On a personal note...

I hate when I neglect my blog and I feel like I've done that a lot this summer. And I almost never get personal on here, but I thought today I might take a break from my regular scheduled blogging and share a bit of my home life.  

To new readers, if you are interested in the story of how I became Catholic, you can read it HERE. This isn't a post about being Catholic, its just a peek into my summer life and family. :)

My household is made up myself, my two children, 1 cat, 4 guinea pigs, 22 Swedish ducks (we started with blues, then hatched blacks, splash, lavender and whites the following years- they come in quite the variety- compliments of Metzer Farms) and currently 2 geese. Our "zoo" was much larger with things like dogs, more cats, another goose, more ducks, fish, frogs, birds, squirrels, turtles and tortoises etc. They either passed on or finished their rehab time with us and been released back into the wild. I'm one of those crazy people who stops traffic to remove assorted domestic and wild animals from the road- I've gotten quite good at catching large and small snapping turtles because no one else seems willing to risk a digit to help the poor homely things. But that's another story entirely!  

We are soon to add another cat to the mix. Last week we had to put my grandmother into a nursing home.  Our family has been caring for her for several years now to keep her in her home as long as possible, but last week she fell and even the doctors agreed it was time.  She asked me for two things 1) a proper Catholic funeral when the time comes and 2) take care of her British Short-haired cat. 

So now we will once again be a 2 cat family. There have been lots of adjustments this summer for all of us and some big changes- like graduation and college plans. Where does the time go? One minute they are off to kindergarten and next college! 

Somehow this has become a crazy busy summer with one unplanned thing after another.  Typically, summer is rather slow and easy here, but not this year.  It's been full speed ahead constantly! Like right now I am in the process (along with my children) of painting several rooms in the house. This is a job I detest and I keep hoping my children will enjoy and become greatly skilled in- so far that hasn't happened. I hadn't planned on painting anything, yet here I am daily covered in paint from bare-feet to elbows. I am a terrible painter. 

It all started with my eldest's bedroom, then another bedroom and the bathroom, a hall way and now we are eyeing the kitchen too.

Aside from the dreaded painting- which means moving shuffling (I have zero upper body strength) furniture from one section of the house to another while trying to keep the cat from rubbing on the newly painted walls, we are kept very busy with our gardens, fruit trees and berry bushes (though the deer - a doe with twins! -made short work of most of the berry bushes).  

Spring looks like this...

End of summer looks like this...

and this...

Summer also looks like this...the aggressive family of water snakes who live in our pond...(they aren't small either!) 

...that our flock will catch and eat if the snakes dare to stay in range of the flock (ewww, I know- its even more disgusting than you are imagining trust me!) 

Our flock provides us with loads of entertainment (eating wiggling snakes not being one of them in my opinion- the children disagree) and delicious healthy eggs as well. 

And finally, when you live in southern Connecticut and your brother has a small family sized yacht there is also boating and crabbing to be done...

So you see, these and others are the reasons my blog has suffered neglect this summer. Once the paint dries, the furniture is back in place and the garden picked clean, I will, God willing, be back to regular blogging. 

:)

God bless! 


In Christ, 


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 



My conversion story: http://connecticutcatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-i-came-home-to-rome-my-conversion.html