Vintage Inspirations

The Little Mailman Recieves a Letter! and His Further Adventures

2011-05-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since you have heard about the resident mailman. I thought you might enjoy a continuation in his little story!

Our little mailman now has his own letter box as well as a mail pouch! He recieves his mail on the back porch of the house because he's too little to go down to the road alone where the family mailbox is located. He likes to receive letters also! Someone has sent him a letter!

Savor the moment . . .

"Look! A letter with MY name one it!" the little mailman exclaimed!

"Wow! Look at all those 'numbers' " said he.

"What does it say, Mama?"

Mama replied, "Well dear, lets read it together."


Life is good!

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE LITTLE MAILMAN!

Two days later, another letter arrives for the Little Mailman!

Thank you for joining me today to enjoy this little family tale.

Bessie-Dearest

2010-10-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

I would love to introduce you to a sweet little girl that has come to live in the pasture.
Her name is Bessie~Dearest.

My son, Tristan, got her for me.
In early August, he came home one evening a little later than usual.
When he came in he said, "Mom, come out here."
Of course my antenna went up immediately!
When I came out, he had the front door of his truck open,
and lying on the floorboard was this little bundle of life!

She is 3/4 Jersey, and 1/4 Holstein.

She's less that a week old in these pictures.
Isn't she precious?

She has been taking two bottles a day and gets really excited when I appear with her "eats".

Baby animals, like calves, box as they nurse to cause the milk to come down.
Bessie~Dearest can knock the bottle out of your hand if you don't anticipate it and get yourself braced.
She is quite powerful, even at such a young age.

Lila is such a mother to the animals~if they will let her.
Here, she is eaten up with curiosity at this new critter, and is actually licking the milk off her face.

This is not just a calf; this is our future milk supply!
THIS is Bessie~Dearest!

Thank you for visiting! I love to have you!

The Little Mail Man of Bayberry Lane

2010-10-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

On a recent day, Hamlin and I decided to play "The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane."

This has been one of our most favorite "old books" since my children were small.
Needless to say, Hamlin loves it as well.

The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane is a jolly little fellow.
"Now who do we have letters for today?" he asks.

He loves to put letters in the mailboxes of all his neighbors.
He knows they wait anxiously for his appearance in the lane.

Today, Mr. Turtle receives the tulip catalog he had waited for for so long.

The Little Mailman takes a rest.
It makes him happy to put lovely letters and parcels in his neighbor's mailboxes.

Mrs. Goose is out picking bayberries for the bayberry candles she is going to be making.

Mrs. Duck is hoping for a letter from her sister.

Will it come today?

Mrs. Pig is waiting at her mailbox. She never receives any letters, but every morning she hopes for one.

"I wonder why Mrs. Pig never receives any letters. Maybe it's because she never writes any!"

Of course, I can't tell you what happens after that because you have to read the story for yourself!

But you probably have already guessed that Mrs. Pig does eventually get a letter placed in her mailbox!

Another good day's work done by the Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane!

This N That Around the Farm

2010-10-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Blackberrying this summer.

This was a great year for blackberries.

The name of these flowers have been a mystery to us since we moved here.
There are no leaves!

I happened to find their name in a Gurney's catalog! They are called ~ Mystery Lilies~!
They put on lush, lush foliage in the spring, then in the summer after the leaves disappear, these beautiful lilies bloom!

Hamlin holding his Mystery Lilies, but his great admiration is for his big brother, Collin.

One of the boys found this Lunar Moth. Isn't it beautifully fashioned?

Two of my lovely girls.

Her eyes are wonder-holders.

I'm not sure what to say about this. These are, what used to be referred to as "The Little Boys".
Not so little now, but just as goofy!
There were days I would have traded them for girls. But not recently.

This picture was taken by the missing four-year-old brother. (which explains it's perspective)

Odie the dog is just a great big ole pussy-cat!

There are things you can do in childhood, that you will never be the right size to do again as an older person.
I just love little boys! Especially MY "Little Boys".

The Wedding Gown

2010-08-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

My friends, thank you for your patience while waiting for my post about the wedding gown.
This project has been in the works since the week after the wedding and I hope you find it worth the wait.
This slide show will take over twelve minutes, and you will want to have the audio turned on.

The Wedding Gown

by Sharon Castlebury

Why must you, Bride, put on this gown

On this, your wedding day?

Why go to all the effort, Dear,

And stitch our hearts away?

Although I'm sure you'd look quite smart

In some gown off the rack,

'Twould save us time and effort great

To choose that easy track.

I'll tell you Dear, this dress is more

Than just a wedding gown,

For in its folds a tale is told;

Your story in it is found.

The dress began when you were born,

For hopes and dreams inspired it.

Each pattern piece was alterred so

A robe of Heaven you'd fit.

The fabric was beyond compare-

Your heart was made clean and pure;

"Twas cut out very carefully;

God's trimming hand was sure.

The pieces we did pin and fit-

The pain you felt was real;

But as the stitches were put in

How humbly you did yield.

At time we made real mistakes

So we ripped out then re-sewed.

The new seam that we stitched back in

Was nobler far we know.

The lovely dress was almost done

Except for one more thing

To try it on . . . how does it fit?

Will it make His heart sing?

You tried it on, it fit you like

An angel had sewn for you!
It was a perfect picture frame

Of the woman God made-it's true!

As you wore it on your wedding day

It made me start to cry,

To know that every stitch we took

Was another step in your life.

So, Darling as we think upon

the time that's traveled past,

The years we spent in joy and tears

Were fashioning you at last

To be the one to pass the torch
to daughters in your line.
My Dear, remember, construct her dress

With care as we did thine.

An Heirloom Baby Gown

2010-08-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have had the joy of making baby day-gowns for several of my babies.
They attended their first church service in them, and several services (before growing out of them) thereafter.
It is my intention to make each of my children an heirloom day-gown for their children.
This spring/summer found me stitching away on one for Trevor and Thelma's babys.

This was my first attempt at drawn thread work on anything so fine.
The fabric is pima batiste.

The gown was worked in a pattern of broderie anglaise, which is synonymous with "eyelet". It is found in a leaflet by "Belles and Beaus"

entitled "Primer Series Broderie Anglaise" 1985.

The back is from the same leaflet. I love working eyelet. You don't have to count or do any thinking.

The buttonholes are worked by hand. Very enjoyable.

Little Isabella was the first to wear this gown.
She appeared at the wedding in it and looked so sweet and babyish.
As the day wore on, her gown became wrinkled, but she wore them well.
She was as a long-ago babe in a vintage photograph

Cute Critters

2010-07-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

Aren't these just the cutest little fellers you ever did see? They are Jersey calves; three days old in this picture.

Notice his loooong eyelashes. Doesn't your heart just melt!
Jerseys are really way too pretty.

Here's Mrs. Goat. I can't remember her real name. She looks a little filled out to be just one.

The quackers are really fun to watch. I bet you didn't know that ducks are herd animals? Well, they are here at our place!

It's one big happy family in the chicken pen!

This is one of Mother Fluff-Ruffle's adopted hatchlings. It looks rather roosterish.

This is the cutest critter of all!

A Birthday Celebration For Martha

2010-07-22T14:14:00.001-07:00

Today is my friend, Martha's birthday.

I've know her since Ashley was an infant, so we go waay back!

She is the mother of eleven children: plus me.

She has been my mentor for many years, although I exceed her in age by one.

Sawyer wanted to give her a birthday present, but all he had was his old, worn-out pair of boots.

(Daddy had just the day before gone to TSC and bought him a new pair).
Only Martha would enjoy such a gift given by a little boy!

Martha had a picnic at her house yesterday to celebrate her birthday. It was the Kendalls and us, so we were so happy to help celebrate. The boys all had a great time!

Here's Avery. Notice that Sawyer is wearing his new boots!

Aren't they cute?

These words are on the wall over Martha's dining table in her new house.
These words describe Martha's life~ strengthened. . . blessed. . . peace. . . filled.

Such feminine beauty graces Martha's soon-to-be-finished kitchen. What a memory for you, Martha.

She's everyone's Marmee.

Happy, happy birthday, my dear!

Bridal Showers

2010-07-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

How blessed we have been with wonderful friends.
How we love the ladies that have been part of our lives.

The ladies at church were the first to give Ashley a bridal shower.
We enjoyed a lovely evening with these dear friends.

Here we are!

The second shower was given by the Kendall ladies of Greenville.

Everything was beautiful.

Christiana made most of the food. It was delicious.

Many of these ladies we hadn't seen in a loooong time.

Bethany (with Haviland peeking from behind her), Ashley, Christianna, Chelsey.

Christiana made a beautiful monogrammed pillow worked in shadow work.

Celebrating The Next Generation

2010-07-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Being a wife and a mother has always been the "career choice" for me. As a small child, my play always included dolls and homemaking. My neighbor friend, Janice and I, would spend hours together playing with our buggies and dolls. She had a huge basement full of really great stuff to play house, as well as to play dress-up. No one made us play like this. Both of our Mothers ruled their own domains of home, and we never considered doing anything other than that. Our hearts were by nature, homemakers.
As a young woman, making decisions about career and college, I had conflicting ideas going through my mind. Everyone around me migrated out into the work force; it seemed to be the expected thing, so I thought I was supposed to do the same. However, somehow I just couldn't get excited about any career, but I had this yearning to be a wife. How I longed to make a home for my husband and take care of him. I wanted to spend all my time in domestic pursuits. In my way of thinking, what you "do" is what you "are".
There are so many "perks" with this "job".

How wonderful the "fruit" is!
This is not to say that we have in any way earned God's blessings.
I would say we are debtors to His grace in our lives.

This is little Isabella Grace being held by Uncle Hamlin.
She came into the world April 23.

Granddaddy knows how to take care of babies!

Our son, Trevor knows what is important. He is a faithful, loving husband to Thelma,
and he adores his little girl.

Here is our hope for the future; one branch in our family tree that we pray will continue to bear fruit that will last through all eternity.

More Update

2010-06-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome dear friends. I'm giving you some more pictures that were taken during my nine month siesta! I hope you enjoy them!

Life can be so much fun! It's really in how you look at things.

Here's Mrs. Pelc and I earlier this spring up in Missouri.
She's a REALLY funny gal. We always have such a hoot when we're together.
You should hear her sing!

Dreaming . . . .

We had some new additions to the family. Ducky Doodles!

These little balls of fluff belong to Sayre. He ordered 6 Pekins, 6 Mallards, and 6 Rouens (sp?).
He ordered a straight run.

May was such a lovely month this year. This clamatis is growing just where I found it, at the foundation of the new addition. I don't know how it got there, but I nearly pulled it up thinking it was a weed!

Isn't it lovely!

Here's little Hamlin.

"New Dawn" was simply covered with roses! I invited Marmee over to see it after church, and she just couldn't believe her eyes!

The strawberry patch beckoned again ~ and of course, we succumbed.

Sigh. . . . another last time.

Wedding Bells In The Air

2010-06-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

The wedding of Ryan and Ashley quickly approaches. The biggest project has been her bridal gown. I've been anticipating this project for a number of years, and it has been with joy that Ashley and I have been able to work on it together. I can't tell you how bitter-sweet this time has been.

Cutting out the lace.

Remember to always pin perpendicular to the cutting line and diagonally in the corners..

The lace on the dress had to be sewn down by hand.

For about two weeks, we had a daily rendezvous in the sewing room!

The fabric is Duchess Silk. It was wonderfully willing to obey!

We sewed the hem in by hand. We had to make the finest pricks in order for the stitches not to show on the outside.

We sure enjoyed working on the gown together, but were sure glad when it was done and we could admire our work! We decided that the gown looks it's loveliest when it is on Ashley. The hanger is a sad model.

I'll post pictures after the wedding so you can see the gown.

Oh My Goodness! Has It Really Been Nine Months???

2010-06-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

It is with great embarrassment, and I do hang my head in shame, that I write this "latest" blog post. This must be some kind of record for Blogspot. No one has ever neglected her blog the way I have. But I have a good excuse . . . . just like you, I've been busy.
Let me fill you in on some of the goings~on.

Ashley is engaged to Ryan Pelc, of Columbia, Missouri. This is a story in itself.
After their wedding, he will be whisking her away to live in Missouri. He has been building a house in the country for the two of them to make their home together.

You know I'm going to miss this girl! I've had her all her life! The past 26 years have been spent with her either under my feet, or by my side; but always dear in my heart.

These following photos were taken on Ashley's birthday, March 7. Here is my Dearest, and Sawyer.

Two of my young men. Haaaand---some!

This is truly a rare moment.

Sweet....

Ashley asked for a cake roll this year, but as you can see, I still don't have a plate long enough to accommodate one. Nor is it very pretty. Neither did I have 26 candles. But boy was it good!!!!!

Ashley took this picture. She always has a knack for being in the right place at the right time with a camera in hand.
I just love little boys!

Farm Living Suits Me Just Fine!

2009-09-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we have been out of the city for three years. This feels so right and good. No traffic, now sirens, no "people" sounds. Quiet. Peaceful.

Our children have thrived on the opportunity to work really, really hard. Our boys have become so strong and manly, going out and making their way in the world of farmers and country folk. They are pursuing real dreams ~ their dreams ~ and they put their own lively-hood on the line in order to do it. I'm so proud of them. Proud in a good way, mind you!
God is so good.

Our neighbor cutting hay with his mules, Kit and Kate. They are beautiful animals.

My little man working hard.

Unloading brush with Daddy

My man and his truck!

This is one of the smaller cows on the farm.
I like this size.

This one, one the other hand, is a different story! BIG! You will never guess who it's owner is!
I'll give you a hint: she has a blog called Country Maiden Lane!

Sayre has such a way with animals! His calves just love him ~ especially when he brings them alfalfa cubes!

You've heard of "a boy and his dog"? Well, . . . what can I say?

The Last Roses of Summer

2009-09-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

Summer has come to a close, and we have been blessed with such lovely mild weather. The roses just love it! With the ample rains they have grown nicely this summer and are now putting on one last flush of beauty for us to enjoy before winter.

Here's my favorite "Rose".

Yours Truly

Cecile Brunner: a climber with the sweetest little pale pink roses.

The Poet: An English style shrub rose.

Falstaff: an English rose ~ ohhhh so fragrant.

These little fellows are busy, busy, busy, as they prepare for the winter.

Simplicity Rose : a lavender shrub rose

Kathryn Morley an English rose.

Having roses has been a dream of mine for some years now. How thankful I am that I can now grow them! It has "pleasured" me to share them with you.

Hymn for The Lord's Day: A Little Child May Know

2009-09-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I have been trying to do with dear little Sawyer is to have "studies" with him. The things we do vary from time to time, and we are not very consistent yet in our lessons, but I do keep a notebook with all the scripture verses we are working on, catechisms, and songs we are learning. I'll often just begin quoting the memory verses and he will finish them up.

This summer we have been working on a new song ~ new to both of us. It tells of God's love for us, and all the evidences of it. Now this song, is simple in it's message; simple enough for us grown~ups to comprehend the obvious truth of His marvelous love.

If you would like to learn the tune to this song, go HERE

A LITTLE CHILD MAY KNOW

by Jane E. Leeson 1842

A little child may know

Our Father's name of Love;
'Tis written on the earth below,
And on the sky above.

Around me when I look,
His Handiwork I see;
This world is like a picture~book
To teach his love to me.

The thousand little flowers
Within our garden found,
The rainbow and the soft spring showers,
And every pleasant sound;

The birds that sweetly sing,
The moon that shines by night,
With every tiny living thing
rejoicing in the light;

And every star above,
Set in the deep blue sky
All tell me that our God is love,
And tell me he is nigh.

Recent Events on the Farm

2009-09-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

My, my, my . . . it has been a long time. Time has a way of becoming full and overflowing with the day to day happenings. Before you know it, the weeks slip by into months. I find it difficult to say what I have to show for my time, but it mostly has to do with cooking, food preservation, and washing lots and lots of dishes. Ashley and I have a bit of a joke between us. When one of the boys wonder what we have done all day (because it isn't apparent to their eyes~ or ours for that matter) we inform them that we sat around eating bon~bons all day.

This is actually a very special time in our family. As you may know, we have but one daughter, and she is very precious to my husband and I. We have desired that she be a keeper at home~not just after marriage when the children begin to come along, but now, for real: as a maiden seeking the Lord's will for each day, not just some future time.

Oh, we have been so glad that we set this course. I think she would echo the same sentiment. I've never know another young lady like this who has had the freedom to pursue the natural course that God intended for women and bloom into such a vibrant fulfilled lady.

But alas! A young man has come into her life! His name is Ryan, from Missouri. He and his family have endeared themselves to us in a most precious way. They have been courting for about four weeks, and how sweet it has been. You can read some of her story HERE.

They make a great team!

Well, the Labor-Day cookout hamburgers are calling, so until next time (soon) I thank you for visiting today!

Redecorating the Bathroom

2009-05-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

One of the big projects I wanted to complete in time for the wedding was that of sprucing up the bathroom. We do not believe the house had a bathroom originally, so the room it now occupies was meant to be something else! It's a nice large size, so I'm thankful for that!
We had hoped to one day gut the whole room and start over, with a door into our new master bedroom. But life is just too short to do all the things we COULD do, if we had the time.

There is a Jacuzzi / "Baby Bear Swimming Pool" that is a little more of a bathtub that what I need (I dream of a porcelain claw-foot tub!).

I love "Laura Ashley number one" scent.

This is part of my collection of old hand towels. Many came from yard sales and thrift stores.

This one is my favorite! It's completely done by hand.

This is "Baby Bear's" shelf for his grooming supplies. The old chamber pot was found by Sayre in the woods at Bull Run.

I love this pretty mirror. It really sets the mood for this room. Pretty, simple, and old~fashioned.

The bust of the lady and the blue-capped talcum jar on the right, including the dish on which they all sit, were my Mother's.

I so enjoy getting out "the old stuff" and creating little vignettes in those special corners of the house. I find myself employing a bit of whimsy in many of my efforts, although I'm the only one that usually sees it! Thanks so much for sharing a minute or two with me!

Spring is Here!

2009-05-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Spring is springing all around us here on the farm. Every where I look, there are signs that The Great Creative Genius has once again preserved his handy work to remind me of his reality.
What a blessing it is to know that He made everything with a purpose, including you and me. Now matter what our circumstances, background, or shortcomings, we can only find fulfillment when we become rightly related to Him.

Last August, I planted the seeds (Botanical Interests) for these pansies (Carmel Spice) and was disappointed that they did not bloom in the fall. But now they are rewarding me with so many blooms, and even seed pods! Wow~they were sure worth the wait!

Now what do you think about this sweet face? His Mama has been out in the garden for the last month tending the vegetable garden, as well as this East Garden.
I could not do all my work without my children though. They do so much without a complaint.

All right, all right~ it's time to go in and fix "baby bear's porridge"!

After the Long Silence

2009-04-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Can it really have been 3 1/2 months since Trevor and Thelma became engaged? Life has been so very busy here in the country since then. I was so sorry to have to put aside my blog temporarily, however, there was no question as to the necessity of doing so. I'm so thankful to those of you who have kept checking back. I truly appreciate you and thank you for your patience.

The wedding was a week ago, Saturday. It was so beautiful. It was beautiful because it culminated the all too-brief journey I was blessed to take with my dear son. Our nearly twenty-three years as Mother and son was sweet, but how I look forward to many even sweeter years with the addition of his dear Thelma.

How wonderful that there are now "three aprons on the hook".

It seems I've become a mother again . . . this time to turkeys! And I've got a real terrific helper!

For now, (and I mean a very brief "now") there home is in this tub in the kitchen. They have to be kept at 95 degrees for a week, then 90 degrees the next week, etc. until they are down to 70.
After that, they go outside!
My dear husband bought me a heat lamp to keep them warm. It's really fun watching them grow. I clean out their home most every day.

Thank you dear friends for visiting with me today. It's time for me to go get supper; it's easy tonight. I'm fixing three different kinds of soups; leftover chili from last night, a flavorful chicken and vegetable with Parmesan cheese from Sunday's dinner, and leftover black beans and rice. And we'll top it off with fresh-baked whole wheat bread!

The Last of the Aprons

2008-12-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

Brrrr! It's been cold here! But we are enjoying it! Yesterday, Tristan announced a temperature of 19 degrees! Wouldn't it be wonderful if WE actually got some snow? It would be so exciting because everything thing would close down; the grocery shelves would be stripped bare in anticipation of an extended stay indoors! But I'M prepared! I have enough food here to feed us for a month~ and probably half the neighbors as well!

I wanted to get these final pictures published before the new year. They are the last three aprons I found at the local thrift store. This one is my personal favorite. The print is very pretty.

The contrasting fabric is nice, as is the shaped pocket.

This apron is such a special find. I would guess it may be from the 30's or 40's. It just has that look about it.

The discoloration on the strap is where it was tied together, perhaps to keep them from falling off the shoulders.

Every stitch in the construction of this garment was done by hand! These yo-yo flowers are really neat. You usually see them done in calico fabrics, but I think the application in this design is unique.

This is a close up of the tie. You can see the little hand stitches that hold the edges down ~ just a running stitch.

I'm pretty sure it is made from flour sacks. the skirt panel is not cut; the selvages are intact along the edge. The color really throws me. The apricot pink color is soooo 30ish, but how it was achieved with the flour sacks is a mystery to me.

I hope the old aprons might have "inspired" some apron wearing out there among you, if you don't already wear one.

This is Trevor's truck. He struck a deer on the way home last week, and the deer got the worst of it! We'll see what the "truck fixer guy" says about the damage. You can see old Buck smelling the poor thing. He gets pretty excited over critters.

Saturday, late afternoon found us outside watching the puppies have a scamp about. They are just like little children.

I love the view of the big big sky. We were never able to see much of it for the 23 years we lived in the city, but now it seems so very natural to go out and watch the clouds roll across the sky.

I did want to share a receipt we recently tried (twice ~ it was soooo good!) and thought you might like to serve it for breakfast during this Christmas season.

MAPLE~NUT COFFEE TWIST
from the 1996 Southern Living annual

Use your favorite sweet roll receipt based on 3/4 C water. Mix and knead till smooth and elastic. Let rise till doubled.

Combine:
1/2C sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/3C chopped pecans

1 tsp. maple flavoring

Punch dough down, and divide three ways. Roll each portion out on a floured surface to a 12" circle. Place one circle on a greased pizza pan. Brush with 2T melted butter; sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar mixture. Repeat with the other two circles of dough, stacking them atop one another with the sugar mixture between.
Place a 2" biscuit cutter in the center of the circle (do not cut through dough). Cut dough into 16 wedges, cutting from outside edge of circle just to the edge of the biscuit cutter.Gently lift each wedge, and twist 5 times to form a spiral pattern. Remove cutter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes.

Drizzle:

1 1/2 C sifted powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. maple flavoring
2-3 T milk

Did you know that you do not have to allow your sweet rolls to rise and then bake right away? As soon as you get them formed, spray the tops with cooking spray then cover with plastic wrap. Put them in the refrigerator over night and they will rise and be ready to bake ~ first thing in the morning!!!!!!

You can also put them in the freezer (be sure to wrap well) and remove them later to thaw, then allow time to rise. Bake as usual.

I do this all the time will dinner rolls as well. Make up a great big batch, form, freeze on sheets just till they are hard enough to remove from the sheet. Then put all of them into zip-lock bags to store in the freezer. It will take about four hours for them to thaw and rise if you put them into a warm oven.

I hope all of you my friends have a Christ~filled Christmas. My desire is that each of us will become more aware of our need for Him. If we miss Him during this season, then we have simple jumped through hoops that have temporary purpose.
My husband and I, along with our little man, will be travelling North the day after Christmas. We will visit with some of his family, and also bring his Mother back south to spend some time with our family. So I hope you have a very good Christmas!

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

2008-12-16T19:15:00.001-08:00

For over twenty-two years now, I've had little boys at some stage of development, growing into manhood. Any mother of boys will tell you that they are full of fun and adventure. There is never a dull moment. There have been times when I yearned for a dull moment~or two!

Sawyer is dressed in the new jammies I made for him!

I've always enjoyed making pajamas for them. Jammies are so easy and fun to make! And the little guys sure enjoy them!

Today I would like to give you a little tour of Sawyer's room. I decided it would be best to give him his own room instead of sending him upstairs to "Man land" with his four other brothers.

His room is actually open; it is part of a hallway. We originally used it as a music room, but I've fixed it up for him~ for now. I haven't painted yet~just decorated with things I already had.
This is where we do most of our reading together.

I picked these little matching doilies up at the local antique mall in Donalds. I love the simple little dogs.

Here is his dresser. Dave refinished this piece shortly after we were first married. All our babies have used it.

This is one of the lampshades I recovered this summer.

I keep his "special" tiny books in this little make-do shelf. It is an old fruit box turned on it's side.
I found this set of guest towels at the antique mall as well. The sail and boat are hand appliqued with pin stitches. I love the '30s look in these towels.

Sweetie's bed is all ready for him. Mrs. Paula made the lovely pillow; I'm sure she never thought Sawyer would have confiscated it! It's just his size! Thank you Paula! I think of you every time I see it.

These "little boy" years will fly so quickly.

I made the shades this summer. When the top sash of the window is open, the ribbons are so pretty blowing in the breeze.
You can see my East Garden through his window.

Each shade is simply a double thickness of fabric ( I used one layer of sun blocking drapery lining on the back) with a casing on both short ends. The top casing contains a wooden dowel, for rigidity, and it lays in three cup hooks projecting from the top of the window opening. The bottom casing has a PVC pipe in it that is a nice size to roll up.

When the ribbon is not tied up, it just hangs down. It just lays over the top of the wooden dowel.

So, what are little boys made of? They are made of dirt, hugs, bent nails, rocks, soft warm skin, uncombed hair, trucks, The Lone Ranger, dirty feet, pop-guns, green teddy bears, western six-shooters, Andy and Barney, and camouflage.

Three Aprons

2008-12-03T23:36:00.000-08:00

I've often wondered what it would be like to have a sister. I find myself wistfully studying sisters together, and notice there is often something very special between them. My poor little daughter, is also sister less, as was my Mother. It seems to run in the family! Hopefully, this trend will be broken one day!

For a family of eight, you would expect there to be more aprons hanging in the pantry than just two ~ Ashley's and my own. Now since Thelma has been visiting, we have added another one!

Speaking of aprons, I found some old ones recently at the local thrift store. The creative designs of these utilitarian garments is a testament to the resourcefulness of the homemakers who made them.

This one is made just like the one above. There is a little pocket concealed here on the sides.

This is a long border printed fabric.

Don't you love the pocket?

A pretty tie. I suspect these aprons are from the 1960's, if not a bit later.

This is a fancy one! It is ruffled with cotton organdy.

It's pink bias binding adds a special touch.

Ah cotton organdy! Nothing stands out like it!
I have a couple more to show you when time permits.

I wanted to give you a little peek at Marmee's new calendar for 2009! It is full of sweet family images that are sure to cheer you.

There is usually a receipt for the month, and some sweet poem or verse. If you have room for a very large calendar, you will like this one!

Special touches.

Thank you for visiting!

Stitching Projects Complete

2008-11-29T06:33:00.000-08:00

This past summer, I was able to do several rather large projects. It has been hard for me to get my bearings after our move two years ago, as there have been many decisions that involve just how to live in our new home.
It takes me a while to live in a place, before I'm really comfortable making decisions about about domestic arrangements and decorating. I think I like to get the "feel" of a house ~ the way the sun comes through the windows accompanied by the heart's response to it; the view from the windows, and the thoughts that are evoked as you gaze out of them; the way your family life flows through the house.

This is an old sofa we brought from our former home, (literally ~ it was in the house when we moved there) and it is constructed with a wooden frame, but the "wicker" is really paper-wrapped wire. It is pretty old, but still useful.
Each seat cushion is an individual frame, consisting of old-fashioned hand-tied box springs,
with a thick layer of cotton batting covering them. I simply made removable covers, which are semi-fitted, and drawn up with a casing underneath the cushion frame.

Here is it's matching rocker. I keep this in the kitchen next to the fireplace and the window.
I can turn it around to be part of the conversation circle in the kitchen-at-large, or turn it into the kitchen work area. This is my favorite chair to have my devotions in the morning as I can see the men folk off as their times of departure vary.

The back cushions are large and comfortable.

Another project was a personal one. I had purchased a long length of 100% cotton crinkled fabric a couple of years ago, thinking it would make lovely, cool summer slips. So this is what I came up with.
I drafted a full length pattern using my sloper. I've never cared much for the adjustable ribbon-type straps, as they always fall down, so this pattern has "real" straps.

Here is a close-up of the hand embroidery. I used a bias strip of polyester crepe de chine for an elegant binding.

I hope you had a thoughtful Thanksgiving. We can all appreciate the freedom we still enjoy to worship God ~ which is the very reason the Pilgrims came to these shores nearly 300 years ago.

It only seems reasonable that we should use that freedom. Freedom is lost simply because it is no longer valued and used, but I must confess how easy it is for me to "hide my light" when in the company of those who don't seem to possess much light, as if I were ashamed to talk about God "as if He were real". I must remember that the people around me will never take spiritual matters seriously, if I am reluctant to be the "new creature" He has made me.

I hope you may be able to take time during the last few weeks of this year to finish up some of those unfinished projects you may have on your mental list. While you are working on them, and if need be, challenge yourself to "be lit" by His Light (The Word), so that you may be a light to others.

The First Hard Frost!

2008-11-20T05:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome friends! Burrrrrr! It's cold out side! This week, we woke up to a thick layer of frost covering all the plants outside. Whatever was tender, is gone. It's actually rather exciting,
because now we can start enjoying hot crackling fires in the fireplace.

Back in August, Thelma and I put out some cool weather plants
that we are just now harvesting. I'm really quite a novice at vegetable gardening,
so I was so pleasantly surprised to see these little plants mature and bear.
I was told that these heads of cauliflower are unusually large.
They are bigger than the ones in the grocery store! And quite tasty too.

Here you see the remains of the cauliflower plants after harvesting heads,
and being bit by the frost! The variety I grew was called "Snow Crown"
and I bought the plants at Wal Mart.
They are an early variety, 50-55 days. But I harvested at 87 days.

This one still has a little head inside it. Make sure YOU space your plants 4-5' apart!
It makes for better air circulation, as well as allowing you too get to the heads
without stepping on other plants.

Here it is peeking out! Isn't it amazing! This one is not ready.

I'm so thankful the Lord has allowed me to have a garden.
Reading books about gardening is one thing, but actually
doing it is another. There is something fulfilling about
cultivating a garden: it is almost like watching your
children grow and blossom, only faster.

"We Make Every Thing At Least Once"

2008-11-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, Ashley and I had the pleasure of meeting another of our neighbor ladies. She is the sister-in-law of our other neighbor who has the charming chickens. Mrs. Ashley whisked us down the road to meet Mrs. Ashley, and we had a wonderful time seeing the amazing quilt she made, as well as other of her handy work (and yard-sale finds!)

Betty gave me permission to share pictures with you that I think will inspire you, no matter how old or young you may be, to be the queen of the domain God has given you.

This is her beautiful quilt! "Cathedral Windows" is it's name and it is amazing! It is made unlike any quilt pattern I have ever seen, and Betty's is even more unusual because each of her little "windows" has a piece of batting sewn behind it, giving it a three dimensional effect.

You may click on the picture to see it enlarged.

She stitched it entirely by hand and I must say, her work is very lovely. Perfect. Would you believe this is her first and only quilt?

Here is a piece that has "chicken~scratching" embroidery. I think it charming!

More chicken~scratching in the "Red Room". The theme of the afternoon was this: we enjoy learning a new skill and then using it at least once! Not every one will be proficient or fast enoughto use a skill very often, but the idea is to always have minds and hearts that are eager to learn new things and put them to practical use.

This pillowcase was cross~stitched. Isn't it pretty?

She also had some lovely open drawn-work pieces which she learned from an elderly lady in Donald's some years back. Unfortunately my pictures didn't turn out. I'm so sorry you are not able to see them.

Outside the house, Betty's finger prints were every where. She leaves her creative touches all around the home she shares with her husband. I loved her cobalt "bottle~tree". Needless to say, I am now in search of Milk of Magnesia bottles!

This is just tooo cute! Don't you love the way the "hens" are growing out of the toes? My son, Tristan, was taken aback at dinner when the two lively females in the house simultaneously laid claim to his old work boots as soon as he wears them out! (the poor boy has long suffered our teasing about his stinky feet!)

I would like to thank Betty for opening her home to us. We had a wonderful visit with her. I hope to be as good a neighbor as these ladies have been to us. May the Lord bless your weekend!

A Little Autumn Decorating

2008-11-12T23:20:00.000-08:00

I got rather inspired after reading Sarah's blog. She's been drying larkspur and grass. I need to remember to make a note in my gardening notebook to be sure to grow more flowers and foliagefor drying next fall. I would like to be better prepared next autumn.

Because I needed to make a door wreath for the main entrance, Ashley, Hamlin, and I made a trip in to Anderson to visit Hobby Lobby. I needed ribbon and a couple of "somethings" to design a wreath around.

Be sure to click on the picture to see up close.

I really loved the oval shaped grapevine wreath. I grew straw flowers this summer and was richly rewarded with lots of crunchy blooms which add great accent to the "couple of somethings"I had to buy.

"I will bless the Lord at all times:
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in the Lord:

The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together.

I'm so thankful for yard sales and thrift shops! It is sooooo much fun to search for buried treasure! It is thrilling to see how the Lord has provided over the years through these "fun" hunting and gathering expeditions.

This past weekend, we ladies (Ashley, Thelma, and I) went yard-sale-ing. We had so much fun, I wish you could have been with us!

At the very first sale, we found this old quilt. The lady selling it told us her mother-in-law made it about 75 years ago, and her husband remembers sleeping under it. It is entirely stitched by hand! It was sewn in lengthwise strips. I consider it a special find. Can't you imagine it atop one of those old metal-framed beds with the squeaky springs, concealing three or four wriggling little boys huddled up to keep warm? It it needs a little patching, then I'll wash it on the "hand-wash" cycle.

Now, it takes a real visionary to see the potential here~but my friend, Marmee has a plant stand just like this one (only fixed up). Maybe I can persuade one of my dear sons to prepare it for a new coat of paint.

I love old suitcases! They are so nice to store things in.

I informed my family that I felt a need to be prepared to travel in case they decided to send me for a little trip to "Happy Dale". (They wouldn't DARE!)

I found this old suitcase and the hand~painted pilgrim couple at the same house. The people I bought them from were very nice.

Here they are on the kitchen mantle. They are just what I wanted.

My parents grew the Indian corn some years ago, and I keep it from year to year stored in plastic bin, otherwise, I'm sure it would attract rodents. I do look forward to the nice warm fires we will be having before long. There are few things more peaceful and comforting than a crackling fire in the hearth with the house all quiet and dark.

It's hard to believe that 2008 is winding down, as Thanksgiving time draws upon us. We have so very much to be thankful for. We still have the freedom to to what we ought to do; to look to God above and attribute to Him the glory due him.

The Story of Hamlin

2008-11-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

This past Monday, my dear little one turned three years of age. It only seems like yesterday when he was just a wee infant in my arms, helpless and vulnerable.

Now he runs about under a full head of steam! But still, he has that sweet innocence of baby-hood.

Every time I look into his sweet face, I am reminded that God DOES hear my prayers and that He delights in answering them. I'm reminded that there is nothing too hard for Him.

There is a bit of a story here, and I would like to share it with you.

There was a time in my life when I struggled with an independent rebellious spirit against God and his plan for me as a wife and mother. We can go to the book of Genesis and read how He made Eve to complete Adam~ to be his help meet. We can also read how he made her suitable
to the care and nurturing of children.

I had never given much thought to what it means to be a wife and mother. Life was OK until I decided (in my rebellion) that I was through having babies! Enough was enough! No more children! My hands were full. The End.

Soon I became aware that our family had problems, and they were bigger than I realized. I began to really seek solutions from the Lord.

But first, He began to show me even more problems; those within myself. I began reading my Bible; for the first time in my life I was looking for God.

I also began reading No Greater Joy, and of course Mike and Debbie Pearl always lay it out on the line, not sparing for any one's delicate feelings! From there I went to the only book I had ever heard of at the time regarding the role of the woman. (Me, Obey Him)

I was searching for something that I was unable to find in our feministic culture~ I needed to know how God designed my life to work. I needed Him. I was willing to do whatever it took to get on track.

He began showing me that I was trying to be in control. He showed me that I could never expect my children to be anything that I was not willing to be myself. Ouch.

I began to realize that I must spend much time with God. I must be in His word, seeking Him as for hid treasure. I confess that reading the Bible had always been difficult because I couldn't understand it. But because I had a need to understand it, I sought to understand it.

I also must be God's friend, by praying. Nothing fancy, just learning to adore Him and NOTICE the blessings. Simple things, like the lovely yellow, red and orange, in the leaves that fall; a hug from your child; the kiss of love from your husband; the headache that you don't have today but did yesterday.

It did take time. But the more time I spent with the Lord in the quiet of the morning, the more I was able to understand what I was reading!

It became joyous to open the pages and understand! Our Pastor taught us that the Bible is not hard to understand; it is hard to obey! The real test is what you do with it.

It took a lot of years for my to grow out of my cultural thinking. It has taken even longer to begin to win battles withing my own heart. Self-centered thinking isn't changed overnight, but by God's grace, He is able to transform us into the image of His own Son, Jesus.

During these years, I began to realize that children really are a gift. God is the giver of life, not us. But I have to confess that I wanted to limited these "gifts" because of all it would cost me: my strength, my interests (sewing gardening), my life (fun with the girls, oportunities to do things I enjoyed doing-alone!), my reputation (what will people think of me).

I was really afraid I couldn't handle all the demands. And the truth is, I couldn't. Especially theway I was. What I have had to learn is that God's strength is always made perfect in my weakness.

When our then youngest child was about eight, we began to realize our reasons for limiting our family size was based on our own selfishness. We realized we were not embracing the opportunity to bring up potential servants of Christ, nor had we been willing to love them and give of ourselves for their benefit as Christ gave of Himself.

The Lord gave us the opportunity to undo the decision not to have children. We then prayed for another child. After nearly a year, the Lord blessed us and we found out we were expecting!
At the age of 47, I gave birth to our sixth child, Sawyer Hamlin. I know that God answers prayer!

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree:
he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
they shall be fat and flourishing;
To shew that the Lord is upright:
he is my rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in him."

A Serious Subject

2008-10-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

The evening before last, we received a call from the son of one of our neighbors, giving us some sad news. Our neighbor had been suffering for some time with some rather poor health, even though he and his wife are not really all that old; they are the same age as David and I (and we happen to share the same first names!) The son related that his Dad had been in a coma since last Wednesday, and was not expected to live. He is under hospice care.

Right away, my thoughts were carried back to the rather recent past when my own parents were going through this. My Mother passed away in October of 2005 at home, after a battle with cancer, and my Dad, May of 2007 in a nursing home after a brain stem stroke three years earlier.

For most of us living in the 21st century, death is foreign to us. Because of great advances in medicine and other improvements in life, death just isn't a frequent visitor. Mothers and babies rarely die in childbirth, invasion and war is foreign to us. There was a time, however, even as recent as my own parents childhood, when people died from diseases that have been nearly eradicated now. We live without the reality that death will come upon us all.

We are living in a wonderful age; our lives can actually be extended longer than that of our ancestors, and can be lived with less pain and hardship. But I must point out that there is a bad side to this age of wonder. Because we are not faced with it on a real and frequent basis, we ignore it, being under the delusion that we have lots of time to deal with it. Young people go about their lives flippantly thinking they will live forever; but death still comes. It might take it a little longer to get to each of us, and life might be filled with lots of wonderful experiences until it comes, but it awaits each of us at last.

Perhaps one of the reasons this subject is avoided in life and we literally hate it's face is because it is not natural. That right. Death is not natural even though it always happens. We were not created to die. We were created to live. That's why we shrink back from it.

If you open up a Bible to the book of Genesis to the first and second chapters you will read the account of God creating all the lovely world for one purpose; to sustain the life of man who would be the crowning glory of this remarkable creative expression of God's. Man was made for the purpose of glorifying God! His end was not death~it was life! "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."(Gen. 2:7)

With this fact in mind, we must wonder, "well, what happened?". In the same book of Genesis, chapter 3, we read the account of how Eve, who being innocent of any sin, was tempted to disobey God~ and she did. She believed the lie of Satan. Sin was then born into the world, and thus death, because the Bible tells us in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death..." How awful... sin is awful...a lot more awful that we realize.

Since that time, every person born into this world have been born sinners, and have also inherited the same fate: death. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)

But something must be remembered; this death that we are considering is just a picture for us. It is an illustration, if you will. It is showing us that there is spiritual death, and that is far worse that physical death. Now I realize this is a very unpopular subject, but just think of the doctor that has to deliver the bad news that someone is dying! That is not a desirable position to be in unless he is able to prescribe a cure! And there is a cure for spiritual death!

One of the biggest mistakes modern man is making, is this: he is denying the reality that he is a spiritual being and not just a physical being. And because of that, a person's reason alone is not able to answer the basic answers in life; it isn't enough to fill the void and emptiness that is within our souls. Man, in reality is a spirit; created to be in God's image, yet given a physical body to live in a physical, sensory world.

I hope you will go back and read the passages I mentioned in your Bible. I hope you will read them with an open mind, one that is willing to know the truth!

Welcome Home!

2008-10-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

The Lord always gives us what is best. It's not always what we would like, but it is what He wants ~ and it is always best.

I love old houses. I hope my mansion in heaven is an old farmhouse with a big wide porch that wraps itself all around the house. It should have a nice wide entry way with the not-too grand staircase emptying out into it. It really ought to have a butler's pantry!

How thankful I am for the home He has given me! It does not, in any way, resemble that old farmhouse I just described. Instead, it is just right! Full of quirks! One of the quirks is that the big entry way is at the BACK of the house!

Come right in! Make yourself at home. This is part of the new addition my men~folk built for me.

The pocket door goes into the laundry room.

Looking into the kitchen.

My dear Dad loved building and he was was a bit innovative when it came to making things. He made this "little kitchen" for Ashley when she was just a little thing. The boys have had as much fun with it as she did.

It's a wonder he didn't make the burners to light up!

Tristan's baby cup sit atop a sweet dresser scarf my sister-in-law gave me from her aunt's collection. It's one of my favorites.

Another of Tristan's baby cups with a little basket of tiny clothespins.

This was my mother's lingerie chest. She was an avid yard sale-er. About the only thing she ever bought new was her mattresses and sofa. The same holds true for us!

This is looking into the dining room. We planned to put french doors into the room.

I would now like to share a couple of wonderful receipts with you. I love trying new things!

Rose of Sharon

Now for you who were not raised in the North as I was, you may not have as great of an appreciation for this one. Rhubarb IS quite edible! You just have to be introduced to it an a young age!

Nasturtium

You can feel free to substitute other fruits for the rhubarb, if you really must! I happened to have some frozen rhubarb from Michigan.

RHUBARB CRUMBLE

from "FEAST" by Nigella Lawson

2 lbs. rhubarb, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1/4 C sugar
1 T butter,
1T vanilla extract.

Heat in a pan on med heat for about 5 minutes. Cook until the rhubarb is glossy and everything has melted together. Transfer to an 8 1/2" pie plate (glass if great) that is about 1 1/2" deep.

1 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C unsalted butter.
3 T sugar
3 T brown sugar

Rub the butter into the dry until thoroughly combined. The texture should be that of soft crumbs. Spread evenly over the fruit, attempting to cover all of it. Exposed parts will bubble up.
Bake 35-45 minutes. Be sure to place a sheet under it to catch any drips that might occur.

I love the white and blue striped morning glorys that came up in this planting. These will be allowed to return!

My friend, Marmee, gave me a bunch of unripe pears and this following receipt. It is absolutely delicious! You must hoard it for Saturday morning biscuits or cornbread this winter! It almost tastes like honey!

This clematis was a surprise, coming up at the foundation of the addition. You don't know how many times I nearly pulled it up thinking it was a weed!

PEAR HONEY

8 C peeled, cored and chopped pears
(I ran mine through my Bosch berry press after slightly cooking them. It was a lot less work)
1 C unsweetened pineapple juice
8 C white sugar
(next time I'm trying raw sugar)

Place chopped pears into a large pot, and pour pineapple juice over them to prevent them from browning. Stir in sugar, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir frequently to prevent scorching. When the pears are at a full boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the mixture is the color and texture of honey. The longer you cook it, the thicker it gets. Cooking time is usually 2-3 hours.

Ladle into hot sterile jars; fill to with 1/2 of top. Process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.

MMMM~MMMMMMMMM GOOD!

Morning clouds.

I'm so glad to be able to share a little bit of our home with you!

A Little Bit of This, and A Little Bit of That

2008-10-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

There is so much to catch you up on. The house at Bull Run has just sprung up out of the ground, and it is exciting to see our son preparing his home.

For those of you who are not reading Ashley's blog, I will be glad to show you a few pictures I took. Here are Ashley, Trevor, and Sweet Pea.

He has the cleanest, neatest, most spacious crawl-space in the southeast!

It's not everyday a guy has the opportunity to help his brother build his house. I'm sure Sayre will have some good memories of time spent with Trevor.

Sawyer loves being over at Bull Run with Trevor.

The first wall goes up. How exciting!

Our lovely Thelma.

A woman's touch is just what this home needs!

Here's the best looking man on the job site, and he's ALL MINE !

Fearless.

Up goes the roof.

Notice the clear, clear blue sky.

He's done this a few times!

We believe these to be graves.

The home at the end of the road.

I'm so thankful that I've been able to catch up on many of the projects around my home this summer. I'm hoping to show you some of the fruits of those labors. It is so wonderful to be able to find great contentment and joy in these domestic projects!

A friend of mine is getting married for the first time at the age of 40+! So the ladies in her church are making her a friendship quilt. This is my quilt square for her which I hand embroidered

I've also been recovering lampshades. I don't know if I'm doing it right, but I'm doing it!

I've had lot's of help!

Canning season was a time of learning for me. My mother canned up until a couple of years before her passing away, and I was able to help her some. But there's nothing like doing it yourself. I'm thankful for Marmee who answered a lot of random questions!
Here you see me squishing all the blackberries I have been freezing the passed couple of years in addition to a bunch I brought back from Michigan.

The bounty of the summer. Tomatoes, peach , blackberry, and strawberry jam.

Now that the weather has turned a bit cool, the flowers are going crazy!

This rose was given to me by the dear Mother of my Sister-in-law, Mrs. Doney, when my Dad passed away. It is called Perfume Perfection~a JacksonPerkins rose. It is heavenly to sniff.

I'm normally not a fan of calla lilies, but the price was right the day Ashley and I visited the Jackson Perkins outlet in Greenwood, SC. I had no idea they would be so pretty!. They are only about 15" high, and they keep producing these lovely flowers that last~litterally~ for weeks in a vase! The more you cut, the more they produce! These are called Captain Romance.

I can not remember if I had a name for these. They are left over from the Wilson's garden when they lived here. Very pretty.

The "MONSTER COSMOS" (my name for them) finally bloomed and boy are they striking!

Thank you Lord, for your great goodness to me.

Glorious Days in Early October

2008-10-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

NEW DAWN

We have been experiencing lovely breezy weather here in South Carolina. All the roses love the cool evenings and warm days. I think they are tired of the extream heat we had coupled with the dry conditions.

How wonderful to have all the windows open to let in the autumn breezes.

Would you like a little tour of the laundry room? It is part of the new addition my men~folk built for me. I'm just tickled pink to have this room! It's so nice to have a clean area to do laundry! This is a view from the sewing room. David, my husband, found this solid old door at a salvage place and stripped it. Collin refinished it. David hung it on a track, so it slides inside the wall and is a pocket door! It's so much fun closing it!

This is the folding table. David located some huge beams from a building and Trevor then affixed them atop the counter frame. We bought the legs new.
Do you like my little clothesline?

I love my sink! My Mother always had a set of laundry tubs to soak clothes in and do all sorts of things! She used twin tubs to rinse her clothes from the wringer washer.
My sink was salvaged years ago from a Mrs. MacBee's house. (You know your husband MUST love you when he lugs a cast iron sink home for you and THEN moves it to two more houses!) I have another sink "stored" down in the barn and it is bigger than this one! He's a really sweet man....

This is the little closet Trevor put in.

We call this Rainbow Row ~ after the historical street in Charlestown SC.

Here is a little garden spider I found working on her egg sac. She has attached it to the bottom petal of BLUE GIRL tea rose. Can you see the little strands of silk?

Today it is raining! We thank our God for this! I would like to give you a couple of receipts that we enjoyed on Monday evening. They would have been even better on this raining evening!
This gumbo receipt is really quick and easy (if you have access to a couple of boneless chicken breasts). It is one of those "Comfort Dishes".

EASY CHICKEN GUMBO
from Betty Crocker

3 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 small green pepper, chopped

Heat butter in 3 pt. saucepan until melted. Add onion and green pepper. Cook and stir until onion is tender.

4 C chicken broth
1 16 oz. can tomatoes
2 small bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
dash pepper
16 oz. okra

Stir these ingredients into the onion. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes.

2 C cut-up chicken
1 T nipped parsley

Stir into soup.

3 C hot cooked rice.

Serve gumbo over rice.! MMMMMM!

WHOLE WHEAT SNICKERDOODLES
from Taste of Home

1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar

1. Cream until fluffy.

1 egg + 1 egg white

2. Add egg and beat well.

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 salt

3.Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Beat well.
Shape into walnut sized balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. (2T sugar:2T cinnamon)
Place 2" apart on ungreased sheet. Bake8-10 minutes in 400 oven.

I hope you all have a blessed time with your families this evening. God is good. Even when "things" aren't good.
It's getting about time to get Hamlin up from his nappy. He likes to have a little dish of tiny animal crackers, "candy birthday", and "cold water".

Evenin!

A Bit of Catching Up ? ? ?

2008-10-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, it has been way too long between posts. It just became necessary to take time off in order to get quite a number of projects completed and done. I thank you for your patience. I hope to catch you up on the "doings" around our home.

It's always enjoyable to tell about the wonderful package that arrived in the Post! It was from dearest Mrs. Paula (that is how she is referred too around here). She sent me some lovely treasures for my birthday.

Isn't the card beautiful? Paula, you write with such a lovely "hand".

She made this lovely pillow for me! I just love pink! It matches a little quilt I have on my bed. The center panel is made with a fabric called "barkcloth", because it has a rough texture that is almost like that of crepe. It adds richness to the other fabrics.

She also made these coordinating flour~sack tea towels! One for Ashley, one for me. Don't you just love the little ruffles? They make drying dishes so much fun!

Here's mine! Friday just happens to be my favorite day! It was the day I was born on. Paula does such careful embroidery. I can imagine her sitting at Rose Cottage by the Lake, with Pearl the Poodle asleep, her head in Paula's lap!
Thank you so much, dear Paula!

The morning glorys did very well this summer. My favorites were pink, although there is no picture to show you. Next year I will scatter seeds along the roadside in front of our place. I'll also order the pink seeds for "fence climin".

These remind me of jolly~faced people, that always have a ready smile and infectious laugh.

Look how God painted this lovely face!

This little Babbity~Bumble was caught enjoying "The Glory of the Morning" before it closed up for the day.

It has been soooo very nice having Thelma join our home circle. She still keeps coming back, in spite of all the work we put her too!

How nice to have another lady in the house!

Maybe she comes back for the entertainment we provide!?

Thank you for visiting with me! It's so nice to be back!

Welcome to the Back Porch!

2008-08-08T04:52:00.001-07:00

As you know, we live way out in the middle of rural South Carolina. I am so glad that you can visit me here by way of the web.

I often think of the women who helped their husband carve homesteads out of this land of America. They lived isolated and often lonely lives. There was always plenty of work that wore many of them down to shortened lives. They would have gladly welcomed just a glimpse of another woman, and would have thrilled to think of a visit. How fortunate we are to have one another.

I got these Morning Glories in the ground rather late in the spring . . .

Grandpa Ott's

. . .but they seem determined to take over! I think they grow about 8 inches a day! You dare not sit still to long on the steps, as one just might GET YOU!

Do you see the watermelon just beneath the porch? It's a volunteer! I've been faithful to water it.

When Dave and I were first married, we lived in a big old foursquare with a wrap-around porch! Morning glories crawled all over the side yard. I thought they were beautiful ~ as was everything~ I was so happy to be married to my Prince . . .

Heavenly Blue

So these flowers hold a special place in my heart.

Flying Saucer

These are all from a mix called "Something Old Something New" .

From Botanical Interests.

What a marvel that anything grows in 100+ temperatures with very little water!

The Country Clothesline

2008-07-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

One of the things that is such a simple delight to me is to hang out laundry. When my children were young, I would so enjoy getting out of the house for a few minutes – alone at my clothesline, hanging up their little clothes. At that time, it was only some simple rope strung up between three trees! What lovely memories!

Upon moving out here to our place, I was gladly anticipating a "real" country clothesline! But alas! My dream of "real" clothesline poles swallowed up in hollyhocks and morning glories was temporarily put on hold. I was back to trees with rope; and just two trees this time!

Then upon completion of the addition, my dear son, Trevor, had some spare time. He was ready to get me that clothesline!

It also helped that Marmee wanted me to write as a guest for the HomeMakers Mentor, and she liked the idea of doing a Laundry Day lesson (which could easily include the subject of clotheslines). So Trevor was glad to help out with his building skills. This was built earlier this year.

We started with the "inspiration". Do you ever save pictures of how you would like "yours" to look?

Then he went out to the woods and cut a couple of nice straight cedar logs.

These are the end posts.(I guess were back to trees!) He notched them out by hand.

He used pressure treated wood for the cross pieces.

He borrowed one of Hamlin's tea-party plates to get the rounded design.

He used his thing-a-ma-jig saw to cut.

Woo-lah!

Now just a little sanding . . .

and it's time to bolt the cross-pieces to the "poles".

On Tuesdays, I change sheets. I also wash the white shirts worn by my men~folk on Sunday.
Using my Charlies Washing Powder, I wash them in hot water and add a bit of non-chlorine bleach. I also put some liquid laundry softener into the rinse compartment.

I love white linens. I love white sheets on the beds in my home. I hand embroider the sheets for the Master bed.

Here's a close up.

This is the cut-work design I did for the pillow cases for this set.

There are no hollyhocks or morning glories around my clothesline pole ~ yet ~ but how God has blessed us with so many other beautiful surprises at "our place".

Sewing Hutch Tour

2008-07-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

It is so nice of you to return to my sewing room to explore the contents of "The Little Sewing Hutch". I've been collection sewing items from "the old days"for quite a few years now. I just cringe at the idea of people trashing these items just because they have out-lived their use.

There are several "collections" within this collection.

Here are some of the items "Bea" left in our other house. There are old well-worn pearl buttons in the square candy tin. The red oriental tin contains other interesting buttons that appear to have come off old garments.
In front is a number of plastic thimbles with the names of local political candidates from Greenville's past.

This shelf contains old notions, pressing cloth, tracing paper, etc. in addition to a basket full of old threads and carded buttons.

I purchased this box of "Lily boil-proof thread" from a yard sale of an elderly lady in our neighborhood. They are in their original box and were manufactured in Shelby, NC.
The boxes of embroidery floss are a recent find during a recent antiquing adventure!

This shelf contains the contents of a package I received in 2005 from a dear lady I have known most all my life. She now resides in the Upper Peninsula, but she has delighted in sending me "goodies" over the years.
She found an old basket laying in someones pile of trash and happened to pick it up. She sent me part of the contents of that basket. I hope to share more of this with you some day.

These are some odds and ends. In the glass container hiding behind the beautifully wrought lavender sachet made by my dear friend, Paula, is a cotton boll. 26 years ago, my dear husband and I were traveling down a highway here in the area we now live, and he stopped the car on the edge of the road next to a field of cotton. He got out and plucked this one for me. At that time, there were still cotton fields here and there in this area. During Bea's days, cotton was king~it was grown all over the country side. Now, you will rarely find such a thing.

Do you ever try to imagine the way people lived "back then"? I'm sure it was much simpler. There were fewer choices. There was a lot less to distract a homemaker.
In our ultra-modern world, we as homemakers must continually keep focused on our purpose. To love our husbands and children. To keep our homes.

Sewing and Such

2008-07-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all of you! It is such a treat to be able to show you into my sewing room!
I'm so thankful for this room, as it was built for me by my dear son, Trevor, his Daddy and brothers.

My little sewing corner is set up on an old treadle base topped with an old piece of marble. It was in "Bea's" house. There is room for the machine and serger both.
On the little table beside it is a wooden work-box that belonged to my Mother. I believe she put sewing items in it. I have no idea where it came from, but was always there. I use it for all those things you need right at the machine.

Over the machine is a reprint of Johanna Bluedorn Stanford's "Fine Cloth in Many Colors Bright". You may find it here.

This little picture by artist Bessie Pease Gutmann pairs so nicely with the lovely wall quilt dear Paula did for me.

It's so nice to have the ironing board remain up all the time. You've seen the post about the ironing board cover in a previous post. The old cast iron ironing board was ~ you guessed it! Bea's!

I find myself enchanted by this picture. It depicts the culmination of the time a mother has with her daughter. Oh Mothers ~ and daughters ~ time can never be retrieved. Be together as long as the Lord allows you. There is little that will benefit you both more than time spent together in mutual respect and humility.

The room was designed around this six-foot long chest of drawers. My Dad used it in his wood-working shop to store his goodies in.
I use it to store all my sewing fabric, patterns, supplies, and vintage magazines in.

This was an old kitchen hutch a neighbor was throwing away. It was pretty sorry, but it's a keeper now! In my next blog-post, I'll show you what's inside!
On top of it is an unusual cardboard dress form.

Here it is from the door. A place to call "My Own".
(But visitors, helpers, and learners are all encouraged to stay!)

My thanks to my one and only sweet sister-in-law, for her contribution!

Hymn For The Lord's Day

2008-07-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

NO OTHER PLEA

Lidie H. Edmunds, 19th Century

My faith has found a resting-place,
Not in device nor creed;
I trust the Ever-living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I come to Him,
He'll never cast me out.

My heart is leaning on the Word,
The written Word of God,
Salvation by my Saviour's name,
Salvation thro' His blood.

My great Physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed,
For me His Life He gave.

I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.

"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching . . . and saying, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. . . . Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. . . I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier that I. . . he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Fourth of July

2008-07-04T20:21:00.001-07:00

Just a few pictures from today.

Does anyone recognize this Country Maiden?

Sometimes it's hard to find a table big enough outside to hold all the food for a family this size.
So we improvised today.

The pretty young lady is not a Castlebury. But she looks like she could be Ashley's sister.

When did all my little children get so -----growed up?

Here's my dear husband, David.

This is a good spot for cook-outs. Right under the pecan tree, overlooking the field and garden, with Ashley's pretty garden to enjoy.

Oh Sigh.

Time To Show You Around: Chair Cushions

2008-07-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been used to do a lot of catch-up here in my home. I call it "puttering". I've had a lot of fun doing homemaking projects like hanging pictures, putting out doilies and decorations, organizing, etc. Just the kind of things I love doing. I'm so thankful the Lord has allowed me to have a home to create for my husband.

After the John-Johns were finished, I was determined to finish decorating the sewing room. I would like you to see the chairs that I finished covering.

I started with these old chairs that came out of a school. They are wonderful heavy oak. Nice for a library, but not quite the look I wanted for this room

Sometime back, I made the covers for the backs.

I put a layer or two of polyester fleece under the fabric to give it some form. Do you like my little wooden doll? She was hand made by a friend. She has the sweetest little lady face and moss for hair! For many years, she sat on my old treadle sewing machine (which is still in hiding!).

For the cushions, I used this. They come in several standard sizes, although I don't see why you couldn't cut them to suit your purposes with an electric bread knife. I'm hoping to used Nu-Foam (densified batting) on my porch furniture, as they are supposed to resist and do not yellow.

Chair cushion added.

Here's how they attach.

These little tiny rose~covered buttons would make a lovely detail many sewing projects.

I got to looking at my Hancocks bag and was surprised as well as delighted to see these words printed beneath our flag.http://www.hancockfabrics.com/images/us///local/page_specific/home/06302008/select-fabrics

I also liked this! Visit their website here.http://www.peah.com/

It sure is good to be back. Thank you for taking the time to visit with me. I hope to have pictures posted on my "puttering" results.

Sewing Up A Storm!

2008-06-12T05:41:00.001-07:00

It is John-John time around here!For the last few weeks, I have been cutting and sewing sweet little-boy long-alls.

There are 76 pair in all!
Fortunately, there have been two other pair of helping hands to make the work load lighter, and much more pleasant.

Each of us has been responsible to sew all of one size. It saves lots of time to sew assembly-line fashion rather that constructing one garment at a time.

The young ladies are very neat in there work.

Here is Thelma. She taught herself how to sew and does not sew with a pattern!
My Grandmother always made her own patterns also; she simply drew the shape out on paper and it somehow worked! I still have a couple of doll dresses she made for my "Amy".
Thelma has much natural sewing ability. She is very neat in her work.
She is also a great pleasure to share my sewing room with!

My dear Ashley is my other set of helping hands. She keeps me laughing. Sometimes she just keeps me in order!
For a person with an historically low tolerance to fabric shopping and sewing, she has shown herself a worthy participant in this extravaganza! She tackled the largest number of John-Johns and has shown herself desirous and capable of enlarging her repertoire of sewing skills.
(I think she secretly would prefer working in her garden, though!)

Mama's Little Sweet-Pea is discovering the possibilities of scissors, fabric and thread.

Of course, there is always time for a tea party! Ashley took the time to show Hamlin the pleasure of tea-time. Notice Green Bear in the little high chair. He is "special".

A "Must Read" for Your Husband and Son

2008-05-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a web-log that I would love for all men and boys to read. Inspiring!

Go Here

A Hope Chest Party For a Dear Young Lady

2008-05-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Ashley and I were privileged to attend a Hope Chest Celebration for Bethany. She has turned thirteen, and her parents wanted their friends and family to gather around them as they look toward her future, and thank God for her.

The following is the charge I gave her, as her dear mother translated it into Spanish.

Bethany, it has been my privilege to have know you from your birth. You have been blessed to be the member of a family whose parents have hearts that seek seriously after God. Our family has been blessed to see your Father’s intensity of love for God, and his manly integrity. It has been with much joy that I watched your Mother wisely guide and nurture your heart through your youth. You have a very special place in my heart personally, because of our families love for your family.

Now, you and your friends are gathered here to celebrate a time of life when you begin leaving the days of your youth, and are entering the courts of womanhood. This is thrilling, because you were created for a great purpose! You are the daughter of The King! You must realize that. Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, as has been told us very clearly in His word. You must honor your Lord by being his special ambassador in this world and living a life that is worthy of so great a position. Your failure to do this will reveal the unbelief in your own heart.

You must know that we are living in very perilous times. The world has always contained much evil, but as the Day of the Lord approaches, you must be keenly aware of the warfare all of God’s children are engaged in, and not flee from the fight. The culture around you will try to lure you with glossy magazines which instruct simple young women that they can have all they want-and should stop at nothing to get it! They should put aside modesty and true beauty for cheap thrills. Unfortunately, they have never found anything in life that has any lasting worth because they are “simple women laden with sin”. They value the “freedom” to sin. You should value the “freedom” from sin!

You are to be a good faithful solder who does not pass her days in “fun” and frivolous activity. Your purpose for living is not to bring yourself pleasure and satisfaction. Rather, it is to serve your King. This service is for the noble of heart: those who have a cause much larger than their own life, and wish to leave great legacies to future generations. It is for the future great things are done in the present.

Bethany, your parents have been given the special responsibility to guide and protect you. They do not take that lightly. Honor them with your love and obedience as you would one day wish your own children to honor you. Remember the admonition to all of us to “Honor thy Father and thy Mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” This principle of honor is what sustains the preservation of a Godly line.

As a woman of God, Your area of service will be in the home. The home is intended to be a much loved haven for the family and a vibrant center of hospitality to friends, neighbors, and strangers. The home is truly where hearts are. It is your realm over which to reign. Your attitude and disposition will greatly influence the people who come under your roof.

You will be responsible to “wash a lot of feet”! Many menial – yet absolutely necessary tasks will be your great privilege to perform for the Kingdom of Christ! Remember, even Jesus Himself was not above serving his own disciples, the very ones who followed his example. It requires much humility and strength of character to impart to the home a service oriented outlook, and a cheerful disposition to add the small details that are the essence of gracious living.

One of the most important parts of your education is to be a well-prepared home maker. Now is the time to learn the skills that will enable you to function as the Proverbs 31 woman. This is a serious undertaking and one not to be undervalued. There is no “job” more important that this one. Not one. The culture around you will look down on the homemaker, considering her unskilled, and unable to make it in the workforce. What they fail to realize is that the homemaker, in order to be highly effective, must be highly skilled in diverse areas of expertise. She has the wonderful freedom to rule her OWN domain, to use high levels of creativity in limitless areas, and to develop skills for the advancement and pleasure of her own household! Furthermore, it is all done with great purpose-the Glory of God and love of her family!

We read in Titus 2 that the young women are to learn to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. It is a woman’s faithfulness in nurturing her home that gives credibility and weight to her testimony and influence to the lost. It is necessary that the work of God in her life be the impetus for her faithfulness in her home –which is her first responsibility- and will in turn, naturally touch the lives of others.

You must also be a great learner. It is a great waste to possess a lazy ignorant mind. Seek to acquire discernment for good reading. You will only learn this by reading quality writing. Develop your mind, as well as your heart with much purposeful exposure to the Bible. It will enlarge your heart for thoughts that are substantial and meaningful. It will impart virtue into your heart if you put it into practice. It will also prepare your heart for Him to come in and fellowship intimately with you.

You will one day be the gentle Mother passing on your own knowledge to your children, so be sure your mind is filled with an abundance of great thoughts. You will make the difference in their lives by inspiring them to great deeds for the glory of God, or deadening their spirits, causing them to follow after lackluster, unimportant pursuits.

The great hope of civilization is in its children. You are not a product of this godless culture, but instead your parents have faithfully taught you the Holy Scriptures and have shown you by their example how to live. Their hope is in you; that you will be faithful to the good work that God began in their lives, is doing in your own life, and will continue to do in the lives of your children yet to be born.

May you build upon the foundation that has been laid in your life and be faithful to raise up the next generation of faithful servants.

Wedding Anniversary

2008-05-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

This week, my husband, David, and I celebrated our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. It seems like yesterday we exchanged our vows and set off on this adventure of life together. He was ~ and still is ~ my knight in shining armour. He takes care of me.
Before we married, my Dad was my protector and he had my heart. I desired a man like him to be companion too. God had it all planned.

We spent today in all the antique shops in this area we could find. What a wonderful day, because we both love the old ways, and all things old.
We found a wonderful place for you to visit (in addition to many other great stops) if you are ever in the area. Visit Bottle Tree Farm
The owners are very nice and have a wonderful collection of old stuff. They specialize in old bottles, and the owner even gave us a little lesson on the old purple bottles you occasionally see.

I hope and pray for many more wonderful years together, until our purpose in this life is completed.

I'm so thankful for a husband who wants me to stay home and keep his home. Thank he considers it his duty and delight to provide for me and the children.

He also desires to be our daughter's protector and provider, and enjoys her laughter and energy as she goes about her tasks at home.

Happy Anniversary, Dear.

A Stroll Through the East Garden

2008-05-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

This spring, a lot of work has taken place in this garden. It is located on the east side of the house, and receives partial shade. In this picture, which was taken last month, you see I have a good crop of grass growing! It has since been pulled up by hand and the entire garden is mulched.

Here is a little plant that grows next to the Lentin Rose. It blooms in the autumn, and has not yet been identified. These gardens hold many surprises.

I planted sweet peas at the base of the tower last winter. They are now coming up and smell so nice.

This part of the garden is visible from the kitchen.

I remember the first time we drove into the driveway, nearly two years ago, how my breath was taken away at the possibilities this place offered.

This is an unidentified perenial in the east garden.

Here is another one as it emerged from it's winter retreat.

These seed pods were found on the ground where it had been last winter.

These become . . .

THESE!

Here's what it looks like in full bloom!

Every day I marvel that God has allowed me to live here ~ the home in the country my dear husband and I have dreamed of all our married life.

On Being A Mother

2008-05-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to get married and be a Mother. Don't you think most women have that same desire? God created us for that purpose, so of course he put that drive within our hearts. I love this picture of the nest because it pictures so well how it is with women. We are all nest-makers, whether married or not.

It is a blessed privilege to have a family. There is NOTHING as fulfilling as this. There is nothing so exhausting as this, but God gives us just one day at a time and the strength to do the things he wants us to do.

When my older children were much younger, I remember how physically exhausted I was at the end of the day. Mother's of young children need to be strong; physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She also needs to be prepared in all areas of home making. The prepared wife and mother is in the best position to be her husbands helper and companion, as well as rear children that seek after God and are noble in character.

Unfortunately, young Christian women of today have not had this focused preparation. Instead they are prepared to be exceptional schoolteachers, capable nurses, and frustrated accountants. And for the most part, they do very well in these occupations. Many of them really WANT to meet the needs of their families but they just do not know how. Some would love to learn, but are not given the opportunity to stay home and do it. They know that there is no such thing as "supermom".
These dear ladies have the admiration of many who consider it a virtuous thing for a woman to have children AND a job. However, this idea is completely contradictory to what we read in scripture. In Proverbs 31 we read that the virtuous woman was very accomplished! AT HOME MAKING! It was her husband that was praised in the gates!
I believe young women are under much pressure to "make something of themselves" because that is what this con fussed culture tells them. It is not a concept that comes from scripture.
Somewhere, early in childhood, the God-given nurturing instinct and nesting desire is discouraged. Little girls are encouraged to be tough; their Mother's don't want them to be too prissy. After all, they have to take care of themselves someday:(

I like this image above, of the older lady, offering a cup of coffee to the mailman on such a cold day! I suppose it doesn't take much skill and formal training to make coffee, but it does require a bit of preparation of the heart to care about someone else. And that is just what being a homemaker is all about. Caring about others ~ the others in your nest. Others who come under your roof.

If you are a young or older woman who finds her heart is turning toward her home, I encourage you to look to the women of the Bible for direction. They were not perfect because they, like us, were frail flesh. However, the Lord can use their example to show us the way He intended for us to live. When I think of how I have failed as a wife, mother, and homemaker, my heart is lifted in praise of His mercy, love, and kindness. His grace is sufficient to do what I can not for my loved ones.

Strawberry Time!

2008-05-13T04:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Ashley took us strawberry picking. We had a very nice time in the early morning hours, procuring enough of these luscious fruits to make strawberry jam, as well as strawberry shortcake.

Here I am, having the time of my life!

I found this little doily in a local thrift shop.

Ashley cleaned them all for me when she got home. What a blessing! We brought home four gallons.

I found a receipt for strawberry shortcake in this 1923 cookbook my mother gave me.

Strawberry Shortcake

2 1/4 C flour
4T sugar
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T butter
1 egg
2/3 C milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut butter in with spatula or mixing spoon. Beat egg light and add to the milk, the combine the dry ingredients, milk, egg and vanilla.
Knead into a soft dough and roll on floured board to thickness of about 1/2 inch.
Cut in individual shapes larger that for biscuits. Bake in quick oven for about 10 minutes, browning to a delicate brown.
remove from oven and while warm, split each cake and spread a little butter on under half. Have half crushed sugared strawberries ready and spread between the split cakes. On top of cakes spread strawberries after they have been rolled in powdered sugar. On top of strawberries place a generous spoonful of whipped cream with one red berry on top of this.

Hymn For The Lord's Day: If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again

2008-05-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again

James Rowe

How sweet and happy seem those days of which I dream,
When memory recalls them now and then!
And with what rapture sweet my weary heart would beat,
If I could hear my mother pray again.

If I could hear my mother pray again,
If I could hear her tender voice as then!
So glad I'd be, 'twould mean so much to me,
If I could hear my mother pray again.

She used to pray that I on Jesus would rely,
And always walk the shining gospel way;

So trusting still His love, I seek that home above,

Where I shall meet my mother some glad day.

Within the old home-place her patient, smiling face
Was always spreading comfort, hope and cheer;
And when she used to sing to her eternal King,
It was the songs the angels loved to hear.

Her work on earth is done, the life-crown has been won,
And she will be as rest with Him above;
And some glad morning she, I know, will welcome me
To that eternal home of peace and love.

If I could hear my mother pray again,
If I could hear her tender voice as then!
So glad I'd be, 'twould mean so much to me,
If I could hear my mother pray again.

Spring Just Keeps Springing!

2008-05-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the busiest springs I can remember! It has been a race with the weeds to see who was quicker ~ they, to take over the gardens or me. I think I have won. So far.
All the credit goes to my boys. They can sure get a lot more weeds pulled than me.
One of the flowers I want to show you is the one pictured above. It is growing on a bush and is called "Mock Orange". It is very fragrant, but not as fragrant as the bush my parents had growing beside the old well house back home in Michigan. I tried to bring starts back to the south and get them to grow, but always failed. How delighted I was to find two bushed growing here at out place in the country.

I'm not sure what this is, but it may be called "Widows Tears". If you can identify it, I would love to have you do so for me.

This is Lanium, "Beacon Silver". This acts as a non-invasive ground cover. It just so happens to be in bloom right now, but I think it's great beauty is in it's leaves. The first time I saw it, periwinkle blue pansy's were growing amongst it. Beautiful!

I was surprised to see this bush bloom. I posted pictures of the same bushes in an earlier post, but they were pink. This one is coral. Still have not been able to identify these bushes.

I'm so thankful for all God has done for me. I'm thankful He saved me from all my sins. I'm thankful He gave us His Book to be instructed, rebuked, and edified. I thank Him for allowing me to be married to my dear husband, David; for giving me children-these six children; for wisdom as we rear our nestlings and His blessing our efforts; for his mercy as we have made a lot of mistakes with them, but how faithful He is to bless.

Hymn For The Lord's Day: Saviour, Thy Dying Love

2008-05-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

SAVIOUR, THY DYING LOVE
Sylvanus D. Phelps 1816-1895

Saviour, Thy dying love thou gavest me,
Nor should I aught with-hold, Dear Lord from Thee:
In love my soul would bow, my heart fulfill its vow,
Some offering bring Thee now, something for Thee.

At the blest mercy seat, pleading for me,
My feeble faith looks up, Jesus, to Thee:
Help me the cross to bear, Thy wondrous love declare,
Some song to raise, or prayer, something for Thee.

Give me a faithful heart, likeness to Thee,
That each departing day henceforth may see
Some work of love begun, some deed of kindness done,
Some wanderer sought and won, something for Thee.

All that I am and have- Thy gifts so free-
In joy, in grief, through life, dear Lord, for Thee!
And when Thy face I see, my ransomed soul shall be,

Through all eternity, something for Thee.

A Hymn For The Lord's Day: Teach Me Thy Will, O Lord

2008-04-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

TEACH ME THY WILL, O LORD

by Katherine A. Grimes b 1877

Teach me Thy will, O Lord, teach me Thy way;
Teach me to know Thy word, teach me to pray.
What-e'er seems best to Thee, that be my earnest plea,
So that Thou drawest me closer each day.

Teach me Thy wondrous grace, boundless and free;
Lord, let Thy blessed face shine upon me.
Heal Thou sin's ev-ery smart,dwell Thou within my hear;
Grant that I never part, Saviour, from Thee.

Teach me by pain Thy power, teach me by love;
Teach me to know, each hour, Thou art above.
Teach me as seemeth best in Thee to find sweet rest;
Leaning upon Thy breast, All doubt remove.

Teach Thou my lips to sing, my heart to praise;
Be thou my Lord and King through all my days.
Teach Thou my soul to cry, "Be Thou, dear Saviour, nigh,
Teach me to live, to die, saved by Thy grace."

Spring Project

2008-04-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

Since returning home from San Antonio April 2, I have been busily occupied. While I was at the conference, I got to thinking about how I use my time. I really needed to evaluate my own priorities ~ the real ones ~ the ones that are lived out. It is so easy to pour time into things that take me away from my purpose ~ that as wife, mother, and homemaker. That is why my blog has been neglected.
As a homemaker, I really need to be sure my home is inviting to my husband. It is his castle: it is his labor that provides it, and my industry that makes it his home. To this end I have purposed to invest my time. If the Lord wills me to do anything in addition to this, He will enable me to do so through His blessing.

On Monday morning, my diligent, hard working son Tristan, began painting the kitchen. In the picture above, you will see the windows that look out into the east garden. (I hope to show you pictures of that garden's progress in the next few days.) The whole house was painted white, but I really love color on the walls. So I chose a bright, clear blue based lemon yellow for the walls, and put a blue on the 10 foot ceiling.

I love the way the dark wood stands out with this yellow. I would have chosen to have pretty white glass-fronted cabinets, but I am very happy with these! They are solid wood, and custom made for this house. You can see into the pantry that is nearly finished.

We have a way to go, as you can see. Collin is my "trim" man, so he will come in now and paint windows and woodwork. Tristan is going to start painting the dining room today! I sure hope I can keep up with these boys!

A Few Thoughts For You

2008-04-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

It has been some time since I left you a post. Our family returned a week ago today from a trip to San Antonio, Texas where we attended a family conference sponsored by Vision Forum. I wish all of you could have attended with us because the vision was laid forth to think far into the future, Lord willing, and to prepare the way for our own children's children's children's children.
I'm afraid it is all too easy to rely on the Lord's soon return, and fail to consider the fact that we are to "occupy" until He does return. If we were occupiers, we would be more likely to think about the generations to follow our own and this is just what we must do.
Mr. Jeff Botkin, who, along with Doug Phillips, was the main speaker, revealed to us that when he was saved at age 21, he was a Marxist. His salvation changed that, of course, but his experience as a Marxist gave him a unique perspective.
He informed us that Marxists are patient. They are planners. They have very definite goals, well thought out plans, and will stop at nothing to carry out their goals. Of course, their goal is to wipe out Christianity, which is being effectively carried out. Did you understand what I just said? They are doing battle, and are in battle mode!
Because we serve the King of Kings, we should be taking the fight a lot more seriously than we are. But judging from the way the culture is sucking us in, our young people are falling away, and we have no influence in the world, it appears as if only one side is actually doing battle.
We can no longer be content to watch our precious children go by the wayside. There are things we MUST do as parents ~ for their sakes, the sake of future generations, and for the sake of being responsible before God for His heritage that is contained in these children.
One of the interesting things we heard at the conference from other parents was our own testimony of how they had become concerned about the effect the peer based grouping was having on their children. They, like us, were impressed by scripture that God's way is for Father's to be responsible for bringing up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That is God's way. It doesn't work very well any other way.
It is a full time job, and one that I must confess, I have failed to take seriously. It is easy to do lip service to these idea, but how difficult it is to REALLY do it. And we can't do it without the Lord.
I would urge you to educate yourself. Read scripture to find practical application. Take all of it seriously. It was givin to us so we would know how to live life.
Go to Vision Forum for resources to help understand these difficult cultural issues we live with. If you don't know where to start, get the message
"How to Think Like a Christian". I think you will be amazed at how many "landmarks" we have lost in the Church.
Well, ladies, I hope this has been helpful. I certainly welcome your e-mails and comments.

Sharing Garden Seeds with a Friend

2008-03-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am sorry to tell you that I will be away from my blog for about a week. I hope to catch up with after that. May the Lord bless you this week!

Have you ever admired the old seed packets of long years ago? Aren't they beautiful and nostalgic? They make me think of some little Mother cultivating a bit a beauty around her homestead. Or maybe, they are the inspiration of a once loved, but now long neglected garden surrounding an old Victorian house in a now busy downtown neighborhood.

I have wanted to put some of my garden seeds into my own packages for some time. I have an old version of Print Shop, which I use for everything I do for personal use. It has some really wonderful graphics.
So I went to work, last Friday and found the graphics I wanted, imported them into Publisher, where I had a template set up for the actual packages. Then finished them up on Saturday. Just in time to put into a special "care package".

I purchased a pot of glue from Small Meadow Press to use on many paper projects. (You can see it in the center of the picture ~ a silver pot.) It is archival quality and acid free. And it smells like almonds! It would be great for scrap booking, I'm sure.

I call myself "Inspirations of the Past". Do you like the name?

This is a great thing to do if you hate to see all your garden seeds go to the compost pile.

I hope you will have some fun with this project! And do try that glue!

A Special Outfit for My "Little One"

2008-03-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy making special clothes for my little ones. Of course, it's been some time since I had a "little one" to sew for, but what a delight that I am once again occupying myself this way! The "fruit of the womb" is a wonderful gift from God and it my belief that women who know God should delight in and welcome the 'having' of children.

The pattern I used was Circa 1950 Overblouse Suit by Belles and Beaus. It is an out of print pattern. I used Aunt Martha's Denim Dan embroidery pattern, but because it was too large for the overblouse front, my young friend, Thelma, re-drew it for me to a proper scale. I was delighted! (She told me she couldn't draw!)
I used a small piece of Hancock Fabric's cotton sateen for it. It is soooo soft. You just have to try some. Ashley and I are both plotting summer blouses out of it.

Sawyer was as cute as a button in his little outfit!

Hymn For The Lord's Day: Through An Empty Tomb

2008-03-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

THROUGH AN EMPTY TOMB

W. Elmo Mercer

When I think of the cross on which my Savior died
A long time ago for my sin,
I see it through an empty tomb,
He's not there inside, for the cross was not meant to be the end!

For He lives! Jesus lives!
What a thrill to believe!
And this life is mine to share abundantly;
Through an empty tomb Calvary looks different,
And it's all so very precious to me!

Cruel nails, bonds of death, could never hold Him there;
His love and His pow'r conquered all!
Now I can face the storms of life,
For I know He cares; he'll protect,
He will guide me lest I fall.

For He lives! Jesus lives!
What a thrill to believe!
And this life is mine to share abundantly;
Through an empty tomb Calvary looks different,
And it's all so very precious to me!

Hymn For The Lord's Day: Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart

2008-03-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

SPIRIT OF GOD, DESCEND UPON MY HEART

George Croly 1780-1860

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
But take the dimness of my soul away.

Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross- there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh:
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The baptism of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

Early Spring Blessings

2008-03-11T04:29:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, a surprise package arrived by Post. It was from my dear friend, Paula. She sent all the things that delight me! She has been busy stitching and sewing her gentle and sweet thoughts into the beautifully done wall quilt you see above. I don't know when I last saw such perfect embroidery. You will be inspired to go visit her blog and see how she occupies her time. She obviously delights in keeping her home as the scriptures say, and loving her family by doing it.

The box was full of delights!

Her exquisite taste is represented by her selection of note papers!

Here are a few of the early spring flowers we find coming up around our home. If anyone can identify this for me, I would be glad. I suspect it is a Dutch Iris.

Aren't these sweet?

Linden Rose

Unidentified. Extremely aromatic!

Daffodil

Another daffodil

A naturalized clump of daffodils

My favorite flower.
A Violet with a tiny bud.

"All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord, and Thy saints shall bless Thee."
Psalm 149

Hymn For The Lord's Day:Praise Ye The Lord The Almighty

2008-03-09T05:15:00.001-07:00

From Psalm 5

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord;
in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness;
neither shall evil dwell with thee.
. . . .
But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy:
and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
. . . .
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice:
Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
let them also that love thy name by joyful in thee.
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous;
with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

PRAISE YE THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY

Joachim Neander 1650-1680

Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salavation!
All yea who hear, now to His temple draw hear;
Join me in glad adoration!

Praise ye the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise ye the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee!
Decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee;
How oft in grief hath not He brought thee relief,
Spreading His wings for to shade thee!

Praise ye the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen sound from His people again:
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

My Precious Daughter

2008-03-08T05:43:00.000-08:00

Twenty-four years ago, our lives changed. Forever. This little girl changed this young "couple" into a "family".

She was the sweetest little girl this side of heaven!

She became the "big sister" to quite a line-up of boys!
This was just the first of her five brothers.

The interesting thing is that her grandmother was an only daughter; her mother was an only daughter, and she is an only daughter. Perhaps she will break the cycle!

I would like to dedicate this post to my daughter and to all mothers and daughters.

When we have a daughter, we have the hope and expectation of the next generation.
We will pass on to them the knowledge of Christ and his great forgiveness of sin. But ladies, this is just the beginning! We also pass on our own philosophy of life which greatly influences the way they will go.
We need to teach our daughters to live in this world, yet be apart from the world's trends, fashions, attitudes and philosophies. We must teach them to affect the world by being truly and clearly set apart from the world and unto the Lord.
Unfortunately, there is a tendency to "Christianize" the ways of the world. Christian mothers often encourage their daughters to "get a good education" for the purpose of "making something of themselves" or so they can get into the workforce (after all, their husband might die someday!). They may imply that housework and being at home is what you do after you have really done something with that education. That sounds like feminism to me.
Instead, we should encourage our daughters to be educated for the purpose of being the best wives and mothers they can be. A good education includes practical knowledge, but without a good understanding of how to use it or what it means for the glory of God, and without spriritual wisdom, I would wonder about her so called "education".
We should be able to take the knowledge we aquire and use it for God's glory by passing it on to our children.

Donuts, Milk, and Coffee

2008-03-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share this wonderful receipt I found in an older Southern Living cookbook.
This was the second time I tried it, and boy were these doughnuts great! They were very little trouble too.
About an hour before we left to go to church last night, I stirred up the batter and put it on to rise for about 45 minutes, then quickly cut them out and put them on to rise while we were at church.

GLAZED DOUGHNUTS

2 C scalded milk
1/2 butter

1/2 C sugar
2 tsp. salt

Mix in a bowl and cool to lukewarm.

1 package yeast
2 eggs

Add to batter and stir well.

6 C flour

Stir in flour and stir well. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk.
Roll out on lightly floured board and cut with a doughnut cutter.
Let rise 45 minutes.
Fry in about 1/2" vegetable oil or deep fat fryer.
Drain on absorbant paper.

Did into glaze mix:

2/3 C boiling water
1# powdered sugar

Enjoy with a cold glass of whole milk, or fresh brewed coffee!

Around here we buy farm~fresh milk at a local dairy. It is really the best milk around! It is not homogenized at all, so it must be shaken well before it is poured. This is really much better for you because the fat globules, being large, are not able to be broken down small enough to pass quickly through the intestines and into your arteries.
It is very lightly pasteurized, so more of the good stuff is still good.

A Hymn For The Lord's Day

2008-03-02T17:41:00.000-08:00

This morning at our little country church, we were blessed by a dear 86 year-old saint as he lifted his aged voice in praise to our Dear Saviour. As he sang this hymn, I noticed his quavering hands hold the book he sang from, and thought about his testimony.

As a young man, he found himself at the end of WWII guarding Nazi prisoners in Germany. He later learned they were some of the highest ranking officers in Nuremberg who were later executed for their part in the slaughter of so many.
After he came home and was married, he avoided going to church. He knew he was wicked, but didn't wish to go to church, although his dear wife encouraged him to take her and the family to church. Then one week there were special revival meetings being held, and he told her he would not be going. But when he got home from work and saw his suit laying out on the bed, he put it on and went with her to the meeting where he was wondrously saved!
Now, nearly 50 years later he gets up and praises God for saving him; he tells us that things are different now somehow. Life has never been the same. When he prays aloud, his prayer seems to usher us into the presence of God as he touches God's heart.

This morning he sang this hymn.

SINCE JESUS CAME INTO MY HEART

Rufus H. McDaniel 1850-1940

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart!
I have light in my soul for which long I had sought, since Jesus came into my heart!

Since Jesus came into my heart,

Since Jesus came into my heart,
Floods of joy o'er my soul like the sea billows roll.
Since Jesus came into my heart!

I have ceased from my wand'ring and going astray since Jesus came into my heart!
And my sins, which were many, are all washed away Since Jesus came into my heart!

I'm possessed of a hope that is steadfast and sure since Jesus came into my heart!
And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure since Jesus came into my heart!

I shall go there to dwell in that City, I know, since Jesus came into my heart!
And I'm happy, so happy, as onward I go, since Jesus came into my heart!

Since Jesus came into my heart,
Since Jesus came into my heart,
Floods of joy o'er my soul like the sea billows roll.
Since Jesus came into my heart!

Making A New Ironing Board Cover

2008-02-29T05:25:00.000-08:00

The women of the past knew how to cover an ironing board! They didn't buy a new Teflon coated packaged deal at the local merchantile ~ no, they didn't! When the old one had "had it", they simply folded some old sheets and wrapped them around the top of the old one and pinned the new cover in place. After a lifetime of use, an ironing board was pretty heavy to carry around with all that padding, but it was wonderful full padding with nice rounding at the corners.

My Grandmother and Mother were women who did this. I could never figure out how to do it with safety pins like they used, though!

Yesterday the time came for this old ironing board to be recovered. I had inherited it from a lady in her 90's who left it in the last house we bought. May be some day I will tell you about Bea.
This has wonderful cast-iron type legs, although it takes up a lot of room due to the wide legs on the wide end of it. Take a length of fabric over the top of the board. Allow maybe 5" to hang down. Starting at the wide end, cut the sides straight, not trying to follow the contour of the board. Round off those straight angles of the corners.

Then using some twill tape, sew it to the edge of the fabric, then turned it down to form a casing. Leave the openingin the narrow end. After stitching it down, run a cord all the way around the whole cover.

Pull up the cording a bit in the round areas to form gathers. Fit it onto your board and distribute the gathers evening on the rounded parts. Tie off and tuck the ends under.

I'm not sure how to rotate this picture for you to see, but you can see there are two springy thingys that span the width underneath to keep things in place. They came with the deal!

I will say, I lined this cover with a piece of soft, but heavy fabric under it and treated both pieces as one. I thought the thin fabric would wear better.

Now pressing is a pleasure!

Arrived By Post

2008-02-28T04:49:00.000-08:00

There is something so exciting about getting a letter or package in the daily post; a sense of the personal. Perhaps it goes back to the days when letters were handwritten and packages were carefully wrapped in brown paper and secured with string. Those things were thoughtfully done by hand.
When Ashley or myself receive a package in our big country mailbox, whatever we are doing is forgotten for the present and breath is suspended until the package contents are revealed!
On this day recently, it was I who received the package! How exciting to see it ~ sitting there in the mailbox!

Having found Ashley in her garden, I squealed with delight and called her over to revel in my excitement. My men~folk who were working out in the field just sort of looked at us, thinking something really BIG had happened, but quickly realized it was a fit of feminine passion! Of course, Ashley was appropriately excited, so she came over and we opened it together. (It's so satisfying to share these moments with someone who "laughs when you laugh"!)

Upon opening the lid, all this lovely cantaloupe colored tissue was revealed.

And then ~~~~~~ the lovely seed packets!

The memory of this simple pleasure with my Daughter does something good in my heart!

A Lesson From a Calf

2008-02-27T04:25:00.001-08:00

Recently, we have had an unusual guest at our country home. She came to visit because her Mama was unable to care for her and she needed some serious nurturing.

She was just less that four weeks old in this picture and seriously undernourished. Her Mother was sick and unable to nurse her, so she had had very little sustenance. In this picture, she was nothing but skin and bones. She was listless and was developing an ugly eye infection. She also had a cough.

Here is Tristan, one of her caretakers. He pulls her out of her shelter and gets her on her feets. She has been put on formula now and needs to eat three times a day, but is too weak to get on her feet to nurse. It is doubtful that she will live.

You can see the bucket hanging on the fence that has her milk and nipple. We soon realized that she was to weak to suck the nipple for very long. She doesn't get enough on her own. So it becomes necessary to feed her with a turkey baster. Here you see my husband and son getting her milk down her.
After one day of feeding her this way, her eye infection clears up, and her cough disappears. In about three days, she is sucking her nipple and eating everything in her bucket! In less that a week, they increase her ration because she isn't satisfied with 1/2 gallon!

There is a good lesson to learn here. As Christians, we have been given new life that must be sustained by regular "feedings". Those feedings must begin at our "new birth" otherwise we can become stunted in our growth like our little friend above. Lots of sin-sickness can afflict us, the effects of which can follow us all our lives.
The wonderful thing is, that we don't "shrivel up and die" like the calf because our spiritual life force is in Christ. Instead, we can begin to feast on The Word and begin a process of growth that will continue as long as we "eat" and "exercise".
Ladies, it is so easy to neglect our Bibles; we become so busy and there are so many things we "have" to do that we can soon find ourselves with a lagging appetite for His Word. Pretty soon we can become content with other things to fill the void in our hearts. As long as we stay too busy to think about the gnawing hunger in our soul, we will be satisfied with the husks of the flesh.
Let's give as much attention to the health of our spirits, as we do our own bodys!

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God".

A job well done, my sons!

Hymn For The Lord's Day: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

2008-02-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from the Thirty-third Psalm

Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. ...

The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. ...

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH

William Williams 1717-1791

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more,
Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through;
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my strength and shield,
Be Thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death, and hell's destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan's side;

Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to Thee.
I will ever give to Thee.

I encourage you to pick up the Holy Scriptures this day and turn your thoughts to His Word.
If we, as individuals, familys, churches, and as a nation, ever needed His counsel, it is now.

Temporarily Out of Touch!

2008-02-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

It has been over a week since my last post, but you should know it is only temporary! Our computer decided to die the death, but we are trying to resurect it. It is currently getting fixed by someone who seems to know more that we do. We should have it back by next week sometime.
In the meantime, our family has been viewing Wives and Daughters again. It is so enjoyable. This time, we are watching it in segments. It gives us something to anticipate, while we wait for our computer to come home to us.

Hymn For The Lord's Day: Grace Greater That Our Sin

2008-02-10T04:56:00.000-08:00

Grace is that supernatural power, given by God alone, to do what we can not do for ourselves. We can not save ourselves. Only God can save us ~ through His grace ~ His supernatural power.

God's grace is not deserved: it is freely given to sinners. "Now to him that worketh not, but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:5)

It is given to those sinners who who trust in Christ's sacrifice alone to merit God's grace. "For by grace are ye saved by faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9)

GRACE GREATER THAT OUR SIN

Julia H. Johnston 1849-1919

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide,
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! there is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today.

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleasnse within;
Grace grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe;
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, Grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.