Year End Thoughts:

This is it - today is the last day of an amazing year and my thoughts this morning are more about what to do today than they are contemplating the ups, downs, ins and outs of 2007. So far this morning I've 1) made a bed, 2) made coffee, 3) written a commercial for the farm, actually a skit for our New Years gathering at church, 4) been stalked by chickens, and 5) have slugged two cups of coffee.

It's a beautiful day. I'm enjoying the sun room more and more, though I must admit seeing the poor condition of my garden makes me want to go out there and overhaul the thing, starting with the greenhouse.

I guess I should hit the highlights of the year:

We survived a tornado
Cindy and Becky made a CD
Mike and Heather got Married
Norman got Local Help Wanted up and running
Thanksgiving in Phoenix and the Grand Canyon
Brian had knee surgery
Norman and Becky going to jail with me

Actually, the real highlights are more like this:

God protected, preserved and provided for us during a natural disaster
God protected my daughters heart and gave her strength to face trials
God preserved my son and his bride's chastity - they both should have worn white at their wedding
God has poured beautiful music out through both the girls
God has blessed us with amazing relationships with unique young people that we relish watching grow in faith and maturity
God gave me back my best friend from thirty years ago
God has helped my oldest son through multiple trials and has loved and sustained him through an incredible young woman
God helped my dil with deep seated health problems.
God has challenged us in unbelievable ways through the people we've met, the books we've read and an exceptional church family
God has wiped our tears
God gave me a grandbaby - no, not a biological one but a spiritual one. And he went to sleep on my chest Christmas week to Amazing Grace.
God has provided for our needs.
God let my husband spend the first Thanksgiving in 34 years with his family
God let me see my uncle and daughter meet for the first time.

There are others no doubt, and I may add more to the list as I think of things, but all in all, God was the center of 2007. I like it that way, and hope and pray He's even more so in 2008.

Jesus, I love you. It’s hard to fathom the infinite you left to become finite like us, to understand our sufferings, to live as we live, to feel as we feel, to experience life in an infested corrupt world where we’re bound by time and gravity and our own fears and selfishness. And to think you wanted to do this . . . so I, we, could be reunited with you.

What was it like – to be eternal and all powerful trapped in a little baby’s body? What did you feel as a sinless three year old and the other kids wouldn’t share their toys with you? Were you ridiculed as a “momma’s boy” because you were obedient and did as you were told? Did you ever have to watch your younger brothers and sisters and did it break your heart to see them misbehave? Were you close to Joseph?

I must confess I can’t wrap my mind around your infinity – all powerful, all knowing . . . all those omni’s used to describe a fraction of you. But I do know this, that for you to become like one of us, mortal and finite, just so you could die to get us back – its beyond extraordinary. But it’s Who you are.

And I love you for Who you are. I can’t give you gold, frankincense or myrrh like the wise men did when you were flesh. But I offer you my heart anew and ask that you help me live with eternity in view.

It’s not that far away.

Book Review

I listed Mark Batterson’s book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, in my 2007 books a bit prematurely as I’ve only got through chapter three thus far . . . but WOW, what its said so far! I’m taking this book in slowly so I can drink it all in.

This morning I read chapter three, Unlearning Your Fears, a second time. It hit me square between the eyes, again, as fear has been an ongoing problem in my life. It’s a sin I cannot conquer without divine help and I find myself regularly going to the Throne of Grace to deal with it. I’ll spare you the details of how it started and gained a foothold, the various fears that assault me, etc.

To the good stuff!: My favorite excerpts from this chapter:

Half of learning is learning. The other half of learning is unlearning. . . Unlearning is twice as hard, and it often takes twice as long.

Faith is unlearning the senseless worries and misguided beliefs that keep us captive. . . Faith is rewiring the human brain. . . Our minds need to be defragmented . . . . The way to upgrade your mind is to download Scripture. . . . (Part of ) faith is the process of unlearning your irrational fears.

Lion chasers . . . unlearned the fears that kept them captive . . . by chasing their fears instead of running away from them. They exposed themselves to the very thing they were afraid of.

Your fear is worse than the actual thing you’re afraid of. . . When you put yourself in a defenseless position, it sets the stage for God to show up.

I’m concerned that the church has turned into a bunker where we seek shelter when we’re actually called to storm the gates of hell.

The alternative of fear is boredom . . . If you’re bored one thing is for sure: You’re not following in the footsteps of Christ.

Junk and Crown Jewels

I love old junk and I love junking. There, I've said it. I love it so much that a few days ago I dragged a bunch of old stuff out of the barn, out of closets and even the yard, cleaned it up good and decorated my house with it. And it looks good.

Even better is the occasional freebie. I ran across an old quilt block this week I'd forgot I had stashed and contemplated how good it would look in a frame on my wall. I didn't even ask and God gave me a frame the very next morning. So what that He had it strategically placed on the side of the road so I would find it - it was too amazing to be coincidence. I knew immediately how I was supposed to mount and display the quilt block when I saw it.

Another favorite freebie is my black skirt. It was rescued from a "help yourself" box at a thrift store in Tennessee a couple of years back. It was in perfect condition, is a classic cut that will never go out of style and fits perfectly. What more could you ask for?

There's a certain feeling when you acquire something almost supernaturally - something unexpected that costs you nothing. Sometimes it's something tangible, like the frame or the skirt, sometimes it's an inspiration that you run with and see amazing results, or an idea that sparks your imagination and concludes with being a great blessing. These are not the humdrum every day things of our lives but those where God intervenes to show us that there is so much more.

I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil. Psalms 119:162

There is so much more - so much more He whats to show us, so much more He wishes to bless us with, and I'm not talking about material things here, I'm talking about relationships, experiences, and opportunities to be used for His kingdom. At nearly fifty I'm relearning that the Christian life was not meant to be a life of ease and safety, but one of casting your bread on the waters and praying with expectation that ax heads will float.

But it all starts with his Word - that transforming power that defrags our stinking worldly thinking and reprograms us with the mind of Christ. I have to ask myself today if I consistently rejoice over the truths of the Bible as I rejoice over the unexpected spoils God has blessed me with. I truthfully can't say yes. Sure, I do my daily reading and even regular studying, but it's been a long time since I found a beautiful nugget of truth that I wanted to share with everyone.

Maybe it's time I re-evaluate how I approach God's Word. No, it's not spoils and just because it's free doesn't mean it's not precious and valuable. Something as beautiful and pure and good as the words of God should be guarded like crown jewels; kept under lock and key to preserve and protect it. But God chose not to do that, He made it available to all mankind and has done a fine job of protection and preservation without any help from us mere mortals. I however, should appreciate it above crown jewels, protect it as if my life depended on it (it does!), cherish it above all else, and most of all, rejoice in what's spoken to me.

Christmas is over . . . at least the family part that we have cherished for as long as Norman and I have been married. Things got turned around this year. With two sons married now and Cindy very involved in her own life none of the older three are coming home this year. It's kind of sad in a way, but to be expected with jobs, other families to consider and responsibilities.

But we did have Christmas, just on December 1 instead of the 25th. Mike and Heather and Cindy all came and we went through the standard good times - Christmas Dinner, worship time, presents and fun. Lots of fun. Kammi, Naomi and Vickie came for dinner which made things all the more special.

That being said - the following I write just for myself so I won't forget the special moments of this Christmas.

1. The stockings - with a new one for Heather-hung by the chimney with care.
2. Becky and Naomi playing "wolf" in the back yard.
3. Naomi smiling.
4. My baby sister looking fabulous and having a sound mind and heart despite going through a (excuse my French) hell of a divorce. She questions how sound she is most days, but that's a sign she's got her head on straight. I'm very proud of the woman she is and pray for her constantly.
5. Mike and his outrageous jokes. He hasn't changed a bit and still loves to get a reaction out of his Momma.
6. Worship time. Always the best part.
7. Baked Brie. Have to get that recipe.
8. Sending some of my father's skins home with grandkids and great grandkids. Naomi, Cindy and Mike each took a gray fox pelt. (I write this to keep up with who has what)
9. Cindy's music. She brought Amelia, her guitar, and played some of her new songs. The girl has a gift and I'm glad she's developing it.
10. Laughter.
11. How can I forget Heather covering my sofa and love seat for the fun of it? I'll see this act of love for years every time I walk into my living room.
12. The thickest homemade (as in from scratch) apple pie ever. Cudos to Heather (again) for making Norman one happy man.

These are the kind of things Christmas has been in the past, the love of God and the love of family we have cherished for years. Everything we did in December led up to it. And now it has passed and all of December is before us. I'm thinking that maybe this is a good thing, almost liberating in a way. We're free to concentrate on serving Jesus without worrying about who's going where, how we're getting together, buying the right presents or anything like that. Who knows, maybe an early "Christmas" was His gift to us. It will be a good month for sure.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

We got back from Phoenix (as in ARIZONA!) last night. Talk about a great trip! I think if we'd have stayed any longer we wouldn't have been able to stand it. Norman, Becky and I flew out a week ago today and the whole trip up till we boarded the plane was pretty much of a whirlwind. We were able to visit with each of Norman's three brothers who live there and their families. We do good to see any of them once every two or three years so it was a big deal for everyone.

Mom and Dad Horton were there too. There were too many Hortons for us to overnight in the same place at the same time with them, but we spent both Thursday and Sunday with the four families and them. Thursday was Thanksgiving of course, and Sunday was nephew Ryan's 21st birthday. Both were held at Keith's house. It was the first Thanksgiving my husband had spent with his family in 34 years.

Cindy came too. Where the kids were concerned . . . she may be 27 but she was the biggest kid there. It was wonderful to see them get to know each other again and bond. Seems to me there was a lot more bonding this time. Beck's hoping Zack and his family can go to Costa Rica with the church youth group this summer.

My personal highlights were getting to visit with everyone. It was neat to see what God was doing in their lives and share the different things we've learned as believers in Christ. We saw a lot of the area in and around the city. Three families and the parents bussed down to Glendale Glitters on Friday night. Ten of us spent Saturday at the Grand Canyon - an unbelievable place. Flagstaff was COLD and it's very dark out on the desert at night.

So we're weary today, but glad to be back in one piece and looking forward to another visit west some day.

Mama Roz's Economic Indicators

This week Starbuck's reported a loss of sales and now it seems the whole country is in a panic because a decline in latte sales means the nation's economy is in trouble.

What????

Seriously! Starbucks was one of our country's great success stories. Some guy started a coffee chain, gave the sizes funky names, provided a lot of options, decorated the places kind of funky, provided wi-fi and made a fortune. It was "the" safe trendy place for the young and young at heart to drive through or hang out. Lord knows my own kids have contributed to their bottom line. And I'm glad of it. Starbucks or a club? Starbucks, any day!

But as a non-Starbucks person, I have my own economic indicators. Four years ago it was the observation that people were selling items they had spent years collecting on eBay. More recently it's been that lease and finance companies have lowered themselves to making cold calls they're so desperate for business. My dh and I have always kept an eye on the trucking sector of the economy. They've had to operate leaner and meaner for some time to survive. For the companies who finance them to beg for business screams that the same otc companies aren't buying. Is it any wonder with the outrageous price increases in steel?

Today I had a show in Georgia. I sell several of my honey products, candles and other bee related items. Last year it was quite successful. This year . . . well, it didn't do so well. I've not counted sales yes, but I figure I'll do good to break even. Part of it had to do with the weather, part of it had to do with having a booth stuck in a bad location, but a most of it was that people just weren't buying. I take that back . . . I saw a lot of women buying frivolous overpriced items in trendy colors and styles. Sigh . . . maybe I need to be looking at priority indicators.

But that's life. I met some nice folks and made some promising business contacts. It may even out, it may not. But we had fun, that's for sure, and if nothing else I didn't have to stand in a long line for the Corn Dog Man.

Iodine and Health

This morning as I put together my next two weeks of supplements I realized that I've not said jack squat about iodine. Duh!

It was about a year ago that I had a health crisis. God graciously led me to a PA who incorporated holistic medicine in her practice and got me out of danger. One of the things I was ordered to do was read a book and start taking an iodine supplement. It didn't make a lick of sense at the time, but I didn't have anything to lose (besides my life!) so I followed orders.

What I learned shocked me. Not only was I iodine deficient, it was shockingly clear that the entire country probably is. Several facts I learned:

1. The iodine in our table salt is not enough.
2. The iodine in our table salt does not contain the types of iodine our bodies need.
3. Other substances, toxic halides, take the place of iodine in our cell structure. Our cells require iodine and when there isn't enough, fluorine, chlorine, bromide, all present in our daily life, take its place. Result - improperly working cells . . . result - many types of disease with very few traceable to the underlying cause . . result - medications that treat symptoms and cause other problems, and on and on and on.
4. Lack of iodide (a form needed by women in particular) is a precursor to breast cancer.
5. People with medically diagnosed thyroid problems need iodine too, in fact they may need it more as a deficiency probably led to their condition.

Getting on an iodine supplement changed my health. It took a couple of months to detox the halides out, but it's made a world of difference. My immune system is stronger than it's been in years; I went through the winter of 06-07 with barely a sniffle. I take Iodoral, an otc product that contains both iodine and iodide.

I continue to be alarmed about this issue. Earlier this year I learned that a cousin was dealing with breast cancer. Turns out an md. had misdiagnosed her with a thyroid condition and she'd taken medication that interfered with iodine absorption for 15 years prior to the cancer. I wanted to scream. More recently a beautiful 21 year old niece was diagnosed with Graves disease, an old people's thyroid conditon.

For anyone who may wish to learn more don't take my word for it. Do your own research, prayerfully consider what to do, and start slow. I built up to a full Iodoral tablet over a couple of weeks without noticing a thing till one day I realized I felt 25 again. The book I read was Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can't Live Without It. Dr. Brownstein who authored the book has written another one that I've not read, Overcoming Thyroid Disorders. I would recommend it as well.

Thursday Blessings

While a lot of life is humdrum, just doing our daily thing with work, errands, responsibilities, etc, once in a while God sends a special day our way - sometimes for encouragement and sometimes to remind us what's really important to Him, people! Today was such a day for me. Without doing a blow by blow account, God arranged for me to talk to a couple of ladies that needed encouragement and also encouraged me. I got a call that one of my kids (one of the ones I didn't give birth to) went into labor with her first child. (I'm still praying for this wee slip of a girl and the baby!) I ran into another of my kids the next county down that we'd lost track of when God had me turn the car around and stop for lunch. And of all things the teacher at the seminar I had to attend in the afternoon was an old business associate, actually the head of a state agency who had helped me sort through all the oddball title transactions that landed on my desk over the years. We'd never met face to face, but he certainly remembered me.

So thats what when on today. You just never know what God will do with a day when you give it to Him. The main thing is give Him first place in the day. He's certainly capable of taking us and every situation where we're supposed to be!

My baby is seventeen today. It hardly seems possible that so many years could have gone by but seventeen she is, and more of a woman than a girl I'm afraid. Every year with Becky has held it's own particular issues and challenges, this last one more than we would have ever imagined in our wildest dreams. While none of us understand it all at this time, by faith we know God's purpose is good and right and look forward to the day when we "understand it better by and by." At this writing she's written off a half a dozen colleges and is pretty much settled on Northland. There again, God knows what he's doing and is giving me a year to get used to the idea of such a great separation. I'm reminded that my own parents let me go to the Chicago area completely by myself. At least Beck will have friends there already.

So that's what's going on and is today's Big Deal. We'll go to the Peanut Festival tonight (Farmer's Night - no charge!) and will eat World Famous Corn Dogs and drink hot cocoa. I'll hunt down my annual chocolate covered banana on a stick and Beck will probably get one too as she learned the joys of this thing last summer. It will be fun; one last peanut fling with the baby. She'll probably go again later this week with her friends. It's all part of that growing up and breaking away thing.

Blessed Saturday

Today has been one of those Saturdays I live for. Let me rephrase that, I don''t live for Saturdays, but once in a while I have one that leaves me quite fulfilled. Today was such a one. I didn't accomplish everything I hoped to do but that's ok. What was done was worthwhile. Highlights:

Hitting the Mother of All Good Yard Sales. Good products, good prices. Among other things I purchased three cast iron skillets (0ld seasoned ones!) for $2.75. Sweet!!!

Cooking for the masses. I have breakfast for our Sunday School tomorrow. Part was cooked today, part will be tomorrow.
Chased chickens off the porch

Cleaned Sewing Room. It needed it bad.
Set up table for Beck's studio.
Awesome quiet time with God.
Chased a chicken out of my kitchen.

Cleaned back porch, sort of.
Reorganized screen porch, at little.
Decorated front porch. It looks real nice now.
Fed the cat.

Hauled stuff to the barn.
Took clean empty supers off beehives and put them into storage.

Scored points with the cows by giving them hay. Lost points with the horses by not letting them bully the cows to get said hay.

Mowed the grass.
Made supper.
Loaded more stuff in the truck to move

Stung Norman and myself. Yeah, that sounds strange. I did confer with L. Thompson about it beforehand as he's the apiatherapy expert. Norman had been wanting me to do it for something like a wart on his arm. I had something similar on my calf so took a hit too. It's one thing to get a random sting when you aren't expecting it. Picking up a buzzy little girl with a pair of tweezers and deliberately putting her pointed little rump in a specific spot is a whole different experience. It's not easy to pick up a wiggly bee without squishing her. Anyway we each took one sting tonight. Monday we'll each take two an inch apart on either side of said wart thing, then three in a triangular pattern around it on Thursday. He called it "circling the dragon." After that we'll see what happens or what else needs to be done.

The best part of the day was laughing and working with my family. Beck was gone most of the day but Norman and I had a good time doing stuff. He followed me around the yard on the big tractor for a while just for laughs while I was mowing. Passerby had to think we were nuts. I'm glad to have that done as it will make getting pecans so much easier. Looks like a bumper crop this year.

Presently I'm fixing to (that's a southern term for "about to") pass out. I'll finish that cooking in the morning before church. G'nite all.

Since I had to write a report for our local beekeeping newsletter I'm giving it double duty by republishing it here. The event took place one week ago today and what I didn't mention was that I taught one of the workshops. My topic was Teacher's Toolbox and it was basically sharing ideas for people to talk to groups about bees. I was the only regular club member from our area. One of the state inspectors let me ride up with him (thank you Randy!) and Rachel brought me back Friday night.

The other thing I didn't mention was that I played a couple of numbers (harmonica) with that bluegrass group. Wicked good fun worth staying late for!!!

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State Meeting Report
Ros Horton

This Year’s Alabama Beekeeper’s Association annual meeting was the best I’ve attended in three years of going to this event. Ron Sparks, our state Commissioner of Agriculture spoke to us at the opening. He acknowledged the importance of honeybees and pollination and shared how he helped with his grandfather’s bees as a boy. He pointed out that it was Alabama to catch China importing tainted and toxic products to America several years ago when we found their honey contained unlawful chemicals. Many Chinese products since (fish, toys, baby products, etc.) have followed suit. He also announced the state’s intention of setting up our own laboratory for honey and bee related testing.

Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk was our main speaker and he shared the background, techniques and technical development of using honeybees to find landmines. The University of Montana pioneered research in training bees and is working in partnership with civilian companies to do this around the world. This project is close to his heart as it has the potential of saving many lives for many years around the world. The same techniques used to find landmines are being applied to research for finding meth labs and buried human remains.

Another nationally recognized speaker was Dr. Elizabeth Cantrell, a naturopath physician who spoke about the health benefits of honey, stings, etc. This presentation was a bit disappointing to me. Everything she presented was a generic version of the information we received at our September meeting when Lawrence Thompson spoke to us on the same topic.

There were several breakout sessions during the day that included soap making, lip balm and candles. Even though I’ve attended these type workshops before I always learn something new.

Kelley’s, Rossman, Brushy Mountain and Daniel’s Scientific were all present with many products. If nothing else attending a statewide meeting is a great way to save on shipping costs. Many nice door prizes were given out and the day ended with a steak dinner and fine bluegrass music. Even though I was only able to attend the one day, it was well worth the trip and I look forward to going back both days next year on October 10 and 11, 2008.

Rescue Remedy
Third in a Series

How do I start. This product is amazing, and I don't even use it for all the stuff it's good for. I'll just give you my history with it, a few thoughts and some links.

A couple of years back or so my sil and friend, LK were visiting and mentioned RR in passing where they had used it for something. "What's that?" I asked. So they explained the product, the concepts behind it and shared experiences with it. My initial thoughts were "this is some kind of new age witchcraft product and they're duped." Flower essences . . . yeah, right.

A year later at the same sil's house my precious and fragile mil had a terrible knee injury where she hit and scraped it good. Right away she cleaned it and sprayed it with RR explaining that it would keep it from bruising. "Right" I thought. "Nothing will stop that thing from being purple in the morning."

Was I ever wrong! Not even a hint of bruising. Three months later my own mom took a terrible fall on a knee that had been replaced. I knew what to do and she too never bruised, at least not the knee. The shoulder that had taken a little of the fall had a bruise the size of her fist. It was obvious that immediate and frequent application of RR the first few hours after receiving blunt force trauma relieved stress on the capillaries so they didn't break.

Topical use of RR isn't the norm, in fact I think it's only been within the last few years it became popular as both cream and spray formulas have come out. The main application is still internal - a few drops in water to relieve stress. For what it's worth, when my son was in an auto accident two days before his wedding RR cream is one of the natural products we used to help him function through rehersal and his wedding day. He danced with his bride very naturally. You'd have never known he couldn't move the morning of his rehearsal.

http://www.rescueremedy.co.uk/about_whatisrescue.htm
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/75640.php

So, that's my endorsement of Rescue Remedy. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself and I have used it many times since. I generally make my own cream with it which has greatly helped my daughter's vollyball teammates with bruising, soreness, etc. I just don't leave home without it - you never know who or what will need help.

More Adventures In Kefir

No, Kefir is not a place or a new age stage of mind. Those who've been around me the last year or so know it's the latest phase of my off beat healthy lifestyle. I learned about kefir from Jordan Ruben (The Maker's Diet) but had no idea what this strange stuff was. Then I learned a friend in NC made it, and closer to home, my sister in Pensacola. It was a blessed day when I got my first kefir grain and I made and used it all last winter.

Warming weather and time constraints forced me to dehydrate my grains for summer storage. It was making far too fast with the rising temps and I wasn't using it fast enough. Plus I suspected my grains had picked up a contaminate. So we retired for the summer.

But now we're back at it. I got a fresh new grain from my niece and with some inspiration from a set of websites she told me about, am kefir crazy again. I've not even had regular kefir so far. I've been doing some crazy stuff with it.

1: Pollen Infused Kefir: Let it ripen 24 hours or so with 1 tbs pollen per pint. Sweeten with honey. This is supposed to make the pollen digest easier providing a powerful protein and providing immune boosting properties.

2. Kefir Cheese. I missed changing my grain out this morning and the curds and whey had separated . So I ran them all through cheesecloth, mixed a little rosemary and salt with the curds and let it hang in the cheesecloth to drain a bit longer. It's odd, but not too bad for a first try.

And the whey - it's in the pumpkin bread that's in the oven as I type. I'm nuts for being up this late, but hey, it's fall and I just felt like baking. I will pay for it though. I will pay.

WET PANTS

Come with me to a third grade classroom..... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head
down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.'

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!'

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'

It's Monday Again

And I can barely move. It's a good kind of soreness, the kind you experience at the end of a hard task, almost a sort of euphoria.

I spent the weekend extracting honey. This is the first time in all these years of beekeeping I've tackled the task by myself, and as things turned out, the largest extraction to date. I'm guesstimating that by the time I strain what's in the bottom of the big extractor and the cappings finish draining we'll have around 300 lb. The task itself is not that difficult, for me it was just a lot of lifting and repetitive motion. I'm feeling it mostly in my right shoulder from all the uncapping.

This was a good learning experience for me. I extracted on the screen porch with the cracks around the door sealed (with a towel) to keep curious bees out. It worked well. The weather was wonderful though I did have to shut it down earlier than planned Saturday. Once it got dark the bees that were trapped inside with me (the few that had come in with the supers) started buzzing around the light on the ceiling fan directly above me. That wasn't good. Also the honey practically refused to sling out because of the dropping temperature. So I had to finish Sunday afternoon when it was daylight and warm.

Another thing I learned was that the right equipment makes the task go much faster and smoother. I borrowed new uncapping knives and an uncapping tank this time in addition to the club's electric extractor. I couldn't believe how fast the uncapping went. I had several buckets of uncapped frames waiting on the extractor by the time it was all said and done.

Next time I'll cover my tables with plastic as removing melted wax wasn't fun. I'll enlist a vacuum cleaner for the bees that are trapped inside with me. They all congregated on the screen attempting escape and left yellow bee poop on the ledge under them. And I'll definitely cover the floor with paper.

Today all the curious bees that were trying to get in are feasting. I put the uncapping tank outside for them to clean before I tackle it with soap and hot water. No need letting all that honey go to waste when they will gladly remove all the sweet sticky stuff.

It's been a long time since I stayed up so late on a Friday night. One of the things about growing older is that I fancy my sleep. It's not a lazy thing, it's just that I function much better when I've had a good night's sleep, and I like functioning. I don't fancy ceasing to function.

It's been a tough but good week. Norman turned 51 without a lot of fanfare. We made him the coolest plaque ever . . . "When Chuck Norris goes into a sauna, the sauna sweats." It will go on the door of his new sauna.

Kammi and Naomi spent one morning with me. We had a great visit while designing and making two Indian dresses for Naomi. They're learning about native peoples right now. It blew me away when Naomi recognized and understood the purpose of Uncle Norman's "sweat house." She's so adorable and looks like a princess in her moleskin (white) and buckskin (brown) dresses. Her Mom did a good job on the designs.

As I write I just put about 5 quarts of honey in the oven to heat up. I'll cool, strain, mix and jar them tomorrow to make cinnamon creamed honey, a fall favorite around here. Its a big seller too. Last year I pestered every beekeeper I know trying to find light honey. This year I bought five gallons from Jeff Dayton in Tennessee. It's some fine tasting stuff. I'm experimenting with a couple of pints my mom dug up from somewhere as well. It don't have nearly the taste Jeff's has.

And I'm extracting tomorrow too. I've had 3 supers in the freezer a few weeks and robbed three more today. By the time I get the hives here on the farm robbed I should have in excess of 200 lb. I plan to extract on the screened porch. I think as long as I stuff rags under the door we should be ok as far as bees trying to get in. My bee room in the barn is currently a wreck in bad need of cleaning and organizing. And the weather's so beautiful the screened porch will be nice to work in. This time I'm using two extractors, the club's electric one for the bulk of the honey and the little hand crank job for the light honey

Workwise the week has been frustrating. We've wound up changing out both the modem and router at work. I liken working without internet to working with one arm and one leg tied behind you. It's worse than tough.

One bright spot is that Norman has got most of the 200 LocalHelpWanted.net sites up and running. It's the absolute most awesome job board ever. And we got our first check from a customer for the site. I'm tempted to frame it!

Our kids Dennis and Toni will be parents of an active little boy soon. Tony might be 100 lb. soaking wet so this has been quite an ordeal for her. And my friend Connie's oldest son and his girlfriend will be baptized Sunday - talk about an answer to prayer! He was very hostile to the gospel when he left for basic and God did a beautiful work in his heart.

And our professor friend made it back safe from Malaysia where he shared the Christian faith with ten accounting students who had "no religon." He's got a knack for making friends wherever he goes. One of the young ladies cried when he left.

I can't think of anything else. G'nite all!

Miscellaneous Monday

Well, we're back. The Far Above Rubies retreat our women's group returned from Saturday was wonderful. I've lost track of how many years I've gone now. While it's great to "get away with the girls", it's even better to be refreshed and challenged spiritually. This year's theme and agenda had to be one of the best, but I was very disappointed there was no altar call at the closing session.

I spent yesterday chilling with my family. Becky had spent a couple of days visiting a Christian college in the area and rode back with us Saturday. It was good to catch up.

So I'm back at the office today. My neighbor (at work), Liz, has been by several times. She's a botanical genius and a neat lady. And she loves my bees. Actually, I think my bees love her. She keeps several bird baths with water for them and they've been known to head butt her when the water got low. Once she refills them they're all as happy as can be. Liz and Ken are the ones who rescued the rat snake that got in the office last spring. As far as I know "Ralphette" is still thriving on the mice in my barn where we turned her loose.

For my own benefit I want to jot down some highlights from our trip.

First, an ongoing issue/topic of discussion with a friend took an unexpected turn when I found myself in a workshop face to face with someone who represented our conversations. God used this person to bless and challenge me, and also to remind me that my citizenship as a believer is in heaven, where we're all blood bought sinners regardless of differences imposed upon us in this world. It's all level ground at the foot of the cross!

I didn't flub the monologue Renee asked me to do. (Thank you Lord!)

It was neat to play harmonica with TC again. Talk about a gifted musician! This is the second year we've done the campfire music with her leading on guitar.

This year's theme was Traveling Light. A lot of things in our sessions hit home. Our speaker ran with the theme and spoke on checking baggage ahead (good works we lay up in heaven), things that weigh us down to leave behind (bitterness, anger, etc) and carry on luggage (the rest of the Lord). It was pretty neat. For what it's worth I had already been working on simplifying life. I seem to have accumulated a lot of clutter, both literally and figuratively. Time to clean house!

Today's been pretty neat. I like government holidays that aren't holidays for the rest of us. It's a little less stressful and easier to catch up on paperwork. So what am I doing but sitting here blogging instead of working! Shame on me!

This has to be fast as I'm on a tight schedule to get everything done before I LEAVE tomorrow! It's our womens group's annual Far Above Rubies retreat. I've lost track of how many years I've gone to this but it's still great enough I don't want to miss. I never leave without being challenged and refreshed.

OK, so I was going to share some of my various potions and remedies . . . so here's a jewel of a quickie: Arbor Oil

I've been using this magnificent product several years now, mainly for cold and sinus related problems. I've use it by spraying it a time or two on the tissue then inhaling the vapors off the tissue. When I catch a sinus or cold condition coming on it will clear my head and kill bacteria which prevents the condition from worsening. One friend uses it on airplanes where the air is recycled.