Just an Update

Melvin does well with flower arrangements

July 19
Today is one of the hottest days we've had yet this summer. It has been quite warm and humid a lot of the time but for the next few days they're predicting it will be very warm. Thank God for AC! With pregnancy the heat is even harder to bear.

My strength has returned to a greater degree and I've been able to do more than I had earlier. I still tire easily and my brain hatches up more things than I can accomplish. 

Sister Joanna has been around since the middle of June and has occasionally come to my rescue when I've "bitten off more than I can chew". She is in the states for a few months, looking for ways to pay off debt before returning to Poland. She stays with my parents and relieves the rest of us by taking them places they need to go.

My parents both have very poor eyesight and are hoping to be able to get cataract surgery done sometime this year yet. I hope it will help their sight! 

June 21-24 was the biannual Miller camping in Ohio. That is Thomas' mom's siblings and descendants. We missed the gathering four years ago so it was good to catch up with everyone who came. Traveling was uncomfortable for this pregnant mother but we made it.

Following us home were Thomas' brother & wife from Haiti as well as his sister & family from Oregon. We had some time together for about a day and a half. Short but sweet.

Our garden gets planted little by little when the guys have time to work on it. I'll be happy for whatever they can turn out. Things seem to be growing well. This is our second year with the "Back to Eden" gardening method and we're pleased with the results so far. The earthworms are really making fertile soil.

One reason we're late with the garden is because the chickens were in there and needed another place to go. One hen hatched six chicks and we moved them into a chicken tractor. About the time we were ready to move the other hens in with them, three more started setting. Only one of them was successful and she hatched two chicks. Yesterday one of those chicks was discovered dead in a bucket of water. Sad day.

The blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are producing some fruit. Blueberries are pretty much over with at this point. 

We got a few strawberries this year too. Any little bit helps! 

A small harvest of sugar snap peas was so delicious. 

A few banana peppers have found their way to the house too.

A friend gave us some pie cherries. I didn't know how to quickly pit them so I did a bit of research and can now tell you. The easiest way to pit cherries with regular household tools is to use a stout drinking straw. Punch it in the stem end and the pit will come out the bottom end! Presto!

My sister has also shared a few garden goodies with us. Nothing compares to fresh home-grown produce! 

July 21
The heat continues today but tomorrow is forecast to be cooler. Praise the Lord! We are not accustomed to heat like this. I think in earlier years we had longer periods of this kind of heat but I'm thankful that this is only for a few days.

This week I'll need to go visit my midwife who usually comes to my house. She is pregnant as well and is developing pre-eclampsia so she needs more rest. She is due a few weeks before I am but she says she always goes early. She seems confident that she'll be up and running when I need her.

Joanna has a friend coming to visit her this week. She will be here Thurs through Mon and we'll provide lodging. So beginning Thurs there will be company in my house until August 19. A lot of coming and going to say the least. I counted seven trips we'll need to make to BWI airport to pick up or return family members. My sister's family will help with that.

Austin and Matthew have been planning a rafting trip on the Potomac river with some friends from MD. They leave Wed evening and come back Saturday, Lord willing. 

Melvin has been struggling with a stuffy head this week. I think it's his allergies kicking in. Lots of hay being made the last while. Last evening he had earache. We washed his ear out with peroxide, put a few drops of silver in and he took a pain pill. Thankfully that took care of the pain. He's still plugged up and hard of hearing.

Hay field behind our house

I'll share a few snapshots of what we've been eating this month. We've had a few grilled meat meals and Christopher is perfecting his grilling skills. He does an excellent job!

Pork chops

I tried a one month meal plan and shopping trip again this month. I did get more fruit, veggies & eggs halfway through. It definitely takes planning!

I made some progress on getting our room ready for baby this month. We have no extra bedrooms so we'll have to play it by ear to know where to include a girl. I don't like to have baby in my bedroom too long as neither of us sleep well then.

Just since I'm writing this the wind has kicked up and the temperature has dropped way down until it's very pleasant outdoors. 

Until next time....

Thankful

The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7

God is good, all the time: All the time, God is good.

This past week has been wonderful! The men were home most of the week, getting projects done around here. We took off from academic studies. It was a relaxing week in a lot of ways even though it was busy.

A sign in the pottery shop

Our shop with an open porch is now a larger shop because there are walls built around the porch. Usually the men would enclose the porch with plastic for the winter to have space to work but now there are real walls. They are doing a major renovation on the interior of the building also, to make it more usable. 

The yard has had its fall cleanup- the last mowing and leaf pick-up. It looks so nice!

One day the men cut up six bushels of apples for me which I made into sauce. They helped to turn it through the strainer also. We got around 63 quarts. We like a thicker sauce so I poured a lot of liquid away. Most of the sauce went into the freezer. I canned seven quarts.

That same day, we three teachers of our class at Kid's Club took five of the girls out for the evening to Polka Dot Pot in downtown Winchester. PDP is a pottery shop. You can book a party and paint pottery. We each did a mug except one girl did an ice cream cone trinket "box".

Thanksgiving Day didn't seem like it . Okay that sounds weird. But I was hoping for family time, playing games, etc. We just each went our own way, doing whatever and waiting for the evening when others were coming. Thomas' mom, my parents, my sister Verina and family and my sister Joanna from NC came for a 6:30 supper. Of course it was a very short evening. Gobble up the turkey and be stuffed. Ha.

Joanna stayed for the rest of the week and left today. We enjoyed having her with us for a few days. Last weekend my sister Rachel was here with "her very own boyfriend" (as my five year old niece put it.) And in Oct my brother LeRoy and his friend Darek from Poland visited awhile. What a privilege to have family visit us!

And friends! Nathaniel came to visit.

My parents have spent the last few weeks in Gap Mills, making fruitcakes and helping along with the bakery. 

Toward the beginning of the month the younger boys and I had the privilege of visiting different artists. They set up a tour for people to come watch them work and/or see their handiwork. The things the boys enjoyed most were stained glass art and wood turning.

Melvin's art work. The boys enjoy artistic things.

The boys also enjoyed a field day with the church school and a school in Bittinger, MD. It is an annual thing they do, getting together to see who can jump the farthest, run the fastest etc & etc. It's a fun day for all. At least for all of mine.

These things were lying close to one another on the coffee table one day and I couldn't resist the photo. Melvin made the axe.

That day was very unusual for me, being home by myself most of the day. What did I do of the one hundred one things I could have done? Read! Actually I did more than that but I did take some time to enjoy the luxury.

Puzzles are my weakness and this one was especially fun!

Then I had another while to be alone when Thomas and all the boys but Stephen went on a hiking trip with friends for two days and two nights. They were out there when a strong wind came up with rain and sleet, followed by cold temperatures. The precipitation let up but the wind continued. The men were in my thoughts a lot as I wondered how they were able to stay dry and warm. The next day I discovered that they had relocated to a cabin for the night... so.... all was well!

Buddy

Thanksgiving week is over. Some people say the Christmas season begins. Not knowing that bondage is very wonderful. An elderly lady who attends our church regularly was once asking me some questions about Christmas. I don't remember exactly how our conversation went. In response to my saying that I don't believe it has anything to do with Jesus but it has become a Christian holiday to many people, she decidedly shook her head and said, "No, I wouldn't think it is Christian." And she "religiously" observes Christmas, knowing it is no Christian holiday.

Mama's Christmas cactus

When one of the church ladies went to a store to purchase Thanksgiving themed things, she was told that once they clear out Halloween things they move on to Christmas. Two pagan holidays. Christians try hard to make something godly out of Christmas but what a failure! Go back in history to discover where this all came from and you will begin to see that Christmas is about family traditions that make one feel good but have zero to do with Jesus. Traditions have a way of blinding us.

Are you caught up in "the Christmas spirit"? 

Why or why not?

I don't want to judge you but challenge you to look deeper. Read Colossians 2:16. And I Thessalonians 5:21.

Excuse the random photos. :)

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