Short 'n' sweet...

It's been a nice afternoon and evening. After work I had a snack, then I took a 2-1/2 hour nap (I was exhausted and my feet were sore), then I washed the dishes, went outside and mowed part of the lawn (I'm trying to get it all done over 3 days) and after that I sat in my lawn chair in the shade and read some of White Road. I began to feel like maybe the neighbors are wondering why I'm sitting in my front yard so long (I shouldn't care, should I?) so I go inside and do a bit of computing. Time for a hot shower and then, a bowl of oatmeal to end the day!

 

I'd better eat it before it gets cold! Then maybe a few minutes of Yahtzee with my kids on Facebook and it'll be time for bed. It was a beautiful summer day. Coming up on my weekend off! Yahoo!

 

Shalom, everyone!

Clouds and grandkids at the zoo...

Lots of spectacular clouds lately...

 

 Whooshy...

 Why does the phrase "see the little puffer bellies all in a row" come to mind?

A bunch of baby clouds in a cradle of clouds...

 I made this little pen sketch from a photo. This guy will be going into my Sketchbook Project, but for that I'll make a pencil sketch and use watercolors. I'll probably add some sunfish, too.

 The kids and grands went to the Como Zoo in Minneapolis for a belated birthday treat for Audrey. It's a four hour drive one way and the girls didn't know where they were headed until they arrived. They were pretty thrilled! The ancient carousel was a favorite.

Hazel Jane on her steed.

 Audrey, lovin' it...

 Kiddie jail...

 Adele in awe...

 Adam and Hazey

 Lots of selfies!

 The caption my son-in-law Adam put with the photo below on Facebook: "Mad props to this woman here, for being the best mom that these girls and I could hope for!" I thought that was nice!

 

 Poor gorilla. He looks grumpy. It was HOT, so he's probably just trying to get cool.

Kind of a hot muggy day off. I tried to nap, but just tossed and turned. Sitting in front of the fan most of the day trying to entertain myself. :) I really get overtired over my working weekend and just can't seem to get rested. Oh well. I'm off to have a snack, watch a little Escape to the Country and then to bed. :)

Thanks for stopping by and shalom to all!

Stuff in my camera...

Does anyone know if this type of cloud has a name? The sky was full of them last evening, like long fingers of cloud. The evening was nice, but we had a doozy of a storm last night. I woke at about 1:30 a.m. to almost continuous lightning for maybe 2 hours. There was also a sudden torrential downpour and I'm told some folks got hail and very high winds. Personally, I was staying away from the windows, so I'm not sure about all that. But today dawned nice with some big puddles.

 

stratocumulus undulates- Thanks MK and Jody!

 I took this a couple of days ago. I love the way the wind tosses the willow leaves around so you can see their silvery undersides.

 I'd love to be a bird bobbing about on those wind tossed branches. Wouldn't you?  Speaking of that, I wonder where Badger is right now?

 Another visit from my sweeties yesterday. This is the good side of their mom not having internet at home. I get to see a lot more of them! :) They love to pound on the old "pi-nano", as Hazel likes to call it.

 Little Adele practices her rolling. Micah told me that Adele hadn't rolled over since she did it at my house for the first time. Next thing we knew we turned around and she was on her tummy. She is a ninja! We never catch her in the act of rolling over! :D

 I keep trying to capture the way the evening sun backlights the grasses (weeds?) in my meadow. It looks much greener than this in real life.

 So...how do you like them feet? This is the 6-toed (at least) guy who left the imprints in the snow last winter, if you recall that photo.

 He's getting bigger...and so are his feet! I call him Mitt.

I devoured a lot of "Down the Garden Path" yesterday on my day off. I love his sense of humor. I'm not that much for flower gardening, but the gardening is really just an excuse for him to write his interesting character sketches. I think any of you Anglophiles out there would love this book. The author's name is Beverley Nichols, and this book is part of the Allways trilogy.

I also read a lot out of one of the notebooks of email correspondence I got from my mom. Talk about a page turner! So many things I'd forgotten about, and so pleasant to remember. A family memoir, and I didn't even have to work hard to write it. ;)

Well, I'm totally worn out and have a weekend of work ahead. Hope there will be no storms to awaken me tonight!

Shalom and coolness to all. Thanks for taking the time to drop by! :)

A beautiful Sunday...

It has been gorgeous here today. Clear, sunny, and maybe in the high 70's with a nice, brisk, cool breeze keeping the house at a comfortable temperature.

I watched both services of my son's church in Texas (my church, too, I suppose) online. Such good messages this pastor preaches!

Otherwise, I've been praying for family at length, reading online and some from my new book White Road. I'm having to discipline myself to learn a little Russian history to keep up with what's going on. It's a little confusing and contributed to a bit of a headache, I think. (This may also have something to do with the bright sunshine pouring in through the window.)

I spent a short while sitting outside in my deck chair just to soak up some vitamin D, but it exacerbated the aforementioned headache, so I retreated back inside. I also fit in a nice nap. I had to close my window a little because the breeze was so strong it was blowing the quilt off of me! Nice problem!

This evening I took a photo of my "garden". Aren't I ambitious? :)

I'm enjoying a cool breeze and some iced tea and biscuits (cookies) as I watch another installment of Escape to the Country which takes me to Dumfries and Galloway this time.

My usual practice when I near the end of a loaf of bread is to break up the heels and toss them into the back yard for the birds. Sometimes the cats get them, but usually it's the local crows. (I seem to have a regular rookery going here!) But today who should show up but a seagull! We have lots of them since we are in lake country, but this is the first to show up in my yard. Fun to see! One of God's little gifts to me today.

Two more of God's gifts to me...Audrey and Hazel having fun at the county fair! :)

And, I don't believe I posted this before. This is Adele (and sweet daughter Micah) enjoying the fireworks on the 4th of July! Micah said that Adele just loved them! :)

Feeling blessed! I hope you are, too!

Shalom, friends.

What's happenin'...

Nice summer day! I arose at 6:45 rarin' to get out and mow the lawn before it got too hot. I spent 1-1/2 hours outside mowing and hacking away at weeds that had grown up around the house. Then inside for a shower and breakfast. Feeling good about getting that done. For now, the whole lawn looks good! (Well, in my rural, wilderness way of thinking.)

Last Monday, when I mowed the front lawn I made a couple of bouquets of weeds. :) They were kind of cute, but didn't last long. I think they drowned from too much water. They are weeds, after all, and thrive in our dry, sandy soil. (Did I show these already? Seems like it.)

Micah and the girls came over for a visit. Of course, watercolors must be used.

 

They always enjoy playing with old friends. Grandma's toy stash is limited, but these girls have good imaginations!

Audrey inherited a straw hat from her great-grandmother. I'm not much of a hat wearer, and she just loved it.

I don't know if any of you are familiar with Sid Roth? He's a Jewish believer in Jesus and I've watched him a little in the past. I've also been seeing a lot in the news about the nuclear arms deal that is being forged with Iran. As Benjamin Netanyehu has said, the deal is a disaster and Israel, as well as the rest of us, are in as much peril as ever from Iran, if not more since they will also get billions of dollars to help them create weapons. Anyway, Sid Roth was saying that God had given him a different perspective on this. He said not to fear! Many Muslims are becoming disenchanted with Islam because of all of the terrorist activity and many of their hearts will be more receptive to the gospel because of all of this. What Satan means for evil, God will use for the salvation of many of the Muslim people. In the eternal scheme of things, that is a glorious outcome!

This is my latest bit for my Sketchbook Project. Not sure if it needs something else. Thinking about it...

Adele, practicing her rolling in the Pack 'n' Play...

...and her first selfie!

Micah and the girls came over night before last and got stuck here until about 10:30 p.m. because the lightning was so extreme. We congregated in the hallway away from windows because in my house it's hard to find a place where you aren't near a window. I told the girls not to be afraid. We were just taking precautions. Audrey asked, "What are per-cau-tions?" "We're just being careful," I smiled in reply. :) So, Audrey and Hazel did some drawing and coloring and when the storm settled down a bit they hurried home.

My copy of "White Road" arrived! I may begin reading this today. When I first unwrapped it I flipped to a page at random and was instantly drawn in to the story. I love this lady's writing style! Down the Garden Path will still be my breakroom read, but this book will be better suited for reading at home with no interruptions.

I'll close with this quote that my dear daughter-in-law, Jess, posted on Facebook this morning. I found it very inspirational, and I hope you all do, too!

"Are you a born writer?  Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action. Do it or don't do it...if...you don't do it...you shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got."

Come on! Let's do it! :)

Have a blessed day filled with the shalom of God.

Family...and Lisa flips out on FB...

Just had to post this cute photo of daughter Micah and family. They were enjoying the Midsummer's parade in the nearby small town of Menahga, MN. :)

As for flipping out on Facebook, I know I should have kept my mouth shut...or maybe not? Somehow a video was shared on my newsfeed (and I wish I knew how to narrow down who can post things or how to prevent friends of friends posts from being shared). The video was of a "prank" where a guy dressed up as a scary, evil clown character would set a little music box in a secluded spot, turn it on, and then when unsuspecting passersby walked over to see what the music box was doing there, the clown would whistle to get their attention. In one scenario he had a chainsaw which he started up and began chasing the terrified young people. In another scene he had a huge sledge hammer and a "dead" looking dummy on the ground. When he got these people's attention he pretended to smash the dummies head. Once again the terrified people ran for their lives. I commented that this was a grotesque video, and why would anyone think it's funny. A young gal commented back something like, "I think it's hilarious! Idk what you mean. Have a little fun for once." I commented in return that I could see how someone who is self-centered and thoughtless might think it was funny that those people thought they were about to die. She commented back, "Yup, you got it." and I said, "I thought so." Aaaahhh! But this is what the world is coming to folks. Gird up your loins and feed on scripture. We're going to need it as evil increases.

On a more upbeat note... I followed a link from Betty the Wood Fairy's blog and found this picture. I could LIVE in this! :)

Maybe I should have hung onto my dad's old VW bus? Road trip!

 

Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of this day off. It takes this old body a while to recover from a hectic weekend at work!

 

Thanks for dropping by! Shalom to you and yours!

Feeling bookish...

It's a glorious, sunny day off! I hope to drop in on Micah and the girls a little later. Micah parked in my driveway yesterday evening, unloaded her bike and went for a 4 mile ride. She's training for a half-marathon in the fall. Biking is her cross-training option. She's following a training schedule she found online and she and hubby are both doing some running. He's aiming for a 5k. Ah yes. They're young...

Meanwhile, my idea of sport has been ordering books. ;) I've missed the packages coming in the mail and, although I try to be frugal, I have managed to find a few interesting titles.

A week or so ago I received The Annie Dillard Reader. I read something by her in one of my literature classes a few years ago and thought it would be enjoyable to read more. Also, I received my copy of The Worm Forgives the Plough. (I think we'll need to have a group read of this since several of us have bought it!)

 

Yesterday I received Down the Garden Path. This was published in 1935 by Beverly Nichols. It's part of a trilogy. I had the last two books already, but was waiting for this one to begin reading them. I ordered it last summer and it got lost in the mail. Being cheap, I refused to order another copy and kept hoping the errant copy would arrive. But, I could wait no longer, so here is the copy I ordered recently. I'm showing you a couple of pages so you can see  his writing style. I look forward to these books as pleasant light reading material. Very English. ;)

 

You'll probably need to click on the images to enlarge them.

Of course, you could  read a sample on Amazon as well.

The other two in the triology are "A Thatched Roof" and "A Village in a Valley".

 

 

I now await the arrival of "White Road", which MK so highly recommends. This sounds like something I would have read as a teenager. I was especially interested in stories of the holocaust and the miraculous journey of the Jewish people from war torn Europe to their promised land. White Road takes place during the Russian Revolution. (I see MK has a post with some quotations from the book, here.)This will be an interesting read, I think. Thanks, MK, for the suggestion!

 

 

 

My step-granddaughter, Kristen, will have her 11th birthday at the end of this month. She lives far away in Maryland and is rather horse crazy. She's taking English riding lessons right now. I decided, instead of the usual card with money, to buy her a book that I read when I was about her age. In fact, I believe my parents gave it to me for my birthday. Have you ever read the story of Wild Horse Annie? Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West is a wonderful book for any horse crazy girl in your life. :) The copy I found on Amazon was in beautiful shape (not the one pictured below) and I think she'll be delighted with it. I remember very fondly, my horse crazy days riding my little horse all over creation. Now that was freedom!

 

 

I believe I'll hop over to MK's blog and read that post I mentioned above. Have a beautiful day, everyone!

Shalom! :)

Happy 4th and more ATC's...

Happy 4th, everyone! Here's a spectacular rendition of our National Anthem. These boys can sing! :)



In other news, I finished up some ATC's for the Dr. Seuss swap...

 

Otherwise, just listening to fireworks going off in my neighborhood. I can't see much because of the woods surrounding me, but I'm glad to be home. I worked for 4 hours this morning to help the poor gals who were scheduled for this weekend. I was glad to escape the crowds. It's pretty crazy in town where thousands of tourists (plus daughter Micah and her family) will be watching the official show.

Son Josh just called to wish me a Happy 4th and to visit for a minute. That's always a treat!

Hope you all have a swell 4th!

Shalom.