Putting a perspective on Homelessness...

Tonight was the Children's Choir Musical, and wanting to support our kids and our children's ministry team I attended though I did not have children performing and really don't know any of the children that were either...Well I came away with my eyes opened or should I say re-opened.

We all know in 2008 here in the USA the housing market hit a wall and the economy went belly up...We all know in the back of our minds that this created homelessness...But 2008 was so long ago and as each of us has faced our own struggles to make ends meet and keep a roof over our own heads, we forget how lucky we truly are...If you are reading this you have a home, you have electricity, you have food.

So many that are homeless it is not because of anything they did or did not do...Today's homelessness is real and it is effecting not just individuals but whole families..

How much harder is it for those homeless that have children...How hard is it for the children to look towards the future when their basic needs are not being meet today...Through no fault of their parents these kids are experiencing hardships in life that is this day, in this country is crazy...Unemployment is like a cancer and minimum wage does not cover the basic costs of living, with oil prices rising, so is the cost of food...People are having to choose between eating or paying the rent/or morgage...

Now I knew that there was a few kids here in our town that are classified as "homeless"...I have heard about via my eldest daughters school last year...But we live in a small rural community...how bad could it be...

When my daughter graduated in 2010 it was a graduating class of 107 students...The student body is made up from kids from 3 small towns...Now here is the perspective that slapped me in the face...there are over 200 homeless CHILDREN in our county (that is children K to 12 register in the school system)...and I am not just talking homeless living out of a hotel...there are families with children living in the woods behind the shops on Main street...I was shocked, and cried just hearing this...Actually I am crying as I type this...My heart breaks for these families...We personally know how hard it is to find work around here...4months hubby was unemployed in 2008 and I lost my business, but we are so blessed and have a roof over our heads today...Many have not been so lucky...more than I though so it turns out.

For a community this small 200+ is an astonishing number...I know many of you that read my blog also live in small or rural communities and like me probably think of homelessness as a "city" problem...I challenge you to find out what the numbers are in your own back yard...

What am I going to do personally about this???..Talk to our Children's minister and see what we can organize to do to help these families...Find out how we can contact them and bring them the help they need to get back on their feet...and of course PRAY and ask you all to pray too...Just because the media has stopped covering this issue does not mean it has gone away.

Blessings Kelsie

Lost Barn Cats...

Opened my front door to find this yesterday...

Cosmo, Ginger and Piglet

These cats do not seem to understand what their function is around here...In the mean time we have wrens nesting in the water softener and rats eating the wiring in hubby's collection of vintage cars...I do not think sleeping on the porch counts as "being outside"

At least Fish-food pretends and naps in the garden instead...

Actually she is a very good hunter and will bring me little gifts...we do like it when they are gifts with fur and tails instead of feathers and wings...But at least she is earning her keep, unlike some other cats I could mentions *coughs*

Blessings Kelsie

The Stage is Set

Sharing for Show and Tell Friday @ http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
And though this is not at my house, it is a project I have been working on for the last few weeks along with the Choir director...So it is close to the heart, making it almost as good as HOME :)

Last week I shared with you a couple of snap shots of the back drop I have been working on for the Children's Choir upcoming performance...

Wednesday night they moved the panels to the back of the stage and today we spent the morning putting the rest of the stage props in place...

The Choir Director did a great job gathering together everything else needed to turn the church stage into a City Park... Fencing panels, park benches, birdbath etc...The greenery we begged and borrowed from around the church buildings...I wish them luck pulling it apart Monday and remembering were they all need to go back...

The full effect from down the back of the church...Click to Enlarge....

Please excuse the poor photography, by the time we finished I was to tired to do much more than point and shoot and hope...guess I should have thrown in a prayer for them to come out better

Blessings Kelsie

This weeks gardening update...

I picked up a couple of lovely full size and blooming foxgloves at the local Feed Store this past week...For now I have them still in the pots they came in but placed where I would like them to be planted...So far they seem to be liking with the garden Angel who greets those coming thru the front gate....

The Forget-me-not is blooming...I am so pleased as it is one of my favorite cottage type flowers and reminds me of my childhood home...

This watermelon bloom is for a very dear blogging friend...it resides on a volunteer watermelon vine next to my front porch...this lady is so sweet and always blesses me with her encouraging comments and friendship, whenever I now see a watermelon bloom I am reminded to be a better person to all I meet in life and online...Thank you Pat for being you *hugs*

I was so excited to be able to create my first bouquet of cut flowers...They made a great last minute gift for our neighbors 61st wedding anniversary :)

This is another one of our "confused" barn cats...Does that look like a barn in the back ground...no it is a nice soft comfory couch in our living room...This is GINGER, she is a Manx as you can tell by her lack of tail...She is also very naughty and daddy's baby...

And finally the veggies in the melon field...Look at the size of the corn, it is taller than hubby...The tomatoes will fill your hand and are just starting to turn yellow...not long now...Bottom left is a baby cantaloupe...mmmm can't wait for these babies to be ready to eat...and lastly, the cucumbers are coming in now...I picked one on Monday and the one pictured did not look ready, well today it was 14inches long...and there are a few about 7 inches that will need to be picked in the next day or so...

I have much to get done in the yard but with the weather getting into the 90's now it is not quite as pleasant as it was a couple of weeks ago...Might be time to switch my focus back indoors for a little bit while we wait for the harvest to start...And then my adventure into learning canning will begin lol.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing this post for
Outdoor Wednesday @ http://www.asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/
Cottage Flora Thursday @ http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/
Farm Friendly Friday @ http://www.verdefarm.com/
Farm Girl Friday @ http://www.deborahjeansdandelionhouse.com
Flaunt Your Flowers / Fertilizer Friday @ http://www.tootsietime.com/

First Day Lily, Greek Chicken and Childrens Recipe

My first Day Lily of 2011 opened this morning...I have been watching the buds for the last week or so, waiting to see this beautiful flower open and share all it's glory for just one day...Sadly tomorrow it will be gone, but there are many more buds waiting to open right behind it.

After lunch Lil Sara and I ventured into town to go grocery shopping...I rarely buy raw chicken because, well I simply don't trust it to be fresh once I get the plastic off (has happened a few to many times)...But got brave today and picked up a whole fryer that had been cut length ways in half at just 99c a pound...also grabbed a cheap bottle of Italian salad dressing and all the fixing to make Greek salad...

Once home I skun (word?) and washed the chicken, put each half into a large freezer ziplock bag, squirted a good couple of tablespoons of the Italian salad dressing into each bag and worked it around to coat the chicken, removed as much air as possible and sealed the bags...Placed bags in fridge in a large bowl, I will turn the bags ever hour or so until 5pm when I will pop them in the oven to bake for about hour and a half...Hopefully they will taste great with our Greek salad and homemade fries from home grown red potatoes...I can't wait for dinner tonight

Children's Fun Cooking Recipe

You will need:

One large pot with or without a lid, a wooden spoon for stirring, 2 plastic bowls and plastic utensils.

1/2 box of dry uncooked pasta of your choosing...We like to mix it up and do 1/2 mac and 1/2 spirals.

1 cup of dried beans, again of your choosing.

1 young child or toddler

Instructions:

Place all things on kitchen table...Let child loose...

This recipe should buy you about 20 to 30 minutes of occupied toddler time....Enjoy


This is how I keep Sara busy while I am handling foods she can not help me with such as raw chicken.

Blessings Kelsie

PS: I should have mentioned that we keep and reused the pasta and bean "mix" each time and it is stored in an old pasta box in the pantry marked "Sara"...She is so proud to have "her" cooking stuff in with the other foods.