Together With the Family

Are there any better times than when your family is gathered together for a meal and a day of fun? I love it when everyone stops from their busy lives and schedules a time to come home. As much as I love these times together, they used to feel so much like work instead of play. As I'm getting older I am learning to simplify as much as possible and that includes family days.

Always before I would spend one full day shopping and cooking. There was the potato salad, the deviled eggs, deserts, and more. You get the idea! By the time the family day got here I was needing a nap and didn't feel much like playing. But now-----------things have changed!

This year I actually purchased the potato salad, didn't make the eggs, and purchased a refrigerated boxed desert. My oldest son took charge of cooking the meat at his house, and brought it all cooked and ready. I threw on the baked beans (simple version), opened the potato chips and voillaaaaa we were enjoying being together!

After the meal there was washers and bocce while H filled us in on the latest trends in high school. All too soon it was time for everyone to leave for their own homes, leaving Paw and I with the depressed feeling that Labor Day always gives. The last summer holiday, the beginning of autumn.

The next day the depression was over and plans for the days ahead began. After all, there will be nights of football, Thanksgiving, Christmas, March Madness, Easter, Memorial Day and many more days for family gatherings. Keeping things simple isn't so bad! Maybe I'll see what I can do for Thanksgiving!

A Walk Together

Hidden away in the small town where I grew up is a secret place known as the "lakes". I had never been to the lakes, but Sidney had spent hour upon hour there fishing and running through the woods when he was a young boy.

This secret place called the "lakes" is for sale, and Sidney wanted to share with me one of his favorite childhood hangouts, so we decided to take a walk.

As I got out of the car I thought it might be a good idea to spray my legs to repel ticks and chiggers. I've learned the hard way that those little critters just love to attach themselves to the tender parts of my body and make me suffer for days on end. Not today though, I was way ahead of them!

The walk began fine, but I didn't know that I was going to have to climb a locked gate. This information had been withheld from me. Since my knees don't bend too well anymore, I thought my walk would be stopped before it started, but one step at a time and I was over! Sidney was on the other side in case I couldn't make it.



Once over the gate, the walk was easy. There weren't really any weeds to speak of, just a nice path along the first lake. The first lake wasn't too big, and had a lot of algea on top of it. I wasn't too impressed. We kept walking, stopping to

MAKING MEMORIES

Today I enjoyed all of my grandchildren while they visited with us for a while. The oldest ones arrived first with their mom. They came to pick grapes from a neighbor who graciously offered them to us. Mom and dad were going to attempt to make their first batch of grape jelly.

Off we went to our neighbors house with buckets and clippers in hand ready for the bunches of grapes we were promised. As we made our way to the grape-vines we weren't finding the grapes in abundance, but just a few here and a few there. With all of us clipping them off the vine we found we had still salvaged about two gallons of grapes. I reminded these teenagers that they should be counting their blessings we were picking grapes and not blackberries.

When we returned back home it was time to clean out the corn patch. Paw only planted 4 rows of corn this year, but it produced many ears of juicy, sweet corn. The kids went out and picked corn and filled two buckets. After I checked to make sure there was still plenty of corn for my youngest two grandchildren, A and O, I was happy to help them load their van with the bounty.

A couple of hours later A and O arrived with their mom and dad. First it was off to collect the eggs. It used to be O who wanted to bring the eggs in, but today it was A. Then they wanted to pick some corn. There wasn't a lot of corn left but they were happy with the ears they found. But today their favorite thing to do was pick the the cherry tomatoes. Paw was happy to have the help picking those little fellows, since they consume a lot of time for the little you get, kind of like picking blackberries without the thorns!

When we came inside I had some water boiling, A and O shucked the corn and we placed it in the pot of boiling water. A loves corn, (he told me so), and O won't taste anything that is a vegetable, so she ate some grapes.

Then I remembered something I had picked up for the two of them at the dollar store....black slime. Should I or shouldn't I, that was the question, but with the promise they would keep it at the table, we decided they should experience it. They did seem to enjoy the yucky stuff as it oozed through their fingers and onto the table. Yes it was messy, but they were having so much fun, and I think we made some memories today.

I hope that years from now my oldest grand kids will remember harvesting grapes and enjoying the grape jelly their mom and dad made for them. I hope that O and A will remember picking tomatoes, corn and playing in slime at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They grow up so fast. It won't be long until all my grand kids will be so busy with their own lives that they will hardly have time for grandma and grandpa anymore, but I hope that they look back on these times and remember, "when we went to Grandma and Grandpas house, we sure made some memories"!

Blessings to you,

GrandmaB

THE BROKEN ROOSTER

As a child it was normal to get a live colored chick at Easter time. One time I even got a duck! Of course these little creatures would end up at one of Grandparents houses in the country after just a few days or weeks.

This year as I was strolling through Bucheits, our local farm store, I could hear their rooster crowing, and had to go see if they had their little colored chicks yet. I was just going to watch them for a while because they are so cute! And I did! But as Easter got closer and closer, I couldn't fight the temptation any longer, and at 5:00 pm on Easter Eve, I came home with 3 little chicks. One for Olivia, one for Andrew, and an extra, just in case something happened to one in the night. I had purchased chicks for the other grandchildren on other years, but Andrew and Oli hadn't got to experience getting hold and love on a baby chick.

They loved their little chicks and we told them we would take care of them for them and they could visit them anytime.

This is all fine and good, but the story doesn't end there..... Grandpa said, "If we're going to care for 3 chicks, we might as well have more." So we went back and bought another dozen. Paw decided he needed to build a chicken pen, so this led to fencing, lumber, and yes....more expense!

We also had been looking for a couple of hens who were already laying. A friend called and said her mom would part with a couple of her laying hens but we had to take the rooster. Then we found two more laying hens at another farm. Wow! We're in the egg business!

Neither of the first hens ever laid an egg. In fact, one of the hens must have been old, because on morning Sidney went out to the shed and she had keeled over! We assume it was old age!

But the rooster....He is broken! He walks around with his beautiful feathers just glistening in the sunlight. He is a happy rooster with all of those hens and he tries to prove it by crowing. But his crow is broken! If you can imagine what a hoarse rooster might sound like you would be close. He tries and tries. He kind of sounds like someone who starts a song with a powerful note, but soon falls off key! My rooster makes me laugh! If I am in the house and he begins to crow, I will find myself giggling to myself. I will say, "My poor rooster. He's broken."

Have you ever heard of a blessing in disguise? I think that is what you would call my rooster. We were a little concerned that the neighbors might not appreciate his morning wake-up call, but we don't have to worry about that since the problem was solved before he arrived. His crow is broken!

As for the eggs: We get two to three per day. That's not a bad return on the several hundred dollars we spent is it? But that's okay, since Sidney and I enjoy sharing them with others. It's just another example of our simple living. I like watching my little chickens, but even more, I enjoy the crowing of my broken rooster.

I hope you are enjoying a peaceful and simple life too.
GrandmaB

Dad's Garden

This spring Sidney decided that he wanted to plant a garden. He looked at all the seed catalogs, made trips to the local farm store, and finally chose the seeds that would make the best plants and produce anyone could grow!
Finally a warm sunny day arrived and he donned his blue denim bibbed coveralls and his worn straw hat and went to work. I watched as he trudged behind the tiller. He found his dad's old stick with the string attached and began to lay out the rows. I don't know why I didn't get my camera and take his picture because for just a moment I thought that it might be his dad out in that garden.

Some of my fondest memories of Sidney's dad were the ones when he was making his garden. He donned his denim blue bibbed coveralls, his worn straw hat, and went to work in the warm fertile soil. It seemed like he was happiest when he was working in his garden. Sidney's dad passed away a little over a year ago. Of course we miss him, but as time goes by, I see him in his son. I'm sure that Sid Sr. is working in God's garden and is as happy as can be. I'm sure that he smiles as he looks down from heaven and watches his son happy working the land.

Facebook Fun

About a month ago my daughter-in-law introduced me to Facebook, an online place where friends can connect. Since that time I have visited the site at least once a day. At first it was just one or two friends that I connected with, and then a few more, and then things just began to mushroom and I have connected with soooo many people that I have known and been friends with in my past.

Years ago, when I was just 17, I spent an entire summer at a place known as "Winona Lake Bible Conference" in Indiana. I made many friends with one common thread, "we were all there to serve the Lord". There were missionaries children, kids who wanted to become missionaries, and kids who just wanted to work at a place where the gospel was preached everyday. There was one special friend that I had lost track of and had mentioned so many times over the years that I would like to find her. While on facebook one night I typed in her name, Naomi, and to my surprise, there she appeared! I could hardly wait to talk to her again! It had been 42 years since I had seen her. We had both married, had children, continued to serve the Lord and found out that our lives had many similarities.

Naomi called me and asked if we could meet her and her husband in St. Louis this week as they would be traveling through for a convention. We set up a time, a place, and then I began to get a little nervous. I realized people change a lot in 42 years. What if we didn't have anything in common and it became an akward evening? When Naomi walked through the door we had an immediate reconnection; almost as though we had been friends all these years. Most of all I think we both realized why we became friends in the first place; Our heart for God.

Naomi and her husband live in an inner-city area in Chicago. This is their choice and they work with ex-offenders when they come out of prison. She is a nurse, he is an engineer....they could be living anyplace they want, but this is where God has placed them and they are obeying. I look forward to talking to them more and learning more of their ministry. I think it is exciting that a friendship founded with God can last a lifetime.

Facebook has let me reconnect with friends from all over the United States. I am amazed that I have so many friends. Sometimes we feel that we have no friends and that our lives don't matter much, but facebook has shown me and others that we have many friends and all of our lives are important. It feels good to know that our friends are willing to open themselves up to let us in to their daily lives. Thank you facebook. But most of all, thank you God. When a man has friends, he is rich!


TIP OF THE WEEK

I read that if you start saving your banana peels about now then place them in the rows that you are going to plant your tomatoes in that the tomatoes will be larger and sweeter. I've never tried it, but maybe this year I will. Also, don't forget about composting your food scraps and using in your garden or flowers.