I'm reading a devotional book by Ann Voskamp right now, about finding joy in life. I particularly resonated with the entry today. I have been reading her stuff for a while now, and KNOW I need to be thankful for more, so that I can see life as the gift that it is. But I've struggled a bit with the HOW. How do you see the simple things around you as gifts? Her devotional entry today may have given me the puzzle piece that I need. She makes the point that expectations kill relationships. I know this to be true in my relationship with Lon, and I had not thought, before, about how true it is in my relationship with my God. When I see a flower and think to myself, 'yeah, a flower', there is no joy. When I see a flower and realize that it is a gift, that it is a miracle, and it's beauty is not to be expected, but is a surprise, each time, I have a whole different experience. I want to go to that place. I want to have eyes that don't EXPECT the joy that God has planted in my life. I want to see the world with the eyes of a child, who has no frame of reference, and for whom everything is a surprise. A ball! Surprise! It rolls! Surprise! It bounces! Surprise! Joy in simple things.
I remember after the storm, being aware that my perception of, and need for beauty had changed. I suppose that was because I had a small taste of that change in frame of reference, having temporarily lost my tendency to live a life of expectation. I was somehow unconsciously aware that those little touches of beauty were the very gifts that they are. I want to get back to that place. The place of seeing beauty, and surprises, and gifts as little spots of joy in my life. That place of not expecting anything, but realizing that EVERYTHING is a gift. That place of being a child. Of God.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Spring Break
I'm going to mostly let this be a photo blog. The pictures are all of the outdoor projects so far, I'll post the indoor stuff when we are all done with that. (there is painting that will need to be done, in two of the rooms, so it might be a bit) -- here is stuff from last week, and yesterday...
Last week we mostly focused on getting trench dug for the rubble trench foundation for the chicken coop... The chickens were enjoying all the yummy bugs/worms we were so kindly digging up for them in the process...
Getting Tommy to wear anything but shorts and put something on his feet that might resemble shoes is a whole 'nother challenge. Anyway, we got the brick all into the trench by the end of the day on Thursday. The gaps in the corners will be filled in with pipe and rubble, and the gap, there in front, will be where the door is going to be. It's on the downhill side and will make it nice for cleaning things out. You can see all the leaves on the ground, there in the back-ground.
Sunday we started out by clearing away the leaves where we will build a second natural building hut, this one mostly for Emma, but the experience of building it is for all of us. It will be her little cabin in the woods, though, when we are done (I believe I mentioned in a previous post, something about not taking the sofa from her 'little room' upstairs just yet, as there was something else 'in the works' - this is the 'something else in the works') It will not have any plumbing or electricity, so it can technically be called a 'play house' but she will likely sleep in it at least some of the time.
Once we got started clearing leaves, we decided to clear most of them out of the back yard and have a burn pile. We had alot of sticks from trees that drop sticks during storms, etc. and all of the leaves and other debris, and had a great bonfire in the evening - - you can see from these pictures that the weather was a bit nicer on Sunday than it had been earlier in the week. We also had three extra sets of hands on deck, as we were watching the children of a friend who had gone over to Arkansas, where her husband has started a new job, to scout houses and schools, before they move in May. Their kids were a great influence on ours, their daughter and Mayahna worked very hard, picking up the little prickly balls that covered the one section of 'lawn' that we have in the back.
At the end of the day, we lit the pile and had a great bon-fire going for about two hours, into the evening, and roasted marshmellows, etc. It was a nice way to end the day.
Annie, who is our resident photographer, somehow forgot to get any pictures of the fire, but she did find this cool stick, with a piece of rope grown into it, and took a picture of it.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Day off
Well, I ended up taking yesterday as my one 'do pretty much nothing' day for Spring Break. I got some 'paperwork' looked through, and I took the boys to TKD and went to bible study, other than that... Today - I have been to town already and took Tommy to get his hair cut and picked up refills for the supplements and a few groceries, and that was all done before 9:45! Emma is eating her breakfast and then we are going to be out the door to dig dig dig - - hoping to get the foundation blocks all in place today... I'll post a photo or two this evening, hopefully.
Monday, March 11, 2013
this and that and the other thing...
This one is going to be a little long - so I'll sort of try to keep the various topics together so if you don't want to read the whole thing, you can skip, and just read the parts you are particularly interested in.
The Truck:
The truck is back - it cost a heap of change - if anyone is interested in donating to the 'poor Canaday's' fund e-mail me! (HA!) It had to have a whole new engine. The van is still in the shop - we're glad we spent the extra last spring to get the warrantied job when they re-did the transmission then, as most Honda vans of that vintage need to have done at around 175K . Because they are essentially re-replacing the whole thing - the parts they got last year were not so great. Fortunately, THAT job is not costing us a cent. So I guess it all comes out in the wash. We're sure tired of having nothing but Lon's car to drive though. It'll be nice to get the van back and get it sold, too, and get something smaller to hop around town in, so we don't have to drive the truck everywhere. Driving Lon's car so much will make us appreciate the other rigs, though, even with all their quirkiness. The other benefit has been that Lon has been home more. That saves on gas, too, not having to drive to Nashville, and rent, as he pays by the night, where he stays now. And, it's just been nice to have him around.
The big room switch-a-roo thing, and some company: (and a cool praise)
Most of the projects are done. We ended up housing the company in Annie and Sarah's room, so that they would have their own bathroom, since they needed to get up and ready and out the door by 7 on Saturday morning. THEY ended up with car trouble while they were here. It was interesting, because she was thanking God about the whole thing. First of all, she had to come BACK to the house, after dropping the kids off at the tournament, about 40 minutes from here, and get something that her daughter had left here, that she needed for her speech. Then, when she got in the car to go for lunch, her alternator went out. She is figuring that, had she not come back here, it might have gone out on her somewhere between here and Atlanta, in the middle of the night, if she stopped to get gas or something. She was praising God for that 'trial' of having to come back here and get her daughter's things.
Back to the projects though, the new school room is working out VERY nicely, as it is now in what used to be Mayahna's bedroom. We can close the door!! So nice. And the craft stuff will fit in there quite nicely, in the closet. I'm looking forward to having that area all set up. I'll post pictures of that later.
The COB project!
But the big news is that we started in on the chicken coop!! This is our exciting Spring Break project that we have been looking forward to and WAITING (impatiently) for the weather to get nice enough for us to want to be outside. It will give us a chance to try our hand at building with cob (clay, sand, and straw - but not formed into bricks, so much as just free-form sculpted! - we want to build a HOUSE this was, eventually - this is our practice run, or one of them...) We started by digging dirt from various locations in the yard, to find out what we needed to do to it, to get it to the consistency we need.
Emma actually did that about a week ago. We dried it all out, so that we could grind it up, then discovered that the best way to get it broken up was to put it in the jars with water and a couple of marbles and SHAKE the HECK out of it!! We did that late last week. And discovered (as we suspected) that we have some great sources of clay, right in our back yard!
So, today we started digging, and got most of the trench we need to dig dug. We found some AWESOME bricks on Craig's list about two months ago. And hauled them all home. We are using them for the foundation and part of the stem wall. We also realized that because of the slight slope that it's on, we will have wonderful natural drainage to one side, so that the coop can be easily scraped out, hosed out, and cleaned, so we quickly made plans to move the door, from centered on the side facing the house, to on the corner of the down-hill side. It's gonna be perfect! We might have gotten a bit more done today, but due to all that lovely clay, Lon was using the pick-ax to break up the soil and on one of his back-swings bounced it off of a guy-wire we have strung for the hawk-protection system and it slammed right back down, and into his head, and knocked him to the ground. He didn't gasp, or cry out or anything, I'm not even entirely sure why I turned around, maybe I heard him hit the ground... anyway, there he was, laying on the ground! He didn't go unconscious or anything, and he didn't even really bleed that bad, surprisingly!
But he sure had a head-ache the rest o the day, and we kept an eye on his pupils, to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to do. We did put some steri-stips on it, too, just to minimize the scar a bit, hopefully. What the picture doesn't show, is that there is also an abrasion, just at the top of the picture, right on the hair-line, about the size of a nickle, and also, this picture was taken pretty quickly after it happened, it swelled up quite a lot more before the day was done - he has two nice goose-eggs, and he's probably gonna have a shiner - but we are BLESSED that it was not a bit further to the left!! (OH my!) We took a long break from digging, we ran some errands, and did some inside chores and he worked on replacing the breaks on the truck. At one point he was waiting for Sarah to get back, so that he could run and get a tool he needed, and so we went back out and worked on digging a bit more (after removing the guy-wire!) And discovered that the chickens were having a GRAND time with all the dirt we had dug up and all the yummy bugs and worms they were finding in it.
We were actually having to shoo them out from under-foot, so that we could work!! Annie shot some video of it, and I'll try to get it posted to you-tube and link it here. So, even with the mis-haps, and a rather slow start on the day, we still got a bunch done, and in the evening we started a game of Civilization, too, since it's spring break, and we won't be needing the school table for school work for a few days. (another GREAT reason to have a door that can close on the school room!)
It was too dark to take pictures of how far we got today, when we finished up, and it's likely to be rainy tomorrow, but I'll post some photos, asap, of how far we got, and better shots of the full work-sight, too, hopefully. To give you a better idea of where we are and so you can see the nice slope, and all...
Oh - and the promised pictures of Logan... he and Lilly are getting along quite well, and he even gets along pretty well with both of the dogs...
The Truck:
The truck is back - it cost a heap of change - if anyone is interested in donating to the 'poor Canaday's' fund e-mail me! (HA!) It had to have a whole new engine. The van is still in the shop - we're glad we spent the extra last spring to get the warrantied job when they re-did the transmission then, as most Honda vans of that vintage need to have done at around 175K . Because they are essentially re-replacing the whole thing - the parts they got last year were not so great. Fortunately, THAT job is not costing us a cent. So I guess it all comes out in the wash. We're sure tired of having nothing but Lon's car to drive though. It'll be nice to get the van back and get it sold, too, and get something smaller to hop around town in, so we don't have to drive the truck everywhere. Driving Lon's car so much will make us appreciate the other rigs, though, even with all their quirkiness. The other benefit has been that Lon has been home more. That saves on gas, too, not having to drive to Nashville, and rent, as he pays by the night, where he stays now. And, it's just been nice to have him around.
The big room switch-a-roo thing, and some company: (and a cool praise)
Most of the projects are done. We ended up housing the company in Annie and Sarah's room, so that they would have their own bathroom, since they needed to get up and ready and out the door by 7 on Saturday morning. THEY ended up with car trouble while they were here. It was interesting, because she was thanking God about the whole thing. First of all, she had to come BACK to the house, after dropping the kids off at the tournament, about 40 minutes from here, and get something that her daughter had left here, that she needed for her speech. Then, when she got in the car to go for lunch, her alternator went out. She is figuring that, had she not come back here, it might have gone out on her somewhere between here and Atlanta, in the middle of the night, if she stopped to get gas or something. She was praising God for that 'trial' of having to come back here and get her daughter's things.
Back to the projects though, the new school room is working out VERY nicely, as it is now in what used to be Mayahna's bedroom. We can close the door!! So nice. And the craft stuff will fit in there quite nicely, in the closet. I'm looking forward to having that area all set up. I'll post pictures of that later.
The COB project!
Emma actually did that about a week ago. We dried it all out, so that we could grind it up, then discovered that the best way to get it broken up was to put it in the jars with water and a couple of marbles and SHAKE the HECK out of it!! We did that late last week. And discovered (as we suspected) that we have some great sources of clay, right in our back yard! So, today we started digging, and got most of the trench we need to dig dug. We found some AWESOME bricks on Craig's list about two months ago. And hauled them all home. We are using them for the foundation and part of the stem wall. We also realized that because of the slight slope that it's on, we will have wonderful natural drainage to one side, so that the coop can be easily scraped out, hosed out, and cleaned, so we quickly made plans to move the door, from centered on the side facing the house, to on the corner of the down-hill side. It's gonna be perfect! We might have gotten a bit more done today, but due to all that lovely clay, Lon was using the pick-ax to break up the soil and on one of his back-swings bounced it off of a guy-wire we have strung for the hawk-protection system and it slammed right back down, and into his head, and knocked him to the ground. He didn't gasp, or cry out or anything, I'm not even entirely sure why I turned around, maybe I heard him hit the ground... anyway, there he was, laying on the ground! He didn't go unconscious or anything, and he didn't even really bleed that bad, surprisingly!
But he sure had a head-ache the rest o the day, and we kept an eye on his pupils, to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to do. We did put some steri-stips on it, too, just to minimize the scar a bit, hopefully. What the picture doesn't show, is that there is also an abrasion, just at the top of the picture, right on the hair-line, about the size of a nickle, and also, this picture was taken pretty quickly after it happened, it swelled up quite a lot more before the day was done - he has two nice goose-eggs, and he's probably gonna have a shiner - but we are BLESSED that it was not a bit further to the left!! (OH my!) We took a long break from digging, we ran some errands, and did some inside chores and he worked on replacing the breaks on the truck. At one point he was waiting for Sarah to get back, so that he could run and get a tool he needed, and so we went back out and worked on digging a bit more (after removing the guy-wire!) And discovered that the chickens were having a GRAND time with all the dirt we had dug up and all the yummy bugs and worms they were finding in it.
We were actually having to shoo them out from under-foot, so that we could work!! Annie shot some video of it, and I'll try to get it posted to you-tube and link it here. So, even with the mis-haps, and a rather slow start on the day, we still got a bunch done, and in the evening we started a game of Civilization, too, since it's spring break, and we won't be needing the school table for school work for a few days. (another GREAT reason to have a door that can close on the school room!)
It was too dark to take pictures of how far we got today, when we finished up, and it's likely to be rainy tomorrow, but I'll post some photos, asap, of how far we got, and better shots of the full work-sight, too, hopefully. To give you a better idea of where we are and so you can see the nice slope, and all...
Oh - and the promised pictures of Logan... he and Lilly are getting along quite well, and he even gets along pretty well with both of the dogs...
 |
| How many animals can you fit into one sun-spot? |
 | |
| Playing checkers with Tommy - who's winning? |
Thursday, March 7, 2013
making SOME progress
Found out last night that some of the company coming 'this weekend' is actually coming tonight! Fortunately it's another family that is BIG (bigger than ours) and only part of them are coming, but because they are a big family, I know they understand about chaos.
We have the school stuff mostly settled into it's new space. Mayahna is mostly settled into her new space. The family room is mostly set up in the old living room space. The new living room needs some work, but that's going to have to wait till Emma is ready to give up the couch. The Christmas stuff is all settled into the closet under the stairs. Along with all the other 'decorating' things that I have for other holidays. I was pleased that so much fit in there so easily. There is even room to move them around as I look for things to put out as the new holidays roll through.
I'm a little concerned that all the craft stuff will not fit into the craft closet, and already know that the stamps are NOT going to fit in there, but we will at least get them down from upstairs. I think they will fit into our bedroom closet, in part of the place where the craft stuff used to be. The blankets/linens all need to go in there too, so we'll see.
Today I need to finish working in Mayahna's room. The guest bed is covered with clothes that need to be sorted and stored for her, when she gets a bit bigger. And Emma still has some stuff in there that needs to be sorted out. The company that is coming tonight is not staying in there, so I can finish that up tomorrow. hopefully.
On the truck - it is supposed to be done today. I'm feeling a tad anxious about the bill. Apparently there was also a broken engine mount. Which makes me wonder how much the whole thing is going to come to. I am still just REALLY kicking myself for not MAKING us take the time to go get it checked out by an independent mechanic before we bought. That was the plan, but we just didn't do it. STUPID. Please keep me in your prayers that I can continue to trust God to care for our needs through this. It was not a surprise to Him.
The van actually has me more concerned than the truck at the moment. They have had it for nearly three weeks now. They put in a new transmission last spring, and it was acting up again just a few months later, and finally forced the issue about a month ago and we took it back in. Fortunately it was a warranted part and they are 'fixing' it for free, but the last time Lon talked to them they were basically saying "we have replaced everything we know to replace and it's STILL got issues" - my mind is going places like 'What if they can't fix it? $9000 down the drain.' We were planning to sell that van to pay off the truck and hopefully pick up another smallish car, to save on gas, so we dont' have to drive the truck everywhere. If it is toast... I guess I need to stop playing 'what if' games and just exercise my faith muscles. Finding that a bit challenging today. that's all.
need to get school started for the day - so I'm going to post this now, and edit it later - sorry for the typos if there were any.
We have the school stuff mostly settled into it's new space. Mayahna is mostly settled into her new space. The family room is mostly set up in the old living room space. The new living room needs some work, but that's going to have to wait till Emma is ready to give up the couch. The Christmas stuff is all settled into the closet under the stairs. Along with all the other 'decorating' things that I have for other holidays. I was pleased that so much fit in there so easily. There is even room to move them around as I look for things to put out as the new holidays roll through.
I'm a little concerned that all the craft stuff will not fit into the craft closet, and already know that the stamps are NOT going to fit in there, but we will at least get them down from upstairs. I think they will fit into our bedroom closet, in part of the place where the craft stuff used to be. The blankets/linens all need to go in there too, so we'll see.
Today I need to finish working in Mayahna's room. The guest bed is covered with clothes that need to be sorted and stored for her, when she gets a bit bigger. And Emma still has some stuff in there that needs to be sorted out. The company that is coming tonight is not staying in there, so I can finish that up tomorrow. hopefully.
On the truck - it is supposed to be done today. I'm feeling a tad anxious about the bill. Apparently there was also a broken engine mount. Which makes me wonder how much the whole thing is going to come to. I am still just REALLY kicking myself for not MAKING us take the time to go get it checked out by an independent mechanic before we bought. That was the plan, but we just didn't do it. STUPID. Please keep me in your prayers that I can continue to trust God to care for our needs through this. It was not a surprise to Him.
The van actually has me more concerned than the truck at the moment. They have had it for nearly three weeks now. They put in a new transmission last spring, and it was acting up again just a few months later, and finally forced the issue about a month ago and we took it back in. Fortunately it was a warranted part and they are 'fixing' it for free, but the last time Lon talked to them they were basically saying "we have replaced everything we know to replace and it's STILL got issues" - my mind is going places like 'What if they can't fix it? $9000 down the drain.' We were planning to sell that van to pay off the truck and hopefully pick up another smallish car, to save on gas, so we dont' have to drive the truck everywhere. If it is toast... I guess I need to stop playing 'what if' games and just exercise my faith muscles. Finding that a bit challenging today. that's all.
need to get school started for the day - so I'm going to post this now, and edit it later - sorry for the typos if there were any.
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