giving thanks

 Tuesday....my dining room overflowing with multiple projects.

 Wednesday, diningroom clean and table ready for meal.

 Thursday morning, the sun greets the table setting.

 Guests arrive and help with the bird.

Good food and good memories made.

birthday splash

 On my birthday Jay didn't have any work. He took me, Mama Donna and Victoria to Oregano's for lunch. The guacolome with cheesy pizza bread was the highlight of the meal....except for the free birthday half-baked cookie with ice cream desert. Yum.

Afterward we walked to the splash pad and I got to play in the water without sharing it with the little ones that frequent the pad during the summer months.

dancers aglow

My favorite Snow Bird has been visiting the past two weeks. When she called to schedule her visit I suggested she come so she could attend the Aglow International First Nation's Gathering. Donna hails from the Wanabe Tribe (That's want to be native) and was thrilled that she could come and worship and dance with the band Broken Walls.

Victoria, our extended stay driveway guest, also went to worship and pray along side natives from many tribes. We had an amazing weekend and came home with many stories of divine encounters.

silver

I made a new friend at Sukkot this year. Chaiyah is from Missouri so I don't know when I might see her again but I sure was blessed getting to know her. I'm pleased to be able to call her my friend.

it's a date

Last year we totally missed it....September came and went...and the date harvest happened without us. When I realized what had happened I made a big note on September 2013 so that our busy schedule didn't keep us from missing what was important. 

Last week when Jay and I looked at the calendar together it was obvious that if we were going to travel across the state and help with the harvest it had to happen right away. So, despite that fact that we had just returned from New Mexico on Tuesday morning, we packed up late Friday and headed out, this time traveling west for two and a half hours, towards Dateland. 

As always, Abba's timing was perfect. Our elderly friends, working together, had harvested 1 of the 16 trees that had been nurtured for harvesting.  Unlike years in the the past, they didn't have any full time guest living with them to help with the extra work during their most labor intensive time of the year. And they were down in numbers due to the death of one of their members this past spring and the increased dementia symptoms of another member of their "family".  And the extended forecast was looking like rain.

By the time we headed home there were 10 trees harvested, three tables full of dates waiting to be cleaned and sorted, several more boxes of dates  waiting in the wings, and about 30 trays of dates cleaned, sorted, and drying in the greenhouse. Our tried aching muscles and date stuffed bellies were blessed to be able to help our friends.

A bonus perk of helping our visit was enjoying the peaceful oasis of their beautiful property. The years of lives dedicated to living a holy lifestyle has resulted in a shalom saturated environment that leaves one feeling rested despite all the hard work.

This photo is for my sew-loving nieces....

wouldn't you love to have a sewing room like this?

simply beautiful

'nuf said.

up the mountain

The last two weekends we have found oursleves "up the mountain" visiting with our former house guests, Rob and Sue. I always enjoy visiting Payson, it's cooler and there are trees and green things. I typically like to take my camera for a walk down the country road and see what interesting things we can spot in the viewfinder. Last Shabbat morning Jay offered to join us. This is what I saw...

One of Sue's newly acquired bees (get it...Sue Bee Honey?) investigating her roses. We are scheduled to bee sit once the weather turns cold.

Looking for gold in the wash-what else would he be doing down there!

but i'm back again! said nora...

with a monumental crash. (from Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells)

If you are one of the few and faithful who frequent this blog you've probably been wondering where I've been the last several weeks. I could say I've been super busy, and it would be true, first photographing the wedding, then hosting out of town company, then editing wedding photos, with homeschooling days scattered throughout. 

But the truth of my absence comes down to dollars and cents, specifically  two dollars and 49 cents, the amount I now have to pay per month for photo storage connected with my blog. I postponed the inevitable, hoping to find a way around the charges but no alternative has surfaced.  After considering the situation I determined that the enjoyment I find in blogging, the chance to stay connected to loved ones, the inspiration to better my writing skills, and a platform for sharing my photos is well work 63 cents a week.

Welcome back!

company with benefits

There is a yummy advantage to having a full-blooded Italian cook stay at your home....

keep the old

 

While in Goshen I had the chance to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a long time...went on a  bike ride with my college friend Sandi and had a chatty visit with Jim and Eleanor.

paint week plus

Paint week was extended into a second week... 

and isn't finished yet...

It has been a multi-phase process. 

But let's begin at the beginning...

Phase One:

The need became apparent when we had a friend visiting recently whom needed a good sturdy lawn chair...I realized the mismatch of  folding lawn chairs I had didn't leave him much choice. Then I found a flyer in the mailbox advertising wooden Adirondack chairs. It seemed a good price and once Jay looked at several sights online he agreed. 

I took the pickup to town the next day to pick up a matching pair of chairs. Silly me, I could have taken the car as the chairs I wanted to purchase came neatly packed in a box along with the hardware and instructions I would need to put them together. 

Phase Two:

I started the primer outside in the shade but found the paint and heat were not a good combination. So the next day I moved the process inside the garage office area where the swamp cooler took the edge off the heat. All the individual pieces made for lots of back and forth, in and out. 

Phase Three:

Once all 62 pieces were primed it was time to make the big decision. I had been looking at painting ideas online (the trend recently is to paint Adirondack chairs bright, bold colors) pulling handfuls of color samples at the store and imagining in my minds eye, but I just wasn't sure. 

Then I remembered the color wheel my friend Becci had given me when we were scrapbooking together. It seemed just the thing to help with this decision. My problem, again, was the pale yellow of the house; a color to which I'm not the least attracted. In a previous post you may recall my brainstorm to paint the trim rather than the whole house (not that the trim is actually painted yet-but the idea is still there). With those two reference points the color wheel said I could use something from the orange family and create an analogous harmony. Orange; not a color I would have considered but I thought if I found something with a hit on red I might comfortable with the look. 

I decided that this time around I would only paint 31 pieces, in case I found I couldn't stomach the orange. 

Phase Four:

Two layers of orange, a day to dry and I was finally to the fun part....putting together my 3D puzzle. 

Between my spacial tendencies and the assistance of a power screwdriver I actually enjoyed this task.

 

Phase Five:

This is where you come in. Now we have one fully assembled, school house brick orange, sturdy Adirondack chair waiting for  you to come try it out.

counting

mama donna

Since our first meeting back in the early '00's I found myself drawn to Donna Kristal. It would have happened anyway, as her fun loving, affirming, encouraging personality is naturally attractive, but the fact that she was my high school classmate's mother slipped her into that "could be my mother" category. Probably the fact that I met her shortly after becoming motherless added to the bond but it was not until just before my wedding that she officially became my "Mama Donna". 

It happened during a phone call, she probably called to check how I was doing with wedding plans, as that is a typical call she would have made. During our discussion the fact came up that I was getting married without my mother being present. With compassion and understand flowing through the phone line she offered to stand in for my mom during the wedding. Although there weren't any outward changes that others would have recognized over the next two weeks there was a turning that allowed Donna to step into a special place in my heart where I could claim her has my "Momma Donna". 

She was then, and has continued to be an encouraging spirit when the rain clouds come. 

 It was to this relationship that I was welcomed to Michigan last month. Because of a busy schedule and family responsibilities I passed up staying with my BFF Grace in exchange for a less conveniently located but beautiful retreat-like stay at Momma Donna's beautiful home on Wixom Lake. 

It was a delightful week of country walks, aroma therapy, sharing green smoothie recipes, eating raw breakfast cereal together and praying with friends who came to visit. What a blessing it has been to have a "Momma Donna" in my life.

This photo I took especially for Amy....

I wanted you to see Donna's birch tree hat rack.