Beauty from the sky

Rock formation by the Grand Canyon

The one thing that I love about flying is the different perspective that it gives us.  I noted at one point that I could see roads in the mountains but that no houses were visible. Those are not pictures that I'm sharing.  I tried to take pictures of the Grand Canyon but even with my sisters 300 zoom lens it was too far away.  Actually there was too much white fog in the air like in the photo below.

Rock formation by the Grand Canyon

I was able to correct some of the photos but the distance that I was in the airplane from the Grand Canyon made it too far for photography with today's weather. I settled for some of the rock formations that were closer.  The contrast in colors and the texture created by the various kinds of rocks was absolutely breath-taking.

Unintentional Island

When the Hoover Dam was built, the river was blocked and a lake created.  This "island" is in that lake.  You can see how high the water level used to be and how low it is now.  I was amazed at the color of the water directly around the island.  There must be a strong yellow undertone in the rocks to make a green hue all the way around the little island or top of an underwater rock formation.

God created the colors!

That says it all.  Colors more beautiful than I've ever seen and mixed together in ways that we humans might not think is appropriate but from high in the sky, it is breathtakingly amazing!  I took almost 300 shots and these are my favorites.  I will continue to share photos from around Las Vegas.  I'm pretty sure the rest of the shots this week will be man-made beauty instead of God's awesome wonders.

Proud of you sister!

My sister is currently performing with the Resurrected Artists in Drinking Habit II: Caught in the Act. This weekend was opening weekend.  I was able to go with the clan on Saturday night.  We had a blast.  We were laughing so hard, that we were almost rolling on the ground.  Here are a few shots to entice you but hopefully are not "spoilers".  There are still two weekends including the Sunday Matinee on March 13th

Well......

"Just get done with it so I can get out of here"

See my thumb? This is for you - escape!

Sure, she's awake

New (rebuilt) farm toy

One thing leads to another. I bought a lamb. Then we bought a farm and another sheep came shortly after.  Then we bought two donkeys to protect the sheep.  Donkeys poop a lot! So we needed a skid loader to move the donkey poop out of the barn.

New toy arrives

Dale and his brother, Bob, went today to pick up the skid loader today.  When they arrived home, the ground was still frozen.  Which gave them the opportunity to play with the new machine and practice moving it.

Play time, I mean practice time

Although with the ground frozen, it caused a problem. The only thing to do was move some of the little snow left on the yard and pretend that it was dirt. Dirt / Snow they are both four letter words doesn't that mean something?

Dump the _ _ _ _ dirt/snow LOL

By coincidence Dad and Pat are staying here this weekend between activities in central and Southern Minnesota. They arrived just a few minutes before Dale got back from picking up his car.  Dad didn't take the time to finish unpacking his things from the car.  The skid loader must have been calling him.  I guess what mother said for years must be true, "You can take the boy out of the country; but, you can't take the country out of the boy!"

Country boy :^)

Procraftinating

I don't have many days left to procraftinate so I'm staying up late to work on this project.  Last fall when I pulled the cotton plants out of the ground, I realized that I had heavy tree like stems with roots that were full of character. I knew that they would make fabulous displays for my Tillandsias, air plants.

I am going to learn to carve yet!

My first try was to put them into the top of the wine bottle. But some of the stems got in the way. As I was trimming the stems off with my Dremel I saw a clowns face staring back at me!  Did I pull it out okay?  I need to find a place that the dust can fly and I don't need to worry about it.

Clown Face

I think that I'm going to need to buy more Tillandsias soon.  (After the freezing weather is over.)

Tillansdias on Cotton Plant Root

Easter Tree

My mother and I used to cut a branch off from a lilac tree many weeks before Easter. We had made these ornaments out of Styrofoam eggs, Easter napkins and ribbon. It is challenging finding a good branch. It needs to have many smaller branches and a lot of buds.  

Easter Tree

Being in a new place, I'm not certain but this looks to me like a mature lilac tree.  There are a lot of suckers coming up at the base. I carefully chose one that looked like it would work.

Lilac Trees

The branch will be put into a vase full of water.  The warmth of the house and the water will promote an early blooming.  Just like the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Son of God, opens the door to a new life the blooming branch of the Easter tree give the promise of a new season.

Chosen Branch

I don't know if this will work with any other kind of branch. But it does work with lilacs branches.

An offering of thanks

An offering of Thanks and Praise

In the Old Testament incense were required for several offerings to God.  It is one area that is not used in worship of God as much in the modern age.  I have been in a Catholic church when the priest waves and incense over the people.  But to me that seems more like a blessing of the people and not offering the incense up to God. It was often added to the grain offerings to be a sweet aroma to God during the sacrificial process.

Incense offerings 

We are in a time of Lent right now.  We know and understand that Jesus death and resurrection has taken away the need for the sin offerings and offerings of atonement.  That has been replaced by a relationship with God through Jesus Christ his son.  I have received so many blessings lately and I've been feeling like my words just aren't enough.  So I offer up to God along with my prayers this sweet aroma.

Forever inprocess ....

Tea Time by Jeanette Field

Part of my time being laid off I have been unpacking boxes. I came across this almost done wall hanging that my mother cross stitched before she passed away. She was making it for herself.  She had made Christmas stockings for each of the grandchildren. Since I never had children nothing was made for me. I was excited to find this wall hanging but it needed an acknowledgment that it wasn't done and it was made by mom.

In memory of my mother, Jeanette Field

I found a perfect frame for it. It was a good combination of tea party delicate and country rustic. The two combinations that mom and I share.

The Princess Corner

It looks perfect hanging above the tea party doll. I know that I unpacked the china tea set.  I put it in a safe place until I was ready for it.  (I'll find it again some day. Hopefully soon!)

Refreshing ...

I woke up this morning and got ready to go out for breakfast.  Before going,  I  quickly went out to do the chores which was to make sure the cats had food and something to drink and open the door for the sheep and donkeys to get outside.

The first thing that I noticed was the crisp, fresh smell in the air like a spring rain had just passed over. The last two days were in the 40's. This morning it was just below freezing and unusual for the freshness in the air.

I  stopped in the middle of the driveway and just thought to myself, "Thank you Lord for the blessing of this place!" Now, if we can only keep up with the repairs and work needed.

Thank you Lord, for the blessings!

More help from Sklyer

It was time to wash the bedding today. I rolled all the sheets and blankets together and placed them by the washer. Skyler was yelling to be let out of the kennel. In an attempt to potty train him, I take him immediately outside. 

As soon as Skyler came in he decided to attack the pile of laundry. When the side approach didn't work, he decided to jump on the pile and attack it full on!

He finally gave up realizing that it was better as a bed. He was not happy with me as I slid the sheets out and put them in the washer. 

Helping paws

I have been borrowing my friends spinning wheel while mine was being repaired.  I received a phone call telling me that mine was finally done.  But I had a little bit more to spin until the bobbin was full on Jeanne's spinning wheel.  I had to find the time to finish.

Can I do that too?

Skyler at 11 weeks old found the movement of the wheel very interesting.  For a few days he has been running behind my legs to hide after antagonizing the big girls.  Today, he ran behind my legs to watch this noise maker.  Of course he had to push my feet out of the way and put his paws in their place.

My foot fits on here too

I guess he didn't see the appeal of spinning because a few minutes later he had snuggled up behind my back on the couch.  When I got up to move a few minutes later, he was sound asleep. I guess the steady sound of the peddles pumping put him to sleep.

Helper in hiding

I was able to finish spinning the wool on to the bobbin while he slept.  Since there is only one bobbin available for this machine, my next task was to spin the wool off from the wooden bobbin and onto a plastic bobbin that I will use for making the three-ply yarn.

Finished!

A tasty frozen treat

This would have been healthy if I had a healthy milk option.  I'd seen something similar on Facebook.
2 bananas
Blueberries/ strawberries/ raspberries
Dark chocolate
Milk

2 frozen bananas

I had two frozen bananas so I put them into the food processor.  I made two batches: blueberry and raspberry. I dumped in about a cup full of berries.

1 cup raspberries

Then I put in some dark chocolate. Not much but enough to add a bit of flavor. 

Looks delicious just like this!

The recipe called for a dash of almond milk but all I had in the house was chocolate milk. Since I've already added some dark chocolate, I chose to use a dash of chocolate milk. 

Don't forget to add a splash of of milk

I used my food processor to blend it together and chop up the chocolate bar at the same time. 

banana-raspberry and chocolate blended together

I used snack size baggies to create 4 single serving frozen fruit treats. You can also use small paper cups and a toothpick to create a popsicle form.

Raspberry treat before freezing

Blueberry frozen treat

Trailer time

We had a very active morning.  My nephew picked me up and headed out of town. I had the opportunity to get a horse trailer. It needed to be moved within 60 days. We haven't had too much snow yet this year but that could change at any time.

Trailer Time

Even with the small amounts of snow, two sides of the trailer were drifted in.  We had do dig ourselves back to the trailer.  Then we had to used a jack to lift the trailer up because it was frozen to the ground.  To top things off, one tire was totally flat and had settled into the ground.  The we doing all the work was my nephew.  Thanks Nickolai! 

Digging our way in .....

Dad had a portable air compressor that he hooked up to his car battery and when we were at a clear and level spot, we pumped up all of the tires on the trailer.  They held the air well enough to get it home but several of them will need to be replaced. After a few repairs, we will have a working horse trailer.

Portable air compressor

Scissor Fetish?

I admittedly have several fetishes: pens, pencils, rubber stamps, etc. Basically I force myself to stay out of the office supply department of stores. We have a drawer that we keep all of the scissors in.  The markers were in here too but I decided to move most of them out of there.  You will see why in a little while.

Scissor and marker drawer

I have my own stash of scissors in my office.  Sometimes they wander downstairs simply because I get office supplies in my hands and forget that I'm carrying them.

More scissors ....

I guess that I know Dale and I are a good match when he brings home a new set of 5 scissors when we have a few drawers full already.  This time I am not the one responsible for the excess......for a change.

...not sure what to say

Happy Valentine's day!

The day started as we dropped the second puppy off at the Eagle's Healing Nest. There isn't a better way to begin the holiday of Love than to bless a stranger.

Blessing another veteran

Then in order to beat the evening rush, we went out for a middle of the afternoon birthday and Valentine's day meal. They were packed at 2:30 in the afternoon.  I guess everyone else had the same idea. Dale treated me to a steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It started out as a belated celebration for my sisters birthday. Dad forgot it was Valentine's day. Oops!

Steak, Yam and green beans at Texas Roadhouse

Dad, Pat, Tabatha, Isaac, Nickolai and Kelsey were all at the Steakhouse. It's difficult to have a group together in such a noisy place. But it's good at the same time.  I was able to give Tabatha her adult coloring book and Pat her locket.

A family packed Valentine!

When we got home, Dale searched for the foot soaking tub. We took turns soaking our feet before going to bed. The perfect end to a Valentine's Day.

AHH! So relaxing!

Counting my BLESSINGS!

Dale switched shifts today.  So I was able to get a few errands done before he headed into work. One of the errands was to spend a little bit of the puppy money on myself.  Yes, I have one coloring book.  But I like options and you can't turn around without seeing a good variety of adult coloring books.  I've been wanting to buy another one for over a month and I've been resisting.  After all it is a WANT and not a NEED.  I also decided to give my sister a Valentines gift of the hard covered adult coloring book that she's been wanting.

Happy Valentines Day to ME!

I spent a large portion of Wednesday with my sister celebrating her birthday. One of the places that we stopped for her was JoAnn Fabrics.  She picked us both up a set of Watercolor Pencils.  I had tried them on normal paper which was terrible!   So watercolor paper became a NEED.  After all, you need to have the tools to be able to use a gift that someone gives you.  :^)

Practicing with a new medium - Watercolor pencils

What does all this have to do with counting my blessings?  Waiting in line to check out, I stepped out of line and told the gal behind me to go ahead of me as I perused the shelves along the checkout.  She and I started talking.  I brought up dad's book, "Hugs, Hands and Heaven Help Hank."  We got talking about the importance of Faith and Hope in our lives.  She had a coupon book and when she was done checking out she offered her coupon book to me use for a discount.  The clerk informed us that the coupons were good for a one time use only.  Then something strange happened.  This charming lady became absolutely determined to find a way to bless me.  She finally realized that she hadn't used her 40% off coupon.  So I was given 40% off my most expensive item.

I consider Eagles a special blessing.  Every time that I'm driving and an Eagle flies over my car I say, "Thank you Lord, I'm blessed!"  Today I was twice blessed as after being blessed in the store, two Eagles flew over my car.  "Thank you Lord for the special Valentines gift.  My cup is truly flowing over with blessings."