Pillar of Fire

I saw this unique rainbow in the sky today. It looked even more amazing in real life!

Waiting... but not for long!

Today was just too beautiful for words, so here are some photos!

(pardon the black spot in the upper right-hand corner of these photos... our poor little camera has suffered a lot of abuse! I suppose you could consider it a watermark... :-)

Here's the garden, waiting to be tilled and planted planted. Kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, bell peppers, onions, green beans, snap peas, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, zucchini and squash are some of the things we want to plant, in addition to the garlic, which took up residence last October. We already have peppers, onions and tomatoes started in little pots.

Here's the bonfire, waiting to be lit! Most of this brush came from the woods where Dad wants to put in another garden plot. The spot we have our current garden gets a bit wet, since it's in a lower elevation. We'll still use it this year, but we're hoping to have the other garden up and running next year.

Speaking of which, here is the site of garden 2.0.12! It doesn't look like much yet, but with a little (lot) of work, hopefully it will work out well for another garden spot.

Here's part of our lawn, waiting to be mowed! It's so refreshing looking out of the window and seeing GREEN instead of WHITE on the ground. Though I'm sure when summer comes I'll wish we had a little of that white stuff. :-)

Here's the recently-pruned lilac bush, waiting for flowers!

Here's the trusty weather station that never needs to wait for weather!

You can actually view the data from it here!

Here's one of the first few flowers in our flowerbeds, waiting for company.

They do say that two is company...

Speaking of which, Tucker kept me company on my photo expedition around the yard.

But he really doesn't like the sound the camera makes when you click the "shudder" button! :-)

So, there you have it! Spring at Green Gambrels.

100th day of the year!

Yesterday, April 10th, was the 100th day of 2011. Do you know what today is? (I'll give you a hint: You can find it in Psalm 118).

Running, Walking and In Between

After waking up, breakfast, quiet time and general puttering around in the kitchen, I was finally ready to go for a run. I had gotten some brand new running shoes the day before, and I was dying to try them out. My old sneakers were retired from running, as they had seen better days.

Now, I'm not a 'runner' if you think of a runner as someone who does marathons as a hobby, but if you think of a runner as a person who attempts to move both feet in a forward motion while clomping them up and down, then I'm a runner through and through. I'm persuaded that to runners, I looked funny, to non-runners I looked funny and to those in-betweeners at my level I certainly didn't look inspirational. In fact, I felt rather like a shire horse trying to do dressage. :-) Thankfully I had no observers save the few drivers that drove by me on my otherwise private route.

The sun was warm, the breeze was welcome and the surface of the road was just the right texture; firm enough to not be muddy, and soft enough for a bit of cushioning. A rapidly disappearing layer of snow still lay under the trees on either side of the road. I felt like my feet were pounding, thumping and thudding the ground; all of the things that they shouldn't have been doing! Oh well. I was enjoying the fact that I was able to be where I was with the strength and health that God gave me, along with all the added blessings of a sunny, warm day and a safe road to run on.

I had brought my mp3 player with me with a playlist of inspirational instrumental/vocal songs to keep me going. I decided that on the way down I would not use it, but that I would rather enjoy nature.
On the way back, however, I turned it on and began my run back. I decided that some of the most inspirational music to run to is the soundtrack from 'The Man from Snowy River'. I'm not a fan of the movie, but the soundtracks are great. Andrew Peterson's 'Pillar of Fire' is one that it's hard not to run to! Especially since I was "homeward bound". I began walking once I had reached my goal of running over 3 miles. Andrew Peterson's "Just as I Am" began playing as I neared the entrance of my road. I'm so glad that "He loves me, He does." Just as I got back to our house, "Rocky Top" started to play. I had to smile. There "ain't no smoggy smoke" near my house, and it just may always be "home sweet home to me".

---

I feel so privileged and blessed! Just last night I was reading Ephesians 5:1-21. I've been learning lately just how important it is to heed the exhortation given in verses 15 and 16:

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

In Ephesians chapter 5 we have three different verses that talk about walking.

• Verse 2 says to "walk in love".
• Verse 8 says to "walk as children of light".
• Verse 15 says "be careful how you walk".

Then  in Hebrews 12:1-2 the author compares living out the new life Christ gives (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:4) to running a race.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Here it says "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us". The race that it talks about in that verse is our lives. At the finish line is a reward in heaven from God (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Are you 'entered' into the race? Jesus said "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved...". John 10:9. The only way to be right with God is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from your sins: That we stood guilty before God, that Jesus died to take the punishment we deserved for our sins, and that He lives again.

I know I don't fully comprehend or follow the commands of all of these verses. It is my prayer that I will learn to walk more and more the way God wants me to every day. But I do know this: Whether I'm walking or running, I have a reminder from the Bible to

• Walk in love
• Walk as a child of light
• Be careful how I walk
• Run with endurance

I'm thankful to the Lord who gives me the ability to enjoy His creation by walking and running in it, but I'm even more grateful for the fact that I'm His child. It is my strong desire that I would

...Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10

(photo credits: Microsoft images)

Rainbow

The other day we had some strange Maine weather. In the morning it was cold and rainy. Then later in the morning it stopped raining and cleared up some. Then the clouds rolled back in and it started pouring! Then it started to clear up, but not before the sun began shining really brightly through the rain. I then had the privilege of seeing a beautiful full rainbow, right in front of our house!

Fowl, flowers and flying furry felines

Yes, that's right! Fowl, flowers and flying furry felines. We'll start with the fowl first. :-)

Our chickens are getting bigger (if you can say that bantam chickens really get "bigger". Depends on what you are comparing them too, I suppose. :-)!

 Sometimes diamonds are not a chicken's best friend...

 

Dad nicknamed her the "godzilla bird"

Cat "meats" bird

                                                   I think Eppie won that staring contest...

It's almost like being at the zoo...

But we can't mention Eppie without mentioning Ollie, of course!

And Eppie again...

...and that was the two flying felines. :-)

Now how about ferocious felines?

Yes, that would be Tucker! He is quite the terror sometimes...

...granted he looks quite tranquil in this photo. He's cute, too. :-)

Here's a glimpse of his wild side... I couldn't even get it in focus. ;-)

Here are some photos of the greenery/purplery/redery/yellowery that can be found around our yard.

Lots of tiny wild strawberries grow in our lawn.

The playhouse at sunset

I hope you enjoyed the photos! :-)

More Chickies!

Today I received three tiny bantam chicks from a friend! Here are some photos of them. They're still little enough to keep in a small cardboard box.

I don't have any names for them yet... I'll have to think about some! Suggestions would be welcome. :-) 

Gulf Hagas!

Yesterday, Dad, Mom, Jessica, myself and a couple other friends went hiking at Gulf Hagas in Maine. It was a very nice hike, but it was also quite an adventure...

To start out with, we had to cross a 60-foot, knee-deep, very cold river. It was also called the Pleasant River. Let's just say that it was pleasant to look at, but not very pleasant to wade across. :-)

A little further on we saw some huge spruce trees...

Another challenge was getting over a stream over a broken bridge. The "bridge" consisted of a log that was resting at a downward angle. It was easy enough to shimmy down, but climbing back up took a while!

Gulf Hagas is also called the "Grand Canyon of Maine". I suppose that's because of the river that runs through a deep gulf along some of the trails. The highlight of the hike was the waterfalls, which were really pretty.

The scenery was pretty impressive, too. The camera doesn't capture very well how high up we were!

It made a nice backdrop, too.

It was a wonderful reminder of God's majesty and creativity!

Concert, kitties and construction

Concert: I had the opportunity to play in another concert! This event was mainly organized by my violin teacher (Susan Ramsey). It went very well! I'm glad my Dad got most of it on video! :-)You can actually watch a short clip from the dress rehearsal here. The video takes a while to load. You can actually see me for about 1 1/2 seconds! :-) You can also read a little about the concert here
http://www.svweekly.com/joom1511/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1885:-foxcroft-academy-string-program-concert&catid=33:campus&Itemid=215
and here
http://dailyme.com/story/2010032000001922/bangor-daily-news-maine-joni-averill.html

Kitties: Today the kitties had a a big adventure. Well, maybe it was really a small one, but for them it was a big one. It actually started Saturday.
Ollie had the bright idea of climbing up one of the pine trees near the house. Perhaps he was chasing birds. But anyway, he climbed a little too high for his own comfort and got "stuck" about 20 to 24 feet high in the tree. We left him for a little while to see if he would come down by himself (he could have if he tried; there were lots of branched to latch onto). However, he kept on meowing and meowing and sounding quite pitiful, so we decided to attempt a rescue. Mind, this was about 30 minutes before I had to leave for the concert dress rehearsal. Dad got out our tallest ladder and I climbed up to retrieve our miserable cat. Well, he was up too high for me to reach, even from the top of the ladder, and I didn't feel comfortable climbing up the branches to grab him. So, down I went and up Dad went. Much maneuvering and a piece of cooked chicken afterwards, Dad and Ollie both made it to the ground.
I also made it to the dress rehearsal on time. :-)

                                             Eppie on the ground, perhaps contemplating how
                                                        much smarter she is than her brother :-)

Me in the tree  

 

  Ollie in our apartment in one of his favorite places and poses

                                                                    Eppie again
              
Some good friends of ours from CT have been here for the last couple of weeks helping us with construction on our house. Today a plumber came to help with, yes, you guessed it, plumbing. They needed to access some pipes from the outside of the house. They were up on the roof, so, out came our tallest ladder again. Both of the kitties were outside and they decided to explore the ladder. Mom found this out later when she found Eppie clinging to the screen one on of the skylights. She managed to get her inside through the skylight. Now Ollie had gone all the way to the tippy-top of the roof. Here's a photo of the spot where they climbed up (there wasn't any snow on the roof when they climbed up today, though!).

Sooo,I climbed up the ladder and rescued Ollie. I wonder if he'll ever learn his lesson? Or maybe he just has Spring fever. :-)