NO !!

Our Sweet Puppy is no more and there is no nice way of saying what happened so I won't say it. We really miss her a lot. She was beautiful!!

Nelda

My name is from a relitive in Ontario who I've met only once, and it means “of the Elder tree.”

If you know anything about an Elder tree you might know how it tends to grow unruly unless it is pruned often. I have two of them on my lawn and I know that to be true. That would describe me quite well, and I do have to work very hard at the little goodness I have. The church helps keep me in ship-shape so that I can bear any kind of fruits at all.

The fruits of an an Elder tree are called Elderberries and they are suposed to make wonderfuly sweet jam. They are a bright red (my used to be favorite color) round and remind me of blood drops. So all this makes me think that the blood of Jesus Christ was not shed in vain for my sake, I need it to be covered. Not that I will sin carelessly or purposely but that is my hope and my salvation.

Goodbey Toffee

We lost our friend a few weeks ago to the instincts of our dog Lyla. He was a good rabbit and we loved him. The kids buried him in the bushes that he loved to play in.

Eight year old Grace wrote a cute poem for him that I'd like to share with you.

Toffee love

Step by step

Memory by memory

Love is falling apart.

-Grace Kleinsasser

Best Yet

Carrie's farewell cake marks the passing of a much anticipated wedding, and it was lovely.

This is by far the most beautiful cake I have ever been involved in; Sharon and I made it. I wouldn't change a thing on it.

Judas' 8Th birthday cake, we played a fox and goose hide and seek game with the kids. It didn't quite turn out, when the geese made their trail with shavings, the path was destroyed by the lawnmower that was making it's rounds that evening. My group spend an hour in the back a potato truck in a shed. No bad bugs, but a lot of the smaller kids needed to go every 5 min, but it turned out to be fun anyway. Judas is just taking the responsibility of mowing some lawns, he is doing good!!

Krista's birthday cake was a fun experience, it was my first with fondant. It would be a little nicer with a paler purple, but that's not bad for a first.

How's this for the most grossed out person on the colony? Funny that her girls were fighting over who gets the spider in the end.

Bugs

Here I am with sky and trees

Wondering in the singing breeze

I stand amazed at the huge sun

And marvel at the larger ones

But looking down just at my feet

The smallest miracles I meet

A tiny flower of pure white

A purple Harebell delicate

A fly as glittery as a princes fairy

Glistens as it caches rays

A worm bejeweled and crowned

A dandelion's perfect round

I've never seen an emerald green

But this beautiful bug is all I need

That one day!!

That one day in June when I feel so alone and forgotten was here again. It is on that day that I end up going for a walk and looking for the larva of the butterfly on the milkweed in the ditches around the colony. It seems to happen every year, I'll be bathing in fears and doubts and I'll get such a boost from the many interesting bugs and little animals that God made. Last year on that day I wrote a poem about them.

It makes me wonder why my mouth ever stops singing and why my hands aren't always lifted in praise. It must be the beautiful delicate decorations on every bug I see that helps me understand that if God took the time to make this complex design on the tiniest of crawlers, how much more will He look out for me.

The other day I found a tan little bug with a perfect microscopic heart on it's back, plus a beautiful black and white spider. Today I got a glimpse of a hot pink creature and found another with real Indian artwork on it. It just amazed me. I think that the mountains and stars are so incredible, but what a wonderful world lies at my feet.

My used to be favorite color,

I think I've gone from red and black and am gravitating more to yellow and lilac. Anyway it sure looks that way when I'm planting my garden or watching a sunset.