The Bachelor Pad

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? One of my favorite things on our property is this outhouse. I think it's the coolest thing ever! It's the nicest outhouse I've ever seen. The base of the seat is formed concrete, there is a coat hook and a dowel to hang the toilet paper roll on! There is a vent pipe as well as vents on the east and west sides of the outhouse that have latches so you can open them in warm weather and close them during the cold times. I was remiss to deface this wonderful, but almost useless, structure. However, need won over sentiment. This spring we purchased Buff Orpington cockerels from a local hatchery. We raised these chickens for meat. They needed a place to live! We didn't want to invest in building a chicken house large enough to host so many chickens because we don't intend to deal with mass quantities of chickens again. The logical conclusion was to (temporarily) renovate the outhouse into a chicken house. It's only a roost and shelter, but it meets the need. The boys are thrilled with it, as you can see:

Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx
I am CRAZY over this recipe. It starts out like any homemade bread, and over the course of two weeks it develops into this wonderful sourdough richness that rivals Schlotzsky's! It makes consistently yummy bread with virtually NO effort! You mix up the dough in a loosely covered container, let it rise for three hours, stash it in the 'fridge, and any time you want bread, you pull out a hunk of dough, let it rise, and bake it. It's really that easy!

These cinnamon rolls were made with the same dough. They were SO scrumptious!!! Just press the dough out on the counter in a rectangular shape, sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar, and roll. After the dough is formed into a roll, cut into slices. I used my kitchen scissors to help keep the pinwheels in their proper shape as best I could. Place them in a well greased cast iron skillet, let rise for about an hour, and bake. That's it. So simple, and SO delicious!!!

Ornery's Cantankerous

Ornery has been living up to her name lately. Enough to drive me to something I never dreamed I would do: sending her outside to play. Normally, I don't approve of allowing pets to roam freely outside off leash. They could get hit by a car and be maimed or killed. Not an acceptable option. Unless you've lived with Ornery Matisse. She's a mover and a shaker, let me tell ya! Just look at what happened when I let her outside:



Of course, all that time outside led to some serious separation anxiety on Twinkie's part. She whined and paced from the door to me the ENTIRE time Ornery was outside. Once Ornery came in, it was time for cuddles!

And finally, a nap in my crochet basket, which, by the way, isn't allowed!

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.