Prairie Oak Homestead

I'm not liking the constant reminders of being sick. That I should be in the hospital right now getting a treatment to give me some strength. Only I can't have the treatments because they had a very grave effect on me. I don't like being reminded I'm sick when I do dishes and drop them. I don't like being reminded I'm sick when I try to speak and my voice is too weak to sound normal. I don't like being reminded I'm sick when I can barely sit up in the evenings and now the mornings, too. I don't like being reminded I'm sick when I cannot breathe properly due to a weak diaphragm muscle. I don't like being reminded I'm sick when I get up to walk across the room and it hurts so bad because my muscles are so weak that my bones are too heavy. I plain just don't like it! Ok...now that I got that off my chest, I am not angry at God about it. I know we live in a world where there is sickness and that's the devil's way. But, a...

You tell on yourself by the friends you seek, By the very manner in which you speak, By the way you employ your leisure time, By the use you make of dollar and dime. You tell what you are by the things you wear, By the spirit in which you burdens bear, By the kind of things at which you laugh, By the records you play on the phonograph. You tell what you are by the way you walk, By the things of which you delight to talk, By the manner in which you bear defeat, By so simple a thing as how you eat. By the books you choose from the well-filled shelf: In these ways and more, you tell on yourself. --- Unknown

What a traditional woman did that made her home warm and alive was not dusting and laundry. Someone can be hired to do those things (to some extent, anyway). Her real secret was that she identified herself with her home. Of course, this did not always turn out well. A controlling woman might make her home suffocating. A perfectionist’s home might be chilly and forbidding. But it is more illuminating to think about what happened when things went right. Then her affection was in the soft sofa cushions, clean linens, and good meals; her memory in well-stocked storeroom cabinets and the pantry; her intelligence in the order and healthfulness of her home; her good humor in its light and air. She lived her life not only through her own body but through the house as an extension of her body; part of her relation to those she loved was embodied in the physical medium of the home she made. -Cheryl Mendelson’s, Home Comforts (an encyclopedic A-Z resource on homemaking how-to’s)

My breathing is better this morning, but I have some lingering weakness. I can live with that. :) I'm so thankful for every breath that the Lord gives me. I'm always thankful for having a simple life that allows me to admire His creation and have time to ponder on His word. The days that are hectic don't allow for that and that is why I don't much care for those sorta days. ;) I'm a country girl who likes the slow pace of the country life. Give me lemonade, a porch, and a cool breeze and I'm happy as a clam. :) Love to spend my summers like that. There is work to do of course, but we shouldn't neglect the pace of nature. The trick is not to pile on too much in a day. Just do one big thing at a time. Such as, don't do your canning one day along with all the laundry, yard work, and baking. Do it separately. :) I think I'm all done canning for this season. In the fall, I'll be canning some applesauce. Today I'll be making some gummy...

I woke up with weak lungs today. I am having a really hard time breathing. It's difficult for me to not be short of breath this morning just walking about the house. The muscles around my lungs have decided to not work properly thus causing the difficulty. I just have a lot to do today and I need to be able to breathe to do it. ;) I would appreciate any prayers for strong muscles today and not to have another set back in my neuormuscular disease. Thanks. :)

It started with volunteering at church this morning for a couple hours. Then it was home to make lunch. Hunter has been stacking wood all day....part of a lesson to be learned about working for your money and not just getting it given to you. He is saving for an ipad and has sold quite a bit of his stuff to get some money for it. Getting money seems easy to him and he has no qualms about wasting it. Once again at dinner last night he ordered dessert and didn't finish it. This is after he ate supper before church so he wouldn't order a meal and waste it. So Ryan decided to make him pay for the dessert and also learn how to earn money by the sweat of your brow. Making money doesn't come easy. He needs to learn that his dad works in this sweltering heat for that dessert he wasted. So, he is stacking the wood and is not complaining. Train up a child... After lunch I was off to the dreaded grocery store. I was at 4 different ones and it took over 2 hours. Ugh. BUT,...