Today's Joy, June 30th 2017

Clothes on the line in the sunshine!!

They will smell so good!

Lyme Learning and Luopads

Though I am online a lot this week, it is not leaving me time to get ahead on blog posts. Instead, I spend at least a couple hours each day listening online to the "Chronic Lyme Disease Summit 2."

Elsa and I are thankful for the chance to learn some of the latest in Lyme research and treatment... for free! (If you want to join in on the last half of the summit, which has much information applicable to chronic disease, fatigue, and pain in general, follow this link.) 

Besides giving us new ideas and things to discuss with our doctor, these interviews are also encouraging as they affirm many of our present and upcoming treatments and testing. Plus we hear over and over again that there is hope! People do recover from this mix of chronic illnesses. But yes, it does take years...

So, while I listen, I am doing some knitting and sewing (or resting!) Since the Global Aid Network June work project is under way with thousands of volunteers serving at the logistics center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania this week, I am also spending more time on the Luopad project.

Five made yesterday, five more in progress today.

Food at the Proper Time

One morning Mom called in from the front steps that she had found a tiny hummingbird unable to fly.

Not that this hummingbird was smaller than normal, this is just the minute size of this marvelous piece of creation! Though sad the hummer wasn't feeling well, I was glad for the chance to see one so closely and snap a few pictures of it. Such glowing emerald on each of the tiny head and back feathers!

After the photo-op, I brought it over to the feeder where they usually take turns with the orioles, but I couldn't get it to take more than one little lick. After five minutes I gave up and brought the bird to show Dad and his hired hand who were cutting rebar for raised gardens.

Dad suggested I try a little more feeding, and sure enough... it took another sip. Then I could feel its heart beat faster. (The heart rate of a hummingbird is over 1,000 beats per minute!) Or maybe I was feeling it return to the average of 250 breaths per minute as it revived?

Regardless, with a couple more licks - less than three drops of nectar in total - this hearty little bird sat up straight for the first time, started looking around, and soon whizzed up into the air and flew many yards off to rest high in a pine tree! We hoped it would fly back to the food source before running too short on energy again.

The following day I was amazed to learn more about this unique creature while watching the amazing documentary "Flight" loaned us by a friend. I highly recommend it! (Watch a trailer here.)

"How many are Your works, O LORD!

In wisdom You made them all;

The earth is full of Your creatures...

These all look to You to give them their food at the proper time.

When You give it to them, they gather it up;

when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things."

Psalm 104:24, 27-28

Spring Voices

It seems rather late for nest building. 

The ambitious, local bald eagle pair has already hatched out a rare triple-brood and are doing their best to keep those three growing appetites well-fed. 

But our farm's pair of barn-swallows is still looking for a nest site. Even before our barn collapsed under heavy, wet snow several years ago, these lively birds regularly brought mud to attempt a nest over our front door.

This year is no exception. As I hang plastic grocery bags to flap around noisily under the porch eaves in an attempt to send our chattering pair to another nesting site, I remember the little ditty I composed 18 years ago... 

I can still picture the evening walk I was taking with my family. As usual, I was way out in front, so my prairie view was wide open as I marched straight between the fields on our little gravel road. Little birds (maybe swallows?!) were diving and singing over the fields, and overhead sailed a crescent moon. 

Little birds with a sweet, chirping voice

Pause in the twilight to rejoice.

Another day of work is done,

And the spring has just begun.

The next days with work are filled.

Many are the nests to build.

Gathering grass and twigs in their beaks

Is bound to fill many weeks.

But for now the moon shines high

In the ever darkening sky

Saying, "Time to settle down for rest,

So that on the morrow you may do your best."

-Hannah, 1999

Though an autumn sunset rather than spring moonrise,
this photo (taken on a drive home after teaching)
still looks similar to my walk that evening.

Birthday Flowers

On the way home from doctoring, we make a couple stops for specialty groceries in the city. At Trader Joe's we stock up on rice drink for several months at a time - often clearing their inventory for the day.

This time, I also had the surprise of being instructed to pick out two new orchids as early birthday gifts! We had to be creative to pack them safely for the next several hours' ride home.

For fun, I tried an Oncidium ordhid (above) -- a variety I have never grown before. No wonder, since I discover in my research that it is a rather difficult kind to keep alive out of its native habitat. The stress of the move is already showing, but this will be a learning experience anyway.

And for the second gift, I picked one of my familiar phalaenopsis -- one of the easiest kinds to grow. This special, warm color adds new life my collection!

Little Joys Amid Doctoring

Six months had passed and it was time to once again make the six hour trek for a couple days of doctoring. I didn't take any photos of arms covered with skin-testing welts at the allergy clinic or of all the supplements we brought home from our Chronic-Fatigue/Lyme doctor.

But we found little things to enjoy among the extra illness and exhaustion (while Dad was still in the hospital following his heart attack...)

Cosy spaces to relax around our AirBnB house - a true gift from God with its minimal chemicals!

A little coloring book and great markers tucked in one of the creatively-stocked house drawers

Cute attic-bedroom where my head touched the ceiling

River-view meal after a day of appointments

Nearby bluff to explore (by car for now)

Chairs in our backyard to enjoy a different view of the bluff 

Gas fireplace for chilly evenings and mornings 

Delicious coffee from the espresso-maker we couldn't resist trying... just once!

But it may be a year or two before we forget the consequences.

A last look at the river in flood-stage on the way home. 

The Last of 2016 Cabbage

Last year's "storage" cabbages from our garden have kept us well fed all winter. It is sad to see them near their end. But now we are planting again and anticipating the next harvest.

Frozen dill-weed - also from our garden - is a great addition to winter cabbage salads. But make sure to seal it in a tin besides a zipped bag, or everything in the freezer will taste of dill!

Gold Up Close

It is a wild time of year in the bird world. With so much foraging, flirting, fighting for territory and nest building going on, flight traffic laws are thrown to the wind. Loud "thumps" against our windows are an all-too-common result. 

Often the dazed birds will just fly on, unfazed, or take a moment to rest in the nearest tree. But sometimes it takes longer to recover - like for this brilliant American Goldfinch. To avoid his becoming cat-food, I picked him up and propped him in a safe tree. But first I had the pleasure of holding and studying up-close this amazing piece of God's creation! 

Mother's Day 2017

As already mentioned (here), Mother's Day weekend turned out to be rather different for us. But we did celebrate a bit that evening with a hot-dog roast.

I didn't get a photo of Dad resting by the fire in the middle of his heart-attack. Nor of Elsa next to me on a picnic blanket. And this is the only one I got of Mom on Mother's Day.

"Why are you taking my picture again?!" Dorothy's wonders.

Regi loves our company outdoors!

After Mom and Dad made s'mores, we all sang a few favorite songs - doing our best at the 5-part "Body of Christ" song without Maren here to be the "arm." 

Greenhouse Visit 2017

Before the Mother's Day rush we had to get out to the greenhouses to buy our flowers. They are selling fast!

We got in on the annual Open House with cookies, lemonade, and a drawing for a home-made quilt.

Dorothy and I mostly sat and enjoyed the colorful view. The busy staff (our family and friends!) even took some time to sit and visit in the rare lulls.