life beautiful giveaway

~ Lily, waving hello ~

While at the barn, recently, I hear mewling. Eventually, I followed the sound to the hay loft where I found this little one. Kimberly, a young friend, named this little one Lily which is odd, because in the last month or so, two human Lily's have crossed my path. Anyway, Lily it is and she's quite young, perhaps 5 weeks and I've been feeding her with an eyedropper. Yesterday, I broke down and bought a kitten bottle and she'll drink from it but doesn't enjoy it. Could it be the little rascal has already become accustomed to being fed instead of feeding? Oh dear. I hope she's not a liberal Democrat a conservative.

~ my barn loft ~

She came to the house, stuffed inside my shirt, because of the huge barn owl perched overhead, staring in disapproval because I'd snatched his warm meal almost from his mouth. Lily lives in the bathtub until she's big enough to move to the bathroom and, eventually, to the rest of the house. She's fed every 2 to 3 hours during the day but, selfish me, I only feed her once in the middle of the night.

The feeder had to be moved so, using the Ranger, I piled everything on and everyone in, and changed location. You can, just barely, see the white face of a black Angus peering from the side of the building. Once moved, the feeder was filled with mineral salt.

Could it be the boys are enjoying their minerals? I take my stewardship seriously and provide quality minerals, feed and clean, cold mountain river water for all my animals. 

~ doe and twin fawns ~

A lot of evenings are spent on the back porch, watching this mama and her two babies. If someone drives by, slows down and stops, I jump to my feet and begin screaming, whistling and, in general, making as much noise as possible. This alerts Mama to call to her young and flee. No, as a matter of fact I don't trust people; there are far too many instances of me finding deer dead in the field because some stupid idiot...or is that an oxymoron?... has shot a deer out of season and from the road. I don't mind hunters and know they provide a service both to nature and to their families, and, around here, the men hunt to put meat on the table. They'll spend hours, even days, tracking something they've shot and wounded. It's a sad fact of hunting but not every shot is a kill shot. 

~ 22.5 round bales~

John, my neighbor down the road, and some buddies, perhaps even Ashley, his wife, put up my hay. God blessed us with good weather and twenty-two and a half bales were cut, kicked, raked and baled DRY! Thank You, God! And, thank you John and all!

Once again, another month anniversary of Dave's death has come and gone with me not remembering. Thank you, God. I think. Is life beautiful? Yes. Is life difficult? Yes. Do I miss Dave every single solitary day? Yes. A friend asked, "Do you ever go into a room and start to speak to Dave, then realize he's not there?" I didn't answer her then but will now. The answer is, "not hardly. There's never a day that I don't remember he's dead. There's never a day that I don't miss him." But, for two months in a row, I've missed the anniversary date of his death so, I'm healing...right? I'm growing ahead. I'm beginning to understand again, in a heart sense, life is beautiful. 
Are you familiar with the magazine life:beautiful...faith for your journey? I buy it whenever I see it and, probably, should subscribe. Today, I found the summer 2012 issue and picked up two copies. When I finish this blog entry, I'm taking the magazine and a glass of tea to the back porch where I'll spend a few minutes, relaxing, before getting on the mower and getting back to chores.
I want one of you to relax, so, please leave me a comment and let me know your favorite way to relax. This time next week, Friday, September 14, around 3 p.m., using Random.org, a name will be chosen to receive a copy of this issue.
In the midst of life's hardships, let's agree...life is beautiful!

Blessings ~ healing ~ calves ~ deer ~ fawns ~ dry hay ~ Lily ~ life:beautiful ~