I recently finished reading this book. There are many in this series about Sister Fidelma, although this particular book is not specifically about her. Sister Fidelma's husband is the focus of this story. All of these books are set in Celtic Ireland. They deal with murder mysteries which center around the issues that Rome was dealing with - should priests no longer marry - which they had previously been doing and many still were. They also affected the status of women. At this time, women were allowed to hold important offices, although those attitudes were also changing. Although Peter uses Celtic names and terms, it is written in plain English so all can understand. I love his books. They are clean and decent and yet a good mystery!!! 

Now that Thanksgiving is done, for us anyway, I have started decorating for Christmas! (The photo above is not our house!!!!)

Last year at this time we were in Kentucky to see the Creation Science Museum on our way to Orlando, Fl. We spent a full week in Orlando while Leslie and Dan were attending a camping convention. We and the girls swam in the pool much of our time there, while Lynn and I were battling head and chest colds. We spent a day at Sea World and another day at Disney World. From there Lynn and I traveled to see family around Florida, Georgia, and Indiana before heading home. 

As a result, once we got home, we did not feel real perky. It was tough to do much decorating before our son, oldest daughter and their families arrived for Christmas. 

So this year, I am starting right away to dust shelves as I take down and put up. I also gave two sets of books of mine to our granddaughter Emma. 

No one is coming home this year, but I want to make the house festive for whatever we do this season!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Safe travels to our family and friends who will be traveling. Several people have passed away this last week so there are many who are grieving at this time of the year. Let us be thankful for those who were part of our lives. We will be joining our oldest daughter and her extended family for the day. 

Awful weather day

We have been so spoiled with this great weather. Today the wind has been howling - as it did yesterday too - and we have had snow showers. We are suppose to miss the big snow that is to fall in the southern part of the state and northern IL tomorrow night. Starting to feel more like Thanksgiving and Christmas coming now. 

Trip to Marshfield

Yesterday we spent most of the day at our daughter Katie's. Emma played her Cello for us, Lynn and Cole played ball outside and Lynn also cut up some tree branches, we ate lunch out and then Lynn suggested we visit the zoo in town. It is a free zoo. They just received two Kodiak bear cubs from Alaska. At first they were not out but before we left, they came out and put on a wrestling show for all. We also saw Wolves, a Lynx, lots of geese, ducks and a Swan, and owls, an eagle, Sandhill Crane which we also have on the farm, and a Turkey Vulture. Christmas decorations were being put up for their Christmas opening in a week or so. 

Collection week for Operation Christmas Child begins this coming Monday. We will be collecting at the First Church of Christ in Ladysmith all week long. 

A new Veterans Mural was recently installed on the side of a building on our main street. It honors many of those who served in the military - some are still living, many are gone. One young man Patrick Lybert, below,  died just a few years ago. He was a friend and neighbor to our children. Others like Paul Woods below lived into his 90's and active until his death. The mural was painted by a young woman from the Lake Superior area.  

A year ago this week, this was our field. We got about 4 inches of snow and it stayed until we had some warm weather in early December. 

This is our field today. We got over an inch of rain last night and we had thunder

and lightening as well. What a difference a year makes. We have been snow free more or less

since last March. Kind of nice!!!!

I have recently started reusing the Women of Faith daily devotional that I purchased many years ago. It was in a basket with other devotional supplies. Today's devotion deals with the burning bush Moses encountered God in. Barbara Johnson was the writer of this devotion and her prayer at the end says:

"God, keep me ever watchful for the signal fires you light along my way. Amen"

I just finished reading this book. It is the story of a young girl - she was only 13 or 14 when she finally made it to South Korea, with her mother and eventually her older sister escaping North Korea. 

She tells of what it is like to live in North Korea, escaping to China and then eventually to Seoul. 

It took her older sister 8 more years to get to South Korea. Yeonmi tells about working hard to get an education, visiting the US, which is considered the evil nation to North Koreans, becoming a Christian, and working with others who have endured even harder conditions than she did. It is not easy reading in many ways. She has had to go through so many horrible things. Her father was able to escape to China only to die of cancer a short time later. 

I did not get any pictures but today was a wood bee. Men, women and teens gather to cut, split and deliver firewood to those who can use it. There were 3 locations. Lynn's was the smaller group. They met at the woods of a neighbor friend from church who likes to deliver firewood to his neighbor who lost her husband about 3 years ago and has children to care for. The other two groups were larger, delivering to several families. 

 A nice surprise in the mail today! Local businesses sent us this Memory book in memory of Lynn's mom. I assume they send these to area people who have lost a loved one. Very thoughtful. They included Thank you cards as well. 

This morning I drove to a nearby village and did some Christmas shopping @ Artisans. About a year ago I was watching Kathy Lee and Hoda on the Today show. Kathy Lee mentioned that a friend who had once owned Yankee Candle, then sold the company, had started up a new candle company. It is called Kringle. I ordered a small candle to see what they were like. Much to my surprise when I recently shopped at Artisans, I found that they carry Kringle Candles of all kinds. I purchased one for me. So today I decided to purchase another scent. I found some other goodies as this is one of their special events - discounts, food, and new items to shop. The candle above is Gardenia! I love candles. 

Blustery November day!

Here are pictures of some of the flowers still blooming. I have not covered any this fall but they are hardy. The garden mushroom was given to me by my sister in law Joyce as she prepared to move back to her home town. 

Here is the after painting of our house. Thankfully this is all that needs painting on the entire house. 

Today will be a bit cooler than yesterday and not sunny. Rain is forecast for later on. Lynn is out doing field work while the weather is dry. He also hopes to split some firewood. Work is never done around here! 

Since it is windy & cloudy day, I made Olive Garden Zuppa Soup for lunch or dinner or whenever. Yum!

Here are pictures of the winter wheat field. It is looking good! This is the first time Lynn

has planted cover crops in the fall. We will see how they do this winter and then be ready

next summer. It is another warm day in November! The sun came out this afternoon so temps

have rebounded. 

This has been a wonderful growing season. We had plenty of rain all spring, summer, and now in the fall. Crops are all harvested and Lynn has planted Rye and Winter wheat for next summer. Now he is working up the rest of the ground. He was able to paint the trim on the front of our house yesterday. It has been many years since last done. This should last the rest of the years we are here. He has started work on our broom closet, which has just been an ugly spot around our chimney. He is closing the chimney in which will leave a much smaller space, but easier to keep clean and neat. We have only been here 32 years!!

November 4th

Another gorgeous day!!! Last night I had our patio door open after dark after a warm day of 70! Still dealing with the Asian beetles some. The vacuum cleaner never gets put away. Tonight is youth group at church.