he is home!

We are all safely gathered in now.

 We left early with a backdrop of midnight blue skies surrounded by huge transfer trucks traveling the icy roads with us as we headed to the airport.

                                                                       April 2013
He left on a warm day in late April. I still remember the tug in my heart as I watched him walk down the airport stairs to embark upon a journey that would take him thousands of miles away for many months.

                                                                      March 2014

His only request was that we not feed him rice for a while.

more birds and a poem

A winter poem echoing simplicity, since winter desires to linger and hold on tight.

                                              Bread and milk for Breakfast,
                                              A woolen frock to wear,
                                              And a crumb for robin redbreast
                                              on the cold days of the year.

~Christina G. Rossetti

The faithful and stout robin redbreast is the bird in our area that reappears in late January to remind us spring is just around the corner. Charlotte looked outside this afternoon and exclaimed,

"Oh, my goodness, look at all the robins!" Our yard was dotted with about one-half dozen or more. So even though spring might seem very distant with today's cold, it is on its way.

feathered friends

 Right outside my doorway are friends, of the feathered kind. They show up punctually every morning, and feed throughout the day, never letting me down with their sterling essence. Remaining faithful to making sure the feeders are adequately stocked is my part, the birds' part is to be just what they are...feathered friends spilling pleasure.

A little hard-backed journal book to record, binoculars to closely observe, a Peterson's Field guide to identify, and colored pencils to draw our friends in detail.

And yes, there is plenty of competition with the squirrels too, there is probably no reason necessary to convince anyone that they get their share of the birdseed.

inglenook

I like the word inglenook, especially with lower case letters.

 There it sits all smug, and inviting you to come gather around the fireside to sip a cup of English Breakfast tea alongside a slice of homemade wheat bread slathered in butter.

Laura came yesterday and taught Rose and me the essentials of wheat loaf bread making. I ordered the extra ingredients from  the Urban Homemaker, and at the present rate we are eating this bread, next week I can solo on my own bread making endeavors.

a heart discovery

 We stopped by the snowy woods this morning, and Rose marveled at a heart discovery.

Happy Valentines Day!

a much commented- on cap

Isn't it a treat to knit up something and have people comment on how much they like it? Such was the case with this little Goblin Cap I knitted up this past week. Charlotte chose the colors of Galway wool, and the button was plucked from my grandmother's stash of old buttons.

Then Rose took her outside in the twirling snow where it was cold to take a picture.

Since Rose will be going to Haiti in late April, we are both reading Kisses from Katie.

"I have absolutely no desire to write a book about myself. 

This is a book about Christ."

~Katie Davis

When we surrender our lives to Christ it becomes more about Him and less about us. This book is about a young woman serving Christ unconditionally, absolutely, and daily in Uganda. The last time I can remember feeling similar emotions upon reading a true story of a person's remarkable life was The Shadow of the Almighty: Life and Testament of Jim Elliot by Elisabeth Elliot.

Joining Ginny this Wednesday, as I post my second post of the day. Joyously reporting the snow is coming down, just as "they" said it would!

huddling down

"They" say it is coming. "They" say we can count on it being the perfect storm, snow storm, that is, for our southern area. We are waiting, joyously we are waiting!

We have not a care in the world...

a best sort of friend

 I will be heading out the door very soon to spend some time with a special friend. She became a widow last January when the solo flight airplane her husband was piloting crashed. He was deemed an hero because he successfully guided the troubled plane over a heavily populated neighborhood onto an open field. He was just that kind of man.

We will pray and laugh and talk about Jesus. We will knit and eat whenever the mood strikes. We will stay up late and drink coffee tomorrow morning while still in our nightgowns and plan the morning's ventures. We will remember and cry tears. Because isn't that the best sort of friend, after all?

Hill Day Yarn Along

When I was a child Wednesday was known as Hill Day, therefore, it happens to keep this description in my brain. Wednesday resides smack dab in the middle of the week, you reach the top of the hill and a coast down the hill begins until you slam straight into the weekend.

So it is on this Hill Day in the last week of January, that I contribute my knitting and reading pursuits of the week for Ginny's Yarn Along. At least two knitting projects and one crochet project are on my needles, or hook, at the present, but I am about to finish these mitts today. The yarn, Ty-Dy Wool, in the color of Berries, is being knit on # 7 double points with the pattern toast. I more than likely have shared this pattern before, but I love these mitts in their simplicity and function. Mitts are worn even inside the house by me throughout the days of winter, especially since I seem to lack warm hands during cold weather.

                                            "Because the road was steep and long,
                                              And through a dark and lonely land,
                                                God set upon my lips a song
                                               And put a lantern in my hand."
                                                                              ~Joyce Kilmer

Bess Street Aldrich writes a tender story, in this case about a  courageous woman who chose willingly and sacrificially to give of herself to her family, understanding that eternal things are the most priceless gifts we are given in our lives. A Fine Romance by Susan Branch takes you on a delightful journey to England, via the RMS Queen Mary. Her hand-written journal entries and illustrations flow throughout its pages making you feel as if you were stuffed into her suitcase to ramble alongside her to enjoy parts of the English countryside, the historical homes, and the sipping of tea in tea rooms. One evening I drew a hot bath to soak in and with anticipation opened its pages. One could begin and end this book with only one seatting, but my bath water became too tepid! But by the next day I had returned back home from my trip, just wanting to go back again( but for real this time).

afternoon tea

"Let's have tea, shall we?"

Around 4ish, we take tea. We enjoy the variety of teapots, teacups, and trays we are able to employ. Sometimes we might seize a scone or cookie to go along with our tea. One thing is for certain, we like our tea served steaming hot.

An urging that brings sweet repose.

under the weather

"In this life you've got to hope for the best, prepare for the worst and take whatever God sends."    

Lucy Maud Montgomery

I love to find words from books or poems that describe a piece of my life, something I might be experiencing at the present. Lucy Maud Montgomery appears to supply quotes that make one feels as if she is living there right by your side giving such true words of credence.

 For the past few days, I have succumbed to a"under the weather" condition. I do not consider it the flu, but the symptoms certainly bring normal life activities to a slower pace.

I  am drinking plenty of hot teas, some rather nasty tasting medicinal ones, and resting.

And while I am resting, I take up my knitting and join the world of Cranford.

"When sickness hits we should remember that this period of time is part of the whole of life. This is not just a non-time to be shoved aside, but a portion of time that counts. It is part of the well person's life as well as the sick person's life."

What is a Family        

Edith Schaeffer