A Scent of Spring

Charleston South Carolina.  November 2012

Certain places, seasons of the year and even scents often cause almost forgotten memories of beautiful moments to be brought back to the front of my mind. It's almost like living that moment again. Deep inside somewhere. A longing, yet we just can't quite place what it is we are even longing for.

 Maybe C. S. Lewis describes it best.
~"...We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it...."~
This morning was one of those times. As Tim and I pulled into work a Robin flew past our windshield. I was quick to point and say "A Robin." Tim responded with "Cardinal" as he also pointed. Then, we both spotted the Blue Jay in the tree, as a Tufted Titmouse flew away. We smiled, the tree was full of some of our favorite friends. We began unloading the truck and a cool breeze was blowing....bringing a smell that at first I couldn't place. A fresh, earthy scent....what was it? It was there and then it was gone. A few minutes later another breeze brought it back, all at once I knew, yet, it couldn't be.... spring? Just a tiny scent, but it was there. I knew it wouldn't stay, but I was so thankful to have breathed it in, even just for that moment. Now, my 'New Year' could begin.

Spring has always seemed like the proper time for the new year to me. The season itself is so representative of new beginnings. Winter is the end and is thought of that way, in most applications. Winter represents the end season of our lives, while spring, is new, the beginning of life. I wasn't there when it was decided when the New Year would begin and so I didn't get a vote. If I had....I'd have chosen spring. Spring proper, when life begins to push back through the Earth. I know, it really has to do with the longer days (winter solstice) and such signs, but life springing forth is certainly a sign. Yes?

That glimpse, this morning, gave me all those feelings of newness and I was ready to begin my year. I thought of the gifts and opportunities I've been given for this coming year. My grandchildren (all three of them) are living with us and will be for most, if not all of the year. I've been worrying and fussing over unimportant details of life. I felt a distinct direction from God this morning, to let those go and enjoy this special time that has been "gifted" me. Make memories, love each precious moment, focus on family. I guess you could call it my New Years resolution.

So, even though the scent of spring has come and gone, it was here long enough to inspire me and make me long for those beautiful moments described by Lewis.

~"...At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in...."~ C.S Lewis on heaven

Some fine things....

  Cane Creek Park

Everitt Sean

Just testing some changes I made to my subscription reader. I'm hoping I did this right and our blog is being sent to our readers correctly. Otherwise I may be starting over.....
I thought I'd share some "fine things" in my life. Some of the finest, actually!

Tim with our grandchildren at Cane Creek Park in Cookeville, TN

Aurora Lilly

 Estella just loves her little cousin Aurora

Estella Cheri

These are a few of the  fine things in my life. This is from a song by the Eagles called  Desperado. Our son recently played this and posted a video of it on facebook. He was actually quite good. Really. I should know, I have very good taste in music! (at least I think so)  He's been playing this one off and on since he was a teen. Practicing. We hadn't heard him play in a while and both of us were impressed with him. We might just be a bit biased....

  In the song, is a  line that goes like this....."Now it seems to me some fine things have been laid upon your table, but you only want the ones that you can't get."......... This is often so true in our lives. It just seems that we are never quite satisfied with what we have. That there is always something more that would make us happy if we could just somehow, find a way to get it.  I have often thought of these words whenever I find myself longing for something just out of my reach. 

                                           Some fine things have indeed, been laid upon our table! 

The House that Tim built, the beginning

I'm sure I've mentioned once or twice that we are building a house. We have been slowly doing this for the last five years or so. Time is our main hindrance to it's progression.  Tim is a master carpenter/McGyver type handyman. I really am not bragging on him, well maybe just a tad bit. He has the 'almost miraculous' ability to take something, that most people in our American culture would simply discard and buy new, and make it look as if,  that is just what he did.

I'd like to tell you the story of the House that Tim built. This story is still being written and will continue to be so, this is really just the beginning. I'll try to keep you up to date as we go along.

It all began with an idea. Don't all good projects begin that way? It really wasn't even all his idea. Our son Jeff owned some property and had wanted to build a house on it for several years.
The property was adjacent to the 100 plus year old  farm house we owned at the time.
That was a fun house. We thoroughly enjoyed our time we lived there. It was however, over 100 years old and needed more work than we were able to afford.  The housing market was in good shape and it sold in record time, to a nice couple who have been kind to it and have continued to remodel it, to match it's era.

I would love to be able to show picture of this next process but....I have been unable to locate any pictures of  the process. I'll just have to tell you about it instead.

 Jeff and his friend Josh had once had the idea that they could dig the footers to this house by hand. They soon discovered while it was possible, it was probably not time well spent. After the sale of the house we hired a friend to dig the footers and a 12 x 12 storm shelter and root cellar combination.
 During this time we rented a trailer just up the road. When the block work was finished, the framing began. Framing on a house built from the ground up is very encouraging! It goes up fast and suddenly a house is standing where there was nothing before. In just a few days time the structure and the 'bones' of your dream are in front of you, finally visible and no longer just an image in your mind.

This really did go up fast as we had some extra help. Friends from the church we were attending came over and gave us a good old fashioned Amish style "barn raising". -The irony is, that a few of these men were actually former Amishmen.- In one weekend we had a two story house complete with walls and a roof.

 I remember, after everyone left Sunday evening, Tim and I stood in the upstairs of our new home. A ladder leaned in the opening where the stairs would one day go. There was the clean fresh smell of lumber and sawdust. We stood looking out the empty holes where windows would someday be. A cool breeze began to blow and slowly a soft rain started to fall and increase in volume. The acoustical sound of rain on a metal roof with no insulation or interior walls cannot be duplicated... or forgotten. We sat down on the floor and just listened for a long time. It was a quiet peaceful moment.

Over the next several weeks Tim installed windows, plumbing and all the pipes and such that make a house flow with water in and out. We hung some insulation, what we had. Installed a woodstove, a huge Ashley that ate mounds of firewood. In a two story house with not much insulation it is chilling how fast the heat can run away and disappear seemingly into thin air. As fast as we shoveled it in only a small area surrounding the stove was very warm. Now, this was fine, as we worked there finishing up what we could. Work a while, go get warm, a nice rhythm develops.

However, the finances were getting tight. The amount we had made from the sale of the farmhouse had come to an end. It had gotten us this far. Tim was putting in a lot of time on the house, so the income was lower and in our business January and February are slow and troublesome months. Rent was costing us precious money we wanted to invest in materials for the house. So, one cold February day, we simply moved in.

It was really cold outside. Below zero. In a two story house with very little insulation those temperatures can be really tough to deal with. Our floor design was open on the first floor so the heat flowed somewhat well. I don't want to paint the picture better than it was. It was cold. We closed the upstairs opening off as we didn't have stairs yet anyway. I had remembered my mother stapling huge sheets of cardboard to the walls of an unfinished house we were living in growing up so I followed her example. Yes, I've lived this scenario before.- A word to the wise, don't marry a carpenter/ adventurous type. They are convinced that their families are much tougher and more capable than everyone else. At least this has been my experience. I can smile about it now, but at the time I had some serious issues with being cold.-

The week we moved not only was it below zero, I had contracted a terrible case of the flu. I was miserable. Along with it all, I had feelings of great dislike toward my husband. -yes, I've since gotten over it-  I survived the cold air, by sleeping in the recliner chair, next to the stove and filling it every hour. This became my job and still is. It seemed that  the rest of the adults in the house never felt the temperature change when the fire would start to die down. I did. I knew exactly when it was time to add wood without ever opening the stove door. We dressed in layers during the day and around the stove it really wasn't too bad. Chilly, cold even, but doable. I love, how I can say that in past tense now! These are still not fond memories, but it wouldn't be a true story if I left this part out.

Spring is slow in coming when you are counting on it the most! It does finally show up though and all the winter blues fade into the background, with the explosion that is spring in the Southern Appalachians. Green is bursting into life everywhere. It just pops free, as if it's been holding back for weeks, just waiting for that unseen sign that seems to say "its time!" Rather melodramatic I know, but you see, winter and I just have not made our peace. I keep thinking this year, "I'll be friends with it and accept it as just another wonderful season" and every year just before those first warm days arrive, I feel as if I have 'fought a huge battle' and come out battered and bruised. But, a winner none the less.

Spring did finally arrive and with it a whole new problem. Mud. Red clay. This is serious stuff and not to be taken lightly. I wonder if it couldn't actually suck you in to the point of needing some forceful leverage to remove you from the 'miry pit' you find your self in. It gives a new meaning to the bible verse....He brought me out of the miry clay....there is also a hymn with those same words and I will never again be able to sing it without thinking of the sticky, goopy, even dangerous red clay that now surrounded our house. There wasn't a blade of grass left in the "yard".  After all the digging of footers, septic system and water lines that had gone on the previous fall. We were simply trapped in a sea of red. It tracked in and I was sweeping and mopping it up all the time. It stained the unfinished  flooring an orange color. I think I may have actually shed a few tears of frustration over it. It became easier to deal with, as spring was finally here. Life was good. We would keep advancing, keep building, keep improving, moving forward towards the goal we had set in our sights.

Isn't that what you do in life? It's easy for me to look back and see how far we've come. To have a better perspective than I did when I was right in the middle of it. Which is why I've deliberately chosen to write realistically about this time in our lives. It was hard and those who write about these things without this aspect are simply not quite being honest. We all have trials in life. Jesus, himself said : "In this world you will have tribulation." And we do indeed.

We also have great joy and  He has given us so much to live for. Family and friends top the list. We all have those  moments in time when we see something so beautiful that is takes our breath away. These things are there, if we choose to look for them. For years, I closed my eyes to these things and hid in my disappointment with my life. It was by choice, that I finally decided to see, hear and smell the goodness that surrounded me. Moments like sitting in the upstairs of our empty house with a fresh cool breeze blowing, listening to the sound of rain on a tin roof, with the man of my life. Words are unnecessary at these moments, just a silent whispered prayer of pure gratitude  and a request to somehow 'never let me forget this'.... If we could just find a way to live in those moments.

The riches of a simple life

An old gate Tim built for Jayme's horse pasture. The field is growing up and the gate is leaning more and more, but I still love his gate.     

Today as I was driving down the road I glanced into a field that was full of wildflowers. I was thinking of each species and naming them in my mind; Iron weed, Joe Pye weed, Mist Flower, Goldenrod. I then glanced at the forest behind the  field and began to name the trees which grew there; Maple, Oak, Hickory, Tulip Poplar, Sycammore and as I was doing this I felt a great sense of satisfaction. I knew the plants around me, a few short years ago I couldn't do that. I remembered when we had first moved to this part of the country it was a desire of mine to be able to identify the trees and plants here. I realized that I was accomplishing that. I felt almost a sense of being wealthy. That seemed like an odd thing and I wondered why I felt it.

It came to my mind of being a young child again. My father and mother both loved the outdoors  and the country lifestyle. Riches and fame were not for them. Just the simple life. They would often take us on rides into the woods and we would pick berries or just enjoy the scenery.
I remember that my father could tell the difference between each of the many pine trees that blanketed the mountains in Montana. He knew which mushrooms were edible, which berries were good to eat and when it was time to pick them. My parents had their favorite berry picking patches and went back year after year. My father was a hunter and fed their family of six on much wild game over the years. My mother always had a flock of chickens that provided us eggs and meat. She was a faithful shepherd to a small herd of goats that provided delicious, healthful milk. They raised pigs some years, as well as, a steer or two.
They grew large gardens and canned hundreds of jars filled with the bounty. I can still picture the rows and rows of them filled with colorful vegetables and fruits.
I can almost taste the elderberry and chokecherry syrup that was used for our 'made from scratch' sourdough pancakes.   I remember for a while mom had a crock filled with a sourdough starter she had bought. She "fed" it often and it would bubble up and threaten to overflow. Oh, but it produced many steaming pancakes.
I used to sit at the counter and watch her make bread I can still see the yeast as it dissolved in the warm water and oil in her large bread bowl. She would stir in the flour and remaining ingredients and the smell of warm yeasty bread dough would fill my senses. Later on, the most delicious aroma of all would saturate the house, the smell of freshly baked bread. She would butter the tops and I can still see the melting liquid run down the sides. I get my love of baking bread from these vivid memories, I know that I do.

 As all these memories came back I realized why knowing the plants around me made me feel wealthy. The security of knowing that we could do the same as they had done. We had the ability and had done many of the same things over the years. To have a simple life and find our riches in God's nature and hard work. To live in a similar way as people have for many millennia. We had learned this and could do it again,  it is within our reach. These thoughts filled me with a deep satisfaction. I actually felt we possessed an 'immaterial'  type of wealth. A kind of 'ancient' knowledge of something that is slipping away from us.

I'm not sure what our future holds, but we would like to simplify our life and do some of those things we did when we were raising our children. Tim looks longingly at our neighbors tractor and says "I want to be a Larry when I grow up." (our farming/ Methodist Pastor next door. Tim wants to be the farmer part) I  know that he has always enjoyed our homesteading attempts. We shall see if this is what God has in mind for us. I know better than to make too many plans.....they always seem to change. Whatever happens, I do know that you can always simplify your life where ever you live. Turning the internet off once in a while is a good start and I have seen Urban gardens that put me to shame.

                                                         

Chicory a beautiful wildflower we have here. I just love the color. The perfect shade of blue

We are grateful for the country life we grew up with and raised our children in. Wouldn't trade it for anything.



Thank you mom and dad, for showing us this peaceful, simpler way of life, through living it yourselves.














~that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands~ 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Montana Memories

Did I ever tell you about where we were raised and in turn, raised our children? No, it wasn't here, where we live now. Tim and I were both raised in the beautiful North Country of Montana. Also known as 'Big Sky Country'. I lived there most of my life and I still don't know why they call it that. The sky never seemed any bigger to me. Now, 'Big Mountain Country' I could have understood. Montana is home to some of the most magnificent mountains I've ever seen.
In fact, to this day, I don't feel at home in flat country. Although I see wondrous, peaceful beauty in the waving grasses of the prairie, they leave me feeling rather exposed and unprotected. The mountains are a type of security to me. I guess it just depends on where you grew up at. My mother says she feels completely at home on those prairies. -But she grew up on the plains of Nebraska.-

When we moved back to Montana after living in Arizona for over seven years, we nearly froze to death! I remember that first winter.....our bodies had acclimated to the southwest and when cold weather hit we were completely shocked at how cold it felt to us. I guess we had forgotten. Tim thought for sure he'd never make it through. Everyone was worried about me, as I've always had a hard time with cold weather. They really should have worried over Tim.

In our zeal for the country life we went to a bit of an extreme though and moved "way back in"....It was a tract of land that had been subdivided and was for sale at a good price. Tim and I were the first to actually move onto the property. Not a soul lived near us for over a mile. One day, we heard voices in the woods and it actually concerned and startled us. It was the cousins come up for a picnic at their property next door!

I remember not being afraid to sing as I went about my outdoor chores. -I  usually sing only in front of my children. I've been singing silly songs to them since the day they were born!- But there, in the woods and at that time, I could sing with no one to hear me but the birds. Surprisingly, they often sang back. My youngest daughter tells me she remembers me doing that and thought her mother had the most lovely voice she'd ever heard and when she grew up she wanted to sing just like that. Ahh, the innocence of children!

That summer we had no electricity, septic or running water. We pulled a camper out to the middle of the woods, set up our cabin tent and spent the summer camping out. We hauled water, used an outhouse, cooked over a campfire and lived "off grid". We listened to the coyotes singing their nighttime songs and I thought they must surely be right outside our tent. Tim would assure me it was just the way it sounded in the empty forrest. I would try to catch seeing them with my flashlight. He must have been right because, they were never there when I'd jump out and shine the light around.
I remember that summer we had some especially terrific storms. Inside of our tent, it sounded as if the thunder was rolling right down the valley aimed at us. It would echo off the narrow canyon walls and sit us straight up in bed! I think back now and am amazed and awed at the memory of it.
By the time our house came along in the fall we had gotten just a bit tired of camping! The weather was cooling rapidly and we knew we'd have to have a home with solid walls soon or find somewhere else to live. We moved in,  around late September or early October. This whole experience taught us much and assures me that we are stronger and more capable than we think we are and we could do it again if we had to. 

Tim and our son Jeff had a conversation once that went something like this... 

Tim-referring to where we presently live- : "Everyone says we live in the country. We don't live in the country, you can be at a Walmart in 15 minutes." 
Jeff : "Dad, this is the country, we were raised in the wilderness."
It made me laugh anyway. I hope it is with great fondness that he remembers our "wild country home".

It took us 9 months before we had electricity and over two years before the well and septic were completed.
Whew! No one in those survival type magazines mentions how inconvenient this can actually be. They make it sound so adventurous and exciting.  It is not for the faint of heart. It's work. Hard work. It is to be taken very seriously, in cold and wild country like Montana. Foolish mistakes can cost you more than you would want to pay.

We did it though. We took a piece of raw land and made it our home. Before we sold it and moved some years later, we had a home, a barn, garage and various animal pens. A small greenhouse along with some very nice raised garden beds that Tim fashioned with "hoop houses" over each one to protect our precious plants from frost during the short growing season. We did love that piece of land that the Lord loaned to us.

I had learned in Arizona to appreciate each place we lived for the good that was there. I did love those Woods and  my gardens, short season and all. I learned all the tricks to extending it just a few more weeks and did manage to harvest some lovely crops. Even a few small tomatoes thanks to the greenhouse Tim made me from old trampoline parts -he's very handy to have around-.....I wish I had pictures to show you.

We often wildcrafted in the mountains for herbs. The hills were just full of wild roses. Each fall, we found a favorite old logging road and hiked up it, braving the briers and picked  rose hips by the 'bushel'. I dried them to make tea and herbal medicine. In fact, when we left we still had so many, that they lasted nearly 5 years here in Tennessee. Although they were wild, there were still many different varieties. Now a days, I would have to try to ID them, but at the time we just picked them. There were hips that were covered with little prickly hairs and I wondered if they would be usable. I found out when they dried, the little prickles fell right off, making them perfectly useful for the bright red tea made from it. They came in all shapes and sizes ranging from small pea sized, up to that of a very large Cherry. They were so plentiful and no one else seemed to know that they were there. It was just us, the woods and the thorns waiting to scratch you if you didn't show enough care. The girls and I gathered enough for ourselves and my mother who by now also lived just down the trail and through the woods.... I made everything from tea, to syrup and jellies out of this wonderful and prolific fruit.

There was also a wildflower called Arnica Montana. I made an oil for bruises and sore muscles by steeping the fresh flowers in olive oil. They grew wild and abundant. Another one was Pineapple Weed a wild cousin to Chamomile. Once again we gathered and shared with our "oh so dearly missed grandmother down the trail." It was here that I began to catch herb fever and it was here that some of the most blessed changes began to come into my life. I do believe there is a connection between God, nature and emotional healing. If you will allow me the liberty of saying so. But, we must give HIM the credit for creating it and gifting it to us. I think that is also part of the process.

There were other herbs we gathered and wonderful adventures we had there. I hope that many good memories of this place have been made by all of us. I know, I have made my mind up to remember the good and leave behind the things not worth remembering. Don't we all have to do that? Life was not perfect there, we hadn't found a lost Paradise or anything like that. Winters were long and cold, money was tight, problems existed. There are things I would have done differently...

 Life on this Earth is like that. You do the best you can with what you have. You take the choices you have made and change the wrong ones, it's just never too late to change. You learn to let go of what you have no control over. You walk where God leads and let Him show you the way. You just have to be willing to say, "this is the wrong way, we need to go back and find the right path." It might mean some serious change and painful times but the path is there waiting to be found with God as our guide. If we'll just let Him.

"Teeming in the countryside, the world over, are medicinal herbs and edible plants; it shows disbelief in the power of God to pass them by." ~ Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Summer memories

Do you recognize this place? Look at our cover photo above. Yes, it is the same place. Our river is hardly flowing here. We've been having quite a drought year. The falls are simply not "falling" as they should.

Our youngest daughter -who was married just over a year ago- came to visit with our son-in-law. She arrived around noon and the weather was hot! One of the first things she wanted to do was head to the river. Tim and I have been so busy that we have sadly neglected it.
 We've been missing  the cooler, wet summers that we usually have. The weather has been dry here, our lawn is yellow and crunchy when we walk on it. The clay soil is dry and solid like rock, the air, stifling and heavy. So the river sounded like the place to be on a hot July day.

 I've been having flashbacks from living in the desert in Arizona and so I thought I'd write about them.... Tim loved it in all it's uncommon and unique glory. He used to go out with his friends and hike the rocks and mesa's among the giant Suguaro Cacti. The Sonora Desert is an amazing place.  I never made it out there with him. I was busy, taking care of our kids, and hiding from the heat in the air conditioned apartment....I regret that. Not finding a way to get us all out more.

Tim feels bad about all the desert  that has been consumed and paved over to make room for the ever growing city.  They cut the orange groves down and made room for tract housing and shopping malls. He talks about driving through them when they were in full bloom and the wonderful scent was unlike anything he'd ever smelled before. They would watch the Road Runners scurrying around as they worked out there at the edge of it all, building those homes. He was in love with the desert. If it weren't for the city and the heat we might have stayed. I'd like to take him back someday. Just him and I.  To go and see the places that we neglected to see while we were there.

Reminds me of a line in a song. ~ "....don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone. They paved Paradise 'n put up a parking lot." ~   Oh well, I'm not really what you could call a true conservationist. I believe I would simply fall under the category of take care of what God has given us and be a good steward, it's just on loan anyway. I think conservation efforts can mean different things depending on who you talk to. In its worst extreme, I also think of these lines to a song.  "As we're sung to sleep by philosophies that save the trees and kill the children"....   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A8nsql1zi0 It is wrong to care so much for something that doesn't have an eternal soul and neglect to care for a helpless, innocent human life.

My parents had lived in the northern part of Arizona during the time we were there and we probably would have liked that better, temperature wise. But no, we lived 'smack dab' (redneck term) in the middle of Phoenix. It was extremely hot with  asphalt, traffic and city everywhere and the usual crime that seems to infect large populations of crowded people. We hear it has doubled in size since we lived there.

There was one thing that we both agreed upon.... We did not want to raise our children in that tangled mess of industrialized civilization. We wanted them to breath fresh, cool mountain air. To know the freedom that only nature can give. To explore, to watch, to see and  hear the sounds of God's creation. To grow up without fear of riding their bikes down the road,  climb trees and splash through the waters of a cold running stream. And you know what? They did those things. It wasn't easy, but we managed to make that happen for them. (Thanks Tim, for always being the hardworking man you are, who never gives up when you set a goal in your sights.)

Now, here is a something I did not know when we lived there. Hummingbirds! Arizona has a wonderful variety of hummingbirds.  They claim to host 18 different kinds!! In the eastern part of the country we only have one kind that actually live and breeds here, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  Although, there is also the Rufous Hummingbird that they are finding  is wintering here. Now, that would be fun to see and I'll be watching for sure.
One of my regrets is that while I lived in Arizona, I didn't feed them and try to attract them. I didn't make this place my home, I should have and I missed out on some things because I focused on what I didn't like instead of finding something I did. Home is where you decide to make it. Abraham Lincoln said "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be." I have since realized just what it was, I should have been enjoying. I have remembered this lesson. Each place where I have lived since, I have intentionally tried to make it my home and enjoy it's specialty. The world is so full of unique places that often we only get to experience once in a lifetime. 


   ~Be content with such things as you have ... or perhaps you could say, to be content with where you are at. ~



I have been sidetracked once again. I'll show you a few pics of our day at the river....

This is the riverbed. It was pretty dry, but we headed downstream in hopes that our swimming hole would be better.

We weren't disappointed. The water was perfectly cool and so refreshing.

This inlet in the picture below comes into the river from the side and it  just beckons to me. 'Come and explore' it seems to say. I have all kinds of lovely imaginations about this place. In fact it feels rather like something I would find in one Tolkiens books.....My daughter tells me she thinks people live up there not too far and that would have just ruined my expectations, so no exploring took place on this day. 

It is a lovely place though. We believe the water must come from underground as it's temperature is much cooler than the river itself. It's so dark and shady, the trees form a canopy above, blocking out much of the sunlight. With just a few bright sunbeams reaching down through. Lichens and ferns are growing along the banks with plenty of other mystery plants that make me want to know their names. The air feels humid yet cool and fresh . 

Now doesn't that just sound like the perfect place to let your imagination run wild? A place to let the world just pass you by and leave all your troubles behind for just a bit. 

As I sit typing this out, I listen to the growing sound of pattering rain on our tin roof. I sigh... knowing that the moisture is so badly needed. Once again, I thank God for this place we live in. Our Appalachia, that He has so graciously loaned to us, for a time.

“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

                                                  And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
                                                  Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
                                                  And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
                                                  Who among all these does not know
                                                  That the hand of the Lord has done this,
                                                  In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
                                                  And the breath of all mankind?" Job 12:7-10

True Riches

I just love this picture. It was taken on Father's Day when Aurora Lilly (our granddaughter) and her mama came over to visit. Tim was worn out, as usual, (poor guy) and just taking it easy. I like to call her my little "Gerber Baby" I think she looks just like the perfect little baby that's on Gerber baby food products.

She has blue eyes and red hair. Just like her gramma!! Well, to be fair, her other gramma also has red hair and her daddies beard is red. So genetically, the odds were good, that it would turn out red. She's just so beautiful. And I'm not prejudice a bit am I?!

Having grandchildren is just wonderful and I have loved every minute of it. I don't know how I ever got along with out them. Never for a moment have I felt that it somehow meant that I was old! However, my birthday is coming up and that would be an aging factor. Tim and I both would have loved it if we had had more children. That didn't work out but, these granchildren are just a Gift. One that we both have loved everything about. Proverbs 17:6

This is me with our oldest, Estella Cheri. She and her brother got to come hang out with us for a couple of weeks this spring. What good times we did have! But let me tell you, I had to learn all over again how to keep up with two very active kids. Can't you just see the mischievousness twinkle in her eyes here? Personality, that's what it is. Life would be so boring if we didn't have little ones to keep us young. The way they think is still so innocent and moldable.  Sigh....just wish that somehow we could find a way to keep that and not let life hurt them and change them.

I know it's not possible and life does change us. No one's life is perfect. We all bear our own burdens and have our secret pain. I guess it's what you do with it that can, either make you a better person or make you a "not so better" person.

With my birthday nearing....I'll be 45....I've been reflecting on my life and what has been good and what I wish I could change. Of course, we can't change what has already been done, but you can change what 'will be' to a very great degree. I made my choice years ago, after the birth of my youngest. I decided I definitely did not like the way my life was going. I was living a completely self centered life that revolved around the things that I wanted. Nothing would get in the way of my desires. If I wanted something I went after it and didn't care who got hurt in the process.

I was 23.  (yep, I had all three of my kids before that age.) It's sort of a magic age for me. That was when my life changed... It wasn't over night, in fact it was a pretty long and hard process to change and repair all the damage I had done. I couldn't even see all of it for a long time. Even being able to see how my actions affected others, took some time. Time for me to grow and learn. But, I had decided that I wanted something better for my kids. I didn't want them to grow up in this -'sometimes messed up World'- without a Divine Guidance in our lives. Yes, that's when I decided to live my life the way Jesus taught us to. As I said, life was not somehow magically made into the Garden of Eden again. No, but at least we had a better direction to walk in. He left some really good instructions to follow.

This is Tim throwing rocks in the creek with our grandson Everitt Sean. He is just something else! We just plain have fun with him.
A few weeks ago he was at our house and his folks were out with their friends. It was getting late and I said  to him and his sister "we better get ready to go 'nite nite'." He looked at me with a big happy smile and very politely said "no tanks" (no thanks) and went about playing with his toys as if that had settled it. What a funny little guy! (yeah, I let them stay up later, who could resist that?!)

Our family gives us so much joy!


~ One’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. ~ Jesus  Luke 12:15

Overdue update!

It's been over two months since I've updated my blog. No explanations, just life. I haven't given up on writing here just been busy living. It happens. I thought I'd add a few random pictures to bring me up to date a bit. I work pretty much full time now with Tim. Which is cool! Harder than I thought but then, life is usually like that anyway. Aren't most things we do, that really matter, harder then we thought they'd be? The best usually are anyway.

In February we had a Tornado touch down less than a mile from our house. We watched from the front yard as a funnel cloud formed and came out of the sky. Tim watched longer than I did, I was busy getting supplies to take to the basement. Tim was mesmerized by it. He said he watched as the whole storm cloud was moving fast in our direction. Just as he finally decided he better come in the funnel cloud began to dissipate and what was left seemed to go back up.  But in the distance he could hear the 'freight train' sound of the Storm. He was surprised at the mechanical sound of it. He had always expected it would be more of just a loud wind.
We were blessed and did not receive any damage. Unfortunately, homes just around the corner from us were destroyed or severely damaged. No loss of life! Which was amazing when you see the damage. The above picture is of a lovely old barn that Tim and I had always admired. We felt bad when we saw this. Tim didn't like the idea of me taking pictures of the homes. He felt for the people and it just seemed wrong, at the time, to him.  The whole community has been pulling together and much has already been accomplished in the weeks since this happened.

We've had a very mild winter and spring came early. In fact the above picture was taken on the 30th of January!! We had some cold snaps after that but they survived and kept blooming. I'm sure we'll pay a price in the amount of bugs we'll have this summer. I did enjoy this winter, however and you'll not hear me complain about the bugs. Well, maybe about the ticks.....nasty things!

First Butterfly I've photographed so far this year. My Cherry tree bloomed profusely in March. I am hoping we have more time to get out for some time in nature, hiking, hunting for herbs and wildflowers and just generally relaxing. We are so busy working in our remodeling business and after that we work on our own house! Can't be helped, tis the season of our lives. Just thankful to have plenty of work right now.

Focus on life

I  write and paint in this little journal. It often helps clear things up in my mind.

I've been working through something of late. (disclaimer * the following information is meant to reflect my thoughts and no one is to think I am speaking to them or anyone else in general.)

If you read my blog you'll know that we have recently become what most people call "empty nesters". Personally, I don't like the phrase, but for clarity I'll let it go this time. This particular season in my life is not one I've relished. I loved raising my kids, it was hard at times but, I was satisfied that I was doing something worthwhile. Something lasting. Now, that is over. The house seems big and empty at times and to be honest I've been doing some hiding. Hiding from the reality of my life. I guess you could say I'm lonely and I've been putzing around the issue. Not facing it directly.

Where have I been hiding? In the land of the World Wide Web.... don't we all hide there sometimes? It's an easy place to go. Lots of information to flood our minds with. Than there is always the social media....you know, the ever popular Twitter, Facebook, My space or as one of my brother-in-laws once asked his daughter "Where did you hear that? My Face?" He was serious. Believe it or not, not everyone is "plugged in". 

Tim isn't. Imagine this, he stills reads books. You know that kind that are made of paper and you go to the library to check them out! Although we have a joint account on facebook he doesn't use it. Except to look at the pictures I show him of family (mainly his grandkids) and such. He makes a rare comment but, that's about it. I asked him once if I should take his name off the account, he in turn asked me something along the line of "Why would you do that? It represents us both doesn't it?"  To him it is simply a tool. A tool we use to stay in closer contact with family and friends through photo sharing. He doesn't really see the reality in online "friends". Although, many people have made some really great friendships that way, I can honestly see his point.

The country song You find out who your friends are comes to mind. Consider this.....When a serious problem comes around who is going to be there for you? Thirty seven comments on facebook lamenting your problems sure doesn't count for nearly as much as, that neighbor across the road, who is at your door asking" if there is anything he can do for you?" ...I see his point.

It does make a good place to hide though. You can hide from loneliness, boredom, a life you just aren't too happy with and the list goes on. Or you can use it to relive your high school years and regain your popularity. No thanks, I've been to high school and I wasn't impressed with the popularity games then either.

Now that I've totally trashed your favorite social media......It is something I don't intend to totally give up. It is a good tool! It's a lot of fun sometimes and I have some dear friends that I have met there. But, it is not a good place to hide or find your sense of self esteem at. And....let's face it, it can be a huge waste of time.

So, once again, I see his point. I'm done hiding. I'm done wasting my time. I love to journal, write, spend time with my family and God, read about herbal medicine, garden, wildcraft for herbs and we are going to find a way to get more hiking, camping and backpacking in!! These things are reality. It's our life and I don't want to waste any more time. I want to get on with it. When I finally came to this conclusion and begin to see what was really important in life....Contentment washed over me and I suddenly loved my life. Right now. Even being an "empty nester"! 

Ozone Falls

Looks a bit chilly to me. But than, I've always been colder than most people. When I was young and living in Northwest Montana I was often the first one in from the ice skating or sledding party. Some people thrive in cold snowy places....I, unfortunately, did not. Although Tim doesn't mind the cold quite as much, it is not his favorite season either. Which is odd, considering he's part Norwegian. Don't they swim in the ice water?! That gene must have become dormant in him or something.

Even though we are having a very mild winter we have had a few cold snaps. We get rain in abundance around here so when the cold weather hits, the cliffs and hillsides often look like this.

This weekend was Tim's Birthday and we decided to visit Ozone Falls which is not too far from us. I took a few pictures from the top of the falls. We didn't go down to the bottom this time. Tim injured his knee in November and it still is giving him problems. We are trying some natural/herbal things, as knee surgery is not an option right now.

Solomon's Seal is one of the main herbs we are using right now. It is an old herbal remedy dating back to the time of King Solomon, which is where is gets its name. He is said to have declared the plant and it's healing  properties a gift from God and named it after himself. So legend tells us. Some also think it gets it name from the leaf scar which sort of resembles the Seal of Solomon. Personally, I like the first story better. 

picture of Solomon's Seal    

I have made an infused oil out of the dried root from Mountain Rose Herbs and am wrapping Tim's knee with it daily now. This herb grows quite well in this part of the country so it is on my "to find" list for the summer. We've just started using it so we shall see if it lives up to the credit King Solomon gave it.

If it were summer that water would look so refreshing! Maybe we'll go back in July and hike down to the bottom. I have confidence his knee will be better before then.

Hope you enjoyed these few glimpses of Ozone Falls. It is a beautiful place. Everyone has special places like this near them. It's just a matter of going out and finding them. We have been making the effort to find as many as we can in our area. When we get out together it just relieves our stress, helps us to relax and forget about all the everyday worries.

 God has made such a diverse and beautiful world. What a gift!

Shopping for HIkers on Etsy

I was doing some browsing over on Etsy and was finding a nice variety of hiker's supplies. It's always good to support the handmade artisans. So I put together this "treasury list" of hiker's gift ideas. I'm pretty interested in a few of them for myself! You can click on any photo and it will take you directly to their shop. None of these, of course, are our products. Just spreadin' the love. So, if you have a minute take a look!

'Shopping for hiker's?' by BethsBirdBoutique

When I began looking for hiking paraphernalia I was a bit surprised at how much could be found on Etsy. So I thought I'd share!

Take A Hike 8 x 10 thewheatfield $15.00	Survival hiking sticks Naturalistick $59.95	Rain Hood Travel Carryi... InteryMintery $20.00	Hand Forged Survival Kn... HomesteadIronW... $145.00
Gray Womens Leather Sho... EinatsShoes $235.00	Fall Color Change - Fal... WanderingOgrap... $25.00	Whistle Necklace, Vinta... madebymoe $24.00	The Hiker All Natural S... plunksoap $6.00
Wood Tree Branch Whistl... TheHickoryTree $12.95	Thick Camoflauge Head B... HomesteadIronW... $10.00	Scenic Carolina Book Se... CarolinaBeej $20.00	Fido Stove Large Ultral... OutdoorLife $6.99
Parachute Hammock jsimcox $15.00	Wool hiking socks Lelasfriend $25.00	Adventure backpack in b... TichBags $40.00	Bugg Off (insect repell... AndiesHerbals $6.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.