chick-chick-boom-boom!

Posted on 11 March 2012 :: 4 Comments

…that’s what Samo keeps saying, anyway. He just randomly says it: “Chick-chick-boom-boom!” in his sweet little voice. He’s just darling like that.

We found our hens, but Sol is still lost. :’( I miss dat wooster. We are getting one to two eggs a day from them now, which is encouraging, I think. :) We keep them in a temporary cage so they are out in the yard grazing all day. We keep them in the big dog cage at night, with the back end of it open and the doghouse butting up to it. It makes for a nice nesting place for them to lay their eggs and that’s where they like to sleep.

We give them all our scraps. Well, not all of them, because we do give some to Pearl too. But they sure do love mushy bananas and pineapple skins! That’s what they’re eating in the photos. ;)

You ever tried to photograph a chicken that is pecking at something? It’s hard to capture them without their heads being blurry. It’s easier to photograph their feet. Hehe! :P It is fun to try tho. Those red hens are so funny and I love their colour.

But I am extremely glad their back; I missed our chickies!

as ever,
-Ra’chel

Shabbat Shalom, friends. :)

Posted on 10 March 2012 :: 4 Comments

I haven’t done a shabbat post in awhile, have I? Well, I think it is high time for one. :) Don’t you?

Psalm 34
I bless HYH at all times; His praise is continually in my mouth. My being makes its boast in HYH; Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, make HYH great with me, And let us exalt His Name together. I sought HYH, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were lightened, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor one cried out and HYH heard him, And saved him out of all his distresses.

Yesterday, I got up extremely late, on account of having gone to bed at a late time. I know, not surprising, :) but I will get better at going to bed someday. I have done it before, but lately, it is easier to stay in that endless, yet vicious cycle of going to bed late and getting up late. :) I was told I was young and can do what I am doing now for awhile. Well, yeah, that’s probably true. :) But I enjoy the time I get to spend with Momma and Jocelyn, and sometimes Eric and Hannah, and I know I always will.

The messenger of HYH encamps all around those who fear Him, And rescues them. Oh, taste and see that HYH is good; Blessed is the man that takes refuge in Him! Fear HYH, you His set-apart ones, For there is no lack to them who fear Him! Young lions have lacked and been hungry; But those who seek HYH lack not any good matter. Come, you children, listen to me; Let me teach you the fear of HYH.

Jocelyn made dinner yesterday, and I think she made lunch, too. I put some white beans in the crockpot and we’ll be eating them today. I put some onions, tomatoes, carrot and zucchini in it, and we’ll be having it with some homemade sourdough bread that I got to bake at a friend’s house the other night. We went over for dinner and I took the opportunity to bake the bread. It was good though, because we traded loaves; she wanted one of the sourdough, so she gave us one of her regular loaves. Ain’t it nice to have friends that do that? I know I love doing that!

Who is the man who desires life, Who loves many days, in order to see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of HYH are on the righteous, And His ears unto their cry. The face of HYH is against evil-doers, To cut off their remembrance from the earth.

Jocelyn made scones on the stove yesterday. She came up and asked me if it was possible to make them without an oven, kinda how I make the english muffins, and I told her that the stove top scone recipes I had found when searching for bread recipes for the stove top had been made just like that. I found a good-looking biscuit recipe that is made in the same way. They certainly weren’t the same as oven-baked scones, but they were good, and I enjoyed them with the pineapple jam Eri got at the pulperia. Hardboiled eggs were had with those too, as we always have them for breakfast on shabbat. It’s the quickest and easiest thing for us. :)

The righteous cried out, and HYH heard, And delivered them out of all their distresses. HYH is near to the broken-hearted, And saves those whose spirit is crushed. Many are the evils of the righteous, But HYH delivers him out of them all. He is guarding all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Evil does slay the wrong, And those who hate the righteous are guilty. HYH redeems the lives of His servants, And none of those taking refuge in Him are guilty.

I hope to take a walk later today, if the weather permits. I love taking waks, even though there’s really nowhere to walk around here except up the road and back. But the fresh air, the sunshine, the soft breeze, and looping my arm through Mom’s or Jocelyn is well worth the ten minutes it takes to walk it.

I have really been enjoying this song too: Lean On Me [by Bill Withers]. Momma was the first one to play it a few days ago and since then, I have been playing it throughout the day. It reminds me of our elderly neighbour who we used to clean for on the weekends, because he used to listen to all sorts of old songs, and bluegrass and all those. :)

Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you’re doing, I hope you have a beautiful day of rest and are blessed in it. May HYH bless you and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you, and give you His shalom.

as ever,
-Ra’chel

Louie Dude

Posted on 07 March 2012 :: 3 Comments

Too bad this isn’t wordless. It coulda been a wordless wednesday. :P

He ain’t as small as he was, is he?

he’s gotten pretty big. and see, I told you he sits lazily.

as ever,
-Ra’chel

randomness from my cranium.

Posted on 06 March 2012 :: 5 Comments

The rain’s pounding on the big front window; the tin roof is getting creamed and it’s loud. The trees are being tossed and shaken; they look like they are dancing wildly. I hear the wind howling all around the house. I can see the sun shining in the backyard; the front is still bright, yet gloomy. It hasn’t rained in a couple of days, and I like this rainstorm. Eric is sitting in the chair next to the little desk-like table I am sitting at. He’s playing with his new slingshot from Jocelyn. Louie’s sitting on the floor. He seems to think that if he is not by me 99.9% of the time, he’s about to die. You should hear him; he’s pathetic. As usual, he’s got his leash caught around the chair Eric is sitting in. He’s sitting lazily on the floor by my chair. And I mean he sits lazily; he doesn’t sit straight up. And I just thought of my title. :)

I am really excited that Jocelyn redid my template. How do you like it? I love it! It is awesome, and she did an awesome job on it. I had no idear she was gonna do PEACOCKS. I LOVE PEACOCKS. The peacock in the header is so pretty too! And so realistic-looking too. The colours are wonderful and go together beautifully. :) I am quite happy with my new ‘face’ on the internet. Thanks a ton, Jocelyn! All right, I’m done with my rave about my new template. ;) A little more calm in the next few paragraphs. [hopefully] :P

I have wanted to draw something for the past couple of days, but I haven’t done anything yet. I can’t seem to just get my sketchpad out and draw anything. I found some photos I wanted to try to draw. They have a lot of detail, though, so it is kinda daunting to me. But I am going to try one of them; I just have to get it out and try it. I also learned with my parrot drawing that I need to slow down when I draw and not be so hasty to finish it. I don’t have to finish it the same day I start it. I’ll work on one and post something about it sometime. :)

Hannah’s making some lentil-white bean soup. I love it that my siblings cook; even Caleb, the 6-yo, likes to cook. He made cabbage and and eggs the other day, with only being instructed by Mom. Hannah’s gonna add some veggies to the soup: potaotes, zucchini, carrot, onion, garlic. If we had celery, I’d tell her to add that in. She’s a good cook, and loves to do it. She makes some awesome cinnamon buns too. Eric made some plantains earlier; they disappeared in a jiffy. Those things never last long around here.

That reminds me: my tea is gone; I should get some more. Do you like mint tea? We make it with green tea and peppermint essential oil. It’s great with honey, and sometimes I like it with stevia if we’re low on honey. It took a little while to get with the whole stevia taste, but I can handle it now. We don’t have any milk, so I can’t have any coffee. I like a glass of fresh, raw milk with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I don’t know the last time that I had one of those. Oh, yeah, I remember! It was when we went to a friend’s house for Shabbat and that’s what they had for ‘snacks’. But there was no milk that time.

Samo came up to me a little while ago and asked me if I could play ‘tooooo-marrow’ for him. It’s this song, if any of you are familiar with it. I played it a couple weeks ago, because it popped in my head, and ever since then, he’s wanted to watch the video and sing the song. Lucy loves it too, and even Eric sings it. Samo’s a sweetie when he sings it though; he’s so cute! “I love you, toooo-marrow, I love you!” Such a dear. :) I loves him immensely!

I think the rain has stopped; the noise is gone. Yep, it stopped. The sun is shining on the hilly pasture in the front, and the trees are dancing calmly now. The sunlight is peeking in through the trees onto the grass in the front.

Rifka’s puppies are doing fine. Six days old already! Samo loves them to pieces, but he doesn’t understand yet that they can’t be held. He says he likes the all white one, and then he likes the brown and white one. Then it’s the brown one, and back again to the white one. I think he just likes the puppies. :) Funy little squeakers! I have a photo, but my blog won’t upload it and neither will photobucket. So I’m sorry. :(

**EDIT: It let me upload the photos. :)

oh yeah, Hannah put some photos up of the puppies and Rifka too, so you can see those in her post: Rifka’s New Puppies

I think this post is getting long enough. :) But on an end note, tell me what you think of this paragraph I wrote in one of my books:

“My ideas were warped and incorrect: reading and writing opens doorways to faraway places where you could not go otherwise. It brings you into contact with people who, though they are fictional, teach you things you wouldn’t remember otherwise. They bring ideas into your head and resolutions are often formed by one character’s actions or words. I have found in books friends, comforters, inspiration, wise men and women, and an everlasting thrill which I have to this day when I read a book. Even if I have read it a hundred times, I still get that same thrill and excitement when I know a part that has impressed itself on my mind from the very first reading is coming up.”

I haven’t been writing much lately, mostly just reading and editing. But I’d love to know what you think of it.

Oh and before I go, remember something: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” Just you remember that.

as ever,
-Ra’chel

there… is that better?

Posted on 05 March 2012 :: 9 Comments

so, I done made a new template for ya, dearie, for a few reasons….

1. you’s been bugging me. like seriously you has.

2. your old design was…well old

3. you love peacocks and i had this great image! and, yes, they have nothing to do with your blog title… BUT who cares!

4. most important reason…. the best for last, right…. right…. i loves you. you is kind. you is smart. you is sleeping… i mean you is important.

love, you know who.

ps. i am not entirely done but i had to put this up before you woke up. i worked on it all night from scratch. O.O

a few quotes + flowery photos

Posted on 04 March 2012 :: 3 Comments

“Find beauty in small thing. Remember important things. Be thankful for all things.”

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song.”

“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the way it is. The way you deal with it is what makes the difference. “

“Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.” – Anne Frank

“Learn to laugh. This will make you feel better.”

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”  ~Leo Tolstoy

“The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.”  ~Johann von Goethe

“There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.”  ~G.K. Chesterton

“Imagination and fiction make up more than three-quarters of our real life.”  ~Simone Weil

“I’ve never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.”  ~Author Unknown

as ever,
-Ra’chel