The Thursday Ladies Luncheon ~

 Another Thursday Ladies Bible study and luncheon left me feeling so blessed. The Thursday Ladies get together the third Thursday of the month to share lunch, fellowship, Bible study, and prayer.

 The table is set simply. After our lunch we need space on the table to open our Bibles and study notes. The flowers for this month's table setting are bedding plants . I wrapped white tissue paper around the pots, secured the paper with blue ribbon and voila! After the luncheon I planted the flowers in my flowerbeds. How simple is that ?

 Moms and Grandmas are encouraged to bring their children to the study too. Studying the Bible is a good family endeavor after all.

 This month lunch was generously provided by the ladies who attend. Delicious chicken salad stuffed croissants ( thanks Karen), green salad and big red strawberries, ( thanks Marlene & Marj).

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man ( or woman)may be adequate, equipped for every good work."   I Timothy 3:16,17

Best Birthday Present Ever!

My birthday always falls on Labor Day weekend. Usually we go camping, but this year I requested a very big present. I asked my family to give up their time and energy to help my husband & I rebuild and repair our sheep fences. No presents but their presence. Some dear friends volunteered to come help too. (above from left to right, friends Paul Fryer, Mike Ritter, and our youngest son Daniel )

 My husband & youngest son. Guess some men are always boys at heart.

Paul & his brother-in-law, Mike. They added a LOT of muscle and worked hard all day. Thank-you Mike & Paul !Thank-you to Carol & Katie, their wives, for allowing them to spend a weekend day here.I truly appreciate this gift of your time.

 New fence posts for the new and improved fence-line,makes my heart sing.

Old fence on the left, repaired and restructured fence, the right.

Goth, prior to being confined while the men worked.He seems to glory in his pen of destruction. Maybe he loves to see what his power & horns can do, but now, gone are the ugly tarps he ripped, the bent and mangled fences he destroyed.

Our son's dogs Ruger 

and Mongo supervised the work,

while Goth, confined to a small area for the safety of all, played with his rubber balls,and napped.

I cannot express the gratitude I feel for the actions of my family & friends that show their love in a very tangible way. Their presence was present enough, and more.My husband & I could not have done this without them.In a soon coming  post I'll show more of the work in progress. But again I say to all who were here, " thank-you!"."Present:anything presented, a gift." Webster Dictionary

Hawk & Blizzard

Blizzard our Siamese cat enjoyed a day in the sun.

Blizzard wears a harness and leash because we have lost too many beloved cats to predators, and we also do not like our cats to eat the many wild birds we feed.

Blizzard enjoyed chasing bugs & butterflies, bees and ...

...ducks!

But the most fun of all was stalking, attacking, and wrestling our dog Hawk, a willing participant in their never-ending games, most often played indoors on Hawk's pillow in front of the t.v.

O.K. Rest time in the shade, the games will continue later on tonight,indoors.

Blizzard keeps watch on Hawk, and stalks him all day, attacks Hawk whenever he can grab him, and when the two of them are exhausted, they fall asleep together on Hawk's pillow. I think they are pretty evenly matched, but most often Blizzard shows himself the winner of their friendly wrestling matches.I think Hawk allows this because he loves having a furry companion to cuddle and claim as his own. Whatever brings them together and binds their friendship, they are fun to watch !

Saying Good-Bye To Someone Who Matters

My friend Pam has cancer, and more than a year ago was told she had until last summer to live. Well, she thoroughly enjoyed her days and made plans , and continued on taking trips, showing her miniature horses at the fair, enjoying family and friends, having tea parties . After surviving, and LIVING through the summer, she enjoyed the beautiful fall we had. The doctors told her to prepare for the end by Christmas... ...and she had a great Christmas with her husband, son and his wife, and her two grandchildren. Pam planned a trip to Europe and we fully believed she would be sending us postcards from England next week. God is taking her home to be with Him instead.Pam is amazing. Throughout this scary time she has not complained.She has enjoyed life to the fullest and the other day after visiting her in the hospital I realized what a big part of my life she has been, what an important part of my life she has been. Although we knew she was "terminal", I somehow never expected to have to say good-bye to Pam. Above is one of her horses & cart, her grandchildren and some of mine. She will be greatly missed by them, they all love her. "He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning until the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good in one's lifetime." Ecclesiastes 3:11,12

Spot on Friends

~A peaceful and pretty scene, the reflection of the sheep on the pond. These are Dirt and Lanny's sheep, and this can be seen from their dining room window. Just beautiful! Dirt and Lanny , our family, and a few others were able to share time together this weekend in fellowship with others from a bit farther away. Our common and uniting bond is our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Dirt and Lanny and their daughters served up a very tasty brunch for quite a few people and of course we had a great visit while we enjoyed the scenery and seconds and thirds of the meal.

~Dirt and Lanny listening to discussion, in the home of the Wingmaster and his family.I have been reflecting on how many years we have known each other and how intertwined our lives have become. Our family has known them since before their last two daughters were born. They have contributed to the enrichment, support and encouragement of our family in ways we can never fully express. You all must have at least one friend in your life you can say the same about? ~ We have been blessed by many such friends,and family.But even if your life is more solitary, or you believe you do not have friends you can count on, you always have Jesus, really..you do! "Jesus said, " You are My friends if you do what I command you....I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. " John 15:14, 15

"A man of many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

Fellowship , Camp Fires and Camp Food !

~Grandchildren pose for me in front of a fallen tree. That is not a wall or fence behind them. It is a fallen tree of immense size, that is now a 'nurse tree'. A nurse tree is a downed tree that now nourishes new growth on itself. New trees, ferns, etc., The downed tree is probably a Hemlock or Fir tree that is hundreds of years old. Iron Creek Campground is full of enormous trees and ferns. The ferns alone stand taller than most of the children. ~Here Dirt and Lanny pose in front of the cook site Dirt has arranged to facilitate their famous FRY NIGHT. Their rule is everything for dinner must be deep fried , no exceptions!

Hubby is pulling a chicken out of his fryer. We also deep fried some Cornish game hens in this.

~We all brought our dogs camping. Here are 3 relatives of our Vizsla , Hawk. They are his son, daughter, and grandson ! Aren't they beautiful ? The dogs were very excited about dinner.

~Ahhhhhh, one chicken out of the fryer. We also deep fried some of our garden fresh snap peas dipped in tempura batter . So very, very good. There was fry bread, shrimp patties, onion rings, thick sliced potatoes, corn dogs, fried calimari, zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms, broccoli...the only thing that was definitely not good deep fried were the pickles ! I am sure I have forgotten to mention some of the fried feast, but everything ( except pickles) was great.

"Please, please, please ? Some tidbits for us poor starving pups ? "

~ All total there were 30-35 of us gathered for Fry Night . Not including the many well behaved dogs.

More dear friends / family. Also, owners of some really handsome dogs, but we might be a bit biased ! 

~" Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." John Muir

Good Friends, Good Food...?

~~~Hubby heads out to the barbecue, friends are comin' for dinner~~~~~~Good friends for dinner....reminds me of a wine label we saw at the Redhawk Winery in Salem, Oregon. It was Donner Party Wine : Good Friends, Good Food ! I believe this wine label won at least one award for bad taste....'bad taste' , get it ?

~~~I was surprised when telling this story about the wine label, that most people did NOT get it. Do you ? DONNER PARTY ??? ~~~Anyway, we had friends over to eat dinner WITH US, not FRIENDS FOR DINNER ! Get it ?

~~~Hubby is barbecuing dancing chickens ! Aren't they cute ?~~~

~~~Don't they look like they are having fun ?They are dancing....wouldn't you if you had so much beer in you ? ( note beer cans chickens are sitting on )~~~

~~~Hubby carves the chickens and....what can I say, he had to elbow me away from picking all the crispy luscious skin off the platter before it could be moved to the table.~~~

~~~WE had freshly baked apple pie and peach pie. Our friends brought the Vanilla Bean Ice cream.~~~We also had fresh picked snow pea pods (from our garden) sauteed in butter, LOTS of butter. ...and a salad of freshly picked lettuces from Hubby's garden. Of course I added tomatoes, cucumbers, and lots of that cheese I like....but I am not s'posed to talk about that cheese anymore, Hubby says that is enough talk about that cheese...so our friends and I had a lot to say about how much we liked that cheese in the salad.....where could they buy that cheese ? What else could we add that cheese to ?....Ooops, not s'poosed to talk so much about that cheese. Well, at least I didn't add it to the brussel sprouts we had for dinner ! ~~~"Go your way and eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart (if you are righteous, wise, and in the hand of God), for God has already accepted your works." Ecclesiastes 9:7 amplified

Spot of Rest & Company ( Family Support )

~~~~~Candy, our sweet cat,quietly kept us company while we enjoyed the sunshine on the front porch.Candy adores Hubby, who is enjoying some relief from pain.~~~~~

~~~~~Our wonderful son-in law came over and shared lunch with Hubby. I don't like to call him son-in-law, because he is every bit as precious as our sons, and he and our daughter are always here when we need help, and we don't have to ask. Thank-you Son !~~~~~

~~~~~Later on , Hubby's parents came over to commiserate with Hubby. Hubby and his Mother compared canes. We watched the hummingbirds and the grosbeaks at the bird feeders. We had tea and snacks. Later, Hubby's brother and nephew came over for a visit on the porch and we had ice cream and pleasant talk .~~~~~

~~~~~Our sons, who do not live close at all, began making plans to rush home for us. They were very concerned about Hubby, and have called regularly to check up on him.~~~~~

~~~~~Hubby is doing fine, and how special to know we have family to love and care about the good times and the bad times, and all the times in between. By family, I mean my side of the family as well, they all called ( thank-you sisters ) and our church family. We know they are all willing to be there for us and that matters! That matters a lot. We love you all ! ~~~~~

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." Jane Howard