And Even the Chickens Love Each Other https://www.airbnb.ca/hosting

I flicked on the light. 

"Yes, good morning to you, also." As usual a dozen or so young hens and one elegant rooster greeted me with a cheerful cackling sound. They were a welcome sight after scurrying through the frost-stiffened grass with my battery operated lamp bouncing beside me.

  Take note of those two Rhode Island Reds still on the roost. They have 'hung out' together longer than any of the others.If they were humans, someone would declare that they had a bond created by adversity. In the early part of summer, I had ten little red hens. One night I forgot to lock them up, and the number went down to nine. Several nights later we went out for night lunch. I thought of them, yes I truly did, but nine thirty is too early for guests to politely leave, especially in this North Country with its long summer evenings. Well, you guessed it. I forgot when we went home.

Two thirty ro-o-o-l-l-l-ed around. My husband heard a dog bark and a chicken squawk. He leaped out of bed. I hurriedly followed. 

We scurried around with our feeble lights, but where were the birds? The dog is barking excitedly behind the chicken house and there lies One Dead Bird. Poor Sheba is hastily blamed, but on calmer reflection anyone can tell you she couldn't have destroyed what appeared to be a whole flock of chickens in one night.Golden Retrievers don't have that kind of reputation.

We wandered mournfully around, and finally one frightened hen was found huddled in the chicken house. Well, we humans need our sleep whether the rest of the chickens were dead or alive. When the sun rose to brighten the sky, I continued searching and one bedraggled hen ventured hesitantly from behind a huge tree.

I put the two together and they didn't leave each others side for many hours. As far as that goes, they didn't go anywhere at all for a long time.

The rest of the flock had totally disappeared, but those two learned to put on their own 'vanishing act'. Late in the afternoon, but long before evening shadows had lengthened those two 'old girls' would fly way up into the branches of the towering Manitoba Maples. They would have regularly spent their nights there, if we hadn't hauled them down and put them in the chicken house..

There's a risk having chickens in the back country!

Interested in what else this writer has to say? Hang out at www.marilynshistoricalnovels.com , then. 

When Dreams Come True

Oh, my the things that happen when I'm not watching. This evening, I was scrolling through old blog posts and came across this. What amazed me is how popular it was.  The books are already out, and there's ebooks available also.
Note: Emily and Alice are twins that were separated as newborns.

I dreamed I had a twin, Mommy.

Alice was just a little girl but she had always wished to have a sister
"just her size." Sometimes she even dreamed about it. Once her
dream was so vivid that Alice told her Mommy.
"I dreamed I had a twinnie, Mommy."
Alice didn't notice the uneasy look on her mother's face when she responded.
"Oh, was it a nice dream?"
"I'm not sure. In some ways I liked it."
"Why wouldn't you like to dream that, honey?"
Alice's blue eyes filled with tears.
"I wish I had a twin, Mommy. I REALLY do."
Margaret's face grew pale but she kept her voice even. "Why don't you tell me about your dream,sweetheart."

The Day I Felt Like Winnie the Pooh

www.marilynshistoricalnovels.com

CHICKEN CHATTER

OK, I LIKE CHICKENS, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I WANT TO LIVE WITH THEM! 

Have you ever heard that old saying, "The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get?" Well, one day "behinder" wasn't enough. I was stopped dead in my tracks. Not only was I stopped short, but I was locked up behind a closed door. In a small chicken house to be exact. 

The Searching Eyes

Dear fellow Christians,

I have been thinking a lot lately about our fellow human beings who call themselves atheists.  

This community used to be bombarded with articles by non-believers and it's not surprising that they have been blocked. 

But I feel a certain amount of sympathy for them. Not all of them, mind you. Some of them appear to be mud-slingers who have nothing good to say about anyone but I don't know their hearts.

Atheists, like many of the rest of us often have sympathetic, yet hurting hearts and possibly can't understand why a loving God would allow such suffering in the world. 

I want to focus on the sensitivity they show, the caring they feel. That is a beautiful thing. 

Let's not fight against them and put up a barricade but reach out in love and compassion. Not join them of course, because by doing that we would loose something most precious. Let's not preach or try to defend our viewpoint but just show that we care and listen with an understanding heart.

We also find it hard to cope with all the cruelty in the world but find a comfort in the arms of the Healer and wish they could find Him also.

Sincerely, Marilyn Friesen

www.marilynshistoricalnovels.com

Not So Dusty Discoveries!

I didn't know saying a simple "yes" could lead to such huge challenges and such a dramatic change in my life. 
 You would think that being swept back into the dirty thirties would be dry, distressing and dreadful, but I'm finding it fascinating! When your second cousins gang up on you to write the story of their fathers who were orphaned at an early age, what do you do? Do you say "Nah, that's not my type of writing?" 
Well, I tried that, but "repented" a couple years later, and you know what,  their story is not a dusty manuel in spite of the setting. 

Would you let your child have a badger for a pet? What if the badger leaps out of a loft and kills a sixty pound pig? 
Did you know that one-room-schoolhouse kids used to race down to the creek at recess time to go swimming then rush back more sweaty than ever when the first bell rings?
 I'm sure having a lot of fun writing this book and learning some amazing stuff.

www.marilynshistoricalnovels.com

But really, don't you wish I was working on it rather than rambling away on a blog page?
While you patiently wait to learn more about these seven orphan children, why not meander over to my website. There's more of my work there. 

amazon.com/author/marilynfriesen

The Walls Will Come Crashing Down

Another installment in the story Terror and Tranquility 

 We are going to be swept back in time to the banks of the swollen Jordan. The immense multitude of Israelite's have marched solemnly across although I am sure more than one boy may have picked up a stone to fling at the mighty wall of water. Fearful, tearful faces have lined the walls of the proud city of Jericho wondering, and worrying whatever is going on. Now let us get back to Rehab's viewpoint. If you are confused as to what this is all about, go back a page or two and that will help.

  Rehab returned to the rooftop and visited long with the stalwart, young men. Her cheeks burned however, when she thought of how shamelessly she had flirted with the soldiers downstairs.It hadn't bothered in her the least at other times, but now followers of the true God had come to her for assistance.I would never want them to see me acting like that!
  After the spies safely returned to their own people, Rehab had made haste to tell all her relatives that they would be protected when the enemy attacked if they would find shelter in her apartment. They took her at her  word.

Increasing Terror and Tranquility

Even Rahab watched in terror as all the Israelities folded their tents, loaded  their belongings and yougest chidren on to carts and merged into one long and solemn line that seemed to reach to the end of the earth.

The Frantic Search for Spies

O.K. Here we go... Did you read the first parts of Terror and Tranquility?

 All the armed forces I have ever heard of come unencumbered by family.but these men have their women and offspring along as through they would never consider the possibility of failure in their mission.
   Rehab found herself with much time on her hands. I will occupy myself with my spinning, although we possibly have very few days left to live. If I am to die, I hope they kill me quickly so I need not suffer over much. I wonder what it is like in the Hereafter.
  Rehab went to the rooftop to access her winter's supply of flax and saw that there was more than enough to keep her busy spinning and weaving for many days to come.
  Just then a gentle knock sounded at the door. Rehab would have missed it had her ears not been keenly tuned to sounds in her entryway. She was used to all sorts of raucous noises in the street below.
She ran lightly down the stairs and peered through a crack in the door.
  "Thou art here!" she cried.

Under Arrest But Nowhere to be Found!

O.K. Here we go... Did you read the first part:Terror and Tranquility?

 All the armed forces I have ever heard of come unencumbered by family.but these men have their women and offspring along as through they would never consider the possibility of failure in their mission.
   Rehab found herself with much time on her hands. I will occupy myself with my spinning, although we possibly have very few days left to live. If I am to die, I hope they kill me quickly so I need not suffer over much. I wonder what it is like in the Hereafter.
  Rehab went to the rooftop to access her winter's supply of flax and saw that there was more than enough to keep her busy spinning and weaving for many days to come.
  Just then a gentle knock sounded at the door. Rehab would have missed it had her ears not been keenly tuned to sounds in her entryway. She was used to all sorts of raucous noises in the street below.
She ran lightly down the stairs and peered through a crack in the door.
  "Thou art here!" she cried.

Terror and Tranquility

Hang on, folks, I'm taking you on a train ride way into the past. It's not into the wild west either. Nope, it's way before that; and it's based on a true story. Hold your breath and hang tight and decide which side of the wall you're going to be on. Let me know in the comments below how soon you recognized the story, and remember more is c-c-coming!

Based on the Bible story about the city of Jericho being destroyed by soldiers surrounded by their women and children! It is focusing on the viewpoint of a harlot looking on.

Rehab's arm brushed against a small patch of downy moss when she looked out of  the casement at the acres of tents. They were spread out on the other side of the River Jordan. An ant attempted to crawl up her sleeve, but she flicked it off. The moon was brilliant tonight and the worshipers of the moon goddess could be heard wailing and dancing in the streets.
Rehab was deeply impressed by the ordered and precision represented by the rows and squares of tents, so different that the chaos and confusion directly behind her.
   They are a people whose caliber is far superior to anyone on this side of the river,  she thought almost reverently.
   In her type of business she met people from many different nationalities.Many of them did not realize how well she understood their different tongues, and she preferred to keep it that way. For several months now, both foreigners, and fellow-citizens alike babbled fearfully, almost incoherently at times, about the exploits of this so great a people.
  " They have risen from the Nile. "