So How's Your Wonderful Life Going?

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."   --- Romans 15:13

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The older I become (which happens speedily lately), the more I realize it's my responsibility to create a wonderful life. That is, if I want one.

And I do.

For me, it doesn't work to wait for anyone to give me a wonderful life. Oh, sometimes that happens, but it's occasional. No, usually it's up to me to create a life I especially love, me and the Holy Spirit who's the most creative person, ever.

Seriously.

So lately--to make up for 8 months wilting on the red couch--He and I have celebrated health and summer and books and gardening, cleaning house and mornings reading with my feet up on the sunny front porch.

And bookshelves in need of reorganizing and Pinterest and imaginative folks on Youtube. 

The ability to do laundry and climb stairs, flowers in pots and newly-poured sidewalk. 

Stocking-up on winter groceries, bottles and jars of food on glass shelves, trying new recipes. 

Groceries arriving at the door, snacks and drinks on the porch for delivery people and weekend meals carried right to our red door.

And Autumn's birth on Tuesday!

Sending gift cards or trinkets or books as surprises 

and praying for friends recovering from illness or discouragement or shock of losing loved ones. 

And still having this blog after 22 years when some have--whoosh!--lost theirs in a dreadful moment. **

Mine (and probably yours) is a simple life, but oh, the never-ending list of what is ours to celebrate, that is, if we always watch for the good.

What remains is for us to keep our steady balance when this world would shake us to the ground in a sad, worried heap.

And we need not go anywhere but to that straight road at whose end is a Heaven waiting with the most wonderful life of all.

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Well, it was a hot summer (big surprise, right?). My leggings felt too warm, so I bought these, below, and love them and do not wear them to bed as designed, but rather, all around the house, porch and yard for all to see. heh.

They're part of my creative, repurposing projects and they look nice given the fact of all the weight I've lost due to intermittent fasting, cancer and hyperthyroid issues. Alas.  シ

Oh, and on cooler days they also look good with leggings or capris underneath. Highly recommended.

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** Oh dear! Kim's Daisy Cottage blog is gone. All those gloriously colorful posts showing her creative genius using primary reds, yellows and greens with a 70's flair. And the posts of the tours she photographed of her friends' homes, vanished as well.

Typepad is no more, that's why. Darn.

With wild eyes (well ...) I contacted Kim at Instagram, hoping with all my heart she'd downloaded those hundreds of posts elsewhere, but no, she hadn't she sadly told me. I felt so bad for her.

But at least we have her Instagram photos from these past few years as well as some of her older photos online here and there. I was able to gather some into a Pinterest folder here. (You're following me there, right?)

Life goes on, yes. But the place in mine where Kim's blog lived will always remain an empty, much-missed spot, indeed. Though yes, I'm grateful for the years her blog remained online whenever I felt like visiting her special, colorful world.

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Oh. My. Goodness. This man's home library! Give me one like that and probably I'd never come up from the basement for air.  ツ Unbelievable, .

truly. (And like one guy wrote, "The way my jaw dropped at 4:28." Yes, mine, too.)

A tiny house filled with beautiful antiques and paintings. Wow.

Have you ever watched Wise Living After 50? Her money-saving kitchen ideas are awesome, but I really love her vintage-style drawings. Fun and nostalgic!

If you prefer old-fashioned, soft-color decorating.

A Little Library That Time Forgot

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" ... recognize the fact that Life is a circle around you, tiny when you're a child, wider and wider ... as you grow older, and narrowing again when you're frankly old. You can keep it from shrinking for a long time, perhaps, but there comes a day when it's better to look on it as a small but enchanted circle and make it as pleasant a spot as you can."

-- from Bubbly on Your Budget by Marjorie Hillis

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September around here, so far, has acted very Septemberly. Oooo... love these cooler temps, school busses, musky scents and the occasional floating leaf.

Keep moving forward, one creative step at a time. You can do this!

... and I'd love to hear how you're making your life beautiful.

*****

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

For Gardeners Only (But Kinda For Anyone, Also)

" ... their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more."   --- Jeremiah 31:12

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So this past Springtime, like most, I planted my garden seeds late. 

Like, mid-June. Really! Always I clean-up my yard's leaves and twigs first, prepare soil (takes a month+), then, this year, planted cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, even, and marigolds, dwarf zinnias, sunflowers, purple coneflowers and blue sage. 

Also lettuce, but everyone knows that grows fast.

Youtube told me planting late was ok and you know? It was. I'm pretending it's Autumn already and oh, how pretty the at-peak oranges, reds and pinks of marigolds, tomatoes and zinnias in the Fall.

I've not told you in ages that my gardens are container ones. I plant seeds in gallon pots then either transplant them into larger containers or let them remain on our porch. Or carry them out to my 'farm garden bed' out back.

The heftier pots are sunk into the ground halfway after replacing last year's soil with 2/3 new soil, homemade compost, and bits of fertilizer crystals. In the ground like that they, (ideally, anyway), don't dry out as quickly.

Now? Everything looks lovely these cooler days. I sit in our porch's sunshine beside lots of greenery, reading, and feel like I've traveled to an exotic place.

I did make one mistake (at least), though. In one of those sunken pots too near the porch, I planted 3 sunflowers. An annoying squirrel, over 3 days, reached over and snipped each pretty flowered head, ate a few seeds. Then scurried away with each decapitated sunflower.

Note to self: next year plant the sunflowers farther out in an unreachable area.

With plants in containers? Anyone can have a garden. Anyone. Even an older lady who went through chemo and radiation, slowly recovered, then came out the other side feeling healthy and bubbling-over with gratitude.

(Not my porch. Not my plants. heh.)

I accidentally ordered two packages of one-gallon pots from Amazon. Yikes! Each pack contains 50 pots so if I know you in Real Life and you'd like some of these, let me know. I'll happily give you some if you're willing to pick them up.

And usually I order seeds from Ebay, but a couple weeks ago I bought a set of assorted seed envelopes, 50, for a good price at Walmart. Non-GMO. And of course, I'm also saving seeds from what I planted this year.

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Over at Pinterest, I had to start over. Long story. But whatever, I've had a pleasant time creating lots of new boards filled with favorite things.

Are you a member over there? I'd love to have you sign-up with me! There's something for everyone. Clothes, books, autumn, movies, decorating, quotes, tv series, etc. Go here.

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We have all new sidewalk! 

We'd placed ourselves on the city's need-new-sidewalk list 14 years ago, but tired of waiting with those nearly-all-broken-and-cracked-disgusting concrete pieces. So we hired a crew and paid for it, ourselves.

Besides, it had always been a possible danger, one where we could get sued if someone tripped, even though, technically, the city owns the sidewalks.

Anyway, it's beautiful. They'll come to remove the forms today, then we'll need to have our lawn guys fill in the side parts with new dirt and grass seed.

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Oh my. Many of you will love this woman and her home and garden.

Gardening After 60

I've been binge-watching this young woman's videos and this is my favorite one so far.

I Built a Tiny Library on my Stairs

Go little Wednesday, go!   ツ

And as I wrote at Facebook:

What will they think of next? The 'Mornings With Granny' woman showed us laundry detergent sheets she found at Amazon. I'd never heard of those! I think she bought 80 for $5. Eighty loads of laundry for just $5 or if she tears them in half (she said) that's 160 loads for $5. Wow!

So I rushed over to Amazon and found 160 unscented laundry sheets for $9.99. They arrived today and get this: often I do just one load of laundry per week (hey, it's just 2 of us) so that's, like, only $10 for 3 years of laundry! If I considered cutting them in half, it would be even better, but these seem smaller than Granny's so I'll probably leave them alone. (Oh, and one reviewer said to place the clothes on top of the sheets so they don't just cling to the side of the wash barrel.)

Anyway, I've not used any yet, but they should work fine. It's not like Tom and I are ditch diggers with filthy, ground-in-dirt clothing. Haha!

Just had to share this money-saving idea with you all. They had tons of varieties if you wanted to use something a bit more organic, etc.

Go here to visit with Granny.

*****

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

 *** 

 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

Where She Stopped Reading(!) And Other Sad Stories.

An avid reader since 14-years-old, I pretty much stopped reading books during my cancer treatments. 

Seriously, I barely recognized myself those days because I was tired. Weak. I didn't care about keeping a clean house, couldn't climb down the stairs to do laundry, even seldom brushed my hair and as I said, I stopped reading books.

A little frightening all that, especially when satan (you feel) is whispering, "This is the new you. You'll never return to your past energetic, glad self."

So I had to keep praying--and--asking friends at Facebook for prayer. 'My village's' encouragement felt huge! Really, those of you who prayed for me, my gratitude will never cease.

And you know how sometimes our friends do something we don't understand? Back around 2010, a dear friend (of decades) from CA died and only 2 weeks before did she email me that she'd been terribly sick for months. 

Oh my. 

I would've prayed for her during all that time and sent her encouraging emails, cards, letters. But when her relative told us at Facebook that she'd passed away, I began to cry. It was extra hurtful because she'd kept her sickness a secret from us.

I turned to Tom with teary eyes and said, "If I ever get sick (Heaven forbid), I'm telling everyone! I'd want everybody praying for me."

Well, I kept that promise during my cancer scare and you know? Those prayers and encouragement meant everything to me. Barely able to walk, they helped me drag myself to the car on dark, snowy mornings to travel to treatments I didn't want to take. They calmed me while riding over that insane, icy Buffalo Thruway. 

And they aided me in defeating, ignoring, those "you'll never feel normal again' lies.

Of course, you are free to handle sickness however you wish. I realize that.

But I wanted to share my story, this latest one and my friend's earlier one, to show you both sides. To help you decide now how (again, Heaven forbid) you'll handle what just may be the hardest time of your life.

Often it's best to make a decision with a clear mind well before that mind goes all foggy-dark later.

Glenn Beck gave a perfect (imo) tribute to Dolly Parton here.

*****

The (Few!) Books I've Read (or Am Still Reading) this year:

Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing by Lisa R. Howeler

Mystery of the Red Carnations by Mary C. Jane

Natural Barn Killer by Amanda Flower

Almost Amish by Nancy Sleeth

Chicken Every Sunday by Rosemary Taylor (probably for the 20th time. Total comfort book.)

More Junior Authors edited by Muriel Fuller (my edition is earlier. These books couldn't be removed from libraries, so I'd sit there for hours reading about my favorite authors, but now I have 2 editions of my own.)

Movies We've Watched Lately:

Spiderman No Way Home (2nd watch)

Breadwinner (Hilarious, over-the-top and we loved it)

I Can Only Imagine 2 

Unexpected Family (give it a few minutes. IMO, Jackie Chan's finest performance.)

The Shift (2nd watch)

Greenland 2

Lovely Youtube Videos:

Full Recipe Box Found (what a treat!)

Old Furniture, New Cottage Charm

Cozy Pink Cottage Dollhouse (I fast-forwarded to the darling end product)

10 Crockpot Recipes for Seniors

The Magic of Bookshops is Still Alive

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And what I've been doing lately? I cleared 2 additional shelves from the glass-fronted hutch in our home office and added more jars and bottles of food items. How lovely to have all those in one place rather than here and there on 2 floors of the house!  (Photos coming. Someday. I think.)  ツ

And I've been stocking-up, keeping lists galore, etc. How good to be ready for winter (or whatever comes) again!

******

And as I shared at Facebook:

Yay! In fact, today I knew they were close when I found myself placing my cool hands around the nice, warm crockpot!

In case you needed some (ok, early) autumnal decor inspiration .... Oh my!

*****

God created us to need each other. To not be all me-against-the-world loners.

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

A Rare This and That Post

1.) Forgot to mention last time that July 25th marked my 22nd blogiversary. Can you believe that? Even I can't, but there you go.  シ And a special thanks to those of you who've hung in there with me for many of those years. What an encouragement you are!

2.) So after 47 years I'd grown weary of cooking. Hey, go figuring just two meals per day, even, and the number comes out to 34,310(!)

But then being all gluten intolerant now, I realized if I want tasty foods (and not go into debt paying someone else to cook them like with a meal delivery subscription), then I'd better change my attitude.

So I did what I've often told you to: Instead of praying the verse, "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation," I tweaked it to (in this case), "Restore unto me the joy of cooking."

Truly, it works every time. I'm back to enjoying cooking and even watching others create meals at Youtube. Just substitute a few ingredients and voila! Tasty gluten-free meals for cheap.

Whew.

3.) Back in 2019 when God (I felt) nudged me to declutter 10 items per week, I also sensed He wanted me to release 300 of my books. Three-hundred?! Yes.

Well, initially I said, "That's impossible!" (Hey, I love books and my 35 year+ collection of them.) But you know? I wanted to obey God, for He knows best.

So I approached this slowly, lugged just a few books at a time down to the Salvation Army drop-off and Little Free Library, kept track of how many I released and by now? I've given away 564 books. Wow.

(Probably 30 are ones Tom let go of, but still, 534 is something big. For me, anyway.)

Truly, just doing small things each day/week/month always adds up over Time. What matters is starting and continuing and staying inspired to do the right thing.

4.) Can you believe that, at the end of August, Tom and I will have lived at Hobbit Cottage for 15 years? (I hope my longtime readers didn't faint at that.)  シ

Another one of those "I can barely believe it" things. For many reasons our living here has been good for us, one of which is that these 860 square feet keep us reigned-in from collecting too much junk stuff.

I try to remind myself that that's a good thing.

5.) Since 2024 I've meant to tell you that I bought some just-like-I-imagined garden plant labels/signs. These 2 years later I still love using them in my gardens:

I found them at Amazon here.

6.) Speaking of shopping online, I love to listen to vintage mall/supermarket music when I do so. Brings old-fashioned-ness to a modern-day activity.

Here are a couple favorite videos to shop by:

Mall Memories of the 60's and 70's

Retro Supermarket Shopping Music

There are tons to choose from on Youtube.

7.) Oh, and there are many retro crockpot meal videos, also, but this one was special, for he includes the notes his grandmother penned beside each recipe. I hope you'll check this one out for yourself, especially if you need cooking inspiration like I have:

Grandma's Lost Cookbook

8.)  Before moving back upstairs (see my last post) I'd envisioned making my row of bookshelves feel more town-library-ish, especially since I no longer visit our local library due to all the books I either buy online-- physical ones or Kindle--(only occasionally, ok? heh) or read online free at Open Library, who carries the books my city library discarded decades ago.

Anyway! What finally got me to attempt that bookshelf challenge is when I watched Darling Desi create a Blockbuster Video store area in her bedroom. What a cute idea! 

I que'd (sp) it up to that specific part here. (Well, I'm crossing my fingers that it worked.)

That was the inspiration I needed! I tweaked my bookshelves up here a bit and I'm happy with them. To me they've got more of a you've-traveled-to-the-city-library feeling.

(I would show you a photo, but my camera still isn't connected to this newish laptop. Besides, I think you'd need my own imagination to see what I see now. heh.) 

But whatever, it's been fun making a change.

9.)  

He is! Even now. Even any day inside our hearts if we invite Him to do so.

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A couple bonus videos for you:

I'd never seen this side of the Clutterbug gal! A delightful video, indeed.

And this must be the most beautiful small yard garden that I've ever seen online. No, really. (Wait for it.... wait till her friend takes you to the backyard.)  ツ

Oh! And nearly forgot to mention this:

The Chosen Run Wild With Bear Grylls. What a terrific idea!

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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

 *** 

 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

Where She Moved Back Upstairs (And Other Stories)

So I haven't told you I moved downstairs and slept on our couch for 8 months. (Eight whole months?!) 

Yes, it began the day after spending 3 nights at the hospital in November. None of us trusted me on those 12 stairs up to my room(s) at night, so after a couple trips up there for clothes, my laptop, etc., I camped downstairs. Later in February, you may remember, I had to literally crawl up the 3 (kinda 4) stairs from the backdoor to the kitchen, so I felt grateful for 'my new room'.

Well, go couch camping and you make a large adjustment. I missed my privacy and got that living in a store display window feeling. Install a stair climbing chair, instead? We felt too overwhelmed already.

Besides, I'd just think about upstairs and couldn't shake the feeling of 'bad juju'. Up there is where I could have, well, bled to death had I stayed and just tried praying or brushing it off. So honestly, I wasn't antsy to move back.

But anyway!

Last week I realized the time had come to return to Debra's World upstairs (long story). I shook-off the bad juju thing, prayed up there, then moved back.

And here I happily am. Life up here feels lovely again.

And too, I saw on a Youtube video that if a person still easily can, it's best to do stairs for as long as you're able. It's one of those 'use it or lose it' things. Stop climbing stairs and you'll stop being able to climb them. For me, it's too soon for that, and besides, I'm fine on them now. I feel at least 95% back to my good ol' self.

Moving on ...

For 45 or more years I reused those twist ties that come (came?) on packages of bread. Kept them in a little clear jar. But now it seems they use only those square tiny plastic things that break and are beyond annoying. 

So this felt ultra-weird, but I actually bought some (200?) small twist ties! I think they were from Walmart. 

Elmer, the times, they are a changin'.  シ

And one last thing: Do you ever watch the Recollection Road videos on Youtube? Mostly he shows us videos of the way Life was while we of a certain age were young. 

Now, I love those vintage style videos, but oh my, the hopelessness in the comment section afterward! All those whines of how those times are gone forever, we'll never get them back and how these present days are garbage in comparison. Blah, blah, blah.

Come on, People.

Life has always been only as good as we make it. Lots of those things on Recollection Road are still doable today. The picnics. The mall shopping. The family reunions. The sweet Christmas gatherings, potlucks, music from any decade and church-going. Dressing-up to go downtown, sitting on porches, visiting vintage car shows or concerts in the park, backyard barbeques, etc.

Always, Times have been hard in one way or another, but it's been people who have pulled themselves together and made the best of them. Done what they could to have fun and create memorable times for their children to recall in their old age.

And there comes a time where we in our own difficult days, can choose to concentrate upon what's going right, rather than what's changed and gone wrong. Where we can create wonderful moments, ourselves, to remember forever.

It was a choice back in The Good Old Days and remains a choice in these times, as well.

During couch camping days, I'd kept some of my clothes on a hutch shelf in Tom's office, but once they were back upstairs, I placed unopened spices there (in a box I spray painted blue) along with larger bottles of spice and salt. I love the way they look on that glass shelf behind a glass door! Truly it's the small things.

Also, I so enjoy buying garden seeds from sellers on Ebay. Usually they're very inexpensive (like $1.35 to $2.50 ish) with no shipping charge or minimum purchase required. Plus, it's cool knowing I'm planting seeds from regular folks' gardens.

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Movies We've Enjoyed Lately: 

The Sheep Detectives (absolutely loved this)

Meet The Robinsons (adorable. How did we miss this one?)

A Great Awakening (much better than I'd thought. I'm usually not a fan of period pieces, tho,' if they're based on true stories, I tend to like them.)

Harold and the Purple Crayon (truly enjoyed the humor of this.)

The Unbreakable Boy (another Zachary Levi film, one based on a true story. We so enjoyed it, tho' a few moments were tough to watch.)

Tender Mercies (what took us so long for this one, too?)

Hellfighters (with John Wayne. A second watch for us.)

Tom Wopat's 3 County Line movies. (more second watches. The 3rd one was a bit dark.)

Fountain of Youth (a new film with a vintage feel to it.)

Hail Mary (took me around an hour to get into this(!), but Tom liked it from the beginning.)

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I recommend watching movies and videos which make us feel grateful for the Life God gave us.

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

High Prices, Health Woes and What Do They Have to Do With Heaven?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."   --- Proverbs 3:5

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Still here!

So the prices of groceries, right? Wow. Yet this is one more of those 'hopefully we prepared ahead' things.

You know where, during the good ol' days, we had tons of opportunities to collect (and put to use) terrific recipes made with inexpensive ingredients.

Which reminds me of 47 years ago (and ever since, really) when I loved my 1970's (or earlier) cookbooks because of their oh-so-cheap recipes. I mean, hey, even way back then groceries seemed high(!) especially in our tiny mountain town where we paid extra due to location.

Seriously, I mostly enjoyed those early years of opening the fridge door, spying very little, but knowing that, with a few cupboard items, I could still whip together a pleasant meal for Tom when he arrived home from work.

Those types of challenges! I thrived on them. They were my idea of old-fashioned fun, especially while tweaking recipes from vintage-scented 1940's cookbooks.

Fast forward to 2026 and some of my favorite Youtube videos? They're the ones showing wives cooking meals with those same ingredients and that identical sense of both fun and challenge enjoyment.

Now we'll come back to that, but first, the 'health woes' in my title.

Sheesh. Last month I saw my GP doctor and she sent home papers with me (as usual) which I didn't look at till weeks later (also usual. heh.) Man, she'd listed ailments she believes I have (after consulting various test results from my Buffalo doc's), some she didn't even mention during the long appointment (with a sweet resident, to be fair). 

Showing Tom that list, I was all huffing-puffing upset, saying, "How dare they speak those things over me! Well, I rebuke that list in Jesus' name."

Yeah, around here I do stuff like that.  シ

But even so, I've been checking out Youtube videos (mostly from Dr. Eric Berg), ones with recommendations of natural fixes like vitamins and food, etc. And I take medical notes in a cute little binder I bought where I keep the pages in alphabetical order and also include gardening tips and To Do lists. Hey, it's my book. heh.

So what's my point? And what does this all have to do with Heaven? I'm thinking that when we reach Heaven, it will matter how we faced challenges. All of them.

Did we worry every time a problem came along? 

Did we fret that God would let us starve, what with all these high grocery prices? Did we doubt His creativity and provision?

With bad health reports, did our mind instantly go to the D word (death)? Did we lay awake at night worrying about these chaotic, where's-this-all-going 2026 days?

Or did we keep our mind at rest? At peace. At a high level of trust in God's having everything under control and that what's left is to discover just how He wishes we'd behave and grow and plan and practice --

-- and remain joyful in the journey. And what I believe remains for us is to remember this: in Heaven it will matter. All of our trusting and believing (and behaving in godly ways) will matter more than we realize down here.

Besides, it will remain our own personal history for, like, eternity and wouldn't it be wonderful for 'we truly trusted God' to be stamped all over that history book?

*****

I Woke Up In 1956 And Fell In Love With The Past  What a delightful video! And as for me, I don't care that it's AI, in fact, I often tell Tom, "If something beautiful is AI, then it's still a beautiful thing."  No, really. I say and think that often.

Wow, this woman decorated her mobile home so beautifully, that I couldn't even finish watching due to envy creeping in. (Does anyone else ever have to click away because of that? Tell me I'm not the only one.)

I loved this kinder, gentler way of decluttering!

Anyone interested in selling paper items on Ebay? I enjoyed her stories of how she found things and the prices she sold them for.

What a lovely traditionally-decorated (at least to me) tiny house.

And who I believe most consistently shows inexpensive, healthier-type recipes with a spirit of fun? Julia Pacheco .

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Last year the only seeds I planted were cherry tomatoes, but this year I made up for it by planting:

Blue sage

Purple coneflower

Basil

Jalapenos

Cosmos

Zinnias

Marigolds

Lettuce

... and cherry tomatoes, of course.  ツ

 

I feel so grateful to garden this year, especially after all those doctor appointments earlier. Of course, I've done lots of my famous 'sit-down-gardening', but it really helps. Just a half hour or so each morning and I'm able to, well, mostly able to, keep up with everything out there.

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Oh, and I bought the cutest ice cube tray from Aldi. I'd not had one for years because I'd tired of trays falling from the ice compartment top of our fridge all over the floor. This one is silicone, has nine cube spaces and a lid. It's perfect! Just what I pictured in my mind.

It's rather like this, below, but is red and has nine cube thingies.  I'm the only one who uses it, so it works out fine.

And one last thing....Yes! We had a couple days of heavy smoke from the Canadian fires. Orange air the first day! Then a cooler day, a little bit overcast from smoke, and now today is cool and gorgeous.

Lesson? Give God time to work things out.

******

The Lord, He is good. Bless His holy name forever.

--And--

how wonderful when we can have blessed assurance that all will be well in Time.

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

News Around Hobbit Cottage

"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds."   --- Psalm 9:1

*****

Perhaps my celebration of feeling much better is going on too long, but that's my excuse for not being here. Oh, how wonderful to feel good again!

Anyway. 

Does anyone remember the adorable white hanging little cabinet from out at our farm kitchen?

(The small one on the right.)

For nearly 15 years I've regretted leaving it hanging on that plaid wall. I've missed that thing! Yet not badly enough to buy a new/used one. Hmm.

Well, guess what? Though I said nothing about it to her, Naomi gave me an identical one last month. Oh my! Instantly I replaced our little wonky metal spice rack with that one. It's perfect and what a treat, even, to open the door to retrieve spice bottles.

I'd gladly show you a photo, except I can't figure out how to connect my old (old!) camera to this newish laptop and I keep forgetting to ask Tom for help. At least I found my camera's charger. Lost for months, it was exactly where it was supposed to be. Argh.

Anyway, trust me, I'm so grateful for that sweet cabinet.

Something else? Today, from Amazon, I'll be receiving a perfect small ottoman for in front of our red couch. All these months, I've kept my vitamin bottles on the top and lower portion of my stained glass side table--

Now, on my droopy days, I felt grateful for something easy to reach, but oh dear. Last week, I became sick of the way it looked with cluttered pill bottles covering it (most in a clear plastic lazy Susan thing, another gift from Naomi). So I went online, perused a hundred tiny footstools/ottomans (no room here for a coffee table), and chose this one with gift card moola:

Seriously, I'm counting the hours till it arrives. How lovely to just throw (and hide) the vitamin bottles in there, instead!

Has anyone else been super-enjoying gardening this season/year? Every morning, around 6:00 a.m. I'm out there planting seeds, watering plants, spray-painting patio chairs, trimming things, feeding the birds, transplanting seedlings from small pots into larger ones, etc. Usually I'm up at 4:00 a.m. drinking cocoa and watching Homestead Tessie because my head keeps planning how best to garden that morning with the fewest steps.  シ

And so it goes each day. With enormous gratitude.

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Oh, and as I wrote at Facebook:

It's Tree Day! We're finally having the 2 huge sycamore trees (yes, I always think of Zaccheus. heh) trimmed back from hanging over our roof and sidewalk. Also, the backyard cranberry tree will be pruned, another thing needed for years.

We try to do one large home task yearly, but last year I was so tired and didn't want to think about it. Hooray for healing, for progress and tree safety!

Oh, and I would add photos, but this is a newish computer and I'd not set it to upload photos yet. At least I did find my camera's card and charger after many months! Where? Right where they were supposed to be. Eegads.

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The ottoman arrived and it's perfect! It holds all my many vitamin bottles and even my back brace, tablet, comb, lip balm, books, a small box of kleenex, ponytail elastics and a spiked ball to run under my feet. Don't you love it when a plan comes together? シ

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Oh what special Youtube videos I've found!

Whispers in the Garden Many of his videos are from the yards included in the yearly Buffalo garden walk. What inspiration, indeed!

I'm not even a fan of lavender decor, but I certainly love what she did with it here.

As others commented, I came for the camper, but stayed for the adorable dog. heh.

Oh wow. The most perfect 'she shed' on the planet.

Oy! This goes against everything I've said about decluttering, but I totally would've decorated like this in my 30's and 40's. (Minimalists, please don't watch. You may have a heart attack. Ha!)

I'd never before heard of these metal British after-the-war houses! Tom and I found this fascinating.

---and here are two of those British houses from the inside. When first married, we could easily have lived happily in one. Maybe even now. Well, maybe. heh.

More terrific videos next time.....

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And a special thanks to Angela for letting me know you'd watched A Marriage Made in Heaven. So happy you enjoyed it and thanks for mentioning it to me!

Also to the person who watched Grimm on my recommendation (ages ago)---a special thanks to you, also, and again, I'm thrilled you liked it.

And to the person who bought the Mary C. Jane books--oh goody! I'm glad you did and I hope you've enjoyed them as I have.

Thanks, Everyone! I love knowing I've added something good to your life.

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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15