Nothing Much...

The past few days have been cool, cloudy, and to a degree foggy. These days are perfect for accomplishing the little things indoors that seem to be "swept out of sight" during those sunny days. I've made progress is catching up on the snail mail correspondence and begun work on sorting through my sewing/ box of craft stuff that I received recently.

These days are also perfect for thrift store shopping as Momma has attested to! She and Collin dropped in on the "Goodwill Clearance Center" in Greenville yesterday, which is where all the Goodwill stores in town send their stuff when it doesn't sell or has been on the shelves to long. The items at the clearance center aren't sorted by size... everything, men's, woman's and children's is all put in huge bins (think of long blue feed troughs on wheels that are waist high) and wheeled out for everyone to go through. It's really humorous to be there when they announce that they are bringing new stuff out... as soon as the word is given, everyone descends on the new "troughs" like a flock of birds at a freshy filled bird feeder! It's really funny! Anyhow, clothing and housewares are sold by the pound and runs for under a dollar per pound I do believe (correct me if I'm wrong!).

Momma somehow managed to make it home without any books (which, by the way, are ten cents a pound I do believe) but she did find quite a few really cute housewares, which included a garlic "baker" and more illuminated houses (put a light in them), along with some really nice clothes.
Sawyer enjoys looking through her finds with us! His comment usually is "oooo, that's nice!" or "I like that!" or "gasp... is that for me???!" I'm sure he would love to pull everything out of the bag for us!

Hammie boy is a bundle of energy these days; he doesn't want to stay outside for very long by himself so he's been coming up with things to do inside. Last night, he held a tea party for Momma right before dinner. He saw me setting the table and thought it was the perfect time to pull everything out of his kitchen! He served Mom cookies, cakes, and muffins up until it was time to put dinner on, which I know they both enjoyed!

I cannot wait for the sun to come out. I'm ready for a bright, cheerful, blue skyed day!

A Hymn for Sunday

Praise Him! Praise Him!

Words by: Fanny Crosby,1820-1915
Music by: Chester Allen, 1838-1878

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hailHim! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:

Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness;
Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore out sorrows,

Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong:

Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness;
Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heav'nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
Crown Him! crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
Pow'r and glory unto the Lord belong:

Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness;
Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song!

Saturday Ramblings

The house is relatively quiet at the moment as everyone is pursuing the various tasks or projects that they are working on. Momma spent this morning cleaning out the bathroom closet (preparations to put in "new" shelves this week), so I took Sawyer over to Bull Run as a diversion for him.
Things are really "hopping" over there!

"View from the Road"
Don't you just love the color of Trevor's house?! We're so pleased with how homey and refreshing it turned out..... NOT! This is just the primer, the real color comes next! I'm calling his house "the jelly bean", as it reminds me of those lime green candies, until the painter puts the finish coat on!

"Twevor, can you ooopen duh door fuh me?"
Trevor spent yesterday and today working on his front porch. I must say that the railing and steps make the place look more like a home.

"WOW!"
It has been about a month since I have been inside the house and I was amazed to see how much has been done! The last time I was inside, the drywall had not been hung... I was surprised to see that the drywall didn't make the house feel smaller; if anything it defined where the rooms will be.

"Tristan and the Girls"
I've been hearing stories about how the cows follow Tristan around, but I had yet to see it myself until this morning. He was in the field that he is currently fencing in, and "the girls" were all clustered around his truck waiting for him to show up (the truck is parked right in front of an electric tape "gate"). As soon as he brought the tractor into their field, they started running around and kicking up their heels! It was so funny to see and revealed allot about how he has been taking care of them! In the picture both Tristan and "the girls" are clustered around little Bee-Moo who is doing rather poorly; he's been moved into a new field and put on some grain so that he can regain his strength.

"Working in the Stone Room"
Here on the home front, Daddy has been working here in the Stone Room today, sanding, filling holes, and getting the place ready for painting.

The past few days have held some unexpected events for me...

"Officially Completed"
My cross-stitch was picked up from the framers this past week. I am so pleased with how it turned out! Now I need to find another cross-stitch pattern to work on. :o)

"Sayre Has Struck Again..."
I stepped out of my room for one minute, and when I returned this is what I found! In the space of time that it took me to run downstairs for a bag, Sayre managed to place this "dummy" on my bed amidst the cross-stitch, books, patterns, boxes (which I moved before taking the picture), and who knows what else! As I came back up the stairs I realized that things were a little to quiet and figured he was up to something... it took me a minute to realize that this wasn't Sayre... it was the dummy he had made! He's a hoot to live with! :o)

"The Field Down the Road"
As I headed to the post office yesterday morning, I was amazed by all the deer that were out! In our neighbors field there were three grazing and then a little ways further down the road I came across these does. It was a special treat to be able to watch them for a bit and then see them dash for the woods!

The sun is finally trying to come out which means that it is time for me to go putter in my garden. I hope each one of you has a delightful and refreshing weekend!

Random Picture of the Day

One has to wonder what is going through this little guys mind at the moment!

Any ideas for a caption?!

A Morning Walk...

As I was out feeding the dogs this morning the thought occurred to me that now was the perfect time to take a walk and see the sights! It was twenty-eight degrees out and the ground 'crunched' as one walked; I was eager to see if the pond had frozen over!

"The Field"
You can see the dog/cow pen with Lila sitting at the gate wishing she could be with me. The pond is to the right and our garden is on the left...

"In My Garden"
I first took a stroll through my little plot of ground to see what all has been affected by the cold that we've had lately, and amazingly it appears that the pansies are the only ones suffering. The sage, pictured above, and the rosemary are still going to town and are getting bigger... and bigger... I can only imagine what they will do when spring arrives! Even my parsley is still alive despite the massive haircut it had several weeks ago!

"Wait a Moment..."
The daffodils and hyacinths are up. It isn't unusual for the daffodils to be up but the hyacinths???! Oh well, I think we will be having spring flowers in the next several weeks! If you look down in between the hyacinth leaves, you can see little buds (not pictured).

"Doesn't It Look Peaceful?"
After strolling through my garden I headed towards the pond. I heard Jasper barrelling through the underbrush on the other side of the dam, and soon after I heard Buck "skipping" through the leaves. There is a large difference in their "gait"!
I found the pond frozen over and it was neat to see the leaves and grass through the ice.

"Buck-y-Boo"
As with anytime that I walk around, Jasper and Buck were near at hand and raring to go! We had a delightful time tromping around and enjoying this sunshiny morning!

Highlights from this Past Week.

This past week has been one of busy-ness. Momma and I spent allot of time working on finishing up the John John's, and I'm thrilled to announce that they are finally done! Yay! We are eagerly anticipating getting back into the swing of normal life today and I have plans to catch up on a few of my own sewing projects this week.

"Applying Finishing Touches."
Despite my attention being focused on sewing most of the time, I still had quite a few "highlights" during the week...

"Watching It Grow"
One of each days' joy is to see how my orchid is growing! The buds are becoming more and more pronounced and the stem is getting longer with each passing day! I have it sitting on a table at the top of the stairs so I get to keep track of it's progress many times each day. I love watching it grow!

"A Meal for Green Bear"
Sawyer finally found someone who had a few moments to share a "meal" with him on Saturday! He has taken to setting the table and getting all of his dishes out so that he and "green bear" can partake of a "meal" together. It's really cute to watch!

"Opening the Mail"
I was delighted to receive a package from a very dear lady the other day! She had included so many little goodies and each was so thoughtfully wrapped and I could just picture her and her grand-children wrapping and packaging it all up! Thank you so much!

"Would You Please Put Away the Camera and Play With Us, Ashley?!"
Saturday afternoon found Sawyer and I outside spending some time with Jasper, Lila, and Buck in the dog pen. We climbed up on the dirt pile, walked along the fence line, kicked at ant hills, threw sticks and chewed up balls, and dished out liberal amounts of petting!

"It's Begun..."
The week ended just as it had begun... in the sewing room! Only this time it was Thelma's wedding dress that was in the works. While I worked on finishing a project, Momma and Thelma talked patterns, made a trial run bodice, and in general had fun together.

A Little Catching Up

The past five days have flown by in a hurry. Since my last blog post I've been to Illinois, Missouri, and back home again! Daddy, Collin, and I left early Friday morning to take my Grandmother back to her home in Illinois and while we were in the area we took the opportunity to go visit a very good friend of mine!

I was so excited to finally meet my dear friend Sarah and to spend time with her and Leah, her sister! We spent a day talking, laughing, more talking, and even more laughter! I came away from our visit encouraged and refreshed! The memories we now have are absolutely priceless! What wonderful young ladies they are!

"Please Excuse the Dirty Glass"
Sawyer has been "nothing but trouble" since we returned home! This is becoming his standard "I'm being a stinker" look and it is absolutely hysterical to watch, and listen to, his actions!

"Doing Nothing In Particular"
I will most likely not be posting anything new until the end of this week. The next few days are full and I need to focus more on what needs to be done than blogging. It's only seventy-five days until the wedding, I think!

Thoughts...

As I was reading Matthew 27, I was struck with verses thirty-eight through forty-four...
"38-And there were two thieve crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
39-And they that passed by, reviled him, wagging their heads,
40-And saying, Thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself: if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
41-Likewise also the high Priests mocking him, with the Scribes, and Elders, and Pharisees, said,
42-He saved others, but he cannot save himself: if he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in him.
43-He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
44-The self same thing also the thieves which were crucified with him, cast in his teeth."

In addition to being in excruciating pain while on the cross, Jesus endured scorn and mockery. I had never even considered that people might have scorned Him while He was in agony. I can only imagine how it must have felt to be scorned while suffering...
To make these verses even more revealing, I have been playing a piece whose words fit so perfectly which I will share below... To have a song fit so well with what I had been reading and pondering was a special blessing. The passage in Matthew has come alive and will not soon be forgotten!

"O Love Divine"

O love divine, amazing love,
That brought to earth from heaven above
The Son of God for us to die,
That we might dwell with Him on high.

He died for you, He died for me,
And shed His blood to make us free.
Upon the cross of Calvary,
The Savior died for me.

For us a crown of thorns He bore:
For us a robe of scorn He wore.
He conquered death and rent the grave,
And lives again our souls to save.

He died for you, He died for me,
And shed His blood to make us free.
Upon the cross of Calvary,
The Savior died for me.

O wand'rer come, on Him believe,
His grace by faith receive,
Awake, arise and hear Him call,
The feast is spread for all.

He died for you, He died for me,
And shed His blood to make us free.
Upon the cross of Calvary,
The Savior died for me.

Monday Ramblings

Several weeks ago I planted another amaryllis bulb in which I could see the bud already peeking out from around the paper-y skin. A week passed and nothing seemed to happened... week two rolled around and I could see the bud filling out and the leaves beginning to grow. By the time week three ended I knew I was going to have an interesting amaryllis on my hands!

The stem grew to about three inches tall and then decided to grow crooked. I don't think rotating the plant each day would have helped (rotating it would keep it from growing in one direction) so Mom and I wonder if the problem doesn't originate from the way that it was bred. There appear to be two stems that grew together and then one separated; I'm not sure that those buds are going to develop.

It was a wonderful surprise to walk into the laundry room this morning and find it blooming! I've since moved it into the kitchen so that we can enjoy it to the fullest! There are three open buds, four more that are still developing, and five that I'm not so sure will bloom.

"Trevor's House"
The house is coming along... Trevor put up molding/trim Saturday and Daddy says that the inside is beginning to look really good! With all the rain that we've received lately, his driveway has turned into a mass of ruts and he needs to get a load of gravel put in rather soon.

"Little Boys and Mud Puddles"
This morning was the first day that Sawyer could go out and play. He gathered his new dump truck and "digger" together and went out to plop them in several different mud puddles. He showed up at the back door fifteen minutes later to inform Momma that he had dirty pants and needed a new pair! When he couldn't get new pants he went out and collected "nuts", until he decided that it was time for him to go inside. After being ushered back out the door, he decided that he was going to cause trouble... it wasn't until after convincing him he HAD to stay outside, that he put on his "happy heart" and played quite contentedly for some time!

This morning has been quite the adventure!

I was sorting through some of my pictures and found this picture that was taken several weeks ago. I think it is a "Fritillary" butterfly but I'm not so sure. It could be a moth...
Just looking at the detail and precision with which our Creator made it is amazing!

An Announcement for the New Year!

With this being the first day of the new year I think it appropriate to share an event that we have been anticipating for quite some time now!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Trevor proposed to Thelma on Christmas Eve and was accepted with much joy on her part!
Yehaaaw!!! :o) Imagine the excitement that ran through our household when they announced it at Christmas Dinner! Well, at first we all thought they were joking (the manner in which it was announced was very deceiving) but as soon as Momma started shrieking we knew it was for real! :o)

They are planning a March 28th. wedding and have made allot of progress in their wedding plans. Dinner time conversation has consisted of suit fittings, which groomsmen are walking with which bridesmaids, and wedding etiquette... all this while Mom and Dad have been gone!

As a friend put it to me, "just think, you are gaining a sister!"; I hadn't thought about it that way but yes, now Thelma will be more than a friend, she'll be my sister! It's a good thing we look alike!


The next twelve weeks will be incredibly busy... our "Family To Do List" consists of painting five rooms-maybe, finishing the stone room, sewing-sewing-sewing-sewing-and more sewing, and a host of other things (I think there are twenty-one to do's on the list!). Ahhh, adventure is ahead!

Happy New Year!