Update From the Country!

Greetings to all of my family and friends! I pray you had a wonderful week-end! It was a long week-end for my husband and I. We took off for the dunes in Florence, Oregon on Thursday morning and got back yesterday. 

We had a great time. The weather was perfect for the coast. We had mostly sunny skies and the temperatures were in the mid-60's. We had a one morning when it was cloudy, but the clouds burned off by noon. 

I tried to tweet something everyday to keep those of you who follow me on Twitter, updated. 

Unfortunately we forgot the cameras so the pictures you are seeing here are from last year. They give you a little idea of how beautiful it is there. 

This is a picture of the campground. It's a real nice place. My husband belongs to the Odd Fellows organization, this is their campground there in Florence. There is nice restroom facilities with showers for those who camp with tents. And if you camp like we do, with a camper trailer, there are hook-ups for those.  It's a real family type place. There isn't a bunch of rowdiness and it's pretty much all quiet after 10-11pm.

Here is a great picture of the ocean. There is a lot of beach that ATVs can go on. It was quite fun riding on the beach along side of the ocean. There was a lot of different types of ATVs out there.

Here is another shot of the beach and ocean with the dunes in the background. I am glad my husband had these pictures on the computer otherwise I wouldn't be able to show you even these!


I promise to not forget the cameras next time! Or the batteries for them!


We did have a wonderful time though. I have never been to the dunes so it was quite the experience for me. And being a beginner rider on a quad it really was different than riding around here at home in the dirt. But I am told that sand quadding is much different then dirt quadding. 


Ever since that fall Calvin and I took a couple of months ago I have been pretty freaky about going up and down hills here at home. There I had to go down and up quite a number of them. However, if I could, I would go around a small dune if I felt the pitch was too much for me. There are a couple of places I wouldn't go to at all because it scared me so. 


The one place everyone likes to go to is Competition Hill. That is a BIG dune! And people ride down it and come back up it all day long. I will have a picture of it next time, so you can see how big it is. I stayed on the top and watched people. 


There is also a place where experienced riders go, they call it the Tree Shot place. It has very steep trails that circle around trees and down at the bottom of the trails the sand is very, very soft and lots of people get stuck or fall off of the trail and have to be winched out. The boys (Calvin and our son Nathan) loved it. They even helped a couple of other riders who got stuck.


I did pretty good for a beginner. Managed to stay on the quad all of the times we went out. I even went down some of the trails that I couldn't do the first day out there. Then.... there was Sunday..... our last ride out until our next visit..... What can I say? My darling husband, who knew I was fighting the fear of tipping, falling, flipping end over end.... you name it..... took us on a trail through some trees. We were going to go down to the lake behind the campground. I had been doing real good. I even did some baby loops on the side of one of the dunes. We were going along at a pretty good clip, not too fast, and I saw a root from one of the trees sticking out. I just knew it was going to get me. So.... I tried to avoid it.... the quad started tipping to the left, my foot fell off the peg, I am squeezing the clutch handle and the brake handle trying to get the quad to stop, I ended up getting sucked under the quad. The quad ran over my left leg and shoulder. I don't remember hitting the ground. But I remember getting ran over. That hurt like crazy. 


Calvin, Nathan, Kerry and his son Brodie were there beside me instantly. At least it seemed that way. My dear husband was scared to death! So was my son! Nate said he just stopped his quad and he jumped off it and ran to me. He just knew my quad was sitting on top of me. It actually rolled a few feet away from me. After making sure nothing was broken (and nothing is, just badly bruised) they helped me up. I drank some water. Then found a bush to tinkle behind. (I'm surprised I didn't tinkle my pants when I fell!) Then I went back to the root and kicked it! I know, I know, it didn't do much good, but it helped me feel better. Unfortunately it was buried at the other end, otherwise I would have pulled it out of the ground so no one else would get hurt. After looking around, we could see other quad riders had gotten into accidents at that site. 


I get back on the quad and we start out again. So now I am pretty shaky, taking the turns real careful and what happens? I took a turn, my front wheel gets hooked up and I crash into another tree! I end up bending the tie rod. My husband, such a patient man, takes a branch and somewhat straightens out the tie rod. Nathan rides it down to where Cal was parked, and we abandon our ride down to the lake. I had had enough. I was hurting. Now my left thumb was jambed, along with jerking my already sore left shoulder. I just wanted to get back to camp and be a big baby. 


Actually I was hurting pretty good and knew I couldn't take another accident, no matter how minor it was. So my sweetheart took me back to camp and left the rest of our group out there playing. Only when we get there, Nate had already beat us to camp! Come to find out, we had an hour to get everything loaded and packed and out of there. Our time was up.


I was sad that we had to leave. But at the same time, I was glad to be headed back home. 


We pulled into the driveway around 5:30pm last night. After partly unloading the camper, Cal and I took the little car down to the grocery store to buy some dinner. We barbecued some hamburgers, ate left over potato salad. Then we sat in the hot tub for about an hour. Afterwards we watched the 10 o'clock news. Then we crawled into bed, kissed goodnight and it was snoring happily ever after... or at least until 6am today. 


So now we are back to reality. No more fun in the sun for awhile. Unless we continue to get good weather here at home. It's a little cloudy today, but the temperature is nice. 


Next time I will have a better plan for the dogs as well. They did go with us, but I felt bad because they were either locked in the kennel, stuck on a leash or locked inside of the camper. I am going to find or make a little pen for them to stay in, outside. One with a cover to keep the sun off of them. That way they can be outside and not have to be on a leash. They will like that better, as well. 


I hear my dryer has stopped, so it's time to fold clothes. It's crazy how sand gets into everything! 


I do hope everyone had a good weekend. And thank you for those of you who prayed for our daughter, Jennifer, this weekend. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. She is getting some more testing today, so far the baby is looking good. 


Until I write again, may the Lord bless you and keep you and your family safe.


Oh, by the way, if you want to, you can receive this blog via email. Just put your email address in the box to the left where it says to subscribe. You will receive an email every time I update this blog. I promise not to fill your mailbox with a ton of emails! So, do take advantage of this convenience. And as always, I welcome your comments!

Summer Bible Study 3 Starts Today! | Bible Cafe

This is a couple of my responses to the questions from our first day of bible study. I am so excited to be involved with this study! And YES I will continue the first one on the Green Pastures page. So please look for it. Hmmmm.... I think I will title it "Where My Eyes Take Me."

Summer Bible Study 3 Starts Today! | Bible Cafe: "Judges 21:25 - The danger that lies in doing what is right in our own eyes, is that we don't 'see' the necessity in staying close to our Great Shepherd. A sheep will see a patch of tempting grass on the other side of some broken rocks and will scramble after it, not realizing or recognizing that his/her shepherd has already led him to the best place to feed. Instead the sheep will go somewhere that is dangerous, causing her to get into trouble and possible injury, leaving herself open for an enemy to attack her; being separated from the rest of the sheep. (Oh boy, I could continue this, perhaps I shall on my blog!)"

Jeremiah 17:7-14 - How I love this passage! Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord! Such a contrast to the one who does right in his own sight. Whose hope is the Lord, no guess work here. The one who does right in his own sight is being lead by his heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked. But the one who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord will be blessed beyond measure. He will be able to say, "For You are my praise." Those who follow their own way will end up with nothing and will be ashamed. Oh Lord, let me be the one who can say, "For You are my praise."

This is going to be a wonderful study. I sure pray you all got to sign up for it. I am expecting to see the Lord do some changes in my heart and life. May we all be changed by His marvelous Word of life.


I will write more later, my friends and family. Until then, may our Good Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Update From the Country!

Greetings and Salutations friends and family! I thank you for stopping by and visiting me this day!

I don't know about any of you, but we have yet to really experience Spring here  in Forest Grove, OR. So far we have had record lows for our highs, and more rain for the month of June. The "keeper of the records" states we haven't been this wet and/or cold for many, many, many years. I know for myself, even though I did just spend 13 years in the hottest state of this country, I don't ever remember it being this wet or cold for June in the Pacific Northwest. So hearing it verified by said record keepers, I feel somewhat justified in my memories. (That's a good thing, because as I become "more mature" I find my memory isn't always what it use to be.)

I have been seeing and hearing from others around the country that they are experiencing some nice warm weather; such as 104+ degrees in the state I had vacated. I really don't miss those temperatures, but I sure wouldn't mind seeing some 80 degrees around here.

We did have two beautiful days last week. I hold onto those memories tightly, I don't know when we will see that much sun again. 

But in spite of the rain and cold weather, the garden is doing fairly well. I do think I may have lost a couple rows of seeds, because it has rained so much. If so, I will replant them. Hopefully we will get some warmer weather.

The chickens are flourishing. They are becoming quite big. Now, if only they will lay eggs. Having sixteen chickens, there should be some eggs showing up here soon. 

The two pheasants are now residing in the woodshed. They are still in a cage but they are doing well. Unfortunately for them, they are both hens, so that means they will both be joining us for dinner when they are a bit bigger; as the main course. 

Momma kitty and her babies are doing well. My son Nathan was going to try and tame the two male kittens, but has just recently decided that it was just too much trying to tame wild kitties. (He had them in his room and they made a mess of everything by messing in there. He should have never let them out the kennel..... kitties have a way of getting even.) So now all the kittens are reunited with momma kitty and are running wild outside. It really is a much better place for them. They will help keep the critter population down to a manageable state.

If you visited my book review site this past week you learned there was a winner for the drawing. That was a lot of fun. Next time I may try something a little bit different for a drawing. I hope to have another one soon. 

I did finally get caught up on the book reviews. I posted several in about two days. I had read all of the books, I just didn't have time to write the reviews. I have been working a lot of hours. Not that I am complaining, it just cut into some of my writing time. Now that they hired another part-time person, maybe I will get more time to write. I am way behind on my poetry and a book I am working on, not to mention I haven't written anything for Green Pastures in a long time. I have a few things to add to that page. 

I am very excited about next week. My sweetheart and I are going to go camping! We are going to go to the coast and camp and ride our quads and just relax. We will be meeting some friends at the campgrounds, so that will be fun. I am praying for beautiful weather. I haven't been to the coast for a long time. I am thankful that my dear husband has a nice camper to stay in, so if it does rain, we won't get wet. It has all of the conveniences a use-to-be-city girl like me can enjoy. Including a bathroom! 

Calvin is taking the crab-nets and is hoping to catch some yummy crabs. He went diving last week-end and came home with 14 butter clams, 9 crabs, some fish and oysters. (He bought the oysters!) We ate real good that night. I made some seafood chowder (for the very first time) and that came out real yummy. I had a recipe, used it as a guide, tweaked it a little and both Calvin and Nathan liked it! I have to say, my husband did have to help with the tweaking, but it was good!

Brrrrr..... I am going to have to light the woodstove and get some heat in here.   My fingernails are turning blue!

Until we meet again, may the Good Shepherd continue to guide you to green pastures to feed well and beside still waters to rest. 

Almost forgot..... there is a bible study taking place on-line at Women's Bible Study Cafe. It's going to be on the book of Ruth. If you haven't done so, sign up for it and get your workbook. It is going to be great. I am so looking forward to it, especially since I work most Sundays and don't get to go to church very often. The bible study only runs for 6 (six) weeks, so it's not drawn out. There is going to be women on-line from all over the country participating.  I do hope to see you there with us, studying the bible and fellowshipping with other women. It will be a real blessing for sure. 

Many blessing to you all! 

Update From the Country!

Greetings and blessings to you from the country! I pray you had a restful week-end. And I pray that our Lord and Savior made Himself evident in your lives.

My week-end was fairly busy. Friday I got to visit with my dear friend, Mary. That was a wonderful time. We hadn't seen each other in about 14 years, so we had a lot of catching up to do! I showed her the chickens. I even caught a few of them for her so she could pet them. She got to see the pheasants in the house. And we had spaghetti for dinner. It was a good time all in all.

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Forest Grove. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm. It was perfect for weeding the garden. I spent a good three to four hours out there. Then I not only got a blister on my hand, but it broke, so, I had to call it quits for the day. I still have a couple of rows left to weed. 

I did ride my quad around the trails here on the property. It was the first time I rode it since my husband and I took a spill on his. So it was a bit scary at first. I just rode the easy trails and took it nice and slow. I was experimenting with shifting though and got myself in a little of trouble.... to shift to higher gears you push the shift lever up with your foot. To shift down you push the lever down. Well, I was going through some especially muddy area (lots of fun!) and instead of shifting down I was shifting up and well..... I went around the corner on three wheels yelling, "Help me, help me... I'm going to fast!" By the time I got shifted down to first gear again I was stuck, in the mud. But it was fun. I got it out of the mud hole and was back on the trail again!

Sunday was a wet and raining day. That was a bit disappointing, especially after such a beautiful day Saturday. So, even though we didn't do much, (I did laundry while my dear husband took a nap) I did get to rest. I have been having a lot of pain and numbness in my hands and wrists and arms due to the carpel tunnel. Saturday working in the garden took its toll on me. 

We did manage to get the seed potatoes in the ground yesterday. So that was a good thing. It did it in between the rain showers. There are now about 30 little hills in the garden with seed potato in them. I pray they do good. 

I am praying for a bountiful harvest. I want to be able to give many vegetables away to families in need here. The fruit trees are loaded with fruit, so I will also be able to give fresh apples and plums, as well. I also am praying for good egg-laying chickens. What a blessing for those who can't afford to buy eggs. They are almost too much for me to pay for! 

We still need tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, onion (if I can find some seed onion) and a few other vegetables. I also still need to get more hoses (4) and sprinklers to attach to the hoses, to water the garden, when it isn't raining! 

Oh, may the Good Lord bless the garden and chickens so I may bless others with the harvest. 

REMINDER: This is the last week to enter the drawing for "The Heart Mender" by Andy Andrews. So be sure to go to my blog www.latawniakreviews.blogspot.com and enter. Sunday, June 13, 2010 is the last day. I will be announcing the winner Monday June 14, 2010 and getting the book into mail as soon as the winner sends me his/her snail mail address. So get your name in the drawing!

Well my friends and family, it is time for me to go. I must get ready for work. Please keep me in your prayers as I keep you in mine. May the good Lord bless you and keep you and yours until that Day. 

Update From the Country!

Greetings to all of you from the country! I pray your Memorial week-end was a blessed time for you and your family. 

And another Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Mary. She celebrated her 50-something birthday this past Sunday. I don't know if she wanted me to broadcast how old, I mean young she is now, so I will just say 50-something. She is the oldest one of us girls that hung together when our kids were growing up. The four of us were single mothers with small children and we would laugh, cry, babysit, shop, just about everything, we did together. We are still all close friends, only miles have kept us apart. But now that I am back in Oregon, we are getting back together, as our busy grown-up schedules allow. How I have missed my girlfriends!

My darling husband had a wonderful surprise for me when I got home from work Sunday night. (Yes, I had to work this past holiday week-end.) He got the camper all ready for us to "camp" in that night. He even changed the sheets on the bed! There was a fire going in the fire pit in front of the camper and a couple of chairs waiting for us to sit in. The canopy was extended to shelter us from the rain while we sat at the fire. It was wonderful, even with the rain. 

The Lord has answered a prayer for me over the week-end. My oldest daughter had cut herself away from the family over a year ago. It has been a grievous time for me. She opened a Face Book account this week-end and when I found out, I asked her to accept me "as a friend." She did! So, even though we aren't "talking" yet, it is the first step in the right direction. I am praying for complete restoration with her. And I am praying that she will recommit her life to our Lord. Please keep her in your prayers.

The garden is doing well, in spite of all of the rain we have been receiving. It has been unusually wet and cold this spring. I am hoping for some sun over this week-end so I can plant my seed potatoes. My dear husband did get the extra water lines put in. Now we need to get the sprinklers in. Not that is any rush right now. It will take a good week of pure sunshine to begin to dry out the garden!

The chickens are doing well. They like their little house. They even have a couple of bent chairs to roost on. We still have to make them some nesting boxes. One of the hens wants to nest in the food dispenser. Silly hen!

The two pheasants that have survived are doing well, also. They are still in my living room since I still have to make a new house for them. I was going to put them with the chickens but I think they will fight. 

Since this is my third time in trying to get this blog completed ( I've been having internet connection problems) I think I am going to close this for now. I do hope that you all have a wonderful rest of the week.

Please leave me a message and let me know how you are doing! I do enjoy hearing from you. And let me know what you think about having a prayer page.... It will be a page that I can post prayer requests on, so we can pray for each other. Let me know what you think, if it would be something you would like to participate in.

Oh, one more thing.... If you have a crazy schedule like I do and want to join a Bible Study, but can't find the time because of your schedule.... Check out the Women's Bible Study Cafe. I just joined it and we are going to study the book of Ruth. (One of my favorites!) The study begins June 22, 2010. So just click on the link and join the group!

Also, don't forget to enter the drawing for "The Heart Mender" by Andy Andrews. The drawing will close June 13, 2010. There has been a good response so far. That is exciting!

Until we meet again.... 

"The Lord bless you and keep you: the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26

Hi every one just wanted to remind you book drawing has been extended to June 13th so go to www.latawniakreviews.blogspot.com to enter. You still have time!