Is your kitchen the work horse of your house? Is it the place where your family hangs out? Is it the homework station or craft station? Is it the dropping ground for everything from mail to hand tools? Or is your kitchen your hangout, the place where your creativity goes wild? William Hefner On my An Extraordinary Day Facebook page I regularly post kitchen photos. I seem to be a bit obsessed with kitchens lately. Maybe it's because I have a kitchen that mostly works, but isn't my style. Maybe it's because my kitchen is the smallest kitchen I've ever had. Maybe it's … [Read more...]
Other than going away to college or getting married, have you ever packed up your home, said good-bye to friends and neighbors, and moved far away? Our first big move was away from our sweet saltbox which we had built and thought would be our forever on earth home. Nine months ago we made our fifth move. This time, leaving behind friends we had made over twelve years. This week a man who greeted us and helped unload our moving trucks at our last house came with his wife to visit us in our "new" home. They were en route to see a U.S. Open Tennis Tournament and decided to take a day, … [Read more...]
Have you ever participated in a group event where there was a trust walk or a trust fall? Even if you know all the members of your party, and are fairly certain that they will look out for your best interest, do you find it difficult to trust that they will lead you, or catch you, or keep you safe? Trust. Just five letters. A small word filled with the potential power for goodness, tenderness, and love. A word that could be equated with safety. Today our relationships and authoritative entities are wrought with a lack of trust. We say trust must be earned. Many are … [Read more...]
Copy Cat Challenge ~ with a twist! When DebbieDoos announced the challenge and added..."With a Twist"...she had me!!!! Generally I'm not one who gets into copying something or someone. I like to take the essence and do my own thing. When I read the challenge, I immediately had something in mind. Back in May, Kristi of Addicted 2 Decorating did a series of posts about transforming her community patio into a restful and colorful place to relax. She did a great job. One of the things she did was to create her own Outdoor Rug with Painted Stripes. I'd been thinking that my porch needed a facelift. … [Read more...]
Earth laughs in flowers. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya" Queen Anne's Lace Abundant along the roadsides, this lovely lacy flower has a bit of folklore attached to it. It's said that Queen Anne, wife of James I of England was a great lace maker and one day pricked her finger with a needle while making lace, spilling a drop onto a nearby flower. Thus, the lore behind the tiny purplish black or deep red floweret gracing the center of the flower. The plant was introduced to the Americas by early settlers who brought with them seeds for their gardens and medicinal uses. In … [Read more...]
Wash. Dry. Fold. Repeat. Some household tasks are never done. Especially laundry. Photo snapped by my living in the country & loving it friend. Laundry Do you love it or hate it? Not long ago we had some work done in our basement. You may remember my unpleasant experience with the digging machine. When that work was nearly completed I decided that I wanted to throw some paint on the walls in my laundry room. Ahem, closet. The washer and dryer were out of their tiny space and so it seemed that as the cement flooring was drying I should seize the day. Or in this case, … [Read more...]
It's Saturday night. Our time to worship HIM. Worship. It's about Him. It's not about me. The congregation sings a song I know so well. A song I sang with the kids' worship team at my old church. It seems that every other week lately we've been singing a song to which "my" kids and I made up motions and led a multitude of other children in singing worship to our great God. "My" kids because I loved them (still do). "My" kids, because we were a team. A family. We celebrated, cried, prayed, and had fun together. We had the best of times every Wednesday night and Sunday … [Read more...]
I heard the whisper of God this past week. Why else would I have had the huge urge to completely clean out a storage room? Especially as I could close the door and no one would see the room, it was a perfect storage area. Monday night I had no idea why I wanted an empty room. But, I was a woman on a mission. It seemed that since that storage room was next to the laundry room (that's another upcoming story), that it would be the best place to put the clothes drying rack. Before the urge to empty the room, it had been called the “Christmas Room” as it was filled with all things … [Read more...]
Five things. Heart-bending. Mind-grabbing. One of my favorite bloggers, Emily P. Freeman whose blog Chatting at the Sky I always read, wrote a guest post over at A Holy Experience. She addresses one of my big issues. Fear. Maybe sometime I'll chat about that. But right now, I want to draw attention to this. Emily wrote: But if we have forgotten how to live, it’s only because we have also forgotten we’ve already died. The life we hold on to isn’t really ours. And it’s hard to fear a thing if the worst is behind … [Read more...]
Earlier this summer, as the ferns were pushing up their lovely fiddleheads I was smitten. When the trees filled out, I discovered that my yard was enveloped in shade. Mostly. Cool, peaceful shade. As I came to realize that flowers were not to be major players in my gardens, my eye was continually drawn to ferns. Especially the giant Ostrich Ferns. When you walk a woodland path, do you find a swath of ferns cool and restful? Is there something about them that rejuvenates your spirit? Don't you wish that you could have that feeling every day? Here are some … [Read more...]
Last evening I stayed up a little late before going to bed. Now just for the record....I was NOT Pinteresting. Hee hee. I was sitting in the stillness of the sunroom, contemplating words on the illuminated screen before me, listening to the sounds of the night, observing the sky lighting up in the distance, and glimpsing an occasional firefly dance past my window when I heard the strangest sound, from what I assumed was a vehicle, making its way down the street in front of my house. If I were a caller on Car Talk, Ray or Tom would probably have had me make the noise in order … [Read more...]
Today we're going to have fun! Fabulous yellow made in the sunshine bright and cheerful fun. For quite sometime I've been reading "Gussy Sews," a fun and uplifting blog written by the very creative and inspiring Maggie, aka Gussy. Once a month Maggie invites her readers to join her and link up for an Inspiration Workshop. This month her prompt is Yellow! Yellow! It's one of my favorite colors! It's sunshine and daisies and daylilies. It's lemons and corn on the cob and summer squash. It's the color of happiness and sunsets. At least it is in my world. Haha! So let's have some fun together as I … [Read more...]
Pinterest. It's a virtual pin board for ideas discovered on the internet. For some people it's easier than ripping pages out of magazine. Some people love it. Some say it's a time suck. Some use it to steal ideas and take the credit for someone else's creativity. Others say that it makes them envious or covetous. And still others use it for business gain. Whew! Who knew a virtual pinboard could create so much passion? And here's an interesting fact. Pinterest is now the third most popular social network in the United States. The question I have for you is this. Are you … [Read more...]
Joy Day! A day to say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!" Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!" Psalm 66:1-3a The Bible tells us that God created us in his image. Have you ever attempted to explain that concept to a child? The best way I know to do that is to stand her in front of a mirror and ask her to tell me what she sees. Inevitably she'll say..."I see me." That reflection we see in the mirror is our image. It's … [Read more...]
Are you getting excited for the 4th of July? Yes, I am. This week I plan to do a little flag waving. At this point, I still can't find my small American Flags (Which box from the move are they still hiding in?). But we do have Old Glory flying on the front of our house. Today I discovered an old bolt of American Flag ribbon. (A garage sale cast-off!) After staring at it for a few minutes, there were fireworks. Haha, just a little creative thinking going on in my heard. I started playing around with the ribbon and came up with not just one wreath, but TWO!! After all the fun of making the … [Read more...]
Have you ever thought that you shouldn't pray? Today I was reading my Streams in the Desert devotional and I came across this statement: "It is better not to pray until your entire being responds to, and understands, the power of prayer." ~ P. C. M. What? Not pray? Aren't we supposed to communicate with God? And isn't the vehicle of communication prayer? Thinking on this a bit more, I came to the realization that communication goes two ways. Have you ever stopped to chat with someone and had them … [Read more...]
Okay, I confess. My heart goes pitter patter whenever I see a collection of red, white, and blue. What about you? Does your heart sing for the all-American colors, too? Better Homes & Gardens Just for fun today, I thought I'd share with you a few ideas that I've been collecting on Pinterest. I may, or may not, have guests coming for the holiday. It's a little tricky when a holiday is right smack dab in the middle of the week. Regardless I'll be ready with all the fun things that I've pinned. That is if I actually get working on … [Read more...]
