Another Auction!

Mom, Dad & I went to an auction today. I was going to take some pictures of the stuff that I bought, but I didn't get around to it. I bought some misc. junk along with several boxes of books, old magazines, etc.
I didn't buy any of the real expensive stuff - like the tin wind-up toy that sold for $1350.00!

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Penns Creek - Another Good Camp!

We are all home from Penns Creek Camp now. I wasn't able to be there as much as I would have liked to have been, but maybe that helped me appreciate the services that I was able to be in. The preaching was tremendous, the singing was great, and the presence of God was real. I didn't get very many pictures from camp, but I did post a couple below.

A Couple Pics From Camp

One of the reasons that I wanted to go to Camp this year was because of the youth evangelist. The youth evangelist was the one and only Rev. Joel Byer. I only got a couple pictures of him - unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Rev. Byer when he was wearing sunglasses during his message or the time that he came down off of the platform walking with a cane! Needless to say, I think he kept everyone's attention, but at the same time he got his point across.

During camp this year, I was happy to see one of my Grandmas. I hadn't seen Sis. Crock for a little while, so it was good to see her. No, I'm not standing on anything in this picture - Sis. Crock is just a little lady that I look up to very much.

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Another Update

It has been a little longer than I intended since my last update, so I'll try to let you know what has been going on around here.
On July 21st, we went to Penn's Creek for our camp Work Day. That meant alot of hard work but also some times of good fellowship and some fun.
On July 27th, Mom & Dad picked me up at work and we went back to Penn's Creek. I got to be there for the first weekend of camp. We heard tremendous messages from Bros. Fuller and Stetler!
I came home on Sunday evening. This week is the end of the month at work, so that's always a busy time. Today was officially "closing" but it actually wasn't too bad. Tomorrow, we're supposed to have a free steak dinner compliments of the company! Every once in a while there are rewards for all of the hard work!
I have gotten to work in the shop some this week. This is the first that I've been able to do that for a while. Here is a picture of something that I made this week. It's about 4 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches.
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Just To Let You Know!

I just wanted to let everyone know that even after my last post, I am still alive and well!
Things are looking pretty busy this week, so maybe in a few days I'll have something to blog about.
Keep checking back for more updates!
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There hasn't really been a whole lot of out of the ordinary stuff going on around here lately, but I wanted to put something on here.
I decided that I would put a picture on from sometime in the past. How far in the past, I'm not going to try to guess!
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I Didn't Need This!

Just an update here.

While I was mowing grass on Saturday, my tractor broke down - fortunately, it was easily fixed and it's fine. However, as I was walking into the house, apparently a honey bee decided that it didn't like me walking through the clover in the back yard. It proceeded to sting me on the lower part of my leg. This is always a concern since I'm allergic to bee stings. I took two Benadryl capsules and went back to work. Throughout the day on Sunday and Monday the spot on my leg continued to alternate between itching and just plain hurting!

By the time I got home from work Monday evening, I had a dark red spot about 2 by 3 inches on the side of my leg. Dad & Mom decided that it needed to be checked out. The doctor wasn't in and wouldn't be for a couple days, so Dad and I headed for the hospital Emergency Room.

I ended up being there for a little under two hours, after which I had to go get two prescriptions - one for an antibiotic and one for an anti-inflammatory drug.

The final diagnosis was that it wasn't an allergic reaction to the bee sting, but that it somehow got infected.

Fortunately, it hasn't been too bad today and it's starting to look better, and I'm thankful for both of those.

Just another interesting couple of days!

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A Busy Week - But We Survived!

Last Saturday, Dad & I went to a car show at a local park. This is just one of the many cars that was there.

On Friday, I took a day off work and we went to the Bel Sano Holiness camp. It was a very enjoyable day. I managed to get a picture of this couple sitting on a bench on the campgrounds.

Yesterday was the day for the local Riverfest - a time of several events here in town. One of the events was the raft regatta. I think someone said that there were 40 rafts that entered the event. They were to float 4.3 miles on the Juniata river. Some of them were very elaborate, others were very simple. I said that some of them should get an award just for making it that far - if they made it!

Last night was the night for our local fireworks. This was actually the final event of the Riverfest activities. I tried taking some pictures of them, but that didn't go too good. It was about like trying to take pictures of lightning - next to impossible! I did get a few pictures, but nothing spectacular. We actually had two sets of fireworks, the main ones downtown along with the ones that somebody was setting off on their own.

In between the car show last Saturday, camp meeting Friday, the raft regatta yesterday, and the fireworks last night was a week where I managed to work a little over 40 hours in 4 days along with preparing to try to teach a Sunday School class this morning. Oh well, it keeps life interesting. This coming week looks like another busy week, so we'll see what happens!

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I Have Returned!

I promised you some pictures from our vacation last week. Here are a few of the ones that I took.

Here was our home away from home for a little while last week.

This is the front porch where we enjoy spending time - even when it's raining!

This is one of the farm fields that had already been mowed.

This is a field of wheat that is ready to be harvested.

This is the first camp that you come to on the way to the cottage where we stay. There is an Amish couple that stays in this occasionally.

Filling You In!

This is part of what's left of the tree that fell on the wires that Dad had the picture of on his blog. Bro. & Sis. Stoner came and we tried to clean it up as much as we could after it had been cut down this morning.

While we were working on the tree, we got caught in a couple rainstorms. This double rainbow is what we saw after the first one.

I also want to let you know that I'm going to be off of here for a few days. I'm planning on joining my parents on vacation for the rest of the week. I'll try to post some pictures after we get back.

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Going High Tech!

I got a very pleasant surprise this morning when Dad asked me if I wanted one of my birthday gifts early. It caught me off guard and I didn't really know what to say, so he handed me a gift wrapped box.
When I opened it, I found what you see in the picture above - an RCA Mp3 player!
So far I have put 69 songs on this little piece of equipment which measures 3 1/4 by 1 1/4 by 3/4 inches. This is a little less than half of its capacity of 160 songs without a memory card which would expand the memory even further.
I have really been enjoying me early, unexpected birthday gift - I'm listening to it while I'm typing this!
Thank You So Much Mom & Dad!
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From time to time, some people like to share photos from the past on their blog. That being the case, I thought I would share one from the very distant past here - as in about 40 years distant! In case you don't know who this is - go to The Happy Pastor blog and look at the profile picture for an up to date photo of this same person.
I have also heard that some people don't think there's a need to check this blog daily as it doesn't get changed very often. I will try to do better in that area.

Long Time No See!

Back sometime ago I had put a post on here about us hearing from a girl that had been a neighbor of ours in Berwick.
Well, today we finally got to see her again - along with her boyfriend Jon. We had a great time remembering things that we used to do and people that we knew.
Hopefully, it won't be so long until we see each other again!
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An Enjoyable Evening

After our new members reception service last night (for more pictures from that, click here to see the ones on my parents' blog), we were invited to the Sicklers' home for a time of fellowship and refreshments.

Everyone got involved in the preparation for this time of fellowship -

from clearing the table . . .

. . . to making the lemonade . . .

. . . to washing the dishes!

It was an enjoyable evening!

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Memorial Day

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend with all of the festivities and events that go along with it, I got to thinking about the patriotic part of this holiday.
This is an old poem that I have heard before but I still get chills when I read it.


Ragged Old Flag

I walked through a county courthouse square,
On a park bench an old man was sitting there.
I said, Your old courthouse is kinda run down.
He said, Naw, it'll do for our little town.

I said, Your flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it.
He said, Have a seat, and I sat down.
Is this the first time you've been to our little town?

I said, I think it is. He said, I don't like to brag,
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag.
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware.

And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams.
And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though.

She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag.

On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low a time or two.

She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam,
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home.

In her own good land she's been abused --
She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused.
And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.

And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more.

So we raise her up every morning,
Take her down every night.
We don't let her touch the ground
And we fold her up right.

On second thought I DO like to brag,
'Cause I'm mighty proud of that Ragged Old Flag.

Written by Johnny Cash

One Of God's Beautiful Creations

We had some rain here for a short time this afternoon / evening. Actually it rained pretty hard for a little bit. When it had just about quit, Dad called for me to come look outside and this is what we saw. I've seen many rainbows, but I still think they're beautiful every time I see one.
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Congratulations!

I realized tonight that it has been awhile since I have posted any pictures of Tim Calhoun on this blog.
I thought I would use this occasion to do just that and congratulate Tim on his apparent election as constable.
Congratulations Tim!
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My Mother

My Mother is a listening ear when I just need to talk – even if it doesn’t make sense!
My Mother is a shoulder to cry on – yes I still need that sometimes.
My Mother is a counselor when I’m confused and don’t know which way to turn – this happens more often than I’d like to admit.
My Mother is a source of encouragement when I’m frustrated and don’t know which way to turn – ever felt that way?
My Mother is always there to pray for me when I ask, and even when I don’t – I need that every day!
My Mother is a taxi driver when I need a ride – I know I should have my driver’s license by now, but I don’t!
My Mother is a cook when it’s meal time – even when I’m late getting home from work.
My Mother is a seamstress when my clothes need fixed – I don’t even attempt that!
My Mother is a laundress on wash day – something else that I don’t even try!
You see, my Mother is many things to me. Some people have gotten on my case about me not being married yet. They seem to think that is a crime. I have told some of them, “My Mother cooks my meals, packs my lunches, and does my laundry. What do I need a wife for?”
The most important thing that my Mother has been for me has been a consistent Christian influence. If it wasn’t for that influence, I don’t know where I would be today.
Thank You Mom!
I Love You!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who read this.
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My New Toy

We went to some yard sales today and I bought several things. Here is my biggest purchase of the day.
We have another tractor, but it's just too small for what we were using it for.
This one is a 12 horsepower Gravely with a 50 inch mower on it.
Fortunately, we can get both tractors in the shed. The concern with this one was the width, but it does fit - the total width of the mowing deck is 54 inches, the opening for the shed doors is 58 inches!
I'm just thankful that I was able to get this tractor. The man that I bought it from was very helpful and told me just about everything there was to know about it.

My new toy in action! I really like it!


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