"Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend..."

I just spent a lovely hour and a half looking over old posts and pictures on my neglected blog site.  It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and for that purpose alone it made me want to pick back up and restart my blog.  However, I have much updating to do,
To start with the picture of me on this account is way younger than I look now...........Walk in Love Ranch is in a new location and if I believed in reincarnation, I would say I was in my third life, but really it is just my third stage of life.  Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Messiah will last.  I pray I will have done well when all is said and done.

Welcome, the sign says, although it is covered with snow. Welcome is how Gerry and I want to make everyone feel when they come here.
Walking in Love, easy to say, hard to do, but it is the quest of our lives. We are trying to learn exactly what that means and put it into practice.

I will introduce you to our little farm creatures another day. Tonight, we just want to say Welcome and come again.
Blessings,
Leslie and Gerry
P.S.  They sure have improved the ease of blog spot since I last used it!!

                                       You've met Ginger and MaryAnn, Now I'd like you to meet the newest additions to Walk in Love Ranch.......                                                                                                                                                   
Introducing GILIGAN and his girls!

Khaki Campbell Ducks.  Seven girls and Giligan, the Drake.

Yesterday they gave me seven beautiful eggs.  They are quite the bug marauders and their eggs are delicious.  I'm enjoying watching them as they quite literally parade around together.  

Overnight Grandma Camp!

Tent camping with Cohen, Eli, Lilah, Vance, Elora and Abbie, my great helper!  Swimming at the Lake....(forgot camera), a scavenger hunt, playing in the sandbox, riding plasma cars with goggle boy, poison girl, ponytail girl, stick boy, and a good policeman, a bon fire with hotdogs and s'mores and "sleeping" in the tents!  I'm exhausted, but it was Tons of Fun, I love them so much!
They say the funniest things......

"Grandma! Look!  This water is SHORT, I'm past the dock and still walking!....Lilah    
"I love this beetle, it's my best friend."....Cohen
"I love you, Grandma."......Eli   
"I love Walk in Love Ranch".......Vance
"I think I probably ate too much.".....Elora.  Yeah, me too....

Making memories for the children and hoping to pass on the baton of faith in our Creator, that's what this Grandma is all about.

"> Wow! Has it ever been a busy spring! But summer is here now and my favorite Idaho season has begun. The bee's are literally "busy bees" making beautiful new honey combs. The garden is blessing me with fresh lettuce and mesculan for salads, I'm drying parsley already, and baby zuchs on their way, the tomatoes are coming on strong and the cukes and beans are heading up their trellises, it's so fun to watch! I've made two batches of Pesto from my basil. It's so fun to go out and pick your dinner.

This spring I put in a sprinkler system for the garden and built a new firepit area.(They will be in the slide show.) Also, I added more lasagna garden beds and 10 fruit trees...all kinds of new additions to Walk in Love Ranch this year! Thank you Lord!

 By far, however, the most wonderful little addition to my life is my newest Grandaughter, Natalie Rose! She and Jessica ran into a bit of trouble with the birth, but all is going well at this point and we are all praising the Lord for the way He took care of the two of them. I thoroughly enjoyed keeping Cohen and Eli while Jess and Jer were taking care to watch over little Natalie.

  On the wild side you'll see some pictures of a couple of moose that showed up this spring in my back yard.  and a porcupine I shot about a month ago that was heading down the hill right towards my front porch! My dog was most grateful. It was very interesting examining the way it's quills were sized and designed, she was a very beautiful little creature. Too bad that they are rather a nuisance and can do quite a bit of damage to my timber. My friend went out of his house for a walk a few days ago and saw a Mama Moose with a brand new little baby right in his field! 

I took a break from facebook for a while, but when I went to email some gals I missed keeping touch with, I found that all my email contact list had been wiped out by a virus or something; so I have no ones address anymore! Back to face book!
Walk in Love, Leslie

Pioneer Stock???

Today as I was canning up some more batches of tomatoes and making some apple jelly from the skins and cores of the apples Lani and I put up for her on Saturday, I was contemplating on why I get so much satisfaction from doing things the "old fashioned" way. Am I part squirrel, that I like storing up my food? I have always loved gardening, canning, making bread, even to the point that I now grind my own wheat to make my bread. I had this conversation once with my oldest daughter, Shannon, who is much like me in this respect, in that she derives the same pleasure and satisfaction from doing things "the hard way". I think that we both decided it is because we come from "pioneer stock". My Great Grandfather was a homesteader in southern Idaho. He signed up for a hundred acres, built himself a sod home to start with and went to work growing sugar beets, potatoes and corn. He had to make good with his crops for a period of time and then the acreage became his. He then built a great big farmhouse for his bride, my grandmother and they continued working together to provide for their family. I still remember their farm and apple orchard and fields. I remember my Great Grandmother sending me down to the cellar, (it was dark and scarey), to get apples for her to make some applesauce for us for breakfast. (To go along with the oatmeal, bacon, eggs and biscuits that she also fixed every morning!) You have to realize that my Great Grandfather had already put in at least two hours of work on an empty stomach before this first meal of the day, so a hearty breakfast was necessary! Now, of course, I do not eat breakfasts like that, but I very much enjoy the "putting by" as it used to be called, and the doing for yourself rather than totally relying on the grocery store. So, there's the theory as to why I am the way I am. I blame it on my Great Grandparents who rode the immigrant train west to make a place for themselves.

This picture is of my Great Grandfather, (seated) and his brother and one of their first crops of potatoes. You can see how Idaho became the potato state, SEVEN potatoes, SEVEN feet tall!
God Blessed America!

Monday February 21, 2011: Dr. Frank Seekins - Hebrew Word Pictures from El Shaddai Ministries on Vimeo.

I totally love the way this guy teaches relationships in family. This will truly bless any family or marriage.

For The Beauty of the Earth

I wanted to share some of the outdoor pictures I've been taking throughout the spring and summer on my walks through the property. I only wish I could infuse the sweet woodland fragrances, and the feeling of peace and wonder that you experience walking through these places into the pictures; for that, you will have to use your imagination.

For the Beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth, over and around us lies,
Lord Our God to Thee we raise, this our hymn of Grateful Praise!
(Folliott Pierpoint)