Wordless Wednesday--Dad

For more Wordless Wednesday please visit Dixie's blog at French Lique here.

The June Scene

Hello again Dear Friends!

I thought I would share the ongoing saga of my garden with you. The past couple weeks we have continued to have thundershowers almost daily, which is very unusual for this time of year in Oregon. The nice thing about it is that it does save on some watering! ;-}

Right now my roses are the stars of the show and the clematis are waning. Some of the clematis will bloom again later, though not as profusely as the first bloom of the season. Other perennials are wonderful supporting actors, just blooming their little hearts out--filling in and contrasting nicely in color and shape to the roses. I just love them all!

Of course, running through all the flower beds, I have strawberries, which are in full production. Everyday my Grandson Gil harvests some to snack on and share with the rest of us (strawberry waffles--yum!).

I made a slide show of the current production. Hope you enjoy it! There's even a little shot of Gil, the strawberry hunter, at the end.

Gardening is a good worship and meditation time for me. Gil's scripture memory verse for this past Sunday echoes my sentiments: "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1 (NKJV)

God bless you all this day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Show and Tell Friday--Late Spring Garden

Hello Dear Friends! I would like to join Kelli's Show & Tell Friday with a slide show of my garden right now. The roses and clematis are especially pretty right now, in spite of the rash of thunderstorms we've been having lately. There is such a lot to do that sometimes I even work in the rain! My Dear Husband and Grandson have been such troopers lately, too! They have been continuing to work with me on the hardscaping for our walkways. Thanks for visiting my garden!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Please join Kelli for more treasures at her blog.

Hello Friends!

Hello My Friends! It's been over three weeks since I posted anything. I've really missed interacting with you all. We have been super busy here, though. Our ten year old grandson, Gil, has been visiting us. He has been a real joy (and a little extra work ;-). He's also been a big,big help to Grandma and Grandpa working in our garden.

The garden has and will continue to be a lot of work for all of us, but I do love it so!

I had a great, inspiring, learning time at the Beth Moore conference.

I had a wonderful, wonderful Mother's Day!

Besides all that, Steven and I have been getting even more involved in church activities. Our church is starting up a Marriage and Family Instruction/Counseling Team which Steven and I have committed to getting involved with this summer. We have been doing some informal marriage counseling with a few people that we know and definitely feel that this is God's leading for us now. It's very gratifying to "comfort with the comfort with which we have been comforted"!

Hopefully, I will be able to update my blog on a semi-regular basis. But we shall see.

I have put together a slide-show to show you some of my loves right now. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Show and Tell Friday: Garden Girl

I am joining Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's blog, There's No Place Like Home, a little early since I am going to be gone for a couple days to a live Beth Moore Conference, Yeah!!

Anyway, what I would like to share is a little resin figurine that my husband, Steven, got for me for our 25th wedding anniversary. He says he got it because I'm his garden girl. Let's hear it now, "Aaaaaahhhh...!" ;o)

I just love the detail on this little figurine. From the pavement to the top of her hat she is just 4 inches tall. The little kitty playing with her shoelace is a lot like our kitties which follow me around when I work in my garden!

I like to display her on my buffet or on a bookshelf in the spring time when my garden comes to life.

This figurine is a design by Sandra Kuck called "Victoria's Garden".

Thanks for joining me!

Please visit Kelli's blog for more treasures.

My Spring Garden

Well, Dear Friends, I am so sorry that I haven't posted for about two weeks. I just got caught up in too many activities there for a while. I trust that you and yours had a wonderful Resurrection Day last Sunday. Steven and I certainly did. We spent the day with a friend from church.

I finally got together a small scrapbook album of some of the flowers in my spring garden. Steven and I have been putting in a lot of hours [between rain and snow :-)]to put in more hardscaping(picket fence, arbor, lattice, crushed stone walkways, etc.), but I have taken some time to just enjoy my spring flowers. I do SO love this time of year in my garden!

Just click on the picture below to start the show. (If it doesn't come through on your computer, let me know. I will try to get it to you another way.)

God's Blessing to all!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Wordless Wednesday---April Fools!

Please join Dixie at French Lique for more fun Wordless Wednesday!

Puppy Love

Today, my little dog, Blondie, is 13 years old. She's been a sweet, faithful companion all these years. Here's a couple pictures of her when she was just a couple months old.




























In this recent photo she seems to say, "Mom, can I bite him?" (Poor Blondie has to put up with 6 cats at our house!) :-}

















Here is a little poem I wrote about her several years ago:


Faith waiting beside the gate,

Hope dancing under the dish,

Love lingering in a lick,

Steadfast canine friend, teach me to worship!






Thank God for all His little creatures that teach us so much!

Two Recipes and a Movie

For those of you who wanted the recipe for the muffins I showed in the last post, click here to link to the allrecipes.com recipe that I used.


Next, is a photo of the pineapple upside-down cake that I made for the guy's graduation ceremony at church tonight.










It is my version of a very simple recipe, but it is Steven's favorite and I have made it for the guys in his study group before, so I know that they like it! All it takes is a plain yellow cake mix with the ingredients called for on the box, except that I substitute the drained juice from the canned pineapples for the water. I use two 9" round pans instead of a rectangular pan. In the bottom of each pan, I put a half stick of melted butter and a quarter cup of brown sugar, which I spread around evenly to cover the bottom. Then in one pan I put a layer of canned crushed pineapple. In the other I put a layer of canned sliced pineapples with maraschino cherries to fill all the holes. Next, I pour half of the batter, that I have mixed according to directions on the box, into each pan. You may want to mark which one has the sliced pineapples and cherries by sticking a toothpick into a cherry if you're prone to forget like me! lol! Then I bake them in the oven according to directions on the box. You may have to cook them a bit longer, since the ingredients are heavier than the box ingredients. But when the tops are medium brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, they're done. Then you take them out and let them cool for about 10 minutes. After that, you invert them to make a two-layer cake on a plate, with the sliced pineapples and cherries for the top layer. The cake is good warm, or cold.


Lastly, I want to share with you about a movie that Steven and I got recently. It's called "The Fabric of Time". Here's a photo of the case with the 3-D glasses that came with it.










You might enjoy this documentary more if you have some scientific background. But I found it fascinating, even though I have a hard time wrapping my brain around some of the concepts. Basically it's about some of the latest studies and theories about the Shroud of Turin. Now, admittedly, I have never really put much confidence in relics. And even if these studies and theories prove false, my faith in Christ will stand. But if you enjoy studying the mysteries of the universe, particularly as they relate to what the Bible says, this movie is for you! The makers of this documentary spend some time pointing out problems with the carbon-14 dating that showed a recent date for the Shroud and theories that a great artist like Da Vinci painted it. Then they show more recent scientific studies of the Shroud that demonstrate that early photographic records of it are holographic (the reason for the 3-D glasses). The studies of the flowers and coins found in the image on the Shroud are very intriguing. The exact matching blood types and stain patterns of the Shroud with the Facecloth that is in Spain, (that has its own separate ancient history)is fascinating. And the fact that the image on the Shroud is a negative, like for film photos is interesting. The part that blew me away (and I'm still trying to understand), is the theory that the Shroud is not so much a record of Christ's death, as His resurrection! And it relates to Quantum Mechanics, black holes, event horizons, and the beginning of time! Whoa! Yeah!! You really need to see this movie!

God bless!

Hello Friends!

I haven't posted anything for about a week and a half and it really feels strange! This blogging really gets into your heart! ;-)

It's just that the weather has been so gorgeous here, that my hubby and I have been working many hours in our garden trying to get some projects done that we can't do in the winter weather. When we finally come into the house in the evening, we have to play catch up with housework and other things. By then we are VERY tired. You get the idea! lol

I have been taking photos, but then when I reviewed them for posting I realized I had the camera set to black and white mode! That really will NOT do for a color lover like myself, especially of my garden! So I will post just a couple photos of us that turned out okay, with a promise of more colorful flower photos to follow in a future post.

On the other hand, I do have some color photos of some of our indoor pursuits.

The first is the Beth Moore workbook for the Bible study on Daniel. Our church offered this 12-week video series through our Women's Ministry starting last fall. We completed it in February. Then they decided to do it again for those who missed it the first time or who wanted a refresher. I decided to repeat it, this time as a small group discussion leader. It is a fantastic study! Although I have studied the book of Daniel several times in the past, Beth Moore offers many new insights. I highly recommend it to the serious student of the Word.






Also, my hubby, Steven, has been very active in the Men's Ministry.











Last year he completed a 27-week study called "Quest for Authentic Manhood" with about 70 other guys at our church, and was very much blessed by it. They decided to offer this video-driven series again last fall. But since there were fewer guys this time, they had several small groups which met in individual homes. So for twenty seven weeks Steven has led a group of eight guys for the study at our house on Monday nights. Most times I was gone, since that was also the night of my Beth Moore study. But I was involved in getting the house cleaned and set up. And I almost always baked some kind of dessert snack--cookies, cake, or muffins were favorites. Above is a picture of the workbook for "Quest for Authentic Manhood" with the workbook for a follow-on study that they are doing called "Winning at Work and Home" and the facsimile sword that the guys received who completed "Quest". Nice, huh!

And finally, here is a batch of banana muffins that I made recently to share.


Steven got the recipe off Recipes.com for me. They turned out yummy!















Well, I hope you enjoyed this little update. I will try to squeeze in a further update soon. God bless!

Wordless Wednesday--Dance

For more Wordless Wednesday please join Dixie at French Lique.

Show & Tell Friday

For Show & Tell Friday, I would like to share with you a ceramic figurine I bought several years ago at a thrift shop in California. I usually display this little figure in the spring, because the pastel colors remind me of spring and I do so love spring flowers! I paired the figurine here with a little carved alabaster rabbit and have shown them from three different angles. The reason I was drawn to the figurine in the first place was because her face reminded me of my sister Linda when she was six.

Here is Linda's picture.











Do you see a little resemblance? Happy Spring, Linda!

To see more treasures and join in the fun of Show & Tell Friday please go to Kelli's blog, "There Is No Place Like Home".

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today I would like to wish my precious Dad a Happy Birthday! His nickname is "Gentle Ben". And he truly has been a gentleman! (Although his Amish upbringing would deny such "airs".) What I remember most about my Dad when I was growing up was his quiet, gentle strength. I always felt safe in his care. And he was very hardworking and steadfast in his provision for our family. Thank you once again, Dad! You set the example in your faith, gentleness, and example of serving God!
God's blessings on you today!!






















Dad in 1950 in Portland, Oregon




















Dad in the middle of his "kids" in 2006.

Wordless Wednesday--Friends

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Happy Birthday, Elena!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my baby sister, Elena, a Very Happy Birthday! I was seven years old when we brought her home from the hospital on our Dad's 30th birthday. I remember looking down into the snowy receiving blanket in Mom's arms and seeing a little round red face with lots of dark hair. A week or so later, I got to go to a baby shower with Mom, that the ladies of our church were putting on for Mom and my new baby sister. I thought it was so cute that Elena just slept right through it laying on her tummy across Mom's lap! I was always so proud of my little sister. She was just adorable with her soft, dark curls and chubby cheeks with dimples. When she got to be a toddler, she was a challenge to watch when we were playing outside. She kept wanting to put little pebbles in her mouth and then run away! The trick was to get them out of her mouth without her choking on them, or biting me!--lol! She didn't much like minding me when she was older and I was left in charge, either! :-) However, as we grew older, we got along better and better. We seemed to like a lot of the same things: doing arts and crafts and flower gardening, especially. But the best thing of all is that not only are we sisters in the flesh, but we are sisters in the Lord! And I was oh, so happy when my dear sister, after many years of waiting, found her precious husband. And then the Lord gave them a beautiful baby girl of their own! Now their family is complete.

Elena is the one who got me into the blogging world. She started a blog in 2008, and kept encouraging me to start one of my own. So here I am! Thank you, thank you, Sis!! After you watch the little slide show I put together here, why not pop on over to Elena's Garden and tell her Happy Birthday, too!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Loving Reminders

I am joining Kelli's Show & Tell Friday with a little doll quilt that I have had for 53 years.


It is 16 X 21 inches and made of plain white muslin with narrow blue binding machine-stitched on the edges and as an inner border on the top. The picture of the puppies in the middle and the lettering is done with fabric paint pens. The quilted grid is hand-stitched in blue thread.

What makes this little quilt so special to me is that it was made for me by my grandmother (my father's mother) who was of the Old Order Amish faith. Of course, it is not in the style that one typically thinks of Amish quilts, but then again she made it for her "English" (non-Amish) granddaughter! My father had left the Amish way of life when he was sixteen. My grandmother lived in Indiana and we lived in Portland, Oregon. She had never seen me and I had never seen her. The Amish didn't believe in photographs or telephones, so mostly we kept in touch by the occasional letter. Then she sent this little quilt and a matching one to my sister, Linda, just before my third birthday. Mom and Dad had gotten Linda and me baby dolls for Christmas and Dad had made little wooden beds for the dolls. The quilts from Grandma fit the beds perfectly! So they got played with a lot! It didn't occur to me until I was much older what loving care had gone into their creation. I think the baby dolls and even the beds were given away at some point when we outgrew them, but Mom made sure we put the little quilts away as keepsakes. I only got to see my grandmother for one visit, when Dad, Mom, Linda, and I, along with our Cocker-Spaniel puppy, took a trip from California to Indiana during the summer of 1958. To my five year-old mind that trip seemed like something out of a storybook: experiencing the old-fashioned farming way of life of my Amish relatives. But when we came back to the West Coast, I always had the little quilt to remind me! ;)

Voices

I am joining Kelli for Show and Tell Friday again. Go here to see more wonderful treasures. The above drawing, with poem overlaid on it, is framed and hanging in my home. You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it enough to read the poem.

I drew the picture and wrote the poem several years after having visited my mother’s birthplace in Aurora, Nebraska, during a family reunion there in 1984. I wanted to honor my mother’s wonderful storytelling ability and the generations of family historians she represented.

The drawing is of the house where my mother was born in 1929, and lived until she was seven or eight years old, when her family was driven by the “Dust Bowl Era” to move to California. The cellar door, between the bay window and the tree, was open to allow for quick access during an approaching dust storm or tornado. The windmill was a very necessary piece of equipment for a farm in those days to pump water for irrigation.

Each of the stanzas of the poem represents a different segment of time. The first three are from stories of my mother’s early life. The first is her very earliest memory of waking up in a house quieted by everyone else being outside doing chores, and her toddling to the kitchen to find something to eat. The second is a few years later, being fearfully sequestered in the cellar during a dust storm, and her father returning to the family with a mouthful of dust to assure them that it was the hay mower turning over that caused the crashing sound, not the windmill. The third was the painful transition of a Nebraska farm girl to the glitz and prejudices of life in North Hollywood, California.

The fourth stanza represents a transition to her adult life in the Rogue Valley of Oregon, where she is retelling the stories of her early life and of her ancestors. Many a Saturday morning with “plate-sized pancakes” were spent in those reveries! Although by that time my grandparents were gone, and we lived far from most of my mother’s other relatives, my mother had a way of making them come alive. If one of them came walking through the door right now, I would know them instantly!

The fifth stanza represents the time of the family reunion and visiting the homeplace. In the light of the atmosphere and landscape, the history and the personalities that had been attached to it were palpable realities!

The structure of each stanza is similar. The first line introduces the place and the season. The second line says something about the wind. The third line talks about eating. The fourth line mentions the attributes of the voices. The fifth line tells what they said.

Well, I hope my dissection here helps you to appreciate what this piece means to me. Enjoy!

Mother: The Passions of Her Heart

Yesterday marked 21 years since my mother's homegoing. I spent all day searching through photo boxes and memorabilia for things that might express a little of what she means to me. But of course,I found way too much material for one little post. Trying to distill it was almost painful. In many ways, my mother was larger than life. The youngest of nine children, she was tall, loud, talked with her hands, spent most of her life fighting weight problems, and had an almost compulsive need to confront wrongdoing and injustice when she found it. But somehow this all added up to being wonderful! Underneath, she was very tenderhearted. What she chose to love she loved passionately. First and foremost she loved the Lord God with all her heart, soul, and mind. Then she loved her family. Though my father was the quieter one of the two, my mother had a very scriptural awe and reverence for him. She would allow no disrespect for him from anyone. And how she adored babies and children! Being a mother and grandmother was truly her life's calling. When we children started leaving the nest, she found others to nurture. Nurturing and service were definitely her "language of love". When there were no people around, she lavished her attentions on her pets, or her garden. When we moved to southern Oregon in 1959 and bought a half acre of very fertile ground, she had discovered a new joy. At first she had planted a large vegetable garden to help feed her growing family. Then when she and Dad finished building a house on the property, she took great delight in landscaping the yards. I don't think there was a flower she didn't like. Dad laughingly swore he was going to put blinders on her whenever they drove by a plant nursery. Once she had a dream of heaven, and in the end she was walking in a field of waist-high flowers that stretched as far as she could see!

Much of who I am and what I believe I owe to my dear mother. In my earlier post, called Mercy I described a seven year period in my life when I was angry. It was only many years later, after the Lord restored me, and after Mom had died, that I found out just how much she had prayed for me during that time. Thank you, God, for a mother that prayed! I can hardly wait for heaven to love on her again.

Here is a slide show that I managed to put together with a lot of difficulty (lol) that says a little of what I feel:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Friend to Friend

Paul Summit
May 29, 1933--February 21, 2006

It’s been three years today since Steven’s step-dad, Paul Summit, passed away. Although he was only in Steven and my life for about six years, his imprint was indelible. He was more than just a father-figure for us and grandfather-figure for our kids. He was a friend.

He was a “self-made” man financially, having translated a lifetime of hard work and savings into some very good investments in the Bay Area of northern California, which made his retirement years comfortable materially. He was generous with advice on money management and the secrets of his success. (He hated credit cards, for one thing!)

We soon learned that his “language of love” was gifts. He not only loved giving gifts, he loved receiving them! Even the small things that we gave him from our more limited budget, he would display proudly and brag on them profusely if anyone asked. I stumbled upon something that he really liked almost by accident. Steve’s mom and he had decided to buy a very nice house in Bakersfield, California, and sell her house in Tehachapi, California and his house in the Bay Area. Since Steven and I lived in Tehachapi at the time, they asked us to be caretakers for the place in Tehachapi until they could get it sold. The place in Tehachapi had several large fruit trees on it and that year they were loaded with fruit! The apricot tree started dropping its very generous load of apricots on the ground early in May. Rather than waste all that good fruit, I decided to make apricot jam with them. So I did, and since the trees still belonged to Mom and Paul, I gave them the lion’s share of the jam. Unbeknownst to me, apricot jam was Paul’s hands-down-no-question-about-it favorite jam! He had it every morning on his toast. If someone came to visit at breakfast, he MIGHT, if you asked nicely, share a little of it. :-D Since it was such a hit, apricot jam became a tradition between us, even after they sold the house in Tehachapi. Every year when apricots started appearing in the fruit stands in May, I would make him a big batch of apricot jam in time for his birthday on May 29th.

There was one gift that we wanted to give him, however, that he wasn’t too sure that he wanted. We wanted to introduce him to our Best Friend and Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul’s health had been fragile for several years, having had several surgeries and life-threatening conditions even before we met him. He had even had a kidney transplant from one of his daughters. We kept telling him after we met, that the reason God had allowed him to survive this long was so that we would meet him and we could introduce him to a personal relationship with Jesus! Paul was not convinced. He was very proud of his financial success. He felt that his financial success allowed him to have very good health insurance, so that he could afford the very best doctors and healthcare. But early in 2005 he changed his mind. In spite of having the very best doctors and healthcare, he had continued to have severe health problems, including cancer of the jaw and cancer in the dead “native” kidney that they had left in when he had his kidney transplant. One of the times that he went into the hospital there was a very real doubt as to whether he would come out alive. It was at that point that he turned to Marguerite, Steve’s mom, and asked her if she would help him pray “that prayer” (to accept Christ as his Savior). So, she did. GLADLY! He did make it out of the hospital that time. And we were very blessed to see his spiritual growth during the following year. He lived until about three weeks after Steven came home from Iraq the last time. Then we had the very great privilege of being with Paul (Steven was holding his hand) and praying, as he took his last breath and was ushered into God’s presence!

At his memorial service a couple weeks later, I had the opportunity to give a eulogy for Paul. After sharing the previous story, I read the following questionnaire in closing. It was just one of those “trivial” things that get passed around the Internet a lot. Most of his computer time was on E-bay, or forwarding funny stories and pictures. He didn’t like to type, so I was really surprised when I got this in my inbox the month before he died. His answers to the questions were so typical of his personality and frame of mind that I had to laugh. And I think they are a fitting summary of this wonderful man.


Friendly Questionnaire
From: Paul (pausum@bak.rr.com)
Sent: Tue 1/10/06 2:28 AM

1. What time is it? 5:09 Marguerite, it`s dinner time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Full name: Paul R----- Summit

3. What are you most afraid of? Permanent loss of mobility.

4. What is the most recent movie that you've seen in a theater: Gone With The Wind, back in the 40`s I think!!!!

5. Have you ever seen a ghost? I thought so until I realized it was Halloween.

6. Where were you born? Bakersfield, CA

7. Favorite food? Linguine a la Grotto. The Grotto is closed now, So I`ll never have it again.

8. Ever been to Alaska? Never

9. Ever been toilet papering? Never

10. Loved someone so much it made you cry: Bawled like a baby.

11. Been in a car accident: Three times, and that’s enough.

12. Croutons or bacon bits: Both, in split pea soup????????????

13. Favorite day of the week: At my age, there’s no difference.

14. Favorite Restaurant: All Time favorite was the "Oakland Seafood Grotto” in Jack London Square.

15. Favorite Flower: Gladiolus that my Mother grew.

16. Favorite sport to watch: Golf or Bowling. Are there any others???????????

17. Favorite Drink: Cappuccino. Out of the "Orange International" can with small marshmallows melted on top.

18. Favorite ice cream: Dreyer’s Mocha Almond Fudge with Kahlua poured over it.

19. Disney or Warner Brothers: Disney

20. Favorite fast food restaurant: As soon as I try them I’ll let you know!!!!!!!!!!!!!

21. What color is your bedroom carpet? Pale gray with small brown flecks.

22 How many times you failed your driver's test? Once. A long extension ladder suddenly came out from behind a van right in front of me. When I slammed on the brakes I almost put the person testing me through the windshield. After that there was no way he was going to pass me.

23. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail: It was either an online pharmacy or someone trying to sell me a fake "Rolex".

24. What do you do most often when you are bored? Read a book, take a nap or get on the computer.

25. Bedtime: 11:00 PM or the end of the chapter. Which ever comes first.

26. Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest: Probably my daughter Cindy with some snide remark about my typing.

27. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond: Jim

28. Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses? Carissa

29. Favorite TV shows: Golf, Texas Hold-em Poker games.

31. Ford or Chevy: Chevy Corvette

32. What are you listening to right now? The tap---tap----tap of a two-finger typist.

33. What are your favorite colors: Black and Green. Is black a color?

34. How many tattoos do you have: Do scars count?

35. How many pets do you have? One, and her name is Marguerite. {You keep your kind of pet and I’ll keep my kind}!!!!!!!!!!!!!

36. If you could go anywhere, where would you go? My first choice is Heaven.

37. What would you like to accomplish before you die? Make a few more friends, read a lot more books and hold a great-grandchild on my lap.

38. How many people are you sending this e-mail to: 34.

39. What characteristics do your friends have to have: A willingness to pick up the check, agree with me at least ninety percent of the time and not wake me from my naps.

Wordless Wednesday: Books

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Dixie's at French Lique.