Friday, December 17, 2010

Christmas Countdown!




My creative Sister-in-law just sent me this
darling Christmas Countdown
"Calendar" that she made.
She said it was late,
but that's ok with me!
My grand babies won't be here to
see it until the 24th anyway!
Thank you, Tracey! It is so cute!
From a mini muffin tin and her crafting
know how and tools, she cut cute little
circles and numbers!
She embellished each with a
bow or beads.

They stay in place with little magnets cut and attached
to the backs and each indentation is
filled with a treat!
Another suggestion was to have a verse behind
each day leading up to Christmas.
The girls and I are going to eat these treats,
but what should I put in it for next Christmas?
Do you have any suggestions for me for next year?
~*~
"Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
Proverbs 27:1




Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gifts

" Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him." And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER, WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'" Then Herod secretly called the Magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have found Him report to me, that I too may come and worship Him." And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh."
Matthew 2:1-11

~*~
Christmas gifts in the Sewing Room!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Fruitcake!


A different kind of fruitcake recipe in







"...we should bring forth fruit unto God."


Romans 7:4b

Friday, December 3, 2010

Much Ado About Nothing

Or
Gone to Pot!
~*~
The day started innocently enough~
as usual, I arose at 4:30 am
to fix Gentleman Farmer's breakfast
and pack his lunch for work.
My routine then is to hop back into bed
and turn on the radio to listen
to the news from our little town.
GF sits on the bed next to me
and brushes his teeth while
we listen together.
When the announcer gets to
sports, GF goes to rinse
and I turn off the radio
and grab a book, magazine or Bible
to read.
(Not interested in the sports! Don't
have or know any kids in school,
and The Mariners....)
Hubby returns to kiss me goodbye,
and heads off to work.
So far, so good!
(TMI for you, I'm sure!
Are you still with me?)
~*~
After I did a little reading/study,
I got up and got dressed, tended
the chickens, fed and let out the cats,
and had a little breakfast while
I caught up reading the newest posts
on some blogs.
(Just a little longer!)
~*~
Then I made some home made laundry detergent,
the liquid kind. This took me quite awhile as
the borax and washing soda had been kept
out in the garage, must have gotten just a tad
bit damp and was very clumpy. Had to work
it with a pasty cutter to get most of the
lumps out. I finished making the soap in
a five gallon bucket. It should last me all Winter!
(I am sharing some with my mom and aunt.)
Let me know if you are interested in the recipe.
I will send it to you.
(Hang in there, not long now!)
~*~
Then I headed out to go into town (12 miles away)
to 'Soup and Sound'. This is a Christmas gift
to the community from the United Methodist Church ~
Free Homemade Soup and a Concert,
which has different preformers each of the
Fridays in December before Christmas!
This was their 28th year and I have
attended all but one or two!
For me, this is when the Christmas Season begins!
After a delightful concert and delicious soup,
I did some shopping and then came home.
I finished up my laundry detergent and then
began on this project.
(Finally! Here are some pictures for you to look at!)
This is something I had wanted to make for
a couple of years, but just never remembered
to get the pots.
(Got any ideas?)
You will need five small terra cotta pots
and one terra cotta tray, some craft paint,
bits of trim and fun fur, and some glue.
(I used a glue gun.)

Paint them to look like
toy soldiers
or
nutcrackers!
(Hope you can paint better than me!)
After your pots are painted,
Hot glue them together and
add some hair, a beard
and some braid trim on his hat.
(I just used what I had.)

Is it just me....
or does he look a bit like...
The Burger King?
(Now, aren't you glad you stuck around?!)
~*~
"...apart from Me, you can do nothing."
John 15:5







Saturday, November 27, 2010

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Walking with the Gentleman Farmer

in our recent snow

just before Thanksgiving!



We were not the only ones 'walking'!





Below ~ The Winter Wonderland













~*~

"Hast thou entered into the

treasures of the snow?"

Job 38:22


Icebox Butterhorns in



Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Little Thanksgiving Blessings!

I am the coordinator for our church's
Secret Sister Program.
Throughout the year
I like to give little gifts to each
lady that is participating since
I don't have a Secret Sister myself.
Since there are many ladies,
these need to be inexpensive gifts.
For Thanksgiving I came up with
these little paper cornucopia's
that hold a wee sampling of the
Thanksgiving Blessing Mix,
and the Cornucopia, when opened,
has the Blessings Mix Recipe printed
inside.



I had a roll of brown craft paper which I
cut into 8 1/2" X 11" (standard copy paper size)
pieces. (I wanted to use what I had available.)
Then I ran the paper through my printer
and printed the recipe onto the
cut down craft paper,
printing two recipes per page.
(This was kinda scary ~ I hoped it wouldn't hurt
my printer! But I have printed muslin
pressed onto a piece of butcher's paper
and it worked beautifully, so I gave
it a try. It printed ok, but did make a
racket as the cartridge passed over the
edges of the paper! :~O )
I cut the recipes apart and trimmed
each piece to measure approximately
5 1/2 inches square.
I used my newest paper punch to
decorate three sides of the paper.
Then I rolled the paper into a cone,
having the recipe on the inside.


I made a sticker ( this one says "Give Thanks"
and has a turkey on it)
to hold the cornucopia together.
(These were supposed to be clear
but they look rather like band-aids
to me! I am using them anyway.)

I filled a little square of plastic wrap with
the Blessings Mix and tied it with a
bit of vintage seam binding and
put it into the cone.
(I prefer to use waxed paper generally,
but used plastic wrap today so
the gals could see what they were getting!)


I hope these little Thanksgiving Cornucopia's
'Bless' all the ladies!
~*~
"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good."
Psalm 136:1

Edited Nov. 23: For Linda (and anyone else who may be interested)
I bought this Martha Stewart punch at Michael's.
I'm sure you can find one anywhere scrapbooking
supplies are sold!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veteran's Day

Honoring all who have served,
and are now serving.
Thank you and be blessed!
~*~
"Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Maple Leaf Roses


Almost too late, I remembered a tutorial that

my dear friend Sharon shared last year on her blog.

(Sharon is no longer blogging. :~{ )

The leaves on our trees have all fallen off,

and though once beautiful shades of yellow,

orange, rust and lime, they have all mellowed

to a wearied gold.

I quickly put these together and added the

last of the brilliantly colored dogwood leaves

for that splash of Autumn color.


Perhaps you still have a few brightly colored leaves

and can yet try your hand at this delightful

nature craft.

Please let me know if you do ~ I would love to see how yours turned out!



~*~



"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley."

Song of Solomon 2:1

~*~

Joining Susan for Outdoor Wednesday.
And

Joining Roeshel at

The DIY Showoff
for





Want to know what I had for dinner last night?




Recipes in The Pantry!

~*~
"...man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything
that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD."
Deuteronomy 8:3

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Followers


I like to visit each of my followers
at your own blog
BUT ~
my dial-up Internet is so fickle!
Some days I can get to one or two,
and other days I cannot even get on
my own!
So, like my friend, Linda,
over at Prairie Flower Farm,
I will welcome you all from here
(especially you new followers!)
and tell you I am thrilled you have
added me to your list.
I just wanted you to know!
Be Blessed!
~*~
"Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life."
Psalm 23:6

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Little Boy Blue



The latest from

~*~
"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD;
the fruit of the womb is a reward."
Psalm 127:3

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Harley

Harley is ten years old this week!
Not sure of the exact date as he was a rescue kitten,
but he was born the last week of October.

My handsome guy!
^..^
Harley loves to hunt mice ~
He brings me one nearly every day! :~0
He also loves to eat (he weighs 20 lbs!)
and he loves catnip!
So I made him a Catnip Mouse
using organic catnip grown here at home.
Happy Birthday Harley!

Reaching...

Smelling...

Killing!...


Happy!


(A few mice are scampering over to
Lady Farmers Market!)
^..^
"A joyful heart is good medicine"
Proverbs 17:22


Thursday, October 21, 2010

"A Hunting We Will Go, A Hunting We Will Go..."

The 'BIG' weekend has arrived!
Gentleman Farmer travels every year
with his 'huntin' buddy', Clyde,
to a favorite (shhhhh! secret!)
hunting spot that my dad
showed him, many years ago,
on the 'other side' of the state!
It takes weeks of thinking
and planning
and making BIG messes
ALL. OVER. THE. HOUSE!!!
But, I tolerate it, :~}
because it doesn't last too long,
he will only be gone 4 days
(remember this fact ~ explanation at bottom of post.)
this is his one hobby,
and he works so hard all year
that he deserves a little guy time!
~*~
Still, this is what I have to deal with
for a week or so before the trip...
(all over the kitchen counter)


(He requested his favorite cookies for the trip ~
the night before leaving. :~?(Gotta luv him!)
3 dozen just for him!
You can find the recipe here.)

(All over the kitchen/dining room floor)


(All over the living room ~ there is more 'draped' over
chairs and piled in corners!)

And I didn't show you the the bedroom
(a girl has to have a little bit of pride)
or the humongous ice chest full
of a myriad of dining choices!
(Would you care to guess who does the
meal planning and shopping
for this hunting extravaganza?)
He will be eating better up on the mountain
that I will here at home!
(And the poor man can't boil water!)
Again, let me remind you, this is for 4 days!
(I will remain at home ~ cleaning and
putting the place back in order! It will
probably take me 4 days!)
I wonder what Clyde's bringing?
~*~
And then here is what I took for a two
week stay with my daughter in
New York...


Just sayin'!
;~D
~*~
"Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field."
Genesis 25:27

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Cat Tales?

~*~
"She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands."
Proverbs 31:13


Monday, October 18, 2010

Meeting Clarice!

I had the great pleasure of meeting
the person behind the blog
and the author of her new book~
Clarice Fox-Hughes.

Her book signing was on Saturday
and I live only an hour or so away
so how could I not attend!
Held in the quaint little Seabold Hall
on beautiful Bainbridge Island.
A beautiful, sunny Autumn day shines down on
Seabold Hall

The handcrafted banner by Clarice

Delightful little vignettes throughout

A table set with dainty samplings
of Clarice's/Wren's recipes!

The charming Clarice herself
signing my copy of Wren Bay!
Clarice is no longer a faceless name
behind a blog title
or an aloof author of a
ho-hum book,
but a sweet, new friend
who just happens to write
from her heart those
things that endear us
to 'the making of a home.'
~*~

"That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home..."
From Titus 2