Saturday morning my mom and I headed out to the strawberry patch. With my grandfather still recovering from his open-heart surgery, the gardens are now our responsibility; problem is, we have to juggle them with our normal duties and chores.
But it was high time we tackled the strawberry patch.
Mom and I marched down the driveway in our capri pants and old shirts, hoes in hand. I did wear gloves, although afterward I didn’t quite see the point since I got a big fat nasty blister on my palm anyway. But the sun was shining and it wasn’t too hot right then. There’s also a certain “Ooh goody, we get to manhandle this challenge and we’re not gonna pull any punches!” mindset to it.
Especially when there just might be plump, juicy, sunshine-warm rewards beneath the jungle of weeds.
Mom and I hoed and pulled for two hours straight, and by the time we decided to call it quits, we were so hot and sore that we felt dizzy. We were heartened, however, by the sight of Pawpaw coming out to see how we were doing. You could tell he was itching to help. He tried to con me out of giving up my hoe, but I hid it behind my back and told him he couldn’t have it unless Mom said it was okay. He was very cheerful, and though he looks thin, I don’t think he’s quite as frail as he appears. After all, he is walking around the property again and taking interest in the orchard, which will be bursting with blueberries and figs in a few weeks.
When Mom and I walked back to the house, we each carried an ice-cream bucket full of these:
I’m very stiff and sore today but I reckon it was worth it. I enjoyed working out there. We managed to weed half of the patch, which extends for oh, some fifty feet maybe (I’m not a good judge of distance). We’ll have to finish the rest of it sometime soon. Like, within the next seven days. We hope, anyway.
So what else is on tap for me this week?
Well, for starters, I’ve been tagged by my bestest friend Emily Gracen of the Becoming Emily blog! She’s sent me a list of fourteen fun and random questions that I’ll answer before the end of the week (Lord willing!). You can read the tag I recently sent her here. She and I have been best friends since she was seven and I was nine; it’s wonderful to extend our friendship into the blogosphere.
What am I reading? I’m about a fourth-way through the The Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo Baggins has just arrived in the town of Bree and will be staying at The Prancing Pony. Who knows what friends or foes may be lurking in dark corners?
I’ve forgotten how rich these books really are. It’s not “simple” story-telling, like the Narnia books. I can only imagine the amount of time and effort J.R.R. Tolkien put into crafting the beautiful world of Middle-Earth. There are so many back stories, languages, cultures, etc. woven in. Truly a labor of love and careful attention to every detail.
Personally, I don’t think the book really picks up speed until we get to The Prancing Pony and meet the mysterious Strider. After that everything is a roller coaster ride, so I’m getting ready to hold on for dear life!
I first read The Lord of the Rings when I was eleven. I confess, I was an addle-pated fangirl and most of the rich lessons went way over my head. I watched the films again a couple years ago and realized, to my horror, how much I had missed as a kid. Suffice it to say that, at the end of The Return of the King, I burst into tears–and I had never cried for these movies before. EVER. But I had put away childish things and was more in tune with the bittersweetness of Frodo’s journey.
And what, pray tell, am I watching? Hee-hee. This week I get to watch His Awesomeness–er, Luke–tell his sister that she is his sister…
…and then try to appeal to his father’s sense of justice (a not-so-great idea when your father is You-Know-Who).
And in case you’re wondering…my sister Anna didn’t watch these movies back in February when the rest of us did and was regretting it–THEREFORE we HAD to change that sad state of affairs. So this evening we will sit down clutching pillows (I don’t know why, we just channel movie-stress that way), enjoy the epic-ness, have great discussions on the Christian elements, and roll our eyes at all the Force-pulpit-thumping. (I really need to just do a movie review and explain my thoughts on that…I WILL do it. Soon.)
And after all these deep discussions, THEN we all argue over whether or not Luke is better than Han. (He is!)
What am I listening to? The main theme of Somewhere in Time (which I have never seen, FYI, I just like the theme). Also the Emma soundtrack. Speaking of which, I had one other great triumph this weekend: T.J. and Emily finished watching Emma and declared their love for it and Mr. Knightley in no uncertain terms! Better yet–T.J. is even considering reading the book himself! My assurance that “real men read Austen” is having a positive affect on him 
And in other news…
…Goats4Perry say “Hello!” They’re usually so hard to photograph because they refuse to look at me precisely when I want them to. Maggie and Liesel were gracious enough to stay in one place long enough for me to get some reasonably good pictures.
All in all, a lovely weekend and a lovely week to come, no doubt.
Loved this!
I have a hard time understanding the hype about the Force. I know what it’s trying to say…but personally I’m just like…it’s science fiction. Like Doctor Who or any of the old Sci-Fi shows and stuff. Anything can happen, because it’s sci-fi. You know? So all that’s never bothered me. Very interested in hearing (erm, reading…) your post!
Hi, Alexandra!!! LOL, you’re going to wheedle my opinion out of me before I get a chance to write my review–and that’s okay
I’ll try not to mangle it.
OK, here are my thoughts. Yes, the Force is make-believe. Kinda like Harry Potter is make-believe too–yet I think we’d both agree that even though the story is fictional, the witchcraft is still bad no matter how you slice it. Of course there are a LOT of other things in Harry Potter that I take objection to, while the Force is really the only thing I don’t like about Star Wars (except for Leia in the metal bikini, ahem…) The Force is influenced by Buddhist ideas–not surprising, since George Lucas describes himself as a “Buddhist Methodist,” whatever that means
–insofar as it’s a Deity-like “thing” that creates and sustains all of life without being a personal being itself. It’s a thing, not a person, and you can control it.
“The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”–Obi-Wan Kenobi. OK, so “God” is everything and everything is God. Well, that’s not a biblically-sound idea of God’s nature at all. Yes, it’s make-believe, but it’s not consistent with a Biblical worldview. Imagination is one thing (lightsabers are imaginative and they are AWESOME!!!) but changing God’s nature in a story is another.
I always try to say, “Oh yes, I really like Star Wars BUT…” even on my Pinterest, because I know the Force has had a very negative effect on people. My dad was ten years old when the first movie–wait, let me rephrase that–when Episode IV came out, and he says that he used to think that maybe the Force WAS real–which could very well have led him to, perhaps, Buddhism! When he became a Christian he realized it was antithetical to the real nature of God. I realize lots of other folks may have had the same problems, so I just try to be considerate of that and make sure everyone knows, “Yeah, I do have problems here!”
On the other hand, there are SO MANY GOOD LESSONS in Star Wars that are very valuable! Republican government vs. Dictatorship–clear distinctions between good and evil–choosing the narrow way even when the “easier, more seductive” path tempts you–honoring your father even when he’s You-Know-Who–all great concepts that are only great because George Lucas borrowed them from Christianity! And therein lies the value of Star Wars, in my opinion. I may have problems with it (and to be honest, I have problems with every story, whether it’s Emma or Lord of the Rings or *gasp* The Scarlet Pimpernel) but there is a lot of good to be gained from it as well–and only because those good lessons come from the Greatest Story of all.
Oh dear, I rambled. It’s one of the Nerd Girl Problems: going off into a lengthy explanation of a subject you’re passionate about
Great explanation, and I totally agree! I’m not a fan of Harry Potter for those reasons, and I agree that there are issues in Star Wars (and TSP
)…I think it’s awesome to be able to “pick out” and identify the errors in what we see instead of blindly accepting it all…and I agree that one has to be careful! (One of the reasons why our little ones aren’t allowed to see the Star Wars films until they’re old enough to differentiate between fantasy and reality. 
)
Great explanation, again.
Amen, sister! We have to keep our thinking caps on for EVERY movie–and some movies require more vigilance than others! Although, like I said, those movies that require extra vigilance can still have some really good, redeeming qualities. (*Refrains from long discussion of Luke Skywalker’s superior character qualities*)
My little siblings haven’t seen SW either and won’t until they have a good worldview foundation…although they have seen some funny parodies we’ve gotten off of YouTube, LOL!
Thanks again for your comments, Alexandra–I love these discussions!
LouPat I enjoy your writings. The strawberries made me wish I was back in the US. Fun to hear your opinion on different things. Your goats are adorable, The name Maggie strikes humor within me. My parents from the time I was very small called each other Oscar and Maggie. There is apparently this oldie goldie song that goes “Oscar and Maggie were lovers…” So they refer to each other a lot by their pet names. LOL So Maggie the goat…does she have a lover named Oscar?
ROFL!!! Funny you ask that. No, she doesn’t have a lover named Oscar, and some would argue that Maggie never had a lover. We’ve bred Maggie only once in her short lifetime, and for the longest time she wouldn’t have anything to do with the buck! His name was Balto, by the way, and his attempts at, erm, displaying his affection were soundly rebuffed for DAYS! He did accomplish his purpose, however, after about two weeks of trying, and Maggie gave birth to my sweet Sadie baby.
Oh Maggie is or was Sadie’s Mom? My Aunt Joanne used to raise Pygmy goats. They were so adorable. I used to love them.
Oh, Pygmies!!! Some friends of ours have Pygmies and they’re absolutely precious. We considered getting Pygmies, but then found out they wouldn’t give quite enough milk for a family of eleven. Yes, Maggie is Sadie’s mom, and a more different mother and daughter you could never imagine. Maggie is very standoffish, has always been, and though she’s one of our healthiest goats (I don’t think we’ve ever had to give her any high-powered medication) she’s definitely cantankerous. On the other hand, we knew when Sadie was only a few days old that she was going to be very sweet and laid back. Needless to say we were SO relieved, LOL!