Mother's Day

Enjoy the Happiest of Mother's Day Weekends...

Vickie has posted a wonderful essay on motherhood at Sand Flat Farm. You'll be blessed by it!

(Source)

A Merry Heart and All That

Today I am merely serving as a tour guide to a few of the funniest blog posts written in the past few weeks.

These bloggers have made me howl with laughter, sort of the way that C.C.'s beagle Toby howls whenever she takes him for a walk. You can read all about it here: The Worst Walk. Honestly, I'll mail you a dime if you can keep a straight face.

Sandi's beloved husband Mac taught her the basics of semaphore years ago...years and years ago...years and years and years ago...anyway, you just know that this means F-U-N! Read about it on her post entitled Languages and settle back for a good chuckle.

Anybody's post titled Camping in My Own Backyard sounds slightly suspect, especially if we're talking about Judy. I'm beginning to say of these things..."Only Judy." Ha!

Mary's The Joy of Being a Woman is short and plenty amusing...had me grinning all day and now every time I think of it.

I'm Killing My Family One Pan of Paella at a Time
"That title is not exactly accurate because I've never actually cooked paella, but you have to admit that 'I'm killing my family one pan of chipped beef at a time' just doesn't have the same ring to it. Agreed?"

Sometimes I worry about the Farmer myself. Nah, most of the time, I just laugh wickedly over the things that The Farmer's Wife is up to at his expense.

I've never linked to Ree in a post before, but her You Know What I Hate is so inspired and so much fun that I think we should all get on board. Who couldn't employ her method?



Noooo, this is not a shameless rip-off. I used a yellow butterfly. Gheesh!

Edited to Add: No, there is no horse behind the yellow butterfly. As far as I know nothing larger than a squirrel uses the facilities...oh all right, maybe a cat, perhaps a dog on the loose. There's an old junked truck behind the butterfly and it has caused me no small amount of consternation while I attempt strange camera angles to disguise the thing. Thank goodness the leaves are growing larger every day.

The Home Land

One sunny May morning years ago at my first yard sale of the season, I found this little picture. It was priced right at twenty-five cents and that remains the best quarter I've ever spent. Here are the words:

The Home Land

Think ~

Of stepping on shore and finding it Heaven;
Of taking hold of a hand and finding it God's hand;
Of breathing new air and finding it Celestial air;
Of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality;
Of passing from storm and tempest to an unbroken calm;
Of waking up ~ and finding it HOME!

"In my Father's house are many mansions." John 14:2

Today's post is dedicated to Miss Sandy and her beautiful grandmother who now makes Heaven her home.

Seven Random or Weird Things About Me

Margo tagged me with the Seven Random or Weird Things Meme. I have to tell 7 random/weird things about myself and then tag 7 bloggers to do the same. If you're on my blogroll, please consider yourself tagged, but only if you would enjoy it. These things actually come in handy for days when the brain isn't firing on all cylinders or life is too busy, etc. If you do this, please let me know because I love learning more about you, too! So those are the amended rules. However, if you'd like the "real rules" you can find them here.

Seven Random Things About Me

1. I like to practice my handwriting. I make loops until the page is filled up with them. I know; I really DO need a life.

2. I like to sketch people's faces. They never look like the person that I'm sketching, but they do look like people and that's the important thing, right?

3. I have officially donned my red flip-flops through September. No more shoes for me for a few months.

4. Supper was an open-faced egg sandwich on toast with cheese. For dessert I ate a dish of fudge twirl ice cream with peanut butter sauce. (I sound like Happyone. ;>)

5. The last playlist I listened to was at Scooterblu's Whimsy. Very Lively! :D

6. Sometimes I play the piano for hours; sometimes I don't touch the piano for days.

7. In the morning, while I am still lying in bed, I like to pretend that I am in a treehouse.



Okay, what's the diagnosis, Doctors? LOL!

Have a great Wednesday, All!

Set the Table, Tea is On!

Share a creative afternoon tea table setting. Linens, serving pieces, teapots and teacup, tea accoutrements and accessories, centerpieces, tea trays or three-tiers, and more. Show one way you enjoy creating a memorable tea experience. This is your opportunity to show the world the fun you have when you create your own special tea experience. Then...invite over a friend or neighbor and share some tea together...



The forsythia is blooming and after days of rain, the sun was out and shining brightly so I decided to stage my afternoon tea on the deck. Yes, I said "stage." Now the thing is, I have already revealed myself to be a pretender after last week's confession that I am also a coffee drinker and I don't like loose tea leaves. So it didn't seem like too big a stretch to bake something and set up the deck a bit and pretend. After all, you know how I hate to miss a week!

In the middle of my preparations the carpenter called and asked about repairing the deck spindles. "Now? You want to come now? Well, okay, but how long is that going to take?" Gee, don't I sound all warm and welcoming?



Then I realized that I had a great helper on hand so out came the umbrella and the deck chairs. (Not to mention my first guest. ;>)



All we had was tea and cake...not much of a tea party, but a tea party all the same. Oh, I even dug out the sugar cubes and the sugar tongs.



Then my mother dropped by after earlier saying that she wouldn't be able to and so what had begun as a "staged event" ended in a real tea party with two guests! We wiled away a warm afternoon in May sipping tea and having extra servings of cake and both guests said that it was grand fun and that we should do it again some day. I think so, too!



Enjoy more of the Set the Table, Tea is On at La Tea Dah's Gracious Hospitality.

It's Arts and Crafts Day...Isn't It?

First up this morning is the vintage tablecloth remnant, which is getting smaller and smaller. I've made three or four pincushions from it and a jelly cupboard runner.



By adding some of the rescued bias tape that I was bemoaning a few days ago, this table runner for the bay window now exists.



And, no more "stich in the ditch" for me! I can't make it come out as neat and tidy as Suzanne's or Alicia's. Now it's a switch from the stitch in the ditch to Martha's bias tape basics.

Then I made a tea towel for a friend's birthday, which I liked a lot. I used the old "draw it from the fabric technique" so it's very complementary. Sorry about the photo quality.



Finally, I have so many remnants now that I searched for ways to use them being a frugal gal and all.



It's a needlebook! Because it was an experiment, I used what I had on hand...no wool felt, but the next one that I make will be a proper one. This is the cover.



The crazy quilting was so much fun! It was! I would not lie! If you've never done it before and decide to give it a whirl, I found Purplepaint's Muse tutorial very helpful.

Another Monday post in the can and now I can put my little Genie away for a few days!

Truth=Freedom

"Truth sets us free; error binds us." Bob George

It's just that simple. And, if I am not free, I am living in error.



You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

That completes my standard Sunday morning offering, but I have a titch more to add for those who won't be bored or offended by it.

When I was ten years old, a good long while ago, an altar call was given in the church that I attended and I found myself going forward. The pastor led me in a simple prayer of salvation and noted the date — February 10 — and the time — 12:23 — on the flyleaf of my Bible saying that I would always be able to remember the time and place whenever the thief whispered in my ear.

The thief has done a whole lot of whispering and I have done a whole lot of listening. It has only recently dawned on me that I have lived in error for much of my Christian walk. Why? The usual reasons, I suppose: the false teachings of the churches I attended that offered a bizarre mix of Law and Grace, the advice I received from trusted Christians who were also living in error, and even some of the hymns and worship songs that I sang further enforced error.

Some of this is beguiling. Some of this is subtle. Let's talk about the WWJD (what would Jesus do) teaching. It's been around for over a hundred years! Who knew?! But it was revisited again in earnest in the 90s with many young people wearing wristbands or necklaces with WWJD on them.

What in the world could be wrong with WWJD I hear you asking. Just this...it removes Jesus from being alive and present in our lives to one who is a historical figure: Historical Jesus versus Alive and Present Jesus is error. Would you sit around wondering what your husband/wife thinks about anything when he or she is present in the room with you? Of course not! You'd ask!

I was guilty of teaching this subtle one to my own children, but I won't be guilty of teaching it to my grandchildren. Instead, I'll say, "Ask Jesus what He would do and what He wants you to do in this situation." I don't want anyone to stand around, scratching his head wondering what Jesus would do. And that's my two cents for the day!



Thank you, my Friend...such a delightful surprise!

Have a wonderful Sunday, dear friends.