Maggie / Ralphie

Remember the kitten I wrote about a short while ago? I took her to the vets' last week for her shots and to schedule an appointment for spaying. I finally decided on a name, Maggie. A name denoting her magpie coloring. Her name suited her very well I thought. As she lolled around the vets' arms, purred through her shots and the exam the vet declared , " I think your cat needs a new name..she is a HE. Boy did I feel dumb. I never checked for the sex of my new kitten...doesn't matter much though, he will cost thirty dollars less to neuter than if he were a she and all I had to do was decide on a more suitable name. We have company this week! Our youngest son has crossed over the mountains to shoe a lot of horses in our area and he brought our oldest son's youngest daughter Little 'T' along with him. We get to have our youngest son and one of our granddaughters for a few days...joy! Here Little 'T' and another granddaughter , MN, hold my new kitten. This little guy is purr-fect for a home with grandchildren, other cats, dogs, and various joyous gatherings of people, animals, and all the noise and commotion they bring.

Just look at him. Would you put up with this if you had sharp claws and teeth?

We invited my husband's parents over for lunch with us, Little 'T' , and the new kitten. My husband's father loves cats, a LOT! He very much appreciated the kitten, and both of my husband's parents love spending time with Little 'T' I decided on a name that fit, I think. RALPHIE ! He just seems like a Ralph kind of cat...laid back, easy going. Plus, he entered our home around Christmas and one of our favorite Christmas movies is CHRISTMAS STORY which is told through the eyes of a boy named Ralphie..."you'll shoot your eye out..."

Oh Ralphie, I hope you continue to be so long-suffering, and I love you already!

Just A Wayfaring Stranger ....

What would you do if you knew you were going to die very soon? If you could not change your circumstances financially, but realistically given the limitations life has granted you here and now....what would you do? One of my Uncles died last week. I remember him playing with me when I was a little girl. He was fun, and kind. My sisters and I were told after he died, but he knew last July he was dying. I have an aunt who was moved to a care facility thinking she would recover and go home, and last week I found out she will NOT be going back to her home because her health has so deteriorated she cannot care for herself. She will live in a care facility until she dies....I also found out last month a dear friend of ours is in very, very poor health and I remember him as one of the strongest most able people you would know, a real John Wayne of a man and that does include cowboy hats , horses, the range,all that the American ideal of a man would include. Two other friends, one very dear, have had some seriously bad news regarding their health....and I guess I and my friends and much of our family are at that age when this is more common. Actually, I am finding I am in that group the younger members of the family consider " past middle age", I am resisting saying OLD , or older. This has led me to the question again....what would you do if you knew you were dying?( Really though, we are all dying, we just like to fool ourselves into thinking it will come much later in life, when we're ready.) "Before the mountains were born, or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. Thou dost turn man back into dust, and say, "return, O children of men. For a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by..." Psalm 90: 2-4 God is eternal and so is the soul of mankind. God has a place for us when our flesh is dead and turned to dust. "whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:15, 16 We are finite beings, God is infinite. Earth , no matter how well we treat it, is NOT eternal, nor is it our Mother, Father, or eternal home...God is our Creator, Father, Mother, our All~our bodies, no matter how well we treat them, are finite. They will wear out and die. Our finite bodies will eventually turn to dust.If we as Christians ( those proclaiming to know Jesus as personal Savior) die, we will go to our real HOME; to a place where He has provided for His own. Here on this earth we are only wayfaring strangers...so I ask again, What would YOU wayfaring strangers do if you knew you were dying soon?  

Spot On Resolutions For 2010

I know, I know....New years' resolutions, but I am a sucker for them and once in every year or two I have actually realized the completion of New Year resolutions, I just make sure they do not include diets or extreme physical fitness. So here are my resolutions for 2010~ I Thessalonians 4:11 "And make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you so that you may behave properly to outsiders and not be in any need." AND Ecclesiastes 5:18 "Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labors in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward." Oh, I have also resolved to organize, catalog, and put into albums the many photographs I have taken over the last few blogging years, and not follow my family and grandchildren ALL the time with my camera.( just a lot of the time) Thank-you for reading my blog, I love your many comments and so many of you have been inspirational to me and your prayers have truly upheld me and my family. I cannot adequately express how much this has meant to me and my family~Happy New Year, 2010 here we come ready or not!

When The Moon Hits Your Eye....

Look~ The moon is resting in the branches of our tree! You know , when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie "That's Amore'...."

Our dear friend James knows all about getting smacked in the eye by the moon, or should we say " amore' ". Congratulations James. We saw this handsome young man brought home from the hospital as a newborn baby, we watched him grow up and are so very happy to see him and meet his future wife..." When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool, that's amore' " ..... Laura! As Laura's future brother-in-law Randy says " everybody loves Laura", and yes, we do! " When the world seem to shine like you've had too much wine , that's amore' ".....

" When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie ~ that's amore' "..... Congratulations James & Laura !

Pretty Please With Black and White Spots?

I had the best of intentions, really.

I have admired this beautiful little kitten at Lanny's* for awhile, and secretly, well, not so secretly coveted her and her sister.

We were at Lanny's earlier and this little kitty has grown even prettier and more friendly, and she was very friendly to start off with.

She is so friendly I had trouble taking her picture because she kept trying to attach herself to me, all the time purring and snuggling up to me. She shows NO fear, toward anything new, or to dogs, or other cats...a trait not shared by the other 3 cats living here. As friendly and bold as Miss Marple ( one of my 3 cats) is toward myself and my husband, as fearless a vermin killer as she is, if you were to visit my home you would NOT know she lives here. Nor would you know we have 2 other cats. They would disappear and if they ever catch a glimpse of you catching a glimpse of them they are gone in a flash and blur of fur! Because I have fallen in love with this little miss kitty I brought her home with the intention of giving her to a friend tomorrow, however, tonight as I was doing a little cleaning up, writing "thank-you's" and just enjoying being home, this little kitty was snuggling up to me and purring. And then there is this , over the last few weeks at least 4, count them, FOUR people have asked me where they can get a kitten and I have sung the praises of the beauty and friendliness of this kitten and her litter mates, and all 4 said they would call Lanny's and NONE did. Surely this is a sign I should adopt this precious little kitten , don't you think? Please say "yes' ! Then tell my kind and long-suffering husband I really DO need this little bundle of spots. Besides, how can we not bring into our family another spotted pet? We already have black and white spotted ducks, black and white spotted sheep, black and white barred chickens. Seems the most natural thing to do is add this little black and white spotted kitten to our family, please?

~Merry Christmas

Last year I received this lovely surprise in the mail from Miss Sandy over at Quill Cottage*. She is a true artist, especially when it comes to mixed-media and I believe she excels especially when her artistic talents blend with her words and faith , culminating in so many little beautiful items to delight my eyes and heart. I set this ornament aside last year because I knew I wanted to do something special with it..... And look, I received another exquisite surprise in the mail from Miss Sandy! My photography does not begin to show the little details in either ornament to their best. Now I have 2 little beauties and a lot of imagination myself , plus a lot of ideas but the free time to create..and I mean begin working on something, and have time to look at it from all sides for a while...time to spread out a work place and re-arrange and pull things apart, well, I haven't had that kind of time for awhile.( click on pictures to enlarge) The last 2 days we had our daughters' 2 daughters spend the night and day with us. Our granddaughter KN loves nothing more than to be left alone with large quantities of paper, cardboard, glue, glitter, scissors and colors,pencils, etc. So after the dining room table became her workshop I decided to follow suit and begin working on some of my own ideas . KN and I can really make a big mess of arts and crafts supplies , and we did. This is just the beginning of this idea. You can see the bird collage from Miss Sandy in the background. I love whites on white and do not want to clutter this little scene up. I have more things to add to this but haven't decided on just the right ones and for now am very happy with the quietness of this display. "The foxes found rest, and the birds in their nest in the shade of the forest tree; but Thy couch was the sod. O Thou Son of God, in the deserts of Galilee..." Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne "He giveth snow like wool; He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out His Word and melteth them, He causeth His wind to blow, and the waters flow." Psalm 147:16-18 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God..and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. " John 1: 1,2,14

Merry Christmas to you and in the midst of your holiday celebrating , and every day, remember He is, was, and always will be Jesus, Son of God, Savior, Messiah, Immanuel, our Hope and Joy, the Word made flesh!

The Baby That Changed The World

In all the busy-ness of this time of year it is so easy to forget why we have set aside this time for celebration. I know our family tries to remember it is for celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. He was most likely not born in December , and so many more aspects of the commonly told 'Christmas story' are a bit different than scripture tells us, but one thing is sure. Jesus was born of a virgin and is the Son of God. He was raised by His earthly father, Joseph, and His mother Mary. He was crucified and arose from the the grave to be with His Father, as a Mediator and Savior for us all, we need only ask Him for salvation. It is so simple and yet so hard....because we need to admit we are in need of repentance and salvation, and that is a hard thing for so many of us. We so want to earn salvation OUR way, and in OUR time, in OUR conditions. Yet, He is merciful and righteous and sometimes we are able to forestall the inevitable and given time to slowly realize He was, is, and will eternally be God, Savior, our Redeemer, the Prince of Peace, Immanuel.... "...for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior , who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign unto you; you will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2: 11,12