Sunday Post

Proverbs 3: 1-6

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,

but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years

and bring you prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make your paths straight

Have a blessed Sunday!

RMary

Show and Tell Friday!

Good morning! Welcome to Show and Tell Friday, sponsored by Kelli over at There Is No Place Like Home. If you'd like to join in the fun, click on over there and sign up!

This is a combination herb/wildflower bouquet that I picked yesterday. It has bee balm, black-eyed Susan, catnip, oregano, lemon thyme, Queen Anne's lace and sage all mixed up together. I love a wild, cottage type flower garden and this year mine is a little more wild than I would like it! I've just been so busy and it has rained so much that I haven't had time to 'tame' it!

Hope you are all having a fantastic day!

RMary

Tuesday Morning

Good morning everyone! It is a good morning for me because I am at home. Our couple of days away turned into three days due to car trouble. We were supposed to be home by Sunday night, but ended up stranded in a little town in northwest Arkansas. We finally arrived home yesterday afternoon.

After help from several different individuals, we managed to get our car to a small motel just two doors down from the mechanic. We are so thankful to all those who helped us.

One fellow jumped the battery for us, two others helped push the car out of an intersection and the fellas stayed late at the Auto Zone to charge our battery. The charge gave us enough power to get to the motel. The motel owner was so sweet and offered us, strangers she had never seen before, the use of her own car to go get something to eat!

For some time I have felt that most Americans have become indifferent to the plight of others and I have to say that this experience did change my mind on the subject. I am not a person who believes in coincidence, so I know God sent all these people into our pathway and I am so thankful that He did!

The herb wall hanging above was something I received in a swap with some folks on a forum I belong to. She sent it because she knows I love herbs and it it has Rosemary embroidered on it. She is a sweet friend. Thanks, Gina!

Hope you are all having a great day.

RMary

Weekend

Gone for the weekend---everyone have a great one!

God Bless,

RMary

Show and Tell Friday!

Good Morning. Welcome to Show and Tell Friday! If you'd like to join in the fun, please link over to Kelli's blog, There Is No Place Like Home. All the details of how to participate are listed for you.

The picture above was taken in the early 1900s. The girl in the picture is a cousin of my grandfather's. I've always loved this photo because of its old-fashioned look. It is hard to see in the picture, but her blouse is very pretty, with a lot of intricate embroidery and cut-work in it.

I have many old photographs taken from the era above and I love to display them in my home. Many of them were taken by my great-great uncle, a photographer that traveled these mountains offering his services to the remote mountain farmers.

I also wanted to share the above picture with you. I do not know exactly who the woman in the picture is. Some long-ago relative, I think. We have speculated that it is the mother of my great-grandmother, as the dating would be about right and the picture belonged to her. The picture is actually a sketch that has been painted with water color type paint. I especially love the frame. All of the carving is done by hand and has some sort of gold leaf or paint inside of it.

I hope you have enjoyed stopping by and will come again!

Have a great day,

RMary

Life In the South

I've been tagged by Pat to name some 'southern' things. Since I haven't seen any one's list except Pat's, I'm sure I'll be repeating many of them that have already been named!

1. Drinking ice tea year-round
2. BBQ sauce cooked in the meat rather than served on the side.
3. Front porch sitting.
4. Beans, fried potatoes and cornbread--served with a glass of ice tea, of course!
5. Buttermilk pie.
6. Sweet potato pie.
7. Waving to everybody you pass on your way to town. (I've noticed that cell phones seem to be interfering with this custom!)
8. Fried chicken and gravy with biscuits for Sunday dinner. That would be Sunday noon.

I'm sure there are many more! I don't have anyone in mind to challenge, but if you're a southern girl/guy, feel free to join in the fun. And be sure and give Pat a visit to read her southern things. And while you're there, take a look at her beautiful flowers. Her garden is really fantastic!

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great day!

RMary

Just Desserts Wednesday

I always love to get new recipes myself, so I thought that I would start sharing some of mine. Most I make are fairly easy. This one tastes especially good--at least we think so! I got the following recipe from Better Homes and Gardens about ten years ago. It is great for breakfast, coffee after services at church or just as a regular dessert after your dinner.

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

1 8oz. pkg of cream cheese or Neufchatel, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup cherry preserves or preserves of your choice

Sifted powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed till fluffy. Add half of the flour, the eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat for about 2 minutes or till well mixed. Beat in remaining flour on low speed till well mixed. Spread batter evenly in a greased and floured 9x13 pan (I use vegetable spray instead of greasing and flouring). Spoon preserves in 8 to 10 portions on top of batter. With a knife, swirl preserves into butter to marble.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 to 35 minutes or until tests done with a toothpick. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over cake and serve warm or cool.

We are still having rain! Yesterday there was only a 20 percent chance of rain, so I finished planting some chicory seeds in an area I was wanting them. By dinner time, it was pouring outside, probably washing all my seeds away! More chance for rain today, so I'll plant again at the end of the week.

Have a great day.

RMary

Another Rainy Day

We are having more rain here at the cabin. I'm sure this rainy streak will soon leave us and we will get to our usual dry and dusty summer, but for now we are enjoying all the green.

I managed to get outside between showers and pull some more dandelions from my too wild flower garden--it really could use some 'taming' and I am going to get to it sooner or later. Our little bunny friends are quite fond of the dandelions and we enjoy watching them sit out in the yard and eat them--ever watchful of the cats that are lazing around. So I won't pull them all up. Not that I could--I believe I could make a career out of pulling them up, there are so many! I know they are indicative of poor soil, but I do love to see them in the early spring with their sunny yellow faces.

This is the first year we have so many rabbits! A sign that our dog is getting older! Some of them are getting quite tame and will let you get very close to them before they scamper away.

It sounds like the rain is letting up again, so I'll be heading back outside.

Have a great day.

RMary

Sunday Post

Proverbs 2: 1-5
My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight

and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver

and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD

and find the knowledge of God.

Have a blessed Sunday.

RMary

Show and Tell Friday!

At There's No Place Like Home, Kelli asks "do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better!"

This is my first Show and Tell Friday! I've been meaning to get involved with it for several weeks now and keep forgetting!

Today I am 'showing' a little butterfly covered sugar bowl that I recently purchased at an antique mall in a small town north of us. I have been looking for some information about it all over the web and have found none. I have no idea how old it is or if it is even old, but, it is green, so I had to have it, of course!

I hope all of you are enjoying the Show and Tell Fridays and are getting involved with it. If you aren't doing Show and Tell, go to the above link and join in! It is fun to visit all the blogs and see every one's treasures!

Have a great day.

RMary

VBS!

This is Vacation Bible School week at our church. We don't have as many children this year as we had in the past, but we are really enjoying the time we are having with them.

Today, our lesson was on the importance of putting your trust in Jesus in every situation. Our lesson used many examples to try and stress how allowing Him to be in charge of every situation is the only real answer to solving our problems.

We are having lots of sunshine here today. After all the rain, our grass needs mowing again. It doesn't quite last a week until it is time to get back after it. I'm sure that when July's hot winds and high temperatures set in, the grass will slow down and we can change our mowing schedule to every two weeks.

My Bee Balm has bloomed and it looks so pretty. I will try to post a picture of it in a few days. This is a busy week. Hope all of you are doing well.

RMary

Sunday Morning

John 3: 16-21

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Have a blessed Sunday and a wonderful start to a new week.

RMary

Saturday

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. ~Robert Louis Stevenson~

Enjoy your weekend!

RMary

Summer!

As you can see, it definitely looks like summer outside my living room windows! I know summer doesn't get here officially until June 21, but living in a southern state gives us a few 'bonus' months on either side of the real season.

I took this picture yesterday. At the moment there is a nice little thunderstorm moving through our area. It was already 84 degrees outside when we got up at 6:30 this morning. Hopefully, this rain will cool us down a little, else we are in for a very hot day!

We have a new addition to our little farm family--eight new chicks hatched out almost two weeks ago. I've been trying to get some pictures of them, but they are fast little things and so far I've only managed to get a few blurs. I'll try to post a picture of them, soon. We are always excited to get a few more 'bug eaters' and egg layers. Right now, chickens are about the only 'farm' type creatures we have, except for the guard dog (at least that is supposed to be his job- He gets rather lazy sometimes) and a few cats that stay on mouse duty.

Have a great day.

RMary

BEE HAPPY!!

As you can see above, the bees are loving my lavender. It has just started to bloom and is going to look so pretty this year. They also love the butterfly weed and sage that I posted a picture of on Sunday.

I have a lot to do today, so not much time to play on the computer.

This is a cute little video that I found with cats and bumblebees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv7aVdzCny0

All of you have a wonderful day.

RMary

Sunday Morning

Psalm 100
A psalm for giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Have a blessed Sunday.

RMary

Saturday

It has been a very rainy week around here. Even though it hasn't always rained during the day, we wake up to a wet ground. Needless to say, the grass is growing very fast! We need to mow, but it will have to dry out a bit. My poor flowers have really taken a beating from all the rain, too.

I've been using some of my time to organize several areas around the house. It seems to get a little bit more 'crowded' in the cold months. By the time it starts warming up, I am ready for more 'open' space than I tend to live with during the cold months. This is a small house, so it usually takes me quite a lot of rearranging and 'thinking' to get things in a better order.

Today, I'm going to work on the bookshelves in the living room. The books are put in the shelves haphazardly and some are just stacked on the cabinet below.

Have a fun and safe weekend.

RMary