Odd and Ends

Here we are at the end of May already. What beautiful Spring weather we're having. Here are some photos from the garden this week. (I'm afraid they're not the exact replacements...I'm doing the best I can with limited photos available - ugh!)

My side of the garden is on the left, S's side on the right.


Taken from S's area.



Taken from my area. The white pathways are covered in newspaper - hoping that will keep the weeds down! For the time being, I'm out of newspaper...can you believe that?

Hopefully a good sign for a wonderful fig crop - tiny figs are starting to develop. Last year the frost killed them and we had about 2 figs. The previous year we had a bumper crop so hopefully we'll repeat that!


Time to relax and enjoy the balmy spring weather.


News this week:

G and J have moved up to Indiana. The Motorhome they were using to move with had 2 flat tires and they were forced to leave it temporarily until they could get some proper tires somewhere. They had to make it up to Franklin for the closing by noon. I guess we'll get an update on that situation soon.

Cousins Gill,Mark and Raewyn will be visiting us this weekend. They're travelling down from Michigan today. We pray they'll have a safe trip. Next week I'll be able to put some photos of them on the blog, hopefully.

Another sad turtle - caught by Dozer! BAD DOG! This turtle is in the bath downstairs - we made a temporary terrarium for him/her. This time I've learned a lesson - don't let them outside til they're healed - the flies will get them. I'm praying 3rd time lucky. (By the way, nobody has given me any ideas for rehabbing turtles - I'm patiently waiting...)

This weekend is Campmeeting here. Lots of out-of-town folk around and about.

And that's all for this week. Maybe we'll have something exciting to report next time!
Happy Sabbath to all.

Poor Turtles

Yep, two turtles were gnawed on by our "add-on" dog, Dozer. One (the box turtle) probably won't make it, though is alive and in a box in the guest bedroom. The white stuff on it is antiseptic cream. You can see some fly eggs on the legs. (Later update: he didn't make it - and the hatched out maggots were quick to start their work!) The other one (a water turtle), is patched up with duct tape and is still very feisty and ready to get outa here. I set him outside way down the hill in a grove of bamboo, hopefully out of Dozer's range. (Update: still doing well in the pond at the bottom of the garden. Still later update: Turtle later found upside down - dead). I'm so mad and depressed about it. If anyone has ideas on how to patch up a turtle, and whether their prognosis is mostly positive, please let me know!

Otherwise, this week is pretty much our last week of regular school. Spring fever has already reared its relentless head - thank goodness for all the rain we've had - that has helped keep us indoors and more focussed. Now I must start planning the next year - am wanting to do a "theme" year and link everything up to that. Any ideas, anyone??

Our garden is growing well. The corn is about a foot high. The following photos are from early on where the corn is only 2 or 3 inches high!

                                    We saved the batchelor buttons and some buck wheat.

We had some marble sized hail here a few days ago. I thought that would shred all my plants - but actually they suffered very little damage. We had two hail showers within an hour - quite unusual for these parts.

Peony from the garden.

This week C has been building a little "settler's cabin" in the woods. We have stick walls and ceiling, with some netting over the ceiling and leaves piled on top.

Well, this isn't the photo but will have to do for now!

Since the dog comes in and steals "furniture", we've blocked various entrances with anything we can find, including an old screen door. The floor is being painstakingly "carpeted" with moss. She has a kitchen fire for cooking, and a living room fire for warmth. I hope she realizes these "fires" are not for igniting! I've told her this is her playhouse. She's been spending every free minute there lately. Will include photos of that later, too.

Mom J is in hospital - they're still trying to get to the bottom of her symptoms. We pray they'll have her right as rain in no time!

This summer looks like another busy one.

Two months of swimming lessons, piano camp, cello practice, travel, retreats and camping. G and family will be fixing up their house in Indiana and moving in; R and family will be continuing the immigration work and looking at all the possibilities; P &K will be mostly staying at home and working with the horses etc. So, time marches on.

Another Sabbath is here - blessings on all until next time.

Wedding Bells

The big day finally arrived. M and A's wedding on May 11, 2008. After many conflicting weather reports - no-one seemed to know what was going to happen! - it ended up with only a 10 or 20% chance of rain. That was the big issue in this outdoor wedding. However, we didn't count on the other (rare in these parts) demon - the wind! No rain all day but VERY STRONG WINDS - seeming gale force for Tennessee. Other than that, everything went very smoothly and well with no obvious hitches anywhere. The rest of this blog will be mostly photos - as the saying goes, one picture is worth a thousand words.....

A secret is shared - C with the two other children: I and Co.

This is 4-yr old I - son of M. Very cute - did a great job as Bible boy.

The ceremony in full swing - "Junior Bridesmaid who dropped petals" making her entrance.


M's father performed the ceremony - a qualified Presbyterian pastor. He preached an excellent homily and everything went very smoothly - he is obviously very experienced and talented in many ways (plays the piano like a pro too).

Closer-up of the dress. Gorgeous design - all the dresses were beautiful! The bride was stunning!


C and Co leaving at the end, paired up. They were both pro's!


Large group photo - the whole wedding party.

Family portrait

The Groom's mother.

Here is the gorgeous cake - made by future sister-in-law, Amy.



I was the videographer at the wedding - now must turn the mini-DV's into a DVD. At the reception we were shown a video/slideshow of the couple's lives and how they met etc - masterfully done by none other than the groom's father! There were also several speeches: bride's father, bride's sister, groom's brother and bride's grandmother - all very well done.

At the reception. The decorations included daisies and roses in pink and green decorated vases. The food was burritos and salad with pink and green lemonade, followed by wedding cake, of course!



So - the day came to an end. Everything was cleaned up while the bridal couple headed off to .......ah ha!!

Cinco de Mayo

Why we celebrate the Mexican independence day here in the States, I don't know....but anyway, several local homeschoolers were invited to celebrate the Mexicans' contributions to our country I suppose, at a local assisted living center.

The fun part is visiting with the elderly and I think they enjoy our antics too. Here, the kids, and some residents, took turns taking a swipe or two at the pinata. We also made crepe paper flowers and handed them around the tables while the residents were eating lunch, listened to their little bell choir perform Mexican music, watched a dress-up show and had a lunch of Burritos and salsa etc while watching a video of someone's visit to Spain about 16 years ago. All in all, a fun time.

Here is C with her birthday present - the weeping willow. It is doing really well - we'll have to take a yearly picture to compare growth.

Here is the Busy Bee, now promoted to Sunbeam! Joy of joys!

A pleasant pose by the cello. It must have been a happy day of practice!:-)

Our garden plot getting ploughed. I don't know if I'm ready for this yet!...

A splash of colour in front of the house. This year our azaleas more than made up for the late frost which killed the blooms last year.

Here is the neighbour's dog - whose real name is Dozer (as in bulldozer?). He used to be Hercules before we knew he belonged to someone....Very sweet and wonderful with children - lives here day and night, despite being fed by his owners. Perhaps the fact that we're here a lot makes a difference! S isn't too happy with the $100 worth of damage he did to his sleeping bag and mattress though! He does love to chew, and found these "treasures" in the barn while S was mowing. Now he closes the barn door! (Isn't that what our mothers said anyway??!)

Naughty boy!!

Warning - only the eligible may enter - others enter at their own risk!!

The big wedding is Sunday pm. Also in the forecast is a 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms...Let's pray we fit neatly into the 30% between 5 and 8pm since A and M are having an outdoor wedding. I guess that'll be the topic next week with, hopefully, some nice photos!

Best wishes to them, and to G&J for their silver wedding anniversary yesterday.

Hasta la Vista! (what that means is..."goodbye til we meet again", or "hurry and be gone and I don't want to see you again for a long time!"....:-)