More Treasures

 Happy Monday to you!!! I hope your weekend was great. Mine was quiet and rejuvenating! Just the way I like/needed it.
Is this not THE most beautiful Fall arrangement EVER!!

 Allison brought this home on Friday, and yes, she made it!!! This is her project she made in her flower class. I really believe she has a gift.

So, I guess, I'm the one who will be blessed this school year with fresh holiday arrangements. I love it!

 We took another trip to the swap meet. and again I came home with many treasures. I was actually not feeling very well, darn Indian summer cold, but I slathered up with sunscreen, grabbed my trusty pink parasol and we headed out. One of the prizes I found was this Knitting Book, 1971, to add to my steadily growing needlework book collection.

I knew there were papers inside when I picked it up but didn't take the time to really check them out til I got home. Imagine my joy when I found this little kit, tucked deep inside these cut outs and patterns.

 I have never heard of a felt lapel pin, but that's not really surprising. The more I learn the more I find out I need to learn. So tell me, would you stitch it up?? I believe I may. It's calling to me. hahahah

I thought I would pee my pants when Allison and I found this ad. More so for her reactiion to it than mine. It is sooooooooo 1971. We laughed, and she just said, "no wonder" hahahahahahahahahahahahh
Blessings, Sue

Few words Friday...

The week got away from me. I'm not sure where exactly it went, but it was busy.

I filled the cookie jar today with our favorite Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies. I added raisins and white chocolate chips. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm They are really good.

I was able to restock a couple of my favorite wines. Bev Mo was having their buy one get one for 5 cents.

I actually dusted the mantle and tried to make it look a bit autumny. hahaha

Re- arranged my large arrangement Seth got me into a couple smaller ones.

Moved the bookshelves from my room into the living room and displayed my acorn collection and my acorn candle holder prize I got in Georgia.

Arranged the pomegranates Allison picked for me on El Monte Road the other day on the way home from the barn.

My beloved peach tree is changing her colors for me!!!

And starting to drop them as well.

WE had to get rid of Artemus. He was the most beautiful rooster ever, but he was starting to grow his fighting talons and keeping the hens to riled up. I just can't trust a hormone filled cockerel after what Gomer did to Allison. ( he would attack her when she was little, when she went to get the eggs)

Uhhhhhhh Yesssss. We found out WHY we were getting no eggs. I thought the ladies were just going through their usual molt and rest time. But NOOOOOOOOOO Allison watched as Charlie ( Miss Charlotte) crept into the laying box and scooted the eggs out to the waiting Lily below. Then jumped down and joined in the feast. BRAT.... NAUGHTY BRAT!!!!

And FINALLY I got a picture of Hamlet. Our little Buff Silky. boy are they hard to photograph. The big hens are hard enough to capture.

but as you can see, this was about the best closeup of Ophelia I could get.I wanted  you to see how fluffy they are. Look at their little legs with feathers on them. Hamlet is protective of Ophelia but so far he just guards her from the menace Charlie and the Weens. I am hoping when things settle down, with Artemus gone, he will step up and be the main man for all the girls. If not we will just keep him and Ophelia separate. Maybe we'll let them have babies. I've never done that.

I hope your Halloween weekend is safe and fun filled. Blessings, Sue

From my Point of View

First off let me say that this may be a bit rambly. Read on if you like or just enjoy the pictures, It's just another perspective to consider, after all.   

I had a "rough weekend"  Some things didn't go as I had liked. But I believe they all went as God planned. Seth brought me these flowers yesterday when he came home from work. He thought they would make me happy. They did, but not as happy as the thought of him wanting to bring me something so beautiful to cheer me up. :)  At any rate the following pictures are from my point of view this morning, along with a little story of what happened to me on my way home from taking Allison to school. 

 I didn't take my usual route home this morning... I went through a neighborhood to see enjoy the flowers people have in their yards. I was thinking about my day ahead and some projects that I want to finish and some I don't.

 As I came around the curve, I saw this tiny woman, dressed in black with a cart beside her full of bags and "stuff" She was on her tippy toes leaning over a garbage can looking for something. Cans?? Breakfast??

 My heart hurt.... My stomach felt funny.....

I didn't realize I had noticed so many details. I kept driving. I didn't see her face but I saw the black hat she wore.

 Like so many times in the past I started getting angry. About stuff. About how many people are hungry in our very own country and how "so many" people have so damn much....selfish people... I kept driving.

 I asked God about this. I have seen this so much... WHY???

 I felt/heard a voice inside my head that said..." You did bake 2 loaves of banana bread yesterday" 

Hmmmm I did indeed, BUT.... I was on my way home and I had thought about giving that loaf to my friend, Carol and enjoying a big slice in her company and having some tea and catching up..... And what about all the crap I have to do at home and I'm not even "dressed" for the day, I barely even combed my hair. AND to top it off, Allison forgot her stupid foam pumpkins in the back seat and now I'm going to have to drive them all the way back to the school.........

Then my heart hurt and my stomach felt funny. I ran into the house and grabbed the bread. I asked God if this was really what He wanted me to do could He please make me find her again.

I was driving back the way I came and THERE SHE WAS.... Walking on the side of the road. I pulled over and asked her if she liked banana bread. I told her that I had made this loaf and would love it if she would accept it. She smiled and smiled and laughed. I asked her if she liked walnuts because I put a ton in there and I told her how the eggs were from my very own chickens. She laughed some more. She blessed me and told me thank you. She has the most beautiful face and the most beautiful  laugh.and a tiny pair of golden hoops in her wrinkled ears. I saw her hands up close and the light in her eyes. I will never forget.    Lord, please help me remember the way I felt as I drove off....

And now I am back at home, Seeing the things I took pictures of to share with you, and remembering the details.
Have a blessed day, Sue

On a Lighter Note...

 I wanted to end out this week on a bit brighter note. My last 2 posts seem a bit on the low side. Remember I told you about my book score a few weekends ago and the Kobe Swap meet? I want to share some more with you. I have been looking through the book Etiquette, by Emily Post. It's from 1953.

 I suppose I need to know The True Meaning of Etiquette.. Some of this just cracks me up. But really, "Back in the Day"... when the majority of people actually had manners. Things seemed a bit more pleasant. I remember when I was a little girl and my family of in laws and out laws got together. We would all be sitting in the living room or dining room, and if my Mom or Aunt or any adult female came into the room, all the men would stand up until she was seated. And if we kids were in a chair, we would get a touch on the shoulder and a polite" get up and let your grama, aunt, mom..sit there. I hated being sent to the floor but I loved sitting with the adults, listening  and learning. hahahah

 I remember my mom telling me, that my Grama told her, that she chased my Grampa until she let him catch her.. hahahahahah

 Now this one has a bit of a true ring to it!

 heheeheheheheeheheheheheheheheeheheheheh

 This book was to good to be true. Child Craft was  a set of encyclopedia type books. I actually was blessed to have a set when I was growing up. I used to read the craft book until the pages came out. I hopefully still have it, in a box in the shed. This is from years before the set I owned was.

 The illustrations are magnificent. I could look at them all day. And I actually read this poem to my girls when they were little. It was a Little Golden Book.

Such sweet little prayers. I remember these as well.

 The second one was taught to me in Sunday school a bit differently, or maybe we just said it differently
God is Great,
God is Good,
Let us thank Him for our food.

I wanted to throw this one in because of the happy little children collecting fall leaves.

I'm so happy that I found these books. I just love looking through them and reading and relaxing. I hope you got some pleasure from this as well.
Blessings, Sue

Lachrymatory

 Please don't think me morose. While reading my new historical novel set in the South in during the Civil War I came upon an object mentioned that I had never heard of before. Being the history nerd that I am I couldn't just let it slip by without researching further to find out about more. I found this interesting and I thought you may as well. In the book a little girl refers to her tear bottle, filled with tears she shed when she lost her baby brother. Interesting.

Tear catcher from the Civil War

.Lachrymatory Bottle, tear catcher, tear vial, unguentaria or unguentarium.  A small bottle or vial used to catch a mourners tears.

Its hard to tell when exactly they came into being, but one of the earliest references in in The Holy Bible in Psalms 56:8  King James Version.  King David prays to God, " Thou tellest my wanderings, put Thou tears in Thy bottle; are they not in Thy book?"   This predates Christ by over 1000 years.

They were fairly common in Roman times, around the time of Christ, when mourners filled small glass bottles or cups with tears and put them into the burial tombs as a  symbol of respect. Sometimes professional mourners, usually women, were paid to cry into vessels during the mourning procession. Those that cried the loudest and made the most tears were paid the most.

In the dry climates of Greece where water was prised above most all else, water from the body was considered a sacrifice, often becoming Holy Water to be sprinkled on doorways to keep out evil and anointing the sick.

Cigar shaped tear vial, Victorian times

During the Victorian period, tears were collected in bottles with special stoppers that would let the tears gradually evaporate. This would then signify the end of the mourning period and the bottle would then be kept as a memento of the person for whom the tears were shed. When given as a gift it meant that the person to whom you were giving it you highly respected and honoured and it brought the giver and give into close relationship as having this great loss in common.



Roman times, hand blown glass bottle for catching tears



During the American Civil War it is said that woman would cry into and save her tears until her husband returned from the battle. This would then show how much he was missed and adored. They were also given to wives and mothers at the time of the death of a husband or child and then either poured out upon the grave or sealed with wax and kept as a remembrance to be passed down.

So historically they have been used during mourning. Contemporary times have romanticized them and they are still used to collect tears of joy and inspiration. I however, have NEVER heard of this at all.



Victorian tear vial with garnets imbeded in the glass

I just love finding out about different customs and the things our ancestors did. I have found that the more I learn the more I need to learn.
Did you know about these? If you want to know more you can Google tear vial and you will find as much as you want to know. That's just what I did. 
Blessings, Sue   YAY for learning new things!!!

Milestones

A long and winding road

 Milestone-

1.  A stone or marker set up on a road or path to indicate the distance from a given point.

2.  An important, or significant event.. in your life..career..the history of a nation..a turning point.



A milestone



Milestones on an old Roman road.





I have had, and am coming up upon several milestones in my life. Seth is retiring from his career in the fire service of 30 + years. While this is something we have both looked forward to for quite awhile...Its a biggy friends. We are more in love and better friends than we have ever been, and are looking forward to his being home. We'll have more time to spend together, enjoying the things we haven't always had time for. And I'm praying that he will have time to explore and discover some personal passions of his own.



Just one of the many things we enjoy



My youngest, my baby, my Buggy will be graduating from high school. She is my last one. We have had quite an exciting school career as well. She started out and is ending in the public school system. The years in between she was home schooled and we were blessed to have her going to a Christian /home school for her middle years. May I say that full time homeschooling is the hardest job I have ever had. Full time, around the clock, no real weekends or holidays for us. But I LOVED it and have nothing but fond memories.

 We will also be " loading up the trucks and moving to Georgia"  We have decided to relocate. Now this being such a short sentence, it sure holds alot of stuff within its Capital W and its final period.



I am a California girl. I was born in Texas, my dad was in the Navy, but moved to California before I was a year old. I have only moved a very few times in my entire life. I have roots here. Deep roots. Seth and I have lived in this same home for 28 years. Yep . that's a longggggg time, friends. but I'm ready for the change. We have been looking at new houses in the area we are going and I'm sure we will be able to find "just the perfect home"      Maybe I really have shooter roots in the South.....maybe that's why I have always longed to live somewhere else.... hmmmmmmmm.

Bevery Hillbillies



 My new Grand daughter is definitely a pull factor. Though we had already decided on the move before she was here with us. How can I not want to be a part of this amazing little persons life... up close and personal?



MOST ADORABLE BABY EVER



It dawned on me this morning that it really isn't any wonder that my thoughts are so...all over the place... That I am having a REALLY hard time settling into the seasons and enjoying some of the things that used to make me soooo darn happy. I am restless and non-settled. I don't want to decorate for the seasonal changes, and I'm even having a hard time wanting to bake and can and do the homey things I usually love. I'm sure its a kind of detaching thing and I'm sure "they" have some real name for it. ( I usually find that out after the fact).

It is none, the less, discombobulating. I'm working on it though. I know that all these changes are positive. They are still , just that, changes. and I, like my hens like to be settled in and cozy.



Prayers are welcome and so is anything else you would like to say.

Blessings, Sue