"I believe in the sun when it's not shinning,
love when I am alone,
and God when he is silent." author unknown
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| Sumac on Hill Behind Our House |
Another picture of the Sumac in September. Now in November all the leaves of these trees are just about gone. The evergreens will give us color as the Autumn slips away into winter months ahead.
The sky is often gray and giving us lots of rainy days. It is a quieting time of letting go of the fast moving months of summer and the brilliant goodbye in fall with nature closing up shop for the season and going dormant as the winter numbs it with colder days ahead. Decadence in full swing.....
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| Sumac up close with seed pods which will stay on until spring feeding Blue birds and Robins and other wildlife |
Just the other day our neighbor farmer came down our driveway that leads to the barn and back field with his big harvester combine. It was time to release the earth of the corn that grew all summer and now was dried and ready.
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| No time at all and the field was left with just stubby edges of the once high reaching corn. It is so exciting to see this huge machine. Made by man to gather the corn made by our great creator who nourished the seed throughout the hot summer to become the fruit of the earth. |
The hot summer sun is no longer present but gray days will fill our days more often.
I use to hate the days that brought less sunshine, but now relish the time as a rest period in my year of life. The rush of Christmas is not quite near yet with November to get through, and there still are crisp sunny days fitted in between the rain and drizzle. Time to sew up those Christmas projects, finish things that could not be done in the merry merry sunshine of summer fun. Now time to reflect, dream a little, pull things together like fall cleaning, baking, taking a slow walk kicking the crisp leaves hiding paths, and covering what use to be our trimmed lawns. Dick put out the bird feeder for our future winter. Too early to fill it, the raccoons are still not bedded down for winter so could rip it apart yet looking for those sunflowers. Squirrels are scurrying past our windows with large walnuts in their mouths, burying them into the ground. Some they will find, others will turn into our spring seedlings for future trees in the woods. A time of letting go, letting God work through our nature.
Quilting will take a more prominent place as November pokes it head up on my calendar. Finishing projects will be done faster. Summer rainy days seem to be the only days I can squeeze in my stitching. I hand quilted this table runner pictured below for my daughter Katie. Many, many days passed as I worked on it and during that time I contemplate what all took place this past year, as I stitch away the minutes, hours, days until the quilting is done.
The table runner pattern is one I bought through e-PatternsCentral.com
and is called Lilies of the Field. I use to get most of my patterns
by mail but found this great web sight where I can download
and buy through the computer. Wow! It is cheaper and I
get my pattern right away.
Gilly and Luke
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Up date on Gilly (front and Luke in back of picture) Gilly who was terribly ill is now well and back to her old self (10 years). Luke is now 1 year and just full of the dickens but learning fast. He got his winter hair cut by Stephanie Sanderfoot who does a marvelous job on Airedales. She is from Kaukauna Wisconsin, and can be reached by swankefoot@gmail.com. Gilly is scheduled for next week, so will look just as pretty as our Luke who got his hair cut last week. Dick and I go shopping or I go to a sewing lesson at Sew and Sew out of Appleton which is a neat quilting and sewing shop. We usually catch a lunch somewhere in Appleton before we go back and pick up our Airedale. It is a fun day for all of us. Luke will stay home this trip and spend it in his kennel. Our daughter will come over and let him out for a runaround in his outside pen and then back in the kennel he will go until we are home. He is still learning his manners so cannot be trusted running free in the house while we are gone like our older dog Gilly. Gilly is so well behaved and such a dear sweet dog. As we cope with Luke's shenanigans we keep in mind this is only temporary and he too will be as nice as our Gilly when he is about two. A terrier is so full of zip, they need lots of tender love and firm training before they get all that robust energy under control. Stephanie the Airedale Stylist's, parents are the ones who bred our Airedales, always trying to bring out a gentle and loving trait. They can be reached at http://www.joannesinc.com/ They only breed the best Airedales, our Luke has champion blood in him from both the mother and father's pedigree. We do not do the shows just keep our Airedales as pets. Our old cat seems to know it is time to find a nice warm spot with the tempatures in the low 40-50's It is also a secure place by me while I work on my sewing or computer. |
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| Allen our old cat snuggles into quilt material hoping I do not see him. |
"Heart Gifts" by Helen Steiner Rice found in a little book called "Just for You"
It's not the things that can be bought
that are life's richest treasure,
It's just the little "heart gifts"
that money cannot measure...
A cheerful smile, a friendly word,
a sympathetic nod
Are priceless little treasures
from the storehouse of our God...
They are the things that can't be bought
with silver or with gold,
For thoughtfulness and kindness
and love are never sold...
They are the priceless things in life
for which no one can pay,
And the giver finds rich recompense
in giving them away.
Picture below was sent to me, unknown author of the print
BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL AND MAY YOUR DAYS BE
FILLED WITH JOYFUL MOMENTS AS
YOU WALK YOUR PATH TODAY.
Kate
