Getting a Mountain Bike Working To Give Away

Over the past four years or so, our small town has had fresh sushi at the supermarket in the Deli section.

I made friends with the first couple that sold sushi in our town and found out they were from Burma. They didn't speak Burmese however, as they are a mountain people called "Chin." They had limited English. I shared a little about them and shared some pictures in a post when they came to my house and dropped off a huge sushi platter for Mothers Day. It was just before they were moving out of town and I was very sad to see them go! Here is a link to th

at post! 

 The next man was living here without his wife and was a adorable guy. He played drums at a Christian church every Sunday making a six  hour drive just to attend church! They don't have a "Chin" speaking church except in big cities. He did speak English and Spanish fairly well. 

The next guy had the same name as the first man, so I guess "Van" is a common Chin name. He wasn't here all that long and then we got a new guy.

I met him several times and then didn't go get much sushi due to Covid. It thought about him with people not shopping and how he was surviving. He doesn't have a car, has limited English, and is living in a cheap motel. 

There is a smart guy who recruits these "Chin" people who all had to seek religious asylum in the U.S. and there is a huge population of them in Texas of all places. This man teaches them how to make sushi, and then drops them off in a small town and talks the supermarket deli t

o allow them to sell sushi and give them a small work area. In return, the store takes a percentage of the profits. 

The guy that recruits them and fronts them the travel to the spot and deals with setting up the supermarkets deals takes his cut, and the workers get a small amount after they pay for supplies. They don't usually get real housing as they can't afford it but that also means they don't have many belongings and don't really know anyone. 

They can't speak the language very well so they are a bit insecure talking to people and often don't understand things. I can't imagine moving to a new city, living in a motel, not having a car, and not knowing anyone! The business guy comes around to check how things are going but it is a lonely world for these immigrants. 

I have talked to him several times in the past few months and he lights up when he see's me. Last

time, he gave me an extra sushi for my birthday. I took him some baked muffins with a note as that was so sweet. 

 I am getting ready to have a yard sale and have a mountain bike that I used to ride but my legs are so long that the seat was extended as high as it could go and still my legs weren't straight. I decided to get a different bike so asked the girls if one of them wanted it. One said she would look at it so it sat outside for a few years unused. 

The tires went flat and I was planning on selling it, but the thought came into my mind that I should offer Him the bike. 

We bought sushi this weekend and I asked him if he was interested in the bike, and he was SO excited. I told him I was really busy so it may not be for a few weeks, but I talked to someone at church on Sunday about maybe helping me put new inner tubes in the bike as it has been years since I have done that. I interestingly enough had two new puncture resistant inner tubes in the boxes. I sold all the bikes except mine at my last yard sale a few years back, so if when I give him the bike, I

wouldn't have one that fit the tube anyway, so today, a sweet boy from my congregation came to my home and helped me change out the inner tubes, I pumped them up and we both centered the tires and checked the brakes. 

I washed it after he fixed the tires and then polished it up which you can see in this photo. It had oxidized so much sitting in the back yard under the eves. I'm excited so I can put a bow on it and take it to him tomorrow. I'll share about that tomorrow! 

Have a blessed day!

The Positivity Path - In Memory of

Last week, my sister told me about the "positivity path" that a girl was doing in memory of a friend of hers who died by suicide recently. 

In her memory, this friend wanted to have people paint rocks with positive sayings and put them along the cities bike and walking path. 

She posted on social media sites for the city and asked different families and groups to create positive sayings on rocks and cover them with painted sayings, and then put a clear protective coat on them so that they will be able to withstand the weather. 

My sister has some very talented artists as she and her husband are both artists. They each painted some rocks and put them on the path. 

I guess they are on the other end of town on the path so I don't have pictures of them here as we only walked one end of the path. 

I loved the rocks that were on the path. There were some that little children did and were simple. Some were dark and the writing of the words wasn't in big enough and with lighter paint to be able to read them well, but I LOVED the larger rocks with positive words on them.

Many had rainbows on them which reminded me of my mother as well, so it was positive all around. 

I thought this was a great idea and it brightened our walk as we looked forward to seeing the next rock on the path. Maybe more towns should do this! 

Have a blessed, safe, and Positive day! 

My First Youtube "Friend" - Nuggetnoggin - Some Suggestions for Bugs, Charities and Crafts For Relics

I have been so frustrated lately with the choices on Netflix. Their prices keep going up and they flood the front screens with their own shows. The "Star" rating system is NOT representative of people rating the shows, basically, they rate the show for you on how much THEY think you would like the show. Of course they will rate everyone as loving THEIR shows!

Over the past year or two, I have found that the shows have grown HORRIFIC with obscenities in language and actions. I think I may have posted before about how in the first few minutes of several shows, there was total nudity and over and over I would stop watching and then when looking at what I viewed, all the shows were stopped on the nudity so when my kids would get online, they would see the nudity. My daughter finally told me to move the little watch timer OFF the nudity and then it wouldn't show that image forever. 

With that, I have basically stopped watching and am thinking of getting rid of  my subscription. I have posted in the past that I enjoy listening to something while I work in the yard and house. I used to listen to cassettes and cds of audio books but it got so much easier to just turn on my phone to Netflix and it would follow me wherever I went so I could listen continually even when working in a new area, as before, I would have to take the boom box with me from room to room. 

Since the Netflix owners have chosen to take many of the shows that were clean and entertaining off, and put more of their smutty stuff on, I have started this past few months to watch youtube videos. I have never watched someone's channel or subscribed to channels and would basically watch short videos of Ellen snippets, "America's got talent," or "The Voice" audition clips while my pictures or videos loaded while working on my emails etc. 

I am not sure how I found the channel of "Nuggetnoggin" but it started playing automatically at some point and I really enjoyed the young boy who was searching with his dad and grandfather for treasures using a metal detector. 

He reminds me of "The Crocodile Hunter" with his great enthusiasm and innocence about life. He is a Christian and used to read a bible verse at the end of each video but now he puts up a scripture at the beginning and / or end of his videos and some even have a pertinent scripture in the video. He is respectful of the places he digs taking out his trash. His language is clean and enjoyable even with his southern "aint" and "seen" tenses being mixed. I laughed many times watching as in his earlier videos as his grandfather will be video taping and will be focusing on a bug or the sky and make funny comments about how excited "nuggetnoggin" is about finding a nickel and taking 20 minutes to dig it. 

His grandfather gave his the name "nuggetnoggin" as he always had finding a gold nugget on his mind, thus, nuggets in his noggin. It is just so adorable. Now that he is older, he probably doesn't appreciate that old women are finding him adorable but he is just such a good kid / now man. He hasn't changed who he is to fit what other youtube channel detectors are doing or using the foul language that some take on when trying to be cool. He is just a really good young man. Since watching him, other videos will automatically play from other similar channels and I don't keep watching any as they don't hold the same charm and I don't find they are as enjoyable.

With that, I have watched probably most of his videos in the past few weeks and I was having a hard time sleeping one night and my mind wouldn't quit and I came up with some ideas that I wanted to share with him of things he could do with his finds that would help others. He finds so many of the same things and he has started his own company selling detectors but he has a HUGE fan base of children. He was so cute to send one of his younger fans his refurbished first metal detector for his birthday. 

I also noticed he is always commenting on how bad the mosquitos are and that they are eating him alive and I have that great natural essential oil bug spray that works so well, I wanted to share that with him. Here is a link to that post. I mention that he is in the water finding stuff sometimes more than 8 hours a day in the summer so I share about how to get rid of fungal infections as sometimes when you hands are wet all the time, you can get fungus. I cured my toenail of fungus and this is a link to the post on how I did that.

I then share in my video about several charities that use retired people, homeless people, or mentally challenged or autistic persons to make products. Nuggetnoggin  has a huge following online and his own business so he could sell the items to viewers online giving him a tax deduction and giving people jobs.

I also thought it would be cute if he used some of his relics and made a sign for his booth and business saying "Nuggetnoggin" say the "n" and "u" being old horse shoes. The "g" could be out of old clock gears etc. Wouldn't that be cute!

Anyway, he is always finding relics and rusty antiques so I share in the video I made how he could make the "junk" into something that would be of no work or cost to him but if he partnered with some places that help the homeless and they use grants to start up a business making signs out of old wood, blacksmith nails etc, it really wouldn't cost him anything yet could do some good. I also share ideas of items he could make and give to children in the hospital or foster care out of coins he finds in rivers with notes saying, "A lost penny has as much value as a new penny - What was lost, now is found" or something giving them hope with "In God We Trust" showing on the penny. As you all should know by now, "In God we Trust" is big in my life with finding lost coins. Here is my first post about that and you can search in the box at the bottom of the page for the many posts I have about "In God We Trust" as I have been blessed with many of them over the years.

Anyway, here are many of the items I have in my laundry room and "Western" room in my home that I think they could make and clean up the environment at the same time.

Hopefully, I haven't driven you all to sleep with my rantings but I hope that now that Nuggetnoggin has grown up and is doing well in his career, that maybe he can find the happiness that service and charity can bring into life. He has such an enthusiastic nature about him which is why he is so popular. I think with a little focus, he would be a GREAT motivational speaker for youth groups and I know he could easily get a charity / partnership going with the right organization. I mention three groups using volunteers and homeless people and thus giving them jobs and getting them on their feet to where they can function and move on and then another homeless person can take their spot until they are on their feet. Sometimes, it just takes one person caring to give them a chance. The best part is, there is no cost to set it up other than a few saws and some paint! 


The first organization I mentioned is "Tiny Tim Toys" and their average age of Volunteer is over 80 years old. They make little cars out of old pallets and give them to kids in the hospital and send them overseas to disaster victims etc. Here is a link to their page. 

The second organization is "Pine Street Inn" and they have a business where they teach homeless to cater. icater is the name of the catering company and they are quite successful helping the homeless get on their feet. I have a friend I met at Mitt Romney's Governors inauguration in Boston who is involved with this program. Here is a link to their website. 

Another such program is "The Empowerment Plan" which was started by a young girl who thought of a way to make a coat turn into a sleeping bag to help the homeless and they hire homeless and teach them to sew and give them jobs working on the coats. Here is a link to their site.


The last group I thought of was "Disabled Veterans" as I know they have workshops where they make things. I personally have no link to this but have bought items in the past assembled by Disabled Vets. I found this site online that does exactly what I am suggesting can be done using the old trash found by Nuggetnoggin. They make wood products until the vets are in a place where they can get back to working a regular job or get some self esteem that they have value etc. Here is a link to that organization. It is called Vetmade Products. 

Hopefully one or more "Detector" groupies can get together and start donating their stuff they find to a group that already exists and wouldn't it be fun if they got good at making signs using the trash and relics. The could make custom signs for cabins and things out of all that trash! There are just so many options and really, most are at no cost! 

I hope you all have a VERY Blessed Day! 

Great Way to Earn Money For Clubs and Organizations - Recycling

I started something in 2010 that was such a huge blessing to my family that I wanted to share it with you. I had some issues come up today that made me need to get into my filing cabinet and look for some information.

As often happens in my world, I got side tracked at that point cleaning out the filing cabinet! I organized some bank statement for the girls and then moved on to some other files that had been neglected for years. I don't schedule cleaning out the file cabinet but it happens every few years as I have reason to flip through it.

One of the files I was able to pull out and discard was my file on "recycling" which I started in 2010. I started it as a fundraiser and it helped our family for years. I couldn't have known at that point how many people it would help or the friends I would make from doing the project but it was a blessing all the way around.

I had all five girls in the Drill Team at one point or another. Sometimes, I had two girls on the team at the same time. It wasn't so much of an issue when my older girls were on the team as the High School had a program where kids that had fees of any kind could work summers doing different projects at the school to work off the fees at minimum wage.

I have a five year age gap between my second and third daughter so by the time Princess Three attended the school, the policy had changed. They could no longer work and get paid. The only kids that could work there were doing restitution in some form for other reasons and they couldn't actually give money to the kids.

I didn't have the over $1,000 that it would cost for her to participate on the team. She had already tried out and made the team and I didn't feel like I could pull her off the team but being a single mom, I didn't have that kind of funds for extra stuff. It all went to daily living and things like braces. In all the years my kids were on the team, they had never had a fund raiser. The instructor said she was too busy but if I wanted to do something, I could.

I know God is real as he has helped me in every experience and trial and I have felt His influence when I had no way to help myself. This inspiration was FAR above me. I prayed for ways to be able to allow my girls to participate in activities and I was able to trade out cleaning for my girls gymnastic and dance classes but I couldn't trade the school out for fees so I prayed for help and this idea came to me in answer to that prayer.

I came up with an idea about recycling. I had never even known we had a recycle place and hadn't ever taken stuff in to get recycled. I threw away all sorts of stuff over the years that I knew could be recycled but it wasn't until around this time that I found out about this place.

I found out where there were recycle places in town. One place only did aluminum. The other place was a ways out of town and did all sorts of different metals. I contacted both places and asked if they would team up with us to help the team. They both agreed to help and said they would give us an extra 10% on top of what they usually paid for recycled materials! Step one was a success!

For advertising, the papers and radio want paid advertising but if it is for a "group" and will help the environment and keep things out of the land fill, they sometimes will do a "feels good" story. This was the case for us. We were able to get pictures in the paper of the girls cleaning up a farm and when they put out a dumpster to collect metals. They didn't run a huge article but even just the picture with a description helped.

The radio had a morning interview show where they interviewed me asking about what metals we would take and when people could drop them off etc.

The city didn't want to allow us to put a sign up showing an arrow and telling people where they could recycle because ordinances say the sign has to be for the business inside. We were able to contact an owner of an abandoned building and they allowed us with the cities "OK" to put up a sign you see at the top of the page telling people where to donate their recycled metals.

I thought it would be great to have the school send home a letter about saving the metals and cans and then just have a truck in the parking lot one day a semester and allowing the kids or parents to just throw their stuff on the truck. They could even have class competitions and weigh the stuff. I never did get to that point as my life was so busy and what I did covered what I needed it to cover so it worked.

After the radio show, we got a call from a farmer who had inherited a farm where the farmer kept piles of scrap. He asked if the girls would like to recycle all of it if we were willing to clean it up. I contacted both recycle places and they both were willing to help. One put an empty dumpster on the site and the other was willing to come pull all the old farm equipment that was too large for us to move onto a truck and recycle it.

We found some copper and brass at the site and that gave us just over $100 with the one bin. The larger farm equipment gave us over $400! There were about 12 girls that showed up for the day and they all made $50 for the hour or two they worked! That was great pay for teenage girls! Then we asked the school which girls may need a little help paying their fees and put the left over onto those girls accounts. I don't know that the girls ever even knew they had help on their fees!

The city allowed us to send out a notice with the water bill stating what we were collecting and where they could donate their metals and I had my contact information on there so I could pick things up if needed. I never got any calls but it did raise awareness of what we were doing.

I contacted a glass repair place asking about the pile of metals they had behind their store and they told me I could have it as it was actually the states pile from their window upgrade program but when I mentioned it was for the drill summer camps and treats, the guy backed out and his brother told me they used the pile to pay for his sons baseball camp. I suggest if you are doing this, don't give the donors ideas. He obviously didn't know the value of the pile before I told him about it and it wasn't his. The state guys told me I could have it but since it was on the shops land, he took it.

It took a bit of work at first but in the end, it really helped out the teams as I was able to purchase the items that would have come out of the fund or the girls would have had to purchase the treat bags and "good luck" items out of pocket and sometimes, it went directly to the girls.

I had a few people that knew I was doing it donate it to the place and ask that the money be put directly towards my girls. I had one man who was close to our family clean out his barn and he took in old pipes etc and we got over $100 for my girls fees.

People truly do want to help and I would have donated all the stuff I threw away for years had I known and the fact that it could have helped someone. Sometimes, people just need to know how to help. Donating something that they were going to throw away anyway can help them feel good and know they are helping a good cause.

I am SO grateful to all the people who donated over the years and were so good to help. It was SUCH a BLESSING to our family for those girls. A few years back, the man that ran the recycle place and bin had a stroke and the garbage company wanted their bin back so it wasn't available for my youngest the past few years but at that point, I didn't have as many kids to support and her sisters helped cover her cheer camps etc. I had to share this last picture where the aluminum can donation was $111! Totally not a coincidence in my mind! If you don't know about that number, feel free to look up the "111" posts on my blog for a greater understanding. Here is a link to the first post about that.

Hopefully, this idea can help others just by sharing how it helped us. It really is a good way to gather funds without taking anything from anyone else. People can help just by donating their soda cans and trash!

Have a BLESSED Day!

Love Thy Neighbor As Thy Selfie - Book Review

After girls camp this year, (click here for a fun post about our decorations here.) one of the girls young womens leaders from our church bought a "thank you" gift for me. It was unexpected and she gave it to me with a wonderful card.  

At this point, I have to give you a back story. If you have read my blog for the over five years I have written it, you will know that in all that time, I have done one book review on Suzanne Collins, "The Hunger Game" series. Click here to read that review. 

I don't read anymore. I am always so tired and have so much to do that reading isn't a luxury I can take. I used to LOVE to read and was an avid reader but since having kids and being a single mom, I have altered my love of reading to a love of listening to audio books. Here is a post about that. I listen to books so I can do two things at once. Or, I listen to them while I drive to keep me awake. I have shared my love of this with others and have gotten several friends addicted to listening to book on audio. 

So, with that knowledge, I don't usually appreciate a book as a gift as it just gives me one more thing to add to my "need to do" list as I really do want to read them all but I just have to be realistic and know I will never get to it at this point in my life. 

A few months before getting this gift, I received a magazine from the college Princess One graduated from with her bachelors degree. I keep telling the girls that they should update the addresses at their colleges so I don't keep getting them but since they are all in "flux" they keep sending stuff to my home. I read the magazines when sitting for a few minutes. We leave magazines on the dining table so we can read an article while we eat etc. One article in her magazine was about an author who wrote a new book with the title, "Unselfish - Love Thy Neighbor As They Selfie" which I thought was a wonderful title. 

When I read that the book was stories about a hundred people who have served others, I thought to myself, "That is a book I would actually read!" It was just a passing thought but I thought perhaps someday I would find it at a second hand store or something. That was it. 

Flash forward, I get the gift and open it, I laughed knowing the my Heavenly Father truly does get me what I want and not just what I need! She got me the exact book that I wanted! When I could feel it was a book under the wrapping paper, I was a bit disappointed for the reasons I mentioned before.  With that, imagine my joy after opening it and realizing that Heavenly Father used my friend to give me a gift I really wanted. 

I started reading it to Princess Five at dinner and imagine my happiness when I read this story about a family that did acts of service on ..... Get this.... 11-11 for 111 minutes!!! 111 and 1111. They even had shirts made with the 111 on them!!!! If you don't know what the number 111 means to me, you can read the first blog about that here. There are so many posts where I see 111 that I made it a "subject" on my post subject list. You can type in 111 in the search box at the bottom in the search box and read those blessings. 

I was so impressed with the book, it's inspiring, it made me cry, it made me laugh, it was amazing. I love how the last page of the book gives you a spot where you can put your own story of something you did to serve others. 

I felt inspired by the book and am trying to collect some items for the food bank for homeless people who come through. They often don't have can openers so even if they get food, they can't always open it. The director has purchased some in the past and some bowls so they can eat them. I spoke with the director about what she thought would be helpful and it turned into some hygene kits with toiletries in draw string bags they can hang on their packs. Also, thick "shopping" type sewn bags that they can carry canned goods in as they leave instead of the plastic thin shopping bags that rip when loaded with cans and also cut into your hands when full. 

We also are getting draw string bags made for the silverware, can openers, bowls and reusable water bottles. I purchased and donated some plastic bins to store those items so clients can take what they need as some may already have one or more of the items, we will allow them to choose what they do need from the bins. 

I am looking into purchasing the military can openers bulk so they can keep it on their key chain or pack and it won't add much weight. The other items are gloves, hats and scarves. I am working on having the young women in our church make the scarves and hats and will have a "glove" drive along with the silverware, and water bottle drive so we can fill up the bins. 

It isn't much, but at this point, with so much going on with my health and trying to figure it out, I don't have lots of extra energy to do much at the moment but this is something I can do. 

What can you do? I would suggest before you do it, buy or check this book out at the library and see how others have helped and see if it inspires you in any area as there are so many different ways people help and the author did a great job finding many different types of service to include. Princess Five had the opportunity to actually see the author speak at a Rotary conference she attended. I have to say, I was a bit jealous when driving her home and she told me about that. I love meeting people who inspire me and I have to say that  Paul D. Parkinson compiling this book with such a cute title, truly did inspire me. If you want to contribute to my project, please let me know!

I want to thank my friend again for her wonderful generosity in being a helper to my Father in Heaven in getting me the exact book that I wanted to read! I am blessed with great friends! 

He Guides Your Day

When I went to bed last night, I figured I would get back to paying my bills, work on processing some of the hot peppers that my neighbor shared and be the "supervisor" for the Jr. Varsity game for the cheer squad my daughter is on today.  
 
It is funny how your day can change right from the minute you wake. I woke several times and had a hard time going back to sleep. I then got a text early from the director of the local food bank saying, "We have bananas..." I was SO tired I coulnd't get out of bed. I fell back asleep finally to wake with more texts and alarm reminders of things I needed to get done. I always want to go distribute things when they let me know so that they will continue to let me know when they have overages as it is such a blessing to so many rather than the food going to waste.

I started making calls to see if friends and neighbors wanted any of the hot peppers, bell peppers and onions my neighbors were going to throw away yesterday as their mother owns the land the garden is on and they needed to clean out the plants to fit them in the garbage cans as they were headed out of town. The plants had TONS of peppers on them and so I asked if I could distribute them and take what was left to the food bank. They were happy to see the produce get used so Princess Five and I went yesterday and helped them clean up all the peppers plants and some of the onions. 

I found some people who were happy to get some of the items and so I loaded up a box plus some bags to take around and also the bananas from the food bank. I took some dried bananas from my last batch that I left on too long that were a little dryer than my girls like them as I know someone down there does like them that way. I went down and picked up four cases of the pallet and a 1/4 they have and felt sad that I wasn't feeling better to help them distribute them all. I was just really tired. The bananas are BEAUTIFUL. Just ripe and wonderfully good. I did have a few people go pick up their own cases so that more were distributed but I just didn't have it in me to do more today.

I distributed what I needed to and came home to start drying the bananas since I ruined the last batch when I felt a STRONG feeling I needed to call a friend I haven't spoken to in a year at least. I think last time I saw her was Princess Four's graduation as she has moved away. 

I tried to dismiss the feeling and it came back. Now, I have to say that I have felt like I should call her for about a week now but kept putting it off. Today, I couldn't avoid it. Even yesterday, I found something at a second hand store I thought she would like so I purchased it for her even though I don't see her. I really think "someone" was trying to tell me to call her. 

I followed that feeling and called her. She sounded tired so I said very first right after she said "hello" I said, "You sound tired." She said, I am SO tired and the Dr. can't find out why. I started to tell her my diagnosis and symptoms and she has just about every symptom and believe it or not, she actually had three stool collection kits that she just got from the Dr. at her house right now!!!! 

I shared all of the stuff I've gone through to get the diagnosis and shared how to quickly test for them and while on the phone with her, I felt like I should head out and go to a specific store. I was on the house phone so I called my friend from my cell and left to go to the store I felt I should go to. I am there and a woman I know comes in and I talk with her quite regularly but she isn't a neighbor, I just see her around town. I say "hello" and she just tells me how tired she is. I chuckle to myself inside and know that God is in charge. She had just come back from out of town visiting one of the temples in our religion and said she is just so tired she has had to cancel a few times. I told her that was why I stopped going regularly is that I almost fell asleep twice driving home and kept falling asleep while there because I am so tired and I started sharing all my symptoms with her. She has the burning when sitting for 20 minutes or more, bumps in the back of the throat, fatigue, etc... She said she is so tired she tried to get into her Dr. this week and he is booked out six weeks. It was a different Dr. than I use and suggested that since my Dr. knows the symptoms and what is going on with me, that she may want to go to him and he is only four weeks out. 

She said she would go home and soak her hands and see what showed up. I truly don't know that everyone gets the parasites in their hands like I do as Princess Five didn't have them there but they are on her face. Either way, she may be on the track to get the stool tested. I shared my blog address with her and she said she had been to the Dr. not that long ago but her fatigue just continues to increase. I suggested that I think it has something to do with cats and walking barefoot. She said she has several cats and she has never wormed them. So.... if these two women can get diagnosed, it would be interesting to see what the State or CDC would do if many people start showing up with this parasite. I am sad to think of how many of my friends and neighbors are suffering with these symptoms and have no idea what is going on and the Dr. don't know to check for them so God is in charge and I do think he had me speak to both of these single women who are so tired they aren't functioning in their lives. That is something I know all too well! 

I am not the only one with "Sit-itus" and I may have to change the name to "Horsehair-itus" if they come back with the same diagnosis's. I do think at some point, they will get a clue, I just hope it is sooner than later. 

I am on my third day of the "over the counter" treatment and the only thing I have noticed is that my stomach hurts like I have ulcers. Not like it is killing anything but like ulcer pain. I still feel them crawling around inside, still have the eye redness and goopy. Other than being tired, not noticing that it is doing anything just yet but I do have a huge infection. I think the Vermox pills are looking better and better. 

I didn't get back to my checkbook. I didn't get the hot red peppers processed but I did dehydrate a case of bananas. I did cut up the bell peppers and freeze them. I did enjoy dinner with Princess Five and I did get to visit with many friends and neighbors either by phone, in the store or when I distributed the bananas. And, I did get to follow some strong feelings that may have guided a few women in a path to help their health as both are so exhausted that it is effecting how they live. 

I continue to pray that God will give me the inspiration to figure this out and that in following that inspiration, others may be benefited and we can all give GRATITUDE for his blessing us in all they ways HE does! I don't know where I would be without inspiration and prayer. I am grateful to live in a country where I can write that freely without worrying about who will see it and how they will retaliate! 

You never know how your day will go when He is in charge! 

Hummingbird Rescue Adventure

This past spring and summer, we had the joy of watching a humming bird build a nest in the tree just outside our dining room window. The nest is only as big as my thumb tip. It is so small that you have to point it out to people as it kinda looks like a knot on the tree itself. 


We watched momma bird tend to the nest regularly and the tree is right next to our garage door and that branch nearly reaches over the driveway so every time we would head out, she would start to "dive bomb" us to protect her nest and eggs.
 
When the egg hatched, she was vigilant in getting food and feeding the sweet little thing and when we would come into the dining room she would flit about looking in the window to let us know she was "on guard" if we should try anything. 
 
This picture is my pointer finger next to the nest. You can see it could just fit my thumb in the nest maybe. There is no way she could have had two babies. I don't know how any of the babies survive in such a little nest as they have no room to move. 
 
We went camping in the beginning of August and Princess Two came a day after we did and as she was leaving, she noticed the baby hanging from the nest by a leg. She called me frantic and I told her to put on a glove and try to put it back into the nest without hurting it. She did and left for camping happy that she had saved the baby.
 
We get home from camping and a few days later, the baby is gone from the nest. I thought one day when I was cleaning out the freezer in the garage that I heard it's little chirps but looking around I couldn't see it in the plants below the nest. 
 
I would see the mom fly around the shrubs and plants below the nest several times a day. I never saw her set down or interacting with the baby so I figured it had died or gotten eaten by a cat.    
 
Princess Five was mowing the lawn the other day and I just happened to be visiting with a Veterinarian about my parasite problem asking him questions about cat parasites when she called telling me that the mower had scared the baby bird out of the shrubs and she didn't know what to do. 
 
He said if the mother is still around, to put the baby back into the nest if we could reach it. I immediately went home and we put on gloves and then stuck the baby back into the nest. 
 
I was worried the mom may attack me but figured it was worth a try. I put it in the nest and held my had over the nest for a few seconds to calm it down so it didn't flop out onto the ground below again. 

It was in shock for about 20 minutes as it didn't move or adjust. I am sure after the mower scare, being man handled, and then put back into the nest, all after being on the ground for a week without it's mother, it was definitely in shock. 

I love that I was able to get some fairly clear pictures of the mother feeding the baby while flying in mid air. 


After the 20 minutes of shock rest, the baby started to settle down into the nest and adjust. The mother then did several "fly by" trips to make sure everything was "ok" and then she did a quick feeding which was almost missed if you blinked. 
 
The second visit was a bit longer and I was able to get a few pictures. She did three visits of feeding and each time she would fly to an upper branch of the tree and kept a watchful eye on her baby. 

I took the picture of the window from inside the house to show you just how small the nest really is. I show the glass butterfly wing is pointing to the nest and because I am so zoomed in on the nest in the video and pictures, you really can't get a good idea of just how small it is unless it is in perspective. 

The baby was the first thing I checked the next day and was thrilled it was still in the nest. About five days later, it was gone again. I didn't see the mom around at all for about a week and then one day, I saw her fluttering around the flower beds again and hoped she was just there for the lavender that was in bloom and not that her baby had fallen out again. I think that the baby was old enough to fly and choose to think that it flew away happy with its mom to better days. I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe otherwise. 

It was an adventure having that little nest in our lives for a few months. It was something new to me as I have never seen a hummingbird nest before. There is always something new to see. I love that in the beginning of the video, you can clearly see the hollow tongue of the mom many times. In another video I shot, you can see the baby's tongue. That was also a new one for me. 

I LOVE learning new things.