Super Moon Shenanigans

Have you seen her yet?

 

Lurking over the horizon, all hazy and otherwordly...

 

 

She defies the ordinary and casts a wicked gleam over the night realm.

 

 

Scientists have named her the Super Moon.  The phenomenon occurs about once a year when the moon rolls closest to earth in its eliptical orbit.  This results in a "Super" large viewing of the moon from earth... 

 

And she is a beauty.  Perhaps you've seen her dancing over the evening sky.  Beguiling beams of light streaking night with day.  And perhaps she is the one to blame for all the mayhem on the farm!  For something is amiss!

 

Yesterday morning while I was doing chores I noticed Miss Peacock playing hide-n-seek in the bed of the pick-up...

 

 

Up with her head, then ducked down, daring me to come see...

 

And this is what I found!

 

 

An egg!

 

Laid in the dirty, old bed of the pick-up!  In June!  Something very peculiar going on around the farm indeed.  Our peas generally nest in early spring, which is February or March around here.  So an egg in June is just down-right strange.  And then to drop it in the old pick-up... Maybe that Super Moon is messing with the order of things!

 

Then today when I got home from running errands, I noticed someone's goats out along the road...

 

 

And I thought... boy, they sure look a lot like our cashmeres.  And then I slammed on the brakes and realized... They Are Our Cashmeres!!!

 

And they knew they were in trouble... they actually beat me back to the pasture gate... which, of course they couldn't get thru because it was locked.

 

After they were safely tucked away in their "time-out" corners... I walked the fence line and found the tiniest of breaks near the creek.  Uh-huh.  They are nothing if not persistent.  So, fence fixed.  Goats in time-out.  I walked back to the house and noticed the apple tree.

 

 

Stripped to the bark...

 

By these little hoodlums

 

 

who don't appear to be feeling any remorse.

 

And then it gets worse.  The black raspberry bush...

 

 

Stripped clean!  Not even a leaf left, only the stake and tape holding it up.

 

But the final straw would be my beautiful rose bushes...

 

 

Nary a bloom survived the ravenous appetites of our goats on the rampage.  Dare I blame it on the Super Moon?  For this could not be normal behavior for our "sweet" herd of cashmere!

 

And the Super Moon is playing havoc with the garden as well... or perhaps I'm just a messy gardener, but the tomato plants are becoming a jungle!

 

 

 

What bounty!

 

 

Although Casey does not seem to be impressed...

 

 

Must be the work of a Super Moon!

 

May we always be blessed with the magic of Life Lived Large,

for even when ravaging pests strip us bare,

remind us that our roots run deep and our foundation is sure.

 

 

 

Soaking up the Moon Beams tonight,

     In Grace,

              Jane

 

p.s.  Thank you Stacy for the amazing Super Moon photos!  You captured it perfectly! 

 

Happy Father's Day

To all the Fathers...

 

a day to tell you how you are adored.

 

To my Daddy, my Father-in-law, my handsome Son,

and mostly for the man who still melts my heart...

 

Happy Father's Day!

 

 

For the love that spills out for your family,

you have made us feel safe, protected and

simply, always, cherished.

 

 

Love you to the moon and back!

 

Good Morning...

 

The sun peeks gently through the trees,

softly announcing a new day has arrived.

 

 

A walk in the cool of the morning...
misty bliss.

 

 

"The LORD'S lovingkindnesses

indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning:

Great is Your Faithfulness."
                             ~ Lamentations 3:22-23

 

May you feel His lovingkindnesses
sweetly through-out the day...

 

In Grace Always,

                 Jane

 

Is This What It Will Be Like?

 

You know... that glorious feeling when you finally pull into your driveway (or crunchy gravel road) and realize that you're back home... after days away and miles gone by...

 

 

 

You roll down the windows and breathe it in.  The fragrance that tickles your nose...and draws a smile.

 

 

 

 

The happy pups who delight in your arrival!

 

 

 

 

 

The soul sighs with content even as the muscles protest the long, cramped ride!  But what bliss to walk the farm, savoring the sights, the smells, the sounds... unpacking can wait as we discover all we've missed...

 

And as if on cue, we hear baby bleats from the stable!

 

 

Born just hours after we arrived home!  Our farm-sitter was one nervous girl keeping nanny watch!

 

 

 

 

Twin Girls, Healthy and Sound, Silky and Sweet

Delightful Welcome Home Gift!

 

And then as dusk lulls the babies to sleep, these tired travelers finally fall into bed... Our own bed!

A scrumptious feeling to slide between cool sheets and sink into our own comfy mattress, with pillows plumped just so...

 

 

We melted into sleep, that kind of hazy, drifting away on waves of content...

and somewhere between wake and sleep, a thought floated gentle, and I wondered

if this is what it will be like when we finish this earthly Journey

and finally arrive Home...

 

A Heavenly Home that will feel as glorious to our senses as coming home to the farm...

walking down the lane to a fragrance familiar

to be greeted with welcome that wraps us in happy

and find unexpected delight in Gifts He has prepared just for us.

 

To Fall into Rest so Perfect and Complete

we can't help but sink into Peace

 

It will be Grace Amazing

in so many ways.

 

Grateful Always for His Tender Mercies in

bringing us home safely thus far,

Filled with Hope for the Journey and HomeComing

that is yet to come,

 

In Graced Assurance,

                      Jane

 

 

Time and Love Enough

 

A Welcome Mat of beautiful Texas wildflowers dazzle the eye!

 

 

 

Ready to be headed home...And yet...

 

The leaving was hard.

 

We are not ready to say Good-bye.  But jobs, and farm and life pull at us...  Millie and Don are in a "holding" zone.  Weak, yet stable.  Content, yet facing uncertainty.

 

The hugs were long, the 'I love you's' whispered hoarse, eyes blurred wet as we set out for home.

 

We have left a "safety-net" of neighbors, family, and meals-on-wheels for Don.  He seems satisfied with the arrangements, but knows he will have struggles.  Missing Millie will be the biggest.  And yet, she is doing well in the rehab center.  The rest, attention and therapy are what she needs most right now.  Don is resigned to the fact that he just can't provide that for her at home... And so, for the first time in over 62 years, they sleep under separate roofs but just a few miles apart.

 

And for the first time in all our married years, we say Good-Bye, truly not knowing if we will see their sweet faces again in this place.  Praying for added days and months and years, but knowing, in all honesty, that God has already graced them with time and love enough for this lifetime and beyond. 

 

We have been given that gift.  Time enough.  Love enough.  And we will rest in it... even when worries gnaw and hearts ache.  Their living example of Romans 12:12 is a constant reminder of a confident Life Walk with a God who has lead them all the way, even to this, the final walk Home:

 

"Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction,

(and) faithful in prayer."

                        ~  Romans 12:12

 

  Praying moment to moment,

trusting in a God, whose Love is Ever-Present,

All- Powerful and Completely Sufficient,

 

for even this.