31 Days of My Real Farm Life - Day 6



31 Days of Life on Our Farm!



Hi friends!  Today was Thursday.  Last night GrandBoy and I went to church.  He slept in his own bed, and he was so proud!  This morning I went to work, and GrandBoy and Pappy went to the cow sale.  I think it was quite a day.  GrandBoy wanted to stay out on the catwalk where you can see all the cows below.  But Pappy couldn't bid on the cows out there.  Grand Boy didn't want to go inside the arena, because he knew they would be sitting, and that's not fun for a three year old boy.  Pappy took two calves and a bull to the sale.  Our bull went for $1,400! That was a great surprise!  We were both very pleased.  Guess what!  I have always wanted a milk cow.  But they cost a lot of money, like $1,000.  And if I ever find dairy calves for sale, they are always bull calves.  So today Pappy came home from the sale with a Holstein!  She is six months bred, and he got her for about $600 for the pair.  That is amazing.  He will take the cow and calf back to the sale after the calf is born and make money off the transaction.  He told me if the calf is a female I can keep her for a milk cow!  We'll see how this goes, and I will keep you posted.  He also bought another bred cow.  AND he brought me a "present".  A box of apples!  He hadn't seen a need to try to buy any apples when I brought it up last week.  But when someone was selling them at the cow sale, he bought me a box because he thought of me!  He's so good to me.

Daughter #3 is so excited about moving to our place that we are setting up.  She asks me several times a day if we have done this, this, this.  It is just the 6th day of the month.  She will come over Sunday and help her Dad there, and paint the cabinets.

Today while Pappy was at the cow sale, I had to go to the bank to sign some paperwork.  While I was there, I got a call.  I had forgotten that I had an appointment with an insurance agent to give me a quote on the farm policy.  It is hard to find an insurance company here to insure farms.  So I told him I could be there in 30 minutes.  I met him at the farm and showed him around.  He will email me some questions, and hopefully we will get a better price.

Next on the errand list, I went to the post office boxes to pick up the mail, then to the bank to deposit rent.  I met a couple of tenants to get their rent in cash.  Pappy called, and I met him to get GrandBoy.  Then I waited about an hour to meet someone to pick GrandBoy up.  While we waited, we went back to the thrift store, where I got two skirts.  That's about the only place to go and wait in our small community that doesn't involve McDonalds and a play place.  I refuse to take GrandBoy to McDonalds.  So we browsed the thrift store for about 30 minutes while we waited.  I got the cutest book of blessings.  It is a child's book, and it was published in the 40's.  It is in mint condition and the illustrations are beautiful.

Tonight I was showing Daughter #1 some catelogs that came in the mail.  I had looked through them and marked several outfits I would like to duplicate.  I don't get catalogs like that, and I was surprised they came.  I enjoyed looking through them, and showed them to my daughter.  She liked them too.  I told her to look and see if they came to her by chance.  She looked, and laughed.  They weren't hers, and they weren't mine.  They came to the wrong address!  Oh, my.  Someone didn't get their catalogs.  But we enjoyed them, and I ordered them so we will get a set next time.

Daughter #2 asked me to meet her today for lunch.  She wanted to me pray with her.  Her relationship is ending, and she seems to be taking it hard.  She said she has been praying for two days and doesn't feel her prayers are doing any good or that God is hearing her.  I told her not to pray that things would work out with that man.  Pray that God will show her where He wants her to be, the path He wants her to follow, and the man He has chosen for her.  I did pray for her.  She was afraid her Dad and I would be disappointed about this break up.  She has made a lot of progress in the last six months since she returned home.  The man she was seeing is successful, but that doesn't mean that he is the one God has chosen for her.  I hope that she doesn't stumble through this, and that she continues to go forward in her progress.  I hope she is still, and feels God's hand on her life.  I'm praying for her.  God has great plans for her, I'm sure.

Daughter #1 is worried about her classes.  She is afraid her grades aren't as high as she would like and that she might not get into nursing school.  I'm praying for her, too.  I know that she will be successful, no matter what happens.

I noticed today that I need to pick the tomatoes.  I am planning to be off Monday in observance of Columbus Day.  I hope I will get a lot of things done at home.

Locally, today we got our first Aldi's Grocery Store.  I have wished for one here for a couple of years, and can't wait to go visit tomorrow.  My sister went today.  Most of you probably know that you have to have a quarter to get a cart.  My sister didn't have a quarter, so she carried things around the store in her arms.  Pumpkins were $1.99 each.  She got three.  I guess she kicked those around the store, or something!   She checked out three times, went to her car, and came back in for more.  The last time one man asked if he would see her again tonight!  She answered she thought she was done!  You also have to pay for bags, and she didn't bring her recycleables, so she carried items to the car herself. Milk was $1.99, and eggs .49 a dozen.  I'm pretty excited to try this store out.  Bananas were 28 cents a pound!  The bad bananas here that I buy are about 33 cents a pound.  This will be great, I think.

One of our peacocks are dead.  The young female.  Pappy thinks one of the turkeys may be sick, too.  I hope it doesn't die.  I'm afraid that the farmers around us (we are in the middle of 100 acres of crops.  Most years it is cotton, but this year it is soy beans) may have sprayed the crops again.  The soybeans are turning yellow, but I'm not sure if they die off like cotton does.  They spray cotton so the foliage dies, then they pick the cotton.  One year when they sprayed the fields we lost a sheep.  When we tried to figure out what happened, we noticed the sheeps' water was purple!  And we remembered the plane going over the day before.  So we dumped their water out, and no other animals died.  I hope that is not the case this time.

Well, I guess I should let you go.  Can you tell I don't have many lady friends?  I'm a busy, professional woman, and I think this is a problem for a lot of professional women.  Maybe all women.  Or maybe it's just me.  But anyway, its nice to talk to all of you.  Hope your evening is blessed!  Honey

Day Seven Purity

Today in Warrior Prayers 21 Days of Prayers for our Sons, the topic is Purity. This is a topic that is important for all children, not just boys.  Actually it is important for adults as well.  Join us in praying this blessing on your children. 

How Parenting has Changed My Life

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how parenting changes us.  I know it has changed me.  When you start out being a mother, you have such plans and dreams.  You know exactly how you want things to end up.  You have pictures in your mind's eye about how you want things to play out.  If you are lucky enough to have a husband, you also have to take into consideration how he feels, what his dreams are, etc.  And you live life one day at a time.

Before you know it, several years have passed.  I remember saying that I could remember every day of my girls' lives, and there was no way the twins could be twelve!  But they were.  And as much as we tried to change it, they continued to grow up. 

As children grow up, their world expands.  They spend more time with other people, and see that all families are not the same.  When your family is different from other people's families, for what ever reason, your children draw the conclusion that their family must be odd.  That is what I feel happened with us.  We are a very conservative family.  I owned a private Christian preschool and my husband was a police officer.  I wanted God to be a part of every part of my children's lives.  Not just on Wednesday and Sunday. 

So now, to speed this story up, we arrive at today.  My children are 22, 22, and 21.  One of my children has very little to do with her family.  We hardly talk to her.  She only wants to communicate with us by text.  I have really struggled with this lately.  My husband and I are business people in our community.  We go out in public, and people tell us how our daughter has been in, belittling her family because we don't accept her life choices.  I have come to the conclusion that I cannot make her be the person I want her to be.  I can't make her live a healthier life.  I can't make her return to the path that God has chosen for her.  I can't make her make wise choices.  The more I have struggled with this, the more I notice myself pulling closer to God.  I feel almost like this is avoidance, like there is something I should be doing to fix this.  But she is an adult, and although she is making poor choices, I can't change them.  And a lot of this is painful to watch.  So although this is a rough patch in my path of motherhood, I have grown a lot in my Christian life. 

My husband asked me recently why, if I was a Christian, that God was not answering my prayers.  I panicked, I'm sure.  I wondered what he thought my prayers were.  I wondered if he blamed me.  I tried to explain to him that prayers aren't always answered when we want them to be, but in God's time.  I guess this isn't God's time yet.  I think she is too wrapped up in a life that does not involve God. 

I told my husband that I just can't pray enough to keep her safe.  There has been times that she has planned to do something that I knew wasn't right.  I prayed for her, even after I thought it was too late.  Then she would come in hours later, and tell me that she never did what she had planned, she just drove around for hours, thinking.  But the next day, I'd have to go to work, and I wouldn't be there to "pray" her out of trouble.  That is what life seemed like in a nutshell.

So now I feel resigned to the fact that I have to stand aside and let her be.  I have to quit saving her, and trying to keep her out of trouble.  People tell me all kids grow up, and this is just a phase that she will outgrow.  I hope so, but I've never faced this before.  I can't see past this right now.  But I certainly hope they are right.  I hate to think that for the rest of my life I will have so little contact with my baby.

I am very thankful that my other daughters are living a healthy lifestyle.  That they are happy and well.  I thank God every day for all my children, but I'm waiting for the day that all of them are enjoying the life God has planned for them.

I'm sorry to have digressed.  Tomorrow we will return to life on the farm.  Honey

Saturday Happenings. Work, Alabama Football, Freezing Okra

Today I did something I rarely do.   I went to work on Saturday.  I was off Monday for the holiday, and Thursday I was sick, so I went in to try to get caught up today.  After that, I went to the grocery  store, and Farmer's Market.  Daughter #1's discount at Kroger ends today.  They get a 20% holiday discount around most of the larger holidays.  This discount was for Labor Day.  They won't get another one till Thanksgiving.

 Today is the second week of College Football.  Alabama beat Penn State.  It was a good Saturday!

I picked up GrandBoy during half time.  After the game, he helped me put Okra into bags for the freezer.  He always has to help!

I didn't get to post anything yesterday because I was sick and went to bed early.  I remembered when I was laying down, but didn't want to get up.  I am better today.

Yesterday was Day 4 of Warrior Prayers 21 Days of Prayer for My Son.  Day 4 covers Integrity.  Day 5 is Avoiding Foolishness.  Avoiding foolishness is something we all need to do.  We've covered a lot in these five days.  Can't wait to see what develops from all this devoted prayer.

Daughter #1 starts her new job tonight.  She is still with the same company, but moves to a new store and begins a new position.  I hope she is very happy.

Daughter #3 is moving to a new home this weekend.  Daughter #2 is contemplating taking a second job.  Seems like life is full of changes around here.

Seems both our rentals are finally empty.  One I found empty today.  The key was above the door.  It is in pretty good shape.  The other, the lady called and said the key was in the water meter box.?  She said there were people there cleaning, and a BIG fat snake came in the basement, and they all left.  So the cleaning was not completed, and now a BIG fat snake lives in the house.  I'll check this out tomorrow.  After church, of course.

Hope your Sunday is blessed!  Honey

Bible 90 Days, and other Future Plans

Today is Monday, and during B90 Days, we have twitter parties on Monday!  Tonight was a small group.  I guess maybe a few were on vacation, and a whole lot may have been affected by the Hurricane.  But I pray all of them are safe, and will be back our out next twitter gathering. 

Tonight we were asked how the Bible in 90 Days program had affected our life (or something to that affect).  This is the fourth time I have been involved in Bible in 90 Days.  It is also the fourth time that I have read the Bible through.  This event has affected me by helping me develop a habit of meeting daily with our Lord.  I crave time with the Lord, and wonder about his opinion.  I used to read so many books each week.  During Bible in 90 Days, I read very little, except the Bible.  And I don't miss it!

I have been enjoying the program so much, I will be sorry to see it end.

September 6 through 26, MOB will be having  21 Days of Prayer for Sons.  I plan to be involved in this to pray for my grandson. 

October 1 MOD (mothers of daughters) is have a prayer event in October.  Each day in October, we will
pray for our daughters.  I think this is wonderful!  I have three daughters, and I know that a person can't have too much prayer.  If you would like more information about either of these prayer events, please let me know, and I will get it for you.

Well, I guess that is all the information for today.  Check back with you tomorrow!  Honey

Finding Sisters in Unexpected Places

Lord, I don't know about all the other ladies out there, but I have trouble finding "like minded" ladies in real life.  Women who wake up each day, waiting to see what you have planned!  I have acquaintences at work.  I have friends at church.  I have even advertised for prayer partnes.  But people are so busy, too busy to pray or study the Word with me.  For a while now, I have had such a longing for this type of friendship.  Just one woman, Lord, who I can trust my heart with, and bare my soul.  And she will go with me in prayer, to bring my concerns before you, Lord.  She won't gossip about the things I share with her.  Prayers about my kids, my  marriage, the future of our Country.  A sister to share Bible study and accountability with.  Lately I feel so seperate and apart from others I know.  Why am I the only one who feels this way?  I know my children think I'm different from other moms they know.  I don't try to be different, Lord.  I just ended up that way, I guess.  I know that you said that "Straight is the gate and narrow the way that leads to heaven".  So maybe my lonliness is a good sign! 

Lord, I believe that I have found a few friends like the sort I have been looking for.  I found them on the internet!  My sister said, "I heard you have a twitter account".  She has been after me for years to get a facebook account.  I said, "yes, I do.  But really just for Bible study type things".  A few women (three in fact) have volunteered to pray with me.  And I have ladies (and gents)  that I am reading the Bible in 90 Days with, and have #B90Days twitter parties with.  I have a Maximize Your Morning Group for waking up early to study your word.  Yes, I would still like to sit over coffee in person and read, study and pray with friends.  But sitting by my computer is almost as good!  I can still bring my coffee!  Thank you, Lord, for this unexpected blessing.  Let me see where you are leading me, Lord.  Amen.  Honey

Media and My Home Making

Today I am linking to Women Living Well and her article series entitled Media Monday.  Today's topic is Media and My Home Making.  Times have changed over the years.  Today women have so much more time to do things other than the cooking and cleaning it took our grandmothers all week to do.  But in these times that are saturated with media and technology, we often feel we don't have enough time!  Where does all the time we save with new inventions go? 

Some people may not make good use of their time.  They may spend to much of their days and nights involved in social media and blogging on the Internet, email, etc.  Maybe they like video games.  But there are many useful activities involving the Internet and technology that can save time and give you more time in your day if used wisely.

One item that comes to mind is price comparison.  We can all look at the sales papers on line to make our grocery lists and see who has bread the cheapest this week.  There are also blogs set up that even email the best deals of the week to your computer.  This beats going store to store or calling to check prices as my mother did in the past.  If I want, I can even order and have the groceries and other items delivered to my door.  Gas prices can be checked this way as well.  There are Internet sites that list the cheapest place to buy gas in your town.  That is one I need to start using!

News papers and magazines can be read on line, saving money and time.  Baby pictures can be viewed on your hospital's website.  If you are a parent, and are worried about your late teen or adult child who is not answering their cell phone at 2:00 am, in my town you can check the jail roll to see if by chance they were arrested (Heaven forbid!). 

As far as Home Making goes, menus can be planned on line, shopping lists printed out, and recipes searched out in short time.  E Books telling the quickest way to clean your home are available for your encouragement.  I can even sign up for emails to remind my to polish my sink!

One of my favorite home making tasks to do on line would be to plan vacations and Christmas shopping.  Both can be done with little or no effort.  Trips can be map-quested, cars or reservations made, restaurants picked, without leaving your desk chair.  Christmas gifts can be ordered without leaving your home.  Avoid the black Friday crowd and enjoy time with your family!

I get a lot of prayer requests on line in my email each day.  These come from several different groups or individuals.  If prayer is needed, it is so much easier today to reach many for prayer.  I think this is one of the best things the Internet can be used for.  I think that if the Proverbs woman were alive today, she would definitely use Internet prayer requests.

I will be the first to admit that I have to be careful not to get caught up in what the media has to offer, and lose track of time.  But there are many ways, if we are smart, that we can save time, and make more time for our families. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Honey