"short" post turned long and rambly

pretending to be a farmer's wife

I've been feeding our friend's animals (cats, dog, chickens, guinea, and lamb) and watering their plants again this week. The Attack Rooster has thus far kept his distance. Perhaps because I now enter the coop armed with a sturdy stick. Perhaps he's only waiting until the last day, when I'm least on guard. Perhaps he's sharpening the spurs on his legs so as to be quite prepared to make a deep puncture, and collecting plenty of little bacteria and evil dirty things with which to infect the said wound.

I've told him I forgive him for last time, though, and for being a roosterly rooster. We'll see if he believes me.

Other than the threat of infection, tending to "the farm" has been fairly pleasant, as always. I love how dirty I usually get, how wild my hair and how mud-streaked my feet, just from watering a few plants and feeding a few animals! It's quite humorous. But of course, where there is dirt, I must get some on myself. Not that the animals mind.

one last adventure of the summer

The very day I finish my animal-feeding job, I will be departing my fair little town in the midst of Nowhere to go to the Renewing the Family Camp! Our good friends the Grubens invited me to go with them, and I am quite honored and excited. Not only to spend time with my dear old friends, but to meet and fellowship with other God-loving families of similar convictions. And I believe two young ladies who inspire me greatly through their writing and documentary will be there...

Who else might be there? I have this nagging feeling that one or more lovely people whose blogs I read might show up, and that I will not make the connection until the camp is over. Meeting folks in real life can be so different from the online world, though... perhaps it would be better if you keep an illusion of my grace, elegance, and eloquence ...;-)

After the family camp, I'll probably stay with the Grubens for a week or so until we contrive a way to get me back home. They have just moved, so I hope I can help with organizing, cleaning, or another of the millions of tasks that go along with moves. And I'm sure we'll find time for a bit of coffee, craziness, and cloak-wearing as well.

dreaming and dilligence

In other news, I've been taking too many naps, watching too many movies with Whit and the Mother, eating too much bread (loaf, biscotti, scones, cookies), reading Little Dorrit, and writing for my job. I need to be more diligent, though, because I'm a bit behind on the last one. Ideally I would write an even two hours a day, but lately I end up doing it all near the end of the week. Starting next month I'm going up to 20 hours a week, which means I can't do that anymore. Not sure what needs to go, besides constantly checking Facebook. Getting up early consistently would help. So would not having a temporary job of watering zuchini and feeding a lamb who insists he's constantly starving.

But isn't it funny how sometimes the busier you are, the more you end up getting accomplished? I was lately encouraged by this post by the Botkin sisters. My head is often off in the blue building castles in the clouds and not getting anywhere useful, so it was challenging to hear them encourage young ladies at home to work on marketable skills. I'd like to think I could have a thriving, easy home business making bread, but really this writing job which the elders at church have given me is much more productive and useful. I pray I can go after it will all the excitement and diligence I can, so I'll have more time to give my family and friends and to do the things I really want to (like reading good books, making bread, and writing my own stories)

So much for my "quick" update post! I don't even have pictures in this one. Ah well. Back to work now. And I hear some fresh homemade fig bars came out of the oven too! So farewell!