Time To Do This Life Well

The girls together on Alyssa's birthday, 2011.

“I don’t really want more time;

I just want enough time.

Time to breathe deep & time to see real & time to laugh long, time to give You glory & rest deep & sing joy…

I just want time to do my one life well.

Life at its fullest is this sensitive, detonating sphere —

and it can be carried only in the hands of the unhurried and reverential—

a bubble held in awe.”

~ One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

CHRISTmas 2011

This is a Christmas tree decoration that I found in a second-hand store or a garage sale a year or two ago. 

 Someone made it and enjoyed it for a time and now we are

glad to have it among our ornaments.

The creativeness of mankind - God's creation - makes

me step back and marvel. 

 I love works of art such as this!

I love the idea of re-using Christmas cards

that are going to be discarded!

Thanksgiving All Year Long

“Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart —  transforming the disposition and the whole character.

Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.

An occasional burst of praise, in the midst of years of complaining, is not what is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days; and no songs when skies are cloudy—will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always.

This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken. We must persist in being thankful.

When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.

Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”

J. R. Miller, 1912

Growing or declining??

Alyssa reading in our front yard.

Every individual is growing, changing, developing,
or declining—intellectually, emotionally, spiritually,
physically, and psychologically.

A family is a grouping of individuals who are affecting
each other intellectually, emotionally, spiritually,
physically, psychologically.

~ Edith Schaeffer, What Is a Family?

Fragile Humility

"Humility is timid. Write about it, talk about it, and it flees."  
                                                                        -Ann Voskamp

The valuable, the beautiful, and the noble

Much is required of us. Our days are filled with many tasks that can sometimes seem mundane and of little worth, but if we can grasp the incredible truth of what sacrificial service really means, then our entire outlook will be transformed. When done for the Lord, the commonplace will become noble, the prosaic will become beautiful, and the unimportant will become valuable."
~Jennifer McBride

Real Life

The great thing, if one can,

 is to stop regarding all the unpleasant
 things as interruptions of one’s own or real life.

The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life – the life God is sending day by day. ~C.S. Lewis

The gumpaste flowers..where they ended up..

The beautiful cake with the gumpaste topper.

 Ana with the topper and side gumpaste flowers.

 The bride's entrance... escorted by her dad.

 Check the bride's bouquet............. 

Check out the bridesmaids' bouquets around-about

the wedding cake.

They all match.

A Trip ...

Can you find at least one hint in either of these pictures 

 of our destination state?

The Importance of Our Choices Each Day

A lovely wedding we recently attended!

 The setting..

 Quiet wonder..

  

Ready and waiting..

The joining...

 Afterwards...

.......................................

There are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about

if I were going to live only 70 years,

but which I had better bother about very seriously

 if I am going to live forever. 

~ C. S. Lewis

MERE CHRISTIANITY

A Quote

Fall

 Walking down our driveway with the little dogs.

 Some leaves near the house in the early morning light.

Later in the day...

We have many trees around our home and therefore many leaves to rake. We have enjoyed the pleasant fall weather the Lord has given us this year.

Gumpaste Flowers

The latest project we have been working on a little each day: making Calla Lilies in hopes to get some realistic looking creations to make a wedding cake topper for a friend.

 This is the initial step of making the shape and letting them dry.

 The color being applied.

 More time to hang and dry.

These are not totally finished..they still need some fine tuning and some Luster Dust application.

Next some roses and berries need to be made to add to the Calla Lilies for the cake topper.

While walking one day...

...the girls captured a picture of Rich and me. 

I like the hues in this photo and the smiles.

A thought for today...

A woman feels most uniquely feminine when she enjoys her capacity

 to strengthen relationships
and to encourage others

by inviting them

to enjoy the blessings of relationship.

~ LARRY CRABB, Men & Women: Enjoying the Difference

An August Day..............

A miracle in the making..in the flower garden in front of our house.
Thanks for capturing this Amy!

Lovely Quote

"Blessed is the woman who has a smile in her voice, a sparkle in her eyes,

a song on her lips;

a spring in her step,

a warmth in her touch,

a depth in her beauty,

a purpose for her life,

 a joy in her faith,

a hope in her breast and a love in her heart."
~ William Arthur Ward

Family Religion

"We must have a special eye upon families,
to see that they are well-ordered,
 and the duties of each relation performed.
 The life of religion,
and the welfare and glory of both
the Church and the State,
depend much on family government and duty.
 If we suffer the neglect of this,
we shall undo all.
I beseech you, therefore,
if you desire the reformation and welfare of your people do all you can to promote family religion."
 --Richard Baxter

A giveaway..

Raising Homemakers is having a giveaway of a webinar that starts in August..It sounds good.

So simply click Raising Homemakers to find out more about it!

Beautiful Summer

A pretty amazing stand of delphinium! The lane beyond them is our driveway that curves around the evergreens to the road.

This is our garden! The girls have been busy keeping it weeded. It is right along our driveway.

Thank you Alyssa for taking these lovely pictures for me to share.

Encouragement..

How many encouragements do you find in this photo? 

An Outing

 Rich and I went on an outing last week.  We traveled to the Buckwheat Growers mill to purchase organic grain for our small goat herd. After that was accomplished, we traveled to the village of Ottertail.  The main reason for coming here was to have lunch and enjoy The Williams Company Store. While there I asked the pleasant clerk for permission to take a few pictures.  

                                                                                                       

So here they are...pictures of a very favorite store in our area.

A front shot of The Williams Company Store...very inviting!

We ordered lunch:  a sandwich and a wrap. This was taken from our table which was located in the far corner of the shop.

..a large cup of freshly made coffee...it was very flavorful!

Rich's plate..the other part of the sandwich was being eaten as I took this!

...another quick picture.(the front door is to the left.) The case to the right has jewelery and misc small items..

..standing toward the back of the store facing the front door.. are soaps, candles, lotions, cards, journals, and many  unique decorative and bathroom  items.

Rich..paying for our lunch..This lady was most diligent in her work and very gracious in serving us.

 The lunch was delicious! This store enhances my homey creative focus. Now we will be heading back home.  One last picture in front of our pickup and a couple of other nice shops near The Williams Company Store are behind the pickup.

This was a most enjoyable little day trip...why go across the country for a respite.  It was like a breath of fresh air!

Fun new favorites

Ana added this sweet liquid hand soap and moisturizer set to our kitchen sink line-up. I am enjoying it!  It is so much fun to use and looks so neat and tidy setting near the water spigot.  Many times I have stopped to wash my hands here and because the moisturizer is very close by, I now stop to put that on as well.  My hands are the better for it! 

 

Happy Mother's Day

 The top picture is of my mom
when she was young amongst some chickens.
The bottom picture is of her mom feeding some chickens.
 I'm posting them in remembrance of both for this Mother's Day.

Mother....enhancer and reflector

..the crown of your husband;  jewels of light to the children in your midst.

"An excellent wife is the crown 

of her husband, 

but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones" (Proverbs 12:4).

.."Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:saying

"Many daughters have done well but You excel them all" (Proverbs 31:28-29).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This crown has been thought provoking 

for me to just sit and look at....

to think about its extravagant beauty and how it reflects the sun's rays. 

It is an overwhelming thought that the wife/mom is to be like this amazing 

piece of ornamentation;
not merely for its own beauty,

but to enhance her husband and reflect beauty to her children or those in her midst. 

I would like to be that crown;

each day of the year!

Signs of spring here

This is our buck eating his hay. 

(Notice the snow in the background of this photo.) 

We are expecting new goat kids in a month or so - from two of our does.

Just the other day we saw a Robin and a Chipmunk. 

Today is a warmer sunshiny day. I think we will start to see more and more signs of  spring each day.

  

Something is coming up near the garage. I think it is Tulips. They were fun to find yesterday.

 

This photo is of our windmill turning in the warm spring wind. 

The sky was so blue and clear of clouds when I took this photo.