Country Living In My Backyard

I've been so busy this summer with visiting family and friends, that I've completely neglected my little old blog.

Hopefully things will settle down soon and I can get back to more regular blogging . . . Until then, I'd like to wish everyone here at Homestead Blogger a very happy 4th of July and a very happy summer!

(The photo above is a pot of Nemesia and Cosmos on my porch decorated for the upcoming holiday - I love the cheerful colors of summer!)

A friend I met last week at camp sent this to me and I thought it really hit home so I thought I'd share it.

This is the last non-busy week for us. Here's our plans.

• June 14-19--camp with Katie and Bethany
• June 20--Fort Wayne Zoo with church
• June 21-26--camp with Sarah
• home for 8 days
• July 5th--head to Indy for Sarah's surgery
• July 7th--Sarah's Open-Heart Surgery

After her surgery the rest of the summer is pretty much shot so we will just stay home so she can recover.  I will try and update when I can.

Sorry once again for the lack of updating but wanted to let everyone know Sarah's surgery will be on July 7th and just asking for prayers.  This is her 3rd open-heart surgery and will probably be her most extensive so please send up a prayer for her. 

I will be creating a CaringBridge site for her updates and will post then once it is up and running.

Here is a new pic of Ethan and Sarah.

We also got some bad news about Sarah's surgery this summer...

tThings are a lot worse than we knew....Sarah will be going in for a double valve replacement sometime in July or August and they are going to reduce the size of her left ventricle... the worse news is that we are no longer looking at 1 more surgery after this one...we are looking at a lifetime of valve replacements about every 5-10 years.....

Here is a picture of my blue-eyed babies...don't they look adorable.

"Miss Alice had the knack of making these Tuesday evenings a refreshing oasis in the midst of our otherwise hectic lives.

I often marveled that the interior peace of the woman was reflected so faithfully in her surroundings.

Even the selection and arrangements of her possessions gave an aura of uncluttered calm.  In addition, there was a directness in her approach to all of life - including the art of housekeeping - that never failed to fascinate me.

Miss Alice was a woman to whom color, symmetry of line and contrast of texture were important.  She flouted the accepted custom of covering her table tops with doilies or small scarves; the sheen and patina of the lovely old wood were all the decoration needed.  In a pewter bowl she could arrange with artistry a few well-polished apples and some nuts, or a piece of quartz picked up somewhere in the mountains along with some unusual leaves and berries.

I reveled in all of this.  Though David, manlike, noticed none of these details, he nevertheless responded to the atmosphere they created."

~ from the book, Christy, by Catherine Marshall

I remember at the time I thought I was huge but I would love to be that size again....