the view from my kitchen window

Friday, June 15, 2012

ahh . . the SWEET FIELDS of HOME

Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background, on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian reservation, tucked into the
southwest corner of the State of Colorado

There is nothing like the fragrance of fresh cut grass or alfalfa and just last week we were able to savor the experience of that with the first cutting of the season.   We no longer own the farm but I still live on part of it and this alfalfa field is just out my door.  This is what it looked like earlier this week just before the stacker came along, scooped up the bales and the irrigation side-rolls were started up again.  My dad never baled the hay until just a few years before he went to his heavenly home.  He always chopped it into big wagons, and then offloaded the hay into the center section of the barn for winter feed.  He also used some to go into the silage pit to make silage, also for winter feed.

I so cherish the sounds, sights and smells of farming!   One of my favorite smells is that of freshly turned dirt . . yes, dirt!   Call me crazy but I like that smell.  I also like the smell of fresh cut hay or grass.  I also like the sound of the sprinklers on the irrigation side-rolls . . with their ch-ch-ch-ch sound and it causes me to be grateful for water!   I enjoy hearing the farm machinery, the rhythmic sound of the swather, the baler, the tractor . . all of it.  I was raised on this farm and I never tire of deriving pleasure ouf ot the sights, sounds and smells!  I'm thankful, LORD, for this gift!!!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

for the love of a Kitty Cat!

Skye . . very exhausted, but happy to be home safe and sound! May 28, 2012

What is it about our pets, but for the purpose of this reflection, a soft, fuzzy, itty-bitty kitty cat that just makes us melt?   This is the face of my cat, Skye, a 17 year-old tortoise-shell feline friend who is sweet, friend, cuddly and has been reigning as the "queen of everything" in our house since she was about 10 months old.  This is also the face of Skye who had just found her way home, that very day of May 28, 2012,  after an adventure that caused us great concern . . she had gone missing for about 1 1/2 weeks!   We feared the worst and were ecstatic when she found her way home . . . very, very grubby with "ground in" dirt, all over; a bit thinner than she was; very weary and clearly glad to be HOME!!! 
 HOME!!!!   She has been doing well, eating normally, behaving in her usual manner and getting back to her normal kitty-cat life!
I know she is just a cat, but she is God's creation and I believe He gives us room in our hearts and lives for loving and caring for them, for making them part of our "family", for not wanting anything to happen to them.  
The odds for survival and getting back home, safe and sound, were actually heavily stacked against Skye but God performed a miracle for her . . for us . . and saw her safely home.  We are so grateful!  She's back to her usual "plastering" herself in my lap in the evening when I'm relaxing in front of the TV . . . she curls up, settles in and sleeps.   I'm glad!   I'm also glad she isn't very big so she's not so heavy on my chest.   Whatever adventure she went through required her to exercise her survival skills  . . . if she could only talk "people" so we could know all about it.
THANK YOU GOD . . FOR KEEPING OUR "SKYE" SAFE and BRINGING HER
HOME! 


Picture taken in late March of the "queen" soaking up some sun