Another flower from this past summer...

Larkspur ~ A yearly friend in our garden, as it self-seeds each year.  It's a beauty!

 The Ten Commandments of Human Relations

1. SPEAK TO PEOPLE — there is nothing so nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2. SMILE AT PEOPLE — it takes 72 muscles to frown, only 14 to smile.
3. CALL PEOPLE — the sweetest music to anyone’s ears is the sound of his own name.
4. BE FRIENDLY and helpful, if you would have friends, be a friend.
5. BE CORDIAL — speak and act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure.
6. BE GENUINELY interested in people — you can like almost everybody if you try.
7. BE GENEROUS with praise — cautious with criticism.
8. BE CONSIDERATE with the feelings of others — there are usually three sides to a controversy: yours, the other fellow’s, and the right side.
9. BE ALERT to give service — what counts most in life is what we do for others.
10. ADD TO THIS a good sense of humor, a big dose of patience and a dash of humility.

~Author Unknown~

What an encouraging reminder for each day!  If each of these could be genuinely observed, what a wonderful series of pearls we would have to string each new day.

Christmas at our place..

 

I have wanted to put in an entry about Christmas that is now just a few days in the past.  This year it was snow-filled, cold and quiet;  yet as with all of them, to be cherished, valued and stored in the pages of our memories. If we take the "plate" that we are given and make the best of it, we can make each day a Christmas day ~ full of wonderful memories to be made and treasured. 

I am thankful for these "girl-gifts" near the tree that God gave to me; to this family.  As they stand there with those sweet smiles shining forth, I am reminded of the mercy that God has had towards me as yet another year comes to a close. 

Merry Christmas, merry days, and may many mercies come your way, while you make memories as this next year of days and moments revs its motor.

Don't waste any! As much as you can help it - don't miss any!

Memory of a Lovely Rose......

 Grandma Wolf's rose..

We acquired it when she moved from her home of many years..It had been her dad's rose bush in his flower garden when she was growing up.

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Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, love divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

~The words and lyrics of the carol 'Love came down at Christmas' were written by the poet Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830-1894)

Merry Christmas

Saturday....Together..

the setting sun in the west at our place

Earlier today we had our typical Saturday lunch:  baked  potatoes with various toppings, which we ate while watching an old VHS of "This Old House".  This 'old house' in Massachusetts had termites!  We have enjoyed this old program for many years together.

Now we are bustling in the warm kitchen; Christmas music is playing as we visit and make supper. Outdoors the sky is gray and the landscape white. A neighbor family stopped by earlier to deliver a plate of Christmas cookies and wish us a Merry Christmas.


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The following photos are of miscellaneous happenings and projects of the past week or so.

~ Peppermint ice cream cake~made for my birthday! ~

..making Mozzarella cheese..

~ A Christmas Tea at a friend's home! ~

~ a plate of cookies they made ~

~ the festive table ~

~Below are some items we have been working on to sell on Etsy~

~ one of the felted wool pincushions ~

~ pink royal icing flowers atop frosted cupcakes ~

                     

~ a table runner..pieced and hand quilted ~

~ a purple hand-knit neck scarf  ~

More Spring flowers..

A very brilliant Iris.

The fragrant Lily of the Valley

 Bleeding Hearts

In Genesis chapter 1 it talks about how these plants came into being; God spoke them here on the 3rd day.  He told the earth to bring forth plants yielding seed.... I tend to enjoy these for their form and color and think of the flower as their purpose but their purpose is to bear seed or fruit for another year and so on.  I am glad for the wide variety of flowers that appear; their wide variety of beauty. However they were created that they may continue on the earth; year after year.

 

Remembering Flowers From Our Spring Gardens...

• During this cold, white, time of year I am going to be sharing   flowers from our gardens to bring warmth and color to this journal. Often the first to appear, Tulips and Daffodils are so common each spring in our area.
• I am thankful for them because they are faithful, they have survived the cold of winter down deep in the ground, and they pave the way for the season's many other flowers. They offer the 'example' of hope, perseverance, and just doing what you are supposed to be doing in life. They don't last all season; just a few short days or possibly a week. Doing their part; they are always beautiful and perky. If I am not too busy to notice them in the busyness of life, they bring me bits of happiness...even now as I enter them here. 
• I am glad that God saw fit to create them to embellish life!

Little Things..

This is a tray in, Amy, my daughter's room.  I thought I would share it's statement here. I need to be reminded of the value of the many small happenings or tiny things in each ordinary day, often!