Pulling Trees and Singing in the Woods....

Banana ice-cream with "Shell" chocolate hardened sauce (Coconut oil, honey, cacao powder)

My sister Allison is graduating, and we have too many projects a foot. Dad made rabbitt hutches, and now we are clearing out our quarter acre of ginseng beds of small trees and plants....which Dad thinks we have the time to do it all this year. Ach. Yes, we could do it, but not with graduation, camp Del-Haven, my GED program, and potential college classes looming. Why are we clearing our gingseng beds buried deep in our woods? So we can have a raised bed GARDEN! Very exciting, but rather overwhelming. Gardens don't just happen to appear, they have to be made ready. Here's a small view of what we are clearing:

  Here's some more photos of Schatze and I's trek through the woods this evening:

      
          
           


Jesse joined me later so I could shoot a video of him jumping the creek stream. Suddenly we look up, and see a big, young buck jump from one side of the creek to the other with Schatze on it's tail. Beautiful creature!



Self-photo

Too bad you don't live in the country...the birds are twittering, roosters crowing, squirrels fighting, grass growing, burgers grilling, and the dust rising on the dirt road after we ride our bikes down it coats our house in ever-growing dust. The happy sounds of bluegrass, Andrews Sisters, and favorite hymns steadily rise from our radio and our joyful lips as I pull weeds on our porch in prepartion for Allison's graduation...enjoy this beautiful day our Savior has created!

In Christ, 

Kendle 

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

-It Is Well with My Soul

Eggsactly What I Wanted

We have chickens!!!

I know. It's dumb. The health nut family doesn't already have their own chickens? Mom and Dad used to have meat birds a long time ago and so there was a place in our old dilapidated barn for them. Stuff like this only happens when Dad gets a wild hair in his head.... And PRAISE the Lord for it! I've wanted chickens for so long...I despise and detest buying anything from the store and want to be completely self-sufficient in the future. A garden, fruit trees, and rabbits will be on the list next in the future, but this is a great step towards it.

We bought twelve Rhode Island Red/Plymouth hens and two Barred Rock roosters. They're still getting used to their new surroundings, so egg production is low but they don't freak out as much now when I touch them. Mom and Dad are already saying "Kendle and her chickens...." I do love animals. Maybe I'm weird and just not used to them, but I find them fascinating creatures and love to pet each one near darktime before I retire to bed. "All creatures of our God and King..." they are so intricate, interesting and beautiful. I don't want to take things in life for granted and not appreciate the beauty of the earth that God created...what wonderful creatures even the smallest are!

Been doing a deep clean of the bedroom that I share with my younger brother and sister, but it's taking forever. So many things to do, and I need Christ's strength to focus on the most important ones, including Christ himself! Draw me nearer Lord. Show me what's the most important and give me time in the day to learn more about you. Give me energy, endurance for hard things, and that I wouldn't put up a wall in my learning time. I feel really drained, tired, and bushed all the time. I need the re-energizing power of Christ in whom I can do all!

Still learning from my Teacher how to Trust and Obey every day,
Kendle