Grammys Corgi Country

Getting ready to go on a big trip for a few weeks is really a pain! I’m sure it will be fine once I get there, but I have never liked the getting ready part… trying to remember all of the things that might come up and make arrangements to cover them… Getting things cleaned, folded and packed… and for me, it is so hard to look at my dogs and horses and contemplate leaving my babies for any length of time. It just really tears me up.

I’ve been around animals since I was born… My parents always had dogs… In fact, that is how they met when they were 9 years old (They were born within 6 months of each other). My dad’s little white Pomeranian went to visit my mom’s little dog. They became friends, and he would go over at 4 in the morning to help her chop wood and get their stove going so she could make the tortillas for the day, and she would give him some for his family too. That was in 1929 and the early 30’s, when food was scarce for a family whose father had died of pneumonia 3 years earlier.

They always had dogs, and got my first dog for me when I was 6 months old. She was a little half-dead Chihuahua/Doxie mix. They got her fixed up and I had my Bootsie until she passed when I was 11. By that time, I also had a german shepherd and one of Bootsie’s pups, Bootie, while my mom had her dog, and my dad has his.

Over the years, my dad brought home all sorts of other animals as well. We had rats, and snakes… rabbits, raccoons, a skunk, and a raven (from the time when he was a featherless nestling until he passed at the age of 25 years old) among many others. He was able to get me a horse for me for my 11th birthday, and helped me train her and learn to ride. He taught me to go to the older people at the stables where we kept my Ladybug, and to listen to the older, experienced horsemen to learn about horses… their handling, care, and training.

Anyway, the only time I haven’t been around dogs is during the time I was in Bible College for a couple of years, and then I had a big stuffed dog that I kept in my dorm room to hug and pet. I believe that is one reason I’ve always had really good blood pressure… Researchers have proven that having a pet and just sitting there stroking it helps people to calm down, relieves stress, and lowers blood pressure. That is the main reason why more and more nursing homes are allowing animals in to visit patients… and lowered stress hormones also helps speed healing.

At least the last time I visited my son a couple of years ago, he did have a dog, so I won’t be “dogless,” and that is some consolation. (Maybe I can hide a corgi in my carryon… What do you think?)

Take some time doing something that will help you find calmness and peace today…

Today I turned on the television to my favorite channel to watch the 700 Club on TBN and all I got was snow. Snow is ok… in small amounts at a time… on the ground… once or twice a winter, but I don’t like blizzard conditions on my television set! I like to watch this Christian television channel to make sure I get good stuff going into my brain, and not so much of the depressing or junk things that are on so many of the other channels. My son went up onto the roof and adjusted the antenna until we could at least watch and hear that channel until the show was over.

When we finished watching the 700 Club, he checked the rest of the stations that we usually get, and they were all a mess. Some you could see a little bit, while others were completely gone, so we (my son mostly) spent most of the day, working on our VERY old, decrepit television antenna. He has “mickey moused” it many times over the 18 years that we have lived here, but with the rust and wind bending wires, etc. we were afraid that it had decided to “bite the dust” this time.

He worked on it for almost 5 hours, and a lot of that time, I had to be standing at the door with the channel changer. I would flip through the channels, while he worked on the roof, twisting and turning the conglomeration of wiring he has been creating to bring in the “over the air” channels, and to see where the best reception was for each one, while I called up the results to him.

At one point, about half way through, he thought he had it, and came in to the living room to check some wiring and connections in here to see if maybe that was why he couldn’t get it all exactly right. While he was doing that, something happened and it all messed up again. Boy was he frustrated… (he’d already had a frustrating morning working on the truck which isn’t starting right, and finding 2 more small waterleaks.) Finally, he ended up figuring out that one of the wires in the cable had broken, and he was able to take off the bad part and rehook things up so that it works alright now.

As I mentioned in my blog of a couple of days ago, I have been thinking a lot about how important it is to be reading my Bible every day because it shines the light of God’s Truth into my life so that I can stay on a safe path. Today, I started thinking about the old antenna, and how we really haven’t paid much attention to it (like keeping the guy wires taut for proper support, etc.), so the winds have bent it back and forth over the years, and the rains have cause parts of it to rust. Because of this, something broke, and it could no longer conduct the proper signals into the television.

The Bible says in Philippians 4:8 “ whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable… if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.” If we keep our spiritual bodies strong and in good condition by putting good things into our brains, they won’t have “broken wires” in them and we will be able to “conduct” good examples that will bring good, clear messages to those around us. I’ve mentioned before, I think that modeling good things is the best way to draw others into a better, more healthy way of thinking and, hopefully, living.

May noble, pure, lovely, and admirable things surround your lives today…

Today, I had a doctor’s appointment in the late afternoon and we got home about an hour after dark… to a completely dark house… It turns out that somehow (the electric company didn’t say) the power lines were down and it would be several hours before they got them running again. No electricity, no computer… AND, since we don’t have gas out here, NO anything else either (like a way to cook, etc.)

Of course, we have backup plans, like an emergency, battery-powered light that is plugged in at all times and automatically comes on if the power goes off. It lasts about an hour, so we had time to run around and gather up the candles, flashlights and hurricane lamps that we also keep for emergencies.

I made a quick dinner of cold sandwiches and then went out and fed the horses. The flood lights for the back were off, so for a while, I had to juggle a flashlight and the hay, but at least I HAD a flashlight and hay to feed. While I was out there, my son started to come out to help, but he got his foot caught on something and took a pretty hard fall off the step from the washroom into the enclosed patio. He got bloodied up, even through his clothes, on his arm and knee, and pulled some muscles in his calf and the back of his knee, but did come out anyway and help me feed.

We came back in, hunted up the emergency First Aid kit, got him cleaned up and then settled in the recliner chair in the living room with an ice pack on his knee and some ibuprofen to, hopefully, help keep his knee from becoming to inflamed and swollen.

Even though it was only 9:30, I went in and went to bed (Hubby had done that just after we ate, so didn’t know any of this) I turned on the light switch so that when they finally got the electricity on, it would wake me up, and that happened a little after midnight, so here I am, finally getting to type this.

It is interesting, though, because I had planned, during the drive home, to write about light tonight. We had driven past a church, on the way home, that had a message board outside that said, “Dusty Bibles lead to dirty lives.” I had been thinking about that and what Psalms 119: 104 & 105 says: “I gain understanding from your Words, therefore I hate every wrong path. Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Little did I know that I was going to get a real example of that about 45 minutes later when I got home.

It seemed to bring home to me that if God’s Word is “Light” and we don’t use it to light our life’s pathway, then we will end up falling and getting dirty and/or hurt, but if we do use it, we will have a lighted way before us and be able to go around most of the pitfalls that we come upon. One thing that I noticed though, is that a candle or lamp doesn’t light very far in front of you… just enough for a few safe steps at a time. I think I even remember a book about something like that by Stormie O’Martian called, “Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On.”

I read a blog about this very thing yesterday (See A Corgi in Southern California in my blogroll)… Do you think maybe God is trying to be sure He gets my attention on this subject? I already read my Bible daily, and have for many years, because my Mom had been an excellent example of someone who does that. One of my fondest memories is of laying in bed, listening to her read her Bible to my Dad one night. (He read, and was a brilliant man… they were just sharing this together).

Anyway, maybe I was just supposed to share these important insights with others or something, but I will definitely keep thinking about this, because God got my attention!!!

Note: You never know when an emergeny will crop up, so be prepared with flashlights (and batteries if needed… some of ours are windup), candles, First Aid Kit (kept up, not USED up already), etc.

Keep the light on in your life, so that you will walk in safe paths, and have a great day!

It’s been a hard night and day, with not much sleep. My oldest son’s wife has had some health problems and yesterday, she had some major problems and has had to be put in a Critical Care Unit. They live on the other side of the country from us, so we were on the phone or praying or waiting for phone calls most of yesterday evening, last night, and today.

It is hard not to be able to be with those you love when they are having serious problems, or those they love are, and you know that they are hurting. You want to be able to see them and hug them, and help in any way you can, but sometimes it’s just not possible to actually BE there physically.

It is in times like these, that my faith in a God that loves us (my family and those I love), is a stronghold that I can take refuge in. Over the years, as I’ve grown to know Him and see His work in my life, and in my kid’s lives, I have come to know that I can trust Him to do the best for those I love. It is true that what He knows is best, isn’t always what I think would be best, but I’ve also learned to trust that He will take care of them in the ways that ARE best for them no matter what I think.

He also promised to send “The Comforter” to those of us who believe in Him and ask Jesus into their hearts, and I KNOW that He keeps His promises because there have been so many times when I have been comforted. That is my prayer now, for my son and his family… that they would know the Comforter in their lives and feel His work within them, giving them peace that passes understanding and wisdom in the decisions they and the doctors make.

I hope that you have comfort when you need it, and peace for this new day…

Proverbs 17:6 says “Children’s children (Grandchildren) are a crown to the aged…” Now I’m getting a bit “long in the tooth” as they say, but don’t exactly feel “aged” yet. Still, when I get to spend some time with my grandkids, I feel like royalty… or at least an especially blessed person!!!

Today, I got to have my “Little Bear” all day long, and it was so much fun. He is five years old now, and until recently (about 3 months ago) I had gotten to spend at least 2 days a week with him, and sometimes more, so he was a BIG part of my life. When his father, my cowboy son, got a new, much better job, they had to move to a town about 2 hours drive from here, so now I only get to see him a couple of times a month, sometimes for only a couple of hours a visit. I really miss him a lot, and he says the same to me.

This weekend, though, I saw him on Christmas day, and then today, he got to spend most of the day with us. It was a little bit of heaven. When we first got home, his Papa took him out to show him how our neighbor had plowed up our back pasture and planted the seeds to grow grain if it rains enough. He had saved some of the grain to show our “Bear,” and we plan to plant some of them in a pot or two so that he can see them grow.

I got to show him that big tarantula that I mentioned in my blog of about a week ago. It had died, and I kept it so that he could get a good close look at one. We had lunch, and then went out and picked some of the tomatoes that he had helped me start growing several months back. He was so excited to see that the plants had finally grown real tomatoes that we could eat.

After that, we gathered wood for making a fire since it is so cold out here, and he loves to help me with that task. We fed the horses, and then he came in and helped his Papa start a fire in the woodstove. It got dark, and we went out into the backyard for a while to listen to the coyotes and look at the stars. When we came back in, he and Papa watched cartoons while I made dinner. The time came, way to soon, when it was time to take him back to his parents.

He had wanted to spend the night (which we wanted, too) but his parents had other people to visit tomorrow, and EVERYONE wants to see my “Bear” when he is in town. They are a well loved family, which I am happy about, but they have a lot of friends and extended family that love them as much as I do, so I’ve had to learn to share, and just be thankful for the time I do get to spend with them and/or him… it doesn’t keep a little rain from falling, though…

If you have a chance to spend time with children that are special to you, cherish every moment you are given, for they grow up way to fast. Your life can be a model for them and others you know… make it a good one…

It’s twenty minutes to midnight and I finally got a chance to sit down at the computer. Christmas is almost over. I just came in from feeding the horses and it is REALLY blowing out there… hard enough that I had to lean to walk against the wind while carrying the hay to Cory’s stall. At least once in the stall, it was nice and cozy, so his hay won’t blow away.

I put Dancer and Tuffy’s hay by some other outbuildings so that they can eat without their hay blowing away either. They do have a stall available, but I’ve only seen them in it when it is really hot and they want to stay out of the sun… I don’t think they like the creaking of the tin walls or something when it’s windy.

The stars shone so brightly that I could see the sweep of the Milky Way, which only happens when it is extra clear and dark. It made me think of a very interesting television show that I watched a few days ago. It talked about this lawyer that had a computer program that star researchers use, and how he had used it, along with all the references in the Bible about the star that the Wise Man followed, to pin-point what he thinks was the Star of Bethlehem. It was a fascinating program, and I plan to purchase it for our Church Library (I’m the librarian.) If you are interested in checking this out, his website is: http://www.bethlehemstar.net/.

It turned out to be quite a day. Last night, at about 1 a.m., I found that there had been a hole in my purse and my lower partial (which I had taken out because of a sore on my gums) had fallen out and the dog (probably Sadie) had chewed them up… This is NOT GOOD!!! I had recently had the dentist check to see how much it would cost to make a new set, and the part we would have to pay, even with the great insurance I have, is WAY more than we could handle. This partial is of the four lower, front teeth, so it is VERY noticeable. I guess I needed to be humbled a little or something. There is nothing I can do about it, so I guess I’ll just have to live with it until the Lord makes a way for me to get some new ones.

I finally got the last gift wrapped and went to bed, and when I got up this morning, my cowboy son called to ask if it was alright if he came by to bury one of their old dogs who had passed away. Cheyenne had been a rescue dog that they had found and befriended a little over 9 years ago. She acted as though she had been abused before they found her and was terrified of most people and just a bunch of skin and bones. My daughter-in-law finally got her trust and, like most abused or neglected rescue dogs, she won the COMPLETE love and devotion of the beautiful animal.

Cheyenne looked as though she was probably a cross between a Golden Lab, and a German shepherd. She looked like a Golden Lab, but with German Shepherd coloration. She was beautiful, and once she learned she could trust some people, she was very sweet, though still a bit wary around strangers. She was really good around my grandson from the time he was born. She was several years old when they took her in, and had been showing her age quite a bit lately. Cheyenne will be greatly missed by those that loved her. My son buried her out in the side pasture where several other doggy friends we’ve had over the years are buried.

The rest of the day went pretty well, though. There was tons of food, (tomorrow, I’ll give you the recipe to Nana’s Candied yams) lots of love, and fun opening, and watching the little kids open, presents. The Corgis helped clean up the wrapping paper, as usual, and enjoyed their jerky treats and the many handouts of food and leftovers during cleanup time.

It’s a good thing they don’t get to eat like that all the time or we’d be rolling them around from place to place. Corgi’s DON’T have very long legs, so if their bellies get to big, they tend to drag the ground… remember the picture of O.C. when she was pregnant with those eight pups?!

I hope your day was a full and satisfying one, and that you were able to give God your problems and count your blessings. .

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your day was a special one filled with love and joy.

We always go into town to my sister’s house (used to be my mom’s before she left for Heaven), and join with the rest of our extended family for the whole day. There is always a ton of food, (not great for someone who is trying to change their lifestyle away from dwelling on food…) and the company of many friends, as well as family, as people drop by off and on during the day.

Three of my kids will be there this year, and four grandkids, as well as nieces, and grandnieces. The two of my sisters live next door to each other, so all of the dogs come over, too. That’s a minimum of 12 adults, 6 little kids between the ages of one and 8, and 8 dogs. Needless to say, it gets quite crowded at times.

One of my sister’s dogs is a one year old German Shorthair dog that is HUGE. Actually, she belongs to my BIL. She is all legs and energy, and, like most puppies, she’s not always careful about others when she is playing. You have to be careful that she doesn’t knock you “head over heels.” She’s such a silly girl, too, in the way that she drinks water. She puts her head way down to the bottom of the bowl to drink, so she sprays water all over the place when she’s done. She usually ends up having to go outside after a little while, though she has been able to stay longer as she’s grown older and gotten a bit more disciplined (like all pups…)

My sister, the kids call her Mimi, has two little Chihuahua mixes named Dolly and Kisses, and the other sister, the kids call her Naunie, has an older yellow lab named Daisy, and a black and white Shih Tzu named Mia. Our three corgis have all gone to Mimi’s since they were tiny pups whenever we go in, so they play quite well with Dolly and Kisses. None of them are too happy with the bouncing, careening, gigantic (as far as they are concerned) Molly, though.

One of our Christmas traditions is to all sit around the living room before opening presents, and talk with the children about the real reason for the season, and sing some songs, including Happy Birthday to Jesus. I’m writing this on Christmas Eve, so I will have to let you know how the day went in tomorrow’s blog. I’ve got some last minute wrapping to get done tonight.

May the knowledge and joy of what God did when He sent His Son so long ago, bloom like a beautiful rose in your life, and may you have a wonderful, joy filled day. Again, have a very Merry Christmas!

My Brother-in-Law (BIL) has been known to go just about catatonic when finding himself surrounded by spiders. One time, he volunteered to clean out the old chickenfeed store room that hadn’t been used for many years. He got in there and started to work on the stacked things that were on the floor, and got about 6 feet from the door before looking up. Apparently these BIG spiders had decided to build spider city across the ceiling. He says there must have been a couple hundred spiders up there (probably 10 to 15) but he dropped down into a fetal position and couldn’t move even to get out. My sister had to help talk him out.

Now I’m not arachnophobic like my BIL, but I definitely DON’T like spiders AT ALL. I can handle Daddy Long Legs because I was told that they are not really considered spiders… they are in the same class as mites, and supposedly they can’t bite or sting you. Besides, in this area, it would be impossible to live without encountering them every day… You could vacuum the ceilings and walls everyday and still have them in the corners by that evening.

The spiders I’m talking about are wolf spiders, attic spiders, Brown Recluses, Black OR Brown Widows, and those nasty looking, cussing Tarantulas. I think that, when they rear up and wave their front legs and mandibles at you, they look like they are cussing at you.

The reason I’m bringing all of this up is that lately I’ve come in contact (almost, Praise God) with two of these kinds of spiders.

TODAY, we found a big old tarantula crawling up the wall just outside of the enclosed patio in the back. This past month or two has been Tarantula Season around the area. In the late fall, usually October and November, it is tarantula breeding season and you will see them crawling around, looking for mates. In years past, I have seen 4 or 5 A DAY on the roads driving in to town during this season, but the past few years, I’ve only seen 1 or 2 on the roads during the whole season.

I HAVE seen hundreds of Tarantula Hawks the past several years, and the tarantula we found looks like it has a hole in its back, so it probably has been attacked by one. These big shiny, metallic looking, black wasps with red-orange wings attack and lay their eggs on the spiders. When the larvae hatch, they eat the spider alive. We’ve had to clean out our horse waterers every few days this year because so many of these wasps get in them and die.

It was below freezing last night, too, so that may have been why it crawled out and up the wall into a sunny spot. It wasn’t moving very fast at all, and my son says that he thinks it was dying. He took it out of the back yard so the corgis wouldn’t fool with it and maybe get bitten… remember I mentioned Corgi curiosity before…

He put it in a sunny place, but it looks like it died anyway. I checked it this evening, and, like I said, it looks like it has a hole in it’s back, so I put it in a bottle with a lid in case I see any larvae coming out of it. I want to make an insect and spider collection for my grandson like the one my dad made for me when I was young. It was fascinating! His crazy dad, my cowboy son, picks up tarantulas, and plays with them… Yuck !!!

This is getting pretty long, so I guess I’ll talk more about spiders tomorrow. Have a wonderful day with NO problem spiders to bother you…

We’ve finally gotten a lot of rain, which we have needed for a few years… It’s been raining for several days now, and we’ve even had some snow on the hills behind us. The days have been beautiful with the clean air and blue skies with beautiful rainbows, in between the black rain clouds. Things are starting to turn green as the hills sprout with new life…

I just need to keep reminding myself that I am “thankful” for this rain… as I slog through 1-2 inches of mud that the horses have churned up in the front of the feed room…

Even fat horses seem to feel the need to pace back and forth and really stir up the ground in front of a hay room if you are a little late at feeding time. They don’t care that you had to drive several hours to appointments in other towns, etc. and have a life apart from them. They “talk” and nudge and make it really clear that they are poor, neglected, STARVING animals if you are half an hour late.

My son wants to try to fashion some kind of “mud shoe” along the lines of a “snow shoe” to see if he can walk on top of it… I think that either he will end up “skiing” (and by that I mean “falling”) around the top of it, or he will sink into it with the mud oozing up around the top of the “shoe” and then get stuck in it, eventually having to take off his shoes and squish through the freezing mud in his bare feet.

I’ve usually let the kids try their little experiments as that is often a good way to learn if it’s not something totally dangerous, so I think I will just watch from the sidelines (maybe with a camera so I’ll have something for one of those funniest home video shows.) For myself, I think that regular old rubber boots will be a better, and safer solution for an old grammy.

May blue skies and rainbows brighten your lives…

I know God has given us promises about providing for what we need IF we are “seeking His ways first in our lives” ( Matthew 6: 33 & 34). I try to put Him first in my life so that I’m doing my part, but sometimes I’m not sure when what I’m praying for and what I “need” are really the same things. For example, I know that the horses have come to us for a reason, and I really needed some hay, but I also prayed about what I was going to have to give to my grandkids because things are really tight this year with the cost of hay taking so much of our income.

Very little kids don’t understand things like that, but, Praise God, they also don’t really need very expensive things either. I had been blessed earlier in the year and had gotten some things for my older grand-daughters that I had put away, but still had to figure out something for the younger ones.

What is really wonderful is that God HAS provided for my needs… I got a check I wasn’t counting on getting for quite a while and it was bigger than I had expected, too. This has allowed us to get enough hay to last almost a month AND provided for a little extra money so that I can get a few small things for my very young grandkids. You don’t know what a HUGE blessing this is for me.

I also found some notes that I had taken many years ago when my mom was still here. I had wanted to write down many of the stories that she had told us over the years, and had been talking to her and writing down things about her life. I had hoped to write a little book with her story in it someday, as it is an amazing life that she led. Anyway, I hadn’t seen these notes in many years, and I opened a box and there they were. They are still in outline and note form, but I was able to make copies of these to give to my grown children and I know that these will be a very special gift for each of them.

May God provide your needs, and maybe a little extra…