Please Feed The Fish

I used to love animals...I guess I still do but am much more aware now of how much work they are...and I have children. Growing up we almost always had a dog, a handful of cats (to eat the mice), a horse and off and on we had other animals including sheep, calves, pigs and wild rabbits.  In the almost seven years we've been married we have often talked of getting a pet.  My husband is partial to birds and fish and I'd rather have a dog or cat.  After a long, somewhat silly conversation one day we had decided the only practical pets we could stand right now would be a pigmy goat or a miniature donkey and we came to that conclusion only because it would eat the lawn.  Neither one of us was serious and the only pet we've had to date, besides our children which totally count as pets, is our virtual fish that live on this blog.  My three-year-old asks if he can feed them almost everyday when I'm working on my computer but half the time I tell him no.  So, when you stop by the blog feed the fish they love it and I'm sure they won't get huge like Otis in the book "Fish Out Of Water."

Rainy Day Marshmallows

It started to pour at about noon today.  We'd already been outside for part of the day so we were ready to be inside but not ready to stop our adventures...so I got to try out my new rocket stove. (You can see it built up in my fireplace with bricks.  It keeps the fire contained and functional.)

We used skewers for marshmallow sticks.  The littles barely warmed their marshmallows before they ate them up.  After eating about a half dozen each I cut them off and we let the fire burn out.

 

I will admit my fire building skills need some work, we mostly burned strips of cardboard that I rolled up next to a piece of wood that eventually burned up.  I loved that the rocket stove limited the amount I could stick in and kept the fire so small and contained.  The design is for cooking as the fire is contained so you can put a pot on and cook.  I look forward to many more adventures cooking this way.

Weeds

Our yard is full of dandelions, like most lawns.  They like to come in and take over.  I spent an hour out in my yard pulling dandelions yesterday.  I had decided if I can't get rid of them I can at least slow them down by picking the flowers before they go to seed.  I must admit it was unforgiving work and I'm not sure I made a dent, although I did get this happy feeling when I looked out my kitchen and noticed the absence of the yellow flowers when I look out my kitchen window.  The bad news is that I started with the side of the yard that wasn't as thick with them.

 

All this time I spent pulling me out got me thinking.  As I looked at the seeds I thought how amazing it is that I was looking at the tiny seeds and how much potential there is in that one seed to make a big dandelion plant which will, in turn create more seeds until my yard is full of them. So, it there is that much potential in a little seed how much potential is in a person?  How much effect does a kind word or an act of service have?  Random acts of kindness are like those dandelions, they lead to more.  So the next time you have the opportunity to do something good, something small that will make a difference, don't hesitate.  You never know how much good you do.