Skilled Artisans

Hi Friend! How is your week going? We need to count our blessings and not complain about the rain. My thoughts and prayers are for the victims and first responders in Moore, OK. Is it me or are things really spiraling out of control as far as weather is concerned?

Will be a seat

The first picture above is my friend and next door neighbor's wall being constructed. When I heard how much it is costing her, I nearly went apoplectic! I mean it is rocks for Pete's sake. Do you know how much it is to buy rocks? Not to mention the labor to install. It is a LOT if money.

In order to make their backyard more kid friendly, they had to first level the ground with a bobcat and then build a retaining wall.

But of course, who could have predicted that we would be paying for water to drink? It would have seemed laughable 30 years ago.

My mother, God rest her soul, used to laugh when people started selling soil....dirt! It does seem strange to me still.

Going next door to check on their progress, I developed a new appreciation for this skill of laying rocks. First of all, the mortar must be just the right consistency or it will not hold.

The precision of chiseling each rock to fit perfectly is not an easy task.

This young man was taught his skill by his father and has been laboring for 10 years in this industry.

Do you see the variations of tones in the rock? Placing them randomly makes a more interesting sight, don't you think?

Tap, tap, tap....until it is the right shape and size. Sometimes it takes about 10 minutes to get the rock the way he wants it.

At first I was going to do all the photos in black and white but then when noticing the color variations, changed my mind.

Now i can see the value of the skilled artisans here. I will post the final result when it is finished. Thanks for looking!

May the peace, love and happiness of the Lord, Jesus, be with you today and always!

What i have been reading

Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

Hello sweetie pie! It sure has been a long time since I posted. Usually I read at least one book a week but I have come down with a dreadful cold that leaves me listless...so I read even more and drink tea with honey. This book is the one I just finished:

Me before You is about a young girl in England who has just lost her job due to changes in the economy and has taken on a new job as an assistant/companion to a young man who is a quadriplegic resulting from a motorbike accident.

Will is from a wealthy family and held a high power job making impossible deals come true. Lou is a free spirit. Although they butt heads in the beginning, they become sort of soul mates. The story has a Pygmalion air about it. 

The upset is that Will is planning on an assisted suicide in Switzerland. His parents are hoping that Lou will be able to change his mind in the six months that she has been hired.

This brings up again the culture of death that our society has been pushing lately, abortion being one example. 

I won't tell you the ending.

More about JoJo Moyes here.

Sandra of thistlecovefarm gave me permission to reprint this prayer here. I think it is very appropriate these days, don't you?

"Heavenly Father, 

we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and

to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good,"

but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost spiritual equilibrium

and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor

and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness

and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn

and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists

and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children

and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power

and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions

and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography

and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers

and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today;

cleanse us from sin and set us free.

Amen."

~ Billy Graham ~

May the love, joy, peace and happiness of the Lord, Jesus, be with you today and always!

XOXO

Home again, home again, jiggety jog!

photo courtesy of Virginia @AARoads-interstate.com

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we made the journey to and from Dallas, PA. for the funeral of my dear sweet MIL.

We had to be carried by the angels for what a trip it was. Here is one of those "I love my husband, but...." moments. I don't know who needed a Xanax more, Jim or me. Although I usually admire my husband's energy level when it comes to certain projects, it irks me when we are on the road.

Jim does not want any car to ever be in front of him. So...he is one of those dreaded tailgaters. He will follow at about 5 feet away from the car in front until they give up to move to the other lane or decide to get even. That can be a very dangerous game of cat and mouse. Needless to say, it can make one a nervous wreck.

There  were a few times that I almost saw my life in slow motion. Have you ever been in a bumper car? Then you know of what I speak....except we didn't actually ever bump anyone. Thank God.

Now I need a day to rest and recuperate. Wish me well, dear friend! I am glad to be in one piece.

XOXO

courtesy of the Graphics Fairy

It is with a heavy heart that I report that my sweet mother-in-law has passed away at the ripe old age of 93. She was a kind and intelligent lady. And we will miss her dearly.

So we begin our trek to Dallas, PA. today. Please pray for the safety of us all.

May Marion rest in peace.

Happy Shoes

 

Hi Sweet Pea! Were you glued to a news network for the past week wondering when the good guys would catch the bad guys in the Boston Marathon Bombing? I was. And I was devastated as you were probably also, at the loss of life and limbs.

Not to mention the fear and apprehension that the whole nation is reeling with again.
When will it end? When will it happen again? Only God knows.

 

Why is it that we open our doors to strangers from other countries and give them the same rights and freedoms that we enjoy, only to have them show hatred for us in the end?

Why do we keep doing it? And giving scholarships to their children when ours have to pay?

I must admit that when the video showed the perpetrators, and their pictures shown everywhere, I was proud of our FBI, CIA and all of the police forces for their efforts. But I also have to admit that knowing what these young men did, all I wanted then, was to see them hung publicly in Boston Square.

But then I remembered that I am a Catholic Christian who is now against capital punishment."Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." And so, I wait for God's justice.

 

By now you must be wondering why I am posting pictures of my shoes. Well, these are my happy shoes. When I walk out into the world, I will have no fear. I will not let these monsters get the best of me. Amen?

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are at my side. Your rod and staff give me courage." Ps. 23: verse 4

Eastern Male Bluebird (not my photo)

Hi Sugarplum! Hope your weekend was fabulous!

Last week my husband who is very fond of birds, had to stop filling his six bird feeders because of the dreaded rats! We actually caught one hanging on the side of one feeder.

Two of our large feeders are off the ground about 20 feet on a very thin wire but the squirrels figured how to walk the tight rope and empty the contents. Curses!

 We have had an assortment of birds,but the prettiest are the finches. But lo and behold we have been sighting the Eastern bluebird, my favorite. Good thing we have lots of berry bushes in the backyard. That is what they like to eat.

Click here to hear their pretty song:Eastern Bluebird song

Spring has almost  come and gone here. It seems that my beautiful cherry tree blossoms were here for about a minute. And then gone with the wind. Have you ever seen pink snow?

You have to really stop and cherish every moment of each and every day, friend!

 

This is from my tree in the backyard. I always get lots of blooms but the squirrels get to the ripened fruit before we ever do.

 

Have a blessed week! Peace, joy and happiness of the Lord, Jesus, be with you today and always!

courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

Hello Sweets! Maybe you remember that i love all things "Owl". Well, in reading Andrew McCarthy's book (you may have remembered the actor who was dubbed as part of the "Brat Pack" in the '80's) The Longest Way Home I came across this cute little children's nursery rhyme. It was "perched high above the bar, a replica of an owl" (with these words below).

'A wise old owl sat on an oak,

The more he saw, the less he spoke.

The less he spoke the more he heard,

Why aren't we like that wise old bird?'  

Does that speak to you, like it did me?

XOXO