Tart Cherry Season

Earlier this month our tart cherries ripened beautifully!

It was time to pick...

...and juice them.



Watch the process in 38 seconds HERE

Shut In – Day 150: Touch Down!

Who remembers when we first began tracking along with Noah’s flood… when he and his family were “shut in” by God? For most of us, February probably feels long ago. And 150 days must have felt long on the ark as well.

But today marks an exciting change in the monotony!

“At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.” Genesis 8:3-4

The ark was finally stable once again, but it would still be more than two months before any land could be seen. Noah and his family would need much continued grace to wait.

As H.E. Wisloff shared in Quiet Moments on the Way Home:

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.
(2 Corinthians 12:9)

"Sufficient Grace! Should we not praise God for this?

It is so easy for us to stare at our infirmities until we become blind to the glorious realities of grace.

We who are so aware of our insufficiency are permitted to live in the eternal sufficiency of God’s grace!

Our feelings are not enough, nor our faith, nor our prayers, nor our godliness. But God’s grace is sufficient.

And not only this, but God’s grace is perfected in our infirmities. It transforms the weakness in our lives into peace, victory, courage, and joy. It is to save us, sanctify us and make us useful in God’s service.

We need nothing more, nor do we solicit anything more. We fold our hands and thank Him who loves us and gives us all that we need. God’s grace is our sufficiency!"

See previous posts in series here:
Part I: The Lord Shut Him In
Part II: Day 10: The Animals
Part III: Day 20: The Man Noah
Part IV: Day 30: The Walls
Part V: Day 40: What God Says... He Does
Part VI: Day 70: After the Crisis
Part VII: Day100: When Waiting Turns to Years

Next Post:
Part IX: Day 181: Survival Mode while Shut In

Tips for Tick Season

How many of you have already found a tick attached this year? Even though I don't play or work in the tall grass like I did when young, ticks find their way to me every year regardless. We even found a deer tick crawling on our kitchen counter one year!

When a wood tick perched on my shoulder this spring, I took the opportunity to use it for a little teaching. (See the brief video HERE)

We often shudder when we hear how people are removing ticks from their children - knowing that they could be causing more harm than good by using popular methods to make the tick release. See below for why some methods are actually dangerous. 

The goal is to get a little skin off to be sure you have the tick's head. (In my video, that tick took away no skin because it was so newly attached that it chose to let go on its own when being pestered.)

• Use a Tick Key for removal from people and animals.

• NEVER use hot match heads or essential oils for removal. They upset a tick so much that it "spits" any disease it may be carrying into your body!

• Save essential oil use for after removal:

    • Oregano is known for its antibacterial/antibiotic properties. But the oil is strong, so be sure to dilute it in a carrier oil before applying. 

    • Peppermint dilution is used to inhibit the gathering of co-infections at the site of the bite. (Many people have a previous infection that their immune system keeps under check. But a fresh one can interact with the old bugs and cause many more problems. This initial interaction is what doctors now believe the bull's eye rash comes from. Picture a "meet and greet party.")

• For extra peace of mind or to direct further treatment, labs are available to test your tick for Lyme disease. (We are thankful that a deer tick on my niece this spring turned out "clean"!)

Trust me... you do not want Lyme disease to go undiagnosed for years until chronic illness takes over more and more of your body systems.

Where Do I Start?!

When this many weeks (and very full weeks, at that) have slipped by without a blog post, I struggle to know where to start. 

So how about a few key photos starting back in mid-May:

Elsa's Bakery (the 2010 addition to our house) got heavy use from the beginning of May until we started moving back into the real kitchen and main living space on June 24th.

In the meantime, our attics were vacuumed out (a dusty job leaving a hot house).

Trees bloomed and bees hummed.

I had a lakeside birthday celebration with family.

The nature journal came out again.

We lived outside (both for work and rest) much of the time.

Tea harvest began.

Dad planted the vegetables.

We hired a neighbor to take off the biggest layer of toxic basement cement dust throughout our house (here showing what settled into the holes of a hardanger table runner) since cleaning kept setting us back too far.

Joseph came to inspect the tractors and visit us after months away during greenhouse season!

Evangeline showed her determination to be a "bookworm" like her mom!

Gardens were toured and asparagus picked.
See videos on my YouTube channel: Purely.HannahMary

Weeds were dug by the gallons from gardens and lawns.

Fresh kale, spinach, lettuce and radish began cutting down our grocery bills.

...And I really must save the rest for another post!

His Eye is On the Sparrow

I am slowly pulling out of yet another physical setback...days of deep weakness and survival mode. And in them, God is with me. How do I know?! One way is through the songs He places in my heart. Like one morning last week...

...How glad I am that even before I woke to the fact that today was a hard-to-breathe, hard-to-move, legs-giving-out sort of day...

Even before this I woke to a song in my heart:

"Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come?...

"I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free;
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me."*

That song is obviously a perfectly timed gift from my loving Father today.

• Matthew 10:29 — Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

• Luke 12:7 — Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Even though I am working my way back toward my "normal" strength this week, Elsa is facing a more prolonged setback due to the toxins spread through our house during days of cement chipping and grinding in our basement. Would you pray that her near-blacking-out through large portions of each day will clear up more quickly than the first time mycotoxins put her body in this state for much of a year?

P.S. - Pics are of last week's Jasmine-Green tea with the spontaneous addition of dandelion fluff. Tea outdoors is the best! Especially in my favorite mug by The Evergreen Studio.

*Civilla D. Martin (1905)

What to Read: Part III, Books for Her

Don't we all wish at times that we could be writing our own life-story to “fix” all the things that seem to have gone wrong?

I love how this cosy book addresses that:

"’Wouldn't you like to be writing that book with us all in it, Mother, and make Daddy come home soon?’

“Peter's Mother put her arm round him suddenly, and hugged him in silence for a minute. Then she said:— ‘Don't you think it's rather nice to think that we're in a book that God's writing? If I were writing the book, I might make mistakes. But God knows how to make the story end just right— in the way that's best for us.’

"’Do you really believe that, Mother?’ Peter asked quietly.

"’Yes,’ she said, ‘I do believe it— almost always— except when I'm so sad that I can't believe anything. But even when I can't believe it, I know it's true— and I try to believe. You don't know how I try, Peter.’”

• The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit 

Hans Christian Andersen put it this way: “Every person’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.”

Stories have a way of illuminating truths that would just go over our heads in a sermon. That is why I found it such a joy to voice the oldest girl, Roberta, in the LibriVox full-cast recording of The Railway Children.

I mention this to bring up the fact that there are many ways to enjoy books these days. While still a big fan of holding a hard copy in my hands and turning paper pages, I am grateful for all the digital versions currently available for free.

[“Currently” – meaning there has been legislation considered which would threatened free access to public domain audiobooks such as those recorded by volunteers on LibriVox.org. But for now we can still download as many as we choose – as well as a wealth of free e-books from sites such as Gutenberg.org and Archive.org.]

Just as in the Books for Him book list, I hope these Books for Her will provide more than mere entertainment, enjoyment, or even increased knowledge. In addition, you will find beautiful role models, true faith, and sanctified imagination.

Before wrapping up, I want to acknowledge that there is much overlap between my book lists for Him and Her. After all, I have read both lists during my life as a girl and woman! 

Not having grown up with any brothers, I had to prepare the masculine list based off what I have seen my boy-students, cousins, and friends reading, as well as what my sister used with her tutoring students. But I also included books I knew from my own reading to have at least half or more of the focus on boy-characters. Not every guy will be into some of those books, just as not every girl will be into all the books on today’s list. And that’s fine!

But for the readers who just can’t get enough books, I am including a master-list of both book-lists combined, called WHAT TO READ. There are even a few bonuses in this list – including several daily devotionals at the end!

Click below for your free, downloadable book lists. And please share this post with others who may be blessed by it!

Books for Her  PDF link

What to Read  PDF link

Happy reading!

~ Hannah

What to Read: Part II, Books for Him

As stated in the Elizabeth Yates quote I shared in my previous post, “A man must have a care to what he puts in his mind, for when he’s alone on a hillside and draws it out, he’ll want treasures to be his company, not regrets.”

Do you have trouble finding books worth “putting into” your mind or those of your children? I hope today's book-list will help!

When gathering books for boys (and men), I looked for more than just adventure, mystery, or daring deeds. Those are included! But I also wanted to provide good role models, true faith, and sanctified imagination.

For example, Amos Fortune: free man by Elizabeth Yates is one of those books that is meaningful and inspiring no matter what age you read it. I first met Amos Fortune this winter of 2022. Even though he died in 1801, I say "met," because he was a man whom everyone would want for a friend.

Despite all the pain he came through - including being captured by another African tribe and sold into slavery in his teens, spending decades earning money to buy the freedom of more than just himself, losing loved ones, and being mistreated - Amos had a soft and grateful heart. It wasn't easy, but he lived out his faith in a very practical way and learned the value of following Jesus' direction to “turn the other cheek.”

"Amos watched the fire climb slowly at first, starting from a dozen different places; then like a wall of destruction it moved up the steep sides until the flames met and linked in a vast pyramid of fire at the summit, consuming everything that could be consumed and leaving the mountain bare and smoldering.

"Hate could do that to a man, Amos thought, consume him and leave him smoldering. But he was a free man, and free at a great cost, and he would not put himself in bondage again."

On my Books for Him list, you will also find older titles you most likely have not heard of, including several featuring boys by Johanna Spyri – Swiss author of the famous Heidi.

As C.W. Stork wrote in the forward to Vinzi, "Madame Spyri's panacea for the ills of life is an old one, but it is doubtful whether anything better can be found than her combination, which is: Faith in God, active helpfulness toward all around, love of beauty, fresh mountain air, and good food."

From the lively animal-characters of Beatrix Potter or Thornton Burgess, to the riveting lives of Brother Andrew and George Muller, readers of any age should find some “treasures” to store away and pull out in the years to come.

Click below for your free, downloadable book list. And please share this post with others who may be blessed by it!

Books for Him  PDF link

~ Hannah