The Steamer Trunk

On the outside it was beautiful... a thing to desire. The delicately carved wood told the story of hands that took pride in their work. The patina on the hardware gave evidence of its age. and yet only added to its beauty. In spite of all its delicateness, it was dotted with dings and gouges that appeared as badges of strength. It looked as though it could continue on through endless voyages, riding on crested waves, being packed onto trains, off to every exotic adventure under the sun. Every eye that glanced its way felt envy. Although not quite majestic, it appeared a symbol of success.

I opened the lid to an atrocious contrast. Whatever care had been taken of the external wood had not been bestowed upon the inside. The stench of mildew arose from the darkness. The frayed remains of a once-elegant fabric lay crumbled in the bottom. Why had it never been crafted into a luxurious ball gown? Maps that led to nowhere were yellowed and disintegrating, their purpose never fulfilled, the journey never taken. The framework, once square and straight, revealed well-worn edges as they bowed under the strain of time.

Such a life...

3 days old and counting...

Well, the babies have been here for forty-eight hours and all are still alive! Thursday, there was one that we didn't think would make it, but now we can't tell which one it was... That's a good sign. We've read and been told that you can plan on losing a certain percentage right off the bat. So I guess we're pretty lucky. If you call having seventy-five chicks in your garage lucky!

Good Friday

I just got home from our Good Friday service at church. It was humbling... Humbling to think of what Jesus went through for me, for us. To spend any block of time with only that focus is an experience that really draws us closer to God.

The sanctuary was dimly lit with candles across a table in front. Right behind the table was a rustic cross holding a crown of thorns and draped in a black cloth. The music pastor and his wife who led the singing with him, were off to the side and dressed in black. The mood was solemn as we heard scripture and sang songs about the cross and the crucifixion.

This was not an Easter celebration. There was no mention of the joy of the resurrection. The purpose was to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus offered for us. As each speaker read their scripture and said a prayer, they blew out a candle until there remained only one. The last scripture was read by the principal of our Nazarene school. As he exited the platform and walked to the remaining lit candle, we all expected him to lean and blow it out. But instead, he picked up the candle and carried it down the aisle and out of the sanctuary. I felt the symbolism was that our Light had left us, although temporary.

Most of the time I contemplate the crucifixion, I think about the physical pain that Jesus endured. But what about His followers' pain? Can you imagine how they felt? Here was a man whom they believed was God in the flesh, Who spoke of eternal life, and yet He was now dead!

Jesus gives us strength and holds us up. What if we suddenly felt that He was gone? What if the whole foundation of our faith was pulled out from under our feet? I can't imagine the anguish I would feel if Jesus was taken from me. Yet, that is what His early followers went through on that terrible day. I can understand... To watch someone hanging, nailed to a cross, seeing Him breathe His last breath, would we, at that moment, understand His promise to rise on the third day? Could we fathom the reality of that?

landscaping a goat house

Some farm people might think it strange to waste time landscaping a goat house. Well, our goat house is directly in front of our home. When I sit in my rocking chair and look out across the front yard, this is what I see. So it's a bit fancier than the standard struction most people would have for their goats.

We bought a 12x16 garden shed, complete with a shuttered window. I added a solar porch light just for ambience. The front door is for people, the back door for goats. The inside is divided off with a fence, gate and their feed trough. They are free to run in and out anytime they please. The fence runs off both sides of the shed so they cannot get to the front of their house.

I had planted a couple of shrubs by it two years ago. The one under the window looked so lovely in the summer with its eight-foot branches blowing in the wind, I didn't want to prune it. So the man that is helping me with the yard work dug up the bush and replanted it out in the yard. It looks much better in its new location. But then I had nothing in front of the goat house to dress it up. I decided the Japanese bloodgrass that I had such a large supply of, would look splendid across the front.

I dug out the remaining grass from in front of the shed and filled a row with two wheel-barrow loads of the grass. I also added several clumps to the corner on the other side of the double doors. This grass gets about eighteen to twenty-four inches tall and is a lovely green on the bottom and deep burgundy on the top. I placed an old bird bath behind the grass to fill the 'blank-wall' area. The grass is not yet cut back, as there isn't new growth yet. I can't wait to see it in the summer! Later I will add a trellis and some ivy to the side that I can see from our porch. If I didn't have the goats this would be the lovely little writer's cottage I've dreamed of...

As usual, Sadie has to get her butt in every shot! You can see a sillouette of Derby inside...

IT'S A GIRL!

Matter of fact, fifty girls for sure! Another twenty-five could be either girls or boys.

As usual, I was up past 1am last night. By 5:30 I was sleeping soundly, when suddenly a rude noise jolted me awake! The phone? Who would be calling at 5:30 in the morning? The United States Postal Service, that's who. They called to say Hubby's baby chicks had arrived and could he please come pick them up. NOW?

I tried desparately to return to lala land. But once Hubby's babies were all safe and sound in the garage, his excitement kept me from it. I know he was disappointed that I didn't make the journey to the garage until it was time to feed the dog. I know what chicks look like. Yeah, they're cute. They're also dirty, nasty birds that lay delicious eggs!

The hens we have now (plus one remaining rooster - the other rooster was tough) were given to us when they were about six months old. They didn't require all the special care and equipment. And so our journey begins...

This is Hubby's set-up. We had a roll of aluminum just the perfect size to form the pen. He drilled holes at the top edge and tied the sides together with bailing twine to keep it in a nice oval. We already had one heat lamp from when the goats were babies. He bought a second one and some more waterers and a couple of feeders.
He probably put more anxiety-filled preparation into this project than he did for his children's birth! All week he has been testing his heating ability - to get the enclosure up to ninety-five degrees. Thank goodness we're heating with wood now instead of propane.

The chicks came in three separate boxes. One box of twenty-five 'Easter-egg' hens (they lay bluish-green eggs), one box of custom mixed hens (five different breeds, five of each), and a bonus box of twenty-five free chicks. They may be any breed, either sex. The free ones ended up being black with white bottoms. Cute!

The first thing he had to do was take each chick and dip it's beak into the water to teach them where it is. We were going to band the legs to identify which was which, but their little legs are so tiny, we were afraid we would cripple them with the bands. Besides, their markings at this age are distinguished enough to tell them apart.

About six months from now we'll be up to our eyeballs in eggs! We hope to sell enough to pay for the feed. We'll keep what we need and donate the rest to the local food bank or our church. Stay 'tuned' for future updates on our life with chickens.

progress in the garden

Now that I've got all the irises back in the ground, I'm focusing on the Japanese bloodgrass. It is a medium-height grass. The top half of its soft blades are deep red. When I planted it, I didn't know it was so invasive! I only bought three six-inch pots and divided them. I put a little beside each boulder in my main garden. It got to where you couldn't see the boulders!

I worked out a trade deal with a handyman to help me with some heavy work. He dug up all the grass (and irises) for me. Now it's in two big piles waiting to be replanted in different locations.

The two arrows in this first picture point to what is left of the piles he dug up. The X marks my almost diminished much pile. The yellow line is a rough outline of where my garden will curve around the front of the house. The lower right corner shows where the rocks will border on the gravel drive's parking area. I really need to post a video to show this well. The picture below is a close-up of the border by the gravel driveway. It is wide here, but will taper down as it leaves the driveway area. I'm using the big rocks to trap the bloodgrass. I'm not putting any back in the middle of the garden where it is harder to control without disturbing my other plants. I learned my lesson!

The arrow in this next picture is where the concrete drive meets the gravel. The yellow line illustrates the curve of the concrete up the slope. The pile of smooth rocks to the left of the arrow are just piled there. They won't be in the finished border. The ground-covers in the center top of this picture will be spread on down the slope to fill in around the plants I am adding. About where the tree is at the center top is where the concrete drive meets the sidewalk that leads around to the front porch. I stained it the color of our decks.

Couldn't resist putting in a few pics of Sadie... She's my yellow lab. We adopted her a year ago. She is lying next to the 'sitting' rock. Last week I finished (almost) this iris bed. I added stepping stones to define the pathway. Hopefully it will inspire people (grandkids) to not walk through the flowers! The yellow X marks the side of the ugly green transformer box. It will later be surrounded by the picket fence. I hope these bulbs thrive despite the freezes we've had the last two nights. I have way too many plants to cover everything! And we get a lot of wind here. It would be hard to keep them covered. Behind, and just to the left of the wheel-barrow is a willow bush. That is where all these bulbs used to be. The shrub grew much faster than I anticipated! It was a baby one and one-half years ago... Now it's eight feet tall!
This is the angle at which you would approach the house. The picket fence does a nice job of camouflaging the big green box. There is several more feet of this garden to the left with another smaller boulder. This is directly opposite the corner where the new rocks and grass are.

Just had to put one more of Sadie.

Here she is listening to me for a change!
Here you can see the parking area in the top right corner and the concrete drive at the bottom. I have the rocks sweeping around the corner. The arrows mark some of the grass surrounded by the rocks. Ignore the mess. I clean when I'm done.


Notice the big bare spot where the grass used to be. This pile is as big as a large bathroom and is only half of what he dug up! Remember, it all started with three six-inch pots!

I added some small patches where the arrows are. (Will put one where the X is tomorrow.) I'll be sure to keep my eye on it and not let it get out-of-hand here. This corner is topped with jelly-pebbles. Notice my little sack-race kids. A lovely gift from my mother-in-law. The tree is a weeping cherry. I have drain tile around the base until it gets older because I have six cats! It's in the perfect spot for a scratching post! The cats love sunning themselves on the boulders.

This is the same corner at a different angle. I already cut this grass back for spring.

Still waiting on new growth. I hoped it survived being on top of the ground for so long. The rock border separates the jelly-pebbles from the mulch and ground covers. Notice the color of the sidewalk.

This circle marks where they dug up this patch of grass. See why we couldn't see the boulders? The green plant is a rescue... My best friend dug it up to make room for some of the bulbs I took her. When I saw them laid on the ground, I brought them home and planted them. They don't look that healthy, do they...

This is what's left of one pile. I took two big loads down to a friend already!

More bare spots where the grass used to be. This picture was taken from my front porch. In the lower left corner you'll see more rocks. There is a rock garden across the front of the porch. It is filled with jelly-pebbles, larger rocks and more of the little kids playing.

After I get the porch repainted this summer, I'll post pics showing everything in full color. The concrete porch is a mustard yellow. The colors in this part of the garden are green, yellow, and deep burgundy-red. The house is pale yellow with white trim and green shutters.

When I do the video of the garden, I'll be sure to include the view I have while sitting in my rocking chair. Ah, one of my favorite spots!