Summer 2015

       Summer is here, even though it was only about 46 degrees when we woke up this morning. Today was quite beautiful and I spent a small part of it out in the garden with the Lovely Keren Ruth. A couple weeks ago,  my love and I headed south for a fun weekend. We got to spend some time with my grandparents as well as going to a big family reunion. It was quite enjoyable.
      While we were at my grandparents, we stopped at the Oasis. The Oasis is small chunk of my grandparents farm that has been converted into a picnic area. There is an old gravel pit pond and canoe, a small cabin, and a fire ring. "Grandpa and Grandma's Oasis, the Place of Shearer Fun."

       And fun has certainly been had there. Growing up we camped there, picnicked there, swam there, and had family reunions there. A few days before we got there, a storm had blown through taking down a bunch of trees in the area. Including this massive beast at the Oasis.

     The BPW reunion was also a lot of fun. It is three family reunion. One of my good friends, Polly, is part of the B family(she's actually how I met my love) and so it was a lot of fun getting to spend the weekend with her.

      I have been enjoying my summer job as well. Last week I went swimming with the kids and as I was attempting to get myself to sink so I could sit on the bottom, I realized that I was actually kind of buoyant. Sure, sometimes we sink and have a hard time staying a float in the water. But really, if you take a good breath of air you float pretty well.
     And, In this life, we often try to hold onto God as though He were a flotation device. We rely on Him to keep us from sinking, but we are just holding onto Him on the outside. But what we need to realize is that if we just take a deep breath of Him, He lifts us up from the inside out. What I am trying to say with all that is the One who keeps us afloat should be a life giving, internal part of us, not just something we hold onto. Anyway...
     My garden is growing well! My radishes are done and there was a LOT of them. I attempted making two different kinds of radish pickles to use them up. I'm not sure they make for great tasting pickles, but they sure are pretty.

      And then there is Norbert the turtle. Luke and I found him crossing the road awhile back and brought him home. At first we said we were only going to keep him for awhile, but we have gotten attached. Luke came home the other day with a real aquarium and water filter. He also got a tiny fiddler crab to keep Norbert company. We named her Lucinda. It has been a lot of fun. Baby turtles are fun to watch.

Norbert

 Hiding under the rock.

 Lucinda the Crab

Well I hope your evening is as beautiful wherever you are as it is here. Happy Tuesday and Happy Summer!

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”~Henry James