Navigation..

They're there. Those gnawing anxieties.

Comes with the territory, massive life adjustments provide the perfect breeding grounds for gnawing anxieties. Those barnacles that need to be scraped off my soul ship, they need scraping then cleaning and re-painting.

I can't let them take hold. They leave marks, deep pits. It takes real effort, soul sweat, to scrape them away. If I alone, attempt to navigate those murky waters that permit the slow attachment of soul ship suckers,  I'll need to re-anchor my ship and allow the Captain to scrape away. Turning and Facing Christ.

Cleaning the soul ship is a grace job, I leave that to the Captain. He reminds me that he gave his life for that vessel. Forgiven.

Re-painting her requires real direction, following the lines. Soaking in scripture.

Re-align her navigation - 'Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.'  Colossians 3:2-3

My lighthouse in these dark waters...- 3 John 1:4 'I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.'

Amen.

Alone with the Lord..

This.  http://www.adisciplesnotebook.com/?p=429

This is what I mean when I talk about the pond being my special place. Do you have a spot to spend time alone with the Lord?

Enjoy this sunny day friends :)

Lovely Laneway...

Early on in our building process we decided to roll out a winding laneway. It's still one of my favourite parts about this place. It proved to be a bit difficult when the snow fell and there was no gravel to be seen...(t'was a bit of a guessing game as to where the winding began.) We were thankful for our trusty Dortmans Bros. reflectors :)

It was here before the house began.

The lane held the loo for the building months.

It even held our fine dining :)

So it was time we finished our lovely laneway with the final touch. Chanticleer pear trees. Our tree farmin' friends Tom and Christin showed up with 12 beautiful trees.

Diggin the holes with the skidsteer.

We used our reflectors as guides to help figure out where to plant the trees.

Our lane before trees.

And the final touch! Pear trees lining the lane.

The trees have a great slim top to them, they don't get ridiculously big, and they have flowers in spring and turn red in fall. ... I've already envisioned wedding dresses walking up this lane on a bed of petals. They've a few years before that'll happen ;)

The Pond..

There's this place at the back of our 50 acres that brings me back to life every time I see it. It may not be much to some, but to me, it's impossible to be there and not be filled with serenity.

Welcome to ... The Pond.

This day the pond had a gently floating cover of tree fluff.

God is so good. He's provided me with a place to 'Be Still..'

Le Discing

It's there. Rumbling in the backyard. The big ol' JD is waiting for this little lady (snicker) to get in there and get discing.
Ques que cest - le discing? you ask, well its something we lady farmers (snicker) do after plowing and before cultivating, to work the land in yet another manner..breaking down the clumps and clods and trying to prepare a luxurious seed bed for our...well...seeds.
As am I slightly inept at pulling large implements near fence rows, the hubs has taken it upon himself to disc the headlands for me (he really just needs his fix of the musty cab of the big green tractor, the dust flyin', and the air seat bopping to the tunes of the christian station)

My Turn!

Good day..

Well the test went as well as possible.. not really the answers we were looking for, but answers nonetheless. She's allergic to beech trees, maple trees, cats, and cockroaches of all things. The allergist let us know that if we take Ashy to a hotel and she becomes stuffed up and sneezy, there's a good chance we're in the midst of roaches. Nice huh? My kid is a roach detector. (gimme 10$ and I'll loan her out to sniff the room when you're a -holidaying ;)

In other news, it's February now. (Guess that's not really news unless you've been living under a rock for a few months.) February in this house is a bad word. I'd love to skip right over this month and move on to March. This month brings this mama many a-challenge. I fight daily to remain chipper. I KNOW it's the lack of sun and outdoor oxygen, it happens every year around this time. Vitamin D, SAD lights, exercise and routine are supposed to help.. and they do..when you use them :)

Today the sunlight is pouring into the house, which is a delightful change to the past few cloudy days. When we built the house we turned it, so that it would face south east in winter, thus allowing the sun to attach itself to my face on a regular basis. Today it is attaching nicely. Burning my retinas actually. Guess the choice is now between blindness or depression....tough call.

As I was just settling into my armchair this morning, preparing to leave a large (large because February is also my prime month for growing .. out not up .. ) dent as I spend a good portion of my day in it, a truck caught my eye as it slowed in front of the house. I'm not sure about you, but when a car slows in front of my house, it sends me into a panic, taking quick evaluation of my appearance and the disarray surrounding me. The evaluation came back to me with nauseating results. The Hubs sweatshirt, no make-up and a house thats been neglected for 3 days meant there was little I could do before the doorbell rang.

Thankfully, as I scurried to my room, as fast as my sloth like beast of a body could scurry, I took note that the truck was that of 'Denois' (names have been changed to protect the innocent) (pronounced Den-wa). Denois purchased our last vehicle from us, and asked for a payment plan as he couldn't afford the price upfront. We agreed and he's been showing up every 2 weeks with what he can pay. In hindsight, post dated cheques of a nominal amount would have surely provided less anxiety. There's no set time for his arrival and lucky for me it's when he's on his way to work ( read: EARLY)Applying a fly-lady principal, of dressing head to toe each morning..would also result in far less anxiety. Why don't I learn!!

Ding-Dong.

The exchange was made and he also brought a double double from Tims. Can't complain really...cold hard cash and coffee. The sight of his truck should bring Glee!

So here I sit, dent growing, coffee cooling and the budget awaiting its addition. Oh .. and retinas burning.

It's gonna be a good day.

Banning Bananas..

In this here household, we've not eaten nearly as many bananas as we once did. Our little Ashy has been showing symptoms of an allergy to them..itchy ears,face, mouth and tongue. The same goes for Kiwi..totally weird huh? Pretty awful fate for a kid who gets most of her dietary needs from raw fruits and vegetables. (If ONLY God had blessed me with a solitary craving for these foods.) She also reacts to Advil chewables, and fruit punch of all things...

When she had the chewables (about a year and a half ago) we had to bring her to the hospital because she suddenly resembled Gonzo. Her nose grew about twice the size! With the fruit punch she says it hurts her brain really bad, and believe it or not she gets dark patches on her forehead..  poor girl.

Today is the day of reckoning.. time for the test.  Please pray for her :)