Thinking About Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

 I have been working on a baby quilt for our little grandson due to be born soon. As I sew the minty green and chocolate brown flannel fabric squares together I keep thinking about mint chocolate chip ice cream , then I gather the green and chocolate brown eggs my hens lay and they make me think about mint chocolate chip ice cream. I love mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I think I am going to have to buy some mint chocolate chip ice cream .

Moments Of Tranquility & Reflection

 I have no words of wisdom or funny stories for this post. I'm simply sharing a few moments of my time spent pond-side here at Cedar Pond. This is where I go for tranquil moments , sip my coffee, sometimes read, and always receive inspiration from the surroundings. ( The geese are Ella & Fella and they swim with our flock of ducks.)

Tranquil : "Calm, undisturbed , not agitated." Webster's Collegiate Dictionary ~Yes, a perfect word for my time spent pond-side. Thank-you for visiting me here at Cedar Pond today , I hope you too have a  special spot for tranquility and reflection, even in the midst of seeming chaos. If you do, will you tell me about it ?

Summer Tea ~ Dolls Or Chickens ?

 We've had the pleasure of 2 granddaughters staying with us for a few days. They love having tea parties and I told them they could be in charge of the next tea party. Their original plan was to have a chicken tea party. I was all for this because I have so many chicken-themed things we could use for the table-settings, and dishes & cups to go along with it. But no, they meant chickens as their guests at the tea party. Dress up the chickens, serve tea to the chickens.....

 ...I am all for interacting with my chickens, but my chickens are not so tame as to sit at the table or tolerate wearing clothes. ( maybe I should work on this for next year ? ) All I could envision beyond the first few moments of the chickens looking cute was chickens quickly resorting to being chickens by squawking , pooping, and scattering all the tea things as they flung themselves off the table to escape. Or us holding unhappy chickens throughout our tea. Fortunately the girls decided to invite their American Girl dolls instead.

 The girls decided on tuna fish , berries, and peppermint tea. While I thought they were setting the tea table I spied them trying to catch the goldfish in the small pond beside our large outdoor table. They were surprised to see me snap a picture of them ( maybe because they know they're supposed to only look at the fish, not hold them ? ).

 The girls insisted on flower adorned cups & teapot.

 This is one of my Rose Chintz by Gracie China teacups. It comes in sets of 4 and I have used these tea cups many times. They are lovely and also comfortable to hold and sip tea from. The granddaughters seem to appreciate them too, always a bonus !

 Happy girls, happy dolls, happy grandma & grandpa...

...and if the chickens were capable of comprehending what they escaped, they would be happy too !

Please join me in sharing tea time with the ladies listed below:

• Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *
• Martha at Martha's favorites *
• Ruth at Antiques and teacups * 
• Bernideen's tea time Blog *



 

Splendid & Majestic ~ The Changing Beauty of Clouds

 " The heavens are telling of the glory of God ; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." Psalm 19 : 1

 " Great are the works of the Lord ; They are studied by all who delight in them. Splendid and majestic is His work ; and His righteousness endures forever." Psalm 111 : 2-3

 " He has made His wonders to be remembered ;The Lord is gracious and compassionate." Ps. 111:4

" For Thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens ;  And Thy truth reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God , above all the earth . " Psalm 108 : 5,6

 

These pictures were taken by me at our place over the mountains.

What Am I Working On ?

 I acquiesced to a blog meme recently not realizing family and other obligations would hinder my best intentions of fulfilling the commitment of accepting. For this I apologize to  blog friend  Vickie *. I know so many of you who blog and read blogs value above all family and the times we have with our families. For this Lovely Blog Tour I was required to list 3 blogs I love and answer 4 questions. The blogs I love are written by bloggers who do not desire to be part of memes so I decided to list them anyway without any requirements. Before I continue I will show you pictures in answer of one of the questions about myself. What am I working on ? Well, the ongoing care and tending of my flock of Jacob Sheep ! This is one of my lambs ( above ), a ram lamb. ( baby boy sheep ) I am also spinning into yarn and dying large quantities of their wool, an ongoing process here given the amount of wool I have.

 I am also working on enjoying my Sebastopol geese who love and adore me. They follow me everywhere I go when I am outdoors. If I am working somewhere outdoors for any length of time my geese Ella and Fella will park themselves near me and simply sit until I move on. ( I hope you can forgive me for calling this pleasure work ! ) If it is any conciliation to those of you who think geese are all beauty & pleasure, please be comforted  knowing I have to scoop their poop the same as I do my dogs'. If Ella & Fella sit for long near me I know I'll be scooping away their leavings later. It's all worth it to me though , especially when I watch them gliding around our pond looking very much like the swans of fairy tales.

 I am also working on training my German shepherd pup, now 1 year old. Whimsy is the best dog ever but don't tell my Labs Bea & Willow I said this.

I am working on remembering to enjoy any & all time I have to spend with my grandchildren without thinking about the real hard work at home I am not getting done because I am having so much fun with granddaughters who actually enjoy spending time with their old granny. These two granddaughters spent a few days with me this past week and oh what fun we had .

How does this work differ from others of its genre ? Not sure this "work' falls into any "genre" but I guess spending time with one's flocks, herds, and grandchildren differs because I have a unique breed of sheep, geese,  and of course my grandchildren are the best ! :)

Why do I create what I do ? I craft rugs from the wool of my sheep. I spin the wool of my sheep to weave into fabric,  I craft Wee Little Sheep* from the wool of my sheep and gain inspiration from my sheep and my poultry flocks. I create because I cannot exist without creating. How can I not be inspired by what my husband & I have surrounded ourselves with here on Cedar Pond ? Sometimes my head fairly wants to burst with all the ideas I have but practical time & energy limit .

I have probably left out some of what I should have added to this post but I will now list 3 blogs I love ( not exclusive of many blogs I enjoy ! ).

Nib's End * is written by a writer. She is able to write succinctly and sometimes heart-wrenchingly in a way that brings to my heart & mind emotions oft buried  but brought to the surface in tender and comforting ways.

Buttons Thoughts *  is a blog written by a Canadian blogger. Boy, I find I do love so many blogs written by my Canadian friends. Buttons writes her thoughts on life as the hard working wife and soul mate of a Canadian farmer. She has a particularly sweet relationship with their cows, some she has knitted hats for !

Thistle Cove Farm *  is written by Sandra Bennett. I read her blog many years ago when I did not know what blogs were. She has been an encouragement to me, a prayer warrior, an on-line pen-pal, and an inspiration . She was widowed more than a year ago and has written words of wisdom learned the hard way to share with women who find themselves without their life partner , shattered, and not knowing where to turn when their lives fall down around them. She also writes about farm life, community, travel,and so much more.

I have a feeling I am forgetting to add some things to this post but have a big day coming up later this morning and need to get some sleep. The temps are extremely high for our neck of the country , lots of watering to do of animals & gardens. Adventures with a granddaughter who is staying with us for another week, and simply keeping up with the work & pleasures of life here on Cedar Pond. Thank-you for indulging me in reading this post and I hope you'll check out the blogs mentioned, I don't think you'll be disappointed, and if you like what you read in these other blogs please leave them a comment ! Good night and good morning to you wherever you are in Blog Land.

Some of my handspun Jacob sheep wool yarn*.

Family Baptism & Celebration

 Over the years our grandchildren have come to know Jesus as Savior. This is all we as grandparents have ever desired. Riches, fame, "happiness", all the world deems successful, these have never been our prayers or ideals for our children and their children. True happiness and true success are  ideals the bible teaches are a result of trusting Him. Because our grandchildren have proclaimed they believe Jesus is the "way, the truth, and the life " and have accepted Him as Savior, my husband and our family set aside a day to gather together at a lake and baptize all who believe . My husband gathered us together the evening before the baptism at the lake to talk about what the bible says about salvation and baptism. The grandchildren listened, asked questions, and affirmed they too believed and desired baptism.



 We had a family camp-out at our place over the mountains ( see the camper- trailers gathered in a semi-circle ? ) and the family gathered to witness and rejoice in the baptism of the grandchildren and one of our daughters-in-law.

 We went to a local lake early in the morning of the 4th of July. All those to be baptized wore white t-shirts over their clothes, but it was a chilly morning and we waited until it got a tad bit warmer.

 Our oldest son baptized his 4 daughters , and what a day of rejoicing this was !

 Our daughter asked her father, my husband, to baptize her children. This was very important to all of them. No one in our family is pressured to be baptized , or to ask Jesus into their heart. This is a personal experience, between an individual and God ! But blessedly, each of our daughter's children requested baptism because they believe. ( John 3:16 ) Here my husband is baptizing our oldest grandchild...

 ...his sister ( who seems the most joyous of all ! )

 ...their little sister...

 ...baby brother....

... and oh what a joyous day for us all !

Our youngest son baptized his wife  who is expecting their first baby after 13 years of marriage,( a miracle !) . We laughingly expressed our delight that he was not only baptizing his wife but his soon to be born son !

 

"True baptism must always be vitally related to faith. Only through responsive faith to the regenerative work of Christ can the soul participate in spiritual baptism, and subsequently in the symbolic form of the act itself. Through faith , as a commitment to the person of Christ , the believer is brought into an actual relation to God through the radical change of nature which is inherit in spiritual baptism. Faith is a "surrender-in-response " relationship to the Holy Spirit, who, through spiritual baptism brings man into vital union with God."  The Zondervan Pictoral Bible Dictionary

 

Summer Time & The Living Is Busy !

Ella & Fella my Sebastapol geese enjoy the long hours of summer by eating grass , swimming in our pond, and following me around as I tend my flocks and weed the gardens. When I sit on the porch and spin my wool into yarn they sit under the bleeding hearts plants nearby and watch me , sometimes poking their bills through the porch rails just to make sure I am still there.

Hawk, our Viszla is afraid of Ella & Fella. I'm not sure when they taught him to run away from them , but they did a very good job of it. He sits on the porch with me, but when he spies the geese he runs to the opposite side of the porch. The geese are not allowed on the porch and at least Hawk can count on it being safe , but he makes sure he is as far away as he can get from them. We seem to have our own little comedy show here on our front porch , but Hawk probably thinks it is not so funny.

My Jacob sheep lambs are growing up quickly and some are already stretching their necks for the trees and bushes growing overhead.

I have four hens raising chicks they've hatched out and two batches of chicks brooding in the garage. They are my future laying flock , plus some bantam chicks I am adding to my Silkie and Cochin breeding program. ( Yes, I have a plan and a program ! ) The chicks shown here with their mama are Porcelain D'Uccles my grandson gave me. The father of these  chicks did very well in an open poultry show recently and we have high hopes for the chicks.

Here Ella & Fella are walking their babies around the gardens. Their babies are actually ducklings Ella hatched out. The ducklings have been well tended by their adoptive parents but bit by bit they are becoming ducks . Waddling, quacking, and eating like ducks ...not geese. Poor Ella & Fella try and try to keep the ducklings with them but the ducklings are spending more and more time with my other ducks, leaving the geese to forlornly follow me without them. I hope next year Ella & Fella are able to successfully hatch out their own goslings , they're good and devoted parents.

We had the last Thursday Ladies Bible Study of the season last week. We won't meet again until the fall . This Bible study has had a tremendous impact on me and I am so thankful for the ladies God has brought into my life. It was an eventful year for all of us and all the ladies involved have had life altering events . One of the ladies became a widow, another happily remarried. One of our members has moved to the east coast to live happily ( yes ! ) with her daughter and daughter's family & to spend much time with 4 of her beloved grandchildren. There are other big events not to be shared publicly, but all the more a blessing we have been able to meet, study the Bible, pray with and for each other and always bring it back to the One who knows and loves us perfectly.

This must seem a long post, but the days are long and the hours I need to be working outdoors in the summer seem to stretch from very early to very late and when I come indoors there is little time for me to spend on my computer, so I am summing up my thus-far summer days in one post . Weeding, tending my herd & flocks, spinning wool when I have time , training my dog, playing with the old dogs, keeping my home neat & clean, and as I get older, I am working on taking the time to sit and appreciate the bounty of my blessings. The best part of all is sitting on the porch with my husband, sipping coffee as we watch the birds at the feeders and enjoying each others' company. Summer time and the living is busy, but not too busy to enjoy !