Wednesday Hodge Podge

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1. Are you currently operating at 100% capacity? If not, what % are you? What's keeping you there?

Boy, I wish... I'd say probably 80%.... ever since I had that  hideous  month long virus that developed into a sinus infection,  I've been running on a couple of cylinders ... I need to add  more  walking to my day,  but still wondering  where and what.  My  usual track is   not available  right now, I refuse to  walk the neighborhood...  long story!

2. Have you done your taxes? Planned/booked a summer holiday? Thought about or started your 'spring cleaning'? Besides what's listed here, tell us one task that needs doing before spring rolls around.  Hubs  has essentially finished the taxes,  but just needs to be   checked over and  submitted online.. we  are  at this time planning a trip to see our daughter and family ... can't decide whether to drive as usual or take the train.  I am  deep into  the throes of spring cleaning...  one task that still needs  doing before spring is the general yard pick up..  sticks,  cut back dead wood,  clean off  flower beds. 

Daffodils are  blooming already!

3. What's a favorite food from your part of the country?   I love  pork BBQ, especially from Mission BBQ

I love the way they honor  servicemen and veterans!

4. This isn't a leap year, but let's run with it anyway...look before you leap, a leap of faith, grow by leaps and bounds, leap to conclusions, leap at the opportunity...which phrase might best be applied to your life currently (or recently)? Explain.

I had to really give this  a bit of thought and even asked hubs about it,  and we agreed it would be a leap of faith..  which applies to much of  life  for the christian who seeks to do the will of God.. many times He will put a task before you  to test your  faith and will..  and  many times it does take a leap of faith to say yes,  either because of   a feeling of  lack of confidence, or lack of strength...  But it is all good because it isn't  me or anyone else actually  having to  drum up the confidence or strength.  It is reliance on His Spirit to empower us!

5. As the month draws to a close list five fun and/or fabulous things (large or small) you noticed or experienced in February.
This has been such an unusual February, especially in regard to the weather...  We  are  experiencing a very early spring..  


So as I have been planning for  my special guest this weekend, I have been planning  to spend time  out of doors..   Hubs and I  have  spent time sprucing the  yard and porch..We  have been planting  early pansies

we purchased a new porch rug and 

Decorating spring tables..  completely skipping over  the Greens of  March.... I doubt I will  revert back  for St Paddy's Day... Well, maybe!

6. Insert your own random thought here.
It is now  later in the day and Hubs and I went out to the garden shop and purchased more  winter pansies..  I am anxious now to plant them in  another planter to welcome  friends and family to our springtime home!..I also found a  darling springy flag.  That will be my very next task .. to replace the snowman one that flies right at this moment at our porch...  Goodness,  why haven't I taken that one down yet!!  I love it when I can see progress  and things moving forward   in the right direction!!!

Happy Homemaker Monday

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The weather:::
Rainy Monday morning..... dreary..dreary... dreary!!!

As I look outside my window:::
I need to refill the peanut butter nugget feeder..  poor downy woodpecker is having a hard time!!!

Too wet to go out yet. ...  they say by noon  the sun will shine!   Hope so!!!

Right now I am:::
Impatiently awaiting my first cup of coffee....  it was so dark outside  we  were  latter than usual  getting up...

Thinking and pondering:::
I  have a lot to do around the house to prepare for  my guest this weekend.. A very special cousin, Pam, is coming for a couple of days with us before  continuing on her week long  sojourn here in Virginia...She and her husband are semi retired   living in the  mountains near West Jefferson, NC, in a very beautiful log cabin they designed... She is such a perfect hostess and a visit  in their home is such a treat,  I am feeling  that  I want to plan a special time for her here....  good food,   good  fun,  and    great conversation!!!  So planning menus and  activities  this week!!!

On my bedside table:::

Along with the regular meds, tissues, and phone. .... I have  this month's edition of  Southern Lady magazine

This periodical really gets me in the mood for seasonal changes...    this issue is exceptional for  spring ideas and recipes.

Two springs I was so taken by these gorgeous hydrangeas I bought two; one was eaten down to the ground the first night!!!!  The other is  very slow growing...  I think I really need to have hubs move it to a new location!

My new magazine has a  delicious looking leek soup recipe I am thinking of trying for this weekend!

On my tv:::

We really enjoyed the dvd series of Cranford, a  novel written by Elizabeth Gaskrell.. who also wrote North and South of which I wrote about last week..

On my to do list:::

Bible Study

Wash  guest room matelasse  bed cover  and  get the bed  all  comfy looking with fresh  sheets,  pillows  etc...  vacuum, dust  arrange a floral arrangement  for the room ..I like to do up the room  as if  it was a Bed and breakfast offering.. latest magazines, flowers, wrapped chocolate, scented candle,..etc

do a bit of bird watching

dust and vacuum house, mop hardwood floors

general pick up around the house

My simple pleasure:::
I am such a bad girl... I have a real weakness for dishes...  and my white dishes were looking  poorly... a bit of a nick  here and there.. I had  purchased them prob 25 years ago or more at Mikasa's back room,  and I wasn't exactly happy about mix and matching them  with my other  dishes because they had a sea shell embossed on the rim... So  I had been looking at Replacements and dreaming about  how to  replace them and for just 6 plates  of my choosing  it was going to cost over $100.00. Then last week  while browsing at Tuesday Morning I found  almost exactly what I wanted for $30.00 plus matching soup/salad bowls, for  $20.00..  so  I  got a much better bargain and a style that  suits me to a tea! 

I simple white with a gentle scalloped edge..

that compliments whatever  mix-matched salad plate I might wish to pair with it!

 BTW, I was careful to note they were not made in China, but Portugal which I do feel better about.  I have some very nice serving pieces from Portugal!

So now I have  a set of 8  each  of plates, salad plates, and soup bowls  to pack up and take to  a yard sale  next month to raise money for a young lady's mission trip..  and my daughter should be  happy... I traded 24 dishes for 12...making  much more room in my cabinets!WIN-Win!

Lesson learned the past week:::

I am loving just being much more intentional about what I do each day.. that is to say I am being much more attentive to the details of nature around me! I think I may get out the oils and do a bit of painting this spring!

Looking around the house:::
Last week I spoke about  how bare the wall above the mantel looked  since we had  taken down the tapestry for a while... Nothing looked  good  on the mantel with nothing  on a bare wall..I shopped around upstairs and found an original oil painting  my mother had purchased at a Starving Artists  show several years ago  and  it  had hung in her living room for some time...I brought it down and it fits just fine!

From the camera:::
My lovely cousin, Pam from her trip out west last summer!I snatched this one  from her FB.. Hope she doesn't mind!

Prayer List:::

The Bible tells us to, first of all, pray for our nation and leaders that we can live peaceful lives in harmony... we certainly need that! So...Our country.. the division, the deception, the social issues that seek to destroy families and individuals, that our government would govern for the sake of the people not for their political gain!

Praying for families as they deal with pain and loss.

Several friends at my church struggling with debilitating illness..major surgeries this week..

A couple of family members plus all who are serving our nation overseas

Bible verse, Devotional:::

Feeder Activity

This morning I'm  sharing with Eileen's Saturday Critters party.. It has been a fun week..

I would say my most return visitors besides the chipmunks  would be the   chickadees whom I love!!!

 

The cardinal family stop by daily,

and  this rare photo of  the tufted titmouse   is just one  visit of many , but he is a very  skittish fellow...

I'm not sure if this is a house finch or a purple finch.. He has been around quite a bit

 and this lovely  downy woodpecker  visits  every day...  She  returns several times a day!! She is a fan of the peanut butter nuggets!!

 My sweet chipmunks  are always  clamoring about hoping for a nice lunch of  left overs  that fall on the ground...  They a get a long just fine!!

 Just exceptionally   careful of one  scampering too enar the back door as we come and go!  Yikes!!

A Bit of A Transformation

I live in an English Tudor home and as you can tell I am not a minimalist..at all.    I  will say that  a few years ago when I found this beautiful French tapestry  at Tuesday Morning, I was delighted because I thought it added  a touch of the olde world that I  find so charming.  But it also made the room feel  rather heavy, which in  the  fall and  winter  gave a cozy warm feeling...Last summer  I decided it was time to give it a rest...  and I had such  heavy  Fall and Christmas decor on the mantel that  the  fireplace still  felt anchored and   was  adorned fittingly... But then I was decorating the mantel for spring..at first  I was  thinking, "ok", 

But, after looking at it from across the room  it just looked cold and  bleh!

So I  went shopping around the house and found this lovely  painting my mother purchased at a starving artist's  sale...  and  I really like the addition!

As you can see the  brackets for the tapestry  still  are in the wall  which for previous seasons were used to anchor  garlands  which  were very helpful...  I suppose it would behoove me to find a spring/summer garland   to finish off the new look...  but I love it..  the wall is  filled, but not heavily so... and it is  lovely to have a bit of my mom  in  the room with me!!! I did  replace the candles in the  sconces.. so  once  I have the new garland I will share the finished look!   

 Thursday Favorite Things

Home Sweet Home

Grace at Home

Wednesday Hodge Podge

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1. Where do you go when you need some inspiration?

In winter, I sit in my  bird watching  chair and  listen to beautiful music or read the scriptures.... 

in summer I sit on the porch or  by the back door and   in the shade of the house and    enjoy nature...  at this  time of life    we don't travel like we used to..  If we did I would choose to  go to the river,  lake or the ocean..  

the  movement of the water transports me to heavenly heights from which I am refreshed and  enabled to do more than I ever  thought I could..  from there  I love to paint and  write in my journal.

Otherwise, I have a sanctuary here in our home where I commune with God and  am inspired to write  in my journal  about our visits!

2. What's under your bed?

Probably dust bunnies... yikes!

3. Thursday, February 22nd is National Chili Day, National Margarita Day, and National Cook a Sweet Potato Day. Of the three which would you most like to celebrate? Is that likely?

Knowing this now I realize  how lovely a baked sweet potato would be.. I happen to have a pork chop that would  taste  really delish along side with  a  piping hot, buttered sweet tator!

4. What are you 'snowed under' with right now?

The guest room has been the repository for clean and folded clothing   all winter because I was too lazy to deal with my closet that needed  to be  swapped out last fall...  bad  girl  but  with my facial reconstruction  I just wasn't into  it. Yesterday I  hung up the hangables, Yes!!! Today  I  work

on the drawers.  I have drawers in two rooms and they all need revamping and  to get rid of  clothes I know I'll never wear again.. Lord, help me..  that  seems like an impossible job without  His help...

5. Tell us three to five things that make you feel balanced?

1) having the entire home in good order and organized...  not often I fear.. well, the downstairs  is fine and presentable,  but the upstairs can  be  difficult to  get  in order...  that is why it is good to have overnight company every now and then to push one to  get to work and get it done!!!

2) being caught up in my daily Bible reading or study

3) feeling unhampered in my  breathing...  I have such  encumbering allergies that  mess with my sinuses... unfortunately my ENT doctor took me off of shots due to other meds so  I am on daily Zyrtec which does help...but this  time of year  and into  mid spring is a more difficult time for me.

4) weight loss helps and  thankfully I am on a downward trend these days  which  does seem to energize me more... praise the Lord!!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Thankfully, my cough from my January cold has finally abated and I believe I might return to choir this week..alas, just in time to  jump right into  Easter practice... not too thrilled about that because it mean many extra practices that I'm not sure I'm up for ... I may forego the  pageant this year and only  work on the weekly  work.. I am a first soprano and it is a stretch for my voice that  was  a bit  damaged during my  illness.

Happy Homemaker Monday

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The weather:::

Another dreary, rainy morn! It is supposed to be a milder one as the day goes on!

As I look outside my window:::

I got my suet feeder all set up with a dollop of homemade suet and alas, it rained on it over night so I have had no takers this morning except a frisky squirrel so bent on finding his way to a peanut butter and oatmeal feast

Right now I am::: 

I am enjoying my second cup of coffee and hoping to see my daughter pop on line so we might have a chat! Sometimes after the four year old is off to preschool wee one and Amanda and I get to video chat!!!

Thinking and pondering:::

I am getting rather excited tomorrow I am lunching with a new friend who is also best friends with a dear precious woman whom I consider one of my spiritual mothers... The new friend, Cornelia, Corny for short, and I have been wanting to get to know each other better for a while as we have been doing Bible Study together for several series.. Phyllis is in her nineties and has been so actively involved in ministry all of her life, she is a wonder to behold... She was leading Bible Study a t age 90 at the assisted living where my parents lived for a while and I led the worship with her.

But I've known and loved her since I was in my twenties and she was standing on the street corners in our inner city areas playing her trombone attracting children so as to pass out information about 5 day clubs to take home and get filled out and signed by parents so they could be picked up by our church bus and taken to the Bible School ministries.. Corny and her husband are very involved in this ministry at this time!!

On my bedside table:::

The same various meds which reminds me I forgot to do my eye drops this am! OOPS!

and my new book, The Fairy Tale Girl by Susan Branch! Loving it!!!

This is an example of how she does her pages... all script and beautiful artwork!

On my tv:::

Oh my goodness.. I spent the weekend binge watching a Netflix movie that has now become my favorite , North and South, not the Civil War miniseries, but an English series of just 4 one hour episodes... I binged on that as I watched the whole thing,Thursday night, again on Friday night and again on Saturday night...(It was a big Nascar weekend) I just can't see it enough!!! If you find it to watch do not be deterred by the dark, foreboding setting of the industrial revolution in Milton, England,, stick with it and you will be hooked just as I was!!!

On the menu for this week:::

Monday -left over shrimp Huge beautiful wild caught Gulf steamed shrimp

Tuesday -Chinese buffet 

Wednesday -chef salad

Thursday - Pork BBQ

Friday - fish and fries

On my to do list:::

Bible Study

put away clothes as I redo the guest room closet

arrange guest room and perk it up for my favorite guest coming in 10 days

do a bit of bird watching

Yesterday I had a Downy Woodpecker stop by

general pick up around the house

My simple pleasure:::

sitting in my chair in sun room 

(Hubs took the pane dividers down so I'd have a picture window for viewing.. I, also, love to read there!!)

and taking pictures of the various birds that come to our feeders.. some of them are so flighty I can't catch them on film, for example, I had a love yellow throated warbler yesterday .. first I'd seen but it was gone in a second!

Lesson learned the past week:::

I am loving just being much more intentional about what I do each day.. that is to say I am being much more attentive to the details of nature around me! I think I may get out the oils and do a bit of painting this spring!

Looking around the house:::

It doesn't look too bad, although I haven't broached the subject of putting something on the wall above the mantel yet.. I do have a lovely painting upstairs I got from my mother's estate that would look lovely for spring! I mentioned last week that since we took down the French tapestry the wall is too bare...

   

From the camera:::

Our oldest's first time on the ice rink in Massachusetts. She loved it!!!!

Prayer List:::

The Bible tells us to, first of all, pray for our nation and leaders that we can live peaceful lives in harmony... we certainly need that! So...Our country.. the division, the deception, the social issues that seek to destroy families and individuals, that our government would govern for the sake of the people not for their political gain!

Praying for families as they deal with pain and loss.

Several friends at my church struggling with debilitating illness..major surgeries this week..

A couple of family members plus all who are serving our nation overseas

Bible verse, Devotional:::