From Apples To Cider

We spent Monday working the apples into cider with this press. It was steady but enjoyable work washing, cutting, and pressing out the cider.

We are looking forward to many winter evenings of games and cider by the fire. Cider and fudge. Cider and doughnuts. Come join us.

We picked apples today for cider. My friend and I took our children and gathered 30 plus bushels of them. Will that make a lot of cider?
This was the first time of picking apples for some of our children so they considered this an adventure as opposed to work.
Since there has been frost already the owner gave these apples to us. He wants to enjoy some of our cider and hinted quite broadly for an apple pie as well.
So much pleasure and play and many gallons of cider!

What Do You Do?

Of Attitudes and Prerogatives


How many of you have had to remind business or medical professionals of your prerogatives? Or am I the only one who runs into this? Here's my newest scenario.
Elv burned his hand on the welder exhaust yesterday while working around his pickup. Joe, the Nortrax mechanic who was also on the job doing a repair on the processor, dug a small packet of Burn Jel out of his own first aid kit and told Elv to use it for pain relief. It worked nicely. It's a bad burn...a big blister on the side of his palm. He was able to work, but part way through the day he called to ask me to get him some Burn Jel at the pharmacy. Meantime a friend of ours offered some hot shot natural burn salve which they gave us instead. Even though it is good stuff; it didn't work as well as the Burn Jel for the pain. So it was later when I called Walgreen on the phone to ask if they carried the special salve and to see if they were still open at nine PM.
The pharmacist trying to be helpful asked, "Do you know that burns tend to get worse before they get better?" and "Does your husband have diabetes or a heart condition?" and "Just what does his burn look like?"
I was thinking, "Wait, what does this have to do with whether or not you carry Burn Jel?!" so finally I braved up and asked her why she was asking all these questions.
She said, "I'm trying to decide whether or not he should be seen by a doctor."
This is the point at which I tend to get snippy if I am not really careful, so I laughed and said, "I'm sorry, we will be making that decision ourselves!"
"Oh!... Yeah, we have burn creams but they're not really for bad burns they're just for sun burns and that type of thing." she was a bit grudging and sparing with her information and seemed to be quite willing to end the conversation.
Lance heard our conversation and went off to the drug store to look for Burn Jel. He came home with the very article!

Or like the time the electric company personal asked me, "And what is the name of your husband's employer?" in her pen-poised voice.
"Never mind, deary, that wouldn't be any of your business." in my mind-your-own-business voice.



Then there was the day I was sitting in the little county health office preparing for immunizations for one of our toddlers.
"Lets see... he needs, besides this routine booster, a Hepatitis B shot." very business like and assuming.
"We won't be doing the Hepatitis B shot, thanks." I said since I had educated myself about it prior and had decided against it.
Which was her cue to engage in a very authoritative I-am-going-to-educate-you tone of voice telling me all the reasons why I should get him this particular shot. I took that as my cue to say that if some day he would do inter-city work or go to a third world country we would then recommend the shot to him.
"But you know this is important..." she was persistent.
I finally realized that she needed to know the jig was up so I reminded her, "I guess you know that as the parent, any and all immunizations are my prerogative , right?"
She subsided at that point.

These times we live in are challenging to our call to non-resistance, and Jesus' words to us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The bottom line here is: how can I be like Jesus yet stand up for what is right?

I have been labeled as self-assured and know-it-all by my friends and family. I find this to be rather humiliating and depressing since I am quite quaky and normal on the inside. Yet, when I face those professionals who would push their ideas onto me which I consider to be optional I find myself needing to tone down and be careful in my responses.
So what is the answer? Tell me what you do.

Wild Beasts In The Land

We had a bear wander into our local grocery store last night.
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/64651987.html

We have had bears wander through our Northwoods lawn many times. I took a picture of this bear on his foray through here last summer. This kind of thing is so frequent that we have lost our respect and fear of them to a certain extent.

I took the broom after a bear a few years ago...he was walking right past our back door which I consider to be a direct affront to the safety and comfort of our home. He veered only slightly from the end of my broom and continued his ponderous career...no evidence of the attitude of fleeing that I was hoping to instill in him.

One day I had the fun of shooting a sow who was foraging in my garden. Don't get excited it was only a pellet gun, but she did gather up her two youngins and leave. :)

All this to say that we do enjoy seeing wildlife, but I have to wonder if protecting the wild animals has been taken a little too far. The Bible refers to the wild beasts as being a curse to the land. Leviticus 26: 6, 22.

Winter in October

Amy says, "Mom we're gonna have so much fun next spring with all these leaves mixed in the snow!"
It won't be fun. The leaves are on the trees instead of carpeting the ground like proper fall leaves by this time. There's a mixture of snow and leaves and now more snow falling. Amy's predictions imply the waiting and waiting we're going to have to endure for the snow to all melt so that the leaves can dry out enough to rake. We rake up huge piles of leaves every fall and drag them off in tarps to the woods. Then in the spring we do it again. At least this fall we can skip the raking with this snow coming so early. But next spring it's going to be a lot of hard work to rake up the whole business at once...unless they're still on the trees.
These comments are not meant to be considered complaining, I'm just wondering kind of in a isn't-this-odd? sort of way. But lets think about happier things:



This is one of those pictures that I would like to frame. Not only because these two beautiful people belong to me, but there's an idea here, as well, that makes you think of home and love and family and hope. Or am I just a sappy mom and marmee?!

The Nicest Anniversary Get-Away Yet!

Elv and I took the travel trailer and went "camping" on Black Lake last weekend. It was the nicest get-away we've ever had! The campground was very quiet...all the families with school children have returned to the city for school and work. It's too cold for swimmers, and only dedicated fishermen would camp in late September in Wisconsin. There was one gentleman there from a nearby town who came to go grouse hunting and one or two other campers further down the line from us. We had our area to ourselves.

Another reason it was nice was that we had not taken umpteen projects to do. Instead of having games, movies, books, scrapbooking, and fishing to do; we spent a lot of time just reading and hiking. We left the canoe at home and couldn't decide if we should go back for it...the lake was rather inviting, but we ended up not going after it. Elv and I walked 14 miles tallying up our three hikes! Not bad for grandparents. Oops! I almost spilled the beans ahead of time.

The third reason it was especially nice was that Elv did most of the cooking while I lolly-gagged around reading and writing letters and whatever I felt like doing. I guess you have to be married 27 years to know how special this is. Elv is a good cook, too. He's bit focused on the meat end of things, but who am I to criticize? So he cooks and I do the clean-up. That is a perfect arrangement, I believe.

The fourth reason our weekend was so nice was that while we were there we became grandparents for the first time. I think that's the nicest reason, don't you?

I'm pleased to introduce to you Jubilant Dean Lattin. Parents Dru and Lisl Lattin work for the Lord in Thailand and we won't be able to hold this little boy for a long time. That's part of the reason I splurged and let you all see him and know his name on this blog. Count your blessings! all you readers who come here and never leave a comment. :)

The Hard Parts

Sometimes people ask me if they may read my journal. So far I have always declined them the privilege. Oh I wouldn't mind if they read the fun things, the nice parts, or the pages that have plenty of Hallelujah's on them. But there's the hard parts: conflicts, worries, and the recordings of my not so nice thoughts and feelings.

The other day Elv and I were talking about my desire to write a book someday. He suggested that I am already doing that...the journal, you know. I challenged him that to have Mom's Journal (the children's reference to my volumes) published would be rather exposing. I assured him that it isn't that I am in need of a story line..the only plausible reason I can think of to resort to my journal...I have a story in my head.

But I've been thinking about Lance, our twenty year old son, who is on the fire department, heads up a children's ministry, and is a logger. (He is getting a much needed vacation camping with friends these next two weeks.) He's had some hard parts in his life lately being on the fire department. He and his dad have had to attend three extracations in the last thirteen days. On two of them Lance operated the cutting tool. It's heavy! He says it gains a pound every minute. But the really hard part is that they are working as fast as they can to cut open the car. The EMT's are working over, under, and around the extraction crew, as the case may be, to support the life inside there through whatever openings they have. The very minute the victim is freed they close in and start to pull him out. Sometimes they have to go back in for more cutting. These situations are packed with intense emotions and work.

The crews get together later to talk things over. It's a good idea. Everyone needs a chance to share how they're feeling and to cry a little.

It's what we learn from the hard parts in life that matters. We choose to become better instead of bitter as the saying goes. The hard parts make the easy parts sweeter.

Last night I had to have time to talk things over with Elv. Four of our children walked out the door and left for Nebraska yesterday. The married couple of them lives there and the other two live here but will be gone for two weeks. We have our first grand-baby due overseas and we won't see him till he's two years old, most likely. Although we count our rich blessings in having children who love the Lord, I tend to feel sort of weepy on a day like yesterday. So Elv held a debriefing for me, lovely man, and I feel better today.

Revelations 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, now crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Garden Tea

The girls hosted a tea party a couple weeks ago. The enjoyment and delight that I felt while all this was happening came as a surprise to me. I had been focusing on getting the lawn and the house just right so much that I failed to anticipate how much of a celebration of womanhood this was going to be for all of us.

This little girl is all lit up with the joy of a real tea party. How many teas has she hosted with her little friends with dolly tea sets and little goodies granted from moms kitchen. This picture ought to be framed for her mother, don't you think?

We had dainty food that everyone oohed and ahed over. We found out that "dainty" does not mean easy. But it was well worth it, everyone contributing to our food table.


One of the ladies and her daughters arrived in a carriage and wowed all of us immensely. Just the perfect touch for our party!






This was so much fun...so satisfying to all of us. There's something very special about fragile tea cups, white lace, candles, flowers, and pretty things. Speaking for myself at least, there is a measure of healing from the hurry and work of daily life in a nicely laid tea table. I think God loves to pleasure us ladies with beautiful things.

Adoption

We had the rare privilege this week of witnessing an adoption in court. Our friends had been parents to two little Native American boys for five years. This stint of foster care with intent to adopt has been a long trial of patience, tears, and prayers. There were times that we all thought this day was never going to come.
I won't go into detail here since it's a long story, I just thought it bears a bit of shouting to say that finally the two boys are sharing the same last name as their long time parents. We listened to the parents affirm that they would tell the truth and nothing but the truth and so forth, then become the official parents of two little boys. It took five years...then, seven minutes to get it done.
There were a lot of tears streaming down cheeks yesterday when the judge made his final pronouncements, one of them being that the birth certificates shall be changed. He was a kindly gentleman who quickly consented to coming out from behind his desk to get his picture taken with the happy family. I have the picture of them. He has a hand on a shoulder of each the little boys with a parent on each side and his smile is just as wide as theirs.
Are we just as excited and pleased about having been adopted into the family of God? Since our birth certificates HAVE been changed are we living out the will of our Father in heaven?

Real Photography

This picture makes me happy. Our son is an amateur photographer. This is his best accomplishment so far, I think. I've asked him for a matted wall hanging of it for my birthday. Can't you see this in a sunny room on a white wall with wicker furniture and vases of flowers?
I hope it blesses you as much as it does me.

Recreation

We have been home from our camping for several days. The ordinary days are back along with the routines of work and social events. But there's a renewed interest in the this life we live.
Camping creates its own problems and pleasures different from those we have at home. The pleasure of an elegant table is replaced with the pleasure of grilled food eaten off our plates in our laps around a fire. Instead of keeping house we just kept the trash picked up and the food in coolers.
The family working together to build a sand castle became temporarily just as important as working for our living without the worry of whether or not it was worth it or adequate. Whatever we created here was perfect...nobody is worried today that the castle won't be there next year when we return, yet it was a united effort that we enjoyed together.
Some folks don't understand that just sitting and watching a bobber can be very refreshing. You can think through a lot while you wait. You never know when a big-enough-to-keep bass will hit your line. Life is like that...waiting quietly and patiently for what God has in store for you. The important part is to have your hook wormed and out there with your eye on the bobber and to wait!
Our son and his wife parked their tent under this big old white pine tree. Don't you love the fragile tucked beneath the arms of the sturdy?