Category Archives: Faith and Religion

Forty-Seven Years

For those who are reading this and have not even reached the age of forty yet, you may think forty-seven years is a long time. When I was young, anyone over twenty seemed old to me. Then I became twenty and by that time I had been married a year. I felt pretty grown-up then and was expecting a baby, so I was officially an adult. Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our forty-seventh wedding anniversary. Just three years shy of fifty years. How did we get here? How did our marriage last when so many marriages fail?

I don’t have any secret formulas. There were times I could have left my husband because I was immature and was only thinking of myself and how things were affecting me. I am sure there were times he would have liked to have just shucked it all and given up, but he didn’t and as a man of few words, I never knew if he ever was unhappy. But, we stuck it out. We stood together through the hard times and now we are reaping some good times and feel it was all worth keeping it all together.

Love has a lot to do with. I cannot think of a time when I didn’t love my man. Yes, he can make me exasperated sometimes, but I can be pretty exasperating myself. We raised three children together and if you have ever raised teen-agers, you know that can be one of the most stressful times in any marriage. Teen-agers try their parents and parents need to present a united front, but sometimes it didn’t happen that way and I blame myself for that. I didn’t like to be the one doling out the discipline, but it usually turned out that way. We made it through the teen years with a few scars, but our marriage still solidly in tact. We have watched our children grow into adults, make some pretty poor choices at times and good choices in others, but still making us proud in so many ways and we love them all so much.

Forty-seven years ago I walked down the aisle at a little Methodist church where David and two pastors stood. We had two pastors because we had just gotten a new pastor and I wanted our old pastor to take part in the ceremony as I had pretty much grown up while he was our pastor. So both pastors took part in the ceremony. I was shaking in my white satin shoes and don’t remember a whole lot about it, but suddenly the pastor was saying, “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride,” and I knew it was a done deal.

That night we stayed in a little motel on our way to Traverse City, Michigan for our honeymoon. The next morning the motel owner presented us with a gift of new bed sheets which I thought was so nice. The honeymoon was spent with David’s relatives and we had the most fun. Plus I had to keep pinching myself that I was now responsible for myself, I was truly a grownup and free from my parents’ control. Anything I did after that was going to be on me. We boated, swam, walked the streets of Traverse City where the Cherry Festival was going on, eating French fries splashed with vinegar. We went to the city zoo. I met lots of new relatives. We ran around all over town in our little Volkswagon bug enjoying the scenery and just being together. We even got stopped by a policeman because David ran a red light accidently, but he just gave us a warning.

Back to reality and sharing a life together began. I worked at a Stucky’s saving money to continue college. David worked at a factory. We lived in a little apartment in the middle of the small town where I grew up. There was a pinball room directly below our apartment and we would go down and play pinball. Then we discovered I was pregnant a month into our marriage and we needed to look for a bigger place to live, so we bought a tiny house outside town in the country and set up housekeeping. The house had a tiny bedroom, a tiny living room and a tiny kitchen. I was so proud of it. I enjoyed cleaning it and arranging the furniture as much as it was possible in such a tiny space. We celebrated our first Christmas there and the next Spring, our first son was born. Then we had to look for an even bigger house because eight months after the first son was born, we were expecting again! We found a big house on top of a hill in Richmond and again I set up housekeeping in my bigger house. We had enough bedrooms for us all. Then our second son was born and I was busy. David had begun working for the military by then and was in the military for thirty-seven years.

And so the years passed swiftly. One year the boys and I went to Grayling, Michigan to camp with David while he attended guard camp for two weeks. It was there that I had a sneaking suspicion I was pregnant again. I kept telling David I thought I was, but he said I was just imagining things. Well, he was wrong! I was, again pregnant and nine months later we had a little girl. Having a girl was so different from having boys, but I loved it. Dressing her up in all the cute clothes. I was so happy on our hill with my three children. I was also caring for two other children and keeping busy and happy.

Then one day David came home and told me he was being sent someplace else and my world fell apart, or at least I thought it had. I was going to have to leave friends and family and go some place where I knew no one. Our children would have to go to a strange school. I was not happy about the move. David and I took one weekend to find a new house which is the one where we now live. I wanted an older fixer upper with some character and some land. We got it all with this house, but I must say we have been fixing it up for the last thirty-eight years and still have more we want to do. We made the move and I cried for days. By and by things got back to normal, I met people and found a church and got the boys in school and they seemed to thrive so all was good.

We have seen so much through the years. I could write an entire book about our life as a couple and what all we have done together. We have traveled in almost all fifty states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,Canada and Mexico. We raised our three children to adulthood and they are productive members of society. We have seen loved ones and friends pass away and babies born into the family. As the song says, “Sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the days. One season following the other….” Our seasons have flown by. Here we are the elders in our family now and we still love life, God and family and look forward to more years together, but if it should all end tomorrow, I can say we have been blest and have had a wonderful life. Just remember if you are married right now and think you cannot make it to forty-seven or more years, you can if you decide to and learn to love and care for one other person more than yourself. That is what a wife and husband are to do. A young man told us the other day that not many marriages make it as far as ours. I find that sad because all it takes is love, a relationship with Jesus Christ, and a determination that your marriage will not fail. That it is your top priority. It will all be good if you both do those three things. Bye.

Summer Fun

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Summer. Lazy days when you lie around and do nothing, read a book by the pool and just have some time to daydream. Oh, is that how your Summer is going? That’s nice. Mine has been less than relaxing. There is so much to do. So little time. We mixed Grandma’s Camp with a weekend in Cincinnati at the Creation Museum and going to a lacrosse game our grandson was playing in.

Got to spend some time with the grandkids which is something I always love. They are growing so fast that soon I will be having Great-Grandma’s Camp!

The Creation Museum is just outside Cincinnati in Kentucky. There is so much to see and do there. It all centers around God’s creation and Noah’s Ark. There are vignettes all around like this with scenes from the Bible. This is Adam naming the animals.

This was Cain after he slew Abel. The first murder. Mankind didn’t take much time in starting to do criminal activity. This is where the famous quote, “Am I my brother’s keeper,” came from.

There were dinosaurs there.

Don’t throw him to the dinosaur!

After Adam and Eve were sent from the garden where they had everything they needed, they had to learn to till the land and raise their own food. Why did Eve let satan talk her into eating that apple and why did Adam join her?

The tree of life. “Don’t eat of the fruit of this tree, ” God told Adam and Eve, but they were tempted by satan and sinned against God and mankind has lived in a fallen state ever since.

There was a petting zoo where we laughed at a guinea hen chasing a peacock around and around the pen until the peacock finally flew out. There were camel rides and all the grandkids rode a camel. I told them that now if anyone ever asked them if they had ever rode a camel they could say, “yes.” One of my grandsons asked me, ” When do you think that question would ever come up?” “You never know, ” I answered.

They are building the exact size replica of Noah’s ark on the grounds. You can take a drive out to see the process, but we just ran out of time. I guess we will have to go back some time. It was a fun day. The next day we watched a lacrosse game. Our grandson’s team lost their first game, but won the second. He was in a tournament and had three or four more games to play, but we needed to head home. First, we had lunch with our son who lives in Cincinnati. He gave our grandsons some money to go play games while we waited for our meal. They were so happy.

Back home it was pool time. We had bought a big blow up turtle and it was enjoyed by the grandboys.

Molly enjoyed the boys being there. They are making friends although I do have to watch her because she can get a little rowdy.

She and Foster are becoming good buddies.

She spent most of the time just watching. Hard to believe just about a year ago, she was a tiny puppy. Time goes so fast.

The three “boys” had a great time in the pool. It was really hot so the water felt especially good.

We watched a mother bird feeding her babies next to the pool area.

“Where’s the food, Mama?” Almost big enough to leave the nest.

I will leave you with a walk through my garden. It’s in its yellow period now.

Yarrow.

Hollyhock.

Coreopsis.

Hollyhock. I made a quilt called Hollyhocks Around the Barn and this color was in the quilt.

Asiatic lilies. They are so beautiful and so easy to grow.

I just planted this Rudbeckia. It is different from my other Rudbeckias.

More Asiatic lilies with Autumn Sedum Tapblow Blue behind them.

We have Stella de Oro all over the garden. They multiply and it looks like this bunch is ready to be separated.

Hope you enjoyed the walk and hope your Summer is wonderful. Bye.

Windows, Chickens and Flowers, Oh, My

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Been busy around the old house the past few days, or is it weeks? I’m not sure, time is flying so fast. I have to keep my shirttails tucked in to keep them from flying, time is going so fast. Did I say time is going fast? In my Bible study this week I learned that time is not going, it’s coming. There is something really big coming our way. The Bible speaks of her time coming, his time coming, the time came. I find that fascinating. I don’t really worry about time. We all have a certain amount of it on this earth and we should make the best of it and give God the glory and love one another. That is really all we can do. We cannot change the weather. We cannot change time. We really don’t have control of much of anything when you really think about it, but if you put it all in God’s hands, it will all work out for the good(to those who love Him.)

Whew, I didn’t mean to get all theological on you, but that’s how I am. Things have been happening around here. We called our ever faithful contractor to replace more windows. This house has so many windows and they all have been in the house since about the fifties, I believe, so one by one we have been replacing them with brand new insulated, double paned windows when we save up the money. This time we replaced our big window in our dining room. Our contractor said we saved the hardest window for almost last. It had to be rebuilt, repainted and replaced.

Here it is taken out. Nice breeze today.

We have a nice view. Well, when the trucks and ladders aren’t there.

Reframing it. These men are pros. They have worked together for years and work like a well oiled machine. They almost know what the other one is going to say before he says it.

New windows at last! I was a little afraid that by replacing these windows we would lose some of the old woodwork around it and change the look, but now that they are in, it looks just the same, except we don’t have those awful, old, ugly storm windows on them any longer. They will be so much easier to clean.

I couldn’t wait to get some curtains hung. See my new ladder. It’s mine. I picked it out and I will be the one using it for painting walls. It’s sturdy, not like our old wooden one that rocked when I climbed on it and swayed with each movement. This one stands strong and firm and I love it. Really.

I am using lace curtains this Summer, but I have bought new insulated checked curtains for this Autumn and Winter.

After the windows were in, I painted our dining room. A soft grey. Sometimes it looks cream colored and other times really grey depending on the light. I like it. I was getting tired of the yellow walls that I really loved when I painted them a few years ago. I’m fickle like that. David and I went to Hobby Lobby this morning because we(I) wanted to get some flowers to put in my chicken feeder that I received as a Christmas gift last year.

Remember when I wrote about this surprise gift that appeared on our front porch? I didn’t know what it was or who it was from.

It was this really nice, antique chicken feeder. I told my friend who gave it to me that I was going to design a room around it, and I have. Here it is, Shannon. Look what you made me do.

I sent away for these chicken posters. The flowers I found at Hobby Lobby had feathers in them! How appropriate. Now the feeder sits in all its glory. I love how this turned out. Hanging the pictures was fun(not.) David measured and measured and measured again and one of the pictures kept looking lower than the other. I measure things with my eye and kept telling him they were not level with each other. He measured and measured and measured again and finally decided our lopsided old house was the problem so he let?! me eyeball the pictures and we finally got them almost level. As a friend use to tell me, “You will never notice it on a galloping horse.”

I love these pictures.

He could be the husband of one of my barred rock hens. Wish I could have a rooster.

We rehung this picture our daughter gave us last Christmas. Kind of goes with the theme of farm and chickens.

I have been picking these the last couple of weeks. My favorite flower. The peony.

I have tried to get a little of this in, but haven’t got much done on the doll quilts lately. I am hand quilting them as I get them pieced.

I saw this purse on a blog, I wish I could remember which one and got on Fat Quarter Shop and ordered the pattern. The Abby Bag. I hope I can find time to make it. Of course, I will have to make my granddaughter, Abby, one some time.

Just finished reading this for the second time. I got this book either at an auction or an antique store. It’s about a woman who was left behind at her family’s cabin in Alaska one winter when her husband couldn’t get back to get her. She went through many trials and tribulations like being in a landslide and breaking her arm and hurting her leg right off the bat. Besides that, she was expecting a baby and had to deal with that and give birth all by herself. It is a true story and when I read it, I realized I don’t have it hard at all, although I would really love to live in Alaska.

Maybe hard times is what hones us and makes us stronger. To live a life of ease and relaxation all the time would be a complete bore to me. I like action and hard work and doing things myself even if they don’t always turn out so well. Anyway, if you ever get to read this book, I think you would enjoy it. It was also made into a movie. I’d like to find it. I saw it a long time ago.

Just wanted to show you something my Sunday school children made last Sunday. They did all the cutting out and gluing and putting on stickers and I brought home the squares and tied them all together and will take it back to show them next Sunday. We should do as the words say, “Love one another.” Bye.

Easter

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Easter came early this year. I feel like we just got over Christmas. But, Easter is my favorite holiday for so many reasons. The main reason is that we celebrate the risen Christ who died for every one of us on the cross. He arose the third day. Many saw Him after he arose and many saw him ascend into heaven. He is coming back one day, you know. He is coming to gather His church and set the world aright. He can come back for you, too, if you believe in Him and ask Him into your life.

Easter means Easter bunnies and eggs and baskets and candy. Easter eggs are a symbol of the new life we receive when we accept Christ into our lives. I don’t know where the Easter bunny came from. It’s a fun time for children. After church, where we had a wonderful cantata performed, we came home and had dinner with family. We had Kentucky fried chicken because I was too lazy to fry my own, scalloped potatoes, home grown corn, biscuits that I made myself, a wonderful salad my son-in-law prepared, cake and cupcakes. It was good.

The kids were so excited about the Easter egg hunt. There were 150 eggs hidden all over the yard, some with candy and some with slips of paper they could redeem for dollar bills.

David had to guard the door before the hunt. See those faces? They are already looking for the eggs.

Then they were let loose and the hunt began.

Our granddaughter looked so pretty in her floral dress.

One of my grandsons in his fedora. He’s an old spirit in a young body. And he really looks cute in hats.

This young ‘un can hunt eggs so quickly. He soon had a bag full.

Afterwards we opened eggs to see how much money everyone received. They all did pretty well.

My granddaughter with her money.

Our handsome grandson. He is growing too fast.

Our youngest grandson lost another tooth playing with his cousin.

David enjoyed sitting on the front porch visiting with everyone. Our new front porch has become a wonderful place to gather.

We even had a bunny for the day.

Uh, we had another bunny also. This boy is so much fun to be around.

Hope you had a blessed Easter. He is alive! Bye.

Almost Spring

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David and I made a trip to Petco and Rural King today. I must say that Rural King is one of my very favorite stores, especially this time of year. They are putting out all their garden decors, lawn fertilizers, compost, seeds, and other paraphernalia that a gardener needs. I was in seventh heaven. I found some seeds that looked interesting, we bought bedding for the chooks and the dogs and we found some compost manure for the rhubarb. Rhubarb is a heavy feeder and needs to be fertilized heavily to produce good plants. I am looking forward to some fresh rhubarb pie unlike the rhubarb pie I baked the other day from frozen rhubarb we bought at Appleworks.

It was a good, flaky crusted pie, but the rhubarb was cut into bigger pieces and didn’t smoosh down like my rhubarb does. David liked it, though, and has eaten the whole pie himself, plus the little cinnamon rolls I made from the dough.

David does have a sweet tooth(that is if they were his real teeth!)

But back to Rural King. We went to get the chicken coop bedding and they had the bedding stacked so high we couldn’t reach the top. David said we could play Jenga and hope the rest of the bags don’t come tumbling down on our heads. We found a clerk who climbed up and got two bags for us. Why do they do that?

Here are the seeds I found.

Nasturtiums or as I like to call them Nasty Turtians. Nasturtiums are edible although I have never eaten any.

Cucumbers are a must. David loves fresh from the garden cucumbers. I could take them or leave them, but I like to make him happy.

Pumpkins. Last year we grew giant pumpkins, enough to give all the grandchildren one and have a few ourselves. I’m hoping we will have good ones again this year. The chickens have been fertilizing the garden all winter.

We use to call this Indian corn, but the PC police don’t want us to use that any more so it’s called ornamental corn. If I were an Indian, I would be proud to have it called Indian corn because it is so unique and pretty, but that’s just me.

When I saw that I could grow pumpkins on a stick, well, I just had to have these seeds. I am looking forward to seeing how these turn out.

Another thing I love about Spring coming is all the seed catalogs and Spring magazines that arrive in the mail.

One of my favorite magazines. We actually took a trip and stayed at a bed and breakfast that was featured in this magazine. It was a really nice bed and breakfast, but David and I decided it wasn’t for us as the owners kept visiting with us and asking us to eat at tables with strangers who we had nothing in common with and besides we wanted to have some time to ourselves and the worst part is we were told what time to eat breakfast. We don’t like to arrange our time around someone else’s schedule when we are on vacation. Sometimes we don’t feel like eating at 8:45 or whenever we were told to eat. We did love the geese that came to the pond right outside our bedroom window and the paths through meadows we walked while we were there. I would recommend it to those who love bed and breakfasts. We are not a schedule following couple while on vacation.

One of my favorite catalogs. We have purchased several things from this company to include wind spinners. They have really nice wind spinners made of heavy duty metal. I bought a clunker of a wind spinner from Rural King last year. It doesn’t spin very well unless you have hurricane force winds.

I have my eye on these curtains for the dining room. We are replacing more windows this year in the dining room. After we get them in, I plan to repaint the room, put up new curtains as we have had the same curtains in there for over twenty years and I have my eye on this rug.

We shall see how it all comes together or if it will. Plans are made to be broken or life gets in the way. I love making plans though.

I celebrated a birthday this last week. David bought me an ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen. I was so happy. He said, “I didn’t know if you would like it or not.” Me, not like ice cream and cake? What was he thinking? I have wanted one of these for years. I told him this is exactly what I want every year from now on. I still have a piece waiting for me in the freezer. I almost hate to eat it because I will have to wait a whole year before I get another one!

One of the catalogs I get is from Yankee Candle. It’s really like a little present in the mail because several of the candles they show are scratch and sniff. Look at this chocolate bunny candle. How cute.

Marshmallow chicks candle. It’s a scratch and sniff.

Bunny cake. I am in love.

Jelly bean candle. Okay, this one is getting ordered. It smells just like jelly beans. How do they do that? Get those scents in the candles? If you come into my house, don’t be surprised to smell jelly beans soon.

Yankee candle has so many cute things. Good thing I have will power. I don’t know where I would put anything else anyway. I am not being paid to advertise Yankee Candle, I just love the company and its products.

Wildseed Farms. A company based out of Fredericksburg, Texas. They sell seed by the pound. As you can see, I have already ordered some seed from them. Laura Bush self-seeding petunias. I am going to give them a try this Summer.

A pound of zinnia seeds. Thousands of seeds that will go all over our property. You really get your money’s worth buying seed this way. This many seeds would probably cost a hundred dollars if you bought them in little packets.

I also bought an ounce of foxglove seeds. Foxgloves are biennials so I may not see flowers this year, I don’t know. Thousands of seeds in one ounce so I should have a few flowers from it.

I planted a little mini garden in a broken coffee cup. Grass seed and little birds and a bird feeder. I am loving it as it makes me know that Spring and green growing things are coming soon. Winter never lasts forever although sometimes it seems to.

I have put out my Easter bunnies early this year so that I could enjoy them longer. Easter is early this year.

I love Easter. It means so much more than bunnies and chickens at our house. We celebrate the risen Savior, Jesus Christ on that day. He died for everyone, you know. Not just Christians.

I have been studying First and Second Thessalonians in the Bible. Paul wrote to this church about many things to include the rapture. I love these two books and how they deal with sexual purity and how important it is for everyone. After all, our bodies are our temples and if God indwells within us, we should keep our bodies pure from sexual sin. I don’t think the world looks at it the same way, but it makes sense to me. There is no mincing words about it from Paul, however. Paul, who persecuted the early Christians became a different man once confronted with Jesus Christ. From that day forward he was a follower and told many thousands about the hope that is in Jesus Christ. I believe as Paul did, that Jesus is the son of God, came to earth to preach, teach and heal, died on the cross for everyone’s sins, took them upon himself. He rose the third day. Thousands saw him and after forty days he went to heaven where he is waiting for his father’s cue to come gather His church together in the clouds where we will live eternally with Him in heaven. I truly believe this with all my heart, soul and body. It makes much more sense to me than just living a few years on this planet and dying and that’s all. Life means much more than that and we all have spirits that have to go someplace.

I didn’t mean for this to be a theology lesson. It’s just who I am and what makes me who I am.

This is the next quilt I will be hand quilting. I love the old fashioned look of it.

I hope you are anticipating Spring as much as I am. When you live in a climate that changes every season, you look forward to the warmth of Spring after a cold, snowy Winter. If you live in a constantly warm climate, how wonderful for you. You didn’t have to scrape ice off your wind shield or slip and slide on icy walkways. Here’s to warm, wonderful Spring. Bye.

Snow Day

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Remember those days when you were in school and they called off school because of the snow? One year on my birthday we had a big snow and we listened to the radio eagerly waiting to see if we would be in class that day. What joy I felt when the announcer said, “No school today.” My birthday and a whole day of freedom! How wonderful. ,

When you become an adult you don’t get many snow days. You get to work one way or the other. No snow days for you.

Today I got up, made my coffee, turned on Charles Stanley on television and looked out at the snow falling down. We had gotten several inches overnight. I had prepared the Sunday school lesson for my pre–school class and we were even going to have a little party because the lesson was about a celebration in the BIble. I had bought donuts and cheddar penquins and bought special plates and balloons. I was all set. Then I got a call from one our deacons telling us no church today. I love going to church, but I must admit I felt like a kid getting out of school for the day. David came down the stairs dressed for church and I told him “no church today.”

I never have a whole Sunday off. Never. We spend most of the morning at church, go out to eat, spend a few hours at home and then back to church that night. It seemed so strange not to be going to church, but I had plans. I was going to finish a quilt I have been working on.

I had hand quilted all the blocks.

I machine quilted the border in roses and twirls and even a few little hearts.

I even loved how the back looked. I got it all quilted except for a couple of the blocks that I had missed, but I am going to quilt them tonight and then it will be done, finished, complete! I must say this has been one of my favorite quilts that I have made.

Tonight is the finale of Downton Abbey for the season. I love this show and am sorry it is ending for the season. We all have to wait until next January to see new episodes. Waaaa.

In homage to Downton Abbey I was going to dress like someone in the show. Well, kind of.

My Downton Abbey outfit. The skirt is made from Downton Abbey fabric sold at quilt shops.

I was even going to wear this hat. I love wearing hats although I don’t do it often. People always comment when I wear a hat. Hats should come back as a fashion statement, don’t you think? The women on Downton Abbey wear the most amazing hats. Even the downstairs ladies wear cute hats. I wonder what happens to all those hats and all the beautiful clothes after the show is done? What if they auctioned them off on Ebay?

I was going to carry my new purse that I finished recently.

This is the back of the purse.

Now I think wearing this outfit another time would just be an after thought. What do you think?

I have enjoyed watching the birds chowing down on their birdseed today. At one time there were at least twelve cardinals and a whole host of other birds, titmice, chickadees, juncos, doves, squirrels, sparrows, and nuthatches eating at the bird feeder. Okay, I know squirrels aren’t birds. Just checking to see if you were paying attention.

Each calmly waited its turn at the feeder.

I love mourning doves. When I hear them call it makes me think of my grandpa’s house where I first heard them. There is a mournful sound to their call, thus, their name.

The male cardinals usually don’t share their space well, but when you are hungry, all animosity goes away.

Yeah, we had a few birds at the feeder today. We filled it twice today. It’s so hard for the birds to find food with so much snow on the ground.

I love the view from all our windows. See that house? David and I tried to buy it years ago to put a quilt shop in, but it was a home that had been in the family for a long time and it wasn’t for sale. Now it sits empty until the courts decide what is to be done with it. So sad. I am afraid it will be torn down. It does need a lot of work.

It snowed all morning and then again this afternoon. By Wednesday we are suppose to be up in the high 40’s in temperatures so this won’t last long. Spring is just around the corner after all.

All the dog toys are hidden under the snow, but Belle and Molly Marshmallow found this old rope and played tug of war for quite a long time. Molly is getting so big and Belle can’t get the rope away from her like she use to.

Who has more fun than dogs?

My three girls.

Bonnie. She will be twelve this year. She spends most of her day laying like a queen on her comfy bed in my shop. She has arthritis and doesn’t play like she use to, but she is still a sweet companion.

Belle rules the roost. Molly does not get away with much. Sometimes she gets her down and lets her know who is boss. I wonder how long that will last?

Then there is Molly. Very much a pup still who likes to chew on everything. I try to direct all her energy in chasing a ball I shoot out of a plastic gun. She loves doing that.

As I say often, feed the birds during this weather. They will reward you by staying around and singing to you in the Spring.

Hope you are warm and safe where you are. Sit in a comfy chair, drink a cup of hot chocolate and get ready to watch the last glorious episode of Downton Abbey. Bye.

Okay, I watched Downton Abbey and I bawled at the end. It’s unbelievable we have to wait almost a year before we see what happens next. The best season yet. Next season promises a wedding, maybe two or three. Who knows?

Wonderful, Weathered, Wambled, Wandering,Wacky Week in Weview

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This week has been a doozy. We have been hit with snow storms and flu bugs. Blessed with grandchildren and friends. Shop hopped ”til we dropped. Suffered aches and pains. Had really weird dreams. So, let’s begin.

We started out the beginning of the last week by going on a shop hop. A shop hop is when several quilt shops get together and offer prizes and have quilt blocks you can buy at each shop to make a particular quilt that they have chosen. Two friends, David and I left on what was supposed to be a snowy day and we were not disappointed. The roads weren’t too bad until we were a few miles from home. Then we hit a very slick stretch which made me sit on the edge of the car seat until we got home.

We had fun, though, and I got a new supply of fabric I needed like a hole in my head, but, then, I do have several holes in my head, so what’s one more? Here are some of the fabrics I purchased.

I am going to make a sun dress from this. Sun? What’s sun?

Don’t know if you can see, but there are chickens on this fabric. Curtains for the chicken house maybe?

This will be the binding on a quilt I am hand quilting right now. I hope to have it completed by Summer.

A few weeks ago I bought this top for Easter and I wanted to make a skirt to go with it.

Here is the fabric I found to make the skirt. I am so happy!

The roses in the fabric match the roses on the top. A very inexpensive outfit for Easter and that makes me glad too.

I bought a few pieces of wool felt for my stash.

I found this cute pattern for a wall hanging to be made from wool and wool felt.

That little spotted hen is so adorable. Gosh, I wish I could raise baby chicks from eggs. My hens sit and sit on their eggs, but they will never hatch because there is not a rooster in sight. Do you know how warm it is under a hen? Warmer than you would think.

We love our chickens’ eggs. Had a double yolker for breakfast this morning.

We ate at a restaurant I had never eaten at before, Bagger Dave’s. They make their own sodas and everything is made fresh. I got a grilled chicken salad with mozzarella cheese and it was delicious.

We had two of our favorite people over for the night while their parents went on a much needed time out. These guys keep me on my toes. Despite the fact I have been battling a bad cold or flu bug all week, they made me forget it for a while.

I love these guys. I made the shirts they are wearing and I must say, they are almost too small already. We hadn’t seen them since Christmas and I believe they have grown a couple of inches in that time. I wish they would stop it.

We put together a puzzle, went out to eat, went to Rural King to see the baby chicks and ducks and to buy our pup some new chew toys. I am still our pup’s favorite chew toy. I wish she’d stop.

They helped me bake and ice cupcakes. They did most of the work. I just stood by and offered help. Never can learn too early how to feed yourself.

I learned more about Pokémon than I ever knew or wanted to know. I kept calling it Poky Man and they would say, “Grandma, it’s poky MON!” Some of these cards were accidently(?) dropped into the toilet. Bye, bye Pokémon cards. Reminded me of one time when our younger son had two friends over for an overnight and the next morning I found one of the boy’s clothes in the toilet. No one ever fessed up to how they got there. You never know with boys. I tell ya’.

We watched a really good movie on Netflix called Earth to Echo. We all got so engrossed in it that bedtime came and went. The ending was really good. I took the boys upstairs to bed and I think they were asleep before I got to my room. They slept all night without a peep. We all went to Sunday school the next morning. I help teach a pre-K class and the regular teacher is gone so I taught and I had the biggest class we have had for a while and on a morning after a big snow in our city. I was very pleased. I was also very under the weather. We ate lunch with our daughter’s family and then we went home and I went to bed where I had a dream that actually made me feel sick. I dreamed I had made five pies and I ate a piece from every one of them with a whole container of Cool Whip on top. I was actually nauseous when I woke up, but was so glad I hadn’t eaten all that. I told David it’s turned me off pie for a long time!

We have had snow and cold now for quite a while. I try to keep all the pets and the wild birds fed and watered. It’s a tough time for them, but we will get through.

Be sure to feed the birds. It’s hard for them to find food when the ground is covered. Bye.

CHRISTmas

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WE celebrate Christ’s birth today. Over two thousand years ago he was born in a lowly manger with cattle and sheep surrounding him. His parents, Mary and Joseph were in the town of Bethlehem to be taxed and take part in the census of the time. Because the city was so crowded, kind of like Indianapolis during 500 race time, a kind innkeeper allowed them to stay in his stable because he had no beds left in his inn. In that tiny stable(some say it might have been like a cave) Jesus was born and wrapped in rags and laid in the manger of one of the animals. Can you just see it? Since I love barns and love the smell when animals are in it, I would think it would have been a peaceful cozy place on a cold night. But for a king?. What a way for the Son of God to be welcomed into the world. He had left his throne in the most beautiful place in the universe to come down to earth and be placed in a barn. But, it didn’t matter. God was pleased with the birth and His plans were going just as He had told the prophets centuries before, that a virgin would give birth, His Son Jesus Christ. He sent one angel to announce to some shepherds on the hillside the great joy that would be to all people. A Savior, who is Christ the Lord! Then God sent the hosts from heaven (and this wasn’t a little group of angels), but a multitude of angels singing, “Glory to
God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will to all men.” What a sight that must have been. A little scary, too, because the shepherds were very afraid at first. What would you do if suddenly multitudes of angels appeared to you? I think I might freak out a little bit until I knew why they were there. Then the shepherds went and saw the baby and worshipped Him. We can be like those shepherds long ago and bow down and worship Him this holy season. My heart is full of the peace and joy God has given to me. Have things gone as I would want all year? Not by a long shot, but through it all Jesus has been by my side giving me encouragement and strength to live each day as He would want me to. I pray for all of you the peace that passes all understanding through faith in God’s son, Jesus Christ. He is real, He lived on earth for thirty some years, He died on a cross although he did absolutely nothing wrong but tell about His Father in heaven and do His will on earth, He died a horrible death(crucifixion was and still is one of the cruelest ways to die) He was buried in a tomb provided by a rich man. The third day when some of his women friends were going to the tomb to anoint his body, they found an empty tomb and an angel telling them He was not there, but had risen. Now Jesus sits at the right hand of God, His father, from where He will one day come to collect those who believe on Him and have given their lives to Him. I pray you are one or will give your life to Him today. What better Christmas gift you could give to yourself and those you love. Jesus loves you. Never forget that. Enough to die for you.

David and I wish you a very Merry CHRIST-mas and we pray that 2015 is a year of health, peace and joy to you. God bless you all. We love you. Merry Christmas!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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It is, you know. The most wonderful time of the year. The season of giving and peace and love. Oh, you look around the world and see all the evil that is going on, but what you don’t see very often because it doesn’t make a good news story, is the good that is going on. The nurse in the hospital who gives a lonely patient a little extra time and patience, the boy on your street who helps his elderly neighbor clear the snow off her walk, the man who pays the tab for a soldier eating at the next table in a restaurant, a teen-ager who calls his grandma and asks about her day. There is a lot of bad, but if you look, you will see the good also. There will always be sin in this world. Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars.

We can all make this world a little bit better. It’s the small things that count. A smile, patience for that slow driver in front of you, a kind word, a pat on the back, a hug. What if everyone decided that they were not going to be the problem, but the answer? That we would all decide we would get along with our neighbor, that we would look on the bright side of things for a change, that your life really isn’t so bad if you can get up in the morning and do something for others. It’s time to stop being so self-centered. To stop wondering when things are going to get better. You can make them better.

I decided quite a long time ago that I was not going to look at the glass half empty. My glass is always half full. If I don’t feel well one day I think I am no better than anyone else and cannot escape the trials of man and accept it. I have lived through tragedies, sadness, pain, separation, and most of the other human ills. We all must face these things at some time in our lives. It is how you face them that counts. I know people who have the most awful diseases who wear a smile on their faces in their adversity. There is one thing they have. They have Jesus in their heart. It makes a difference, you know. At this season rest in the knowledge that God loved us all enough that He came down to earth as a tiny baby and lived among us for a time. He died a wretched death on the cross and took every one of our sins upon Himself. He died but He arose the third day and now lives in heaven. One day He will come back for those who believe in Him. I believe. He makes my life complete.

I love Christmas because I can give presents to friends and family. I love making gifts and this year I went all out. I can’t show most of what I have made, but I have already given some things away so those I will show.

I made felt ice skates for the children in my Sunday school class and filled them with candy and little toys and stickers.

I have a friend who loves cats so I made her this little ornament out of felt.

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The lady I help in Sunday school got this because I told her she was an angel.

Another friend keeps bees so, voila! When I found this pattern I immediately thought of her.

I was on a roll and made another ornament. I may make more before I’m done. I love working with felt.

I’ve been knitting up a storm too.

Hats and scarves for the children in my Sunday school class.

A year or so ago, a nice lady from my church gave me a big bagful of quilt blocks, embroidery floss, a whole quilt that she had cross stitched and several other goodies. She said she gave it to me because she knew I would get some good out of it since I love to quilt. There were enough of these school house blocks to make a full size quilt So, I did. I asked her who had made the blocks and she told me her grandmother. I knew I could not keep this quilt for myself. It belonged in her family so this Sunday I gave it to her. It made me so happy to see her smile. The quilt was probably started in the 1950’s and now sixty some years later it is finished and the family can enjoy it for years to come.

I think my brothers had pajamas made from material like this back in the day.

There were plaid blocks.

One block was made with a satin or crepe de chine. Is that spelled right?

Yes, I have been a busy beaver. And I have enjoyed every bit of the making.

In other news. Molly Marshmallow continues to grow and grow.

Doesn’t she look adorable here? Wellllllll. This dog loves wood. She chews on wood every chance she gets. She has chewed on our house, around the windows, the wooden deck benches. She goes out in the yard and drags up pieces of wood and chips them like a beaver all over our back deck. She climbs on top of the woodpile, I don’t know why. Maybe she is planning on working her way down it. Anyway, today I took hot sauce and a brush and painted it all over the back of our house. Molly immediately started licking it up. Finally she decided maybe it wasn’t so good. I am going to hot sauce everything I don’t want her to chew. She loves chewing the heels of my shoes as I walk so on will go the hot sauce. I hope I have found the remedy to her constant chewing. It’s not like she doesn’t get toys and rawhide bones to chew. I just hope she outgrows this affinity for wood and me. I still love her, though and get a lot of laughs from her antics. If you walk by me and I smell like hot sauce, you will know why.

I look at this face and I cannot stay angry with her. She is a puppy and chewing is what puppies do.

My Santa rests on the couch before the big day. He’s been asked at the store for stickers and other toys. Little children think he’s the real thing.

A big package came to our front door the other day. David and I had gone to a Christmas party and when we came home there was this box sitting on our front porch.

It was for me!!!!!!

Do not open until Christmas. Oh, no! I feel like a kid again waiting for the big day.

I knew it had to be from someone I knew who knew I liked chickens because this was on the package……

A rooster made out of what looks like an old quilt. Interesting. Hmmmmmmm. Well, I guess I will just have to wait until Christmas until I can open it.

Couldn’t let Christmas go by without dressing up one of the hens for the season. This is Ada and she’s the only one who will allow me to pick her up now. She got a little squirrely toward the end of the photo shoot and finally flew out of my arms, but David got a good picture of her.

Must go. Just four more days. Hope you are ready. It will come whether you are ready or not. See you on the other side. Merry Christmas. Bye.

I’m Here

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Oh, I just want to have some time to upload some pictures and get some things written down here. I have been sewing my fingers to the nubbins and baking and decorating and taking the dogs walks and trying to throw some feed and water at the chooks as I pass by. My hens haven’t had a lot of my time lately. When I go out in their yard they all surround me and you should hear the clucking, tsking, and garbled talking. I actually thought I heard a word come out of one of their beaks the other day. I looked at her and said, “Penninah, what did you say?” and she just kept clucking up a storm. I heard a bird last summer as it was swooping down and I felt like I was Snow White and the bird said something to me. It was really weird. I am sure you are thinking I am weird, but I know what I heard.

Anyway, I cannot believe Christmas is just four days away. Is it earlier this year? Seems there was no time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I want to grasp the meaning of the season and keep it close for a while. I watched the Mormon Tabernacle choir’s Christmas special the other day and it was amazing and really was filled with the true Christmas spirit. On the same channel there was a story about Handel and how he came to write the Messiah. I have never heard the entire thing. I have sung in a choir that sang the Halleluhah chorus and have heard it many times, but there is so much more to Handel’s Messiah. It is the story of the Christ and why he came to earth and died for us all. Handel gave proceeds from some of his concerts to pay the debts of those in debtor’s prison. He paid the debts he did not owe for them who owed and could not pay. Sounds exactly like what Jesus did for us on the cross. He paid our sin debt so that when we die, we won’t have to pay it. We all have sinned. Not one of us gets out of this life without sinning. A tiny babe comes into the world wanting only what it wants. Unless it is shown the proper path, it will continue a lifetime of sin because of its sinful nature. That is how we all are born. But Jesus paid our sin debt. That is why we sing Halleluhah to Him.

Speaking of animals and birds talking, when I was a little girl I heard a story about how the animals talk at midnight on Christmas Eve. I always wanted to go out to the barn and hear if our cows, pigs or dogs were talking to one another. What if I go out to the chicken coop this Christmas Eve and peek in on the girls and maybe I will hear a conversation that is going on like this….” Well, did you see the egg Ada laid today. What a show off. She thinks she’s better than all the rest of us because her eggs are larger than ours.” Another hen will answer, “Now, Jemimah, it’s Christmas and we should love one another and just try harder to lay bigger eggs ourselves.” In which Abigail will pitch in, ” Would you ladies please stop your talking? I’m trying to roost over here.” Phoebe will laugh and say, “Hey, it’s the only night of the year we can speak. Too bad there isn’t any humans out here to hear us.” I will be giggling softly to myself as I listen to them, thinking I need to teach them some grammar. Then suddenly Freedom, being the watcher and protector of them all screeches, “Zip your beaks, ladies, we have company!” and suddenly all becomes quiet in the chicken coop. Anyway, that is what I imagine I would hear. Then I would walk back to the house and suddenly my dogs would start singing Christmas carols to me. Now that would be a fun Christmas Eve!

My next post will have pictures and I still have that story about Christmas when I was a little girl. Hope you are getting things wrapped and baked and visiting with family and friends, but save a little time to give to the babe who was born two thousand years ago just for us. Bye.

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Snicklefritz

So glad you came. Come sit a spell and read about the tale of my life.

Category Archives: Faith and Religion

Forty-Seven Years

Summer Fun

Windows, Chickens and Flowers, Oh, My

Easter

Almost Spring

Snow Day

Wonderful, Weathered, Wambled, Wandering,Wacky Week in Weview

CHRISTmas

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I’m Here