Five on Friday: Between Storms

1. This month our worship art group worked on a mixed media piece.  Our facilitator gave us a printed sketch of the back of the heads of three women.  Using our facilitator's work as an example, I cut out the shapes of the three women. I glued them onto a watercolored painted background.  I used watercolor, acrylic paints, and a fiber tipped pen to paint over the three women and write the words.  Our facilitator's idea is that the women are looking with hope toward God from their complicated stances in the world. [Be anxious for nothing. Phil.4:6,
Fear not. Isa. 41:10, Think on lovely things. Phil.4:8, Our eyes are on You. Psalm 141:8]

2. On the way home from the art group I stopped by the Tsuru Japanese Garden in Gresham to get a picture of it at the height of Autumn. I was surprised to see so many oranges, reds and yellows.

3. On 302nd Street  several blocks from home I stopped to admire the deepening coat of snow on Mt. Hood and took a picture so you could admire it, too.

4. Expecting some possibly hungry Bible study members I picked six apples to make an apple crisp for them.  I counted 21 apples left on the tree...not fully ripe yet.

5. Rosie has developed a fondness for the media character, Hello Kitty, so we had fun celebrating her third birthday Sunday afternoon with a Hello Kitty theme for her party.

Thanks to Amy from her blog, Love Made My Home, I am posting this on her Five on Friday link, but next week I hope to be driving to and from Sonoma, California, just north of San Francisco, to take my oldest sister out for brunch to celebrate her 75th birthday so I may not be able to visit with you, but I will be wondering:  Are you between storms in your life?

xx
Gracie

A Growing Tribute

As the final days of Spring spin toward the first days of Summer I find myself noting and celebrating the growth of much in the natural world around me. [I have been mourning some slug and snail munched leaves, but have managed to catch a few of the munchers...and am not sorry.]

Although I am just sharing a photo that shows two growing ducklings, we have seen four dashing and bobbing about in the yard by the front pond. Most of our photos have been blurry thanks to all the dashing and bobbing, but my youngest son, Tim, managed to get the photo I am sharing so that you can appreciate how much the ducklings have grown in the last month...even with herons lurking about.

I finished knitting the baby blanket on size 6 needles, with one skein of Lion Brand acrylic DK light worsted weight Creme Glacee Helado  Tutti Frutti yarn.  Then I crocheted an edging.  I am pleased with the softness of the blanket, but for the new baby blankets I have started I am using thicker worsted weight acrylic baby yarn. One blanket I have cast onto size 8 needles.  The other blanket I am crocheting with a size I hook, but am going to experiment with a size N hook.

We celebrated three family June birthdays yesterday, [my oldest daughter, Mary Kathrine's, and her daughters Joy's and Molly's] with a cookout by the pond.  Molly will soon be seven and I crocheted an art bag for her out of Lion Brand's Incredible nylon ribbon yarn with a size I hook, and all in single crochet. I showed you the bag I crocheted for Hayley in November in an earlier post. I had purchased four balls of yarn at an "incredible" sale price, and have now used up all four balls by making two bags. The bags are nice and stretchy and it is fun to pack them with art supplies.

My oldest son in law made the rounds of our fruit trees and bushes this morning and said I could show you the photos of this year's growing fruit crop he took with his cell phone: cherries, peaches, apples, and blueberries.  We might grow enough for each of our thirteen household members to have some bites of fruit if all goes well.

Also this morning, my oldest daughter, Mary Kathrine, and her girls helped me decorate my table for Memorial Day which we are celebrating in the USA today. We continue to grow in gratitude for those who have given their lives for the cause of peace.  

My great nephew is currently serving in the Army, and Mary Kathrine put his photo and the Peace Be With You card on the table, too.  We are thankful for so many around us who continue to invest their lives in the cause of peace.

A few hours ago my youngest daughter and her husband drove to a nearby camping area on the eastern side of Mt. Hood National Forrest. I plan to drive there with my youngest son on Wednesday, and will be without reliable internet service for the next two weeks so I will not be visiting posts or publishing posts for the next few weeks, but you will be in my thoughts with love and I will be wondering, "What is growing around you?"

xx

Gracie :)