"Bigger than a bread box"

"Bigger than a bread box" is a favorite game John and I have played over the years. Tonight on the way back from the pickup at the bus stop we played it again.

Tomorrow the pictures.

Tonight was knitting like the dickens and caring for the big dog because he has chewed himself raw in one spot - seems as though he is allergic to August in Cincinnati! Pictures of sweater done within 6 inches tomorrow too!

Right now rest.

Think about visiting God someplace this weekend. I know it is only Thursday night - but hey - sometimes you need enough time to talk yourself in and out of the answer... That is OK God is a patient and awesome God and I waiting for you to check in and say Hello... really...

Gnite.

The news spread fast

Many people have asked for pictures.

My family in Columbus and Cleveland have been watching very carefully as we take this journey. I can only imagine the conversations. I wonder how many times they have asked about my sanity and whether it was in tact. Without the firm conviction that this project will get finished and lots of prayers and knitting, I may well have gone off the deep end. Did I mention Jazzercise and Chocolate?

I can almost say that life is getting near the edge of normal. That alone is a very scary thought.

Without further ado I present one-half acre of newly sewn grass seed and a full 34 bales of straw that are going back to where they came from... of course this was after my Dad told me that the lawn needed 4 inches of straw cover, not the one or two that we gave it, because lawns like dark, warm (got that covered), moist (GOD is providing that nicely and is said to be providing it all week) places to germinate. I said it will be "just fine" because we did what we did and we can do no more.

This leads me to the feeling that I have delivered a baby. I cannot explain it any other way. Now I want to sit and watch the "baby" grow, but that isn't happening any time soon. Jenn and I did sit for a minute in the chairs way out back until John needed help with removal of the trailer (did you miss it?) and we had to get up.

This process has been interesting - it did tell me that sometimes when you tell the story of events to come and then live through those events that have been planned out - it is a completely different thing. You think I would have learned this from the church construction. Sometimes I am a slow learner.

Plans on paper, tons of gravel, dimensions of ditches, yards of pipe, sizes of block and brick, yards of soil and sand, earth moved, replaced, and unsuspecting things found are real pulsating things. They have a life of their own, their own mass and sense and they convert what you see as a quiet place to rest into a pseudo war zone.

At no time did I feel threatened but just the appearance of things being in such the Wrong place or not there at all was just weird. Especially the moat, that was plan bizarre, no earth at the foundation and water all around. Ladders needed to see level ground and mucky earth ready to suck you in to your knees and keep your shoes. Surreal.

It will be a story that will last into the next generation because of the fantastic help of Felecia and Emily, Jenn and Becky. That alone is enough for me right now.

Next steps, Knit like the dickens on my FLAK, pick color of Lori's graduation sweater when she comes home in a week or so - shed and deck - hot tub season is coming fast... after that, who knows?

Did you go and meet God and his family here on earth today? She was waiting for you.

I went, He was there, and I met some new family and watched as some old friends were reunited. It sure is amazing how God works, almost like watching your new sewn lawn grow in your backyard.

It was quite the day

It was quite the day! WOO HOO!

Began at church cleaning - stopped by Starbuck's to get energized. Woo Hoo!

Becky and I cleaned the church which has been a busy place over the last week.

Two hundred-fifty bookbags were distributed to children in the neighborhood through the program at InterParish Ministries. Monday to organize, Tuesday and Thursday, half day each, to hand them out and serve tea and cookies to the people. Throw in a family picnic after the church service last week and that makes for a very used and dirty church. Woo Hoo!

Call that two hours. Woo Hoo!

I came home and John was ready for a break and I made sandwiches. Becky, John and I had lunch. After that the fun began. Jenn showed up as she promised she would do and we started digging in the stones for the stone border around the shed. That took the starch out of you pretty fast. When that part was finished, and a gallon of tea was consumed by three people in 10 minutes, we moved on to the seeding of the lawn area. Jenn did that with the spreader and several criss-cross trips in the front, back and side yards. Somewhere in there John asked if the girls could come to play and Jenn went and fetched them. That escalated the speed with which things advanced. Jenn spread, Felecia raked, Emily swept the driveway and I began the straw application. Woo Hoo!

Pretty soon stumbling replaced walking and the yard was seeded and strawed. John then drove his truck in the backyard to get the trailer (probably not the best time but the first time there was clear portage since the digging began) and we loaded 34 leftover bales of straw.

The guy at Evans that sold him those bales originally said 100 bales - John got 50 and 34 are going back - I still have about 3/4 of one for spare spots that may need rehabbing later.

Woo Hoo!

We have been watching the weather channel for the last few months like it was our job. Today when it predicted 40% chance of showers we said WOO HOO!

Today as I walked the yard back and forth and around in circles I did some meditation. That always feels good in the end. I was thinking about Reverend Herbert Thompson who passed away last Thursday the 17th and whose funeral was today. He loved us very much and he will be missed indeed. He loved us as a shepherd loves his sheep and we knew we were loved. That does not happen too often in a lifetime. That a Bishop would love you so very much and even call you by name and spend as much time as was necessary to listen and discuss matters of importance. I was blessed to have known him.

There is a Herbert shaped hole in my small world, but I know he is Risen indeed!

Tomorrow pictures.

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME

ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD

Go visit a church tomorrow

Doesn't much matter which one

God is waiting for you there!

WOO HOO!

Another day in Paradise

OK
So I have been patient as can be - almost.
The neighbors were asking about this project and a completion date. They were nice enough in the asking - but kind of silly seeing as Mother Nature has been our worst enemy. The excavtor no more left that the heavens openned up with 6-inches of rain!

We thought we could hire some of the work out to a landscaper and John sent out bid requests. The answers that came back lead me to say "There are a whole lot of $200.00 in that number." $200.00 being the amount it costs to rent a bobcat.

So we will work on it dutifully.

I called my Dad in the hopital and told him about the conversations the neighbors had with John and he suggested we take a picture of the yard and send it as a Christmas card and title the card "Another Day in Pardise" I just about choked because my Dad delivered that line from the hospital bed so calmly and casually... So withoout further ado I will show you another day in paradise...

And then there is the portion of my life that portrays my everlasting belief in HOPE and the picture of what Hope Springs Eternal looks like to me a Tomatoe Plant growing out the side of my Compost bin - surely there is great soil in there and I am going to let it grow and see if inspite of all the chaos of the summer I can boast a single tomatoe...

Blessings of health and peace to you and joyful thanksgiving for prayers answered.

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME

ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD

Life is good

Today was a mini marathon after a full marathon yesterday

Yesterday went from 6 am when I arose to 10 pm when I tried to sleep

One should know that if one runs full tilt for 14 hours

One is not going to be able to fall asleep in any short fashion

So at 1 am the cat and I had a stale Peanut Butter and cracker sandwich

Two Advil

By 2 am I was asleep

Tonight will not be as bad

I did the soccer carpool thing with Emily

John made the dinner I had planned out

I got home ate dinner and then just sat down and read the rest of my book

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards

When you only have 100 pages to read what else are you going to do

Reading was a hobby when it was summer and it was hot and I was a teenager at my

parents house

I could sit on the cold stone steps and read and it was cool there

I distinctly remember reading my first John Irving novel on the steps at home

Look Homeward Angel was another I remember reading there

Hawaii

There must have been more because in the summer I was a ravenous reader

To this day I always enjoy the summer and fall novels the best

I have soup cooking for my friend Jane, Wild rice, turkey vegetable soup. Smells really sagey

I hope it helps heal her shoulder - torn rotator cuff repaired

I will deliver it tomorrow after work

John and Felecia and Emily worked on the Hutzel couch today

They have become the three mudsketeers this summer

A very easy peace in their relationship

A very big blessing if you ask me

Grandchildren that love their Grandparents

Not a given or a universal

I am certainly glad they are in our lives

I enjoy the humming and tapping and life they bring to each day

I even enjoy driving to cancelled practices because the birds that sing there are different than the ones that sing here

OK Enough

More pictures next time

Progress in mud land and fiber land I hope

Peace and blessings to you this day and all days

Where Fiber Meets Mud II

So here is the fiber part

and here is the mud part

and I think both are looking much better

So much so

That I am now starting the Couch Project

New upholstered couches for my daughter whose dog as done some deeds on the couches

Pictures of that project will be following this week

If anyone knows me - they know that I never have dull moments in my life

For fun this weekend

Go visit your God