Ugh...

Diverticulitis sucks!

Still sick.

Sorry, dear blog.  

Be back soon - I hope.

Random picture...

Fruit Sticker Fun

I am really feeling awful right now, but I am not going to abandon my blog.  Here is a random thought; have you ever looked at where your fruit came from?

Check out the stickers on each piece of fruit and take note:

It will probably surprise you!  Yeah, I am one of those random people that notices stuff like that... lol...

Going to the Dr today - hopefully I will be able to post again soon.

See ya!

Very, Very, Sad Eggs

Good morning!  

This is what my morning starts out like...  I get up, make Steve's lunch, walk him out, feed the horses then head to the coop.  


This is my view on the way:

Oh, darn, right?  Lol... As you can probably tell, this is well before 7am.  

Then on to the coop to do my chicken chores; clean their litter box, check for water and food then give them a bit of scratch feed.  My hens lay in the morning usually before noon.  If I am lucky, I will get 2 or 3 eggs a day right now, however, I have several hens trying to 'gear up' to give eggs.  

Their eggs are not very well formed to say the least:

Yes, I am giving them calcium fortified food, oyster shells and doing everything I am supposed to - they are just young and immature.  Soon their eggs will be show worthy!

I am still trying to figure out which chickens lay which eggs.  I have only gotten one white egg, several rosy colored eggs and lots of brown eggs.  I have one chicken that lays tiny brown SPECKLED eggs.  I love that egg!

Thought you might be interested to learn chickens do lay dud eggs - and they are very, very sad indeed.

'Cause I can't eat 'em!

I love my mornings - feeding critters, chatting with them, petting them and encouraging the chickens to lay beautiful eggs for us!  Some of them just aren't listenin' yet!


We are burnin' the wood pile this weekend. Don't know if I will have a chance to post or not,  so I will just say I hope you have a great weekend!

I will, I will be with my hubby.  I look forward to weekends.  :-)

Mystic Moon Shot

Herro... 

Not feeling much like posting, so I went to my 'great shots' folder and randomly picked a picture that made me have the warm fuzzies to share with you:

Today has been an itchy day... I have a rash and can't take antihistamines because I have skin testing scheduled for Monday.  Also, the Dr (the 3rd Dr actually) said my Lymphocytes in my blood very low so I an going in for more bloodwork - like 14 viles was not enough on Monday!  Lol... They think it has something to do with my immune system.  We shall see.  It is not seriously low, just 'concerning' she said.

Will post more tomorrow.  


Later gator!

Wordless Wednesday

 !!  

:-)

Natural Falls State Park

Less than an hour from our home, Natural Falls State Park is a nice little relaxing place to stop in and rest a bit.  On Sat August 10th, Steve and I were on a bike ride and decided to stop in for a break.  We had been there before - a very long time ago, but it was nice to see it again.  This time it was flowing really nicely!

It is such a small world, we were chatting with some people who were there looking as well.  They asked where we were from and when we told them; the wife said she used to work at the port near us - and after a little conversation, we found out she worked for the guy we bought the house from!  What are the odds?


They offered to take our pic and we took them up on it:

This past weekend we went to Lake Tenkiller and found this little pool of water to relax by:

I didn't take any pictures of the lake, but it sure is a pretty lake - maybe next time.  I hate taking my big Nikon camera in the bike - I think it would get bounced around too much, so I just have my point and shoot and while it takes good pictures, I miss the great pics I get with my Nikon...


While we were setting near our little water pool, I looked back and saw this picture of the man I love:

How did I get so lucky to have found this man?


Next weekend, I don't think we are going on a bike ride - I think we are going to burn a huge pile of wood that we have stacked at the back of the property.  I don't think we can get it done in one day, but who knows?  Maybe we can... 

If so, another bike ride may be in store for us.  Wonder where we would go this time?  I am sure enjoying getting back to where we started...  Many years ago, we rode a Honda 750 from Okmulgee, Oklahoma all the way to Destin, Florida and back for our honeymoon... and yes, we had a blast!

You didn't know that about us, did you?  

I must tell you, getting back to where we started is such a nice time in our lives...

And riding the bike doesn't take much money at all.

I am still a cheap date.  :-)

Jincy's Kitchen

At the end of a very long road...

Literally...

Well, maybe not literally - because you have to back up 50 ft or so...

But when you do back up, you will find Jincy's Kitchen.


Have you ever seen Where The Red Fern Grows?  The building Jincy's Kitchen is in was "grandpa's store" in the film.  Read up on Jincy's Kitchen...

When you walk in to Jincy's, it is like stepping back in time. Heck, when you walk up to Jincy's it is like stepping back in time...


Steve messaged me Thursday and gave me the name of a place he wanted to go - it was recommended to him by another biker.  Originally, we planned to go camping, but Steph and Todd weren't able to go, so we just opted out and hopped on the bike to his intended destination... Jincy's Kitchen.

When you drive up to Jincy's, you are certainly not sure you are in the right place.  Steve parked the bike and we glanced around trying to decide if this was it - or not.  I pulled out my cell phone to see if I could double check the address... no service.  I am not surprised since we are so far out in the middle of nowhere that even God would have to look for us...

But Steve came to the rescue by pulling out some papers we had printed.  We got the address and went to double check.  No address on the door.  We walked to the mail boxes and checked that out... only names and certainly no numbers that came anywhere close to what we had...

So, it came out to the art of deduction.  Checking out the picture it certainly looked the same, there were numerous cars out front across the street - too many to be just household guests... yes,  we were quite sure that was the same place in the picture... maybe we should venture in.  We got even braver when a new arrival went straight to the door and walked right on it.  This just might be it...

Walking in was a trip!  The old store shelves were piled with "stuff"- the kind of stuff that I love to look at - and we were definitely in the right place - there were tables ready to serve on!

 
There is the ice dispenser right under the tea pitcher - yup, an ice box!

They greeted us warmly, and brought us a nice, big menu to look at:

Once they took our order, Debbie went right to work making mashed potatoes for us:

Others were busy in the kitchen doing dishes, settling tabs and helping prepare meals...

... from scratch.


This is what the salads came out looking like!

We told Debbie that at first we were not sure we had come to the right place because there is no sign indicating that this was Jincy's Kitchen...  Double check the building if you don't believe me:

She assured us there is indeed a sign, right there above the air conditioner!


Well, heck yeah!  NOW we see it!  From inside!  :-)

I am not going to give you all the history of the place, I will leave it to this blogger to do so... They did such an excellent job...

So my blog is to tell you on one of the coming weekends, you need to drive out of your way, maybe even way out of your way, head down to near Keys, Ok... down a very long country road, to the very end of the road, back up 50 feet or so to the red painted old wood grocery store. 

Be sure and take a picture, because nothing else will clue you in to the fact you have made it!  Then, go ahead and venture inside to be greeted by some very down home country folk, cooking honest-to-God home cookin' meals, laughing with you while they do - and kick back to enjoy the chatter, music, atmosphere, the delicious food and fun banter.

Don't be in a hurry - they are not fast food, but they are definitely worth every bit of the wait.  We had the best chicken fried steak and mashed 'tators ever - and the home-made bread will be warm!  :-)

Find their Facebook page here - and be sure to check out their pictures!


One other hint - you should go when the Matthew's are playing - 'cause you won't be disappointed:

And you can talk (not yell) and listen to their amazing music at the same time.  How many places can you go with a live 'band' and do that?


Definitely off the beaten path:

JINCY'S KITCHEN

31455 S Burnt Cabin Rd Park Hill, Oklahoma 74451

(918) 457-5515

Definitely worth the wait.

Definitely recommended.

Definitely on our 'to do' list again and again.

Lexi Leaves Us

 This chick:

Who we loved beyond measure:

Who we all had to watch out for because she was blind:

And I do mean everyone had to watch out for:

Who Raelee even read books to:

Who always listened to what was going on around her:

Who amazed us with her survival determination:

Who always made us smile:

Is no longer with us.

Lexi gave us 2.5 wonderful years of caring for her, watching out for her, being her eyes, and loving her.  Steph and Raelee raced home from the ends of the earth every evening to be sure she made it in from the great outdoors.  Lexi taught us to have Easter Egg hunts daily looking for her randomly placed eggs.  And Lexi lucked out and found a place that would love her forever even if she was blind - with her very special kid. A mommy and kid that hand fed her, cuddled her, talked to her and a showed her where her water dish was; over and over again.  Yes, Lexi was our very special gal.

Lexi was attacked by an unknown something last Friday (the 9th) and though everyone tried to get her well again, she was just too weak and tired.

Lexi died Thursday the 15th.

We're gonna miss you Lexi Lu.  We will always love ya and we will miss ya - esp every evening when it is your bedtime!  I hope you are finally seeing all of God's green earth, I hope you can find a grasshopper on your own and I hope you can finally find a nest to put those eggs in! 

The Games We Play

 Everyone knows Steve and I love playing games; we play Dominoes, Yahtzee and cards. 

Since we love playing games so much, we decided to make games to play at our family reunions.  Steve made a Washer Game and  EVERY one loved playing it!


Steve's cousins Dwayne and Janine:

Marcus got really good at playing and landing the washers IN the holes!

And Aedan was really great at playing as well.  He loved when his washers went in!  The crazy thing about it is that the boys were as good as the adults!


I think Dwayne, Steve and Jeff played nearly every time!

I made an Angry Birds blowing game out of coffee cans and a volley ball;  it was terrifically cute, but a bomb. :-(   I don't think it even got played once! 

 Oh well, it is cute to look at.  :-)


Another bomb was the giant KerPlunk; not sure why it didn't go over, but it was a huge flop.  

Anyone need a KerPlunk game?  And I had such high hopes for these two games!  Lol...


And this game got played more than I expected once we moved it to the picnic table:

In all the games we made, the washer game was by far the most fun, the most played and the one everyone wanted to pull out when we had a few extra minutes.  Aedan shows his Washer Game excitement here when he scored!

Now I get to go on my favorite game;  The Easter Egg hunt!  So far I have gotten 5 eggs; 2 brown, two rose and one white:

I am pretty sure all my hens are laying, but I think I have to go on an Easter Egg hunt in the soy bean field to find the rest of the eggs. 

I really wish the Amish dudes would just chop all the soy beans down so I can see if they are really laying there... 

Still hoping for the blue or green egg... if that happens then I will have all the colors of eggs I want!  If not, Steph and I agreed we should swap my brown for her blues and we will have our perfect mixture of colored eggs.  :-)

Have You Ever Had One Of Those Sundays...

Where you were sure the preacher looked straight into your heart and preached to you?

Yesterday was that day.

Let me start with a bit of scripture:

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

Chapter 13 

 1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  

² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  

³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 

⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  

⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  

⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  

⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  

¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  

¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.


What a huge perspective!


The greatest of these is love.  

God loves me no matter what my faults are and even if no one else would.  

This post means nothing... 

Why am I worried about a few people that get their grins and giggles by their childhood ways?

I look at my reflection in the mirror and other than a few smudges, I am pretty darned proud of who I have become despite where I started.

I have made mistakes along the way, I have learned as I traveled and I can be honest with myself and others - and I don't have to hide a thing or lie about a thing.

Because I am happy where I am.  

I have faith, I have hope and I have love.

The greatest of these is love. 


And even as lost as I am,  God shows me in many ways I am loved... every single day.

Not everyone has to love me.  They obviously don't even have to like me.

And I am ok with that.  That is their choice - and their loss.

The greatest of these is love. 


Unconditional love.

Not A Silent Sunday!

Well, today was supposed to be a silent Sunday - but I can't let it happen because I gotta CROW!

One of my hens laid the perfect chocolatey egg yesterday!  It is our first egg from our very own hens!

This little gal:

Laid this little brown egg in her chosen little (new) nesting box yesterday!

(The white egg is the ceramic egg)  Me thinks we built the nesting boxes just in the nick of time!


Here is a close-up:

And another - compared to 'normal' sized eggs... the blue and light brown are Steph's eggs:

Here they are all together... it's a shame we don't have a store bought white egg to compare to, but (oh darn!) we don't!

And just in case you can't believe how dark brown and beautiful it is, here ya go!

When chickens first start laying, their eggs are small in comparison to when they are mature... so her eggs will get bigger soon.

Aren't these eggs beautiful?


I can't wait until Gussy starts laying blue/green eggs!

Here she is just in case you forgot which chicken she is:

Check out her green legs!

Anyway, that is my not-so-silent brag Sunday!

Gotta get to church!  Maybe I will have a new egg today!

Makin' Soaps

I have been helping Steph and Raelee make soaps. Steph has a business selling her handmade soaps on Etsy and even though Raelee helps, she has a short attention span and is 'over it' quickly so I help out when she peters out.  That is where I come in... but first...


Here they are starting a soap Raelee loves to make:

When Raelee is interested - she is REALLY interested and concentrates on getting it right:

And she did terrific!  This is the 'new' Tutti Fruiti soap!  Isn't it pretty?

Steph tried a new one too:

When we cut it the next day, it looked like this:

I love the anticipation of what to expect.  Looking at them after they are poured is no comparison of what they will look like when we cut them. Go back and look at the previous two pictures... see what I mean?


Steph has come up with some terrific soaps:

Some smelly yummy enough to eat - like the mocha one!

I have yet to pour any, I think it would be fun - but she does such a terrific job why should I?  I would be scared to death I would mess up a great thing!

If you haven't yet tried her soaps, I hope you do really soon.  Here is her website linky.  You won't believe how much they lather - and I certainly don't think you would be disappointed.  Her customers keep coming back for more.  :-)