"100" -- Nuisance

59. I think NIGHTSHADE is one of the reasons parents teach their children not to eat wild berries. The flowers are attractive. The plant looks tomato-like. But it's poisonous.





60. SOW THISTLE has flowers that look quite similar to dandelion, goats-beard, and hawkweed. Except it's a thistle. It is, however, a whole lot easier to pull than Canadian thistle or bull thistle.




61. These heart-shaped leaves just love to pop up in any disturbed soil: plowed fields, construction sites, gardens, or where you recently dug up your yard for a new septic system. You can see pictures of the various stages of growth of VELVETLEAF.

"100" -- Rehashing

Here's a taller picture of burdock (#17) and also a picture of the flowers. I didn't know they were purple. I usually see them once they're dried and deeply entangled in the cats' fur.






Ragweed (#9) getting bigger and making lots of pollen now.







The bottom photo better shows the shape of grape leaves (#49).

OIympics

If it weren't for the blogs of a few friends who are hyped over the Olympics, I don't think I'd even know they were going on. Sixteen years ago, though, we cared. The kids were younger. My aunt Mary gave us a package of activities for the kids to compete with: baseball and lightweight horseshoes and plastic golf clubs. It was fun.

Long after most of the presents had gone to Plastic-Toy Heaven, those horseshoes still hung in the garage. Every time I got out the ladder, or when a younger child had to try out the horseshoe-tossing, I would see those blue and red horseshoes, and fondly thank God for Mom's sister.

A Big, Big Hole

We moved gravel today. And dirt. And sand. We thought the pool that had been here was about 4' deep. Well, when the pool had drained itself through the gashes in the liner, we discovered that there was a deep spot for jumping (diving?). That was one deeeeep hole. Furthermore, there was also a LOT of gravel around the pool so as to prevent huge mud puddles from developing. Well, Gary got to a point in his deck-sanding and -staining that he finally wanted that hole filled in. So with shovels and wheelbarrows, we transferred rocks and bricks and old broken concrete pieces into the hole, and we packed gravel and dirt and sand in around the layers of rocks. The hole is nowhere near as full as it should be, but it's lots better. The backyard also looks a little neater, what with so many of those rock piles now hidden and serving as fill.

Gary thinks he's going to have to rent a Bobcat. We moved loads of gravel, but some of it is just so pounded into the soil that it's not going to be very nice about coming loose with garden forks and human-powered shovels. Looking forward to finally undoing the mess that was once a pool into some nice lawn or garden or both. It's been a long haul so far, but after today it seems like we might be halfway.

Oink

Five pizzas. Five pizzas, each as big as a cookie sheet.
Six people for supper.

With the kids going to a barbecue/swimming party this afternoon, and with Gary having a big project going outdoors today, I figured I could make plenty of pizza for supper last night and have some leftovers for three of us today. Do you know how much pizza was left over?

None.
I guess we'll eat pbj's for lunch.

New Cross

Oh my goodness! Running errands this afternoon, I stopped by church just to peek into the nave and see the change. Late last winter, a corpus was ordered as a gift to the church. It was finally finished in July. Last Wednesday, the cross was missing from the chancel because it was in the shop, having the corpus added. Dedication is this Sunday, but I didn't want to wait to see it. Oh, it is so beautiful! I can't believe how different it makes the chancel look. The cross is absolutely breath-taking!

(And for the first person who says, "Why didn't you show us a picture," well, I didn't take a camera with me to town to buy a part for the van. So have a little patience, okay?)

"100" -- Neighbors' Gardens

53. There's a little bit of DUSTY MILLER in the center of this planter.

54. These MARIGOLDS are the smaller kind. I'm not too fond of marigolds, but I suspect that if I manage to pull of some garden next year, I should plant some, to keep bunnies away. Although Athena-the-Huntress really is doing a bang-up job this summer!

55. The PETUNIAS are pink and white. I didn't plant any petunias this year because all I could find were the pink ones; I just love the brightly colored red and purple ones.


56. This picture was from the old house, but there's plenty of both around our new neighborhood too. The shrub in the background is FORSYTHIA, well past its early-spring bloom-time.

57. The SEDUM in the foreground flowers in fall, but the buds of what will become the pink flowers are already forming. I don't know why, but there's something I really like about succulents and their fat little leaves. This variety is called "Autumn Joy" sedum and is one of the most popular varieties for planting around homes or in borders.




58. We weren't sure what to plant by the lamp-post where we took out a very prickly and overgrown tree. Not getting started until way too late, and not knowing that SNAPDRAGONS take quite a while to grow when seeded directly into the soil, we didn't have any blooms until the last week of July. But it's starting to look quite cute out there in that little patch. And Jane tells me that her snapdragons come back year after year, so I have hopes of there being flowers next May or June, even if I don't get around to figuring out where I want daisies and other day-brighteners.

Temps

The weather has been awesome the last two weeks. (At least, it has for people! Not so much for tomatoes, corn, and green beans.) Highs have been in the high-70s, and lows during the night in the high-50s. That's mighty comfortable for sleeping. And the days have not been the hot, miserable, muggy days you expect from August. Maggie asked a few days ago if summer is done. I doubt it; I expect some days yet in the 90s. And my tomatoes need it. But I won't be surprised if they don't materialize. Even the Chicago Tribune, not exactly a right-leaning newspaper, reports how cool things have been this entire decade.

Tell me again about global warming?....

Playground Risks

Today on his show, Charlie Sykes brought up playground safety. As if playgrounds haven't been simplified enough already in an attempt to "keep children safe," now there are complaints about the black rubber matting under the playgrounds being too hot ... and harming children. There's a really fantastic article by David Hinz that talks about playgrounds, and personal responsibility, and the bumps and bruises that come with kidhood.

So on Charlie's show today, discussion ensued about how this epidemic of obesity in kids has probably been caused in part by Keeping Kids Safe. It is "safe" for them to sit on the couch and eat potato chips and watch tv or play with their Gameboy. But it's not safe. Not in the long run. Kid need the physical exercise. But they also need the chance to take risks, to learn from their mistakes, to test their strength. Kids who are kept perpetually "safe" do not grow and develop into healthy adults.

There was one different thought that crossed my mind as I was listening to all this debate on Charlie's show while doing errands this morning. Kids love video games. They love them in a way that many middle-agers and senior citizens find hard to comprehend. What's the thrill? What do you find enjoyable about those video games? And you know what the answer from the kids usually is? It's something to master. It's a challenge. There is excitement in conquering the next level.

Video games are about the only place we let kids take risks anymore. But because they still NEED the risks and the excitement and the chance to conquer, they're now finding it in cyber-ways instead of in reality. And that's sad.

What's more damaging to a kid? Some bumps, bruises, cuts, and maybe even a broken arm from playing on a real playground? Or the personality changes that result from being kept safe-safe-safe all the time, and having to find excitement on a screen instead of in the real world?

Global Warming

A friend posted a You-Tube video by Minnesotans for Global Warming. It's not only funny, but makes some good points. However, what is even better is their website which is full of pertinent information regarding what's going on with the weather and the politics surrounding it.

I love the quote from Congressman Bachmann regarding the refusal of the Democrats to open up more areas of the U.S. for drilling for oil: "It's like having a room full of hungry children and a pantry full of food with a lock on it." Go check out the M4GW website!

"100" -- More Eat-It (wild)

51. I have seen recipes for stir-frying PURSLANE or making it into pesto or putting it into salads. But I don't have too much of it around here. Well, a friend asked me to keep an eye on his garden while he was gone and to please keep his green beans picked. So we have plenty of beans to enjoy right now. He also warned me that his garden was full of pigweed, and that he'd started weeding but still had a long way to go. When I got there for my first batch of green beans, I discovered his "pigweed" was what I call purslane and which is the best plant-source of Omega 3's. So when I went back for my second round of bean-pickin', I gathered some of the greens too. The purslane pesto isn't as delicious as basil pesto or parsley pesto. But it's decent. The raw leaves, however, have a very nice, tangy, "fresh" taste to them. A few could really brighten up a lettuce salad. When Andrew reluctantly tried some, his eyes lit up and he said, "Hey, that's actually good!"


52. LAMB'S QUARTER is another weed, and I have plenty of it around here. Tasting them raw, I like its flavor better than the purslane. Plenty of pictures of lamb's quarter help a person be sure of what's he gathering before he begins to cook it and learn more about the plant in various stages of growth and how to use it for food. Jackie Clay had a whole article on greens not too long ago, including purslane and pigweed and lambs quarter.


I think it should go without saying, but just in case ...
NEVER eat plants you can't identify with certainty.
And NEVER eat plants that you've poisoned. Andrew was at the park one time and picked some white clover flowers, popped them into his mouth, and quickly spat them out. He said they tasted like a bag of chemical fertilizer. Well, yeah, that's what most people do to their lawns, and the city does the same thing to the park grass.
Also avoid eating these greens/weeds if there is a lot of chemical use in nearby soils that could be contaminating your plants. Using pesticides or herbicides on plants where you eat the fruit doesn't seem as dangerous as eating the leaves of plants that have been poisoned chemically treated.
Also remember that these weeds (not unlike spinach) tend to be so high in some nutrients when eaten raw that it is usually considered best to consume them only once a week.

"100" -- Poison Ivy

I'm not putting poison ivy on my list of species I can identify, because I'm miserable at identifying it. I've tried and tried to learn, but can't.

Tonight I was on a quest (a ten-year-old quest!) to identify a particular tree which I'd long ago narrowed down to the poplar genus, that is, either a quaking aspen or a cottonwood of some sort. While hunting, I stumbled upon a website that does the best job of showing poison ivy, explaining in words and pictures what it is, and how it varies throughout the year. I'm going to need to remember this site, and I thought somebody else might benefit too. Most guidance on recognizing poison ivy falls woefully short, telling us only "leaves of three, let it be." Well, then I'd avoid clovers and strawberries and all sorts of other good things. So I need lots more help in the ID dept, and this website is a step in the right direction!

"100" -- Eat It (Wild)

47. There are lots of people growing gardens around here with PEPPERS in them. But I can't very well go bopping into neighbors' yards with my camera. So when I saw this ornamental pepper plant at the library, I snapped a picture of it.






48. ELDER can be used for all sorts of things. There are medicinal uses, but I prefer just making jelly from the berries. Or if you happen to be a teenage boy, you might need to try to make yourself an elder-wand from the woody part of the shrub. But you would find the middle of the wood so soft as to be almost entirely useless as a wand or a stick. However, you would also discover the hollow core which would be the perfect place to put thestral hair...






49. A couple of years ago we were hiking up near Baraboo with some good friends. I'd been tending GRAPE vines in my backyard for years, pruning, watering, weeding, harvesting, and then jelly-making. Out hiking, in early October, we ran across a wild grape vine. I stopped Maggie and asked her identify the plant. She knew. Of course! It was grapes. She knew the leaves, the vines, the tendrils, and the fruit. So we picked a couple of grapes, popped them into our mouths, and kept on going. Just then, Kathy came around the bend in the trail and saw us eating something from the wild. She was sure we were going to die!!! I kept trying to point out to her that I wasn't eating something unknown. It was grape. I knew grape vines! But she wasn't convinced, and she wasn't about to let her daughter even think about eating one of those berries from the wild. Which is, granted, a good policy. You never never never never never eat what you don't know for sure is safe. (Willy Whitefeather tells how to figure out what is safe and what isn't if you're stuck in the wild and need food. But it's a procedure that will take at least several hours, and possibly more than a day.) I remember thinking that day that I must've learned something from those many years of tending my berries and vines. I may not know too much about gardening, but I do know the canes and vines I worked with; grape leaves (and the whole plant) is so distinctive that I can't imagine not recognizing it.

50. This is hard to find in the roadside grasses when it's first coming up in spring. I could never figure out how people knew where to hunt for asparagus along country roads. Every May we used to see people wading through knee-high grasses, with their knives, hunting for those little spears of ASPARAGUS popping up down by their ankles. But once I learned to recognize asparagus in summer and fall, it was easy to understand how people could make note of the location, and show up the following spring with their buckets and knives to nab some tasty veggies for dinner. The cornfield that's a half-mile from here has a lovely, lush row of asparagus dividing it from the soybeans in the next field. It looks like it's growing wild, and it looks like the land-owners probably don't bother with that patch. And I'm coveting it.... But I will be a good girl and plant my own, and in the meantime take any surplus asparagus that anybody at church wants to pass out!

School Starting???

Sleeping Beauty is still sleeping back in her bedroom. It's nearly 9:00. She has been awaking sometime between 9:00 and 10:00 most mornings.

Suddenly this morning, I realized that next week is the last week before school starts. Now, that wouldn't have used to mean anything to me. We always homeschooled year-round. The whole concept of "starting school" seemed very foreign to me. Don't people ALWAYS learn and read and discuss and explore??? But pitifully, that's not how things have been for us recently. Unlike the older set o' kids, the youngest two are not intrepid learners and insatiable readers and are not consumed with curiosity about learning learning learning! With the move, and the adjustments, and my academic-attention focused on Paul's math for his CLEP test, there just hasn't been too much academic-attention on the two youngest kids. So we need to start something. Sometime.

I just figured we'd "start school" (whatever that will look like) when the school at church started. After all, I have this vague idea in my mind that I want to go to Matins every day, and I want to take the kids to Matins every day, and we need exercise so we will bike there. But that means we need to hop on the bikes and be on our way at 7:00 or 7:10 (depending on the endurance of Sleeping Beauty's bike-legs). And if we go to chapel daily, that'll be from 2:30 to 3:45, allowing for commute-time (again, depending on Someone's speed and endurance on her bicycle). Of course, biking 60 miles a week (to and from prayers) would be a good good plan for PE.

BUT (!!!) it would mean being out of bed, dressed, and moving long before we two females usually begin to bat our little eyelashes in some vague form of wakefulness that may have some resemblance to "getting up."

And next week is the last week to sleep in. Ohhhhhhhhhh.....

(And you know what ELSE this means? Getting going by 7:00 would mean going to bed earlier. Which would mean not goofing off on the computer at 11 p.m. AND it would mean that I'm going to have another level of readjustment on the whole eating-in-the-evening thing, and digesting before crawling into bed. The adjustment to mealtime is going to be at least as big as the adjustment to bedtime. But getting up in the morning will be good for us. Yes, it will. Sure, it will. Of course, it will. Why don't I believe that???)

Charade

Last night Gary watched an Audrey Hepburn movie with Cary Grant in it too. He insisted that I watch it too. It was excellent! I can't say much about it without spoiling the plot full of twists. But it was a superb mix of comedy and romance and suspense.

(The only warning would be that the movie does show some people who had been murdered. However, the murders are not shown on-screen, and the gore-level is nothing compared to what's in movies today.)

Catching Up

Had planned to go visit my folks at the end of last week. Vehicle problems interfered. While the van was in the shop and I was grounded, we did some housecleaning. First time since we've lived here that the whole ground-floor has been cleaned all at the same time! That's an accomplishment!

When we rode our bikes to town to fetch back the van from the repair shop, Maggie went too and didn't get worn out and exhausted. Good for her!

Cucumbers seemed to be going wild, so I decided I'd make a small jar of gherkins, planning to intercept those veggies before we had more than I could handle. When we went out to pick 'em, though, there seemed to be far fewer cukes than last time I looked. Hmmm. There are currently three small jars of pickles beginning to lacto-ferment. While picking cukes, I noticed that the melon vines are finally starting to make tiny fruit instead of just producing flowers.

Philip picked plums off the plum tree today, but (like the cherry tree) it is overgrown and most of the good fruit is unreachable. These trees are going to require serious pruning if they're going to provide fruit for us instead of just for the birds.

Drove to Chicago yesterday to pick up some friends who were returning from a bus tour. The drive down was outright funny in how we kept driving through the same storm front. As soon as we drove through it, we'd head south, and it would pass over us again. And then we'd head east, and drive through it again. But the drive back allowed for a very nice chatty visit.

Sheets and towels on the clothesline today. Mmmm. They smell so good!

Gary has the steps done on the deck. Right now he can't go too much further until he gets the support-pylons in place for the "new" part of the deck (the part that used to be there before a "bite" was taken out when the pool was installed). He's still sanding boards, though, and doing some digging, and making some progress. It just keeps looking nicer all the time.

The mower broke a couple of weeks ago. The weather has been dry enough that the grass didn't need mowing. But the ragweed and the lamb's-quarter was starting to get mighty tall. The new lawnmower part arrived in Saturday's mail. One of the guys installed it. And Philip spent yesterday and today mowing. Now we look all neat and clean and orderly and proper again.

I really really would like to get the basement cleaned this week, and the rest of the unpacking (from moving) finished. But the weather has been SO utterly beautiful, I hate to hole-up in the basement. I should, though. It'll feel good and make a fresh before-school start to get the unpacking finally crossed off the to-do list.

The excitement for my week has been a conversation on my homeschool email list where I think I finally may have found the missing puzzle piece for something I've been wondering about for many years. I'd love to blog about it, but there's just too much spinning around in my mind about what classical education is, and what it isn't, and how it's sometimes misrepresented. Suffice it to say (for now) that it's very encouraging to me to realize what it is that's been troubling me for so long.

Romans 10:6-9

But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way,
"Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'"
(that is, to bring Christ down from above)
or "'Who will descend into the abyss?'"
(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
But what does it say?
"The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart"
(that is, the word of faith which we preach):
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.


Did you notice the part at the end? GOD has raised Him from the dead.
What was the question earlier? WHO can bring Christ up from the dead?

The righteousness of faith recognizes that we did not cause Christ to leave His heavenly throne and become incarnate. The righteousness of faith recognizes that we are not the cause of Christ's resurrection. All we do is confess it. All we do is to say and believe
WHAT
GOD
DID.

Flooding

[The Lord] said to the sea, "This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop!" Job 39:11

Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. Genesis 9:11

Pretend for a moment with me. Pretend that there is actually some bit of science somewhere that is consistent with the claims of the global-warming crowd.

How can any Christian worry that the ice-caps are going to melt and flood the world? God said it can't happen. Even IF the pseudo-scientists had some evidence to back up their beliefs, we still know it would never be able to actually pan out. You hear about those poor kids getting scared to death from the propaganda at school, and having nightmares, but yet it ain't gonna happen.

Palmolive

For the last couple of weeks, I've been using Palmolive exclusively as the dish soap. And my hands are not chapped. They are not bleeding. They are healthy.

I have tried all sorts of different dish soaps, "green" ones and healthy ones and cheap ones and expensive ones. With different soaps I could sometimes see a difference in how bad the rashes were. But they never actually healed. It never got that much better, to be healed.

And now I'm washing dishes without rubber gloves and still my hands are fine. This is amazing!

1800's Hymns

The funeral yesterday evening for Milly was crowded with non-members. Our insurance agent sat in front of me. The librarian was a couple rows in front of him. Our neighbors across the street were there too. Milly's kids are involved in the community, and their friends and neighbors turned out to support them in their time of grief ... and were blessed (whether they know it or not) to hear the good news of Jesus' forgiveness preached to them in a way that non-Christians too could hear it.

There was a discussion recently over on Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds about hymnody. Some pastors made the case for choosing only the best. Other pastors made the case for allowing people some of their "old favorites" from the hymnal, even though there are stronger hymns that might better vivify faith. Pastor Cwirla called the Favorites "ear candy." Pastor Stuckwisch pointed out that the hymns people have learned by heart are very very dear to them, and unless they are just plain terrible, it is not wise for the shepherd to take away those precious hymns. (Seconded by the woman who is still deeply saddened that there are far too few stanzas of Gerhardt's Christmas and Advent hymns in LSB!)

The hymns at the funeral tonight were "God Loved the World So That He Gave" and "Rock of Ages" and "Abide With Me" and "I Know that My Redeemer Lives." Those are not particularly Lutheran hymns. They're fairly ecumenical. Lots of the non-Lutherans knew these hymns. Even some who have fallen away were still familiar with these hymns. Some of the songs we sang tonight would not pass muster for some pastors. They aren't the strongest choices of hymns available. A few of them have that schmaltzy feel that is so common to hymns from that century ... and which is a big part of what endears those hymns to many people.

But you know what? Those hymns still speak the Gospel. "Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling." "Christ Jesus is the ground of faith who was made flesh and suffered death." "And justified by Jesus' blood, thy Baptism grants the highest good." "What but Thy grace can foil the Tempter's power?" And people knew those hymns. Those familiar hymns could reach folks where something "better" probably would not have.

And isn't that the point?

20-25 years ago I could not have fed my husband the vegetables and whole grains that he willingly and appreciatively eats now. It was a long, slow change-over. Sometimes I would decide [boom!] we were going to start eating right, and no more of this monkeying around. Sad to say, it wasn't only my husband and the kids who had taste-buds revolting at that sudden change to what was good for us; I revolted against my own proclamation. We needed to adjust. We needed to slowly change our palates. And we're not where we "should be" yet. Probably never will be.

No matter what our minds know is good for us, we still want what we want. It may be mac&cheese. Or it may be less-than-stellar hymns. But as long as the bulk of the hymnody in a congregation is excellent and strong, even the "pretty okay" hymns can still have redeeming qualities.

Glasses to Grab

A couple of years ago, I walked into Woodman's to find glasses in one of the carts near the entrance, the carts where over-ripe bananas live, and where the second-day bakery is begging to be taken home, and where the Easter candy lives on Easter Monday. The pint-sized glasses can take hot or cold liquids, and were being sold for only a dollar. We were short of glasses, and these were thick and heavy and nice. They could even tolerate holding some hot cider for us in fall. The only thing I ever regretted about that purchase was that I bought only 8.

This week I was checking out of the liquor store at Woodman's, and they had low-ball glasses in a cart by the check-out lane. Only 50 cents each. The only small glasses we have are
a) Tupperware,
b) jelly jars, or
c) mugs that came with the dishes.
These were real glasses, so I nabbed 6. They are such a nice size, and feel so comfortable in your hand. We've owned them for a whole three days now, and usually I can't get one out of the cupboard because they've already been used by other people and are sitting with the dirty dishes. Here I was, Tuesday, worried about wasting $3, and now I'm sitting here with no regret except the one I had over the pint glasses: I should've bought more. It's amazing how such a little thing can brighten things up.

"100" -- Medicinal

42. Both the leaves and the flowerheads are much bigger in RED CLOVER than in white clover. And red clover doesn't have the gloriously sweet smell that white clover does. Red clover, though, is good for fighting cancer.




43. The purple coneflowers are ECHINACEA, the herb often used to support the immune system's response to viral infection.

44. The yellow flowers in the same picture are called rudbeckia. I kept trying to find out how they differed from BLACK-EYED SUSAN, until finally I discovered that one is the scientific name and the other is the common name for the same thing.




45. Remember what I said earlier about mint? Leaves in pairs, directly across from each other, and each pair offset from the pairs above and below it? And a square stem -- that's a huge clue to finding a mint. I put PEPPERMINT in my backyard at the parsonage; that's where this picture was taken. Mints can spread wildly and take over. That's why the former owner of this house had her mints in small planters. I haven't done much to keep them alive, but last time I checked, the peppermint wasn't a goner yet. It's nice to have mint around for tea or cooking ... or upset tummies. However, I prefer spearmint. My spearmint never "took" though.



46. Good for soothing and calming; we find it in Sleepytime tea. Also good for upset stomachs, as Peter's mother told him after he'd eaten too much and gotten stressed out in Mr McGregor's garden. "She made some CHAMOMILE tea; and she gave a dose of it to Peter! One tablespoonful to be taken at bedtime. But Flopsy, Mospsy, and Cottontail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper."

"100" -- Roadside

38. There are lots of different fleabanes, but since I love daisies so much, the DAISY FLEABANE is one of my favorites. Fleabane looks quite similar to the asters, but the fleabane is smaller (flowers are usually littler than a dime) and bloom in late summer, as opposed to the asters which will bloom in fall.





39. BLADDER CAMPION is a white wildflower. They have a "balloon" out of which 5 white petals spread. The rounder "balloons" are the female flowers and the skinnier, darker ones are the male flowers.




40. I used to love the blue morning glory flowers as a child. When I started noticing white "morning glory" crawling along the side of country roads, or climbing other plants, I thought it was pretty. Then I found out it's BINDWEED and a pest because of how badly it gets tangled into things




41. Mints are easily identified by the stems and the leaves. Mint leaves come in pairs, right smack across from each other, and each pair is 90° criss-crossed from the pairs above and below it. Mint stems are square, so square that you can easily feel the sides of the square with your fingers. BERGAMOT has a smell reminiscent of the bergamot orange which is what flavors Earl Gray tea.

"100" -- Thistles

35. When you see it from a distance, SPOTTED KNAPWEED makes you think of Canada thistle. But it's not. No prickles. Different genus.





36. BULL THISTLE is the big, honkin' thistles, the ones that can grow to 6' tall if you don't mow 'em back, the ones where the purple flower is bigger than a ping-pong ball, and maybe nearly as big as a large plum or a raquetball. Bull thistles have prickles on their leaves, on their stems, and even on their flowerheads.




37. CANADIAN THISTLES are the smaller thistles, but even harder to eradicate than the bigger, meaner ones. Unlike the bull thistles, Canadian thistles have prickles only on the leaves, not on the stems and flowers. If you try to dig up Canadian thistle, even the tiniest bit of root left in the ground will grow a new plant. That's why we keep finding them all over the place!

Swimming Pool

I give up. (Y'know, I think we finally gave up on the real pool about 4 months ago.) After some frustration at the beach, culminating in the shocking [to me] events of last week, we decided maybe we really did need a pool in the yard. We reasoned that the kids needed more exercise than I can manage to get them to do. We needed fun exercise that was easily available. And we needed cool exercise for these two who get SO hot and uncomfortable.

It's the time of year when pools go on clearance. We found one of those large pools that is soft-sided, with a big blue inflatable donut that floats on top of the water and holds up the sides. To me, it essentially seemed like an oversized kiddie pool, with a filter. We were willing to use it for 5-6 weeks yet this summer, take it down, and set it up again next year. And it's cheaper to purchase now than later.

But once we opened the box and took out the instructions, we found some surprises. The pool has to be on level ground. Well, duh, I knew that. But they mean REALLY level. Like, so level that if you start putting water in it, and get an inch of water in one spot while another spot is still dry, you have to take down the pool, level the ground better, and start over. Hey, this is kettle-moraine area, and we ain't got no place to put a pool that's 15' diameter! Okay, well, maybe we can fudge a bit. And maybe we could move some sand and dirt to make things a bit more level. There are two spots in the yard that are kinda sorta close to being quasi-level. But then we continued to read the instructions.

Can't put it under power lines. Shoot, one of our places is under power lines. It must be 10-21 feet away from a grounded electrical outlet. Nope; we'd need an extension cord for either of those two places. What if we fudged and used an extension cord? Well, after doing some internet research, that didn't sound so good.

And then there's the chemicals and the daily cleaning. And the tarp we'd have to buy to go under the pool, and the solar blanket to go on top of the pool, and the electricity to run the filter. Overall, it just seemed like there were a lot of things to consider that should've been listed on the outside of the box instead of hidden in the set-up directions inside the box.

So the pool is boxed back up. And I'm hoping that the store will take it back and refund our money. And now I have to figure out what other options I have for taking kids swimming. Ron (the sweet guy from church that I met at the grocery store last week after being at the beach) told me tonight where there's a really nice beach. It's further away, and there's a daily charge to get into the park and to get into the beach too. But at least it's a possibility.

Bummers. I thought I'd figured out the solution to something. But after a week of puzzling and problem-solving, I'm right back to where I started with the problem.

Car Shopping

I'm trying to think if there's anything I hate more than car shopping. Hours and hours online, sorting through ads. Finally finding a couple of decent options, calling the owners, and finding that the vehicle was already sold but the ad hadn't been taken down yet. Telling myself that it would be far better financially to buy from another person, rather than going to a dealership to hunt up a used car. And yet, after hours of trying to find a privately sold car, thinking that spending an extra $3000 would be much better than continuing to sort through ads.

I keep thinking I have better things to do than this....

Peach Pie

Why would anybody take a perfectly wonderful peach, full of juicy sweetness, raw and healthy, and do anything but eat it "plain"?

Uhhhhh... because peach pie is wonderful???

Oh, the peaches at Piggly Wiggly this week have been awesome. Delicious. Ripen nicely without bruises. Super price. Sweet as can be. So we gobbled up the first batch. And the second batch we turned into pies. Trying to combine a variety of recipes into one that suited me, I came up with the combination below. I'm especially glad I discovered that it works just fine to leave the skins on the peach. More nutrition that way. But more importantly, a whole lot less work!

Top and bottom crusts for 10" pie.
6 medium peaches (about 6 cups sliced, or 2.5#)
1 rounded cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tbsp peach schnapps

Roll out bottom crust for pie.
Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon in large bowl.
Slice peaches into bowl, tossing sugar with peaches now and then, as peaches are added to the bowl.
Add schnapps and stir gently.
Fill pie with peach mix.
Top with second crust, seal edges, and cut steam vents.
Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes.
Let cool before eating so that the juicy-goo doesn't run all over the place when you slice the pie.
And then kick yourself for not making two pies instead of just one.

Zoo

Saturday was the zoo-day for Gary's workplace. No, they weren't all supposed to act like monkeys that day. It was a day AT the zoo for employees and their families, with the company paying for tickets, parking, train rides, sea lion show, lunch, etc. It was a perfect day; you couldn't have ordered-up better weather. The lunch was great, with Asian, Mexican, Italian, and American buffets, fresh fruit, drinks (alcoholic and non), and loads of ice-cream treats.

We have been accustomed to enjoying the Madison zoo, and I love that place. The Milwaukee zoo is bigger and more spread out. (That leaves you tireder when you get home that night. LOL.) Because we attended some of the entertainment at the zoo rather than just watching animals, we were surprised to see how much environmental propaganda is interwoven with the scientific "facts" on the cage-labels and in the narration at the sea-lion show.

Andrew and Paul and I were keeping an eye on scientific names of animals and trying to make sense of them. One of the songs from our science CDs teaches us about "kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species make the name, you see." We were beginning to get confused, as the "panther" genus includes the species of lions and tigers and bears, oh my (NO) leopards and jaguars. But not cheetahs. And not (interestingly enough!) panthers. Panthers and cheetahs, though, join the others in the feline family. Wondering what the other scientific classifications were, we knew it was the animal kingdom, and Wikipedia showed us that the phylum is the group with spinal columns, while the class is mammals, and the order is carnivores. Other classes of vertebrates are groupings such as birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. It's been interesting trying to make sense of these categories, such as chamomile being in the plant kingdom, the division/phylum of plants that flower, the class of composite flowers, and the order of asters or ray-flowers. I think too many of the items in my "100 species" posts are actually a genus instead of a species. Oh well. At least we're narrowing down the items, so that we call it something more precise than just "a plant"!

Body Odor

Something noticed in recent months: a cat smell. When we were house-hunting, some houses had a cat smell and others didn't. I'm not particularly fond of cat-smell, even though I like the cats. But what I've noticed recently is that it's not Athena who contributes cat-smell to the house. It's Rosie. Athena eats real food. She eats what a cat is supposed to eat. She catches live food (with enzymes -- LOL) and eats the whole thing, bones, fur, guts, and all. Rosie, however, eats processed food. She is a lousy huntress, and eats the food from the store. Granted, it's a relatively "real" and less-processed cat food than most of what's on the shelves, but it's still grocery store food, as opposed to the hunter-gatherer food that is the mainstay of Athena's diet. And Rosie is the one who has An Odor.

Is there a lesson here for people-diets?

Refrigerator Muffins

Katie asked how to make these, as she does not have the church-cookbook collection that I have. There are so many recipes for this, with minor variations, that I have to say you don't need to worry about being too exact with this one. For example, the box of cereal can be bran flakes or Raisin Bran, and anywhere from 10-15 ounces.

Mix together in very large bowl:
1 box bran flakes
5 cups flour
2-3 cups sugar
1 ½ Tbsp baking soda
½ Tbsp salt

Combine:
1 quart buttermilk
4 beaten eggs
1 cup oil

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Let sit at least 6 hours before using batter. Store in the refrigerator, in a covered container, for up to six weeks (depending on freshness of the eggs).

Bake in greased muffin tins at about 375-400° for about 15-20 minutes. A 15-oz box of Raisin Bran will yield about 5 dozen muffins with this recipe.

Forgetting Butter

Forgetting has been the problem of late.

I put in a load of laundry, turn on the machine, and discover that I forgot the detergent. I discover this when I open the machine hours later (because, after all, earlier I forgot that I was doing laundry at all) and discover clothes that don't smell at all clean.

Earlier this week, I took off in the car for the emissions test (necessary to renew the license plate) and forgot the paperwork. Later that day, we headed off to the beach without the beach pass to get in, and no money for the entrance fee.

On Thursday night, I was finishing thawing some meat in the microwave. (I had remembered to take it out of the freezer in plenty of time. Really, I had. But for some reason it didn't thaw in a timely way. Go figure.) I couldn't figure out why the meatloaves were so small if I was making 6# of hamburger into meatloaf. Discovered the next morning that over 2# of hamburger had spent the night in the microwave. I'd forgotten to take it out and add it to the dinner when it was done thawing.

I often forget to turn on the stove/oven to heat something. More frequently, when it's done I forget to turn off the oven. Last night, making pies, I took the first one out and [ah ha!] remembered to turn the oven off. Trouble was, there was still a pie in the oven, and another that needed to go in. I wonder how a 200° oven will effect a pie crust?

Yesterday, I found over-ripe bananas at the store for el-cheapo. Woo hoo! Banana cookies tantalizing me...! So I come home, start to throw them together, and discover there isn't enough butter in the fridge. Okay, I'll get some out of the freezer and nuke them. I poured half the melted butter off into the recipe, put the bowl back into the microwave, and proceeded to add the rest of the ingredients to the cookie dough while the rest of the butter finished melting. And then [surprise!] forgot the rest of the butter. Later somebody found a bowl of melted butter in the microwave.

Well, there's one thing I've learned from that. I used to think I liked shrimp and lobster and crab legs. You know what? They're quite okay. But what I actually like is the butter you dunk them in!!!

"100" -- Yellow

29. I didn't take the picture. Most of the ST JOHN'S-WORT was done blooming shortly before I started this ID-ing venture. St John's-wort grows about knee-high along roads and in country ditches (aka, "disturbed soil") and usually begins blooming at the end of June ... in other words, about the time we celebrate the Nativity of John the Baptist. The sap is red, and if you crush or boil the yellow flowers they will become red/purple. This reminds us of the blood of the martyr. This pretty plant is the same St John's-wort used for treating depression.


30. SWEET CLOVER is commonly seen along the highways and country roads, or unmowed locations in town (such as at the corner of highway off-ramps). I always thought "sweet clover" was an adjective describing the lovely smell of regular white clover that grows in your lawn. Nope. Sweet clover doesn't have a ball of flower. Rather, it looks almost feathery, usually growing at a height of about 3' and in airy-looking bunches. There's white sweet clover and yellow sweet clover, identical except for the color of the flowers. Most of the time, the sweet clover will wave above the surrounding grasses, but in this picture it's short enough to be partially obscured by the grass.

31. When you're zooming down the road at 60 mph, WILD PARSNIP appears to be the yellow version of Queen Anne's Lace.




32. MULLEIN is a biennial. The first picture here, with the rosette of soft soft fuzzy leaves is first-year growth. The second picture is the stalk that grows and flowers the following year.






33. BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL is another legume (like peas or soybeans) with gorgeous flowers. You often see bird's-foot trefoil climbing out from a lawn, creeping over a concrete sidewalk. It frequently spills out from a lawn over the edge of the curb into the street. It's a bright bright yellow, and will "mound" a bit (like impatiens). If it gets into pasture-land, it supposedly makes good feed, like alfalfa. But I see it more often in town, dressing up lawns and sidewalks.


34. Before blooming, YELLOW WOOD SORREL looks a lot like low hop clover. At least, they look a lot alike to an amateur like me. But the hop clovers and the sorrels aren't even in the same family, nor even in the same order. Hop clover flowers remain looking like little buds, whereas sorrels have the kind of flower that all first-graders like to draw -- a properly-petaled flower.

Oatmeal Muffins

This is from Barb Wieting, and Jane asked for the recipe today. Since I'm not sure if Rachel and Katie have it (and I know they'll need it), I figured I'd post it here.

One dozen.
Greased muffin tins.
400° for about 12 minutes.

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sour milk
Soaks oats in sour milk 10-15 minutes. (Shorter is okay if you're substituting quick oats.)

Stir in
1 egg
1/2 cup olive oil

Combine in small bowl:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Mix dry ingredients into wet. Stir just a bit, till all is moistened. Scoop batter into muffin tin, and bake.


Reasonably healthy as muffins go. Not overly sweet, but have that caramelly taste that comes from brown sugar. Quick and easy. And uses up some of that sour milk that sometimes ends up taking space in the fridge.

Summer Gradual

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out. For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things. To Him be the glory forever. (Romans 11)


Of Him. The Father is the source of all things.

Rejoice, my heart, be glad and sing,
a cheerful trust maintain;
for God, the source of everything,
thy Portion shall remain.

Through Him. We are united to the Son. We are in Him. All of God's blessings come to us through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ.

Who is this that comes in glory
with the trump of jubilee?
Lord of battles, God of armies --
He has gained the victory.
He who on the cross didst suffer,
He who from the grave arose,
He hath vanquished sin and Satan;
He by death hath spoiled His foes.
Thou hast raised our human nature
on the clouds to God's right hand;
there we sit in heavenly places,
there with Thee in glory stand.
Jesus reigns, adored by angels;
Man with God is on the throne.
Mighty Lord, in Thine ascension
we by faith behold our own.

To Him. Because of the Holy Spirit's work when and where He pleases in those who hear the Gospel, we are brought to our Savior. And the words He gives us to pray go back to Him.

O Holy Spirit, grant us grace
that we our Lord and Savior
in faith and fervant love embrace
and truly serve Him ever,
so that when death is drawing nigh,
we to His open wounds my fly
and find in them salvation.

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
Isn't that just so trinitarian?

Bender Binder

Look -- no longer a binder!
The second edition -- which has been edited to go with LSB -- is now available.

Cleaning for Company

I don't like to clean for company.
I don't want to clean for company.
I want to live in our house at the cleanliness level we can endure enjoy, and joyfully accept the company as it comes ... without stressing myself by thinking that we need to "clean for them."

So Jane and the guys are coming. And Andrew harasses me because

we're cleaning.

For the company. (So HE says.)

I say, however, that we are cleaning because there's cleaning to be done that didn't get tackled yesterday or the day before or the day before that. If we are going to take a good 24 hours to play instead of do any work, then it's time to work now. It's not for impressing company. It's "work before play." Well, actually, there will be work after play too, because we sure ain't gonna finish the house-cleaning before they come. So we'll have plenty to do after they leave. Not because they're messy, but because I've been doing silly things like cooking and laundry instead of dusting. And the dust is getting to where it bothers ME.

Sorry, but dust (no matter how big those dust elephants bunnies are) ain't big enough to sully my reputation. I've done that on my own quite well enough without the aid of mere dust!

Signed,
the hostess (term used quite loosely)
who welcomes you by showing you how to
make yourself at home and where the
glasses and towels are ... because I'm
so pitiful at serving the guests

"100" -- Fields

These may be obvious species to many of us, but I need my youngest to learn them too. So here's #25, CORN. And this corn is going to feed chickens and cows, and will not be going into anyone's fuel tank.



26 & 27. The crop on the left is WINTER WHEAT nearly ready to harvest. The crop on the right is HAY.




28. A bean field. When I was growing up, and my parents talked about the "bean fields," I always thought it meant green beans. Nope. In the midwest, virtually all the field-crops are corn, hay, wheat, and SOYBEANS. Other crops are seen occasionally. I took the picture of the bean field just as the soybeans were flowering. Aren't the soybean flowers pretty?

1 John 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Okay, don't laugh at me. I don't know what I used to think this verse meant, but it wasn't anything normal. "It has not yet been revealed what we shall be." Will we have three arms? Two heads? Will we look like creatures out of a Sponge Bob episode?

No, that's not what I thought. But I thought "not yet been revealed" meant that there'd be some kind of surprise when it finally is revealed. Y'know how kids in Sunday School (or grown-ups, for that matter) will ask questions about what our "glorified bodies" will be like after the resurrection? I've heard it asked SO many times whether we'll be able to walk through walls like Jesus. Or [poof] appear and disappear. (Actually, the Bible never says Jesus could "walk through walls." It just says in John 20 that Jesus "appeared in their midst.") So there is lots of wondering about what WILL be revealed someday that hasn't been revealed yet -- and it's not just me.

So when we got to this in Bible class a couple of weeks ago, I asked. And Pastor gave one of those DOH! answers, where you think, "Of course! Why didn't I see that before? It's so obvious!"

He said that it "hasn't been revealed" because we don't know what it's like to be sin-free. We don't know what it's like to have pure motives. We don't know what it's like to have no pain, no sorrow, no selfishness. We don't know what it's like to live in a world that has been freed from the curse of the fall. So, yes, we have been told what's coming, and in that sense, it has been revealed. And yet, it hasn't been revealed because we haven't seen what is coming, and we can't even begin to imagine what it will be like.

Two Kingdoms

Today's selection from Day by Day We Magnify Thee includes this:
Secular authority is an image, symbol, and likeness of the authority of Christ. The ministry of the Word brings eternal justification, eternal peace, and eternal life. The secular authority maintains temporal peace, justice, and life, yet it is a glorious divine ordinance and a wonderful gift of God, who has instituted and appointed it.


Pastor has been talking about how the Kingdom of the Left is still under God's control, and it is how He rules in the world. I guess I used to think that there was the Church and there was the world, and that God ruled in His Church. So I was beginning to get a grasp on the stuff Pastor was saying about God ruling in the world, overseeing governments and nations and police and armies and politicians. But this Luther quote seemed to help clarify things a bit. What God gives eternally through the Church, He gives temporally through the left-hand kingdom.

Forgetting

I left this morning with the car, to get the emissions test done prior to renewing the license plate. But I left without the paper work and had to run back home to fetch it when I was part-way there. Then I discovered that my memory of where the test-station was was better than what google-maps told me. Not trusting my memory recently, I figured I should check the map, and it took me 20 minutes out of my way because of showing me the wrong location.

Then we were headed off to the beach. Got nearly halfway there and realized I didn't have the beach pass. Turned around to go home and fetch that, frustration levels increasing.

The ugly and foul mouths of the kids at the beach was astounding. Andrew was as offended as I was. I could not believe how brazenly they talked about evil evil things, with potty-mouths. Andrew says that Matrix is the foulest-mouthed movie he's ever seen, and these teenagers made it seem like a clean movie. It's scary to think that these are "nice normal kids."

We had to pick up a few groceries while we were out. But while shopping, we checked a couple of stores for those large, blue, blow-up pools. We really need to check out a different beach or buy something for the backyard. The upper for the day was when I was tooling through the grocery store and saw one of the men from church. I don't even know his name, but he's a sweet man who usually attends on Wednesday nights. And it was just so pleasant to see him there, chat for a minute, and go on. It was, like, look!, there are other Christians wandering around this world full of cranky and/or potty-mouthed folks, and it's not just me and my kids surrounded by bad guys. It was inordinately cheering to see him!

Pesto

Because Glenda asked, this is what I threw together in the blender:

Grind up
4-5 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
a little salt

then add about 3 cups basil leaves
and chop.

Drizzle into blender while running
1/2 cup olive oil
then add
1/4 cup parmesan,
until you have pastey mush.


You're supposed to use pine nuts, not sunflower seeds. But the sunflower seeds worked fine. Online references also suggested substituting cashews for the sunflower seeds. Erin tells me that you can use spinach instead of basil. I tried it a couple of weeks ago with parsley instead of basil, and that was good too.

You can use it as a sandwich spread, instead of mayo, or with mayo. We put some on the pizza last night, under the tomato sauce. Erin said she's made pizza with pesto instead of tomato sauce. It goes lovely-like on pasta!

General News

Philip started a job today!! Not anything exciting; it's a lot like what he was doing at Borg. He says he'll be building headlights. But it pays. It gives him something to do. And he's done working at 2:45, so that still allows him time to make appointments for interviews for other jobs or for taking classes to gain skills for other jobs.

Dad started chemo last week.

We spent a long and restful Sunday with our goddaughter's family. Ahhh.

I have access to a car today and tomorrow, as Gary's got a ride to work with somebody else. Having a vehicle available makes me feel a little more settled about getting things done that need doing. Still wondering if we should be looking for a car for Paul to take to college. Does it make sense to pray for him to be able to find a good church, but not leave him with wheels and a key?

We went to the beach this morning for sunshine and exercise for Miss Scoliosis. (Hey, that's what you can do when you have a car. LOL.) Less than five minutes after we arrived, she sliced her heel open quite badly. Now it's got one of those "advanced healing" band-aids on it. I hope we can try the beach again tomorrow.

I did a lot of hunting for an in-network osteopath who does manipulations. Can't find one. I guess we're going to have to try out a couple of in-network chiropractors. If I'm not happy with them, I guess we'll just end up paying out-of-network medical costs for little Miss Scoliosis.

Rosie (the cat) continues to improve. She's still sneezing, but doesn't look like she's at death's door anymore. She did, however, get reattached to running water. We were tempting her to drink with any scheme we could; she just needed hydration. So now she's once again begging for the bathroom sink faucets to be turned on to suit her fancy.

Finished off the lettuce from our garden. The cucumbers are coming along. They're itty-bitty, but we are looking forward to cucumber salad soon! Cantaloupe doesn't seem to be setting fruit yet, although I've seen plenty of blooms.

The plum tree has edible fruit, not just ornamental. Mmmmm. Gonna have to find some time to haul out the ladder, pick plums, and make jelly. I botched it with the cherries, so I better not botch it with the plums.

Started a compost pile. Finally. Now I don't have to throw all that perfectly decent garbage into the garbage can.

Last week I visited the doctor recommended by Erin, Cathy, and Becky. I like him. It's such a relief to find a primary-care physician on the first try! I'm so grateful to those who recommended him. I have another appointment scheduled for next week.

I made pesto with the big bag of basil from the CSA. Oh man, that is good stuff! Now, what am I going to do once I get used to these fresh herbs, and then don't have them in November? Hmmm? That's gonna be sad.

Looks like I have a lot of play-time coming up. Jane later this week. Tammy on the weekend. And possibly Barb early in the week. Then if I could squeeze in another trip to my folks while I have Dorothy's car on loan next week ... my goodness, I am just not going to get ANY work done at all. But I'll have lots of happy time for chatting!!!

Romans 8:23-24

A quote from last Sunday's Bible class, regarding the burden of living with the sinful flesh, and the problem of trying to overcome sin:

We ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
If you're longing for a time in this life in which you will not have a struggle with sin, you have your longing misplaced. And if you believe that, that's where the devil tries to rob you of your salvation. He wants you to try to find that place where you can say, "I am now finally no longer having any struggle." Oh no. That's dangerous.

For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope: for why does one still hope for what he sees?
So if you feel your sin, and you struggle against it, and you long to be free of it, God be praised. That's what it is to be a Christian in this life. "But I don't want to struggle!" you say; "I don't want to keep sinning." I know you don't. So confess your sin, believe the Gospel, and don't get too attached to the things of this world -- look up for your redemption draws near. "But I want the freedom from sin now!" you say. I know you want it now. But remember that the present sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in you. And just as the suffering of Jesus was necessary on the way to His resurrection, so we who are baptized into Christ Jesus' death and resurrection must suffer until the glorious day of our resurrection. Do not be afraid: His proclamation is steadfast and unmovable.

Weekend Projects

We've lived here nearly five months. Friday I finally got bathroom curtains hung. It wasn't so bad in the first few months; the glass has a frost coating so that it's not see-through. But it's warm now. We want the windows open. At the old house, there were two times a year when there was ANYbody around who could see in the bathroom window: when the farmer planted and when he harvested. Otherwise, who'd be in a position to see into the bathroom? But here? There are neighbors. So if you took a shower during the day, you'd just be careful with where you undressed and how you slipped into the shower, out of sight. But at night, with the lights on, NO WAY. The window had to be closed, or you had to shower in the dark, or something. (Believe me, it was loads easier to shower during daylight hours.) And we could always use the toilet in the little bathroom, where you can't see in the window. But now I have the curtains done! Finally! They aren't fancy. But the blue-daisy fabric goes well with the linoleum and the bright yellow walls. Best of all, though, it's so much easier to take a shower without having to finagle some privacy.


And here we see part of Gary's project. The guys all put a lot of manual labor into this!! The boards on the deck have been removed, turned over, sanded, and sealed. But along with that, a whole lot of dirt had to be dug out and carted away because the joists were sitting in the soil. And what happens to wood boards sitting in dirt? They turn to compost. And when they start rotting, they aren't the best at holding up weight. So the guys have a nice airy place under that part of the deck, with the soil graded away from the house now, and a porous ground-cover that won't hold moisture next to the joists. The guys also had to build a small retaining wall. The only thing that had been holding the dirt back at all was a few 4x4s next to the shed. It wasn't enough. But the men here dug, and carried those heavy stones, and got them all placed properly, and put the shed back into its spot. Isn't it pretty? And now we even have part of the garage back because the mower and edger and wheelbarrows can live in the shed instead of by the bikes. Yippee!

I just think what Gary's done with this deck is SO impressive!! There's still quite a ways to go, but I think he's at least halfway done now. And hopefully it will help to be getting into the drier part of the summer -- more days to work without being bogged down by mud mud mud.

Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Pastor made the point last week that these sufferings are not primarily things like car accidents, lost jobs, illness, and broken relationships. It of course includes those things. But in the context of Paul's letter (with chapter 8 following on the heels of chapter 7!) the sufferings spoken of here are primarily the suffering with the sin of our flesh waging war against faith, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. THAT suffering --a suffering more grievous than any suffering imposed from the outside-- is the suffering which still isn't worth comparing to the glory which shall be revealed in us at the Last Day.