Susie-Q&A
• Aug. 17, 2008 - Back to School
School starts this week. I mean for us; I have no idea when the schools around here start. We always go back to school when the college does.
I have a schedule drawn up, and will be giving this schedule all my concerted effort for one full month, so posting may be light (unless I take pictures of our days to share with family and friends).
This schedule is an offering. It's an empty cup held up to God. Without God, it is null. Let Him fill it as He will, or not. It's also a sort of fleece laid out. Am I in His will with this or am I not? After a month, I will know. If not, I will pray with hubby about what to do.
My only task is to do my best, and to take my thoughts captive, and to "do the next thing." I look to God for the life; I can only present the forms to be filled.
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• Aug. 15, 2008 - Critters in the Dark
• Aug. 15, 2008 - Impatience
• Aug. 15, 2008 - Moonrise at Sunset
• Aug. 15, 2008 - Metamorphosis
Far sooner than we expected, our first butterfly appeared.
We took the jar outside so it could fly away when its wings were dry.
The butterfly couldn't get a foothold on the glass jar, so we tipped the jar on its side, and out it flew. Of course, I didn't capture the lift-off, because Fuzzy was after the jar.
We have three chrysalises left.
Perhaps a butterfly expert can enlighten me. Why did our chrysalis not overwinter? Have we doomed our butterfly to a flowerless season? Why did two chrysalises stay green, and two turn a patterned brown? Well, now one of the green ones is turning butterfly-colored, but it still looks nothing like the brown patterned ones. Do chrysalises have the ability to camouflage themselves? |
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• Aug. 11, 2008 - All Sugared Up
| I did the candy deal at CVS (buy $10, get $5 ECBs) and threw in a $2-off tube of CVS brand sunscreen as well (price after discount: .39). I spent a whopping three pennies for it all. Frugal happy dance!! Our OCC bag is filling up and we get goodies besides. |
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• Aug. 10, 2008 - We Have Chrysalises
Our caterpillars ate their fill, it seems, and went into their long sleep. I presume they will be there for several months.
Not much has happened this week of note. Pudge was stung by another of those angry bees. They seem to be able to identify me as the one responsible for the shorter beings that set them off. I assume that's why they always turn to attack me when I show up to quell the screaming. This one managed to fly with mad abandon into the house, where hubby thwacked and then flushed it. Pudge's eye remained swollen almost shut for several hours thereafter.
The deer traipse through our back yard daily. Today, the doe and her two fawns nibbled under the apple tree while thunderclouds rolled in from the southwest. They wandered off as the lightning flashed in the distance, but as soon as the raindrops began falling, the two little fawns darted out of the covering of the woods and frisked with glee all around the yard. The doe rushed out after them and tried to round them up in a scene all too familiar to this human mother. She managed to herd them to the far corner of our lot, only to watch one little fawn break free toward the house for one last frolic.
It's been like that...whatever commonplace wonders we can see from our windows. The rain didn't add much to the pond because the ground surrounding it was so thirsty after a week or more of dry hot days...so hubby succumbed to the temptation to do a bit of filling with the hose. By the way, see his Pond Blog for a description (complete with visuals) of how he's going to manage our heating and cooling using the pond.
We did go out once this week to see some friends and help them pack for a move. It was nice to socialize a bit. I've become so withdrawn and hermit-like lately. That happens when I'm broke. I don't seem to have normal incentive to get out and about. Grocery shopping has been the only reason for me to leave the house.
We missed church this morning as most of the crew had picked up sore throats and sniffles from the last church-going attempt. We were to visit another one today. I hope we can go next week.
Hubby is working on his dirt bike rebuild and it seems to be going well. Maybe he'll take pictures to share. He'll be selling the bike for a profit when he's through. I've been plugging away undaunted at the laundry--but it's still sitting around in baskets for the putting-away ritual--and trying to restore order to what is essentially an orderless house. It's a smallish house, with lots of people living in it. I don't seem to have a talent for that aspect of homemaking. I do like to bake though, and hope to make chocolate cupcakes tomorrow. I think the children are hoping even more ardently than I am.
Today I had to pick up a prescription at CVS, so I went in with an eye toward an open-ended shopping trip. I knew we needed diapers. Huggies are on sale this week, with a pull-out coupon posted above them for an additional $1 off. When I scanned my card at the kiosk, I got a coupon for $4/$20 Playskool products as well. I had a $5/$30 coupon, expiring today, to spend, so I managed to parlay that, with my ECB's, into a major stock-up of wipes, plus the diapers, for $2.66, earning $5 ECBs back. It's nice, being able to shop with one's pocket change. It satisfies the shopping impulse without doing much damage to the bank account. I may go back again tomorrow for a big candy stock-up (with my remaining ECBs), some of which can go into our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Also, kids' markers are on sale cheap at Staples this week--another good addition to OCC. Not to mention our school supplies.
I have yet to take advantage of the tax-free, back-to-school shopping weekend. I never seem to have the extra cash to spend on clothing at that time of the year. Really, we make do pretty well without having to buy much new. I doubt I'd "save" much frantically trying to achieve a relatively small tax break. I wonder how many people shop with their credit cards, thus negating any savings.
Baby's speaking up, so I've got to run.... |
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• Aug. 3, 2008 - Look What We Found in the Parsley
Parsley Caterpillars.
Really. That's what they're called. They stay in their chrysalis all winter, and come spring they emerge as one of these.
The caterpillars feed on plants in the carrot family. They love the carrot tops of the carrots I never harvested (because I neglected to thin them--thus they are too dinky for us, but just right for caterpillars). |
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• Aug. 3, 2008 - Rub-a-dub-dub
• Aug. 3, 2008 - Look! Up in the Sky!
• Jul. 30, 2008 - Cleverness: Good Trait in Spouse
I benefit on a daily basis. Not only does he save us hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars per year in maintenance and repair costs, he also cleans up pictures within minutes. Try these instead.
 
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• Jul. 30, 2008 - Well, Just Make Yourself At Home
Have an apple or two, whydontcha?
Yes, our backyard is the Deer version of I-81. The apple tree serving as a rest stop vending machine, I guess.
It's times like these I really wish I bothered to clean my windows. |
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• Jul. 30, 2008 - Update at Hubby's Pond Blog!
• Jul. 29, 2008 - Population Rising, But It's Not the Little Kids' Fault
Demographers are concerned, not that birth rates are rising, but that they are falling.
Apparently, current growth in population is tied to a great good: we are living longer. But many developed countries are below replacement rate in their birth rates, which poses a problem for aging populations in countries where cushy tax-funded government benefits line the retirement nest.
If the birth rate is not the cause of population growth, but rather longer life-span, how then are we to address the so-called "ticking time-bomb" of "looming overpopulation"? By shortening lives?
I've been chastised (online more often than in public) for having so many children, as if somehow our little family is directly culpable for Gaia-cide. It seems, though, I'm only a tiny drop in a vast demographic bucket. I'm taking up just a tiny amount of slack for those not having enough children.
I always laugh at these little factoids invariably thrown into such articles:
"The cost of raising a middle-class child has risen, according to U.S. government estimates, to more than $200,000, not including college tuition."
Yeah, if you buy $100 sneakers for each child, maybe, feed them on 100%-organic- free-range- grass-fed-purified-water-kissed everything, take them out for pizza every week, entertain them with a 50-inch flat-screen plasma HDTV, and drive them all over the map to get to activities.
No, I don't think it costs quite that much. Not unless college tuition is folded in. Sillies.
(Oops--Hat Tip to The Point for the link.) |
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• Jul. 29, 2008 - D.C.'s Gone and Done It
• Jul. 28, 2008 - Today, in Pictures
Just a few moments of today, really.
Turkey family visits:
Four o'clocks:
Rose
Dramatic Iris-looking flower (gardeners may correct me)
I can't tell if the pond looks much different today:
Water creeping closer to second fish hide-out:
Grass coming in thick on dam and hillside:
Wet spring-like area on hillside where watershed empties into pond basin:
Deer were here:
Hubby says turkeys like a convenient water source as well, which may be why they are wandering through the yard.
No kid pictures. I should've gotten kid pictures! I do have video, but that's harder to upload. |
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• Jul. 27, 2008 - If We're Going to Have a Pond...
• Jul. 25, 2008 - FLDS Matter Again
• Jul. 24, 2008 - No Longer Knee-Deep
Our pond is taking on a life(cycle) of its own. (Yes, those are smudges on my lens. We live in a very smudgy kind of house.)
As you can see, both corners at the north end of the pond are filled with water, and water has crept all the way around the first fish hide-out.
The cabbage-white butterflies just adore our pond-puddle. Chasing butterflies:
What is the name of this sweet little wildflower? Anyone know? They grow on the sunny hill to the east of the pond.
UPDATE: It looks like this Field Bindweed, doesn't it? The link says it's in the morning glory family, and it certainly looks to be.
UPDATE II: Wow, it's a sweet looking little flower, but it can have roots going down 20 feet or more, and it's a pernicious weed in an agricultural setting. However, they don't really cause a problem where they're growing on our land.
The little runoff stream re-appeared in the exact same spot. It was still trickling this afternoon.
The water has attracted quite a few dragonflies. It's a blurry shot, but you get the idea.
This one appeared to be laying eggs.
The pond attracts all sorts of small creatures.
The grass on the dam seems to be growing well.
I hear more thunderstorms may be headed our way. I wonder how long it takes a pond this size to fill. I'm sure by this time next year it will be lovely. |
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• Jul. 23, 2008 - Lovely Rain!
Thunderstorm last night, and steady rain this morning equals more water in the pond! And now it's raining again! Pictures tomorrow if the weather clears a bit.
We've been dodging raindrops to peek, and the water has crept underneath the first "fish structure" and filled in the opposite corner of the bottom of the pond. |
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