Journey Through the Rain

Yesterday afternoon when the rain started, I enjoyed a fresh breeze while sitting in the swing on my front porch.
The coolness that swept across my skin with the sound of birds joyfully singing made it feel like spring…there was a peace all around.
As stillness over came me, I opened my book and began to journey away. Sunday afternoons are perfect with a good book...
Ireland was in the mist of another harvest as love was once again redeemed. A love like no other bound together in another time and place. Ballyhara was burning in the faint distance as they embraced each other on the first day of the rest of their lives.
I had found my way to the end of the book while listening to the soft rain fall. A love story.
Scarlett and Rhett were together once more…forever in my heart.


He did it…not only did He give us some rain, He brought it all throughout the night. A soft even steady flow from Heaven. I slept to the sound of softness sprinkling down and the coolness coming through the open window...Quenching the earth from its dryness, bringing back color on this clean crisp morning.
Peace
All is well
Thank you dear Lord, for the blessings that you give to us even when we do not deserve them... Continue to hold us in the hollow of Your hand.

~My loves for today~

that feeling of being revived and rejuvenated

answered prayers, as always

coolness on the skin

rain that quenches the dryness

clean crisp air in the lungs

books that carry you to another time

love, forever love

~~~ 

May God give you…

For every storm, a rainbow,

For every tear, a smile,

For every care, a promise,

And a blessing in each trial.

For every problem life sends,

A faithful friend to share,

For every sigh, a sweet song,

And an answer for each prayer.

 

Blooming Hearts

Over flowing.   You know that cup…the one that is sometimes half empty or sometimes half full depending on the glasses you are wearing that day…well my cup is over flowing. Out of it flows friendship, kindness, giving, and love. All these things come from someone whom I have never met and probably never will, yet it makes no difference in the small scheme of things. The cup we drink from is the same. Gayle at Garden of Daisies filled my cup today. She filled it with all these beautiful gifts of friendship in her give-away. Out of 398 chances in the pot my one little entry got picked…imagine that!



Each gift was wrapped with a pretty ribbon

As Gayle says "Friendship is a flower that blooms in the heart" and this was shown in these beautiful gifts. There are embroidered pillow cases that are too pretty to use, and gorgeous fat quarters; An awesome calendar with the painted art work of Jane Shasky, a friendship ornament and a crocheted dishcloth! Thank you Gayle! Please go over and visit with her and say hi!

~~~~

I so wish you all could come over for a taste of this glazed apple cake that I baked the other day. It is from Trisha Yearwood’s latest cookbook.

Apples, cinnamon, sugar, and walnuts filled my kitchen

with that familiar autumn smell we all love.

Come have a taste with me!

"May happiness find you right where you want to be"

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend filled with friendship and love.

 

~My loves for today~

Friendships old and new

Bonding without boundaries

More prayers for needed rain

Glasses where you see what I see

A full cup

The best thing about me is you.

Autumn in My Heart

My prayer for rain as summer fades...

The setting of summer is on the horizon. It is fading cruelly, leaving the feverish heat with me and no promise of rain. My world has turned gray, dead, and dreary as it thirsts for a drink. What once was green is no longer, as summer has lost its color. I sit inside where it is cool, begging for joyous tears from heaven, while watching everything stand still. Still…very still, except the occasional falling of the leaves… diminishing from the lack of beloved rain.

My heart and soul yearns to be quenched. Autumn is there, right there… I cannot reach it, and it cannot greet me… with its beautiful colors, moist earth, and its gentle cooling. My heart is pining for the buoyancy of autumn.

Sweet rain you are welcome here… to sprinkle me with comfort and strength...filling my world with color again. Bring autumn trailing behind you and leave it here with all its glory, brilliance, and perfumes. Spread your rainbow bouquet of sodden shades from your color palette, painting my world again…bringing back life at a time when one season is fading into another.

farewell summer~goodbye

 welcome rain is my prayer

hello cool autumn

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy,

and find grace to help in time of need."  Hebrews 4:16 KJV

What I’m lovin’ today~

Autumn in my heart

Prayers for rain

Looking onward

Talking to Jesus

Knowing that Jesus will hear my cry

Knowing that Jesus will answer

~

Blessings of sweet rain to everyone in need!

"When life hands me lemons, I just squeeze um into a big ole mason jar

of sweet iced tea and thank GOD I’m a Southern....."

 ~Connie Willingham

Homemade Memories

How are you today?
I’m good…..busy yesterday creating in the kitchen. Creating with muscadines~ a grape of sorts from this part of the country…a southern grape. A way down south in Alabama grape.

 I picked ours for the first time. Our young vines finally produced enough for a picking, and jelly I did make. As I stirred the sugary mixture, the heavenly perfume roused my senses and brought back so many memories of my Grannie. I was with her, standing on a chair at the counter as she mashed those brownish green grapes through a strainer leaving only the splendid juices behind. From this juice she produced the most amazing golden jelly I have ever tasted.
I could always remember that taste…unlike any other. I have since purchase muscadine jelly at various country produce stores throughout the years. But…the taste was NEVER the same or just right. Nothing compared to the taste that Grannie always managed to achieve.

Yesterday those memories and taste buds danced around in my head as I took that first test taste. A smile swelled across my face, as I rolled the jelly around my tongue, with happiness gleaming through my eyes. Oh my…it tasted just like Grannie’s jelly, so many years ago. I did it.

There came a flood of thoughts and smells of her large country kitchen, double white porcelain sink with twin drain side boards, jars with lids popping as they sealed, sweet grapey aromas, and the promise of a homemade buttermilk biscuit to come. Granddaddy was never far away, ready for that biscuit too. Grannie was an excellent cook, a country cook, taught from her Grannie and mama on down the line. What a wonderful art to pass on… Thank you Grannie for spending time with me and letting me get under your feet in the kitchen.

Jackie, the hubs, helped with my stroll down memory lane last night. I had called him yesterday at work to let him know just how good the jelly was and he told me he would make some biscuits for supper. Happy dance. Now I know you are asking why I don’t just make them myself…You have never had one of his biscuits! The people he works with beg for them, fight over them. You see, he makes the best and takes them to work occasionally. They are so GOOD! He has mastered buttermilk biscuits!

I looked forward to last night’s supper all afternoon, and it was as wonderful as anticipated. Homemade buttermilk biscuits, bacon, grits with eggs,

and of course my fresh chilled jelly!

What I’m lovin’ today~

sweet jelly

homemade goodness

memories

standing underfoot

that sink

that smell

teaching that art

foodie photos

my strawberry napkins

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for Holly ….

now go bake some biscuits...you know you want some!

It's a Holly Day

Here is another place I wanted to share with you from my trip to Holly’s in NOLA. Franky and Johnnys in uptown New Orleans.

Now like I mentioned about Hansen’s...the place is nothing to look at…so don’t judge a restaurant by it’s cover…it’s the food that counts, right?

And yummy it was. Holly had been there with friends once before…so she knew the special treat on the menu…Fried Bell Pepper Rings!!

Oh yes ma’am they were great! A delectable appetizer dipped in a ranch sauce that was different in every way! After jumbo fried shrimp, po-boys and salads…we were stuffed with smiles on our faces. Funny thing though…is Franky spelled with a “y” or “ie”? Did you notice? Guess no one really knows!!

     ~~~~~~~~~

Today is a special day. A day to remember. A day to celebrate. It is special for Jackie and I and for our daughter, Holly. You see… 25 years ago she came into the world, given to us as a miracle gift from God.

 She was sent from heaven above as the angels sang at her arrival and as we were breathing a huge sigh of relief. Prayers rained down on us as a morning whirlwind came rushing over us with uncertainty, confusion, and fear. But with God’s mighty strength, blessings and our faith…we over came and welcomed her with joy, smiles, hugs, giggles, and the awesome wonder of such a miraculous moment!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…"

James 1:17

    Now 25 years later we celebrate her as an adult,

     with the same sense of joy and wonder.

So HaPpY BiRtHdAy Holly and many many more!!

While she and Richard were home last week we celebrated her 25 years, with family and friends. We had a big cookout with all the trimmings, smiles, laughs, and remembering good old times together. What a blessing! Holly added Richard to our small family 3 years ago this month too!

HapPy AnNivERsaRy to you both!! 

 

What I’m likin’ lovin’ today~

Holly

25 years of blessings

Joy and peacefulness

Wishes on candles

That smile on my face

A job well done





Where the Wild Things Are

Wow….where has the time gone? Here it is almost mid September and I’m still trying to figure out what happened to August. Holly and Richard were home with us this week from their vacation in Tennessee. They returned to their home in Louisiana late last night with all their fur babies. Now I have the chore of cleaning up the aftermath and putting things back into my order. I miss them already.


I wanted to share a few fun smiles from our trip to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. You remember back when families would bore their friends to a sleeping stupor of death with their home slide shows and movies of their vacation…well please bear with me in my sharing. Believe me when I say I have spared you, really…there were lots of photos taken of lots of animals.  ~Enjoy

Richard and Holly

I look like I've been out in the sun too long!

Wake up now!!!!  The show is not over yet.....

A face only a Mama could love!

There were a few funny looking breeds too...

and a few that didn't mind expressing themselves.

After we cooled your hot bodies *smiling* in this running pool…we decided to treat ourselves to a famous Hansen’s Sno-Bliz,  a New Orleans tradition for 71 years where people old and young stand in line for this icy treat.

Yeah it looks kinda bad…not a place I would just walk into off the street…but by word of mouth from friends and locals…you gotta go get one if you are there!

Cream of Chocolate and Cream of Coffee….yummy!

The chocolate tasted like a good ole Tootsie Pop.

Oh yeah…didn’t I mention that we were going fishing? A fishing we did go.

One fish, two fish, red fish, no blue fish, we did catch.

Now...If stingray were good for eating we would have a freezer full. They were such a nuisance and scary too! The catching was rather slim on the red fish; out of the seven that were large enough to keep, Holly and I caught six!!

I caught the biggest two ~smiling happy evil smile! One a full 24 inches long!! Boy did he put up a good fight! Sorry guys that we out-did you!

Now back to my cleaning up and catching up with all of you!

Why aren't red fish red?