Where has my summer gone?

Although it has been a hot and brutal summer here, it has gone quickly. The month of July was a blur.

1. We spent many hours at the swimming pool, both boys passed their swim lessons and will level up next year.
2. We had a busy week of VBS.
3. Then I spent a week praying and worrying about my hometown as the county was engulfed in one of the largest wildfires in the history of Nebraska. My brother was even interviewed on tv.
4. We are in  a terrific drought, you can check it out here. My garden is struggling along but when I see the corn in the fields I try to remember my garden is small thing in the scheme of things.

And now it is August. We've had many fires in our community over the past week. Last night a storm came through and they said that lightning started 20 different fires. Last I heard they were still fighting two of them. I pray they get the fires out so our firefighters can get some rest, they have to be exhausted.
I just finished a huge project that has taken several months. I'll write about that later.
I took the boys to the dentist and had very discouraging reports. One is going to need several fillings, probably due to all the meds he's consumed in his short life. And the other had no cavities but apparently is missing 4 adult teeth. Weird, huh?
I'm worrying about my older kids, all for different reasons, and missing them all.
I'm praying for my mother in law who is in the hospital and may have to explore an alternative to living at home and that makes me sad for her and the family.

And, I just realized that today was my grandma's birthday and I forgot to call her! ARGH! Making a note to call her in the morning and going to bed. I'm sure when I wake up it will be September and I'll have missed another month, or at least it will seem like it.

Rebellious Teenagers

I have come to realize that sometimes we people who call ourselves Christians are really more like rebellious teenagers. I don't want to do what God wants me to? No problem, I sit in the corner and scowl and pout. Or I may slam the door to my heart. Or I may just what I want to anyway.

Last week I was visiting with a friend and she casually mentioned she'd just picked up a book from the library. As an avid reader I asked what she was reading. When she said it was "Fifty Shades of Grey" I have to say was more than a bit stunned. You see, we had talked about this book previously. She had said her friends at work were reading it and talking about it. I told her what I had read in reviews about it. For instance when you look it up on Google the first result is "mommy porn". We had talked about not reading things that were not pleasing to God. So when I suggested that she should not read this book she really got her nose out of joint. And in the end she said," I just want to see what all the fuss is about, I'll skip through the raunchy parts."

Doesn't that sound like a teen who says, "but all my friends are doing it"

God says, " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

I will be the first to admit that I don't always do what God wants me to. But I am trying. And I am praying that my friend has second thoughts before she opens that book.

Stacey McDonald has written a very interesting article about this subject. Take a few minutes to go read it.

Summer Days

This has to be one of the hardest summers I ever remember.

We just finished up a two week period where the heat reached 100 or above every day. According to the weather service this is the driest year in history. We have had less then 4 inches of precipitation for the entire year. When you live in a farming and ranching community this is not the kind of news you like to hear.

My garden has done poorly this year, I lost some plants and had to start over. Things just don't seem to be thriving as they should. All except for the tomatoes. I may have tomatoes earlier than ever before. I did pick green beans on the 4th of July, a first for me.

I have always been the kind of mom who made their kids play outside in the summer. If it's hot I encourage them to play quiet games in the shade or if it gets really hot they will run through the sprinkler. This year I gave in and we have either been at the pool or in the air conditioned house most of the day. By the way I have been extremely thankful for a house that has central air.

The past few days have been cooler and it has been such a nice reprieve. I intend to enjoy every minute of it and make use of the cooler weather to catch up on some weed pulling! I live such an exciting life. (smile)

My Fiction Reading List- or Books Everyone Should Read

1.  A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich ( I highly recommend all of her books and I have a goal to own them all someday)
2.  Persuasion by Jane Austen ( this is my favorite Austen novel)
3.  Anne Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery
4.  Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (and the rest of the series)
5.  Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
6.  The Narnia series by C. S Lewis
7.  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
8.  Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
9.  An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
10.  Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott, my personal favorite of this particular author.

Just a few that I can think of.

A Trip to the Lilac Gardens

 Once upon a time I took the oldest kids here. It's only 15 miles from our house but it's the first time we've been there in about 10 years.

I am a fan of the traditinal lilac. I like the color and the scent, but these white ones were just gorgouws. They were so startling against the green foilage.

The boys had a great time playing games in between the rows. Preston wants to move out there. I can imagine how fun it would be to play there all summer long.

 This bush was a very delicate pink color. Beautiful!

 Had to throw in the windmill. They are the skyscrapers of the planes. When I was a kid we had one right by the garden. I would climb up to the platform and sit and enjoy the breeze. Now I'm scared to death to climb up there.

 Look at how big those blossoms are!

It was just such a pleasant morning, walking among the rows and rows of lilacs. This is a family farm that has been raising lilacs just for beauty for several generations. It was a real treat for us.

It's That Time of Year Again!

Time to get the garden ready, that is. Hubby has been hard at work, adding a new raised bed and getting the soil all ready to plant. A local church was selling compost as a fundraiser and we bought a pickup load or two to fill everything in. We have some rich, dark soil now so I am hoping for bumper crops this year. (As a side note: what a great idea for a fundraiser, little cost and little work! Those guys were thinking!)
This year hubby has done most of the planning and I have to admit that it has been really nice to not have to worry about it. He has a much more analytical mind and planning, drawing graphs, making it all work is right up his alley. As of today he has most of our early seeds growing in the garage under a light. The tomatoes are really taking off. The seed potatoes are starting to pop up too. We did lose many of our strawberry plants over the winter. But we had such a moderate, dry winter that I think they may have just dried up and died. The dog lying in the strawberry bed sure didn't help either. We finally had to build a fence to keep him off the berries.

We do still need to order some of these tomato towers:

We have used them for a couple of years and they work really well for us.

 

 This is what the tomato tower looks like.

My poor strawberries....

That's pretty much the garden except for a couple of small beds in the alley.

Sticky Orange Chicken

Recipe Name: Sticky Orange Chicken -
Categories: Main Dish, Meat, Poultry
Serves:
Ingredients:
1 tsp black pepper, ground
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp paprika
1 1/3 tbsp salt
1  large roasting chicken
1  orange
Instructions:
Place rinsed and prepared chicken in ziploc bag and sprinkle spice  mix over the chicken. Rub bag to make it even..Put chicken in fridge over night.
Next day 12-24 hours later, remove chicken from fridge and fill cavity with whole orange cut into chunks, put in large roaster with deep sides. Roast chicken at 250 for 5 hours, after juices have formed, approx after 1.5 hours, begin basting every 30 minutes or so.
Kris's note: I have used a whole onion instead of the orange and it's good too. But we prefer the orange. I roast this in my pampered chef stoneware bowl. It's really juicy and very good!!

This recipe exported by PDACookbook Plus - www.wakefieldsoft.com