Blessings

God is more interested in developing our character

than He is in manipulating our circumstances

to make us happy.

~Cynthia Heald~

From Texas to Tennessee, and back!

We took a trip!

We were gone for five days, crossed four states, and traveled over 1500 miles.

I never took one photograph.

So, does that mean we did not have fun or there was nothing beautiful, delicious or interesting to photograph?

 Quite the opposite.

I guess I was just having too much fun, enjoying too much delicious food and company, and too busy to take the time and capture it in photographs.

Instead, there are memories and images etched upon my heart that will last forever.

Unfortunately, that doesn't provide much for me to share here.

We visted a dear elderly friend.  The kind of visit your mind knows may be your last.  Your heart hopes there will be many more.

We shared meals with family members, and caught up on their latest news.

My husband reconnected with law school classmates.

We ditched diets and dined at fabulous restaurants, enjoying every delicious morsel.

We hugged our son, and hugged him some more!

We familiarized ourselves with his new surroundings.

I recognized happiness and excitement in his face and voice, beneath the signs of too little sleep from the fast pace of first year law school.

We returned home.

Those of you who know me well, also know I would have preferred to stay there.

This Texas girl would gladly become a Tennessee gal.

Except, I am very proud of and excited for our Texas Rangers!

That is where I will be tonight -- cheering them on and hoping for a World Series win!

Next trip, I really will try to take photographs!

One More Year!

Another year older;

not much wiser;

maybe a pound or two heavier!

A warm pear buckle with fig compote and homemade vanilla ice cream was the perfect ending to dinner, with my sweet husband, at Jasper's.

Unfortunately, phone cameras and dim restaurant lighting do not make for delightful photos!

Thank you to each of you for being a special part of my life --

each and every day.

Blessings

Life is a race.  Don't whimper if the track is rough and the goal is distant.

One day you shall reach it.

Life is a voyage.  Don't complain if the storms batter the hull or the winds

tatter to shreds the sails. 

One day you shall come to your haven.

Life is growth.  Don't find fault if the seed lies smothered and submerged

in the dark earth before it blooms and blossoms.

One day you shall have your harvest.

Life is a pilgrimage.  Don't falter on the road through self-pity because stones cut

your feet and leave your blood on the trail.

One day you will come to Immanuel's land.

The God who through the boundless sky guides the flight of the sparrow,

who builds the blind bird's nest,

will see to it that in his good time

you shall arrive.

~Joseph R. Sizoo~

The dress that was not,

is not, and may not be made!

I had a plan.
I had the fabric, smocking plate and trim.

I was not completely committed to a pattern, but was narrowing it down.

With a little tweaking of floss colors, I was envisioning a cute little brown and white polka dot

back-to-school dress.  It would be smocked with an apple design and trimmed with lime green rick rack or piping.

I blinked, school had started and we were headed toward October.

Thus, Plan B was born!

So many cute Autumn, Halloween and Thanksgiving designs from which to choose!
Replace that apple with a happy pumpkin, plump turkey or silly scarecrow.

Substitute orange for the lime green, and it was full steam ahead.

Except, I ended up cleaning out closets and a zillion other things.

Knowing my slow pace of picture smocking, I may not squeeze this one out by the time the menu calls for turkey and pumpkin pie.

I may be headed back to a twist on the original color scheme.
Brown is the color of reindeer, and at least one has a very shiny red nose!  A great color combination!

Lime green has become a very popular replacement for the traditional Christmas green.

Several holiday plates could easily be tweaked to incorporate it.

Not to mention, the brown polka dots remind me of snowflakes falling, and there are also plates with winter themes and winter animals - polar bears, penguins and more!

I am not saying this version will come any closer to completion.  At least now, you know I do think about sewing and smocking even if I am not writing about it!

Not sure whether I hope to hear I am in good company, or sad to think we are all too busy to sit and stitch.

All fabric, smocking designs and trim from BessieMary.

Blessings

Give the best you have received from the past

to the  best that you may come to know in the future.

Accept life daily not as a cup to be drained

but as a chalice to be filled

with whatsoever things are honest, pure, lovely and of good report.

Making a living is best undertaken as a part

of the more important business of making a life.

Every now and again take a good look at something not made with hands --

a mountain, a star, the turn of a stream.

There will come to you wisdom and patience and solace and, above all,

the assurance that you are not alone in the world.

~Sidney Lovett~

Not Your Usual Candy Corn

Candy Corn.

You either love it, or hate it!

This year, I spied Blackberry Cobbler Candy Corn on the grocery store aisle.  As a lover of real blackberry cobbler, I have to admit this doesn't taste anything like it.  But, it is kind of tasty in its own sweet and sugary way.

Then there were these:  Pumpkin Face Licorice Taffy.

The tiny faces made me smile.

Except for a small taste test, the treats were purchased to tuck into some little gifts.

Hope they bring a giggle to someone else, too!

Wishing each of you a sweet Saturday, filled with smiles and a giggle or two!