April is Spring Cleaning Month - Yippee!

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done.  ~Author Unknown




Did you know that April is officially spring cleaning month?  I wonder who decided this?  And, why?  Well, anyhow, I guess we got a jump on it 'cause we've been spring cleaning for two or three days now.  (And, yes, it's been rainy... no chance of working outside.)  So, now that it's started, we pretty much have to finish it. We've been emptying  and reorganizing closets, the spaces under the beds, cabinets, the laundry room... you get the picture.  It's kind of fun, what with finding treasures long since forgotten or thought to be gone forever... And I really like for things to be clean and organized... So, despite my sore feet,  I'm glad we're spring cleaning.
Apparently a lot of people don't like to clean, as noted in the collection of sayings below:  I found it interesting how many sayings there were about cleaning - and the general dislike of doing it.  This is a small sampling of what I found.  Enjoy!

My second favorite household chore is ironing.  My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.  ~Erma Bombeck

Nature abhors a vacuum.  And so do I.  ~Anne Gibbons

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.  ~Phyllis Diller, Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints, 1966

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it.  ~Author Unknown

Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy.  ~Author Unknown

The Rose Bowl is the only bowl I've ever seen that I didn't have to clean.  ~Erma Bombeck

The trouble with living alone is that it's always your turn to do the dishes.  ~Author Unknown

My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.  ~Author Unknown

The obvious and fair solution to the housework problem is to let men do the housework for, say, the next six thousand years, to even things up.  The trouble is that men, over the years, have developed an inflated notion of the importance of everything they do, so that before long they would turn housework into just as much of a charade as business is now.  They would hire secretaries and buy computers and fly off to housework conferences in Bermuda, but they'd never clean anything.  ~Dave Barry



My theory on housework is, if the item doesn't multiply, smell, catch fire, or block the refrigerator door, let it be.  No one else cares.  Why should you?  ~Erma Bombeck

You don't get anything clean without getting something else dirty.  ~Cecil Baxter

We labor to make a house a home, then every time we're expecting visitors, we rush to turn it back into a house.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

I like hugs and I like kisses,
But what I really love is help with the dishes!
~Author Unknown

Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land.  It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn.  ~Chuck Clark

If the shelves are dusty and the pots don't shine,
it's because I have better things to do with my time.
~Author Unknown


SHALOM  Y'ALL - Twyla

Things Aren't Always What They Seem...

A couple days ago I "felt like it was the end of the world".  Things just weren't going well... Family problems, house problems, health problems... you know the drill... "when it rains it pours."  (And, by the way, it DID rain - lots and lots - all weekend and all day Monday.) But the last straw was when Moxie went missing.  I got up Sunday morning,  fed all the animals, then the people, as usual.  After I fed Moxie, she went outside like she always does.

On any given day, Moxie would go in and out of the house all day like an eight year-old boy with spring fever.  Ohhhh, but not Sunday.  Moxie went out to play that morning and didn't come back.  I kept looking for her all day, busy with whatever all I did that day, but often realizing that I did not have that usual dog underfoot.  Most days, except when she's outside, Moxie is in the same room with me.  I've often joked by singing "Me and My Shadow" as I enter a room, dog in tow.

So, by about three o'clock in the afternoon, I was quite distressed about Moxie.  I feared the worst, imagining her injured somehow and lying alone in the woods... Or, hit by a car... Or taken away by some stranger... We got in the Jeep and road all around the neighborhood looking for her to no avail.  Periodically I would go outside and call her;  I would walk the perimeter of the house,  peering into the woods, hoping to see or hear her.  But, nothing.





Monday was the pits.  I cried a lot.  I've lost pets in the past, but I have never had a dog before, so this was a new type of loss.  I remember my mother called that day to chat;  I wanted to tell her about Moxie, but I was afraid I would burst into tears.  I cut the conversation short.  I wasn't ready to talk about the dog. And the dismal rain.  And...etc., etc., etc.  Monday was pretty much a wasted day - dark, dismal and rainy all day.  I did the bare minimum...  and went to bed early, sad and longing for the escape of sleep.

Tuesday is errand day, so off I went to town.  On the way home I prayed, "Lord,  please give me a sign that everything is gonna' be alright.  A sign.  Any sign."  A moment later, still talking with God, I said, "Y'know how I asked for a sign, any sign.  Well, I have a specific request.  I will 'know it in my knower' that You are listening to me and that everything will be okay if You send Moxie home. I'm not trying to be presumptuous, but You are God  and with God nothing is impossible."

Me, watching a movie with Moxie and Pickles

Ten minutes later I pulled into the driveway.  Moshe came up to the Jeep to help me carry groceries in. And, he said, "I have a surprise for you in the house."  The surprise was Moxie!  Moshe explained, "About ten minutes ago, she simply walked down the hill and into our yard.  She was real dirty and real hungry, but she's okay."

And so we have our little household back in its rightful order.  And, once again God has proven that He will never leave me or forsake me.  Is life perfect?  No.  Is my health perfect?  No.  Is the house perfect?  No.  But God is!
SHALOM  Y'ALL - TWYLA

Watch Out for those Little Ol' Ladies

A young man shopping in a supermarket noticed a little old lady following him around.  If he stopped, she stopped.  Furthermore, she kept staring at him.  She finally overtook him at the checkout;  she turned to him and said, "I hope I haven't made you feel ill at ease;  it's just that you look so much like my late son."  He answered, "That's okay."





She replied, "I know it's silly, but if you'd call out 'Good bye,, Mom' as I leave the store, it would make me really happy."  She then went through the checkout, and, as she was on her way out the door, the young man called out, "Goodbye,  Mom."  The little old lady waved and smiled back at him.






Pleased that he had brought a little sunshine into someone's day, he went to pay for his groceries.  "That'll be $121.85", said the clerk.  Shocked, he replied, "Why so much?  I only bought a few items. "  The clerk replied, "Yeah, but you Mother said you'd be paying for her things, too."

Yep.  Watch out for those little old ladies...
Shalom  Y'all - Twyla

Cloak Exchange

Today we are working on closets.  Ugh.  Now, don't get me wrong - I love organization.  But, it's the DOING of it,  the accomplishment of it,  the actual organizing that I don't like so much...  Well, a couple weeks ago we were putting away a bunch of costumes after one of my famous tea parties, when the closet rod broke.  And, I mean broke!  The brackets broke holding the closet rod, causing the metal shelves to fold upon themselves.  There was an avalanche of costumes, hats, boxes of jewelry, extra bed pillows,  and various other junk that had no business being in there in the first place.

So, today Moshe is installing a new closet rod in there and we are revamping what goes where. The closet that used to hold the costumes now holds some of his stuff, and vice-versa.  And, this made me think of the ancient custom of the cloak exchange...











The ancient cloak exchange was a covenant.  Covenants between God and man are not for common people; they are for chosen people. Covenants usually begin with God - not with us.  And, covenants usually have some sort of exchange.. In a cloak exchange (also called a robe exchange), the two parties would exchange robes as a constant reminder that the other person is now holding your most precious personal; item, and you are wearing theirs and they yours...  In those days, one's robe served as his coat, his bed and/or pillow, and his knapsack for carrying things and for harvesting into.

 One's robe also might advertise one's social status according to what it looked like,  the type of  fabric, and the quality of the workmanship.  (We all know the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors... That coat was, no doubt, a very nice coat... Nice enough to make his brothers very, very jealous.)

Isaiah 61:10 says, "He covers me with the robe of righteousness."  Jesus formed a covenant with me and exchanged His robe for mine.  He exchanged His royal robe for my filthy rags.  When the Heavenly Father looks at me, He sees the righteousness of Jesus the Messiah;  I am wearing His cloak of righteousness.  My sin exchanged for His righteousness,  my sickness for His healing,  my will for His will,  my lack for His riches.
Shalom  Y'all - Twyla

A Tail of Two Kitties

Animals are so much smarter than people... Much more sensitive than most people, too.  Last night I went to bed early - exhausted after a couple of really rough days. I hugged my heating pad to keep my hands warm, got positioned "just right" to try to go to sleep. Meanwhile, both cats jumped up on the bed.  Pickles immediately positioned  himself in the place of honor - on my pillow, leaning against the left side of my head, pawing my hair, and purring like a motorboat.




 CassPurr, settled in next to my shoulder on my right side, and rumbled his magnificent lion-like purrs.  There we stayed all night, their two tails meeting across my neck like a fancy lady's feather boa...

SHALOM  Y'ALL - 
     Twyla

A Dove Named Noah

This is one of those sweet stories that ya' just HAVE to repeat...  Hope y'all will enjoy it as much as I did...


       Noah the Dove






These little bunnies, about 6 days old, were attacked by a dog and orphaned. Two out of the litter of five did not survive, and these three were not doing very well.

Noah is a non-releasable, one-legged homing pigeon/rock dove that is in the rehab centre. Noah kept going over to the bunny cage and looking in -- even sleeping in front of the door to the cage.

Then, suddenly, there were only two bunnies in the cage.  But when Noah moved a bit from the front of the cage to everyone's surprise...there was the tiny bunny...under Noah's wing...sound asleep! That little bunny rabbit had crawled through the cage, preferring a featherbed, no doubt to snuggling up with its litter mates!

Now, they are all together and the bunnies are doing GREAT. When the bunnies scoot underneath Noah's feathers, he carefully extends his wings out to surround them and then they snuggle. When one of them moves and they start sticking out here and there, he gently pushes them back under him with his beak!  It is beautiful and amazing to see...





Update on Noah:

We are Bob and Georganne Lenham of Wild Rose Rescue Ranch in  Texas , home of Noah the Pigeon.
After finding many posts online featuring Noah and the bunnies and reading about the many lives he has touched (his story has been forwarded around the world) we thought we'd post a follow-up and a few new photos.
We knew there was something special about Noah the moment we saw him.
Although the bunnies seem to be his favorite, Noah helps out with many rescue babies here at the Wild Rose Rescue Ranch...
Noah's first litter of bunnies, almost raised and  ready for release.

Now, Noah helps out with many rescue babies here at the ranch...
How wonderful it is to have a full-time soft-feathered nurturer here at the rescue ranch! He cuddles with all the babies as they snuggle under his warm feathers...and he "coos" as if singing them to sleep with a lullaby.
Noah is truly, truly a God-send.

He will cover you with His feathers
And under His wings you will find refuge.
                                                              Psalm 91:4

Shalom  Y'all - Twyla

If I Only Had A Brain...

Yep, I've been singing this little ditty from  "The Wizard of Oz"  for almost 24 hours now... Ever since supper last night... I fixed something for Moshe's supper last night that he's never had before - "The Brain".  Like most of my recipes,  my version of  "The Brain" is different from everybody else's - it's sort of a combination of  what I've tasted in other people's homes, plus recipes I've read, and, mostly, knowing what we spices we like here at Green Acres. (Does that make it my brainchild?)

 This dish is so-o-o easy to make, and we found it absolutely delicious.  So delicious, in fact, that we ate the whole thing!  It became the entire meal, and we were very happy with that!  So, here is my recipe:

The Brain
One Whole Cauliflower Head
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
1/3 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Dried Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash the cauliflower; remove leaves and stem; steam in 1/2 inch water for 15 minutes; remove.  Spray baking dish with vegetable oil spray.  In a small mixing bowl, mix together the bread crumbs Parmesan cheese, and the dry spices.  Sprinkle about a tablespoon of this mixture  in the bottom of the baking dish.  Then, set the cauliflower in the dish.  Sprinkle the garlic over the cauliflower and rub it in with the back of a spoon.  Slather the cauliflower with mayonnaise.  Sprinkle the rest of the bread crumb mixture over the cauliflower, and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

When I took this treasure out of the oven, we knew we were going to love it!  Moshe was hungrier than me... I took 1/4 of the cauliflower onto my plate;  he took half of the cauliflower.  When we sat down, Moshe said, "Gee... if I had half a brain....."  (Groan.)  We do a lot of groaning around here, which explains why I've been humming that Wizard of Oz tune all day...
SHALOM  Y'ALL - TWYLA

Beau

Beau, walking up the driveway

We have 2 cats, 17 chickens, 3 roosters, and 1 and 1/2 dogs.   The 1/2 dog is "Beau", or at least that's what I've named him.  Beau showed up on our property several months ago, every rib showing through his fur, skittish and shy. He slept under the front porch all winter.  He and our Moxie immediately became best buddies, and they eagerly look forward to runs in the woods, walks down the road, wading in the ice-cold nearby stream.  When it snowed, they were like excited children, running through the drifts, "laughing" and eating the snow... then, coming back to our yard,  soaking wet and out-of-breath, but happy.

He's a pretty boy, isn't he?

We have been feeding Beau twice daily all these months. He has learned to trust me enough that he shows up just before mealtime, and knows that  I will be filling his bowl without fail.  He knows my routine and always joins in on feeding the chickens.  Over these many months Beau and I have ever-so-slowly developed a friendship.  Small steps; very small steps.  At first he would follow me in the yard, keeping a distance of six feet or so.  Then, he would follow me closely, but never touching.  Then, he started coming up alongside of me and just barely touching my hand with his nose.  One day I spontaneously offered him a bite of cornbread - and he took it!  Then, another and another until the cornbread was gone.  Moshe and I both had tears in our eyes after that episode; it had to have taken a lot of gumption  for Beau to decide to trust me.  A few days ago, he allowed me to pet him.  He has taken to sleeping on the back porch, right up against the sliding glass door, as if to say, "I belong here... And I'm gonna'  be just as close to my new people as possible."

Best Buddies...

Meanwhile, Moxie-the-wonder-dog is so generous of our attention.  She shares the talking, the petting, and the food with her buddy, Beau.  When I call them, they come bounding up to me.  Beau still holds back, but I can tell that Moxie is telling him, "Go ahead.. Let her pet you... It feels good... She's nice."  Beau stands back and looks longingly at Moxie and me.

He looks longingly inside the house, too.  I suspect he's been inside a house before.  Will he ever be comfortable enough to come inside ours?  Who did he belong to?  And, why is he so scared of people - especially men?  We suspect that someone abused this precious dog... he has been abandoned at best... more than likely beaten as well.  I am thankful that Beau showed up at our house.  I am glad to be gaining his trust and his friendship.

Y'know, God wants to be our friend, much like I have wanted to befriend Beau.  We come to Him broken in spirit, perhaps broken in body as well... And He patiently waits for us to trust Him.  He stands at the doorway to heaven, bidding us enter.  And, the only thing holding us back is ourselves.

Shalom  Y'all - Twyla

Super Moon

Most of this information came from NASA, so I figure it must be pretty accurate.  Our Creator certainly made a fascinating universe for us to dwell in!


Thanks to a fluke of orbital mechanics that brings the moon closer to Earth than that it has been in more than 18 years, the biggest full moon of 2011 will occur on Saturday, leading some observers to dub it a "supermoon."  The moon will appear about 15% larger and 30% brighter.  On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2011:  a distance of 221,565 miles  away. And only 50 minutes earlier, the moon will officially be full.  The moon will appear about 15% larger and 30% brighter. The last time the moon was in this position was March 1993.




The supermoon will not cause natural disasters, such as the Japan earthquake, a NASA scientist has stressed.





However, Saturday’s full moon with perigee will result in a dramatically large range of high and low ocean tides.  The highest tides will not, however, coincide with the perigee moon but will actually lag by up to a few days depending on the specific coastal location. For example, in Wilmington, N.C., the highest tide (5.3 feet) will be attained at 11:21 p.m. EDT on March 20.  But then, to those living on the shores near the Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada, the 10- to 20-foot  increase in the vertical tidal range makes it obvious when the Moon lies near perigee, clear skies or cloudy. Any coastal storm at sea around this time will almost certainly aggravate coastal flooding problems.  Such an extreme tide is known as a perigean spring tide, the word spring being derived from the German springen – to "spring up," and is not, as is often mistaken, a reference to the spring season.  In fact, the last time this occurred was in the month of October.



Big full moon's appearance is deceiving

When the perigee moon lies close to the horizon, it can appear absolutely enormous. That is when the famous “moon illusion” combines with reality to produce a truly stunning view.  For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, a low-hanging moon looks incredibly large when hovering near trees, buildings and other foreground objects. The fact that the moon will be much closer than usual this weekend will only serve to amplify this strange effect.

So … a perigee moon, either rising in the east at sunset or dropping down in the west at sunrise might seem to make the moon appear so close that it almost appears that you could touch it.





Other interesting photos and info about the moon:

Oh My Darling, ClementineCredit: NASA:  In this 1994 picture from the Clementine spacecraft, the moon is illuminated solely by light from the sun that is being reflected from the Earth. This "earthshine" occurs near the new moon. The sun is just behind the moon, creating the eerie glow. The Clementine spacecraft, which launched Jan. 25, 1994, was a joint experiment between NASA and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. One of the mission's objectives was to observe the moon. The spacecraft made worldwide headlines that year when it discovered possible indirect evidence for water ice on the moon, in a permanently shadowed miles-deep crater at the lunar south pole.

Mapping the Lunar TopographyCredit: NASA/GoddardTidal forces between the moon and the Earth have slowed the moon's rotation so that one side of the moon always faces toward our planet. Though several spacecraft have imaged the far side of the moon before, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is providing new details region. This image, taken by instruments onboard LRO, highlights the moon's topography, with the highest elevations up above 20,000 feet in red and the lowest areas down below 20,000 feet in blue.

Breaking Down the Moon's MineralsCredit: /NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ./USGSThis image of the moon is from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan 1 mission, which launched in Oct. 2008. It is a three-color composite of reflected near-infrared radiation from the sun, and illustrates the extent to which different materials are mapped across the side of the moon that faces Earth. Small amounts of water and hydroxyl (blue) were detected on the surface of the moon at various locations.






And, just so y'all know it's really me writing all this studious stuff, here is my final comment:  Happy Mooning!


SHALOM   Y'ALL - TWYLA

Why Am I So Excited About Garbage Day?

Yep; it's Thursday... garbage day in my neck of the woods... and, I'm excited about it!  You see, up here in the North Georgia Mountains we have bears.  And bears like to forage through people's garbage cans.  Go to 'most any social gathering up here and the subject of bears is likely to come up.  I haven't seen one yet, and I must admit I'd like to... at a safe distance, of course!  Friends and family who have seen them say they are actually quite beautiful.
The only evidence we've had that bears have graced our property is the overturned trash can.  Every time, the bear has delicately lifted the bag out of the trash can and toted this treasure up the hill into the woods. My solution:  keep the trash indoors all week, putting it out in the trash can at the last minute:  Thursday noon-ish.  Thus, my excitement about garbage day! (Kind of pitiful, isn't it?)




Black bears can typically be found in three distinct regions in Georgia, although they will range over larger areas in search of food. They can be found in the North Georgia mountains, along the Ocmulgee River drainage system in the central part of the state and in the Okefenokee Swamp in the southeast. Young male bears often will roam large areas until they are able to establish their own territory.






Bears typically live in swamps and forested areas, especially mature mixed pine stands that offer a plentiful supply of natural foods and trees and thickets that they can escape to for security. Standing, hollow trees are common den sites for Georgia bears. However, brush piles, rock crevices or other places that offer protection may be used.

...having a picnic of grapes...

The typical life span of a bear is about 8 to 15 years  .(I'm not sure how anybody knows this, but it's what the statistics say...)  Wild bears tend to live 23 percent longer than "garbage" bears (those that exist on unnatural foods; kinda' sounds like what happens to people when they eat unnatural foods, doesn't it?). Adult bears are generally up to six feet in length and about three feet high at the shoulder. Female adult bears can weigh up to 300 pounds and adult males can weigh over 500 pounds. Bears have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell. They are good tree climbers, can swim well and are able to run at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.  The breeding season is in July and cubs are born in the den in late January or February. Bear cubs weigh about eight ounces when born, are relatively undeveloped and entirely dependent on the mother. Cubs stay with their mother throughout the first year, den with her during the following winter and stay with her until she finally drives them away the following spring. Due to this extended care for her young, females only produce a litter every two years.

Bears are considered omnivorous meaning their diet consists of whatever is readily available at that time of year. Diets vary according to what part of the state the bear calls home. However, the majority of their natural diet consists of berries, fruits, acorns, grasses and animal matter, including insects or mammals-even deer. When houses, camps or recreation areas are located within range, bears are naturally attracted to the smells associated with cooking and garbage disposal. Other non-natural attractants include pet food, birdseed, suet, compost piles, gardens, beehives and cornfields. Bears can become attracted to human food when their natural diet sources are scarce. Non-natural type foods are typically easier to obtain and associated with humans, therefore luring bears away from natural food sources and dissolving the bears natural fear of humans. A bear typically will remain in an area where food can be found until that food supply is gone or until other measures are taken. 

 And thus, I am happy it's Thursday - and the garbage men took the trash away - not the bears.

Shalom  Y'all -

     Twyla

If You Have Spring Fever, Look at These!

At first glance, it looks like a giant child armed with a box of crayons has been set loose upon the landscape. Vivid stripes of purple, yellow, red, pink, orange and green make up a glorious patchwork





.



 Yet far from being a child?s sketchbook, this is, in fact, the northern Netherlands in the middle of tulip season.









 The Dutch landscape in May is a kaleidoscope of color as the tulips burst into life.












The bulbs are planted in late October and early November.  More than three billion tulips are grown each year and two-thirds of the vibrant blooms are exported, mostly to the U.S. and Germany.












Their dazzling colors are thanks to the years in the 17th century when tulip mania swept the globe and the most eye-catching specimens changed hands for a small fortune.










  But like a Rainbow, this colorful landscape is a short-lived phenomenon.  When the flowers are gone,
the land will be cultivated for a rather more mundane crop of vegetables.











The Netherlands produce more than nine million bulbs a year.





Ready for Spring yet?   I know I am!   SHALOM  Y'ALL - 
                              Twyla