I usually don’t write about our dogs. Probably due to the fact that even though I love them dearly, I’m not one of those people who loves them so much that I dress them up in outfits, carry them around in a purse (how odd would that look: me trying to carry a Lab & German Shepherd around?!), or call them “my children.” But, it is now December and both of their birthdays are right around the corner, so why not write a post?

Nicki was born 12/24/2005: That makes her about 21 human years old.
Tubby was born on 12/9/2006: That makes him about 10.5 human years old.
(conversion courtesy of http://www.onlineconversion.com/dogyears.htm)

“The old rule-of-thumb that one dog year equals seven years of a human life is not accurate. The ratio is higher with youth and decreases a bit as the dog ages. Depending on breed, a dog experiences the raging hormones of adolescence anywhere from eight months to two years or more. Generally, a dog of six has aged about as much as a 45-year-old human. At 10, she’s like a human of 65; at 12, a human of 75; and at 15, a human of 90.”
(Courtesy of www.dogyears.com)

To celebrate, here are a few “Then” (when we first brought Tubby home in March 2007) and “Now” pictures.

Playing Tug of War:

Snuggling:

And just hanging out side by side:

Our caterpillar/butterfly friend was called a Buckeye Caterpillar or Buckeye Butterfly, depending on what stage he was at. A big thanks to www.whatsthatbug.com for their help!

First, I’ll cut to the chase: 
     Our caterpillar turned into a butterfly (or a moth…) today. And it freaked me out.

Here’s the chase:
     Lilli and I were finishing up her homeschooling lesson. We’ve been talking about the five senses and were playing, “Use Your Sense of ____ (this time it was sight) to ____ (see)….” Lilli fills in the last blank and has a blast with it. She was using her sense of sight to see her caterpillar in his cocoon. When she went over to his house (which is a glass bowl loosely covered with saran wrap) and couldn’t find him. I assumed it would take longer than two weeks for a caterpillar to metamorphosize so of course I went over to show her that the cocoon was hanging from a stick, just as it had always been. But Lilli was right! He was gone! And I freaked - inside, quietly, to myself. If he wasn’t in the bowl, that meant he was in the room - or worse, crawling on my face or something. Luckily he was sitting right in front of us on Lilli’s dresser, which Lilli and I both laughed at because how can you miss a butterfly sitting on your dresser???!!

Below is a summary of the “hurry, let’s grab the camera, take some pictures, go outside, take more pictures, and then let him go home to his family” part of the story:

This was taken on the day Lilli found him (9/28/07)

His cocoon…and him haning out in the background

His cocoon

Lilli letting him “go home to his family.”

Amazing how fast he changed!

And a gorgeous day to be released!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)
      “There is a time for everything,
              and a season for every activity under heaven.”

Today was what I call “perfect weather”- mid 70’s, light breeze, and a few cirrus clouds high in the bright blue sky. A great day to line dry my laundry. Not that I mind hanging my laundry any other [hot and humid] day…lol, but being able to do it on a “perfect” day allowed me to enjoy the rest of God’s creation.

As I took in North Mountain’s scenery: the evergreen trees, cool wind, birds chirping, even the roaming cattle in the field behind us, I realized how much times have changed. I am one of the few who likes -  or even has the time - to line dry their laundry (there are reasons for this: saving energy, the scent from the breeze, the aerobic workout: walking to and from - as well as the actual bending and hanging). I hand wash the dishes too- a great arm work out! But that’s another story  

People are in such a hurry these days and their priorities are so out of whack: who has the latest fad (I don’t even know what it is now…not watching TV has somewhat eliminated advertisements), who has the best looking car/house/cell phone/handbag/etc, what celebrity has gone into or gotten out of rehab/jail/etc, or how one can lose 20 pounds on a miracle diet in three days. 

I wish times would slow down, go back to when people could just say hello in casual passing rather than giving each other cautious looks, lend each other a hand without asking for anything in return, not having to lock the doors at night, my list goes on and on…

Most importantly, I wish times would go back to when the focus was on God rather than other earthly, materialistic “things.”

Luke 6:46-49 (NIV) 
    “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will how you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Our garden is growing and I’m so excited…I don’t know where to begin!

I must admit that the past few months I haven’t been too hopeful regarding our organic garden. We planted tomatoes, squash, green beans, watermelon, & corn all in May and I hadn’t seen any real production, with the exception of our tomatoes & green beans…both of which I’ve been told pretty much ”grow no matter what.” Great…go me…I grew something that is super easy to grow.

But TODAY! All the hard work: planting, fertilizing (those cows in the field behind our property sure helped out!), watering, pruning, the list goes on and on and on…finally paid off! We have a female squash flower. So? This is big news because ALL the flowers that have bloomed so far (about 30) have been males (they have a thin stem whereas the female has a bulging stem).

Obviously we don’t yet have squash so I’m saying a little prayer that “Sandra” (the female squash flower) doesn’t hold out on us. Also, our corn has 6 silks! If the silks are pollinated, they turn brown, which I noticed one had turned brown already. We’ve had one watermelon growing steadily and two more are following suit.

I’m so thankful that God has allowed our garden to grow organically. Without the use of pesticides, we’ve been having to spend more time tending to the plants (which is also a blessing because it allows me to teach Lilli how things grow, what bugs are good  & what bugs are bad, and besides - what kid doesn’t like to help water the plants?!). My nemesis, the Squash Bug, was a real problem for a while. They literally suck out the nutrients from the vine while injecting a poison to kill the plant. All my leaves were turning yellow and I had no idea why  . Google came to my rescue and I found that the organic way to get rid of them was to simply pick them off and drown them in a bowl of water. Easier to do for the adults:

since they were larger and easier to locate. The babies though:

are so tiny and move around quickly. I didn’t mind just squashing the baby squash bugs…hahah no pun intended . The Japanese Beetles:

found our garden to be the place to hang out. (Lilli is really good at finding them and “stomping” them…lol). We also found that Tomato Hornworms:

loved snacking on our tomato plants. Lilli loved having them as pets for a day. Michael wanted to get Lilli a terrarium so she could learn how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, but the hornworm actually buries itself in the ground, forms a cocoon, and then emerges as a moth:

I think a milkweed caterpillar would be a better lesson, since it cocoons itself while hanging…at least we could see it then. The birds used to be a problem but here’s a secret I’ll share with you: hang old cd’s from the stakes and the sunlight reflecting from them scare off the birds. Sure it looks a little silly, but at least you won’t have to worry about the birds enjoying the fruit of your labor before you do
Psalm 104:14 (NLT)
   “You cause grass to grow for the livestock
      and plants for people to use.
   You allow them to produce food from the earth…”

*The pictures above are not actual pictures from our garden. I will try and get photos from our garden online soon