I'm ba-ack! :)

 Wow. Summer got busy in a hurry! Lots of babysitting to help Micah and Adam get the older kids to things like 4-H dog training, softball and dance class. Now they discovered that the 4-H dog training schedule conflicts with the actual softball games, and Hazel and Audrey have their games on different nights and some are an hour away. Aargh! I've been praying for wisdom for Micah and Adam and that they figure it all out and maybe just trim back on extracurriculars. But I'm trying to leave that in their hands, since I have no control over their parental decisions. (Update: God stepped in and dog training is now here in our little town instead of an hour away, and is on a different night than their ball practice. Hallelujah! My BP just went down a little, ha ha.) I went to Hazel's games on Monday, but forgot to take my camera! Audrey's team played yesterday (Tuesday) and I didn't go. Too far away and I would be driving in the dark on the way home. I try not to drive at night. Anyway, she'll have some closer games that I can go to. 

There's a batch of chicks, plus a couple of ducklings and a turkey that are still too young to put out to free range, so we're moving them out to the chicken tractor each day. All the kids help, and I've been trying to make sure to help because it's a lot of trips otherwise. Last year's chickens and guineas have the run of the place and, of course, it's hard to find eggs. They're shut in at night, but still do most of their laying on the loose, which makes for lots of egg hunting. We got rid of three of our four roosters because they were chasing kids. :) 

One end of the tractor is covered by a tarp, so it's hard to get a good hot of the birds. :)

There's a turkey and a couple of ducks in there with the chicks. They're just having fun trying a little of this and that.

Pool party...

Micah also acquired a couple of Nigerian dwarf goats which give more milk than I imagined they would. Milking them is an acquired skill with their tiny teats, but Micah is mastering it. I've even made a batch of cheese! I froze part of it and use it mostly in my scrambled eggs. I ordered a cheese press, thinking I'd try that with the next batch. My first batch was crumbly and Micah says it tastes like mozarella. I was thinking with a press it might make more of a solid block. I'm going to experiment a lot. (Update: Micah just called to let me know she's going to pick up another goat...and 2 kids. News is old before I print it!)

Tostito...

and Ruffles.

I've been reading a lot. I won't bore you with all of the titles, but my current non-fiction is Building the Benedict Option by Leah Libresco. The subtitle is "A Guide to Gathering Two or Three Together in His Name". It sounds like it may have some more practical ideas about getting small groups together. I'm also reading Book 3 of a four book series by Lawana Blackwell. I showed pics of the first two books in an earlier post. I see (looking at my list of books read) that I've read 11 books since my last post on April 22. Among these was the three book series by Bodie Thoene called the Elijah Chronicles. More contemporary. Actually, the third book was written in 2020 and mentions Trump being president. It's sort of a historical fictional prophetic thriller that takes place mostly in Israel. Really good. I've been ordering a lot of books from Amazon and on my Kindle lately; not so many thrift books. 

Chuck (aka Thatcher) blew multiple bubbles before I finally captured one. He was glad to do it. He's gotten a lot of mileage out of blowing bubbles lately. 

I've been doing ATCs after a brief respite. A hardly noticeable respite, actually. I'm just going to post whatever I find. Hopefully not too many repeats. When I go so long between posts it's hard to remember what I've done. I've slowed way down on swaps and am mostly doing the round robins, which I don't usually take pics of because they're at various stages of completion. So...

These were for the Falling! swap. We had to make a little envelope and have stuff falling out of it. (Yeah, really!)

A Cat plus a little something extra swap...

The June Weird Holidays swap...

Two new plasticky kitchen gadgets...

A very simple cheese press. (Made in Ukraine!)

And a cute little Keurig. It even matches my dining room curtains! :)

If I don't post often it's partly because I'm getting old and my left hand is getting weak and uncooperative. That makes typing less fun. I know I should get it checked at the doctor. I just hate going to the doctor! I haven't been (except for eyes) since the whole C-word fiasco began. But I really should. I'm thinking of switching to a lady doctor just to make it more comfortable to go. One less excuse for not going. ;)

Anyway, I'll be sailing by to check out blogs soon. The three grand girls will be coming over for a few hours while Micah picks up her goats. She needs the space in the back of her van for two dog crates to transport the goats in, ha ha. That's one of the plusses of getting small goats!

God bless y'all and shalom on you and yours!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and may you stay in the palm of God's hand.