Signs of Spring and a few odds and ends

It's hard to believe it was so snowy and cold earlier this month.  This past week has been warm - 60s and even 70 degrees.  Some sunny days and some rainy days.  Our yard has been a mess of mud from the melted snow and then rain:

Yesterday I took a few pictures of flowers beginning to say "hello":

We took the puppies out into the sunshine today.  They had so much fun!  And so did we:

The pups were worn out after and promptly piled up and went to sleep:

Solomon and I took a walk around the goat area of our property to make sure the fencing was all secure.  He liked the sounds of the gravel from the neighbor's driveway on his shoes.

 

Our resident chicken whisperer chatted with her feathered friends some.  Tabby really can talk like a chicken:

 

Our house is very old (over 100 years).  Obviously there was no trash pickup back then!  (Well there still isn't here.  We take our trash to a nearby dump.)  The original owners used to throw things out in a certain area outside.  That means that whenever it rains, broken glass and rusted objects sometimes come up out of the ground.  (Another reason we always wear boots outside.)  Today I spent about 15 minutes picking up glass pieces out of the mud.  I love the cobalt blue glass.  I found a little bottle today too (see top area of bowl):

We've got a collection going of whole bottles we've found.  (I found a neat spice jar from the 1930s last year too!)  Someday when I have time (TIME? HAHAHA!) I want to go through the bottles, clean them up, and then display the most interesting ones.

"Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun." - Ecclesiastes 11:7

Last week, the kids and I finished going through a book called Jashub's Journal: An Old Testament Law Story and Bible Study by Simply Charlotte Mason.  (More info and sample page here.)  This was a "living story" that taught several old testament laws for every day situations.  You read the story and then read the Bible passages and answer a few questions.  It was really interesting!  And it made the old laws make a lot more sense to me.  When we finished, Tabby asked if we could get some more Bible studies like that.  I do not know of any so I am looking into it.  If you know of any - please let me know!

In response to my post last Sunday about dealing with digital picture overload, I have concluded most of us are in the same boat.  (Must be the S.S. I'm Drowning In Photos!)  No one seems to have a system they are thrilled with.  People dabble in albums, boxes, scrapbooks, digital scrapbooks, and printed photo books.  Each system has pros and cons.  It does seem that making photo books online and having them printed is becoming one of the most popular choices.  I like them.  I've made one for each family member of them with Lilly.  But they can be pricey if you don't have a discount, and seem very time consuming to me.  But then I guess every system is. 

So phooey - no easy answers.  I will continue to back up my photos on my expansion drive.  I also get my blog printed and bound each year and give a copy to each of my children.  (That is a journal for us and it can be our photo album too.)  I think I need to just go back to taking one hour a week and sorting through the photos that I do have printed.  Put them in order in boxes.  (Labeling them can happen in another season in my life.)  Then put some in themed photo albums.  (The smaller albums with slots to slip pictures in.)  Baby albums and maybe some highlights of the year albums.  I have a digital scrapbooking program I got free (which you can buy at discount from My Memories - see the ad near the top right area of this blog) but I really prefer paper.  I like making things with my hands.  Maybe I'll just finish using the scrapbooking supplies I have and then try digital again.  Finally, when I receive the "free photo book" offers from Shutterfly, I will continue to take advantage of them! (I seem to get one every March.)

Finally I'm happy to report that Frank's kidney stone(s) seems to be completely gone!  Thanks to the good Lord and home remedies!  I gave him all the things I mentioned in this post.  Remember that if you're struggling with a kidney stone!

Silver in the eyes

In my last post I mentioned that Solomon was still sick and had "goopy eyes" so I was going to take him to the doctor.  Well his eyes are almost completely better - thanks to a suggestion from my friend C from Haven Enterprises.  She told me to try putting a little collodial silver in his eyes.  I posted recently that we use silver as a natural antibiotic during sickness.  But I had never thought of putting it in our eyes!  But I gave it a try and his eyes looked better after just one application - of a few drops on eyes he was squeezing shut as hard as he could!  Amazing!  So no doctor visit needed.  Plus he's all better except for a lingering cough.

the blue munchkin

oh yeah - a front end loader!

 Frank is still battling his kidney stone(s) but we think he may be winning!  He still has some pain but not as bad as it was.  We are following suggestions to dissolve the stone and help it pass from a book called Be Your Own "Doctor": An Informative Guide to Herbal Home Health Care by Rachel Weaver M.H.  This book has been invaluable to us and the section on kidney stones is proving to be also.  We followed the directions for dissolving the stones and used water, limes, and alfalfa tablets the first day.  Then the next 2 days Frank drank apple cider vinegar and honey in water, and took alfalfa tablets.  He noticed improvement but still felt them.  So now we're using the book's suggestion to use Herb Pharm Stone Breaker compound three times a day, along with the alfalfa tablets and a banaba leaf supplement.  (The book suggested banaba leaf tea but I couldn't find that readily.)  The compound is 3x a day.  In the evening I give him apple cider vinegar with lemon juice and olive oil.  (Yuck!  Apple cider vinegar helps dissolve stones and relax the urinary tract.)  I'm going to keep him on this until he's better.  I have ordered a kidney cleanse and kidney cleanse + function tea from Supplement Warehouse, but am still waiting for those.  Finally, the book suggested having a bottle of lobelia on hand.  (I've also ordered that from Supplement Warehouse.)  The book's author said she was having terrible pain from a stone and took 2 droppers of the lobelia by mouth and then rubbed lobelia liberally onto her kidney stone area.  Within 5 minutes she was off the floor and sitting in a chair.  Lord willing Frank won't get to that point, but I thought we better be ready.  Finally, I decided that he will do a kidney cleanse twice a year from now on, as a preventative. 

So there's my crash course on trying to get rid of kidney stones naturally.  Hopefully that will help someone else!

If you saw Tabby's blog earlier this week, you know we were surprised to see that the goats aren't the  only furry creatures around here that are pregnant:

On Monday Frank and Tabby both realized that Dixie was "with puppy"!

Dixie trying to look innocent - "Who me sneak off?"

As part of Tabby's schoolwork today, she's going to write up a report on dog pregnancies so we're fully informed on the whole process.  I'm looking forward to puppies - I've never seen newborn puppies.  (Or any newborn animal except baby birds.)

This made me laugh the other day - Solomon was pushing Hunter around in an old baby doll stroller that was Tabby's.  Push hard Solomon!

And speaking of Tabby, she has been enjoying taking the goats for a walk.  On a leash!

 

 "This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24