Clawfoot Bathtub

                                             Clawfoot Bathtub
                  (just felt like writing from my heart)

My son recently bought a house that was a rental property. The tenants stayed for a few months, then
decided to move out. They left a lot of belongings hidden behind the shed. Not a pretty sight for
anyone to see. In amongst the gardening supplies, wood, cement blocks and basic junk was an
old cast iron bathtub with clawed feet. Three of the feet were intact but the claw of the fourth was missing. The interior and exterior were in pretty amazing shape considering the bathtub had been
left outside. Being one not liking to see usable things thrown in the garbage, I offered to sell the tub
for my son.
I placed a few ads on two local auction sites but got no buyers. The next step was Kijiji. I had
responses from a few people but nothing serious until a few days ago. I got an email from a gentleman asking if he could come and see the tub. We arranged for tonight at 6. He arrived
on time, shook my hand and began to tell me his story. He owned a company that made mobile
airships (blimps). He had just contracted a job with a major beer company to build a blimp. He went into great detail about blimps and their design. The bathtub was to be used as a mold for the bottom
of the blimp. When his company was done with it I would probably see it back on Kijiji for sale again.
I told him I was an author and there was a story in the making. He backed his van up to the tub.
His wife and I lifted one side and he lifted the other. The lift went fairly smooth and was over in a few moments. The dollar amount we agreed on was placed in my hand and he was off on another
adventure to pick up a plastic turtle sandbox that he had seen a few miles back.
I called my son who was working the land and told him that the tub was sold. He was busy and had
to be reminded to be thankful. Funny how things like that get forgotten. Especially on this thanksgiving weekend.
You just never know who you are going to meet in a day and what fascinating things you are going
to learn. I will be checking out his website for photos. It will be exciting to see this blimp when it is finished. An old bathtub discarded behind a shed became useful again

Elmdale Farm

                      
                                                       Elmdale Farm

     Life was wonderful on Elmdale farm. Every morning the cock crowed at sunrise. The
sun shed its warmth,most days. Rain came when needed and dampened the soil. Seeds were planted
producing bountiful alfalfa fields. Corn stalks grew tall. Wheat heads bowed to the ground ready to be combined. Ewes lambed, cows calved, horses foaled, and pigs birthed large litters of piglets. Chickens laid eggs, cats had kittens and dogs had puppies. Farmer Brown and his wife, Lila, and their
five children were content.
     One sunny day as Farmer Brown was changing a belt on his combine a dark cloud rolled in.
     "Mmmmm funny. Weatherman didn't call for rain. Better get this done before it starts," he said.
     Distracted by the potential for rain, Farmer Brown didn't see the groundhog in his alfalfa field.
Greedy Groundhog had been digging holes in the field making a comfortable home for himself.
As he popped his head above the grass he snickered and thought to himself. That old farmer is too busy with his broken down old combine. Soon he'll be combining wheat. He'll never see me. I can
have a hey day(no pun intended) in this field. By the time he comes for a third cut of hay I'll have most of my tunnels made. He really gets ticked at me when I leave large mounds of dirt all over the field. You should hear him curse every time the hay wagon hits one of my dirt mounds. I can hear it
as plain as day down in my hole. Hehehehehe.
     Farmer Brown continued on with his work, checked the weather forecast on his computer, and started combining. Greedy Groundhog continued digging tunnels and building mounds of dirt. During one of his breaks he popped his head out of a hole to check on Farmer Brown.
    "I'm in the process of creating a masterpiece in this field," Greedy said.
     Time went by and the last days of summer turned to fall. Greedy stopped digging and started to
prepare for winter. Farmer Brown finished combining wheat and turned his focus to his alfalfa
fields. He expected their to be groundhog damage to the fields. Much to his surprise as he walked to
the hay fields he discovered more than minimal damage. He spent more time dodging ground hog
holes and tripping over mounds of soil, than he did checking his crop.
     Normally, Farmer Brown was slow to anger and pretty much took  everyday life in stride.
After his trip through the alfalfa fields, his attitude changed. He was furious. He stomped back to
the farm house, grabbed his rifle and bullets and set out to revenge the groundhog. Meanwhile, Greedy Groundhog, exhausted after all his work, rested in his hole. Just as he nodded off to sleep, he
heard yelling above ground. The sound of gun shots made him jump, hitting his head on the dirt
ceiling.
     "Oh no, Farmer Brown is after me. I'd better lay low for a few days, " Greedy said.
     Farmer Brown searched the fields until dusk. As he wandered back home, a peace came over him
from his head to his toes. He realized the way he had been acting wasn't going to solve anything. He
had work to do the next day and he needed a good nights sleep.
     Greedy Groundhog settled in his hole for the night. He knew he could possibly face the
wrath of Farmer Brown in the morning so he had better be prepared. With his head on his pillow
Farmer Brown's thoughts turned to all the blessings in his life. He prayed with thankfulness in his words and thoughts. As his eyes closed he whispered to Greedy out in the alfalfa field.
     "I'll get you tomorrow."

Chicken Soup for the Soul- Lemons to Lemonade

Chicken Soup for the Soul-Lemons to Lemonade has published one of my stories. I am so excited and still in the pinch me is this for real stage. My story is titled, FROM WORKER TO OWNER.
Book sales have been going well. Plans are to sell locally and have a book signing at local libraries.

Another exciting thing about this book is that my friend, Glynis Belec is also published along with me. Her story is about her cancer journey and is titled, ZEAL FOR TEAL.

Thank you to Chicken Soup for letting me be part of this book.

Bible Study

     I finally got a Tuesday off and found time to go to Bible study. I feel so out of everything when I miss this group. If  I have to miss church on Sunday I feel a double whammy of  feeling out of everything.  I just had to be around like minded people ie Christians. I didn't care if I knew about what was happening in the study part. Just being there and the feeling of belonging was what I needed.

     As usual, and I mean that in a good way, it was amazing. We learned about the joy of the Lord. Being joyful and laughing. Everyone needs to fill up with joy to overflowing. Leaking all over everyone and sharing your joy is awesome.
 

     There were two times that this farmers heart was visible. One friend mentioned my passion for agriculture and when the question of cultivation was brought up, I was asked for a definition. Thanks Lord for my heart of a farmer and the opportunity to share it.

     Joy, overflowing, leaking and farming....what more could one want?