New Promises

A rainbow of promise
& double anointing.


This past weekend was the women's retreat at our church.

It was a time of refreshing, a time of blessing & a time of bonding, a time of sharing tears & laughter. I met fabulous godly women who will speak into the rest of my life and hopefully, vice versa. Community is scripture - it's that simple. We hang, we eat, we share - see Acts.

This double rainbow showed up on Saturday night during our meal. It was a spectacular sight. On top of it's beauty, we were able to see the entire bow, from end to end, in the sky.

New place, new friends and family; new tribe,

New promises, new anointings.

New vision; Dove's eyes.

Love the kisses of God.

As I am watching a movie with my kids today... I get a flashback memory;

Go back to my 11th year of life,
a retreat with a group of youth from my church
sitting in the outdoor chapel on wood benches
worshiping with music of a guitar.

flash to now;
I was in the outdoor chapel on the wood benches.
worshiping with the ipod on and Dave Crowder pumping!

the rainbow of promise
the confirmation of the Holy spirit (no, I am not going to explain that part)

It is nice when God confirms you are where you are supposed to be.

Kisses from my beloved.

A drive by fruiting...

Just when I thought
the garden was ending...


A Lovely Yellow Bloesser,
2 Ruby Red Doux de Espagne
A mini colander of joyful bi-color cherry tomatoes.

and...

Green beans for 6 ...
I really thought these bean plants were done.
But after cutting off all the powdery leaves,
they bounced back vigorously producing the above!

Salsa (and sour cream)

I picked enough tomatoes this past weekend to put up these 4 pints.
I even added a banana pepper to spruce up the salsa.
mmmm!

A painting waiting to happen!
(I'll post that on my other blog when it's done!)

UGHULA

This is what happens to crusty little varmits
in the organic garden.

They lie in the bottom of a child's blue sand bucket
awaiting the waves.


This is a tomato hornworm


Taken over by aliens???

nope,
wearing the babies of

it's sworn nemesis the braconid wasp;

or in more scientific terms,

a tomato hornworm carrying parasitic
braconid wasp larvae/cocoons!

and because inquiring minds want more scientific facts;

One of the most common parasites in home gardens is a small, parasitic braconid wasp. It lays its eggs in the tomato hornworm. Many wasp larvae feed inside the hornworm, eventually killing the caterpillar. The cocoons containing pupae of these wasps are visible as small white projections on the hornworm's body. Larvae with cocoons sometimes move sluggishly, but seldom cause additional feeding damage. They should be left on the plant so emerging adult parasites can attack other hornworms.

Insert my comment here;

Leave it on the plant?

I think not!

especially not in late September.

If you are wondering what to do with your hornworms;

Hand-picking the hornworms from infested plants in the garden provides safe and effective control in small home gardens. Drop them into a small bucket or coffee can of soapy water. They can be hard to spot. Try spraying all the plants with water, the hornworms are really bright green, often brighter when wet than the leaves of your plant. Once you find one yukky green dude, others are much more easily found.

and in this particular case,
every single one we found
drown,
even the waspy guy.

so sad.

nope, not sad at all!

Dandy!

Happy Birthday Dandy!

Enjoy! Relax! Eat Cake and Ice Cream with Cookies!

We Love You!

Chris, Paige, Tall, Medium & Small


and the cat.

I've been waiting...

on ripening Bi-Color cherry tomatoes!

apparently,
so has Small!

He has been eating them green,
until now...

he can FINALLY reach a lot of red ones!

which is important to

EATING !

and picking...

and ENJOYING eating!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Dad Clausen!

Hope you guys are enjoying the remainder of your vacation, be safe!

We love you and send Birthday happiness your way.

Love,
Chris, Paige, Tall, Medium and Small

and Tyler!

Dandy Visit!

We had a special visit this weekend
from my Dad;
Dandy!

The kids loved having him here. It was his first time to sleep over at our house!
Very fun, too short, Very Fun!

Grandparents visit

G & G Clausen visited this weekend...
(here is grandma with small)

and these are the only pics
I remembered to take...

Grandma and Tall


We had a very busy weekend, including another grandparent (Dandy - My dad) coming in town for Small's dedication at church.

We had (as always) a fabulous visit with (all) our parents!

Busy little people...

small

medium and his car!

tall is in the background with our cat, Tyler

small goes back to counting

Taking notes...

small is quite scholarly

and very intent

very focused on the task

and enjoys every second of life!

More this week...

Gorgeous black Brandywines

Yellow and Pink Bloessers
Listada de Gandia eggplants

and
yes, a couple of

Yukon Gold Potatoes!

Surprise visitors...

Molly and Ryan came by Sunday.
Molly has been our babysitter for over 6 years.
We really like her
and we like Ryan too,
and they are quite adorably engaged!

Small played blocks
with everyone

Molly is too cute!

They had a good visit with small

and medium


and tall!

They live really close now, so hopefully,
we will get to see them more!

That's some hair dude...

Small

forever saying "Cheez"

I just love his cuteness.

Even with that silly hair! :)