He Gives Strength To The Weary & Wipes Away Our Tears

"Do you not know ? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint." Isaiah 40:18-31

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain..." Revelation 21:4

Coffee With A Frog

I took my first cup of coffee of the day out to the pond. I wanted to sip it there, viewing the pond as I enjoyed the warm morning and thought about my summer, and what the rest of the year might hold. As I walked to the wood chairs sitting pond-side I scared up a few red-legged frogs. They squealed loudly as they leapt into the pond. I sat down in the chair ( on the right) and then noticed a very plump red-legged frog sitting in the chair on the left. He seemed to own the chair and was almost kingly in his demeanor. The frog was not the least afraid of me, and why should he be? I was not in the company of the 4 granddaughters who were constantly laughing, wrestling, and playing all around the pond ,searching for frogs with zeal. The kingly frog had no reason to fear I would capture him and view him for a few days before returning him to the pond as the granddaughters did. The granddaughters have returned home. I sipped my coffee. I pondered my summer. I just sat and enjoyed the simple beauty of my surroundings. I relished the quiet, the bird sounds, the play of sunlight on the pond. The frog remained still on his throne, the chair. I finished my coffee and as I left for the house and the beginning of the day's chores, the frog remained. Coffee with a frog, delightfully peaceful, for both of us.

Summer Turns To Autumn, Quickly !

Mount Rainier, seen from Alder Lake. We see this amazing and awesome ( in the true meaning of the word) view from many perspectives all around our home and as we travel to town to shop, or drive practically anywhere. It becomes very easy to take this view for granted, but I don't. To see this mountain and the surrounding country-side only makes me cry for the beauty and ponder the God, my God, who has created it. To me, more precious than the beauty of the mountain, 3 of my granddaughters sitting on the dock of Alder Lake gazing out at the lake and mountain. God Himself considers the little ones precious. I hope in this busy time, this summer time, you too have time to ponder and give thanks to God for His gift of a beautiful and awesome creation...the amazing forests, oceans, deserts, mountains, and even simple meadows and flowers in your own backyards. Even more precious, the children God has blessed you with, be they your own children, grand-children, nieces & nephews, or little ones God has placed in your lives who need an appreciative voice, a caring voice, someone who will love them and pray for them no matter what. "Do you not know, have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired, His understanding is inscrutable, He gives strength to the weary..." Isaiah 40:28,29 This summer has been one of great joy, but also much busy-ness and activity.Balancing home duties, caring for my animals , crafting with my wool to provide weavings and rugs for upcoming bazaars, and remembering to take time to actually enjoy my family , especially my grandchildren, before they grow up so very quickly, as quickly as my children did...well,this has left me little time to blog.My head is swimming with things to write, and the urge to write has been bubbling up within me. My body though is screaming "SLEEP!". So, the flesh is weary and giving in to sleep which enables me to wake up and enjoy another wondrous day with grandchildren who will grow up too quickly. Summer is coming to an end, the granddaughters will return home and to school. Already the scent of autumn is in the air, the leaves are turning red and yellow. My favorite season is so close and as summer quickly turns into fall I will miss the 4 little girls who giggled and laughed and kept me and the washer & dryer humming all summer long as they spent their summer here on Cedar Pond.

Fairy- Garden Tea Party

"Fairies sweet they will be, dancing under the bower, hung by a tree. Pink and swirling to and fro, Oh where oh where will these pixies go? "Colleen Mullaney

The granddaughters helped host a tea party and decided a Flower Garden theme would be nice.Every garden needs butterflies, and fairies! Here is one of my butterfly teacups. I love this set of teacups, the background color of each teacup is different.The teacups come in a set of six , they are labeled "CLASSIC, coffee & tea. Made In China ". I purchased them from Amazon.com. These are my most-used set of teacups because the grandchildren love them.

Our oldest granddaughter made these cupcakes all by herself. She told me to make sure the gummy worms I bought were NOT sour. After she baked the cupcakes she inserted a gummy worm into each one.

She frosted around the worms using a Ziploc bag with a corner cut out as her frosting dispenser.

She also set a tea table for the dolls. There will be six dolls for tea.

The granddaughters set the table outside under a pop-up shelter, it might rain or be too sunny and great-grandparents shouldn't sit under rain or the hot sun. The fairies danced and swirled over the tables.Notice the varied colors of the teacups. Little boys love the frog- green and pumpkin- orange colors. Cupcakes, ice water with a skewer of blueberries and mint for delicate flavoring. Mint tea in the teapot under the tea-cozy. Barbecue potato chips to go with the sandwiches ~ egg salad, chicken salad, tuna, and the all time favorite, peanut butter & jelly.

Let the tea party begin! All 8 of our grandchildren enjoying a tea party with their great-grandparents and me, this is a true blessing to be savored and remembered.

A butterfly came for tea and fluttered around and on the nearby pink flocks throughout the day.

Each little girl took one of the fairies home and the 2 little boys took home a small teddy bear holding a butterfly. Fairies, cupcakes, teddy bears, flowers and butterflies are special and sweet, but none are sweeter or more special than the children who dream about them , read and tell stories about them, then throw their arms around me and give me big kisses before they skip away to play with each other, my grandchildren, the most amazing little beings at the fairy -garden tea party. Please be sure to check out what is going on around Blog-Land on Tea Time Tuesday by clicking onto the links below.

• Lady Katherine' Tea Parlor*
• Martha's Favorites *
• Wanda Lee *
• Terri at Artful Affirmations *
• Pam at Breath Of Fresh Air *
• Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

But Where Are The Birds?

Birds tried to move into this bird house, but the wasps chased them away and set up housekeeping. We chased the wasps away and now this little home is vacant.

A pair of chickadees and a pair of swallows raised a family in this humble bird house. This home is now vacant.

Another pair of chickadees raised a family here this spring, bumblebees have taken up residence and now are buzzing busily in and out.

A small greenish-yellow pair of birds lived in this birdhouse overlooking the sheep pen. They flew away leaving a spider to help keep the pesky fly & mosquito population in check.

This bird apartment saw families of chickadees and sparrows come & go. It awaits new residents next spring.

An old birdhouse built by our son many years ago lost it's roof. I planted sedums in it. A chickadee checked it out many times this past spring but the lack of a roof must have been too much of a problem to actually move in, however a frog has taken up residence.

See? So where are the birds?

Here, inside our chimney! Since early spring right on into the summer there has been a continuous chirping and swooshing of wings in and out, in and out, all day, every day. We fall asleep to bird sounds magnified into our bedroom, and wake up to them. These swallows never seem to quit raising babies. Sometimes we even have a fledgling fluttering around in the bedroom fireplace and we have to rescue it. The cat loves to sleep on our bed facing the fireplace.Since there is a glass screen in front of it, she can only dream her kitty dreams of catching the birds she hears .

Nope, no birds here either... "The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young." Psalm 84:3

Farm Junk & Sedums

Old farm junk, the kind of junk cast off into fields, barns, the dump. The milk cans were given to me by my father after he saved them from the metal salvage place he worked at.The old stove would still work fine if there was a need for it , but now serves me well in my back-yard as a place to grow sedums in thrown away pots & pans.

This little nest was found in our driveway after a windstorm.

This sedum is growing in an old pan stuck into an old metal chicken feeder.

A chicken bucket makes a handy-dandy planter for sedums too.

Sedums grow in arid conditions, and in the too-wet conditions we in the Pacific Northwest are used to. This has been an unusually wet year for us and my sedums are proving invaluable as a source of color and bloom. The honeybees especially are flocking to the sedum blossoms in droves, and for that alone the sedums deserve their right to grow where they please around here. Right now I have many white blossomed sedums showing their splendor, but the bright pink sedums are starting to show their color, as are the yellow blossomed sedums. All the rusty, hole-in-the-bottom buckets, old cast away pots & pans, old chicken feeders & waterers, old boots, interesting planters and wire baskets, are perfect for planting sedums. After planting, the care is simple ~ water when I remember and they will thrive, bloom, and make me and the bees happy ! Simple blessings are among the best of blessings.

Decades Of Love ! Happy Anniversary Jim ~

I have been married to the man of my dreams for almost 4 decades. I have known him that long. We were high school sweethearts, and married while we were both in college and working part time jobs to support ourselves. My beloved was still going to college and working two jobs when our first born , our daughter Autumn , joined our family. Shortly thereafter our two sons were born and we were still working part-time jobs , my husband was still attending his college classes. I am amazed when I look back on our lives to see how hard my husband worked for us ( often 2 jobs at a time), and still took time to play with our children, help me out with the children, keep up our home, and enjoy many simple yet rewarding family times, the times that count in the grand scheme of things that matter. My husband also made sure we were at church every Sunday morning, often helping out at church too.He supported our homeschooling the children in a time when home-schooling was unheard of and friends and family were not so supportive. Without the quiet strength and love of my husband, my beloved, I do not think we would have fared as well and God was so kind and gracious to me to give me my Jim. Happy anniversary Jim, I love you.~ ~" For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother , and shall cleave unto his own wife; and the two shall become one flesh..." Ephesians 5:31