Where could I go, where could I run
Even if I found the strength to fly
And if I rose on the wings of the dawn
And crashed through the corner of the sky
If I sailed past the edge of the sea
Even if I made my bed in Hell
Still there You would find me

'Cause nothing is beyond You
You stand beyond the reach
Of our vain imaginations
Our misguided piety
The heavens stretch to hold You
And deep cries out to deep
Singing that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You

Time cannot contain You
You fill eternity
Sin can never stain You
Death has lost its sting

And I cannot explain the way You came to love me
Except to say that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You

If I should shrink back from the light
So I can sink into the dark
If I take cover and I close my eyes
Even then You would see my heart

And You'd cut through all my pain and rage
The darkness is not dark to You
And night's as bright as day

Nothing is beyond You
You stand beyond the reach
Of our vain imaginations
Our misguided piety
The heavens stretch to hold You
And deep cries out to deep
Singing that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You

And time cannot contain You
You fill eternity
Sin can never stain You
And death has lost its sting

And I cannot explain the way You came to love me
Except to say that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You

Lyrics by Rich Mullins
Copyright 1998 - Liturgy Legacy Music / Word Music / ASCAP / White Plastic Bag Music / SESAC / De Cristos Music / BMI

Can you guess?

She will be here in early February!

:oD

A Busy Time

These are some of the new residents around our homestead. We have been very busy, trying to get everything ready for us to move. We have gotten so much accomplished, yet there is still so much to be done.

Our garden is doing better this year than last year. We added three new beds and have been growing more of the practical things than we did last year...and none of the rather frivolous items (melons). We have had to deal with a serious potato bug infestation...and the deer keep eating my roses...but since those have been dealt with, everything seems to be going well.

We have about 25 chickens--they won't hold still to be counted, so until I get them banded, I won't know for sure how many. We saw a listing on Craig's List for the breed of chickens I had decided (after several months of research) that I wanted. It was my intention to get about 15, so I built a coop suitable for that many. The day we went to pick up the chickens, the man selling them told us, "I'm going to make you a deal you can't refuse. You can take as many as will fit in your cage for the same price as the 15 you were going to take." We ended up with 30 or so! Then we got home and I realized I would have to build an addition to the coop. A friend had wanted to get 6 chickens and when she heard our story, asked if she could buy them from us. I was glad to have a few less! We are getting about 2 eggs a day now, but will eventually get close to 20, depending on how many end up being roosters.

The two goats are both wethers (not little boys anymore) and are strictly around for practical purposes. Goats are great at clearing brushy weeds and small trees off the land. They will eat most weeds, but are not especially fond of grass. When winter comes, they will go into our freezer. I hear Chili Cabrito is pretty amazing.

We thought we were ready for electricity, but when the company came out to check, they gave us a few more tasks to accomplish. The biggest part is clearing a path through the trees I wanted to keep as a windbreak/privacy barrier. Lizard and Turtle have been doing an amazing job of getting the small trees and brush cleared out of there this week, using just an ax, a hatchet, and a pair of branch loppers. I am very proud of the work they have been doing.

Gator's First Haircut

A Sweet Young Lady

He's Walking

Okay, so in all reality, he started walking on Christmas Eve...Papa even took some video. :o) But there are times when they just seem to be getting comfortable in a new skill. And that was today. I love my camera phone--it's always with me. And Picasa has some neat formats.

Update 2

My dragonfly is in college! Yikes...I'm old...

She's majoring in nursing.  Her dream is to become an Occupational Therapist, so she needed some kind of "biology" major.  Nursing looked like the best choice; practical, flexible, necessary.  As an added bonus, it is in high demand in the military.  While we were looking for college money, we ran across information about ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps)...silly me, I always thought that was for high schoolers (btw, that's the Junior ROTC).  Guess that's what happens when you don't pay any attention in high school.  We went to the college and talked to the guy (can't remember his rank! sorry) in charge of the ROTC and he was very interested in getting her into their program.  So, all this to say--"she's in the army now" with a full scholarship and a four year commitment to serve once she finishes college.

first day

in uniform

Updating

Well...uh...I'm not sure what to say.  :o)  You know, it's amazing -- I love to write, I want to blog, but I usually have no idea what to write about...so I don't write anything, and that just compounds the problem because then I have too much to write about.

...sigh...

So, a few of you know that we bought the land we wanted last spring--to update on that, we've had our garden, though not super successful; we have cleared, and installed the septic. 

Some pictures:

the land, before

getting cleared

septic tank going in

the garden, early

apparently, I didn't take any pictures after it really started growing in...

btw, anyone have any tried and true methods of eradicating squash bugs, without poisons?

I'll start another post for other updates