Verse of the week

This is my ram "Rex". I thought he had wonderful fleece and when I spun it last weekend I was even more impressed. He will however be going up for sale. I have given a lot of thought to what I want from my little sheep farm and have decided I want a small flock of varied colors for my own personal spinning, knitting, and weaving whims. I had at one time thought I would breed my girls every year and sell several each year. I have decided I want to keep a few and maybe breed a ewe or two each year. Having lambs is just too fun to not ever breed. I also have decided to get rid of my rams. If I want to breed a couple, I will lease a ram. As for ram lambs, which I am sure to get nothing but since I declared this, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I think I am just getting tired. Maybe it is just the winter blaas. I remember back when I wanted a big house, a big yard in the country, lots of animals and now 20 years later...here I am and......I want a smaller house, a concrete yard painted green and I still want my animals but just not as many.

On an up note, I found someone to shear this year!! That is a huge relief!!

Well, we are suppose to get 6-10 inches of snow tonight so I am trying to psych myself up for a weekend full of inside projects. I promise to look at the snow and say "Oh, it's snowing...how pretty" and actually mean it. Inside joke.

Here is Day 2 from the book The Purpose Driven Life

I hope you enjoy it.

"You are not an accident"

"God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything he creates. Every plant and every animal was planned by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind. God's motive for creating you was his love. The Bible says, "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love." ( Ephesians 1:4a (Msg) )

God was thinking of you even before he made the world. In fact, that's why he created it! God designed this planet's environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of his love and the most valuable of all his creation."

Verse of the week

Psalm 138:8

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.

Verse of the week

My skills are slowly improving. Above is the scarf I just finished. Learning to knit has been so fun. I love the flexibility it allows you. I spend quite a bit of time sitting in my car waiting for practices to be over and it is a great way to pass the time. I have made 2 hats and the scarf so far and am working of a pair of wrist warmers.

I'm still not sure I enjoy spinning. I am getting better but it takes so long!! Maybe it will get faster as I improve but I can't imagine having the time to spin all my wool. I have to return the spinning wheel on Saturday at my last class so if I decide I want to spin my own wool I will have to buy a wheel. That leads to what kind of wheel? I don't like the wheel I have on loan but it is a loaner and not in the greatest shape. Any suggestions on the best wheels?

I looked out my kitchen window one dreary winter day this month and saw this beautiful bird. Just thought I would share it with you because it is pretty.

I have started reading a new book called The Purpose Driven Life. I have had the book for a long time and am just now getting around to reading it. I'm going to use it and the scriptures it references for my verse of the week for awhile. I hope you enjoy.

Day 1

"It's not about you.

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose. "

Colossians 1:16

For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Dreaming of Summer...all year

This is a picture I took last Summer of an orange daisy. I was on an orange kick and every flower I bought was orange. I'm posting it to brighten your winter day and to remind myself that, God willing, summer will return. Maybe you like winter.......I do not. I spent the first 30 years of my life in a place where a sweatshirt was the heaviest winter coat required. I want to live there again. If I did not have kids in school and worry about uprooting them and causing who knows what kind of horrible, irriversable damage to them and their teenage social lives (this is of course how they view it)...I would move tomorrow. I will no doubt move the moment my youngest flies the coop. Of course by then, my oldest will have moved back, married and started a family and I will not be able to leave my grandchildren. I know, I know...I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but this is how I think when winter is here. I know it is necessary. I know God created the world and each season has a purpose. I know creation needs a rest. I will even admit snow can be pretty when it is falling, but after that initial thrill of, "Oh, it is snowing..how pretty!", it just gets ugly and dirty and makes everything a mess!! I'm sorry, this was not suppose to be a negative post but a cheery, orange, bright post... This is my buddy, Dixie. She is 8 years old and still acts like a puppy. She is not the sharpest tool in the shed but she loves us and she has been a great pal to my son. She still turns in circles at feeding time all the way from the house to the barn.. I hope I have that much energy when I'm...what would it be?...56. She is a good girl and everyone loves her....except the mail man.

This is my cat, Marla. As you can see, she hates winter too. She is a deck cat. She was suppose to be a barn cat, but she decided she would rather be a deck cat, which is fine. She occasionally finds her way to the hay loft to warm up on winter days. Marla had a brother, Marvin, but he ran out of the corn field at the wrong time and he is no longer with us. My daughter and I brought them home from a trip to the nursery to buy plants 2 years ago. The people who owned the nursery were annoyed by them and kept kicking them out of the way, so we asked if we could have them and they very excitedly agreed.

I also have a house cat and I would post her picture but I have only seen her a couple of times in the 9 years she has lived with us. She is my daughter's cat and basically lives in her room full time. She seems to have no desire to broaden her herizons nor does she need any humans in her life besides my daughter. I think she is very weird and kind of creepy but my daughter loves her...hopefully enough to take her when she goes off to college in a year and a half. Hope you have a wonderful, winter day.......I'm trying

Back to Reality

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We spent a quiet Christmas at home and then left for Mexico on the 1st!! I thought I would share some of my vacation pictures with you. It was so beautiful and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. The kids had a great time swimming with the dolphins but our favorite part of the trip was going whale watching. We saw several but my pictures don't really do it justice. Sometimes I hate being the camera guy because you feel like you miss part of everything while trying to get the picture!! Hope you enjoy the pictures and a belated Happy New Year!