*from the rising to the setting

From the rising of the sun,

 to the place where it sets,

the name of the Lord,

 is to be praised, Praise the Lord!

I know the sun sets where it is you read from today, but these were just to beautiful not to share!  The last one I did a bit of editing, just for fun!

Psalm 113
1 Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, you his servants;
praise the name of the LORD.
2 Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.

4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?

7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8 he seats them with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He settles the childless woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.

Praise the LORD.

*Christmas past, but Christ forevermore!

This year we had my older sister, Lori and her family here for Christmas. We had a wonderful, smooth, laid back celebration. Lori and I cooked, cooked and cooked just for the 6 of us. It was a blast!   We even had to run out last minute on Christmas Eve to pick up a few items... we "ran" to our local Walmart, who totally let us down! They closed at 6pm, we were a few hours too late. I was happy for all the Walmart employee's being anywhere but Walmart! However, Walgreens saved the day the apple pie and coconut cake!  I did thank the Walgreens clerk for being there and wished her a Merry Christmas. 

Christmas morning kisses were given...

We watched as each other opened their gifts..

Images were captured...

Preparations were made, food was cooked...

A moment to sit and relax ....

Turkey and Duck were carved and served up with all the side dishes we could hope for..

I took this because I love him, well I love him whether I take a picture or not...

This is the after feast glaze that you see on our faces. Our hubby's jumped in and did a bunch of the clean up after we ate, we were just enjoying sitting and watching...

Aren't they cute? It looks like they are carrying out a performance with detailed choreography, it was truly beautiful... (he was cutting a piece of plastic wrap)

After Lori and I cleaned up the counters we put out an important informative message for all to see...

Then we took a stroll around the property, bringing juicy Christmas carrots to the horses...

Christmas 2011, the holiday celebrated, is now in our past. Christmas, the gift of Christ, came to make a way to be in our presence now and forevermore!   May your next 365 days be filled with the joy, love and the giving attitude we practice in the month of December each year! 

*horsing around

When we first bought our property Kierstyn, our niece would ask us when we were getting horses. She loves horses.  The answer would be, when we sell our house in North Carolina.  After one year, our house sold.   You can imagine the excitement and question that followed this news.  So, are you getting horses now?   Young minds don't always understand how one must reduce asking price of house over the course of 365 days to sell it, in addition to the additional cost of a mortgage on that unoccupied house during that period of time.  We have simply explained to her that we are not sure if we will ever have horses, only God knows those plans.   Our stand at this point is, we are only adding to our homestead producers to the mix.  

It is a blessing that our next door neighbor has many horses, donkeys and ponies. Kierstyn makes her presence known to them each time she is here. Her love for the horses is just precious.  Carrots are made available to her so she can feed them. I hope one day her dream of owning a horse will come true!

I think this is one of the sweetest pictures ever!

*kindle, the rabbit kind

Three of our does were bred about 60+ days ago, the allotted time passed, no kits (babies).  So, we put them back in the bucks den to try it again. Thirty days pass and the does did indeed kindle this time.  All three of them, unfortunately I misread one of the does and did not put her nest box back in based on some of her actions or lack of and we lost all 5 of her babies.  Anyone that says this life is simple and easy has not lived it.   Our other two does, Athena and Isis provided us with a total of 16 precious little ones. Two of Athena's died during the birthing process.

Athena started pulling out her fur several days before the babies were due and make a nice warn nest for the coming babies!

Isis is our one of our Californian does who gave birth to 12 little ones in the summer and she has done it again.  This winter she has birthed 11 babies. I was not surprised. Athena only had 5 and two died, I was surprised by this low number but grateful that I could let her foster some of Isis's babies to increase the possibilities of raising a larger number when it is all said and done. You see if a doe is bred alone and she has more than she and feed , the weakest one likely will not make it past the first few days. The runts, or smaller ones have a harder time getting their feedings in and they continue to get weaker and weaker and no longer fight to feed. So, with this in mind, Athena now has 7 babies to nurse each night and Isis has 7 as well.

As I mentioned before, this lifestyle we have chosen is refreshing, rewarding and thrilling. It really is. But I know that it too can be hard and painful. You can read, research and try to be prepared but often the education comes only through hands on experience. Some experiences you might wish to opt out of, like the recent kindling of Nirn (our other doe who lost all of her babies).  I, the keeper, failed her. I did not provide her with the nesting box because she did not show any signs of maternity. She was not doing the normal things the other does do when birthing time is arriving.  I assumed wrongly that her mating did not "take".   In the future, if any of our does were bred, they will be getting a nesting box no matter what their behavior might be.   Many of you might ask why I am effected by this since we are killing them for meat anyway. Let me just say it is a totally different situation. I am sad when any of the animals die or are needlessly killed by a predator.  I am saddened by the sickness that might cause a death in any of our animals, meat animals or providers either one.  As I said to my sister the other day, it is what we have chosen, and by faith I will walk it out. 

OH, and for those who are interested in rabbit care etc, check this out, but DON'T tell our rabbits!  Our rabbits are well cared for  but not on this level.

~Lynnie

*p.h.i.l.e.m.o.n.

This past weekend my sweet husband was swimming in a sea of estrogen!   He was a great sport as my sisters, Lori and Bridgette as well as two of Lori's friend's arrived at  our home Friday afternoon.  We had made plans months ago to attend the Living Proof (Beth Moore) Conference in Pensacola.  

The conference was a great time of teaching and worship.  I have never attended one of Beth's conferences but have participated in one of her Bible studies and will soon be doing the James study!

This weekend Beth spoke on the book of Philemon. One chapter. 25 Verses. 355 Greek words. Power packed. The only personal letter of the Apostle Paul.  Beth talks really fast, with her southern Texas accent, so she was able to cover a lot of "ground".  I learned so much about this little Book and look forward to digging in this Book a bit more over the coming weeks.  Here are some thoughts from Beth's study of Philemon during our session this past weekend:

• P - Providence (God) has a strange way of catching up with us.
• H - Heading forward sometimes necessitates going back.  Sometimes God moves us back so we can go forward. 
• I - Involving other eyes on all sides is genius in volatile and even delicate matters.
• L -Loves sake is the keepsake.  Be willing to reconcile, willing to restore.
• E- Every WHAT in your life has a corresponding WHY.
• M- Much of the good that is in us, stays in us until forced out.  
• O- Only the most courageous will keep loving by faith.  We all have heard and often choose to live by faith, but sometimes in difficult situations we have to choose to love by faith too. 
• N- No ministry is more like Christ than the ministry of reconciliation. 

I think many of us have found ourselves in situations with other believers where we are just befuddled by the choices they have consciously made, and they are probably befuddled by ours. We make decisions in our own head based on how we see the situation, not how they see or have perceived it themselves. Confusion sets in. Walls go up. Hearts are broken. We make vows to not love, not trust, not believe in , not live (by faith).  We are human, it is not unnatural that we make these choices but if we are able to live by faith and then love by faith, God will see us through to reconciliations end.  Praise be to God, that as much as I can remember  I do not currently have any broken relationships that need restoration, but I have walked this path before and I can say that I have been fully reconciled to the people where confusion once was.  

~Yet for Love's Sake,

Lynnie

*on the road to recovery

Many of our feathered friends are molting.  Molting can be a difficult thing if you have roosters in the mix.  So, we have come to "Red's" rescue with a custom fit chicken saddle to protect her back while her feathers grow in.

For some reason the Rhode Island Red's have not been a favorite among the other chickens and too much of a favorite to the roosters, if you get my drift.  They have to put up with being pecked on the roost at night by the other hens and literally have to run often during the day to stay away from the roosters.

This is my spin on a hen saddle, and I will be stitching up more for the other hens who are in the molting process as well.  "Red" is the only one who has marks on her back from the roosters, so she was in dire need of this protection.

  You have heard of  Star Bellied Sneeches... now meet the Star Backed Chick!


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~Lynnie

*ready, set, come on 27 degrees

Our Goats are ready.

They are set.

Come on 27 degree temps, they can handle it! (I hope)

 When last at the community thrift store in our little town, I chose three sweater type tops for our goats winter sleepers.  Two of the tree night shirts turned out rather nicely, I have to make a new one for Neffie tomorrow, but for now she is wearing the one that doesn't fit as well as I would like.

This particular shirt didn't work so well because of the neckline.   The serger made this job easy but a sewing machine would do the job nicely as well. I think our goats are going to be very grateful for their "goat coats" over the next few days. We are supposed to have 27 degrees for several nights in a row with much milder temps during the day.

Bodie say's good night, sleep tight!

*saponification taking place

Lemongrass & Lavender blend

I am a soap maker, bet you didn't know that, did you? I haven't made soap in a year or more.  I love to create great recipes by pairing up different oils for a great bubbly lather and wonderful cleansing abilities.  I have had oils that I needed to mix with some caustic soda for some time now to replenish our personal supply as well as selling.  When I had my store open, All Natural Body Soaps, I was making soap every few months.  I have missed it!

Orange & Clove blend with pulverized orange peel

This one smelled like food when we first poured it in the mold to set.  The whole house smelled delicious! 

 

Franziska and I had a great time working on several things that needed to be done. She was just the motivator I needed to get the soap made, not to mention both she and I were out of soap!  A few weeks ago, I bought my first soap in about 5 years.  I hated having to purchase commercially made soap. It took me numerous  trips to the store (and washing with shampoo) before I put several bars into my shopping cart. 

I am not sure if I can wait the allotted time before use!  I make cold-process soap therefore we have to wait for it to go through a curing process before the lye has completely neutralized for safe use.  

~Lynnie

*fall harvest at Erilyn

Henry went inside and got the sickle that we purchased at an antique shop a long time ago. We were simply breaking the ears off our our corn stalks. Well, we are never SIMPLY doing anything around here. The sickle made the job so much more enjoyable.

We did not get corn planted in the spring, but decided to give late fall sweet corn a try.  We did pretty good. A lot of the cobs were still immature, but not a waste at all. 

It wasn't a waste because both the goats and the chickens were grateful! 

Today when we came in from the garden we brought 4 large broccoli heads, tons of late sweet corn, more banana and hot peppers than I know what to do with as well as a basket of winter squash. 

Tonight for dinner we enjoyed some creamed corn straight from the garden.  My mother makes some of T. H. E. best  creamed corn you will ever eat - this came no where near as good as hers, but it was still good.  We will be able to have several meals from the corn crop from this fall.   I finally got all of those onions planted as well.

If you remember earlier this week I was sharing with you about a quilt that I have been working on.   I had hoped to get the top completed by Wednesday, but is still sitting where I left it.  I have had some migraine headaches lately which pretty much put me in a state of doing nothing but resting in a quite, cool dark room.    I am feeling much better now and I will be sewing this weekend!

*an unlikely friendship

You know those cartoons you see where the cat's are always after the birds? Well, I suppose our cats and our neighbor's cats are just way too domesticated.  This is a common occurrence in the chicken coop here at Erilyn! Our next door neighbor has a cat that practically lives inside the chicken coop as well.  Zeke is one of the sweetest cats you can ever meet. He means no harm to anything, least of all a ripe mouse.   When we go out to make sure the hens are all inside the coop before we lock the doors, we have to make sure Zeke is not locked in too.  Isn't he adorable?

*new morning

morning, breaking dawn

beginning, a fresh start

 

 a clean slate

new mercies (EVERY MORNING)

day break, sunrise

 daybreak - both an ending and  a new beginning

 joy

 new adventures

 

This morning when I got up to see Henry off to school, the fog was thick.  I love getting up at this hour each morning, just before dawn and watching the sun rise. This has not always been my story.  I would have much rather stayed in bed and snoozed as long as I possibly could in years past.  Of course the animals (chickens, goats, rabbits, dog, and cats) wont allow it either, so it is not as if I have a choice!   I hope each of you have an amazing day! 

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