Once A Bunch of TIme...

this is about a week's worth of wood

  
      Another busy day.  It takes a lot of energy and organization to live our lifestyle.  Moshe spent a good bit of the day  pulling, chopping, toting, splitting, and carrying wood for the wood stove.  (Hope I didn't inadvertently leave out any verbs... There's a LOT of work involved in keeping up with the wood supply.)
I spent the day doing various things, including all the mending which had piled up over the past few months.  Of course, there were the usual chores... cleaning, mopping, doing dishes, laundry, cooking. 
     We had an awesome lunch in the midst of our toils.  Moshe picked a huge amount of cabbage yesterday afternoon.  He chopped it up for me, and I cooked it in one of my canning pots, adding sauteed onions and garlic, and a little bit of olive oil.  Most of it went into containers and into the freezer, but I kept one mess of it - probably about a quart or so - and added some sauteed turkey bacon.  I let this simmer all morning, and we had it with baked potatoes.  Who would've thought that cabbage could be so tasty?

"Recital" - my watercolor, based on my old living room where we had piano recitals

    
     I had wanted to redo the living room today - change the decor to Winter - paintings, candles, etc... but, I ran out of energy. There never seems to be enough energy.  Even though this living room is a fraction of the size of my old one,  the task was daunting.  Maybe Monday... "Once a bunch of time" - that's how my daughter, when she was four or five years old, started stories that everybody else started as "Once upon a time"...
     Once a bunch of time I had lots and lots of energy.  Really, more energy than just about anyone I knew.  I worked more than 40 hours a week - often 60 hours or more - yet, still managed to keep up with a really big house,  garden nearly every day, and do art and craft projects. Oh, and I taught piano and voice lessons.  We had recitals four times a year.  I started walking for exercise, then one day decided to run!  So, I ran and walked... walked and ran.  Every day, in addition to my full schedule...
     And then along came fibromyalgia and lupus.  Followed by a stroke.  The fatigue, oh, the fatigue.  And the depression that goes along with it.  But even so, God took something that "the enemy" meant for evil and turned it into something good.  With the slowing down of my body came a speeding up of my spiritual quest.
I don't teach lessons any more, but there are still many, many lessons to learn. And so,  "I press toward the mark for the prize of high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phillipians 3:14)
                Shalom Y'all - Twyla

Busy, but Blessed

One of my watercolors...

     Wow.  I can hardly believe it's Thursday already.  Where did the time go?
     Okay; Tuesday was my birthday, and I was gone almost all day.  Among other things, Moshe and I went out for a late lunch.  We went to a wonderful local restaurant.  Even though we live up in the mountains, "ten miles from nowhere", there is a REAL restaurant in our little town, with a REAL chef, and REAL food - everything made on location.  Wonderful. We savored every bite and every moment. We even brought home a doggie bag for Moxie and salad greens for the chickens.
     Wednesday was a trip to the Farmer's Market.  It's about a thirty-minute drive one way.  We purchased more apples, sorghum syrup, and Jerusalem artichokes.  On the way home we stopped at a roadside stand "to get an onion", and came home with a fifty pound bag of them.  I also have a big basket of local pears that a neighbor gave us over the weekend...
     Soooo... today is definitely a food prep/canning/drying/freezing kind of day. I'm going to plug in the portable CD player and sing along as I work.  Moshe has a big list of chores, too. Lots of projects for building more storage shelves, fixing a leaky toilet valve, finishing the shelves for our dehydrator.  Life is always busy and interesting around here.
     I have the best husband in the world. Are we perfect? No. Absolutley not. But, we are a great team. When we have a problem, we talk it out, work it out. We are committed to each other. As Moshe said yesterday, "We have our problems just like everyone else, but, I took my wedding vows seriously."
     Busy but blessed.  That's me.
                                                         Shalom y'all - Twyla

Moshe & Me... dressed up silly for a birthday party