Progress!

Here is another installment on the progress of "the wall". It looks like some kind of altar! And it will have "burnt offerings" on it sometime!!! Den thought of putting very large rocks along the slope by the fence. It gradually flattens out, so he has some bigger ones down at the bottom of the slope and not-so-big ones coming up. He said those very large ones were too heavy to move around. He also unloaded 1000 pounds of river rock along the top. I raked out the piles! It's beginning to look a little more finished, and hopefully if we get another gully washer this week all the dirt will not end up at the bottom!! Once those lilac bushes fill out, that side along the fence will look nice. We also plan to move that wood pile and finish that back fence line off with some other plants....I think they need to be taller than bushes to be seen over the wall, but not so tall to block the view!

Buona sera!

Another beautiful Nebraska sunset!

Roland has it right

I'm a big fan of Roland Martin on CNN. Today he has an article about vouchers. The current candidates split along the traditional party line view. Republicans think it will solve all problems while Democrats think it will destroy public education. (So?) Roland says neither is true. However, students that are locked into a failing school don't have the TIME for the system to get fixed. It's been broken for decades, and we keep pumping more and more money into it, hoping that will make a difference. It never does. R. also goes on to say that the one system isn't the best solution for everyone. I've experienced public school, home school and Christian school for each of my children and even at different times in their lives. More parents need to have that opportunity. It seems very racist in a way to say that those inner city children, who are predominately minorities, should not even have a chance at a good education simply because of where they live and the neighborhood school. Granted, we need to get good teachers there, get parents involved and committed to their children's education, but there is no time to waste! These kids are floundering NOW. Let's hope the Democratic Party, and their African-American candidate, listen to African-Americans who are for vouchers. Obama certainly doesn't need the money or the endorsement of the NEA!!!

Personally, I'm not sure I'm for vouchers, but I am for CHOICE! Why is it "choice" when you can kill your unborn child, but "bankrupting the system" if you want to be able to choose a better school for that child???

Morning Praise

Most every morning I wake up with some song in my head. I love doing worship team music because then for the rest of the week I have those songs going over and over in my head. And if I get to practice on Wednesday evening, the songs for that week start in my head early! I had one of those songs in my head this morning, but I'm not going to share that song right now. This song came during my praise/prayer time. Songs we learn in childhood stay with us the rest of our lives. This one was one our mom taught us probably 45 years ago!!! We sang it as a family just last December. I'm going to write it out as prose because sometimes the poetry lines can distract from its meaning. May you praise the Saviour today, too!

Praise the Saviour, ye who know him, who can tell how much we owe him? Gladly let us render to him all we are and have. "Jesus" is the name that charms us. He for conflict fits and arms us. Nothing moves and nothing harms us while we trust in him. Trust in him, ye saints, forever. He is faithful, changing never. Neither force nor guile can sever those he loves from him. Keep us, Lord, oh keep us cleaving to thyself and still believing till the hour of our receiving promised joys with thee. Then we shall be where we would be, then we shall be what we should be; things that are not now, nor could be, soon shall be our own.

Gardening time

With the torrential downpour we had last night, the garden once again, got all it needed! And it's thriving! So far we've eaten cucumbers, green beans, zucchini and tomatoes, which is something from everything we've planted. That zucchini plant is a monster! We'll know next time NOT to put it into the middle of the garden. We have little short rows of green beans and I'm afraid they got swallowed up in some places! This is a very effective use of a space that would be wasted otherwise. It is about 3 feet wide and 20+ feet long, but with the stone path and slightly raised beds, we get plenty of vegetables from it. It's just along the west side of the swimming pool next to the neighbor's fence.

Like My New Look?

It's the road that goes ever and ever on, down from the door where it began. It's Iowa, and sort of from the door in that sense, from where I began. It's a great white ribbon road, is it not?