Electric Fence

     The click, click sound of an electric fence still sounds ominous to me when ever I hear it.

     I was in first grade when my Dad fenced off a new pasture of sorts for a team of draft horses we had at our house for a while. 

     The horses intimidated me since they were much bigger and less friendly than our buggy horse, but even so I enjoyed tagging along with Daddy whenever he filled their tubs of water, and threw a few slices of hay over the fence for them.

     After getting shocked on the fence one evening while helping throw hay to the horses, I tried to keep a safe distance from it, not wanting to have a repeat of that pain.

     One evening I was playing in the sandbox when I noticed Daddy was taking care of the horses. I dropped my toys, jumped up, and ran to join him. The single stand of electric fence wasn't very visible, and I didn't notice Daddy was on the other side of the fence as I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me. I ran right into the fence, catching it right under my chin. I don't know how, but the fence broke. It gave me a nice red mark on my neck that lasted for a while.

      Daddy scooped me up and carried me to the house where Mom fussed over my injury, and he hurried back outside to patch the fence before the horses decided to wander away.

      Last night we spent some time at one of our good friend's house. We sat outside, near an electric fence with a horse that pranced about in his pasture. It brought back this memory. I could almost feel the pain of the shocking wire, and the impact of the fence on my neck once again just by thinking about it. 

Bits of Random

     Narrow winding roads + horse and buggies + vehicles with a need for speed = a scary combination.
     Last evening that combination ended with a vehicle colliding with a horse and buggy at the curve just past our garage.

     Thankfully everyone is okay. Buggies can be replaced, but how scary! I can only imagine how deeply thankful the parents of the young boys who had been driving the buggy must be, that their children didn't get seriously hurt or worse.

~~~~~

     Yesterday LV had a follow up appointment with the surgeon who had worked on his eyes back in February after the explosion.

     We are thrilled, and so very thankful for the latest report. Vision in both eyes is 20/20! God is so good! We are still in awe of the healing He did, especially in his right eye. Even the doctors expected it to be permanently blind. 

~~~~~

      We started our new year of school on Monday. For the first year ever, I wasn't excited about starting, but three days in and I've found my love of homeschooling is still alive and well. I'm looking forward to another great year,

~~~~~

     I'm excited about my blogging plans for August. I've allowed too much time to pass between posts the last while, but I'm gearing up to have a month of posting daily. (except for Sundays)  

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1.  Do you think the pandemic has had any kind of positive impact on your mental health? Explain.

It has helped me step away from social media, which I consider a positive thing. Facebook has become a tense, ugly place that I no longer find enjoyable. I unfollowed and snoozed a lot of people, but even after doing that I only spend a few minutes a day on there to see if my favorite people posted anything and check what's happening in the groups I like the best. I still make posts there every once in a while, mostly about happenings around the house that amused me, or a picture or two of what we've been up to.
Instagram, though much happier than Facebook, only gets a glance or two occasionally.

2. A hot mess, hot under the collar, in hot water, hot button, hot diggity dog!, hot shot, hot seat....choose one and tell us how it applies to your life currently.

A hot mess ... well, I'm hoping we're this side of the hot mess, but yesterday we were in the thick of it where everything seemed to go wrong. Scary things, frustrating things, and simply annoying. Hot mess summed the day up nicely.

3. Speaking of the hot seat, do you work well under pressure or do you actively avoid high pressure situations?

It depends on what I'm doing. Certain deadlines make me focus and get things done. But other things such as cooking for guests while they are in the kitchen watching turns me into a bumbling, scatter brained, forget simple things, version of a cook. I love cooking, and enjoy having people over, but I prefer to have most of the food prepared before they get here.

4. Hotdogs-yay or nay? If you said yay how do you like yours? Did you know July is National hotdog month?

I like the occasional hot dog. I prefer mine with a slice of cheese and topped with sour cream. I had not known that July is National hotdog month, but now that I do I may have to find a way to celebrate. That could be a lot of fun!

5. I read here a list of America's coolest Southern towns. They are Marfa Texas, Greenville South Carolina, Abindgon Virginia, Athens Georgia, Bentonville Arkansas, Florence Alabama, Oxford Mississippi, Abita Springs Louisiana, Wilmington North Carolina, Monroeville Alabama, McMinnville Tennessee, Natchez Mississippi.  How many on the list have you seen in person? Which town on the list would you most like to see?

I haven't been to any of those towns, but I wouldn't mind getting to explore Wilmington, North Carolina.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

The sound of mourning doves cooing, especially during a dry spell, is one of the prettiest sounds of summer to me.

Kenneth and Paige's Wedding

     I haven't talked a lot about Kenneth and Paige here on my blog, wanting to give them their privacy, but I got permission to share pictures of their wedding day.

     The wedding was much smaller than originally planned due to the whole virus thing, but it was  still absolutely perfect.

    I'm looking forward to seeing the professional photos once they're ready, but for now I'm happy to see all the ones taken with cell phones.

Kenneth, his lovely bride, and his siblings pose for the photographer.

The ceremony, we'll wait for the professional photos to get a picture of the entire bridal party.

The bride and groom.

Tables for guests were so pretty!

The table for the bridal party.

Kenneth and Paige's first dance as husband and wife. I loved watching them.

The mother son dance was something I did purely because Kenneth and Paige wanted me to. I'm glad I did, even if it wasn't the most comfortable thing I've ever done.

My sister-in-law, Emma,  made their lovely cake. 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Are you currently making plans of any kind? What kind? What emotions are associated with the planning process? Tell us about one plan you had to cancel due to the current situation which shall remain nameless. Ha!

Plans lately revolve around the swiftly approaching wedding. The emotions associated with it are a mix of excitement, anticipation, and how in the world do we have a child old enough to get married?!

We had to cancel some travel plans, but we are hopeful they will be able to be rescheduled for a later date when things are hopefully back to normal.

2. Last time you saw stars, either literally or figuratively?

I'm not sure when the last time was I saw actual stars. We've had a lot of cloudy weather, and on the nights when the weather was favorable to see stars it was still light out late enough that we went to bed before the stars came out.

3. Blueberries yay or nay? Blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, blueberry yogurt, blueberries by the handful...what's your pleasure?

I love blueberries. My favorites would be by the handful, then in pie and muffins. I don't care for them in yogurt. Actually it's the yogurt part that gets me. I ate an astounding amount of yogurt when I was pregnant with Kenneth, and ever since that when ever yogurt is presented to me my stomach twists and churns and is all "Don't go feeding me that stuff, girl!"

4. Swim against the tide, swimming upstream, in the swim, sink or swim, makes your head swim...choose one of the 'swim' idioms listed and tell us how/why you relate?

Makes my head swim ... I am feeling pulled in so many different directions with things that I should be, or could be doing that it's making my head feel all wonky.

5. Sum up your June in a single sentence.

June was a mix of major highs, and low lows, and everything in-between.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Exactly five weeks after being told she has cancer, my sweet mother-in-law passed away. Her funeral though sad - of-course, was also such a celebration of her life. She had touched the lives and hearts of many, and hearing all the memories was more joyful than sad.