It's Breezy's Birthday!

~Breezy is the wife of our youngest son. Breezy is our daughter-in-law, and we consider her a daughter-in-love, because we love her very, very, much!Above is a picture of Breezy on her wedding day( to our son) , with her dog Birney (rt.) and our son's dog Taz . Birney and Taz were in the wedding and a part of the festivities and are still very much part of Breezy's and our son's life. ~Christmas family portraits. Here are our son, Breezy, and Taz. Taz is wearing a bow tie too.My Hubby requested I post this picture because he likes it very much. He also wanted me to make sure I had a picture of Breezy with her blue hair.Breezy sometimes has pink hair, and sometimes it looks purple. The nieces think this is so cool, and they do all say " Aunt breezy is the coolest." ~Breezy is the coolest...she can shoot ( guns), ride (horses), drive big rigs, cook, and keep our son fed! And she also is very hospitable to groups of family, feeding us all well..and our animals, should we bring them along for the visit. All this and look great! Manicured nails, beautiful hair...super woman!Best of all, she is fierce with her love for our son I tell you, fierce! Our son has no better help mate and defender, love and wife than Breezy! We just know God knew right from the start the wife Daniel needed and good thing Daniel recognized it...Happy Birthday Breezy!

~"And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him." Genesis 2:18

~Happy Birthday to our daughter-in-love, and you're a blessing to us all.~

Blossoms In the Snow

~The Primroses are blooming, spring is here.....I think.....~

~As I was preparing dinner late Monday afternoon the sky darkened and this is my view from the kitchen, out onto Cedar Pond~

~Tuesday, there is snow everywhere. The temperatures dropped to below 20 degrees early in the morning and are to be as low, record setting low temperatures, today. Still, I snapped these pictures of flowers blooming amidst the snow. Above are some crocuses that burst through the Ajuga, can you see the brave honeybee that ventured out into bee-killing temperatures to get nectar and pollen?

~Bright yellow Primroses. These Primroses bloom and reproduce every year.~

~And my Hubby's Hellebores, blooming in the snow. They are so hardy and such faithful bloomers. Food for the bees and flowers for the soul in the last days of winter and early days of spring when the weather is unpredictable and deadly to so many other plants that bloom.~

~"Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow." Alice M. Swain ~

Start With A Lamb...

~This ( above ) is where my yarn begins. The birth of a lamb.~

~My homespun yarn. A work of love. Though it hardly seems like work, because I love it.~

~Here are the natural, not-dyed colors of my sheep. The brown is from my Romney / Jacob cross sheep, Delilah. The rest of the grays are the wool of my Jacob sheep.~

~The turquoise wool is also the wool of my Jacob sheep, dyed in a kettle on my stove. I never tire of the seeming magic of my wool, that I can start with a wee lamb, take the wool from it when it is grown, spin it into yarn, dye it and weave it into fabric and create..? Whatever my imagination and heart dream up! The creativity we are all given can be expressed in so many ways...baking, decorating, singing, writing........

CREATE : "To produce as a new construction out of existing materials; make a new form of preexisting substances..."Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary

She Chose Me

~This is Beatrix. She was one of 11 puppies born to our dog Sienna.She is the granddaughter to our beloved Saxon, and great-granddaughter to our dog, Thor.The last litter of AKC registered Labrador Retriever puppies I intended to raise. After more than 15 years of raising Labrador puppies it was time to quit and enjoy the 5 dogs we had. I already had a full sister to Beatrix, Willow, from Siennas' first litter.I did not, repeat, DID NOT want another puppy to raise. Sometimes though, I am outsmarted by my critters.Outsmarted with love. ~My puppies were born in the kitchen and kept in a children's swimming pool on the floor near my kitchen sink. This allowed me to keep an eye on them all the time and attend to their momma's needs as well. In every litter of puppies, even if all 11 of them are rust-gold yellow and look alike, they very soon distinguish themselves as individuals with their own unique personalities. Well in this litter there was one little female pup who as soon as her eyes opened, would just sit herself up and watch me. Her brothers and sisters would be playing and snuffling the pool, but she would just sit there as close to me as possible and watch me. ~The puppies were always moved outside into enclosed shelters with heat lamps if needed when they were about 3 weeks old. Every time I would be outside attending to the puppies, there was the little female following me, and carefully observing me, just me.When the puppies were put up for sale, they sold quickly. But every time a family would come out to choose their pup, this particular little female would be clinging to the shade and corners of the puppy house. What was going on? She had never before exhibited shy or timid behavior. But the families that came and went were sure she was one of those timid dogs all the books said to avoid. As soon as the families left with another puppy, there she would be,out of the puppy house, happy and content to just gaze at me. ~Finally, there was just her left. I had spent a lot of money on ads and as the last ad ran out, and the last calls for puppies ceased....there was just her. We had to take her on our Thanksgiving trip to our son's home over the mountains ( we couldn't leave a puppy in the kennel alone) and she traveled with her 2 years older sister Willow. We discovered this little puppy was a perfect traveling dog. She got along well with our son and his wife's 5 dogs and she got along well with children and she house broke herself.It dawned on me she was, and is a smart dog. I think she planned this all out and knew what she was doing. I ended up keeping her, but did not settle on a name for her for awhile because maybe I should sell her...we don't need 6 dogs. But she is now 4 years old. You can see we still have her. ( or she still has us) ~She lives for me. I don't know why. Her whole being seems dedicated to being by my side. She does not jump up on me, or pester me with her tongue and pushing against me. She simply follows and watches me. When I sit down or stand still, she sits and gazes at me. When all the other dogs are vying for my attention by leaping around me, pushing each other out of my way, she sits...and gazes.When I call to her for petting, she is at my side, head in my lap, and her sigh tells me that to her, this is more than enough reward for her. When I have had to chastise her for misbehavior ( rare for her ) she doesn't flee, she lowers her head and leans close as she thinks proper, and watches me for approval again.She will ignore food if she thinks I might give her attention instead. How can I have ever thought I did not need or want another dog, especially when she chose me in the first place? "I don't like people who don't like dogs-I just don't , declares Brooke Astor, the doyenne of New York society.....A negative view of anything does not come naturally to this warm hearted nonagenarian...but do not cross her on the subject of dogs. " I simply cannot live without them," she says." from LIVING WITH DOGS by Laurence Sheehan I have no problem with people who care not for dogs, or cats, or animals, but I personally do not want to live without them either and am so blessed to be able to have so many sharing my life.

The Treasure of a Good Foundation

"Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, ( retirement plans, savings, home equity, stocks), but on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed." 2 Timothy 6:17-19

~My question, what has God richly supplied for you to enjoy, and just what is it He has given to you to take hold of, that is " life indeed" ? just asking...........................

The Light Shows the Spots I Miss

~Chandelier in sun room~

"Firelight will not let you read fine stories, but it's warm and you won't see the dust." Irish proverb

~COUNTRY LIVING is one of my favorite magazines and I have read it for years. In one Letters to The Editor section a reader asked about the subjects of a recently published article. The pictures in the article about the family and their old home and decorating style were of lovely rooms brimming and overflowing with antiques, collectibles and displays of great number. The question was one I thought of when I first viewed the pictures, " how does she keep all that dusted?" The owner sent along the reply " I don't, I just keep the lights dim and use candle light at night." ~Very practical hint and when I have not attended to my dusting duty ( Hubby will say I never dust) I am inclined to keep the lights low and use candle light myself. It also is much kinder to my aging face , graying hair, and his shiny head I might add. But have you ever noticed how a bright sunshiny day not only brightens EVERYTHING, but shows the dirt, blemishes and imperfections the shade and dim light will hide? ~Of course being me, there are all kinds of analogies that spring to mind...one might say I am just a bit more enlightened!"There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." Edith Wharton My many south facing windows are always revealing the dust , nagging me to get busy with the furniture polish AFTER I clean the windows. Then I think about the dust and spots in my own life revealed by THE light. "A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways- by a change from the light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul." Plato

~Blue bottles in the sun room~

~We all really know there is light and darkness, good and evil.We know too that we can choose how to live and that our choices and words spring from that which is in our hearts. We know we do not have to be afraid of the dark, but even if we are afraid, we can choose not to be overwhelmed by the darkness, by evil."Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you." Maori proverb "The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will brightness of the moon shine upon you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light and God will be your glory.' Isaiah 60:19 and "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness , but the darkness has not understood it." John 1:4-5 "Oh Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness to light." Ps. 18:28

Geraniums For The Porch

This geranium is a few years old and I have 3 or 4 more that are as old or older than it. The geraniums are wintered over in our sun room and get as big as bushes and threaten to take over the sun room unless I prune them severely. The geraniums like our sun room so much they bloom frequently throughout the fall, winter and early spring. "Geraniums are one of the most reliable plants in the home garden." U of R.I. Green Share Fact Sheet Today was rainy and our false spring weather has given way to the true winter it is and indoor endeavors were the order of the day. I needed to top dress my many years old African Violets. They are blooming, or budding again,but their woody stems are wobbling and threaten to leave their pots in search of better soil. So I gave them a generous top dressing of African Violet potting soil. Since I had all the messy planting necessities spread out on the table I decided to propagate new geranium plants. It is very, very easy and can save a fair bit of money for your late spring and summer porch flower plantings.The slips are potted and I will place them in the sun room until late spring when all danger of frost has passed. "Additional plants can be started from stem cuttings, or 'slips'. Remove cuttings, 3 to 4 inches in length,from the tip of the stems. Shorter cuttings can be taken if necessary. Strip off the lower leaves to facilitate sticking the cuttings in root medium....place cuttings 1 inch deep in planting medium ( perlite or perlite / sand, perlite / soil mix) and water thoroughly. Place container in a north or east window until rooted. Rooting occurs best with soil temps. of 72 to 75 degrees F. This generally takes 3 to 4 weeks. Water sparingly during this rooting period---the trick to successful rooting is to keep the cuttings fairly dry." Univ. of R.I. Fact Sheet I went ahead and planted my geraniums directly into the pots I will add to my flower baskets for our front porch, and if I am pleased with the plants they too will winter in our sun room with their parent plants.A plant family reunion!

Here is a picture of my porch in late spring with some of my old geraniums gracing the steps to the front door. "Every flower must grow through dirt." AU

Blessings: blooms inside while threat of snow reigns outside, faithful plants, geraniums and African Violets