Monday, March 23, 2015

Good March

 A warm spring wind is blowing.  It's time to buy a kite!  
 Or maybe we should sew some bugs on our clothes.
 We can revel in the gloriousness of the incredible edible egg, can't we? I plan on eating "fresh from the chicken" eggs while I'm up at Brad and April's house!




 When I return from the Colorado north country it will almost be Easter.  I like Easter menus.  Ham, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, soft golden rolls, lemon desserts . . . 
Sam and Plum Cake came over this morning.  They dug in the dirt and played in the Wendy house.  James and his daddy stopped in, too.  Kelli is on a road trip with her family (the Grand Canyon and on to the California beach) and of course April is packing for her trip to the east coast.  My sister is in Mexico soaking up the sun.  It's that time of year.  
I washed the bed linens and hung them on the clothesline.  I can't wait to sniff the spring wind when we go to bed tonight.
Now I need a cup of tea and a reading rest.
Thank you for poking your head into my little world.  (BIG HUG)

Friday, March 20, 2015

At Home

 Here's Samantha making the dirt soup.  Millie made some, too.  Mud is fun.
 Look at the gigantic fireplace in the dining hall, at the mall (that's a lot of prepositions).  
 Kelli's seeing mountain bluebirds out at her house!  The previous owners placed many bluebird houses along the fence.  Yay!
 Yesterday Jenny was sick so the girls came over to our house to play.  Granny was able to sneak in LOTS of hugs and kisses.  
 Don't you love Plum Cake's lovely little feet?  So young and beautiful!
 We had a lot of fun on St. Patrick's Day!  Kelli's family comes over every Tuesday so we planned accordingly.  I made very tasty stew (with no carrots because the girls say yuck to them).  Here's the recipe:
Place three packages of stew meat and one quartered onion in a cast iron skillet. Of course salt and pepper the meat.
Bake at 250 degrees for five hours.
One hour before dinner boil a bag of fingerling potatoes until done.  Take the meat out of the oven.  Drain the potatoes and put them in the meat skillet.  
In a saucepan mix two pkgs. of gravy mix with the recommended amount of water.  Stir it up until it thickens and add it to the meat and potatoes.  Leave the lid on until it's time to eat.

We had warm Irish soda bread, deviled eggs (green), green jello, and green Kool-aid.  Bill bought green jelly beans.
I read the story of St. Patrick while we dined.
 The daffodils smell SO spring-y!
Yesterday Birdie was recovering from a cold.  She snuggled under my great granny's hand sewn quilt.  Oh, I cherish these relaxed visits with our grands.
 And I can't forget to tell you:
I'm not doing any more Pauses until Easter.  I'm going up to spend a week with our Brad and Aria and Atticus.  Their mama and CB and Finn are going to the east coast to celebrate April's granny's birthday.  They'll go with April's parents (two GEMS!) and tour DC, too.  Yay!  I will enjoy being at their house!  I must remember to take my chicken boots!  I'll probably blog quite a bit so that they can check on our doings while they are away.
Thank you for popping in today.  Happy SPRING to you!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Dino Boy

 Here's tricky James providing more laughs for you!  Isn't he funny?  
 I didn't do my Pause in Lent post this weekend because I had some sort of flu bug (how many flu bugs ARE there?) and stayed on the sofa pretty much all day for two days. James and Jeff had already had the bug (Bill, too).  
 I rolled all the bright yarn into balls and picked up the striped sweater again.  
 I must organize my office ("office" is a stretch because no real office work happens in my little red and black checked room with dancing bear trim).

 For my lady book club we're reading My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok and for our family book club this:
It's such a good book, so nurturing and revealing.
Jenny and the girls came over to go to the "fresh fruits and vegetables store" (that's what Sam calls SPROUTS) and then we went to a fancy workforce lunch place.  We were the only family-ish customers there.  We both felt relieved that we don't have to get dressed up and go to work anymore.  All the young hipsters looked cute and I'm glad they are enjoying healthy dishes on their lunch break.  I'm glad I'm not very hip.  It looks like a lot of work.  Lazy old Pom Pom.
I think I'm getting the next phase of this nasty bug, sore throat.  Boo!
The weather is GORGEOUS!  We made dirt soup again and we organized the doll dishes.  We watered the baby weeds.  The birds are singing!
Thank you for calling in.  You're very considerate to do so.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Spring Things

 Thank you so very much for all your comments on my last post.  Sheep.  I'm still thinking about them and looking at them.  
I ordered some more colorful yarn, the kind I am using to make myself a striped sweater.  I think I might look funny in this brightly colored pullover, but the colors line up so cheerfully.  
 Everyone around here is eating eggs.  I keep buying more.  They are DELICIOUS!

I wanted to show you this gingham rose garland I've had for a million years.  My friends wrapped it around a gift basket handle for me and just the other day I unwound it.  Isn't it funny how we tend to ignore things but if we move them around, we notice the sweetness once again?
 The camera on my phone made this mountain view look nice, didn't it?
 Last year I bought a handful of bunnies for the grands, but this year I would like to give them something else.  Sheep.  There aren't very many sheep to buy at my regular shopping spot (the grocery store).
 Comic relief:  James eating his foot
 I can't wait to see Cinderella!  I am so happy to see Downton Abbey's "Rose" as the star!  The dolls at the Disney Store are VERY pretty.  I tagged along because Kelli had some returns to deal with.  Millie and I watched movies.
 A friend recommended this:
 The weather was warm today.  No coat.  No socks. The photo below is old, but I LOVED that pair of shoes and those pants!  The sweater, too!  I wore them completely out - so springy and happy!

Realistically, we'll have more of these kind of days before we have gardening days, but I'm grateful for THIS day!

I wish you birds at your feeder, melting snow, tea with sunbeams shining on your face, maybe a nice carwash, and Easter anticipation.
Thank you VERY much for popping in!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Baa Baa Baa

 Thank you for dropping by for my Pause in Lent post.  Four more weeks until Easter!  Yay!
 I tried to draw some sheep.  Not easy.  Gumbo Lily (see blog roll below) let me blow up one of her sheep photos and now it is above the fireplace in the family room.  I didn't do an expert job of framing it (I used Scotch tape).  Lent is a good time to consider sheep, I think.
 I am happy being a sheep.  I think we've been a little too influenced by our self-help culture.  We feel a great pressure to be unique and different simply for the sake of being UNIQUE and DIFFERENT.  Children (Jesus loves them and wants us to remain childlike in our thinking because they're so pure) don't seem to want to distinguish themselves as being different as much as adults do.  I loved the part in the film, The Bucket List, when Morgan Freeman's character says to Jack Nicholson's character, "Everybody's everybody."  I wish we'd think about our corporate place in the body of mankind more than our individuality. Just saying.  Sheep "baa baa baa" along and travel together in a big herd.  I like it.
People don't own ONE sheep, do they?

I must say that what sheep give is useful.  Mmmmmmmm.


 It's chilly but not freezing, so I'm going to go out for a walk and listen to Lark Rise to Candleford while I poke along on the sidewalk.  I love the simplicity of Flora Thompson's great work.  It makes me feel connected to my ancestors.
I hope you feel that cozy and folksy fellowship that comes from being part of the human race today.  

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The Road Home

 I was looking at my photos of paths and roads and then I looked at My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year (John Henry Jowett) and what do you know?  Yes, for March 4th the writing is about John 14:15-31.
Here it is:
And so even the road is to have the home-feeling in it. "I will not leave you orphans." Yes; there is to be something of home even in the way to it.  I find something of Devonshire even in Dorsetshire; Shropshire gives me a taste of Wales.  My Lord will not leave me comfortless.  Heaven runs over, and I find its bounty before I arrive at its gate.  The "Valley of Baca" becomes "a well."
And there are to be wonderful visions to speed the pilgrim's feet.  "I will manifest Myself unto him." At unexpected corners the glory will break!  We shall be assuming that we have picked up a common traveller, and suddenly we shall discover it is the Lord, for He will be made known to us "in the breaking of bread."  And at many "risings" of the road, where the climbing is stiff and burdensome, we shall be inspired with many a glorious view, and we shall see "the land that is very far off."

The one condition is, that I keep His word.  If I am obedient, He will appear unto me, and the humdrum road will shine with miracles of grace.
God is Jesus and the Holy Spirit and as I've been studying deeper into God's Word, I am experiencing enlightenment in new ways.  I've been a follower of Jesus for many decades and I remain astounded that there is no "ho hum ordinary" when it comes to the journey of the soul.  The WORD is the gift to us zillions of humans.  Using words to talk, to read, to write, to show the way makes life quite miraculous.  Don't you think so?


Followers