CRAZY BUSY!!! Well, it's that time of year to be "crazy busy!" with outdoor work.

In addition to outdoor work, we've just been very busy with appointments, emails, phone calls, extra part time jobs, etc. Just seems like we've been running in every direction.

I hope to get some sewing done soon so I can post pictures of the beautiful little dresses I've been making, but for now--this is the latest thing we've been making. You are viewing my vegetable garden complete with the new raised bed frames. We hope to do four, but there was miscommunication the day Clint purchased the lumber. I want to put a support of sapling poles in the middle for a little decoration and some pole beans or morning glories. I am hoping to make the garden pretty enough to hold my interest in working it. The strawberries, onions, tomatoes, and green beans will go in the raised beds. Potatoes and rhubarb will still be in rows. We may put up some fencing for climbing supports for squash and melons.

Clint wanted me to start using raised beds after the tiller became too much for me to handle about a year ago. After I hurt my back last summer, I was a little skittish to run the tiller. It used to be my best friend, but now I'm kind of scared of it getting away from me--which it did the other day. We were tilling up the garden and I decided to finish the task. The tiller hit the edge and went bouncing across the yard toward the gas tank and clothesline. It was twisting and jumping. I couldn't "catch" it and was sort of scared to try. I finally got it. Rhiannon came running from the orchard area to save me. She was in some brambles and fought to get loose when she noticed the disaster. She was all scractched up and the tiller was lying on its side. A large bolt lay on the ground underneath it and it wouldn't start. Hmmmm!!!! Clint promptly suggested raised beds to alleviate large-scale tilling. We hope it works. Will keep you posted! Blessings, LORI

FOUNDER'S FRIDAY

Welcome to "FOUNDER'S FRIDAY," my new feature on my blog, "Filigree From Fields and Fences."

I hope you will enjoy this new weekly post as I devote my Friday blogs to the founding fathers (and mothers!) of America. I have been seeking what I may do to be a voice for freedom and righteousness in my country and have decided that this new feature is one small way I might accomplish that goal.

This week was a sobering one for me as you know if you read my last post. I turned 49 and what should be a remembered as a day of celebrating life is now to be remembered in another way. I believe March 23, 2010 is the day freedom in America as we have known it, died. My birthday is the day our president signed the health care bill that has now become the law of the land. This bill is poised to force Americans to buy a product they don't want, (amongst other atrocities) and that's not freedom. My heart is grieving for the America we are losing. That's the reason for the pictures I have posted today. I hope they reflect this thought. As well as that, I wanted to include a picture of a national cemetery, but oops! I deleted it and couldn't get it back. Will post that eventually, I suppose. I believe it symbolizes all I want to say today as well as honors the people that have fought for freedom throughout the years. This particular cemetery is where my Civil War grandfather is buried. He was a Union soldier who died while walking home from the war. We are almost 100% sure that he took sick at some point in the war and was hospitalized in what was then one of the largest Union hospitals nearby. He and so many like him in our wars have fought for ideals that are now being systematically thrown away by many of our leaders.


Did you know that on my birthday in 1775, Patrick Henry, a key American patriot, gave a speech that became famous? It was his "Give me liberty or give me death," speech. It was given in St. John's church in Richmond, Virginia--YES! in church!!! Imagine that?! Apparently back then it was permissible to speak out on public affairs in a church! As I understand it, the Second Virginia Convention was meeting there. My, how we've slipped! We Christians have allowed the secular world to shut us up and no one would consider using a church building for an official meeting of government now!

I am highlighting my birthday, which represents life to me, March 23, as the day that I believe freedom DIED but also remembering it as the day someone declared "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!" Interesting isn't it? Do you suppose anyone knew last Tuesday that we should have been celebrating liberty and reflecting and focusing on something that a famous American once said?

The Bible in Leviticus 25: 10, speaks of the year of Jubilee (well, for me I was one year short of 50!), a huge celebration of freedom, "And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants...." God is all about liberty and freedom as can be seen throughout the scriptures. A society where freedom reigns is pleasing to God because He is interested in the well-being of mankind. He longs for our complete freedom in Him and good days for His creation.

While at Mt. Rushmore a few years ago we took this picture of the presidents. It looks as if they're crying, doesn't it? It seemed really appropriate to me to post this just now. This week I hope you will remember Patrick Henry's words, "...I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!" Blessings, LORI

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

On March 23, I celebrated my 49th birthday! Hooray! I praised God first thing this morning for this really good life. In the picture, you see me and the grandgirls, Sophie and Emma, posing with my birthday cake. White cake with traditional frosting is my favorite food, hands down! I know that's weird, but it's the truth. I like nothing better than to eat a piece of white cake (a corner piece, absolutely encrusted with frosting, of course) slightly frozen, accompanied by a glass of iced tea in a red plastic cup with store-bought ice! Just one of my idiosyncracies, I guess! It's just a favorite tradition that I doubt I'll ever get over. Sunday evening the family came over and we celebrated with the lovely cake and other snack foods. I had made an artichoke dip the evening before for a gathering of Clint's classmates and we finished most of that with crackers and pizza rolls.

Today Rhiannon took me shopping and out for lunch. We spent the entire day just having a great time and getting a few clothes for summer. I also visited a favorite fabric store and yarn shop, as well as a second-hand store where I found two bargain frames for pressed flower pictures. We ate at Cracker Barrel and I longed for Tennessee! Such fun we had just being together and doing whatever we wanted for a whole day.

I do want to say that it saddened me that I will always have to remember my 49th birthday as the day the health care bill was signed into law. To this point I have never gotten "political" on my blog, but I just can't help expressing disappointment at what I believe will be the beginning of the end of the America I have known and loved for 49 years unless some drastic changes begin to take place in the near future. Too much that goes against all I believe in is wrapped up in the depths of paper piles that constitute this latest piece of legislation. Of course, I've not read it, but I trust the sources (who know more than I do) that are analyzing this, that there are a number of things contained in the bill that will undermine the fabric of traditional American life in the name of fixing something that really needed a different solution. I am concerned for the lives of the unborn as I celebrate 49 years, born into a nation that once abhorred the taking of a life in the womb. That's a sobering thought on my birthday. I am concerned for the elderly, of whom my mother is one, who may suffer with the cuts that are coming. I am concerned for how this will affect the strained economy and the personal finances of countless Americans that are already stretched to the max. I am concerned about the intrusion into my private affairs by an ever-growing government. I am saddened about so many things that have surrounded this whole business. I am praying more seriously and committing myself to standing in the gap for my country and its leaders in a new way. I think this is a sobering time we are living in and Christians must stand up and take their places to champion freedom and revival in the hearts of people. This was once the norm for Christians in this land. Check some original documents and good historical sources to learn how Christianity affected the founding principles of this nation.

I guess after 49 years I feel as though I've gained enough wisdom to begin articulating my views and encouraging folks in a Biblical fashion. I want to be one of the "older women" that the scripture speaks of that the younger women should seek out. May the Lord be pleased with my efforts. May truth win out. Blessings, LORI

Miscellaneous!

Hi, everyone! I haven't had much to say this week, so no posts! That's a first! But here are a few pressed flower pictures that I finished yesterday. I am getting some items ready to sell since I will be speaking at a Lenten breakfast at a nearby church in about 10 days.


We've been really busy getting my mother-in-law ready to move out of her home of almost 50 years. The house sold after about 2 weeks on the market! It was amazing in this economy! We will be having an auction and that means lots of work for our family leading up to that event.


Plus all that, the time changed last weekend and now we are on daylight savings time for the summer. That means longer days to work! I cleaned out the chicken pen today and all around the coop in preparation for new birds. Many tall weeds had grown up last fall after the chickens were not there to scratch. I let them go and now that they are dried they were easy to pull. I am thinking about buying a group of meat birds in April and then laying hens in June.


I also cleaned off about half of the English Garden flower beds today. This is the first really nice day we've had that I could work outdoors. I also was able to take a walk and hang laundry on the line. We sure hope spring is here to stay!


Spent the afternoon in town looking at lots with my mother-in-law and meeting with a builder. She plans to have a new home put up and I am very happy for her. I remember all the excitement of getting my new home about 7 years ago. Lots of decisions and it keeps you busy!


May I encourage you to keep reading the Bible diligently in these days? So much is happening that threatens to change the course of our lives. The only steady things are those that pertain to God; things like love, the Word of God, His care for us, etc. An unshakeable stability is found in the truths of the scriptures. All the earthquakes going on around the world remind me that all that can be shaken is being shaken lately, or so it seems. Let's not be one of the things that can easily be shaken. Let your foundation be built on God's word. Blessings, LORI

BITS OF NEWS

Just a quick little update since I didn't post for a week! We are in Grandville, Michigan at the RLCI Leadership Conference and having a great time.

We are experiencing wonderful spring weather here in Michigan. Hope you are too! Decided to change the picture on my profile. This one appears on my new book, just released, "A Sturdy Fence." I made this dress for JT's wedding several years ago and never used it for that. Just a little hint--since I'm holding a black straw hat, the picture is so appropriate for book three, that I hope to have out yet this year. A large part of the story revolves around two straw hats! Blessings, LORI

DESTINED TO BE ROYAL

I just wanted to share birthday pictures with you! Emma turned two yesterday! Today Sophie turned two months!

Last night we all celebrated at a princess birthday party in Emma's honor. Her daddy prayed to open the party, thanking God for two wonderful years with Emma. Then we all enjoyed some food, among which were the princess' favorites--macaroni and cheese (more popularly known as "ronies,") and black olives! Emma received many lovely gifts that she opened very nicely and neatly (she really did!) and enjoyed each one in turn. She received a new plate and bowl and promptly turned around and went to the food table and began filling it with the sliced tomatoes that were there for sandwiches! The pop-up princess castle with attached tunnel was from Granny and Papa. It was a popular item. We didn't know the party was a 'princess' theme when we bought it. She's very mature for two and really growing up fast. We adore her and love our little princess!

Now, just for the ladies: isn't it the dream of every girls' heart to be a princess? Or at least to be treated like one? I have read a lot in the past few years about this phenomenon. The first woman, Eve, was destined to be the "princess" of the first earthly kingdom, Eden, alongside her husband, Adam. Sin disrupted this perfect plan and the enemy of our souls stepped in to ruin her life's role and to thrust upon her daughters forever more consequences that are anything but "royal."

Thankfully our Saviour bought back our royal rights through His death and resurrection, once again bestowing upon us a kingdom and a royal priesthood. In His eyes all His daughters are "princesses," women of great value and worth deserving of royal treatment.

Sadly, many girls and women today do not know that they are loved by a Saviour who wants to restore their royalty. Maybe they had a father that didn't value them, a husband or series of men in their lives who did not see their true worth. May we as Christians be all about the business of restoration in this world, the ministry of reconciliation. Christians moms and dads, value your daughters as the princesses that they are. Let them experience your love and respect for their womanhood. Because of the books I write, I have a lot of interest in things that respect womanhood. Courtship is just one of the seemingly minor issues that really promote the value of Christian womanhood. Modesty is another. We all need to take an assessment of some of our cultural practices that really do nothing but teach women and girls that they are not respected. As Christians, we are the bearers of truth--better techniques for life. Teach your daughters their worth (Proverbs 31). Every little girl should know she is a princess. Every woman should grow up with the attitude that she is the daughter of a King. Blessings, LORI