Saturday Farm Postcard...

Where freshly cut bacano leaves serve as daily treats for the goats

May your day or night find grace in the Lord's blessings.

Get Smart...

Sometimes...we can get a wee bit smarter from the ideas of others

when I noticed that the water in the clay saucers were evaporating a little too quickly...

and although I didn't mind making the rounds to fill the saucers with water...

too often, the bees were left with empty water stations

I went on the internet to see if an idea would pop up for making one's own self watering station

lots of people had this idea and they made me a wee bit smarter

so I took an empty can...

cut a small opening at the top of the can 

(you can see it along the bottom in the photo below)

and filled it with water...

put the saucer over the opening...

and tipped it over so that the water flows out the hole in the bottom into the saucer

the water will stop flowing once it reaches the top of the hole

it works quite nice, thus far

and I don't have to make so many trips out to fill the saucers...

and the bees can have their fill of water

and I don't care that it isn't fancy

neither do the honeybees, and every other small creature that comes along

I needed a trough for my chickens' mash...

and asked my husband to cut me a long stalk of bamboo about 8 inches in diameter...

and about 6 feet long

he then sliced the bamboo into two halves

now, I have two troughs to feed my chickens their mash without it getting scattered everywhere

the curve of the bamboo half keeps the mash in...

and my chickens can line up to eat without getting in each others' way

it works quite nicely, too...

and I didn't have to pay any monies for it

this, too, is not fancy...

but the chickens don't care

in fact, the curve helps them pick up the mash a bit easier...

especially for the rescue hens with burned off beaks from their former life

my husband enjoys giving the goats treats by hand

we have some of the tamest goats around...

even though we keep them out in the wild

we've been asked how we tame them so

we say, it isn't so very hard

all it takes is...

enough of our company...hand-fed treats...and tender care

something a bit foreign to many of the locals here on this island

they think we are a little strange for it

no matter...

one gets back what they put into it

mama Dottie: "come, little puffball...you're lagging behind"

little puffball: "coming, mama!"

mama Dottie: "don't forget to watch for those bad hawks"

little puffball: "what's a bad hawk, mama?"

May your day or night be blessed in God's grace.

Coffee Bean Picking...

It never ceases to amaze me to see the workings of the Lord

how He created the honeybees to do the work they do...
not just for our benefit...but also, for His glory

we are in the dry season here on this tropical island...

and even the bees are thirsty

so I make sure to keep water in the clay saucers scattered around the cottage compound...

for keeping little creatures hydrated

and as you can see in the photos...

they do drink water

because I don't want them to drown in the water should they fall in...

I keep just enough that the water does not reach the height of their wings

and although it means checking on the saucers for water every now and then...

it is a work I enjoy

our honeybees are well worth it and I'm grateful to the Lord for blessing us with them

meanwhile...I noticed that one of my coffee trees needed to be picked of the coffee beans

I also noticed that some small creature...

a bird perhaps? likes to eat the berry part

which is just fine because it is the bean part we are interested in

I love the pretty white flowers that come out on the coffee tree...

they remind me of stars with extra points on them

these are what turn into the berries as they dry up

in the photo below, you can see one flower that has dried and turning red

it will be a beautiful red berry before long

I think the berries are just as pretty as the blooms they grow from

and the bean will grow inside the berry

I picked all the red berries that were ready...

enjoying in the quiet peacefulness of the morning, the blessings of my Saviour...

wishing you were here so we could share it together

the berries will be set out to dry, then roasted and stored for our morning coffee

fresh ground coffee is so much nicer than instant, I must say

and I do understand that instant coffee often has more than coffee in it...

which makes me wonder if any time I've had instant...

as to why it has a "different" coffee taste to it

I'll let you look that up for yourself

these coffee trees on our farm are less than two years old and not very tall as yet...

and they give us fruit already

not a whole lot, but enough to make us a few cups

here's looking forward to more lovely coffee berries, should the Lord bless

my camera sort of "caught" a tiny hummingbird feeding off some of our blooms...

behind the cottage

imagine such an almighty God who thought to create such a very tiny bird!

and every tiny bird that falls does not do so without my heavenly Father

how precious!

O Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness,

and thy mighty hand:

for what God is there in heaven or in earth,

that can do according to thy works,

and according to thy might?

Deuteronomy 2:34

May your day or night be graced by God's mighty works.

Saturday Farm Postcard...

Where feathered mamas and their tiny puffballs enjoy time together

May your day or night be blessed in the grace of the Lord.

Dearly Beloved Godzilla...

Once upon a short time ago...

(where surely a tiny seed from the bamboo forest of the river of long ago...

had set itself by the handiwork of God into the ground and grew)

lived a behemoth of a bamboo tree...

who had grown to about 50 feet high and 30 feet wide at the bottom

this tall, tall grass looked mighty grand in her splendor of lovely leaves...

and she whistled and creaked as her long reaching limbs swayed...

with the tropical warm breezes  

we named her, Godzilla

with her dinosaur shape...her head with her open mouth...

and tiny arms to the left...

her humped back reaching for the sky...

and her tail on the right...

we couldn't think of any other name

she gloriously filled a very large space and stood watching over the large garden...

by the chicken coop

perhaps, she watched over the garden a little too closely...

giving it more shade than was needed for the crops

but, oh, how I did love her so...

my dearly beloved Godzilla bamboo

the birds took refuge in her...

lizards scampered up and down her...

and I daresay...

an occasional manicou (opossum) scooted around her feet through the night

and then one dreaded day...

it was decided she must come down

she grew by the day and was bent on taking over more space than she was allowed

we really did try to keep her...

and tried our best to keep her managed...

but, she was wild and did not care to be tamed

when a stiff wind would come through...

Godzilla would thrash her long leafy arms quite violently...

and sometimes even throw one down a little too close to the chicken coop

so, with reluctance...

my farm guy and his helper gave her a fitting funeral pyre...

and as beautiful as the fire was...

all I could think was, "ouch"

"sigh"

really, that did hurt

Godzilla bamboo is now just a shadow of herself...

her feet lying in ashes...

and the little cottage looks lonely without her to gaze upon...

where once the little cottage's resident would stand to see Godzilla waving...

her long arms in the breeze as if to say "good morning to you" in the early dawn

and the little cottage's resident looks longingly where once...

dearly beloved Godzilla bamboo stood so gloriously in all her green splendor

and while the little cottage's resident is contemplating on Godzilla's demise...

Shadow Boy is setting his contemplation on other things

he is much more interested in what's on his left towards the starfruit trees 

yeah...a little too interested

here's holding on to you, Shadow Boy...

to keep you out of trouble...

and our sweet little kids out of your jaws

as for the space where Godzilla once stood...

it is now looking forlorn

and now, when I would like to see tall bamboo trees...

I stand on the hill behind the cottage...

and look out over the river below and see just how lovely a bamboo forest looks

from the hill, I can see the tops of the bamboo trees...

together, they give an illusion of softness

as for Godzilla...

well, it is harder to kill a big bamboo tree than one would think

even by fire

some day, she will sprout green shoots from her feet...

but, this time...she will be tame and even more beautiful

As for the children of God...

The words of the Lord are pure words:

as silver tried in a furnace of earth,

purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O Lord,

thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Psalms 12:6,7

May your day or night be preserved in the grace of God.

A Bright and Shiny Morning...

This morning...

my husband cut down bunches of green bananas...

to take to market

one of the stalks stood at nearly 6 feet tall with nearly 4 feet of hands on it

the market prefers to have the bananas brought in green

once ripe, they tend to over-ripen quite quickly in tropical climates...

while my husband was busy with getting ready to take in the bananas...

the honeybees were busy gathering nectar 

and I took up an armful of prepared water jugs into the kitchen garden...

to put into the ground as a makeshift irrigation system for my thirsty tomato plants

with 3 holes drilled into the bottle cap...

and the bottom cut to within a half inch to make a "lid"...

I can easily lift the lid and pour water into the bottle...

put the lid down again...

and still keep the honeybees out that might otherwise fall in and drown

the lid also keeps the water from evaporating too quickly

if you look closely in the photo below, you can see the lid on the right lifted up...

but still attached to the bottle to keep the lid from being blown off by the breeze

the cap part goes down into the ground about 4 to 5 inches

with the dry season upon us...

the plants need hand-watering and I would like the new tomatoes...

to come out looking like this morning's tomatoes from the older plants

earlier this morning...

Mimi was being chased down by a young roo

she flew up to the sink where I was washing rags...

and she said "help"

that's the roo in the background, the naughty boy

well, no fear, Mimi dear...

Big Red is on his way to rescue you

and sure enough, Big Red shooed the young roo off to the distance...

who happens to be his offspring and looking much like Big Red

Big Red gave his victory crow after that

Pippi, the little hen that just may be...

we're waiting to see...

decided to take a roost on my arm...

and snuggled down quite comfortably on my arm

she is a bit spoiled, you see...

and I often have to give her a bit of a gentle shake to get back down again

after all...I can not possibly sit all day long just to give her...

a comfy place to lounge on

and our sweet little Dottie...

who sadly lost a week old chick two months ago to a nasty mongoose...

when she ventured out into the woods with her baby...

(you'll forgive me that I cry when such a thing happens...

although I can say with gladness that it rarely happens at all)

she went back to brooding and I gave her a layer egg to sit on

and yes, she is so...very...carefully...watching over this little puffball...

and hopefully will stay close to the cottage and out of the woods while...

baby is growing

I will try my best to help her remember to stay out of the woods

the mama hens usually do and somehow...

Dottie forgot

Teach me thy way, O Lord,

and lead me in a plain path,

because of mine enemies.

Psalm 27:12

May your day or night be led in the plain path of God's grace.