Wild Foods

You  may notice the new addition, "Aunt Jan's Wild Corner". I hope to keep up with this every few days and seasonally. Jan emails me with stuff often and I told her she should have a blog, but she really has no time. It would be so interesting. She gave me permission to type out some of her ideas as I see fit. Of course, any suggestions given therein must only be utilized at your own risk. I realize that we can only get foods from the woods at certain times during the year but she eats some really interesting things! you'll see!

We're saying goodbye to Velora today. It's been fun having her but she must return to school.
"Bye, Vello!"  Here she is just before packing up.

Ruger says, "see you next time"

I am keeping it short this morning, but I hope you have a wonderful day. Thanks for popping in at Darling Hill!

Nieces and Granddaughters

Syd and I enjoyed a special time with two of our nieces (Anna and Velora) on Friday night, and Velora stayed over with us this weekend and early week. She and I enjoyed a lot of catching up over a long breakfast yesterday. In our younger years there were multitudes of times for Syd and I to spend with nieces and nephews, some of whom were living close enough in their youngest years that we were with them several times a week. But as they (and we) get older, schedules and miles take us farther apart, so we were thankful for these few days with Velora because, as you know, the years slip away too quickly.

The beautiful weather of late morning lent itself to a nice outdoor time with Mom. After a quick phone call, she met us "halfway" and we all enjoyed strolling over the hill and up the old road. Here are just a few pictures from the morning.

Happy Grammy and granddaughter

the trees are beginning to bud

new leaves on a sprawling young tree

on Dennis' porch

Velora and Gram by the pond

Vello's brother (our nephew Nathan) set these rocks in place several years ago.  Even the snows of many winters have not knocked them over!

...even cleaned up a little brush near the asparagus patch

a great vantage point for Sturm

"What's in here?"

keeper of the wall

The rain is coming down through a gray mist. Everyone is asleep (except Syd who is at work now), and though I have been up for almost two hours, the pitter-patter of drops on the tin porch roof makes me sleepy. Are rainy mornings ever like that for you?

I hope that your day is a blessing. Thanks for stopping by our rainy hill. We are praising the Lord for the rain this day. "...for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matt. 5:45

God is the Sustainer of life, though "the world"-at large may not accept it. 

Early Morning Ponderings

We're having a specially quiet morning; having sent Syd off to work, thankfully his lunch was pretty well put together last night. I woke fifteen minutes late (one great thing about having dogs, they let you know if you're clock is off). Being that our niece, Velora, is visiting we have been trying to keep our mornings low-key while she slumbers on the couch. Syd's lunch together, coffee made, and he off to work; the dogs and I retreated to the upstairs. I snuggled onto the bed (no, the dogs stayed in their own) and had that special quiet time with God in His Word.

What a blessing the messages were on the Lord's Day. A wonderful reminder to my heart was that of the branch-life from John 15. All these several months God has been bringing me to verses such as, "come unto me", "learn of me", "follow me", "abide in me".  I just want to quote a short paragraph from S. D. Gordon (On Following the Christ) that blessed my heart today: "And please understand me here. Following does not mean that we are trying to imitate these characteristics. No, it is something both simpler and easier, and deeper and better than that. It means that as we companion with Him daily, these same traits will appear in us. It is not to be imitation simply, good as that might seem, yet always bringing the sense of failure, and that sense the thing that you remember most. It is to be some One living His life in you, coming in through the open door of your will. Your part is opening up and keeping open, listening and loving and obeying. The touchstone of the "follow me" life is not imitation but following; not copying but obeying; not struggle -though there will be struggle- but companionship; a companionship which nothing is allowed to take the fine edge off of."

All around us during this Spring season, things are coming into bloom. This bloom is the fruit of the roots that are buried deep in the earth. The branch or stem has nothing to do with the fruit, it simply is a means by which the life-flow feeds it. Again, the Lord brought me up against this. I am only a branch. He bears the fruit. This branch has no beauty in itself, only the reproduction of Jesus- -this beautiful fruit of the abiding life.

I shared that Velora is visiting with us. This picture from Saturday morning shows how much the dogs enjoy having a special guest!

The sun peeks over the treetops now. There is a certain beauty in living on the North side of a hill. One does not experience the very first glimpse of this ball of fire; it creeps up on you. The light is seen in the sky for an hour or more, then the sun suddenly appears over the tops of the trees, lighting the tiny, unfurling leaves outside my window. It is a new morning and things are still quiet in the house. All too soon the daytime noises will begin but for now there is still time to ponder these things in my heart; as it was quoted of Mary, "she kept all these sayings". I often pray, "Lord, help me to ponder these things in my heart and to keep them close, that I will not forget." It is so easy for truths to filter out through the cracks and be lost.

I hope that you are having a great day and that, if you are one who spends time with the Lord, that He  is giving you special truths from His Word, to ponder.  Thank you SO much for coming to Darling Hill. Perhaps later I'll have more pictures to share, as Velora and I go on a walk with "Grammy" and spend some special time with her today.