Water Skater or Strider

They walk on water!

Amazing to watch.

Meet the Water Skater.

The Wonderful Mud Dauber

drinks from the edge of my water garden,  These are not aggressive like paper wasps. I let them out doors if they somehow get in.  I know they are doing work for me.

Recently a very good friend and her husband had some very terribly, scary, touch and go days when he was bitten by a Black Widow spider.

I have always been fascinated with dirt daubers, mud daubers or whatever you choose to call them but this little blue guy specializes in capturing Black Widows.

In my book that makes them heroes.

Heal well, Ron and hang in there, Kim,  God had His hands in your recovery.

The Last Seven Months

have been a financial, emotional and physical struggle here.  On my birthday, November 2014, our youngest daughter was in a car wreck through no fault of hers.  The other involved party had no insurance and in a lax moment to save money the daughter did not tick uninsured motorists on her policy trying to save money.  Bare bones liability was all she had.

Between doctor's visits and surgeries we kept her and her six year old son here. We shuttled Z back and forth to school the rest of the school year.  There was no other option.

We got on each other's nerves, she would have kicked me a few times if she had two good feet, we had crying jags, we had a few fits and pouts and a few items were slammed down strongly but we got through.  I will be grateful to have my art sewing room back and Andrew will be glad he can leave his door open again.  There are too many things to list of why her father and I are glad but we are very grateful.  All of us thought this day might never come.  Praise God, it did.

After breaking her talus bone in her foot and a collective two weeks in the hospital, nine surgeries later and an extreme bout of infection, she is limping with out a walker, no wheel chair and no cane. Hallelujah!

We have found a inexpensive car to replace her lost one.  They placed her on "medical leave" so she still has a job to return to and things are looking rosier for all concerned. She is temporarily in her home and the stress level for all of us has dropped about 99%.

There are a few wrinkles to iron out but there are celebrations, too. After this Monday which includes a trip to Z's specialist for his ears and a round of stops to insurance, tax office, and revenue office we can officially kick her out and she will be legal to drive...and hopefully be able to work.

We were all blessed but we didn't realize it while squeezed in the middle of all the distress generated by such a situation.  I do know these setbacks were far better than planning a funeral.

I think we're all gonna enjoy this change.

Donations of cash and Valium can be sent to...teasing!

Update to update:  She is home again for Z's appointment tomorrow (I had that wrong!).  Her foot is still infected. Although she can walk, she has other issues that have arisen.  Insurance says six days were too long for her last admission and has refused to pay the bill...said it could have been done in four days!  Work wants her at 100 percent when she returns.

Lord, please bless us some more soon.  Amen.

Apples for Magpie Tales

image by Sarolta Ban 

Magpie Tales

with 

Tess Kincaid

Back in the days of rotary phones and unlocked doors people were trusting and welcomed strangers inside their homes.

On a hot summer day with all the windows open and the screen door unlocked a teen aged girl prepared a picnic basket to take to the creek where the youth group would gather after church for fun and swimming.  

Her parents had driven to church in the car earlier and she would walk there after she finished.  It was but a short distance.  She hummed Amazing Grace as she placed the last apple inside the basket and closed the lid.

A knock at the door surprised her.  Every one she knew was at church and she would be late if she didn't hurry.

Picking up the picnic basket and her Bible she hurried to the door planning to walk quickly to church and arrive before the opening hymn.

A stranger stood on the other side of the screen and the young girl had an uncomfortable feeling. She dropped the hook latch into place as she greeted the man, asking how she could help.  Looking at his feet, turning his hat in his hands, he spoke softly and asked for "Just a drink of cool water, Ma'am, if it's no trouble."

She smiled and said, "Of course, I'll be right back." Sitting her picnic basket and Bible by the door she went into the kitchen letting the water run a moment so the cool fresh water from the well would be what she gave him in the glass taken from the open shelf by the sink.

A strange sound made her turn. The man was pulling the screen door away from the latch. Dropping the glass, she ran to the phone on the kitchen wall, a rotary phone.  The kind before push button, the kind before speed dial, the kind before 911...she dialed O for operator as he entered the kitchen.

He ripped the handset from the phone as she gripped it tightly, frantically trying to reach the operator. Wrapping the phone cord around her neck, he began to drag her out the door he had just forced open. She tried to scream but the cord was so tight a scream could not escape.  Fighting and kicking as best she could he kept dragging her, saying not a word.  As they got closer to the door, she became more frantic and her kicks turned over the picnic basket, apples rolling, with the Bible falling onto the floor.

Silently, he bent and put one apple in his pocket as he dragged her down the steps.

Frantic, her parents left church early because Grace never missed especially with the planned outing she had been looking forward to attending.

When they pulled up they knew something was wrong.  The screen door was ajar and a little crooked on its hinges.  The apples Grace has so carefully picked were strewn from the door way onto the porch.  Her Bible lay open. No Grace anywhere.

After looking every where and no Grace, they went to church which was just being dismissed.  The whole community was there so the Sheriff and his deputy organized search parties and they began to search.

The ladies making tea, coffee, lemonade and sandwiches for those searching in between tears and prayers they waited.

A lady picked up Grace's Bible and noticed the section it had fallen open to...Hebrews 13:2 seemed to stand out.  It was read aloud. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

And somewhere in the deep woods, Grace lay with her eyes open and sightless as the stranger took his first bite of the apple.

Gossip Is A Weapon...

Sunday's Whirligig

Gossip is a weapon

an alarming secret storm

with bronze razors

instead think and

speak with unsoured truth

drink when thirsty

bathe in a love poem