Sign of Spring.....

My neighbor friend sent me this picture of her new

babies!! They are sooooo adorable.

Saturday we had our Titus 2 Group meeting.

This time our Bible Study was about

"Becoming a Titus 2 Woman"

How that requires a focus and different

lifestyle than we might otherwise choose without

that as our goal.

Whether we are striving to be all Titus 2 implies

now as we raise our children, love our husbands

and learn to stay home.....

or even as we are striving to be that

older woman for others in our life.....

Either way, it involves abandonment.

We must abandon our desires, hopes, dreams,

family, friends......etc. Wrap them up in a

blanket and lay them on God's doorstep!!

Walk away.......the new owner (God) will

now take care of

those abandoned things......

this does not mean we will never have

a life......it only means we are not in

charge anymore. :)

"Others may surrender......

we must abandon."

Then we talked about planning our

gardens and growing more this

year, and growing enough to feed our

families and even be able to put some up

for over the winter. How soon we can

get started on that...trying some cold hardy

crops now with plastic on them.

Then off to Gramma Belle's for more

crocheting!!

It was a good day.

Today......

Today is restful compared to yesterday!!

Yesterday was full of bread making and canning

and making several pans of Enchiladas, some

for the Shepherd's House on Monday

and one for our dinner and one for

a freezer meal (yay!! love it when that happens!!)

Today...I am blogging....studying for our Titus 2

Group tomorrow....this afternoon we get to go to

a friends for our monthly "Sewing Circle" (no one really

sews anymore, but sometimes.....)

Then come home take a "homemade" pizza crust out of the

freezer, spread it with some of that "homemade" spaghetti

sauce, top with "cheapo" pepparoni from Costco that is in

the freezer and some cheese that

is already grated and in the freezer.

WOW!

How easy is that?!?!?

My kind of day. :D

I ran across this quote this morning...it is so good for so

many circumstances in life, I just have to share it....

it is from an old magazine from 1993...

I think that word "inconveniences" can be translated to

mean anything that we are dealing with...

it could be something in our past, it could be illness,

unemployment,.....anyway, here it is.......

"God uses all those inconveniences to plant

tender seeds of endurance when

you are not even looking.

And before you know it, tiny sprouts of

perseverance and contentment

begin to crop up where resistance

and impatience used to thrive. You hardly

notice itin the beginning, but one day there it is -

the sweet flower of long-suffering

bloomingright there in your very irritation.

God has us here inthis flower garden of

patience, long-suffering,

and perseverance."

Have a great weekend!! See you Monday!!

Over the River.....

and through the woods.......

but not to grandmother's house (very sad to say :( )
But only to arrive at the coziest spot I know on

this particular Saturday.....
Camp Sherman Christmas Bazaar!!

A stroll through this very fun sale and then off
for the "Christmas tree hunt!!"
We searched and searched......then it was time for a break....
and turkey sandwiches!!!

It was one of the most beautiful days ever for tree hunting!!

I only remember snow and cold......

My daughter did quite a photo shoot of her own, there

were so many fun things to see. On her blog she

has a very fun display of mushrooms. :)

I thought the needles on this tree were really pretty, although

theyare hard to see here. I would have brought this

tree home,but it was too tall.

Manzanita!!! These branches make a beautiful wreath!!

Finally....we found it!! Trouble is we were getting two trees....

so we had a bit more looking to do.

Wow...a bit scarry if you ask me!!

On home again for some hot potatoe cheese soup with our

leftover veggies from Thanksgiving added....garlic roasted

asparagus and brussel sprouts and

a fun Christmas movie.....

Autumn Anne Tea..........

As you entered...............

A "plain brown" teapot and "chrysanthEmums"..........

The tables........pumpkin spice votives in glass teacups, fall colored leaves tied around a napkin with raffia for place cards........Centerpieces were fall colored cocktail napkins and on some tables plaid napkins with a tall pumpkin spice candle sprinkled with leaves, cinnamon sticks and dried sunflowers.....

Mmmmm, we served "plum pudding" for our last course.

Lot's of pumpkins, sunflowers, leaves, doilies......all to ad an old fashioned harvest feeling.

Our little store....breads and pies, pincushions and bunnies......

pillows and gloves, jams and jellies, homemade soap......

Then the tea was done....ladies went home......and it was time for a Harvest Party with friends!!

We just left the decorations, moved things around a little and enjoyed!

Later some special music and then some good ol' dancing!!

Just having fun......

some favorite faces....one of us couldn't hold still!! :)

My most favorite face....my very own sweetie!!

I will have more tea pics later.....from friends....some shots of the girls serving hopefully!! I cannot believe I missed them!! One was dressed as Anne and they all were dressed for the time.....also, one of the girls did readings and one played songs from the soundtrack...all and all it was a lovely time!!

From Cake to Cookies......

Mmmmm.....Harvest Bars for the guys last night!!

I took a Carrot Cake recipe and poured it into two pans, so instead of cake we had bar cookies. Sometimes there is pineapple in a carrot cake, well this recipe called for mandarin oranges. I had neither. So, I used some apple/pear sauce that I had in the pantry and remember back a few posts?.......I had grated carrots in the freezer!! Made some very good bars.

Summers End Garden Tea!!

There are so many pictures of tea it is hard to choose, but I did, this is not even all of them, but it is alot, hope you enjoy.....................

Violas as they entered the yard.......
The lovely Ladies...........

The table..........

We gathered white pitchers of different sizes and filled them with flowers of white and shades of pink, the plates also had pink flowers along the edge.



Frenchesca comes to tea!
(the cat :) this was after the ladies had left...

This cup is the same as the little plates we used.
This is their take home gift, a vase of fresh herbs from the garden!!

The grande finale....fresh, homemade peach ice cream, soooo good!

The store.............

The girls helping me serve made these "heirloom tomatoe" pincushions....CUTE!!

HA, here it is!!!

Lavender by the spoonful........
Sweet rhubarb sauce.........

My lovely servers and their sister..........

The one in the front is my daughter... :)

OK, I do not like pictures of myself....but here you go..... :/

Sun setting at the end of the day......

It was a beautiful day....my friend and I sat here at the empty table after everything was cleaned up, except the table...we just wanted to sit and savor the moment with a cup of coffee (ooops...don't tell).....

Now a tour of

Our beautiful Tea Room.......