Hung Out to Dry

The Benefits of Line-Dried Laundry

At the beginning I want to say that this is not a dryer bashing post. I am so thankful for my electric dryer! It enables me to do laundry when it is raining, or in the middle of the night if I need to. It is a great blessing to me, but I am thrilled to not have to use it for every load of laundry now that I have a clothesline in my backyard.

       I love crawling into a bed freshly made with sheets fresh off of the clothesline. It makes the whole room smell like fresh air and sunshine. When I bring my line-dried clothes inside and put them away I feel like I am making the whole smell fresh. I grew up with a clothesline and line-dried laundry, so that is what “home” smells and feels like to me. I love looking out of my kitchen window and watching my clean laundry billow in the breeze.

    I’ve been greatly enjoying my clothesline the last few weeks. I didn’t realize how much joy I was  going to get from something as simple as hanging my laundry outside almost everyday. I get excited about doing laundry now—which for me is big because I am notorious for doing other things to avoid laundry.

Some people curl their nose up at line-dried laundry. I understand this is personal preference, but to me this is silly and the benefits outweigh the reasons some prefer to use a dryer. One thing that I hear from several people is that “line-dried towels are scratchy!” They are, but it’s not like you are using a Brillo pad to dry off with ;).  A lot of people (Jacob and I included) prefer them that way. Line-dried towels absorb much more moisture than towels dried in a dryer. When using a dryer-dried towel after being used to towels hung to dry, it feels like the soft towel is only smearing the moisture around and not absorbing much at all.

 

Another argument that some people have is that it takes too much time to hang clothes out. It really doesn’t take much longer than tossing them in the dryer. The more you hang laundry on the line, the faster you’ll get.  I prefer to fold the clothes as I take them off of the clothesline so all I have to do is put them away when I bring them inside. If the laundry is already folded, I will put it away quicker than if I have a pile of laundry looming on the couch waiting to be folded.

Growing up we hung everything outside, but since I’m in the city with neighbors on both sides, I hang out everything except underwear and socks. I do use my dryer for those things and anything small.

Benefits of line-dried  clothes:

~Hanging your clothes outside to dry will help cut down on your utility bill, whether you have an electric or gas dryer. Especially if you hang out items that take a long time to dry in a dryer such as towels, blankets, and blue jeans.

~Hanging clothes in the sun is an effective way to get rid of stains. My mom has used this method with great success over the years, simply hanging the stained garment outside in the sun for a few days. This works very well for baby garments which are easily soiled and stained.

~In the same vein, hanging whites outside is a great way to keep them white without having to bleach them very often.

~The sun is a great way to disinfect and kill germs. Many years ago hospitals would periodically take all of the bedding, linens, beds, etc., outside and let them sit in the sunshine. The UV rays in the sun did away with all sorts of germs. I learned this from a nurse friend of mine and she said that an older nurse told her of this practice and also that staph infections started going rampant after the hospitals discontinued this practice.

After learning this, I always try to take bedding and pillows outside to air and soak up sunshine after we’ve been sick.

My mom noticed that when she didn’t hang my siblings’ cloth diapers outside in the sun, but dried them in the dryer, they were more prone to diaper rashes and other irritations.

~You can use less starch on shirts, denim skirts and blue jeans if they are dried on a line rather than in a dryer. Sometimes you can get away with not ironing at all if you make sure all of the hems, collars, and pocket flaps are straight when you first put them on the line.

~It’s a great way to make sure you are getting plenty of vitamin D. My mood and spirits are much improved when I get a little sunshine every day and hanging out my laundry is a wonderful way to accomplish this.

Hurray for clotheslines!

Hurray for a clothesline!

This past Saturday Jacob and I spent working in our backyard clearing bushes and limbs from the fence row. He also re-strung my clothesline and  I am so thrilled to finally have one again! I immediately washed a load of laundry so I could use it.

Hurray for husbands and clotheslines!

My Hero and my Healing

It’s been a busy several days since I’ve been here. My days seem to be getting too short—I need to start getting up earlier ;) The Lord is blessing my sewing business so much, I am in awe of all of the business coming my way.

   Things have been busy at church lately. We are in the middle of a 5 week study on holiness—more on that in another post. We had a youth conference at our church and spent two weeks preparing the music and getting ready for it. We had over 430 people attend, which was around four times what was expected and projected for it.  It was wonderful and the Lord was there.   Now our choir is in the middle of preparing to go to another conference to sing—lots of practices and excitement.

   Last Sunday afternoon I had a moment where I was proud to bursting and terrified at the same time. While at my parents’ last weekend I somehow pulled a muscle in my back and it hurt to move. Everyone prayed for me before we left but I was still in a lot of pain. So much pain that I didn’t go to church Sunday morning. It felt better closer to noon on Sunday so Jacob took me out for a bite of lunch and to get some medicine. (I had taken some and spent a lot of time with my best friend the heating pad, but it wasn’t doing much.) I wanted to go to church that night so I needed something with some power in it. Our pastor’s wife is an RN and she suggested Aleve so we stopped in a store to get some.

  When we came out of the store, there was a lady standing at the back of a vehicle, talking on the phone and crying. There was a man standing in front of her—comforting her, I thought, but as we watched we realized that was not the case at all. We put our things in the car and got ready to leave when the man hauled off and slapped the lady hard across the face. I was shocked—he did that in broad daylight! ( I guess I am a sheltered little homeschool girl.)

Almost as soon as the man slapped her, Jacob was out of the car. The man looked like he was going to hit her again and Jacob told him not to touch her again. The man grew very irate with Jacob and went to the vehicle and start digging around in the backseat. There was another man in the car and he got out. Needless to say, I was having a prayer meeting in the car asking the Lord to intervene(Lord, protect my protector!) . I just knew a gun or something was about to come out and I  was prepared to use my car and run over whoever made a move at my husband.

There were a few other people in the parking lot and when they realized what was going on they came over and another man said the same thing as Jacob.

Long story short, they all left and the police were called and came by for a report and they are on the lookout for the man who slapped the lady.  I don’t know if they will find him, but at least she (and the other women in the parking lot) know that chivalry isn’t dead, and the man who hit her knows that he can’t get away with that forever.

  I have to admit, I was pretty scared, not knowing what was going to happen, but I was and am so proud of my defender.

  And my back? I took the medicine and it helped and I was able to go to church. During church the Lord touched me and it hasn’t hurt me the slightest bit since. I know it was the Lord and not just the medicine because there was a certain way that moved that it hurt even with the medicine and I realized during church that it didn’t hurt at all. Our God heals His people!

Something big is in the works….

…please say a prayer for us. An opportunity on house has been presented to us and we are praying for the Lord’s will. Our little apartment has served our needs thus far but it is time for more space. My local sewing business has grown to the point that I need a room just for sewing and this country girl needs a yard!

So far everything is looking favorable, but we want the Lord’s will above all else.

Thank you friends! I promise an update soon ;)

Just checking in…

So, where have I been? This little blog has been silent for a couple weeks, not intentionally though. I’ve been busy being a wife, homemaker, seamstress and babysitter. With everything going on I had to let something go and writing—though it pained me to be away—was something that I could let slide.

 

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend that began with a graduation party for a dear friend and ended with a BBQ at my parents’ home. When we came home from all the festivities we discovered that our upstairs neighbor’s drip pan for their A/C unit had overflowed and soaked one of our bedroom walls and part of our carpet. Thankfully the damage is not such that we will have to move. The repairs will be minor and fast, praise the Lord.  As soon as I discovered the dampness I put fans blowing on everything, and things were nearly dry when the carpet man got here. Thankfully we didn’t need new carpet padding, he checked everywhere for dampness and it was fine. I did get some of my carpet steam-cleaned ;) Now I’ll have to go rent a steam cleaner so it will all look nice ;)

Hopefully the sheetrock and painting repairs will be just as simple and painless.

Last night I learned how to do something I’ve never done before. When Jacob worked at his old job (an electrical supply company)  he did a variety of things, one of which being building terminal boxes.  Since he left there was no one there to build them, and it is cheaper to build them in-house than order them. They called Jacob last week and asked if he could start building the terminal boxes for them again as a contractor  and last night he built half of the needed order for this month. I got to help and actually did two all by myself.

My absence from blog land has not been intentional, though until things slow down a little, I can’t guarantee how much I’ll be here.

Til next time,

Rebecca

Spring, spring, spring!

In the area of Texas that I live, we don’t usually have a very long spring. What most of the world would consider to be “spring weather” we normally get in February and early March. Now it is the end of March and it already feels like summer. The temperature has already reached the 80’s and most of us are ready to jump into a swimming pool.
   This is my second spring in the city. To me there isn’t much distinction between spring and summer in the city especially since we have such a short spring. The lack of wildflowers and migrating birds to mark the season is disappointing, but I'm growing used to it.
  Growing up spring was one of my most favorite times of the year. My mother encouraged a love for the outdoors and flora and fauna in me during my school years that has never gone away. I believe it was my seventh grade year when she gave me a blank journal and some field guides and  told me draw and describe what I found. I learned so much that year about plant life and the different plants local to our area.
With spring comes the itch to garden. It jumped on me last year and I tried to curb it with sacrificial potted plants. It is spring again and the itch is back. My dear husband actually has faith in me to buy me a few more plants, even though so many died at my hand last year.

I have high hopes for my plants this year. I am determined not to kill them. So far the “garden” is only some petunias and a hopeful tomato plant. When these are doing well and I’ve proved to myself (and Jacob!) that I can keep plants alive I’ll get more.

CCM’s 1 Year Anniversary!

I can’t believe Country Mouse Musing’s started a year ago today. Where has the time gone? I thought I was a little silly starting a blog, and was afraid I would run out of things to write about.

My life has changed a lot since I begin this little blog a year ago. It has grown sweeter and fuller. I think I have settled in to the city—my longings for the country aren’t as strong as they used to be. We still have plans and high hopes to move there, but I have learned to be happy where I am planted. The loneliness that I felt is gone and I feel established. I feel like I have put down roots.

Thank you for making the first year of this country mouse’s musings so wonderful! I can’t wait to see what the next year holds.

Mid-December Thoughts

Joy and contentment...those are my most pronounced emotions right now. I'm sitting in our living room admiring our Christmas tree and basking in it's glow, and thanking the Lord for His love and sacrifice for me.
  It's raining pretty hard outside and the sound is so soothing. My Jacob is fast asleep and I'm enjoying a cup of tea and thinking about our first month away from our home. It has flown by much quicker than I anticipated and I am so much happier than I thought I would be while we were here.
  I wasn't too sure about how well I would do, being so far away from our family and church and friends. The last time we were here on business, it was only for a week, but I was miserable. In fact, I wanted to cry when I learned that they were sending us here again. I didn't want to have to travel for our first Christmas. The holidays can already be so hectic without adding travel on top of them. Although we won't have the laid-back first Christmas we both envisioned I think it will be our best we've ever had.
 This month also held my first birthday to spend away from my family and--for most of the day--alone. For a girl who had never been alone and was used to being surrounded by lots of siblings and family, I wasn't sure how well I would do. I admit, earlier during the weekend I had a little crying spell--I was really missing everyone. But, I had a wonderful day filled with love and birthday wishes from so many people and my day was topped off by a sweet date with my husband. I guess I'm really grown up now.

 My mom and sisters spent last weekend with me while Jacob was on a hunting trip with his dad. They brought me a birthday cake and Hannah and Lydia sang "Happy Birthday" to me. Even though they were a few days late, they still wanted to celebrate. We had such a good time while they were here.
 I am so thankful that of all the places we could have been sent for Jacob's job, we were sent to a city where we have friends. It has been such a blessing to be able to spend time with my friend Elizah and her three sweet children. We have enjoyed being with them so much--whether out for fun double dates with her and her husband Brian or just relaxing at their home and talking about the Lord. I would be so lonely here were it not for them.
 I am so thankful for my dear friends at home who regularly check on me or just let me know they are thinking about me and missing me. That helps me feel closer to home and not cut off and forsaken ;)  My mailbox has held several lovely surprises of late. One of my buddies from church sent me some delicious coffee and earlier this week there was a package of some lovely vintage patterns from my sweet friend Missy. :)
  The place I feared would feel like and exile has proven to be a resting place. A place to stop and ponder, regroup and prepare for the next stretch of the journey.  One thing that I think has helped me while I'm here is that I decided to try and enjoy being here and make the best of it. Yes, I get homesick at least 5 times a week, but I try very hard not to dwell on it. If I look at our time here as and adventure and not burden, it makes things much easier. I want to be content wherever I am. When you begin to do to that, it helps you to see the blessing in what you may feel like is a curse.

24 Days of Thanksgiving; Days 13 and 14

We made it safely to our new (temporary) home yesterday evening around 6:30pm. We had a safe, uneventful, easy trip with no detours and no stalls, just like we asked the Lord for :)
 It was my first time to drive that far alone (3 hrs!). I was following Jacob, but I had never been through the way that we came and I was a little bit nervous. Also, that is the longest we have traveled alone since we've been together. We have always ridden together and wow, that was a lonely trip!  Thankfully we didn't get separated in the traffic getting out of the city and soon we were back to two-lane highways, which are way more to my liking and style.
  Now the fun begins. Even though it is a fully furnished apartment that his company is providing for us, Jacob told me to bring as much as I needed to make it feel like home. We are on the third story and there is no elevator. My husband had the wisdom and foresight to bring home small boxes that do not hold much for me to pack in. My day today will be filled with many trips up and down stairs emptying my car. We took care of the truck last night and today is the  day all my "toys" get brought in.
 After I get everything unpacked I have big plans of adding to my winter wardrobe and working on Christmas gifts. AND figuring out my new sewing machine :)
  Now I'm off to make trip #20 of 350 up and down stairs. Oh boy....

24 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 7

Today I am thankful for adventures that the Lord gives us.
 I feel like my life has been full of adventures thus far. A few months after I turned sixteen my family moved Campeche, Mexico. My father had a job offer to manage a rice farm there. We lived there for a year. It was one of the most fun and unique things I've ever done. We were in a completely different culture, away from everything and everyone that was familiar to us. It caused our family to grow closer and stronger.
  We were almost in the tropics, and we were surrounded by iguanas, howler monkeys and wild parrots. We lived 45 minutes away from Mayan ruins and six hours away from Cancun.

Not too far from us there  was a very old city named Palizada. It was an import city on the Palizada river. The houses have red-tiled roofs like you would see in Italy or France. The ships would use the tiles for ballast on the journey over then would remove the tiles and fill with cargo and leave the tiles in Palizada.
  It was always hot where we lived, and for two birthdays in a row (my 16th and 17th) I got to go swimming. This was a real treat as my birthday is in December! My 17th birthday was spent in Rio Indio, a small little place with snow white sands and clear deep blue water. It was heavenly! We had miles of beach all to ourselves.
 We moved home when we learned that Mom was expecting Hannah.
 My father and I went to two father/daughter retreats in Georgia. It was wonderful. The second year we took Wendi with us.
  Now the newlywed adventure occupies me and we have been presented with another opportunity. We're moving!  Jacob's work is moving us to another city about 4 hours away for a few months.
 I'll be preparing this week, deciding what to take and what to leave. I never thought I would live in TWO cities! :)
  I was visiting with one of my grandmothers last weekend and she told me that we never know how what we are learning now will affect our lives down the road.
 So even though I am a little unsure about this next little adventure, I want to learn everything that I can from it, and be content wherever I am.

Contentment--Great Gain

 "But godliness with content is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6 (KJV)

  A house, a milk cow, chickens, a little place to grow things, a big porch to sit on in the evenings with my honey, trees, a clothesline, the sounds of birds and woods instead of traffic....these are just a few of the things that I wish for at least once a week. My husband and I love to plan and dream about when we move back to the country. He wants a pair of hunting/cow dogs and a shop where he can build things for us. We are both very visionary and it is easy for us to get very wrapped up in our plans and ideas.
 My mom and I were talking the other day about all of our plans, and my parent's plans to build a new larger home on their land. We were saying how we couldn't wait and how wonderful it would be and life would just be great.
  While we were talking I realized something. Even though I ache to be back in the country, and I can't wait to have all of the things I mentioned above, I really and truly am happy. Completely happy and content just as I am now. I never thought this country girl could be so happy in the city.
 I was so happy when I realized that because for a while I have been making a conscious effort to bloom where I am planted. It is very easy to not want to put down roots because "Oh, we won't be here long enough, why go to all the trouble?" Roots take work and when the season changes, it can be painful to be uprooted. It can be easier sometime to live the idyllic future we imagine than living in the here and now. Sometimes the here and now isn't any fun.
  I have been trying very hard not get so wrapped up in what we are going to do, that I don't get to enjoy what we are doing and experiencing right now. I really am having the time of my life, when I stop and think about it. I feel like I am on an adventure--everything is new and I am learning all kinds of things. I have time right now to learn and perfect new skills and I may never have this opportunity again.
 I've also found that the more thankful and grateful I am, the more happy and content I am. Instead of wishing for the day when we can move to the country, I thank the Lord for the things He has given us and worked out for us here in the city.
 For example: out apartment is a bottom story apartment. This makes it so much easier when I buy groceries, not having to cart things up stairs. Also, our grandparents are able to visit us more easily, since going up stairs is difficult for them. We are able to park our vehicles right in front of our apartment, which is a great blessing, especially in the winter.
 Our home is a larger one bedroom apartment, with a small laundry room in it. I am able to do all of my laundry at home and not have to go elsewhere, like some of my friends who live in apartments have to. I can do laundry at midnight if I need to :)
  We live only about eight minutes from Jacob's job. Sometimes he is able to come home for lunch. It is wonderful that his commute every day is so short.
  When I am content and happy, it makes things easier for Jacob. It says to him that he is doing an amazing job providing for me and that I have confidence in him. When I am content and happy our home is peaceful and a refuge. He has always jokingly said "When Mama's happy, everyone is happy," and to large extent, that is true. The wife is largely responsible for the tone and the atmosphere in the home. I want our home to be a place of peace and joy for him.
  So, slowly and surely, I am learning contentment and its benefits and blessings. I want to bloom where I am planted and I want the fragrance from those blooms to be a blessing to my Creator, my husband and those around me.

 "....for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Philippians 4:11 (KJV)


Encourage One Another Link Up 

Loneliness and Transitions

I've learned a lot in the last nine months about loneliness and transitions. When I married, I moved from the country to the city, from one way of life to another. I changed addresses, churches, and left almost everything that was familiar and "safe" to me. I grew up in a small farming community where everyone knew everyone, just about, and if they didn't know me they knew my father, or grandfathers. My family has been in that area for close to a century.
 Now I'm in a rather large city on the outskirts of a really large city. I barely know anyone. There is not that same feeling of security that I used to have.
  Not only has all of that been a big adjustment, probably the hardest thing was going from a loud, happy, busy house that was always full of family and friends and life to being alone in an apartment most of the time. It was rather jarring, really. Going from having seven to eight other people to talk to and be with every day, all day, to just me, alone all day, was a huge change.
 The first several months were the hardest. I missed my siblings, I missed my parents, I missed my church and I missed the country. Yes, I had Jacob, and he was the fulfillment of all of my hopes and prayers, but I still missed my family. When you are as close to your family as I was  ( and still am) it is not easy to leave them. My mom is my best friend and we were used to being together, cooking together, drinking coffee in the afternoons...it was harder than I thought to leave them. My heart ached for them.
 Many nights after Jacob would fall asleep, I would get up and go to livingroom so as not to wake him while I cried from homesickness.
 I missed my church. I had grown up there, and now felt uprooted and like a stranger in a different land. My new church was wonderful, and loved me to pieces and went out of their way to make me feel loved and at home, but it just wasn't the same. It's a large church, and for awhile I felt that I wasn't needed. I grew up in a small church and I was very involved. I played piano, taught Sunday School, and helped with whatever else needed doing. Now I felt useless.
 To be honest, I was close to despair a few times.
  I don't think I could have made it through the transition without Jacob and the Lord. Jacob was wonderful and so understanding and gentle with me through all of this. He took me home to see me family A LOT. It was every weekend for awhile. We visited my church a lot those first few months.
  Whenever I would cry for missing everyone, he would hold me and pray for me, asking the Lord to help me and comfort my heart. He prayed for me a lot during that time.
 That time of loneliness drew me closer to the Lord and closer to Jacob. I'm beginning to understand "leaving and cleaving" now. It hurts sometimes. But it is necessary for growth and maturity.
  Things are much better now, nine months later. I still miss my family, and it hurts that I am missing so much of their lives--like my baby sister Faith has started walking this week, and I wasn't there. Those things still hurt. But I've grown accustomed to being alone most of the time, and actually sometimes I crave it. :) I guess I'm turning into a hermit.
 My new church is now "home" to me. My feelings of not belonging are gone now and I am very happy.
  I didn't know what I was in for when I married and moved away. So I will share somethings I wish I'd been told in order to deal with transitions and loneliness:

• You are going to miss your family more than you can imagine.
•  It's OK to cry. Don't try to hold it in, just cry and don't worry about it. You'll feel better afterwards, trust me. Tears can be healing.
• Transitions and changes do not come easily or painlessly most of the time, but they are for our good.
• Even when it hurts so bad and we don't understand, God sees the bigger picture and holds all in His hands.
• It will get better. It may take a little while, but it will be better and your heart will stop aching as much. Just draw close to God and your husband and it will all work out.

Encourage One Another Link Up

Venison Shish Kebob and homemade pita bread

For supper last night Jacob and I were adventurous and made something neither one of us had ever cooked before--shish kebobs. It was due largely in part to our pastor's message Sunday night--he talked about shish kebobs and had the entire congregation's mouths watering. We decided immediately that was what we were having for supper the next night. Aaahhhh, the power of suggestion!

 I had some venison backstrap in the freezer from a whitetail deer Jacob shot last year. I let it thaw then marinated it for several hours in and oil and vinegar dressing, pepper, garlic powder and a bit of steak seasoning. I know, the spice combination may not be very authentically Middle Eastern, but this was an experiment. I cut up yellow and zucchini squash, onions and bell peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Lessons learned: Next time I'll slice the squash thinner and use cherry tomatoes. Everything else was perfect.

I made some almost whole wheat pita breads. They would have been 100% whole wheat, but I didn't realize that I was almost out of whole wheat flour. So they are 75% whole wheat :) Jacob LOVED them and called them "Bible breads". He especially loves them with peanut butter.  I was glad because he hasn't cared for some of the whole wheat things I've made in the past. I'll share the recipe in a minute.

Here are some photos of our evening for you to drool over:

My manly man manning the grill :) Notice our brand on the truck?

 

 Hungry yet?

Almost whole wheat pita bread

1 T yeast                                               1 T honey

1 1/3 c. warm water                               1 T oil

2 t. salt                                                 3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

In a large mixing bowl sprinkle yeast over warm water. Stir in salt, honey, oil and 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat til smooth.

 Stir in 1 cup flour. Knead in as much of the remaining flour to make a smooth and elastic dough. Cover and let rest  for 10 minutes.

  Punch dough down. Knead until smooth and elastic. Wash out bowl and grease with a little oil. Place dough in greased bowl and turn to coat.. Cover and let rise til doubled.

  Punch dough down and divide into 8 equal parts. Shape each piece into a ball and let rest for 30 minutes.

  On a lightly oiled or floured surface, roll or pat each piece into a 7 inch circle. 

 Preheat oven to 500* F and place an upside down pizza pan on bottom rack of the oven. Let breads rise for approx. 30 minutes. When bread is ready to bake, gently place one or two breads on the hot pizza pan. Bake for four to seven minutes or until lightly golden and puffed up into a ball.

  Cool on wire racks, but cover them so they do not dry out. If not using right away, store in plastic bags.

Enjoy!

Encourage One Another Link Up
Raising Homemakers Link-up #58 

He Always Provides!

The way the Lord always provides for His children never ceases to amaze me. I wanted to share something that happened in our lives recently.
Last week, the heating element in my dryer went out. Never a good thing to happen, but especially worse since I can't just run my clothes out to the clothesline. I realized this only after placing a load of clothes in the dryer and starting a new one in the washer--two loads of wet clothes that I couldn't do anything with.
 I called my mom just to make sure I wasn't missing something and she confirmed what I suspected--the heating element died. She had a spare one so when I went to see her the next day she sent it home with me. I spent part of the weekend at my in-laws doing laundry--which was pretty stacked up by then.
  The following Monday at work one of Jacob's customers came in and out of the blue asked him if he knew anyone that needed a dryer. His wife's washer had gone out and they bought a matching set and had a dryer to spare. Jacob told him that we might, but to let him see if the spare part we had would fix ours first.
  To make a long story short, the spare wasn't the right one, so Jacob and I headed to Lowes and Home Depot to no avail.  There was an appliance parts store that he was going to try the next day if the customer didn't show up with the dryer.
 He did, and it was much newer than our other one. Jacob brought it home and it works like a charm and is much faster than our other dryer was. It has been so nice to do laundry at my house again!
 The Lord provides for His children! He can use anything or anyone to accomplish His will. He delights in caring for and rewarding His children for their trust in Him.

Labor Day

On Labor Day 2008, I met my Jacob for the first time. I didn't know then that he would be my husband :)
This year we spent it with my parents. My youngest brother spent most of the weekend with us then we all headed out to my parent's home Sunday night after church. Monday was spent playing--riding 4-wheelers and shooting skeet. My siblings start school today so we had to have one last fling :)
 I have to take a moment and brag about my awesome husband who can fix anything: The 4-wheeler in the picture was given a cosmetic overhaul by Jacob last week. Someone had taken it to the deer lease and somehow the straps holding it released and it bounced off the trailer and down the interstate. The truck was going 70mph so the damage was pretty bad. The handle bars and bumper were very bent and the pipe on the front and back racks were practically ground off. All of the plastic fenders were damaged. Upon closer inspection though, there was no damage to the motor or the frame and Jacob was able to buy replacement parts and fix it. Now it almost looks brand new. :) Thank You Lord for my Mr. Fix-It!
  The weather has been gorgeous! We finally got some rain and a little norther blew in. It has been around 85*--with no humidity and a nice breeze. That is a great change from the 106* weather we've been having. We had twenty consecutive days that the temperature was over 100.
  Now it's back to normal--I have a mountain of laundry from the weekend that needs attention, menu planning that needs doing and a pineapple doily that is almost finished. Keepers of the Faith classes start back up this week so I have crafts and lessons to plan.
 Take heart--fall is almost here!

Pot Plants--aka "Victims"

Sunflowers in my cousin's yard

This morning I woke up in the mood to work in my flowerbeds....but wait, I don't have any flower beds here. Sometimes I wake and forget momentarily that I'm in an apartment in a large city.
 Still I've been suffering from the desire to get my hands in some good dirt and plant things. The smell of the fresh turned dirt, the warmth of the sun, and the aroma of herbs--I can almost taste it! This was only aggravated and made worse by my spending five days at my parent's home for July 4th. This little country mouse was in her element....
I'm not much of a gardener, I'll admit.  I do best with plants that thrive on neglect and are not in pots. My herbs that I grew at my parents house are still there and thriving. However, if you give me a pot plant, you've pretty much signed its death warrant.
However, since it looks like we will be here for a little while, I must simply get over my pot plant inabilities and do better. Apartment porches look lonely and uninviting if there are no plants on them. I want our little home to be as cozy and inviting as possible, so conquer pot plants I must.
 Any and all suggestions/comments/advice are welcome :)

What will my home be like?

These are just a few of my very rambling thoughts on a subject I've been pondering the last few days. Hopefully you can make heads or tails of it. :)

My parent's home is a very lively, happy, busy, noisy, vibrant and creative place. It is full to the brim with love and energy and grace. When I was still at home we were always trying new things, reading books, discussing and sharing what we were learning, learning new music and working together. Some of us love to write and enjoy editing film for short movies. My parents let us be ourselves and encouraged us to try new things and learn as many skills as we could. As a result, there was always some thing new going on and something happening.
 My parents view hospitality as an outreach to others and as a result, there are always people in and out of their home. They are excited about life, their family and the Lord, and is infectious. There is rarely a dull moment there.
  It was a very exciting place to grow up. You never knew what would happen next. There is always some plan or project (or two or three) in the works.
  That is the lively atmosphere I grew up in. Now I have my own home, and while we don't have children yet, I want that same, happy, vibrant atmosphere in our home. I'm a bit overwhelmed, as I don't know how they did it. I always took it for granted until I grew older and realized that not all homes were like ours.

My front porch view

 My 2011 "garden" :) Miraculously my peppermint made a comeback and put out new growth. 

 It rained on Thursday, at long last after weeks of no rain. I celebrated by making a cup of hot tea and enjoying it on the front porch, listening to the rain on the bushes. I could close my eyes and almost imagine that I was back in the country, but then some city noise would break my reverie and I'd remember where I was.
 I love porches--I mean literally love them. No matter how many times I've redesigned my dream house, all of the plans and revisions have one thing in common: a huge front and back porch, or maybe one that wraps all the way around the house. They do so much to help a little house feel larger, and they are the best places to have coffee or tea (hot or iced) in the evening. I can't imagine what it would be like not to have a porch to escape to :)
 One of my favorite porches to visit belongs to a neighbor that lives across the highway from my parents. She and her husband were married for 61 years before he passed away and my some of my earliest memories are of visiting Dock and Mrs. Davey and drinking Koolaid on their back porch. It had a wooden floor and a porch swing at the south end, rocking chairs in the middle, and wicker chairs on the north end. There was always a breeze blowing through and combined with the shade from the massive live oak trees, it was the best place to sit if you were outside on hot days.
  Another great thing about porches is their functionally. What better place to have a crawfish boil, or shuck corn or shell peas?
Right now my front porch is only about 4x6.5 feet, but I love it and am thankful for it, and it will do until I get a bigger one. Til then, I'm quite content, but I'll  still dream :)

Chickens under my Sink

I never really thought I would leave the country for the city. I've always been a country girl who couldn't imagine living in the city (shudder shudder!)
Now I'm a bride of two and a half months who has left the farm and is living in an apartment in a big city. It has been an adjustment and is almost completely different from the way of life I had during my growing up years.
My little sisters are still having trouble imagining me in another environment. One day shortly before I was married my mom and sisters were over at the apartment with me and Hannah (age 4) posed the following question:
"Bec, where are you gonna keep your chickens?"
"Well, I'm not going to have chickens while I live in the city sweetheart."
She gave me an incredulous look. "Then WHO are you gonna feed your table scraps to?"
"Well,I'll either put them in the trash or in the garbage disposal."
This brought a blank look from the four-year-old. I started trying to explain a garbage disposal in terms a four-year-old could comprehend. More blank stares from Hannah. Finally I said, "It's like having chickens under my sink."
This statement made her eyes grow very large and her mouth drop open. I just changed the subject. I could just imagine Hannah telling our little cousins that Bec had CHICKENS under her sink.
A few weeks after the wedding, Mom and the girls came to see me. The girls were very curious about everything in our apartment and I told them that they could "meddle" so long as they didn't drag anything out. Hannah was contentedly going through my kitchen cabinets and had come to the doors under the sink.
Just as she was about to open the cabinet under the sink, my mom rather facetiously said, "Don't let Bec's chickens out!"
Hannah pulled her had back as if she had been bitten by a snake, her eyes as big as saucers.
Finally to prove to Hannah and Lydia (age 2) that there were not chickens under my sink, I eventually had to let them sit on the kitchen counter and let them "feed" pizza crust to the sink.
They finally believed me, but later I saw them looking under the sink again, just to make sure.