Day 18 Made Me SmileToday

The fact that my 14 year old still thinks it fun to hide in the leaves or that I found him there while I was raking....both made me smile.

Day 17 Fruit

Day 16 Something You Wrote

A little bit of the writings that collect themselves in various locations around the house.

Day 15 A Mess

I was tired last night and it was late. We ate spaggetti earlier and I did most of the dishes but left some pots in the sink. At somewhere around midnight, the boys decided they wanted cake. They are usually in bed by then but this seemed like a good idea at the time. So I baked a cake....and did the unthinkable. I LEFT MY DISHES IN THE SINK OVERNIGHT! This morning I looked at the Photo Challenge for today and then went downstairs. I think this qualifies as a mess. I'd better go stick my hands in this murky water and fish out the silver ware and icing tools and ....well, you get the picture.

Day 14 Something You Made

I've made a lot of things over the years. I thought first of crafts and sewing, flower beds and poetry. Too much to choose from.

 Kaitlin stretched my mind a bit with her 'made' bed. While I was doing all this contemplating, I 'made' myself a tea! 

Day 13 Landscape

A beautiful fall walk on what will probably be one of the last warm weather days, filled my camera with lots of photos. This one was the one I finally chose for my landscape shot.

 Aren't trees amazing? We just lost a big one over our back yard fence and my 14 year old son expressed how it felt very well. He told me, "It makes a very big hole in the sky."

I imagine when the tree in this photo falls, it will do the same.

Day 12 Something on the Table

A few years back I got this candle holder that I absolutely love. It has held candles of many colors and 'lived' in many spots around my house. At our other house, it usually resided in the fireplace. I used it for tall pillar candles that smoked and sputtered almost as much as a hearth fire would have. Here at this house my candles are more demure because of the many little people that visit me. They simulate flame with a flickering light. They still look lovely on a dark fall evening but something is lacking. I miss those wild flames and the smell of melting wax.

Day 11 Something Close Up

I have been blessed with so much. I think however, that one of the nicest blessings came in the package of all my sweet grandchildren. They are all so unique and special, each one so different. When we got together for Thanksgiving the other day, I took a lot of random photos just to remember the fun of the whole day. I only took one that would really qualify as a close up but I think it is pretty cute. Those big eyes are beautiful.

Perusing My Poetry Late at Night

I was up late tonight making rolls for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. While I waited for them to bake, I looked through some old poetry files. Thought I'd share this one I wrote a few years ago. Bears repeating.

I've held the walls together

With tacks and safety pins,

Sometimes I've called on you Lord,

When things started caving in.

I've leaned against the falling,

And felt so very small,

A lost and broken sinner

Who couldn't do it all.

You let me struggle at my task

But helped me all along

Once I let go and trusted you

I suddenly felt strong.

Day 10 of the Great Photo Challenge - Emotion

Life is complicated. Job 14:1 says, "Man is few of days and full of trouble." Sometimes the trouble comes whether we like it or not. Sometimes we wail. Emotions overtake us.

Other days the sun shines and we feel wonderful. We laugh and we smile. Emotions overtake us then too.
 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.  Psalm 16:11

Our faces are where emotions usually show up the most. We cry tears and our mouth turns down at the corners. Eyebrows furrow. Or our eyes light up and we smile wide enough to crack our faces were it possible.

Its common. It is how we show emotion.

When I think of expressing emotion though, there is more to it by far than just my facial expression. My best way of expressing emotion is through my fingers. I love to write and whether I am full of woes or full of joy, I like to write it down. I don't always keep what I write but it seems to bubble up out of me looking for a place to land.

So for the photo challenge, 'emotion', I'm posting a picture of my hand...and a pen.

Day 9 Photo Challenge....RED!

RED!   It was hard to decide what 'red' photo to use. I took pictures of apples and cardinal knick knacks. I took a picture of red paint on paper. I took a picture of a red leaf. Then late in the evening we went to pick up a movie. I saw red. I didn't have my camera with me so my son Rob pulled out his ipod and thus this slightly grainy, rather blurred photo. Technically I didn't take it but I did orchestrate it. See the word, red? And the box is red. There you go!

Day 8 of the Photo Challenge - Angle

There you have it! A picture of an angle...or maybe it was me that was at an angle, and a pretty weird one too, to get this shot! I got thinking how life is like this. If something doesn't look quite right or a little 'off' it may be because we aren't looking at it from the proper angle. 

I am reading a book called, 'Trusting God In a Twisted World' by Elisabeth Elliot. She points out that a lot of our sorrows and disappointments come about when we try to do things our way instead of Gods. Having problems? Try changing the angle that you look at them. Perhaps by turning them around you can make them a time of growth and spiritual strengthening instead of a time of discouragement. 

Day 7 Clouds

I just went out the back door to see if I had left anything in the back yard that needed to be brought in. Somewhere in the dark a horse was whinnying. A raccoon or squirrel rattled the branches of the hickory tree. I shivered despite the fact that it is not that cold tonight. As I was hurrying back to my warm bright house, I chanced to look up and saw the perfect photo op for today's challenge. I went back in and got my camera to take this shot of the moon.

Day 6...I Am Thankful For...

 I am thankful for the everyday things...the things that feed my life and shape it. I'm thankful that every morning when I wake up, my Bible is there waiting, that a warm cup of tea and my journal help set the pace for my day. I'm thankful for raisin bread toast and kids and grandkids coming to visit, I'm thankful for the crows that call long and loud in the fields behind our house these wet fall mornings, I'm thankful for the tidiness of rooms in my home that are finally coming together, neighbors that wave and say hello. Thankful for blogs that lift my spirits and Pinterest that fuels my creative mind even if I don't make the things I look up. I'm thankful for friends of all kinds, old ones, new ones, family ones. I am clothed and fed and loved. And I feel joyful.

Day 5 People

When I think of people I enjoy, these two are right up there in the top part of my list. These ladies are both very active for their ages (which I won't share). One of their favorite activities is to go for a Sub at Subway on Saturdays and then visit all the open houses they can squeeze into the remainder of the day. I think all the local agents know them by name. Often when we are out driving, my mother-in-law (the one on the right) says, "I was in that house."

They have a real zest for life and have lived in the same city so long, they know everything about everybody. They carry a great deal of history on the past and still avidly keep up on the present.

I am blessed to know them.

Day 4 What You Read

I woke up rather early this morning. Nothing new for me but I couldn't go walking because it is wet and I have torn ligaments in my ankle. I read instead. I read a bit from my Bible and then I picked up a book from my shelf of children's books. 'Rasco and the Rats of Nihm'. I got caught up in it and read most of it. I am also reading a few other books and plan on spending some time in them a little later with a cup of tea.

Nothing cozier on a damp fall day than reading a good book, with a great smelling candle burning and a cup of something warm! 

Day 3 This Happened Today

Actually the photo was taken last week but today I sorted through all the pictures on my camera card and did some deleting and some editing. I have WAY too many photos. While I was doing it I came across this particular photo and it caught my eye. It seems Miriam (on the right) is thinking, "Oh boy. Just cause I'm the older cousin she thinks I need to show her the ropes." Alice seems happy just to grip her playmates hand.

So what happened today was that I sat at my computer and had a good chuckle over these little cuties.

Day 2 Lunchtime.

In all my years of making lunch, the menu has been varied. There were the early years when we had no kiddos and both worked. I made a lot of sandwiches and discovered that I could make subs that were almost as good as store bought. Slowly those lunches transitioned into the kid years and became characterized by snack plates. Mostly they included raw veggies, cheese and apple slices. Peanut butter roll ups were a big hit too where you lay a peeled banana on a peanut buttered slice of bread, rolled it up, and cut it into little circles. Soup became a staple as the kids grew older. If I topped it off with homemade bread we could fill a lot of hungry mouths in a hurry. Some years, especially when I had five hungry boys at the table, it was hard to make enough.

We are a smaller family now. Lunch usually consists of...ugh....dare I say it? Leftovers. Fried potatoes from the night before, cold ham on bread, warmed up pots of things that I don't want to just throw away.

Some days though, leftovers are a good thing. Today we had warmed up lasagna and it was so yummy!

Snap Happy!

I am joining Kaitlin over at Homemaker Design ( http://www.homemakerdesign.ca/2014/09/snap-happy.html ) for an October photo challenge! I am excited. I am also a procrastinator so please don't expect big things from me, but I will try to keep up!

The first challenge is titled 'Where you stood." Today, I stood on the front step of my home and admired a plant I got for my birthday basking in the sun. I am so blessed. I have so many friends and family in my life and turning 55 has been a wonderful thing. Thanks to everyone who made it so special, from the flowers and dinners and gifts and cards, right down to the beautiful art work some of my grandchildren made me.