Year in Pictures - #2

More random pics. . .

For your winter pie enjoyment!

. . .and the leaves kept coming, and coming, and coming . . 

Haven't had bangs since I was five . . . 

. . . . I'm kinda like'em.

Happy Birthday, Darling!!! 

Year in Review

The previous post will hopefully be the first in a series of picture posts. I love looking at pictures and I don't possess a talent for writing, so this scheme seems a good fit.

Post #1 - Summer 2011
Family trip to the zoo
Garden Bounty

Year in Pictures - #1

So, what's in your trunk?
(They used to be my "little" brothers)

What a cute little guy!

Say cheese!

From just picked to . . .

. . . just baked! Yummy in my tummy!

(These garden huckleberries are delightful!)

A little of what I "do" all day

Where did everybody go?

Or, rather, where did I go? Talk about a crazy last couple of months. . . . I've been mostly living in the sewing room and escape to the garden when I need some fresh air.

such innocent beginnings. . . . yes, I'm on the roof.
(it's best way to clean out the gutters)

I changed my first tire!! (Matthew's a good teacher and sooo patient!)

(the proof)

. . . yeah, and this was the first of three bags. Uh, I think I'll go sew for awhile. . .

a peek into my "tower" where its easy to disappear

They bloomed! :)

how nice!

STARVED ROCK

We had a chance to do some hiking recently. Just two hours away there is an incredible Illinois state park (yes, I said Illinois) with amazing trails and waterfalls. We had great company and weather. Well, maybe a bit soggy, (the weather, I mean) but that didn't slow us down. Let's do it again!!!

This post is a departure from my usual, but when I read this piece, it really stuck with me. It comes at a time for me when trusting is easier said than done. As Elisabeth Elliot would say, "It's simple, but not easy". I found this in a favorite book of mine called "Streams in the Desert". It's lengthy, but well worth the read.

"Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are" James 5:17

Thank God for that! He got under a juniper tree, as you and I have often done; he complained and murmured, as we have often done; was unbelieving, as we have often been. But that was not the case when he really got into touch with God. Though "a man subject to like passions as we are," "he prayed praying". It is sublime in the original - not "earnestly", but "he prayed in prayer." He kept on praying. What is the lesson here? You must keep praying.

Come up on the top of Carmel, and see that remarkable parable of faith and sight. It was not the descent of the fire that now was necessary, but the descent of the flood; and the man that can command the fire can command the flood by the same means and methods. We are told that he bowed himself to the ground with his face between his knees; that is , shutting out all sights and sounds. He was putting himself in a position where, beneath his mantle, he could neither see nor hear what was going forward.

He said to his servant, "Go and take an observatoin." He went and came back, and said - how sublimely brief! one word - "Nothing!" What do we do under such circumstances? We say, "It is just as I expected!" and we give up praying. Did Elijah? No, he said, "Go again." His servant again came back and said, "Nothing!" "Go again." "Nothing!"
By and by he came back, and said, "There is a little cloud like a man's hand." A man's hand had been raised in supplication, and presently down came the rain; and Ahab had not time to get back to the gate of Samaria with all his fast steeds.

This is a parable of faith and sight - faith shutting itself up with God; sight taking observations and seeing nothing; faith going right on, and "praying in prayer," with utterly hopeless reports from sight.
Do you know how to pray that way, how to pray prevailingly? Let sight give as discouraging reports as it may, but pay no attention to these. The living God is still in the heavens and even to delay is part of His goodness.

Aurthur T. Pierson

Each of three boys gave a definition of faith which is an illustration of the tenacity of faith. The first boy said, "It is taking hold of Christ"; the second, "Keeping hold", the third, "Not letting go."

When the Red-Red-Robin comes bob-bob-bobbin' along . . .

. . . . watch were the nest is going!

Last week, my husband noticed a bird's nest on our front porch light. Well, that just wasn't going to suit. So, down it went. The next day there was another nest in the same spot. Persistent bird! I felt badly, but down went that nest, too.

This week, however, we found that the little birdie outsmarted us. I discovered a pretty little robins nest, which seemed to have appeared overnight. It's still on the front of the house, but not near its pesky, interfering owners. To Mrs. Robin's relief, this nest is here to say (at least for the spring) and she's been making good use of her well built home. . . Take a look for yourself!

nope, not there!

well, ok. . .

is that blue, I see?

aww . . . so pretty