Will you....YES!

"We're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married...

Such exciting times. He had the question and she had the answer. We couldn't be more happy or thankful that our son has chosen Claire to be his bride.

Sunday was a busy day for this couple as they visited family from here to there to celebrate their engagement and allowing the entire family to share in their joy. I hope to always remember how she glowed when I saw her that evening.

Witt and Claire
November 22, 2009

Wedding bells will ring on May 29th!

Calls to Answer

Last weekend began a Mission Conference held at our church which continued through the week.


Our family was able to host a missionary couple who have served in Africa for twenty years. We were so busy the week before getting everything ready for their arrival, but it was such a wonderful experience to have this couple gracing our home. They had such interesting stories to tell. They literally became a part of our family, as Charlotte can well attest as she packed her bags with full intentions of going home with them on Thursday morning.


And there were special weddings to attend too. On Saturday evening we were able to witness a very good friend of ours perform the marriage ceremony of his second daughter. I especially appreciated how every aspect of her personality was woven into everything from the music to the pistachio wedding cake. This was the little girl that had a crush on my son when she was about eleven years old and they have remained such good friends through the years. I am so very fond of her.

Some of the things I have been doing

Making a pot of Vegetable Beef Soup. The colors of autumn stored in a glass canning jar. This soup can make for the most satisfying of lunches or supper, all one needs to add is crackers.

Snipping the most favored flower in my garden, I call them my garden gems, to bring inside the house; so what if little bugs come in to rest in the warm crevices or my house too.

Pulling out the newly purchased watercolors, brushes and paper to try my hand at capturing some of these lovelies. This is a newly acquired pursuit and even if my paintings are so elementary, I certainly enjoy the process.

Here are the cuffs that go on the dress that goes under the pinafore being made
for Charlotte to wear on Thanksgiving.

Rather has the beat to remind me of the nursery rhyme,

"Here is the cat that killed the rat that are the malt
that lives in the house that Jack built".

I have so much I could share of God's blessings in my life of late. And I hope to be able to very soon.But I wanted to just drop by and give some snippets of simplistic happenings that border my days too.

Thank all of you for your recent comments. My countenance is lightened upon reading each and every one. It inspires me to go on and attempt some more posts when thoughts of taking an even longer break have been cluttering my brain lately.

Easing

This was the scene from the high, large window in my foyer that I was fortunate to glimpse as I passed through one morning. I wanted to squeeze its beauty and get out every last drop of blue sky and golden leaves. I settled for my camera and its macro lens.

The week at the lake with my husband was, if you will excuse a tone of vernacularism, "Just what the doctor ordered". I even found myself wishing I was heading there once again when Friday rolled around last week!

We made a quick stop by* Gander Mountain* on the way and purchased some new hiking shoes. These are some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever put on my feet. We so enjoyed hiking on the trails of Chimney Rock.

Obviously, I have taken a respite of sorts from the world of blogging, or computers too so it seems, for the most part. Honestly, the days seemed to jump on a fast moving wheeled object and take off without looking back. But I would find myself thinking about those whose blogs I enjoy reading.
Easing back is the key.

a weekend getaway

Our bags are packed

And we are ready to go...

Traveling with my husband here for the weekend. There are plans to hike some mountain paths. We shall see shades of changing foliage and enjoy our time together.

Of course, there will also be some knitting while riding in the car; an easy take along project, and music, and loads of conversation.

Have a good weekend!

This day tempted me with its ripeness. The warm sun rays, the balmy temperatures and the crackling leaves under my feet as a table was set outside for supper.

A fat pumpkin and a collection of red maple leaves added the essence of this season.

A quiche made with red and yellow peppers.

Plans were to read of Martin Luther and the nailing of his 95 Theses to the church door. However, the leaves sang to us and the sun painted lovely shadows as we allowed the peacefulness of such a beautiful evening to roll over us.

After darkness falls I shall read to them of this great man of the faith and how he "turned the world upside down".

double birthday fun

Maybe because my husband and I share the same birthday month, or maybe because there seems a special tied up neatness in it all, whatever the case may be, my attitude concerning couples sharing the same birthday month is well... delightful.

Witt's birthday is October 26th and his lovely lady's is on the 24th of the month, so both families joined together for a birthday bash celebrating their lives on Sunday the 25th, a happy meet in the middle place.

I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for Witt, and Claire's mother made a cheesecake topped with bittersweet chocolate for her.

The lighting of twenty-seven candles was a group effort.

Interestingly enough both of them asked for a coffee maker of some sort. Claire requested a regular simple coffee maker since her old one-cupper took forever to brew a cup of coffee in the mornings, and Witt asked for an french press coffee maker, just because...?



There was all kind of fun going on along the sidelines too!

art lessons

Since I believe art should have a place in every student's life in some form or another, my intentions of finding a teacher that could give Rose and Charlotte art lessons this year were strong. That's when a friend of mine informed me her college-aged daughter was planning on giving art lessons and would be happy for my girls to be a part.

This is where we find ourselves every other Thursday afternoon.

We climb the stairs to arrive at her third-floor apartment. The tables are covered with protective cloth while the pencils, pads and tubes of paint with their variety of colors are all within everyone's reach. For one hour creative juices flow along with helpful instruction.

But there is another entirely different masterpiece in the making here too, this particular art instructor just happens to be the lovely young woman Witt has fallen in love- yes, "the one". Count on hearing more about this in the days to come.

beyond badminton

I was sitting outside, a bright sunshiny day, literally soaking in the ray's warmth. A mug of Celestial Seasons Apple Cinnamon Spice Tea, a granola-nut crispy cookie, and a newly arrived cookbook itching to be read, were my immediate companions as the girls entertained themselves around me with their various activities.

Then Charlotte brought me a badminton rack.

"Play with me".
Volleying a birdie back and forth.

It was a moment worth catching.

Basil Pesto

Another telltale sign that frosty weather is coming and I better get a move on, is the final pulling up of my basil plants to be made into batches of pesto in the food processor.

No true "recipe" used for these batches; basically it consists of garlic, basil and olive oil. I dole them into my plastic ice trays to freeze. The next day they are removed and the little dollops of pesto are zipped into freezer bags and placed on the freezer door for convenience sake.


Over the course of the winter and up until I have fresh basil growing once again in my garden, they are frequently tossed into soups and tomato sauces.

*Campbells* tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches is one of my most favorite hot lunches. I can not help it, it takes me back to my childhood when this was a mainstay lunch in cooler weather and personally as much as I enjoy eating homemade tomato soups, I truly like this canned one too.The only difference is now I have basil pesto floating around in my soup which makes the plain good outstandingly delicious.

Such satisfaction comes from an hour or so in the kitchen on a fall afternoon preparing something that will bring loads of summer flavor later.

visions of this season

Leaving childhood behind is never easy. Reminders of this are present before me every day as I see my thirteen year old going back and forth from playing childlike games with her sister (a huge benefit are little sisters in this matter) to that stretching out to new interests and solo events. I try to give her hugs, lots of hugs.

Rather like the month of October I am thinking. Indian summer days, sunny and warm, shorts on still sun-tanned legs, and flip-flops on bare feet; then the very next day the thermostat is flipped to heat, warm slippers are dug out from the far corners of the closet and sweaters are wrapped around shoulders to keep the chill off from these changing cooler days.



There's a camellia bush near my driveway that softly displays white blooms edged in pink...lovely. It drops blooms onto the left behind flip-flops, that started out on the bare feet.


Visions of this season to which poets have penned such laudable words.

We pop pieces of candy corn from the traditional glass candy dish that officiously resides on the dining room buffet. Unless you have mastered quietly replacing the glass top, it will give you away every time.