Our Niece Graduates...and Slices of Garden Life

Our niece Erica, who I home schooled through the first grade, has officially graduated from Bearden High School, as of yesterday evening. This was extra special to me, almost as special as my own kids' graduations, since I - with her momma's assistance - taught her to read, and write her first letters and numbers, and add and subtract numbers through 10. Once she started public school in the second grade, I had her every summer after that, until she was old enough to be home on her own.

I hope that gives you enough background. She's like my own.

The graduation was held at the venerable Thompson-Boling Arena, where the Basketball Vols play...
...and win lots of championships, particularly those Lady Vols...

All the seniors...

...the commencement speaker, talking about the fact that we are not our abilities, rather we are the sum total of our choices!

That's our girl, our niece, walking off the platform after getting her diploma. She's just to the right of the white flowers, there...(and oh. my. word. Jesus wants me to have a zoom lens. Amen.)

And, just now, I realized that I hadn't shared my garden pics with you yet, this year. Perish that thought! So I threw the Nikon strap around my neck and got busy...just now...as in, like, ten minutes ago...
Some of the basil coming up...we live for pesto in the summer.

The "salad pot"...lettuce, grown from seed weeks ago, finally ready to eat, and a tomato plant tucked in, after some other lettuce was done...

More of the lettuce...

Tomatoes (and we have a big patch of heirloom cherry tomatoes coming up at the side of our house...they originated in the garden of our elderly neighbor's mother, years ago, and he gave us some little starter plants about three years ago. I let them go to seed at the very end of the season, every year. The following spring, they come back. Effortless.)


Oregano, chives, and thyme...the oregano and thyme will get really bushy, and take over this planter in about a month to six weeks...


More 'maters....cause we're bruschetta fiends.

My pots of petunias in the front...always petunias. This has to make the 8th year?? At least?


Several pots of this n' that, here and there.

This is our vintage Radio Flyer wagon (it once belonged to our elderly neighbor's grown daughter...a woman older than me.)


The firepit. Come by sometime, and sit with us, right here. We'll break out the guitar and a glass of whatever blows your dress up.

Another pot...not as full as I'd like it to look. There just wasn't as much money in the budget for plants this year. (As always, keepin' it real. So many in blogland don't do that. I always will. Promise. It isn't Utopia here...) But this pot will fill out, eventually. Usually, I'd have two in it, so it looks fuller, right from the very start.

And there's several pots still sitting empty. I'm going to plant some things from seed in them. Talk about NOT your instant gratification. That's what $4 a gallon gas, higher taxes, higher food bills, and more expenses in general, will do to your garden.

You, girlfriend (or sir...I know I have some guy readers, and you are absolute dolls to put up with me!) are not alone. I'm even thinking about starting a regular weekly post on economizing - with real life examples, recipes, and just stuff that we do around here when the belt needs tightening.

There's nothing to really show you yet, with the Kentucky Runner pole beans. Hopefully soon I will have some sprouts to show you, because I dearly love me a mess of beans.

Have a blessed weekend.

Beautiful, Feminine DSLR Camera Bag - Hand Made!

I wish I had some bright sun today, for photographing "The Big Reveal"...

I commissioned Hannah to make me a DSLR camera bag. First, I showed her a picture of my "inspiration bag", and then told her the things I wanted for my bag that this bag doesn't have.

Here is a photo of the inspiration bag (not Hannah's bag - the bag I used as inspiration, to give her an idea of what I wanted):
This is the Ellison bag, by Jeanne Oliver Designs. Beautiful, beautiful camera bag, designed by a beautiful lady. Please do check out all her designs - her aesthetic is well curated. She sells mixed media art, jewelry, her own clothing line, and her own line of bags. I love everything she sells in her online shop!

I wanted a camera bag that doesn't look at all like a camera bag. I didn't want something ugly. I definitely didn't want something that screams, "There must be a decent camera inside, so steal me!"

Here is a shot of the inside of the bag Hannah made for me:


Mustard yellow graphic design, well padded pockets. There is room in here for my textbook (or my little Gateway netbook) my camera, an extra lens, all batteries and cords, and someday a boot flash. I can even slip a wallet in this bag, and carry it as a purse/camera bag.


I wanted more than one ruffle...but I think the slate gray color keeps it from looking too frou frou...
The rosette is detachable, and there are two pockets on either side! I keep my phone in one, and sunglasses/reading glasses in the other. (Or keys in one, phone in the other...)

I told Hannah, in detail, what I wanted. I showed her the inspiration bag. I chose the colorway and bought the fabrics. She totally took it from there. She nailed it, spot on! I am in love with this bag. I wish you could feel it...the padding, the sturdy, yet cushy cross-body strap, the way the bag balances out when it is fully packed...

Hannah is going to do a product launch of this bag in her online shop soon! She will be offering for sale either the bag, custom made just for you, or the pattern that she has developed for it. I don't know what the name of the bag will be yet, but I cannot begin to tell you how cute and perfect it is. If you are a woman who loves DSLR photography, you will want this bag.

Here are some marketing photos Hannah and Jonathan took yesterday. These will go up on Hannah's online shop. Her twin sister Sarah was the model...

(That is my brown leather vintage suitcase...I use it to store all my yarn stash. Love that case!)



As you can see, Hannah is also a talented visual merchandiser. If she can do this, on the spur of the moment, in my back yard, you can imagine what she did as a visual merchandiser for a large (now out of business) clothing store chain.

Please spread the word, and let your friends know about this beautiful camera bag! Other than the Jeanne Oliver bag (which is sold out right now) there just are not any beautiful DSLR camera bags out there. Not like this.

Almost Time for the Reveal

Yesterday, I tweeted about a project I commissioned Hannah to design and sew for me...

She got started right away...


...she designed the pattern herself, from concept to completion. All I did was show her my inspiration photo, and I chose the colorway, and the fabrics. She did the rest.


The colorway is slate gray, with mustard yellow. I wanted a graphic print, and I wanted the solid slate gray to be linen...100% linen.


Hannah sat down with graphing paper and laid out her pattern. Then she sewed a mock-up out of muslin (so as not to make any mistakes on the expensive linen), then she started on the actual __________ . She worked at least ten hours, from start to finish yesterday, and is finishing up today.


Sneak peek...she labeled all her pieces...


This has been a very detailed project, her most challenging so far, but I have to tell you...

She's nailed it. She's almost done - she's well past any danger of messing it up. I can clearly see that the outcome is going to be perfectly, exactly what I hoped for. I cannot wait to show you the finished product!

Today is Special

...because at about 5:30 this morning, I became conscious of New Mercies. (Meaning: I woke up. I didn't get up, but I woke up. There is a world of difference.)

Because this is a Tuesday like no other that has ever been, or ever will be.

Because God does not grow weary because God does not grow bored or indifferent to my ordinary Tuesday. He keeps cramming the day brim-full with tokens of kindness. He is eager to hear and be heard, on this day called Tuesday, May 17th. What in this world does He have to say to me today? Whatever it is, it will be a life giving word. Even His discipline (and oh, have I been receiving it lately!) is because of His love. I'd say I'm in a win-win position.

Tokens of His kindness to me, on this ordinary Tuesday, yet a day like no other:



The Preacher's first appointment wasn't till about 9:30. So he had time to make me a late-ish breakfast.


Big Band Swing on the vintage turntable. And I'm practicing my bokeh. (Google it, if you must...) This is bad bokeh, but bokeh nonetheless.


From where I sit, the world looks like this. (Oh, and that is the galvanized tub we use for ice and drinks for parties. Think Justin's college graduation. Would you believe there are still some cans, sitting in water, in that tub? Of course you would.)



The youngest son is going to appear in court, to try to keep his first speeding ticket off of his driving record. Just keepin' it real. This is his reminder.


The Preacher, making me the perfect cup of morning coffee, with the perfect amount of Bailey's Irish Creamer in it. The creamer, not the hooch. I am not drunk as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day...



"Come to momma..."


The King of the Cottage woke up wanting to play with Poppy, so I set the shutter speed to 5 per second. Good shot, and better bokeh. Can I hear an Amen?



Don't hate on me because I eat gravy and biscuits for breakfast. I live in the south, for crying out loud.


Ignore the mint condition antique typewriter, still in its case. Ignore the Mother's Day cards from husband and children, each one with a long message inside from someone declaring my worth and beauty. Ignore the beautiful painting, a Jonathan Howe original oil, on the wall. What I want you to focus on here, is the sketch in the center. Jonathan sketched Timothy, as a college graduation gift to Justin. It is Justin's picture...I'm just babysitting it. And the real baby, too, come to think of it. (His momma made a quick trip to the store for cookies, just now...)


He caught Timothy's essence, spot on!

I love this baby so much. I'm living a dream I don't deserve and have not earned. Grace, grace, gracegracegrace. Unmerited gifts. I am rolling in them.


This child is always thinking, always curious. Can you see it in his eyes?

This day is full of His mercy, and it isn't even lunch time yet.

Look over your ordinary Tuesday. I promise, you can find extraordinary gifts in it.

My Utmost For His Highest...

Below, is one of my all-time favorite entries in the devotional "My Utmost For His Highest". It comes from May 15th, and is summarily the grace message of the Gospel, in that "we work out what God has already worked in". What happens, when you don't functionally believe (Meaning: the way you actually function, versus your mental and verbal assent) in the Finished Work? You have nothing to set your feet on...nothing to work out, save your own behavioral modification...which always turns into the modification of others' behavior...which puts relationships at risk of control and manipulation.

Every person I know, who refuses to let go of the law as even a small means of relating to God, is a person who, in many obvious ways, are at the "same miserable cross patch, set on their own way."

How can you tell? The Son is not manifested in their mortal flesh. Specifically, they do their own will (do not recognize authority), and they have no love for the brethren. Two things that characterized Christ were His refusal to do His own will. He submitted to God without debate or complaint. And oh, how He loves us.

And I love how Oswald said that God never has "museums". This speaks to the fact that "now" is the only acceptable time to respond to God. You are not who you were in years past, and you are not who you intend to be...you are who you are, right now. You better get the revelation that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, or you'll consistently revert to the same old chains of self will. A chain is a chain is a chain...just because you've developed such elaborate means to cope with it, doesn't make it not a chain. Just because you are completely accustomed to life with that chain, doesn't make it not a chain.

You can be free. You can work out what God has already worked in.

Don't stop short of full manifestation of the life of Christ. Work out what God has already, by grace through faith, worked in.

It's quite the adventure. No other way to live!



"That ye may know what is the hope of his calling..." Ephesians 1:18



Remember what you are saved for—that the Son of God might be manifested in your mortal flesh. Bend the whole energy of your powers to realize your election as a child of God; rise to the occasion every time.

You cannot do anything for your salvation, but you must do something to manifest it, you must work out what God has worked in. Are you working it out with your tongue, and your brain and your nerves? If you are still the same miserable crosspatch, set on your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.

God is the Master Engineer, he allows the difficulties to come in order to see if you can vault over them properly—"By my God have I leaped over a wall." God will never shield you from any of the requirements of a son or daughter of his. Peter says—"Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you." Rise to the occasion; do the thing. It does not matter how it hurts as long as it gives God the chance to manifest himself in your mortal flesh.

May God not find the whine in us anymore, but may he find us full of spiritual pluck and athleticism, ready to face anything he brings. We have to exercise ourselves in order that the Son of God may be manifested in our mortal flesh. God never has museums. The only aim of the life is that the Son of God may be manifested, and all dictation to God vanishes. Our Lord never dictated to his Father, and we are not here to dictate to God; we are here to submit to his will so that he may work through us what he wants. When we realize this, he will make us broken bread and poured out wine to feed and nourish others.

What You Missed Today...

...if you were not at church with me...



A brand new Chinese believer, giving his testimony in sweet, broken English...






Going under - old life buried...


Coming back up - raised with Him, in newness of life!

Where I Was Today...

The view from my sister's deck, at her lake house...

Niece Erica and her girlfriends, all graduating seniors this weekend - about to go out on the jet ski...the pontoon boat wasn't uncovered just yet.

Flowers. Just flowers. Some might even say "weeds".

All in all, a great day. And now, back to the real world of ironing clothes for the Preacher, and prepping ingredients for Sunday morning's crock pot - so we can all come home after church happy, but hungry and a bit tired...to a hot lunch.

A whole lot of effort goes into making things effortless. A whole lot. I was glad for the brief respite today. The views at my sister's lake house heal me.