ELIM A Wonderful Week

For the past 2 years now the second week of September has been a very special one for yours truly. :) And this year I was thrilled to be able continue the trend.

Each year my Aunt Carmen and Uncle Tim's church helps/runs an "ELIM" missionary retreat, that is held on some gorgeous private property at the tip of the Thumb in Huron City, right near Port Austin.

It was a wonderful week full of laughter, cooking, discussions, singing, serving, eating, walking, praying, loving, and reconnecting. 

Below is a glimpse of what it looked like on the surface. :)

{Some of the food purchased for the week}

{The view}

{Putting together the welcome bags for the guest}

{"Abide with me"}

{So much interesting wildlife}

{Looking back at the lodge}

{Lu, the queen in the kitchen with the 30lb Turkey for our "Thanksgiving Dinner"}

{First dinner with all the missionary guests}

{The sunrise up there is always stunning.}

{"Abide" the theme for the week}

{Point Aux Barque Light House}

{Cook out night!}

{Lovely evening for a bonfire}

{Time to talk and relax}

{Visit to the legendary Grindstone General Store for Ice Cream}

{The whole group}

{Sunset on the lake}

{Breezy day at Lighthouse park}

{Found this Rock at the park}

{Chatting around the fire}

{Group photo on the last evening}

There is so much I could say about the week, but putting it into words would be difficult, so I will be succinct and say that... It was an incredible time of serving, learning and being blessed, all rolled into 7 brief days.

~Chs

Alpaca day

One sunny blustery day in September, Josiah, Faith and I were able to carve out a little time to stop by an Alpaca farm, which was hosting an Art and Fiber Fair. 

The Alpaca shop was full of warm and beautiful articles of clothing etc. all made out of some sort of fiber (alpaca, sheep, lama, etc.)

Hello! :)

There were many different vendors, some with fiber products of their own, and others with different farm related items.

Look, it's a baby Alpaca!!

Definitely an interesting event, and we are glad we were able to look around for the morning.

~Chs

Always Something New

It does seem, looking back on the past few years, that we are always getting into something else, picking up something new, trying something different.  Each new item/occupation always has a back story, and this is no different.

I think it's starts with us having some extra brushy ground that needed to be cleared.... or was it because the lady, who we met and became friends with through looking for milk for the puppies, had an extra wether she was getting rid of. Or maybe it was both of those combined with the fact that some people in our family have never gotten over their irrational affection for goats.  Anyway, our brushy area is now fenced in and we are the "proud" owners of 3 meat goats.

Lamancha's are definitely not our favorite breed, but with horns they do look a little better... besides they have a sure end.

The turkeys aren't too sure about their new neighbors.

"Who are you??"

But... that's not the complete story, there is a side trail to it. 

Josiah and Faith were on their way to pick up 2 of the goats when they saw something huddled in the middle of the road....

That "something" was this adorable little kitten. She was very skinny, but other than that was really in beautiful shape.

She is really the sweetest kitten ever, extremely friendly and laid back. Not at all aggressive. Just down right sweet, but a little mouthy. :)

Her markings are truly unique. She has little dashes and patches of saffron or cinnamon color here and there, which after much debate and multiple options, have resulted in her being named "Saffron" or "Fronsie" for short.  We did post "found" signs, but haven't heard anything, which, along with the location where we found her (a dirt road with no houses on it) confirms are suspicions that she was dumped.

We are  hoping to turn her into a barn/garage outdoor cat to help us take care of mice... but right now she looks pretty comfortable inside don't you think? :D

~Chs

Transformation

As mentioned in this previous post, this little Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar wandering around lost on our kitchen wall, after being accidentally riding a pile of Carrot fronds into the house. We quickly went and gathered some fresh carrot leaves for the poor starving critter, and dubbed him "Oliver" after the little boy in "The Four Story Mistake" by Elizabeth Enright.

Personally the fun part about Swallowtail caterpillars is that when you bop them on the head they shoot out a little orange "tongue", a warning signal that say's "stay away, and leave me alone!" It's so funny. :D  Of course "Oliver" decided to go into the chrysalis while I was gone, but it was fun to see it completed. Swallowtails make a little hammock on a twig, and hang back into it, and when they shed their skin and turn into the chrysalis it turns the same color as the branch they are on. Just fascinating! 

So, the other day "Oliver" hatched out a stunning and beautiful butterfly.... only "Oliver" wasn't.... "Olivia" was.  Yep, my cute little caterpillar, was really a girl, as her grown up stage revealed.

Male Black Swallowtail's have a majority of yellow markings on their lower wings, while females have blue. 

Anyway she was gorgeous, and since she came out on a lovely warm fall day, I was able to take her outside and let her finish drying her wings in the sunshine.

Watching the transformation of a squishy, green, land dwelling, bug, to a delicate, shimmering, sky skimming, creature, never grows old. God is truly an amazing creator.

~Chs