These Happy Golden Days

 

Picture taken 12/6/16
No changes or filters necessary. God's creation is beautiful!

At the Mountain over Thanksgiving

Golden years are passing by,
Happy, happy golden years,
Passing on the wings of time,
These happy golden years.
Call them back as they go by,
Sweet their memories are,
Oh, improve them as they fly,
These happy golden years.

Quoted from These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder







We met a group of 6 huskies coming down the Mt. They were named different gems.

12/8/16

Today it started to snow at our new house for the first time. It's still coming down as I write. On Monday, I had to drive in very thick snow from my Civics class. It had just been 5 minutes and the roads and cars were covered in snow.

     Thursday is a lazy day. Everything is canceled. I'm reading through the Anne of Green Gables series and it's funny how often I read my name, Avonlea. In Civics class, our teacher was writing down names of county senators. A boy was reading off the list to her and when the name "Anne" came up, our teacher wrote "Ann". The boy corrected her, "it should be Anne with an e." That's what got me started on reading the series again. The only problem is that I've watched the movie so much that I don't have any imagination for the book! A big problem.....however the movie goes astray pretty soon after the second book so I'm not having problems anymore.

Comet, Pearl, and Chloe

The sky during a stormy day.

At dusk, the mist rolls in.



The mist is covering the grasses outside our gate.

 Grant, my brother, does not need to keep frogs in an aquarium anymore. Frogs are numerous in the country side and in our pond.

I entered Pearl in a cutest canine contest. Here is the link if you'd like to vote. Voting starts October 31st. Just look for a Bernese Mountain Dog. You'll find her.

http://contests.columbian.com/Cutest-Canine-In-Clark-County-Photo-Contest---2016/gallery

October first: The wind, the leaves, and the applesauce

Today I flung myself out of bed and snapped pictures left and right. The day was gorgeous. Patterns of wind, clouds, and sun worked their way through the morning. Ten hawks decided to enjoy the outdoor air as well. High above, they circled and finally disappeared. As soon as the soaring hawks left, the rain came in great gusts and the rest of the day was filled with the whims of wetness. But before that happened, I was able to take pictures of our land on October 1st, 2016. Always to remember, never to forget.

 

 

 If you'll peer at the top right picture, you will find a snake. Ivanhoe appears to be staring at it with marked interest. It is on the right hand side.


 

Ivanhoe and Chloe like to show their might. They both have very bad tempers and like to compete with each other. Ivanhoe was crying after I took this picture of Chloe so I obliged him. Here are pictures of both Chloe AND Ivanhoe.

 

 

And then the rain. While it rained...............

We made applesauce! Again!

Making applesauce, dried pears and dried prunes...all at the same time!

 

Have a glorious autumn day!

Our Summer in 6 days : One cousin who used to put snakes in her mouth, Two boys who still act like they're 8, and Three me.

      We headed to a Worldview Camp for 6 days in July. The Christian camp is about leadership and different worldviews. My cousin Karis ( I'm older by a month) and our friend Andrew came with me and Grant. Karis and I had been there last year but this was Grant and Andrew's first time. We had 32 hours of lectures. By the time the 6 days were over, Grant and Andrew's notebooks were filled with little figures with names over their heads (like Andrew or Grant). Each figure held an enlarged gun and had enormous proportions. They also amused themselves by doodling shapes than filling in the inside of the shape with black ink from their poor pens. The poor pens were taken apart many many times and dropped and jiggled through teeth. When there was a break between lectures, Grant and Andrew would content themselves with ninja but what they really preferred was tag.They were the only ones who would play tag. Two 14 and 15 yr. old boys running around in between Frisbee and Ninja players was surprising to most. Grant would've never played tag without Andrew's persuasiveness. Grant is stiff and straight unless he's with the right people. Anyway, back to the notebooks. While Andrew and Grant drew ( they did write down what was on the screens), Karis and I wrote interesting facts like truth and beauty are inextricably symmetrical. Don't worry, all of us learned a lot more than that!
     On Friday, our Mom and Andrew's mom came to pick us up. We were almost to the car when we passed a truck full of dogs. There were 2 Bernese Mountain Dogs and two of their puppies! We brought home a little girl as a surprise for Rowan and Rose. They named her Pearl. She is 1/16th Great Pyrenees which shows why her legs are white instead of auburn. She is the sweetest thing. They are known to be docile, self-assured, and calm which fits Pearl to a T.

Our Black Pearl

 

This is our cousin Karis holding one of our kittens.

Grant is on the left with the puppy which Karis's arm is petting. Andrew is on the right with a Frisbee on as a hat.

Left to right: Rowan, Karis, Rose, me (Avonlea), and Grant.

 

We Moved To The Country

We moved to a new property where grass turns into bubbles.

Where horses graze,

And where I can be myself.

 

I turned 16 and got a bike! Next year, I'm asking for a cow, Brown Swiss preferably.

 

Rose is 9 now and I'm still alive!

We moved to a new property

Where grass turns into bubbles

Where horses graze

Where I can be myself

(As I always was and will be).

We moved to a new property,

And it had a house.

And we lived there happily ever after.

 

P.S. Until we explored the marsh behind it and found nettles and blackberries abounded. But we also saw a water rat! And there are several long eared owls and a barn owl. And pellets! There is an aviary at the back of our place with peacocks, guinea fowl, and a emu. I can't wait to check it out.................

In Haiti

Last year, Mom and Dad went to Haiti with a team from our church. The church has a missionary down there who used to work for Dad. When they came back, Mom and Dad wanted us to go as a family next year. We went. All of us as a family got to experience the 3rd world (Mom says 4th world) country in person. Here is a picture of us in the STEP campus:

 

We started to build a house but the Haitians finished it. I got to play with the kids! We didn't know each others language but we played clapping games, magic tricks, and they taught us numbers and head and shoulders, knees and toes in creole.

 

This is Jennica, the first little girl we met and Abagail is right behind her.

Jennica is eight.

On the pile of rubble with the kids. One time, I counted 30 kids on the small space with us.

This is Lancia. She was always easy to remember because she had earrings.

Pronunciation Guide: Haitians pronounce their G's, Jhay like a soft J. They don't touch their tongue to the roof of their mouth.

 

 On one of the five days we were there, we went to Merger. That is a school where our church sponsors the students. We got to see inside a house of one of the students that we sponsor. He sleeps on the bare cement floor and though they have electricity, they only use it for the TV, a little 90's model. We visited the kindergartners and they ran round us like bees (they had yellow dresses on).



 

 

 

     As we drove through the streets in Haiti, there were people everywhere and pigs getting into the garbage that littered the ravines. The garbage was burning in places. There are no exhaust laws so black fumes pour daily from huge trucks. Where there are speed bumps, it's more like peaks. They go up sharply then plummet down. In Haiti, there are 7 million people and 4 million are in Port-au-Prince.

     While I was there, I decided I'd rather drive in Haiti than in America. I would be starting driving lessons when I got back and I was not looking forward to it. In Haiti, it's free style. You watch out for yourself and assume that people are going to let you go. In America, driving is restricted and you are supposed to be courteous and abide by the law which is good but I kind of liked the danger of no law. I didn't see one accident while I was there even though the streets were lined with honking cars and trucks and motorcycles. Mason the missionary said that he rode a motorcycle with 5 other people on it. I can easily imagine it for I saw motorcycles with people hanging off the sides as we rode by.

     All in all, I give Haiti a nine. The number off is because it was so hot.

 

Head and shoulder, knees and toes in creole!

 

Snow Zone

I have 23 pictures that I want to share which sounds like a lot. I will divide them up into categories.

Human Category

Cross-country skiing and having an ice fight with ski poles.


                                                                     Bird Category

I'm playing the harp while Chloe stares at Pippi on my arm, transfixed.

 



 



Rose acquired a parakeet for Christmas. It is named Autumn and it is on the left in the picture below.

 

Landscape Category

The snow glittered and sparkled marvelously. My face stung with the cold. The 7 ft. drifts loomed up where a fire had ravaged the area. We had headed out to go ice skating but the snow acted like an insulator, covering the slushy water.

Dogs (All of Comet except two of Gypsy)

 



 

 

- Chloe the Calico Cat -

 

"Enough pictures! All done!" Chloe the Calico Cat complains.