Happy Thanksgiving!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

~Meister Eckhart

Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!

~Henry Ward Beecher

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck

Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.

~Johnny Carson

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

~Thornton Wilder

The Holiday Season

Sheets from the guest room are in the washer, the oven is heating up for the day's cooking, and I'm counting forks to make sure I have enough.

As we all start preparing for the holiday season, here's a little something to keep in mind.....

1 Corinthians 13:  The Holiday Version

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of holiday cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I am just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the tree with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to kiss the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated holiday china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure!!


(Thanks to my great aunt, Hittie, who clipped this from a newspaper or magazine years ago, and to my mom who saved it!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Merry Christmas!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Front Landscape: Pavers Laid

 The one thing I can say for this old house is that it is in a beautiful setting, so there's not much landscaping to be done. From this view you can just make out the long, narrow, empty flower bed that runs along the front of the house.

You really don't notice this area until you round the corner and head for the front door. In the last post about this project I explained the need for minimal, short planting. And because our front porch is so small I want to extend the sidewalk to give a quasi-terrace impression.

When the weather cooled I got started laying the pavers. They are plain 16 inch pavers from Lowes.

 Because the house sits on the side of a hill, drainage must be considered. The previous owners did a great job in this area and we drain very well. I certainly didn't want to mess that up, so I carefully laid these pavers to direct water away from the house and sidewalk. Using the square helped me keep the checkerboard pattern fairly straight.

There were several loads of dirt and mulch to be hauled off.

Forty-seven pavers later and sidewalk extension is complete.

Right in the center of each uncovered square, I planted daffodils, the anticipation of which will get me through each winter here at Pine Cone Lane. (I know I'll have to suffer through the daffodils' dying foliage stage, but it is a price I am willing to pay!) 

Finally, the uncovered squares were planted over with mondo grass.  As you can see, leaves will be an issue in the fall. When the mondo grass fills in and thickens, I should be able to blow the leaves off with a blower.

My goals for this project were:

     1. low maintenance

               2. minimal, low plantings

        3. sidewalk extension

                                 4. something unusual and unexpected

I think I reached all my goals and I can't wait to show you another picture in the spring with daffodils everywhere!!!

I want to send out a special THANK YOU to the North Central Louisiana Master Gardeners who sent me off to Mississippi with a wonderful gardening gift certificate that I used to fund this project. I hope you guys will walk on this sidewalk some time soon for a visit!!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word,

and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you’ve had.

~Author Unknown

Sunday Schoolisms #16: Abundant Life

God's promise of an abundant life is not a life where we have more material goods than others or a longer life than others.  It is living in a way that what we have is enough.  Perhaps our enough is what we discover in community when we are fighting for the rights and dignity of ourselves and others.  Perhaps our enough is the realization that we have time and resources and talents to share with those who need what we have.  Perhaps our enough is learning to forgive ourselves for the past and to have the courage to unchain ourselves from those who cannot forgive us.

The assurance of God's love for us and for all people is enough and more than enough!  With the blessings we receive from living a life in obedience to the demands of God's justice, we are freed from the bottomless desire for more that threatens to enslave us all at one time or another, this bottomless desire that can spur us to act unjustly.

                                                                                                   Sarah McGivern

                                                                                                    Adult Bible Studies

                                                                                                    Uniform Series                           

It Won't Be Long

It won't be long before we take down our fall decorations and put up the Christmas ones. There is something special about fall décor. I suppose it is because we have persevered through the hot, dry summer, or perhaps we enjoy getting back into the routine that school and football games bring.

Whatever the reason, we all celebrate fall with pumpkins, Indian corn, scarecrows, and more. So I don't know why I was surprised to see so many fall decorations in New York City, but I was!

At our hotel

Rockefeller Center

Little pumpkins

Big Pumpkins

In window boxes

Or trash cans

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourd-ish squash has its own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin.... We anxiously anticipate it every year. ~Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, October 2010

The Sew-and- Sews

A couple of years ago, I was invited to speak about gardening at Emanuel Baptist Church in Ruston. When my presentation was finished, I received a 'thank you' gift from a group of ladies in the church who call themselves the Sew-and-Sews.

They sewed for charity and for fun, enjoying fellowship all the while and getting away from their husbands (which probably goes without saying to all of you girls who are reading this right now).

 I love the name of their group! I use that phrase often at this time in my life when someone's name just won't come to mind and many people I'm talking about are forced to become

so-and-sos.

I am a Sew-and-Sew. I enjoy needlework of any kind, especially embroidery. I've talked before about the Chagall inspired pillow I made for Katherine for her wedding.....

well, now I enjoy sewing for Olive.

I made her this little Halloween top with a spider that admittedly looked like a crab,

I was trying to match the spiders on the ribbon I purchased.

Hobby Lobby carries  plain dresses and shirts ready for embellishment. I thought Olive might have occasion to wear some fall leaves in the coming weeks. I painted on the leaves and acorn with  watered down craft paint and then embroidered.

I include this picture for encouragement!! That chain stitch around the hem is terrible! The stitches aren't even close to being the same size. The real Sew-and-Sews would probably kick me out of their group, but here's the point, don't let the idea of perfection stop you from doing anything. If it was perfect it would be machine made. 

Did you know that every bird watcher keeps what they call a 'Life Book'? It is a little journal where they record each species of bird they have ever seen with the date and location of the sighting. Well embroiderers are supposed to keep a 'Life Cloth' if you will- a cloth where they practice every new stitch they learn. In the end, they have a fabulous tapestry of beautiful stitches; a lifetime's work.

I love that idea but have never taken the time to start one because I am so project driven that I considered it a waste of time to stitch on anything other than the finished product. I am still that way, but have hit upon a compromise- my Life Cloth will be a shirt.(I actually had an embroidered jean shirt when I was in middle school. I had embroidered the collar and cuffs, as well as down the placket. It was very hippy dippy; wish I still had it!) With my Life Cloth being a shirt, I can throw it on and wear it from time to time. I know my sisters would say, "Nothing screams old lady like an embroidered shirt", but we saw some fantastic needlework when we were in NYC recently.

Here's my start. The requirement for embroidering on this shirt is that the design must:
          1. include a new stitch I've never tried before
          or
          2. be really, really cool

Pinterest is a wealth of ideas and YouTube a wealth of tutorials and with the winter months headed our way, it is the perfect time to be a Sew-and-Sew with plenty of handwork to be enjoyed in front of the fire on cold winter days!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault. ~John Henry Newman

To escape criticism — do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

~Elbert Hubbard

Once you accept the fact that you're not perfect, then you develop some confidence. ~Rosalynn Carter

When nobody around you seems to measure up, it's time to check your yardstick.

~Bill Lemley

Sunday Schoolisms # 15: Grow In Grace

When someone mistreats you, try to view it as an opportunity to grow in grace. See how quickly you can forgive the one who has wounded you. Don't be concerned with setting the record straight. Instead of obsessing about other people's opinions of you, keep your focus on Me. Ultimately, it is My view of you that counts.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.    -Colossians 3:13

                                                                           Sarah Young

                                                                           Jesus Calling

Write It On Your Doors

While remodeling the house, I mentioned several projects that were favorites, but my true favorite project is one that nobody will ever see; it's what's written on the doors.

In Deuteronomy 6:9 the Israelites are told to write the commandments on their door frames of their houses and on their gates.  Identifying themselves on their door frames had worked out pretty well for Israelites before, so if God has a thing for doorframes, who am I to argue!!

I didn't write the commandments, I wrote Bible verses, and I wrote them on the tops of the doors rather than on the frames. I have to admit, it gives me a secret pleasure to think of our friends and family passing under God's blessings and protection as they move around our house.

I got this idea from a pin I found on Pinterest. They have lots of verses and rooms they are suggested for. You can read the whole article here http://www.southernmadesimple.com/bible-verses-for-building-a-home/

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.

- Socrates

I am nothing but an imperfect being,

who is residing on earth with a perfect God as my guidance and protection.

-Edmond Mbiaka

La Fin! El Fin! Fine! Finem!

This is it, the end!!

Our remodel is finally finished, completely complete, definitely done!!!!

Here are the last before and afters........

The dining room before...

and after.

The den/ great room/ living room before...

and after.

So the house is finished,

but it will take loved ones, laughter, holidays, and memories to make it a home.

Here's a good way to start!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.

~George Washington