A fun stitching project!

While checking out Jody's Gumbo Lily blog I saw that she was stitching tiny little samplers she calls itibits.


Looking over her recent blogs I found that she had gotten the idea from a blog called "39 Squares". It's such a cute project for practicing various embroidery stitches, I thought I would share it. One more thing I'd love to do, but probably won't get around to! LOL! Find out more here...

39 Squares

Learning about history a la Agatha Christie...

I was reading Agatha Christie's autobiography and found it fascinating to learn about her "school" life. She was mostly taught at home by her mom and later went to a couple of unique boarding schools. She mentions that one of the things she enjoyed was learning history by reading a book called "The Great Events of History". It begins with the crucifixion, which I thought was a very good place to begin. I found it on Google Books and thought some of you might enjoy looking at it.

Great Events of History

I look forward to reading this! =0)

I'm also reading a biography of John Bunyan and found a couple of very old books he read online. (Well, HE didn't read them online. They're AVAILABLE to read online.) =0/ This biography by Kevin Belmonte is intriguing to me because I'm kind of an Anglophile (look it up, hee, hee) and it is written in a very non-highbrow style. Interesting details.

I've been having a good Saturday off. A nice mixture of cooking, reading, Bible study and working outside. (Bringing in firewood, yard cleaning and trimming goat hooves!)

Have a great weekend!

Faithfulness Farms Giveaway!

Gail, over at the Faithfulness Farms blog, is celebrating her 100th blog post by having a giveaway! All you have to do is post a comment, become a follower and mention her contest on your blog to enter! (Hey, that's what I just did!)

The prizes are:


Click on the old barn logo below to enter:

Wildlife extravaganza...

Here is an interesting look at the life of a barn owl named Molly. She's sitting in her nest box and we can watch what happens! Click here to watch her.

In other wildlife news, I went outside earlier to check on our dogs and to find out why they're all barking. I heard a really weird high pitched yapping in the back pasture. Training my flashlight beam in the general direction of the sound I saw two glowing eyeballs. A fox? I think so. He sure was noisy! He didn't seem the least bit scared of me and just kept on yapping. I can see why the dogs would bark. Heck, I'D bark if I was a dog. =0)

Yea, Spring!

It's kind of a pardoxical first day of spring. It started out at 12 degrees this morning and only made it up into the low 30's. At least the snow has all melted.

Jordan, Josh and Jess have been here for the last week visiting. They drove up from Ft. Worth and we were so glad to get to visit and give them a few hugs. It's a long way from Texas to Minnesota, so visits are pretty precious. On Friday, their last day here, we had a small pizza party/baby shower. Quite a few friends showed up and it was fun with pizza, treats and lots of dodge ball and Apples to Apples being played by all ages. Josh and Jess got many nice gifts for the baby expected in late July.

The paradox I mentioned in the first paragraph is that the kids left here this morning with no snow in sight and are now spending the night in Kansas where it's snowing like crazy! Our sons are experienced at driving in snow, so all should go well. Of course, we pray for them constantly. (And all of our kids!)

With the coming of spring (at least according to the calendar) I'm looking forward to planting a small garden. Maybe just a few rows of corn, some tomatoes, zucchini, (not a lot...I still have pureed zucchini in the freezer) and lettuce. I'll have to give some thought to what else I might grow. I'm realizing that I'm not into canning and don't have room for lots of frozen veggies, so I'll mostly grow things to eat fresh.

Another project is cleaning up the yard and outbuildings. We're hoping to work at this a little at a time over the summer. As we get older this gets to be more of a challenge! But it would be nice to see things cleaned up!

Time to stoke up the woodstove and go to bed.

Vaya con dios!

First walk of the spring!

I suddenly realized this morning that I can go walking! All the snow has melted from the streets and the walking trail. It's kind of brown, muddy and uninspiring out there, but I think I need the fresh air and quiet. This has traditionally been a good time for praying and meditating since our house is small and it's difficult to find a quiet place. I really need the exercise after doing very little of that over the winter! Gotta shed those winter pounds!

I walked a little over 2 miles, which is enough for the first time out. Maybe I'll get around to doing a short stretching routine later.

Our son Josh and his wife Jess, plus our son Jordan have all been living in Ft. Worth. As of this morning they're headed this way for a visit. They're driving, so it'll be late tomorrow, I expect, before they get here. Looking forward to seeing them and giving them a big hug!

Shalom...

Funny!

"Dangerous With a Pen" Contest!

Follow Lindsey's progress as she writes her first book. Then enter her contest here>>>
Dangerous With a Pen Contest

I guess I'm into biographies and memoirs these days!

It seems like I've got a lot of bios and memoirs either on my bookshelves at home or on my reminder list at PaperBackSwap! I enjoy reading about others' lives. The exception is the book I'm waiting for in the mail called "In Fairyland" by Andrew Lang. Really! It's an old children's book and I also collect those when the illustrations are really good. It's my version of an art collection, I guess.



Among the bios I've already read are:
One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty
Agatha Christie-An Autobiography
The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Bill Peet: An Autobiography (A favorite children's book illustrator.)
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
Myriam Mendilow-Mother of Jerusalem by Barry Cytron
Ben Israel by Art Katz

Those I'm looking forward to reading:
E.B. White-Some Writer! by Beverly Gherman
J.R.R. Tolkien by Tom Shippey
Roughing It by Mark Twain
Hamlet's Dresser: A Memoir by Bob Smith
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt
Through the Burning Steppe: A Wartime Memoir by Elena Kozhina
We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust by Jacob Boas
The Biography of Hudson Taylor by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor

I'm home from work because of a strained neck muscle, so I should be able to do some reading! What luxury! =0)

Paperbackswap and what I'm reading...

Had a little virus scare thanks to PBS, but I'm back online. Glad we had an old backup computer! Later I'll try to fix the infected one.

Speaking of PBS, I was just there on the community boards talking about my latest reads and thought maybe I'd post about them here, too.

I've been reading "Breaking Intimidation" by John Bevere for a while now, working my way through it slowly. This is something I really think I needed to read. He teaches about a spirit of intimidation which prevents us from operating in the gifts that God has put in us. What I've thought of as "being shy" I'm looking at with new eyes after reading this. I really recommend this for those struggling with that feeling of intimidation that tells you that you can't do something that you really feel God is leading you to do with your life.

I'm also re-reading "Fearless" by Max Lucado. I love his style of writing and the way he has so much fun with words, even when dealing with a serious topic like fear. There were a lot of "light-bulb moments" for me when reading this the first time, and I'm seeing even more the second time around.

My third book is "Agatha Christie: An Autobiography". I figured she would be a fascinating person to read about, and the book has been interesting, but I'm looking forward to reading about her adulthood. Her childhood has started to drag on, but she is getting older as I read, so I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, LOL! She says many wise things including this on contentment:

"It is astonishing how much you can enjoy almost everything. There are few things more desirable than to be an accepter and an enjoyer. You can like and enjoy almost any kind of food or way of life. You can enjoy country life, dogs, muddy walks, towns, noise, people, clatter. In the one there is repose, ease for nerves, time for reading, knitting, embroidery, and the pleasure of growing things; in the other theatres, art galleries, good concerts, and seeing friends you would otherwise seldom see. I am happy to say that I can enjoy almost everything."

Amen to that! We're beginning to see some signs of spring here in northern Minnnesota, such as temps in the 30's. Everything is still snow-covered, but it looks like we've weathered the coldest part of winter.

Shalom and have a great day!