"I started photographing my domestic world and writing not just about what I had made,
but why I made it, examining the thoughts that accompany creativity and the act of making."
Jane Brocket from The Gentle Art of Domesticity p. 189 UK edition

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Give Away Turned Swap Ta-Dah !!!

About three feet from the mailbox, I looked down at the ground and spotted this feather sticking up vertically in the grass and weeds!

All my senses rose in appreciation of another reminder of God's Love,
that hugs like a mother hen who embraces her chicks with her feathery
wings.





When I opened the mailbox I had an interesting assortment of mail,
 including two packages!!
One of the packages contained two skeins of Sos's stunning hand painted yarn
 that I ordered.
 I also bought and downloaded her adorable knitting pattern for heirloom tomatoes
and will be posting more about that soon.




But before I opened either package I grabbed my iPhone 4S
to have it ready to take pictures of the contents of the packages.
When my finger slid the phone on it began playing
the Michael W. Smith setting I had on Pandora
and I became transfixed listening to the lyrics
of eight songs.  I only jotted down a bit
of information about each song, but it was an incredible time
of awareness of God for me.

1.  from the Afters: Light Up the Sky
...God You light up the sky to show me You are with me
[reminding me I woke up this morning and witnessed another
amazing sunrise streaked with pink and red and blue]
...I run straight to Your arms
because You are the Bright and Morning Star...
I can see you all around me...
2.  Darlene Zschech: Kiss of Heaven
...Pray...We call upon Your name...move in our hearts, move in our land
Every nation, tribe and tongue will proclaim Your Kingdom come...
...Pour out Your Spirit, Your wonders on earth...
3.  Erin O'Donnell: Here I Am to Worship
from the album Sing Over Me which has a picture of a bird on it
...Jesus, here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say You're my God
...I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross...
4. Desperation Band: Amazed
...You dance over me while I am unaware
...Lord I'm amazed by You, howYou love me, how wide, how deep, how great is Your love for me
5. Chris Tomlin: We Fall Down ...and cast our crowns
at the feet of Jesus
6. Paul Cardall: on piano, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
7. Katinas: Draw Me Close
...You're all I've ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know you are near...
8. Lincoln Brewster: Live in Worship, Shout to the Lord
...My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love...
I sing for joy at the work of your hands
forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand
nothing compares to the promise I have in You

Then my oldest daughter, her husband and 3 little grand girls
came into my room, helped me open the packages,
and appreciate and take photos of the contents.



Sarah wove this with cotton and plastic bags so that it  can and will
be used as a bathmat
[although my SIL thinks I should hang it on the wall .... high praise, Sarah :)]
This is what I won from her give away...



and then she added this




4 adorable lavender [from her garden !] sachets
~~~~~heavenly fragrance~~~~~
and the red white and blue heart keychain




and she wove this fabulous scarf... I so LOVE the colors
and softness and scent from the lavender










Such fabulous gifts, Sarah!  I treasure each one.
Thank you...sooooo much :) xo

I am enjoying getting to know Sarah through her blog
Knits and Crosses,
where she shares her love of knitting, stitching,  weaving, quilting
buttons, cooking, history, gardening, eclectic music...and more.
Such fun to visit with her and admire her wares,
some of which you can buy through Folksy and Etsy.

I have soooo many reasons to be cheerful today.

What has cheered you?

xxx from Gracie to You

11 comments:

  1. Wow! Thats such a great parcel!!! Definatley a reason to be cheerful!!!

    x Kate xx

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  2. What a nice and wonderful surprise Gracie! Alot of good reasons to be cheerful

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  3. I am so glad that you liked your parcel, and particularly your scarf :)

    Your parcel arrived today, and that made me cheerful.....especially when I had a brain wave a bit later.......

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  4. Gracie how lovely...I have just seen your swap goodies to Sarah and now hers to you. How lovely that you could send each other such crafty happiness. I can see you now swishing that scarf with panache! xxx

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  5. How beautiful! It looks like you two had a wonderous swap. Friends are treasures even ones from bloggyland ;)

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  6. Wow, Gracie! How wonderful for you to receive such a wonderful package! That scarf is gorgeous and I could just imagine the wonderful aroma of lavender in each thing. I will go check out Sarah's blog! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  7. Beautiful gifts with gorgeous colors--enjoy:)
    To answer your question, I am cheerful today because I am listening to a program from Norway with some very nice music (much better than TV)!
    Blessings this day,
    Aimee

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  8. What a beautiful post starting with the gift of the feather to your other amazing gifts. I feel you have a lot to write in your gratitude journal this week. The weaving is amazing, such a beautiful texture.
    hugs to you sweet Gracie,
    Meredith

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  9. Such a lovely parcel to receive. I will have to go and have a look at what you sent to Sarah. Yesterday I was cheered by being invited to the house of one of my knitting group ladies. It was unexpected and I had a lovely time. Joginder is an Indian lady and she gave us traditional food and tea as drunk by her and her family. Today I planted some beautiful pansies in a terracotta planter on my father's grave. He would have been 87 tomorrow. I also had a chat with my mum ( I've not seen her for a while as she does not live really close to me. She had got a bit mixed up over something and I was feeling unhappy about it. Anyway we sorted it out tonight so that was good. Take care Gracie. Love Anne x

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  10. I've really enjoyed catching up with your last few posts this morning, your blog makes me feel refreshed and gives me much to think about. It's lovely to read a different perspective on life whilst still having so much in common.

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  11. Whoo, you are lucky! Those are beautiful presents, with so much talent and love in them. I like Chris Tomlin as well.

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