November 29

Outside my window...

It is a beautiful, sunny day. Yesterday it was so cold and windy but now today the weather has moderated and we are not so intimidated about stepping outside the door.

I am thinking…

...about how to get shelter for the chickens. All good homesteaders say to get your infrastructure in place before you get your creatures. Wise advice!

I am thankful for…

...a warm house. When I hear the wind blowing strong and cold I think about the people who have cold houses or no houses. And I feel guilty in my nice warm dwelling with plenty of clothing and covers. 

From the learning rooms…

We are still studying Paul's letters to Timothy. We're instructed to be soldiers for the Lord, not side-tracked or weighted down by the affairs of this life.

...chosen him

We just finished These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder as our daily read-aloud. We are considering reading the Little Britches series after this.

Otherwise, the boys are challenged to have their own reading goals in the Bible and otherwise. Melvin is reading Sherlock Holmes stories. 

Christopher read a few "new" books I pulled off the shelf for him. He's also wanting to read Josephus for the reward I offered him but he thinks the reward should be higher. He read a bit from the beginning of the book.

From the kitchen…

Here's the menu plan I set out this week but I haven't held to it entirely. 

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Egg sandwiches Yogurt	Leftovers	Deep dish Taco squares Green beans Lettuce salad
Spinach quiche Yogurt Granola	Goulash	Rice with Alfredo Spinach salad Apple crisp
Muffins Yogurt	Leftovers	Taco soup Cornbread Lettuce salad
Potato quiche Yogurt	Leftovers	Potato bar Peas & carrots Chinese cabbage salad
Baked oatmeal Yogurt	Penn Valley	Penn Valley
Penn Valley	Penn Valley	Mifflinburg
Scrambled eggs & sausage Yogurt	Leftovers	Veggie roast with sausage Lettuce salad

I am wearing…

...a head covering, an old lavender dress, ankle socks. I shed my purple sweatshirt after a morning workout.

I am creating…

Nada. Nix. Zed. Zero. 

I am going…

...to Pennsylvania to be with Stephen Saturday and Sunday.

I am reading…

...the Mitford series by Jan Karon.

I am hoping… 

...that life will get more reasonably busy for my dear husband.

I am hearing…

...wood chunks falling into the garden cart as Melvin and Christopher fill it and haul loads up the hill to stack on the pile.

Around the house…

The house kitchen (we have two kitchens) has gotten a coat of paint on two sides. The new color begs the cabinets to be white. 

The windows were washed on the outside of the house and I'm now working my way, little by little, around the inside. 

And, little by little, I'm taking care of stacks of things around my desk. I'm determined to declutter (auto correct thinks this isn't a word) and organize this house to the nth degree.

One of my favorite things…

A meal around the table with the family. 

A few plans for the rest of the week…

Continue life as usual. Cook, clean, do laundry, pack lunches, go shopping, and whatever else needs to be done. I need to figure out how and when to get the steer to the butcher.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing….

Do you ever feel awed by patterns in nature?
Even the swirl in the cooking pan? I do!

Snow, Errands and Peanut Butter

This week has ended, with all its idiosyncrasies. (That word took me down in a spelling bee once. Had never heard of it before.) The weather has been up and down, quite literally. Temperatures up in the 70s and down in the 20s. Clouds up in the sky and clouds coming down, in the form of rain, sleet or snow. 

Today it is snow. The forecast is for 2-6 inches. This evening it is maybe an inch and a half deep. It's been warm enough to keep it from sticking and also it is a very wet snow. You might know how that kind is. It snows more than you can really measure.

Stephen returned from his trip to Honduras and reported a relaxing vacation. He worked and lived alongside his cousins while there. They went to a waterfall one day and did some climbing. He says he has lots of photos so we look forward to seeing them. 

He had booked their (his and Sylvia's) tickets to and from San Pedro Sula. That's where they flew into for the Bible school but I think he could have gotten return tickets from Teguc if he would have thought that far. The trip back to San Pedro Sula was made by bus with two cousins to help along. 

They spent Monday night in Siguatepeque at a Mennonite children's home. An interesting connection was made at the airport when David Bercot came up and introduced himself to them. He was on their flight from San Pedro Sula to Atlanta. He was also bound for Dulles but they didn't see him after Atlanta and worried that he missed his flight. They were the last ones on the plane, coming after everyone else had boarded.

Today was a full day. I worked on selling some things around here (online, through Facebook & OfferUp). Then Christopher and I ran some errands that have been on my mind. The more I stay home, the more things pile up on me.

We stopped at the ATM first to get some cash, then went to Food Lion. While puzzling over the long lines there, it dawned on me that there is snow in the forecast. It will be warm in a day or two so there's really no need to worry but maybe some folks can't live two days without going to the grocery store?

Next we picked up apples at the farmer's market, picked up a bulk order from my sister, got some pork that was on sale at County Pride (which I grind to make sausage), grabbed a stack of books from the library, and unloaded a stash of unneeded items at the thrift store. Wow. Now my brain feels cleaner. 

My parents had a nice surprise today when someone offered to bring them a Meals on Wheels dinner. A full meal of grilled chicken, mac n cheese, baked beans, coleslaw and cake.

Recently a friend gave me a nice big food processor. She had gotten it for a wedding present but hasn't used it to speak of in almost ten years. So she wisely passed it on to me. Since I've had it I got to thinking that we could surely be more frugal by getting a case of peanuts and making our own peanut butter. 

We usually buy the Smuckers brand that has no junk in it (only peanuts and salt) and I am always limiting the boys' intake as it is so costly. They eat so much of it at one sitting! First thing I know, the peanut butter is no more.

My first attempt at peanut butter turned out well. We got a 30 lb case of blanched and salted peanuts. I'm dreaming of different ways to make the butter; roast the peanuts, add honey, molasses or maple syrup. Do tell me of a flavor you like.

Melvin used some peanut butter and whole peanuts in a batch of no-bake bars he made. Christopher added whole peanuts to the granola he made. I have a squeaky feeling this 30 lb case of peanuts might not last very long either.

Thomas and all the boys besides Christopher went to sand the walls in a house that they finished drywall in this week. They got done in a couple of hours. 

The three older boys went to play volleyball with some friends this evening but some of their friends couldn't get there because of the snow and the others were in an accident that prevented their coming. So two of the boys came home and the other stayed with his friend for the evening.

Melvin and Christopher received their periodic shearing from my hand this evening. They balk about it (and so do I) but I said we need to just get it done! Christopher was looking especially shaggy. Now that's off my mind (and their heads) until the next time.

I've actually read a few books this week! I finished Trees Tall as Mountains, read Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, and Little Lord Fauntleroy and began Great Expectations. I will try to report on them later.

I'll leave you with some new (to me) words and see if they're new to you too.

Burgoo
Dearborn
Execrate

Please let me know in the comments (or reply to me in a new email) if you find/know the meanings.

Life

When writing is what one does in one's head daily and with one's hand quite a lot less, sitting down to do it with one's hand is like pricking a squishy balloon. All you hear is a long sigh....

What to write first? 

So I will write about my day and make the doldrums as interesting as I can.

I awoke this morning to the same throbbing head that gave me a less than desirable Sunday and a very restless night. It doesn't help the throbbing any to know that these men of mine need breakfast and a packed lunch.

A pack of waffles in the freezer is available for just such a time as this. Saturday was spent getting some easy freezer breakfast meals done. So they toasted waffles to be eaten with butter or peanut butter (the first choice of most), maple syrup and peaches or fried eggs, if they so desired. 

Leftover chicken tortilla soup, some cheese slices and apples made lunch for the men- Thomas, Austin and Matthew. They all took care of themselves while I sat huddled on the couch with my feet tucked up under my skirt (because I did manage to get dressed as far as that).

I had nothing to eat since lunch yesterday and food still repulsed me. I slowly drank two glasses of water. That helped me feel a bit better. So I downed some calcium with a small glass of milk, hoping that would take care of that aching head.

After resting awhile longer with no relief, I decided to take a couple more Ibuprofen to add to the hundreds my body has dealt with over the last few decades, including the two I consumed yesterday. Then I worry about damaging my liver. And I eat a couple of waffles and drink a small cup of coffee, wondering if that might also damage my liver.

Why do I "worry" about my liver? Well, there IS a glob-by feel in the right side of my abdomen. It just never quite goes away. So I speculate many times about what it is. Sometimes it seems like an internal hernia. 

I don't really worry but my brain tells me maybe I should research how to do a liver cleanse and see if I think it seems doable. Instead I just rest and let the drug and caffeine take my headache away.

Then I read awhile and decide it is really high time to do some writing. It really can't take second seat any longer. The windows will be dirty one more day. The apples must wait. The laundry, oh we'll still get some of it done. Besides I feel like a whipped puppy. 

To be honest I don't know exactly how that feels. The feeling comes from drugs. You know, that Ibuprofen I spoke of earlier. It leaves one feeling lethargic but painless. Alive enough to write but hardly able to do laundry.

Yesterday I wasn't sure if I was getting the flu bug or a migraine. Today I'm concluding it was a migraine. Because of the cold hands and feet, hot head and nausea.

Enough about me. 

Stephen is in Honduras with my brother Paul's family. He left here Saturday a week ago at 1:30 AM. The group he went with flew out of Dulles at 6:20 AM. Nine energetic people from our church went down to conduct a Bible school in the town of Cuyamel.

Only one of the group could speak Spanish. My brother's family met them at the airport and stayed with them for the week to help with interpreting. Most of the group came back Saturday and they report a hectic, enjoyable week with lots of children (80-200) and lots of rain (washing away roads and causing landslides).

On Saturday Stephen, and my niece Sylvia who also went with the group, headed back with Pauls to their home in the mountains, 8-9 hours away. We hear nothing from them so we assume no news is good news. They plan to return home on the 13th.

Thomas, Austin and Matthew are working on a drywall finishing job today. Something that Thomas and Austin enjoy and Matthew does not. He says, "HOW can someone enjoy mudding?!" It is interesting to see the boys' talents and interests develop. 

Thomas has been working a lot for a garage door installer. It is the kind of work he enjoys, repetitive and yet needing a certain amount of precision. Matthew enjoys it also but it isn't creative enough for Austin's nature.

Thomas says everyone on the door job hates one certain thing that needs to be done at the end, though, except for Austin. He just jumps in there, does it with excellence and enjoys it.

Melvin and Christopher cleaned up the kitchen around 11 AM, eating a bit more as they did so. Then they created with LEGO's for a few hours. After spending some time reading, they headed out to work on their log cabin in the woods. 

It is now 3:30 and none of us have eaten lunch. We will probably snack a little if we need something before supper. My nephews and niece are coming for supper and the evening. Sixteen yr old boy, three yr old boy and six year old girl.

Chicken chili is on the menu and they are bringing a few eats also. There are corn muffins in the freezer if we need more food.

There now. It helps to write about it. To be continued....

Today I am thankful for...
...Ibuprofen (of course!).
...smart phones (with Kindle books).
...eggs (from our very own chickens!).

Here's the book I am currently reading on Kindle.

Vacation Part Two

From Texas, Monday June 19, we headed to Oklahoma. Thomas' friend, Sanford Yoder, from years ago recently lost his youngest son in an accident. It gave Thomas a longing to go connect again. These two were unmarried, young men when they last saw one another.

As we were introduced to the family we discovered that here again were 5 sons (minus the one killed) and one daughter. Our boys say this stop was the highlight of the trip for them. They had so many similar points of interest with these boys as well as being near the same ages. 

A good game of basketball was what they needed after long hours of traveling and visiting and having "nothing to do". Christopher found a good book to curl up with, Austin found cubing buddies, Stephen played his card tricks on quite knowledgeable guys. There was lots of real good conversation to listen to or be involved in. 

Again we found it hard to leave the next morning but we had a long road ahead to where our next stop was in TN. We got one last visit with brother Paul's family! We drove hard all day after leaving Sanford's place, stopping only once in ten hours for lunch, restroom and fuel. I guess we weren't drinking enough.

Sanford gave us an acapella recording of a men's group that he is a part of. The boys enjoyed listening to that as we traveled. I say "the boys" because we had taken two vehicles and there's had the CD player. We pulled a U-Haul trailer down to TX with things that my sisters wanted from the home place. So we had the truck and car to drive for miles and miles. Five drivers to take turns but I did very little driving myself. Thomas and Stephen did the majority of it.

It was rather late when we arrived at Wendell King's place. They graciously fed us supper and made room for us overnight in their already full house. They have 4 sons and 2 daughters. So with all three families there were 22 people there! 

It was great to connect with them again and visit with Paul, Helena and family once more. Helena and Wendell's wife Ruthie are sisters. We were up too late.... And the next morning they fed us a good breakfast. They then supplied us with meat and cheese and crackers from their store for our homeward journey.

The road home seemed long and longer that day.  When we were in VA late at night we got into really slow traffic. Emergency vehicles kept passing us on the shoulder. Not just regular fire truck, police and ambulance but more complicated things. When we finally passed the accident, here it was a tractor trailer on its side across most of the road. All traffic was passing around on the shoulder. How did that happen, we wonder?

It was close to midnight before we reached HOME sweet HOME. I really enjoyed the trip. It was a bit of vacation and "broadening horizons" for me. 

Here are three of the very few pictures I took on the trip.

This is how you (or we) do meals on a trip. At a rest area. At Walmart....

It's very difficult to photograph the Mississippi River from your vehicle while crossing the bridge!

Bass Pro Shop is out to catch your attention!

East or west, home is best. 

Is it the best place in the world for you?

There are so many who do not have a happy home.

Vacation Part One

On Wednesday June 14 we headed out for a week long trip. The main idea of the trip was to take in my sister Rachel's wedding in Texas.

On Wednesday we traveled as far as Monterey, TN, where my aunt and cousins live. My cousin Jake Troyer has a family of five sons and one daughter. Our boys got to know theirs last year and wanted to visit them. They graciously gave us supper, a bed (more than one!) for the night and breakfast the next morning.

While we were there they hosted a small group Bible study/prayer meeting. This gave us the opportunity to meet some more people. They had informed us beforehand that there is a Melvin Lapp in their community. Well, our son is also Melvin Lapp! When Melvin came, he and Thomas discussed their roots and decided they are not related. But it was of interest that his daughter lives close by in our community. Her husband had just contacted Thomas prior to our journey, asking if we will allow them to get raw milk from us. Then the Sunday after we came home, we met this young couple at our church! Interesting world.

My 95 yr old aunt Katie who is Jake's mother, lives in a trailer in their backyard. She came over to visit with us and brought her Scrabble game along. Usually her daughter plays with her on Wed afternoon but on this particular day her daughter had a chiropractor appointment. She said, "Maybe Marie will play Scrabble with me." Indeed! A game I enjoy. Winning isn't so important to me but I love playing with words.

Jake's wife Chris and I had so much to talk about that we had a hard time concentrating on the game. We have a lot in common as homeschoolers with 5 sons. Her next to youngest son brought a sister with him (twins). So she has one daughter who is an excellent helper to her. Her children are a bit older than mine so she has finished her homeschooling and is reaching out to hurting people, which interest we also share.

Jake and Chris gave their children 8 years of formal academics and then turned to other hands-on interests. The day we were there the 17 year old (one of the twins) was out on the job in charge of a pole barn crew. Their sons are amazing, confident young men. Two (or more) of them have their pilot's license- yes, that's for an airplane. Their only daughter (17) runs a small cafe.

We had a hard time leaving from there but set out for Texas the next forenoon. We got to our destination (Janie Jones' house) at 11:30 pm after an eventful drive through Dallas and Fort Worth. We were supposed to get a route south before getting deep into Dallas. We missed that one and drove to the other side of Ft Worth to get another. It wasn't too bad, but for the tired drivers it was a bit upsetting.

Our hostess was gone and had left air mattresses plus a hide-a-bed for the boys. We couldn't find the tools to inflate the mattresses so they put couch cushions and/or blankets on the floor and went off to dreamland. Everyone was very weary from the long drive.

The countryside as we traveled was beautiful with it's varied terrain. Flat land and hilly, trees and wide open fields, I enjoyed all of it. Anticipating forsaken country, it wasn't quite what I expected. Our last trip to Texas had us always in town or city so we did get to see a bit more of what "real Texas" is like this time. Although, as big as Texas is, I'm sure there's lots more to see!

Seeing family again was great. We siblings were all there except for my brother Paul from Honduras who was traveling elsewhere with his family. We thought our family would need to make the food for the wedding but our cousin, 'Retta Miller did all the work and we just relaxed with each other. We did have our daily food needs to look after but that was very doable.

Daddy and Mama and a couple of our children made the dinner rolls one day. And we had a lot of work to do the day of the wedding. Hauling things to the venue, cleaning, decorating, etc. And then taking it all back down, cleaning again and putting things away. What a tiring Sunday. It surely was not a day of rest.

Texas was quite warm. Jason and Rachel had an outdoor wedding and it was too warm for me. I stayed inside the nearby building where I could watch and hear what was happening without endangering my health. It was next to a lake and there was a good breeze going most of the time. Such a breeze that the bride had to fight with her veil. 

The programs were printed on fans - a thoughtful way to do it for a warm Texas wedding.

Everything was beautiful. Colors of dusty rose and blue. The tables were decorated with books and candles. Probably other things too, but I notice people more than decorations. And I was cleaning bathrooms while others decorated.

To those who have an interest in such things - The wedding meal was Southern picnic style. Grilled chicken breast, potato salad, baked beans, strawberry spinach salad, dinner rolls and watermelon. Fresh fruit and cheese cubes were served as appetizers.

Stephen was a photographer but unfortunately I got no pictures whatsoever. The link will take you to some of his photography but there are no wedding pictures there. If you see his profile picture you might freak out. He is totally in costume. 

Somehow the Lord brings other homeschooling people into our lives. Jason's uncle & aunt homeschooled their children. He was a public school teacher and realized he didn't want his children to experience that world. So they blessed their children with a home education.

My sisters Verina, Joanna and I were the cake cutters. It ended up being me cutting and they serving. Something I've never done before- cut the wedding cake. I was coached by the coordinator's helper and when done she said, "You did it perfectly. Now you can add that to your resume. There's good money in cake cutting!" Oh really? Hmm... that's not a hard job.

Our aunt Martha Summy and two daughters came from PA for the occasion. The only few who came of our many relations. (Excepting the cook.) I know there were others who would have enjoyed being there but it was a long ways away from many. God bless Aunt Martha Schwartz who was greatly distressed over the fact that she couldn't be there.

On Monday morning there was a brunch at Jason's parent's place and then Jason and Rachel opened their presents. It was a good opportunity to get to know each other as families a little better.

I will post more about our trip in another post as this one is getting too lengthy.

Are you a road runner?

Or a homebody?

I'm both, if that's possible.

Life in May

 My parents, sister Verina, uncle Lloyd & I went to Alabama for my uncle Elvin Yoder's funeral. It was good to see family again. Because of the lack of ladies in our house, I almost never leave. It is rather disastrous when I do go. Lots of things piled up for when I come back.

 There was lots of road to travel.

We were impressed with the handmade furniture where we stayed overnight with the Lowell Brennemen family. They have talented sons.

 Must have been a space museum here. ???

  Melvin and I cleaned the pantry. He had an elevated position.

Much time was spent preparing for the spring school concert. I shot a few pictures during the final awesome song, God is an Awesome God. The lights were dim and they had a slideshow going behind them of colorful and artistic nebulae.

L-R Matthew, Austin, Stephen, Christopher, Melvin (circled)

 So many flowers blooming now. I was intrigued with this one RED peony.

 This sight thrills my heart. Our dyslexic son buried in a book! 

A normal sight for the one below.

How has your May been?

What is planned for the rest of the month?