A fragrant blessing

Usually the purchaser of 'sensible' gifts, he arrived home with these beauties... it filled my heart.

A joyful echo

'Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk O Lord in the light of Your countenance.
In Your name they rejoice all day long and
in Your righteousness they are exalted'

Psalm 89.15-16

The gospel is a most joyful sound... let us make the voice of His praise be heard. We inhale His beauty... faith comes by hearing and hearing. We exhale a love song... let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

His word starts 'Blessed', yes indeed, if not for Him, we would not even have strength for a whisper. All Glory to Him.

Grace's cambric tea

"At noon Ma sliced bread and filled bowls with the hot bean broth and they all ate where they were, close to the stove. They all drank cups of strong, hot tea. Ma even gave Grace a cup of cambric tea. Cambric tea was hot water and milk, with only a taste of tea in it, but little girls felt grown-up when their mothers let them drink cambric tea"

Laura Ingalls Wilder ~ The long winter



Rebecca was most keen to follow Grace's lead with the cambric tea.

It reminds me of the need for doughnuts when we were reading Homer Price.

Happy Reading!

A tale of two parties

One with a jacket and scarf on ice, at a friend's birthday yesterday.




And one in a bather, in the sunshine, at grand-dad's birthday lunch today.

Lemon Spinach

My favourite way with Spinach... saute quickly until just wilted with grated lemon rind and a hint of garlic, in a little olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. A squeeze of lemon on the plate and I am happy.

Fruit salad, maybe

Becca told me to put my feet up... then raced to the kitchen to make my fruit salad, with a little flare.

Ta-da...




It might be a paltry portion, but it is pretty!

Thankfulness

On this sunny Thursday, I am thankful for the little things in my life this week...

warm necks in the morning

thick socks at night

the filling pleasure of kind words

un-arranged flowers

my husband's hand on my face

first light

belly laughter

my daughter's outlandish obstacle course

cinnamon in the kitchen and Verdi through the speakers

a sister's healing

tea, a swiss roll and tender conversation

spring fragrance in the garden, especially the orange blossoms

a tentative smile on my friend's tear-stained face

plans for summer

Instruction for wisdom

'The instruction of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.
~ Psalm 19.7

Season of renewal

They arrive so subtly, these little shoots full of vibrant energy... and life in the garden is greatly renewed.

The roses start bearing their leaves and promise beauty and fragrance. The fruit trees already carry fragrance in their buds and the vegetables seeds begin sprouting.



The peach tree blossoms



The swiss chard



A favourite... the radishes

Welcome

Becca and I made a batch of biscuits to welcome our dearest weary traveller home... he arrived right at teatime.




And, this morning I ate the season's first rosy strawberry from my garden.

He does

When we are stuck between a rock and a hard place - I always go back to this scripture and remember what He does...

"The Lord redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he."
~ Jer 31.11

At my kitchen window

beautiful orchids from my mothers garden, taken from the base of the long stems that I placed in the dining room.

A little salad

I knew from the onset that I wanted an Orange dressing on my greens last night.

We have so much Rocket in the garden that I made a Rocket and Baby Spinach salad with cranberries and orange segments and a liberal amount of pine nuts (I would have preferred walnuts with the orange but alas there weren't any when I went hunting for them).



Lovely Orange Dressing

4 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
rind of 1/2 a orange, finely grated
juice of 1 orange
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil (can add up to a 1/3 of a cup for a richer end)
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Whisk well and splash over salad.
My orange was very sweet so I didn't add sweetness, otherwise I would have added 1 teaspoon of honey. This recipe made more than enough, I'll use the rest this evening.

Weekends are for

extra hugs, french toast and doodling in colour.

What a woman needs

is not to neglect time with her Father.

Distraction is so easy. Other things, even deeds of service, can keep us constantly apart from time with the Father. We desperately need it. It opens passages we would otherwise never travel, brings the rain, unlocks hidden places, breaks hard places and hearts, stops the arrows, brings light to dark places... its no tame habit but a great liberating work.

"No man can do a great and enduring work for God who is not a man of prayer"
~ E. M. Bounds

Prayer is powerful. Hearts bowed before Him.
It actually takes courage to keep this devotion... to bare all honestly, to petition, to listen. It humbles me. We are profoundly affected in His presence... we realise that all our sufficiency is from Him. There my soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods and there my words through the power of the Risen Christ do not return void but bless others.



"Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing... pray, then... pray, pray, pray"
~ Edward Payson

What a wonderful sacred blessing we have been given in prayer. This ladder to heaven... to the Lord's very throne...

All for His Glory.

'If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you. This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit.'
John 15. 7-8

Chicken Run

We recently received two hens... they now have a fenced patch of earth in our backyard and my talented husband built them a sweet hen house. Introducing... Lily and Lucy...



Our first egg brought great delight!

A hop, skip and a jump, literally

Yesterday's heat took her outdoors and fired the imagination.



"Imagination is the eye of the soul"
~ Joseph Joubert

Last segment of our journey

The last leg of our holiday was spent surrounded by green hills, lots of walks and fresh mountain air, where Rebecca fed and chased "our" (my mothers family) cats, goats, pigs, chickens...

Standing amongst the beans...

All was beautiful.

The light of men

O Light that never fades, as the light of day now streams through these windows and floods this room, let me open to Thee the windows of my heart, that all my life may be filled by the radiance of Thy presence.

Let no corner of my being be un-illumined by the light of Thy countenance.
~ John Baillie



The view from my morning chair, of my bare apple tree, as the darkness lifts and light seeps in everywhere.

A special dedication

We saw so many beautiful churches in Europe but I walked into the one which was distinctly personal. The place where my grandparents and great grandparents had worshipped and where my father had been baptised...



The same handsome hand-crafted font where his parents professed to bring up their first-born in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Water sports grin

After graciously following her parents around all the historical sites in Italy, it was a week at the Waterpark with endless slides, swimming and floating about on her tube.

On the Venetian waters

Water lapping the beautiful buildings. Like a movie set...

A little surreal and very captivating.

Becca loved Venice.