a contented grandma speaks

I just dropped my married/mama girl off at the church where she will be standing with her friend as she gets married tomorrow.  I'm listening to the music coming from the guitar and voices that harmonize so beautifully in the other room... the aunties who wait patiently for our sleeping beauty to awaken.  Charlotte is napping and we are in charge.  Grin!

In a few more hours my boy and his girl will arrive with our son-in-law/brother-in-law from over the mountain.  And did I mention that Charlotte is sleeping in the other room?  Did you see my grin?

Blessings, Debbie

I'm texting you..

God's Not Dead!

Definitely go and see it.  Pack as many as you can in your friend's 13 passenger van and make an evening of it.  Then text the ones who didn't make it and give them the news!

Blessings, Debbie

this morning

Right now I am sipping steamy, fresh brew from my favorite pottery mug.  

I'm considering waking my sleepy-heads as they wandered in at 10:30 last night from an ice skating session in the 'big city'.  Maybe I'll let them sleep a little longer..  

I'm smiling because I just pushed send on an e-letter to my beautiful granny in Florida.

I'm considering the mess of crayons and crafty supplies being sorted for today's delivery to the thrift store realizing that these younger supplies have had little attention these past few years... sigh.

Realizing also that although the crayons haven't had much attention the skilled hands in this house do indeed still bless with artistic, crafty goodness... contented sigh.
I'm remembering the 30 second video of 'Charlotte over the Mountain' dancing that kept her grandpa and grandma entertained last night as we hit play.. again.. and again.. and again..
I'm anticipating the union of our only boy to his chosen girl in May and imagining the happy little videos to come..  :)

I'm recognizing the loving hand of the loving God who gently directs my 

thoughts and actions because I allow Him, and knowing without a doubt that my 

security is in Him alone.  He is my peace 

and I am ever 

so thankful for my portion!

Blessings, Debbie  

spring 'making'

First you purchase a second hand, richly stuffed feather pillow... you know, your standard, "good night, I'm going to bed now" bed pillow.  Next you make a new form from stash fabric that you've never loved.  Now rip out a side seam from the feather pillow (carefully because you are quite fond of the old ticking fabric and already have ideas for its re-purposing) and create the biggest mess you've EVER made by pulling handfuls of feathers from the old and stuffing them into the new.  It took just over half the feathers to firmly stuff it. Whip stitch the opening, take it outside and beat, beat, beat it because little fluffies are stuck all over the exterior (feathers inside pillow.. good, feathers outside pillow.. bad).  Come back in and sweep up the ridiculous mess from the floor and the chair that you were sitting in.

Making the pillow cover was quick and much more fun.  It's just a simple envelope style but I had some wonderful vintage fabric in 4 smaller pieces that were almost exactly the right size. I'm just saying that transforming a small pillow that you already have is so quick and easy... if you want to make the task more difficult, do what I did.  Although I must say that it does feel quite luxurious for the extra effort.

The weather is playing with me.. beautiful glimpses of spring between longish periods of Central Oregon March cold.  Audrey and I took a walk yesterday and were surprised by the buds and blooms that are the true harbingers of this long awaited season!  Lovely.

Blessings, Debbie  

greetings from Oregon

We had a few beautiful, shiny, mylar balloons left after giving Taren (our future daughter-in-law/Sister-in-law) her bridal shower a couple of weeks ago.  Can you believe that they were still dancing across the ceiling.  I thought, "Certainly balloons that have shown this much fortitude deserve a further purpose!"  So, Erin wrote simple but thoughtful messages on them and together we recorded their departure.  Now they are drifting over Oregon through the white-skiffed azure looking for you my friend. Please let me know if one of them makes it to you. I figure with three of them out there the odds are good! ;)

Blessings, Debbie

wisdom

Erin is the artist... wish I could claim this one.

Today the family was gathered around the television set.  Not the way I would normally recommend spending an afternoon but what we were watching was not the normal programming.  Have you seen The Truth Project?  No?  You are really missing something outstanding.

I spoke about my search for truth here.  It's a grand thing to know that you truly know.  You know?  :)

Blessings, Debbie

a stone dressed for the weather

 \

I crocheted a rock.  Well, I guess the more complimentary term would be a stone.  Yes, that's what they are calling them... crocheted stones.  Three years ago while combing the Oregon coast with friends I stuck a few (stones) in my pocket.  "What are we looking for?", asked the friends.  "Beach stones", said I. "What for?", they inquired.  I proceeded to explain that I had seen these beautiful crocheted stones and I intended to make some.  By the time we reached our cottage I was dragging my stooped body up the stairs with pockets heavily bulging with the abundance of generous non-crafters.  Of course, if they had been fellow creators they would have been hoarding for themselves.  All is fair in love and art.

Three years later and I decided it was time.  The fact that I still don't know how to crochet didn't slow me down ( that is if you don't call the 3 year hesitation a pause ;)  I Googled the tutorial by Margaret Oomen on The Purl Bee and proceeded to do it all wrong.  First, I couldn't find any crochet cotton so I grabbed some fingering weight boucle instead.  Then I found myself a crochet hook ( I have them to assist in my knitting faux pas). Then, I must have been confused about which stitch to go into each time around because my pattern doesn't look anything like Margaret's.  I couldn't care less.  Isn't it lovely?  Thank you.  ;)

Blessings, Debbie 

blissings

Enjoying the most importants right now.  Breathing deeply in the moment because everything just happens so fast it makes my head swirl.  I'm learning to hold on tight to the here and now because if I blink...  ~Nope. Just don't blink!!

Every time I pop back in here it's with the intention of being consistent.  So here goes again.  I hope to 'see' you all tomorrow.  But just in case my best laid plans...

Merry Christmas.  And may the peace of God and His rich blessings be your perfect gift.  I accidentally typed "His rich blissings" and I do find that perfectly appropriate.  :)

Love to all, Debbie   

Baa, baa bare sheep..

Actually, in this case... alpaca!  I'm adding a new dimension to my fiber fanaticism.  My husband wonders, "Will it stink?"  We'll soon see!  :)

Blessings, Debbie

how autumn is the sound of music

Fall decorating, gathering the last of summer's eggs, foraging for rose hips and collecting flower seeds to plant next spring... as the girls would 'sing' (and play), "these are a few of my favorite things."

Exciting things happening around here... I'll be sharing in bits and pieces.  I've been bit hard by the creative bug and I'm feeling like Martha on steroids.  Christmas should be no problem as I've been addding a gift a day to the present box, no kidding.  And yes, people are eating and learning and wearing clean clothes!  It's this fabulous autumn air...

Blessings, Debbie

seasonal change and new additions

The weather is beginning to turn from the scorching, sun filled, endless days of summer to the less predictable, often turbulent, shorter days of fall.  The grass and the posies are looking tired, like they are quite ready to be put to bed for a long winter's nap, "thank you very much."

We've added a few additions to the household and I for one am quite excited to spend some time curled on the new (to us) couches or sitting before the new spinning wheel or standing before the new loom.  I LOVE YOU CRAIG'S LIST!

We're a bit late starting school since we had a few things to check off the list before finding our mojo. First there was the wedding of dear friends leading into the 50th wedding anniversary of my parents.  Fifty years! Next came church camp, then today we had our kick off picnic for our local home-school group.  So, now we are ready to settle back to normal.

...  Someone define normal for me... 

Every day brings a new surprise!  We are more than thrilled to be welcoming Taren into our family.  Looks like we will be getting back to 'normal' after May or June.  :)

Blessings, Debbie

Charlotte's story... part 2

cont. from here... Thankfully the spinal tap went well and another didn't have to be done (which we had been told was a possibility).  Two visitors were allowed at a time and there were 5 of us in the waiting room... waiting.  We all got our turns and then Cory took the girls and I back to the house to pack some clothes and necessities for Monte, Hillary and Charlotte who were now looking at 3 more days away from home.  We stopped at the store on the way back to the house for sandwich fixings since these parents who had just had a baby yesterday morning hadn't had much to eat in two days.

As I said in the previous post, the hospital was almost an hour away so by the time the food reached our little family it was just after 10:00 p.m.  They were supposed to be transferred to a 'real' room in the children's hospital but we found them in the cramped little space we had left them in.  They had Hillary on a bed and were trying to figure out how they might fit another in for Monte.  I honestly don't know how they did it but they did.  Apparently there was no room at the hospital which only happens a couple of times a year.

Now Charlotte was hooked up to an antibiotic drip which made nursing quite difficult for the brand new mama.  I'll add that she wasn't complaining.  She was doing a wonderful job at going with the flow and just loving on and caring for her baby.  Monte was doing what he does best and keeping on top of the staff and information... taking care of his family.

The next day they were moved out of the emergency room into the children's hospital.  I'm only going to say that from here on out Charlotte was a human pincushion and nerves were getting quite raw (as were her arms, legs and feet) by the third day.  Prayers were constant and we knew that she was in the loving care of her Father in heaven as well as the sweet parents that were given her on earth.  That was our comfort.  On day three Hillary's mother in law picked me up at the house and together we went to be with them while they waited to be released. By now we felt confident that Charlotte was well.  Close to check out time we were visited by a doctor who told us that there was something wrong with Charlotte's last blood draw and they would have to do yet another.  Dad had pretty much 'had it' and questioned if it was really necessary and we were told that her platelet count was very low and that if the next draw showed the same it could be very serious.  Here we were, almost like we were starting this nightmare all over again.  Once again blood was drawn and we all sat in tearful silence for quite some time.  We were told that we wouldn't know the results for 2 hours.

Several hours later we were finally visited with the release papers and the "all is well."  All was well.  Just like that.

And here we are 2 months later with the sweetest baby girl ever.  The beautiful baby girl who has smiled since she was born.  No kidding... every day since she was born and now she laughs out loud.  I don't understand the rocky start but I do know that the One who orchestrates all things know's exactly what the plan is and I thank Him for His grace and His perfect gift!

It's almost midnight.  We just got back from 4 days of church camp and I'm tired.  I've written the happy ending to the beginning of Charlotte's story and now I'm going to bed.  

Blessings, Debbie

*  The above photos are from 2 weekends ago...  We had them for 3 days!