A Blessing...

 So this morning - I had a feeling that I needed to get to the nearby, little thrift store earlier than I usually do. So I since I knew they opened at 10:00am- I headed out shortly after 10am.

When I got there - there were several boxes of stuff right inside the door. Someone had just donated the stuff. The lady that runs the place is a really nice lady and many times we chat while I am there. So today we were talking and she decided to go through the stack just a bit to see what kind of stuff had been dropped off. And just a few things down was a treasure that was there just for me!!!

 

Yep- This beauty was in the pile. It is in excellent shape. Such a beautiful coat. And do you see the fur around the neck and on the sleeves? It is lined with that soft fur. It feels amazing. And even though the size it was marked looked like it would be too small for me - it fits me perfectly!!

When I got home - I looked up the coat - a "Gallery Woman" coat- and from Nordstrom - it was originally $330.00 and was half price for like $164.00. You can check it out for yourself. 

Oh and I forgot - the best part!!!

The Price:

$10.00

 

What a blessing this is to me!!! I have needed a nice coat - that was nice enough to wear to church for a long time. I just don't have the big bucks to spend on a coat- that may not be used very often- or it might be used a lot. All I know is that this is an awesome coat- and I could not have asked for a better blessing!!

 

You want to hear something funny?

 

So I buy this awesome coat. And later in the afternoon- I spend a couple hours outside trimming rose bushes, cutting down small prickly trees from the chicken yard, cutting old dried, dead herbs out of my herb garden to make room for the already growing herbs underneath! It was a beautiful day!! We also were able to go get some of the supplies to build the roof for the chicken pin. I wish I had have taken a before photo- maybe I can find a photo that will show what we were doing. But whatever, I will take a photo to let you know what it end up looking like! I am excited to have it done and know that we will not longer have to put the $$ into it every 6 months or so- and we will have an area for the chickens that is fairly dry.

 

Oh - Be sure to stop by tomorrow - because I will be sharing what chickens we have ordered- we got that done tonight as well. We had to - we had already missed the week we wanted to get our baby chicks due to one of our chickens selling out - so we had to order them a week sooner than we were wanting, but it's not a big deal. We were able to get our girls and that is what is important. :O)

 

Just a little cuteness...

Here is a photo of our baby chicks that we got back in 2009, the last time we got baby chicks. I thought I would get this photo out to help me focus on the positive of getting baby chicks instead of on the sadness of my girls being gone.

 

We have been working on getting their space ready. We got the layers of chicken wire and tarps off of the roof of the large dog run. This is in order to prepare for building the roof with tin. We are tired of having to put a new tarp out there every single year - if not more often than that. I like to have the area of there chicken pin at least somewhat protected from the elements. That way they have some where to go in bad weather.

 

 

I can't remember if I told ya'll that we were going to have to wait till the beginning of March to get the babies. Sorry if this is repeat information. Anyway the first month it is very important that the babies be checked on at least 5 times a day. You need to make sure they have clean water and food accessible. And they need to have their home set up so that they have the temperature set pretty high at first- they need to have it at about 95 degrees. And their home needs to have options for them - warmer area and an area that if they are hot they can move away from the heat source. After the first week -you gradually bring the temperature down- by 5 degree increments until it is temperature of their environment. So anyway baby chicks need someone watching out for them. So this is the reason why we have to wait till the beginning of March to order our babies, because Pathfinders has a campout scheduled for the last week of Feb. unless it is bad weather - only problem is that we would not know if it is being canceled for bad weather until the Wed. before the campout. So we are going to wait till the week after that to get our chicks.

 

When we got rid of our chickens, we explained to SweetPea that we were going to get baby chicks. So I am sure the next time she comes to see us she will be disappointed that we do not have baby chicks yet. But thankfully by the next visit we will have them!

 

It has felt good to at least be preparing for the babies. I have been doing research- I found a great website that has a great list of things that can be used with the baby chicks so I am learning new things. And I will need to go to TSC to see what supplies they have for the babies - and decide which place has the best buys. Even though we have had baby chicks a couple of different times- I have learned new information this time and I hope that it will lead to even more success with the babies.

 

Anyway that is just one of the things that I have been doing to keep myself busy this week.

Tomorrow I have my appointment with my oncologist - bloodwork at 10:00am and then seeing the Dr at 10:30am. This will be the first time going by myself. My husband had been able to work a double and be off on Fridays. The problem is that my Dr is no longer seeing patients at this facility on Fridays so we had to change the day to Wed. I am so glad that this is not the first 3 month visit. That way I am not as nervous about going alone. I am thinking I might even stop by a thrift shop that I enjoy going to - but don't like to do all the driving to get to it - just to go to the thrift shop - so this way - it will just be a couple of blocks out of my way - instead of a 30 minute drive. Anyway - please keep my in prayers for that appointment and that I will get a clean bill of health. Thanks so much! :O) 

What's Been Going On?

Ok - So I think it is time that I catch you up on what has been going on around here.
Since we are wanting to get our garden space ready for planting this year- we decided that we needed to take care of a few jobs that we have around here. The reason why we needed to do these jobs is because right now our garden area is where a pool had been taken down and it is about 1 foot deep and that is where we have our burn pile located at this time. So we had 2 dead trees beside our house and we needed to get them cut down and processed - so we could get the branches and twigs to the burn pile. We ended up with a good amount of fire wood. And now look forward to some cold weather - so we can use the wood that we worked hard to get processed and get stacked in our wood stack. So we got that big job done. I still need to work in that area to get a few briers cut down. But it looks so different now without the two trees. We were glad we were able to take care of them before they fell on their own.

We also have some bushes that are beside our garage that had grown way too tall - so we needed to trim them down and get all that stuff to the burn pile. So we have gotten that done- basically. I say basically because we found a nest in one end of the bushes and did not cut that bush down as far as the others - and will trim it down later.

And you might be wondering what my new toy is... Well last year we decided that since we had so many medical bills that we would not do much for birthdays/anniversary/ or Christmas. And so my new toy is basically a combo of those- well that is how I like to justify the purchase, since it is pricey. It is pricey but well worth the money. I got a D59!!!

 

So this has a section that you connect to the wall- the item at the top left of the bottom photo. And the way it is set up - when you hang your vacuum on it - it actually charges the vacuum so that it is always ready for use! The battery holds power for about 25 minutes or so. You can us it to vacuum the floor, clean walls, mini blinds, ceiling fans, and ceilings! Oh and also clean out your car! It will be so nice to take this out to clean up the RV - instead of having to carry my vacuum out there.
Anyway I absolutely love it!! It is great!

(by the way- I guess I need to say - these photos are from Dyson websites and I am in no way getting paid to share this info - this is just my own opinion. - Oh and I just have to say this - before we got a Dyson vacuum- we would have to buy a new vacuum every other year or so. I have a Dyson that we bought about 7 years ago - that is going strong- I LOVE it too! So Dyson makes great products which are well worth the money.-Sometimes you have to look at the over all usage of a product- like I learned with Paul Mitchell products- at first glance they look expensive but when you find out how long they last you and how good of a job they do- you are actually getting a bargain.)

Sorry I have been so quiet - just seems to be a lot going on- and then also just feeling quiet. Might be due to the up coming appointment with my oncologist. It does kind of cause a bit of stress. More than likely I will get the all clear- but once you get diagnosed - you have a fear of hearing bad news. So I am sure I will feel SO much better once it is behind me!

Well I just wanted to get on here and update you all on some of the things going on around here. I hope you all are doing good. I will be coming around to visit soon. :O)

It's been done....

So our 8 chickens have been loaded up and taken to their new home. I am thankful that one of our sons came by and was able to help my husband gather up the chickens and put them into the metal cage to transport them. Their new home looks like it will be a nice home. Only problem is that there are about 12 or so chickens already living in the new place - along with a rooster- (actually 3 roosters- but they are trying to get rid of the 2 mean roosters) and so it looks like there will be some battles going on- to work out pecking order. And I am not happy about that. Here - there were not many battles - mostly if there was a squabble - one of the chickens would move along to another place. So not a lot of fighting. I pray that our girls will be happy in their new home. I also pray that God will help me with the sadness. They really become part of the family - especially when you have them for 5-6 years. And every time that I look out into that part of the yard - I miss them so much. It will make my quiet times in the morning a bit less enjoyable- and maybe even sad while I adjust.

Getting baby chicks will be very helpful but it will be about 2 weeks or so before we get the babies. And for the first couple of months or so they will be too little to even be allowed out into the dog run part of the chicken run- let alone out into their new yard! So it will be a while before I will have the enjoyment of watching them from my bedroom window.

Please pray for me and my girls. Thanks! :O)

The Decision Has Been Made...

Hello~ Wow - it's been a while since I have sat down to write a post. Not quite sure why - just felt quiet. Still feeling quiet but thought I would stop and take a moment to write a quick post.

It looks like we have decided to get rid of our chickens and to get baby chicks. Some friends that live down the road have agreed to take our chickens and add to their flock. They have about 12 chickens and I am SO hoping that my 8 girls will do well there. I am kind of sad - because I love my chickens so it will be hard to part with them. But it is the best thing for us to do.

When I first started going to Aldi's the price for a dozen eggs- was only .39 cents! Wow- what a great deal! Well at that time we did not think that it would be a good investment to get new chickens. But now that the price of eggs had gone up to 1.49 a dozen- it is a much better idea to take the time and spend the money to get baby chicks and take the time to get them to the laying stage- about 5- 6 months after we get them in order to be able to get our own eggs. And then we also have the chance of sharing eggs with friends and family.

Anyway so this week end is when we will load up our chickens and take them to their new home. And then we will need to do some work on our chicken pen. We are planning on building a tin roof for the bigger side of the chicken pen(a large dog run). And that way we no longer will need to get new tarps out there - that just tear up - no matter how strong of tarps that we get. It will cost $100. or so- but it will guarantee that we will have some areas in there that are dry for the chickens. We will also spend that time to clean up the chicken coop- and prepare it for the babies. We have a metal rectangular thing that we will need to move to the chicken coop- and get the supplies needed for the babies. We will be ordering our chickens from McMurray- 25 baby chicks! Once we order them - we will have a time frame of when they will get here- the day that they come in to the post office- I will get a phone call to come get them. They are packed into a small box to try to keep them warm. They are in close quarters to help keep the heat in there for them. They need to stay pretty warm. And I will be on standby to go get them as soon as I get the call. Then I will bring them home and introduce them to their new home. I look forward to it!! :)

I will try to get back on sometime to share a few other neat things that have been going on around here. I really want to tell you about my new toy and about a big job that we finally got done around here- but the telling of those tales will have to wait for another day! :O)

Everyday

                                                

 

             Hoping to feel a bit more like posting something tomorrow.

Disappointments of Life..

Today I wanted to share a great devotion from my "Streams in the Desert" devotional book.

I hope you are as blessed by it as I was. :O)

************************

 

This is my doing. 1 Kings 12:24

The disappointments of life are simply the hidden appointments of love.
--C.A. Fox

My child, I have a message for you today. Let me whisper it in your ear so any storm clouds that may arise will shine with glory, and the rough places you may have to walk will be made smooth. It is only four words, but let them sink into your inner being, and use them as a pillow to rest your weary head. "This is my doing."

Have you ever realized that whatever concerns you concerns Me too? "For whoever touches you touches the apple of [my] eye" (Zech. 2:8). "You are precious and honored in my sight" (Isa. 43:4). Therefore it is My special delight to teach you.

I want you to learn when temptations attack you, and the enemy comes in "like a pent up flood" (Isa. 59:19)., that "this is my doing" and that your weakness needs My strength, and your safety lies in letting Me fight for you.

Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, never ask your opinion, and always push you aside? "This is my doing." I am the God of circumstances. You did not come to this place by accident -- you are exactly where I meant for you to be.

Have you not asked Me to make you humble? Then see that I have placed you in the perfect school where this lesson is taught. Your circumstances and the people around you are only being used to accomplish My will.

Are you having problems with money, finding it hard to make ends meet? "This is my doing," for I am the One who keeps your finances, and I want you to learn to depend upon Me. My supply is limitless and I "will meet your needs" (Phil. 4:19). I want you to prove My promises so no one may say, "You did not trust in the Lord your God" (Deut. 1:32).

Are you experiencing a time of sorrow? "This is my doing." I am "a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering" (Isa. 53:3). I have allowed your earthly comforters to fail you, so that by turning to Me you may receive "eternal encouragement and good hope" (2 Thess. 2:16). Have you longed to do some great work for Me but instead have been set aside on a bed of sickness and pain? "This is my doing." You were so busy I could not get your attention, and I wanted to teach you some of My deepest truths. "They also serve who only stand and wait." In fact, some of My greatest workers are those physically unable to serve, but who have learned to wield the powerful weapon of prayer.
Today I place a cup of holy oil in your hands. Use it freely, My child. Anoint with it every new circumstance, every word that hurts you, every interruption that makes you impatient, and every weakness you have. The pain will leave as you learn to see Me in all things.
--Laura A. Barter Snow

"This is from Me," the Savior said,
As bending low He kissed my brow,
"For One who loves you thus has led.
Just rest in Me, be patient now,
Your Father knows you have need of this,
Though, why perhaps you cannot see--
Grieve not for things you've seemed to miss.
The thing I send is best for thee."
Then, looking through my tears, I plead,
"Dear Lord, forgive, I did not know,
It will not be hard since You do tread,
Each path before me here below."
And for my good this thing must be,
His grace sufficient for each test.
So still I'll sing, "Whatever be
God's way for me is always best."