The Chronicles of Janie

Yesterday, Mom and I explored the depths of our enormous white beast of a chest freezer. It was like opening a time capsule. Visions of past butchering days floated through my mind as I pulled out chops, roasts, and stomachs. "I remember packaging this hamburger." I commented. "Holy cow! Is that my handwriting? It's so sloppy! Oh, wait, this meat was packaged back in '06; that was a bad handwriting year for me." We uncovered several packages of pork chops that I had searched vainly for on Monday, and a number of truly venerable, freezer-burned chickens. I blessed the dogs with a very old pork hock, but from their doubtful sniffing, I'm not sure that they thought it much of a blessing. I know you'll probably think me rather morbid, but I have always regarded butchering days as a lot of fun. I enjoy chopping meat in Chester's drafty butcher shop while Chester, Carrie, Joe and Charissa discuss and solve the problems of the world and the kidd...

I added some ornamentation to my Scottish tam, and felt so proud of it that I had to take a picture. The turkey feathers are courtesy of Richmond. I have seemingly become fascinated with fences. :) Here a few nature photos. Milkweed I'm not sure what kind of berries these are. They look rather like poison ivy, but they're not. (I hope)! One of our majestic pine trees

'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.' Psalm 46:10 I was frustrated with God. I kept asking Him questions that seemed, to me at least, to be important, and He didn't answer. Then one day, He showed me the reason why. I kept asking Him a question and then promptly busying my mind with other things. Not bad things, but things that distracted me from listening to God. The CD player, an absorbing novel, the newest story I was writing, and, when I wasn't being externally distracted, my mind was racing a mile a minute. I was blocking God out. God often has to work pretty hard to get through to me, even when I'm not listening to my music. Sometimes I reflect that the 'still small voice' is usually more of a full-bodied shout. In this world of diversions and entertainments, it's easy to ignore Him. I spend my 15-30 minutes of devotion time (when I'm not too busy), and then forget about li...

On Thursday, the neighbor's horses were grazing close to our house. I grabbed my camera (well, it's not actually mine), and sallied forth to take some pictures. The evening light was not exactly conducive to great picture quality, so I apologize that some of the shots turned out a little 'grainy'.               'Ello! 'Ello! 'Ello!                   The same tree that I posted a picture of earlier. Richmond, goofing off with a flashlight.

Today, I took advantage of a gorgeous morning to wander around and snap a few pictures. I was so happy to see the sun again after lots and lots and LOTS of rain and clouds. Goldenrod                For some reason, this picture makes me think of a Celtic Tree of Life. Bittersweet