a sweet end

I was invited to a tea party ~ I love tea parties!  A bunch of us home school mamas drank tea, ate cheesecake and had a delicious time of fellowship.  The friend who planned this event asked me to keep a watch out for teacups and saucers while thrifting.  Two days later while talking about this with another friend, her visiting mother in law offered to give us some of hers that had been packed away in boxes.  When she sent them over there were 29 gorgeous, vintage sets... every one unique!  Most were English.  She had no idea that we would have such a great turn out.  We had 24 ladies attend!  The best part of the evening was when we told everyone that the teacup they were using was theirs to take home! What a blessing...  and a wonderful way to end a school year.

Drink Your Tea
Debbie Penington
June 24, 2006

Pinkie up

take your sips

never ever 

lick your lips

if you will do as I say

a lady you will be one day

be polite

place your cup

politely down

do not hiccup

if all these things you will do 

the gentlemen will call on you

Check out The Tea Trolley at BlackBerry Rambles
Blessings, Debbie

little bibs ~ for littlest women

Oh my goodness did I have fun whipping out these pink, pink bibs with chunky cotton yarn from my vintage stash.  You will of course remember me mentioning the baking babies...  Well, one is done and came out of the oven a couple of weeks ago (Makenna is just lovely by the way).  Shame on me for not having anything finished for her!  My gnomelet needles are still in 'time out' but will hopefully show themselves repentant soon.  Seeing as I didn't want to be caught empty handed again I found this pattern in my knitting notebook.  My friend Linda shared this with me last year and boy was it a breeze...  If I can find out where she got the pattern I will add it to this post later and place a button for the bib in my sidebar.  But of course, looking at it you can tell you'd have no trouble at all just winging it!  (I didn't show a picture of the closure but it's just a button hole and button.)

What I am reading  ~ Little Women... again!  When Amanda at {the habit of being} asked what our favorite childhood book was for her give away (which is still going on, by the way), this was my answer.  I read it when I was a young teen and then again as a read aloud to my young teens.  I just love Louisa May Alcott. She is wordy, but in a good way.  I love her vocabulary and the rich personalities she gives her characters. It's easy to get lost in another time and in a completely 'foreign to us' expectation of decorum that is utterly beyond reach for one Josephine March! 

"Mother, did you go away and let everything be, just to see how we'd get on?"  cried Meg, who had had suspicions all day.

   "Yes: I wanted you to see how the comfort of all depends on each doing her share faithfully.  While Hannah and I did your work, you got on pretty well, though I didn't think you were very happy or amiable" so I thought, as a little lesson, I would show you what happens when everyone thinks only of herself.  Don't you feel that it is pleasanter to help one another, to have daily duties which make leisure sweet when it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and lovely to us all?"

   "We do, mother, we do!" cried the girls.

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along
and Domestically Divine

Blessings, Debbie   

the red eye...

You see the yellow line there?  That yellow line is making life miserable for Audrey.  According to our local weatherman the pollen count for central Oregon is high right now.  When we took a walk the other day we found that forecast to be accurate.

So, all of you wonderful homeopaths and naturopaths out there ~ we would gladly welcome any helpful advice that you might have for this poor girl.  And please don't say, "no more wacking the trees when she walks." We figured that one out for ourselves.  


Blessings, Debbie

keepin' it real

Clarice at Storybook Woods has inadvertently issued a challenge.  People need to be able to trust that we bloggers are keepin' it real.  No whitewash here.  In fact I'm going to take you to a place that I love... when all is organized.  A place you've never been before.  Today you will see why the camera is not usually allowed in this room.  This same place is also the room that visitors dare not visit.  Once, several months ago my young nephew took a wrong turn from the extra bathroom... I'm confident I'll find him when I get all the stuff out of here! 

This is what my bedroom looks like when all is good.  Unfortunately, the following photos tell a truer story.  So, Clarice, this is for you...

Ideally there will be shelves in the two closets in my son's room when it turns into my craft room to hold the fabric and yarn and I'll be done with home schooling in just 4 years so I can get rid of many of the books and the games on top of the shelf are hard for the girls to reach so they have trouble stacking them back up neatly and they have to leave some stacked on the floor and my husband's closet is so small that he can't fit his shoes in...  and the dog ate my homework and ....  my excuses are my sanity.

So, there you have it, the real me!  Will you still be my friend?  Because my people are my life...  Just keepin' it real...


Blessings, Debbie

Hope Joy P...

the beautiful sentiment that accompanied the flowers our V.K.s sent last June 26th...
15 days before Hope's sister Hillary's wedding

Hope ~ To expect with desire.

My Hope is in heaven.  

She was no bigger than my open hand when the Lord called her home.  

She would have been 3 1/2 years old had He decided to allow us to raise her.  

She was born to Jesus 4 months early on June 26, 2007.

Though everyone who is His can say that their hope is in heaven, 

my Hope has a mouth to welcome me and arms to embrace me.  

My God knows what is best and He had numbered her days before I even knew her.

So, on this June 26th we celebrate our daughter/sister who was eagerly awaited for 5 months, 

who we thought we would meet in 4 months...

...who now waits for us

Blessings, Debbie
visit Spiritual Sundays   

bigger and better things

As I mentioned before, it's time for me to face reality.  I picked up my glasses today.  I haven't worn any for ten years now, and those were only readers.  I knew it was getting bad, but I kind of got used to the small little world my vision provided.  It was kind of cozy.  

One of my daughters tried on my glasses and said, "it's weird, everything seems brighter and happier with them on." ~  So...they're rose colored glasses.  People always accused me of wearing them, now I actually own a pair!

It's a beautiful, beautiful world out there... who knew?
!!Love you granny... xxoo

Blessings, Debbie

a sudden death

Overnight we went from this:

To this:

all because of this:

in the hands of this:

When I spotted ant holes on the leaves of my young sunflower plants my superguy came to the rescue.   Unfortunately he only read on the can, "kills ants."

The moral to this sad story is ~ Read all of the information.  If it says "do not use on or near plants... DON'T!"


Blessings, Debbie 

but she still plays with it...

Q:  What do you get when the 16 year old plays with her old Barbie magnetic drawing board?
A:  A magnetic masterpiece!


Blessings, Debbie

the wanderer

Direction.  I struggle every day with making time to seek direction.  It's not that I don't know where to find it, I do. It's just that when it's as clear as the name on a road sign I have no problem.  But sometimes I find myself wandering. Wandering is not the greatest thing for a Christ One to find herself doing (think of the Israelites).  No, I don't want to be found wandering without direction.  So, when I lose sight of the road sign, I'm often shown a pre-sign.  You're familiar with it I'm sure.  It's eight sided (otherwise known as octagonal in case you thought I didn't know the word), red with white, and the five letters emblazoned on the front give the direction that precedes all directions.  STOP.  

What is it we teach our children to do when they get lost in the forest?  Hug a tree.  Is it because we want them to bond with nature during this traumatic moment?  Of course not, we want them to STOP. "Don't wander."  "Call out to me and listen for my voice."  

We have a loving Father who wants us to find our way.  When we are wandering, he wants us to stop.  He wants us to listen.  "I'm listening Abba."

Blessings, Debbie

Father's day in God's country

This Father's day in pictures...  

First we gathered in Mindi's backyard for praise, worship and scripture study.  We were missing many for early summer travel.  And we did miss them...  BBQ and fellowship followed.

We didn't get home until 5:30 at which time we enjoyed our own form of fellowship in our backyard.

At dusk we did what dad always wants to do on a lazy summer evening.  We went for a drive through  the ranch land searching the alfalfa fields for deer and elk.  We always get our fill of deer but the elk are much more elusive.  Often my eagle eye, hunter husband can spot them on a hillside.  He'll patiently try to get us to see what he sees, usually to no avail, and we are left to either trust him or decide that he just sees what he wants to.  

Today was entirely different, and I need to eat a little crow.  Because, this time when he stopped the car and excitedly declared, "ELK!" I had to admit that they really do exist.  And not just in my hubby's imagination. They were beautiful and standing right there for us to see.  We really do live in God's country!  And He gave our dad a gift this Father's day.

Blessings, Debbie

life song

the new instrument that replaced the $5.00 one

They say that everyone has a song inside.  My dad has been trying to play his with a $5.00 yard sale guitar that slips out of tune quicker than he can get his fingers back in place.

I think our song is a compilation of all that we hope, all that we love, all that we regret and all that we rejoice.  There are the beautiful notes and the interesting notes, the upbeat fun notes and slow melancholy notes.  Sometimes there are terrifying notes that you question, yet you play on...  The opus comes together when you find your chords of praise.  Now the song has depth and richness that was missing. And somehow, when it's time to perform for the Master Himself, you have composed a life song that is stunning, moving, passionate.  Simply you.     

I pray dad that this new instrument brings a rich harmony to all of the melodies that are your life.  I love you.

Happy Father's Day

joining Spiritual Sundays

Blessings, Debbie

the hope and the history

The Hope and the History
Debbie Penington 
June 17, 2011

Like footprints on the beach, my life leaves an imprint.

If I look forward I see nothing but sand as eternity 
stretching before me.

If I look back I see the path that I've taken.  

Steady prints, directed steps 
giving a clue as to what was happening with my walk.

I prefer to look forward, throwing a backward glance now and then. 

If I look too closely at what my feet are doing this moment 

I risk missing out on the hope, 
and the history.  

The hope of an unmarked stretch of eternity before me, 

and the history of lessons learned 

and love lived behind.

Blessings, Debbie

2 amigos hit the trail

This past Saturday was the home school used curriculum sale for central Oregon.  It's tradition that the 3 amigos take to the trail this day.  One of the amigos lives in the valley so she first begins her adventure the day previous.  It is imperative that she be here the night before, because as every bueno amigo knows you don't keep the rest waiting on this morning of mornings.  Sadly, the valley amigo had a last minute change of plans that left her in the awkward position of disappointing those this side of the mountain. Tradition has officially been broken!  It's a good thing that we are the forgiving sort or we may have had to send a bounty hunter...

Not to be discouraged the 2 remaining amigos (the ones who are true to tradition) gathered at 7:00 am, mocha and chai in hand, to forge forward with the standing plan.  On the 45 minute drive to the city we considered the world's problems, and laughed.  Not that we think that the world's problems are funny...

So, tradition states that the first thing we do is yard sale.       

doll $1.00, coloring book .25 cents immaculate woven rug $10.00

Polish pottery $5.00 ea.

big vintage children's picture books .25 cents each

large pint size sourdough crocks $1.00 each

On the 45 minute drive home we solved the world's problems, and laughed.  Because our solutions... they are funny.

*The curriculum sale wasn't as good as usual.  I did get the one thing on my list but it wasn't cute enough for   the photo.  ;)

**Khonda, you are forgiven...  But we may not be so generous if you pull this again!

joining The Thrifty Groove

Blessings, Debbie

garden tour

I may still be waiting for my vegetable garden to produce, but spring has definitely brought the rest of the yard to life.  I planted a few buckets, but everything else is the result of years of intentional neglect or unintentional attention. 

Such as how I purposefully disregard the way the honeysuckle inhibits ease of entry through the back gate. 

~A perfect example of intentional neglect.  

Or the way my husband accidentally pulled the clematis along with the elm starts in a maniacal effort to clean things up a bit.  

~A perfect example of unintentional attention.  

  (It really wasn't as terrible as it sounds as the clematis was barely existing.) 

I have a few seeds planted; sunflower,sweet peas,morning glory and columbine.  I've described this process in a previous post.

feverfew

these yellow roses are prolific in and around the bunny pen and the chicken coop~they are just about to burst

hawthorn tree, yellow roses, and pansies

we have 2 varieties of purple lilac and our whites are tall trees creating a green fence down one side of the yard

violets and mock orange and four 'o clocks

euphorbia, violets, red wild roses and a dandelion :)

the golf balls do not fall into any of the aforementioned philosophies

Thanks for coming.  Y'all come back now. Ya hear!


Blessings, Debbie