2010

Happy New Year Everyone!

"For I know the thoughts I have toward you," says the Lord, "Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a hope and a future." --Jer.29:11

May God bless all of you this year!

PS

Ok, so I don't know how to make blogs post in sequence. You'll have to go to 'Nativity, Live From...' and then read backwards. Grr! Next time I'll have to post 'backwards', and then hopefully it will make more sense! You would think that Blogger would be a little more 'up-to-date' then that! Anyway...

A cute little fellow in front of us. Poor Baby! (Sorry to his parents, it was too cute to resist!)

"Away In a Manger"

All the actors and actresses

The whole group

Several budding musicians accompanied them for a song or two.

Nativity, Live From...

We spent the weekend with my family. The children and youth gave a Christmas program at church Sunday morning. They did really well, especially considering the fact that they only had done one practice. The younger children did a nativity play as several of the youth read the Christmas story. (I normally don't post pictures of people, so consider yourselves fortunate!)

Mary and Joseph

The shepherds

The angels

The wise men

Odds 'n Ends

We are digging out from a minor snowstorm. Supposedly it was a major storm, but the 'major' part was south of us. We only got about 6 in. or so as opposed to the 8 to 12" we were forecast to get. Oh well, we just won't be as snowed in as we were dreaming. Clark is out using the snow blower before dark.

One thing I really enjoy about living in the north woods are the winters here. Somehow they are very 'storybook', with the snow clinging to the pines. We walked down to the bridge this morning, it was very cold and windy, but the walk was worth it anyway.

The first few snow falls always put me in a domestic mood. I undertook to clean my bedroom today. My house attracts spiders big time, and the bedroom was getting very bad. The house chore that I like the least is washing windows, maybe because my windows are a pain to clean. I have 72 window panes in my house, four to a window. And they are trailer house windows, so they have to be dismantled every time I wash them. It's torture on the fingers!

My husband and I were discussing our hobbies this morning; mine is scrapbooking and his is photography. And each of us has on our wish list some things that we would like to have relating to that hobby. However each of us feels out of our depth buying something for the other's hobby. An amusing predicament indeed! Actually I think buying gifts for men is hard, but ladies are very easy, of course. While he thinks the same thing about ladies vs. men! :)

I need to be studying for the ladies monthly Bible study next week. I'm going to do the lesson on Mary the mother of Jesus. So if anyone who reads this is going to be in attendance, that's who you should think about. I've never done anything quite like this before, so it will be a stretching experience. Clark is supposed to be teaching Sunday School this week, so it will be interesting trying to juggle the computer between the two of us. What did people do before there were computers?

Lately I've watched a few movies based on some of Jane Austen's writings. Very interesting. I think those movies are better then the books, mostly because a person doesn't have to wade through the tedious writing. And I've heard that British movies tend to follow the story line more closely then American films. This fall I've also become a fan of L. M. Montgomery's books. She has a lot of real good true to life stuff in them, especially the 'Anne' series. Does anyone have any good ideas for a good book or series to read this winter?

Do you really listen to music when you have it on, or is it just a background noise? I tend to tune it out, especially if it's a mediocre song. If it's really good I listen to it, if it's really bad I turn the radio off. Then my husband comes home and says, "I can't believe some of the stuff you listen to!" And I was tuning it out and not hearing it. People try to figure out what kind of music I like. I don't know that myself. I finally decided my basic requirement is that it has good harmony, and the words have to be enunciated well enough to be understood. As in I can hear what's being sung with out having to pay close attention.

Am I really wicked if I don't send out Christmas cards? I'll send one to each of the grandparents, and I don't really think I'll send any to anyone else. But then I think about what if people don't send letters to me cause I didn't send any to them? So what should I do?

I decided after looking through a 'Taste of Home' cook book last night, that I'm not a gourmet cook. When I go grocery shopping I buy only the most basic ingredients. So I push my cart through the aisles with only a few items in it, mostly dairy and fresh produce. And the people in the checkout line have piles of food. So I'm trying to decide if we eat boring, or if they eat unnecessary food. Cooking isn't one of my first loves, but I don't hate it either. I just feel sometimes like I don't have very much imagination for cooking.

Anyway, I need to go finish putting my bedroom back in place. I have a friend coming to my house to scrapbook tomorrow, so I will get a few things ready for that as well. And I want to look through a few cookbooks and on the Internet, then make a shopping list of what I need to make Christmas cookies. I hope you aren't bored by now!

Clips of Favorite Christmas Songs

A few clips from songs that I'm enjoying the message of this season.

Mary Did You Know?
"Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the Lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM." --Mark Lowry

Hallelujah Chorus

"...The Kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord
And of His Christ
And He shall reign forever and ever
King of kings and Lord of lords...
Hallelujah!" --George F. Handel

In the Bleak Midwinter
"Our God, heaven can not hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak mid-winter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
...What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what can I give Him: give Him my heart." --Christina Rossetti

Hark The Herald Angels Sing
"...God and sinners reconciled...
...Light and life to all He brings,
Ris'n with healing in His wings;
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth..." --Charles Wesley

Edited to add: So what are your favorites this season?

Thanksgiving

I was looking up the history of Thanksgiving, trying to find Governor Bradford's proclamation of the first Thanksgiving. I did not find the proclamation for the first year, 1621, but I did find the one for two years later. I thought the history was interesting. They had a dry summer that year, and were facing a crop failure. Governor Bradford called the people together for a day of prayer and fasting, and soon after that the rains fell, saving the crops and the settlement. So, after the harvest was gathered that fall, Governor Bradford issued the following proclamation:

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams; and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.

Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the daytime, on Thursday, November 29'th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.

--William Bradford

Ye Governor of Ye Colony

I thought it is interesting to read, especially in light of the last year, with the rocky economy and the H1N1 virus and other things we face in our personal lives. We still have a lot to be thankful for, food, shelter, health, and the freedom the worship God. May we always remember to be thankful.

(I tried to find a few thanksgiving pictures, but didn't have much success)

The Bi- Annual Saga

Every spring, and every fall, I find unwelcome visitors invading my kitchen. One morning I wake up and find their calling cards. Mice. I hate mice. They are dirty and gross. So after I discover they have had a great time romping in my kitchen, I spend that day thoroughly washing and sanitizing every thing in sight. My husband says he can't figure out where they are getting in, as he insulated the underside of our house, and plugged every hole in sight. I'm sure there must be a small hole somewhere unseen, because twice a year, one mouse invades my territory.

The other day, it happened again. I've been watching for signs, and was almost on the point of deciding it wasn't going to happen this fall. Well, so yesterday I opened the drawer where I keep the dishcloths and hot pads, etc. And there it was, the evidence of the invader. And they wanted my freshly laundered hot pads as nest stuffing. Ugh! I promptly cleaned out all the kitchen drawers and set a few traps. Last night while we were eating supper, Mrs. Mouse got caught. So, thus ends the saga for this season we hope.

A Few Pictures

Here are a few pictures that we (well, Clark mostly) have taken over the last few weeks.

Frosty Quietness

End of Summer

Whisper of Fall

Sylvan Glow


Aura

Nature's Carpet



Autumn Majesty

Disappearing Socks

When I was a girl, I remember my mom getting frustrated about us taking our socks off outside, and then leaving them to lay where ever they were cast off. And of course, we never remembered where we had left them. So a day or a week, month, sometimes a whole season would pass, and then mom would find soggy, gross socks in the lawn, or in some remote corner of the buildings or fields. Usually they were beyond the point of return. "No wonder you never have any socks," she would scold. (My siblings are more guilty of this then I am... ahem...)
Anyway, I grew up and got married. Several weeks ago, after I did laundry, I discovered that my husband had only about three pairs of socks. I couldn't figure it out, because he had just bought a whole new pack of socks shortly before that. I asked him what happened to all his socks. He didn't know, but he had just bought a new pack, and he couldn't be out of socks that fast. Maybe the pack of socks had somehow gotten shoved under the bed, or stashed in the closet. I checked, but no see 'em. Was he taking his socks off in the car on the way home from work, and leaving them there? No, he didn't think so. Well. I wasn't so sure. Saturday we were working around the house, and he undertook to clean out his car. (I'm not allowed to clean out that car, which is more then fine with me!) Yes, well, soon a husband with a funny look on his face came to me and said " Um, there's a pile of socks I put on the bedroom floor..." And had they been found in the car? Yes. Aha! Now we know. And today after the laundry was folded, there was a nice pile of socks in his drawer. I even found a pair of what I am assuming are my brother-in-laws socks. How they got in the car I have no idea.
I guess socks are never cured of disappearing.

The Blog That Should Have Been, And Other Things

I was digging through some old writings of mine today, and decided that I should have started this blog several years ago, when I lived at home yet. I have a collection of writings that I did for fun, just as if I would have had a blog. So, as I was digging through those files, and laughing my head off, I thought, "It's too bad I didn't do this three years ago, when I actually had something to write about"

Anyway, I think I will dig through some of those, polish them up, protect the innocent and guilty, and then share them with you all. Maybe I should just let all my writings ripen for two or three years, they might be better with age.

Another topic: Practice what you preach?

I went up to the hospital the other day for a test. When I walked in, there was this sign on the window, If you have symptoms of the flu, cough, fever, sneezing, etc. please ask for a mask at the front desk. And there were a few people sitting there that were wearing masks. Well, so I went back to where I was going, and both technicans had the cough and sniffles. Hmmmm. I guess if I didn't have the flu before, I might certainly get it now.

Once upon a time...

There was a black bear. He wasn't too little, and he wasn't too big, he was just right. He wanted to go shopping, and you can read the rest of the story here.

A Divided State of Mind

We woke up Fri. morning to this. Evidently winter decided to send a 'practice' run. When I was a little girl, I always thought the weather had to 'practice' a few times before it snowed for real to stay all winter. But I have never before seen snow on green, yellow and red leaves. It was actually a very pretty picture along the river and lakes this morning. Only, I didn't have the camera with me. And it's just not right somehow.

My mind can't decide whether it's fall or winter. There are two distinct auras that go with each season, and having them mixed is not working.

Fall is colored leaves... rustling dry corn... orange pumpkins... blue skies... crisp yellow mornings... woodsmoke... red apples... turkey and pie... Thanksgiving..., all these say Fall.

The first snow says Wintertime! Christmas is almost here... carols... hot chocolate... gingerbread... green pines covered in white... red candles... sticky pine cones... a snapping fire... cinnamon rolls... angels telling the humble shepherds of the Child in the manger.

So, with colored leaves on the green grass in my lawn, and white snow clinging in the pine trees at the same time, well, somehow it's messing with my mind. I can't do both, it's just not meant to be that way!

Ah, well...

For the First Time

And so we shall see how this works...

Testing... testing... testing...