Sometimes it's hard to put feelings into words. I really can't explain but I just began to feel empty like I had run out of gas. I was feeling like I had nothing to offer anymore. I just knew it was that time. I had started taking French Classes and through that course had met a very nice Italian family. We corresponded in Italian, which I loved and we became good friends. Shortly after that I met a lady from Switzerland and she invited us to visit her and agreed we'd meet in a little French town I used to frequent. I also met a Frenchman that traveled a lot and he always shared his pictures with me and we also became good friends.
That was when I realized I needed a trip to Europe and take the opportunity to meet up with all these people and put my French language to the test. We first went to Lake Como in Italy, and from there we managed to meander throughout Europe and met up with my Frenchman friend, and the aforementioned lady from Switzerland. We ended up spending almost three week longer than planned and what a time we had. It was my wifes first trip to Europe and she fell in love even though she struggled to understand some of the conversations.
When we returned I decided I wanted to go to Alaska and go on a bear hunting trip I had been promised years earlier from a guide whose family I had helped out. Well we saw lots of bears but I couldn't bring myself to shoot any so we had a blast enjoying the scenery. Shortly after that I noticed I was having shortness of breath which resulted in heart surgery. Seventeen months later here we are and my darling wife and I are working with young adults who have fallen into the drug scene and we now have to young men living with us and a husband wife couple. They all fell victim to the drug scene. Karen and I decided it was our time to get involved and help restore them to the life of promise that God offers all of us. We are enjoying some real success, but the real joy is their achievements and hard earned successes. The two young men are now both employed. The husband wife are now able to sit down and discuss their differences without yelling at each other...I will send some pic's very soon. I want all of you to know I never forgot any of you...I took you all everywhere I went. There is a fondness in my heart for everyone of my friends from this forum. I'm through with the chickens but will never be through with the chicken heads. Thank you so much for the warm welcome...with unadulterated love...Haystack
Why I left the Garden:
God bless you and your wife for doing Gods work.Its a hard road for these people,I know, its hard for my son who is addicted to alcohol. I`m glad you took us with you on your trips as I will never get to see any of those places,lol. If you are at home now why wouldn`t you get back into keeping a few chickens? Even if you don`t have chickens anymore you are a wealth of information for us.So glad that your health is better now.
Good work!
My grandfathers brother, back in the 30's, when no one cared, started helping mental patience's by having them stay at his house. These were people nobody wanted. Long story short, this endeavor went on to become one of the largest hospitals of this kind.
We still have chickens, 200 or so old hens & 250 pullets coming on three months old.
We're glad to have you back Haystack, and I'm sure no one is surprised to hear that you are again busy helping others.
Good to see you HayStack and that you had some great adventures and are doing well. You can see that Green wants you to get some more chickens. lol That is exactly what I thought too when I read it. "He needs to get some more chickens."
This message was edited Dec 18, 2013 12:20 AM
Just fell upon this thread and was so glad to see your name again, Haystack. It sounds as though you've been on quite a journey. Welcome back! I envy you your rambles around Europe and admire your commitment to your new mission. I wish you lots of success.
YAY!!! So glad to hear from you, Haystack! You have been greatly missed, but I'm so glad you and your bride are able to travel and enjoy life. God bless you for the ministry you have in your home for those in need. You have been busy about our Father's work, and that's a wonderful thing. :)
Hope to see your posts on here in the future!
I cannot number the Times I have thought of you and prayed you were doing well. So glad you enjoyed a refreshing time of relaxing. We all need that from time to time. I will pray for your ministry. I don't think you knew my DH had his foot and lower leg amputated.
It is so good to hear from you Greenhouse gal, I have thought of you so often, Thank you for your kindness and warm reception.
LFJesus, thank you also for your warm reception, we are happy and settled though our travels were such a wonderful time. I loved using my knowledge of the French language and laughed at every mistake I made...We must be able to laugh at ourselves in life. Glad to see your doing well my dear.
Cajun I'm so sorry to hear about your husband, you have withstood so many trials and tribulations. I pray that our Lord will remember your testimony and strength...I also pray that your burden will be lightened and the Lord strengthen your resolve. God Bless You Richly. Hay
I have one specific pic that I wanted to show you that was taken with a couple in France at one of the parks. It was such a piece of handiwork I had to have the picture.
Terri how wonderful to hear from you, I have been reading all the posts and admiring all the CHICKENS and livestock...So much fun...Thank you for your kindness...Hay
That is some horse,will have to share that with my daughter she has three horses and loves them with her whole heart.
Nice pic of you and your wife Hay,I bet you guys had a great time
I have always wondered what the inner mechanics of a horse looked like...
I love the pair of togetherness chairs and their pair of occupants.
Oh my stars! The horse is amazing! :) Don't you just admire the vision and talent some people have!? To see a pile of "parts" and know in your mind that you can create something like this horse, is truly a Gift!!! Wow! ....The king and queen chair is pretty cool too! ;)
Thanks for sharing your pics with us Haystack!! :)
That horse is ouber kewl! LOL Looks like you all were enjoying yourselves. Thanks for posting the pics.
Did you guys end up in the deep freeze like we did?
What a wonderful adventure you and your lovely wife have had these past few months! So glad you are back and in a good place in your life. ☺
No deep freeze for us: Interestingly enough the weather is France, and a lot of Europe is much like the weather here on the West Coast. The summers are wonderful, for the most part not to hot. I was so amazed at the creativity of that horse I just had to take pictures. We didn't take as many pic's as most people probably would...I just wanted to absorb the the beauty and people for what it was and move on. I think I told you I had met a lot of people on a language Website called Babbel. You can go to that site and study any language you desire, you can also connect with people who will personally help you through nuiances in the language that you may not understand. All the people we met with while in Europe were people I had connected with while studying the French and Italian languages. The experience was almost like meeting with people I knew from the past. One Italian family from Lake Como, Italy was like home comming. Only the wife spoke English but what a time we had with them. I loved their son's they were just wonderful. We stayed with them for almost two weeks. It was not planned but it just happended. If you have any interest in a foreign language try Babbel it was and is so much fun and interesting. I think it is like fifty dollars every six months. Well worth it. Hay. I do have pic's but am having difficulty in getting them to load, I'll keep trying...
Sounds wonderful. I have family in France but never had the opportunity to visit. My uncle and all his kids and grandkids have went several times. Our family came to America from France. I would love to visit the part of France where most of the gardening is done rather than the big cities.
Cajun, we don't like the cities either; when we go to France we stay in the rural areas. It's much more laid-back and pleasant for us country folk.
I understand almost everyone has a garden in their yard rather than a lawn.
They don't really do lawns the way we do. Actually our friends in the Dordogne have some grass around their house and I guess they do mow it, but they also have a big vegetable garden and lots of shrubs and some fruit trees.
That is how I would like my yard to be. Makes much more sense. You get fresh veggies and fruits for a healthier diet and you save money on groceries and yard work. It's a win win.
Greenhouse gal, Your spot on about the gardens, everyone has gardens with very little lawn to speak of. Also we felt the same way...we stuck to the rural areas, even in driving around. The big cities really have no attraction for us. Another thing was lots and lots of chickens. Very often we could not tell where the chickens lived...they wandered all over the countryside...I thought it was very charming. Most of the small towns the chickens were the first thing to greet you. The farmers and children were always so friendly and quick to answer any questions you might have. There were also lots of very small bed and breakfasts in what I called the villages. Not a lot of automobiles in the villages either, tons of bicycles and moped style of transportation. The one thing I though was intriguing was the small town, villages were still so much like it was when I was there in the late fifties. It was like they have stood still in time.
Hay, isn't it nice that you haven't seen drastic changes in the villages. In my friends' village the only thing that's different is that there aren't as many doctors or stores; the population is aging to some degree and there's less call for those things. Otherwise it's still a true village, with a boulangerie and a couple of boucheries and a library and mayor's office and some cafés. So much of the area is walkable, too.
Well, I am so proud of you Haystack for stepping out and having a grand time! Wish I could go see, but I probably never will. Sometimes I think about going somewhere, but then I would worry about my house and my animals. haha I should at least take a little trip to Colorado this spring. I deserve that much at least. :) Yes, I want to just RUN AWAY, at least for a week or so.
I'm curious about what it cost over there for everything? Rooms and eats and all. I've heard it is very expensive for Americans as our dollar hasn't held up well. So, I would like to know first hand how it was.
CajuninKY, I didn't know your husband was hurt. Did I miss something or did you not mention it before? I can't even imagine. So sorry for your family. Maybe the worst is over for you both. I sure hope so.
Greenhouse gal, One thing I thought was funny was that I saw things in several of the Villages that I don't remember seeing when I was stationed there. An example was as you said very little noticable stores to purchase items. There was however several stands where you could purchase eggs, vegetables, and some fruit. Not as much fruit however as vegetables. I never found any real hardware, or lumber yards in any of the villages...The small towns had places to purchase just about anything you wanted...not so with the villages. I always wondered how the villages worked in regard to supplies. I never really asked as I didn't want to appear nosey. The egg, vegetable, and fruit stands never seemed to have anyone around...but as soon as we would stop by the children would come out of the woodwork...I loved the simplicity and carefree attitudes...Talk about charming. My wife and I always kept candy bars with us as a tip for the children who helped us. They always seemed so happy and would follow us when we parked and walked. Maybe those stands were always around but I just don't remember them from when I was there in the fifties. Karen and I were really fortunate because we had three families we spent most of our time with while we were there. They were wonderful about taking us places and showing us around. Somethings I remembered very well, but other things not quite so well. Nancy felt much like it was when I was there. Metz, has so much beautiful architexture, honestly I don't remember it being so elloquent as this time. We spent two days just in the city of Verdun. Verdun was a major battlefield in WWII. When I was there in the fifties it was littered with bullet ridden buildings...Many of them were spray painted U.S. GO Home. That is not the case today. None of those buildings I remember exist anymore. They have finally rebuilt and Verdun is beautiful today. Hay
Wonderful to see your name here! So happy you and your wife had a lovely vacation as well! I'm not surprised that you are helping people, you have a heart of gold.
Great to see you again!
Anniebbb
Hay, how is the ministry going?
LFJ, My DH fought a 14 year battle with an MRSA infection in the bones of his left foot. He finally had to have the foot amputated below his knee to save his life. He is doing better.
Interesting that we both left Dave's about the same time and returned within weeks of each other. Must be Karma. Maybe I needed you for some reason, I know I needed Dave's.
OMG Cajun, I never realized that it was MRSA your husband was dealing with. They young man (LEVI) That is with us on the blue scooter. He had mrsa and they thought he would not live. I was in the hospital with him so weeks. He was in a coma and we were ther daily praying for him, after his recovery he was sent to my home for physical rehabilitation. After that was when he got into drugs heavily. I didn't say anything earlier because I never realized that was what your dear husband was dealing with. MRSA is one of the most frightening things I have ever had to deal with. I was terriffied for Levi...Here are a few pictures of what it looks like. His nurse told me he would not live and if he did he would be in a wheel chair for life. All I can say is with "God all things are possible...Hay Levi and Cameron both are doing so well and I am just amazed at the change of attitudes with both of them...I love them.
Hi JYL: I don't know much about karma, but it is pretty interesting. I don't have any animals or birds now but adore my chickenhead friends and their animals and birds. Keep us up on whats happening with you...good to have you back. Hay
I had to look up what it is. Haystack, that red part of his leg, that is the staph infection? I thought it was a red cloth at first.
So, as I'm looking up what it is, I see a website talking about how it is much more prevalent around CAFO's, especially these big pig factories. UGH! We have one only a few miles from our town. Most of our town did our best to keep them out of here. We signed petitions, we wrote letters, we knocked doors. We even had people from Austin come up here and let us speak our minds. None of it did any good. They didn't care what we wanted.
That company was run out of North Carolina, you may have heard about it, when they polluted the lagoon there. They then came to Texas because we are so lax in our environmental laws. :( They've been here now about eleven years. They pollute the ground water and they USE millions of gallons of our good water every day if I remember right. All their pig sewage waste goes down into the ground. You can imagine what kind of filth that has accumulated in there by now. That is another reason I buy bottled water. The first reason is the chemical plant that used to be here polluting for over fifty years. Even if I don't drink the water, I still have to bathe in it. So disgusting, :( and obviously quite dangerous!
People need to go back to raising pigs like they used to on family farms. Not these pig factories where they raise 50,000 pigs a year on a few acres of land.
Frightening. Very very frightening.
We know we are very blessed my DH did not die. He had over 20 surgeries in 14 years trying to save his foot but they could necessary ahead of the infection because it was in the bones. Bone infection is the hardest to kill and the meds take such a terrible toll on the rest of the body because they care so strong. He had daily IV infusions for 18 months. He also underwent nearly 150 dives in the hyperbaric chamber. He holds the record for that at the hospital. A crown he could do without. They tried removing toes and then bones. During one surgery he lost 8 pints of blood because they could not get the bleeding to stop. That was a result of the hyperbaric dives. He is in stage 3 kidney failure due to the meds but his kidneys are doing better. We have much to be thankful for and God is good. It could have been much worse. Our 28 year old nephew died a year ago from an MRSA infection in his shoulder.
How is he doing now?Must have been horrible for you both
It was. It was a 14 year battle and we were always waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was almost a relief when it was amputated. At least the infection was out of the equation. But then we had the kidney failure to deal with and learning to walk again. He is also dealing with arthritis pain in his hips. But we are blessed through it all. He is getting around well, all things considered, and his health is much improved. His color is back so he is not pale and gray anymore. His sugar is also much improved so we have a lot to be thankful for.
Yes, that is good that his color is back to normal. You are both very courageous and strong.
My son-in-law's father has this gray color to his complexion. My mother used to say that meant you had a heart condition. I'm quite concerned about this man. How do you say, "Hey, your color is really bad and you need to work on your health?"
Ask him if he is feeling well and mention what makes you ask. It may give you an opportunity for conversation.
Hay, how is the weather out your way?
That's a great idea CajuninKy. If I get to see him again maybe I will.
Hi Cajun, our weather has been quite wet but warmer than normal. I have been watching the weather across the Nation and must say I have been concerned for those stuck in all those storm systems. I heard one weather man suggest that God is punishing the American people. Not sure I agree with him but perhaps he knows something I don't know. That would not be a first...lol. I do believe the U.S.A. has in large part turned their backs on God, and that is shameful...Hay.
We are just melting out from under nearly a foot of snow and it is raining now. But it has warmed up so I will take it. I bought a few things yesterday to get my gardening started. I can hardly wait.
I agree about our country. People have lost their minds. I never thought there would be a day in this great country of ours when the people would allow elected officials to run rampant over our rights. It is disgusting and I personally believe it points to the end times.
I totally agree CajuinKy