School's Out

Well, not really.  Today I did complete my son's high school transcript, and I'm so pleased:  All those credits and a very respectable grade point average! 
This is not my favorite thing about home-schooling.  I taught public school once upon a time and the record keeping was never my favorite thing.  I so much prefer the freedom from the picayune that home schooling allows!  Alas, it does require some of the grind of accounts, and now he has over 30 college credits along with his "plain" high school ones.  One must satisfy the colleges where he'd like to go next fall!  
I'm thankful he has such great goals for his life, and a lovely heart to spur him on.  God's love for him is evident to our whole family.  That is princely.
Took the dogs to the farm tonight.  I wish I'd brought a camera.  Picture Misty and Blackberry running in a field of daisies, a little girl tying daisies to dog collars, and the evening sun casting yellow green rays on the verdant meadows!  It was gorgeous tonight.  The mosquitoes were so happy we came out of the house!
Saw the dying oak in the old pasture.  It will come down this summer, and I've asked for a ring of its trunk.  I think it would take 3 people to reach around its base, so it has lived a long life there, next to the swamp which feeds a legendary lake.  There is a little hollow not far from it in the side of the hill where a dug-out house stood.  A little lady who used to be a slave in the south found a home there, braving the wicked winters of our Midwest, looking out on the marsh to the north.  I wonder how big that tree was then?  I'll let you know when it comes down if I can.  I'm guessing it was a lovely mature tree even then. 
And no, we are still doing math and reading and spelling and history and all for the younger ones! 

May Days

I think May is the second most enticing month in a Minnesota year.  It's right behind September.  Today the Cottonwood is shedding drifts of seed, making snow-like mounds under the spirea.  It could be winter with fresh snow!  Yet I was in short sleeves today and soaking up the sun.  The birds are so excited to be having families, or whatever they are so vocal about.  I'm enjoying watching them.
Misty is still doing well.  Not sure if she is going to be having Corsettes yet, but I'd think that would be apparent before too long.  A friend said that it can be hard for a vet to tell at this stage, so I'm not afraid to anticipate still.
I read a newsletter that comes email bi-weekly, and it had no good news today.  War in the Middle East inevitable was the crux of the message.  Now what?  We aren't finished with the oil problem in the Gulf of Mexico.
It is tempting to blissfully ignore the globe and revel in the beauties at hand. 
I can pray, and I will not worry.  I will trust my Maker, the Lover of my soul. 
When you experience crisis and come through it, perhaps damaged, but still able to appreciate God's goodness, it helps in facing the unknown.
Let's all hope and pray that the beauties of September will be enjoyed as these May ones are.

Another Graduate

I am really blessed.  We attended the graduation of our Chinese son, who graduated summa cum laude with distinction from the school of management.  Four years ago we met him at the airport, fresh from China, and took him home to help him settle in at our University.  We have been blessed by his presence at Christmas and during other school breaks.  It's been a joy to get to know him.  I can't help it be proud of him---even though he's not really mine.  I do claim him, though!  It was wonderful to meet his parents for the first time.
It has been one thing after another the last few days.  We got a new piano.  A new OLD piano.  It is 107 years old, and grand----upright.  It's really beautiful, and I am happy to have it replace the piano we wore out.  I know it has a history, and I'd love to find it out, but I think it's impossible.  We did enjoy meeting the previous owner.
The old hive was dismantled today.  The Queen and her five attendants were dismissed.  She just wasn't laying eggs, and no one was left to care for her.  Amazing that she was the last to go, but queens do live longer than other bees.  The other two hives are doing well.  Some compensation for the sad loss. 
The fish are back in the pond for the summer.  They seem happy to have room!  The lawn is mowed, the annuals are planted, and there are buds on some of the peonies.  Our lilacs are through blooming, but I'm still enjoying other lilac patches in the area.  Glorious Lilacs!  They are the welcoming committee for summer.  What a gorgeous time of year.

Quiet Persuasion

I think I may have convinced my physical therapist to try having a hive!  It's amazing what a few conversations about the joy of bees can do!  I only see her once a month when things are going well for me (I had two spine injuries, and she helps me to control the pain) but I've reported on the bees in response to her avid interest each time for the past year.  Lo and behold she told me today that she thinks she wants to have a hive!    Good for her if she goes through with it!

Happy Thoughts

Shelves in the closet!  Happy Thought!  Says Elizabeth Bennett sarcastically to Mr Collins when she visits him and Charlotte. (TV version)
Really, I am having happy thoughts today, despite the snow, cold, rain, hail, sleet, dark and it being MAY----the merry month of May even.
I have  great children, and we celebrated Mother's Day yesterday.  I was enjoying my dear ones and thinking how infinitely and exponentially I've been blessed.  I have three handsome sons and 2 beautiful daughters, all healthy, and I thank the Lord for each one, that their spirits are even more beautiful than their appearance.  They have been gifted with multiple talents and compassionate hearts.  God is so good.  I celebrate my motherhood.  God has answered my prayers from their infancy.  Rejoice with my gladness and gratefulness!

oil slicks and politics

Being a conservative Republican, I got pretty sick of the wild accusations made against George
W over the eight years he was president.  Now it really seems like it's tit-for-tat against Obama.  I guess that when you live by the sword you die by the sword.
I feel sorry for him.  I feel sorry for the people of America who'll ultimately bear the cost of the spill, not British Petroleum.  I feel most sorry for the horrible loss of  habitat and marine life.  How can you be insensitive to the pain caused the living things that God created?
I know that this earth will pass away, and all things will become new.  Is this the beginning of a worldwide pollution of the seas issue?  I find it fascinating to see events play out as predicted in Scripture, but I fully acknowledge that people overreach reading the signs of the times.  Hind sight is 20/20, and we can always say 'that was what was happening according to this and so forth...' without hitting the absolute truth.  It is almost a game that we play.  Exciting, isn't it?  Only everything should be pointing to the one and only way to eternal salvation---faith in Christ.  I heard recently that the Bible was almost half history, one fifth admonishment on living, and a third PROPHECY.  Again--exciting.  This matters to the Author of Scripture.  He really is trying to let us know what's going to happen.  We need to pay attention.
Snow predicted for Friday here.  Poor bees.  I hope the flowers can handle it.  Our spring came so early that it's hard for everything to withstand the freeze now!
I look out at a green world with dark skies, and I know Who is in control.