Like Apples of Gold

I've been involved with a web group called 29days since Sept. 08. the premise of this group is to give something away every day for 29 days. Well, I did that and went on to blog for the next 4 rounds of 29 days. I haven't been so good at blogging there lately, but I still have been making a conscious effort to give something every day.

Tonight at work I was called to the register when a customer was trying to use a pre-paid credit card which still had about $4.80 left on it. We tried everything we could think of to get the card to work, but we remained unsuccessful. Behind her in line was one of our regular customers who was waiting patiently for her turn and watching as this mini drama unfolded. Then she whips out five dollars and says in a sweet voice, "oh, here, honey, I have $5....you just take it."

Customer A says, "Oh, I can't."
Customer B says, "Honey, I've spent more than $5 on stupid stuff today that I didn't need. Let me help you out. Please, let me help you."
Customer A accepts graciously and says, "Don't worry, I'll pay it forward."

It is hardly even a story worth repeating, except when you think about how each of us has an opportunity to affect change in our world, even if it is just a small kindness like this, or just a kind word spoken at the right time.

Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances. Proverbs 25:11

Last year before Christmas I started working on my 100 things that make me happy project. With one assistant manager out with surgery, and working too many days in a row, I had to put my list on hold for a while (like about three months or more).

I had decided from the beginning the format for my list would be 100 pictures. As I began to make the list of the things that make me happy, I realized I would need to go back to some "beginnings" and "firsts", Like the first snow of the season, the first rosebuds, etc. While looking through already taken pictures, I came across one of me holding up our "first" daughter, Jennifer. I was 27, she was 6 months old. That was 31 years ago.

My relationship with Jesus is the first thing that brings me Joy/happiness, then the relationships with my family and others. Because of those relationships I am able to see delight in small things, like cooking with a five year old, listening for the hoot of the owl, the female cardinal weaving her nest and the first buds opening on the roses, the success of a small child in writing his name, or finishing a project that is difficult. There have been a lot of years and changes since that photo was taken. Picking out just 100 has been harder than I thought!

Today I'm going to add Peachy Cheap to my list of happy things. Check out the link on my blog, but beware, it's addicting.

The widening of the main road in front of our house started last week with the felling of two big trees on both sides of our driveway. It was sad to see them go, and even stranger still, turning into a driveway at night without the trees that had stood as markers of time to an entrance of the property that's been in the family for 189 years.

Ron is talking about planting Blue Spruce every twenty feet along the side of our property line. I don't know how many trees that would be, but I think it's a beautiful idea.

I'm glad his dad had the foresight to plant beautiful trees 40 feet back from the main road. Across the front yard are three big maple trees that take your breath away when the autumn sun shines through all the red, gold and purple leaves. There's an Elm and Pine on one side and maples on the other. In the side yard he planted rows of pecan and walnut trees, but I haven't the slightest idea of how or when to harvest the nuts on those. Aldi's makes it so easy to buy a bag for $3 without all the work.

Today the momma Cardinal is back checking out the nest she built last year in our pre-lit evergreen tree on the front porch. She laid four eggs there last year and it was so delightful to watch her, the eggs and the father with their different duties. When the momma was out, the father would guard the nest from about 10 feet away. When the babies hatched the father never left the mother or the brood. We could learn a lot from watching the birds. I think I'll take some bits of ribbons and such and drop around the yard to see if she uses them in her nest.

Yesterday I saw the first blue jay, and today there were robins everywhere. The starlings are back and the Canada Geese are coming and going on the pond. They are so fun to watch as their beaks go down hunting for food and their feathered bottoms stick up in the air. There were probably fifty of them out there yesterday.

We haven't heard our two owl friends all week. I guess I'll have to check out their habits and see if they flew off because of the weather changes or something. I've really grown quite accustomed to their chatting with one another in the dusk and late night hours.

The similarities between apple pie and paper flowers

Today, though I'm tired and sore and still have to go to work, I'm ever so much enjoying cooking up a storm in my kitchen. A friend in our home team at church had surgery this week and the rest of us are taking turns delivering meals. I picked my favorite to go meal...chicken and dumplings, green beans and apple pie.

This is my mom's recipe from way back, rolled dumplings. It's easy to make and makes enough for 3 meals, so dinner is done for us and our friends with some left over for lunches. I have an apple-peeler-corer-slicer from the pampered Chef that is indispensable when it comes to cutting a lot of apples for a pie. This pie is huge...containing 11 beautiful Granny Smith apples!

So how are these paper flowers similar to the apple pie? Well, first I picked about 11 pieces of the coolest paper from K&Co, called Que Sera, Sera, and used my fancy Accucut die cut machine to cut the flowers...kind of like the apple-peeler-corer-slicer. When you're done using these tools, only a small amount of scraps are left. Then I mixed the three sizes of flowers with different papers and topped them off with a rhinestone brad. Well, my apple pie doesn't have any rhinestone brads, but the crust is golden and the edges are kind of sparkly where the apple juice ran over a little bit! And both look good enough to eat!

Works in progress

In January I came across Millande Creativity Club and settled in for some 10 minute art lessons. What a difference it makes to watch someone while they're explaining a concept. Reading directions is not my strong suit. I much rather do show and tell, or in this case, listen and watch.

I bought myself a few supplies and got busy on my 13 week journal project, which I should have started 13 weeks ago, but, well, didn't. I got all my pages finished and mailed and ended up with about 5 pages to trade and created pages for a few topics not on the list. For the first time I used gesso, and gel medium, and I did draw an eye for the anatomy page! On another project I even covered an entire page with black ink and removed the ink with a rubber stamp dipped in bleach...pictures of that when the project is finished.

Here are my pages:

13 Week Journal Pages

I've been working on a 13 week journal with some girls at SnaggingStampers.com . Our leader, Kay, has been giving us journal prompts each week and then we will trade pages with each other so we all have work done by others in the group. After making my first journal page I knew I couldn't part with it, so I made duplicates to trade. In doing this I realized that the second and third tries at the same thing generated even more and better ideas.

Here are the prompts from Kay (and others) that I've finished so far:

13 point biography
Part of your anatomy
Favorite childhood song
Family (The Princess Diary)
Favorite Scripture/inspirational quote
Doodle your name

Some of these were fun like the doodle your name, but the anatomy was a real challenge, as I do not draw. This is the very first time I even considered that I might study a picture of an eye and try to duplicate it. It was really hard. I'm pretty satisfied for a first time try.

Lampshades

Before I went to work this evening I did my other job - clean the house. I would prefer to get a poke in the eye with a sharp stick instead of doing these thankless chores. I pretty much side with the idea that dust is a protective covering for furniture, and I have been protecting my nice things quite well.

The leader of our childrens' ministry had asked if we would host a meeting at our home on Sunday after church. Since we don't have a real church building yet, it's hard to corral little ones once all the ministry equipment is removed and packed away, hence the need to meet somewhere convenient for everyone. It was a pretty good deal for me. I cleaned, my husband and daughter pitched in, and the ministry leader shows up with paper plates, prepared food and cold drinks. (and a good meeting too.)

We have an antique pie safe near the front door. Over it hangs a beautiful print of the Lion and the Lamb and on top of the cabinet is a sculpture of a lion and a lamb, a house warming gift from my sister. About a week before the meeting my daughter had left a lampshade on a chair and I thought it would be funny to put the shade on top the lion's head and see if anyone would notice. Well, after the meeting on my way to the next event that evening, there it was, the lion with a lampshade on it's head, sitting on a nice thick layer of furniture protectant. Then I gave myself the gift of humility and laughter.