Sweet violets

Some come in white,

Some come in green,

Love gifts are everywhere;

See what I mean?


Here's the ancient ear worm to go with the title:

(Photos taken in our woods below the barn this morning, in the rain.)

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

So, 40 Acts began today. I got the first prompt last night (you can read it here) and was underwhelmed by it. The devotional thought was good; it was the "act" that left me uninspired. Just draw a "target"? Find a 40 Acts buddy? The "Red Act" was a more concrete action, but who would I target, and how? Wednesday is one of my stay-at-home days; the only people I would see are my son and husband. Of course, they are in my target, but I do stuff for them all the time. How to show either of them more generosity?

As I was pondering that this morning, Rick returned home after taking Brian to school (work has been slow). Then his secretary called, informing him of a veterinary need over at the coast. Did I want to ride along? My first thought was, "No." I had things that needed to be done, and I like to be home alone. And then I remembered:

So for the next 40 days will you join us as we sacrifice something we love? Our pride, privacy, time, reputation, treasure. Will you take a risk and be a radical expression of faith reaching out in love? Who can you target today?

Boom. Here was my "act;" sacrificing my treasured time alone to make my husband happy ('quality time' is his main love language). And although I didn't walk in my door again until 7:30 when we got home with Brian after basketball practice, it was a good day. We even sat and watched the ocean for a bit – and got a rainbow blessing!

Happy Valentine's Day from . . .

Energizer budder

My anniversary orchid, displaying its third panicle of flowers since arriving here in June of 2015, is putting out another spike. It sure makes roses look a poor symbol of everlasting love!

That's it for now from . . .

Today's chuckle

Ha – there is a dram of truth in this! I must admit, though, that my son is a affectionate boy as well as a challenging one. Still, a dog is second only to our heavenly Father in unconditional love and unbridled enthusiasm for you. I've shared it before, but I love this little song and video so much I'm going to share it again.  ;-)

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

Thank-you for all the well wishes for our anniversary! I certainly don't feel old enough to have been married for 31 years; my, how time zooms by. I suppose I'll be saying the same thing at 62 years!

Here are some miscellaneous snapshots taken on our anniversary, a few snapshots of our life.

My beautyberry bush is blooming for the first time!

Two of Brian's three "favored citizHens," Goldilocks and Welsie

Check it out; our first nestbox has baby wrens!!!

Smart lambs; sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side of the fence.

Benny is still very ill, and Rick leaves very early in the morning for four days. Please pray for my little boy, and for me while I hold down the fort.

That's it for now from . . .

Sending more than flowers

I've been collecting flower photos to share with you, but hadn't yet formulated a post for them. Then this evening, in reading updates on blogs I follow, I followed a link on one of them to another blog. The post pertains to surviving domestic abuse and helping a neighbor in need. And suddenly, my flower photos had purpose.

Once before I contributed to something similar, a successful Kickstarter project for Chickens in the Road. It was only a small donation, but it felt good. Tonight I gave a little more to help Kat's modest but critical goal. (And I will be praying for her; too many women in this situation, trying to escape domestic violence through divorce and a restraining order, end up murdered.) Although we have never met and I've never even visited her blog, Kat is my neighbor. And I want to send her more than flowers.

That's it for now from . . .

Touched

When I let the dogs out this morning, this greeted me:

Such glorious light – it seemed to come straight from heaven!

Uplifted, I sat down in my chair to check email. A telltale sound came from the glass door that leads to the deck. I got up to see one of our less common visitors, a chestnut-backed chickadee, laying face-down. I quickly let the dogs in through the front door, hoping that the wee thing was just stunned. Sadly, it never moved again.

Ah nature; such an imperfect revelation of God! It reminded me of I Corinthians 13:12; "For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity; these three; but the greatest of these is charity." The God Who notes each sparrow that falls (Matthew 10:29) promises a time when "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:4). Until then, love will see us through.

Blogpals often give me wonderful examples of love. Just this weekend, Donna wrote of rescuing some goats and sheep she had sold, Dormouse wrote of choosing to save lives over saving money, and  Anna wrote of buying a weak chick from the feed store so it could live a portion of its life on a farm, rather than dying unloved and tossed into a dumpster. Such tender hearts; sermons in shoes.

That's it for today from . . .

Love birds, redux

This morning on the way up from the barn I was enjoying the symphony of bird songs, including a collared-dove cooing at the top of the spruce by our house. So I stopped to record it – I hope you enjoy it, too!

Before that, I was making lovebirds of the chocolate twins in the fold before turning the sheep out on pasture for the day. Bittersweet calms right down once I catch him; I'm still working on finding this hunk of chocolate's "melting point."

There's no question with Bloomers; I guess milk chocolate melts more quickly than bittersweet. :-)

"Ah, a little to the right. That's it."

Even white chocolate melts with time. Looks who is getting friendlier!

My husband brought home these lovely peonies for me from a client's place. I guess after 28 years of marriage (anniversary coming right up), we're still a couple of lovebirds, too.

That's it for today from . . .

Not what I planned to post today....

This morning when I checked my blog dashboard, I noticed I had a new follower* as of this morning, Isobelle. So I clicked on her link to learn more about her, and noticed that one of the other blogs she follows is called From Racehorse to Showhorse. Of course I had to click on that link, and was delighted to read that by "showhorse" the author means dressage! So I scrolled down to read the newest post and saw a video link with the title, "Thank you Everyone." A funny, unpleasant sensation hit my gut. I scrolled some more and saw a "25 things" meme - but noticed that several were written in past tense. The awful feeling grew, and was confirmed against my hopes by a bit more scrolling. Now here I sit, having snapped at my son to leave me alone as I cry for a stranger who had to put her beautiful horse down because of a freak paddock accident, blogging when I should be doing many other things. Yesterday I had a great outing with my own horse; this morning Rick had to leave early to put a horse down for a client. Like Wendy says, "They're so fragile; they're so strong."

Is it really worth it to love? It's a rhetorical question; don't bother to answer. I just wonder sometimes how we humans can endure the pain of losing over and over like we do. Some don't (endure, that is). I know where I squarely place the blame for death and pain and suffering, and can only carry on myself because I know that eventually those things will be completely done away with, along with their perpetrator.

*Welcome, Isobelle, and all 50 of you who follow my little spot in cyberspace! Such interest is rather mind-boggling, even though I follow a lot of blogs myself. I do find it curious that only 33 followers choose to identify themselves; the rest are "anonymous." What reasons could there be to be a "secret" follower? Any of you anonymous follows care to fill me in? You can comment anonymously, you know! :-)

That's it for now from . . .

Lost in a love story

The best part is that this perfectly written romance is TRUE! The worst part is IT ISN'T FINISHED YET, because it's being written in installments!

Yesterday I followed a link on someone's blog to Pioneer Woman. Quite a sophisticated set-up; much more than a blog. I read a bit, then came back later and decided to click on the link to "Love Story: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels." WARNING: Do NOT follow that link if you like excellent writing and a passionate love story, AND have demands on your time and for your attention! But I did take the time and have enjoyed the hours spent yesterday and today reading all the chapters written so far.

Now, back to my world. Full of the nitty-gritty stuff of home and farmette and family and marriage. But I'm approaching it with a fresh reminder of the importance of reveling in my DH's strong arms and big, rough hands, remembering how right he is for me, and being thankful for all the wonderful aspects of my life.

That's it for now from . . .

On this date in 1984

That's us, fresh-faced and skinny, leaving our college church in Lincoln, Nebraska. After the reception we drove to Branson, Missouri for our honeymoon.

This morning I woke up with a pain/cramp in my left scapula (I've been "winged"!), reminding me, I guess, of just how old I'm getting. Strange to be celebrating 23 years of marriage with a five-year-old running around!

Rick came home Friday night with a dozen red roses, the dear man. Tonight a good friend is coming over to stay with Brian while Rick and I go ON A DATE. (Note: relationship experts say this is something a couple should schedule on a regular basis. Especially after having children. Maybe we can attempt to do that more than once or twice a year in the next quarter century.) First an early dinner at La Rambla (we're using a gift certificate given as a thank-you to Rick for a seminar he did, so we can indulge without feeling our wallets squirm!), then we're going to the new IMAX theater at the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man in 3D. Then home to do chores. The animals must eat, too, you know!

That's it for now at . . .

Love:gifts

Love is expressed in many ways. Brian tells Alexis, one of his best friends, that he loves her. They hold hands. They also pester each other with annoying, vigorous endurance, just like siblings (they are both "only" children).

My dear friend Joan loved horses. So I persuaded her to go for a ride with me at the fairgrounds several years ago. She had a blast, and it was such fun giving her that experience.
A few weeks ago my dear cyberfriends Kathy and Tina sent me a beautiful azalea while I was mourning Joan's death. The plant was pretty when it arrived, but it's absolutely STUNNING now, and daily reminds me, sitting on our table, that I am loved.
This morning a friend stopped by to say hi on her way home from work. This friend and I used to spend LOTS of time together, but haven't seen each other much in recent years for a variety of reasons. I miss her, so I sent her a card and told her so. She called yesterday, and then stopped by with this little treasure of a chain pull she found on one of her many business trips. Another token of love.
My sheep make me feel loved, too, although some people would probably think that odd. When Rechel and Bella lay down beside me, when Valentine would rather be with me than anywhere else and looks at me with adoring brown eyes, it makes me think of Eden past and heaven future, where all creatures live in peace and harmony, and yes, in love.

I hope you find ways today to show your love to those around you, and look around you to be reminded that you are loved.

That's it for now at . . .