Wow! Is it May already? What happened to April?!

Yes, we've been busy. Anna's 16th birthday, the Ladies' Tea at church, errands, Maggie's appts, baby chickens, etc. Time flew by. I still can't believe how green everything is outside. Feels like Ireland!

Allen got his first batch of baby chicks, 18 of them. (Second batch will have 25.) Aren't they adorable? We bought these up at Tractor Supply Company in White Plains. What a wonderful place to visit! I felt like I was back in Texas. Lots of leather hats, boots, handbags, ironworks, and everything for a farm/ranch. And Ruthie bought another duck. This baby is a mallard. We were hoping to stick this duckling in our muscovy's nest to be adopted...but our muscovies won't have anything to do with it. But he sure is having fun bonding with all of us.

When we moved here in 2000, we owned 6 chairs like the above picture. Within a few weeks, we'd broken 4 of them. For some reason, we would push the chair back and it would fall over and split the bowback part.
So I bought 12 plastic/resin chairs that we would stack after each meal. I really enjoyed that. The chairs were easy to clean, and it made the kitchen easy to vacuum. They just weren't much to look at. So now that my baby is 9 years old, I have decided it's time to try wood chairs again.

I thought I'd buy a bunch of wood chairs for cheap at the thrift shop, then paint them all the same white color....farmhouse style. This was my first chair. It didn't matter that it's missing two spindles because I knew Mike could duplicate them, and it wouldn't be noticeable once I painted them. And I liked the $3 pricetag.
This was another $3 chair.

Then today I bought a $10 chair that we all love. It is so comfy! I turned the chair over and learned that this chair is a Tell City Chair that is worth $300! There is no way I will be able to cover this beautiful chair in white paint. So now we are starting to talk about finding 8 chairs in 8 different stains and styles.

These chairs remind me of an amish friend. One day I was visiting Ida right before dinner when her table was already set for their family of 11 (at that time). You know all those plastic cups no one ever wants but gives to the thrift shops? That's what Ida uses. And all those mismatched plates and dinnerware. Yet it all looked nice when set together. Anyhow, I'm hoping we can copy that charm with our chairs. I'll let you know when I get all 8 chairs.

This past week I was listening to a Christian radio talk show that was all doom and gloom. I got sucked into it and started fretting! So I came home and got out my Bible, and begged God to comfort me. He sure did! I opened right up to Ephesians 6 ~ "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Immediately I was comforted with the reminder that this world is not my home...I'm just a passin' through. PTL

Tomorrow morning (Wed) we are heading over to church to wash the windows of our new parsonage in anticipation of a new assistant pastor. Anyone want to join me? I will bring plenty of buckets, squeegees, and vinegar. Just bring your voice because we love to sing while we wash windows. I may even be persuaded to bring sandwiches, so let me know if you'd like to join us.

We've been getting lots of rain. What a blessing. Hope you are enjoying spring as much as me. Many blessings ~ Kathie

PS ~ Forgot to tell you about a new hornet's nest under our eaves. We have a lot of these European hornets.
Can you see the "queen" hornet? She's about 2 inches long. We sprayed her nest, so she's in hornet heaven. It sure was interesting to watch!