Have you ever seen a welcome mat like my mom's? No, this is not a new idea for excess zucchini. These are cucumber slices. My mom has a problem with ants, especially in the summer. She has tried everything, both green and commercial. But nothing has worked like the cucumbers! Read here for some other green ways of getting rid of ants.

I enjoy looking out my window each morning and watching Lizzie trying to eat her bowl of cereal. I'm afraid Ranger is getting spoiled as well as developing some bad habits. And Buttermilk finally has her beautiful blue feathers...and her voice. We've never had a quacker before. When Lizzie takes the goats out to the field every morning, Buttermilk is right behind. I also enjoy watching the goats rub their foreheads on Lizzie (lovepats). Lizzie loves her animals. (BTW, no sign of either muscovy now...much to Lizzie's dismay.)
So I've got my little luggage carrier with Maggie's records and MRIs, and we're off to the orthopedic dr. Maggie laughs at me for using the carrier, but those MRIs are heavy and awkward. I also add my handbag and put a bungee cord around it all...then I'm all set!

Summer is quickly fleeing. Hope you are enjoying it. God blessed us with a good bit of rain on Monday, so things are looking green again.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

This morning Lizzie started her first day of volunteering at the local Greenwell State Park. She is what they call a Barn Buddy. This is the perfect job for Lizzie.

Greenwell has many programs, but one of them is therapeutic riding. Lizzie will be helping with the horses that support that program. This morning she groomed horses, cleaned water pails, and learned about horse safety. She was on cloud nine!

Greenwell State Park is one of the most beautiful spots in southern Maryland.

I especially love to see the acres and acres of corn.

There is a little hidden beach that is open to swimming...at your own risk. I used to wait until September when the schools were back in session to take my children to the beach there.

On Friday, Allen had his friend, Jeff, come over to play airsoft guns. On New Year's Eve this year, Jeff and Allen played airsoft guns with three other boys. They braved the bitter 26 degree weather for 6 hours. But today they melted after 30 minutes in the humidity. I think that is funny!

So they spent a lot of time swimming in the pool. What a fun day.

Last night we went to Mom and Dad's home for a planning meeting. This year our family is in charge of the family reunion...186 folks have signed up so far! So next weekend we will be very busy cooking and playing hosts. If you click on the family reunion website, you can see my grandfather in the family picture, Floyd (Turk). I sure miss seeing all those aunts and uncles at the reunion. Only the baby, George, is still living.

The weather is beautiful, 84 degrees and low humidity. Tomorrow should be the same.

I hope to get some furniture painting done and start on some sewing. Maggie had two good days this week, PTL. It warms my heart to see the old Maggie.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

The time finally came for Allen to take his first batch of chickens to the farm to be butchered and dressed for the freezer. I forgot to take a picture of the chickens to show you how large they were. We ended up with six chickens.

We took them to Warren over on Pincushion Road. Beautiful old order Mennonite country over there.

Warren's home is a ways off the beaten path. You have to drive past the beautiful amish schoolhouse.

And past the outhouse that belongs to the schoolhouse. Isn't that a large outhouse?! Must be a 10-seater!

Past the beautiful fields of produce.

Warren runs his organic farm according to princples taught by Joel Salatin at Polyface Inc. in Virginia. This is one of many chicken cages seen on Warren's farm. This is called Pastured Poultry.

The drive back to Warren's farm runs along a fence covered by honeysuckle. If you roll down your windows, you can smell the delicious scent. It was pretty sunny the day I took this picture, so you can't see the little flowers very well.

We dropped the chickens off at 8 am, then picked them up at 2 pm. Warren has a young family of four children (the oldest is 5), so I took them a large batch of cracked wheat sourdough dinner rolls...straight from the oven. It was worth it to see the look of delight on Warren's face!

I wish I could show you pictures of Warren's family...but they are plain folks and do not believe in taking pictures of people.

How large are the chickens? Huge! Two were 10 lbs, one 8 lbs, and three 7 lbs. Allen and I are very pleased. The one thing we learned? Be sure the chickens are in the henhouse when you drive the truck up for delivery. When I drove the truck up, these free ranging chickens scattered and ran for the woods!

One last picture of our cutie kitty, Ranger. I gave in and let Ranger have my flowerbox for napping. It's okay...the trees have gotten so big that they shade it too much for flowers now.

Today was a good day for my soul. Last week I found myself teary-eyed and constantly crying. I was just overwhelmed. Today is our day to help Dad cook for his church, but my children told me to stay home and relax. Wow. So Ruthie and I have been enjoying doing laundry and cleaning, the simple tasks of homemaking that I enjoy. Mike is in California for two weeks, so we are living simply.

Tomorrow I take Maggie to Walter Reed for her accupuncture appt and to show her dr all the latest results from her tests.

Hope you are enjoying your summer. God is surely good. Many blessings ~ Kathie

This past winter when I read the article on cnn.com about the man who invented a $5 solar oven, I could hear homeschoolers across America shouting YES! Of course, Allen had to make his own, so yesterday he finished his and set it out in the 80 degree sun. It worked wonderfully! The thermometer inside got to about 160 degrees...and that was on an unseasonably cooler day.

The only problem is that Allen made his small and I can't figure out what to bake in it. So now he is making another oven that is large enough to hold my 12x18 dish so I can bake a batch of sourdough rolls. I'll let you know how that turns out.

If you'd like to see good step-by-step pictures of how to make this solar oven, google "blog-homemade-solar-oven" or go to my favorite version here.

I have lots of miscellaneous pictures, so I'll post them here so I can delete them from my files. It's not the dog days of summer yet...but there's plenty of loafing going on. Anna and Ranger love the hammock on the back porch.

Even JJ is taking a break from her wanderings.
Allen wanted me to post this picture of his final k'nex masterpiece. We were both unable to part with his massive collection of k'nex, so we decided to break everything down and store it in two huge bins. Allen's collection was seven years of great deals from thrift shops, freecycle, and gifts. He says he will look forward to rediscovering k'nex with his children. I'm just thankful for the space!

Ever since I started blogging, I've kept a camera with me wherever I go. I snapped this picture in Leonardtown, MD, on my way to violin lessons. I know it's strange, but I am thankful that I still live in a small town where tractors and combines hog the road.
Here is one of my latest fun projects. I found this ugly, rusted tray in the thrift shop and bought it for a dime.

This is what it looks like after a little paint remover.

And this is what it looks like painted white! I have another tray like this if you'd like to try it. It's already been through the paint-removal process...just ready for painting. Let me know and I will give or send it to you (USA only, please).

We watched Allen earn his green belt in Tang Soo Do last week...but all my pictures are blurry. Allen broke a board with his hand, and another with a kick, both on first try. Hurray, Allen!

How was that for a hodgepodge mixture of pictures?! We're off to my parents' home (one mile away) for a July 4th party/picnic. I'll be sure to take pictures.

Enjoy your Independence Day. Many blessings ~ Kathie

Wow ~ it was no small feat going through Anna's 200 pictures of Camp BIMI! I'll start here with this picture. Anna started camp on a Saturday morning, so the next day everyone piled into vans and went to a local church, shown above. The pastor of the church is the nephew of the director of camp BIMI.

This church even has an orchestra! Anna really liked the teen Sunday School class...that is run by teens. There was a teen playing the piano, a teen songleader, and teen greeters. Anna said they were friendly and personable. BIMI, Baptist International Missions Inc., has grown since we visited eight years ago. This is the auditorium where evening services were held.

And this is the Hudson Taylor Lodge where Anna stayed. Each room is named according to a different part of the world. Anna's room was the European room. The entire BIMI facilities is beautiful. I kept thinking I was at Bob Jones University...it had the same style and quality.

The upstairs loft in the auditorium has game tables.

This is Anna's friend, Rebecca, who went to Camp Bimi II at the same time Anna was going through Camp Bimi I. Rebecca has a blog to chronicle her missions career. Behind the girls in the pictures are photos of missionaries at BIMI who have gone to glory. It was exciting to see photos of friends we knew and had prayed for.

And here is Anna's class. I wish I could've gotten a picture of our friend, Jim Butler, who works for the BIMI headquarters. We met Jim in San Diego in 1985, and we've been supporting his family ever since. Anna said Jim is still as friendly as ever, always asking if she needed anything.

BTW, for those of you who were praying for Anna when she arrived at camp with poison oak on her face, the shot of steroids took the swelling away that first day. Anna said it was hard to see any poison by day two. I was surprised to see her smooth face when I picked her up a week later...no sign of poison at all! PTL
This is Mr. Gerry and Mrs. Diane Baughman (pronounced Ballf-min). They did a wonderful job organizing the camp. Anna can't eat any dairy, so Mrs. Baughman made sure the cooks knew about that.

As with any camp, there were funny skits. This is the hillbilly skit.
Anna enjoyed this panel of missionaries. Each of the missionaries had to answer the question,"My God shall supply what...?" Each one of the missionary staff got three minutes to share a story where God came through for them in record time or in a miraculous way. It was great hearing how God has worked in so many lives. Each missionary started by saying that God has always come through for them no matter what the circumstance.

The last evening of the week was special. Each person had to dress up for the International Banquet. Anna dressed in her African dress.

This is Anna's friend, Ashley, who is dressed as an Arabian gypsy. Ashley is the third of three sisters to attend camp BIMI. She hopes to go to Brazil as a missionary someday. Anna said the Mexican theme was very popular.

This is Andy and Paige. They are engaged and plan to be married next June. The Oriental theme was also a favorite for the girls costumes.

Here's a group gathering before the banquet.

This is Mr. Bohman, the assistant African director. Anna loved talking to him, since she wants to go to Africa. He was a big help answering her questions. Mr. Bohman picked up this costume on a survey trip to Sudan.

And here is the group picture. Nice costumes!

When Charmaine and I picked Anna up, I wanted to spend the whole day there. What a wonderful place to be in the midst of all those folks who have dedicated their lives to the Great Commission. I always enjoy going to ministries where you can sense the Spirit of the Lord as soon as you enter.

Anna loved the camp and knows that was definitely where the Lord wanted her to be. Her only disappointment of the week was the music. Having been raised in Baptist churches, you would think she would know the choruses chosen for the camp...but she didn't. (Remember, this is Baptist International Missions, Inc.) We suspect they are Praise and Worship songs. But this was a small disappointment, to be sure. (So why mention it? Because we wouldn't want someone else to go and then wonder if Anna sang those kinds of songs. BTW ~ Anna wasn't alone...she said it was obvious most of the teens didn't know the songs.) When Anna got home from camp, it was time to go choose her birthday gift from Maggie and Sarah...a kitty! And what a cutie she chose!
And this is Ranger. We hope he will be a great mouser/snaker someday!

FYI, I found this blog on BIMI's website called "The Other Side Of Missions." It is a blog written for MKs (missionary kids) that is interesting reading.

So we are back to our normal routine. We are feeling blessed and enjoying the summer with all our new pets. Many blessings ~ Kathie, with Anna.