Update!

It's been a full couple of days...

The tomatoes don't know that we're too busy to deal

with them - so they just keep coming.

We're fine with that -

we can always use a few more pints of salsa...

with lime;

and roasted garlic and peppers...

I canned 14 pints of it last night!

I've been in denial about Autumn -

but the combines never lie...

The corn is ready, whether I am or not!

And... I have family members anxiously awaiting a house update...

It's coming together so beautifully!

We now have flooring, light fixtures, plumbing -

and a refrigerator.

The cabinets went up soon after I took these.

It's getting close!

Looks like we might be moving in next week...

painter's cramp...

That's what we all have...

And if it weren't for the help from several of our generous friends,

we'd definitely have more than that...

Maybe death by painting, I don't know.

So we are very thankful for each of them!

Everything inside is painted,

except for the new kitchen cabinets.

I just finished up my room, about fifteen minutes ago.

I didn't have the presence of mind to photograph the progress,

and am yet to document the finished look -

but Dad did happen to get a picture of me mid-stroke.

You can't really tell from the angle,

but those are ten foot ceilings...

(no, I'm not seven feet tall.)

We got pretty brave with some of our color selections,

I went with the lighter aqua for my room,

and am very happy with it.

Well, this is about all of the typing I'm up to at the moment.

Hopefully I'll have more to share in the near future.

Thank you to everyone for all of the kind,

sympathetic, and encouraging comments -

they've been such a blessing to me!

Just Life

This post is teetering on the edge of being random;

just a life update I guess.

Mom had a birthday this week...

So purple flowers were in order.

Too bad I didn't get their picture sooner,

they weren't feeling so good by the time I got around to it.

Mom made a lovely batch of peach preserves,

which can be seen in the background.

Those peaches went quick!

I made a big batch of Sweet and Sour sauce out

of some of them.

Slowly but surely, the mud is going on that drywall.

It takes a day to dry between coats.

You should have seen the stilts these guys wear!

I sent brother Joe out to get a few photos for me,

it was pretty odd looking.

Now we are in the stage of figuring out paint -

the walls will be ready Saturday.

We're pretty attached to our current kitchen scheme;

which leans towards French country.

I promise, the yellow isn't quite as breathtaking in real life...

It makes us cheerful.

Here's just a view of one corner...

As for my portion of the house,

I'm thinking seriously about one of these...

Dad says they remind him of moisture resistant drywall...

He's got a point there.

They remind me of the one hundred-year-old paint that I found

in my current room.

One day, I got the bright idea to find out what was

under that hideous wall board...

I didn't get past the "chimney area" though,

because on top of that beautiful aqua and cracking plaster -

I found some mold stains.

That was our first clue to what was going on.

I never got to see any more of it;

But I've dreamed of a "healthy" room that color ever since.

And here's a pic of our sweet little Polly bird;

just because she hasn't been seen here for awhile.

This afternoon, she was doing her little routine where

she screams, and then cracks up laughing.

She's recently started singing this song whenever Dad gets

home where she just says "Pretty-whoop"

over, and over; again.

We did not teach her that.

She and I had a little chat about why she 'needs' to shred her

newspaper, dump her food, and weave her loose tail feathers

between the bars of her cage...

She's the messiest thing I have ever seen.

Creative expression?

Nesting instincts?

She's keeping her reasoning to herself.

preparing a place

The Lord has brought to mind an analogy that has been such a

great comfort during these last couple of weeks.

As I deal with the mixed emotions of already missing our home,

and yet feeling really sick and longing to be moved out -

I had to smile.

It's so similar to the longing I often have to be in Heaven.

I'm not in any extreme hurry to get there, mind you!

But as I look around at a world hurting and full of pain,

as beautiful as it is,

and as much as I'm attached to it, human that I am;

I still greatly look forward to Heaven,

knowing it will be unimaginably better than anything I

will have to leave behind.

Jesus promised that He was going to prepare a place for us;

and in the mean time, we're experiencing that on a miniature scale

as we wait and watch the progress on our new home.

I love my home;

it's a place brimming full with memories.

Part of me thinks I could stay in this old house forever.

But I'm sick, and worn out;

and everyday leaves me a little more ready to move on to what's ahead.

As our moving day gets closer and closer,

our anticipation continues to grow;

and we're more and more ready to leave what's making us sick behind.

We have great peace looking forward -

as we wait for the place being prepared for us.

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,

we have a building from God,

an eternal house in Heaven, not built by human hands."

II Corinthians 5:1

drywall and dry humor

The drywall happened Friday;

not as exciting as I'd hoped -

because now that we have walls,

I'm already moving on to needing them to have the

cracks filled and nails covered...

and once that's all finished up,

my mind will already have moved on to paint,

and flooring,

and so -

patience is a virtue;

and waiting until today for that next step

has been great opportunity for exercising it!

On to the drywall pics...

The view from the front door

The kitchen area (to the left)

And, the view to the right...

On the way back from documenting the progress on our home,

I spied Scooter all nice and posed for a picture.

This is rare, because she's a spastic little sweetie,

and most of her photos are far from flattering...

She always resembles a gray meercat or something.

But, this time, I got one.

Then those ears went back...

Boy doesn't she look grumpy; and here's why.

Spencer started chomping on a stick right behind her;

and that is so annoying.

He really does torture her,

the facial expressions basically say everything...

Ugh.

If looks could kill....

I really shouldn't post this -

it doesn't represent her well, but I can't help it.

That's seriously just a yawn,

I have no idea why our cats look so freaky when they do that.

This is Huck's "worried" look...

Nickle was giving all of the dogs the evil eye from the

back porch...

It was obviously a bad day to be a gray cat.

The forecast for being orange?

Sunny as usual.

There's definitely something to be said for being

care-free and oblivious;

all of the time.

Not that anyone could do it as well as this Favorite cat does.

Chomp away, Spencer.

My Madeline

I'll admit, I hate letting go.

I love change when it sweeps me along and carries me off,

I'm all for change, in the form of adventure, and newness.

The kind of change that lets you embrace what's fresh,

but keep and treasure all that's old.

Change that gives.

But there's more than one kind of change.

There's the change that one-by-one deprives you of the

things you deeply treasure and wanted to keep. Forever.

The change that wipes away what's past,

and leaves you empty handed.

Change that doesn't give you much choice or warning.

Change that takes. And takes.

I hate that kind of change.

But it has visited me often this Summer just the same.

The house bad news, Haggai dying, Fiffen disappearing.

And I'm finally swallowing something else;

I've lost an old friend.

Madeline was my first real pet.

When we knew for sure that we had a home in the country,

Dad and Mom finally told us we could have the long-awaited cats.

And Maddy was the kitten that filled my seven-year-old heart.

I dressed her up in doll clothes,

and loved her to pieces;

and she put up with it, sometimes grudgingly,

but she was my cat.

And she always seemed to know it.

She was moody.

She used to smack horses, and scratch little kids.

But she and I had an understanding,

and there was something special about it.

She was lovely, dignified, feminine.

Always a little aloof; once she became an outdoor cat -

she refused to eat with the other cats in the back,

she had to have her dinner in a special dish on the front porch.

She was always there for dinner, always on time.

For thirteen years.

One night about a month ago,

Madeline never came for dinner;

nor the next night, or any night since.

For awhile,

I refused to give up hope that she might be back;

just be there waiting like she's supposed to.

I've dreamed that more times than I can count.

But I'm slowly accepting it;

I don't think she's coming back.

Maddy was old and tired;

she probably curled up under a bush somewhere,

and never woke up.

She didn't want us to find her;

that's so like my Madeline.

I look around, and I know there's more of this to come.

All my pets are getting old on me.

Slowing down, getting gray.

I'll admit, sometimes I want to question why the Lord would

ask me to let go of so much at once.

I feel guilty, knowing that others around me are having to

give up much, much, more.

But God has blessed me with just a tiny glimpse of His view -

that the emptier my life becomes,

the more room there is for His will in it.

As much as I hate it,

He's freeing me up for whatever is next.

As I one by one am releasing what I have long dreaded

having to live without -

God is showing me how faithful He is,

and assuring me-

that even if I had to part with every last speck of all

that I hold dear, I would still have Him.

And He would be more than enough.

There is such a joy in that, and an incredible peace -

knowing that all I am missing in the past,

is preparing me for a more faith-filled future.

Yes, even change that hurts can be something beautiful;

in God's hands.

more goodness

In the way of an update,

we have lots of praises - again.

I don't have a 'before' photo handy, but for those of

you who knew this "garage" in it's last life...

you will have to agree - it has seen some change.

The inside's looking pretty different too.

It's definitely on the small side, but I guess it's kind of

funny when you stop and think about how much room

Americans think they have to have...

This is going to cut our cleaning duties big time. :)

We got our phone lines moved today,

and enjoyed hearing about how terrifying our rooster is.

A guy came out a few days ago to mark with flags,

and evidently he carried back a story about

our scary chickens...

The guys who came today were pretty concerned;

that first guy was an Ex-Marine...

Just imagine a chicken that could scare him.

Yep. That would be Ludwig;

He's pretty benign actually.

We just keep him for the fun of seeing Ex-Marines

running around backwards.

Must be those piercing red eyes;

we're not really sure.

More along the lines of praises -

God blessed us with a load of free peaches today.

We are known for keeping our eyes out for unwanted

fruit trees, and have been watching these peaches.

We made an inquiry, and today received the call

that they were free for the taking.

So we did...

Another entirely unexpected blessing -

due to several mistakes that were made regarding our

counter-top order, we found out today, we will

be getting the top we were dreaming about for

much, much, less than we would have paid for ones we

liked less, but were cheaper.

God is so good to us.