Hang Wholly on God’s Providence
Hang wholly on God’s providence;
He is thy Shield and thy Defence;
He wilt not leave thyself alone
When thou cast all before His throne.
Submit thyself beneath His hand
And then thyself shall safely stand
Against the devestating tide
Of those whose life is seeped in pride.
The proud God never doth reward,
But those who live by every word
Of His; they ne’er forget His laws
Tho’ mean men hate them without cause.
May 24th, 2009
I meant to post this a while back, but we were experiencing computer problems, so I could not. This is a slideshow of our Sheltie, Bonnee, who died on May 17th, 2004.
This is Tango, the Amazing Whistler.
Recently, Kathy and I taught him the first part of “Little April Showers” by Frank Churchill, and we’re working on the second part. It’s Tango’s favorite song to whistle. The other day, while sitting on the mirror perch, he broke out into a improvisation that was hilarious.
Click this link to listen to the original song. Little April Showers
Click this link to watch Tango’s rendition. tangoimprovlittleaprilshowers1
Yesterday, some friends of ours aquired a week and a half old Holstein bull. So when I got around to checking my e-mail, these pictures were waiting for me.
His name is Ferdinand.
I’ve seen newborn cats, puppies, foals, birds, babies…but I haven’t seen any newborn calves up close. Well, I sort of have. I’ve seen baby Herefords, Angus and the inevitable crossbred, but not dairy calves. Dairy cows aren’t as popular in Texas as beef.
Isn’t he adorable?
I just love those big, soft eyes.
He’s so little, they have to bottlefeed him.
I can hardly wait to meet this little guy in person!
Consider mine affliction and deliver me: for I do not forget Thy law.
Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to Thy word.
Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not Thy statutes
Great are Thy tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to Thy judgments.
Many are my persecutors, and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from Thy testimonies.
I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not Thy word.
Consider how I love Thy precepts: quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy loving-kindness.
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of Thy righteous judgements endureth forever.
Psalm 119:153-160
Behold Mine Heart
O God, O God, behold mine heart,
The anguish tearing it apart;
Deliver me from all the ill
Of which my soul hath drunk its fill.
They hate me, Lord, without a cause;
They hate me, for I love Thy laws.
They persecute me everyday
Because I walk along Thy way.
Mercy, mercy, Lord, for me
That I may live in purity.
Mercy, mercy, Lord, for them:
They know not whence their evils stem.
Consider, Lord, all this my prayer;
I now cast all upon Thy care:
My hurt and pain I yield to Thee;
According then, Lord, quicken me?
May 24th, 2009
It’s a good thing to have a friend with a camera. Elisha Wahlquist sent me these pictures yesterday.
One of their hens went broody and just hatched a batch of chicks. Aren’t they adorable?
I love baby animals from baby mice to baby whales.
These came from a small thunderstorm we had a few days ago. I was practicing my whistle at the time, so I missed taking photographs of this one. Elisha kindly sent these three stunning pictures to me.
I can hardly wait to see more of Elisha’s pictures in the future! I have another friend, Amanda, who just caught a camera for her birthday also. Cameras seem to be the trend these days!
Most Sovereign Lord of All the Earth
Most Sovereign Lord of all the earth, Whose goodness ceaseth never,
Oh grant that I may walk with Thee in purity forever!
Since Thou hast saved me by Thy grace, I now am Thine own servant;
In holiness, Lord, let me grow, each day, each prayer more fervent.
Though comforts fail and pleasures fade, I know that Thou wilt guide me;
And when I find myself alone, I know Thou art beside me.
Tho’ where Thou leadst is grim indeed, where life and truth are wanting,
Thou art my joy, my peace and hope and givest faith undaunting.
Whate’er Thou wilt shalt be my task; for Thee I shall bear witness
So generations from me will stand firm within Thy greatness.
And when I die, dear Lord above, death will not keep me ever,
For Thou wilt draw me to Thyself to dwell with Thee forever!
Written November 4th, 2005
I understand that you requested to see some of our wildflowers. If you lived next door, I would have brought over a big bouquet of them. As it is, I can only share these by photograph. I wish you could smell them.
These are Indian Blanket and Firewheel. Both flowers are subspecies of something else, so they are very difficult to tell apart. They have a rich, spicy sort of smell.
There’s a little cornflower in this photo.
This is the most classic example of an Indian Blanket that I have ever seen in my backyard.
This was supposed to be an Indian Blanket, but I think it is confused. Perhaps it was trying to be…
…a Mexican hat!
This is the yellow form of Mexican Hat.
Wild oats. Yes, you can eat them.
Lemon Mint. This is a native herb to Texas prairies.
Horse mint. Nearly the same as Lemon Mint. Smells just as good. For somewhat obvious reasons, this is a favorite flower of mine. 
This one is shy.
Close up of the horse mint.
Cow vetch. Farmers seed their pastures with this and rye grass for their animals. The rye grass is terrible for the wildflowers because it’s aggressive. Cow vetch is not so bad and it is edible for humans. We could feed this to our birds too, but Kathy and I haven’t tried that.
Bug on the cow vetch. Don’t ask me what kind it is ’cause I haven’t a clue. There’s a lot I don’t know about bugs.
I know about this one. This is a damsel fly. They come in blue or grey around here. In the creek beds, it’s possible to find bright red and black ones.
That little green bug is a lacewing. Lacewings are wonderful beneficial insects and we have them by the hundreds in our wildflower field. They are hard to photograph because they move so quickly.
I do not believe this is a honey bee. There are many different native bees to Texas that I’m only just learning about.
Here is a honey bee.
You can see the tongue on this one!
The bees were so happy their back ends were wiggling while they sucked up the bountiful supply of nectar.
This is not a bee. It’s a bee mimic - a fly.
This is either another sort of bee or a yellow jacket. I didn’t get close enough to this one to be able to tell.
Wasp woman.
Joy. Joy loves the wildflower field. There are lots and lots of rabbits for her to chase.
I hope you enjoyed my pictorial bouquet as much as I did putting this all together! As more come into bloom, I will endevour to post them. We actually have more flowers, but they’re further out and it was too thick and wet. I didn’t want to risk coming across a snake (we’ve been spotting snake road kills everywhere - the population seems to have exploded). I’m not scared of snakes, but I am careful. In a few days, it should be dry enough for me to get some more pictures.
Have a wonderful week!
Love, Karen
I am so cute, I even impress myself.
Karen likes to call me “Miss Fluffy.”
She says this is why she likes to scratch me behind the ears.
Ahh… a little to the left please…
Now look what you’ve done! You messed up my feathers!
Now I have to fix everything…
The tummy feathers connected to the drumstick feathers…
The drumstick feathers connected to the side feathers…
The side feathers connected to the back feathers…
The back feathers connected to the tail feathers…
Now see the pretty, pretty bird!
“Oh, believe me, I do!”
Oh no, not him again!
“Well, you know, I am rather handsome, don’t you think?”
No, I don’t!
