True Beauty

So for almost a year now I have been using mostly only homemade all natural skin and hair care products. Recently I have started researching the uses of essential oils in my home and beauty products. Someone brought up the story of Esther. She spent a year going through beauty regimes BEFORE she was brought before the king. A YEAR! I have no doubt that she was beautiful to begin with but when I think about a whole year of beauty routines it makes me wonder what they were up to. In my mind I picture women lounging around in pools filled with flowers while incense burned and eunuchs rubbed concoctions on them. Man, must have been rough. And I want to know what did they use???
And then last Friday I wondered if work or chores were part of her beauty routine. Do you think the king of Persia took Esther hands in his and said "Ahhhh, my beauty. I see you have been mopping floors on your hands and knees. I choose you."
Any guesses as to what I was doing last Friday? ;)

Ghetto Kitty

Well, well, well. Yesterday my hubby came in from outside with the news that the cardinal babies are no longer in the nest - most likely victims of feline famine. He pointed out however that her endeavor was most likely aided by the strategic placement of a ladder right near the nest. It went something like this:
Mom - "You left the ladder out?"
Jman - "Well, you didn't say I should put it away."
Mom - "Ok. Well let's cover some other things too. You shouldn't put knives up your nose, you shouldn't lay down in the middle of the street with a blankie and a book, and you shouldn't leave a ladder next to a nest full of baby birds."
Jman - "ok"
My husband remarked that Charlie is probably telling all her neighborhood kitty friends what great owners she has. "See, I broke my leg last year but my owners love me so much they left a ladder out so I could still get my cardinal treats!"
It's a possibility that the discovery of the nest prompted them to move the babies but I highly doubt it. I am worried that they won't come back. It's so nice to look out the kitchen window and watch them while I do the dishes.

Nature Study in the Ghetto: Cardinals

We found them! Yes we did! We found our Cardinal babies. This spring we were ecstatic when our Cardinal pair came back to us. Last year they had a rather disagreeable incident with our Charlie and left. Watching them in the backyard we have been saying for weeks that they must have a nest around here. Every once in a while we wondered if there might be eggs. And through our keen observational skills, our vast knowledge of nature and animal behavior we found it. It went something like this:
Mom "Geez. Those Cardinals are really going nuts." (long pause) "Hey! Charlie's over there in the bushes by that corner!"
JMan "The nest!"
And the hunt began. Once JMan spied the nest we grabbed the ladder and started climbing. It was perilous but worth it.
Those three little heads in there are older and bigger than the ones from last year. We are hoping Charlie will behave herself this year. That little accident she had (involving a car driven by two angry cardinals?) might have been just the experience she needed to leave those poor birdies alone. Well, we'll see.

Tonight we also found this little beauty sitting right on our patio. As if it was dropped there. According to my incredibly reliable sources (google searches) this does not appear to be a Cardinal egg. So does it look like evidence of hatching or homicide? We'll let you be the jury.

Further incriminating evidence (as if it was needed):









We also found this little treasure chucked over our back fence. Just proof that we do, in fact, live in the ghetto.

And another reason I don't blog as often as I think about it is because it takes FOREVER to load these photos!

We gave her water

Sometimes you just don't know when God is going to call on you and what exactly you are supposed to do. Today was one of those days. My friend and I took our kids to a nature center for the day. We enjoyed a picnic by the creek. The children ran and played. We saw dragonflies, caterpillars, clams, and fish. Frigid creek water kept us from getting too hot and then the warm sun kept us from getting too cold. Our worst problem was going to be putting wet and muddy kids back in the van to go home.

But for Francesca the day was not going this well. She also brought her three boys to let them play in the creek. But when it was time to go home they all ignored her completely. She yelled for quite some time. And still they defied their mother. Mama T and I were just about to discuss whether or not we should intervene when she started shouting that she was hot and getting dehydrated. There was no more discussion. We jumped up and brought her water. We rounded up her boys (several times)and talked with her. One boy had to be physically removed from the creek and restrained before he agreed to put on his shoes.

What would Smockity have done? http://storkdok-nos.blogspot.com/

For us, we didn't consider sitting around and talking about what a horrible mother she was. But I am willing to admit the intervention we provided on Francesca's behalf may not have been helpful. Some could even say it was inappropriate. But we tried. And we offered what we could. And we listened to her. And we spoke words of encouragement and Truth to her. I felt no judgement towards her whatsoever. I felt compassion on this woman, made in the image of the very living God himself, dealing with such turmoil and so completely lost.
i have no idea if we made any difference whatsoever in her life or her day for that matter. But I do know that we gave her water. And we let her know there was one and only one who could offer her living water.

To the Earth We Return

Today we had to do a very sad thing. Our kitten was injured and after a few weeks of praying, hoping, and watching we could see that he just wasn't getting any better. Everyone agreed it was time to let him go. There was some good in dragging it out. We were able to spend time with him, we were able to see that the way he was living was not fit for a cat and we were able to say goodbye. My son cried out in anguish and sorrow. He wants to know why. I have the same question myself and an answer is just not there. I struggle with the idea that God is in the little things. He could have saved our kitty. He could have healed him. But His answer was no. Maybe He wants us to have a reminder of the precious gift of life. Maybe He is preparing us for greater grief to come. But an answered prayer for a little boy would be a great faith booster. Is it wrong to ask for that?
We were able to stay with him to the end. Still, it wasn't any easier.
So on a beautiful spring day, with the sun shining on our backs, surrounded by flowers and chirping birds we laid our sweet little Bagheera to rest. And we miss him.

Wimmins Work

Really what I mean is taking care of a household.
Since December I have been working on a stained glass piece. This is the first one I have ever done and just like me I didn't pick a simple pattern. The glass I chose to learn to cut is thick and textured on both sides and doesn't cut or break easily. (just like me?) I feel like it took me a long time and I got frustrated with it over and over again. Many pieces had to be re-done because the cuts were wrong or they broke. Some pieces I gave up on and let their imperfections be part of the work. Now that it is almost done I am beginning to feel a sense of accomplishment. I still have to smooth out the lines and apply zinc to the outside (which I still need to learn how to do). It occurred to me that keeping house was much like making art. It does take some skill, some creativity, some willingness to make mistakes and learn. You have to be willing to work with the mistakes and blemishes. It takes time. Yes, women's work is a lot like art. I pour myself into it and ultimately hope there will be a masterpiece.

Nature Study in the Ghetto, snails

Last night we went on an after dinner walk. Here in South Texas we have already entered that part of the year when the ONLY time you can take a walk outside is very early morning or late evening. But it has been raining a lot this week and it was particularly nice. My keen eyed daughter spotted the first one and found eight more. Miss A was willing to sacrifice her little bag to carry the snails while we finished our walk. Temporarily we are keeping them in an aquarium which we quickly set up with dirt, grass, sticks and potato peels. (See I knew I had a reason to keep that aquarium). I don't know what we plan to do with them other than the snail races, but I let the kids know we could eat them. They seem unconvinced. Any other ideas?
(I have 3 more good snail pics I wanted to add but can't seem to get them to upload)
(ok, scratch that - I was able to get them on one at a time. Boy is that a pain!)