Well it's better to be kind. On the whole. I agree there is a time too to kick ass. But on the whole kindness. I guess any parent, particularly of a teen, understands all this intuitively.
Well "kind" was my word as I was paraphrasing it. I guess the point I was making was that after she prayed for him, it was completely different.
It's a really great idea to pray for Confessors beforehand. I think I will try praying to their Guardian Angel and the Holy Spirit. Looking abck down the years I believe I have been very,very blessed with priests in confession. Although when we do hit it a bad one it can be very upsetting.
I think we should pray for them. That God will give them the necessary wisdom to direct us in confession. For some years now I say a Rosary for the priest who will be hearing my confession for this insight and for protection from all harm physical and spiritual and for sanctification. I am so grateful for the priesthood.
They must hear with the heart as well as the head. They can only hear with the heart if they pray. They can only understand with the head if they read. Regular confession means we wind up not too surprised when we arrive before the heavenly court when all the deeds committed in secret will see the Light. Things that we have tried to bury even from ourselves. One of the Great Signs of the time ,as Pope St John Paul 2 said is a loss of the sense of sin and any fear at all of falling into hell. The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom. We should fear hell very,very,very much , it is the most dreadful place. Apart from anything else it is the boredom and sameness of the place. Nothing ever changes there; there is nothing to hope for, for all Eternity. Endless pain and regret.
Well the heavy rains have started and it is to keep on pouring until next weekend with a big temprature drop and the clocks to change next weekend, dark nights. As it is a Sunday today I got a good chance to keep the wood stove today. I was delighted the temp in the house actually went up to a hot house 26c and I had to let the stove go out. So it looks like I am all set for the winter. The double glazing must have done the trick. Also I handle the wood stove quite easily now. I think the wood might have dried up over the summer and I know how to use it now. Pine cones are very good for lighting it. I have even tried some cooking, it will be excellent for making stews. I got my cement mixer put together. It will take me all winter to fix up the basement, but I suppose I am in no hurry. There is so much to do I often do not know where to start. My neighbours continue to amaze me with their kindness, one of them came down to help me put the cement mixer together, I could never have done it without him, he also insisted if I ever need help to come to him. I would love to do a big decoration job on the house but were to find the time? I enjoy being busy but the days go past so rapidly. I discovered to my joy during the week that I now regard this place as my real home and feel so comfortable here. But it is so easy to feel comfortable with the Spanish they are a remarkable people. Oh yes I still have a mouse which has become insanely cheeky and arrogant. I was in touch with animal home in town today, they have three kittens that need homes and I hope they will let me have one. I am told that female cats are better as they are better hunters. https://www.facebook.com/miau.lemos.5/
It is kind a case of up and down days, Terry. But if I keep trying I find I keep on moving forward. Not being the most practical person in the World nevertheless I find if I study things and take my time I can manage. Off course the advise from folks on the forum has been invaluable. Today was an up day. Some things I ordered from China and Amazon went missing but they showed up this afternoon. I find ordering online miles cheaper than local stores. I called down to the local builders store to get wood for the winter. I took a photo of my wood stove with me and measured the front . They promised to deliver early November. Maybe they will. I bought five bags of Lime Mortar for starting to point the basement. Only God knows how much I will need to finish the basement but there is no hurry. I also need to put in a concrete floor and tile it. I will probably be dead 50 years before I finish. I might give in and get folks to do it. There appears to be mice everywhere all of a sudden. I think maybe I have driven them out of the basement. I am determined to get a kitten but am not finding it easy. The animal shelter in town had none. I am going to start asking people at Mass to find me one ,. I have bought all its stuff. I try not to be impatient but the mice are very cheeky. Excited and happy to be going to Fatima in the start of December. I will have to leave the poor dog at home on his own. We are supposed to be only staying for the one night. I would like to stay for two, for driving so far and to such a wonderful place it seems such a pity only one night.
The mice like to move in when the weather starts to get cold. You should put down some old fashioned traps for now. They breed rapidly so just get some traps and bait them with tiny nieces of meat or cheese.
I have put down several without success I am thinking of kidnapping one of the older village cats and keeping her here for a few days.
Mice dislike ground cloves. You can sprinkle ground cloves along their pathways in the house/basement. Non toxic and makes things smell nice. Apparently the strong smell messes with their ability to smell danger. We are having a mouse explosion around here. Everyone is in the stores buying sticky boards and DeCon. Im going with the cloves.
Good tip. Off to get some ground cloves tomorrow. We've had both good and bad mouse years, I wonder if a mouse invasion predicts a harsh winter? They are sneaky creatures, even building nests in car engines and chewing through wires.
I remember when my dad used steel wool to plug up the small hole opening in our basement. I guess that somehow prevented the mice to get inside.
That is a nice tip about cloves I must try that. The little traps I got are plastic boxes with doors but I think I made the mistake of handling the cheese with my fingers. I don't think you are supposed to do this as the smell puts the mouse of. There is someone selling Maine Coone Cats but they are 80 kms away in Portugal. . In Ireland you simply go online and find a cat to buy right away. Here that does not seem to work. Spain is kind of more old school , you find things like kittens by word of mouth. I will try at Mass tonight. Apart from the mice I like cats anyway. I saw a black cat stalking my chickens the other evening but the chickens were giving as good as they got, bless them, Still no eggs. Sigh. I looked out the front door of my house this morning at 6am. How different it is from my city home in Ireland. Dark, cold, raining, silent foreboding to someone from the city. How bright and warm in my little stone house. But it is home now, thank God. I am sorry they cannot deliver the firewood to November but like everything else here things move at their own gentle pace. I see the nun in the monastery who fixes the altar has started wearing a Covid mask. So very off putting. I take it from this they have covid or flu there, many of the nuns see, very old indeed. I hope it all works out well for them.
They may need more protein in their diet. Also, young chickens won't start laying till they are 4-6 months old and stop laying as the daylight shortens in late fall early winter and start back up early spring.The end of the egg laying cycle is 3-4 years old. Are they older. Some chickens need a rooster to help them along. I hope this helps.
Well I finally found a kitten. She was in a Council Shelter in Ourense a town in the next province.She is three months old and a beautiful silver colour . I have decided to call her Isabella. She is still very shy. Hopefully she will give the mice heart failure.
