Tuesday, May 26, 2015

home making monday



Some days it is enough to sit on the porch with a cup of tea in the early morning sunlight and recover from the long weekend.

My sister came to visit from out of state and on Sunday morning we spent some time walking around the little seaside town where we grew up and enjoying the company of one another. We have not always made it a priority to set aside time for each other so it was a real treat. Saturday morning she, our mother, and myself drove about town visiting the graves of my father and my step-father and my mum's best sister-friend who passed away a few years ago. She had 7 children who all pitched in to purchase a beautiful granite bench in her memory and we stopped in to sit on that for a bit.
It is located in one of the oldest cemetery's in the country, Old Burial Hill, in Marblehead, MA, which is where I grew up. This is the view from her bench which sits inside a shady gazebo and looks out over Marblehead harbor.



I was busy in the afternoons as well. Joe's good friend/brother had a friend visiting from out of state and we spent Saturday afternoon at his house with them and Sunday afternoon at our house with them. Joe's boys were with us all weekend as well.  On Monday morning we were serenaded with bagpipes and percussion as the parade gathered for start in the lowlands just across the street. We walked up to the cemetery and watched as they honored those who have fallen for our freedom here. Each year the elementary school chooses one 6th grader to read the Gettysburg address to the crowd gathered on Memorial Day. This year it was this cute young man who was as cute as cute can be and pulled it off without a hitch.


It is not always cookin' and cleanin' that make a house a home.


http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/

http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/

http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/



Monday: Steak tips, rice, home made creamed corn
Tuesday:White chicken chili, Salad, cornbread
Wednesday:Honey butter pork tenderloin, rice, broccoli
Thursday: Meatloaf, green beans, baked potato
Friday: Creamy chicken and broccoli
Saturday: cowboy beans with sausage, corn on the cob
Sunday: Roast chicken, boiled new potatoes with green beans


http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday

Labels:

Friday, May 22, 2015

jerimiah 31:3 friday







Jeremiah 31:3 (KJV)

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

in the ESV it says
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
 ~
These mean completely different things to me. Normally, the KJV is my go to. I admit that I am a sucker for beautiful words and the KJV almost always is the version that makes my heart sing.
However, I like to read the ESV version for verses I particularly like because I want to understand more about them and reading two versions seems to deepen my understanding.
This verse...well...Have I drawn thee. and I have continued my faithfulness to you. They just don't say the same thing. 
Good old King James tells me I have been made by God with loving kindness and the ESV tells me that God has been faithful to me. Which, honestly, doesn't really seem like his job...isn't it my job to be faithful to him?

All of this brings to mind Luke 2:19, But Mary treasured up all these things,  pondering them in her heart.
So, I suppose, I too will have to treasure up these words and ponder them in my heart until they are made clear to me.

http://gleaninginfieldsofgrace.blogspot.com/2015/05/jerimiah-313-friday.html

Labels:

Thursday, May 21, 2015

wabi -sabi treasures

~
i gave her 
a heart shaped piece of sea glass
and purple, and pink, and cobalt blue
and bright yellow goldfinch feathers
from a pile an old owl had left on a wooded path
i walked down one afternoon last fall
~
she gave me 
aqua sea glass that had been melted in a beach fire 
one night long ago
and swept away into the waves of the next high tide
tossed and turned about
and left all melted and bumpy 
on the shore she was treasure hunting
and a fairy table
and an peach pit washed clean by the sea
 ~
once she was my little girl-child
tottering down the path and across the sand
her sweet little hands and tiny fingers
would pick up a pebble or a bit of seashell, or a curvy stick
and stop and turn to me
~look mama, look what I found for you~
~
diamonds, and rubies, and opals, and pearls
are dust beneath my feet
so I take the peach pit from her grown woman's graceful hands 
and long slender fingers
and I place it on the fairy table in the kitchen window
and every morning see it there 
wabi-sabi glistening 
in the morning sunlight




http://3dlessons4life.com/



http://ichoosejoy.org/

http://www.faithbarista.com/

http://thedeliberatemom.com/


Labels: ,

Monday, May 18, 2015

honeysuckle floating



the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing birds is come,
and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land.
Song of Solomon 2:12



Honeysuckle is blooming along the dunes on the path to the beach.
I noticed Sunday morning when I walked early -just after the sun came up.
Monday morning I walked again but it was cooler and the wind kicked up a bit of salty spray.
I brought my clippers and marched through the brush looking for errant branches.

Laid out on the soapstone table in my kitchen....


pitchers full of honeysuckle
fragrance floating in the early morning sunshine

 

beauty for my family

 a gift of 
joy for those i love


http://cornerstoneconfessions.com/

http://timewarpwife.com/

http://womenwithintention.com/

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/

http://theenchantingrose.blogspot.com/

http://blogghetti.com/2015/05/wake-up-wednesday-linky-party-69.html


Labels:

homemaking monday




When Joe and I first moved here to our home on this rather tiny island I set up housekeeping with new curtains in the living room and kitchen and bath.  When it came to the dining and bedroom though, we ran a bit short of cash. So....I used valances that I had used in a bedroom about 10 years ago. I never really liked them though...they seemed more bedroom-ish than dining room-ish.
I've spent the past two and half years searching the charity shops for something
better but, because we have three big windows in the dining room, I have never had any luck. Also, though it doesn't show in the picture, we have a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean across the street. So I didn't want anything that would block our view. 
Saturday morning I went to the bi-annual rummage sale at a local church and found the perfect solution! Three curtains that fit my windows perfectly! For $5.00!!

this is one of the windows with the new curtains up. 


here is the view from our dining room window

We are socked in with fog today so the water looks rather silvery

I also found curtains for our bedroom which I will show you another time. 

the art of homemaking monday

http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/

http://www.whatjoyismine.net/#sthash.8kyPJLlp.dpbs

http://darlingdownsdiaries.com/category/good-morning-mondays-link-party/
http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/

http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/


Labels:

Sunday, May 17, 2015

philipians 4:8




Philipians

4:8

this is the first thing i can remember reading in the bible

that came alive

previous to this i had thought of the bible as

pretty words that didn't apply to real life

or at least not my real life

after reading these words

i began to see how it might be possible to find my life in the words of the bible

~ ~ ~

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,

whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,

whatsoever things are of good report;

if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,

think on these things.


http://www.spiritualsundays.com/

Labels:

Friday, May 15, 2015

this is the day



For Today...15 May, 2015
Outside my window...
in the gloaming

light is shimmering off the ocean

pink and orange ribbons over the sea
I am thinking...about what i need to get ready for tomorrow morning
I am thankful...for the blessings of this beautiful place where we live

I am wearing...black leggings and a long purple tunic

I have my Lolly navy sweater/throw on as well -it's chilly

I am creating...room for growth

tomorrow I am going...to paint the legs of the table that Joe built
I am wondering...how to make everything work
I am reading...1000 blessings

I am hoping...that the weather will change soon. I am ready for warmer days
I am learning...that Yahweh made everything circular
In my garden...My daughters gave me a beautiful tipsy planter

for mother's day  and I have filled it with the herbs and violas they included

and added a few other flowers as well

it looks so cute out on the porch


In my kitchen...Joe made bacon and mushroom omelets this morning

so we had BLTs for lunch

A favorite quote for today...

"Hello Cowgirl in the sand
is this place at your command
can i stay here for a while
can i see your sweet, sweet smile
old enough now....."

A peek into one of my days...today was rather a lazy day. I spent much of it out on the porch. We had a hairy/downy woodpecker at the feeder this afternoon! Also, grackles and hundreds of little sparrows, and cardinals. Last week Joe and I saw a hawk swooping past the porch and through the park!

One of my favorite things...end of day in the gloaming


http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/

Labels: