receiving and giving

A new week, a new year for me. Yesterday I received some very nice things for my birthday, a day I spent with my sister helping her manage a table at a craft fair. On our table we had mostly donated items to sell to raise money for Missions in Rwanda. We did well for our first effort and it was a fun day. I am quite tired today though, and plan to 'turn in' early tonight.

While we were at the craft fair, sometime in the afternoon the wind picked up to almost hurricane strength and it rained heavily. Some areas lost their power but at the school we were not inconvenienced except that for some of that time less people arrived to shop.

In my last post I mentioned that I am thinking about 'supporting' a deployed Canadian soldier. A few days ago I remembered that one of my Valley Sunshine publication readers has a son who has been sent to Kanduhar (do I have that spelled correctly?), and I called her to tell her what I want to do. I could hear the excitement in her voice and she said she will be getting back to me this week with details on how I may send packages. I am looking forward to hearing from her about that.

Interestingly, my mother-in-law gave me a book for my birthday, a book of poems written by soldiers from WWI. What a timely gift and such confirmation for me! This book, in case you are interested, is called In Flanders Fields and other poems of the First World War, and is edited by Brian Busby. One paragraph on the jacket reads: "Selected from the work of soldiers killed in action - starting with Rupert Brooke in 1915 and ending with the tragic loss of Wilfred Owen seven days before the Armistice - the poems capture a broad range of emotions, contemplations and states of mind, ranging from anthems about the brutality of war to wistful evocations of home and loved ones left behind." I find it difficult to read, and by difficult I mean sad, revealing, and insightful.

I feel that yesterday was a great beginning to my next year of life, which I hope and plan to be a successful and satisfying one as I learn what God has in store for me and what He will do through me.

What are your aspirations when a new year begins in your life?

Thanks for reading and ... Blessings on your day! :)

Remembrance Day

It has been two weeks since I last wrote! Where does the time go so quickly?
I have been going to my sister and brother-in-law's each Wednesday for five weeks now, and I plan to go tomorrow. Last week the kinship group surprised my nephew and me with a birthday cake and a card for each of us signed by the group. Both of us have a birthday this month.

The past few days I have been busily working on Valley Sunshine, the Christian publication I publish quarterly. (I don't have a website for it, but if you want to ask about it you can write to me.) I have to get this issue completed, put together and into the mail before the end of this month to keep up with subscription dates.

Today has been a somewhat sobering day. Remembrance Day - or Veteran's Day in the US - always does this to me. My dad is a WWII Veteran and I am so proud of him. On this date each year we gather with hundreds of other people for a long but meaningful service at Acadia University. The service is conducted by the local branch of the Legion of which Dad is a member, and Dad is in charge of the many memorial wreaths that are laid by family members and other representatives. He has a lot to keep track of, but does it so well, keeping things moving along.

The service consisted of singing by the Annapolis Valley Honour choir, music by Acadia University symphonic band, Scripture readings, prayers, reading of the Honour Rolls which contain the names of our local soldiers lost to World War I, World War II, Korean War/Conflict - and then comes the laying of wreaths. This is a long process but so good to do as part of the remembering.

Of course the two minutes of silence near the beginning of all this sets the mood. For me it is a time of contemplation, prayer, thankfulness, and some emotion welling up. War is horrible! How wonderful instead to be at peace and not lose anyone to such travesties, but unfortunately our part as a nation is sometimes necessary. For that reason it is not sensible or beneficial to condemn anyone sent on deployment. I have, in fact, been thinking today about some way I may personally support a deployed Canadian soldier so far from home and loved ones. I will have to look into that. Many will not get home for Christmas and I am sure they can use some cheering up.

Following today's memorial service, certain friends and family members of the Veterans who belong to the Royal Canadian Legion met at our local Legion hall, the Dr. C. B. Lumsden MM Branch No. 74 in Wolfville. There we were served a tasty meal and our Vets were awarded medals and certificates. And, did I say? - I am so proud of my dad. :)

Please feel free to be in touch. I would love to hear from you.
** If you know of any organization that sends care packages to deployed Canadian soldiers I would be very interested in knowing about it. **

Thanks for reading and ... Blessings on your day! :)

determination

It is truly a Fall day here today! Windy, rainy, but warmer than usual - for which I am thankful. The fields are being covered in a golden and red carpet of leaves now, though.

I am later posting than intended, but sometimes it is difficult to put thoughts in order. I have been going to my sister's on Wednesday evenings for housegroup meetings and coming home late on Thursdays, and that has been a welcome change and blessing for me. On my way home last Thursday I went to my doctor and told him I have bronchitis. After his questions, during which I assured him that yes, it is bronchitis, :) he listened to my breathing and agreed with me. Because I have been 'patiently' (his word) waiting for it to go away and it hasn't, he gave me a prescription for an antibiotic because it has obviously turned into a bacterial thing. Apparently it is affecting many people around here in the same way. I started the meds on Friday afternoon, and what a difference in how I feel in just three days. I hadn't realized how pulled down I had been by this. It is so good to have more energy again.

Business news is that I have finally listed some fabric on my website, long overdue, and there is much more to add. (Funny, isn't it, how one's brain works better when feeling better?) The shopping cart is not giving accurate shipping rates, though, so anyone wanting to order anything has possibly been put off by the cost of shipping. I have added a statement that the quote is an estimate and to contact me if wanting to know exact postage. This has been such a concern to me, but I will find a way to make it work. Someone told me today that "determination is the battle", and if one is determined enough then things will get done.

An exciting thing for me is that a friend is selling her treadle sewing machine to me! I have wanted one for years. Mum used to have one, but Dad thinks they sold it because it isn't there anymore. I think they did, but I will have my own by the end of this year. Why am I 'collecting' sewing machines?, you may ask. Well, why not? :) I am interested in the good oldies that have been proven to be hard working and efficient. Perhaps they will add to my decor more than being used, but that's okay too. :) They will be enjoyed either way.

Stay safe!
Thanks for reading ... and Blessings on your day! :)

my Featherweight treasure

Well, I'm excited! Yesterday my dad gave me my mother's old Singer Sewing Machine. It seems I have just acquired my first Featherweight!

I remember this little machine from when I was a wee little girl and my mother was teaching me to sew on it, very carefully. Somehow it seemed larger then, and I think that I was trying to make clothes for my baby doll, but I don't recall having much success at that young age. Mum sewed clothes for herself, my younger sister and me on that little Singer - dresses and skirts and blouses, mostly, and she did a fine job of it.

Since Mum saved everything, in its sturdy carrying case I found the machine's original Singer Warranty dated "Sep 11 1957", stating that the Machine style is 221-1-270 and the number is AG878454. Also of interest, the "conditional sales contract" for her purchase is there, $124.50 - and describes her installment payments. All her receipts are there, too, but there are only three because, true to form, Mum paid her debt early. There is a letter to thank her for her patronage and informing her that she was entitled to a refund which they were enclosing in a cheque.

I haven't used this machine yet (since many years ago), but I tested it and it runs so quietly! In fact, it seems to contentedly hum in comparison to my larger and heavier portable Kenmore which I bought for myself in 1976, and on which I made clothes for my daughters and myself.

As I said, I am excited about this so I wanted to share. Perhaps someone out there would like to share about their experiences with their own special treasures? I would be very interested.

Thanks for reading .. and Blessings on your day! :)

Thanksgiving

Here in Canada it is Thanksgiving Monday already! How did you spend your Thanksgiving weekend? We had our family dinner on Sunday at Dad's. Only eight of us were there instead of our usual eleven to fourteen. It was a smaller and quieter group, but as always there was lots of conversation and an abundance of good food.

The days are quickly getting cooler now and night falls earlier with the days being shorter. I love the colour of Autumn leaves but do not wish to see those trees getting bare as it means the cold weather is not far off.

Remember in my last post I was pondering my spiritual situation? Well, I felt led to attend the housegroup meeting at my sister and brother-in-law's on Wednesday evening. It was good to be there and I felt welcome among brothers and sisters in Christ. Because of the distance to their place, I stayed overnight and came home on Thursday. Now it remains to be seen how often I can manage to do that due to other things in my life. It does 'feel right', though, so we shall see.

I have been busy sorting through my fabric stash. My! I have a lot of fabric! It is hard to part with this beautiful selection I have, but my stash is growing and I really must move some out. (How else can I make room for more to touch and admire?) ;) Sometime this week I will be making some available for purchase on my website. Someone will enjoy it, I am sure.

I have been carefully rinsing (cleaning) Wild Turkey feathers too, for sale on my site. They are lovely feathers for crafting or fly tying. The turkeys I am collecting from are alive and well - they all were spared this Thanksgiving - and these are just what they drop as they stroll around the farm. Comical birds they are!

All for this time. Count your blessings as we do have much for which to be thankful.
Thanks for reading, and Blessings on your day! :)

relationships, changes & chat

Here it is the first weekend of October already, and a beautiful one! Tomorrow it will be the 25th birthday of one of our daughters - (Happy Birthday, my darling!) - and I won't get to hug her because she is living and working in AB. That is the way of things here in the Maritimes now, but I do not discourage anyone to go, temporarily, where the work and money are. When they get established and debt free, they can move back home. Maybe by that time things will have improved here. One can hope and pray so, anyway. The main thing is that if they leave family here at home (spouse, children), they keep the lines of communication open so that nothing breaks up that family unit because of economic choices having to be made. Our married daughter and her husband are doing that and it is not an easy thing, but they are making their way through the plan they have in mind.

We now have a solar panel on our house. My husband and his dad installed it yesterday. The goal is to have it as an assist to heating our home, and especially the downstairs (basement) where we have finished rooms and my business is set up. It gets chilly down here, so I am looking forward to seeing what difference is made. Are you doing anything to cut down on fuel consumption or to use clean fuel? Solar power is so underused.

Have you had a chance to check out my website yet? I am still hoping for things to soon get settled out regarding it, and when that happens there will be lots of work for me to do on the site. I have some of the turkey feathers listed, and eventually I will be thinning out my fabric stash and listing lots more fabric on the website (while biting my lip!) That is not as simple as it sounds because ..'Hello, my name is "sew amusing" and I am a fabriholic!' :)

I learned several days ago during an appointment with my naturopathic doctor, that I have bronchitis. It was good to know the reason why I could not get rid of the tiring deep cough I had for about three weeks. I am taking some capsules she suggested and the gradual healing is happening with less coughing and it no longer burns when I do cough.

Been wondering a lot lately about where I am in my relationship with God. There is so much to learn, so much He has planned for the ones who love Him, and I wonder if I am way off track in my walk with Him - if I have moved too far one way or the other. I miss the fellowship I had with others and the Bible studies I held here at my house. But ... I will see what comes ... and trust Him for direction.

Do you have any thoughts on any of what I shared here today?
** I just added Google Talk chatback to my page so that if you really want to, you can talk to me online if I am available. Just click on there and maybe we can chat for a few minutes. :) **

Thanks for reading, and Blessings on your day! :)

canoes and eagles

Today is the first full day of Autumn. How I hate to see Summer go!
Don't you love the outdoors? I don't consider myself to be an "outdoorsy person" but I do love this time of year. Well, actually I enjoy - in fact, favour - any season during which I will not freeze. The sunshine and flowers and singing birds rejuvenate me. I am always amazed at the beauty God created.

Do you canoe? On the weekend my husband and I made the long trip to Amherst - a three hour drive for us - which gave us many pleasant hours together - a rare event since he works in the city and I at home. Usually we only have parts of evenings and weekends together. It was a wonderful day. Our purpose was to purchase a canoe at Cumberland Canoes and Kayaks, which we did - a bright orange one. It was a longer drive home with that strapped on the top of our car, but we certainly could not get lost in the crowd. :) This canoe is very similarly made to the yellow one we lost in the cottage fire (caused by a neighbour's carelessness) two and a half years ago. Now we need to find time on a good weather day to enjoy a "test drive."

On another note -- have you ever watched the eagle as it floats on air currents? It is an amazing bird. I enjoy watching one or more nearly every day from my house or yard. There are many bald eagles around here, and one particularly large one that glides majestically on high.

One day a few weeks ago I was on one of my walks when I was dismayed to find an eagle corpse in the ditch. When I told my husband, he said that when he was driving out that way several days before he had seen one trying to lift off the road with a dead raccoon in its talons. When an eagle gets a grip like that it has a hard time letting go, so we don't know if another vehicle carelessly hit it, or if the eagle accidentally rose up under the power lines and got electrocuted. Either way, it was a sad find.

I got thinking about how people would probably like to have eagle feathers for crafting or something, but then there was something about it that didn't feel right. It seemed I had heard some legal aspect to that, so I did some research. It is illegal (with huge fines levied) to own any part of that honoured bird since it is very special to the First Nations people, so I contacted the Department of Natural Resources about it. I was told that there is a long waiting list of Mi'kmaq wanting even just a feather, and even that item has to be approved by their Band leader. Well, that got me excited! If I could bless some of these people through my find that would be fabulous, so later that day I went out and carefully gathered the remains. Not long after I placed another phone call a man from the department came out and collected the eagle from me. It would be handled appropriately and given to the right persons. That makes my heart feel glad. :)

Of course, this means you will not find eagle feathers on my website, but you will find authentic wild turkey feathers once I get them posted on there.

Thanks for reading, and Blessings on your day!

how I got here

Since I have made a step into this Blogging world, perhaps I should share a little of what brought me here - just in case someone is interested in knowing.

I enjoy crafting, sewing, learning some quilting -- not that there is any one thing I feel particularly accomplished in, but I like to try my hand at making nice things. A friend I met online built a very pretty and well constructed site for me a few years ago so that I could sell the ring bearer pillows my daughter made. I was very pleased with it, but although I had some visitors, sadly I got no business that way. Several months ago I did some research and found a few things I could do differently, so then I hired a local little business to build me a more involved web site. I needed to branch out.

Have you ever built a website or had someone do it for you? If it has gone smoothly I would like to know how that happened! :) It has been five months since signing up with them and there have been a few snags that have had to be ironed out (not unusual); one is still an issue which my web site designer tells me they do not deal with ... but I am hoping and praying that the problem will be resolved soon.

Even though I have not had any sales as yet, I do have another nice web site! :) I have much more to load on there but stopped in frustration until an important feature was worked out, so now I will start adding to it again. If you want to take a peek: http://www.novascotiaflavour.com

The fun thing is that my web site is not just for me. Although the plan is to sell my own items - and there is quite a variety - I also have clients here in Nova Scotia for whom I hope to sell their art and crafts. It is a great way to introduce their 'work' to the world. I will be excited when sales start happening!

Because I am getting into online business, someone said that I should also become known on Facebook. That does not really interest me at this point, but then a friend suggested 'blogging.' I decided to look into that and after viewing a few choices I selected Blogger.com. Maybe it will add a new good dimension to my life. :)

Thanks for reading .. and Blessings on your day!

just beginning

Welcome to my BLOG! Since I am just learning about blogging, I will not say much this time except that as I figure out more about this I will post more. I hope you will make a return visit. :)