Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A catch-up post...



Life is so interesting, filled with unexpected bends that God puts in our paths! Sometimes I don't understand the "Whys" of what He does, but He has a plan, and so I do my best to follow that plan and to be in accordance with His will.



Last Sunday, while I was working in town, my Bornemann grandmother called, wondering if she and Grandpa could come to our place for a visit that afternoon? Of course, my family said they'd be most welcome! They arrived in the latter part of the afternoon and my family gave them the grand tour of the farm, as it's been 2 full years since they were here last! With Grandpa being ill, they don't travel too far from home, so it was really a nice surprise that they came. I found myself asking God "Why" I had to be away that day, but He knows all. Mother said that Grandma asked to see my room, to see how I'd managed to squeeze her old trunk and my other Grandmas' piano in, and still have room for dressers and a bed. :) Outside, Mother showed Grandma Marly the rose bush that's blooming---the very one that she bought for my dads' birthday many years ago. My grandparents stayed for supper and visited until about 8:00, at which time they headed for their home in Mandan...


The following day, (yesterday) I was glad to be home when my dad's cousin, Jerome arrived and joined us for the noon meal. He'd come to buy some more hay, as his sheep really liked the alfalfa bales he'd bought earlier....


I did work in town all afternoon then and in the evening. Another of my favorite residents passed away (I think she was everyones favorite, actually). She'd grown up a Quaker girl, and later, when she got married (in a purple gown), she and her husband raised their family in the way they should go, teaching them to love God and to love others. She loaned me a book once and I bought her a couple of my favorites. She was going to let me read the one she was currently on, before she got sick and went to be with her maker, but I guess that won't happen now. I will truly miss Austie!


I was home all day today. Mother went along with Dad to help with the driving after he had his tooth pulled this afternoon. The pulling went tolerably well and my dad isn't in too much pain tonight. Mother made him some applesauce for his supper so he wouldn't have to chew the Runzas I'd made. He did have some of the ice cream I'd whipped up though. :)


Andrew spent the day fixing the 9030 and then cutting hay with it. Jacob wasn't feeling well (he has a cold/flu, so stayed on the couch all day). One of my afternoon projects was to paint the metal part of the Teeter-Totter a bright, silver color. I neglected to get a picture, but shall try to do so soon.


Tonight, we watched the old movie, "Good bye, Mr. Chips." Some of us had seen it before, but it was so long ago that we'd forgotten all that took place. I love how feminine and encouraging Mrs. Chips is to her husband. I'm guessing I wasn't the only one with tears running down my cheeks when she died...


Do you remember our friends, the Keisters? I went and helped them for a couple days not so long ago and, while there, they told me of the possibility of their moving to South Carolina in October. Sarah showed me pictures of the church and the beautiful parsonage they'd be in if everything worked out. We've been praying since then that God's will would be made clear to them.... Well, Sarah called tonight and talked to Mother and told her that they are indeed moving. We will miss them a LOT, as they believe in many of the same things we do regarding health and family; music (Lane was my teacher for a year and a half) and games (they taught us to play "Settlers of Catan" so long ago. : ) They will be closer to family in SC though, and will pastor a church that is filled with home schoolers! Plus, a side benefit that Sarah was excited about is that it's legal to buy raw milk there! It's so hard to say good bye to friends though. Sarah said to me that maybe now we'll have a reason to visit the East part of the country, although that's pretty hard to do when you milk and operate a farm....


Well, that should about catch you up on the doings of the past few days.


I'm excited about an event in the near future: my 1,000th post is coming up soon!!!!! What shall I do to celebrate? Have any ideas?

6 comments:

Carra said...

Dear Cora,
Your post was wonderful. Thank you for sharing all that's going on up there. :)
Sorry to hear that Jacob is unwell. April is sick right now too, and I was up much of the night caring for her.

I'm thankful your Dad's extraction went ok. Trusting the pain will subside all the way soon, and it will be forever before it happens again!

Glad Andrew got to work with the hay again. Ours is about ready for harvesting the second time.

Sorry your friend are leaving. :( that's always sad... but the Lord knows and He has a plan.

Hmm... 1,000th post. that's a lot of writing... hmm... no I don't have any ideas yet. :) but maybe I'll have something soon.
The Lord Jesus bless you, Cora. :)

Maybe you could share about your blogging history, what made you start it, and what it has meant to you... I donno.
Be blessed.
Love Carra

Rachel said...

Thanks for the update...it was good to catch up with what's been going on in your life lately.

I admit I've been trying not to ask too many "Why's" of God lately as well. I'll be keeping you in my prayers dear friend! :) {{HUGS}} from your friend in DE!

I'm sorry to hear of Jacob's being ill, your dad's teethpulling, and of the loss of your dear elderly friend. I pray Jacob and your dad are feeling some better today! And I pray God will bring you such sweet comfort as your mourn for the loss of this dear elderly lady you knew. I am sure that's one part of the working at the nursing home that is very difficult. :( I am so glad this women knew the Lord and was able to be a blessing to you as you were able to be one to her as well. :)

Wow, 1,000 posts! Way to go Cora Beth! :D Congratulations - that's so exciting! :D It's all these updates you do just about every night. ;) HeHe! That's how you've gotten so many! I like Carra's idea of sharing about your start of blogging and such. I honestly can't remember...though I'm sure you've told me in these past years since we've known each other. ;) Or maybe write up a short list of things about yourself that we may not know? :) That could be fun too!

I hope your day was a blessed one today. Know that you are ever in my thoughts and prayers!

Love and Hugs!
~Rachel~

The K. Family said...

Couple of questions. What are runza's? Sounds interesting. Also, isn't it legal to sell milk in North Dakota? It's legal here but customers have to come to the farm to buy it and you can't advertise, at least I believe those are the laws. Sorry about your patient. Someday you will get to see her again!

Cora Beth said...

Dear Carra~
Thank you for your prayers and well wishes for my family! I pray that you and April are able to get a lot more sleep tonight than you did last night.
My dad is feeling quite well today and didn't even take any pain medication all day! PTL!!!
Thank you for your ideas too by the way. I always love hearing from you. :)

Dear friend Rachel,
Thank you so much for your prayers also. What a delight it was to hear from you here again---and such a nice long comment it was too! :)
I like your idea too, about sharing things you all may not know about me, and am thinking I'll do a combination of ideas. This could be fun!
I hope and pray you have a wonderful day tomorrow. (Hugs)

Dear Krahn family,
Runzas are like German Kuechla, except they have cabbage in them. Basically, you fry up some hamburger, onions, and spices; then add the cabbage to this mixture and cook it a bit. You then roll out a little dough (there's a special recipe for it that I found on-line, but you can also just use bread dough) in a circle, put some of the meat mixture in the middle, then fold the circle closed to make a little pie of sorts. I made a dozen of these yesterday. They get baked then for about half an hour in the oven, and we enjoyed eating them with salsa, sour cream, and jalepeno peppers. :)
We are not allowed to sell RAW milk to anyone here in ND, unless it is for their "pets" consumption. Also, some people sell cow shares to their customers and then get paid for milking their cow and the customer then gets their milk from their animal.... It would be really nice to get that silly law changed someday!
Thanks for commenting!

Kristi said...

Just wondering how old of a movie your Goodbye, Mr. Chips is. I sent Hristiyan to the library, and the only one they had was the 2002, but there's also 1939 and 1969 versions. Which one is yours?

Cora Beth said...

It is the black and white, 1939 version. If you'd like, I can send our VHS tape of it home with Hristiyan and you can return it whenever we see you next.... :)