So God Made a Farmer

Paul Harvey wrote this many years ago.  It seemed appropriate to use it on "Green Acres".  Hope y'all will enjoy it as much as I did.


And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said I need a caretaker- So God made a Farmer

God said I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk the cows, work all day in the field, milk cows again, eat supper then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board-So God made a Farmer


I need somebody with arms strong enough to wrestle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild; somebody to call hogs,tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to await lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies, then tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon, and mean it-So God made a Farmer

God said I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt, and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say maybe next year. I need someboby who can shape an axe handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make a harness out of hay wire, feed sacks and shoe straps, who at planting time and harvest season will finish his forty hour week by Tuesday noon and then, paining from tractor back, will put in another 72 hours- So God made a Farmer





God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain, and yet stop in midfield and race to help when he sees first smoke from a neighbor's place-So God made a Farmer

God said I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bales,  yet gentle enough to wean lambs and pigs and tend to pink combed pullets; who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadowlark. It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, feed, breed, and rake and disk and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church. Somebody who would bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing; who would laugh and then sigh, and reply with smiling eyes when his son says he wants to spend his life doing what dad does-
So God made a Farmer


      SHALOM  Y'ALL - Twyla

Glorious Red Onions

Today, I'm going to tell the story backwards, starting with a recipe featuring red onions.  Then, we'll look at how and when to plant them, what kind of soil additives to use, etc. There are lots of uses for red onions; we like them in tuna salad, potato salad, cole slaw,  pasta salads - all the typical Summer salads...  They taste and look great!   Red onions are milder and sweeter than their yellow or white counterparts.  I don't like to use them for cooking - they don't give cooked foods nearly as much flavor as white or yellow onions do.  (You CAN use them in a pinch, but you'll need to use more - nearly twice as many as you would white or yellow.) 

Here is a nice Summer salad recipe, using  fresh produce as well as canned and dried products.  This salad is simple to prepare, a delight to the eye and the taste buds!

               12 ounces washed baby spinach

•                6 ounces sliced white mushrooms
•                6 ounces mandarin oranges, drained
•                1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
•                1/4 cup dried cranberries or Goji berries
•                1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or  toasted (unsalted) sunflower seeds

     Drizzle with a simple vinegar and oil dressing; or, use the dressing of your choice.  Add a  nice loaf of French bread, and you have a very nice light lunch or supper.

Harvest onions when their tops begin to turn yellow.  Dig carefully around each onion to remove it from the earth.  You really don't want to damage the outside of the onion, because this will cause it to rot much more quickly. After you harvest onions, they need to be stored in a cool, dry place. One storage trick is to put them in pantyhose.  You put one onion in, tie a knot; put in another onion; tie another knot; keep going until both legs of the pantyhose are filled; then, this can be hung in a cool, dry place, such as a root cellar or basement.

Lil Bit, standing in the onion patch

So, today, I planted red onions. About 150  of 'em. These particular onion sets were "Red Candy Apple" onions from Henry Fields Seed & Nursery.  Y'all know the drill... You get this seed catalog in the dead of Winter, and, oh, the stuff looks so good!  So, you order it, not fully realizing that the time will come when the plants need to be planted.  Oh, but that's alright.  God provided us with a glorious day today - clear, sunny, high of 72 or 74 - perfect for gardening.  And I had help!I  Both Moxie and Lil Bit stayed  VERY close at hand, assisting and supervising their hapless human with her gardening chores...  I planted these onion sets up close to the house.  Although it looks a bit bleak now, once I plant morning glories behind them to climb up the latticework, and something short and colorful in front of the bottom terrace - maybe marigolds - it will perk up.

And, here is a picture of what we received in the mail - two bunches of red onions.  Isn't it marvelous how God created all this stuff for us to grow, and cook, and preserve... and enjoy!

                                                     Are they ready yet?


    SHALOM  Y'ALL  
        
         TWYLA

If A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

       Yessiree.  That old saying is a good one.  But, even when it's a good picture, people like me just have to make a little more comment...at the very least, a caption for each.  So, here are a few:   Some are repeat photos, most are new:

Peep and Chicken Little;  or, is it Arnold Schwartzeneger and
 Danny DeVito?
(Twins, separated at birth)

"Do these feathers make my butt look big?"

    

"Honey, I think the oven needs to be a little warmer before I put the biscuits in."

"Sheessh... Can't a girl have a little privacy while she's settin'?
What? Were you born in a barn?"

"We are big roosters, and we WILL attack you!"

"Oh, brother... yet another lower life form has invaded my space."

"Uh, I'm keepin' the bed warm for ya' "

"Bookends - Ebony and Ivory"

"I luv you, Mommy and Daddy"

" Get that #%^* thing off of me! Who the *@# do you think you are?"

"Wow, thanks! What a nice buffet!"

"The Grim Reaper with his Ice Sickle"

"The  beard contest"

"Oh, I always dress like this when I'm gardening..."

     Okay, that's fourteen photos - one for each day of this year!  I don't think  y'all could take much more than that.  Hope you've enjoyed my little bit of silliness.

                     SHALOM  Y'ALL - TWYLA

A Ladie's Luncheon/An Appointment with God

Okay, the last photo I posted was another shot from Moshe's birthday party. I think it's soooo funny how people look (dressed up) while having very serious conversations. This photo is of Moshe talking politics with our friends Parker and Barb.

Speaking of Barb... Yesterday I went to a ladie's luncheon in her honor. There were about twenty ladies there, all, of course, bearing large quantites of wonderful food. For once, I did not overeat, probably because I was so busy talking, AND because I've recently been experiencing symptoms of ?gallstones, ?diverticulosis, or ???

Anyhow, what a great time we had! I met some of Barb's relatives, and we really hit it off. One person, in particular, was a "God Appointment". We were meant to meet. We have lots and lots in common, plus, we look as if we should be sisters. We exchanged phone numbers, etc., and I look forward to conversing more with Valerie in the future. (As she said, we really ARE sisters in the eyes of God.)

Today is Father's Day, and I am blessed to still have both my parents. They are both 85 years old, active, and in good health. Isn't that great?

Today is also Sunday. Although we celebrate the Sabbath (which is Saturday) by relaxing and not doing any ordinary work, commerce, etc., we attend church services on Sunday because there are no Saturday services up here in the mountains. We are Messianic, which means that although we have Jewish heritage, we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah. We still practice the Jewish customs and Feast Days, but also believe in Christianity. As my new friend, Val, said yesterday, "It's like being double-dipped in God's grace."

Shalom, y'all!!!