Recently it has rained at least once a day. This can be a problem when scheduling times to meet friends at the park, or when to go weed the garden, but all in all it is very good for the ground. Today's rain was enough to cancel the park plans, but not quite enough to cancel weeding plans. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to finish the whole garden before we had to head back to La Crete for laundry and library time. I guess that's what Friday is for, right? Or maybe it will be next Monday. The carrots really need finishing, though.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

It is 9:47 p.m. and I’ve just taken a nice stroll down the drive with the camera, trying to capture the beauty of this place. And yet, it’s not possible. The eye can see far more in one glance than the camera lens can. Not to mention the skin enjoying the sun and breeze, the nose alive with the scent of wild roses and canola, freshly cut grass and the myriad other scents on the wind.

Zadu and Rigel went to their pen willingly enough, which was a great relief for me. Hopefully they continue to be easygoing about the whole “folks-aren’t-home-guess-you-have-to-substitute” thing. They are really nice dogs, and I guess that so long as we feed them at night their tummies will help them cooperate J.

The field next to us decided to bloom today. It is a beautiful shade of yellow. Too bright for a room, too dim for the sun, beautiful in its own way. If the sun is out tomorrow I’ll try to capture the beauty on “film”, but no promises!

Blessings. They come in all sorts of ways. Today we've each been blessed in some way, shape, or form.

Hadassah's blessing was being able to get together with new friends and enjoy making a craft. Elias' blessing has been getting to play with Zachery, and watch a remote-controlled airplane fly. My blessing has been clean laundry and happy children.

Behind all these blessings are people who are also blessings. People who care so much they're willing to go out of their way to make events and time with friends possible. People who show every day that God is part of them in a very real way.

Thank you God, for blessings. And thank you for people, too.

Thursday, June 24 2010

Do you know where creativity flourishes? It’s in the little towns and rural areas of the world. The reason? What you don’t have or can’t find, you must make. This weekend we have a birthday party for a most adorable 1 yr. old little boy, and I can find NO birthday cards in this town for children that young. The cards go directly from baby dedication to “You’re 6 Today!”. I kinda wonder if they expect there to be any birthdays in-between those two, but that’s probably neither here nor there… Anyway, seeing as the easy option was null and void, I took myself off to the discount foods store (where they sell more than dinted cans and bashed in boxes of food!) and for approx. $2.50 and a little ingenuity (not that I claim to have any ingenuity. Just desperation! lol) and time (umm…anyone know what that is???) I have the makings (or partial makings) for at least 2-3 cards! Only problem is I don’t have Hallmark to write the verse…

NEWS FLASH: Mosquitoes LOVE rain. This evening after the nice downpour, there were- at any one time- between 16-20 of the little buggers outside our window, humming beautifully in hopes for supper. Alas (for them!), the screen thwarted their diabolical plans. The almost-no-see-um’s, however, were able to break through and wreak havoc on the inhabitants of our fair fortress, so we must erect our most effective barrier to date: closed windows. Good bye fresh air, welts, and itches. Hello stuffy cabin fever, peace, and (eventually!) sleep.

(P.S. Just so you know, aerosol hairspray is an excellent mosquito silencer if you have some in a place you can’t reach (like in a vent cover, or between screen and door…), and you also don’t wish to listen as they futilely try all night to eat you…but no, you didn’t learn this here, because would I ever try to stick their little ity-bity wings together in such a sadistic way??? Nah, never.)

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Wow! What a wonderful weekend! Sabbath was a very good day, with Church, potluck, and Adventurer/Eager Beaver investiture. Afterward we went out to Ft. Vermillion to hang out for the afternoon/evening. Eric went in to High Level to visit a friend in the hospital, but everyone else kinda hung around and enjoyed sun--and the rain. It was really neat to see little Matthew's reaction to raindrops. We tried really hard to get his expression on film, but no such luck.

Today has been really nice, too. Little Matthew's 1 year birthday party is today, and has been lots and lots of fun. The kids have played tons, had lots of yummy sandwiches, salads, crackers, and watermelon...(from Texas of all places!) And of course Matthew is adorable. :) (It's so nice to have friends who have babies so we can enjoy them, lol) All in all it has been a very nice day.

The only not-nice part so far in today was having to drive Eric to the airport so he can go to Boulder for the week. It will be so good to have him come home next Sunday! I really hope the week goes quickly and well for both him and us.

And on that note I'll sign off for now. God Bless!

Yesterday we spent most of the day weeding and watering our garden in Ft. Vermillion. It was a beautiful day, 24*C in the shade at 7:00 p.m., nice sun, etc. Along about 8:30 it started to cool down and you could smell that delicious scent that you'll only find in the north. It's a woodsy/fruity/heady scent, one that makes you glad to be alive, and glad to be living more north than south!

It's also a scent that is stronger when you're about to have a thunderstorm. And we had a really nice storm last evening. It rained enough to almost fill the cistern here where we're staying, and that's a huge benefit :)

Today has been beautiful. Sunny, but not too warm, and everything is fresh and clean looking. Elias and I went into town to wash clothes at a friend's house, and he thoroughly enjoyed playing outside with my friend's little boy. Now we're home again with the laundry happily drying on the line, (gotta bring it in before dark...but that's a few hours away! lol) and the kids ready for bed. Good night :)