Thursday, May 31, 2007

Join me in intercession....

I ask all of my readers to please be praying with me today (especially at 2:30 central time) for my dear friend Chris, also known as the KSMilkmaid. Specifically be praying for wisdom for those in authority and safety and protection for Chris and her children.

You can read an excellent article on domestic violence in Christian homes here.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Contest and Comments

Tomorrow is the deadline to submit your names for two of my new soaps! The entries have been amazing so far! Thanks to everyone for their suggestions..it is going to be hard to decide :) If you haven't entered yet, or if you have and want to enter again, please send your suggestions by midnight May 31st.

A reader submitted this comment to my post on Congress and Amnesty. I thought her comment important enough to post it here...thanks Roxanne, I think this says it all!
Here is a speech that President Roosevelt made on Jan. 03,1919, What are the chances of our next presidential hopeful getting elected using this speech...

Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.
But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.
We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt January 03, 1919

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Another post about us southerners...

"FRIENDS" VS. "SOUTHERN FRIENDS"

FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Always bring food and eat yours too.

FRIENDS: Will say "hello".
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.

FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad

FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Cry with you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing, and just being together.

FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will whip the whole crowd that left you!!

FRIENDS: Are for a while.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Are for life.

Have a great weekend ya'll and know that I am your Southern Friend!!

Friday, May 25, 2007

The Wizbang Garden Cart!

I am SO excited!! My friend Herrick Kimball has written another book! If you haven't read Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian then you need to! You can find this book here. I have read this book twice and it will be required reading for my home-schooled boys! It is a delightful read with many thought provoking stories. Herrick is a gifted writer. I highly recommend this book as a gift on Father's Day to all those agrarian Dads or agrarian wannabe Dads!

But...off the rabbit trail and back on the subject! Herrick has written another book to help us in our agrarian pursuits....this time we get to learn how to build his Whizbang Garden Cart! And if you order now, you save money...always a plus in my book! You can read about this book here and there are even more ideas for this cart and how to build it here. I know that I ordered my book a couple of weeks ago and my boys have promised to build it for me. I have been wanting a garden cart for several years but the idea of spending hundreds of dollars just didn't fly in my budget! So, imagine how thankful I was to learn of Herrick's new book!

I think painting it a deep forest green and adding some lovely hand-painted herbs and flowers along the sides are in our future :) Once I read the book, I will be sure to share with you what I think...and once my cart is built (which may not happen till fall!) I will definitely be posting pictures!

Get 'em while they're hot!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Congress is considering Amnesty again....

First a short story....then I'll climb onto my soapbox....but just for a minute!
I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with
seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the
continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. But then the birds
started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next
to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs,
the table...everywhere. Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive
bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.
And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and
squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I
fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. I
took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned
up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the
patio.

Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quite, serene and no one
demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now let's see...our government gives out free food, subsidized
housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be
an automatic citizen. Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands.
Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are
housing 5 families: you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room
doctor: you child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over
half the class doesn't speak English: Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual
box; I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people
waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the
streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.

Congress just doesn't seem to get it....what the American people have said they want. I, personally, believe that the hidden agenda with granting amnesty to people who are here illegally lies with the proposed "North American Union" which will effectively unite our country with Canada and Mexico.....at that point there won't be illegal aliens....we'll all be one big happy family. This idea is clevely cloaked under the auspicious name of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership"....it is funny to me that Congress always seems to pick a name that actually is quite the opposite of what their plans entail!

When you begin to look at the language of this proposed plan it is shocking....I might decide to give up citizenship and become an illegal alien myself - what great benefits! Oh, and you can forget the Social Security system - it will bankrupt itself before my 80 year old mother sees all of her benefits!

Chuck Baldwin sums it up nicely in his recent column....I'm reposting it all here. Please make calls to those who represent you and share your thoughts in a respectful way!
By Any Other Name, Amnesty Bill Still Stinks!
By Chuck Baldwin
May 22, 2007

This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20070522.html

One of Shakespeare's most oft-quoted phrases comes from Romeo and Juliet, where Juliet asks Romeo: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Accordingly, President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can call their immigration bill by any name they want to, but it is still amnesty, and it still stinks!

Hopefully, readers are aware that the Bush/Kennedy amnesty bill is being debated in the U.S. Senate this week with both the White House and senate leaders hopeful of quick passage.

If it passes, the proposed immigration bill would immediately give all 12-20 million illegal aliens already in the United States "probationary" citizenship. It would also put an estimated 60 million immigrants on the path to citizenship over the next 20 years. In exchange for granting U.S. citizenship to tens of millions of illegals, the bill promises to better protect America's borders.

However, what is abundantly clear is that the federal government's idea of border enforcement is totally without meaning or merit. Consider the fact that the United States already has copious laws against illegal immigration, including punishment for businesses that hire illegals. So, what good have these laws done? Very little.

No one with any sense of objective truth believes that the Bush administration is serious about border enforcement. No one. Therefore, how can anyone believe that more promises of border enforcement will accomplish any more than with existing laws?

The plain truth is, President George W. Bush, Senators Ted Kennedy, John McCain, et al., are simply hell-bent to provide amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens, and this bill will give them the power to do it.

Do I need to convince readers that any kind of amnesty will put America on the fast track to ruin? The United States simply cannot absorb upwards of 60 million, mostly unskilled, non-English-speaking, migrants in the next few years. It just is not possible.

Already, America is reaping the consequences of unbridled illegal immigration. Americans are being squeezed out of work by illegal immigrants who will work at significantly reduced wages. Of course our unemployment is low: Americans are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet.

Add to the strain of the loss of good paying jobs the strain of an ever-growing financial burden to taxpayers. For example, Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector recently released a new study entitled, "The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Households to the U.S. Taxpayer." In the report, Rector notes that two-thirds of the millions of illegal aliens in this country fall into the category of "low-skill" households. Contrast that with just 10% of native-born Americans falling into that category.

Writing for National Review Online, Byron York states, "Rector found that in 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, low-skill households received an average of $32,138 per household--the great majority in the form of means-tested aid and direct benefits.... Against that, Rector found that low-skill households paid an average of $9,689 in taxes.... In the final calculation, he found, the average low-skill household received $22,449 more in benefits than it paid in taxes..."

According to World Net Daily, "If the lower figure of 12 million illegal aliens is used for estimation purposes, the [current] total tax burden translates to $2.2 trillion."

It doesn't take a mathematical genius to calculate that with an added 60 million mostly unskilled immigrants moving into the country, the financial cost would be more than taxpayers could possibly pay for.

Consider also the toll upon America's safety and security. Already, law enforcement agencies are very much cognizant of a surge of Latin American "ultra-violent" gangs that have sprung up in more than 40 U.S. states. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), one gang called MS-13 has been identified in 42 states. Another group called the 18th Street Gang is in 37 states. According to FBI MS-13 National Gang Task Force director Brian Truchon, "When the gang migrates throughout the U.S., there is always a road back to L.A. From L.A., there is always a road back to Central America."

Retired lawman Jim Kouri recently wrote, "According to Lt. Steve Rogers, a decorated cop and award-winning writer, there are tens of thousands of murderers, rapists, child predators, robbers and drug dealers who are illegally in the United States. One study shows over 200,000 criminal aliens are preying on U.S. citizens."

As I have previously noted in this column, illegal aliens already murder at least 12 Americans every day. Think of the potential violence that another 60 million aliens will bring. Not to mention the threat of potential terrorism.

America's law enforcement communities are keenly aware of the probability that international terrorists have already infiltrated the United States due to our lack of border control.

For example, William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC), recently said, "MS-13 and other illegal immigrant gangs are bringing in the illegals, drugs, heavy weapons, and possibly terrorists. The biggest threat from their members is contained in the multiple intelligence reports provided to Congress indicating that Al-Qaeda and MS-13 are now working together to smuggle terrorist operatives and materials into the U.S."

In light of all of the above, how in the world can President Bush and senate leaders proceed with plans to explode the growth of unskilled immigrants into the United States? Perhaps the answer lies within the details of the bill.

According to World Net Daily, "The controversial 'Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007,' which would grant millions of illegal aliens the right to stay in the U.S. under certain conditions, contains provisions for the acceleration of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a plan for North American economic and defense integration, WND has learned.

"The bill, as worked out by Senate and White House negotiators, cites the SPP agreement signed by President Bush and his counterparts in Mexico and Canada March 23, 2005--an agreement that has been criticized as a blueprint for building a European Union-style merger of the three countries of North America.

"'It is the sense of Congress that the United States and Mexico should accelerate the implementation of the Partnership for Prosperity to help generate economic growth and improve the standard of living in Mexico, which will lead to reduced migration,' the draft legislation states on page 211 on the version time-stamped May 18, 2007 11:58 p.m."

Aw! There is the underlying reason President Bush is willing to incur the wrath of his conservative constituents: he is determined to implement the SPP and pave the way for the emerging North American Union before he leaves office. The amnesty bill being pushed through the Senate this week is absolutely essential to this end.

As Juliet said, "What's in a name?" Bush, Kennedy, McCain and Company are playing word games with us. They know this is amnesty. You know this is amnesty. And millions of illegal aliens know this is amnesty.

If it walks like amnesty, talks like amnesty, looks like amnesty, and smells like amnesty, it's amnesty! Now, the question is, Will the American people sit back and let it happen?

Dear Reader, this might be our last chance to stop the push for amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. If you have never voiced your protest to your civil leaders, I urge you to do so now!

Here are two links for information on how you can make your voice heard in Washington, D.C. Don't delay! We must act TODAY!

Tell the Senate, No Amnesty for Illegals here:

http://www.grassfire.org/19042/offer.asp

Call the D.C. switchboard here:

http://www.eagleforum.org/alert/2007/05-18-07.html

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Soap, soap, soap!

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, the gift from my friend Jan allowed me to make a LOT of new soap. I had to bring some shelves up from the basement to hold it all!

Here are pictures of my two shelving units almost filled with soap. You are looking at over 600 bars!

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These soaps will be ready to use the second week of June so I need your help between now and the end of this month to come up with a couple of names! Just like last time, you can submit your suggestions in the comment section here and my family will vote on our favorite.....the winner will receive a bar of the soap that they named and your choice of any other bar of soap in my inventory!

Here are the two that I need help with....first, I created a soap for pets!

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The essential oils in this soap will help to discourage fleas and ticks from making a home in your pet's coat or from climbing on board when your pet is outside. This is a wonderful soap made with coconut, palm, olive, and castor oils with added aloe oil (for healing) and jojoba oil (for extra moisturizing!). I added cedar, citronella, pennyroyal and eucalyptus oils for their insect repeling abilities. These oils combine to make a pleasing scent! "Paws and Claws" has already been suggested so I leave it to my readers to take it from there!

For the next soap lacking a name ..think Italy!

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This is also a soap high in jojoba oil...but scented with Basil essential oil with sun-dried tomatoes and some of my organic dried basil, oregano, rosemary, garlic and thyme added for color, scent and the exfoliating abilities that they add. It looks good enough to eat and it smells heavenly! This is a wonderful soap for the kitchen since Basil e.o. is anti- bacterial! It would be lovely in a gift basket with a loaf of sourdough bread and a chunk of cheese!

There you have it...I'll be talking about some of the other new soaps over the next couple of weeks as I get them up on the website - I think you will be pleased...especially you men! Many of the new soaps have come from suggestions made by you, my readers!

The contest will end on May 31st and the winners announced within a few days after that! I can't wait to see what ya'll come up with :)

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Confessions and Contests.....

I have a confession to make....last year I made a bad decision. Actually, I am not sure it was really a decision .....more of a giving in. I did not cover crop our garden area. Normally I sow Austrian peas, winter rye and crimson clover into my beds and then till that in come late February or early March. Last year, due to this trial in my personal life, I just let it go. Sometimes we just have to let things go to get the more pressing things done. I wish, at this point, I had chosen to let something else go - or made time, even if it was the middle of the night, to get this job done. The boys and I are paying for it now! I hope you will all learn from my mistake!

We have been busy trying to turn this:

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Into this:

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It is slow going and with every weed we pull, I feel regret! I am in the "if only I had..." place. Guess I'll be there until we finish :)

Along with trying to get our 20 raised beds back into shape and planted...I am working on the herb garden that borders our garden. It is in much better shape but definitely needs weeding. Thankfully it goes much faster.

What started out looking like this:

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Is quickly turning into this:

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There is something special, relaxing and peaceful about being in the garden. I believe it is where the Father wants me to spend much of my time. It is quiet, I am surrounded by His creation.....both in sight and in sound. It brings peace to my troubled soul. Apparently this year, I need more of that peace and am finding myself in the garden more than usual. The boys and I are usually there together. At this time of year we reverse or normal routine and garden in the mornings and school in the afternoons.

We are almost finished with schooling for the year and I am thankful for that. It will free up many more hours in my day. Josiah has worked hard to finish early - he will take a spelling test today and if he does well, he is finished with school for the summer. The other boys will be working on math for a bit longer. Math seems to come easy to Josiah - his mind and his way of thinking are very mathematical and he grasps the concepts easily. I pray that this continues as he moves closer to Algebra! The boys will read all summer - I have a list that they must complete over the summer each year but find that they add many more books of their own accord. I am thankful that all of my boys love to read.

When I haven't been in the garden I have been busy making soap. I have been trying to re-build my inventory and bring you all some new soaps...many of which have been requested by you, my readers! This burst of soap making, over 600 bars in the last 2 weeks, was made possible by my Father! He prompted a dear friend of mine, Jan, to offer me all of her soap making materials when she decided to stop indulging in this hobby!

Jan called me early one morning to tell me that she wanted to give me everything.....and I mean EVERYTHING connected with soap making...all I had to do was to come and get it that day. I went! This generous gift included all of her base oils, essential oils, lye, pots, spoons, thermometers, measuring cups and even a stick blender. Such a generous gift! And this gift has allowed me to create some new recipes! Of course, you know that I will need help coming up with some names! So stay tuned tomorrow for contest rules, pictures and a hint of what is curing on my shelves right now!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Let me tell you about Clearplay...

I am blessed to be part of a group of ladies that meet for lunch or dinner every month to share our lives and pray for each other. A couple of months ago a friend of mine, Valerie, mentioned that she had just watched a movie that was completely clean - shocking I know! I asked what movie and the name she mentioned didn't ring a bell as a completely clean movie.

She then began to tell me about a DVD player called Clearplay. Evidently, this DVD player has been available for years, but since we don't watch television and are spared all the advertisements, we are a wee bit behind on new events! So perhaps this will be new information to some of you also. If not, you might want to skip this post and head for your garden :)

She said Clearplay cost about $100 and came with filters for over 2000 movies. You could program it to edit out profanity, blasphemy, violence, immodesty, nudity, bloodshed, dishonoring the flag, dishonoring parents, sex, substance abuse and even vulgarity. Tell me more, tell me more my heart cried! Although we don't subscribe to any TV stations, cable, satellite etc., we do have a television that we use occasionally as a VCR/DVD monitor. But, I have been disappointed with most of the movies for "children". I view everything first before my kids see it and many times have thought "What a cute movie if only they hadn't used the name of God that way.....or slipped in that curse word......or had that low cut top...." and so forth. I am sure you have all been in the same place. She said the amazing thing is that the editing was pretty seamless - that in most instances you wouldn't know anything had been edited. You can see a demonstration here.

For years we have used TV Guardian which took care of the language but not the other offensive parts of movies. Therefor, our viewing was VERY limited. And the language has deteriorated so much over the last few years that TV Guardian wasn't picking up some of the newest foul language. In all fairness to TV Guardian, our model was one of the first and I am sure that they have improved since our purchase.

I found Clearplay at Target last week for considerably less than Valerie paid ($59.95!)....and have just found out that this week it is $10 less than I paid. You are sent a thumb-stick (after registering your machine) that plugs into your computer's USB port and you download all the filters they have ever created. This thumb-stick then plugs into a port on the front of the Clearplay machine. When you put in a DVD it searches and finds the filter for you. It then allows you to choose to use the filter, or not. It also warns you if there is something that they didn't filter. You can purchase a model from their website that downloads through the phone lines for those who don't have internet access.

It comes with free membership for a month after registration.You can also purchase a membership for a year that will entitle you to all new filters created that year. There is a coupon in the box for 40% off of a year's membership.

I found the Clearplay tech support very easy to get hold of and they walked us through setting this machine up - they made it very easy. You set how intensely you want your movies filtered....we put all of ours on max. There is even a setting for "mushiness"!

Although we haven't watched a ton of movies since purchasing this DVD (nor will we ever be watching a ton of movies :) ), we have watched a couple to "test" it. I am extremely pleased. The only time I could catch where something had been edited was if there was background music going and I heard a "glitch". It was refreshing to watch a famly friendly movie that truly was family friendly. Even though we might only watch a movie every once in awhile...I want to know that my children are protected during that time!

I found it interesting that Hollywood tried to stop the sale of this DVD player - something along the lines of interfering with artistic content. Maybe they'll get the idea that LOTS of us would like to interfere with the majority of their artistic content! I am thankful that a law was actually passed to protect our ability to edit the movies that our children see.....Hollywood lost!

So...for those nights when you want to enjoy a movie with the family and not have to worry about that one foul word....you might want to take a peek at this new DVD called Clearplay...I am so impressed that I have placed a link to them in my sidebar.

Since we have had ours such a short time, let me know what you think if you have one.....or if you purchase one.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

I was kidnapped on Mother's Day....

...and I loved it!

My boys told me on Saturday night that I was to sleep in on Mother's Day and not to leave my room once I woke up. Hhhmmmm! So I slept in (till about 7 am) and shortly after that there was a knock on my door. When I answered with "come in" they arrived carrying a tray with breakfast and a fresh Peony blossom - one of my favorite flowers!

I was informed that I had an hour and a half to eat and dress...that I was being kidnapped! Wow! So of course I complied :) I was told not to look in the back of the truck and I was not told where we were going but simply given directions to "turn at the next light, take a left" and so on. We ended up at a store and Jeremy and Siah made a quick trip in while Elijah was left to guard me and make sure I wouldn't peek. I was told to close my eyes when they came out and then we were off again. It seemed that we drove FOREVER!

We ended up at one of my favorite parks and they directed me to their chosen picnic site. The boys had made a wonderful picnic lunch and even remembered to bring a picnic blanket. I was also presented with a long stem pink rose for lunch! I, however, was not allowed to do anything but enjoy myself. I was even fussed at for attempting to put something in the picnic basket...."No Work for You Today" was evidently their motto!tn_100_3744.JPG
We then took a nice long hike, played in the creek and enjoyed the beautiful weather.tn_100_3753.JPG tn_100_3757.JPG

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Then we were off again! I was told that they had to be home be 2:00 because they were making dinner and had also invited Grandma.

I was allowed to cut two batches of soap that I made the day before and after much begging (and assuring them that I LOVE making soap) I was given one hour in the kitchen to work on a new batch of soap ....Pappaw's Shaving Soap!

I was then sent over to visit with my Mom till dinner time. When Mom and I arrived back at the house at the appointed time we were so surprised! Everything was beautiful.....cloth tablecloth and napkins and another bouquet of flowers - 3 roses in a beautiful vase with Baby's Breath - one rose from each boy!

We were served one of our favorite dinners - hot wings with my own special sauce (Josiah made the sauce by himself from my recipe book!), homemade fries, and peas! YUMMY!

Mom and I were then escorted to the living room (and I do mean escorted formally on the arms of the boys!) where we were served some bubbly (non-alcoholic!) with a Maraschino cherry in the glass. We were told to converse and relax while they cleaned up from dinner and served desert.

It didn't take long before we were called back to the table for cheesecake with fresh strawberries on top and another glass of the bubbly :) tn_100_3790.JPG

I confess that I ate way to much but somehow things seem to taste better when you haven't spent an hour or more cooking them yourself. Jeremy learned how hard it is to get everything cooked so that it all arrives on the table at the same time...."I don't know how you do this everyday!" was his comment after the meal was over. I noticed that he didn't eat nearly as much as he normally does. Spending hours in the kitchen seems to affect our appetites! The boys then worked together to clean the entire kitchen.....one of the best parts :)

After desert came presents! Grandma was presented with a beautiful Peony in a vase and a delicate bracelet that we had picked out for her - dainty just like her!

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My boys gave me the next season of Monk on dvd. We do not receive any tv stations, and don't have cable or satellite tv. But somehow, someplace, years ago we found out about this tv show and I really enjoyed it. I love mystery stories and this one has been enjoyable.

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All in all, the boys outdid themselves! I know that a lot of planning, work and time when into this day along with a tremendous amount of love! My boys are tenderhearted, loving and have a desire to serve...all of that was evident on this special day. I had the best Mother's Day ever!

The Silence American Citizens Act......again...

I received this alert today...please read and take action to protect our freedoms to contact our representatives...apparently they want our money, they want the perks, they want the power.....they just don't want us to bother them anymore! What they are telling us is to "shut up and leave me alone"!

How about we let them hear from us loud and clear?
Urgent Telephone Alert on the Meehan Amendment (H.R. 2093)!

Dear Cheri,

I wrote to you in January about legislation in the U.S. Senate that could have silenced grassroots communication from groups like American Family Association. Thankfully, that part of the legislation was defeated after you and other concerned citizens let your voices be heard.

Unfortunately, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to reconsider the “grassroots gag order” when the Meehan Amendment (H.R. 2093) will be offered on Tuesday, May 15, during debate on a broader "lobbying reform" bill. This amendment, sponsored by Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass.), would establish, for the first time, federal regulatory authority over efforts aimed at motivating citizens to communicate with their representatives about bills moving in Congress.

This threat is so serious that American Family Association has joined with other pro-family groups, as well as organizations from the left of the political spectrum, including the ACLU, to oppose the bill. Last week, we signed a joint letter calling on members of Congress to reject this dangerous effort to exclude men and women like you from the democratic process. To read the letter, click here.

The full House of Representatives is expected to act on the "lobbying reform" legislation on May 22. Depending on what happens in the Judiciary Committee on May 15, the full House may also vote on whether to include the Meehan provision in the broader bill.

Take Action

Click Here to be shown the phone number for your representative's office, and an appropriate suggested message -- one message if he is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and a different message if he is not. This is urgent -- please act today!

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Want to know why our nation is in the shape it is?

Take a moment to watch this quick film....I haven't figured out how to get the actual video on my blog but I'll work on it :)

You can see it here!

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Come to see me in Gray, TN...

This Friday and Saturday, May 11th and 12th, I will be at the Appalachian Fairgrounds in Gray, TN for Gardenfest '07 presented by the NE TN Master Gardeners. The theme for this year is "Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardens". The hours will be 11 am to 7pm on Friday and Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm.

There will be workshops and demonstrations, a drawing for a small garden based on this year's theme, and a silent auction. Admission, parking and the seminars are free! Gardenfest features small independant growers, greenhouses and local craftspeople. There will also be some activities for children.

Tom Sawyer is planning on making and selling cane poles again, Jeremy will be presenting some of his beautiful hand-crafted jewelry and Elijah will be into EVERYTHING :)

Please stop by and introduce yourself to us!

Wonderful festival....(Part 3)

Normally at a festival I have a large selection of heirloom tomato plants, culinary herbs and medicinal herbs. But, the unusual freeze in April did me in this year. I have replanted for my own garden but missed selling at this festival. We usually fill the front porch with tables of plants and then have our soaps, salves teas etc. inside. Many customers were dismayed that we had no plants this year - I am one of the few people selling medicinal herbs....they come to me for Feverfew, Milk Thistle, Rue, White Yarrow, Comfrey, Elecampane and more! I was sorry to loose the sales this year.

Here are some pictures of the inside of our little house....you can see my Mom sitting down running the cash box and her sister, my Aunt Sue, helping to answer questions. Aunt Sue uses my products so she is a wonderful asset at a festival....she was in visiting from Colorado!

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The far baskets in the next picture are filled with my soaps and you can see some of my gift baskets in the background

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The baskets in the picture below are filled with my teas! I have two new ones that I will be adding to the website by request...chamomile and red raspberry leaf....organic of course! You can also see my Perpetual Garden Calendar being displayed.

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This is a display of some of my gift baskets. I think they are popular because they are priced from $10 and up - hard to find a nice gift today for $10!

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This next shot is of Jeremy's little nook - he is known as "That Bead Guy" and does wonderful handcrafted jewelry using glass beads and Swarovski crystals - he often does custom orders. You can email him at thatbeadguy@comcast.net for more information!

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This last picture is of a kitten that some little girls brought to show Jeremy. This kitten is 20% house cat and 80% leopard. It has the markings of a leopard ...when I first saw it I thought it had been painted - a new rage I have read about! It was a beautiful kitten but a little bit aggressive I thought!

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So that is our festival weekend in a nutshell - thanks to all of you who came to visit or introduce yourselves to me!

Stay tuned for more festival announcements!

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Wonderful festival....(Part 2)

The second day of the festival was glorious - people were spreading blankets under trees, eating together, talking, laughing...gee...I wanted to join them! It was a perfect spring day, sunny and breezy! The crowds came out....they didn't necessarily shop but they certainly enjoyed the grounds.

Sue, the wonderful lady that works so hard on this festival, confiscated my youngest son and put him in charge of two projects for kids. She knows my boy...that phrase "you are in charge" makes his eyes dance! She gave Elijah a section of ground to hoe...or rather to teach those city kids to hoe....they did a great job. You could plant a flower bed there now. I learned that Elijah can hoe a lot better than I thought!

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His next project was to teach the kids how to haul water from the spring and wash the wool sent over from the freshly sheared sheep. Elijah enjoyed this so much that he was washing wool even when there were no kids to teach...hhmmmmm maybe it is time to get some sheep....I always wanted to learn to spin!

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This was one tired kid by the end of the day!

Josiah, my egg farmin' son has quite the entrepreneurial bent. He had handcrafted some cane poles to sell. On Saturday he sold one....he brought over 20 and was trying to figure out how to increase sales. So....we decided he needed to be Tom Sawyer. He pulled on some worn jeans with holes in the knees, a shirt from his civil war costume, suspenders, straw hat and with those freckles and blond hair he looked just like Tom Sawyer!

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Josiah got completely into character...calling out "Howdy!" to the passers by....talking about life with Aunt Polly and how he was making a cane pole so he could "go fishin' with Huck down ta the crick...wouldn't you like to grab a pole and come along too?" People were thrilled! They actually stopped to have their picture taken with him or to have their children's pictures taken....and Josiah....he sold almost all of his poles! What a great lesson in marketing! He plans on doing this next year...and at other festivals we go to! He also sold a lot of his fresh eggs and plans on expanding his business!

Tomorrow I will show you some pictures of our little shop area at this festival!

Friday, May 4, 2007

Wonderful festival....(Part 1)

It was a wonderful festival...in spite of the freezing rain :) Saturday started out sunny and beautiful but within a very short time it began to get cloudy...the wind picked up (very cool wind) and then the rain began. We were in the "Main House" . The room we were in had a door leading to the outside porches on each side - translated that means we were in the proverbial wind tunnel! None of us were prepared for cold weather. I snatched a blanket out of my Mom's car and a wrap that I keep in mine because church is always on the chilly side. We did the best we could but were really tempted to light a fire in the fireplace!

An occasional visit to the kitchen out back, which did have a roaring fire in the fireplace, helped to keep us warm. I wondered if I would be speaking in the downpour....but thankfully it cleared up about 30 minutes before I was scheduled to speak and all went well. I was privileged to meet some lurkers readers of my blog (Hi Nathan and Nellie!) and their beautiful children, as well as visit with many of my students who came to hear me speak, shop a little and "hug my neck"! My dear friends Peggy and Henry came over two hours to encourage me and love on me...they have been wonderful prayer warriors for me in this season of heartache and trial! Peggy is my greatest walking billboard - we met at a festival several years ago when they came to hear me speak and literally followed me home :) Peggy has taken several classes I have offered and she has this to say about my Basic Medicinal Herb Course...
I have attended two of Cheri's herb classes and I must say I certainly learned a lot. She is very knowledgeable, informative, and practical in her teaching. She is a wonderful teacher! She took us through step by step on how to use many different herbs in cooking and the many medicinal uses of so many different herbs and plants. I highly recommend her class!

See what I mean about the walking billboard thing? My boys are plotting a way to live closer to each other (next door is what they mean!) since some of our boys are very close in age.

Here are some outside shots of the festival....you can see people in period dress and some of the older buildings.

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The rain is beginning to clear....finally!

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Elijah was able to take a class on the back porch in basket making. There were many things for the kids to participate in....he had SUCH a great time!

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This lady had the patience of a saint. Elijah not only talked through the entire process but his feet were never still...directly behind him on the porch was a group of ladies playing dulcimers, fiddles and more...lovely bluegrass, gospel and old timey hymns....glorious!

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Tomorrow I'll share some pictures of our little "shop" area and you can meet Tom Sawyer who spent most of the day on our front porch....you won't believe what he was doing!

Burdens....

Burdens....we all have them. Some are hard to bear, some not so hard to bear. Some are short lived and others seem to hang on forever! Usually we are anxious to see them pass.....we forget that often times they are used to teach us something, to perfect our character to help us to become more Christ like. I don't think I have ever known anyone who was completely burden free...although we all long for that at times.

Moses complained about his burden:
Nu 11:11 So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?
Nu 11:14 “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.

Psalms tells us clearly what to do with our burdens:
Ps 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

And Jesus promised us this if we would turn to Him:
Mt 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

And finally, we are comanded:
Ga 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

I have been pondering on these thoughts lately...especially the command to bear one another's burdens. How could I make practical application of this scripture in our daily lives? During the Christmas season we practice the Tradition of the Straws....you can read about it here. This has been a wonderful part of our Christmas traditions for many years and encourages a servant spirit throughout the holiday season..... but I wanted to find a way to have Galations 6:2 operating daily in our lives but without making it a "Mom said" thing.

I saw a wonderful idea on another blog....I wish I could remember where so that I could give credit but it inspired me to create.....(ta dah!!)........"Burden Bear"!

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Here is the general idea. When you see a way to help "bear the burden" of someone else in the famly, secretly of course (gotta watch that pride thing) then you do so, leaving Burden Bear behind as evidence of the job done. For instance, if you saw a load of laundry needing to be folded, then you could do so and leave Burden Bear on top of the folded clothes. When you receive the blessing it is your turn to look for a way to bless someone else by relieving them of a burden...and leave Burden Bear behind.

Perhaps your way of relieving a burden would be through prayer or fasting....then return Burden Bear to the bookshelf for someone else to use.

So far, it seems to have fostered an excitement in serving each other! I hope that Burden Bear is a part of our family for a longtime!

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