Good-bye September!

I am linking today with Joyce. She is having a Friday Pretties. If you get a chance go over and visit
I Love Pretty Little Things.

A Pumpkin waiting to be picked

Today is the last day of September. I cannot say I am sorry to see her go.

I am excited about turning the page and coming to October. When I think of

October I see her in the reds and golds and yellows. All warm colors that

make me feel happy and safe. I think of October as full of dreams just waiting

to be dreamed. I think of October as a friend. September, I admit to liking her

but keeping her at arms distance because I never know if I can't trust her or not.

She does seem a bit flighty. She can be hot one minute and unleashing storms

at the drop of a hat.

Leaves beginning to change.

October on the other hand seems to wait and yes she will usher in storms and cooler weather,

but she always brings color to paint the leaves. So somehow it looks like she doesn't want

to inflict the pain of September.

October always brings blue skies and crisp air just like the first bite of an apple on a frosty morning.

As I think of October I think of the sound of running feet and the sound of crunchy brown leaves

and the sound of laughter as children rake leaves and then pile them and jump. I think of cold

little feet that now have to wear shoes and socks to keep them warm. All of the best things

I love are in October.

Yes, I am so happy to say, Good bye September, it was nice but October, you are my friend.

Come on over and stay awhile.

Have a lovely weekend.
~Kim~

More Collections

I wanted to show you a collection that I was going to start
and then I thought it sent a message I was a thought maybe
wasn't a good one.



I was going to start a collection of all of Disney's evil queens.
If you go back and look at them except for Ursula in
The Little Mermaid they were all beautiful in a cold kind of way.



This is how it all came about. When the girls were going
to get married and our house was filled with the chatter of
dresses, love, dreaming and flowers and music and all of the things
that go with planning wedding. I had spent all of my time
looking at all of these young, beautiful women when one
morning I was getting ready to go someplace and looking
in the mirror, I saw not the Snow White nor the Sleeping Beauty,
No, I had been replaced by the evil queen. I stood there,
wondering what had happened when did I turn into her.

When did the princess grow up? So I started thinking about
the queens. What I thought of was that they were put into places
they had not wanted. The king had died at some point and suddenly
the queen was in a leadership position she didn't want but she
had to become what people expected. She had to run the kingdom.

Her only friend was her magic mirror. In my case it is the scale. My son
made up a poem for me. " Scale, Scale on the floor, please tell me I don't weigh more."
At least the silly thing doesn't talk to me.

So as I stood there that morning and suddenly I saw what I had missed.
In order for me not to be a evil queen, I must keep working on my heart.
On that gentle and quiet spirit which is precious to God. I need to not
stare at that reflection that only shows my outward, not the inward that
is being renewed day by day.


We have been watching a old series I bought a long time ago when I was on
a Dorthy Sayers kick. So each night we have been watching the Lord Peter Wimsy
Movies.
As I watched it I kept noticing Bunter. He is Lord Peter Wimsy's man servant.
As I watched him do his job. I was reminded that as a girl I dreamed of being
the perfect wife seeing to my husband's needs before my own. When I got
married I rushed to take care of him.
Then the years go by, and I become more of the evil queen and watching Bunter,
I was reminded of that girl.
I know deep in there, she is there.
So now you know why I didn't finish the collection. Every time I look at the thing,
I question myself if I am perhaps turning into her again.

So this is just some things I was pondering yesterday. Thought I needed to share.
Does your brain work like that? When you get something on your mind it keeps
talking until it gets it's day in the sun?

Have a great Thursday!
~Kim~

Daddy Long Legs Dolls

In the 1980's there was a woman who started a company called
Daddy Long Legs. Her name is Karen Germain. The dolls bodies are made
from a block of wood and then the faces and hands and feet are glass. I fell in
love with them. As a little girl my Dad had his first grocery store on a street
called East California Avenue. It was a tiny grocery store and we spent lots
and lots of time there. The people that came in the store were wonderful
people and I loved them. They would tell me stories and I would listen
because of the lives they had once lived.

When Karen Germain started making and selling these dolls, they reminded
me of people I had known. So my first set of dolls were the above couple.
They are called Tobias and Nettie. Well, Nettie was my first. I loved her.



The next ones I got were Oma Green and she is holding
baby Jessie. For the life of me I can't remember the old guys name
I have his adoption papers somewhere.



This is Reverend Johnson and Miss Hattie.
My maiden name was Johnson so I just had to have him.
He carries a tiny little Bible. Miss Hattie reminded me of
my grandmother on her way to church on a Sunday morning.

She started coming out with the children and she was going to do
nursery rhymes so I bought Jack and Jill.



The boy sitting on the table in overalls is named William
so I bought him because he reminded me of my son.
Then the boy in the overalls I just liked. I thought I would
get all of the children

These are Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus that she
released one Christmas. All of the proceeds from her dolls
went to send kids to camp. That always made me happy.






These are my last two dolls. I thought they were just beautiful and
the clothes they wear are made of silk.

Then my kids started growing up , my kids were at the age that friends were over
and you never knew when a ball was going to be thrown or a Nerf gun war
was going to start and I was spending more time in the car and then we
started coming out here, because I had my horse so they just ended up
on the shelf.

It is funny with collections. Now, they just seem like so much weight. None of my kids
like them. They are glass so my grand kids can't play with them. They are from a different
time and place.
I said once when I was young after cleaning out my grandparents house after they were gone
I was going to get rid of everything I owned before I died so my kids wouldn't have to do
it. I still plan on that, because as Corrie Ten Boom had her suitcase and she was "A Tramp
for The Lord." As I get older that becomes more and more of the way I would like
to live. Nothing but a suitcase.
I am not quite ready though, I still enjoy my life... Right now... But, I am getting closer.

~Kim~

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch

Here is is at Wednesday again. Time to answer Patrice's fun questions
from her farm house porch.
1. Would you rather cook or clean house?

That is a tough question because I enjoy both. I think though cleaning house is my favorite. There is something just homey and comforting to me when my house is clean. I love arranging and making thing look pretty.



2. Who do you resemble in your family?

I would want to look like my mother but I have days when I look in the mirror I see my Dad and my grandmother.



3. Have you tried e-books yet?

Yes, and I am not wild about it. I like what I read in a book so I can go back and read it over and with a ebook I never settle down to enjoy it like I do with book.



4. Do you collect anything?

Well, I guess I do, books :) I have a collection of Daddy Long Leg dolls, and I have 8 sewing machines. I do collect out of print, first edition books. I also started a collection of Norman Rockwell plates. Gee, I didn't know I had that many. I have always told my kids that I would be collecting things that when I am gone will be worth money, so don't just have a yard sale unless you have it valued first. Some of my first editions are worth lot of money.



5. What's your favorite fall tradition?

Oh I love everything about fall. The colors and the pumpkins and the pies and the cooler weather. I don't know if I really have a per say fall tradition.



I want to say thank you to Patrice and I look forward to going around
and chatting on all of your farmhouse porches this week.
~Kim~

More Pictures

I was going through Picassa and I found more pictures.
This is almost as fun as going through Google looking for
images but these are mine so it makes it so much more fun.

An early sunflower earlier in the spring.

Standing out on the pier looking at the water.

Looking up into the tree last fall.

This shot was taken when I left the flash on.

Today while I was collecting eggs something made me laugh. I was getting the eggs

out of the nest box, and I always just pull up my shirt and make a bag because

it s faster and I was in a hurry as I was making dinner and I needed two eggs.

As I picked each one up and put in in the bottom of my shirt I was thinking of 

how happy I was that the hens have started laying again and I was going to have

14 eggs, that meant I was going to get to fill up an egg carton and have two

for my recipe. When all of a sudden I dropped the egg and before I could grab

it it hit the edge of the nest box and broke. As I stood there watching the egg

 run and all of a sudden I was the girl in the Aesop's fable who tossed her head.

and spilled her milk before she could buy her chicks. 

The moral of the story, Don't count your eggs before they hatch. 

I just laughed to myself as I came in the house with only 13 eggs. That was always

one of my favorite parables. 

I am getting better with the new post editor. I might even get  to like it. I got a whole story

written. With only a tiny bit of help.

Have a great Tuesday!

~Kim~

Monday Morning

How is your Monday so far?
We have a few more days of perfect weather before the
heat returns on Wednesday.
I was snooping around and I found my Picassa pictures.
I thought I would just use them today. Not to mention I always
use the old editor and it won't let me down load pictures and I
have"t learned how to use  the new one so this is it for today.

Have a lovely Monday.
Kim

Sunday Morning

It is a beautiful morning today. The promised cold front
from the gulf of Alaska arrived sometime during the night.
The windows are all opened and the doors on my office are
standing wide. The breeze is exhilarating. It makes my mind
clear and it is so nice to breathe.
Just so you know, these are old picture of our sugar maple tree.
This spring, our sugar maple died. I still am not recovered.
We have to take it out. My son wants the wood. I don't know
what was down deep along the side of our house but the trees
all get so big and then they just die.

I hope we can find another one to replace it. I don't have any trees
that are this pretty.
With the doors open I can hear the wind rustling through the leaves.
The tree in the front yard, is almost bare. It is always the first tree
to loose leaves and the first to get them in the spring. With the doors
open I can hear the meadowlarks. All summer we have had a meadowlark
that lived in the front yard. He walked all around the yard. I would go to
get the mail and he would be sitting under a tree like a small chicken.
Now, he sings in the front yard. I know he has friends as I see them
in the late afternoon, but they go on about their bird business and he
just stays, solitary, happy browsing for bugs.


I love how the red leaves look so pretty against the white
of the fence and the brown of the pasture next door. This is
an old picture as the man behind me had not yet built his
garage to build race cars.

Almost all of my flowers are gone now, they are now
brown stalks, with lots of seeds. I try and let the winds
blow so the seeds with just blow and in the spring I will find
surprises growing everywhere.

I hope your Sunday is lovely. I know mine is and
today, I am thankful.

~Kim~

Just Thinking

We had a storm last night with lots of lighting and blowing dust.
When you live in the San Joaquin valley, you have this instead
of flooding this time of year. The weather man said that we were
having ground lighting. It was amazing but no thunder. Weird.
It must of rained a bit so today we have humidly with clouds.
Which makes me feel like a bug under a magnifying glass.
I decided I would do my grocery shopping. My husband had
some things he wanted to build for his trees so I went alone.
We do grocery shopping together as sort of a mini-midweek date.

As I shopped at the grocery store. I noticed things when I am
alone that I don't notice when someone is with me. Maybe
I am paying attention to what is going on. Charles Dickens
walked around London and that is how we got such
wonderful people in his stories just because he watched.
He kept a journal as he made sketches of his people, with words.

I thought I would tell you about the ones I saw.

As I got out of my car I noticed a boy with a orange vest on
that was bringing a basket out to put it with the other baskets.
He very politely asked a man and his young daughter if they needed it
before he put it away. They shook their heads no, as they were just going
to the bank inside.

As I walked in I went down the aisle that has all of the magazines
and the cards, because I was hoping for a new Create and Decorate
magazine and it was there. I was so happy. I love that silly magazine.
As I walked I saw two older women looking for cards. I thought to myself
that I am so terrible with card sending, I never can find what I like and I
never like the junk inside, and the funny ones embarrass me to death.
So I would rather make my own.

I noticed a man and a woman. They looked different to me somehow.
I know it wasn't how they looked but they dressed in a different way.
I kept pondering it as the lady was so intent on the add paper and they
were talking quietly among themselves. I first heard the man talk and I
was struck at how beautiful his voice was, the tone and sound was very pleasing.
Then as I listened more intently, I noticed she had a accent, like Austrian.
Then I as listened to the gentleman I noticed his was to only not so pronounced.
She talked like Gabor sisters.

As I went on down the freezer aisle a man was putting frozen food in the case.
He told me" that eggs were on sale for 99 cents, did I want him to get some eggs?"
I smiled and said, " No, I had my own hens." He told me he lives in another town
on a acre and he has a goat. He wants chickens but his wife doesn't want to get them
because she doesn't want to butcher them. He asked if I did. I told him," No, I never could,
even though I do have some that need to be cooked." He laughed and I went on my way.

As I got to the check out counter, and I put my groceries all up, the girl that bagged my
groceries asked me" where I had been as she hadn't seen me in a week?"
She is home schooled so we talk about her school and things like that each week.

As I was driving home, I thought you know, life is all around us as our lives brush up
against total strangers in a place, the dramas being lived out that are more touching and
real than the things that happen on T.V. real life is filled with beauty, but like today,
I had time to pay attention.

So that is my day today, much better than the skunk last week. At 4:30 this morning
my husband got the flashlight and I got up with him and we both went out before the
dog left the bedroom. So maybe we did learn something from last week. Oh, and this
week I slept until 7:00 A.M.
Perfect bliss.
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Kim~

Hello Fall, My Long Lost Friend

I am going to re post something I wrote one year ago today.
Cooler weather really does make my spirit sing. Try as hard
as I might I just can't seem to come up with word to write
about fall.
Enjoy this wonderful first day of Autumn.

First Day of Fall.

We are officially into fall, or Autumn. Today the wind chimes
are singing in the beautiful morning air. The weather
is having a bit of a change and as in spring, I go crazy in the fall.
I noticed this morning the light had changed.



Just a simple leaf became a work of art. I have always
been drawn to heart-shapes in nature.
But this morning, I was drawn to the magic that seemed to be
all around me.
I could feel the air that ran across my skin finer than silk.
The trees were dancing for me as their leaves shimmered
in the glorious light with the blue of the sky as
a wonderful roof.



The light seemed to make all things glow. What I love
about morning glories is they take sun light into itself
to make their whole being glow from inside.
Like the beauty of a woman with a baby growing inside of her.
The glow that comes from within that speaks to the quiet beauty
of new life.
When the Holy Spirit comes to live within you,
the Greek word means " quickening." When a woman goes to the
doctor the doctor will ask, " When did you first feel the quickening?"
Which means the first butterfly kiss of the baby moving in your tummy.
So is the sweetness of the Holy Spirit that draws all men unto Himself.
We begin a new life and everything becomes new and all the old has passed
away.



"God wanted us to choose to love Him. Our freedom to choose that would have
been meaningless if we had not also been free not to love Him.
The freedom to obey depends on the freedom to disobey.
The will of God is always bigger, different, far better than we could
dream."
(Elisabeth Elliot)
Today is a all of my dreams come true kind of day.



Today the grass beneath my feet was filled with diamonds.
The flowers were all wearing jewels on the petals that sparkled
in the light.


Even the leaves wore the beauty well. Oh I am so thankful
to wake up mornings such as this, to be able to sing of the Glory
of God and be so very thankful today, that I am alive.
Today I will keep my eyes open to all of the magic
that lives in the world.
I hope your Friday, will be lovely and as filled with
joy and promise and all things good.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Finally Something Finished

I feel like it has been forever since I finished anything.
My rug hooking just seems to go on and on. I enjoy rug hooking very
much but my rug is so big that it seems like I never get anywhere very fast.



I have set a goal for myself to be finished with it by October 1st.
I would like to put it in front of the fireplace. I think the part with
the pumpkins will go faster than the upper part. The part I am
looking forward to is finally getting to steam it. I love so much of
how rugs change the personality once they are steamed.

Last year my project was this one.



I still really love that witches boot and the saying, but
I am terrible at framing things. Well this year when I got
my cross stitch book there was another design by LaDeDa
This one is called Smell My Feet. I loved it just as much.



It had those same boots that I love and it was so much fun
to stitch. I think why it made me laugh, was when I was
a kid and we were going to get to go trick or treating for the first
time without Mom, we had just heard, " Trick or Treat, smell my feet,
give me something good to eat." My Mom must have heard us plotting
about saying that and since it was maybe my idea I got in trouble. You know
the code of Mom's I knew if I said it, someone's Mom would tell my Mom and
I would be so dead, it didn't matter I was in a costume. So I never said it.
But this stitchery made me laugh at it just the same.



Today I decided my little tool box needed some pumpkins
to fill it up. I just loved the way it looked with all of the tiny pumpkins.
You know I think I enjoy this pumpkin thing way too much. I keep
rearranging them and fooling with them.
The picture at the top of the page with that top pumpkin is really amazing me.
It has been a few days since it was picked and it is starting to turn blue. It looks
more silver in the light but each day it is a little bluer/gray.
I will have to plant more of those next year.

I hope to get my act together enough to start getting some sewing projects
finished. With it getting darker earlier I won't be outside as late.
I hope you have a lovely Thursday,

~Kim~