January Boys

 Six

 Five

September 2010

The January grands have had their respective birthdays. The family gathered recently to honor them. I know that all grandparents say it, but does time fly or what?! It is actually getting pretty scary.

This morning, my daughter, John, and I gathered to pick up the home version of what you see above. It now sits in two big boxes waiting for spring and a patient papa to assemble. Hope that they will love it! Though when the six-year-old was informed about all the fun things...monkey bars and a climbing wall...he asked, "Who thinks I'm old enough for that?!"

~ * * * * * * * ~ 

Just a reminder that *the giveaway* ends tonight at 7!

A happy weekend to you...

Discoveries

Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance.

~William Wirt 

Right!  So that's exactly what I've been doing this morning. If anything makes me wonder, I find out the details.

You may remember that the old trunk that originally belonged to my great-great grandparents no longer holds the tv. It now holds a hobby horse right in front of the front door. That can't be good, but it will do for now. I promise that it is only temporary.

As I was sitting here this morning visiting the precious few of you who have posted...ahem, I noticed some hen scratch on the sides of the trunk. My ancestors' surname is written there, though it is misspelled. Then I remembered finding a tag on the opposite side, which I had planned to photograph, but never returned to. Not today!

Misspelled Surname

What does that say?

American Express Co.

April 1905

Another Great Find

Aha! My mother's old lard bucket...empty and tucked beside my desk. I've been looking for something to hold Molly's dog food. It comes in 50 pound bags and this will be just the ticket. Yay! A new home for it coming right up beneath the farm table in the kitchen.

Thus ends the ho-hum photos of the day you will be happy to know. =)

***

We're in the middle of an ice storm. I have horrible memories of the nightmare one in 1998 and do not wish for a repeat. Still there is a beauty in treacherous weather. 

Ice Storm Mosaic

spruce cones

Two questions for you...one perhaps mundane and the other a bit more interesting: 1. How's the weather in your corner?  2. What thing could you explore in your home/world today that you have been meaning to do?

Cultivating Wonder~Sharon Lovejoy

A few weeks ago, I won not one, but three books written by Sharon Lovejoy! She had this marvelous giveaway at her blog. Blessed me!

Now Sharon has been cultivating plants and flowers since childhood so it did not surprise me that she also cultivates wonder.

the sweetest bookmark

The books arrived yesterday...

Sunflower Houses, Hollyhock Days, Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars

Sharon had asked, "Shall I inscribe them?"

I assured her that that would be wonderful and so she has...a unique message in each one!

Thank you, Sharon!♥

And so I enjoyed the most blissful of afternoons on the sofa surrounded by everything from the dog to the laundry reading Hollyhock Days from cover to cover. Such a delightful book!

As it happens, I have been gifted with Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars twice. I am keeping them both. One I shall allow the grands to read with their mom and dad. But wouldn't it be lovely to have a giveaway right here of Sharon's latest, Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars? Yes! I thought so, too. If you have children or grandchildren, a grandbaby or four on the way, you will so enjoy this wonderful book of ideas and activities. No hoops to jump through, no following, no need to share (unless you'd like), just leave a comment. One will suffice. This giveaway will be over by Saturday at 7 pm. Yes, I do work fast. 

A wonderful Thursday to you!

Thank you for participating. Comments are now closed. Winner to be announced later this evening.


The winner: Diane at Lavender Dreams! 

Recipe Rip-Offs

It must be a closely guarded secret...the recipe for brown bread at King's Landing, New Brunswick, Canada. It's one of those breads that, though we are twenty miles away (when at the cottage that is) and down a dirt road six plus miles long and fraught with pioneer adventures each inch along the way of it, we find ourselves drawn over and over again to stop by and pick up another loaf or two or five. Man! It is some kind of delicious.

Mother and I had been scouting for the recipe and trying various brown breads for years. Over the weekend, when I whittled my Inbox from 999 emails to less than 100, I found an email with a recipe enclosed. It was from my niece and it said, "this is the one."

My excitement knew no bounds. I flagged it and set it aside and lost it and re-found it and finally printed it off and made it yesterday.

Did you know that there really are no copyright laws for recipes? I know because I used to proofread cookbooks. If I am using a favorite recipe for publication on my blog, I change some minor thing and pray that it isn't terribly significant. That's why I wonder about recipes we find on the web...they may not be as well tested as those we find in a book. This recipe that I'm not sharing was found by my niece on the web.

King's Landing bread is sweet and flavorful. Sweet. Quite sweet. This bread had a third of a cup of molasses and 6 cups of flour and a cup of oatmeal, but it was not sweet.

King's Landing bread is not Anadama bread, though it might be considered similar. If you click on the highlighted bit there, you can read the fun history of Anadama bread, which is a New England story.

Smelled good, though.

Looks pretty. Tastes blah. Flat. Not going to make this recipe again. If anyone knows of a delicious brown bread recipe that is sweet and flavorful, please fill me in.

What's your favorite bread and when is the last time you baked some?


P.S. If you'd like to take a little tour of King's Landing, Pam gives a great one right *here.*

Not Bored Exactly...

January has brought me to this or as John says, "You're worried about what's going on in my head?" ☺

It's true. I am now knitting *crocheting nests. K.n.i.t.t.i.n.g. *Crocheting nests for crying out loud! It all began when I was practicing Deb's directions last night at A Blade of Grass. She said something fascinating about using two strands of yarn so, having lots of little leftover balls of yarn, I practiced and instead of a purse, came up with a nest. She'll be worried about me Deb will.

*Apparently, I don't know what I'm doing.

Keeping my nest company is my sweet little barn painting from Nita Leger Casey. 

And all these pictures are reminders to those who are in a panic about the loss of Picnik. (No, I have never met an alliteration I did not love.) I can't say enough kind things about Photoscape. Do your own Googling and download the program when you're certain you have the right site. It's free. If you don't already have it, you'll love it.

Hope January is treating you well...

Faded Beauty~Mosaic Monday

A Kim Klassen background (If Only) and last week's photo of the rose with this week's photo of the same rose. Perhaps I could better name it Fragile Beauty as all those lovely layers on the drying rose look paper thin and fragile to me.

Connecting to Mary at Little Red House.

Closing comments so that you may just visit and enjoy. I'll be visiting and enjoying without comments this evening myself.

The World Beyond

This morning early, I pressed the blue button on the top of my computer tower on my way by and wandered down the hall toward the kitchen and coffee. I greeted John and almost listened to what he told me, poured my coffee and headed back down the hall for the computer...that glowing box of all things that connect me to The World Beyond.

I checked here at Haven and then scrolled to the bottom and that little meter icon where I could check stats. Soon I was there and then I was off to check email. A few minutes went by and I thought What were my stats? How many people went to visit Jill? Who's on now? All questions that would have been easily known if I had actually "been there" when I was there.

How much I am missing by not being here! And I am reminded all over again to stay focused and to really do the thing not merely go through the motions. The Bible clearly tells me this:


If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... I Corinthians 13:1–8a

Now what did John tell me?

A blessed Sunday to you...