Green Hillsides, Wednesday Hodgepodge, and Google+

 Grass Seed

Reseeding a major part of our yard

Mr. Cranberry got a huge part of our yard reseeded this spring, just before we started getting these nice rains. It's perfect weather for growing grass. After our way-too-long winter, we're finally getting 70s and 80s with rain. I guess that means that pretty soon we'll be whining about how hot and muggy it is. But for now, I'm just so thankful to see that bare yard turning green once again.

Join Joyce and the rest of us

for

1. What news story are you following right now?

 Meriam Ibrahim & Husband

telegraph.co.uk

I'm following the story of Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian woman sentenced to 100 lashes and execution for refusing to recant her Christian faith.  Read the story HERE, finally carried by CBS news, at least online. (I still haven't heard anything on NBC, CBS, ABC on TV, have you?)

At the end of the article, "The U.S. State Department has only said it's "deeply disturbed" by the sentence and has called on Sudan to respect freedom of religion."  That's pathetic.

From the Independent Catholic News, " Faith leaders across the UK have called for the death sentence on a Christian woman in Sudan to be dropped."  You can read the story here. 

From Christianity Today:   "Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Gives Birth in Sudan Prison as 1 Million Protest Christian Mother's Death Penalty." You can read it here.

I also wrote about this situation in last Wednesday's Hodgepodge. It is truly hard to wrap our minds around this, but it IS happening, now. Please pray for this woman and her family.

2. What's the last thing you wanted but didn't get?

I honestly can't think of a thing right now.

3. May 28th is National Hamburger Day...when did you last have a hamburger? Other than your own kitchen or BBQ grill, where is your favorite place to go for a hamburger? And for all you non-meat eaters out there...when you're invited to a cookout what is the one side dish you hope is on the menu?

I can't even remember the last time I ate a hamburger with bun and all the trimmings. I have no favorite place to get a burger. If I'm at a cookout or potluck dinner, I'll get the burger right off the grill, before it's put into a bun, and I'm hoping there's a huge green salad without dressing. Once at a potluck dinner, I spied a huge green salad someone had brought. Here was one thing, besides what I brought, that I could eat... until I saw her take the lid off a bottle of poison dressing and pour it all over the salad. Eating anywhere other than home is definitely not a treat for me.

4. How have your priorities changed over time?

Not that I don't still get caught up occasionally in the trivial, but I do think that over the years it's become easier to distinguish the trivial from what really matters.

5. What's a favorite memory with your grandparents?

Donuts come to mind. My maternal grandma made the most fantastic cake donuts from scratch. She was a sweet and kind and very talented woman. My paternal grandma made the most fantastic raised donuts. She was clever and sarcastic with a droll sense of humor. I loved them both.

6. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being fantastic!), how good are you at multitasking? Share an example.

I would say close to a 10. After all, I can drink my coffee in the morning, watch the first 5 minutes of the TV news (to see if there's a rare chance that they're actually carrying any real news at all, instead of just celebrity gossip), read the crawler, listen to Laura Ingraham, be totally in tune with what my dogs are doing, be thinking about my garden plants that need to get into the soil, be aware of the fact that the mailman comes at 11 and I have two packages that need to get out, compose my grocery list, AND write a blog post  - all at the same time. That's kinda multitasking, isn't it?

7. How would you summarize your highs and lows for the month of May?

Highs? Well, our youngest son's graduation from WITC at the top of his class in the residential carpentry and cabinet making program.

Our youngest son
photo taken by Courtney, his better half

Seeing the Minnesota grandkids.
Our daughter and husband spent two weeks in Italy and sent back fantastic photos! (and they returned safely)

Getting news that our other daughter and family are most likely moving to Wisconsin this summer! That would mean they'd be only 2 1/2 hours away, instead of the current 9 hours! How great that would be!

Our alfalfa field turned GREEN.

Lows? When Kevin handed me my cellphone and it looked like this:

After we got home from Joe's graduation in the dark of night, I got out of the car and tried to close the door. Something was in the way. The seat belt? Oh well... Well, it seems that even an Otter box can't protect my cellphone from either a) slamming the car door on it or b) stepping on it. Kevin thinks I stepped on it. I think I slammed the car door on it. We'll never know. But it definitely killed my phone. Right now a guy in Chetek is trying to replace the display and see if it can be revived. Then maybe I can retrieve my gazillion photos stored in it. Maybe. We'll see.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

 Wildflowers on the hillside

We've made the decision to let the hillside go to weeds, grasses, and wildflowers, at least for this year. For years, it's been mowed and looked so pretty in the summertime. This summer is just too busy and I suggested (quite honestly and brilliantly, I might add) that we get a few Yorkshire/Scottish Blackface sheep and fence in the hillside. I wasn't kidding. Well, at least it was a try. I would love even three sheep grazing on the hillside. Kevin didn't like that idea. Pfffft. He reminded me of how expensive fencing would be for that area.  Okay, fine. My next idea was that we simply let it grow up to native grasses and flowers. I think he's okay with that for now.

 Maybe I should try for a different approach.

I'd love to see three of these sheep on our hillside.
I can easily picture this, can't you?

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A word about Google+

For those of you Google+ bloggers out there who have left comments on my blog, please know that I'm not ignoring you. Google+ will not let me leave a comment on your blog because I am not a member of Google+. This is an extremely annoying trait of Google+, making me more determined than ever not to join. (Actually, I've never joined because Google+ simply told me to join, but never gave me even one good reason why I should.) But I am sorry that I am unable to contact you. Also, I will not be able to answer comments or questions from No-Reply bloggers unless I leave it within a comment on your blog post. If you're okay with that, I guess I am too.  Still, I hope you will consider enabling your email on your profile. It certainly allows for a more personal response.
 

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