Monthly Archives: February 2016

29 02, 2016

Before Sunrise – A Love Story

By |2016-02-04T11:07:03-06:00February 29th, 2016|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

All this month I’ve blogged about love and things I love. What better way to end the month and lead into next month where the theme will be all things Irish.

This short film, written by Kealan O’Rourke and produced by Trinity University, Dublin, is unique love story and so very Irish. It’s about shadow creatures that play throughout the night in a fairy tale village. One particular shadow is tired of his mischievous life and discovers something altogether more magical.

Enjoy!

24 02, 2016

February Words of Love

By |2016-02-27T14:12:43-06:00February 24th, 2016|Holidays|1 Comment

flower heartthe greatest refreshment in life. ~Pablo Picasso

a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination. ~Voltaire

a game that two can play and both win. ~Eva Gabor

an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. ~Robert Frost

a single soul inhabiting two bodies. ~Aristotle

I’ll end this month of love quotes with the reprise from “You are Sixteen” from Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music, which says it all.

A bell is no bell ’til you ring it,
A song is no song ’til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay –
Love isn’t love
‘Til you give it away.

22 02, 2016

Five Reasons I Love Early Morning

By |2016-02-04T11:00:54-06:00February 22nd, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

I’m an early riser. Always have been.

I believe the trait stems from growing up with five people in a one-bedroom/one bathroom house. In those crucial teen years when bathroom time is paramount, a little brother arrived in the family. Six people had to share the one bath.

With two working parents, early morning bathroom time was a premium. Sick of the constant arguments, Daddy allocated use times.

Being the oldest child, I was granted first in line morning time with the 5 a.m. to 5:15 time slot. That lucky draw meant, if I got up even earlier, I’d have more than fifteen minutes. During my high school years when rushing to dress was not an option, I’d head to the bathroom sometime in the 4:00 and 4:30 range.

And thus began my love affair with early morning.

When I grew up and married, the hour I woke up depended on me. I still choose the early morning hours. These days, the exact time varies. In summer, it’s earlier than winter. But, I’m always up before the sun rises.

These are five reasons I love early morning.

It’s a brand new day. ~A fresh start. A clean slate. There’s no better feeling!

The house is quiet. ~The hustle and bustle of daily life hasn’t begun. Yet. I read somewhere that our brains need quiet awaking to function as it should. I need it.

 I can read Proverbs undisturbed. ~Did you know there’s a chapter of Proverbs for every day of a month? I find it amazing how the verses can so accurately related to my life. My daily reading offers a tangible realization of God’s comfort and protection.

 The dogs and I can share a morning walk before the rest of the human world awakes. ~Living in the forest, it’s hard to wake before the animals so we’re never totally alone. The birds chirp. The rabbits scurry around. Deer and turkey munch of trees and grass. Some mornings we meet other early risers with their dogs. Toby and Buster have an impromptu play date greeting their doggie friends.

 The sunrise. ~I never tire of seeing the dark sky brighten into lapis and pink and tangerine and ruby and gold all at the same time as the sun rises above the mountains. Every morning there’s a new and different formation as the gentle swoosh of night giving way to daylight sweeps over us.sunrise

sunrise2No two sunrises are alike.Neither are two days ever alike.

That’s the main reason I love early mornings.

19 02, 2016

New Game on Miller Farm

By |2016-02-18T11:33:18-06:00February 19th, 2016|Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

By Chicken Wrangler SaraSara avatar-2

Rachel’s new coop design for her color project seems to be working well. Everyone is staying where they belong. coops by Rachel

A side benefit is that it has provided me with a new game. I call it “Chicken Coop Skee Ball” after the arcade game where you roll the ball into a series of circles to earn points.

skeet gameI stand in the grass outside the chicken yard and throw food (bread, bruised fruit, etc) into each of the six separate chicken runs.

Sometimes it takes me several tries to get it into the furthest one. I’m trying to see if I can get food into each run with only six throws.

It is nice to be so easily entertained.

17 02, 2016

Presidents Day Quotes

By |2016-01-30T16:27:09-06:00February 17th, 2016|Wednesday Words of Wisdom|2 Comments

Last Monday we celebrated President’s Day. Most people look at the day as a tribute to all who have ever served in the office of the President.

Those of you as old as me will remember we used to honor only two presidential birthdays in February — George Washington on February 22 and Abraham Lincoln on February 16. Modern day President’s Day falls between those two birthdays.

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Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday was Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday will be Monday, I offer these Wednesday words of wisdom from both two presidents.

George Washington (1789-1797)

“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.”

 

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Wikimedia

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
“A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the [yet] unsolved ones.”
–September 30, 1859 Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society

15 02, 2016

Poems of love to love

By |2018-02-01T14:55:52-06:00February 15th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Poetry is popular around Valentine’s Day. I am not a poetry writer, but I do have favorite love poems.Love wordsIn this picture, you see poetry and sayings that have special meaning for my husband and me. They hang in our bedroom along with our original wedding invitation.

The first is a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, written in 1845 to her husband, Robert. On a trip to Paris, I had silhouettes done at Montmartre Art Colony then framed with the poem penned in calligraphy.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
~Sonnet XLIII found in Sonnets From the Portuguese by Elizabeth B. Browning

On the left of the Browning poem is an anniversary gift plaque with words from First Corinthians 13. Wise words on love written around 56 A.D. by Paul to the Christians at Corinth.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

The last plaque in the wall grouping, though not a poem, always brings a smile and giggle for the truth it shares about married life.

This marriage was made in heaven,
but so was thunder and lightning.

What about you? Do you have a special love poem or a saying on love you’d share in the comments section?

12 02, 2016

Day? Month? Year?

By |2016-02-10T21:31:05-06:00February 12th, 2016|Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler SaraSara avatar

I started using a planner a couple of years ago. It is a weekly planner with room to make lists on every day.

I confess, I am one of those people who writes things I have already done on the list just so I can cross them off.

This year I chose one with a boring cover. I never see the cover anyway. I always keep it open to the current week.planner

At least I thought I did.

This year I was a little late getting the planner. I didn’t really need to keep lists during the holidays so I forgot all about having a planner – until school started. Then I needed to write things down.

So I opened the planner and started writing things down. All was fine until we started discussing which day of the week was actually Valentine’s Day. I looked at my planner and then realized I was not only in the wrong month but was actually in the wrong year.

My planner is a 16th month planner. It starts in August 2015 a fact I totally missed until nearly the middle of February.

Oh, well, at least I was making lists and crossing things off. Of course I could do that on notebook paper and ditch planners altogether.

8 02, 2016

Valentines – the mirrors of romance

By |2016-02-05T10:41:48-06:00February 8th, 2016|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

Next Sunday will be Valentine’s Day.

You may feel the greeting card companies, jewelers, and florist have forced the holiday upon us. The day has certainly been commercialized. Consumers are predicted to spend close to nineteen billion dollars this year.

As a romance writer, I prefer to believe we celebrate the day because we value what a day emphasizing love and romance can do for relationships. Having such a special day focused on love and loved ones provides the opportunity to:

~ ignite new relationships with romantic gestures
~renew an old love gone stale with a dose of romance

Many of us use valentines to express our feelings. That’s why I say, valentines are the mirrors of romance.

Supposedly, Saint Valentine began the valentine practice when he cut hearts from parchment, giving them to the soldiers and persecuted Christians to “remind them of God’s love and to encourage them to remain faithful Christians.” He’s the saint that defied Emperor Claudius’ edict forbidding priests to marry couples and ended up in prison. A prison guard’s daughter formed a friendship with Valentine and on the day he was martyred he left her a note signed, “Love from your Valentine.”

Source: http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/Mass-produced valentines begin appearing in the 1840s. Esther A. Howland is considered the Mother of Valentines in America. Inspired by an English Valentine she received, she created elaborate cards from scraps of real lace, ribbons, and colorful pictures.

You’ll find a large collection of her valentines in The American Antiquarian Society in Worcester.

Postcards with romantic scenes and messages were also popular in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, the tradition of sending Valentine postcards died as the use of postcards for personal correspondence faded.

These are samples from my collection of vintage holiday postcards. valentine postcards

A modern day variation of postcards is found in the cute valentines schoolchildren share on Valentines’ Day.

In my opinion, of all the commercial choices of valentines, the homemade ones are the most special.

YOUR TURN: Will send a valentine to your sweetheart this year?

5 02, 2016

Chickens Don’t Do Change

By |2016-02-04T10:09:59-06:00February 5th, 2016|Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

Sara avatarA blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Rachel has decided to do what she calls a “color project” with her bantam chickens. She has built six separate runs and has put specific roosters with specific hens to try to get certain colors of birds.

This would make a great 4H or FFA project however, we have never participated in any farming organization. I believe Rachel would have excelled at it.chicken pensThe weather here has been unseasonably warm and Rachel was able to spend one afternoon building the runs. It took longer than she had anticipated but she is pleased with the results.

The chickens, on the other hand, are less than impressed. After chasing them around and gathering the predetermined groups, Rachel went inside to shower. The chickens then began escaping from their new homes.

One rooster flew up to the fence. fleeing rosterI guess he was checking out the other runs to see if he had the best accommodations.

The oldest bantams left their run altogether and have returned to their old coop. They even laid their eggs under it. Apparently some things are not meant to change.hens at old coop

The weather turned cold again so Rachel left well enough alone. This weekend, however, she and Beekeeper Brian will try to reinforce the runs and convince the chickens that change is good.

I’ll let you know how that goes.

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