DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

I enjoy looking at clouds.. it brings back childhood memories of laying on the grass in the yard on Seventh Street Road and watching the animals and people float by. I sat outside today on the swing and noticed a lot of wild looking cloud formations.. Do you see what I see?

In the upper right hand corner, I see an angel..

Do you see the cat's face?

I stared at this for a while before I realized it was a cow's head..
Do you see what I see?

It's been a quiet day. I've not even tried to accomplish anything besides going to church today. Did you go to church today?
I am asking for prayer for Nicki who will be going to have a surgical procedure done early Monday morning. Pray it will be without any 'events', and that she will breathe much easier after.
It's cool.. in the 60s right now.. and I think it must be raining judging from my joints/bones. It's a given.
Tomorrow will be a busy day. I'm heading for bed shortly and will be getting up to make the cucumber relish that at least Charlie and I enjoy. I won't make a lot, but just enough.

Plans for Gramma Camp are moving right along.... fun stuff

PRAYER WARRIORS

I thank Nancy for the following:

EPHESIANS 6:11-20

I was very dismayed when, recently, a family member of mine said to me with great resignation that Obama will take the presidency.
These words came from someone who in the past has been a great prayer warrior. What is happening was my question???
Why are we Christians settling and not issuing a battle cry and falling to our knees and taking our country back?
We allow ourselves to be stripped of the right to pray at school functions and in school, we have the 10 commandments removed from government places and are told we cannot pray in school, all the while providing public prayer places for Muslims. What in the world is going on and why are we being apathetic?
Why aren't we praying?
Our God is a mighty God who is waiting patiently for us to raise our voices to heaven to stop the tide of the anti-Christ actions in our world today.
Now we find we have a charismatic candidate for president who does not
respect our flag and refuses to wear one on his lapel except when it becomes politically expedient and whose own wife and pastor that he loves profess to have strong anti-white feelings, and we sit back and say "it is a given, we can do nothing."
There has never been a time in 2000 years that we can do nothing, never a time
that we must sit back and allow the evil in men's and women's hearts to take over our world. We should be very afraid because our apathy is leading us to perdition.

It is time for all Christian Americans to raise the battle cry and take our nation back. Maybe McCain on his own cannot defeat Obama, but our God can and He will if we take to our knees in prayer and raise a mighty cry to the heavens to "Save us O Lord."
We have the power to change the course of this election and to keep a man as suspect as Barak Obama from leading our country to who knows where with his message of "change" - a change which I fear will be away from our Christian ideals and away from Christ and further away from one nation under God to one nation
under Allah.

We are great at passing stories and pictures around the internet, but where are our prayers and prayer warriors praying to stop this tide of Barak Obama?

God parted the Red sea, Jesus raised himself from the dead, and we can bring our country back to its Christian roots and stop the move to the rise of Muslims in our country.

We can stop our country from being "under Allah," but we must begin to pray, to pray as if our country and our lives depended on it, because they do.

We can stop all these atrocities against God's commands that have taken root in our country through something as simple as sincere prayer, a call to God to deliver us, to forgive us our sins of apathy and to protect us from the evil that is upon us.

Okay prayer warriors, here is your challenge, start those prayer chains.
Get the spiritual power working on our behalf and stop Barak Obama the proper way, by calling on our God to save us from the deception that charismatic preaching is using to lead us on the wrong path.
Stop those who would take God out of our country and our government.
Raise up good men to lead us and protect us.
George Bush is being buffeted because he has fought a holy war against the evils that attack us and we should not be surprised because a prophet is not honored in his own country.

But we should not rest on our laurels and allow ourselves to be taken further off the path of Christianity and to have God removed from our presence in our schools, courts, government and businesses.

Invite God into the fray.

Ask that His power rest upon us and give us the victory.

Ask him to raise up a might army to defend us and to protect our country as he did in days of old. Let us be victorious beginning NOW.

The battle is His but we must call on Him without ceasing and unite our voices and hearts in prayer and fasting.

Please pass this around to all people of prayer that you know and maybe, just maybe a more eloquent person of prayer will write something better and more inspiring and even the rocks will shout that Jesus is Lord and our Mighty God is with us, bringing the victory for us and ultimately for Him.

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in
all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus." I Thes 5:16-18

I had a slow start today, but I think I've made up for it now. I got moving after lunch and headed to the grocery store for some badly needed items.. and then got enough supplies for supper. I had a slice of ham while Wendell had a thick ground beef steak. We each had a small new potato, and then fresh cucumber/tomato salad with a bit of Italian dressing.
Charlie stopped in with more pickles to can.. and some peaches.. so after I cleaned up the supper mess, I got right on those pickles. I'd canned 10 jars last week, and now we have 4 more quarts. I'll split them with Charlie, as he does the hard part.. planting and picking. I still have green beans to break... or should I say, WENDELL has that job to do. He's slower than I am.
I was going to make a strawberry parfait pie, but opted for the faux cherry cheesecake he likes.
It'll do for the day. I'm a bit tired right now.
The peaches are beautiful.. I just hope we don't end up with fruit flies. I gotta get on them soon.

August and April are our 2 BIG months for birthdays in our family.. closely followed by July. This month, we will be celebrating for adults only- Cory, Wendell, Amanda, John, and JJ. This year will be different from past celebrations, however. We plan to party on Saturday, Aug 23rd with a birthday cookout with the cake being made by kids for Grampa, parents, uncle, and aunts. It will mark the end of Gramma Camp. It'll be a super busy day and include having a professional family portrait made earlier in the day. Instead of a vacation for Wendell and me, we shall consider Gramma Camp week our vacation with our family. It's hard to believe that from the two of us back in 1969, we have advanced and grown to 20! We have become a genuine CROWD! How very blessed we have been.
I'm so thankful for family and friends who pray for us and who respond to prayer requests. You are so special.
I will ask that you pray that Nicki's surgical procedure would be successful on Monday, and that it will afford her comfort in breathing. I'm so proud and thankful for my west coast cousins who are so supportive while she is ill.

It has been a long day here. I didn't sleep last night with my ear bothering me most of the night. Allergies cause some strange symptoms. However, I'm thankful that I could work the last 2 days, and successfully infuse 17 patients without any untoward events. God hears our prayers.
I got home tonite about exhausted from lack of sleep and a super busy day at the office. My body craved sleep, and had Mandy not made supper and had it on my plate, I likely would have crashed right then and there. I made it till 6pm, and slept soundly for 3 1/2 hours. I feel so much better, but I think I'll sleep tonite too, though I've had this long nap.

Blessings to you all....

to

RICK AND SANDI

AND MANY MANY MORE!

As February is always the worst winter month, August is always the hottest summer month. So far, it's been almost cool every day. The forecast into Monday continues that with temps only in the low to mid 70s. If this keeps up, we'll not have used the AC much this year at all. I have the fan on, but the AC off.

It's Friday. The weekend is upon us..hooray!!! (I think)
I'm going into the office this morning to infuse 9 patients. We start at 10am and go straight through. It should be a good day.
Pray for us please.

GRAMMA CAMP

It's been suggested that we have a Kid's Olympics for Gramma Camp this year. I do like the idea.
Anyone else out there have any ideas for Olympic games? The ages are 11-4

It was a particularly good day today.. everyone got one needle stick for a good start. The only glitch I had was when I tried to turn around to grab a piece of tape to anchor the little butterfly needle for one patient, and caught the tubing on the band of my wristwatch, and ripped out the perfect IV needle. AAAACCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so horrified. I'd NEVER had that happen before.. The patient was so understanding and sweet about it all. She's like that anyway.. but I felt so bad that it even happened. I had to restick her in the other arm, this time with the watch in my pocket.
Everything else went smoothly, and I was home by 3:30. Nice.
My relief nurse has broken her foot. This is not good news, but I have been in worse spots before. She was going to take the patient load tomorrow, but now will not be able to do so for a few weeks. That brings us to Gramma Camp.. and I won't be in the office that week.. 13 patients will have to come in the week before or the week after. They will not complain.. no one ever does when I have to change schedules around.

It was rainy today with just a bit of sun off and on..temperatures were fabulous at about 72. Tonite we are to have about 56 degrees and a chance of thunderstorms. I could believe that judging from my weather prognosticating back. Wendell is feeling it too. It looks like rain right through the weekend.

GRAMMA CAMP

Looks like there will be a
GRAMMA CAMP

It's been an annual event for the past few years, and each year it gets a little better than the last. I wasn't sure we could pull it off this year, but it's looking better each day. I'm getting the menu and the plans together.

With a bit of help from the Z's, we shall have 2 tents outdoors where we will sleep out every night. Hope it doesn't rain, but if it does, we will have alternate plans..
I haven't slept out under the stars since I was a teenager. This is gonna require some stamina.. keep this as a prayer item.

Campfires every evening with a special snack before bed.
Lots of fun things planned..
Cookouts and crafts..
Water sports and games..
Nature walk and good food...
The plan is to get everyone together
August 17 in the evening for a cookout..parents included.
The Valentine kids will arrive on Wednesday, and join in the fun too.
We plan a birthday party cookout on Saturday, with a Treasure Hunt to
end the week long festivities.
Looking to a week of fun and relaxing..

Today is another lovely day. I listened to the rain tapping on the window this morning, and then watched the flashes of lightning and heard the cracks of thunder. I actually like thunderstorms as long as they don't threaten to get wild and seemingly out of control. Things always seem cleaner after a storm. The fresh smell of ozone is a scent I have vivid memories of as a child.. it's a clean scent.

Today is office day, and tomorrow too. Wendell woke me up this morning (at my request). I had set 3 alarm clocks, but for some reason, I never hear them. The deafness in my right ear is increasing. The left seems status quo with a deficit, but not changed. My habit and position of comfort is on my left side when I sleep, and with the hum of the AC, the noise of the radio I leave on at night, and the thunderstorm .. well, I just can't hear the soft ring of the alarms. I keep fighting the 'Sonic Screamer' that Wendell thinks I should buy. It costs somewhere around $30 at truck stops, but I'm moving closer to buying one, as I know it'll wake me up.

Prayer is high on my list of priorities this morning.. I will ask you to pray for my patients, that they will not need more than one prick of the needle, and that no untoward events may occur. Pray for me too...for accuracy in every aspect of my infusion delivery.

Pray for Nicki too.. she's having a difficult time right now. And for her daughter Annsley who is home with baby Timothy, and needs to recover to help her mom and dad.
Pray also for Sandi, that the doctors would make right decisions for her and that she would heal without surgery.
Pray for our nation and those who would be leaders. Always give thanks that God controls everything- even those who seek to do us harm.
Pray for your pastor, and be thankful for the freedom to attend your place of worship.

These seem to be the top things on my mind this morning.. Get your prayer lists out and keep on praying. It's the one thing that will make a difference in your life and in our nation and the world.

HEADLINES !!

Thanks to my friend Elsie for this posting:


THE YEAR'S BEST (actual!) HEADLINES

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
No, really?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that's taking things a bit far! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miners Refuse to Work after Death
Those good-for-nothing lazy so-and-sos! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Strike Isn't Set tled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Ya' think?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enfield Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chain-saw Massacre all over again! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the winner is....
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think you can see the several deer here better than the last post

You have to be super quiet, sneak up on, and don't use the flash if you want a picture of the deer behind our house. I'm too noisy and usually forget to turn the flash off.. so Mandy grabbed my camera and took these pictures tonite. The one in the middle has more than one deer in it. There were 3.. one fawn with little white spots on it's back.. cute!

CANNING SEASON

Charlie brought me a bunch of pickles tonite.. some canning salt, white vinegar, and 2 boxes of quart jars.. He had ulterior motives..

I went up to the garden and snipped a bunch of dill to make these pickles taste as good as they look. This recipe is simple, but the drawback is that the pickles are ready in about 2 weeks.. and after about 6 weeks, they tend to soften and become 'strong'.. but the really wonderful flavor of a crock pickle in a jar makes me want these rather than a longer lasting one. So, whole pickles, slices and strips .. and chunks and halves.. all go into the jars for a tasty treat in September.

the brine:

3 qt water

1 qt white vinegar

2/3 c (scant) pickling salt

boil for 5 minutes and pour over the clean pickles in jars with a sprig of dill

We have been known to make garlic dills this way too.. by the gallon.

SOAPBOX TIME..again..

Uh-oh.. it's SOAPBOX TIME again.. Feel free to skip this part of the blog if you would rather not read the rantings and railings of one lonely conservative patriotic American citizen.
So here it goes:


"A house divided against itself cannot stand." As quoted by Abraham Lincoln and Matthew 12:25: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand"

So what is wrong with assimilation? That is what in the past has made this country great.
Have we lost the real value of E Pluribus Unum? (Out of many, one)
Our history has been one of a melting pot. No one was ever requested to give up their historical heritage. No one has been requested to change their color, religion, or their language as spoken in the home. It makes us a beautiful, colorful, and strong society.
However, the allegiance to one's present homeland as an American should become one of loyalty. That is really what the base of the melting pot involves.
Speaking the language of the homeland country is critical. How can one communicate if everyone speaks a different language. You would experience a Tower of Babel as recorded in the Bible. As a result, the people moved off together each in his own tribe.
We should take heed to the adage 'united, we stand, divided, we fall'.

That brings me to the discussion of respect. That seems to be an ingredient missing from our melting pot that has turned it sour. It's something learned in the home, and should be also instructed in public schools. It's a simple thing.
When one has respect for another or his property, it creates an air of positivity.
I was taught to respect my elders, my co-workers, my parents, teachers, police, those in government offices, and the offices themselves.
It is an acknowledgement that a person has value. It shows a certain amount of humility, and honors the other person. This gives both persons a positive feeling of self respect as a result.
Earning respect is not hard, but involves giving of oneself, and then integrity.
Ah.. honesty and integrity.. another ingredient missing for the most part from the melting pot. I ask myself many times 'how can I respect (fill in the blank) when they are so ungrateful and actually try to make me feel less valued?
It makes me feel so disturbed and concerned when I see our nation heading in the direction which we are going. Godless men who have many stripes against them by the American public of which I am a member.
I have many complaints, and I am too vocal I fear. However, I would make my complaints known, as perhaps others feel the same no matter what color your skin is or where your ancestors arrived from.
I guess my main concern is that the US Congress is desperately trying to divide our country.. not just in two, but into many pieces. They stir up strife in every neighborhood by their lack of caring and integrity.
They seem to be exploiting the public differences with special interest groups and deny the common good and national interests~ trying to crush the American spirit.
They would do better to accentuate our similarities with patriotism and honesty. Group and special interests are overwhelming the democratic process.
They have ignored 280 million working Americans in their arrogance, unending trivial political correctness, ethnic issues, playing border games, attempting to bankrupt this country, destroy the Justice system, promoting paranoia with the constant push for a National ID, and promoting fear in the hearts and minds of us all.
Is it any wonder why they have a single digit approval? And who is it that approves? (9% as of July 8,2008)
As far as I'm concerned, one of the pre-requisites for holding a public office should be a degree in Economics with a minor in Budgeting. These elite have no clue how the average American manages in our nation. A budget that is within our income for the government should be small.. (millions, not billions or trillions) .. and the rest left to the individual states.
They expect we will tighten our belts while they waste outrageously in all they do.
Elections this fall will be dismal no matter who wins. It's a matter of choosing who will do the least amount of damage. We need a Conservative Party. Any volunteers?

No one gets away with violating God's word. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says:
"If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land".
The alternative is not something I like to think about. Our national and personal corruption will create our disastrous downfall.

I'm getting down off my soapbox now.. I have other pressing matters of the day...

MONKEY SEE...MONKEY DO

We spent a few hours , and then decided it was time to head toward home. We'd enjoyed ourselves immensely, and hated to leave, but I am afraid I was starting to feel that dragging pain again, and needed to go home.
Each of the children came to me and offered a hug.. how I love that..
I never expect it of Annabelle because she is so suspicious of me anyway.. but she's really getting much better .. I noted her observation as each of her siblings approached me and hugged .. and at last she climbed up on her chair and held her little arms out to offer her hugs to me also.. What a glorious day!!

DINNAH IS SERVED...

Paul has a unique grill.. the firepit is filled with wood.. He lights the fire and burns it down to coals, then slips the grill he's designed over the firepit. It's adjustable in height. It has an arm that will hold a dutch oven too... Really great! Tonite, we were served hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and then corn on the cob grilled to perfection on the hot coals. The first round was a tad singed, but still heavenly and sweet. The coals burned down some more, and then the corn cooked just right.
He also prepared for us, a delicious vegetable medley of green and yellow zuccchini with potatoes wrapped in foil and grilled atop the pit along side the hot dogs and burgers... It was magnificent!

These logs provided the perfect cooling rack for our corn..

PRE-DINNER ENTERTAINMENT

David is the conservative one in the family. He will undoubtedly one day join his brothers and sister on a 2 wheeler, recklessly riding up and down the hills and into the woods.. but for now, he is busy taming the tricycle upon which he feels safest. "Take MY picture on my bike, Gramma!"
Now, what Gramma wouldn't want to take a picture of this sweet grandson sticking his tongue out and hanging on for dear life?

This is another of the 'unique' bikes the boys ride regularly. It's got no tires. As the story goes, when they got the bike, the tires were flat and their dad told them they couldn't ride on flat tires.
Next day when he got home from work, there they were riding the bike.
"I thought I told you not to ride that bike"..said their dad
"No, you told us we couldn't ride on those flat tires, so we took them off".. They have been riding the rims ever since..

WATCH OUT!!!!!

Here comes that wild woman Annabelle on that tricycle..

Annabelle actually can't reach the pedals yet.. but one day.... then look out! Her brother P3 gives her a little push around the parking area.. I later saw Daniel pedaling away with Annabelle on his lap.. sorry I missed that picture..

Joyce has an air conditioner on her bicycle.. it's a spray bottle of water.. She gets up speed and sprays the air in front of her..it hits her face along with the breeze, and ...well.. it works!


Daniel on his bike that has no chain and no brakes.. he rides downhill on it and into the woods..

the GREETERS

When we got to the 'little Blairs', we were greeted at the end of the driveway by P3 on his bike who apparently was anxiously awaiting our arrival. He had a huge smile on his face and waved us on through. He followed us in the driveway, and circled around us when we parked.
The second wave of greeters then took over.. it was David.. in his excitement he blurted out "Higrammawe'rehavingacookoutlookwhatIcando!!!!".. Huh? And then.. "Take my picture!!!"
He always has been fascinated with digital cameras and seeing his own picture seconds after the shutter snaps.
Annabelle, in her own greeter fashion, eyed us suspiciously as we walked over to the fire pit area.
I soon established a confidence with her by opening the bag of Utz extra dark potato chips and offering her one.
Joyce had already ridden by on her bicycle and scooped up some of the goodies we brought..the chocolate ice cream and sugar waffle cones they like..and then the Double Stuff Oreo cookies too..

Oh.. what a day this has been. I've been waiting to go to the annual Imm reunion, and couldn't make it. The decision not to go was about heart wrenching for me. I cried.. but I was under a triple whammy starting early this morning.. (don't even ask.. You really DON'T want to know the details).. suffice it to say, I was ill.
Wendell would go with me if I felt I could make it, and I put the decision off until I just finally gave up. I believe I was not supposed to be there today.
Paul invited us to a cookout later this evening, and since I was starting back to feeling a little better, we went. I'll post the pictures..

A fuzzy pink zinnia... and a senior moment.. I thought I'd posted this one before.. heh heh
Note though the zinnia is fuzzy, the background is crisp and clear.. I'll get it right yet..

What can the camera do?

I wanted to see what the camera would do with various scenes.. I like the view across the front yard. It seemed pretty clear. The pink zinnia is a bit out of focus.. and I didn't post the cosmos that was just plain blurry. I am learning. Have patience.

How did I do?

We bought a new camera today.. inexpensive, 8MP, and just right for us. I tried it outside .. took a few pics around the yard. My camera card says I can take over 700 pictures if I desire.. at the moment I don't desire.
I'm having a little problem getting over 'whatever it is' that has plagued me for the past few days. I'm sore, sick, and sleeping more than usual. I had a window of feeling some better this afternoon, but right now I feel like crashing.
Pray I can get to the Imm reunion tomorrow. I really would like to go.