The Buzz of Summer

As I write this post, I am trying to think about what to say for myself over the last 3 almost 4 weeks since I have posted.  Where have I been?  What have I been doing?  Well.... it has been busy without a doubt, but it isn't like I can give you a nice mountainous list of my great accomplishments I just can't.  Let me try to make a quick post to recap what I've been up to..... its not coming quickly... it all runs together into a fast and furious blur.  A month has come and gone like the buzzing of a bee and where did it go I ask you?  We have been working in the garden (which hasn't been an easy or abundantly fruitful occupation in this drought.... we are finally getting a little rain, and the veggies have finally gotten a grip on themselves, ceased fainting, and are finally growing, blooming and fruiting... they have whispered and gasped to me that they do not like this heat at all even with abundant water Luke and I have been giving to them.  I have been strategizing what to do next year if this drought continues... perhaps we could build some sort of shade cover... I am still thinking it out.  We are planning a cover crop for this fall and winter on the new beds we put in this year. I ordered buckwheat, black-eyed peas and oats for the cover crops The soil is so hard and dead, that we have  been working on a plan to bring it to life.  We have roto-tilled compost into it that we bought by the dump truck load, and it is a nice start, but it will need to do more to make healthier beds.. cover crops are a good way to go to improve the ground.

Believe it or not we are actually talking about goats again.   We have some ground that has been taken over by a weed tree.    These stringy little trees suck up all the water, proliferate and do not think twice about sprouting back up quickly when they have been hacked down.  So we thought... "goats".  We are considering trying meat goats this time around.  I will let you know when/if we begin that project officially.

Our son Nathan and his film crew got here last week. Nathan is working on a movie.  He has had it in the works this last year (a little more than).  It is a survival movie that involves a plane wreck, a battle for life, and the battle and outcome of a soul.  But that is all I will say for now.  They are beginning their work up in the mountains close to here, and Lord willing, will come back next summer to finish the film.  I have had the privilege to cook for them.  They are a smaller crew than was first planned... the bigger crew  have been put off until  next summer now.  I cooked up a big barbecue brisket, potato casserole, strawberry pie, rolls,  big batch of fried chicken, chili, potato salad, and macaroni and cheese, and prepared hamburgers and hotdogs for them to cook.  They all get back from the mountains tomorrow night, and Luke will be making them pizza and spaghetti.  I will make them Mexican food for Thursday night.  It is nice to feed a hungry crew of young men.  They are always very appreciative, and I can do a lot of cooking on a little enthusiastic appreciation and enjoyment.

That seems to be my great claim to anything impressive this summer.  I liked what Anne of Eight Acres of Eden linked to a day or two ago.  It had to do with being "just a Mom".  It is written by a young girl who has the great aspirations of being a "Mom".  I love what she wrote, and it was a precious reminder that the calling of being a Mom is good enough.  The world pressures us to be more or other than that, but don't forget what a great calling it is.   We need not apologize for it.

There is a little pair of swallows that build their nest under the roof of our porch every summer; and every summer Steve tries to discourage them (because they always leave a mess) by removing their little mud nest each time they begin it... but they persevere and build it anyway quicker than he can take it down.  By the time they are done Steve admires their perseverance and leaves them to it... he even hammers up a little patio for them, so that they won't leave a mess on our coffee table beneath.  It is interesting to watch their perseverance.  They spend their entire summer building nest, laying and hatching eggs, and feeding babies.  It has a familiar ring to our lives doesn't it?   I thought of the scripture in Matthew 6: 25, where Jesus reminds us "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store way in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"  And I thought to myself those birds take care of their babies... that's all they seem to do... and our heavenly Father feeds them... of course he will do the same for us.  The World with all its pressures and fears is not our provider.  It is not our wisdom or who we should listen to, it is not  there for us when times are hard.  Our Heavenly Father placed within us our callings.  He promised to take care of us.  He is the Voice we listen to,  the Hope, the Provision, and the Wonderful Reward in our Lives.  Praise His Name.  Have a great week everyone.   I am hoping  to post something truly remarkable in the near future, but if I don't I will be praising the Lord for the buzz of Summer, the carrying on in life, the ordinary everyday things, and I hope you will be too.

Blessings, 

Pam