Patience

Patience has been feeling a bit neglected lately, so I decided it was time to dedicate a post to her. She just doesn't get into the mischief the others do, and so she gets overlooked. Good thing she doesn't have an eternal soul, huh?


Then again, maybe she's not quite so angelic after all. I brought in the final harvest of zucchini and summer squash, put them on the counter, and went to the bathroom to wash up. When I returned, this is the sight that greeted me. If you look closely, you can see Patience in front of the microwave on the far right. Note that cats are never, ever, EVER allowed on kitchen counters or the table!!! (I snapped the shot, and then went in swinging with newspaper!)


While I'm at it, I might as well add a few of her "baby pictures." These were taken with my cell phone, and so the quality is questionable, but they are the only pics I have, and since I hand raised her from three days old, she's pretty special!


You'd think she was in danger of suffocation, but she would root herself into position after LeeRoy was already settled in for a good nap. He was NOT thrilled about it, but he tolerated her.




Wayne worked nights when she was a kitten, and it wasn't uncommon for me to come home and find them like this:

Trust Needs

Last night I had a dream. In it, my husband informed me that he was taking his things and moving out. I understood it meant he was leaving me and divorcing me. In the dream I cried and begged him to stay. I begged him to go to counseling with me. I told him I would do anything to make him stay. That I would change in whatever way I had to to please him. I woke myself up crying. The dream was so real and so vivid. I was very disturbed this morning when I awakened. I told my husband about the dream. I wanted and expected him to gather me into his arms and tell me that he would never do that and it was just a dream. He did nothing. I had tears in my eyes. The dream still felt real to me. I don't remember what I said, but it was something along the lines of "Would you do that?" and he squeezed my big toe and said, "I'm not leaving you." with a chuckle. Kind of blew it off. (He deflects serious situations with humor a lot.) I was really upset. I got out of bed and hugged and kissed him and told him I loved him. Then I went about my morning duties of getting ready for work. While we were in our 45 minute commute, I told him that when I told him about the dream, I had needed him to gather me into his arms and tell me that he would never leave me. He didn't get it. I let it go.

Hours later, I still feel disturbed by this dream. I was pondering it, and it occurred to me that perhaps God was trying to teach me a lesson. I know there are things I need to change. There is a lot of baggage from the past that I harbor bitterness and anger over. My husband is a changed man! I need to embrace that with passion and not let go!!! I need to work on myself. I am not nearly the helpmeet I want to be. I will be praying, meditating, and working toward this. I will be dusting off my copy of Created to Be His Help Meet to study it again. This book sends me to the Word more than anything I've ever read! It's been a few years, and I was at a very different place back then. I know there is a lot of new material I can glean from it now, that I couldn't begin to grasp at that time.

But there is a deeper lesson. I still feel disturbed about this dream. Part of me wants to go to Wayne (again) and make my needs known. I need to be reassured. I believe God spoke to me when I was having these thoughts. I should not be looking to any human being to have my emotional needs met. No man, no matter how wonderful he may be, can do that. God is my provider. Period. He is Who I am supposed to look for fulfillment of my heart's every longing. I was working on my lesson plans for next week. Our Bible lessons for next week are centered around this verse: "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." ~Deuteronomy 31:6 That sealed it! I KNEW He was speaking to me.

Bessie

This is my favorite hen. Her name is Bessie, named in honor of a special friend, both of them are sweet, crazy, little redheads!

Catastrophe

Each morning when I get up I go into the bathroom and raise the blinds and look out on the new day. This morning, my view was horribly marred, for what I beheld was Wayne's coondog, Lucy, chasing a chicken across the garden! I ran to the back door and acted overjoyed to see her and she (thankfully) came running to me. I brought her inside our enclosed back porch. Sadie, our other dog, was also loose, but her chain had caught on one of the stakes that anchors the flower bed that surrounds the back patio. I went inside and told Wayne the dogs were loose, and they had been killing chickens. (I saw two bodies when I checked to see where Sadie was.) Lucy had broken the snap on her collar, and Sadie's "s" hook that held her chain to the post had separated. (We just replaced Sadie's snap about two weeks ago when she got loose and killed one of my hens.) I dressed and began walking the yard. It was a gruesome task. They killed four of my laying hens, including my two best Silver Laced Wyandottes, and two roosters. There are also two roosters that are wounded, but I think will live. This leaves me with just three hens: two Americaunas and a Brahma. From now on we will be replacing the hardware on the outside dogs every ten months!
Their method of attack: rip the bottom out of the chicken coop. We have now replaced the wire bottom with plywood. We are planning to enclose the sides with plywood as well and just leave small holes for ventilation around the top.

Crazy Veggies

Can you believe that my okra is blooming in November? I just had to share.