"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Herbal Favors for the Table ~ Thursday Ladies' Luncheon

 A very simple & practical table adornment you can give your guests to take home with them. A herbal gift that offers guests something pretty, practical, and useful .
 This Thursday Ladies' Bible Study I am featuring in my Tea-Cup Tuesday post was very special. The lesson was one I have taken to heart and impressed me with truths from God's word ( the Bible ) that has impacted me in many ways I may relate later. ~Anyway, I cut herbs from my herb garden to adorn each place setting the night before the study / luncheon and formed them into 8 bundles, each containing rosemary, thyme, and sage wrapped with burlap and tied with raffia.. I put each bundle in a bowl of water to make sure the sage did not wilt, then decided the individual bundles grouped together looked pretty good. I didn't need a fancy centerpiece, I'd keep the short herbal bouquet that way until my guests were leaving. They were each able to take away their bundle of herbs to possibly be used for their upcoming Thanksgiving dinner.This tiny bundle can be stuffed into a chicken or turkey as is ! If my guests are not roasting poultry, the herb bundle can be hung in the kitchen, dried, and used for any other recipe calling for such herbs. Practical too.
 We also celebrated my daughter's birthday , along with sharing encouragement and inspiration in God's word. ( the Bible ) A special blessing is to have one of my granddaughters at the table with us, reading aloud the scriptures, learning from older women about what is truly important.
The china I used in this table-setting is Rosebud Chintz by Spode. The china was a precious gift from my Aunt Ruby. Our luncheon consisted of shrimp pasta salad, deli sandwiches, tossed green salad, and birthday cake for dessert. There was coffee, peppermint tea, and cranberry juice to sip as we ate.

I enjoy the many tea-time blogs & posts I read from so many other ladies. I especially appreciate seeing how they use the china and teacups they are richly endowed with being used practically. Using the lovely china and tablescapes to set a table for sharing good times, celebrating family & friends, to encourage and uplift people in their lives. Do you have a friend, relative, or neighbor who would be cheered and delighted to be invited for a cuppa and a snack ? If you need any inspiration for a tea-time recipe & good time then check out the blogs listed below.( Just remember you don't need anything fancy , expensive, or even too much fuss to offer what is most important, hospitality that shows you simply care ).

* Sandi
*Terri
*Martha
*Bernideen
*Antiques & Teacups

Sunday, November 24, 2013

"Who Me ?" YES , You !

 "Who me ? " Yes, daughter, I am talking about you !
 You're our first-born, and our only daughter. We could not have asked for a better daughter than you have been , and are. We prayerfully hope your daughters follow your example as a godly woman, wife, mother, and daughter  and your sons are blessed to marry wives such as you. I won't embarrass you by gushing over all the qualities you possess that show your love & faith in God, but I could ! You have also been an example to me, your Mama, and for that your father & I praise God.
Happy Birthday Autumn , we love you !

We Cannot Hide


"...serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind ; for the Lord searches all hearts , and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him , He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever."  I Chronicles 28:9
 
"For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His."
 II Chronicles 16 : 9
 
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good." Proverbs 15:3
 
" And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
Hebrews 4:13
 
" Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."  Hebrews 4 :16

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Tea-Warp ?

My newly woven rug !
I was able to weave 3 rugs from the last warp I put onto my loom, and am now sipping tea as I wind another warp onto my warp board, to then thread onto my loom and make more rugs. More tea is needed, I am sipping as I wind a warp. ( Hang on Scotty, don't beam me up yet ! ) Above is one of the rugs I wove using the loom ends I bought at the Pendleton Mill.
I am sipping my herbal tea from this Royal Grafton teacup I have featured before. I love the minty green color with flowers inside the teacup and the gold leaves circling the flowers in the teacup and on the saucer.

Back to work, making or winding my warp, but unfortunately NOT at warp speed.
I find I am always a day behind all the ladies enjoying Tea-Time Tuesdays in other time zones of the United States . ( and Canada ) While most of you are snug in your beds dreaming of tea parties or counting your teacups I am busy posting my blog & catching up with you. Happy Tea-Time to you all ! To see the tea-times of so many other ladies across the world just click onto the links below.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Cat-Free Guest Room ?

 This is our guest bedroom. New carpeting, completely new bedding for this bed & the built-in beds in the alcove. ( not shown ) New curtains, new paint. The closets and bureaus are empty to accommodate guests' needs. Low lights by all the beds for night time reading. The best part of our new room is we are keeping it cat free because we have so many visiting friends & family who are seriously , almost life- threateningly allergic to cats. Well, Blizzard, our cat, is making this hard to do. He can open doors, and he intends to make himself at home in this "new" bedroom.


All we can promise is the bedding will be completely laundered if our cat-sensitive friends & family visit and they can lock the bedroom door when they retire for the evening. Otherwise they'll find Blizzard sleeping with them. He's friendly and loves to share himself with everyone .

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

1,000 Pieces Minus One

 We had 2 of our grandchildren over to spend a few days with us this past week. I discovered they love to put together jigsaw puzzles and are so good at it that we need at least a 1,000 piece puzzle for it to be any fun. My husband loves to put puzzles together too. What a pleasant way to spend a cold & rainy weekend ~ hanging out indoors with grandchildren, eating good food, and assembling a cupcake puzzle.

 Most of Saturday & Sunday ( including the evenings ) was spent gathered around the table putting the cupcake puzzle together. No prompting was necessary, these three were drawn to the puzzle like bees to flowers , bears to honey, or kids to cupcakes !


 Almost finished....
 ...but what's this ? There is a piece missing ! Our 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle is only a 999 piece puzzle. How could this be ?
The teeth marks on the scattered puzzle pieces we found Sunday morning gave him away. Wonder where he hid the 1,000th piece .
 
Blessings this past week : playing with grandchildren , a warm home with plenty of food, a husband who loves to play with his grandchildren, a husband who loves me , and most of all ~ a husband who loves God !  ( O.K., a magnificent cat who makes himself known & appreciated even if it means to compete with a puzzle for attention he has to steal a piece. )

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Busy Days Indoors Make Me Happy !

 I have quite a large flock of sheep indoors , and they all fit on my dining room table ! The nice thing about this flock is they require no feeding and don't damage my fences. They behave themselves very well. That is why this flock is allowed on my shelves or under the Christmas tree. Yes, I have been happily crafting away indoors on these cold & rainy days, after I care for my very real & live flock of Jacob sheep.
 My sheep produce a lot of wool for me to spin, weave, felt, & craft with. I dyed one fleece a beautiful crimson red. The wool is drying in my sunroom. After this newly red fleece is dry I will card ( comb ) it so I can spin it up or locker-hook it into a rug. I get so excited with the possibilities & creations I can craft with this precious wool.
 I also dyed some yarn I had spun up earlier this year. The dye color is turquoise, and you can see how the dye appears different in these 2 skeins of yarn.
 The top skein was the white wool of my sheep. There was no black fleece in the wool I spun up. The bottom yarn was a skein of gray yarn, that is the black & white wool of my sheep carded together making it gray. I find I prefer the rich hue of gray wool when it is dyed but I am loving this yarn. I had originally decided to list this yarn in my Etsy shop *  but I am now considering keeping it for a future weaving project. I have more yarn & fleece to dye and a lot more little sheep waiting for adornment.

..."make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we command you ; so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need." I Thessalonians 4:1