the sun sets, and then to suddenly be aware of being very dizzy, and realize that the ground is moving and so is all of the trees. Ron jumped up to go see the swimming pool, and all of its tidal waves, I ran in the house to make sure that all of this canning I have been storing like a chipmunk was okay.

 

All of it is on the floor in the pantry. Its going to stay there for awhile I think. My earthquake tracker says we are having earthquakes about every minute still. Small they maybe be but every four hours will be a 4 or larger and when there is a five we feel it here. We are 122 miles from the epicenter.
My house looks sad with everything down and put away. I was surprised nothing fell when we had the 7.1

Yesterday, Ron got the cars filled with gas. The propane tanks filled with propane and all of the other things they tell you to do in case of an emergency. I did mental checklists all day. I think we can survive a few months now just in case. My brother has a water well next door, I am sure we could figure out how to get it to run on a generator if we had to. So much stuff to think of, but I forgot the garden, and today I had to pick it. Here is goes:

Potatoes-russet and red

cucumbers and cantaloupe and some giant zucchini

Some more zucchini, dill, and a Tigger Melon

I can't wait to taste that.

My Chamomile, I need to harvest its flowers for tea.

Peter came home and he wants pesto. Bell Peppers

Some of my tomatoes.

I can tell you the thought of canning right now strikes fear into my heart. There is a 3 percent chance we can have a bigger earthquake than 7.1 and the thought of doing all of this work and having it broken really does make me sad. It will be time to break out my pressure canner. I am thinking I will start making vegetable soup.

Now for the outside pictures of this beautiful garden we have this year. I have taken so many pictures but I haven't wrote that many blogs.

Growing everything on these cattle panels has been so incredible. I am really enjoying this vertical gardening. The banana squash has taken over and has grown up one side and down the other. Its so easy to keep track of how things are growing and I think it has kept the squash beetles at bay. That and food grade sulfur. It has even kept the white flies from destroying my garden this year. I have lost so many gardens in the past to those pests. I was about to just give up. I am so glad we gave it one more try.

Even my pumpkins love growing up the cattle panels.

So this is today. July so far has been interesting. Keep those poor people in Ridgecrest which is at the epicenter of this in your prayers. I know how tired I was last night, I just can't imagine how exhausted they are because they are having constant earthquakes.

This is how many earthquakes it has been in the last few days.

Have a wonderful day,
~Kim~

 "If it could be like this always---always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe..."
---Evelyn Waugh