On Sunset Hill

That's what I've taken to calling our new place, it's definitely on a hill and the view of the sunset is wonderful! We've been here one week today, and so far we've cleaned and painted, put up sheetrock,taped and mudded, done trimwork,electrical work, the difference is amazing! When I first saw the place I'll admit I was creeped out. The inside was the worst, (I'll spare you the details) save to say that I didn't feel comfortable to sit anywhere because of the amount of dust and cobwebs all over everything. Of course I've still got a lot of work yet to do but at least it seems livable now. I'm anxious to share a few pictures I've taken, mostly of the chickens...

This hen hatched out a couple of chicks the day before we moved. It's kind of interesting how they go "broody", they won't leave the nest hardly at all for about a month. This hen seems to be recuperating pretty well, she's the envy of the other hens with her brood in tow. One of the younger dogs got too close to her chicks and it was hysterical the way she ran him off!

It's quite a bit different living here, mostly because I'm not at the end of the road anymore and I actually see cars driving by instead of just hearing them in the distance like I did before. It's really nice being just off of a paved road too, I had so many tire problems because of the two and a half mile's of dirt and rocks I had to drive down at the other place. It may just be the "newness" of being in a different place, but I really like it here!

It's summertime now and I'm off from driving the school bus. That's just one example of how the timing of this whole thing has been kind of incredible. So many things have fallen into place that I could never have arranged, little things and big things. A lot of things could've very easily turned differently and made this a very difficult experience... but they didn't and I am SO thankful for that! I'm thankful to the Lord! It's difficult to explain to people how that you've dodged the bullet time and time again and all of the uncanny circumstances that only you could know. I've heard people say that it takes a whole lot more faith to dis-believe in God than it does to believe in Him and in my case I know that's true! I'm also sure there are people who think I'm just a "Fool on the Hill", or that whats happened to me is a result of my "mistakes" in life. Lots of people will tell you that money doesn't buy happiness, but then they'll shake their heads in disbelief or even anger that you would under any circumstances allow this to happen. In my own defense, I can only say that I've tried to make all my little decisions with my head and all my big ones with my heart. This story's a long way from over...stay tuned!

Summers Almost Gone...

It does seem that way here where I live! It's much cooler,and we're actually getting a little rain lately. (signs of fall) What I have noticed this year is that the weather is actually very "normal." We had some snowfall last winter, more than we usually get around here. The spring was very wet, like spring should be. Summer has been hot yes,but not nearly as hot as it was last year! Now fall comes to call...and because we've had an adequate amount of rain the leaves on the tree's will be more colorful instead of just turning brown and falling off. It's been a good summer, we had such a great crop of wild blackberries! I wanted to get a chance to share some pic's of some of the highlights of my summer...so here they are!

This is one of the cobblers I made with those berries! Let me tell you, there's nothing better than blackberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream!

can I get an "AMEN!"....

Here's another home-made treat we enjoyed making this year, home-made applesauce!

first we pick the apples,

Then we cook them!

this is a food strainer, it saves doing all of the peeling!

then we just feed the cooked apples thru it and SHAZAM! you've got applesauce

cool huh? here's a little "applesauce eater"

here's another one, maybe a little too much "sauce" on the second one...

Our garden did great, we canned enough green beans and tomatoes to last us all year! here's a few vegetable pic's.

And so, as the summer wanes and this blog grows tiresome I'm left in the familiar position of trying to tie it all together. It's been a great year! Despite being unemployed, serving time in jail, blah,blah, yadda,yadda, you get the picture... My car is still running, (the one my pastor gave me) on the pieces of wire that my friend used to fix it back in (was it June?)

No kiddin', the white one is a piece of phone wire...lol, the other one is what was left of the wire after the squirrels chewed thru it.

Before you go, I want to give a little bit of my personal testimony regarding my situation. I'm very thankful for what the Lord has provided me with. However, I'm most thankful that through all of my circumstances He has shown me what really matters...HIM! I'm thankful that through my "bad luck and troubles" he's taught me to trust Him, and to have peace in the storms of life! He's taught me and my wife a great deal about what it means to "live your faith," and He's also teaching us what it means to be "empowered" by your faith. It's my hope that if you're reading this and you could use some encouragement that you would give God an opportunity to show you how much He loves you!