Relax (ri-laks) v.i.:

to become less tense,

especially

in nerves and muscles

Chickens and Teeth...Chickenteeth?

Well the two all consuming events of this past weekend were our acquisition of "The Girls" and my oral surgery. I'm doing pretty well even though I currently look like a chipmunk with one cheek really full. I'll be happy when the swelling goes down. Meanwhile I keep taking my antibiotic and an occasional pain pill. I'll know better when I have finished the antibiotic whether or not it was the infection that was sapping my energy.

Our chickens are a lot more fun to talk about. The Girls, as I have affectionately dubbed them, are proving to be quite entertaining. We have them all set up in a corner of what will eventually be their coop. It's actually a greenhouse that the last owner of the house put up.

But bare with me while I explain the logic of using this old greenhouse as a hen house...chicken coop...whatever you want to call it.

Yes it is attached to the house. We can't actually access it from inside the house...at least not easily, but it is attached to the side of the house and we have a big picture window looking right into it.

This, hopefully, gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. Of course I took this in the morning, and it is a West facing window, so there is a little bit of that silhouette thing going on.

(And yes that is our television and stereo you are looking at. Husband keeps joking that we are going to see if we can get a smaller TV. While the rest of the world is trying to get bigger televisions we are going for smaller. Phbbt!)

Yeah, just call us hillbillies.

Oh yeah, back to the logic of using this as our hen house. Ready for this...drum roll please.

It's already built.

It also already has electrical via a heavy duty extension cord. The hard work is done. We don't have to worry about building anything new and we don't have to worry about how to keep The Girls warm during the winter months. They will either be able to stay warm through solar heat or with a lamp.

We intend them to be "free range" chickens during the summer months. There is plenty of ventilation in the green/hen house as well.

So all that's left to do is make some nesting boxes for them. They should be some pretty happy chickens by the time we're done!

In the meantime we're getting to know them as individuals. Yes, I said individuals. While their personalities are not fully developed yet we can already tell who the head chicken is, who likes to be held, who doesn't and who would really like to escape and explore the vast unknown. (She will definately be getting her wings clipped.)

Now I could go on a little bit more about my teeth but trust me, you don't really want to hear about that. The chickens are way more interesting.

Because this is terribly scientific you know.

Because I've been known to get a little grouchy without my daily dose and because Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee had this posted and because I love me a good latte and because I love doing these little quiz things....well here's what my latte says about me. What does your latte say about you?

What Your Latte Says About You

When it comes to what you like, you have your own unique tastes. And people don't really understand them. You can be quite silly at times, but you know when to buckle down and be serious. You have a good deal of energy, but you pace yourself. You never burn out too fast. You're totally addicted to caffeine... but you like to pretend like you aren't! You are a child at heart, and you don't ever miss the opportunity to do something playful. You are deep and thoughtful, but you are never withdrawn.

What Does Your Latte Say About You?

Plymouth Poultry

Allow me to introduce Samantha, Molly, Elizabeth and Gladys.

Plymouth Rock Hens

Because a Chicken is a Wondrous Thing....

I needed to post something fun because...well...all I've got running around in my brain right now are these really serious subjects having to do with truth, freedom of speech and Ben Stein. That and we are seriously thinking of adding chickens to our way of life.

We were sitting at supper last evening when Husband says, "I really want to keep chickens!"

"Okay!" says I.

"Oh yes Daddy! Please!" says Daughter.

"WHAT?!?!?!" says Son. His main concern was that this would in some way mean more work for him. Which indeed it very well may. He needs more work. He needs to know that work is good. But that's another post.

After supper Husband started surfing the web about chickens. WOW. There is a. lot. of information out there. We found a couple of sites that were interesting. Even if you never want to keep chickens you ought to check these out. The site we actually bookmarked was Keeping Chickens In Your Backyard. We signed up for the newsletter and also received a free on-line book about getting your chickens to lay 200 eggs a day.

I don't really want my chickens to lay 200 eggs a day. But hey...it was free!

I should mention that we live within city limits. From what we've heard from others we can keep four chickens without a rooster. They, of course, would be "pets" and if one happens to die and end up on our dinner table...well...you know... it gave it's life for a good cause.

Well, that's my post on chickens. Don't be surprised if there are more to come.

Because a chicken is a wondrous thing.

Light Can Penetrate A Pillow

I want to share something I wrote in my prayer journal nearly a year ago. It is still ringing true for me today...in fact maybe even more this week than any other.

My husband is a tree farmer and this is planting season. Each year he plants anywhere from 400,000 to 600,000 trees (He doesn't do this by himself, he has a crew of workers. However, his planting the trees is not the point.) In order for him to take advantage of optimum planting conditions he needs to start the planting at dawn. In order to do that, trees must be picked up from the storage unit and transported out to the woods. In order for all that to happen he needs to get up by 4:00am this time of year and 3:30am as the days get longer.

It's still dark then (in case you were wondering) and he needs to turn on a light so he can see to get ready. So it doesnt' bother me too much I generally put a pillow over my head (yes, I leave an air passage). The amazing thing is that light still penetrates the pillow. I should mention that I have tested this out by sort of pressing the pillow down (not hard, I still gotta breath) to try and block the light out. I should also mention the light isn't an overhead light, it's indirect light coming from the bathroom. It still penetrates my pillow.

Jesus is the light of the world. He can penetrate any darkness. This morning He showed me that with a pillow over my head. We live in a spiritually dark world, and some areas are darker than others. But Jesus can penetrate that darkness. So let your light shine! Even if there is a pillow over someone's heart and mind some light will shine through.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. ~Matthew 5:16

As I re-read this journal entry today and then read the encouraging comments I received this week here on my blog after a rather...well not nice one, I realized that no matter what, I need to keep shining the light of Jesus.

And Furthermore...

I posted a little while ago about Oprah and her way out there new age beliefs. If you are in any doubt as to what she is proclaiming this ought to clear it up for you.

Remember, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way , the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.' " ~John 14:6 It's in the red letters.

My Little Pity Party

At any given time I have a number of things running around in my brain that I would like to blog about. Of course I rarely, if ever, jot these thoughts down so that I have them handy when I finally get a moment to sit down and post something on my blog. So here I sit this morning with little snippets of thoughts racing through my brain and about 20 minutes of spare time to try and gather them up and write something coherent about them.

Sigh.

So what you get to hear about today is my upcoming oral surgery and all the ramifications thereof.

On April 25th I go to the oral surgeon to be put under and have a tooth worked on. This tooth has been a problem tooth to put it mildly. About three years ago I had a crown put on it. Two years ago it had a root canal done. Yes, that is in reverse order, which ought to tell you something about this tooth. At the time my dentist did the root canal he had a hard time cleaning out one of the roots, though he did his best. Now, it is infected again. It's a sort of low grade infection that doesn't really bother me except that I have been very tired the last few months because my body has been busy fighting this infection.

Finding all this out is actually an answer to prayer. Since the middle of last fall I have been tired and lethargic, as I mentioned. I've been trying everything I can think of with diet and exercise to try and beat this tiredness, to no avail. Of course, I should have been praying about it first but that came rather later. The Lord though, is faithful. He loves and cares for His children and is The Great Physician. At my last teeth cleaning and x-ray session the dentist discovered the infection in this tooth. The Lord then impressed on me that this is partly the answer to my tiredness.

Hallelujah! (Please notice that there is a band of heavenly angels singing that!)

Now one of the things I am really not looking forward to about this whole surgery thing, aside from being put under, is that I'm going to have to take a course of penicillin. As I mentioned in a previous post I have candida issues. Antibiotics are not helpful in this area. Also, being on a candida diet is no easy thing. It is very restrictive, especially for the first couple of weeks. However, having said all of that, I know that going on my candida diet and following it strictly will definetely help in limiting the adverse side effects of taking the penicillin.

Sigh.

So I covet your prayers. Prayers for self control. Prayers to help me remember why sticking to this diet is important. Prayers that everything with the surgery on the tooth goes well. Prayers that my body begins to feel better.

On the up-side of all of this though is the fact that I will more than likely lose 5 pounds rather quickly! Who can complain about that? I'll also be addressing a couple of health issues. Number one is the candida thing, but I also suspect that I may have some gluten issues. (When you are on a candida diet you must also avoid glutens.) So we'll see how I am feeling after all this. I'm hoping that by the end of May I will be feeling markedly better.

Okay, my wah wah session is over. Thanks for listening to me.

God sends His love and His faithfulness. ~Psalm 57:3b (NIV)

Um - yeah - okay

* UPDATE BELOW

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

I'm not sure about this - I'm really not sure about the money thing - Any exclamation points out there?

*UPDATE: This is supposed to say at the top "I am a dash". If I were a punctuation mark that's what I would be - a dash. I'm not really sure how I feel about that - it's so flat - and up in the air.

Yes, I'm still here!

As you may have noticed I took an unplanned, unexpected, short blogging break. The kiddos and I went South to visit my parents and see that, yes, Spring is coming. We're just two or three weeks behind.

It's very hard to see Spring, spend a few days enjoying Spring and then return to the north pole wintry conditions. Ahhh well, the weather man says it will be warming up this weekend...we'll see.

While we were down in the world of Spring we hit my favorite little used book shop in the world. (I would tell you where it is but then you would know where I live and Husband has asked that I keep that on the QT.) I don't know what the square footage of the shop is but I do know this...it is stacked floor to ceiling with books. There is never enough time to explore them all.

My Dad gave me a little volume that he bought there awhile back called A Book of Courage. It has all sorts of wonderful quotes in it inspiring one to keep up ones courage. It was printed in 1924. It's as charming to look at as it is inspiring to read. Quotes come from such greats as Theodore Roosevelt, Samuel Longfellow, Emerson, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to name a few.

This quote (following) was especially inspiring to me at this season in life when I am mothering, teaching, being a wife and doing all the myriad of other things I do to take care of my family.

Let us be content to work
To do the things we can, and not presume
To fret because it's little
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I think sometimes I do "fret because it's little". This reminded me that raising and loving my children and loving and taking care of my husband is no little thing. It is what I was made to do and I take joy in that. I take joy in knowing that I am doing exactly what my Lord and Savior wants me to do and that I am smack dab in the middle of His will.