Autum Blessings and what we have been up to

 

This Blue, trying to help with the table linen change I do on Mondays.

Hello Ladies,

It has been a bit, but I am often thinking of things to write about. I lead such an ordinary life, I thought, until I share with folks what I do and they tell me I'm too old fashioned or that I am a modern Laura Ingalls. Ha, no. I'm not. I'm just me. 

It has been a very busy last few months here with various medical necessities for family, and just getting older. 

Recently I wondered if my little blog has a place with all the activity people do on YT, but I realized YES! Because not everyone wants to sit and get caught in the YT algorithm. 

This past year, my one New Year's goal was to not purchase anything from Amazon. It lasted until September when I needed a braided rug to match the others and the company is now only selling that one on Amazon. Goofy!

Just last week I broke it again and ordered an air fryer. Since my husband and I are now trying to watch our diet I thought I'd try this.  I hear it's the next best thing to sliced bread. Since we have very few stores within an hour's drive I turn to stores online. I just wish they offered the air fryer I wanted.

We managed to get new flooring this summer. I thought taking out 20 year old carpet and putting in laminate flooring would be wonderful. It's beautiful no doubt, but as you can see by the picture above, I have a kitten. Actually 2 kittens. They are both Ragdolls and the fluff that rolls on the floor, whew! I've invested in the Wooly Mop. Love it!

Tomorrow we are getting a water softener for the first time. Since we live out in the country our well water is so very hard. The water office says it's Extreme. After 10 yrs and so many clothes and towels just rotting I finally just had to do it. We are choosing the potassium type though so I can still water my little garden.

Speaking of gardening, I had a good garden this summer. My husband put up a wind break between our house and the shop building where my garden beds are. It worked! After all these years gardening in Colorado I finally was able to grow some things. Now my next quest is what to do to prevent aphids on my kale. 

Due to the high winds we get, the high elevation and the dry air gardening is a challenge here. I've learned from a few seasoned gardeners here that each year can be different, so don't depend on what you learned last year. This summer was true for that tip. We had 30 degree nights all through June, and a chilly rainfall in late September gave us a dusting of snow on the mountain tops. A very short summer I'd say.

I hope you are all well. I am trying to learn how to upload photos from my camera so I can share a bit more of what I'm doing to manage our home in this season. 

Blessings to you,

Dee

Happy Eastertide! & little events at home

image from Graphics Fairy

Hello Ladies, 

I wanted to wish you a Happy Eastertide. This is the 7 days following Easter. So much fun. 

This is just a little note to share what we are up to lately. We are currently getting our roof replaced with a metal roof. 

Many folks here in Colorado have a metal roof and it has become a necessity for us. The ice forms on the north side of the house and creates an ice dam. This happens when we get snow, then a few warm days. 

Enough warmth to start to melt it from the roof but not quite since it never gets above 30 in the winter. The new roof will be metal and the sun warms the metal and snow goes "swoooosh" right off the roof. 

I am preparing the house for guests to arrive this Friday. As Lydia at Home Living calls them, "descendants". I just love that! They will be here for 3 days so we are planning a couple day trips to show them the mountains and area near us. 

Also a family get-together is planned for after church. I just love those. Everyone brings something tasty to go with a meat dish we make. 

Decluttering is on my mind a lot lately. I think Spring does this to most ladies. We get the urge to declutter and re-arrange. It's called "nesting". {big smile here}. I love nesting time. 

To clean out, wipe down and re-arrange. Sometimes new couch pillows too, but I've made some in recent past and I just change the fabric. They are very easy to make. No snaps, zippers or ties. It's like an envelop. 

My daily rest time is a highlight for me. A time to just rest, and I like to thank the Lord for the work I've been able to do and ask Him to guide me in the rest of the day and bless my efforts. 

I'm off to do an errand. There is a metal recycle place near us and there is a few things we "cleaned up" outside for our Spring cleaning around the property. 

I don't like to throw out anything that will not break down, so metal goes to the metal recycle and glass and plastics go to our recycle center. 

I was raised this way and think I've talked about it here on the blog before. 

Anyways, I'm off so I can get back in time for afternoon tea and a snack. 

Blessings, 

Mrs. Peterson

New beginnings

Our bird feeder with "deer protection" around it.

Hello Dear ladies~

I am going to write this post similar to a lovely woman's blog called Laine's Letters.  You may remember her blog posts.  I really enjoyed them and I understand you can find some still at WayBack dot com.

There are so many things that have been happening that this is the easiest way for me to keep updated  here. I hope you are doing well.

In the past few years I have learned to greatly reduce my "social" calendar from mid November until after early January. The health condition I manage worsens from physical or emotional stress and this system is the best I've found to be able to enjoy the holidays without the added burden of "I must" or "but I should" on my plate.  As I age, those words are a distant memory.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.  My husband and I stayed in a tiny little cabin on a lake about an hour north of us.  We were only there 2 days since that was easiest on the budget but just enough time to have a lovely get away. They had their first snow storm while we were there. It was a little alarming as the roof was made of metal and the snow dropping from the pine trees was loud. But the cozy fire and window facing the lake, no cell phone service and no DVD...only VHS made it a memorable weekend.  The office carried a large variety of VHS and we had fun reminiscing.  

The first week of December we decided to adopt an 8mo puppy from the Humane Society. Where we live that's really the only place to get pets. No stores, and very little breeders. He is a terrier mix, and we didn't know then that they have an abundance of energy.  His name was Bennett, and since we had an emergency the next day with my husband, family came to help and after a few days "Bennett" was already answering to his name, so we chose Mr. Bennett.  (Very different than the last 3 Boxers we've had).

The next morning my dear husband woke me to tell me I needed to take him to the ER.  I haven't known him to go to the hospital for anything in 30 years.  I thought it was the stomach flu so treated him with Charcoal tabs and peppermint tea, but no avail.  So we started at the local surgical ER and after many hours there and a CT scan and ultrasound, he had gallbladder issues.  We were lovingly but firmly sent directly to the larger hospital for surgery.

By the end of the day the surgeon came to talk to me and verified his gallbladder was full of stones.  Though I knew that, we could see them on the ultrasound..they would ROLL inside his gallbladder.  The surgeon was inquiring if he ever showed symptoms because half of this gallbladder was gangrene!  Oh my!  The Dr said any longer and sepsis could have set in. Praise be to God for a specialist on staff for his surgeon that day.  God is so good.  Family came up to help the new puppy, be with dad, and make sure I ate. I am grateful.

It was a few days later I knew the puppy was too much. But we decided to try to keep him. We still have him, but this is the longest it's taken me to recover from anything in a very long time.  I am grateful my husband is well and a clean bill of health and he plays with the puppy and takes him out the most. Again, God is good.  He provides for my needs.

I missed a grandson's Bday and my youngest daughters Bday, but I enjoyed boxing up the gifts and mailing them. And they really enjoyed getting mail with fun balloons and bubbles in their box along with their gift.  I love to give things that are fun!  We don't get enough mail these days, so I have made it a point to mail "gift boxes" of birthday theme things.  I have been know to mail a Bday crown and a favorite cookie with a homemade gift of sorts. With what I get - I love to give.

My birthday came and went quietly.  My husband and I went on a date night and I counted it as my birthday. We saw Little Women in the theatre - matinee - and split a small box of popcorn.  We haven't done that in ages. Then we went for a gluten free pizza, that they charged way too much for, but I saved half and froze it for a movie night at home.  We are so blessed with being able to share together things we love.

In the past week, I have chosen to re-work my weekly plan and am making blogging my once a week enjoyment, hopefully on Mondays.  I am also choosing to stay home more and with the help of my husband we looked at all the things I do and how much energy they take.  I was definitely doing too many things.  In God's Wisdom, He allowed me to make my choices, and now I get to make new ones that give me the chance to go to a women's ecumenical Bible study once a week and still manage our home with energy in reserve.

The other major change I am making is changing my weekly grocery run to every other week.  Since I have limited energy, and by Grace while looking at my week, the idea of getting groceries every 2 weeks was very exciting.  I sang praises to God for this, and when I settled on the idea, I am going to do the health food store 1 week and Walmart 2 weeks later.  I used to do this in Ohio, but were we live now, we are very limited on grocery stores.  The local one that is a big name is also the main one for anyone who comes to town, including tourists, so it gets too busy and too stimulating for my calm nature.  

My word this year that I am focusing on is Joy. My thinking has gotten to wrapped up in my symptoms, my "I can't" thinking and others always asking about "How ARE you?"  But those are questions that focus on symptoms.  I want to focus on the good and recovery.  So I tend to pause a lot more and practice a new way to phrase my words when my husband says "how was your day?", "I stepped outside my recovery a bit, but I'm getting back on track." or "I am making progress thank you".  These help my brain and body to believe and act on that rather than only focus on the negitive. God is all Good, all the time.  So why do I need to focus on or talk about the bad!

Today, we took Mr.Bennett and went on a lovely drive through the next two towns.  Seeing the horses rolling in the snow made me laugh.  And the reminder to play, even in the midst of your day.  So I am off to crochet some chair leg covers I learned from gDonna.com.  She is a lovely women that her and her husband like to do a year living in an older time frame. Her last one was 1949!

May God bless you and fill you with Peace,

Mrs. Peterson

Wordless Wednesday

I just love seeing happy faces in unusual places.

Max is hiding his happy face toy. He's waiting for dad to feed him.

Spring is here!

Oh how I enjoy so many people writing about the joys of Spring finally here. Especially after a winter with a LOT of snow!  I will share pictures of here in Colorado.

Max and I made a goofy snowman on our morning walk.

Snow in front of our little country cottage.

Max is grateful to run on the paths made by my husband with the snowblower.

Red Mountain Pass was closed for a couple weeks due to all the snow, but thanks to such hard working fella's  the pass is finally open and Ouray and Silverton can get their much needed supplies. Ever so slowly!

A female Junco!  She was so soft looking and lovely.

Here, I am enjoying the birds. In the winter we had many Junco's that come with the snow and leave with the snow. Funny little guys & gals.

I know Spring is finally here too when the sun suddenly shifts from low in the sky to high.  It goes from the far South to directly East. My heart gets excited each time the sun rises and I suddenly see the shift.

Now with the melt off, the Red Winged black birds are back.  I have such mixed feelings about them, they are noisy and aggressive.  But our little Flicka has no fear.  The black birds do when I run out of the house swinging a towel hooting and hollering! Yes it is quite the sight.

Funny though, the sparrows and finches stay put. It's like they know I'm trying to chase off the obnoxious ones.

My husband finished up the outside prep work last weekend. Spreading seed, taking down them manger that was buried in snow, taking down the white picket fences we had up to keep the deer from eating the bird food.  Oh what a journey that was before the snow got deep.

Today, the Meadow Larks are out singing. That is a sure sign of Spring, along with our Aspens blooming.  So exciting!

I look forward to seeing the grass finally come up and the temperature just a bit more.  We are still in the 30's in the morning, still cold enough I need my long winter coat to take Max for a walk.



Happy Spring!

D

To not make planning my idol

When I list out all the things I want to do in a day, or heck, even in the week or season, I just can't make it work.

I am the Queen of a new schedule, or searching the 'net' for new routines.  I enjoy seeing others ideas. But the bottom line is - I always come back to what works for me.  What's at hand right now.  And that doesn't include counting every 30 min in my day.

God happens to put things in my path and my whole "perfect" schedule - every 30 min increment I had planned - gets thrown off.  "Toss that schedule." "Need to write a new one." "Where's that one schedule that I was on top of my morning. That one will work. I just know it."

Only to try that one for a few days and then that one goes out too.

By God's Grace, I have come to see it's not the schedule. It's not having a way to squeeze in my day all the Household To-Do's, Rest, Crafts, Prayers, Cooking, Reading...not to mention personal - shower, exercise or a lovely bath.  I've tried.  On Paper (and computer). Hundreds of times.  Even tried to fit blogging in from 9:30 - 10.

Guess what? It doesn't work.

I've tried not living with a "schedule" too. I have many friends that don't even have a list.  I've done the "pray for the next right thing", that lands me on the internet for 2 hours! Only to feel like a failure because I got lost in the 'net'.

By grace I see guidelines - not absolutes. Forgiving myself and being grateful for the interruptions.  Not focusing so much on a schedule which is all I think about.  Leave flexibility. Believe me, I have been an absolute girl most of my life.  But being a seasoned homemaker - I have learned what's absolute and what's nice to get done.

I read recently about not making planning my idol.  I don't remember the blog I read it on, but I was again searching for a new way.  "Maybe someone has come up with something that will work for me."   Don't get me wrong, I love to search for ideas.

But the whole point is that my planning, and all the details that go into it, becomes my focus.  My idol.  Scarey.

There is my trap.  Someone's plan to work for me.  What about listening to my needs and my families needs. What about stepping back, finding the peace and looking at my pattern. Don't get me wrong, reading & seeing others plans inspires me to see what works for me.

When I sat down and wrote out  my basic absolutes: prayer time & journaling, exercising, rest, reading, cooking & prepping 3 meals, and having a short prayer time with my husband in the evening - there really isn't 12 hours that I can squish in all my wants for the day or the month. No matter how good it looks on paper.

Hence, I looked at this idea of making my planning my idol.  I had become so focused on planning to "get it all done" that I forget to Breath.  Have you ever heard that Christian song - Breathe?

I am now looking at planning as a whole and as a general blueprint, or guidelines.

It feels like I get so caught up in all the blogs and all the ideas, all the possibilities --- I get overloaded and forget to live. To listen. To Breath.  And to stop letting fear drive me.  Fear of failure if I don't get all my Household in's and out's on paper so I can manage it all.

To love God is to Trust. (My word this year). There is rhythm to the day: an active morning, a calming as the afternoon slides into evening.

There are seasons that God made. He created. We can get back to following those natural rhythms and "Listening".  That is my hope.  I still have a To Do List, always will.  But I don't sit for hours planning, decorating and making every thought about the next plan, or next month.  There is a season to do crafts and a season to garden. A season to sew or learn my autoharp.  There is a season to be active and one to rest.  Scripture speaks of this.

This change in perspective has helped me to weed out all the wants, all the absolutes and "my Plan".  Trying to plan out everything only leaves me feeling chaotic and in desperation trying to find God.

Breathe. Look for your rhythms, and plan, but be watchful it doesn't become your idol.

New Year

I am so excited for this new year.  Many people talk about resolutions, but I have learned that resolutions for me equals failure.  I like the term I have heard about goals.  Having goals and working towards them.

Last year I met most of my goals, except camping.  We only camped once...the week before Memorial Day and it was 30 degrees.  That sort of put a damper on my camper spirit.  The other goal was to find the root cause of why I have felt so bad for years.  I did.  It was two layers.  The first being, I had Lyme. Note the word HAD.  Please praise God for His goodness.  The second layer is that I have a hormone imbalance that I have had most of my life, and these last few years I have experienced worse symptoms, but never knew because of the Lyme.

God is so good!  Now that the Lyme is gone, I have found a practitioner to help me with the imbalance of hormones, and she understands hyper-sensitive people.  Yeah!

This year, I am looking forward to balancing those hormones, decluttering our "stuff" to the things that bring joy or are useful.  My mottos is "Beauty and Useful".   Another goal is to read more inspirational books and less health related.  I find the power of inspiration to be....inspiring. 😊  I love how we can change our world by changing our perspective.

I hope to turn this journey into a blogging adventure.  I don't get on here much anymore, but have enjoyed looking back at years past.  A sort of online journal.  Not someone else's thoughts, or trying to please the reader, but honesty and simple.

I pray this new year will bring many blessings to you.

Old Fashioned

 Does anyone else notice what's wrong here? Sorry it's backwards :-)

Ok.  Call me old fashioned....or Traditional, but isn't there something wrong with this picture above?

I got this in the mail yesterday from a company that I won't use their name because that's not the point.  Look at each member of the family...during "family time".

What are these kids learning?  How is the couple keeping communication alive and their relationship?  How are the kids learning social and interpersonal skills?  Are they learning to take care of the home?  Are they learning how a daddy loves his daughters by spending time with them?

Are the girls growing closer together and learning to "be there" for each other later on in life?

All this is telling me is that each person has their own life (how lonely) and each person is not interested in what the other has to say, what their feelings are, what their interests are (besides electronics).

It seems very cold and unloving.

It's hard to go against the grain and not do what "everyone else is doing".  I know...believe me on many levels I know!  It's not easy.  When I choose different I have to hold to what I value...not what someone else is telling me I need to value.

Think of the example you set by holding on to Traditional ways of socializing.  Like picking up an actually phone to call a friend. The anticipation of waiting for a phone call.  The patience of knowing you missed a call or are waiting  for a call to be returned.

I have an older flip phone and have struggled many times over with whether to "update" my self and get a so called smart phone.  I really don't think they are that "smart".  I actually find more people frustrated that the phone or device does what it thinks you want it to as you are using it.  You spend more time trying to "undo" what IT did.  Sounds a bit like codependency to me.

We also don't have a cordless phone in the house. Yep! I have what I lovingly call a Piggy tail phone in the kitchen and in the back of the house.  We don't have Wi-FI in the house, and yes we have cords that go to my computer and my husbands work computer.

I won't go into all MY ways of doing things different.  I encourage all my family and friends to look at things in their life and how they may or may not be affected by the way "society expects" us to have or use certain things.  Or Dress, but that's another post.

Jesus teaches that we are to be different.  That others will know us by our Love.  Will these kids above know how and when to act on this Love that is offered to them?

**Note - I am not saying that smartphones are bad. My husband has one and we have used it in circumstances that I was grateful for it.  My point is having boundaries with devices or at least questioning motives behind using what ever it is.  The family pictured above really is losing valuable connection time, and I don't mean electronic connection. Please, take what you like a leave the rest.

Peeking through

Well, hello there!

It has been a while since I have posted on here.  I am walking through transitions and lifestyle changes due to battling and overcoming some health issues.  It's a slow process, but thanks be to God,  it is working.

As He has reminded me in my prayer time, do my part and let Him do His.

I love that.  It's also easy to forget.   Day to day events, and when I start feeling better, well,  the wish list and to do list seem to quickly drown out His sweet soft voice.

Once again, I am learning to pick myself up, dust myself off, rest and enjoy the process.

I hope to post here more regularly.  If you read it, great, I hope it encourages you or God touches your heart in some way.  If not, well, that's ok too.

There is much to much intake from the internet these days, and social media in general.  (Don't get me started on that! I have quite a soap box for it.)  My posts are truly just my place to write what's going on here in our little town in southern Colorado and in our home.

It's simple, just the way I strive to be.  Though I am know to complicate even the simplest of things, makes life fun!  My husband often rolls his eyes and lovingly reminds me of Keep It Simple.

I try.

Doesn't always happen.

Todays picture is of a little bird in a side window by my stove.  He peeks out each morning to say Hello and brings a smile to my face.  My heart is lifted and I start to listen to the birds singing outside.  Such a gift.

Take time to listen to the birds.  Their song is LOUD in the morning as the sun is coming up.  Then you may hear little chirps through the day and as the day winds down the birds, in their sweet way, quite down too.  A gentle reminder of how we should live.  The rhythm of the day.

Christ's peace be with you.

Happy 235th Birthday Marines!

Happy 235th Birthday Marines!

This day 20 years ago was my first date with C. :-) A lot has changed in 20 years, but the places we've been and the wonderful people I've met have been a blessing.

I love you C! Thanks for the adventure's during the last 20 years!

Seasons

The cooler temperature and shorter days are the first signs of the changing seasons. Then there is also the desire of my body to slow down, stay inside (for the most part), and find a quiet peaceful routine to settle into for the winter. My body is also wanting more sleep.

I don't know much, but I do know, from my own experience, it sure seems like God knew what He was doing when He created the eb and flow of seasons and days. There is a reason we have the seasons. Our food is grown accordingly as well. It is so important to eat with the seasons and give into the needs of our body during changes. For me, that is the need for more rest and changing our meals to more warm and wholesome meals. And our days. Shorter days, longer nights. Morning, afternoon, evening. These all represent a time and a rythm. I am still working on a rythm for my home, but it's getting fine tuned as I go. Progress not perfection.

Fall creates a sense of crisp excitment for me. I never got to play in fall leaves growing up, so you know what I do three times a week when I go for my walk? Play in the leaves! Sometimes if C is with me I love to grab a handful and throw them at him...then run like crazy! It is a great time of year.

This is our tree. It's one of the last ones to change colors.

Our neighbor's tree, a true sign the season is changing.

My puppy! (I know, he's 4 he's not a puppy! But he will always be "puppy" to me.)

Me with Molly, my girl. Doing the final clean out of the herbs in the garden. She likes to come in and wonder around my garden while I work. Sometimes comes up close to see what I'm doing. I found out she likes the smell of Basil, but not the taste! Oh, you should have seen her face crinkle up when she tasted the Basil. "Ick!"

Molly, my garden helper, cuddler, hugger, and friend.

There are a few things changing that fits right into our seasonal changes. Here are a few:

*The garden is preped and ready for spring, sanz the carrots, spinach, kale and garlic.

*The clothes are changed out in our closets to reflect the changing needs of the season.

* The basket with all of our gloves, hats and scarves are out and by the door.

* The cars still need winterized.

* The patio furniture still needs covered.

*Our bathroom renovation is just opening up for serious consideration. We were waiting for winter since it's an inside job. But oh what a job it will be. More later on that.

*Menu's are changing to reflect the fall harvest: parsips, broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, carrots, apples (ooh..I have a great recipe for apple crisp that uses honey rather than sugar!), pomegranetes, and nuts. Mmmm. I think Hot cocoa should be on there too.

Happy Fall ya'll~

Dee

Vacation to AZ

We haven't ever taken a vacation just because. In 20 yrs of the Marine Corps, our vacations were always to go visit family so the girls could see there biological mom. Well, not this time. We did make a stop to see my mom. It was brief but good. Then on to the Grand Canyon! Can you believe~ we took the train from Williams AZ to the Grand Canyon. What a spectacular sight to see. Pictures can't do it justice, but I will afford the effort to see if you are tantilized to go visit this creation from God.

The train ride up to the Grand Canyon.

We upgraded the car so we could stand on the back "porch" while we rode up. That was so neat!

The first glimpse at God's creation. I don't know all the statistics, but believe me when I say it's aloooonnnnggg ways down.
Thank you Lord for a railing. It kept my knees from being wobbly. At least at this look out point.
My Husbands creative eye at work.

Believe me, I am not standing anywhere near the edge. C just is good with a camera.

Now he on the other hand got so close I started to have anxieties!! I think the AZ sun baked him to long.

I found this little mound of red rock to be intriguing. Out in the middle of no where.

Our country's flag flying at the Grand Canyon.

The donkey trail down. No way! No how! Not a chance!

I hope you enjoyed our adventure. We really had an amazing time.

Dropping my "Followers" widget

Ever since I posted the Followers widget in the sidebar it has bothered me. I've asked myself time and again, why? Why do I have that on there? For me, it borderlines pride and pride is not something I chose to contend with. So, I've removed it. I hope you understand, it's more for me, to keep me honest with myself and some of my personal blogging rules. Thanks!

We are having another snow storm...5-9 inches expected by tomorrow. Where are we going to put all this snow!!

Have a great day!

Dee

What we've been up to

Last Sunday it was so beautiful out, Chris and I decided to take a drive in the country. We headed north towards Bergholz then hooked a right on a back road and sometime later met up with the highway we needed. Let me just say, hills and windy roads made the beautiful drive interesting. My husband took his time meandering and I got to snap some great pictures so I thought I'd share. We didn't get out of the truck since it was REALLY cold out, so most of the pictures are landscape. I had fun trying to get a good shot, he had fun making u-turns and driving slow while I tried to take the picture.


A couple of the other pictures are random ones of the happenings in our home. God is so good to us. We have a warm home, happy dogs and a blessed marriage. I couldn't ask for more than to have a husband who is seeking the Truth in Christ. Thank you God for all you've given me.

It isn't as large in the picture as it was driving, but that is the moon last weekend. It was so beautiful. A reminder to me of how large the whole creation is.

Molly, our 9yo Boxer. She really likes the warmth of the fire. When she wants a fire going she just sits in front of it staring at it, wishing for a fire. My girl is getting older. Yesterday the vet said her tremors or shaking is possible senililty....aww, how sad. He said she sort of spaces out and forgets where she is and shakes. I didn't even know dogs can get that! Aside from that she is the healthiest 9yo Boxer he has seen in a long time!

This was just too cute not to post. Koda, our white Boxer, and Sasha, she is all of 5 lbs, sleeping together in the sunshine. To cute!

Icey water falls from the side of the hills near Bergholz.

I took this because of the old barn. There is something about old barns, hmm, antiques in general, that I just find adoring. If they could talk! oh, what stories we would hear. This home was set back off the road. Someday C and I would like to have a small place that would give us the space away from the road. I hope to add chickens and goats to our gang soon, but not until we move.

The river was ICE! Hopefully you can click on this and see the water up close. It was so fascinating.

The view as we drove out of our town. Once you get behind the hills, or valley as the locals say, this is pretty much what you see. It is beautiful with all the snow. It's wonderful in spring and summer too, heck, throw in fall...the fall colors are beautiful as well. Hmm. Not like the desert I used to live in many years ago.


This was just too funny. The car wash has icycles all over it! We've heard from the local's ( I use that affectionately since we have lived here just over 2 yrs and I am learning how to live in this climate.) that we should take our car to a car wash everytime it stops snowing. This will wash off the salt from the roads and will allow our cars to last longer. I just had to take a picture of getting a car wash, in the winter, with ice hanging off of the device that goes around and under your car. The blower blows the water off as we drive out, sssllloooowwwllllyy. And any remaining water is frozen before we get out of the driveway. I've also learned to keep a lighter in my purse (I don't even smoke!) to heat my key so I don't get locked out of my car because of the snow or ice. It sure makes for an entertaining day. Unless you are in a hurry of course, then God is teaching me something I'm sure, I just need to step back and give it to him.

Hmm, enough rambling. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Peace,

Dee

A giggle with Koda

One of the things I love about being home is that I get to enjoy fun things, especially having Boxers. They are known as the "clown" of the bunch, and yesterday Koda lived up to this.

He has an orange ball that we bought him for entertainment in the winter. I fill it with Cheerios and he rolls it around the house so a few will fall out and he gets the treat! Well, he has learned where I "keep" his ball, and any time the pantry is open (even just a bit) he helps himself to walking in and getting his orange ball, bringing it to me no matter where I am and dropping it at my feet. If I don't pay attention he picks it up and drops it again.

After he did his little stunt of opening the door yesterday, he brought me the ball and put it in my lap. I just had to laugh, so I gave in and he got his "entertainment". Only yesterday as he was batting it around (he would be a great soccer player!) his ball rolled over by Sasha, our little 5 lb, sleeping munchkin who if he is in "her space" she growls, barks and chases him off. It really is quite the site.

He was afraid to go get his ball. He groweld, and talked, and whimpered....from sitting next to me looking at her across the room. Mind you...she is sleeping. After 20 minutes of this, and I refused to help!, he got the courage to go around the house and sat in the living room a bit closer but still wouldn't go up to get his ball. He finally sat in the dining room about 4 ft from Sasha, still groweling and whimpering. He layed down then woofed at her, testing her to see if she would wake up. She did, only to go back to sleep. As he would inch closer he go the courage to reach out (unfortuantely I missed that shot) and he stood up ever so quietly to grab his ball then he ran like crazy around the house and came back through the dinning room to bring his ball to me. The whole thing, was so hilarious. I was so grateful to be home and get the great laugh!

Here are a couple of the pictures I did get:



Inch worm...

He got it!!

What a hoot! I just love my boxers!

Have a great day~
Dee

Icey Waterfall

Were we live is right along the Ohio River and to travel anywhere north or south we have to take the highway along the river. We are blessed to see the most amazing things like this:

Look closely, the color is from the minerals in the rocks. How cool is that! Each year I have seen this (All 3 years now) and as the season progresses the colors get richer. I hope to catch it about March, it's a dark amber color. It's fascinating to me how God can create such beauty, even in the cold. It gives me something to ponder on rather than the thought of how cold I am.

And this:

This one is farther up. It's so beautiful.

Peace of Christ,

Dee

Treasures to me

In my post on Jan 1, I spoke of looking for a new tea pot that was made in the USA. I hadn't been able to find one that I could use on the stove, so I started to resign to the fact that my small pot has worked for the past 6 mths, so what's wrong with heating tea in a pot. I don't need a tea pot, right? Chris said, wrong! He did some searching and found a woman that had this tea pot. It's a Pyrex Flameware Tea pot, meant for stove tops. {insert big grin here}. And this is what he got me for my birthday:

I have such a loving husband! He did a great job searching and picking this out. I love it! It's perfect for us. It makes 6 cups and the lid is glass with little tabs that when rotated, lock the lid on. The handle never gets hot and it boils water just as quick as my stainless steel pot. Did I ever tell you how much I enjoy having tea? Click on the link to see.

This treasure is so neat. I ran across this broom at High Desert Home (she has a great blog by the way). At first I thought "that's weird, but in a cool kind of way". As months passed I noticed every time I got my grocery store special out to sweep with, I would dream of have a cool colorful broom. It may make sweeping fun! And lately, I'm all about bringing more fun into my life. So I went to the site and saw the price, no way. I'm not paying that. Some more time passed and this was still on my heart, so I went back to their site. I read the whole story about the company and the people that make them. Yes, you can really see the pictures of the people that make them. HAND MADE! Not in a factory somewhere in you know where. These people grow the materials, harvest it, dye it with non-toxic dyes, weave or braid them and earn an honest buck for their work. I like that. I am always willing to pay a bit more when I know the person that made it is benefiting directly. Kind of like Fair Trade.

And you know what. It works great! I've tossed my grocery store special that had severly frayed bristles and now own this beautiful pink and lime green broom by Sweep Dreams. I encourage you to check it out. Maybe you need some color and fun in your day to day sweeping. (No I'm not getting any money for this, but I am getting a lot of joy when I see it and use it.) It doesn't even go in my pantry, it hangs on the outside so I can enjoy it. :-)

I believe God gave each of us gifts to use. These people have great gifts and I feel blessed to have a treasure they made.

Wow! There is a lot of links today. I hope you enjoy them.

Christ's peace,

Dee

On the back porch.

Yesterday it cleared enough for the sun to come out. It was so beautiful after days of snow. Days!! And my husband, being the cool guy he is, built a fire in our chimnea on our back deck and pulled the glider over so we could sit on it together. We had a sleeping bag wrapped around us, but by the time I took the picture we were cleaning up. After being outside for an hour the sun was going away and the winds were kicking up. At 20 degrees with the wind, I'm good inside, thank you very much!

Maybe you could stop by and have tea on the back porch with us?

Peace,

Dee

Happy New Year!

A celebration...let's have some tea!

So did you stay up until midnight? I was fast asleep, until Chris came back into bed from taking the little dog out just before midnight. I woke up to hear the car horns going off and fireworks. I don't get much into the midnight thing since I've come to a place of acceptance that staying up past 10pm is "Harmful to my health". I say it tongue in cheek, but with a bit of sincerity.

Yesterday I started really contemplating about New Year's resolutions and came to the point that I realized, I don't like to make resolutions. Resolutiotions to me are great for a day or two then (insert sound of bomb diving here). I found a blog that she spoke of this too. She changed resolutions to goals. I like that. Goals. So I am making goals for 2010, not resolutions.

My goals for 2010 for now are:

* Going the whole year without buying anything from China. Believe me when I say, I will spare you the soap box lecture, not speech, lecture on why I've decided to do this. I will save that for a whole post someday. I've already met my first struggle with this. This week I started looking for a teapot made in the USA. A stove top teapot. After spending my free time for 3 days and speaking to a woman in Atlanta GA that owns a retail business for US made teapots, mugs etc, there is nothing made in the US that is stainless steel or even close. I had to resort to antique sites that sold Corningware or Pyrex that used to be made here. There is one glass one, the glass is made in Germany then sent here to the US to be completed. Hence, my first stumbling block. Do I want to buy ONLY US made products or just completely avoid "made in China"? I've decided to do the latter, but with conditions. If I am going to buy from another country I want to know if it's handmade, like Fair Trade, or someone has a legit. business and is selling the product here in the US. If it's mass made, stamped "made it X". I won't be buying it in 2010. Now C, can do what he wants. God made each of us with our own passions and desires to be pursued in our own life. I STRONGLY feel this way about this. Okay, so I've rambled on and scratched the surface about something that has gotten under my skin. Wonder why? Go in one room of your home. Go around and pick up anything, or several things. Read the tag or the stamp. Where is it made! Enough said.

*Second goal: Each night to write 3 blessings God has given me in my journal. I contemplate my day and look back at my behaviors and actions through the day. Going over my character defects and assests give me ground for working to make tomorrow different, should I be given the gift of another day. I feel writing 3 blessings down will also open my mind more to look for the blessings in things. Hmm, God is teaching, I'm trying to show up to be a good student.

*Third goal: Walking daily and some kind of strength work 3x a week. Even if it's a few basics on my ball at home, something 3 x a week along with walking. I haven't set a goal for how many miles yet. I'm still praying for God's will in this area and haven't gotten an answer. For now, I put one foot in front of the other and get out the door, or head to the mall to walk.

*and Fourth and final, I think: To garden smarter this year. Starting seeds inside, knowing what I'm planting and how to harvest AND preserve it, to harvest when it's ready not when I'm ready, to practice preserving, to save seeds for next year, to learn more about heirloom seeds, to learn more about composting (especially through winter. Any ideas?)

Hmm, I think this will carry me through until Christmas. What about you? Do you have any goals? I enjoy hearing about others so I can encourage them and see how they are doing. Encouragement is so important. God tells us to encourage each other while it is still today. He is such an awesome God, He knows what we need. My spirits need lifted and I always enjoy when someone encourages me. I hope I can do that for you as well.

Peace,
Dee

Okay one more: to actually live my values. I never understood about values until a few months ago and upon making my list of things, it warms my heart and makes me feel confident to see my values on paper. Now, it brings me down to not live them. So, Fifth goal for 2010 is to live my values. :-)


Happy New year to you and may God shed His grace and blessings on you, One Day at A Time.

Reviewing the past two seasons

I have been out of the blogging world for sometime. Circumstances have been such that my mind and heart have not been in it. But as I regain ground and I look to myself and the things that bring me joy or things in the past that have brought me joy...blogging is one of them. I have just a few blogs I enjoy and read often, it's funny how I consider them friends even though we've never met.



In light of looking back through some of my pictures I have a handful of events over the past few months that I really would like to share. I hope you enjoy them and I will try to keep it brief (Me? brief? my husband would fall over laughing. But shhh, don't tell him I said I can be brief.)

Enjoy~

C's birthday! We had BBQ Beef ribs, and he was one happy camper!

Our windows before the replacements were put in. Wood frames, counter weights in the side soiled with soot from a past coal heating system (before we owned the house). They were beautiful, built in 1927, but leaked air like crazy. Last winter I watched my blinds move on the INSIDE of my house when the wind blew outside. Praise God for the money to buy new windows! My house is warm this winter thanks to Him and C's hard work.

Out with the old leaded glass windows.


C holding a counterweight before it was taken out.

There's the new. Oh I could just hug them!!!

Have you ever seen a house with NO windows?

Tad-da! Brand spankin' new, no leaking, warm, lovely windows! Can you tell I like them. I thank God a lot for them.

Me and my lap buddy (or so he thinks) during morning prayer time.

Fall colors on my drive to Amish country to get some meat.

This was cool. Exact replicas of the Nina and Pinta, the two of the 3 ships Columbus sailed on, docked in Steubenville. They sail around the country so people and kids can see what it was really like to be on the boat he came over on. There is a man and his family in Africa I think, that still knew the trade for how the ships were built. So these were done the exact way, pine tar to make them float and all. It was really neat to be on, but I could never sail on one. Sea sickness is not my cup of tea. You can search for their web site, they take volunteers to sail with them. Each ship has a captain to guide the volunteers (no experience required).

I hope you enjoyed the journey over the past few months.

Peace,

Dee