Saturday, July 30, 2011

Going, Going, Gone...





First, let me say that I will be taking a computer break again on Monday. So I will see you all on Tuesday, when I will announce the winner of my Vera Bradley contest!  You still have till midnight this Sunday to enter!


This was the sunset this evening, all seen through just a little hole in the many clouds after a good rain. We just got a tiny glimpse then it was gone, so quickly...we also got the tiniest glimpse of Jesus before he was gone at such a young age, but what he did, said, and showed us will never be gone.


"I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going...I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14

Friday, July 29, 2011

Sunflowers Old And New


Here are some sunflower pictures, ones that I just took, and also some from a year or two ago. There are more than 60 different varieties of sunflowers, and just one can have thousands of seeds! They have such huge heads on such thin stalks, but the way they keep upright is by following the sun. Yes, they have the ability to track the sun from one end of the sky to the other. That's why you will see them drooping in the rain, they cannot find the sun. It is a good lesson for us to keep looking up and keep our eyes on The Son, so we don't lose our way. God is our light and protector.


"For the Lord God is a sun and a shield..."
Psalm 84:11


"His face was like the sun shining in all it’s brilliance."
Rev.1:16

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Combat Knitting And Yarn Bombing

"Did you not...clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit."
Job 10:11,12


The Combat Knitters are Navy nurses and doctors in a Nato hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  Some are on guard duty with an M16 and a ball of yarn. Dealing with 18 hour workdays in a colorless terrain, some wearing their combat knitting patches: two knitting needles crossed like swords over an outline of Afghanistan. Their weapon against all this stress is their knitting. It gives them color, shows that there is progress and a mission can be completed. They have already finished squares that make an American flag. The soothing click of the needles over the unsettling gunfire...


Now on to yarn bombing, the last two pictures show yarn bombing at it's best. Yarn bombing is like graffiti, only instead of defacing a building or object with paint, they hang knitted objects. No property damaged. It has been getting quite popular. On June 11, an international yarn bombing day was declared on Facebook.  A horse statue given knitted leg warmers and a blanket, a tree trunk wearing a sleeve, a park bench covered with a pretty slipcover. And these pictures: a local bar, yarn bombed with over 100 knit hearts. The bar's business has gone through the roof.Yarn bombers like to refer to their work as art, and say it really beautifies a thing. You might call it the grandmother's graffiti!


"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."
Psalm 139:13


I took all these pictures from the newspaper.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Vera Bradley


Aren't blog giveaways fun? I love them!! So I always knew that one day I would have one. And that day has come. You know how some women shop for and collect shoes? Well, this is the way I am about purses. I have collected many, and am now cleaning out my stash. So I am giving away this authentic Vera Bradley purse. I have never used it and it is in perfect condition. So if you would like this purse, here's all you have to do. Be one of my loyal followers, and leave a comment between now and midnight this Sunday. The comment should be about a purse, either your favorite one or a story about one, or why you would like this one. I warn you that this purse is small, only 10X6. So the only camera that will fit in it is a compact point and shoot. So get busy commenting, this ends on midnight Sunday. I will then put all your names in a basket and draw one without looking. If I do not get the winner's address in two days, I will draw another name. Good luck!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

We Owney Have Eyes For Him

  
Today, a new forever stamp is for sale, and it is a tribute to the U.S. Post Office mascot. Bet you didn't know they had one, did you? In 1888, a fearless little dog trotted into the Albany, New York post office and spent the night on a pile of mailbags. He loved the mailbags, and was very attracted to either the texture or the scent. Back then, mail was delivered by trains, and Owney began hopping on the trains and traveling around the country with the mailbags. Mail trains used to have a lot of accidents, but the trains that Owney rode were always safe, so he became known as a good luck charm. He traveled all over the country, and everywhere he went, they would put a tag on him. When he died, he was stuffed and preserved, and has been on display in the Smithsonian museum for years now. Owney has inspired many children's books and there will soon be an Owney app and an e-book for i-Pads. So here is what the new stamp looks like. I took the stamp picture, the rest are from the web. Owney was loyal to the end.


"O Lord, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you."
1 Chron. 29:18

Monday, July 25, 2011

Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates - Two Hershey Factories

We live about ten minutes from a Hershey Factory. But woe is me, this particular factory does not give tours! So I was reduced to driving around their deserted parking lot after hours to take the first two pictures and the header. And I did see something worth snapping. Their streetlights are giant Hershey Kisses!! But now my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter have just spent a few days on vacation in Pa., and they went on the kids tour of the Hershey factory there. My daughter-in-law took the last four pictures. They gave all the kids these cute little hats, and see the Hershey Kiss machine? After the tour, our son and his daughter enjoyed a big bowl of Hershey ice-cream. Sweet!


"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb. Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones."
Proverbs 16:24

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Till Tuesday

Again, I am taking a computer break here on Monday. I will leave you with this header, The Tornado Water Ride at King's Dominion. They have about 14 water rides, and this looks like one of the scariest. Screaming people fly into a 65 foot funnel. Think I was there and took this picture? As if! Not on your life; I make an effort to stay far away from big scary things that whip me around at warp speed. I snapped this picture from today's newspaper, just looking at it made me want to crawl into bed and put the covers over my head! So you can be assured that this is one thing I will not be doing with my Monday! Till Tuesday, everyone!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Our Daily Bread

Conversation in a bakery:
Me: Hey Phil, come over here and look at this cool wreath of wheat!!
Phil: Huh?
Me: Isn't it pretty? And look, it's right over this mirror! We look good in the mirror with the wreath over us, let me take a picture!
Phil: Huh?
Me: Now come closer and SMILE!!! (SNAP!)


"Extol the Lord, O Zion...
for he strenghtens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
He sends commands to the earth;
his word runs swiftly."
Psalm 147: 12,15

Friday, July 22, 2011

The Warmth Of The Sun

We have been having a triple digit heatwave. And this is how the sunset looked yesterday as it melted down on us. That little speck in my header over the right top of the sun is a bird.


"In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes it's circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from it's heat."
Psalm 19:5,6

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Second Little Pig

The first little pig built his house out of straw, the second little pig built his house out of sticks, and the third little pig built his house out of bricks. And what we have here is the second little pig's house. We saw this last weekend at a botanical garden. It is called "Meadowmorphosis" and was built by internationally renowned artist Patrick Dougherty. He has built over 175 stick sculptures all over the world, has a book out (Stickwork) with pictures of them, and was in People magazine for this reason. He uses trees and saplings right on the sight where he builds. He does not connect this sculpture in any way with the little pigs, but that is the first thing I thought of when I saw it. In the children's story, the little pig's mother told them,"Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world." The one who listened to his mother was saved. In a similar way, our Father tells us how to build houses, and whoever listens to him is truly saved.


   "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
   "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was it's fall."
Matthew 7:24,27

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A Shimmering Heat



"...when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.
This is what the Lord says to me:
"I will remain quiet and look on from my dwelling place,
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of the harvest."
Isaiah 18:4


I like that phrase "shimmering heat". It also describes the wings of some of these butterflies, they shimmer. This is because their wings are covered with thousands of tiny overlapping scales. Here is my mystery destination, we went to a butterfly exhibit! That tiny white speck on yesterday's leaf picture, it was a butterfly egg. There were lots of plants and butterflies, and we dipped our fingers in sugar water. The butterflies would sit on our hands and drink! They were so tame, they would even let us pick them up.  And here is an interesting fact. They cannot fly unless their body temperature is above 86 degrees. This is why we never see butterflies flitting about unless it is very hot, one good thing about this heat wave we're having!! Temps in the triple digits! Here's what God has to say about really hot summers.


"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers-Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf..."
Jeremiah 17:7,8 The Message

Garage Greetings

 Want to know why this is so different? It's a garage door! This is the latest Christmas decorating thing around here.