Vacation In Review--part 3 Blueberries For Gals

A note of explanation… before I begin my narrative let me explain the “names” I use:
Country Sis is my eldest sister whom my family was visiting
Curly-Q is my middle sister
The Lady is Country Sis’s sister in law who lives across the road. When I call her “ The Lady” I am meaning it with all kindness and seriousness (and certainly not an austerity) . She is indeed a lady in the best and noblest of ways.

It was 7:00AM when we got the call from Country Sis that The Lady was going a-blueberry picking. Did we want to come? Did we ever! 45 minutes later Curly-Q, the Lady, and I were dragging the drift boat to the river bank that bordered the in-laws yard. After almost getting our heads and hands spun off by the incredibly fast whirling crank/reel that releases the boat from the trailer in to the water, we piled in and enjoyed a rather surreal ride to the opposite bank where the “U-Pick” blueberry field awaited us. There, up atop the incline, was the field owner’s house surrounded by trees, from which hung decapitated milk cartons with twine threaded through their handles. Following The Lady’s example, we made little “blueberry baskets” by tying the headless milk cartons around our waists with the twine. (This, I learned, was standard procedure for any passerby wishing to pick berries. One never had to bother the owners until it was time to pay.) Away we went to the farthest end of the blueberry rows and “plink, plink, plink,” we picked, picked, picked. Between mouthfuls of blueberries we discussed the whys and wherefores of our favorite books and movies, until we came the end of our 4th row and realized we had collected a grand total of 8 gallons! As we rowed back home through the deliciously cool water that sparkled with the summer sunshine, I felt like a thief, having paid only five dollars per gallon!

Once home we continued in domestic busyness by making 14 jars of blueberry pie filling as well as one (each) fresh blueberry and rhubarb pie. The fun and industry didn’t end here for almost as soon as we had finished the pie The Lady…but if I told that, it would make this post terribly long. No, that story must wait for tomorrow!

Vacation In Review--Part 2

Don't sunflowers just make you smile?! This was the little beauty that graced the table of four of us ladies: Mom, L, A, and myself. We went a little town and eat lunch, and window shop, and simply enjoy the little chance we had at "girl time." This happy little table decoration reminds me of the joy it was to sit and discuss, take pictures (mostly of our food), and goof off.

Vacation In Review--part 1

I could write numerous excuses for why I haven't been posting much lately (ok, at all) , but here is one of them...I was on vacation! We went to visit my dear sister and her husband and his family in their house in the woods. Sigh...It was such a wonderful time.

This picture shows a bit of "dead" amongst the profusion of "green" It was taken on a morning walk with Mom in the clear (unpolluted) woodsy air!

It was the first of several walks that Mom and I took together. This particular ramble through the woods was sweet to me because, as Mom and I came to the medal green gate that stopped us from going further, we took the opportunity to sit on a stump, hold hands, and pray. As the birds twittered, and sun's fingers reached in past the tree tips that moved in thelight breeze, we talked with Jesus, told Him our fears and asked Him to be with the ones we love so dearly. It was a sweet time. One of the many of our trip. Stay tuned!!

He who has an ear...

" The comprehensiveness of your contentment is another measure whereby we may judge whether we really know God."

J.I Packer in Knowing God (pg 32)

I just finished a 360

360. I'm not talking about the degrees of a circle. Quite the contrary, my reference to this three-digit number implies a mostly linear action--sitting straight, looking ahead at a professor and the whiteboard he/she stands before. Yes, 360 are the number of hours I spent in these last 17 weeks behind a desk in a college classroom. Five papers, six speeches. 40 philosophy vocabulary words, and 182 history flashcards later...I AM FINISHED with spring semester '09! 17 units are behind me!

After my last final this morning, I walked around my little community college campus and indulged in some silly sentiment. I almost felt sad. My mom once said that she experienced a certain gloominess when all three of us girls (I suppose that would mean me specifically since I am the youngest!) became potty-trained. No more diapers. No more rashes. No more baby wipe odors that clearly identified her as a mommy of little munchkins. Of course, Mom really was glad that her "diaper duty days” were over. Yet this milestone also meant that her little baby girls were growing up. They would never return to the diaper stage (at least for another 80-90 years! We’ll see). While I certainly felt no sadness at leaving the Huggies behind, today I did feel a twinge of dolefulness stemming from the fact that I will never go backward.

The General Education units I have whittled away at over that last 2 1/2 years only mean that I am closer to earning my bachelors degree. Only two more years to go! But don't "big girls" earn degrees? Don't adults graduate and get jobs? Naturally, there is much more to being a mature adult than graduating with a piece of paper from a college; however, I have been working, studying, and praying to be a woman with a heart after God for years and now I find myself in the very shoes of the first nd in the process of the second.

God is so very good. I don’t know what shape the future will take, but I know God is there!

Happy Summer!

These are a few of my favorite things....!

They say you are the kiss of death

but I mind you not oh Garlic Breath!

Comming Soon...

A view from my bike!