Five's a Party

Will I ever grow into these ears? OOH!!! a KITTEH!! Wait, are you still snapping my photo? I am a GOOD BOY, yes, a GOOD DOGGY! I don't eat cats, ever!! Honest!! wha? he's walking away? what do you mean, stay? aww. MOM!! he got away!!

I have been meditating lately on the sheepfold.  i borrowed a book about Scotland from the library, which had a rather plain photo in it. At first glance it looked like a panorama of a valley covered in rusty flowers. On closer inspection, it was actually a large area, with two ancient sheep pens on either side of a burn (brook). It was a very simple photo, but it's impact on me was great. It made me realize just how SAFE the sheep inside would be, with the shepherd laying in the doorway, ready to give his very life to protect those sheep inside.  Simple, yes, and I've heard it since I was a child, but just SEEING the actual round structure, high stone walls, narrow doorway, impacted home how SAFE I am as a sheep of the great Shepherd. Literally, "no man can pluck them from my hand"! (not my photo, I got it here: http://revlang.wordpress.com/ )

   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men...... That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.   John 1:1-3,9

My Ryan turned 13 today. I wonder how the next 5 years will go! Hope he stays as great as he is right now :)

is so cute. His ears are starting to straighten, so now one stands up while the other flops over!

It's getting so itchy I feel like I may just explode if I can't soon scratch! I'm talking about my garden. I'm not sure if it's the actual working the soil, gently placing the seeds in the perfect spot, patting the warm rich earth over and praying for blessing, or just the promise of warmth and sunshine that goes with the planting in my mind. It sure has been gloomy and cold around here, everything frozen and covered in piles of snow. hard to believe that there's potential for life under there.  In my mind, I am planting the foxglove, the lavender, the oregano and chives along the east side, by the verandah. The lily bulbs, pansys, and assorted perennials in the north flower bed. Glads, dahlias and lupines in the front beds. The sun is warm, the ground is a bit cool and moist, and my lil' four legged critters are frollicking around, checking out what I am doing.  I'll end my daydreaming there, since I have to go deal with the mountain of snow on my ver...

 When winter comes, I am usually mostly housebound. This winter, however, I have been out alot. It's been a gentle winter mostly, with only one real storm so far back  in December. The past few weeks have been hovering around 0 degrees Celcius, so pretty mild!  This past week we had freezing fog, which turned my area into a fairy wonderland. The trees glittered and sparkled, begging to be photographed. Sadly, my camera couldn't capture the lovliness of it. sadly, though, my neighbour has lost quite a few chickens, roosters, and a duck to the cold that preceeded the mild spell.  In Puppy news, the cats are getting along much better with him, and he's really quite clever. He's learning his lessons, not perfectly, but he's getting very good at "come" and "sit". He's also working on sit pretty, shake paw, stay, and off. House training isn't going so well. My fault, as I am reluctant to stand outside in the cold with him.  Can't w...