God In Me - Poem

God In Me

Lord, I pray for a loving attitude

so when others look at me...

they see Your shining presence

in my personality.

I pray for a generous spirit,

reaching out for all to see...

I care more about my brother

than I could ever care for me.

I pray for a heart of compassion

to feel another's pain...

that I may bring them comfort

and see them smile again.

And I pray for eyes of wisdom

to help me see the truth...

that whatever I accomplish, Lord

means nothing without You.

~Jill Lemming~

Bloomin' Tuesday

Friendships Flower

Life is like a garden

And friendship like a flower,

That blooms and grows in beauty

With the sunshine and the shower.

And lovely are the blossoms

That are tended with great care,

By those who work unselfishly

To make the place more fair.

And, like the garden blossoms,

Friendship's flower grows more sweet

When watched and tended carefully

By those we know and meet.

And, if the seed of friendship

Is planted deep and true

And watched with understanding,

Friendship's flower will bloom for you.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

Thank you for stopping by and please go by and visit Ms Green "Thumb" Jean to see what she and other participants have bloomin' this week.

Show Us Where You Live Friday -Master Bedroom

I have finally managed to post on the correct day for Show Us Where You Live Friday hosted by Kelly's Corner. Today's room is the Master Bedroom. I have posted about mine before and since I must hurry and water flowers before going over to Skylar's, I am going to borrow from that post and re-post it today. However, I did manage to make new photos of our bedroom this morning.


Re-post from February 12, 2009:

Our master bedroom is a new addition to our home. It was added in 2001 and is a large room and we needed it for our furniture. Our bedroom suit is nothing fancy but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is very special to me because it was made by my husband in 1982. During the early years of our marriage we struggled to make ends meet and did not have money for new furniture. I had found a picture of a bed that I liked in a magazine and tore it out and saved it. I showed it to my husband one day and he said he thought he might be able to build something very similar. Using only a few tools that he had, he built this furniture from pine lumber. For the tops of the furniture he used some hardwood flooring pieces left over from some flooring jobs he had helped his dad do. I did the sanding, staining and polyurethane. Throughout the years we could have replaced it and bought something more up to date and fancier but I would never think of getting rid of this one. It means more to me than anything I could ever buy. So much so that we built a new bedroom to put it in.

The view when you walk in.

Yes those are mirrors above and they have been in since 1982. He refuses to take them out...

His side of the bed and night stand .

My side of the bed. The bed measures 39 inches from the floor to the top of the mattress. I am 61 inches tall. The top of the mattress comes up a little past my waist. I literally have to jump up into the bed. He has never built me the steps to get into it. I would probably fall off them and hurt myself if he did.

Left Side View

Right Side View

My husband built this entertainment center.

Entry

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will visit Kelly and see her and the other participant's master bedrooms.

Punctuation Is Powerful

Outdoor Wednesday-June 24, 2009

Today is Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer. I thought I would join by giving you quick tour of our property. Our property consists of 4 acres of land, 2 houses, a detached garage, gazebo, and my husband's shop.

You can hardly see our house and detached garage standing on the pier on the pond in front of our son's house.

Better view of the house my husband and I live in. We built our home the summer before we got married (September 15, 1978).

We originally built this house to move into temporarily when we had sold the one we live in now. Afterwards, my husband was going to use it as a work shop but we decided not to go through with the sale of our home. I am glad we built this one because having an extra house means that we have been able to have our children live close by. Our daughter lived here with our son until she married and built her a new home. Our son still lives here but he is getting married September 12th. He and his fiance are wanting to buy a new house closer to their work. I enjoy having him live close by and secretly hope it takes a while for them to find one.

Gazebo. There is also a small pier going out into the water beside the gazebo but I didn't think about getting it in the photo.

My husband's shop.

Another view of the pond and gazebo.

Thank you for stopping by and please go by and visit Susan's blog and see what she and other participants are showing today.

Bloomin' Tuesday

My garden beautifies my yard

And adds fragrance to the air...

But it is also my cathedral

And my quiet place of prayers...

So little do we realize

that "the glory and the power"

Of He who made the universe

lies hidden in a flower!

©Helen Steiner Rice

Mediterranean Chastity Plant

Japanese Beetles have arrived.

Thank you for stopping by. Please go by and visit the host of Bloomin' Tuesday Ms Green "Thumb" Jean to see what she and other participants are showing this week.

Father's Day

I would like to wish my husband, who is a carpenter, a Happy Father's Day.

Fathers are wonderful people

Too little understood,

And we do not sing their praises

As often as we should...

For, somehow, Father seems to be

The man who pays the bills,

While Mother binds up little hurts

And nurses all our ills...

And Father struggles daily

To live up to "HIS IMAGE"

As protector and provider

And "hero or the scrimmage"...

And perhaps that is the reason

We sometimes get the notion,

That Fathers are not subject

To the thing we call emotion,

But if you look inside Dad's heart,

Where no one else can see

You'll find he's sentimental

And as "soft" as he can be...

But he's so busy every day

In the grueling race of life,

He leaves the sentimental stuff

To his partner and his wife...

But Fathers are just WONDERFUL

In a million different ways,

And they merit loving compliments

And accolade of praise,

For the only reason Dad aspires

To fortune and success

Is to make the family proud of him

And to bring them happiness...

And like OUR HEAVENLY FATHER,

He's a guardian and a guide,

Someone that we can count on

To be ALWAYS ON OUR SIDE.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

Sun Room Redo

Last week I decided to paint the white furniture in my sunroom dark brown. The furniture is a weather-resistant wicker in which strands of twine have been woven around stainless steel and treated with many coats of glue sizing and latex emulsion and baked on polyurethane paint. It is hard to paint. I bought 6 cans of paint and had to go back and get 6 more; almost $65 to paint this furniture. But it was worth it to me. I like it so much better. I also changed some of my accessories and gave the room a good cleaning while I had the furniture out. While I was in a painting and cleaning mood, I painted a little quote on my wall above the dresser in our bedroom. I did have a basket of silk ivy sitting on the top of my dresser but I am trying to get rid of some of my dust catchers and it had to go. I needed something to fill in the space so I decided to paint the little quote that says, Always kiss me goodnight. It is not done perfect but it was cheap. It only cost me an hour of my time and I feel it was worth every second. Thanks you for stopping by.

Before

After

I used these little birds outside last year. This spring when I was cleaning up outside I decided to bring them inside and use them in the sunroom to hold potpourri.

I bought the nest with eggs on clearance after Easter and I bought the bird last week at Hobby Lobby on clearance.

I really like having the furniture dark brown instead of white.

The little quote I painted above my dresser.

Dad--I Miss You

Edward C. Morrison

July 3, 1933 - June 17, 2007

"No words I write can ever say

How much I miss you every day. "

We little knew that morning
That God would call your name.
In life we loved you dearly;
In death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you did not go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
You left us beautiful memories,
Your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you,
You are always by our side.
Our family chain is broken
And nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.

Author Unknown

He simply went to bed that night and when my brother tried to awaken him the next morning, he couldn't; God had called our Dad home sometime during the night. That was on Father's Day morning 2 years ago today. A very hard day for us because my sister and I had made plans to make this day extra special for our Dad. We knew he was in bad health and might not be with us the next year but little did we know he wouldn't be with us this Father's Day afterall. I did not see my Dad the week before his death, I drove by his home twice, on Friday & Saturday (died on Sunday), and did not stop, thinking I would see him on Sunday, Father's Day. Not stopping by on Friday night has caused me much grief, Saturday we were with friends and I don't feel so bad about it but we usually stopped by on Friday nights to visit him and when my husband asked me if I wanted to stop by, I said no that we will see him on Sunday. I have wished many times that I would have stopped but now it is too late. I can't do anything about that now but I will no longer take the opportunity to spend time with my loved ones for granted and will not wait on holidays to do something special for my family. Since my Dad's death, I believe I have become a much more thoughtful and caring person and I have found peace in the fact that he is no longer suffering with lung disease and congestive heart failure. BUT I STILL MISS HIM....

Miss Me

Miss me, but let me go

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free

Miss me a little - but not too long

And not with your head bowed low

Remember the love that we once shared

Miss me - but let me go

For this is a journey that we must all take

And each must go alone

It's all a part of the Master's plan

A step on the road to home

When you are lonely, and sick of heart

Go to the friends we know

And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds

Miss me - but let me go

-- Author Unknown --