bits of sunshine

my gramps

This is my Gramps (on the right) when he was a young army nurse in the South Pacific during WW II :: 

And this is him (on the left) in France, during the Korean War, shortly after he married my Gram :: 

Today I am missing him, and feeling so grateful to men like him and ladies like my gram - the ones who went off to fight, and the ones who stayed home and let them go and prayed and prayed and prayed.  

God bless the families of all our service men and women who have gone on.  You are thought of with love and thanks today.

oh so grateful

"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever!"        Romans 11:36

I just feel like this is all a gift.  It is from Him.  A gift that we need to be wise stewards of.  A gift to be shared.  A gift to be used as I love my family, love our friends; a place to bring God glory in all that I do.

Only be careful so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them.   Dueteronoy 4:9

 

There are so many things to be thankful for in how this project came to be and how it is working out.  I am keeping a list in my journal and will share thankful bits with some of my updates.  For today, I'm sharing some of the things I've been reading that just make my heart well up with gratefulness.  As Carmen commented the other day, God is SO good.

 

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.  Psalm 16:6

 

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in Heaven above and on Earth below.  There is no other.  Keep His decrees and commands, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.  Dueteronomy 4:39-40

off to the races

 

a sunset that kept the sky beautiful for hours

 

and racing into the night

 

 

.. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * .. * ..

I've been trying to do an Etsy shop update this morning . . . but Etsy is being weird.  I'm waiting for a reply from their help center.  I'll be listing some scarves like the one I was wearing on Mother's Day (I made 4 ore of them) and a tiny girl wall quilt.  As soon as the listings are up, they'll show up on my side bar.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

this is where . . .

the magic is happening!

right up on that hillside 
this will be our side yard 
our house will be facing us, nestled into that hillside 
right up here (the red flag marks a corner of the garage)

we have about 5 acres . . . and behind the trees in the last picture is another hill, and down the hill is a river!  i will share lots of pictures of the land and of the project as we go along! 

a weekend away

a drive that is oh-so-worth-it, to a place that is oh-so-beautiful  

(and for those of you we didn't see {we only saw Ben's family} we love you.  i wish we could have hugged and visited and sipped coffee and thrown rocks with you all.  we needed a quiet weekend, just the four of us.  i know you understand.)

climbing at Gooseberry Falls

 

hiking in the Kadunce Creek

 

 

camping on the shore

 

finding beauty in little things

 

 

and in the big things

 

for two wonderful nights, and three whole days,   just the four of us  

 

taking some deep breaths, 

 

resting in the beauty God has created,  

 

preparing for the project that we started today!

and another skirt!

i did finish this on tuesday, but didn't get pictures of my girl wearing it . . .

so here it is!

originally a pair of linen pants that fit me . . . i cut off the legs, ripped a few seams, re-sewed, added some fabric circles and lots of embroidery floss . . . what fun! 

 

i love it when my creations work out the way i envisioned them!

just for the fun of it

what do ducks eat for snack?

cheese and QUACKERS!

what time do ducks wake up in the morning?

at the QUACK of dawn!

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..   these have been Isaac's two favorite jokes lately.  :)   .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

i'll have another finish to show you tomorrow - i finished it the other day, but i wanted to get some pictures of my girl wearing it.

a finish!

my redwork skirt

wrinkly

but finished!

and ready to be ironed and worn to church on sunday!

i'm going to try for another finish today . . .     what have you finished lately?

cherry rhubarb jam

on this bread.  a wake-up for your taste buds!

here is the recipe ::

6 c rhubarb, cut up 
4 c sugar  
1 can cherry pie filling  
1 lg (6 oz) package cherry jell-o   

mix sugar and rhubarb, let stand over night 
boil rhubarb mixture for 10 minutes  
pulse cherry pie filling in food processor or blender to chop berries  
add to rhubarb and cook 7 more minutes   
take off heat and add jell-o  
stir till jell-0 dissolves  
put in jars  
allow to cool  
freeze or refridgerate 

make some!  you'll be glad you did.

mother's day

Mommy & Maddie

in curly-cue letters

in crayon.

colored over with hearts.

out for a "date"

just the two of us.

at her suggestion

for Mother's Day.

the biggest dessert i've ever seen!

we ate and ate and ate

 

 

we had so much fun, visiting and coloring.  :)

on mother's day morning,

isaac gave me a necklace and earrings that matched perfectly with what i was wearing!

and i got to be with my mom and my grandma

and it was sunny!

it was a lovely day!