Time To Celebrate

The peony tree is loaded this year and   the blooms are  simply divine!!!
So gorgeous  in  a simple  table  arrangement! Definitely tea planning time...

Sweets and savories
a fresh selection of teas..
How about a delectable  chocolate ganache cake!!
So the menu is   decided  and now to  consider  the guests!!  Oh,  that wont be a problem  at all!!! Amaze Me Monday Make It Pretty  Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party

 Grace at Home

No Place Like Home

Return to Loveliness

Friends Sharing Tea 

Teacup Tuesday

 Thursday Favorite Things

Home and Garden Thursday   

Simple Woman and Happy Homemaker Monday

The Simple Woman Daybook

For Today...

April 18, 2016 

weather outside...

gorgeous with  a  high of  mid 80's.. almost too hot,, too soon!

Outside my window...

My  sweet spring fairies are   reveling in the sunshine!!

I am thinking...
about  what I can do about    our deer problem... We just purchased  2  wonderful  paniculata  hydrangeas,  but the deer found one and  ate the top  layer of leaves off  of  it..so now at night  this is what it looks like...

we need to  go to Southern States and  talk about  netting or something....  

I am thankful...

to have the opportunity to facetime with my girls...

sorry for the glare ion the photo
I miss them so much!!!

I am creating...
a new spring  outlook  in the home...   photos to come...

I am going...
to be planning a trip north to  be with  my girls  in the  near future....  it is TIME!!!!

I am wondering...
about spiritual warfare....  it  seems that all of us prayer girls  who  are seeking to reclaim our community for Christ have been under spiritual  attack... me  since  the first of the year... I mean I ahve been physically attacked  in one way or another!! I need to spend more time on my knees!

I am reading...
Only one more of Lynn Kurland's books to go.... 
I understand the library  has their fill a box for 2 dollars  sale this week... I guess I will  have to go  and see what I can find, anyway! 
On my tv:::  
I am enjoying the Spring Baking Competition and other   food network  shows..  and I  love  Netflix on which  my favorite is  Foyle's War.

"Michael Kitchen (Out of Africa) stars in this universally acclaimed mystery as DCS Christopher Foyle, investigating crimes on the home front during WWII and, later, counterintelligence threats at the dawn of the Cold War. Also starring Honeysuckle Weeks, Anthony Howell, and a host of fantastic guest stars, the series boasts superb acting, uncompromising historical accuracy, and compelling mysteries that make it "a triumph from start to finish"

Looking forward to::

Our tour of Virginia Military Institute  coming up in  a few weeks....

We will be there for the  military  tattoo on the drill field.

On my to do list:::

laundry....decorating.... stop by church to sign up a bus for  a  Sunday School trip .... shoppping at  garden shop
marketing..... vacuuming...dusting....library trip.... 
prophetic Bible Study
dinner with friends

Recipe I'm interested in trying:  I saw  them make this on the kitchen last week and it looked so delish!
Flatbread Arugula Pizza with grapes

Produce

• 1 Arugula
• 1 Grapes, red seedless
• 1 Rosemary, fresh or dried

Baking & Spices

• 1 Sea salt

Bread & Baked Goods

• 1 Pre-made flatbread pizza crust

Dairy

• 1 Blue cheese
• 1 Brie cheese, thinly slice

Brie and fruit pair wonderfully
together.....topping them together on
pizza is even more amazing. The cheese
is able to melt and the grapes add a
burst of sweetness and the thin, grilled
crisp crust of the flatbread provides the
perfect delivery. Grilled Grape Brie and
at TidyMom.net

Looking around the house:::

Just a shot at the dining room sideboard...  I  am  thrilled that my  shamrocks are doing so well...  a first for me, I do think!!!

From the camera:::
 A quick look at  sweet  Birdie..always ready to take a ride.. but  hey, Sweetums,,  we have to  put you in the carseat!!!!

Oh, how I love my girls!

In my garden...

I believe this netting will do the trick!!

In my kitchen... 
planning on  making  barbecued  boneless pork ribs

Tip..  I  braise the loin strips  in  a  slow boil for a few hours until theya re  falling apart then I    put them under  the broiler  with the  sauce until  they begin to blacken!   So  delicious!

A favorite quote/scripture for today...

One of my favorite things...

The road  to see our dears!

Post Script

One Night Stands ( I mean Stays)

Click the icon to return to Awkwardly Emma, our  theme hostess!

It's spring  and  this is the season I begin to think about   bed and breakfast   stays.  

One aspect of B and B's  is the garden..
These next few  garden shots were  taken in Wytheville, Va...  enjoy  some 
architectural   highlights

or pathways that  lead  you on and on to  hidden    loveliness


examples of cuteness along  each way

I could pull up a seat right there and  really  enjoy the    bird song  wafting on the air!!

And porches.... what a  delightful place to  enjoy that second cup of coffee! This grand porch  graces the mansion relatively near our home....  We stayed there  a few years ago for our anniversary!


This patio, also,  cries out  for  an afternoon of  reading and a tall glass of lemonade!

I love this patio  in Lititz!
 Or sometimes it is lovely covered  patio!

 This was  the scene right outside out door  in  Hershey...

Well, we will be heading north  again  one of these  up coming weeks and it is time to  peruse the  offerings for our one night  stays as we  divide our trip  into 2  travel days...  I love  life!!!

Rhapsody in Blue

Anything Blue Friday 

I am joining alongside The Dedicated House today to share the beauty of blue!

Last week I shared about my  lovely blue tablescape

 I love my new  jacobean style cloth

 and how my  collection of blue transfer ware  goes with it!

  and  it  makes me think of my  beloved blue hydrangea

 whose blooms have delighted me ever since I started blogging in 2008.  but alas  this last   cold snap last week with its ahrd freeze  has zapped it  and  the  top of the plant was frozen to death,...  I doubt for much yield this year...
  and my saddest news  of th is week is that  the top of my  wonderful new 8 in high  Limelight hydrangea 

 was  bitten off last night  by  deer.. now I am usually a lover of  the  graceful animals,  but this morning I  am not seeing blue,  but 

 I think I go to  the  mart and  purchase a  bunch of blue hydrangeas  to  soothe my  saddened heart!!!

Wednesday Hodge Podge

1. What's the last thing you did that could be described as 'taxing'? 

At the risk of possibly coming across as a bad daughter, it has to be the last 3 years of caring for my aging parents... They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, and then both fell into horrible conditions. Mother fell and broke her back which culminated in severe excruciating pain for her, and my dad's health was terribly compromised by liver disease from a botched bile duct surgery 7 years prior. So being an only child I had no recourse but to put them is separate nursing homes.... dad in a veteran's in the next town and mom in a facility nearby... Therein began a difficult three years that tore me apart in many ways...thankfully, hubs retired at that same time and was able to do the things necessary at their home to get it ready to sell... repairs, painting, the estate sale... momma was so mad at me for selling her things... but at 92 and on methadone for constant pain... she wasn't herself at all... I really cant even today talk about the emotional upheaval that occurred for me during these months.... I lived off of adrenalin and now even after 18 months since their passing, I'm still not fully recuperated from the stress and the pain of seeing my mom go from 175 pounds to 75 pounds...Believe me.. it takes a toll on you....

2. If you cold plant a garden of anything, what would be in it? 

I would have an English garden littered all over with prolific hydrangeas...

3. April 10-16 is National Library Week...will you celebrate with a visit to your nearest library? When did you last make a trip to the library? What are you reading right now? What's one title on your want-to-read list? 

I am definitely a 'real' book reader..but, actually, during these past 5 years I haven't had the unction to focus on a book to actually read cover to cover, unless it was a Bible study book or a chapter of the Bible..it is only these past few months of 2016 that I have wanted to just lay around and read.. that is what I do.. I read best in a prone position...even though we have been members of the "Friends of the Library'" for three years... we loved to attend the special functions at the library especially the mystery night! However, we didn't join this year because then I was too tempted to attend the members only book sale and bring home way too many books.. our bookshelves are super loaded..I am deep in the throes of rereading my Lynn Kurland series of Time Travel books...these are much milder books of the Outlander ilk..I enjoy them because I am entranced with medieval times... and the age of chivalry!

4. Share a saying or an old wives tale you heard while growing up, you believed to be true or that you paid attention to 'just in case'. 

If you swallow your gum, you'll get a  gum tree growing in your tummy!

5. Are you a fan of onions? Garlic? Ginger? What's a dish you love that contains one, two or all three items listed? 

Sounds like Chinese food...  which I love!!!

6. Where does nurturing end and indulging begin? What are some skills or qualities you think a person needs to posses in order to be viewed as mature?

Nurturing is the process of   providing   the needs of  a child...  physical needs, as well as,  emotional and  psychological needs  to  grow  into a responsible and  caring individual.  Indulging  is    providing the   wants of a child  to such a degree that their  wants  become needs to them and if they don't  receive  these want/needs  then they  learn  forms of manipulation  to try to  get them...  This  describes a  spoiled  child  to    learns to play  authority figures until they  actually begin to rule the home.  Maturity  springs forth  through learning  to  cope with  the  disappointments as well as the joys of life in such a way  as  to  be   a giving individual.. learning to think more highly of others than  self...  But I realize this is a very  sketchy   explanation and I don't have time to get more involved....

7. What leading figure in any field would you like to hear speak, and why?

I would love to  have been able to sit under  Derek Prince's ministry...  I agree completely with his theology. Alas, he  passed  at the end of the 20th century!  But his  preaching can be heard on you tube!

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

The Simple Woman Daybook

The Simple Woman Daybook

For Today...

April 11, 2016 

weather outside...

56 degrees with a high of 72... spring is back!!!!

Outside my window...

The sun is shining and the tulips are rejoicing!!

I am thinking...

how excited we are that our daughter and her family are experiencing the thrill of purchasing their first home/yard/ lawn! It is so great to hear them strategizing landscaping and the purchasing power for needed furniture... this is a wonderful time in their lives.. And Hubs and I are anxious to be helpful... I particularly want to hold my precious little ones while the rest do what they need to do! heheheheh

I am thankful...

God's tender mercies that are new every morning... jsut the same wonders that fall on us... Thank you, Lord!!!!

I am creating...

to be honest I have no ideas as of yet.... too early in the week I guess!

I am going...

to 2 doctors this week... I chipped a molar last week.. bah!!! Want the dentist to check that out... and the dermatologist checkup.

I am wondering...

if the sublingual immunotherapy spritzes under my tongue in place of my allergy shots are going to work.. I know one thing... it tastes terrible!!!! Oh, the things we must do in this life!

I am reading...

I am still enjoying the Lynn Kurland series of Time Travel books...Three left... reading them more and more slowing... savoring.. hahahaha

I am hoping...

to get together with my gal pals soon.. it seems everyone has been scattered... either with vacations or illness or operations... but things are finally settling down.... I really do want to have a spring tea... soon! Now there is something to create!!

I am learning...

the discipline of contentment....

In my garden...

The hydrangeas are planted and growing... we have to put boxes over them on the weekend due to the hard freeze... the planter by the door is planted and looking good. And I have been thinking about how I can incorporate more fairy gardens around the house...While we were traveling through Lancaster last week I was on the lookout for fairy garden items and found the cutest new fairies to add to my collection... I consider this my long range project and it will evolve just as it is supposed to.... I like that better than rushing out and spending a ton of money all at once...I really feel that it gives the Lord a place in it for blessing me with surprises along the way.. he is a great Father that way!

In my kitchen... 

I have my macarons silpat-like sheet ready to go and hope to practice making macarons this week... They will be a tea party staple! 

A favorite quote/scripture for today...

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill. 

You know how it is with an April day. 

When the sun is out and the wind is still, 

You're one month on in the middle of May. 

But if you so much as dare to speak, 

a cloud come over the sunlit arch, 

And wind comes off a frozen peak, 

And you're two months back in the middle of March." 

- Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926 

A peek into one of my days... 

last week we were in Lancaster, Pa and one day our bus took us to A Stumptown roadside market .. we were excited to purchase a few soft piping hot, buttery homemake pretzels..

Hubs left the bag with me and I went around to enjoy the barnyard critters... when all of a sudden they all came running over to me as if to say,, "You got something good???"

I think they were conditioned for visitors!

They had a dispenser of corn feed nearby but I didnt want to get that on my hands,    but who could deny such sweet faces?

This handsome fellow took my heart right away so I broke open Hub's pretzel and started breaking off bits to toss out to the crew... Those birds were ravenous and didnt share one bit... poor Billy was a bit slow on the uptake..

So I had to bend way down and pass my hand through the slats of the railing and feed him hand to mouth... aw... it was so sweet.. goat kisses on one's hand are treasures to be sure! 

And poor Hubs had one less pretzel when we got home... well, I did forebear and gave him mine... I did get the thrill of the feeding, after all.. this was a special surprise on our trip!!

One of my favorite things...

One thing I found that I absolutely love are grazing sheep in the meadow,... I discovered this in Ireland..

I mean what views..

But we can find lovely pastorale views here, as well!!!

Post Script

I tend to agree with this ideal 

“To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.” 

― Mahatma Gandhi

God created us all for His own purposes!

We are the sheep of His pasture, after all.

Praise for Today

Turn off the above  blog  music and enjoy  this  wonderful praise  for today!

How how we need His holy presence!!!