Now. The Amazing Days.

So this morning on Facebook I saw this old photo of an A&W restaurant (remember those? I was a janitor at one.) with the caption, 'Back in the Amazing Days.' 

Of course, lots of people commented about missing the Amazing Days, saying they were long ago, but no more.

Ah, but these are the amazing days, too! We are still alive, still here. And Life is still good if we make it so and if we have God, of course. Any day with God is amazing.

There are still restaurants with car hops, you know. Sonic Drive-ins are just one example (check-out their website. It's cool.), but there are others. Yet some silly people insist such places do not exist. Others say, "They exist, but it's not the same as long ago."

Of course, it's not the same. Nothing is. Everything changes, yet that doesn't mean it's less, unless we make it so.

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Way back in those so-called Amazing Days, around 1979, I saw a friend of my sister's at the supermarket. She told me her mother lived across the street from Tom and me, a couple houses down, and she was blessed when she'd see me kiss Tom good-bye at the front door in the mornings before he'd leave for work. She found our newly-married-ness, sweet.

I was touched that we'd blessed one of our neighbors without even knowing, someone who watched us just living Life. Of course, it felt a tad strange to know we were being watched, but hey! We are, you know. All of us are being watched.

And I thought of my sister's friend's story this morning as I got up while it was still dark and switched on my 1940's & 50's radio station and our sweet little fireplace and made Tom's breakfast and his lunch, then later walked out to the car with him, carrying bags of uniforms and his lunch sack, then gave him a kiss good-bye before he drove away.

I'm sure Tom and I have neighbors now, all these thousands of miles and whole decades later, who watch us, the old married folks now, and are blessed how we begin our days. May we always be good examples to these neighbors, not bad, so that we can help, if just a little, others experience their own Amazing Days, even now, even in 2012.


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 I so needed a real desk up here, for the tiny bistro table just was not working. Besides being too small, Sammy The Cat took it over and kept knocking all my books and papers off onto the floor with loud "booms!"

So on Sunday I created a desk and well, although it looks like something a teenager would make, I love it. Absolutely love it. Here it is:

And there's tons of storage beneath, for I used two sets of 'wire shelves' which we bought at a yard sale. Of course, yesterday Sammy The Cat and I fought over this desk all day long until I made a bed for him down on one of the shelves.

He's still trying to take over the top of my new desk. 

Stay-tuned to see who wins this one.

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"These are the Good Old Days..."

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Oh! And my newly-won Scholastic ebay books arrived on Saturday, so quickly, it made my head spin. 

I read Fog Magic yesterday and had forgotten how well-written it was. Not your typical kids' book, quite detailed, thought-provoking, haunting.

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New Around Here

Tom found the cutest little electric stove ever yesterday and for only $10. It's at the base of the tall green post and the cool thing is that we can leave the flame on without using any heat. Love that tiny stove. Oh, and yesterday I found a swag for the center of the kitchen arch. I'd planned to stencil or sponge leaves up there, but this sounded much easier.

Remember the .10 cent Craftsman lamp? I placed it in the dining room window. And see the painting, above it? Naomi and I found that together for just $1. Here's a closer peek:

How good to not spend all my creative (and otherwise) energy on mowing a lawn and what a delight to welcome back my decorating spirit.

And although Tom and I do appreciate the newness of Hobbit Cottage's insides, we also want a this-place-feels-old air to zap you when you step through the door. We're enjoying aiming for both old and new and creating something unique.

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"And he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze..."  Exodus 35:31,32

Today celebrate the creativity God placed within you!

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Being Careful of Doors

No big secret around here that Tom and I love yard sales. That we currently lack imagination to do much of anything else besides shop yard sales and watch movies (we went and saw The Words yesterday. Enjoyed it, learned good lessons from it.).

But half the fun of yard-saling is driving past cute houses like the one, above, or this one:

...or even being able to step inside such places to buy things at estate sales, where as I've already told you, I spend more time just walking around snatching decorating ideas and enjoying the nostalgic colors and moods. Or stepping into backyards, like I did yesterday, where river waters lapped the edge of the lawn. Happy sigh.

And too, we meet the nicest, kindest people at yard sales, folks we wish we knew as friends. Couples or best-friend-neighbors we wished lived next door. Western New York is packed full of people like that.

But thank-goodness it's so very rare that we attend a yard sale like one yesterday where 4 or 5 women stood around, well, gossiping about various folks they all knew, a bit like this: 

"I know it's not easy to keep a neat home, but the least she could do is ...on... and... on... and on...", "Yes, it's time for them to step down. They're not running things like we believe they should." Or, "And do you think I got any thank-you's for what I did for them? Not a one. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

I couldn't take it. Their (too loud) words hurt my head and made my stomach queasy. I longed to plug my ears while browsing the tables, but then I realized I didn't even wish to buy anything from these people. I told Tom, "I'll meet you in the car. This gossip is bothering me too much."

And oh, how good to escape to our car! To my newly-bought books:

... to the peace Tom and I know in those front seats, to gratitude, to quiet joy.

Oh, if only we all could see the doors to bad places which gossip opens. Doors to reaping what we have sown--to people gathering around, speaking about our faults. To criticism where we have unfairly criticized, to a lack of mercy when we so need it, yet finding it missing because we planted none for the sake of others.

And other doors to darkness, as well.

But how much better to wildly fling and sow all the good seeds we can each day. To bless others with our words, to encourage them. To hold them up when they're so near falling. Oh, what blessings await us when those seeds take root!

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