Thoughts on Summertime

Summer. It's a time for slower schedules, long walks on a quiet country road, and being able to hit the snooze button more often. It means watching the acrobatic flower dance of a million honey bees and hummingbirds by day, and marvelling at the rhythmic lightning bug light show by night. It means listening to the harmonic blends of the neighbourhood songbirds and playing children, and also enjoying the nightly orchestra of crickets, whippoorwills, and bullfrogs. It means being thankful for a soft summer breeze to stir the hot sticky air, and occasionally getting soaked by an unexpected pop-up rain shower. It means sunburns and mosquito bites and bee stings and poison ivy, but it also means the cool soothing goodness of aloe and calamine lotion. It means cannonball splashes and swan dives, raspberry picking and tadpole catching, and watermelon eating and corn shucking. It means impromptu drives tot he beach, smelling the pungent sweetness of newly-mowed grass, and enjoying a fresh-off-the-vine tomato sandwich.
It's also a time for lazing on the front porch, listening to our kids while we sit at the campfire or in the hot tub. It's a time for cherishing family and time spent together. It's a time for remembering the past, savouring the present, and daydreaming about the future.

Summer. We're either halfway into it or it's halfway over. It's all about perspective.

Blessings

blog 500

can you believe it? 500 posts! who would have thought that I would have posted this many entries. I found this photo and thought it to be quite appropriate and perhaps very true.

So for this blog post, since it is the 500th post - I thought I should write something profound... .. .. . .... .. and yet nothing seems to come to me. Sad but true.

So rather than get frustrated with myself - I think I'll dedicate this post to my faithful readers - you know who you are - and truly thank you for all your words of encouragement and thoughtful comments. I appreciate the interest taken in my life and thoughts. Blogging is something I enjoy doing. I realize that probably alot of it is not relevant to many, but for me, it's my way of getting all those ideas, thoughts, and opinions out of my head. And yes, I do love it when people comment. So faithful readers, I invite you to continue following me as I continue to post and see if we can get to 1000.

Blessings

eight days a week

or so it seems that Darcy is working. He's a dishwasher at the Little Inn of Bayfield, and this time of year it's crazy busy.

Blessings

Wheatfield

It's that season of the year again, when it is time to harvest the wheat. Each fall my farmer-husband faithfully plants the seed in the ground, watching & waiting as it grows. It's then hidden under a blanket of snow during the winter {and last year we had alot of snow}, he continues to monitor it's growth through the spring and into the summer; until it's time to harvest.

With the weather we've been having it's been tricky trying to combine the wheat fields. It seems we get just enough rain to stop them in their tracks, but not enough rain for the rest of the fields. It's been a little frustrating, to say the least. He seems to be coping better than I am, while we wait. In Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 2b it says "to everything there is a season, a time to plant and a time to uproot". As each season comes and goes in our lives, I'm reminded how quickly time passes. We're in a fast-moving, fast-paced society. So it was good to just sit on the front porch with my "best" friend as we watched the combine and said "good-bye wheat, hello-o-o money".

Blessings

Heatwave

The National Weather Service has issued a warning "The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are likely. This is the most significant heat-wave the region has experienced in at least the last five years.” With this recent bout of prolonged heat, I find myself almost ready to complain. Don't get me wrong, I love it hot. But these last few days are starting to wear on me. The house is warming up and with out air conditionong to cool it down it sits at 87F and you can probably add another 5 degrees to the upstairs. Making it quite difficult to sleep. In fact, yesterday as I sat in the shade of a tree and was still sweating, I knew I had had enough. This heat has unfortunately caused me to be more grumpy these days.

Blessings

Follow the yellow brick road

The journey of life can be compared to this: "Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road.”

Okay so what’s the word for today? Right it’s YELLOW! uh what? no, it's “follow”. But here’s the point I’d like to put forward; 1) the obvious isn’t always what we do and 2) the right thing isn’t always what we do.

By following the yellow brick road Dorothy eventually made it to Emerald City and met the great and powerful OZ. Sure she had some distractions along the way and took a couple of wrongs turns. She ended up in the witches castle for a bit, but at the end of the day she found the good witch of the North and made it back home all safe and sound.

Our journey should be as simple, follow the straight and narrow road try not to get caught up in the distractions, stay away from evil, find a good friend {Jesus} who will lead us home to Heaven; where we'll meet the Alpha and Omega, the Creator of all, our God and Saviour.

To follow: according to dictionary.com is the act of following. In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said, “Come, follow me”. At times we will be called to follow “en masse”, as a group. But the day in day out existence of the believer is done individually. We need to stop the comparisons; and start following Jesus. A lot of the subtle changes we seek to make in our lives are going to push and pull us into areas of the unknown and perhaps the unpopular. But if we are truly seeking after Him and are motivated, then, when action is called for, we will not only follow but follow through. Who knows where those subtle changes are going to lead.. . ...

Blessings

Finish Line

Over the past months, I've been challenged more and more about living a life well lived. Opportunities come and go...at work, in my home, on my travels, with my friends and mere acquaintances.

How do I reflect life in my ordinary world, with boldness and confidence? How do others see me? Am I living my life well?

Following Jesus is not a spectator sport, it's an active work of daily discipline, looking to Jesus as the author and finisher of our race, walking uprightly, serving him. It's not all about winning the race, as much as it is about finishing the race...with faithful completion. It is my prayer that I too, will be known as a person running the race with purpose and vision, rather than being caught up with religiosity, and that my words and actions reflect that He is the risen Lord.

As 2 Timothy 4:7 says "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." My prayer is that as I continue through each season of life, HE will be formed in me and when I cross the finish line I will hear my Lord reply "well done, good and faithful servant."
Blessings

a time to remember

today, as we sat outside on our front porch, we remembered this day, 13 years ago.... when we awoke at 2:26am to the dairy barn engulfed in flames.

It still brings a sob to my throat as I remember. It was such a huge loss for us. Not only did the barn burn down and we were close to losing the house, but we also lost our way of life.

My husband & I bought the family dairy farm when we first married. In fact Wayne had been milking cows since he was 11, and all his life all he wanted was to be a farmer. So losing the barn was needless to say quite difficult for him, me and the kids. The memory of that night is not long forgotten. But as the saying goes "Life goes on" and it truly does.

Do we miss it? sure, some days.

One never knows what the journey of life holds, but we continue to trust in the ONE who holds our journeys.

Blessings

Christmas in July

well not quite.... like many previous posts I've been mentioning all the updates we're doing around the house. One of which, was to plant a wind break for the hot tub. We found that with all the west winds we get in the winter it could and did get quite chilly while sitting in the hot tub. We bought two Baby Blue Spruce trees from the local garden center and on probably the hottest day of the year Wayne dug the holes and planted them. As Darcy is helping his Dad unload them he thought we could cut them down and bring them into the house for Christmas. uh no! not after what we paid for them I think I'll just put some lights on them.

Blessings

Beach Bums

This afternoon Darcy & I went to the beach. I know, I know I posted in a another blog that I am not a fan of beaches nor the sand. But this week has been a scorcher and we needed to cool down. So off we went, down the side road to the beach. As we're walking down the hill you can feel the warmth of the sun, and the gentle breeze blowing. We set out our towels and as he went into the freezing lake, I sat soaking the sun reading this. We were there for probably only an hour, but when you're only minutes from the beach, we can go as often as needed and stay as little or as long as we like.

Blessings

D.I.Y.

We've been fairly busy around the farmhouse, changing this, adding that. While it does make some extra work for Wayne, it is something he seems to enjoy it. These little do it yourself projects not only help to keep him busy for the summer it also helps on the pocketbook.

We had done a lot of work around here to get ready for the wedding last year and I would have thought that we would have been done for a few years. However, since we moved the gazebo closer to the house - it made sense to attach a new deck to it. And with the new deck design, the existing patio just didn't quite look right. So my handy husband has been busy this past week, picking up the old patio and laying a new one. {totally forgot to take a 'before' photo} I'm looking forward to many times enjoying this new space.

Blessings

Lunchtime!!!

Who doesn't love going out for lunch - especially when it's paid for ^.^

For 6 years my brother, sister and I get together to celebrate our birthdays. We each take turns buying the lunch, so for every three lunches; I only pay for one - pretty sweet deal, huh?

Since Barry's birthday is in July and it was my turn to buy we decided to head to Grand Bend. We tried the new restaurant "the Sunset". It's likely called that because it's like right beside the beach - in fact this was our view while we ate. Beautiful! just beautiful.
It was great to catch up with the busyness of all our lives and to spend some time together. Thanks for a great day and I'm looking forward to the next one in October when we celebrate my birthday!

Blessings

Sparrow

As I was cleaning up around the yard today I saw this little fella and was instantly reminded of this song:

God sees the little sparrow fall,
It meets His tender view;
If God so loves the little birds,
I know He loves me, too.

He loves me, too, He loves me, too,
I know He loves me, too;
Because He loves the little things,
I know He loves me, too.

and I felt completely loved. I am always amazed when those random God moments hit me. Do you ever get those? I think we too often are so caught up in the busyness of our lives that we don't recognize a "God-moment" when we see one. Would you be willing to share one such moment with me?

Blessings

Hot Days of Summer

ah yes the hot, hazy, lazy, days of summer, have finally arrived. It's times like this when I find myself missing our swimming pool and watching our kids to crazy things like this - After a long, cold, lonely, winter it's wonderful to see the sun, just like the Beatles sing in this song.

Thankfully, if we do ever find it so unbearably hot and we are in desperate need of cooling off; we only live a few minutes {yes, literally 3 minutes} from the beautiful beaches of Lake Huron. While I'm not a super fan of beaches and all the sand, it does at least provide some relief to the heat. Not that I am complaining about the heat, on the contrary I love, LOVE this time of year. In fact it can't get too hot for me. Like Krystle says in this post there are just so many things to love about summertime. Hope you enjoy your summer!

Blessings

Wise ole farmer

One of the many farmer's sayings that I remember my Grandpa S saying was "the corn should be knee high by July". Ironically it's also one my husband also says. {must be a "farmer" thing} This year however the corn was more than knee high by the 1st of July and if we went by this picture, we'd have to change the saying completely. ^.^

Blessings

Table for 5

Last night we were invited to dinner at Krystle & Gerard's. The table was lovingly set for 5 and as our family sat down we were served the most scrumptious meal. BBQ steak, baked potatoes {with sour cream, bacon, cheese & chives}, creamy broccoli slaw and of course no meal is complete without a nice glass of Pinot Grigio.

It's always a treat when I don't have to cook. It's even more of a treat when we're invited to spend time with our daughter & son-in-law, at their place.

We had a fabulous evening. After dinner, we played many games and before we knew it, it was time to head for home. Why is it, that time flies when you're having fun? Thank you K & G for an awesome dinner and evening - looking forward to the next one!

Blessings

Out of touch

Saturday night we had yet another wicked wind & rain storm, leaving us without hydro, Internet, television or telephone. Talk about being cut off from the rest of the world.

Normally I do not mind when the hydro is out. It gives us a break from all the gadgets and gizmo's, allowing us to spend time together without any distractions. We can usually find something to do, whether it's playing a game, or just chatting away catching up on everyday things. And at this time of year we can BBQ so we can eat. Yes, we do have a generator so we can run the necessary items, like our sump-pump so the basement doesn't flood and in the winter months it helps to keep us from freezing.

But, with no phone.. .. . . it was really frustrating! No-one {except those who have our cell-phone} could get a hold of us. We ended up spending the most of the day yesterday waiting for the phone & hydro service repair guys. It was quite surprising that we, out of all the neighbours, were the only ones without hydro. It seems a hydro wire at the end of our lane got zapped. Needless to say I am glad to be back n the land of technology.

Blessings

Out with old and in with the new

Yesterday, we {as in Wayne - ^.^} spent the afternoon taking out the old and long overgrown shrubs and replaced them with new ones we got from Lakewood Garden Center.

Before. .. . During. .. . After. .. . It's a little hard in the last picture to see them but we did plant a Flowering Crab Tree, a Weeping Pea-shrub Tree and just around the steps of the front porch we have a Japanese Conical Yew Shrub.

Next on the agenda is the back patio. Last October we built a deck and we knew that we'd have to change the size of the patio. It was great that the local building center was having a sale on patio slabs. We got them delivered on Friday - and today the chips & dust and top soil is getting delivered. So hopefully in the next few days, I'll be saying good-bye to the old patio and hello to the new one.

Blessings