Sadie Lady

This cute little Apso person has recently come to live with us. Our home will be her forever home.

Her official name is Ch. FFT All Said and Done, and with all her official duties completed, she's earned a comfy retirement home in the country. She used to be a show girl. You should have seen her with her headdress and costume on, prancing around on stage! She won all the awards, too. She was a beauty and she's still a cutie! Instead of the long tresses she wore in her professional career, she's got a darling little bob now, which shows off her eyes and figure even more.

I can't even begin to tell you how blessed we are to be her guardians, for her to be our little girl! Zeke will tell you that she's the best thing that's happened to him since raw chicken necks for breakfast! What a pair they are! I'd say "partners in crime", but they are such Good Dogs! I think they bring out the best in each other.

After God created Adam, He saw that, even though Adam had all the animals to befriend and assist him, he needed a helpmate, someone just like him, but different. So God created Eve to be his helpmate, his partner, his life-long friend. Zeke needed someone just like him, only different, too. Everyone needs a friend!

Welcome to our lives, our home, and our hearts, Sadie Girl! We already love you very much!

Sadie

6" x 8"

Graphite on paper

Consider the Ravens

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. We did. Wonderful food; great company. New folks and old friends and acquaintences made for stimulating conversation. The blessing before the meal was said by a young man, fresh out of high school, on his way to university. He held up those less fortunate and those of recent need for a special blessing, and it was well-said. Made us all appreciate even more God's generous provisions in our own lives.

In my life, I have seen some hard times, yet I have never gone hungry, never gone without a roof over my head, never gone without medical attention, always been adequately clothed. In spite of the occasional dire straits , God has always provided for our needs, bailed us out, set us back on the straight path. He promises to do that if we will but trust Him. Lean on His promises. It's harder done than said. But we need only look to the birds of the air to see how trustworthy are His promises.

Jesus tried to console his anxious disciples who had given up careers and income to follow Him by telling them to "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; and they have no storeroom nor barn; and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!"
Whenever my anxious heart needs consoling, all I have to do is look out the window. Jesus feeds the ravens daily around our house. He feeds us, too.

"Tasty Morsel"
5" x 7"
Oil on board
$75.00

Purchase

Every Good and Perfect Thing is from Above

Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…James 1:17

I am thankful to the Father of Lights for the good and perfects gifts of:
Salvation from my sins, through the greatest gift of Grace, Jesus the Christ.
Having known true love and being loved unconditionally.
Freedom so wide and so deep that I feel indignation at the slightest inconvenience.
Friendship and fellowship of kindred souls.

Dogs who have shown me unconditional love, companionship and friendship.
Food of so many different kinds and varieties that I could spend eternity enjoying it all!
Drink, the good gifts of the fruit of the vine and grain, and fresh, raw goat milk!
Water, the elixir of life. I pray, Father, for the gift of Rain and Snow in this dry land.
Seasons of the year, that we may count our days.
Stars to light the night sky with Your splendor.
Wild animals who depend on You for their care and teach me to trust in You alone.
Books to read, learn from, grow with; to explore unknown lands, peoples and things.
Your Living Word.
Finally beginning to comprehend the Peace that passes all understanding.
Joy. Pure, unadulterated joy. I have learned it from watching Your animals at play.
Stillness, and quiet, to know that You are God.
The gift of listening to You.
Dreams and visions of the night.
Technology that allows learning, communication and fellowship across this earth.

Friends who understand what loosing a loved one, before their time, is like, regardless of specie.
My list continues….
What are you thankful for this day, and every day?

"Winter Spice"

16" x 20"

Oil on Canvas, signed and framed

$495.00, for purchase info:

See my art here

Out of Time

How is it that a year has past but the pain has not?

I imagine you vibrant, intense, whole and full of the energy of life. It is the only way I can cope with your absence. My life ended with yours, and it is only now slowly returning to me under this veil of tears. I pray that yours continues on the Other Side of that Rainbow Bridge that I shall one day cross. Your face is the only thing I long to see on that day, bounding towards me with eyes clear and bright, full of the sun, full of the Son....

Beasts of the Earth Praise the LORD

These magnificent fellows are Oberhasli Buck Goats. They were disbudded to prevent horn growth when they were kids, so their magnificence is somewhat diminished, but their sexual energy, fueled by a fully functioning testosterone storehouse between their legs, fills the air with its pungent aroma if you are anywhere in their vicinity. They are gentle, though powerful and truly smelly beasts.
We took our beautiful, tall and slender young maiden doe, Claire, to visit Vito, the stocky fellow on the right, the other day. She was eager to go. Hormones surging, she needed little urging. He was eagerly waiting and hastily accommodating.

The sounds, smells, sights and seasons of the barnyard ground my soul in the Source Who Provides for each according to their kind. I am profoundly thankful for this simple miracle of creation that takes place each fall. Claire will bring forth kids in the springtime. She will provide her very own life force to nourish them. We will drink the excess, blessed by a humble goat who willingly gives us what God has given her. She worships and praises her Creator through her gift of service to mankind. " Praise the LORD...Beasts and all cattle...Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!" Psalm 148, 150.

You See This Dog....

He came to live with us on January 19, when he was 11 weeks old. But I began loving him just a few weeks after his birth, before we'd ever met. We named him Zeke. I sent him a little toy, which I carried around with me inside my shirt for a day, to get it all properly scented and introduce him to his new mom's smell. To this day, it is the only toy out of a whole box full that he cares anything about. It goes with him everywhere.
It's the most amazing thing, to have a furry brown-eyed baby come into your life. They completely take over, and rightly so. They require complete attention to their needs. They are your child; you are their parent in every real sense. I willingly gave my life over to this little tyrant with the wet nose and soft, moist eyes that melted me with adoration one moment and insisted that his demands be met the next. His unique personality was evident early on: this is no "ordinary" dog. He is opinionated, judgmental, a considered thinker who moves easily from the spiritual to the temporal world. He listens to reason, most of the time. And delights us with his unpretentious joy in the most mundane. How could I have known how fitting a name we gave: "strength of God", Ezekiel is serious, profound, tenacious. He seldom takes any course of action without deep consideration. Many rely upon him for his just and equable judgment."
Happy Birthday, Little Man Zeke! God grant you many, many more!