What's New...In Pictures

BIG NEWS, friends...Hannah (my daughter, who is expecting our first grandbaby) is two weeks further along than we thought!

::cheers, confetti::

Sooooo...Grandaddy and I are thinking we could even have a "Thanksgiving Baby" - it's possible!  At any rate, our little Timothy Paul is a big 'un.  I've finally been able to feel him kick!  For the loooooongest time, every single time I would put my hand on Hannah's belly, he would get completely still.

Every.  Time.

It actually got a little weird - it seemed like he knew his Nana wanted very, very badly to feel him moving, and so he decided to play Mean Grandson Tricks.  But we've been able to outsmart him a few times, now.

Hannah came up with a brilliant idea for a bedskirt for her crib.  We've looked and looked at what is out there in the stores, and nothing was "right".  Hannah isn't interested in a "theme" for the nursery, nor does she want anything saccharin sweet - she wants to go with a vintage look for her baby's room.  Every bedskirt we have seen was either too thin, too cutesy, or themed.

(By the way, we've come to the conclusion that the best way to go is to find a twin sized "regular" bedskirt that you really love, and just modify it...or, of course, sew your own.)

This past Saturday, she pulled out all the burlap I have - the color is a deep chocolate brown, and the texture is so rustic and charming.  She arranged and rearranged it, and voila....the perfect bedskirt for her crib!  It looks amazing.  The girl is a gifted designer, able to fabricate what she needs with the materials she finds.

Notice the velvet bear...he is so cute, and so vintage-looking!

Here is our latest antique store aquisition...

The excitement around here is...well, it is extremely sweet.  Lovin' life...I'm just lovin' my life.

It so rocks to be me.

A Lifetime of Love

Come with me, on a warm night in late September, to the Bower's Farm...

As you approach the farmhouse, you see them in the distance, and you stop and smile...already getting misty-eyed...

Barron and Linda Wheeler...it is their 50th wedding anniversary.  That is the dress she wore 50 years ago!

Let's go find a seat on the beautiful, undulating flagstone porch...there's plenty of chairs, spilling out onto the lawn beyond - there's going to be plenty of guests!

Pastor Tim welcomes everyone, and officiates the anniversary ceremony...

At the close, the whole family, Barron, Linda, children, and grandchildren gather to sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" together with all their guests...

"All Because Two People Fell In Love!"

Now, it's time to head to the famous barn, for dinner and plenty of dancing to tunes from the 50's and 60's!  (Seeing my own parents dancing together to "Unchained Melody" was a definite highlight of the evening...)


I hope you enjoyed getting to "go with me" to the celebration last night.  Thanks for hanging in there with me as we served punch together, and helped clean up afterwards!  If you are anything like me, you are kinda tired today...

But wasn't it worth it?

Fifty years.  Imagine that.  Congratulations, Barron and Linda and family!



Preparing for the Party Tonight

...a 50th anniversary party!

Two of our dear friends, members of our church, leaders who serve faithfully and with continuity, are celebrating 50 years of married life this night.  The party starts in only a couple of hours...

So, as you can imagine, it has been a busy day for many of us in Harvest.  And now it is time for me to put on my party dress, pack my apron (since I think I am "Punch Lady") and remember to take all of you along with me, via digital camera. 

Camera is in purse, "locked and loaded", ready to shoot some fun pictures...

...see you at The Bower's Barn!

A picture from Sarah's wedding reception this past March - as she shared a private moment with her grandparents...The Point Is - you can barely, sort of see the big blue barn, trimmed in red, in the back ground, behind the horse stable...a beautiful post-and-beam constructed barn, a perfect (and very sought after!) location for any celebration.

(Have I said lately how much I love church life??)

A Mind At The Mercy of Its Associations

What do these three images have in common?

A geometry triangle

Candy Corn...  (this picture is from the blog Organize Your Stuff  Now - check it out when you can, you'll enjoy it!)

and lastly, this ~

American Eagle men's jeans.

Yeah.  Tell me what these three images have in common.  Nothing, right?  There is no common link between these images in anyone's mind....except my youngest son's mind.

I was reviewing some Geometry with him the other day, prepping him for the ACT.  Halfway through, I could tell I'd lost his attention...so I paused, and sure enough he looked straight at me and said, "Mom...I need new clothes."

So I asked.  I shouldn't have.  But I asked.

"Please tell me, how did you get from Geometry to Clothes?"

He became embarrassed, and hemmed and haw'ed and finally confessed:

"I was paying attention, I promise!  But the triangle made me think of candy corn, and candy corn made me think of Halloween, and Halloween made me think of fall, and fall made me think of colder weather, and colder weather made me realize I don't have any fall or winter clothes that fit anymore!  And I really want some new American Eagle jeans."

Not.  Even.  Kidding you.  That is what the boy said, word for word.  I just sat there, with my mouth hanging open, unable to say anything.

What must it be like, to live inside his head, every day?  Most importantly, where does he get it?

Which reminds me, I need to paint my toenails today.

500th Post Party - Blogs I Love

In celebration of my 500th post (can you believe it?) and well over a thousand profile views, I decided I'd share a few of my best kept secrets with you...some of my favorite blogs (besides the blogs of our Harvest members, which will always, always be my truly favorite blogs...I'm partial like that).

Don't you just love a good blog?  A blogger who takes great pictures, writes reasonably well, and posts pretty much every day about things that interest me is hard to find, and when I find her, I keep her. 

And today, I want to share her.  Trust me, you'll want to hug and kiss me for introducing you to some of these amazing blogs and the women behind them!

First, my daughter Sarah and her artist-husband Jonathan have a new blog - please visit and leave some love behind!  And if you ever want to commission a portrait or painting, I promise you, this young man is the man to call on.  His art is gaining recognition all over this area - carried in exclusive design stores.

Next,you will love "My French Country Home".  Yes, she is French, and yes, she really does live in a beautiful estate-home in France.  This blog will take you away on vacation, every time.

Hmmmmm.  Which one to share next?  This really does feel like I am sharing some of my best kept secrets...

Melissa over at The Inspired Room is an all-time fav of mine...



She is also a pastor's wife, and the most gracious blogger I know!

Oh, and Trina over at A Country Farmhouse is a-mazing.  She's expecting twins soon, and her Oregon Farmhouse is the prettiest thing, inside and out, you've ever seen.

Flower Patch Farmgirl writes beautifully about the miracle of adoption, and all things home and hearth.  Her wit will leave you smiling...this is a blog you truly savor and enjoy.

Last of all, you cannot believe the chicken coop over at The Fancy Farmgirl.  Seriously.  It is the most beautiful chicken coop you have ever laid your wondering eyes on, I promise.  ("What to my wondering eyes did appear?  A chicken coop with a chandelier!")

Pinky swear.  It.  Has.  A.  Chandelier.  Visit this blog - you'll like it.

Come back and tell me what you think - 'cause I think, if you haven't discovered these great blogs yet, I've just made your day!

Spinach Lasagna - the Easy Way

First, pour a little spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your baking dish, followed by three lasagna noodles (uncooked!), followed by a generous smearing of ricotta cheese and two fistfuls of mozerella, sprinkled evenly, followed by a layer of (fresh!) spinach.

repeat with your next layer of three lasagna noodles...

followed by smearing all the ricotta cheese you want on top of the noodles, followed by as much mozerella as you want.  Usually, after this step, I sprinkle some coarse salt and a couple pinches of Italian herbs...

 

followed by some spagetti sauce, preferably fresh...then more spinach, then more noodles...you get the idea.  Add as many layers as your dish (and your tummy) can hold...

Finish off with parmesan cheese

Now, the next step is the most important...actually, the next two steps.  Are you ready?

Pour a bit of water into the edges and corners of your lasagna (under a cup)

and seal it tightly with a couple layers of foil.  Bake in a 350 degree oven till done, about an hour, if I remember correctly, and if I don't, I'll come back and edit this.  ::smile::

Sorry for the lack of precision in ingredient amounts, but I just don't know what precisely to tell you.  Eyeball it - you know what a good lasagna looks like...you probably make a better lasagna than I do, but I doubt you make one easier than this! 

Before I leave you on this sunny-in-east-Tennessee, first-day-of-fall Tuesday, I have to tell you what sort of Tuesday it is...

It's a Martin Denny sort of Tuesday.  And I hope to help start a return to the sheer enjoyment and preservation of vinyl music...the sound of really old music on really old records played on a really old (50's) record player is a happy thing.  A very happy thing.  I love it so much better than my CD's and my Zen MP3, though it is a really nice, recent model. This kind of music is part of our unique lifestyle here at the cottage, paying homage to our preference for all things old and simple...dinner is always accompanied by the scratchy, low tech sound of records, playing Ella Fitzgerald or Nat King Cole...or Martin Denny.  Picking these gems up for fifty cents is better than frugal...this is artistic living.

Just want to leave you with some gratuitous beauty for your brain...eye candy...whatever you want to call it ~

End of summer gerbera daisies, planted in our vintage (our neighbor estimated it to be from the 60's era, because it was his daughter's when she was small, then went to another neighbor, then came here)  radio flyer wagon, along with some ornamental grasses for texture...

The lettuce is sprouting nicely - two kinds - it will be ready when the weather cools off.  When it is nice and full I'll share pictures of our cold crops and a finished salad or two!

Blessings on your Tuesday...we are having record heat here today!

A Happy Sort of Monday

Happy Monday, everyone...I am praying for every pair of eyes that land on this blog today, that you'd know the very personalized, sacrificial love of God for you!  How He loves you.

How about this, for the beginning of my Monday ~

A package!  What is it, what is it?

 
What it is, what it is!  Twig crayons...lllllllllove.  Love.  These.

  Yes, it is sideways, but I love this angle best.  A colorful start to the week, no?

It's a James Taylor kind of day.

I really do have deeper thoughts than these, but I'll have to save them for another post.  I've been pondering the "oughts" of God.  I've been pondering how that, on one hand, legalists get all their "oughts" in the wrong places....and on the other hand, other believers think there shouldn't be any sense of duty or obligation to our lives, because that isn't grace.

Both are wrong.  Which means I've been wrong, many many times, because I've had my head in both places before.  I might get my head in one of either extreme again...it is so easy to be wrong.

(please take note, how easy that was for me to admit...friend, you were born wrong, and it should never be a big honking deal for you  to own that.  You should always be changing your mind in something...because I promise, your thinking is off, somewhere, somehow, right now!)

So at some point I want to think onto this screen, about the gentle "oughts" of God.  How do I know they are gentle?

Because gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit - a manifestation of who God is.  All He is, is holy, and all He does, is from love, and all His expectations have a  gentleness to them.  He is altogether loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and gentle, and so...so....so in control of His every thought and action, and in control of my life.

Enjoy your Monday.  I'm thinking that if you keep your heart in a position of receptivity, if you will but discern it, God has a "surprise package" for you today!