David’s little kitty, whose name is Gentleman Gray, isn’t allowed to go outside very often.

But when he does, he returns as soon as possible with an old dead mouse.

The mouse was caught by one of Gentleman Gray’s housemates….he himself hasn’t caught any of them, he doesn’t have the opportunity, so he just enjoys playing with them.

Typically, I take the mouse by the ice cold tip of it’s tail and fling it right back outside into the bushes as far as I can fling.  But the other day I let him have it for a few minutes because his antics were making me laugh.

He has several very nice fabric mice filled with catnip, but there’s just nothing like sinking your teeth into a real live dead one.

The poor thing had such adorable ears.

If the children or I find one of our cats in the act of killing a mouse we ALWAYS save the mouse’s life.

My husband on the other hand……..is thrilled with every dead mouse he sees.

There have been a few times when I threw a dead mouse outside (without him seeing me do it) only to have him bring it right back in!  What an amazing sense of smell cats must have.

*****

Sarah was so so sick last night.  She must have thrown up seven times in the matter of just a few hours.  She was distraught, pale, crying…it was terrible.  What a mercy that her body finally settled down and she was able to eat some animal crackers and keep them down at around 9:30-10.  But then Caleb got sick, and then David.  Pepto- Bismol was the key to helping their tummies.  They all made it through the night quietly so we had some sleep.  Today they have been on the couches all day long but able to eat more and more, starting with crackers in the morning and ending at 5:00pm with all three eating bowls of cooked broccoli!  If you can crave broccoli at a time like this I would say things aren’t so bad.

God has surprised me several times today with unexpected blessings.  One was a phone call from the kid’s doctor, wanting to apologize to me for being very distracted at the last appointment I went to, he even mentioned CHRISTIANITY, LOVE, CHRIST, and the HOLY SPIRIT in the conversation (!!) and other blessing was having Michael come to visit Jacob just in time to go pick up Ethan from school after practice.

Yet another time was much earlier in the day, when I went to drop off lunch money at the school.  The office lady asked how I was and as I spoke to her she could tell I was stressed out.  As I left she encouraged me by simply saying, “go easy.”  Those two little words became my mantra of the day.  Go easy on myself, go easy on my day, go easy with my family, go easy on the housework, etc……..

I visited my hens.  I gave them fresh water and food.

And then some of them followed me.  I was about to take a very easy and short walk, close to home.

I saw a chipmunk on a rock in the stream.  It froze when it saw me and then as quick as lightening, vanished under some old sticks and leaves.

I wasn’t going anywhere in particular….so I wandered down to Ethan’s fort that he made this summer.

It’s an interesting feeling to be all alone, looking at your son’s hard work.  Imagining him building it, seeing his thoughts and ideas on how to make it work.  I stood under the roof.  I saw the clippers and a garden tool.

I admired the way he put together the low walls.

And when I turned around, I saw that one of my hens had crossed the stream to follow me to the fort!  It was an unexpected laugh.

We talked for a few minutes and then she went back home.  It was a good thing because I really don’t want a lonely lost hen in the forest.

I would love to know what this shrub or sapling is.  The stem is green but there is brown stiff paper-like bark sticking out around it.  It’s so pretty and orderly.

The best part of my walk was discovering witch hazel in bloom.

This is the very same plant that witch hazel astringent is made from, which has many uses and has been around for a very long time.

It comes into flower just as everything else around us is dying from frosts.

Such a cheerful yellow.

In the upper left you can see the brown seed pods.  The seeds within them open up on a sunny day and shoot out for a great distance.  Fun!

I broke a branch off one of the bushes to carry it back to the house so I could admire it.  I’m hoping the seed pods open up and shoot.

I did all my walking and came back home with my pockets looking like this.  Guess what’s in them?