Gardening Overalls

Yesterday after work I went in search of bib overalls. Years ago I had a pair. What did I do with them?  Hmmm

After 4 thrift stores I finally found a pair.  The problem is- they are for men. 

But they were only $4 and since I want them to use them for gardening and working outside- I bought them. 

Yes, they will need quite a bit of modification. I am happy to do that- what I don't want to do is go around yanking my britches up every time I move. : )

My busy weekend....

We have had a VERY busy weekend.

On Friday I trimmed back the Gardenia bushes and filled in the hole of the arbor and bushes we took out of our yard...oh my what a job!

Friday night helped Allison and Ben paint Roman's room.

On Saturday Nick, his friend Al, Cody, Johnie and Ben started digging a trench to put piping in- because our yard is a pond.

I had to clean a hunt club while they dug the trench and when I got home I started covering the trench that the pipe had already been put in.

Then Allison, Ben and I went to pick up a glider we bought from a friend on Facebook.

While everyone crashed Saturday night I went out to my little She Shed and did some fabric artwork.

Today after church Nick and I had to finish the trench.  I literally shoveled dirt for hours while Nick finished the piping.

All the dirt that is left over I will put around our house this week and UNDER our house because we are getting water under our house.

So...we are also going to have to put new gutters up....

Our original plan was to bring in a LOT of gravel to make our driveway bigger.  We have a lot of people over and we drive through our yard (which we tell them to do because it isn't safe to back out of our driveway)- so we wanted to make other arrangements because we can't get grass to grow in our yard now.

So...new driveway and parking...and grass in our yard.  But as usual simple isn't simple around here.

Well, amen.  Then there is the usual to-do's food, wash sheets, laundry, attempt to keep the house is some sort of order,  sweep all the dirt off the patio and bathe both dogs. 

Maybe we can sleep tonight.  Nick hasn't been feeling well lately and that means WE haven't been sleeping well.  Pray for my Nick : )

Anyway this gal, is tuckered out.  And Nick is very fortunate to have married a farm girl that not only can work hard but likes to!

Moving on

Tonight as I am cooking supper I looked out of the side door of the dining room to a lonely sight. 

Broken, lonely basketball goal. 

We've lived in this house going on 23 years. My boys are 23 and 21. They grew up in the house. 

Many many many evenings as I was cooking supper I would hear the thump thump thump of the ball, the boys feet skittering around and then a boom and swirl- in goes the ball. 

There's a part of me that really really misses those days. I get a lump in my throat and my eyes fill with tears. It went by so fast. There are so many things I wish I could go back and redo. 

But, I-we- can't go back. We live today. We have today.  

I love today. I love seeing my children  being adults. Growing up, working- doing, what we put those years in, to do. 

Children don't stay young forever and we don't want them to. We want them to grow- "expand what already exists".   We want them to experience life. To be filled with joy and even some sorrow. To make mistakes and right choices. To have regrets but- just a few. 

I want my children to listen to the thump thump thump of a basketball- and hear their children playing in the back yard. I want my children to also experience the bittersweetness of letting go and moving on.  Its called- life. 

Liar! Ever wonder where they came from?

John 8:44 
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 

Feeling better!

I'm feeling much better today...still some yucky head stuff but...my body doesn't feel like it's getting sick.

And yes....I do believe it's all of Grandpa's home remedy's!

After Sebastian and I had our run yesterday I dug up some fresh dandelions and made a cup of dandelion tea to further flush out the toxins.

Which was probably a good thing because a DELUGE came!   The rain came DOWN.  Well, you know me-  I had to go outside when the rain let up to check on things.  Our yard is like a pond.  And sure enough one of our gutters was stopped up.  So I got drenched when on the ladder, rain still coming down, taking the gutter apart and cleaning it out.  UG.

Don't I have men in this house for this?  LOL....well, amen.  God created me this way.

So, before work Sebe and I are out for another run....just after I finish my dandelion tea with honey, ginger, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. 

Thank You, Lord for all that You provided on this earth to keep us healthy and heal us.  You are so good to us.

I woke up this morning feelin' fine....not so much.....

So far 2016 has been rough for my Nick.

He had pleurisy. 

Then he had a head cold and stomach issues again. 

Today his sciatic nerve is driving him crazy. Can't sit. Can't walk. Nothing without hurting.  Poor fella!

And in the middle of the night my body began to feel weird. My throat. My head. My neck and shoulders. Pressure, pain and yucky feeling.

I thought, "Oh no!  I'm getting Nick's cold!"  

So I laid in bed a little extra. I've been on the go go go since Monday morning. And I devised my plan.

1) My Grandpa Cleary's remedy:  garlic powder and grape jelly.  Garlic is a natural antibiotic and will help flush out the cold and toxins (I'm going running in a bit).  

2) Tea:  Black tea, ginger, elderberry, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, honey and a teaspoon of rock n rye.  Hopefully this will ease my throat and head.

So...I'll let you know how it goes!

Off to sweat the toxins out and hopefully loosen all the junk in my head- and loosen the pain in my neck and shoulders.

Putting your trust in something other than Christ

Abiding Life Ministries International

Often when I am speaking I want to make a point by asking everyone in the audience that has experienced condemnation as a Christian to raise their hands. Everyone who raises his hand has, at one time or another, been like the Galatians, who had cast Christ aside and put their trust in something else.

 “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace,” Galatians 5:4. 

When we have trusted in something other than Christ and have failed, we felt condemned because we believed that our standing in God was based on our behavior. The sense of condemnation is a revelation of where our hearts look to find peace, either in Jesus or in our own effort. Obedience is a separate topic from acceptance. If acceptance were based on our obedience, then what would Christ really mean to us? As it is, with our acceptance secured in Him, He means everything to us. 

If we want to be free from condemnation, we must not determine to do better but rather confess our disbelief in the Son, turn from it, and acknowledge His work.
--Mike Wells