Perspective

 I'm walking along on this dry grassy hill, looking down in the coulees, wondering when things will begin to grow and get more colorful. There has been only one rainfall this spring so far...its not looking to promising of May flowers. As I walk along, the grasses are so dry that little pieces break off and poke me as they fall into my shoes.

I look out mostly over the hills and down in the coulees and the land seems so barren. The parched land looks like it has nothing beautiful to offer right now.

But when I slow down I see something. Some color. I bend down to see what looks like something similar to crocuses, soft, fuzzy, purple petals closed up pointing to the sky. Clusters of them, and some single flowers scattered over the hills. They are so beautiful and I am so happy to see them there.

 As with new eyes I look more specifically over the hills and notice these pretty little flowers scattered here and there quite frequently.

Its amazing how much more noticeable something is when you specifically look for it. It brings my thoughts to how we can look at ourselves or others. Quite often when I am frustrated by my short comings or short comings of a loved one its hard to see something positive going on. When I think about failure after failure in areas that I struggle, I just see a Big F. But when I take the time to focus in on these certain areas I cant neglect to see that I have made many wise choices and that is also why more often than not, things can go along pretty smoothly. When positive choices are made they need to be acknowledged and praise God for His faithfulness and guidance. Then it is easier to see how good choices can be made easily and its encouraging to keep heading in the right direction to see how much more beautiful its going to get! Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. (Isaiah 43:18) Remembering this helps us accept that God is always wanting to use us and our experiences to do good. He is always at work in our lives as long as we are letting Him.
(And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28)
Each choice to honor the Lord is a beautiful little flower in a dry barren land, that when each one is gathered together, there is too many to fit into any ordinary vase. And yet the flowers is all He sees in our dry barren land. 

Turns out these flowers are called Prairie Crocuses

Psalm 103
Praise the Lord, O my soul!

With all that is within me, praise his holy name!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not forget all his kind deeds!

He is the one who forgives all your sins,

who heals all your diseases,

who delivers your life from the Pit,

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

who satisfies your life with good things,

so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

The Lord does what is fair,

and executes justice for all the oppressed.

The Lord revealed his faithful acts to Moses,

his deeds to the Israelites.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.

He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry.

He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.

For as the skies are high above the earth,

so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers.

As far as the eastern horizon is from the west,

so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.

For he knows what we are made of;

he realizes we are made of clay.

A person’s life is like grass.

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

but when the hot wind blows by, it disappears,

and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.

But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,

and is faithful to their descendants,

to those who keep his covenant,

who are careful to obey his commands.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven;

his kingdom extends over everything.

Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders!

Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his,

you servants of his who carry out his desires!

Praise the Lord, all that he has made,

in all the regions of his kingdom!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Huckleberries

I've never seen or thought about huckleberries before until I moved out here to western Canada. But I think that, that has got to be one of the best names for a berry! I saw an ad in the paper for a Huckleberry Festival and liked the way it sounded and so off we went on a two hour drive to this ski resort that was hosting the festival. It didn't look like the nicest day but checking the weather before hand I decided we would be ok with light sweaters and shorts and I even chose to wear sandals. When we arrived at the mountainous location it was six degrees. And everyone had on hiking boots, pants and lots of layers. But I was bound and determined to make the best of our huckleberry excursion. We got lift tickets some buckets and slowly, slowly got lifted to the top of the hill. The slow progression on the lift made it all the more cold while I endured all kinds of comments about the choice of my attire. Yes, thank you, I realize I made a bad decision with the sandals and shorts, I want to say as I smile, and gritting my teeth! 

 At the top we take a few steps and my husband says to me so what do they look like, and I say I read that they look like a blueberry (what a boring name for a berry) so we look a bit and I found a little bush with burgundy leaves that had deep purply blue berries and I pick one. I eat it and fake a dramatic choke and then say well they are safe, these must be it. So we start picking tiny berries from soaking wet bushes on top of a mountain that must have been 3 degrees (IN AUGUST!!) ! And also I should mention they are pretty sparse little bushes.

 I'd say we endured about 15 min. only because our hands stopped functioning at around that point, and collected half a cup of berries. Good times, good times. 
 On the way down, as it was on the way up the lift we spotted deer walking by and this time they were walking even right beneath our chair! That was cool. The sights were awesome. The experience was....an experience. And hey, I got to make some Huckleberry muffins after!

2 cups flour  1/2 tsp. salt  1 tb. baking powder  1 cup sugar
Sift these ingredients together. Stir in 1/2 cup huckleberries (or more if you could gather more:) or just plain old blueberries)
In a separate bowl mix
2 eggs  3/4 cup oil  1 1/4 cup greek yogurt  1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Gently stir this into the dry ingredients with 1/2 cup white chips
Plop into greased 12 cup muffin tin and bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 20 min.

 

 If its a typical August day sit outside and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
 So from all this I guess I should learn, always be prepared and don't have to many expectations!

Lilly of the Valley and Poison Ivy

A near by grave yard behind an aged church is so beautiful this time of year. The bushes in behind are abundant in gorgeous smelling Lilly of the Valley. But commingled through out most of it is poison ivy. Its makes me ponder a metaphor. I am drawn to wild flowers (Hello! Free Flowers!) like a moth to a flame. So here I am trying to carefully step around the poison ivy, careful as I pluck the Lilly of the valley out of the mix. How is that not like life? Living, especially an abundant life, makes one want to reach out to the positive/beautiful blessings God has to offer us and we need to stay on guard careful to stay away from the "poisons" of this earth, and what Satan may put in our path. All the while making sure we are making the right decisions along the way as well. Because we also have to fight the ways of the flesh. We can only do this if we: do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, and perfect will (Romans 12:2). I love metaphors.

Lake found some Canadian Columbine.

Holly found some Lilly of the valley in a poison ivy free spot close to the church.

...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

More PIZZA and a new Drive - along Discovery

This was a creation this past week. Its pizza that almost tastes like a cheese burger. Both go great together. Don't get scared off by the pickles, you would be surprised at how good it all goes together.
To start off I used half of my pizza dough recipe.
Brown a pound of ground beef, with half a sliced onion. After that mix in about a 1/2 cup ketchup.
After you have spread the dough out onto a large rectangle pizza pan, spread 1/3 cup of onion chip dip. This could be replaced with onion cream cheese spread. Sprinkle the meat mixture over the dough and dip. Then a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar goes on top. Bake in oven at 425 degrees, for about 15 min. Slice up some dill pickles and sprinkle on the top.

I was excited to see a species of duck I've never seen before. Probably just never had the chance to see them before, but I found out they like small bodies of water and rivers. So these Hooded Merganser's were right at home in the Ottawa River. They eat small fish and other small living creatures in the water. And they were doing just that when I spotted them this past weekend. I was a passenger while my hubby was driving when I spotted the beautiful male and his female. I was interested in finding out what kind of duck they were and also found out that they nest in tree cavities near the water, and their bills are serrated for catching the food they eat, as well as having an extra membrane to cover their eyes for when they dive under water (like a frog).
This makes me think about this quote I read not too long ago..."Familiarity with nature never breeds contempt. The more one learns, the more he expects surprises, and the more he becomes aware of the inscrutable." -Archibald Rutledge

Falling in love with Fall

 

I do love fall. But it makes me sad that summer is over and gives me a little anxiety that winter is just around the corner. But I do Enjoy Autumn!

 

 

Monkey see ...

 

monkey do!



 

Tree babies, three in a row.

 

 

So many reasons to head outside and walk, hike and play this time of year. My two favourites: The colours - which I didn't get much of in these pics. :(  and the temperature is so comfortable.

Savoring the last days of Summer

These here are Phil and Susan, the resident frogs here at this near by island. ;)

Violet let them go, so that Phil could finish collecting dinner for Susan.

Lake was having a heck of a time whacking down the biggest and toughest weed I have ever seen.

Holly was having fun running around with Buttercup.

MacMurray looking handsome.

Buttercup is doing pretty much what I did the whole afternoon we were on the island. Stared. I quietly enjoyed the weather, the sights and loving doing nothing but enjoying my family. 

Why do we (I) ever try to clutter up life with unnecessary things that $$ buys when there is such an abundance that the Lord has blessed us with?

I'm sorry if this is boring but for me (and maybe for you to), I'm gunna list off the free blessings I had on this day before me to acknowledge the fact that no unnecessary $$ needed to be spent. Here is what there was to freely enjoy:

Gods gift of eternal life, my husband, my children, our health, a free country to live in, a warm sunny day, a place to kayak to, kayaks, our puppies, food to eat on our picnic, the sand between my toes, clean water to swim in, places to explore, animals to find and watch, sunglasses and swimsuits. I could find others...

With that I want to end this off with stating that our family is going to go on a spending fast. My husband heard of this womans blog on the radio and how she got out of debt going on a spending fast. That for us, I believe will help us get a good perspective on how we view money and possessions. Pay off debt and appreciate the simple pleasures in life, leaving behind the belief that one needs to spend money to enjoy life. We still have some decisions to make regarding the "rules" but we basically want to follow most of the ones on the blog. 
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.

Proverbs 22:7The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. 

Times Spent Going to the Beach

Here is what we saw these past few weeks going to the beach.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain