good life

I am blessed.
I have a good life.
I am very happy.
My life is definitely a choice.
We chose to raise our children by me...stay at home mom.
We chose to home school our daughters.
We chose that Terry's career be an over the road truck driver.

Every choice we made had it's ups and downs.
We have never had a lot of money.
God has provided for our every need and most of out wants.
I love our church and church family.
I feel blessed to lead a ministry with meals.
I have a great team.

My interests are very earthy...and inexpensive for the most part.
Knitting, spinning wool, rug hooking, cooking, gardening, flowers, antiques....more like trash hunting and fixing up, yard sales, reading.

I can sit at a bookstore for hours and never get bored.

I love to play with my dog and teach him new tricks. He is a cutie.

I have the best daughters in the world.
I wish for them a great lasting relationship with each other.
I wish for them great friends.
I wish for them a great relationship with the Lord.
I wish for them peace.

All this comes in time and through struggles.
The main thing that I have learned is that life is very long.
Nothing lasts forever....fear, illness, hard times.
And when it does seem to last a long time, God will provide a way through it.
Sometimes His provision is the ending of the pain.
Sometimes His provision is a lesson that needed to be learned.
Sometimes His provision will be a reward in Heaven when His kingdom is complete.
Any of these ways, if you have God, you have peace and joy.

I live for spring summer and fall days in the garden.
I always feel closer to Him when I can be outside.
In the winter I seem to rest in Him.

I am looking forward to working with him over the next three seasons.

I have a good life!

too little time

Spring has sprung!
There are way too many things
going on in my head
and all seem possible,
but I MUST start and then finish one thing at a time.

The arbor and picnic table need painting
the deck needs to be cleaned and stained
the glads need to be transplanted (80% done)
the vegetable garden needs to be planned
the birdhouse needs to be taken down and replaced
garden stones need to be made
front yard needs some serious landscaping
lawn to be fertilized and weeds killed off
bird feeder area must be cleaned up and re bricked
Maggie's area made pretty
and that's only on the outside!

I had a wonderful trip to Missouri for the Fiber Festival.
I really felt like it was a REAL vacation.
I haven't had one of those in a long time!
I stayed at a hotel, rather than the bunk houses and am glad I did.
The pillows were something to be forgotten, but the rest was wonderful.

I took four classes of things I needed to learn.
Spinning with Icelandic fleeces...these are dual coated sheep and need to be spun a bit differently that the Romney I am used to.

Spinning Cotton... yup..right off the bush....the teacher was awful. She knew what she was doing, but conveying that to we students was difficult. I took it upon myself to get this, and get it I did. OK Alabama folks...let's send some cotton up here!

I learned to spin Llama and blend with all kinds of fibers..even bunny! I really like Llama! The teacher was great! My time was wrong so I got to my class when it was nearly over. The wonderful teacher taught the whole class again, just for me!

The last class I took was how to use the right fiber for the right project!
The most amazing sheep lady! And she gave us tons of samples! Animal and plant fibers....bags full!
I was sitting on the end next to a British lady.
She would take half of the left over samples and give me the rest.
At times, I felt really badly that the first few girls didn't take more to start with!~

I have now spun 300 yards of icelandic in the grease....that means, not washed first.
It spins really nicely. I will wash it in the skeins next week when I can dry it outside. It smells and feels so wonderful!

I know this sounds silly to most if not all of my friends...but there is just something comforting to me about it! I would love to go into a sheep's pen in the heat of the spring...summer would be too hot, and plunk my nose down into the wool right on their lil backs! mmmmmmmmm

Anyway.....when days are chilly or in the tired evenings, I will spin and knit.
I discovered a loom at the festival, so I may have to invest in one next year.
The more for my homespun yarn, as knitting takes to long.

Have a blessed day!

South Bend Chocolate

I am waiting for a dear friend at South Bend Chocolate Cafe.
I worked at the factory a LONG time ago one Christmas season.
I made the chocolate covered truffle cherries.
Interesting.
I did other things as well: making holiday gift baskets,
decorating chocolates, covering raisins and nuts with chocolate.
The worst thing about this was that my feet hurt horribly!
The best thing was that when I came home from work,
my two young daughters would run to me for mint scented hugs and linger in my arms.

SBC has come a long way since then.
I used to go to church with the owner's sisters.
Interesting knowing the back story.
The father used to sell and make chocolates door to door.
His son tweaked the recipe ..and history!
Some not so nice things either.....but that is not for me to say.

I enjoy coming to the cafe.
I mostly come with my oldest daughter in the spring and summer, and winter and fall!
We used to enjoy a kaffe wien, muffin and/or bagel before our diets started.
We would sit outside and talk, or not talk,
listen to others around us and soak up the sun.
You see and hear some amazingly strange and wonderful things downtown!
We both enjoy people watching.
Veronica loves to study here.
Being surrounded by the noise and busy ness, but being separate and alone.
No one expects to see anyone they know here.

Today, my friend is having a hard time.
I believe that it is mostly self imposed, only because of the rules of her church.
I used to be Catholic.
I was raised Roman Catholic my whole life.
I was going to get married Catholic, but my husband had been married before.

We started the annulment process. I was a youth leader at out local church in Texas.
When Terry turned in the paperwork...lots of it.....the priest told him that things would go more quickly if we "donated" funds to the church.
The more we donated, the more quickly it would go.
It could take years depending how much or little we offered.
We were married that June in a Southern Baptist church.

Sometimes I miss the midnight mass on Christmas eve.
I miss the tradition and the beautiful services.
I have fond memories of church.
I came to Christ when I was on a high school retreat.

My friend has been divorced almost as long as I have known her.
He is not a nice fella.
She has been trying and struggling to get an annulment for years.
They have spent lots of money.
Her ex turned in paperwork that seems distressing.
That is why I am meeting her.
It seems as though the annulment is NOT going to happen.

I feel for her.
She is trying so hard to be faithful.
All her children go to church with her and her husband.

After talking with her, I am amazed at how strong and wonderful she is doing.
She is diving into the scriptures and she and God are good.
Through all the trials of the past, her future is bright and loved.
I don't understand or know her pain of loyalty to an earthly church
like this any more. It seems to me that Christ is freeing, not restricting.
I would be hurt and wounded.
She is amazing!
I am so glad she is in my life!

Dogs N Chickens

I know I have mentioned this before, but I belong to a yahoo group that brings me such joy laughter and support! They helped me through empty nesting and I have learned so much about hand prepared fiber from them.
I have, and am a secret sister. Terry is helping with my ss, by sending post cards from his travels across the country!
I am attending a fiber retreat next weekend and I will meet two of these fiber friends!
Most topics are not fiber but I just love lurking! Most girls raise their own sheep and live on farms. I live vicariously through them, as one day I pray I can join this lifestyle.

A comment was made about a girl's dog killing 5 of 8 lambs and she is wanting advise as to what to do....these two came across and I laughed until I had to change my panties!
I used to have a Dalmatian and a chicken coop. Sparkle did not last long nor did the chickens!
We also had a found golden retriever who was much loved. If one of the bunnies got loose, he would chase them down, and bring it back to me. Un harmed but very wet.
He also loved all of the 13 kittens we had at one time or another. Loved to carry them around and let them sit on top if his head!
Animals give us joy!
Enjoy these stories:


Oh I know I shouldn't laugh, but this one really cracked me up....
couldn't really call her a chicken killer I guess, eh? LOL!!!

I had a wirehaired pointer mix back when my husband and I were first
married. Once he discovered he could catch a chicken he'd go lay under the
pine trees with it, pin it down with his fat paws and slowly and gently
"clean it up" by plucking it delicately, one feather at a time. Of course
the chicken would be squawking pretty good at first so we could follow the
noise and catch him at it before he did too much damage, but he was so
focused on what he was doing that it would take a half dozen tries to yell
enough to get him to let the bird go. Naturally he'd be way in under the
pines where he knew we couldn't just take the chicken away from him. He
never bit one and never drew blood aside from the plucked spots. The
chickens themselves even calmed down and were quiet by the time I'd get to
him. He stopped doing it after a few, I guess he decided it wasn't worth
the effort of listening to all my scolding or that the chickens were too
ugly when they were bald!

AND ANOTHER:

It worked for a lab/dane cross my folks had many years ago. She liked to
grab a chicken, then run with it - keep it in her mouth, dig a huge hole and
bury it alive. We rescued a few chickens from her burial grounds - they
survived but their feathers sure were full of dust and dirt till they got
cleaned up.

Finding my own little patch of sunshine!

Today is the first day of March!
Today is the first day of really bright, warming sunshine!
I took notice of this after a few instances.
My oldest daughter texted me how beautiful it was outside.
She also mentioned how beautiful she felt!
Amazing what a bit of sunshine can do for your spirits!

I have noticed that most face book comments in the Indiana area are all about
the sunshine and that they are feeling warmed!

My dog, Charlie has also found the sunshine.
I have watched him move from the east front door,
to the south kitchen window,
to the more southern part of the house, in the family room where the
sun has made a patch on the carpet.
Charlie seems to be seeking out the warmth for only the warmth and light it brings.
Do dogs know and feel like we do about the first bright sun?
It feels like he does.
He goes from room to room after the sun patch moves.
He must get a chill.
When he finds it again, he scratches at the floor, chair, carpet, to make his new warm area fit for him.
The sun is no longer in my house,
but soon will be as it sets, into my family room windows.
It is still too chilly for Charlie to lay in the grass in a patch of sunshine.
HA...There is still snow everywhere!

I have been studying women's empowerment this morning
while my doggie was searching for his warmth.
One lecture was on the Samaritan woman at the well.
The disciples were out looking for lunch.
Jesus was also tired and hungry, but he forgot his needs in favor of the needs of a woman.
He looked down into the town and saw the fields of harvest.
His passion, his hunger, tightened his stomach for the people and not for his need for food.
I want to seek for the harvest...to forget my needs and look toward others' needs!
Thank you God for placing sunshine patches in my life.
To tighten my passion. To warm me from the inside out and the outside in.
Thank you Charlie for reminding me to seek these patches out.

midol

Doing the dishes led to running the vacuum and picking up the dog toys and cleaning off my knitting and yarn that were all around the family room, doing a load of laundry and dusting a bit.

I say a bit, because then my allergies kicked in!

I am one of those people who don't mop the kitchen floor often
because when I do, within thirty minutes, something spills onto previously clean floor.
I sweep, but mop when it is noticeable.
I feel the same about dusting!
If you can't see it, it isn't there!
Dust bunnies are my friend!
Actually they look a bit like combed wool ready to spin!

All that to say, as I was looking for allergy meds
in my kitchen drawer,
I came across five mini packets of midol pills.
Now, I have been in menopause for three years now.
Peri menopause since I was twenty seven.
I have no need for midol.
If you find yourself in my neighborhood with such a need,
feel free to drop in!

Why do we save such things?
Jeans that are three sizes too small, gift bags, to use "someday", recipes on the refrigerator that you will make soon, magazines and books that you have already read,
notebooks that only have a few pages left to write notes in and it is a struggle to find such pages when you need them etc...etc....!

bit blue

I know I am ready for spring!
I yearn to play in my garden!
To watch all the little green buds of my perennials begin their migration north!
Time to wake and bless those who see you!
I truly love my garden.
I think it is the most beautiful, relaxing place in the whole world.

Anyone is invited to spend time here.
To rest silently alone or work in it with me.
It brings me joy!
I am never far from my garden once it starts awakening!
I do my Bible study with it, read along side it, eat surrounded by it.
I sit on my porch with my spinning wheel or bag of fleece
and let the hours pass.
My birds are daily friends.
I look forward to the hummingbirds, orioles, and woodpeckers.

I have many things to do today.
I am going on a fiber retreat in two weeks
I need to be emptying some bobbins.
Preparing my home for pet sitters.....hmmmm.
Tackling spring cleaning before the weather turns nice,
as once it does, I will not see the inside but to sleep.

As an artist, who is also an empty nester,
I find that I have a different time schedule than most.
My days are not ordered by time, but by whim.
I have some responsibilities, but most days are my own.
I find that weekends are more for resting now.
When my kids were home, weekends were filled with
adventures and late nights.
The weekdays were for school and cleaning and early bedtimes.
I was never much of a partier, but now I find that quiet weekends
build me up for the creativity of the week.
I just wish spring would be here!

I am so very lucky that my wonderful husband provides such a life for me.
He works very hard and I appreciate every day he gives me.

I have dreams of a drum carder to speed my fiber creativity!
So....I better get moving...stop dreaming of spring.
It will be here soon enough!
A little Michael Buble and the dishes started will kick off the day.

Silly Bananas!

I bought a Anne Geddes calendar so I would have little babies to look at!
Both my daughters are refusing to even consider having grandchildren for me!
Granted, I agree that they are both to young and selfish at the moment,
but someday in the future I would LOVE grandbabies!

Terry's son and his wife Bridgette have two adorable children.
Brittany will be 5 and Beau will be 3.
I was birthday shopping today for Brittany.
I found that trying to narrow down the books I loved and wanted for her
was quite useless!
I chose Fancy Nancy for Brittany, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
for both of the kids and The Fire Cat for Beau.
I so enjoyed reading to my girls! Constantly!
I loved the artwork, the stories and making all the funny voices to go along!

When I worked at the library, shelving books, my favorite area was the
children's area. Sorting and reading through all the new books was a
dream come true!

After selecting these books, I traveled over to Micheals for accessories!
I found two boas, a tiara, a wand, a ring and lots of ribbons.
All stashed into a bright pink fluffy bag!
I only wish I could be there to play fancy dress up with her!!!

God knows what He is doing by making me wait a bit.....
at least until I save up some money for grandbaby gifts!

Tiny faith.

I am always surprised how God chooses to use me
and who He chooses to put into my life!
He truly has made some amazing people in His little world!
No two are alike.
Each life brings so much to the table.
Chocolate is His best idea!
I would never chose for myself such a diverse group of friends.
Old, Young, Tall, Short, Happy, Sad, Crazy....ok, most are crazy!!!
By nature, I am content and happy to be by myself.
Think my own thoughts, and busy myself with fiber wonderfulness.
God is always challenging me.
I am learning to lean on Him more every day!
I am learning to act when He speaks to me,
to not miss any opportunities He presents,
Even when I am dog tired!
He always blesses me with energy and surprise and joy.
I am capable of ANYTHING with Him driving!
Tough days are tough.
Conflicts occur constantly.
Shut my mouth and wait for the answer.
It always comes.

Learned from a new friend tonight
that I need to remember to trust that God has it planned
out and will take care of all the details for my best interest.
Even when I am hanging on to what I think is right for me.
If I have that tiny bit of faith,
the blessings will spill overas I could never imagine them to!
Taking that step is scary.
But choosing to take it more times than not, make the risk less risky each time.
Thank you friend!
Dog tired.
Time to sleep!

Momma always knows....part deux

As a parent, you never know what the right thing is to do.
There are no instruction manuals,
and if there were...they would be rather useless.
Every child and every parent is different,
with different responses and attitudes.

When I was mulling over the past blog,
I was remembering how, as a young mother with young kids,
I again, was oblivious most of the time.
The younger childeren however, were less skilled
at covering up their mischief.

I remember two instances:
When we lived in Alabama, I had at least an acre of daffodils
that bloomed every spring.
My motto was that they lasted longer and could be enjoyed by more
if they were not picked.
One morning, I looked out my window to find NO daffodils at all!
I later discovered that my two angels and the neighbor's daughter had picked
all the heads off of the flowers and had hidden them under Hilary's crib.
An acre worth of daffodil heads....couldn't even put them in vases!

Another time, I was hosting a small group valentine party one evening.
During the day, I set out the table with non perishable foods.
The kids, again the three angels, were instructed
that they could have anything in the kitchen to eat
but leave the party food alone. I went about my business.
As I looked out the kitchen window, I saw three small girls running full out,
acroos the backyard into the "woods".
I also noticed that their sweat pant legs looked odd.
When I checked the table, all the oreos were gone.
The girls had stuffed all the cookies into their pants.

We won't even talk about the time they snuck into the neighbor's potatoe patch
and dug up all the potatoes to make soup. Mr. Murray was not happy.

The reason for the previous blog, mainly is because all of us, me included,
do some dumb things and think that no one will ever know.
Moms always have an instinct to look out the window at the right time,
journals are always found by those you wish did not.
Stop signs are run when you assume no cop is ever watching,
Jewelry or clothing are taken from a dressing room when you assume there
is never a camera or security watching.
Even the rich and famous do this...ie Paris Hilton videos,
Winona Ryder shoplifting, Tiger Woods infidelities.

Humans are unbelievably self centered and daft.
God sees things in our hearts before there is an action.

Children grow up.
Mothers, even after the children are married with children of their own,
will always worry, will always find out, what you think only you know.

This is ment as an observation on my part about my kids, and other mothers who
are feeling alone. You are not.
We raise them as well as we can,
and they must go into the world to make their own way.
I am just finding it difficult to give them over to God completely yet.
I must admit, that I am getting better! Just a bit.