April Blogging Poll

Just posting my poll information for my own satisfaction.

#1 How often in the last month have you experienced difficulty with Blogger?

Of 47 Votes

• 16 have never had trouble
• 7 have weekly troubles
• 7 have daily troubles
• 17 have had a few troubles in the past month

#2 Specifically, have you lost pictures?

Of 38 Votes

• 29 no
• 9 yes

#3 Are you able to move paragraphs, edit posts, place photos where you want them?

Of 38 Votes

• 22 yes
• 16 no

#4 How long have you had to wait for your blog to post on blogrolls and in readers?

Of 34 Votes

• I have never had to wait. 17
• A few minutes. 11
• Hours 4
• My blog never updates as it should. 2 (I know one of these gals and it is terribly frustrating for her and for all of us who follow her blog.)

#5 How long have you been blogging?

Of 38 Votes

• A few months 3
• A year 8
• Over a year 1
• Years 26

Thank you to everyone who took my little poll. Although it does not meet statistical requirements for accuracy, it says a lot to me.

Comments are closed.

The World Will Always Welcome Lovers

(Having now watched the wedding and the balcony scenes, I am able to add my own review and photos. ☺ Edited bits are posted in red.)

Why I'm writing today is anyone's guess as I'm sure that every eye around the globe is on some tv screen watching the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

I've been known to expound on this topic a bit...was it in your blog???...about all the hype and hoopla. I went the hype and hoopla route for Prince Charles and Diana and had/have no intention of going that way again. Prince Charles really was a cad for whatever reasons and, while I have more hope (way more hope) for the current royal couple, I simply wasn't going to get involved this time around.

"I can not believe what Vee said about me!" ~Prince Charles

Late yesterday morning, I found a couple of somethings that changed my mind a bit. Another royal couple was hanging out in my sewing room. What? You don't believe me? Just follow along and I'll show you.

Right up to the top of the stairs we go.

And into the sewing room...don't trip on the vacuum cleaner or that wrinkle in the carpet!

See that bag on my chair? Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Entry for January 30, 1939

Nan's diary saying that my grandfather "Jack came in around 1 a.m." Yadda, yadda, yadda and then she went to see the movie You Can't Take it With You. "Swell too" she adds. Now I want to see that movie. I'm a sucker for a good review.

And who is this?

The Queen Mother!

And her beloved King George VI!

What a radiant smile she had!

THEY WALKED among their people — and to the day of departure, everywhere joy was manifest.

Goodbye!

There are some striking similarities and interesting parallels between Prince William and Kate's courtship story and his great-grandparents' story. You can Google it and find out more. (Wikipedia offers this {under Marriage} and this.) I think that The Queen Mum would give Kate her heartfelt blessings and approval.

The last thing in the bag? A music book...first song up... As Time Goes By. Seems appropriate somehow...

As Time Goes By
by Herman Hupfeld


You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

And when two lovers woo
They still say, "I love you"
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by

Moonlight and love songs never out of date
Hearts full of passion, jealousy, and hate
Woman needs man and man must have his mate
That no one can deny

It’s still the same old story

A fight for love and glory

A case of do or die

The world will always welcome lovers

As time goes by

Of all the outfits worn, after the bridal couple's, I most loved the Queen in yellow. Did you watch? What did you think?

*** The magazine covers are from the Canadian tour taken by King George VI and his Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon) in 1939. They were married April 26, 1923. Yes, Queen Elizabeth and her mother shared the same name. Queen Elizabeth became known as the "Queen Mum" after her daughter became Queen. This is not to eliminate confusion so much as to make a distinction between her status as the King's wife and her status as the King's widow. (Queen Mary was King George VI's mother married to King George V.) 

I think my grandmother's 1939 diary was in with the magazines because of the year. Sadly, Nan did not write about the royal trip to Canada, even though, as a loyal Canadian, she kept the magazines. This should be a lesson to us all when journaling. Do talk about the events of the day! (Just clearing up a couple of misconceptions because I wasn't clear in my explanation yesterday.)

It's interesting to note that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Canada from *June 30 to July 8.* (Note the date on these magazine covers.) What a great time for Canada to have the royal couple over Independence Day!

Just Yesterday

Just yesterday morning, I made a date with him for lunch. (I still don't know if he noticed the front door.)

Just last week, the ice was in.

Just last week, the daffodils were only buds.

Just yesterday, we dreamed about having a little cottage on the pond and living there year round.

Just yesterday, it was fun to dream...

Do you have a little dream you'd like to share? I'd love to hear it!

Fake Out

Sometimes my family gives me a hard time. They wonder how I can possibly be blogging when I have nothing to share. Really. They don't get it. Everything at the Haven looks pretty ordinary to them and so they have told me that I'm great at faking people out.

This would be a good example.

My Frilly Daffodil

It's the only thing, besides grape hyacinths, blooming in my garden. Looks rather impressive, eh?

Nah, there it is in its humble setting. Nothing to stand up and cheer about.

And there are my fading orange tulips. I'm sharing them again because, even though they are fading, they've reached that level of luminosity that I love in tulip petals. It's a fragile stage. The one just before they fall from their stems.

So anyway, here you are still reading. Perhaps you thought that I had faked you out about celebrating my 1,000th post. No way! This is going to require a bit of trust on your part, though, as I am not revealing the prize. It's going to be something that will take a bit of snooping on my part (you know how I love that!) This is the deal: 1. You must be a blogger and have a blog where I can visit. That means your blog addy needs to be connected to your profile. 2. Please leave one comment explaining what you think makes a great giveaway right here on this post. (On the other hand, please do not comment if you don't want to participate.) 3. Please do not share my giveaway on your blog; I am not looking for increased traffic. This is only for those with blogs who wander in here and wish to have some fun. 4. I love my followers, though there is no need to become one to participate. 5. This post will remain open for one week closing at 7 p.m. on May 3. 

Create yourself a wonderful Tuesday...

Edited to Add: 5/03/2011 Comments are now closed. Winner to be announced tomorrow!

A Fun Easter

Did you have a lovely Easter? We certainly did, though it was much different in many ways. Last year, both my grandmother and my mother were still with us. Last year, my sister and brother-in-law were still living in state and, last year, my hometown niece wasn't working Sundays. Though we may have limped along a bit, still we celebrated the day.

My daughter was the only guest at our table besides the "Unseen Guest" who is always with us. She requested lasagna, which made for an interesting Easter dinner. I'm not sure that I've ever had lasagna for Easter before.

Darling daughter had planned lots of activities for the boys who joined us later in the afternoon, along with their parents, of course. She planned a treasure hunt using pictures for the clues. It was a very good idea for children who aren't yet readers.

The first clue

Finding the second clue

They'll be finding the next at the chippy fence



Needless to say, the grands both loved it!

One of my favorites was a rousing game of tag where we were split into two teams—blue and orange. Each person had to tuck a length of streamer into his/her waistband allowing a bit of it to drag on the ground. Then we were off trying to step on the opposing team's tails. Lots of fun, though still nice and safe with no shoving and pushing and, if the tail was stepped on (I lost mine early), it caused no stumbling.

Orange tails

Blue tails waiting for the game to begin

All that salt on the ground? John was also cleaning up from our egg in a spoon race.

Oops!

I'll be visiting your corners before the day is out. Have a wonderful Monday...

Then They Remembered

source

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words.

Luke 24:5b–8

May all the blessings of Easter be yours!

Up to My Elbows in Easter Bread Dough

We enjoyed such a fun time with John's family yesterday afternoon. He had invited them earlier in the week to join us for Easter Bread yesterday. They were skeptical and considered taking a raincheck until he mentioned that I only make Easter Bread once a year.

John's conversation went something like this:

Easter Bread. It's delicious. She only makes it once a year. Not pasta.  No noodles in it.

I thought it was a very funny conversation. Long story short, everyone enjoyed the bread and the frosting. John picked up this product for the frosting as a gal like me can't be too careful with the health of her husband's sisters.

Yes, I'm making another batch today, though I'm quite certain this will be the end of it until Easter season 2012.

***

The day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I always think of as being in the hollow, away down in the valley. So low. We aren't, of course, so low. We are sympathizing with the disciples, followers, and Mary who felt as if they had lost everything. I often say, and have said it on this blog before, we shall never know the sorrow of those people who saw Him die and believed that God had failed. Never. No matter what happens to us.

My reading this morning was Max Lucado's Cure for the Common Life. Love his work, if you've never read one of his books, treat yourself soon.

What clout do a tiny manger and a bloody cross carry in a forest of Jewish tradition and Greek philosophy? How can a backwoods movement headed by a rural carpenter gain traction in a religious world dominated by Epicureans, Stoics, and Gnostics? This is a kid on a skateboard entering the Daytona 500.

And how!

A blessed day to you...

Edited to Add for clarification's sake 4/23/11 - 4:00 pm:

*Easter Bread* at Mennonite Girls Can Cook Lovella's recipe (which I use) and Marg's recipe (more loaves and while we're at it, here's Ellen's *Easter Bread spread*).

*Easter Bread* is mentioned on my own blog 1. here and 2. here for starters. (My search won't allow me to move past page 1 and I have a page 2. That's how much we love Easter Bread around here!)

Yard Clean-up and Maundy Thursday Thoughts

First chance I've had to be on the computer today. It feels so right. ☺Sigh☺

My darling niece came to help me with the yard work this morning. We are so grateful for her help. Though we have a tiny little lot, there's always such a mess after a long winter. So much sand all over the lawn—remember my neighbor and his shenanigans?

A friend and I have been having a little race with snow melt. This is all I have left, Christina! (Check to see how much she has left. Oh I adore that song that's playing there... I could listen to it all day.)

And it's not mine! It's my neighbor's. Still, in the interest of the game. ☺

A little scene from my walkabout the house today...the first time since last fall.

Isn't this little box cute? Kinda reminds me of my house. BJ at Sweet Nothings urged her readers to try out some new features on Photoscape. I have had the program (free) downloaded for some time now and had never explored until BJ said I could. The pink things coming up? Peonies on the left and rhubarb on the right. I love that my plates are always blooming on the chippy fence. (John and I think that the chippy fence's days are numbered and so perhaps this summer, there'll be a new less chippy one.)

Here's a little view of my backyard looking across the rock wall my daughter made for me to the ravine beyond. I see that one of the maple syrup buckets landed down there. On the left is the scene as a watercolor and on the right SOOC. So much fun!

Thanks, BJ!

***

On Tuesday, Janette of Janette's Sage posted on the songs that Jesus sang. I'm directing you there for a wonderful word. Janette shared that one of the songs He would have sung was Psalm 136. John and I have been reading it every day since. The psalm is unusual in that each line ends in the same way: His love endures forever.

So much to ponder here. Jesus, The Last Supper, singing songs, ending with Psalm 136 where all lines end "His love endures forever," just before Gethsemane, the long night of beatings, a day on the cross, a death most brutal. As you know, I seldom connect the dots. It's lovely when we connect them for ourselves.

Many blessings to you this day...

Cozy April Morning

John usually rises before I do. He makes his side of the bed sort of, shuts off the nightlight, and heads down the stairs. When I hear the coffee pot perking along, I get up, too. Molly is usually waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, scampering all about. Nothing is quite as good for a gal's spirits as being greeted by a hyper poodle who has to go.

It is a rainy/hail-y morning so I settled into my cozy chair; John brought me my one cup of coffee for the day, and I crocheted, sipped, and listened to John read me snatches from the paper.

Seems our corner has a few unusuals in it. Last night, a man doused himself with gasoline and called his girlfriend to tell her what he'd done. She in turn called the police. They finally found him sitting in his car. When he saw the police, he took off running into the woods. The police briefly considered calling in the scout dogs, but reconsidered once they realized that it would be pretty easy to follow the scent themselves.

In other news, a man beaned his wife over the head twice with a rock and tossed her down an embankment. He lost his footing and fell down after her. Smart girl came to and wasted no time running to the police without wasting time helping him. Three hours later, the police found him in the woods and asked about the rock. Seems he collects rocks and had some in his backpack. Oops. No rocks in the backpack. Must've used them all already.

This case is really interesting because the husband is having an affair with an old girlfriend and his wife just inherited four million dollars. Hmmm...

***

Green Depression Glass...smooth segue, what? I thought about using my juicer to corral the ball of yarn. I think it would work if the ball were much smaller.

Thus ends my contribution to Blogdom. Perhaps I'll be more inspired tomorrow. ☺

Say, what's the crazy news from your corner?

Orange Tulips

Oh I am late today. Must be channeling the White Rabbit. Hope I can get this finished by 10:00. I began at 9:50. Yup, it's a race. (For what it's worth, I have noticed that I can get posts published much quicker using Blogger in Draft. See former posts in the last week for more information if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Last night we had to go fetch the rest of John's prescription. This is my latest pet peeve. The pharmacy doesn't have enough medication to fill the entire prescription and so we must return. With gas prices what they are, it is a real inconvenience. We have no home town pharmacy and must travel ten miles to get to the closest one.

It did give me the chance to pick up more tulips. This time, an in-pot one. How nicely it matches the orange tulips in my calendar. I always choose flowers to match my calendar don'tcha know. ;>

It came with one of those fussy wrappers that was so cute and Eastery, but not so good for the plant so I did this thing.  Yikes! 9:57 a.m.

So I set it in a bowl that wasn't pretty enough to display and then used a doily to pull up around it. That little pile of marshmallow bunnies? I LOVE stale marshmallows. Am I weird? Don't answer that!

*****

I wanted to show you something I've been inspired to try seeing it done so beautifully all over Blogdom.

It's a picture of the Pink Moon. Thank you, Aunt Amelia, for sharing *the information.*

I used one of *Kim Klassen's backgrounds,* put in a little pink, and used my photograph. I kind of like it. What do you think?

Here's the original photo.

Okay, it's 10:07 a.m. I'll drop in links later... (Done! 10:14 a.m.)

Helmet Day

And here's the mosaic that didn't make Mosaic Monday. Saturday was helmet day when the grands, thanks to their generous auntie, were gifted with brand new bike helmets. We traveled for about an hour to my daughter's favorite bike shop and the boys selected their own. What a treat! Then they requested Pizza Hut for lunch. Speaking of helmet...wouldja look at my hair? Ai yi yi. I think that I'd better get myself to the hairdresser pronto. Both boys have new bikes, but the baby grand just loves his Thomas the Train bike still and can't give it up to move on. So cute!

It was freezing Saturday, I'm very glad that the weather turned warmer again just in time for some rousing games of marbles with the grands yesterday afternoon. I wish that the camera had been out, but I was too busy playing and so was John. We got delightfully muddy and the boys were very pleased with their marble bags and marbles. Baby Grand is not too interested in the game, but terribly interested in the accoutrements. Older Grand is not only interested in the game, he's very good at the game winning twice. We did not play for keeps; we played for fun. And fun is what we had.

I just realized that I have passed a milestone here in Blogdom that should be recognized. Yesterday's post made my 1,000th. Let me think of a way to celebrate and I'll get back to you soon. I'd like to make it special.

So how was your weekend?

Easter Decor~Mosaic Monday

I often find Easter decorating inspiration in magazines. These are found in Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and Southern Living.

1. Southern Living

2. Southern Living

3. Southern Living

4. Country Living

5. Better Homes and Gardens

6. Better Homes and Gardens

7. Country Living

OOPS! I have no idea what happened here...the entire post slipped off when I tried to shift a photo. Silly Blogger!

Linking to Mary at Little Red House.
A wonderful week to you!

Palm Sunday

God has never taken his eyes off you. Not for a millisecond. He's always near. He lives to hear your heartbeat. He loves to hear your prayers. He'd die for your sin before he'd let you die in your sin. And he did.

What do you do with such a  Savior? Don't you sing to him? Don't you celebrate him in baptism, elevate him in Communion? Don't you bow a knee, lower a head, hammer a nail, feed the poor, and lift up your gift in worship? Of course you do.

Worship God. Applaud him loud and often. For your sake, you need it.

And for heaven's sake, he deserves it. ~Max Lucado from Cure for the Common Life

The people gave him a wonderful welcome, some throwing their coats on the street, others spreading out rushes they had cut in the fields. Running ahead and following after, they were calling out,

Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in God's name!

Blessed the coming kingdom of our father David!

Hosanna in highest heaven!

Mark 11:8–10

Comments are off

Blessed are the Flexible

It doesn't matter how many times I clear off the clutter from the refrigerator, it all just piles right back on. Let's see, I still have the book page envelope from Aunt Ess being held on by the butterflies John gave me, an empty grocery list, the little thing I tossed together using an old day calendar, Brenda's recipe for Cowboy Cookies juxtaposed nicely with a diet my doctor gave me. And that little windmill? I used to think it was tacky, tacky, tacky hanging on my grandmother's refrigerator. Now I think that it's just about the dearest thing ever.

Diet? Oh that. Well I'm not doing so great with it. I'm using food to medicate. Weight is a lot like the clutter on my refrigerator.

Anyway, my sister is not here and there is much to be done, which means I'm it. There are extra concerns when a memorial service and a committal service must be separated because of winter weather. Though I try not to borrow any trouble from tomorrow (weeks from now), I'm already imagining the griefs that will be revisited after we've all hobbled along so very well since January. And I'm thinking about all those who could not make the memorial service who wished to come instead to the committal service so there's a bit of planning to be done and I do not excel at such things. That was always Mother's department.

My sister has a brand new job where she doesn't want to make waves. She's already put in for a weekend to come home for the graveside service and now we learn that she chose the one weekend of the summer with a wedding planned so both of my mother's pastors are unavailable. We'll just have to move directly on to Plan B. You know what they say about "plan b" don't you? If Plan B were any good, we'd have called it Plan A. At least it's teaching me all over again to never assume.

It's the little things like this that I find so unsettling. I don't know why. Life happens. Flexibility is important or as a friend used to say, "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken."

Anyway, it's a gloriously sunny day so even if the temps are chilly, it'll be good to be out doing my errands. I'll try to look at it that way. My doctor asked with raised eyebrow, "Do you have trouble getting out of the house?" My response was that I don't like it, but I can do it when I must. Today I must.

You have a lovely Friday and a blessed Palm Sunday weekend.

Blogger in Draft, Et Cetera

This is what I took from yesterday's post: perhaps I should be working in Blogger in Draft. Today I am. So far, so good.

Thank you to everyone who participated in my poll. I'm keeping it up through the end of April so please consider answering the questions if you haven't already. What I am learning is that some bloggers have nearly zero problems and the rest of us have far too many. Blogging should be fun; it should not take one blogger three times as long to accomplish the same task because her pictures are disappearing or because her text won't stay formatted. Here's to happier blogging!

***

Thought I'd share how much snow has gone in a week. It's amazing what a little sun, warmer temps, and a lot of rain can do.

1. Snow gone, sap buckets gone, too (Does this mean I must redo my header?)

2. Daffodil buds

3. Everlasting (a very pretty ground cover popping through)

4. Azalea bush and Toby

5. A lot of sand on front lawn...a lot of raking to be done (Remember my crazy neighbor plowing his yard of snow onto my lawn? I should offer him a rake.)

6. The plate border survived the winter

7. Side lawn's ruts raked out (thanks to John) and forsythia bushes beyond...no blooms yet

8. Plenty of snow patches still about

9. Something new coming  up (I have no idea what it is); something old coming up (a sprig of grass)

Fascinating, say what?!

I sincerely hope that your spring is way ahead of mine! Enjoy a happy day...

Edited to Add: Thursday, 6:48 AM... I'm not putting up a new post today. Not much sense in it really since all of Blogdom is out playing. I just slapped in my latest backyard water feature in case anyone wandered in needing something new...eight seconds and it sounds so lovely.