Birthday Season and Other Blessings

It's birthday season! Yes, Augie had a birthday on Monday, last week it was Lucy Ann's turn, she's now 15.🤯 We had the pleasure of celebrating with our lovely granddaughter at brunch this past weekend. 

Augie was blessed on Saturday at our church's official "Blessing of the Animals" service, it's quite a feat for our 6'8" pastor to get down low enough to bless a dog who stands 10" at the tallest! 

Gregory will be turning 15 next month, he's rebuilding a Mini Cooper in our basement, he'll be prepared when he gets his Learner's Permit! I can't believe I'm even typing those words! Where has the time gone? Those who've read this blog for a long time will remember when they were babies!

November 2010~ Lucy Ann giving her cousin Gregory a kiss on the nose! 💖

We continue to be blessed with great weather: the dahlias are still putting on a show, 

it seems like I'm cutting one or two every day right now. 

For months I had been wanting floating shelves beside our breakfast table to hold goodies and seasonal displays. Mr. G came through with an even better installation than I had ever dreamed of, I couldn't be happier; he even made a frame for my cross stitch! 

 Blessings abound~ for sure and for certain!

Life is Good!

Blessed Beyond Measure

Yesterday was one day to reflect on what we're truly thankful for, to give voice to the blessings in our lives. We gathered with family around our son's table and did just that. My greatest blessing is the love of this one man. We've been together since high school; the span between these two snapshots in time is almost fifty years. We are thankful to God for health, for family and for blessings beyond measure.

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. 

Love never ends." 1 Corinthians 31:7-8

Life is Good!

May 24, 1975

Forty five years ago we said " I do";  and today, I'm blessed to be dancing with the same partner. I'm thankful every day for this man, for our shared faith and commitment to God and His church, for families that have supported us along the way, for two healthy, loving children with families of their own, and for a lifetime of shared memories. Thanks be to God!

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." -1 Corinthinians 13:4-8

Life is Good!

Hello, October!

Yep, another calendar page has been turned. "Hello, October" really has been replaced in my mind today with "whatever happened to September?" Sigh. Time marches on! I read an excellent article yesterday morning, sent to me by a dear friend, which helps put life into perspective. I am linking to it here for your reading enjoyment. It helped me to savor the day, simply for the pleasure of being in it! Rather than analyze my daily accomplishments; or rather, my lack of them, I sipped my tea and reflected on all that I had to be thankful for. There is profound peace in doing that. Our oldest granddaughter is eight years old today! She is a blessing to all of our family; she is smart, funny, loving and a pure joy to be around! I made a trip to the Capital City earlier last week for a sew-a-thon at our daughter's home in preparation for Lucy Ann's "American Girl" slumber party on Friday night. We stitched pajama shorts for four little girls and matching ones for their dolls. Our daughter-in-law created vinyl iron-on monograms for blank T-shirts too, completing the sleep ensembles!

Lucy Ann and her sleepover friends. 

They were a huge hit! There are no words for how cute this is!! Our daughter did report that not a lot of sleep happened though. 😉

Mr. Goodneedle and I made a return trip to the Capital City on Sunday afternoon to watch Mason play soccer and to celebrate Lucy Ann's birthday a few days early.  Her birthday wish was for the American Girl remote-control car for her dolls to ride in. She was super excited to open it! (It appeared that her brother was equally excited to see what was in the big box!) Sadly, it did not work! 

After many attempts to remedy the situation (the boys gave it their all!) the decision was made, at long last, to send it back and get a replacement. Lucy Ann was extremely gracious and understanding. I do believe that we were much sadder and disappointed about the non-functional car than she was. The new car is already on its way. Hang on, birthday girl, your kiddos will be riding in style very soon!  Yes, October has arrived; we're in the final quarter of the year, days are once again growing shorter. I, for one, am focusing on living each day deliberately, reading life like a book, and sharing excerpts right here! 

Life is Good!

 

Bless This House

Welcome to our home. This is what you see when you enter in through the front door: stairs leading up to our converted attic space/now theater room, a chair holding a pillow proclaiming that "a spoiled rotten dachshund lives here" and a Singer treadle base with a glass top serving as an entrance hall table. Oh, yes, and on the wall directly in front of you is a wool applique wallhanging  beside a framed, embroidered sampler. The sampler was added today, I stitched it in 1975 and presented it to my then brand-new mother and father-in-law that year for Christmas.  They were building their home at that time and this sampler was proudly placed in their foyer a few months later when they moved in; there it hung, proudly, until a few weeks ago. With a heavy heart I took it down from the nail that supported it, dusted it off and carried it here. Yesterday their house went on the market for sale. I pray that special home will find a family soon, it needs one. This hand embroidered house blessing will hang in our home from now on. Every day when I walk past it I will remember, and my heart will smile. I pray that our own front door will "prove ever open to joy and love" as theirs did, for four-plus decades.

This cross stitch sampler was ordered, if memory serves, from an advertisement in the back of Good Housekeeping magazine. It was a kit, the linen was stamped and the floss was included. This blessing was inspired by a plaque that hung in the White House during the Eisenhower administration; the sentiment, however, is timeless.

Life is Good!

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can...

November started out as a promising one, my plans for daily sequential thankfulness posts were sadly and profoundly interrupted by the death of my precious mother-in-law. Now here we are, on the last day of November. Time waits for no one, especially this blogger. I will close out the month with one, last catch-up post, one that is punctuated with moments of pure grace; as my life over the past week has been. Please accept my gratitude for all of your kind thoughts and words in response to my last post; indeed, my mother-in-law was a treasure. Last Wednesday, following her memorial service, the family gathered at Mom's home one final time to share food and reflect on her life, "the one that made all of our lives better because she was a part of them", these are my daughter-in-law's words, I couldn't ever describe Mom more appropriately. This photo, left, of Mason, was taken in Mom's back yard that afternoon. This is but one of those God-given moments of grace. For this glorious moment in time, I am grateful.

Mom was an organist. The one thing the grandchildren have always loved, over the years, and now the great-grandchildren after them, is to sit on the organ bench and play; here are three of them doing just that. One last concert, one more grace moment; and a snapshot to cherish the memory.

One more gathering in Mom's living room, the site of every holiday gathering for as long as I can remember. We remain grateful for all who could be with us last week, Mom's loving spirit blessed us and bound us together in affection and appreciation for each other. Those moments of grace kept on happening: free and undeserved gifts manifested in countless blessings, one after another. Thanksgiving happened, it remains a blur, generous amounts of food arrived here and was all skillfully prepared and served, dozens were fed. Slowly, one by one, the leave-taking of each friend and family member happened. Today it's just us again; all too suddenly, November is over. 

We won't be "just us" for very long though. It's time to make new memories: we will have all four grandchildren in two days for a cousins weekend.  I have already begun the preparations for a house building extravaganza. 

There are many activities planned for the little ones, bring on December, we're getting ready for Christmas! Time may fly but I have taken a deep breath, counted my blessings along the way, and with God's help and a grateful heart I am ready to get back in the race. "Run, run, as fast as  you can-- you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!"

Life is Good!

On this, the thirtieth day of November, 

I remain thankful to God for a life

punctuated with moments of pure grace.

For the Love of Plates...

 ... and bowls, and cups, and saucers, and platters and sugar bowls! Okay, you get the picture, I love dishes! There was a time in my life when I considered Christmas dishes a worthless and unnecessay extravagance; I'll admit that I turned up my nose at plates with holly leaves and bowls with Christmas trees... "why would anyone want to commit space and resources to dishes that can used for such a limited period of time" I thought. And then I saw Villeroy & Boch's Naif Christmas pattern. I remember the exact moment that these dishes spoke to me. We were living overseas, in Geneva, and I was downtown in the Globus department store browsing through the china aisles when my eyes fell upon these. It was immediate... I knew then that I needed them. Maybe it was the charming folk-art scenes, or perhaps it was the lovely, delicate, cranberry-hued edging, but the thing that reeled me in then, and still does, is this nativity platter. 
You can read the story here of how I came to acquire this set of dishes; but, please, read on. Over the years I have developed the custom of getting these dishes out in early December and keeping them in the cabinet clear through January so that my husband and I can fully enjoy them over a period of weeks with their precious winter scenes. They have become all the more special to me now; as I place the stacks of plates, bowls and mugs in the cabinet, I am reminded of the number of dear friends and family who have gathered with us at Christmastime and been served off of these plates. I am truly thankful for them and for the gallons of tea and coffee, over the years, that has been poured from pot to cup... from heart to heart. These dishes have come to represent such abundant blessings in my life; looking back, maybe it was no coinicidence that I wandered into the china department of Globus on that day so long ago. God changed my heart to one of welcoming hospitality and opened my eyes to the treat that awaits if one looks beyond the ordinary and unnecessary to what might just be considered something of true and lasting value. That's a lot to ask of any plate, but I can happily confirm that these dishes have delivered all of that... and much, much more!

Life is Good!

A Golden Glow

Since the time adjustment last weekend I'm entering the kitchen in the morning, at the same time on the clock, but to a new sunlight pattern. This is the view out the window over the sink, this window faces east. I walked in on this early November morning to find walls, cabinets and myself all bathed what could only be explained as a golden glow reflecting nature's glory just beyond the glass; it was a moment that defies description. I was witnessing something sacred; a divine experience that can't be held on to, or kept... this is merely a glimpse of what it must feel like to stand in God's holy presence.  

 Life is Good!

"Turtle" Blessings

Billie and "friends"

Meet my friend, Billie. I've been privileged by the friendship of this dear lady since 1975 when I became a member of our church as a young bride. She took me under her wing and introduced me around, we've been friends ever since; she is living model of Christian faith and love.  Billie was my husband's Sunday School teacher when he was a young boy; later on she taught our own children in that same Sunday School program when they were three year olds, she watched them grow and, a few years back, attended each of their weddings! One thing that Billie has always loved (as much as children) is turtles; she's received many as gifts from friends and family and, over time, has accumulated every type of turtle figurine and motif, her is collection vast!  From a very young age our son began calling this friend of mine, his Sunday School teacher, "Ms. Turtle"; he couldn't pronounce her real name... as time progressed his title for her shortened, simply to "Turtle." That was just fine with her!  On Thursday I hosted the Quilt Ministry Potluck Picnic at our home. Billie, of course, came bearing a covered dish which I expected; but, what I didn't expect was a box full of carefully wrapped turtles from her collection... she wanted us all to take one as a special gift from her! She had already given our grandchildren some of her own turtle ornaments at Christmastime for their trees; I was surprised and saddened to think of her giving away what has always been so precious to her. The turtles were a big hit; everyone selected one as a special souvenir from Billie. After our picnic concluded I followed my friend to her car to say good-bye before she drove off. I told her how sad this turtle "give-away" of hers made me. She gave me a tight hug and a huge smile. "Don't be" she replied "it gives me great joy to know my friends will keep them for me."  I can't be sad now, not after that!  I have a new friend in the studio today, I learned that this bright little friend came all the way from Russia! I will take good care of her; I've named her BJ for "Billie's Joy."  How could I do anything else? Not that I need a physical souvenir to remember my special friend, I've been showered with constant "Turtle" blessings for, oh, let me see... almost the last 39 years!

BJ

Life is Good!

Aftermath

We were hit by a fast-moving storm on Thursday afternoon and hit hard! I had just stepped back inside the house after letting Hannes outside when the wind picked up and the power went out. I looked up and saw leaves and limbs flying past the window with a speed and intensity I had never seen or experienced before. I grabbed Hannes and ran to the basement. There was rattling and trembling outside the house follwed by a short period of torrential rain. When I dared to lookside this is what I saw. Thankfully there was no injury or damage to our home. This 100 ft. oak passed within feet of the corner of our home.The driveway cracked beneath the weight of the tree.

This root ball stands ten ft. high.
The following photos show damage and destruction alongside our driveway:

The trees that were snapped and twisted off were done so twenty five feet off the ground.

Another uprooted Oak.

My husband's car could only pull in the driveway a short distance,
the driveway closer to our home was completely impassable.

The clean up begins. Our son and his chain saw arrived and helped too; we couldn't have done this without him. We worked late into Thursday night, not calling it quits until some headlight-aided raking was done.

It was all very scary, but nothing compares to the fear and worry associated with my husband being on his way home during the storm. I didn't know where he was or how bad the conditions were on the roads where he was. I later learned  that he had to cut his way home through downed trees with a borrowed saw; the road that leads into our neighborhood looks like a war zone.  I can't remember ever being happier or more relieved to see his car pull in (or as close as he could get) to the driveway. Through all of this we remain thankful to God for our many blessings and to family, friends and neighbors for their help and concern. We've got our work cut out for us, literally, for weeks to come.
Life is Good!

The Great Closet Documentation Project

I am blessed to have a wonderful, large, walk-in closet in my studio space. We designed our home and carefully allocated square footage for each area... this closet was no exception. I am embarrassed to confess that this blessing has become my own curse and worst walk-in nightmare. What started out as a dream area of well organized fabric and projects has eroded into the messy closet of deferred decisions. I took this photo yesterday, before I began deconstruction and what will be known from this time forward as The Great Closet Documentation Project (or TGCDP for short). In order to remedy this cluttered, disorganized, heap of quilty hopes and dreams I need to completely empty this space and find what's hiding, or buried, in the deepest, darkest recesses. Everything you see here is coming out, into the light, to be scrutinized;  classified, judged, and dealt with. Everything is not going back in; oh no, it must be deemed worthy to regain stash-closet status. I have broken up this disastrous closet situation into eight zones and will document them here, accordingly, by corresponding number:
1.  Finished quilts, bins of novelty fabrics (and novelty buttons), empty boxes, quilt show ribbons, baskets and bins of bits and pieces, a pillow, stabilizers, interfacings and a box of rubber stamps. Does any of this make sense or seem in the least bit related to you? I'm referring to this as the outta sight, outta mind shelf.
2.  A few finished quilts, ghosts of projects past (a term I'm borrowing from a friend's husband; thanks, Gary!), patterns that appealed to me once upon a time, thirties reproduction fabrics and a HUGE zip-loc bag full of yo-yos!
3. Rolls of gift wrap, bins of ribbon, gift tags and bags, tissue paper and bubble wrap. Don't ask.
4. Fabric, sorted by color... for the most part.
5.  Larger lengths of folded fabric, fabric collections and groups, a few pillows. Why not? I already need a nap.
6.  UFO's. This is just as disorganized as it appears. Projects shoved into bins, boxes and tote bags (!?!) and not even one anywhere near completed. Power strips, Featherweight machines, two sergers, a big bag filled with smaller plastic bags (of course!) and a wheeled cart along with a quilt frame reside here. All taking up valuable floor space. 
7. Mending, awaiting completion. Enough said, quilters don't mend clothes!
8. The never-ending flimsy parade, hanging around and hoping for a quilting date with Sundance.

I need an approach, one that makes sense. I have unloaded Zone #1 (below). I will report back soon, I have scheduled the weekend to complete TGCDP, perfect activity for a long weekend! Stay tuned, I'm a little overwhelmed at present. I will document the finished quilts from the top shelf and post photos. This evening I am going to draw up my plan for new, improved, zones and how I visualize the completed closet space existing to make the most of the intended storage/staging area. Likely there will be clearly defined zones for finished quilts, fabric, flimsies, machines and a few well-selected UFO's! No more dedicated space to clutter and deferred decisions!

Freed from the burden and weight of stashed debris and half-done projects I can almost 

feel myself soaring on a jet-stream of creative opportunity and artistic expression. 

It won't be long...

Life is Good!

Going, Going, Gone!

It's been fading, my voice; from raspy to croaky and fading, to gone... completely. It's my annual seasonal affliction. My husband will have a quiet day. I have been forced to writing-only; hastily scribbled messages are my only form of communication. He is being sweet, drawing me little smiley faces in response. It gives me a whole new appreciation for health and the gift of voice. One benefit gained through my vocal exile, I am hearing better; well, certainly my sense of hearing hasn't improved, but my listening has. Imagine that. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). There is spirituality in silence. I am still, I am thankful and I am sipping hot tea.

Life is Good!