Normal day?

Normally, green beans in the garden are only a fond memory by the end of September. But, today! Today the plants were loaded, begging to be picked.


Normally, the skies in Michigan are a lackluster blue, more cloudy than clear. But, today! Today the sky was radiant, cloudless... stunning.


Normally, the pictures I take are WYSIWYG. But today! Today a background tree donned a silver cloak... showing off, I guess.


This was not a (sigh) normal day. Today was loaded with radiant, astounding moments.

Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

Lesson from the table

Let me tell you about my grandma's table.

Grandma lived in a big brick house. In the living room, in the bay window, behind the couch, under an enormous, gangly plant, stood grandma's table. Its purpose was to take up space and catch the overflow from the careless watering of the "monster plant". No one paid any attention to the table. It was just there... holding the plant and catching water.

Years passed. Grandma moved to her heavenly home, her house left the family, and the table moved in with me. I tucked the abused table in an inconspicuous spot, pulling it out only when big family dinners called for extra seating.

A few weeks ago, I wanted to rearrange the living room, which of course, involved furniture in three rooms, including grandma's table. It was a perfect fit in front of the window in my kitchen.


This new location caused me to see the table. It's beautiful! The water stains now take a back seat to the incised designs around the turned legs.


"So what?" you say. This is what... the lesson learned from grandma's table.

There are times when life is too busy. A million things have to be done right now, or even better, yesterday. Add to that, laundry, cooking, cleaning.... I run through my days, attacking the "water stains" and missing the beauty.

It's time for some rearranging... time to step back, clear away the clutter, and see the loveliness of the life God has given me.

Aaahhh... God is good.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22

Prayer Album - new again

It is always a rewarding experience when I finally finish the last page on a fresh new prayer album. Facing every decorated page, is an open expanse of lined paper, just waiting to be filled in with extra requests, jottings, special verses and notes of thanks to God.

And always, there are favorite pages, and there are pages that remind me that this is not a perfect world.

Want to see the little things I like most?

Yes? Did I hear yes?

Okay! (note: While I wait... and wait.... for Adobe to fix my PSE problems, sorry about the photo quality.)

Experimenting with sandy gel medium...


...just loved the way this came together...


... and the grungy pink petals that overlap the stamped tag...



So today, the old album goes on a shelf. With fresh energy and a new album, I'm at it again. Wonder where the path will lead this time?

Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Psalm 143:10

Just like Levis

Family genes. They are like custom made Levis... you don't have to think about the fit, they're just right, just you.

I got a comment on my last post from my niece who said:

I understand the brown thumb. We had a garden this year. Only got butternut squash. Alot of squash.
Nobody in the house likes butternut squash. All I wanted were a few tomatoes.

I laughed out loud when I read it! Poor niece, I thought, I know how you feel.

Completely unrelated, and only moments later, I got an email from my mother (grandmother to my niece). She described her efforts in her senior citizen mini-garden. She said:

I carried water often, fed this cucumber bush with Miracle Gro----its obvious nothing worked. But I am wondering if I grew the world's tiniest cucumber. Do you suppose I am eligible to make the Guinness record book?

In case someone from Guinness is reading... here's her proof -


So you see, I'm not alone in this world full of gardens... it's a family tradition.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children. Psalm 103:17

Oops!

Now that summer is history, I decided the time had come to put an end to the obvious misery in parts of my garden.

I ripped with abandon. Away with this evidence of my brown thumb! Be done miserable failure!

Alas... I should have known that crinkly, crunchy, yellow-brown leaves don't always mean the plant has given up the ghost. While untangling the severed end of a vine from the weeds around it, I discovered two fuzzy potential melons.


Words cannot express my horror upon seeing what I had done, but there was no repairing the damage.

Thankfully, God blesses even the brownest thumbs with bounty. Our peach tree produced fruit for the very first time this year... sweet, dripping-down-your-chin-juicy peaches.


With one Peach Upside Down Cake already on the hips... I know this will be a flavorful winter. Mmmm-mmm-mmmm!

...that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:13

Buying time

Where did August go? And, why is September chasing it?

Christmas decor is in every store - yet I still have an arrangement of silk lilacs on my front door. I think I need more hours in the day...


All is not lost in this busy world... I recently heard about a website that is offering the ultimate in time savings. They will do your praying for you. And, this month, you can get a special discount on the Protestant Package - which includes one Morning Prayer, one Lord's Prayer, five Get Well Prayers and one World Peace Prayer. Every day (that you've paid for) your choices will be recited by a computer generated voice while your name is displayed on the screen. (Just to make sure that God knows who this prayer is from, I suppose.) Complete privacy is assured - although they do not guarantee that some other being besides God might hear the prayer.

Noooo, I am not kidding.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Psalm 118:8

A dinner out

Our annual "late August" dinner happened on our typical timetable... late.

Eleven of us met at Flat Top Grill - a wonderful place to reward your mouth for being on your face. And... it was Monday - kids-eat-free day - so it didn't hurt anyone's budget.

After stuffing ourselves with all of that good food, we walked around the town center style shopping area. It is a beautiful setting with fountains, flowers...


and Cold Stone Creamery. smile


While strolling past Barnes and Noble, a sign caught our attention. I loaned our version my glasses and he happily posed.


(It turned out to be a lesson in rumor making - a passing couple commented "There's the little boy on the sign!")

It was drizzly and grey outside. That's OK... it seemed appropriate.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Psalm 103:1

This is the day

She's finally here... and there's not a shred of paper in sight. Oh, we've been busy, it just isn't the busy that I imagined.

We spent the day doing everything but paper. We shopped in some fine stores...


We splurged on a "The Pie Who loved Me" creation at Cold Stone Creamery...


She modeled ancient mink collars, trudged (completely unimpressed) through streets filled with perfectly restored old cars, perused thrift stores, inhaled a guacamole slathered burrito, and took pictures, pictures and more pictures! (She loves her new camera.)


Will we ever slave away with linters and deckles? I don't know... I'm not sure that it matters. We're just havin' fun.

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Together

I haven't made paper in a very long time. My last attempt was underwhelmingly unique, so I put the linters, deckle and frame, and couching sheets away. On the proverbial Someday, I planned to revisit the process and produce something worth the effort.


Tomorrow, I have a little visitor coming. She will be bringing one of her birthday gifts - a paper making kit. After blowing the dust from my own supplies, I can see that we have plenty of raw materials.

We'll put our heads and hands to work and do our best to produce something beautiful... like a memory perhaps?

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. Ecclesiastes 4:9