Harvest Time Decorating

 

Even though temperatures are in the 90s all week,

corn harvest is in full swing around here.  So I decided

it was time to do a little harvest decorating.

Come on, and I'll show you around!

 

My mom found me this amazing large Thanksgiving platter

in the Historical America pattern.  I can't wait to serve turkey on it!

 

And speaking of turkey, this glass turkey candy dish looks

great with our red transferware collection, doesn't he?

 

I love how the sun shines in through the punched tin of

my Great Grandma's pie safe in the mornings.

 

I always enjoy decorating our mantel behind the wood stove

for the different seasons.  This year I used the harvest theme,

with the different crops that we raise around here displayed.

 

The milo in the enamel pitcher is from last year,

ours isn't quite ripe yet.  The old canning jars are filled

with wheat and corn.

 

 

Although we do not raise corn, the fields around our house

are all corn this year.  After harvest, our kids like to go out

and find the ears the combine missed!

 

This beautiful fall arrangement was made by my Mom.

She's great at floral arranging!  I found the old sewing

machine drawer at a garage sale when I was in high school,

and it makes a perfect table centerpiece.

Fall is such a cozy time of year!  So burn a harvest scented

candle and enjoy a cup of hot tea and maybe a caramel or two!

 

 

Peacemakers who sow in peace

raise a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:18

 

I am joining Home and Garden Thursday today.

Late Summer Tea

 

It's time for tea again!  If we haven't had tea in awhile,

Miss E will point at the china cupboard and say "tea pahty!"

She's such a sweetie.

 

I made this delicious Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

for our tea today.  It's even gluten free.  Can't have

too much chocolate, right?  My doctor says dark chocolate

helps when you're stressed.  Bring it on! (:

 

Miss E wanted to use our red transferware for our tea today.

One thing I love about red transferware is that it goes with

everything, whether it's Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter,

or old quilts and garden flowers out in the yard!

 

This is my newest tea cup and saucer, my Mom found it at

a flea market.  The pattern is "Bristol".  I love it!

 

Miss E always makes sure to add an extra large

spoonful of sugar to her tea. (:  She's using our

mini tea cup and saucer, with scenes of Washington D.C.

 

I hope you have a lovely end to your summer,

and enjoy these nice coolish days!

 

I'll be joining Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday again this week.

On Purpose

As many of you know, one of the things I struggle with is epilepsy, which means having seizures. I have all kinds of seizures, usually they are small and you would hardly be able to tell I was having one. But I have also had the big scary ones that are harder on the family than on me, since I don't remember them.

Sometimes I really hate having bad health.

One of the worst parts of epilepsy is not being able to drive. It's hard to give up the independence that driving brings. (Thankfully my family is great and takes me wherever I need to go).

My friend recently recommended the book, The Grand Weaver, by Ravi Zacharias.  The first chapter is called, Your DNA matters, and it was so relevant to my life, since my doctor had recently done a DNA test on me and he could see in my DNA the reason I've been having seizures.  Here is an excerpt from that chapter...

"To be able to accept the wonder and the marvel of one's own personality, however flawed or 'accidental', and place it in and trust it to the hands of the One who made it, is one of the greatest achievements in life. His 'registration number' is on you. Your DNA matters because the essence of who you are matters and whose you are by design matters.  Every little feature and 'accident' of your personality matter. Consider it God's sovereign imprint on you."

God made me the way I am for a reason. And he made you the way you are for a reason. He can be trusted. There is something specific that he wants me to do that I wouldn't be able to do if I had all the energy in the world and was always rushing around here and there in my car.

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust...

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done.

The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; 

we're I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

Psalm 40:4-5

I'm looking forward to seeing God's purpose unfold!

Simply Sunday

--Our oldest son unloading hay--

Wow, summer is not long enough!  Just one more week and then our three oldest will be back in school and our three youngest will be doing home school. I included Miss E in the home school group because she will definitely want to be included in whatever we are doing.  This is my ninth year to home school, and I seriously spent about 2 hours planning the year and getting ready, that's all it took!  The older I get, the more I like simple.

Especially when it comes to technology.  We got a new computer and I cannot get the internet to work on it.  So here I am blogging on my phone.  One of those frustrations I'd really rather not have to deal with.  Oh well.

I love Sundays, the music, gathering with other believers, the relaxing afternoons with the family, its good.  I was amazed again today by God's grace and forgiveness that he so freely gives to all who come to him.  He's awesome!

--to the praise of his glorious grace,

which he has freely given us

in the One he loves.

Ephesians 1:6

Just Peachy

We are blessed to have friends with a peach and apple orchard close by, and I love getting their peaches each year.  Peaches are just so much better picked ripe off the tree, rather than what you get at the grocery store.  So when you have a bunch of peaches, what can you do but make some Peach Cobbler and have a little tea party?

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

I used my "Hope" tea cup, by Sandy Clough.  Without the hope I have in Jesus, my life would be a train wreck by now, I'm sure.

Miss E used my favorite demitasse size teacup, it is the pattern Castleton Manor.

Here is my Peach Cobbler recipe, if you'd like to try it---

4 cups sliced and peeled fresh peaches

1 1/4 c. sugar, divided

1/2 c. butter, melted

3/4 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

pinch salt

3/4 c. milk

In a bowl gently toss peaches and 3/4 c. sugar, set aside. Pour butter into 2 qt. baking dish. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining sugar, stir in milk.  Mix well. Pour evenly over butter (do not stir). Top with peach mixture. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or till golden brown.  Serve with ice cream if desired.

I'm joining Tea time Tuesday again today.

Rag Quilts

So what do you do when you see this beautiful rag quilt on Pinterest...

...and your scrap drawers are overflowing...

...and it's way too hot to do anything outside?

You dream of fall and get started on a rag quilt of your own, that's what!

This will probably take me months to finish, but I am determined to get it done!  Most of my scraps are from the 80's and 90's, so they're not the most current colors, but the material is free which my Mennonite nature appreciates, plus each one is a memory of a dress or project from the past.  One thing I like about rag quilts is you don't have to be real particular, which is nice.

A little C.S. Lewis

I have been working my way through the book "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis the last few weeks.  Although it was written back in 1943 it is still relevant as ever, because Christianity is always relevant, no matter what age we live in.  No matter if you are a peasant girl living in 17th century Europe, a tribesman living in 8th century Africa, or a stay at home mom living in 21st century America, you have to wonder at some point, "what is my purpose on this earth?"

C.S. Lewis does a great job of explaining Christianity in this book.  He explains hard subjects in a very down to earth way that makes sense.  I would highly recommend it. The following is a quote from the book that I really liked--

"I think all Christians would agree with me if I said that though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond.  One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke.  Everyone there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light.  But they do not call it goodness.  They do not call it anything.  They are not thinking of it.  They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes.  But this is near the stage where the road passes over the rim of our world.  No one's eyes can see very far beyond that: lots of people's eyes can see farther than mine."