(Excerpt from Tales From Heritage Farm)

Farmer’s wife opened Rainbow, the little umbrella, up and held her over her head as she hurried down the walk to the driveway.  She crossed the road to the mailbox and placed her letters inside.  Presently, she turned and marched right back to the farmhouse.  Rainbow was all wet, but, boy, did she feel good!  The walk had been short and sweet, but she had gotten her chance to fulfill her purpose at the hand of her Mistress.

Rainbow and Shadow, the sunbonnet,  were both important to the Farmer’s wife.  Neither was able to do the other’s job.  They were each made for  a different function or purpose.

Dear reader, are you pondering why you are not used by the hand of your Heavenly Master in the same way as He uses others?

Avoid being indignant and indulging in self-pity like Rainbow was at first.  Shake of that old temptation to feel sorry for yourself.  Rather, like Rainbow, be available to be used at the right time.  Your Master, the Lord Jesus, has placed you where you are for a purpose,  He is using you as He wants to if  you yield yourself humbly to Him…

…Take heart, you may be a sunbonnet-type that gets used every day.   Or you may be a “set aside ” one, like Rainbow, waiting for use on an “as needed” basis.  Rest assured that whether on active duty or “on-call” God is using you according to His uniquely designated purpose.

Like King David, by faith, your testimony can be, “The Lord will fulfill His  purpose for me;  Thy steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. . .” Psalm 138:8 (RSV)

(Excerpt from Tales From Heritage Farm)

Usually, when the little sunbonnet came in, she beamed warmly.  To lonely Rainbow she declared, “It feels so good to have Mistress use me.”  She continued with satisfaction, “I feel so special and important.”

Every once in a while a soft sigh came from the umbrella stand.  And, occasionally, a little whimper or sniffling could be heard.  “I’ve waited all winter to be taken out of storage just to be stuck  in this old umbrella stand,” moaned Rainbow.

Following the blue mood, anger would set in.  “Shadow gets to go out most every day. ” After the anger subsided Rainbow would say in a pitiful tone, “Farmer’s wife mustn’t like me as well as she likes Shadow.  What did I ever do to her?  Oh, why can’t I be as well-loved and important as the sunbonnet?  I don’t think anyone likes me.  At this rate, I’ll never know what it is like to do important work or to know fulfillment in life.”

One day there came a sharp thunderclap and the gray clouds began to dribble down droplets of rain.  PLINK, PLANK, PLINK!  In a short while the rains came down more steadily.  Plump raindrops slammed  into the window panes on the kitchen window.  Farmer’s wife  could see the world through the watery blur they left behind.

“All right!”  perked up the little umbrella.  With a broad grin she said, I’m going for a walk at last.  Hooray!”

Sketch by Wenda Grabau

(Excerpt from Tales from Heritage Farm)

Squeak, creak went the old door.  A flash of light split through the deep darkness of the storage closet.  Many items had been set aside in the closet to hibernate while snow boots and mittens, stocking caps and parkas had their hey day.

Shadow awaits going outdoors with Farmer's Wife

The frigid winter waned, and signs of spring began to pop out all over.  Spring and summer equipment which had been laid away in storage were being jostled around and pulled out where they would be ready for use later on.  Among them were Shadow, the sunbonnet, and Rainbow, the umbrella.

After Farmer’s wife dusted them off, she hung shadow on a peg beside the porch door.  Rainbow was nestled inside a nearby umbrella stand.  Now they were both handy, ready for use.

As the days grew longer, the sun shone brighter and hotter.  Farmer’s wife liked to work in her vegetable garden.  But before she started each day she reached up for Shadow.  She needed her for protection from the sun and to keep her cool in the summer’s heat.

Farmer’s wife worked very hard in the garden.  She busied herself by pulling up any stray plants that tried to take root there.  She cultivated the soil to give her seedlings plenty of chance to stretch out their roots and grow strong.  When she finished with the vegetable garden, she turned her attention to sprucing up the flower beds.

It seemed that Shadow was out and about almost daily.  She went out at 6:00 A.M.  and stayed there perched onFarmer’s Wife until breakkast.  At other times she travelled with Farmer’s wife to mow the lawn or to watch the kids’ softball game or to pick strawberries.  You could say that Shadow, the sunbonnet, had a well-rounded life.  She got do and see a lot of things.

See the book, Tales From Heritage Farm in our store.

Dear Meowmy,

Grammy's route to the hay loft

Before my kitten’s fall, I had gotten my milk, but I did not get any other breakfast.  I wanted to keep by the babies, so I settled in.

I heard Grammy call me for some reason.  “Come Baby.”  She called over and over.

I proved that I was more stubborn than Grammy. I stayed put.

She climbed the rest of the way up the ladder and padded around the loft to look for me.

Kittens tucked in safely where?

She went to look for me by the window on the east wall of the shed.  Grammy turned, started going back and, then, stopped short.

She heard me purring.  She followed the sounds and, sure enough, she found us.

I trust her.  So when she reached in to the nest, I did not mind. She left me a handful of food so that I would not have to leave my babies again to get my breakfast.

Grammy tried to see how many babies I have, but she was afraid to move the straw bales too much.  She did not want to destroy our little home.  So, one day, when the kittens are a lot bigger she will get that chance.  I just hope she keeps bringing me my lunch.

I look forward to showing my kittens to you, Meowmy.  They are real cuties.

Love,
Baby

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Dear Meowmy,

Remember that kitten scream?  Grammy noticed what had happened.  She made her way to the ladder and stepped up her way to the loft.  I disappeared.  I followed my nose to my little kitten which had just tumbled out of her nest in the loft!

Baby's treasures

Yes, that’s right, my kitten!  I have some little offspring to show you when you come to visit me.  One of them has a white tail.  One has a white bib. You will really enjoy them.  I do.  It has been a long time since I have had a reason to purr out here in the shed.  But these little kits do that for me.

Anyway, back to my story.  I picked up my fallen kitten in my teeth and tried to carry her up to the loft by climbing up a 2 x 4 wall stud.  My kitten was a little hefty and after a good try I fell back still holding my kitten in my teeth.

That is when Grammy spied my precious little bundle that I was carrying.  She saw us fall back.  Grammy called, “Come, Baby,” and I decided I should.  So I balanced my way on the top of a stall.  When I got close to Grammy, she reached out her long arms and picked me up.  She was careful not to touch my baby, so that I would not get upset and drop it.  Gently she raised me up the ladder and set me on the loft.

I knew my way from there and brought my little one to our nest.

I will tell you more later.

Love, Baby

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Dear Meowmy,

Kitty's breakfast

Grammy came to visit me again this morning.  She has been pretty faithful to come to give us warm milk with its cream.  She comes at evening too.  I like seeing her.

Sometimes she brings me a handful of solid food.  During the cold of winter, Kitten and I were not the only cats in the shed at feeding time.  The farm cats set claim to parts of the shed.  They get pushy and hissy when they want my milk.

When Grammy gives me solid food they hover and meow pitifully.  If Grammy does not stay till I finish the food she brings me, the farm cats push their way in to my food and I just back away.  My tummy gets to feeling rather hollow some days.

This morning while Grammy was in the shed, I came to get my milk.  She fed me and the others and the four calves that still live here.  While she was checking on one lazy calf that refused to drink water this morning, she and I both heard a loud kitten scream.  My ears perked up.  I knew who it was, but Grammy did not.  I was hoping that she might not notice.  But she did!

I will tell you more later.

Love, Baby

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The Little Peepers

Dear Meowmy,

Early this morning I had a scary thing happen.
When Grammy came to feed us, I patiently waited to get some milk from her.  I was simply minding my own business.

Grammy walked away.

Then I saw the funniest litter of kittens I ever saw.  They walked on two legs.  Their yellow, fluff-covered bodies came my way.  Their high-pitched mews sounded like tiny, little whistles.  I watched them carefully.

I had heard their noise before, but now I could see this litter of five coming into my space. Like a friendly neighbor, I stepped forward to investigate and show my interest.

The Watchful Mother

Then, out of nowhere, this huge, red bird came right for me.  She flapped her wings running through the straw to spear me with her beak.  She must be the mother of that litter.  Well, I have never seen such an out-of-sorts creature.  She certainly did not behave like a calm, cool cat.

Her attack surprised me, so I ran off and found shelter behind an old door in the shed.  My space seems to be shrinking, while theirs seems to be expanding.  I will have to keep my distance from that mom and litter.  (Grammy calls them “Hen and chicks.”)

Other than that, Kitten and I are fine.  Kitten is getting a coat of nice thick fur.  I am doing okay, too.

Come visit when you can.

Love,
Baby

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In Meowmy’s absence, Baby lives with “Grammy”, Meowmy’s Mom.  Baby had a kitten after Meowmy left.  Her name is “Kitten.”

Dear Meowmy,

Things have been so different since you moved away.

I have been living in a shed, not the farmhouse.  I live with some four-legged moo-makers.  Grammy says they are babies, but they tower above me plenty.  Shed creatures sure are different from the sort we had in the farmhouse.

Grammy comes to the shed to see me and kitten at least three times a day.  But she pays more attention to the moo-makers than she does to kitten and me.  She gives us a lot of warm milk twice a day and one serving of food per day.  She is hoping that I will figure out how to fill my tummy other ways with wild game or some such nonsense.  I doubt that she will ever realize that hope. But as long as she keeps coming to visit, I think I will get fat some day.

Kitten may pick up on Grammy’s idea. She has been hanging around with a nice crowd of cats outside the shed.  Some of their ways might rub off on her.  She is young enough to learn new things.

I do not think I will, though.  Have you ever heard that old saying, “You can’t teach an old cat new tricks” (or something like that)?  That is how I feel about Grammy’s idea.

Come and see me some time.  It is rather barbaric here.  There is no litter box!!

Love,
Baby

photo credit: Bretta Grabau

Introducing Meowmy

Hi there everybody,

My name is Baby.  I am a beautiful, long-haired, feline.  I live on Heritage Farm.  I was so little when I came here that I barely remember the first day I arrived.

I do recall an aching tummy and a lost-feeling when I came to a clearing by a grove of trees.  Big rumbling machines pushed dirt and tree stumps back and forth.  I did not know which way to turn.  I kept still and huddled by a broken tree.

I was just a small kitten then.  I was skinny and and hungry.  I did not know where I would find my next meal.

One of the men, on the rumbling machines, noticed me.

In a short while, a young lady came toward me.  She made her way over the broken roots, bushes and earth to just where I sat.  She reached out slowly to where I was.  Her hands were gentle and warm.  She picked me up and held me close to her body to keep me secure and under control.

She took me to the farm and offered me a saucer of warm milk.  Mmmmm, was that yummy.  She even offered me some good smelling X- and O-shaped things.  I tried eating some.  I crunched them and, ahhh, they felt good going down.

She stuck me in a little bag she wore by her neck.  I went everywhere napping in her collar-a thing she called a hood.  She  and I became fast friends.  She fed and cared for me like a mother cares for an offspring.  So, in my kitty-lingo, I call her “Meowmy.”

As the months and years went on, Meowmy had to move.  I miss her.  But I cannot forget her.  She really loves me.  I send her messages.  They are “Letters to Meowmy.”   From them, I hope you enjoy hearing about my adventures on Heritage Farm.

Baby

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