MomCam

Although I decided to stop blogging birthdays, this is the first blogging year Son1 has been home for his.  Enter MomCam...

♫ Pickin' his teeth with a carpet tack ♪

Oops.  Wrong song.

The aftermath of gnawing smoked ribs for dinner.


A paddle around the pond in the YachtNot


When the beau docked and disembarked, he steadied himself, set his foot upon the craft,
and gallantly(not) shoved his lady friend adrift.  Twice.

Campfire.  Recordings from McKrunk's Elevation Jazz Orchestra, one of Son3's Irish ditty discs (who in his right mind sings about his corduroy britches?), the polar bear (slobber bomber extraordinaire), and the ridiculous puppy (ears flapping and 4" legs a blur on-the-run) provided the evening's entertainment.

Despite those mischievous YachtNot launchings,
the lovely lady produced a lovely birthday cake for the pesky prince.


♫♪ Happy birthday to you
To Jesus be true
God bless you and keep you
Happy birthday to you ♫

37

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.  The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.  The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.  Psalms 19:7-11

Is That for Me?

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  Romans 13:11

Pea-Ess

As long as I'm in rant-mode, I might as well mention that I misjudged the measure of yarn on Cone A, which I combined with Cone B for a purse.  Only about half finished with the project, the cardboard cone is showing through color A's winding, and I'm a-feared there's no chance I've enough to finish the purse.

What's a knucklehead to do?  Mayhap search for a stray, unused dishcloth made with Cone A to clip and unravel.  Reckon I'll cross that bridge when I knit to it.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  Isaiah 55:6, 7

Meet Harvey

He's a miniature long-haired dachshund.
He's 5½ months old.
He's very short.

He's 6½ lbs and will grow another pound or two.
He's camouflaged on the wood floors.
He's creating his place in our hearts.

He's Ridiculous.

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.  II Thessalonians 2:16, 17

More FishFaces

My fellows fished Melvern Lake and docked at the same time as a pair of fishermen who had a two-hour drive ahead of them and didn't want to clean fish when they got home, so they bestowed their catch upon my men.  Made for a nice mess of crappie.

Heavy on that mess part.

For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.  Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.  Psalms 135:5, 6

Something Fishy about Yesterday

Very Fishy

the pond...the sink...dinner

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.  Matthew 4:19

If He Didn't Do This So Much...

...He wouldn't be so chubby.  Neither, though, would we be provided with opportunities to snap photos with a perspective which makes the chub look broader than he even is and publish his slothful self for the world to see.  Have a nice nap, Purrley Cat.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

Pierre

Pierre, our little papillon, was run over and killed late yesterday afternoon, so you won't be seeing him here in the future.  He was so sweet, smart, devoted to us; a much loved and appreciated companion to us all.  The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Whatever our lot
Thou hast taught us to say
It is well
It is well with our souls

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  Lamentations 3:21-24

Barn Treasures

Son4 scouts the property from time-to-time, searching for treasures, and frequently returns with something interesting, such as the Leave arrow now planted by the driveway.  Here's his foot, perched above an opening in the loft of the old barn, a favorite rummaging place:


We don't have an outdoor cat.  Or so we thought...until the Tuesday treasure hunt.


Not an outdoor cat.  Six outdoor cats: a mama and 5 kittens.

Good thing Charles doesn't read my blog.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  1 Timothy 3:16

Happy Cats

The refrigerator became quite mischievous around the end of December, the dishwasher had been fickle for about a year, and I'd been kitchen-twitching for 3 years over a mixture of black and white appliances.  It was time to deal with it.  Delivery wouldn't-couldn't be before April 20th, and with my selections made, my patience had flown the coop.  So we drove two hours to grab the goods.

As the young men were loading the truck, Charles stepped out to say he'd brought some straps to use on the load.  Oh, no, no, no.  They were required to use their ropes and do the tying.  "Okay.  That's fine.  I'm sure you guys know what you're doing anyway and have had lots of practice."  They secured (*cough*) the goods against the cab, in the bed of the truck.

Imagine our dismay, when the moment we hit the highway, we heard a swoopfloop sound, and while this wasn't the precise image from our then vantage point, we were instantly aware that this had happened:


So we traveled two hours, on a windy day, with that behind us and hoping it would stay behind us, rather than leaping to the pavement.  We dared not try to rectify the problem, because then it would be our fault, if the cartons went over the rainbow.  Upon our arrival at home, we took photos, because we'd stopped for sandwiches along the way and spotted this:


Who knew whether or not that rope had damaged the contents of the box, so we might have to prove what the knuckleheads had done.

But all was well, we're all matchy-matchy in the kitchen now, and Purrle and I are a couple of fat, happy cats.

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.  Proverbs 21:2

Favorite Thing: Italian Bread Pan

Having acquired an Italian bread recipe we all enjoy, I've been cranking out loaves the past several weeks.  The recipe supposedly makes two loaves, but they were too small to suit me perfectly, so I tried making one large loaf with the dough.  It worked.  I was still dissatisfied, though, because the loaf, without pan edges to contain it, seemed to spread more than I liked and lacked height. 

So I scouted online for an Italian bread pan and quickly found one to my liking in form and price: well under $10 and free shipping, if I combined it with the cranberries I'd been needing to order for at least a week.

Since we'd been working in the kitchen on a two-day project, everyone was present when the maiden loaf came out of the oven and onto the counter.  I was basking in the man-praises of my lofty, tanned bread, when the compliment to end all compliments came forth from Son3: "It looks just like it came off the rotting rack."

Uh ... thanks?

We laughed, because we all got it.  For a few years now, I've bought most of our bread — mostly Italian — from Wal*Mart's bakery rotting rack.  And lovely loaves they are, having served us well.  But now I can make my own rotting bread.

Favorite Thing:  Italian bread pan

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.  John 6:35

Lights-Camera-Action

Ironically, as I grabbed the camera and tethered it to the PC, so I could upload its contents from the past several days, I thought about not so often any more finding surprise photos, snapped by other family members.  There had recently been a couple of shots of Pierre and a few more of Purrle.  No big surprises, though.  Maybe those thoughts added to my delight, when I discovered quite a stash of what someone had determined was nice light-play by a near setting sun.  As I cycled through them, I wondered who had caught these and decided — because I know them — it must surely have been Son4 or his dad.







By this time, I was leaning heavily toward one in particular as my mystery photographer, and a satisfied smile broke across my face when I arrived at the final photo, the photographer's unmistakable signature:

Son4

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  II Corinthians 4:6