Hearts and Flowers

Ta Dahhh!!! Can you see the fourteen starched hearts pinned to our mantel?

Each has unique character.  Each was made with joy...

in celebration of life and

 Love.

Spicy carnations have been helping me enjoy January inside,

while I have been learning to make hearts with

Teresa's free, well written pattern.

I bought different colors of thread

to make more hearts for myself

as well as to give away, too,

I hope,

And I am imagining how to make stars, and flowers and

snowflakes!

My day has been full with errands and swimming and shopping

and doing laundry and visiting with my young

friend Amber and her two

little ones...

a good day.

Did you have a good day, too?

*Frosty* *Sunshine* *Fun*

After so many days of rain I lost count,

 I was greeted by

frosty sunshine this morning!

Bliss!!!

Then on the way to swim laps at the pool

Mt. Hood beckoned me to visit

one of my favoite spots Jonsrud Overlook

in Sandy, Oregon.

I am grateful for the folks who supported making this

wonderful spot for all to come and enjoy

a fabulous view of the Sandy River

and beyond,

 majestic Mt. Hood.

Each time I come

I find myself in awe

of the natives who originally enjoyed this land

and the folks who later dared to come to enjoy this land.

And now that I am back home

I am sipping tea,

typing for you,

and preparing to crochet some more hearts.

Thanks for visiting!

What is one of your favorite locations?

Flapjacks!

Friday, Shelby Dog and our family celebrated my son-in-law's birthday!

The weather continues to be news as many struggle with the harm it is bringing.

I am grateful for the safety I am enjoying and praying for many

facing difficult struggles, as I continue my normal routine,

trying to be open to offering practical help to others

when I can.

In the last few days

I  crocheted another of Teresa Kasner's hearts.

I played computer games of Scrabble, Word Feud, and Words with Friends.

I proof read the Gospel of Mark for a friend who graduated from

an American Orthodox Seminary over 30 years ago.

In his retirement he decided to translate the Gospels

from an early manuscript.  It is a fascinating

project. He says he now understands why translations

are done by committees!

I attended church

I swam 11 laps at the pool.

And I took this cookbook from my bookshelf.

When my youngest daughter was in her teens she had the opportunity

to travel to England.  She brought Mrs. Beeton's Family Cookbook

home to me.  It is so interesting to get to know more about a

country through learning about the country's cuisine.

England is of special interest to me because my ancesters, the Bradstreets, were

Puritans who immigrated to Massachusetts on the Arabella

in the 1600s.  Reading some of Ann Bradstreet's poems in which she

wrote of her faith in God encouraged my own faith in God.  And

reading that she was educated in part at Tattershall Castle in east Lincolnshire, England,

totally ignited my romantic imagination!

Today I decided to try the recipe for Flapjacks (not like U.S. pancakes but more like granola bars).

The measurement conversions taxed my weak math skills, but thanks to some Google searching

the Flapjacks were...

Yummy!!!

What have you been doing lately?

The Flood...

Remember yesterday I introduced you to our snow friend in the front yard?

Well today he is leaving us...

And in his wake our driveway seems to be becoming a moat...

and the front pond is getting fuller than we

have ever seen it before!!!

I think we are safe...but will keep alert to possible

actions we need to take while I crochet some more hearts.

<3 <3 <3

How are you in your neck of the woods?



Are You Prepared?

I can't say I wasn't warned.

And I was ready...but surprised when we lost power Tuesday night...

and I prayed for those folks who I trusted were repairing weather damaged things.

Just before 4:00a.m. the power came back on, and when it was light outside,

I saw this...

.

and this,

while my son-in-law ventured out to follow rabbit and coyote tracks around the ponds,

and my oldest daughter and the grand girls

constructed this snow friend,

and I prepared to crochet some more of Teresa Kasner's

hearts...

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3



Celebrating Camelot Snow

Illusion...can be so delightful...

Shelby Dog, who belongs to my oldest daughter's family,

is convinced that the electric * fire * in the fireplace is cozy and warm

 even if I do not have the heat turned on.

Sunday morning  I met my grand girls [ages 2 and 4] in the family room.

They were sitting in the recliner waiting patiently for adults in the household to wake up.

I asked them if they had looked outside, then I whisked open the drapes.

Age 2 grand girl joyously announced, "The snowflakes are here! The snowflakes are here!"

Age 4 grand girl happily agreed, "It's snowing!  It's snowing!"

But it was a Camelot snow barely deep enough to record our footsteps,

or rest upon the film of ice on the pond beyond these trees.

Beautiful...Exciting...Mysterious...

An illusion of a snowstorm,

but worthy of celebration

in front of the hearth

at home.

Take Heart with Teresa Kasner

It is a joy to meet new friends through blogging!  One of my first new friends is the talented artist, Teresa Kasner.

For several months I have admired the beautiful free crochet heart pattern Teresa has posted on her blog.

Over the last few days I gathered the materials to give the pattern a try, and really enjoyed the whole creative process! 

Although I made some mistakes, I am excited about the results of my first effort and

I have visions of making many more hearts!

Thank you, Teresa!!!

<3

And thank you again, Teresa,  for these beautiful hand-painted cards!

If you haven't met Teresa, please check out her blog and enjoy all she beautifully and generously shares!

On Track to Celebrating Creativity

This morning I was honored by a visit from Super Heroine, Monkey Girl.

She came to let me admire the train on the track she had sketched.

I was impressed!

How wonderful it is to be able to live creatively!

As we chug ourselves forward into a new year. I want to celebrate this aspect of life.!

Yesterday I got a wonderful encouraging email from a new blogging friend with the beautiful name, Sosae Caetano .

She is a fiber artist who lives in southern California.

I love her work!  She has a wonderful gift for coloring fiber, and I intend to purchase some fiber from her at the soonest possible date! [Maybe my birthday in February...]

She sent me an email because she had been unable to register a comment on my blog. [If any one can help me figure out a better way to set up this blog, I am open to instruction!!!  (: ]

I have added Sosae to my blog roll list under my Crow's Nest Blog Views in the right side bar of this blog.  I hope you will pop over to her blog and and meet her.  You will be on track to enjoy celebrating living creatively if you do.

In the mail, inspiration arrived...

for what I might grow in 2012...

hollyhocks like those that grow at the side door of my cousins' Stone House Farm in Massachusetts...

and daylilys like the ones that grew on the banks of the farm in Missouri...

and here in Portland, Oregon a

...yes, I'm dreaming... (:

But will I sow seeds on the path...

Or on rocky ground... 

Or amidst thorns...

Or on good ground that produces a crop thirty, sixty, and one-hundredfold?

It is a question I ponder with anticipation during the first week of a new year, appreciating the wonderful advenures possible in 2012.

Happy New Year, Everyone!