The Days of Noah

Genesis 6:5 states "...that every inclination of the thoughts of his (people's) heart was only evil all the time."

I am well aware that good people do good things every day.  I personally know several people who are giving their lives as missionaries in other countries.  I know the Holy Spirit is still in operation in the world.

But when I watch the news, I have to wonder, "Just how bad was it in the days of Noah compared with today"?

Perhaps we can ponder the question together.

Kathi

Potted Crops

The last couple of years have been difficult for gardening.  Last year, it quit raining in June and, even with daily watering, the crops sort of withered and died by the end of July.  I have to admit that it was wonderful not to have to pull weeds for the entire season, but I also didn't get the excellent home-grown veggies that make the whole process worth it.

This year I studied up on container gardening.  Crops in Pots and You Grow, Girl were my favorite books on the subject.  I carefully started heirloom tomatoes and several other kinds of seed in egg cartons.  They all made it to the big pot stage.  But the rain never quit and it was cloudy and coolish for a long time.  Nothing grew with a bang.  The plants all just crept along. 

Lately, in between downpours and vicious storms, we've had enough heat that I expected my "babies" to grow.  Still nothing spectacular.  Finally, I decided to dig them into the garden.  Either it will kill them or they will grow better.  This morning, most of my container garden became regular garden.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

As I was working a shovel gently under as much of the soil as possible so as to do the least damage to the roots, I realized that every pot was soaked.  The plants had all been standing in water.  Perhaps that had something to do with their general health.  I'm sure hoping for some home-grown tomatoes this year.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

A Creed for Heroes

This morning our pastor challenged us to accomplish God's work in God's timing. 

One of the quotes he used was from Dean Inge, "Christianity is a creed for heroes and we are harmless, good-natured little people who want everybody to have a good time.”

Pastor told a story of his youth when he and a friend worked in a cemetery mowing the grass and taking care of the place.  He said the two of them ran across more than their share of hornets' nests.  They would devise creative ways to get rid of the insects.  They drowned them, burned the nests, and once tried to blow them up.  And every time, they got stung.  When you stir up hornets, you get stung. 

While no "harmless, good-natured person" wants to get stung, if I pair Mr. Inge's quote with the verse, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:32), I find that I have some serious thinking to do.

I'm a lot more Andrew than I am Peter.  I work more quietly, one on one, Sunday school teacher, shawl-making, hand-holding friend.  I don't stir quite so many hornets at once, but, on thinking back, I've run into some opposition and not backed down.

I still believe I'm doing what I've been called to do.  I'll just keep a sharper eye out for more opportunities.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Perfect Day (Sort of)

Yesterday was the perfect day.  72 degrees, nice breeze, occasional sunshine.  I'd already mowed the lawn. It was my day off and I walked a lot to enjoy it all.

Today was sunny, just a bit warmer, almost as perfect - and I had to work.

The good part was that I went to the farmers' market before work and found out that there is no fee for setting up a booth.  You just have to be selling home-grown or homemade stuff.  I have plans...  Maybe by August or September when I'm not working on the fourth Saturday.  Thanks again for the inkle loom, brother.

Another good part was that I got to teach a workshop on loom knitting.  It's an easy and fun yarn craft.  Everyone learn how to do it pretty quickly and seemed to have a great time.  You know how when you show someone how to do something and then the room gets quiet while they are concentrating on the new project?  It was like that. 

After work, Les took me to DQ for a birthday shake.  No, it's not my birthday today, but we're in the neighborhood. 

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Dog Stew Recipe

This morning, I was swapping dog stories with a lady at the post office.  We each have a dog who throws up when switched to a new brand of dog food.  She was interested in the recipe for homemade dog food, so I'll share it with you, too.

In a 6 quart crock pot:

* 2 lbs. meat
* *2 lbs. vegetables
1 cup apple juice/cider (no sugar added)
1 cup or so of plain yogurt ( I use nonfat)
4 eggs, more or less beaten
1 Tbsp. salt
1 1/2 cup dry oatmeal
1 1/2 cup brown rice
3 - 3 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup olive or corn oil (optional)

Cook it on high for 3 1/2 hours or 8 - 10 hours on low.

* Meat options
Salmon, mackerel, tuna, ground meat, ground turkey, ham, turkey ham, chicken gizzards, (liver turns to sludge, but the dogs love it), any meat-no bones.  You can use 1 lb. of meat and 8 eggs instead.
The dogs love it when I make dog bread with natural peanut butter, but I don't know if that would work in the crock pot.

**Vegetable options  -   Absolutely no onions!!!
Frozen (thaw at least a little)
Mixed vegs, green beans, peas and carrots, spinach, chopped broccoli
Canned
Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, pumpkin

This is what my dogs LOVE!!!  Buddy used to get rashes and hot spots.  He doesn't anymore.  Abby used to steal cooling food, and I swear she was eating dirt in the backyard.  She doesn't even dig anymore.  The coats on both dogs have gotten softer and Buddy doesn't seem to shed as much. Both dogs are calmer and have better attitudes on life.  We aren't making as many trips to the vet. 

The dogs each get a dog vitamin once a day.  Buddy, being bigger and older and needing more joint support, also gets dog glucosamine.  I understand that it's the same as human glucosamine, but tastes better.  He chases Abby like a puppy again.

Please feel free to use this recipe on your own dogs, but I will be annoyed if my recipe goes on the market to someone else's profit.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Dumping My Moving Boxes

When I married Les, I lived in that house for three years.  Then we moved to New Hampshire.  Our NH house had a wood burner.   I started cutting apart my moving boxes to use as kindling.  Maybe, I was a third of the way through my boxes after three years, when we moved back to Illinois.  Sigh!

I was thrilled to be back at the school I helped to start.  That lasted for - guess what - three years.

One day, Les called me and said, "We're moving to Indiana." 

"What?"  That was the first I'd heard of even a thought of moving.  By now, I knew better than to get rid of my boxes.  In fact, since they were all marked, I now knew which things fit into which box. 

As we settled into the house where we live now, I flattened all of my moving boxes and didn't even consider getting rid of them.  I refused to plant rhubard or asparagus because I was sure that they would take their three years to mature and I would be gone before I could enjoy them.

Then my sister Lori gave me a baby Rose of Sharon bush that she'd started from her own bush.  I figured out the best spot for it and planted it.  I thought, well, maybe I could take it with us when we moved again.  The year after that, I planted asparagus.  It was advertised to be a two year harvest crop.  Also my mother sent me some lilies that I really love from her own garden.  I don't think I've ever seen this particular type anywhere else.  One more season later, I broke down and put in some creeping phlox and rhubard.  We'd just built a new shed and it cried out for rhubard on the south side.

This May, we passed the six year mark in the same house.  My plants and I have put down some pretty good roots.  And I still have my moving boxes.  I'm beginning to feel like dumping them is the next step to take. 

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Father's Day - 2011

My daughter Angela sent her father an e-card with a talking squirrel.  It was the kind where you can write the script and choose the squirrel's voice.  Angela had the squirrel refer to an event that happened at IHOP several years ago.

A woman was walking around the restaurant blowing up balloons and making animals out of them.  As Angela was a bit too old to enjoy this particular activity, the woman passed our table.  We couldn't miss, however, when she stopped at another table and asked if the child wanted a Rocky or Bullwinkle balloon.  Except what she actually said was , "Would you like Rocky or Bull-winkie?"  We almost fell out of the booth laughing so hard.

This morning, the squirrel referred to Bull-winkie, and both of us absolutely lost it again.  It was an excellent way to start the day.

When I was teaching and Angela was in the lower grades (I taught her in third grade), I used to watch her father come to school to eat lunch with her.  Since he worked second shift, it was a few precious minutes he could see her.  It was a small, newly-formed Christian school and there was no difficulty with him coming in during the day.  I used to tell her, "You have a good father."

My father wasn't so emotionally open.  I may have missed that part of being Daddy's daughter, but he never missed an opportunity to take care of us.  I remember him going out at 3 in the morning when it was -10 degrees outside to warm up our cars so they would start when we had to get to school or work.  He was a good man, my father.  I wanted to put that in writing.

I love you, Daddy.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi


Pictures - top Les and Angela  Bottom: My father, mother, and me at a MUCH younger age

Friday "Off" and Dog Food

Today started early and kept right on going. 

I wear a pedometer.  There are times (like every day) when I question its results, but I keep wearing it.  Today, I did some Father's Day shopping, hit the post office, mowed the lawn, spent an hour at the library, made two loaves of dog bread, washed dishes, etc, etc.  My pedometer puts me at 3 miles.  Honestly, it was more than that.

Dog bread, you ask?  It's a long story.

Basically, Buddy the golden was getting skin rashes and ear infections.  Abby wouldn't eat dog food until late at night by which time she must have been starving to death.  We tried different food brands.  I added yogurt to the food.  They'd eat the yogurt and ignore the kibble.

I did some research and talked to our vet.  He told me which vitamins must be included.  I invented two recipes - one for bread made in a bread machine and stew made in a crock pot.  They take no time to make as I can throw everything in the machine and walk away to do something else.  These dogs are healthy, free of rashes and infections, agile, happy, calm, and have very soft fur.  I love petting them now.

I'll list my ingredients if anyone wants to know my recipes.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Never Boring

Some people think I live a simple life, and in some respects, maybe I do.  But I always find something to watch, something to learn, something new to keep me thinking and my hands busy.

I work in a library ( I LOVE books!).  I keep a garden and care for one husband and two slightly neurotic dogs.  I do my best to keep an older house in repair, work a garden, and play with many forms of yarn art (for which read crafts).  I like to read and write.  I've actually managed to get published twice.  Chickens May Not Cross the Road and Other Crazy But True Laws is a picture book for children about amazingly dumb laws that passed various state legislatures.  Jim Brandon's Adventures contains two complete stories about three boys who get into situations as boys do.  Both can be found at Amazon.com.

I started crocheting at 14.  My grandmother sat by me and patiently taught me how to make a granny square.  My first square turned out to be a triangle, but Grandma did not laugh at me, so I kept practicing until I became quite good at it. 

My love of all things yarn moved on to a brief fling with knitting, followed by weaving on small looms.  My brother made me an inkle loom which I currently keep in constant use. I've made a rug on the legs of a cardtable and another on a hula hoop.

No, my life is never boring.  I'll share more later.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi