Our Changing Life

I absolutely love spending time with my family.  I love going for walks, hiking, swimming, playing games and just having fun.  This year has been precariously balanced for us, where we've held our breath, cried oceans of tears, screaming out to God "Why?!", and working so very hard to help our kids.  

To be certain, this year has caused both Mr. G and I to not just cherish our family, but willfully and deliberately work to spend time with each of our children.  

Yes, changes are certain.  We've gone through the wringer this year and it has hurt our hearts and spirits beyond what we knew we could handle.  We've functioned purely from our knees because that's the only place we could function from.  God gave us more than we knew we could handle because He wanted us to move closer to Him.  He needed our humility.  

For those of you who know more of the details and have been praying for our family, thank you!  For those of you who do not know what's gone on, rest assured, God has taken care of us.  Please continue to keep us in prayer as we work on repairing the hurt, forgiving, and  moving forward.  

God Bless,

Regina

In Which Life Changes

We've added  quite a plethora of "staff" to our home and daily workings.  We have therapists, a case manager, rehabilitation folks, and Lord only knows who else will join our plethora of folks giving our family aid.

We are on the road to recovery and acceptance of the changes in our lives.  Please, if we come to your mind, keep us in your prayers.  This is hard as we muddle our way through, finding healing. Forgive me for being less than "chatty."  I apologize that I cannot give more details.

God Bless,

Regina

When Dark Times Come

I would love to share with everyone about our lives right now, the underlying difficulties, struggles and gut wrenchingly tumultuous situations that have been thrust upon us.  I am not able to currently, however.  I don't have permission to share publicly the details.

I would like to share how we are moving on.

Today I have hit the depression stage although I have a mixture of other stages in there, but I can feel the depression slipping in.  I know these stages have to be gone through to get to the other side, but I am doing some things today to help it along.  I'm going outside to work on my flower beds.  I'm doing this because I need to get the work done, but also because the fresh air, digging in the dirt, progress, and sunshine will help me.

This morning when I let Rustie outside, I went out to look at my clematises.  I straightened the vines, the trellises and just took stock of what stage they were in.  I realized that I needed to get out there and just do something.

I have been so overwhelmed with paperwork and arranging everything known to mankind that I've reached a point where I can't do any more, but surrender.  Now I need to make peace and allow myself to grieve and let God handle the situation.  

Dreaming of...

It is no secret that I've been dreaming of when my hubby is able to retire, moving to some (more) property out where we can have animals.  Why?  I know many who read my blog would wonder why.

I love animals.  I've loved them for a very long time.

Horses~

Sheep~

Cows~

Pigs~

Chickens~

Goats for milk~

I love the thought of keeping animals.  The thought of knowing where my food comes from is ever present, but not obsessing-out-of-control-needing-to-know-every-single-ioda, kind of thought that affects my life in many ways.  My husband has stomach sensitivities when it comes to dairy-sitting-out-too-long and so he cannot enjoy any kind of dressing, eggs, meats, etc sitting out on a salad bar when we go out to eat kind of thing.  We have to be careful to make sure he eats a french or vinegar and oil based dressing at those times.  There are also issues of food poisoning that we've had to deal with, not because the restaurant is not "up to par", but just because something sat out too long for my hubby's sensitive tummy.  Seriously folks, this just simply means an extra 5 minutes in most cases.  This is how sensitive he is.  And I, not wanting to put a damper on a nice evening out, try everything within my power to make sure he has good food when we go out that I know doesn't matter if it sits out--like a baked potato--past 5 minutes.  

We have canned food for years, as did our parents before us.  The tradition continues every year with a variety of plans to make more spaghetti/pizza sauce, stewed tomatoes, salsa, jams and jellies, beans, pickles, and other items to save the harvest for the winter.  I've planned and planned for all sorts of things only to come up short due to this or that blight.  My salsa has been something that has been greatly missed due to the blights from the past couple of years as well as omnivorous critters invading our garden.  

This year, we plan to put up a fence shortly after tilling the ground to keep the critters out.  We also plan to do our normal crop rotation making sure to put the beans and peas where they haven't been yet.  We try very hard to companion plant, but sometimes it just doesn't work.  This year I've purchased a book to pour over about--don't laugh--The Complete Compost Gardening Guide: Banner batches, grow heaps, comforter compost, and other amazing techniques for saving time and money, and ... most flavorful, nutritious vegetables ever.!  Hooray!  Yes, you can laugh...go ahead.  LOL  Rest assured, I will not be delving in to humanure!  Yuck!

My composting quest has been ongoing for years now.  The only problem with it is that it isn't in a container of sorts where it is easily spreadable after it's decomposed.  I'd like to purchase a compost bin like this one: Good Ideas 7-Cubic-Foot Compost Wizard Jr. and get it producing good soil for our gardens, herb, and flower beds.  I'm one who tries to work with the Lord and His creation to grow things.

My Plans

Ha! Ha! Haaaaaaaa!  Isn't it laughable!

I have a daily planner that I love.  My husband bought it for me for Christmas this past year.

So far, I write my daily exercise in each day because it changes daily.  The other items I write in are breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Those are non-negotiable for us, whether we're on the road or at home.

The next things that get written in are Home School Group, Civil Air Patrol, Bible Study, Church Activities and Youth Group functions.  Those are things that are important.  The next items that get written in are doctor's appointments because they change and they vary by day and by person.  Then we add in Civil Air Patrol activities.  I don't plan my days, my days plan for me.  

I know I can plan to stay home on this day or that day, but whether that happens or not is another story.  I planned to stay home today, but we needed eggs and cheese at the store.  Then my Mr. G forgot his work boots, so I had to run them to his work for him.  When I arrived back at home, Daniel was making pizza dough and needed sugar.  I haven't had white sugar in the house for months.  I asked him to find the honey, but there was none.  Then I gave him a choice between raw sugar or Stevia to use.  He detests the taste of Stevia, so the only other logical choice was raw sugar.  Yes folks, that is how badly I really wanted to stay home!  

Needless to say, the pizzas were made from the kids' pizza dough, and I tried a new to us cauliflower pizza crust that turned out so very yummy!  It is from the Trim Healthy Mama book and I am so very glad that I made it!  It is so very filling, healthy and yummy!  

I have to look at our week and plan what to make when so that we have plenty of items on hand for my hubby to have his favorite PB&J.  He needs a little more help in the diet department because his fasting sugar numbers are not getting better.  

Tomorrow my plans are to follow what the Lord has for me.  I hope to get some pan bread made for my hubby in the afternoon, but that is up to God to decide if I'll do that.  

I have lots of crocheting to do too, so my days are filled with lots to do.  

My plans?  Ha!  No, I don't have any plans.  The Lord gives me my daily plans sometimes a day or so ahead, others it is moment by moment where I can only see what is right in front of me right now.  Regardless, the Lord is in charge.  Yes, as I write that, I need to tell it to myself because I have a rebellious/selfish "I want to do this" streak about me....but don't we all?  

God Bless,

Surrendering

In the past 9 years, the Lord has been teaching me more and more about surrendering.  Many times the song "I Surrender All" has been sung or played in a variety of ways during times when I have felt helpless and alone.  The Lord is like that.

Now, with the new "semester" of Bible study classes resuming, I'm finding the course is hinging upon not only "Surrender", but obedience as well.  Both of those go hand in hand I think.  I'm pretty sure I'm entering a growing season.  It is time, once again, to surrender to the potter's hands even more, and obey.

In Him,

Our Valentine's Day

Such an "original" title, huh?!  LOL  Well, our day was anything but ordinary.

In the morning, I dropped my daughter, HJ off at our dear friends' house to babysit her 2 youngest while she ran some errands.  I ran errands and grocery shopped to my heart's content before the snow got worse.  While I was gone, I looked for Valentine's Day gifts that were not pink, lace or polka dots--just to make sure my guys didn't get a girly gift.  Heaven forbid!  I usually get my hubby a pair of silk-y boxers, but this year they didn't have his size, unfortunately.  So I did the next best thing!  I bought him a warm fuzzy hoodie!  As I looked around, I found 3 more hoodies that were wonderfully warm too!  I decided to go practical and unconventional for Valentine's day and get everyone clearance hoodies.  LOL

I arrived home and everyone hustled and bustled getting the groceries unloaded, put away, and all the bags & boxes in their rightful place.  Everyone loved the practical hoodies, red velvet cupcakes (which I had only one bite of), and chocolate.  I love lavishing practical love on my family!

Later, a friend of mine came to pick up the kids for a night of "hanging out" at her house with her kids while my Mr. G and I went out and had the house to ourselves upon our return.  I grabbed a quick snooze, then changed into some nicer clothes to go out to a local winery.

 [Now, just to help you understand, I'm not a wino! (no judgment, please!)  I like sipping a glass of good wine about 4 times a year.  And I can only sip one glass, not two because my stomach gets sour at that point.  I don't have any problem whatsoever with moderation.  Besides, wine is a wonderful drink from the Bible, so I have no guilt in consuming a glass of wine 4 times a year.]  

The local winery did not have a restaurant, so they had dinner catered just for Valentine's day.  What a wonderful prime rib dinner it was!  My husband made reservations for this place in advance--when our original plans were derailed by a snow storm--and it was just what I needed!  It had a rustic-outdoorsy-bistro feel to it.  I loved not only the decor, but the owners were absolutely lovely and the LIVE music was wonderful!  The older gentleman played early 70's-ish music from John Denver, The Eagles, Bobby Goldsboro and other similar tunes.  We both loved it!  What a lovely idea this was that my husband had!  We had our dinner out on their back deck--yes, outside--where they had a huge torch heater and the entire porch was encased in plastic, white Christmas lights, and burlap curtains where you could see all the snow and the woods!  The atmosphere was friendly and inviting!  We'll definitely go back!

We enjoyed our time away from the hustle and bustle of responsibility with the kids, but they were just 5 minutes down the road.  LOL  Yes, a good friend who takes my kids even when they have the sniffles and they're coughing up icky stuff!  =0D  We don't go out as often as we should, so this was quite a wonderful treat for us.

What's next?  Planning for our 24th Anniversary!  


God Bless,
Regina

My New Felted Lined Purse

Beginning with leftover variegated wool that I already had on hand.

Almost finished on 11-23-13

What did I do?  How did I do it?

I formulated this purse in my mind before I began casting on stitches for the bottom.  I thought about it for 2 weeks or so, tossing ideas and how I wanted it to be over and over in my mind.  I love my current purse.  It's nice and roomy, holds all the things I need to carry, and it is functional.  So what's wrong with it?  I'm glad you asked!  It's made from plastic and it is starting to crack and peel in places.  I figured I'd better take action and get another one made before this one fell apart.  

Why not buy a 31 or a Miche purse?  I'm beginning to "shy away" from automated manufacturing types of things.  I'm finding that things that are hand made withstand the test of time much better than one made by mechanical methods.  Yes, the store bought purses and things are wonderful and functional for a little while.  But, I've found that felted bags withstand much further wear and tear due to the durability and strength of the materials.

What did I do?  First of all, I made a rectangle of garter stitch for the bottom.  Garter stitch is just knitting, turning, then knitting again.  Very easy, very straight forward.  

Once I made the rectangle big enough for my own liking, I picked up stitches along the sides and joined all of it "in the round" with these needles:

The ones in the packages with the metal ends attach to the cable in the package to the far left.  The larger free standing needles are straight needles.

Once I joined everything, I counted stitches on the long ends and made sure the  numbers matched, then did the same thing with the shorter ends.  If they didn't match, I increased stitches in appropriate places so that it would be even while I knitted those areas.

Once I had everything knitted and all the stitches even on each side, I knitted a couple rows and began increasing every 10 stitches so that the purse would be fuller.  I did this twice with 4 rows of straight knitting between them.  

Once I made it to the end of my variegated yarn, I had to put it down for a couple of days until my new wool order came.  I wanted the yellow to be the more predominate color in the bag, so I striped the bag with that in mind, simply taking artistic license--just because I can.  LOL  

After doing a couple sets of stripes, it was time to drastically decrease and make the top of the bag smaller.  I began by decreasing where the sides of the bag would be and decreased evenly every other row.  

Once I finished the last row of yellow, I decided that I would use dark burgundy and do a ribbing stitch all the way around, binding off and keeping the handle stitches on my cables to work those in a stockinette stitch until the length reached what seemed to be a good amount.  I didn't predetermine this length.  

[Note:  At the time of writing this post, the length of the handles are not completed.  I currently have them almost half way done.  From this point on, the plans for the bag are as follows.]

After casting off, the tails still need to be woven, then the bag felted, and blocked.  11-27-13

After joining the handle with the other side of the bag, I plan to make a flap by picking up stitches along one side and knitting those with a stockinette stitch.  I plan to add a couple cable stitches when I do the flap just to add some interest and artistic flare.  [As you can see in the above picture, I didn't do the cables.  I figured they wouldn't show up very well and I was right.  I decided to continue with a regular stockinette stitch and it worked well.]

Once the bag is done, I'll put it inside a pillow case and wash it with some jeans or heavy bath towels until it reaches the felted stage that I'm looking for.  The more you wash it and agitate the wool, the more the stitches disappear and the material becomes one piece of felted fabric.  At that time, it will be about 1/4"-1/2" thick and very durable.

After the bag reaches that point, I'll lay it on a box the same size as the felted bag.  Not the same size as the prefelted bag because the size will decrease as it felts.  I let it dry for a couple of days in this fashion so that it will take on the shape of the box.

[In this case, because I increased at the bottom to make room for the things I need to carry in my purse, I had to use rubbermaid dishes to push the sides out because I couldn't get a box inside.  The top is more slender so as to keep "prying eyes" out of my purse (in theory).]

A close up of the felting.  The pins that you see sticking up are holding the flap in place after it has been stretched and "blocked" to dry.  

Once the bag is dried, I'm going to take it to Joann Fabrics and try to match material to the colors of the bag as well as get 2 zippers and some thread to make the pockets for the inside.  I'll also pick up some invisible thread for adhering the liner to the felted bag.

This should take another 2 days or so to finish knitting, but it will be 2 weeks before I had to Joann's (planning trips to do more shopping where that store is to save in gas usage.)  with the sewing taking only an afternoon.  I hope to have it done by the 7th of December.  I'll post updated pictures after I'm finished.

In the mean time, here are some other crocheted felted bags I've made:

This one was crocheted with Icelandic Wool.

This one had some Icelandic Wool in it as well.  

  

I'm finding that crocheting wool bags is just as sturdy as knitting, but the stitches are still visible.  The differences between the two are amazing!

The finished product. :)

Courtship

(This was written in September 2013, but is still pertinent today.)

This summer our attention has been pulled in to a greater focus on courtship, not by our own doing, but by the inexperience and immaturity of a couple young men.

In the experience we've had, purposely sparing details, we've all realized the importance of choice and the ability to say "No!" emphatically.  We've seen what we "don't" want to see in a future suitor for our daughter in the disrespectful immaturity of 2 young men.  We've also seen the affects on her heart when the young men go where they're not supposed to go--aside from her Daddy's authority, breaking boundaries--hurting her heart.  Today, her heart is still sore.  She's been disrespected as has our whole family in how one young man acted.  That's how it is with young ladies.  They think and rethink about things until they can truly put it behind them.  Fortunately for her sake, this experience has given her much greater resolve to submit herself to the "weeding out" of potential suitors to her father.  

As she prepares for her future, and eventual marriage, I'm reminded through my daily reading and through God's creation of the "one-ness" that marriage represents.  The black-eyed susan flower in the above picture is a fluke that I've never seen before this year.  The 3-in-one of the "eye" represented marriage so very poignantly. As I thought about scripture and the relationship this flower has to marriage, it was all so clear to me.  Marriage is made up of 3 people--God, husband, and wife.  All 3 are distinctly individuals by themselves, but when they're joined, the flow between them should look much like this flower's eye--without break, without the outline of the individual.  Without this relationship between the 3, marriage can be very rough.  (Ask me how I know...more on that at another time.)

In this post, I elaborated about the amount of reading involved in preparing for courtship.  There is more, much more!  

Today...February 7, 2014--

There is much more prayer involved as well.  The prayers I have been praying for each of my children is that God would guide and direct them in their lives to the person that He would have for them.  We are praying for the young people God has for our young folks--that He would help them to develop obedience, respect for their parents' guidance and for a life's desire of following...no chasing after Jesus.  I pray this for my children too.  I want nothing more than to know that my children (& "in-loves") walk in truth.  Their lives assuredly will not be easy.  I know that my life has not been easy.  To assume or desire that their lives are easy is selfish of me.  I love my children and I know the Lord has a plan for their lives.  I hope and pray that they (and their future spouses) love the Lord with all their heart.

How will it look?  As far as our daughter is concerned (ladies first, right?), the young men will need to approach my Mr. G to ask permission to pursue courtship with our daughter. 

If you look along the left side bar, you'll see "Courtship Questions for Potential Suitors" in a box that will lead you to a link by Stacy McDonald that her husband wrote to prepare for their daughters' eventual courtship/suitors.  We're beginning to consider these questions.

As for our sons, they are praying for God's guidance and direction in their lives to know which direction to go with their careers, homes and future wives.  They will seek the hand of their prospective wife through her Father. 

From that point, respecting the authorities over the young folks, God will write their love stories, not me, nor my husband nor anyone else.  We are seeking purity for our young folks and they are desiring future mates who are pure and who have not been involved (dating or courtship) with someone else--giving only a portion of their hearts to them on their wedding days.

I know that my daughter will no longer be allowing herself to develop a "best friendship" with a young man unless he has approached Mr. G.  She is a very wise young lady--wise beyond her years.  She is decided to keep her heart, requested a purity ring in addition to her "key to my heart" necklace, and if any young man approaches her, she is directing them to her father.  She is also pursuing Jesus with a renewed vigor.  She doesn't feel that she should even think about a romantic relationship until she is 20.  A wise young lady indeed. 

While this seems like an impossible task, it isn't.  With God, all things are possible.

When in the Course of Human Events

There comes a time when one needs to make some changes to make the young folks uncomfortable, to accommodate aging parents, and create greater peace in one's life; it is time to make that happen.

Our oldest is 18 and he is graduating this year.  We've gradually made him do things that have been uncomfortable for him--like filling out his own forms at the Dr's office(s), making his own appointments and writing them on the calendar, giving him very defined guidelines for assignments and following through when he doesn't live up to those expectations.  He is to get a job here in the next couple of months and start working, but he has to get some things completed for school to be finished for him.  He has to take care of his own application for college and paying for it himself.

It's time for change.  It's time for him to grow up and accept these responsibilities.  Most of the time I am met with resistance.  Perhaps a year of being accountable to others would help.  Change is coming for this young man and he may not like it, but this is the way of life.

It's time for a change for our home.  We've extended the invitation to my Mother to come live with us so she has someone to care for her when she needs care.  She's been in the hospital twice from November to mid-December for pneumonia related issues, but no one to help care for her once she returned home.  She lives with my sister currently, but my sister has 2 restaurants she'd been managing and cannot take the time to care for Mother when she needs it.

It's time for a change.  We're continually praying about this concern because we know that we can help my Mother.  She just needs to be ready for the change too.  Right now, we don't think she's ready.  So, we figure out a variety of ways to prepare ourselves for the inevitability of her coming to live with us eventually--if not this year, then next year perhaps.

Changes are happening everywhere, inside us, all around us and we're helpless to stop it--just to enjoy the "status quo" just for a little while longer.  I look around at my kids and the condition of my house, the size of my house and think, "If we had a smaller house there wouldn't be so much to keep clean, to keep track of, to organize, dust...(and my mind wanders to that possibility)."

We're still living in limbo with my husband's retirement.  We're not sure if he'll retire next year or 6 years from now.  We're keeping our options open, he's keeping his eyes open for possible job openings down south, and keeping all of this stuff in prayer.  Our greatest desire is to honor and glorify God & to go where He is leading us as a family.  We want to greater serve Him.  Sometimes that means leaving the familiar, uprooting everyone and moving south.  Sometimes it means to stay where one is and continuing to serve there.

Changes are coming, we must be ready.  God is a God of order, so while we wait patiently (at times, not so much), we're deliberately organizing, painting, cleaning, praying and getting ready for the next chapter God has written for our lives.

God Bless,