Chicken Wire Isn't Just For Chickens!

First off, I want to apologize.  I should have taken a before picture.  I am constantly taking pictures and for the life of me, I can't believe I forgot to take a before picture.  Anyway. . .here's the after photo:

The before photo "would have" revealed a hideous picture frame with an old ugly oil painting in it.  The frame was really dirty and had that gold gilded finish.  After I cleaned it up, I spray painted the frame and then washed over it with a very diluted brown tempera paint so the carved wood could be highlighted and it's beauty revealed.  The frame is big. . .35"x29".  I have been keeping an eye out for a large ornate frame especially for this project.  I used a staple gun to attach the chicken wire and it was not an easy task.  It was hard to get it to lay flat.  In fact, I didn't get the chicken wire to lay perfectly flat, but I just kept pulling hard on the wire as I stapled away, first on opposite ends, and then on the sides.  Trust me, if you plan to do this for yourself, and you're using a large frame, that is how you need to do it.  I did it wrong the first time and had to start all over.  I backed all the photos with cereal box cardboard to prevent curling over time.  I then attached them to the chicken wire with a few dots of hot glue.  The little clothes pins are just for looks.  They aren't really the main mode of securing the photos.

So there we have it.  How fitting to have a chicken collage with a chicken wire backing!  See? . . . .chicken wire isn't just for chickens!

Your Horse Drawn Carriage Awaits, Miss Daisy. . .

Earlier this week, Tara and Madeline bought this from a local garden/store keeper where we live.  We love supporting local business when we can.  When we brought it home, we decided to let Daisy try it out first.

She wasn't totally fond of it, but the alternative. . ."jumping off into the snow". . .wasn't very appealing either.

Bawk. . .bawk. . .Well, this is quite a conundrum. . .

Bawk. . .A little help here please?. . .

Awww heck!  Bawk. . .sometimes you've just gotta take the plunge!

Which she gracefully did!  She pushed her way through the snow over to Tara so she would pick her up and put her back into her run.

Then the carriage came into the house for it's intended purpose:

Chickens In The Snow

Well, lets just say that they DON'T like it! 

Especially when the outside temperature is -2 degrees!  As you can see, Dixie was not a happy girl.

Jasmine and Daisy were not up for any winter games either.

Tara and Madeline tossed them into the freshly fallen snow, and they literally just sat there.  Looking at us as if to say "Are you KIDDING me?!!"  Pick me up and put me back into my heated coop!!

Chickens aren't like kids after all.  They don't have warm boots on their feet or fleecy hats on their combs.  Madeline was totally okay with laying on her soft bed of snow.

Tara, who's not feeling well at all (she's been running a fever on and off since last night and has a persistent cough), was totally fine in the snow. . .for a little while.

Even when Dixie had a little pathway to walk on, she just flapped her wings indignantly while saying "Pick me up!  Pick me up!  Pick me up!!"

Which Tara did. . .

And then she put her in her chicken run, while Madeline followed with Daisy and Jasmine.  All told, the chickens spent about 7 minutes in the snow and they Did. . .Not. . .Like it!!  But I can't blame them.  Dixie and Daisy are molting and with the brutal temps, how could they enjoy it?!

Snow is for kids, not chickens.

This is one of only a literal hand full of snowfalls we've had all winter.  It has been so unusually mild temperature wise as well as precipitation wise this year.  I can't even remember in my lifetime ever having such a mild winter.  The chickens have not had much exposure to snow and they clearly expressed to us that they prefer spring, summer, and fall far better than winter.   I feel the same way as them!

What is the meaning of life?

It is truly a question that has been pondered for ages.  I am certain that if you asked 3 people what they feel the meaning of life is, you will get 3 different answers.  For me, it starts here:

The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by about 40 authors from every walk of life including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, etc., in three different languages, on three different continents, over the course of approximately 1,600 years.  The bible is inspired and inerrant, which means that the Bible is from God and is without error in everything it addresses.

The bible is the most amazing love letter ever written and has been given to us by God.

In it, we see God's Holiness, wisdom, truthfulness, love, goodness, faithfulness, mercy, kindness, patience, justice, righteousness, wrath, jealously and grace.  He is All-knowing, All-powerful, and unchanging.  

In the Bible, God explains why I am here, and what the meaning of life is.  God tells us through His word who He is, so we can come to know Him and have a relationship with Him.   The bible teaches me how to please God and do what is right.  We can't love something that we know nothing about.  That is why God tells us about Himself in the bible.  He made me understand that I am a sinner and that I will never be good enough to go to heaven.  Even when I compare myself to the most heinous people in history, and justify in my mind "surely God will forgive me of my sins, because I'm not nearly as bad as they are.  I'm human after all and there are a lot of people who have done way worse than me.  I'm a good person.  A loving God will certainly be understanding and allow me in".  God has made clear through His word that Heaven is a sinless place.  Not one single sinner (and we all are sinners) will enter into His kingdom.  Only one man in history was without sin. . .Jesus.  Paul says; (Romans 6:23) "For the wages of sin is death".  Death meaning an eternal separation from God in Hell.  Paul goes on to say "But the gift of God is eternal LIFE through Jesus".  Many people think "God's just going to forgive me", but it is an evil wicked judge that would turn a blind eye to justice.  Because He is a good and just judge, He must punish sin.  To satisfy justice, Jesus, God in flesh, took God's wrath and paid for all of our sins on the cross. What an amazing act of pure love.  Through that act, He demonstrated His justice through punishing sin, and His mercy by forgiving the sinner.  God has shown me that through His mercy and grace, I can indeed enter into His Kingdom.  Me. . .an unworthy, filthy sinner has been given a way.  

John 3:16

When Tara was a year old, I gave my life to Christ.  I asked God to forgive me of all my sins and told Him that I knew I was not worthy, but that I believed.  I believed that He took the punishment for my sin and God raised Him from the dead 3 days later.  Now, I talk to God all the time.  I thank Him, I share silly things, and I confide in Him.  I let Him know when I'm hurting, scared, and angry.  I question His answers to my prayers when the outcome is not what I wanted.  In fact, I find myself asking "why" quite often.  But I love Him.  No matter what life throws at me, I know He is there.  I love my children so much.  I can not imagine how it would make me feel, if some day, my children turned away from me and no longer wanted to have a relationship with me.  For most of my life, I did not know God, have a relationship, or want to have a relationship with Him.  I can only imagine how much that must have hurt Him.  I am so grateful that Jesus died on the cross for me.  I am so grateful that my punishment has been paid.  I'm so grateful that God, through his word, has shown me the way to heaven.  I tell you that I was deceived through my own ignorance and was headed down the path of destruction and eternal damnation.  I was never good enough, nor could I ever be good enough to enter God's Kingdom on my own good works, suffering, or otherwise.  Jesus says: (Matthew 7:13-14) "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

The meaning of life for me is that I have found God, and I have indeed found the narrow gate which will lead to eternal life.  Now we all just need to spread the good news!

Think about what "The Meaning Of Life" is to you.