Contemplating Future Home Plans

In my previous post, I wrote about plans for my vegetable gardens in raised beds and how I envision it coming together.   We have some "need to do" projects for our house that will be tackled some time this Spring, Lord willing.  Between putting a new roof and new windows in, that also incorporates a new door and windows for the Sunroom.

The area here will be framed out, replaced with French doors in the middle and a window on each end where the stationary panels are.  To the extreme right, there are 4 panels that will be replaced in the same way--framed out and 4 windows installed.

When looking for houses here in GA to purchase, we decided to look for foreclosures or houses that "need work" so that we could get one for the lowest price possible, paying it off early and doing the majority of the work for ourselves. Our ultimate goal was to become "debt free" as quickly as possible.

Why?  That will be a good topic for another post.  😉

Regardless, making plans to fix things takes time, effort, and money.  Fixing things the least expensive way possible (like a broken dishwasher) is what we've done for years.  If my husband cannot tear it apart, go get the pieces needed, and get it running again in a few hours, then there is truly something wrong with the item.  We have purchased older lawn mower/tractors with attachments for less than a fraction of what it would cost new.  With that, though, there is always something that breaks or wears out.  We replaced so many things on that mower, but it worked for us.  My husband sold that mower when we moved to GA.

We have felt that it is so very important to have goals when our over arching theme is frugality.  There are definitely some "need to do" things that frugality may need to be put by the wayside for quality, but in those cases it is very few times that happens.  However, planning, goal setting, working on those things little by little, ensuring safety of everyone in the home, and being good stewards is what we strive for in our lives.

The choice to live more frugally is simply that--a choice.  Please remember there are all kinds of levels of frugal choices out there.  For many it is a matter of taste or product preference.

We frequent yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, auctions, ebay, facebook flea market groups, and craigslist for a lot of our needs.  When we need to buy something new, we wait until the money is available.  We need to "put off" the "I need it now" mentality relying on credit at every turn because eventually that credit will be used up and there will be no money to pay for emergencies.  This takes personal discipline.  Yes, things happen and you need to dip in to the emergency fund.  That's when you tighten the belt, stop going out for expensive meals, and get the emergency fund back to the level it needs to be.  (I'm saying this to myself just as much as to my readers.  If I don't follow my own advice I'm a hypocrite and I don't want to do that.)

When making plans, we look around and make lists of things we need.  Right now we need some office furniture, some other pieces that I'd like to have for plants, a hall table for a lamp to sit, some clothing items, any craft items dealing with knitting or crocheting, clothing needs and anything else we can think of--all gets put on a list.  I don't bring the list with me when I go to all the above places, but I keep things in mind when I am looking.  I use to make an inventory of everyone's clothing with color, size, type and what I need to look for to get that person to the next size.  That began seasons ahead of when they needed those items.  I had bins in the attic with the next couple of sizes up for each child.  When the oldest son grew out of something it went in to the bin for the youngest.  That was then, now the oldest tries passing off his old clothes to the youngest and he gets laughed at because the youngest has tastes of his own as well as his own size.  LOL

Frugality with making home plans is all encompassing, reaching in to every part of our lives.  We need to be frugal in this area in order to be sure we have resources in this other area to fix it properly or to fill a need that could be filled inexpensively.

One of those things each of us have to personally decide for ourselves is "how far are we willing to take this frugality thing?"  For me, I've tried every kind of paper towels on the market, but I always come back to Bounty.  This is my own personal preference, so I try to find it the cheapest way I can, buy it in bulk or with coupons and don't worry about the money I "could be" saving.  We've purchased generic items and things from Aldi just to try it before buying more than one of that item.  We've found that it's about an 85/15% split with regard to Aldi items.  We usually like just about everything we try from there, but occasionally we find something that just doesn't taste good to us.  Once again, it is purely personal preference, so trying new products that are cheaper than what we've bought in times past has become commonplace for us.

All this to say that in order to be able to afford making changes or fixing things that are broken, we have been frugal in many areas, pushing the envelope in many ways to creatively free up more money.  One of the places I began looking for ideas for greater frugality was The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn.  This book encompasses 3 of her other books that just compilations of her newsletters.  I know many of the ideas in there do not include many couponing ideas, blogging for money, affiliate links, ibotta, or any other new ideas that have come out since the book was published, so keep your eyes peeled for technological advances in saving more money since this book was published.

I realize I may have been preaching to the choir with some of my readers, but I'm finding there is another generation of younger folks who have not heard or understand these concepts.  I'm finding myself in an interesting position that I've never been in before now--one that teaches and guides others in the neat things I've learned.  I'm not the end all for information, of course, but sharing information may help someone who stumbles across my blog.

How are you planning for your future home fixes?

Have a Blessed Day!

Learning, Planning, and Growing

"Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established." 

(Pro 16:3)

My clematis on the trellis in Pennsylvania with vinca vines trailing on the ground behind.

I love my flowers, but living in Georgia and observing how my potted plants have done this past year (including forgetting to water) has given me cause to rethink and plan how I'll be able to have my lovely flowers year around and enjoy them.

As I think and plan, I pray about how to do things.  I have subscribed to a F*cebook page called Georgia Gardener and I've been pouring over ideas and gleaning wisdom to implement with my raised beds for our vegetables as well as for my flowers that I love.  I knew to a certain extent that things would be different here in Georgia than in Pennsylvania.  While the growing season is much longer, there is the heat in the summer to think about and try to overcome.  I've seen some people shading their plants in a variety of ways from burlap sacks propped up over the top of 5 gallon buckets, to simply having raised beds in a more shaded area of the yard.  As I plan and think on these things, I'm considering a pergola of sorts over the raised beds to create some shade, then adding some sort of vine on it for added shade.  I'm thinking of just simple posts in the ground with cross beams, and lattice across the top to make it more decorative because it will be in the front yard.  I'm thinking and praying over this idea more and more because it seems like a good alternative.

The shade provided by this trellis is exactly what I was thinking about.

The placement of these raised beds is almost exactly what I was thinking with a couple exceptions.  The star in the middle wouldn't be there and the beds along the side would connect making one long "edge" of raised bed.  Of course there would be more room due to the dimensions of our raised bed area being 24' x 24'.

I'd like to add the split rail fence and wire fence around the exterior due to wild animals and stray dogs in our area.  The placement and "ground" in this picture is very close to how I'd like to put my raised beds.  I have everything sketched out on a grid for future reference.

The pergola idea with flowers.  I was thinking of something like this or a non flowering vining plant due to bees being over head.

Of course watering everything has been largely on my mind as well, so I thought of soaker hoses in this fashion.

The thought behind this would be to simply turn the hose on and leave it on for an hour in the evening and an hour in the morning to completely soak the roots without putting water on the leaves of the plants.  I don't want to burn the leaves of the plants with the Georgia sun shining on water droplets.

 What is the purpose of all this praying, planning, thinking, researching, and observing?  Of course this is a wonderful question!  We have always grown something, whether flowers, gardens, or both.  In the height of our gardening years, we canned over 100 quarts of tomato products with 55 quarts being just sauce, 20+ quarts of salsa, stewed tomatoes, chili sauce and anything else we could find to make with tomatoes.  We canned pickles, jams and jellies, all sorts of combinations of veggies, as well as blanching and freezing 12 dozen ears of corn, pumpkin, zucchini, and everything else we could.  We pressure canned green beans, chili, chicken soup, sausage, venison, potatoes, and whatever else we could.  We dehydrated hot peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, basil, oregano, chives, and anything else we could think of to preserve.

There is so much satisfaction knowing where your food comes from.  The health benefits knowing that there is sea salt instead of iodized salt in your green beans for help with high blood pressure gives so much more peace of mind when preparing these foods for yourself and your family.

This is why we do the work to tend to our family.  It isn't just that it saves us money because the initial investment in the preparation of the raised beds, hoses and so forth is the biggest monetary investment.  But the pay-off is well worth it in the long run.  

This is the area where we will put the raised beds and pergola--4'+ away from the windows.

We certainly have our work "cut out" for us.  This work will begin in January, shortly after Christmas ends and everything is put away.  I will certainly share the progress with everyone, along with pictures.  The beginning of the process will likely be the pergola, then the plastic and then raised beds.  I'm hoping to have lettuces and so forth planted by the end of January since they are cool weather plants.  We will likely have tomatoes and peppers in by the end of February.  We have a 24' x 24' space where we'll plant everything.  Considering the longer growing season, we'll likely be canning and preserving things close to year around, with the exception of canning in the summer months.  I'll freeze everything in the summer to be canned when the outside temperatures are cooler.  

How are you planning?

Have a Blessed Day! 

The Day After the Election

"Yield to those leading you, and be submissive, for they watch for your souls, 

as those who must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief; 

for that is unprofitable for you."

(Heb 13:17)

I have watched many elections and by far this one was the most grueling, among other descriptors that my readers could come up with, I'm sure.  There were many times when I thought to myself, "Could this really be the best caliber of people chosen to run for the most respected position of the United States?"

I struggled with this election.  I struggled with who to vote for, whether Republican, Independent, Grass Roots, or Constitutional Party.  I am certain that the struggle I've dealt with has not been one that I alone have dealt with.

I am not one who tries to post unedifying, unloving, posts either here or on social media and that will remain the same.  Edifying and glorifying the Lord with my posts, whatever comes from my fingers or mouth should really be edifying regardless, instead of belittling, degrading, demeaning, or other types of ilk.  I've chosen to build up instead of tear down.  I believe it speaks volumes to folks of love when I set my heart and mind on my words--spoken and written--to be edifying.

It is my prayer for our newly elected leaders that they would humble themselves before the Lord, submitting themselves to Him, work hard for those they serve, and they work hard with their words to be the utmost in edification and God glorifying.

Let us each remember that we have a choice of building people up or tearing them down.  It is so much easier to build people up, encourage them, and love them.  It does so much for them, but it works even more on our own spirits if we set our hearts and minds on edifying, God glorifying speech. Nothing speaks more of the Love of Christ than to edify and glorify God in our speech and actions.

Would you please join me in purposefully choosing to edify others--no matter which political party they voted for--glorifying God and loving others with our speech and actions?

Humbly,

Finding a New Normal, for Now

The semblance of organization and order in my home right now is severely lacking.  At least that's what it feels like to me.  I struggle with having enough time to get things done before my leg starts hurting again and I need to get on the heating pad.  I struggle to remind my kids to get their chores done.  I struggle to find a sense of normalcy through all this change.

I would love to have unlimited time and energy to finish filing all those receipts that I've put by the wayside because simply getting on to the floor takes so much effort, then there is the getting back up.  I can't use my knees to prop myself up to get up, so I get creative to get up off the floor.  I'm getting pretty good at it too, but I'll spare you the details.  LOL

I slowly work on filing receipts in their proper places, including the shredder if need be.  I sit in my office chair, crouching down to get the receipts off the box on the floor and put it on the chair in front of me.  I sit for about a half an hour filing as much as I can, then I get up, take laundry from the bedroom and walk around the house, get laundry going and find my heating pad.  I go for a walk with Ginger and come back to sit with the heating pad on my leg.  This is the way things go 4 times each day.  But I'm usually doing something different each time. LOL

Then there is the times when we go to our home school groups, church, and any other errands.  If we're going to be 45 minutes to an hour away from home, we take the big cooler, 2 pillows, and 2 heating pads to prop my leg up in the van to make sure I follow Dr's orders.

A Christmas present for my Mother.

As I sit in the back seat, I usually knit on this shawl that I'm making for my mother for Christmas.  I have been working on it for a while, a little at a time, so it's taking a while.  I hope to finish it by the end of November so I can get it packaged and sent to her along with a pair of socks that I made a while back out of the same yarn.  I originally made the socks for myself, but when we moved to Georgia, the socks were not being worn due to the heat.  I decided at that time to give them to my Mother to keep her warm in the winter.

They're basic "no frills" socks that I'm sure she'll love.  I was hoping to get some fingerless mitts finished for her too, but I'm afraid I'll miss getting these other two things to her if I try to add those too.  

Right now I'm only allowed to go as far as an hour from home and back either driving or riding in one day.  So, if I have more than that to drive, I have to decide which activity to go to, prioritizing my activities.  Some days are more difficult to decide than others, but I'm definitely finding the need to stay home a welcome reprieve from running so much.  I'm glad 2 out of 3 of my kids have their driver's licenses so they can drive.  What a blessing!

What is God teaching me through all of this?  In some instances it is easy to see, in others, not so much.  Time will tell what His lessons are for me right now.

What is God teaching you in this season of your life?

Blessings,

Considering the Future

My husband and I are beginning to consider what our lives will be like once our young folks sprout wings and leave our nest.  We are looking at downsizing our home, even though we just moved here last year.  We are looking at possibly having more property, even though it means more work to do the things we'd like to do.

We're realizing that we are limited with how much activity we can participate in at church living almost an hour away.  The special things that happen on days other than Sundays and Wednesdays simply cannot be attended because it isn't just a short jaunt over to the church or to a Couple's Night with our dear folks in our Sunday School class whom we've grown to love.  So we pray.  We'll find out soon enough what the Lord's will is for this as we lay this at His feet.  There is a lot to consider and even still, we consider the necessity of selling our current house when the time comes too.  Lots to consider.

We're realizing that we will be physically limited with how much we can accomplish on a daily basis due to the fact that our young folks will be out of the nest.  I mentioned to my husband that we could get him a good tractor (not to be confused with "new") with accessories that would help him do the work that is needful without needing one or more of the kids around to do it.  But, the other things, like putting up fences or things like that, if course we'd ask the kids to come help.

We're realizing that we'll need a house with 2 master bedroom/bathrooms just in case there is a need for one of our parents to move in with us.  Additionally, we're looking at building an apartment over a garage just in case our oldest son needs a place.  That will give him his own space and as much autonomy as possible.

We've talked about "puttering" with our days on the property.  We've talked about having a garden and having fruit trees and selling the produce.  We've talked about going to different festivals with things that we make to sell.

It's a sweet thought for us to have things like this in mind for our future.  I don't want anything ornate, but simple and all one level, but nothing too big.  I want to be able to have family and friends over to love on them.  I want to bless others and serve the Lord with my husband.

"Ponder the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established." 

(Pro 4:26)

In Christ,

Sitting Time

When in the course of living one's life, you have been forced to slow down, you create.  In the past 2 and a half months, I've been down since my surgery.  After making the trip to see a dear friend to get a puppy from her just 2 weeks after my knee surgery, I came down with acute bronchitis.

This is Ginger at 7 weeks.

Ginger at 16 weeks at 26.5 pounds.

So while my new puppy was being cared for me those other than me, I was napping periodically through the day, and with every desire for a walk, I became super winded and had to sit.

A couple things happened during this sitting time.  I started teaching a crochet class at our local homeschool group.  It was important to me to be available to all these folks to learn this long forgotten craft and to pass it on to the next generation.  During my sitting time, I pulled up pattern after pattern and worked them up so every one could see what they looked like.  What a wonderful time it was in class today to see the branching out done by my students!  I am so very proud of them and their hard work!

Another thing that has happened is a subcutaneous blood clot in my left leg.  It runs from my mid-thigh to my mid-calf.  It is not a major artery, but in a very small "return" vein that brings the blood back up to my heart.  My Dr has put me on blood thinners, I wear compression hose during the day, and use heating pads 4x/day.  Every morning I wake up and thank the Lord for THIS day.  I am so very thankful for each one He gives me!

Along with the above, my surgery recovery has taken a wee bit longer due to sitting from bronchitis.  Now that the bronchitis has subsided, I can increase the exercises again and get moving on my recovery. I have been doing my leg lifts, in every possible direction, double leg lifts while laying down (works the tummy), going up and down steps (slowly), and walking.  I walk as much as I can.

One of the monkey wrenches in to the recovery from surgery, also involves recovering from the blood clot, I have an allotted amount of time that I am allowed to spend sitting in a vehicle or driving a vehicle.  I am not allowed to go over that and I've stuck to it.  Unfortunately, I've had to take a temporary hiatus from choir due to the allotted time being used by the time we leave for church this past Wednesday.  Family needs come first, then church ministry.

My health is needing to be cared for, so I'm doing all that I can do just that.  I'm taking care of myself.  I'm following Dr's orders exactly.

I'm so very thankful, every day!



God Bless,

Sharing Our Gifts

Many times when one would read a title such as that, one would think of getting a gift of money or a present.  I am talking about sharing ourselves, our talents and our time.  Some of those things require a bit of our money, but usually not giving directly to any one person a monetary amount.

Throughout the time I have spent as a parent, I've tried instilling in my kids that we need to give of ourselves, even in the smallest of ways, to help in any way we can. Many times in the beginning, I've just taken my kids with me in whichever service project we were doing and expected them to help, or I gave them things to do like wiping tables, serving drinks or something like that.  As they grew in their own walk and personal likes and dislikes, they've shown that they love helping, but in their own ways.

It has been a humbling experience for me to lend my voice to the Sherwood Baptist Choir.  I am truly stretched and challenged with my own musical abilities, along with my deafness that brings additional challenges all it's own to just about everything I do.  I have always been a soprano, but due to a 3 month long bout of a variety of colds and flu a few years ago, I went from a soprano to an alto.  This is a challenge when I've learned a vast majority of songs in soprano, so much of my work has been to relearn all these songs.  It helps to stand next to some strong alto voices in choir so I don't start singing the soprano part.  The video below has been written by our Music Minister and Choir/Orchestra director Mark Willard.  He is the main vocalist with some very talented folks accompanying and singing with him.  This song is called "Hope is Rising."  From my understanding, we will be having a *Live* worship on October 9th featuring this song as well as many other favorite classic hymns.  This has been hard work for me in this time also since I've had bronchitis since 2 weeks after my knee surgery in July.  I'm excited to be a part of this, to just simply lend my voice to the choir in praise to God.  What a blessing!

This is another video to show the choir, orchestra, and a very talented and beautiful lady who is singing "I Am."




I count it a privilege to lend my voice in a very small way to the choir wherever I am planted.  Praise God!


This is what I've learned:

*When you model serving and encourage them to help and find some place to share their gifts and abilities, be prepared for when they do something unexpected.

Each of my kids have a wonderful singing voice.  As a part of their music training, they've been in the choir with me until our move to Georgia.  I've given them a choice of whether or not to join the choir and express themselves that way, but they've gone other directions.  My daughter loves working with the kids and that's the direction she's going.  My youngest son is working in security and he's enjoying that.  My oldest son is looking in to the golf cart ministry and I'm sure he'll find a niche there.

*Be prepared for them to tell you, "Mom, I'm not interested in that any more.  That's your interest."

Yup!  I heard it and it crushed my heart because they've all got beautiful voices.

*Be prepared to watch them shine in their chosen place of serving.

The happiness is unlike any other.  They're beginning to learn what it means to serve in an area where God may be leading them.


Other areas of service are available if we just keep our eyes out and ask God to show them to us.  What do I mean?  I've been told I have gifts in the kitchen.  For me, though, I just love to bake and bless people with yummy things from my kitchen.  Couple that with including children to help chop things, cleaning up, and serving those things and you have a family that serves.  This is a love of my own and I'm encouraging my kids to help me, even as they get older.  They each may have had their own special part of what is presented, but they know it is something they've helped to produce.

What are we producing this week?

All kinds of pumpkin bread done in Pampered Chef bread tubes to serve when company comes.  I have a lot of pumpkin to use.  :)

I'm gradually gathering zucchini to shred and freeze for future things like cakes, breads, and things like that.

What are we going to do in the future?  We're going to keep our eyes out for ways we can serve others with our gifts.

Remember, no gift is too menial or minor when it is done in the service of your God!

God Bless,

Getting Them to Read

When we began homeschooling in 2001, I knew I wanted to instill in each of my children the love of learning.  I began simply by telling them after each meal, "Go find your favorite book, get in to a comfy position (I don't care if you sit on your head) and read for half an hour!"  This is simply how we began.  We had electronics back then, but just a couple super old desk top computers that were 8GB and maybe 16GB on their hard drives.  We had educational computer games, lots of wonderful educational posters on the walls in the dining room, watched educational shows on TV and DVDs and used our Bibles to learn how to read aloud.

You see, reading is essential to learn anything in life.  Unfortunately, electronics are taking over books, but this Momma is steering her young folks to find information in good books and literature first.  There is something that happens to a person, no matter the age, when you hold a book in your hands.  You can adjust, get comfortable, and let your mind get involved in the book.  When my children were younger, we did "Read Aloud" time where after lunch was cleaned up, they curled up whichever way they were comfy and listened to me read.  They would always say, "Momma please read another chapter!"  And I would happily oblige.  These were the times that I knew would form them for later in life and they would be precious memories for me, so I obliged.

As they grew and read everything on their own, our "Read Aloud" times became Bible races.  They would race to the scripture verse and whoever got there first read the verse.  

As with everything, reading comes with writing and speaking.  In order to communicate well with others they had to learn how to spell.

They also had to learn to find out information for themselves.  It is bittersweet, but had to be done.

They had to learn to read to know how to do things like read patters and follow directions.

And read their own Bible on their own.

And study Biology 2.

They've each learned at their own rates, with their own sets of challenges from ADHD, kinesthetic learner, Dyslexia & Dysgraphia.  I have researched until my eyes hurt in how to help my kids learn how to read and they each read very well now with very little issues.  If they do have any issues, they know how to self correct.  This is what reading is all about.  Gaining the skills to learn, research, understand, communicate in writing and speaking, as well as how to correct themselves when they know something didn't sound right.

And it all began with telling them to find their favorite book and get comfortable even if it meant sitting on their head! (Seriously!  I used those words! And they laughed!  LOL)

My job was to find out what they were interested in and supply them with TONS of quality literature.  Going to the library wasn't always convenient for us, so I scoured Amazon for good books very cheap based on their interests and reading levels.  I remember buying 3 different books on General Custer, all on 3 different interest and reading levels.  Over the years we've resold many many books, but they were all worth it.

Where do you begin? 

If I had to begin again in 2001, I would begin with this book.  I read this book after our first year of homeschooling.  I would have loved to read it before we began, but I didn't know about it.  So, as a result, I encourage all new homeschoolers to read this book IMMEDIATELY.  It will change your homeschool for the better!  It will help you understand your own learning style in order to learn your child(ren)'s learning styles.  Once you do that, you'll better understand where they need to be and how they need to study.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!  There is no such thing as a stupid question.

God Bless,

Knee Surgery

As timing would have it, my knee surgery came along while our family was going through a bout with bronchitis and strep.  As a general rule over the years, we have stayed home from all activities if there is vomiting, pink eye, or fevers.  In order for those activities to resume, the feeling of being hit by a MAK truck and sleeping 20 out of 24 hours of the day needs to pass too.

For pretty much the entire month of July my family and I have not gone to church.  I knew I was a carrier of this "ick", so I stayed home on Sundays and Wednesdays.  I only had a head ache to go with this, so I didn't get the full blown bronchial problems or strep, by the grace of God!  But, if I brought something home, it would spread through the house making my family sick again with something else due to their compromised immune systems.  So we stayed home.

Today, my Mr. G and I stayed home because I just had surgery on my right knee on Tuesday, the 26th of July.  I am finding myself missing worship and feeling very empty and "spent".  With all of this comes feeling "weepy" for me.  I know many people wouldn't understand, so if you see me shedding a tear, that's why.  I miss worshiping with my church family.  Worshiping is the highlight of my week, and to sing the praises of the Lord God Almighty is how I get filled back up, even though I may weep all the way through my singing.

So pray for me, if you would, please.  That my knee will be well enough to attend Wednesday night choir practice so I can get filled up.  I know there are other ways to get filled up, but this is specific for me.

God Bless,

For the Love of Home

When the whole house is affected by sickness, things are run differently.  When the ones who are in charge of taking care of the majority of the clean up are sick, that means Mom has lots more to do.  When one who carries most of the pet responsibilities is out of town for 2 weeks, while the other 2 are sick, Mom has lots more to do, and a very busy time!

I must confess, I have delegated much of the household chores to my kids.  Let me rephrase that, "I have delegated most of the household chores to the young adults in the household."  It is something they are responsible to do regardless because "that's what adults do".  If they lived on their own, they'd be responsible for doing things regardless anyway.  When they were sick, they took Motrin, Acetaminophin, Naproxen, (Not all at the same time) or whatever else they could find to help feel better.  When they started feeling better, they took care of their basic responsibilities.  When they started not feeling well again and dogs needed let out, walked, fed/watered, or the cat cared for, I took care of that along with my own responsibilities.  The walking of the dog was when whomever felt well enough to do so since I'm under Dr's orders not to walk "for now."

I have slathered myself with Essential Oils to keep the sickness away from me because I don't like being sick and I'm going to have surgery on my knee this Tuesday.  (Since I've written this on Sunday and scheduled this to be posted on Tuesday, you'll probably read this after I've been through surgery and home already.)  I would love to be able to make sure it gets done Tuesday.  If it doesn't get done, it gets pushed off until I am better.  I'm tired of not being able to walk around the block, for exercise or for pleasure.  I love to walk, be out in God's creation and pray as I walk.  This is where I use to walk in Pennsylvania~

This lovely road curved to the right and went on and on.  I poured out my heart to the Lord on this road.  It felt good to walk, pray, and let the tears fall as I gave everything over to God.  I always came home feeling much better about whatever was bothering me.  The kids and I loved to take bikes down, walk, roller blade or canoe along this road.  My Mr. G and I use to walk meandering down this road just holding hands.  Occasionally, he took the kids inner tubing or canoeing down the river that runs by this road.  If we could find a lovely country road much like this one that runs along a lovely river here in Georgia to replace this, or something similar, I would love it!  

I've always loved being outside in God's creation.  I've had dreams of going back to South Dakota, Wyoming, and the Rocky Mountains to hike and maybe ride horses again.  I find myself longing for the west.  I do have family out west, so I know I can go see them any time.  I just yearn for the open fields, wide open skies, trees, and wild flowers.  Horseback riding cannot happen right now until I loose more weight (hence the reason this surgery is so important--so I can get to walking again and loosing more weight!).  I need to get the disc in my back checked before I do that type of activity anyway (it ruptured in 2002).  The kneeling in the garden or flower bed has ceased, for now.  The kneeling by my bed has ceased for now too.  It has been replaced with being seated, for now while I talk with my Lord numerous times in a 24 hour period.  

I'm just trying to keep myself well.

Additionally, a week and a half after my surgery, we're going to be blessed with a new puppy.  For 15 years I've prayed for a Golden Retriever puppy.  I've wanted one even longer, at least since I was a young girl.   I remember many friends who have had dogs and I love the breed.  I remember just simply starting to pray about the time my kids were little just to have a good friendly breed for my kids.  In the mean time, we trained the dogs we did have to be good friendly dogs.

I absolutely love God's timing with all of this.  My Dr tells me that after the surgery, the only physical therapy I'll need is to just walk.  Go figure!  So, after I get through surgery, I'll begin simply by just walking around my house for the first 2 days.  I'll try outside in the driveway first, then venture around on the road, building up to being able to walk more, a few feet/steps at a time.  Then when we have our new puppy, she'll walk with me as a type of therapy.  I'll need to walk, she'll need to walk, so it's a win-win situation.  God is awesome!  He's worked all this out wonderfully! 

While I am recovering, much of my daily responsibilities will be tweaked a little.  I know that my kids will pick up much of what I do, with a couple exceptions.  My hubby will pick up the other stuff with things specifically just for me to do.  I know I'll be doing more knitting and crocheting with a wee bit of sewing thrown in as well.  But, that's all good.  I love my home, taking care of everyone in it, loving on everyone and all the furry family too, no matter if I'm laid up or not.  When I am forced to sit more, it helps me to be able to be available to talk with my young folks.  They are around the living room more and they're talking with each other more.

Home...what a blessing!