Christmas?

I have been watching the neat little birds coming to the feeders outside my window; all colors, all kinds, all sizes. They send a message to me, of how trusting they are for their next meal, their shelter, and all they have need of.

This Christmas season, much in my life is not as I would like it to be, but I have much to be thankful for, and I am determined to be happy each day, no matter what the economic circumstances, or what the weather, or what others do or think.

There are many things this past year I would like to have done. I would have visited with my children and grandchildren more, liked to have been able to give more; of my time, of my talents, and finances. But like the birds who visit, I need to just be content, relying on my heavenly Father and trusting in Him as I relinquish control of all in my life. Knowing that He holds the future gives me peace and contentment.

Christ came to the earth for one purpose; to reconcile mankind to God the Father. Christmas does not depend on if we get cookies made, decorations up 2 weeks before the Day, have all the right presents bought for our friends and relatives, and cards mailed out. Those are all nice things to do..... but Christmas is really all about accepting the Gift that God the Father freely gives to us ........ trustingly, unconditionally .......

With this thought in mind,

I truly wish you all the most Blessed of Christmas's!

Baby, its Cold Outside!

Early Dogs On Thursday post
Last week, the day after taking Bailey to the groomers, my daughter and I decided to get together and have lunch and take our doggies to a couple Doggie stores in the area, where you can actually go shopping with and for your pets. It had turned colder over night and I am sooo not used to having a little dog that you take to get the hair all clipped off... I was less than 5 miles from the house when poor Bailey was shivering and shaking all over.

Oh my, what to do....

Good thing there was a Dollar Store in the town near by. I left him shivering in the car while I hurried in to see if I could find him a little sweater ( the kind I'd always made fun of others for dressing their little dogs up in ).

What???? no sweaters?? what now....

I got back in the car, unzipped my jacket and wrapped it around him (did I mention the heater doesn't work?) What do I do now?? Daughter was waiting on me, and our schedules away from home are very tight.

Then I remembered the Thrift Store down on one of the side streets and turned to go there. Once inside, the first thing my eyes fell on was a 6mo size long sleeved "Santa" shirt (oh, brother). Now ... I love Christmas , just not big on the Santa thing. But I had to hurry....



I paid my 25 cents and headed out the door. I dressed him as quickly as I could, wrapped what I could of my coat around him again and drove another 35 min to meet daughter. We did our shopping and it was time to go home.

I gave it some thought after settling down in front of the warm fire at home again. I am sure learning a lot with this "Little Dog" venture. Some things I am just being reminded of, like... Make sure your words( and thoughts) are sweet... you may have to eat them. I looked up at my heavenly Daddy and thought "very funny". I felt like he smiled back at me, and said "Thank-you"

Bailey says, "but aren't I cute?"

Arrival of Winter Birds

We have finches here most of the year round, changing their wardrobe with the seasons. Mourning doves are also a steady customer. Then about November the first bluejays start coming near with their pretty blue and gray jackets. Cardinals, flickers, downy woodpeckers, titmouse, nuthatches, and chickadees soon follow.



This morning, the first Junco of the year appeared at my feeding station. I love these little dark hooded birds. Maybe I relate to them because our wardrobes are similar. Most all of my jackets/coats and many cool weather shirts I choose have hoods on them . . . . .



Here is where I have my main bird feeding station. The leaves on these little trees sometimes stay all year til the new leaves appear in the spring, giving a nice sheltered place for the birds to feed. It is right outside my dining room windows, so I can view the birds up close and sometimes get some pretty good pictures. We have 2 mix seed feeders, a suet holder, and a nigerseed feeder.



We also have squirrels that visit, so I am also considering putting up a squirrel feeder near the woods about 50' away, to keep them out of the trees where the bird feeders are.



(Junco photo courtesy of Wikapedia, as my visiting Junco did not let me get a picture of him)

Bailey takes a trip to the "spa"

This is Bailey when he came to us 3 months ago (after a bath and a trip to the vet)



This is Bailey today... after a trip to get a haircut, manicure and a luxurious bath!




He is sitting so pretty because I have his fave toy in my hand...



Bailey has become pretty well adjusted and is increasing in obedience. He will go outside and go potty on command, stay out of our bedroom, and sleep in his crate now, til at least 4 am, before starting his yapping, telling us he wants to be with us. So we are making progress.

Bailey sits looking out the front door window every evening about 4:30, waiting for hubby to come down the driveway from work, and runs to the back door barking soon as he sees or hears him. If you read my post when we first got Bailey, you might remember that his first reaction to hubby was to bite him.

What a difference some care and a warm loving home makes.

Early Thanks Giving

I have good reason to be thankful today.

Actually, it is never too soon to be thankful. We have much to be thankful for everyday. But, I got up this morning after having cortisone shots in both knees yesterday and had no pain or stiffness! Thank the Lord! Just hope it continues... I will be getting back to walking my dog.

Mending..... Knees and a Quilt

I have this beautiful old quilt that I just love. Actually, I bought it from a Dollar Store about 15 yrs ago, when I was too busy with our "Land of Milk and Honey" business, bottling and selling honey and goat-milk fudge, to do any quilting.



The colors and design so intrigued me that I just couldn't take my eyes off of it. So I plunked down my $35 and went home with my quilt. These cheap quilts have little if any seam allowance, and over the years an awful lot of the seams just came undone, but I'm not willing to part with it.



Since I am off my feet alot while my knee heals, I thought I'd get at and mend this old quilt as well, so I have been spending my "mending" time .... "mending". A needle and thread goes a long way to making things serviceable again and improving appearances. Besides, hand stitching is a relaxing pastime.

My knee? oh, that is mending too. I was able to go to the barn and put nest boxes in the rabbit cages yesterday. If you get a chance, hop on over to "The Rabbit Mathematician" and see what is happening in the barn!

Life in the fast lane ...... not

Ahh... we don't miss the freedom of activity until something happens to hinder us ...

Yes, thats me, after missing a step going from the house to the carport other day! Fortunately, nothing is broken. My knee just doesn't want to stay in place since the swelling has been going down. To make matters worse, I had just gotten a couple distasteful projects done (over which I had been procrastinating way too long) which was going to free up some time for ME ... then I had to go pull this stunt.

Doctor says it may tighten up on its own. He is taking a "wait and see" perspective. That's great, as I am not looking forward to any kind of surgery .

But I did have a project list started.....

1. Re-do my kitchen entry hall.

2. Get the last of the perenials in the ground, including planting asparagus.

3. Can my sweet potatoes.

4. Organize the sunroom to make it usable.

and on and on...

So right now I am trying to come up with a way to at least get upstairs to try out my new sewing machine. I have been so excited about it!! but didn't allow myself the pleasure till those other nasty jobs were out of the way. I have 2 quilts I want to start this winter!!

Lets see .... a hoist? bucket and chain? go out on the front porch and have hubby lift me up to the second floor window with the bobcat? hummmm...

Sometimes you got to laugh to keep from crying....