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Hi Everyone,

               Today is Mother’s Day—and I have spent my whole day with my Mother. I will admit that we didn’t exactly spend it the way we would have liked, but life doesn’t always go smoothly. This year I can honestly say that I am blessed to still be able to tell my Mama—“Happy Mother’s Day”. Mama has not been up to par the last few years since she had some dental work done. Of course the obvious solution would be to have the dental work undone, but she has not been strong enough to handle the three hour trip to the dentist, nor the dental work. Then last fall Mama had some tests done on her arteries and found that she has some blockage that is under 50% in each of her legs, and a blockage that was over 50% but under 60% in the artery under her collarbone. Mama had an appointment with a cardiologist and he suggested a stint (Mom cannot handle foreign objects and it is only a temporary fix), or a balloon (our dear friend died from this method), or cut it open and scrape out the plaque and sew it back together. We began looking for alternative methods. A follow up scan was done about a month ago, and Mama went last Monday for the results. The one in her neck is now 75% blocked with plaque. Our minds were racing—if in four months the plaque in her arteries had gone from 50% to 75% what could happen in the next four months (doctor mentioned that the location of the blockage would cause a stroke that would affect the oxygen to the brain). The doctor said something about poor digestion of vegetables, messed up pancreas, which affects the blood sugar, which affects the liver which causes plaque to build up. So her digestion needs fixed and her body needs to be detoxed. Mama began the detox last Monday night (oil pulling with Castor oil) and come Tuesday morning she didn’t feel right—her blood sugar was 176. She managed to milk the cows before she came back inside and crashed in her chair for a few hours. When she checked her blood sugar later that afternoon it was 199—no wonder she didn’t feel like doing anything. Food became an issue—if she couldn’t digest vegetables (she shouldn’t eat those), half the world says that fats clog the arteries and the other half of the world says that they don’t, too much protein messes up the kidneys, and all carbs, dairy and root vegetables turn to sugar in the body and we needed to lower her blood sugar.  Mama swore off foods—except for eggs and chicken broth (but to our dismay her body reacted harshly to that too).  Each day that went by Mama got weaker and weaker. She always managed to milk her cows (most of them, I had to help finish a few here and there)—but the rest of the day was spent relaxing. I managed to harvest the green beans, and while Mama relaxed she managed to snap them, and we managed to can them together. Saturday night rolled around and we finally got answers. Mama had not been able to get her blood sugar below 156 no matter what she did all week, but when the herbalist called Saturday night she was able to give Mama some advice that has been very helpful. The blood sugar is coming down, Mama is ready to try a few more foods, and she is getting a little bit more energy. The problem was that Mama was allergic to the castor oil and it detoxed her body way to fast—olive oil is much milder. We still have a long road ahead of us—and we need much prayer that we can have the wisdom to know what to do and what not to do.

               With life a little on the stressful side of late I couldn’t help but notice the simple things in life of late. It was kind of like stopping to smell the roses—but in a bigger way. It was taking time to pause and notice what is going on around you. In the log cabin duplex birdhouse in our front yard, bluebirds have set up housekeeping. If you stop to listen you can hear the babies chirping away. One day last week the fledglings were flying around in the front pasture—I think that there was about five of them. In the birdhouse in our back yard another set of bluebirds are keeping busy feeding their family—but the male has a fascination with my bedroom window and spend most of his day hanging on it chirping and pecking at the glass. In the rose beside the back gate two mockingbirds are nesting—and I have seen a few little ones hop around the branches singing “born and raised in a briar patch.” Underneath the rose is a critter hole—and I have watched an armadillo saunter around the backyard and disappear under the rose bush. Tonight I was out on the back porch looking for a good journal picture—I was hoping that the three deer that have graced our garden a few evening last week would make their appearance and I could snap their picture (but they said not tonight), and I was hoping that Abby would go into labor and deliver her little calf on Mother’s Day for it is her due date (but she said not tonight)—but while I was wishing out popped a rabbit from underneath the rose bush. I snapped its picture, but when I walked around front and saw Mama’s flower garden I couldn’t help but snap a picture of it too and liked it much better.

               I haven’t noticed that the deer have done any damage in the garden so far—but I am not taking any chances. As soon as I was done milking the cows Thursday morning I headed to the hardware store to purchase 48 T-posts so that I could hang the four foot high plastic fence I bought last year to put up around Martha’s Vineyard on top of the three foot high hog panels that already enclose the garden. Micah and I spent some time after lunch hanging the T-posts on the fence. We managed to get half of them installed—but ran out of time and energy before we could finish the other half. I would have to use the tape measure and measure 4 feet down on the T-posts and we would attach it there to the hog panel. Then I would have to get down on my knees to hook a wire clip around the bottom of the T-posts to attach it to the hog panel there too. Then I would stand up, move over four feet, pick up the next T-post, measure, set, clip, then while Micah tighten the clip I would kneel down and attach the bottom clip and then while Micah tighten the clip I would stand back up walk over four feet and start all over again. Up, down, up down, is not my bodies favorite pastime. I was hoping to finish the other half of the T-posts on Friday—but that day did not go as planned for I had to take care of customers, clean up the kitchen because Mama had been too weak to do the dishes, set up to can the green beans, and fix lunch before we could even start the canning process. As soon as the green beans were done in the canner it was time to leave to pick up our Azure order. Yep, the day was over and I hadn’t stepped outside but to milk the cows.

               Life doesn’t always flow smoothly, but Praise God that He is there with us every step of the way.

Serving you with Gladness,

Tiare