Bee~ Journal of then...

[Beekissed]

Mama reconditioned the headlights on the CRV and they look brand new. It's like a miracle to see them go from oxidized to clear as a bell, makes the car look newer, for sure.

Got maters washed and into the freezer for canning into soup later on. Got apples washed and will dry them this evening, in preparation for storing for winter eating.

Tinkered around repairing an outside access door on the coop nest that's been whopperjawed for a year now and was glad to get it done finally. Also changed a few things Eli had incorporated on the shed door where he had rigged up some redneck features for latch pulls and doorstops. I just changed out the bent nails he used for antique drawer pulls instead to give it a more classy look, if one can do that on an old log shed.

Mounted a large hook under the cabinets at the back of the shed on which to hang the Mantis tiller so as to get it out of the building but still keep it out of the weather. That worked well.

Made improvements to the work bench~widened it with a couple of 2x6 pieces from that lumber my brother gave me(he took apart a set of bunkbeds at his place and gave me all the lumber...that was a few years ago) that seems to never end~ and mounted a unit on the wall behind it for organizing our hardware. I have two smaller, much, much older such units I picked up at a yard sale the other day that need cleaned and mounted as well. I plan to hotglue a piece of hardware out of each drawer on the pull so I can tell at a glance which screws/nails/nuts are inside of it. I've always wanted a workshop like that.

Now that we have electric up there, I'm thinking we'll mount an LED shop light over that bench so we can easily find our hardware in those units. I'm tired of scrabbling around in several different places looking for our hardware....I'm going to spend this winter up there sorting, labeling each tiny drawer, and making some sense of it all. I may also mount a piece of plywood up behind that bench and place nails so as to hold certain tools, drawing an outline around each one so I will know at a glance if one is missing and not where it should be.

 

[Beekissed]

Spent sweet, sweet time with my little girls yesterday and today, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather here. Soon we'll have another little girl and then there will be three...can't wait! They are growing up so fast!

We took a long, hot walk out the ridge and talked about trees, squirrels, red tail hawks, and every little thing...even loved on a baby cedar tree. Collected eggs~pretended to be chickens, dumped a lot of water into the coop DL, played with dogs~and pretended to be dogs, built and painted bluebird houses with their fave uncle, Eli, told a million stories, used the outhouse...twice! (Aliza says that's her favorite commode...she can spend an hour in their just reading, not even using the pot), pretended the outhouse was a lemonade stand, took lawnmower rides, jumped off logs, played in the playhouse, and countless other grandma house things.

What a wondrous thing to experience, these little, innocent girls and their imaginations, their loving ways and all their giggles. Truly a gift from God they are and I can't get enough of it all.

 

[Beekissed]

Oh...and they learned a new motto from Gran: "If you ain't gettin' dirty, you ain't havin' any fun!"

And that reminds me....need to go rinse out that tub.....

 

[Beekissed]

Making some changes in lifestyle here in a few ways and will post about them when I get the chance. Just need to rebuild my overall health(better fuel intake and more exercise), increase my hours of sleep, but mostly increase my time in the Word and praying each morning.

Been getting up at 6:30 am each morning to have time to read my Bible and pray while the house is still quiet, so I won't have to hurry to do these things because I didn't manage my time well, etc.

Feed, carry fresh water to water pans, etc.

Then taking the dogs for a leash walk to the mailbox, approx. half mile away with 4 moderately steep grades to traverse, so it has a minor work out to it if you walk briskly and focus on your stride and push off the balls of your feet with a little power. Ben is loving it, Jake, at 12 yrs old, has rarely been on a leash and never been tied up, so he's hating it...but still liking a chance for a walk.

This is good for both of them, but especially Ben, who needs more alpha training and more exercise, now that he's on his dog run line full time. I'll work up to taking them in the evening also, to double their walk time for each day.

After we get back, they get a good brushing with a rubber horse brush to get their winter coats brushed out and condition their skin...Jake's already looking less flaky and his fur is back to shiny...was looking a little rough there after winter. After that exercise, they are less rowdy when they get their nails clipped, so got that done this morning too.

So, time with the Lord and more time with the dogs(been neglecting them for some time) and it seems like I have more energy to get things done during the day when I get up earlier. The day seems longer somehow. Still having trouble getting to bed on time, so not getting as much rest as I need, but I'll work on that.

It's nice to have the morning to myself, all the birds singing as we walk along...saw some turkey this morning on the way back, the woods are cool and fresh, so it's all so beautiful to experience. I'm thanking the good, good Lord for the motivation to change things and to spend more focused time getting to know Him better...it's been a lovely week of this new activity thus far.

 

[Beekissed]

Starting the day on a positive note makes the day good

Always, Sumi. Starting out the day in prayer gets one ready to face whatever comes that day because you've already prayed about it, asking God to help you through it all and trusting Him to do so.

I pray throughout each day too, but somehow the quiet of the morning is when I can focus on prayers for others more and that's something I've been needing more of.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Ps 5:3, "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."

Ps 143:8, "Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee."

Bee, that's my special time of the day too.

 

[Beekissed]

Ps 5:3, "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."

Ps 143:8, "Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee."

Bee, that's my special time of the day too.

MMD, I LOVE those verses!! So appropriate and shows others have found a need to speak to the Lord before beginning one's day also. Nice to put on the whole armor of God before heading out to do battle, for we do not do battle with flesh and blood, but with spiritual wickedness in high places.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

David and Daniel were both noted to pray in the early morning, and I'm sure there were others, but if ONLY them, then it would still be a good example to follow, eh? (Of course, they prayed other times too. Remember? It was Daniel's very consistency that gave the others the opportunity to throw him in the lions den.)

I have found that spending this time in the morning, before the day gets busy, really sets up my day.

I'll be really interested in seeing if your gout and joint pain improve with your new routine. It just occurred to me this morning that my husband hasn't mentioned his knees hurting in quite a while, but he lost at least 25 pounds this last winter when he was sick. And he's been eating healthier. I'll be waiting to see how you do.

 

[Beekissed]

David and Daniel were both noted to pray in the early morning, and I'm sure there were others, but if ONLY them, then it would still be a good example to follow, eh? (Of course, they prayed other times too. Remember? It was Daniel's very consistency that gave the others the opportunity to throw him in the lions den.)

I have found that spending this time in the morning, before the day gets busy, really sets up my day.

I'll be really interested in seeing if your gout and joint pain improve with your new routine. It just occurred to me this morning that my husband hasn't mentioned his knees hurting in quite a while, but he lost at least 25 pounds this last winter when he was sick. And he's been eating healthier. I'll be waiting to see how you do.

I'm counting on that very thing, especially the gout. Any pressure from excess weight being gone will also no doubt decrease the pain in my low back from old lift injuries and also any pain in knees and ankles, but the neck is here to stay, I'm afraid...no matter how much weight Dad lost, his neck continued to deteriorate~we have big, heavy heads no matter what we weigh and that may factor into it.

I'm loving the new routine, though still struggling with the early bed times, so losing much sleep. But God seems to be assisting me in getting up no matter how late I go to bed, usually at 6 am instead of when my alarm is set for half hour later than that.

 

[Beekissed]

The year has turned to winter chore time and today I'm clearing out my room, especially the large closet there, in preparation of washing down walls and painting. Will be doing an entire room makeover of this small bedroom, with a change of the type of shelving and how the closet is organized, removal of large pieces of furniture, extending a window seat to create a better seat and a little more storage underneath it.

I'll be making a custom rack/shelving unit from an old wooden ladder to hold baskets for the grandgirl's clothing to replace the dresser they have been using. This will be free standing but tucked back in one corner of the closet so that less space is used but is used more efficiently for storing their clothing.

Saturday we utilized a family meal and gathering to sort through family pictures with the goal in mind of dispersing all pertinent pics to the children that should have them. Then getting rid of old pics that are no longer relevant to family history. In the end, the remaining pics will be gathered into albums that are more easily perused and passed along when we pass along.

These pics have been stored in four very large containers in my closet up until now, but pics in tubs are of no use to anyone, especially not to my storage capabilities. Time for a change.

That's our mantra this winter....time for a change. Change can be a good thing, especially when you are the one making the changes and the changes are not being thrust upon you.

After my room is done and Mom has made over her bathroom as much as possible, we are moving inward to the center of the house, clearing out and making over each room as we go along. Not total makeovers but enough to brighten, lighten and make more usable the rooms and cupboards we have already.

We already had started on such things in the cabin this past week by clearing all our books off our various bookshelves~approx. 250-300 books~and eliminating doubles of some books and books we no longer want. Cleaning the shelves, putting a back on one set so that books can't fall behind the shelves and the addition of another shelf was included in all of that. The result was the removal of a large tote and a laundry basket full of books, to be donated to Good Will.

It was a good start. I'm looking forward to a whole winter of "spring cleaning" while the weather is prohibitive to more involved outside chores. It will be nice to roll up into spring having the house already cleaned out and cleaned up so that we can move immediately into outside spring chores that are so needing to be done.