You Can if You Think You Can!

Dear Reader,

A merry day to you! Thank you for coming by; hopefully you won't have to wear your winter coat today (as we did yesterday), since it may be a balmy 58 degrees, if the forecast is correct! We're beginning to wonder if we aren't in for a revisit of last year's weather, which was so cold that the tomatoes didn't start ripening till September. At least the peas kept coming on all summer, and we had a great potato crop! Maybe we should stop babying our tomato seedlings and invest in potatoes and peas, instead!

Here are a few photos of the construction of our china/storage shelves (Which aren't finished yet, as we are lacking a few boards and some trim) from last Saturday:

"Here, Papi, you do it like this!"

Awaiting Orders

"This one looks ready to go!"

"No, wait a minute, looks a little weak in this corner."

And here is what AnnaMarie has been up to (On top of styling everyone's hair, doing the dishes, setting the table, fixing meals, etc.): Last year she began her own tradition of giving Mother's Day cards to all the ladies in the surrounding neighborhood, as well as the mothers at church. Quite impressive, these children of mine! I wish I could say that they're just like I was at that age :) . When I feel guilty that our studies sometimes fall behind, I have to remind myself that perhaps just being at home, in a secure environment, the children will learn what is most important in life, after all.


We've had a few happy surprises in our garden, namely this cardoon coming back up from last year's growth (And also some French tarragon and arugula that we weren't expecting):



Hopefully the cold weather will allow our apricot and cherries to be pollinated before the blossoms fall, since sadly we have not seen any bees out this week.


Every year at this time, we try to not become discouraged, thinking of all the work to be done, inside and out, and how we are going to do it without a full-time maid and gardener. We have been re-reading Norman Vincent Peale's "You Can if You Think You Can", which reminds that "It is always too soon to quit", and to never talk "defeat", as our words have great power for causing failure or success. Also, "The affirmation of strong perservance, of keeping at it, of continuous, undeviating effort, is bound to pay off ultimately if you have the inner compulsion to visualize and keep at it."

I would highly recommend reading any book by Normal Vincent Peale, or Dale Carnegie, if you are feeling ready to give up with whatever you are facing in life. In addition to daily study of scripture, reading books like these fuels the fire within, and help us to look outside of our difficulties, giving courage to "advance in the direction of our dreams."

May His peace be with you this day, and always,

Love,

Marqueta

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"The chief duty of a human being is to master life. And with all its pain and difficulty, one can do just that if he will pray and think and work and study and believe.. That for a fact is true--absolutely true."
~Norman Vincent Peale