Thanks, Rock Corner Baptist Church, for inviting the Ashley Family children.
Zelma having Fun
a-MAZE-ing
They had an a-MAZE-ing time!
Sarah and our Sandy
We appreciate your generosity and love!
Photos taken by Sandy Schwoebel Brown and used with permission.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen Ashley, Senior
We’re growing well around here. The corn is up high enough to have little green worms. I’ve just been looking for holy (ha ha) leaves, locating the little tiny green caterpillars and tossing them into the laying ladies.
The girls also like it when I bring the compost out and dump it. They are like garbage disposals with wings and legs. They eat ANYTHING! The girls also like it when I thin the corn, which was growing WAY too close together (Mr. Ashley insisted I put 3 kernels in each spot… he didn’t believe me when I told him ALL my plants grow well-I pray for every plant.) I throw the pulled up stalks in there and the squawking starts. It’s so much fun to watch them snatching the leaf and running around playing chase with it.
The corn stalks will give the ladies shade as well as snacks. I haven’t gotten the sunflowers planted on the end but I will try to get that done really soon. Join me at Freedom Gardens Forum so I can find some more people there from Louisiana. Here’s that link: http://freedomgardens.org/
With the three grandchildren, the household size is up to nine again: seven children and two adults. School (public and home) is out and so we have to get children ready to go to various camps. We are still running into town three or four days a week with family visitations, library trips and, our favorite, church.
I’m reading First Peter this week and also I am meditating: Oppression Vs. Submission.
Oppression says: You will do this. Submission says: I will do this.
I do not want to oppress others, adults or children. I do want to submit to the Holy Spirit.
The corn stalks are peeking up out of the earth. The tilled ground was very soft and it rained a LOT last night so when I stepped too close, I sank to my ankle and left a puddle behind. It would have been better to draw a little line with my finger instead of poking a hole to put in the 3 kernels while planting. Then the plants could be lined up instead of bunched but no worries. 33 hills of 3 stalks of corn. Praise the Lord!
The Seven Laying Ladies have learned to roost!
They love the poultry run even though they have to share it with Duckling One and Two.
Today was a 3 egg day. The extra egg was probably laid late yesterday since we only got one egg on Sunday.
It still made me smile to get 3 eggs today!
The chicks have grown. 
It will be so exciting when they start laying by grandson Kaiden’s birthday (August), as expected.
The ducks are laying every day and since the chicks have taken over the “duck” tractor, Hubby built me a new poultry pen. 
It’s quite a bit larger than the tractor. I put their former shelter (the top to an old dog carrier) in the new pen in case they wanted something familiar but they were quite happy to lay their eggs in the new couch coop. 
The couch coop already needs a new top (we knew it would) but was providential so we aren’t complaining. It is filled with leaves (deep litter method) and the duck eggs are so clean now when we pick them up!
Now for the exciting news! We have Bunnies. The new additions were selected by the entire family on a trip to Tractor Supply for more Dumore poultry feed. Rabbit manure is exceptionally good for the garden and Spring Warren at Quarter Acre Farm says that two rabbits can produce as much poop as a steer. That will be a great addition for the worm farms, as well as the garden and compost heaps.
Meet Goldilocks and Peter Rabbit.
Don’t worry… like Duckling One and Duckling Two, and the seven ladies (chicks)– these bunnies are destined for a long and happy life- not the supper table!
1 stick margarine
2 TBS flour
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 small yellow onion, diced
Melt the margarine in a large skillet.
Add flour and whisk constantly over meidum high heat until lightly brown, for a medium roux.
Add onions and cook 2-3 minutes, until the yellow onion pieces are clear and very lightly browned.
1 quart half and half
2 15 ounce cans cream style corn
1 15 ounce can whole kernel corn
2 cans Cream of Potato soup
Add half and half, corn and potato soup.
Zatarains Concentrated Shrimp and Crab Boil (liquid)
Tony Chacheres Original Creole Seasoning
2 12 ounce bags Crawfish Tail Meats (Please use Louisiana products.)
Add crawfish tail meats, crab boil and Tony Chacheres and simmer 30 minutes.
Serve inside nice big bread bowls, over rice, or, my favorite way, over boiled potatoes.
This is 100% better if made 24-48 hours before serving but it never lasts that long at my house unless I make it when absolutely no one is here (including me) and HIDE it! ROFLOL
To my non-resident sons and daughters: I’d save you a bowl but… you know!
Some people call their Bible a sword, and it is. To me, it is also a Love Letter. So open your love letter to Jeremiah 31:3.
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.
Jeremiah 31:3
In 1984 when I was nine months pregnant with my second daughter and we were living in a tiny little trailer outside Kileen, TX, near Ft. Hood, two deputies arrived to arrest me for a bounced check I had written to a grocery store. The check had been redeemed and I had the receipt so the deputies did not take me with them but the incident made me realize that I couldn’t go on as I had been going.
My mom had come to Texas to visit me and I begged her to tell me how to have the faith that she had. Mama never doubted God’s existence or that He would take care of her and I wanted that unfeigned faith, the faith of my Mama. Mama prayed for me as I stood crying beneath a tree beside the tiny trailer.
It has always been my belief that my daughter, Holly, was annointed with that same faith, my Mama’s faith, right there– before she was even born, at the moment my Mama prayed. Holly has always believed that God exists and that He cares for her.
This is my love story. God loved me and He willing chased me down. I turned around (repented of my sins) and began to chase Him.
Quite a few years later, I was still chasing God and someone gave me a well-known book to read that had helped them. When I opened the book to the first chapter, I read, “It’s not about you.” I closed the book and put it on the shelf.
In 1 John 4, my Love Letter says, “We love him, because he first loved us.” It is about me and it is about you. God loved us so much that He is willing to chase us down.
How did God show us that He loved us? John 3:16-17 says,
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
God is not willing that anyone should perish but not everyone accepts God’s love and God gave each one of us the freedom to choose life or death. He will not go against my will.
So how can I receive the life and love that God is willing to give me? Romans 10:10 tells me,
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
So what is God’s love like? First Corinthians 13, verses 4-8 tells us how God defines love:
Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, It does not boast, It is not proud. It is not rude, It is not self-seeking, It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
But, What if I can’t hold onto that love that God is giving me? Romans 8: 35, 38-39 says,
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Song of Solomon, a love letter within a love letter, says in chapter eight, verse 7, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.”
As I began to believe that God loves me, I wanted to show God that I accepted His love. So, What does God want from me? John 15: 9-12 says,
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Now when I read these verses I was concerned and you might be too. Uh-Oh, So here’s the catch. IF I can obey His commandments He will love me. Or IF I can obey His commandments He will abide with me and give me joy.
The devil, that thief and murderer, shouts immediately, You’ll never be able to do it! HaHa, you God-chaser, you FAILURE. You will NEVER be able to keep the commandments. Thou SHALT, Thou SHALT NOT! Haha. You will FAIL.
But then the very next verse tells me what Jesus commands me to do:
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
In Matthew 22, Jesus was asked by an expert on the Law (the law of Moses) what was THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
So the commandment of Jesus is to LOVE.
Now as I began to ponder this commandment, I was still a little concerned.
Could I love as God loved? As I have stated above, God has defined love in my Love Letter. Here is that definition again, paraphrased in light of Jesus’ commandment:
I am patient,
I am kind.I do not envy,
I do not boast,I am not proud.
I am not rude,
I am not self-seeking,
I am not easily angered.I keep no record of wrongs.
I do not delight in evil but I rejoice with the truth.
I always protect,
always trust,
always hope,
always persevere.
The best part is the very last four words:
I will never fail.
Bless the LORD, oh my soul, and ALL that is within me bless HIS HOLY NAME!
God loves you and I love you. If you want to know more about God’s love, you can email me:
It is time to de-clutter our home and get out of C.H.A.O.S. Yes, that is a (FlyLady reference.) There are boxes in every room containing a variety of unused and unusable items. So I just need to dispose of this stuff so I can go on with life!
It is difficult for me to dispose of books. They become “friends” to me and I find it hard to say good-bye. Some books are beyond use or not fit to give away (due to dirt, grime, age) so I am re-cycling them into “Book Hill”—literally burying them in the back yard in a low spot to build it up.
Some of the still useable books could be passed on to local homeschoolers*. Here is a link to a list of these books. I’ll put them in a plastic grocery sack and if you are interested, email me. Absolutely no returns! haha
Bye Bye Books List PLEASE put Bye Bye Books in the SUBJECT or your email will probably be deleted as Spam.
* Local means we must be able to meet with you or leave them somewhere in the Sterlington, Farmerville, or Monroe, Louisiana region to give you the books UNLESS you are willing to pay postage. AGAIN… no returns! haha
Thanks to my very wonderful husband for putting in my garage sale find, a stainless steel kitchen sink. He put it in as soon as we got home and you have NO IDEA how much it means to me to have a sink that works better!
Thank you, Allen Ashley, Sr.! I love you and appreciate you.
Moms Survival Guide 
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