Tea Kettles and Lavendar

A Wonderful Find

02:45, Tuesday, June 23, 2009 .. 0 comments .. Link

This past Saturday there was going to be a huge yard sale at the local 4-H. Unfortunately, due to rain in the mid-morning, the vendors started to clean up, and rather quickly, too. I was passing that way and decided that I would stop to see for any last minute deals. I am glad that I did. I got a beautiful 5x7 picture frame with iris' on it for $2. Iris' are my favorite flower. I also got a snow globe with King Tut inside and it plays Arabian Nights for my niece for Christmas. We are only about an hour away from The Franklin Science Institute in Philadelphia and went to see the King Tut exhibition. But my most delightful find was a box full of magazines- McCall's Needlework and Craft and The American Home magazines, dating from 1950 to 1954 for free! I am enjoying greatly looking through them and gleaming everything that I can. It is amazing to see the advertisements in them! What a treasure that I found. Maybe I will make a few of the cross stich patterns in the needlepoint magazines. There must be a good 25 magazines in the box. Ahhh,, ehat an enjoyment.

~Blessings and Prayers,

Simple Joy

02:00, Wednesday, May 13, 2009 .. 1 comments .. Link

There is a coolness in the air still with an every so gentle breeze coming through the open windows. It is nice to still be able to wear a light sweater during day and slumber under a quilt at night during this month of May. I sit here and listen to the breeze blowing as the wind chimes play their beautiful, yet gentle music. Birds of all kinds flying about, taking a short rest at the bird feeder in the dogwood tree outside our double kitchen windows. I finished planting 18 brown-eyed susans around the pool and 6 English lavendar plants around each clothes lines poles. When I bring in my shirts, how delightful they will smell of fresh air and maybe even a gentle smell of lavendar. My sister is working hard on the vegetable garden and it it amazing to watch it grow. Soon our cat, Emily, will be found taken an afternoon nap in the vegetable garden only to be aroused by when someone pulls into the driveway and she meanders over to be petted. She is such a gentle cat full of love! Soon, I will sit out on the front porch, listening to the windchimes, drinking a nice cup of tea and rocking in the rocking chair just soaking in the sounds and feels of spring. Moments such as these are to be treasured and allowed to refresh our tired souls.

~Blessings and spring time joy

A Treasure Such as Family

05:33, Sunday, May 10, 2009 .. 0 comments .. Link

What a treasure and blessing family can be. My dear sister has been working outdoors some yesterday and much of today. With a weeks worth of rain, grass can grow, and grow it does! Yesterday, she mowed the lawn. Today, goodness, has she been busy. My sister rented a tiller to turn the soil for her vegetable garden. Last year was her first year for such a good size garden as she had. This year, she learned a little more and is planting tomatoes, cuccumbers, peppers, peas. While she had the tiller, she went around the clothes line poles so that I can finally plant some lavendar! Goodness, I can hardly wait until Tuesday so I can go to the garden store. Now I can get lavendar, and I need to get 1 more brown-eyed susan for my on garden and we want to plant brown-eyed susans and shasta daisies around the pool alternating each. This will be such a nice burst of color for the back yard and not only are they hardy, come back every year, but they also attract butterflies! The bird feeder is full for our feahered friends. Unfortunately, the squirrel gets there first! He is so very funny. In our kitchen, we have this beautiful double window. It is such a joy and inspiration to sit at the table and look outside this window where we have this huge dogwood tree. This is where we have the bird feeder. The birds do get a chance to come and enjoy, also. Yesterday evening, my sister and neice also cleaned off the front porch, cleaned and scrubbed the rocking chairs, swept and washed the floor, and washed the wall. The also made 5 hanging baskets and 5 planter boxes for the front porch. They have been so very busy. How much a blessing family truly is. We have this little side area by a side porch that my sister tilled that we are unsure of what we want to plant yet, but something will come to mind. She did such a wonderful job with everything. Now I am off to research a little about lavendar so Tuesday when I go to the garden center. A garden center is almost as bad for me as a craft store or going to Sauder's quilt fabric and dry good's in Denver, PA.

~Blessings

Home Happenings

02:31, Monday, April 13, 2009 .. 1 comments .. Link

What a beautiful Easter Sunday it was yesterday.After early morning Mass, I went to the elderly woman I help. I made us a beautiful brunch. She was absolutely thrilled that I thought that there was a tear in her eye. At around 1:30 in the afternoon, us "girls", my mother, sister, neice and I went around the block to my brother ans dear sister-in-love for a delicious meal. Ham, homemade twice stuffed baked potatoes, carrots, asparagus, salad, Easter bunny cake, Italian desserts were all in order. After dinner, we walked, or should I say rolled, LOL! into the living room and watched a movie that was in Italian and had the English sub-titles underneath. It was an interesting movie.

My niece is off from school this week and I took a week off from my work to be with her. We are just enjoying our time together. Friday, I treated the two of us to manicures and pedicures. What an absolute treat it was, especially for my tired feet. Afterwards, it was to Olive Garden for lunch and then to our favorite nursery for Easter flowers. It is a breath of fresh air to see all the colorful flowers throughout the house. Today, she and I went out and I am always on the lookout for Christmas gifts for people. I made cross-stitched stockings for everyone in my family two Christmas' ago and filled them with little goodies as my gift to them. It has now become a new tradition for me that every Christmas, I will fill each of their stockings with little gifts. Many things are either yard sale finds, were on sale, that I made myself. But, there is one big gift inside. By big, I mean, the most exoensive gift. And truly, it may not be that expensive at all. It is usually around $25. The catch is, is that it has to fit inside the stocking. I am trying to get as creative as possible. It is rather tricky. My big gift for my mother's stocking is a Vera Bradley umbrella and Vera Bradley tape measure. For my sister, I got a Vera Bradley change purse that you put your license in and such and it has a ring on it to put your keys on. It is more of the enjoyment of finding things for each person.

The rest of the day is to be quiet and at home. I finished the dishes and am working on laundry. I have a beautiful Victoriean blue comforter/pillow sham set with floral squares that I had gotten at a yard sale on Saturday that I want to wash. It is a queen size. Even though I think it is a beautiful comforter set, I will give it to my niece for her bed. I have a twin bed and it will just not do. She has a full/double size bed and that will do just fine.

Tonight for supper, we are having meatloaf, asparagus, and twice stuffed potatoes with salad. The meatloaf is in the crockpot and it smells just delicious! I can hardly wait.

Easter Games

12:40, Thursday, March 26, 2009 .. 1 comments .. Link

This year, I decided to try something new for a little fun for Easter. I have taken a few days off from work so that I could enjoy Easter with my family. I do this every year. I enjoy making an Easter brunch for us "girls" - my mother, sister, niece and myself. I bring out my Butterfly Meadow dishes that I tuck away every year, except for Easter and Mother's Day. We have a complete smorgashboard of delicious eats! I make scrambled eggs, ham or bacon, homefried potatoes, croissants, donuts, pistacchio muffins,fresh fruit salad, and oj! We are all stuffed until supper, a very late supper at that! My niece is getting too "mature" for an Easter egg hunt. She IS 11 years old now. But I thought in addition to our Easter bingo game, it would be fun to do an Easter trivia game and an Easter search a word. I will print a copy for each person and the first one finished with the search a word will win a little prize and the person with the most correct with the trivia will win a little prize. It surely will keep everyone guessing. I am off the work more on thinking off good Easter words!

Wonderful Deals of the Week

10:36, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 .. 1 comments .. Link

I was so very happy at som wonderful bargins that I got at our food store. The food store that we usually shop at has a clearance rack. Each time that I am there, I of course look there to see if anything catches me eye. Well, yesterday I was able to get a box of 45 name brand trash bags for $2.50, 2 15oz. canisters of Progresso Italian style breads crumbs for $1.00 each, and 2 large containers of rainbow sprinkles for .50cents each. I was also walking up and down the aisles and found the 16 0z. glass bottles of Snapple iced-teas that are usually $1.00, but with the .55 cent coupon on some of the bottles that were doubled, making them free. I only paid .58 cents for 11 glass bottles! What a great treat! We do like Snapple iced tea but put off getting it because for $1 a bottle, it is too wasteful. So, I was able to get a lagrge box of trash bags, 2 canisters of bread crumbs, 2 containers of rainbow sprinkles and 11 bottles of Snapple for only for $6.08. I was very happy, especially about the iced tea that came out to be only a little over .05 cents a piece. Especially in today's economy when every penny counts, the thrill and excitement of finding a bargin or good discount is wonderful. What are some bargins has anyone else may have found that really made them happy?

30 Things I Love

02:31, Wednesday, March 4, 2009 .. 0 comments .. Link

1. God

2. Quiet Time

3. Autumn Days

4. Iris'

5. Brown-Eyed Susans

6. Mums

7. Peonies

8. Tea Cups

9. Tea Pots

10. Aprons

11. Hand written letters from friends

12. Lavendar

13. Rosary beads made for me by my niece

14. Cross-Stitching

15. Chantilly perfume

16. Cooking

17. Baking

18. Washing dishes by hand

19. Soft sweaters with pockets

20. McIntosh Apple candles from Yankee Candle

21. Snickerdoodles fresh from the oven

22. SeaShells

23. Tic Toc Clocks

24. Pride and Prejudice

25. Anne of Green Gables

25. Anne of Avonlea

26. Kittens

27. Ladybugs

28. Lightening Bugs

29. The feeling of bare feet in evening grass

30. Snuggles from my niece

The Sweet Musings of a Country Heart

01:46, Monday, February 9, 2009 .. 0 comments .. Link

What a busy morning. Usually during the week, mornings are rather quiet until about 3 pm. At 9 am, a dear friend came over because we are having hime do some work around the house for us. He is a licensed electrician and just finished a job. Work is unsteady for him most times. When we are able, we do try to have him come over and do some work for us. A fine job he does. This time, Steve will be fixing the dish washer (even though I have been called a human dishwasher before LOL!!!), installe a new microwave that fits under the counter above the stove, finish the coat closet that the men who remodeled our kitchen years ago never did, paint 2 bedrooms upstairs, and completely redo my new bedroom. That room will be the biggest project of all because new wiring has to go in, 2 more plug outlets to be installed, a new light fixture in the closet, new walls, a new floor and painting. That is the room that I am dreeding the most for the clean up afterwards. If you have have work done to your home, that mothers, you understand what I mean. The dust, the clutter, the disorganization and all these strange people invading your home. But, Steve is a friend of the family and a very hard worker.

I also had to visit the elderly woman this morning. I visit her twice a day-morning and evening. I make sure she eats, takes her pills, make her bed, help her bath, take her to doctors appointments and such. She has been so very patient with me with the bad snow storm we had, I had to leave early one evening because the roads were bad and this morning I was late a few minutes because Steve came over early to see exactly what we wanted done. God truly bless her.

I also went to the church to pick up paper work for my sister and take mom to work. Now I am back home and have cleaned the house and made meatballs for sandwhiches tonight. The house is filled with the smell of sauteed peppers and onions! It smells delicious!! I am bringing over a dish of meatballs with peppers and onions and a container of homemade split pea soup with chunks of potatoes and carrots in it for my "little lady" that I help. She is 93 years old and considering that is doing rather well. I know her relationship with her daughter is strained and she enjoys homecooking. I think that she has put herself in to my family as a family member. That is just fine with us. We are to take care of our elderly. I was sort of hoping to be able to start a new cross stitching project today but with all the craziness going on today, I just don't have time. Maybe another day.

Endings and Beginnings

04:36, Wednesday, December 31, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

The end of a year. Time has surely flown by. I sit here and think of just one year ago making my annual resolutions, to which many were not kept. Fondly, I remember the activities and functions happening at my niece's school, her birthday slumber party, the Memorial Day parade, fireworks and county fairs. I remember my mother and I going to the country in Pennsylvania and "us girls" seeing The Little Mermaid on Broadway and how very cold it was that day. I also remember the sadness with both my grandmother and my uncle joining my father in Heaven. Thankfully, my faith has remained strong and has brought much comfort to me.

Now a new year is upon me and again I make my resolutions. I have my usual resolutions of eating heathier and completely giving up Pepsi. I also want to exercise more. But there are many things that I want to do differently this year. I am going to become more faithful in my time with Christ. Family is going to be more focused for me as well as taking time to plain enjoy life and all its beauty and simplicity. I will make time for crafts and reading and working on making my family recipe book a reality for Christmas 2009. I will also become more responsible financially watching how I am spending my money. In these difficult financial times and with job insecurities, things must be tightened.

A new year with new possibilites and the freshness of the morning fresh dew. What a thrilling time this is. I pray that each of you has a truly blessed New Year with much health, peace and happiness but most of all, with a renewed faith.

~Blessings and prayers

The Dawnings of a New Day

07:33, Sunday, December 21, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

As I sit here quietly at the computer, I just spent some time sitting in the family room looking at our beautiful Christmas tree all lit up in its white lights and sipping some hot tea. Soon, the sounds of family waking up will fill the house. There will be breakfast and Church, then home to make some cookies and have supper. But for now, I just enjoy the peace and quiet and think of how awesome our Lord is in all His simplicity and goodness.

As I was sitting looking at the Christmas tree and having my tea, I was thinking just that. I was thinking of how complex Jesus is, yet He is so simple that He came to us as a baby, born in a manger among animals, with just Mary and Joseph. The Bible doesn't mention grandparents or aunts or uncles being there. Nor does it mention any doctors or nurses. Just Mary and Joseph. In a world with all its hustle and bustle, I find that we make life more complicated than it really is. There should be no worry about much because when we put our trust and our hope in Him, things will be taken care of. We may not know when or we may not know how, nor may it be the way we want it to be, but God provides and takes care of us in His ways. And His ways are always best and simple.

This day as you spend time with your family, take a moment when everyone is soundly tucked away in their beds, all snug and warm, just sit and listen to the stillness and quietness that He has created to refresh and nourish our souls. Allow your life to be more meaningful by living and trusting and believing simply, like a Child.

The Beginnings of a New Day

12:33, Monday, December 1, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

It is so very difficult to imagine how fast time is flying past. As a child, time seemed to have stood still. Summer seemed to never end and even though I loved to play, I could not wait for September for school to start. Then June came around, finally, and I could not wait for summer to start so that I could catch lightening bugs, swim and all the books that I could read. Now as an adult, time goes rather too quick. How I love to cherish each day, watching and enjoying the change of seasons. But, with the start of September, there seems to be such a whirlwind of activity. I have slowed down on much but there still seems to be too much hustle and bustle in my life for me to truly feel content and at peace. This is something that I will have to continue to work on.

In our kitchen, we have this beautiful double window. How I just love to sit at one end of the kitchen table and just watch the little birds come to sit on the dog wood tree that we have right outside that window. This dogwood tree stretches right past the second floor of the house. We use to have a bird feeder in the tree and unfortunately, it was broken and we have not gotten a new one to replace it. Yet, still the little birds come. This morning I went to the store and got an inexpensive bird feeder for the tree so that I can watch the little birds come and feed. What a delightful way to have a cup of hot tea in the early morning while watching the bluejays and cardinals enjoy a treat. Oh, yes, and the occasionalsquirrel who thinks that he is a bird.

Today is a busy day of laundry, dusting, vaccuuming, dishes and if I have a free moment, I would love to woek on a little scrapbooking and some cross stitching or maybe copy of few of our family favorite recipes!

~Have a Blessed Day

A Beautiful Saturday and a Crazy Tuesday

11:52, Tuesday, October 28, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Saturday was absolutely beautiful! Even though it rained the entire day, my mother and I enjoyed ourselves in a day trip to Pennsylvania. We first went to a store called Sauders Bulk Dry Goods and Fabric in Denver, PA. I believe they are Mennonite and it is a store in the basement of their home and they sell fabric and bulk dry food and spices. I love going there. What a selection of fabrics! And to open the door and walk in, instantly the aroma of the spices one could smell. I think of all the pots of homemade soup that I am going to make and all the batches of homemade cookies, too. Then we headed off to another fabric store called Martins. It is in the loft of the grocery store called Martins. We then went to a variety store called Goods. Everything one could need from fabric to clothing to toys to health care to cleaning supplies can be found in one store. And to top off the long day, we had supper at Shady Maple. Mmmmmmmmmmm.... does not describe it enough. How I just enjoyed the ride.

What a crazy day weather wise we are having today. I could hear the rain coming down and hitting the window last night around 11pm as I drifted off to sleep. What a nice sound to fall asleep to. It was still raining when I woke up. As I was driving my mother to work around 10:15 am I noticed that the rain drops looked funny hitting the windshield. Well, the rain drops have turned into big and wet snowflakes! Here it is, the end of October and we are getting snow already here in central New Jersey! What a treat and delight! I am making a pot of chicken noodle soup for supper tonight to warm everyone up along with fresh warm rolls. As that is simmering, I will enjoy the NEW Victoria magazine and Tea Time magazine that I just got today. The Nov/Dec issue of Victoria magazine came with a Christmas cd called the Magic of Christmas by Phyllis Hoffman. It says on the cover that it is a piano instrumental with orchestra. How I cannot wait until it is closer to Christmas to listen to it. It appears to be only a selection of the full cd that you can get.

Well, I am off to enjoy my new magazines while the house is quiet with a cup of raspberry hot tea and watch the silly snowflakes fall down.

May God bless you with a blessed day.

In the Spirt of Christmas

01:55, Monday, October 20, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Yes, I know that it is rather early to be even writing about Christmas here in October. Goodness, Thanksgiving is a little over a month away. But, much has been on my mind with the economy, finances, and with Christmas soon arriving, it has me thinking. Last year for Christmas, my gift for my immediate family was that I cross-stitched each person a new stocking and filled each one with little treats and goodies. There was nothing truly that expensive in any of them. This year, I am going to do the same thing. I am going to fill each person's stocking with goodies and treats. But, I am trying to be as creative as possible with what I put into each person's stocking. My niece's stocking is almost finished. I just need 2 more things and her's is done. But with my mother, sister, brother and sister in love's stockings, I wanted to also put practical things in theirs such as stamps or gift cards to the food store or for gas. Than an idea popped back into my head again. I thought of this idea last year, but time always slips away. I wanted to put a letter in each person's stocking explaining that I made a donation to a local charity in their name. It could be a donation of money, food, clothing, books or of time to a local charity. Often, people give to big charities but often the local charities are overlooked. In today's time, with everyone worried with the economy, charities are hurting even more. With the coming of Christmas, we all buy gifts for family members. I personally dislike going to the malls any time of the year, especially at Christmas time. For the past few years, i have either shopped at small stores that are privately owned or have made gifts myself. This year, with filling my family members stockings, some items I have gotten at yard sales, some were on sale, some have been gotten at the food store or post office. But each person will have a letter tucked inside telling them of a very special gift I have given them that they will never see but they will know that it has made an enormous impact of making a difference in someones life.

A New Transition

02:00, Tuesday, September 16, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

With the start of a new school year well underway for my niece, September always starts a new transition time for me, which brings along a true peace and comfort of soul. The weather is starting to get cooler, the days are getting shorter with evening coming sooner, and the changing of the colors of leaves and the delightful smells of Autumn just a short breath away. I am seeing pumpkins and sweaters, Autumn apples all ready for pies and to be dipped in caramel. I have already made my first big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup and this weekend, I will start baking batches of snickerdoodles and trimming back my iris' and brown-eyed susans so that they are ready for next year's blooming. I am longing for some quiet time one evening when the house is quiet so that I can read my new issues of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and Mary Jane's Farm. I am slowly turning my attention to fall cleaning, going through all those nooks and crannies, dusting away the cob webs and recycling the clutter to other's. Me Yankee Candle is burning the scent of MacIntosh Apples and has me thinking of the day trip to Pennsylvania my mother, sister, niece and I are taking October 25 for my niece's 11 birthday. How grown up she is starting to become. Not a little child yet not yet in the dawn of being a young lady. Soon the hustle and bustle of all the holiday's will be here and winter will be upon us. But for now, I am slowly turning my back on summer and my face and my heart towards Autumn with all its glory and its luster, savoring each and every moment of it.

Yummies from the Kithcen

12:28, Thursday, September 11, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

The house is quiet and I have a free moment. Is there ever really such a thing as a free moment. My mother is an absolutely wonderful cook. SHe makes just simple, down to earth cooking. Some recipes she has written down, but many are from her memory because she has made it so many times. I know that my mother is young yet, but my brother, sister and I all love her cooking. Often, we go overf my brother an sister-in-loves house for supper once or twice a month. My brother enjoys to cook and they both love to entertain often with their family and friends. His food is good but it is not homecooking. He uses many prepared food items and sometimes, goes overboard on the garlic. Several times, he has asked for recipes of certain dishes that mom makes and my sister-in-love has been wanting my mother to teach her to cook. This gave me a wonderful idea. I also want to make many of the dishes that my mother makes but doesn't have the recipes written down for. I have been having her on the weekends show me how to make some of the dishes. As we cook, I also write down the directions. I am putting all the recipes in order for at some point, I am going to have them professionally printed up into a family cookbook. By no means do I want to start selling these. I am looking for more of a way to have our family recipes written down in a nice fashion and give a copy to my brother, my sister, my niece, myself and mom. Hopefully by next year, I will have enough recipes put together to have it printed up and have a nice Christmas gift for everyone. Part of my gift for my family is 2 Christmas' ago, I cross stitched new Christmas stockings for everyone and filled them will little goodies. This year, I am going to refill the stockings as my gift for them with small items that I have been collecting throughout the year from yard sales, from clearance sales, from coupons, etc. I also like to give a homemade gift as well. This cookbook of family recipes will be great!.Well, I am off to write down some more recipes into my recipe files.

~Blessings and prayers

Heirlooms

07:27, Friday, August 1, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

I was reading a blog the other day and came across the word "heirloom". What a delightful word that tugs at my heartstrings. Immediately, old pictures, a mother's wedding dress, an old quilt, your great-grandma's china, a cross-stitched sampler are a few of the things that came to mind. I love my dictionary. It is a hard covered brown dictionary that is college-bound type. I looked up the word "heirloom" and it says that it means, "a valuable item that is passed down through succeeding generations in a family". As wives, mother's, daughter's, and sister's, what also should come to mind are our children, especially in raising and training them for adulthood, in becoming husbands, fathers, wives and mother's. I cannot think of any other valuable possession than our children. Even if you have not yet been blessed with children, are you a sister or an aunt? Living by example is a great way of teaching children to become "heirlooms" for future generations. There is so very much we can teach our daughters and sisters and nieces about gardening, homemaking, cooking and bakings, sewing and such. Fathers, uncles and brothers can teach boys and young men how to build and work hard. But, the most important thing that we can teach our "heirlooms" is how to be a loving, kind, gentle child of God living in His ways and teachings. To walk in faith and live a good and Godly life will surely be a blessing and joy. If you were to think now of your children as "heirlooms" now, what will you teach them to pass on to future generations in your family?

A Delightful Site and my Everyday Musings

01:25, Monday, July 28, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Yesterday evening, I decided I needed to visit an old friend. Her website is A Christian Home. If you have time, try to stop by and visit. Her life is a pure treasure and I am sure that you will agree and come away with a renewed sense of tranquility.

I was at the bookstore yesterday and discovered a treat that I just had to get for myself. It is the new issue of Mary Janes Farm. Once you see the cover, you will love it. This is only my second issue of this delightful magazine and I have surely gleemed so very much already just from the first issue alone. What a treasure and wealth of practical knowledge for everyday living.

I have started a new cross stitch project. It is probably the largest project that I have tried to stitch yet. It is a sampler and the pattern is called "Christian Sampler". I have always wanted to do a sampler and the pattern came from one of the three cross stitch books that I found at a local yard sale for just 50 cents a piece! What a find! If I can finish this sampler by next August, I would love to try entering it in the county fair. I have always wanted to enter a cross stitch piece in the county fair, but we were either away on vacation or I just felt that my piece was not good enough and did not want to humiliate myself.

The kitchen is smelling wonderfully delicious with the pork chops in the crockpot. We are also going to have stuffing, fresh green beans from our garden, a cuccumber salad and a fruit salad with fresh straberries, blueberries, watermelon and peaches for dessert. I can hardly wait. This is what I love about summer - all the fresh fruit that is in season! There is a fruit and vegetable market about 20 minutes from my house that is on the outskirts of Monmouth Battlefield in Freehold, NJ. It was here that part of the Revolutionary War was fought. This orchard is known in these parts for their peache with the juice that just runs down your chin, their apple and the cider and apple donoughts that they make with them. We get a pass every year for $1 and this allows us to pick our own cherries, peaches, apples, nectarines, strawberries, blueberries and pumpkins right from the orchards. What a fun day that is. I take my niece and a few of her friends once or twice to pick some fruit and they can take some home to enjoy. Plus, we have a garden this year. I find that when children help grow fruit and vegetables in a garden in the back yard or pick fresh fruit and vegetables from an orchard, they seem to be more likely to eat it or at least try it.

I finished reading Christy, again, last week. I am now re-reading Pride and Predjudice. These seem to be my summer reading books that I read every summer. How I must have read them at least 10 times each. I am very particular when it comes to what I read and watch on tv. I do not watch much tv to start with, so the time that I do spend watching, I want to make it worth my time.

It is such a beautiful day today that I took the opportunity to hang my laundry outside on the clothesline. How I loved to look out the window while washing a load of dishes and seeing the vegetable garden by the pool and the breeze blowing the sheets and my nightgowns gently. What a breath of fresh air for my spirits!

I pray that you shall have a blessed and Godly day, today~

~Sharon

~Thought for Today~

Always say a kind word to a child or an elderly person for we shall never know if it is the only nice thing that has touched their ears.