One turkey fryer and one husband good with a knife

Hot bath and cold bath. All this equals 40 qt bags of corn in the freezer

My Blackeyed Susans

I love, love, love these flowers. We had them at our 1st house on Arcadia, transplanted one to Tallmadge Road when we moved there, then by the time we moved to Johnnycake, we had enough to plant several. They are along my drive and here in front. They are gorgeous!

Perseverance

While sitting on the porch last week, I looked down to see a bug hauling a dead spider across the deck. At one point the bug set the spider down, walked on for a bit (I assume to check his bearings), then came back. It soon became apparent that the bug wanted to take the spider underneath. He tried just pulling him down, but that didn't work so good. The spider was pulled back out and the bug went below. I can only guess at what was happening - maybe he had to move his stuff around to make room for this new aquisition. There were many trips up and down, with several attempts to move that spider. Eventually he accomplished his task. Imagine - I have a whole world under my feet! And people wonder why I don't get bored!

Disking the Garden

Nothing says new life and hope for the future like planting seeds in the garden. You nurture them (okay, Chet does), pray for rain and before you know it you are up to your you know what in tomatoes. I even got to drive the tractor while Chet sprayed!

Women in History

What a fun night I had! I went to a program presented by a group called Women In History" from Lakewood Ohio. They do history re-enactments. Last night's program was about "Crazy Bet" Elizabeth Van Lew and Mary Elizabeth Bowser from Richmond, Virginia. "Crazy Bet" was the daughter of a successful business man and Mary Elizabeth was one of their slaves. After her father died, "Crazy Bet" freed her slaves and Mary Elizabeth's family stayed in her employ. "Crazy Bet" became a spy for the Union and eventually recruited Mary Elizabeth - she "loaned" her to Mrs. Jefferson Davis (the wife of the president of the Confederacy.) In the Davis household Mary Elizabeth was able to get many of the Confederacy's plans. How did we not learn about this in school! It was really entertaining. The group is a non-profit and have around 90 characters they do - and yes they travel! If you are interested in more info, their web site is http://www.womeninhistoryohio.com/

Spring Time

As I was laying in bed this morning, I kept hearing a soft "knock knock" coming from somewhere. At first I thought maybe someone was at the door. I got up to look, and no, there wasn't anyone at the door. I made coffee, checked the computer, ate breakfast. I kept hearing this soft, "knock knock", "knock knock." There weren't any branches thumping against the windows. The back door wasn't ajar. I finally zeroed in on the guest bedroom, and low and behold, someone did want in!

The Eternal Question

I help teach 6th grade CCD, which in our diocese studies the Bible. As such, we talk about alot of people who have had great tragedy in their lives. The question comes up over and over about why God allows evil, why He doesn't feed the hungry, why He doesn't make us all do good. The easy answers are that we have Free Will and that God works through us. Though the answers are easy to say, they are not so easy to understand. In Bible study we are reading the Acts of the Apostles and last night we read about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Paul). One of our discussion questions was "Why does God sometimes use periods of darkness to bring a person into a different and better period of life?" In our group we have a women who has been a widow for many years, another who was widowed this past year, a man who is struggling with raising an autistic child and another women who was struck with MS in her first year of med school. As I was listening to their stories I was struck by the image of a metal worker of old fashioning a sword. They would heat the metal, work it, and then cool it. This process would be repeated over and over. Each time the metal was heated and cooled, it became stronger, more resilient. Each time it was worked, it became finer, sharper. And I thought, that is what bad times do to us.

Full Moon

Okay, it doesn't look as pretty as it did in person, but this is the moon peeking through the trees.

February Thaw

I don't know why, but since we have moved here I have seen more beautiful sunrises and sunsets and if I have my camera, I can't help taking a picture. This is the sun setting out back over the melting snow.