Bee-autiful

Our corn was tassling and I was praying that God would send his pollinators so that we will have a good crop. They arrived on Monday. Can you see the bright yellow pollen that she has collected?

Home Alone (almost)

Here is Michaela and Joshua packing to go to Camp Good News as counselors last Sunday. Grace and our friend and fellow counselor Hannah Fahrenthold are assisting. Hannah drove.

Here is Grace leaving for Camp Good News on Monday. She was driven by Lindi Fahrenthold Hannah's mother and also a good friend. Jessica Fahrenthold was a fellow traveler/camper.

So Velda and I have the house to ourselves until Friday when they return. We will be spending some of the time planning the next school year. Otherwise I will prepare for my school year, Velda will can, we will garden and will just spend some quality time together.

Evening in Summer

The sun has faded,

The sky is still blue-

all noises have been stilled,

everything is draped in the sun's golden hues

I close my eyes and take it all in,

This is summer!

P.S. this is my second poem about a time and a season,

my first one was Dawn in the Winter

also on our blog.

Over&Out

GRACE

Working Backwards

As I mentioned before, there are many things for our family that are quite habitual. One of my least favorite is giving away kittens. Our cat had four adorable little kittens this April. I found them a week after birth in our neighbors window well. You would think that at such an early exposure to people we would be able to carry them over our shoulders by their tails. Instead, they cower in fear when I approach and run when kids want to play with them. Nevertheless, we have to give them away or else they will multiply quite rapidly. Our friends the Fahrentholds brought six of their kittens to our house in a cage to give away. They were not quite as cute as ours but we put out the "Free Kitttens"sign for them. All their kittens were gone by nightfall. The next day I put two of ours in a cage with the hopes of giving them away. They started yowling and running crazily around. I ignored them, figuring they would get over it. Three hours later I return from baby sitting to find them still meowing and walking around. Why couldn't they just curl up and go to sleep like the Fahrenthold's kittens? I let them go. It is so exciting when a lady comes and takes two of them! Then a couple comes by and takes another one after I get my hand all clawed up by the terrified kitten. After a good day's work, I sit down to a good supper. Then, the door bell rings. The couple have decided to return the kitten and she's all wrapped in a blanket. Was the blanket to keep the kitten warm or their hands safe? Very suspicious. Yesterday, the ominous bell rings again to show a lady holding another kitten. This one had cried all weekend so she was returning it. In conclusion, after a lot of hard work, we now have three out of four kittens back. This is infuriating! Anyway, does anyone want a kitten?

Life's Little Pleasures

This is a picture of a mission accomplished. You fathers know the feeling I'm talking about. Our old clothesline pole eventually gave out. This is a crisis in our family. Day one of the mission was removing the pole, cement and rocks from the previous clothesline. Then I had to make the new hole fit the specifications of the replacement. With Joshua's help, I had to add dirt and rocks while using a metal screen to get the right shape and size for the hole. After filling the hole with rocks and cement, I put in the plastic sleeve and leveled it. The next day after the cement cured, the new clothesline was erected.

On the same day I fixed 3 flats on 2 bikes. Life is good.