Porcupine Ponderings

This is what you call a porcupine tail! Monday morning as we were starting the day in the mountains, Rose ran to tell all of us that she had discovered a porcupine down by the creek!

Friend Porky did not like all the attention he was getting! He reminded me of unfriendly people who keep their quills in the air lest anyone come too near! He hid between these rocks.

Be sure your sin will find you out! Porky could not hide from that Jonathan Lucas who poked him out of his hiding place with a long stick. See him backing out on the other side!

The children followed Bristly Little Porky on downstream for a while. 

Blessings, Bridges, and Beavers

Last weekend Jonathan had a job in the mountains near Breckenridge. So we all planned to go along and have an outing. However, due to unforeseen extras on Jonathan's other jobs, and a terribly busy day at home with puppy customers, we ended up not able to go when we had planned. Jonathan had to postpone the job, but we still went ahead later in the day to the mountains since we were partially packed up.  The children loved exploring in the rocks and along Clear Creek. There had been some race up that dirt road in the San Isabel Nat'l Forest, and we passed way over a hundred vehicles coming back down. Dust was everywhere. We were afraid there would not be a camping spot, but there was!

Bless this food... 

Bless this mess!!

Bless this mountainside devotional time on Sunday morning.





And bless this water!! We have to celebrate lots of water, when we have so little in our cistern at times at home. 

Danny likes to throw rocks into the water.

So do all the other children. This is how they celebrate water----

The big SPLAT! 

Poor Timmy was too sick with cold, allergies and fever all at once to enjoy himself much. Maybe I should have said, "Bless this mess" again!

At dusk, we drove down to a beaver pond and were delighted to get to watch a curious beaver scouting us out. 

Rosie Turns Eleven

Rosie found a recipe for an orange cake, and frosted it with orange-flavored cream cheese frosting. Then Aunt Iva, who brought her children for the evening, helped her decorate it with little swirls of orange peel and orange sections. I thought it was very, very cute! Definitely a one-of-a-kind cake, Lucas only style.

Everyone gathers round to watch the candlelighting.

Earlier in the week, I was afraid there wouldn't be many gifts, because in the past, I have been responsible for all the gifts except ones from company. But I keep forgetting that the children are growing up and either making, sewing, or buying their own loving little gifts for each other! So we had quite a table full! 

Our family definitely thinks the homemade gifts made with love are tops! Crystal knitted this lovely "petal" dishcloth, a matching scrubbie, and made a woven hot pad for Rose. There were lots of other gifts, too, just not time to take pictures or write about...Hope you enjoy these few pictures! Ask Grandpa Lucas for more pictures! He likes to get as many gifts as possible on the grandchild's lap and snap a photo!

Crabapple Jelly and Jam

A friend gave us a box of crabapples that somebody had given them. We weren't sure they were worth doing up, but we looked up recipes on the trusty internet and decided to sort through the best crabapples to make a jelly recipe and jam.

Tart crabapples ready to cook!

 Most of the crabapples had little bad spots, but we were determined to try those recipes so we kept at it till we had three pans half full ready to cook.

After cooking the crabapples a few minutes till they were soft, we drained off the pretty red juice and made three lovely little jars of jelly. Then we put the rest of the crabapple pulp through a Foley food mill and made crabapple jam with it. It looks like pretty pink applesauce, but is it ever good on toast!

Carrie made a lovely handmade tag for this jar of jelly. 

Ready for the next kitchen project? What will this one be?

Sewing Projects

Carrie and Rose finished their matching three-tiered skirts this week. We discovered that such skirts are actually in vogue again--after being in vogue back in the 50's. At least there is a pattern for just such outfits in the current pattern catalogues at Joann Fabrics! These skirts were really quite simple, and the girls did almost all the sewing themselves.

This birdlover's apron is one I made for Rose for her birthday from some pillow fabric we picked up in a bundle of fabric at a yard sale. "It's too pretty to wear!" Rose declared. But she wore it. She made the teddy bear cookies behind her, while Crystal made the banana muffins, while Mom and Sam and Carrie spent most of the morning taking the puppies for their first trip to the vet. 

23rd Psalm in Pictures

Last Saturday, when plans to go to a campmeeting in Kansas fell apart for us, we drove up through the countryside to visit Castlewood Canyon State Park. It was a hot day. At first, the trail on sidewalk was blazing hot. But as we began descending on the path through scrub oak and boulders, the hike became more fun, with beautiful views. At the bottom of the trail was this beautiful spot where the children could wade and where the water was so cool that even Jonathan and I took off our hot shoes and found a shady spot to soak our tired feet.

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk...

through the valley...

...of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of my enemies (a woodpecker-pecked stump!).

Thou anointest my [feet] with [sand and cool water].



My [sand dam] runneth over. (Oops, yes, that was stretching it a little.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me...

all the days of my life (even despite my faults, failures and times I am mischievous!)

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever--where there is comfort, rest, and peace in the midst of a weary way!

How Deer Art Thou to Me?

How do I love thee, dearest friend?

Deer one,

Deer two,

Deer three---thou art to me!

That was, by the way, addressed to my deer husband Jonathan, who took these pictures at work one day, and to my dear children, family, and friends!

Oodles of doodles!

Puppies, puppies, and more puppies! Eight in this batch!

Timmy and the puppies. And Hannah.

What kind of caption do you give this picture?

A couple more pictures from Timmy's birthday. He got a little helicopter here.

And a little Patriotic Bible I got on sale at Mardels a couple weeks ago.