website updates & recreation

It has been a cold week and I have been enjoying our wood-burning fireplace.  In the evenings, before retiring for the night, I snuggle up on our loveseat and read near the wood heat. It's so nice and cozy. In my opinion, a wood heat is better than any other. That combined with a good book to read is a superb way to relax.

As time allows, I have been adding more patterns and making a few changes on the website this week. You will find that a new page has been created on which I explain a little more about our products, which should clarify some things.

Yesterday was a busy day as my sister and I helped our dad sort out some important business. My sister did more of the bookwork part of it and I did more of the locating of things. Teamwork, you know. Then when my husband arrived back from work he met me at Dad's and we all four went out to supper to (our) favourite restaurant. That topped off the day nicely for me.  In fact, we all enjoyed it. 

Remember I told you about winning a book in January in a writers chat room? It arrived yesterday! I am looking forward to reading it. The author, Sherrill Bodine, included a note and picture for me and I have been in touch with her. She loves to travel, said she has been to Nova Scotia and that it is beautiful here (of course I agree!), and this week she is leaving on a trip to China! If I get to town for groceries and a little shopping for the extras, I feel I am doing well! :)

So ... my questions for you this week are:

• Do you do much travelling?  
• What are you doing to relax?  
• How are you helping someone else?

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

memories - old & new

A flurry of thoughts ...

I hope you enjoyed a very Merry CHRISTMAS and made sweet memories.  Already that busyness is past as fast approaches another new year.  Can you believe 2010 is nearly here?  2 0 1 0 !

 
Christmas day was not as sad as I had thought it would be.  I guess I used up my teary time before then.  That, or someone was praying for me.  With only the two of us in this house most of the morning it was so quiet around here with the absence of my sniffling.  Our second daughter, with a friend, arrived around 11:00, and later we all went to my Dad's to meet the rest of the family (including our oldest daughter, son-in-law and grandson) for our celebratory feast and gifts.  Another friend had been invited to join us, so we had twelve at dinner.  Just before mealtime our two youngest daughters called from Alberta, so that made it even better.

I really think my mum would be proud of her family.  By the afternoon of December 30, she will have been gone from us for twelve years.  Twelve years!  How can that be possible? :(

On December 31 I hope to be able to attend our New Year's Eve service at church .. weather permitting.  Tonight there is a snowstorm happening in my part of the world, but the weather report does not say there will be more snow coming on Thursday.

Well, the author I met a month ago is a kind, generous soul.  Yesterday she sent me the link to a publisher I did not know about in BC, so this afternoon I sent off my manuscript once again thinking it would be my last attempt this year.  Then today - bless her! - she sent me information about a new publisher here in NS!  I am considering sending the manuscript of another of my stories to them and see what transpires, although I am not sure it will be mailed this week/year.  It is rather fun to finish off 2009 sending out manuscripts, though.  Something started for the new year.

Oh, I must say that when one reads an author's work it may not always be what one expects.  I have read some of Sheree Fitch's children's books and they are fabulous!  Recently her first adult novel was published and it was promoted as being 'laugh out loud funny'.  I was excited to read it so my husband gave it to me for Christmas.  Okay, to be fair here .. have you read it?  What did you think of it?  Me? wellllll .... no offense to Sheree, but somehow I missed the humour!  It just ... I'm just ... hmmm ... I am sure many people reading Kiss The Joy As It Flies will enjoy it but for me the humour was lost somewhere between its pages and my sense of what is funny.  (Sorry, Sheree!)  But ... I guess that is how my brain works.  Now, that is not to say it was not a well written novel.  Of course it was! she is an amazing writer, and I did read the whole book, even her interview at the end.  It's just that its point was lost on me throughout, BUT .. did I say .. I love Sheree's children's books!  I guess that is where my heart is ... for now.

In closing, I will leave you with some questions that I would love to read your answers for if you would kindly oblige me.  Thinking back over your childhood reading:

1. what was/were your favourite children's book(s), and why? .. and/or ..
   
2. who was/were your favourite author(s), and why?

BE SAFE this Winter!
Thanks for reading, and ... Blessings on your day!  :)

Christmas, birthdays & writers

Only a few more days and it will be CHRISTMAS!!  Am I ready for that?  NO!  Are you?

I am missing our girls so much. This year my husband and I will be alone with no children at home with us.  Their absence is bothering me already and I'm finding it hard to not be 'blue'. Today I was thinking about four excited little girls who used to run around here - helping, and getting in the way, and giggling, and ... are now all grown up -- far too quickly! The house is so empty ...

My birthday on the 16th was quiet. I was busy answering phone calls and especially happy to hear from each of our girls, and our darling little grandson ... "Happy Burt-day, Gwamma."

A little each day this week I am gradually making our home look Christmas-y, putting up some decorations, changing things around, trying to make it more welcoming for the season. Soon I will be baking Christmas cookies and other goodies ... alone.  *sigh*  I'm needing some Christmas cheer. This empty-nesting is not very acceptable sometimes, in my mind. 

On Saturday my husband and I went to the mall to do a little Christmas shopping, and while there I realized there was an author - Laura Best - doing a book signing in front of the bookstore.  It  had slipped my mind about this event ... but I purchased her book Bitter, Sweet and asked her to sign it.  She was encouraging when I told her that I am not yet published, but still hopeful.  At her urging I may be in touch with her in the near future.

It is interesting how God puts things together, isn't it?  Last week He formulated a plan in my mind, and through it I am hoping to help another lady with her writing dream.  I talked with her last Thursday about it, and if it comes together as I foresee then it will be marvellous!  And exciting!


To continue with my story ...
After our time at the mall we continued on to another community and another mall which has a 'playhouse' for kids .. and a laser tag room.  It was a 'party' for our nephew's 13th birthday, and ten of us combined our 'skills' to play this crazy game.  It was our second time to do this, but of the ten of us five had never played it before.  It was hilarious! After 25 minutes of running around in the semi-darkness trying to 'hit' each other and not be 'hit' most of us were pretty tired.  :)  Pizza and cake .. and we were on our way home.

Do you have experience with laser tag, and if so .. any strategies you care to share with this novice?

We are enjoying fairly warm weather here at present. Today there was a skiff of snow that lightly covered the ground, but that will disappear soon. Temperatures are expected to warm up more this week before it turns to seasonable winter weather.  Do you like the colder weather?

Is anyone having trouble with mice this Fall?  Makes me wonder what's up with that?
Is there any old wives' tale or a Farmer's Almanac prediction concerning survival habits of mice?

I guess that is all for this time.  If you have any comments or answers to my questions, please post them.  I would very much appreciate hearing from you.

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

it happened ... life IS good

It happened. 
Frost. Five nights ago the first frost of the season settled on our property, making the deck slippery for when I went out for my early morning walk. The chill is in the air. Autumn winds blow. Colourful leaves let go and fall to the ground where they are pushed and tossed carelessly in the breeze.
I don't particularly like the cold, but ... life is good.

It happened.
My first online customer! Four days ago an item was ordered. A sale was made. 
Still a few things need to be tweaked, but it shouldn't take much longer before everything is working as it should. I consider this to be the testing period, the time to learn what needs further adjusting.
I get frustrated over things that I cannot figure out, but ... life is good.

It happened.
I did not get out to Sunday fellowship today. Things did not go as I had hoped.
But, we had dinner with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson before they all go to Alberta on Tuesday ... son-in-law to stay until coming home for Christmas, his wife and son to come back in ten days. They will visit with the two youngest sisters while out there.
I miss my daughters, but ... life is good.

It is all in how we look at life, the attitude we have, that determines for each of us what life is.  I choose to see that ... life is good.

It happened. Again.
Someone on the radio interviewed another someone who says there cannot be an all- powerful and all-loving God.  How sad.  How deceived.  How pathetic. 
He had reasons that fit his small view.
So many people fail to see that it is not about us at all, it is all about HIM. We fall short.
HE is Holy. HE never changes. HE is always Good and Loving.
HE is there for us to seek and to find. We are not left alone but we fail to look into His Face.
HE has a plan and a purpose for our lives.
HE cannot be contained, as much as mankind tries to explain Him and limit Him and make excuses for their own sin and failures, judging God by the same narrow determinations.

Don't give up! Don't despair! Underneath all the rubble, all the facade, all the shame and disappointment .. life IS good. 

And you ARE loved.

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

thankfulness, time & anger

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Canada! 

Today is Thanksgiving Monday, but yesterday our family got together at Dad's for our annual Thanksgiving feast.  Our son-in-law is home from Alberta for a few days, but even so, there were only ten of us this time since two of our daughters could not get home.  (I'm really missing them lately.) One of our daughters out there celebrated a birthday last Tuesday. (Happy 26th, Sweetie!)

It is such beautiful weather right now.  The leaves have turned colour and are starting to blow around in the nippy Fall wind, but as long as the sun is shining I don't worry too much about the cold yet.  So far we have not had a frost here in our location, but that will happen all too soon. It rained earlier - with a quickly passing thunderstorm last night - but now my husband is taking advantage of the good weather to get our wood split and put into the shed for Winter -- hard work. We have an outdoor wood furnace which my husband decided several years ago that we should buy, and it has made such a positive difference for my health.  Once we start using the furnace in the heating season, it only has to be filled twice a day - and I don't have to do it!  It has eliminated our need to purchase furnace oil, too.  Gotta love that!


Last week marked a whole year since I started meeting with the housegroup once a week.  Amazing how quickly time passes, isn't it?  I really think the world - and the whole universe - is turning and moving faster, all part of the creation's appointment in God's plan. Any thoughts on that?

This past week was productive regarding work on my website.  Yaaay!!  :)  It is coming together better now, but someone visiting it will notice little change since I have not validated many items yet. I have other things to address first, but it is coming along.  PTL!  Soon there will be lots to see on there.

Last week I posed questions about Twitter.  I still have not made a definite decision, but I will mull that over further.  I'm still hoping to hear from more people about their experience with it, so please leave comments for me to ponder.  How time consuming is it to keep track of postings on your account?

I will leave you with this to consider:  On Sunday our pastor talked about Thanksgiving and how we often express what we are thankful for as being those things we have materially, or healthwise or things like that.  He pointed out that true thankfulness comes from the heart and mostly within our relationship with God. It is a spiritual thing.  He also addressed anger, saying that anger is mostly based in our often deeply rooted anger toward God about things that have happened or that we wanted to happen and didn't, and such.  Bottom line .. we blame God.  I believe that those two points are really beneficial to consider, and it will make a huge difference in how we view life and live it out.

What do you think?  I would love to hear from you.

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

prayers, pilots & pets

May passed far too quickly, don't you agree? To me it brought a mix of events and emotions.

Are you keeping well? A few weeks ago I was exposed to H1N1, otherwise known as 'swine flu'. One Sunday I felt really blah so stayed home from fellowship just in case, but fortunately I did not come down with the virus.

Our son-in-law got home from Alberta for about three weeks in May, which was wonderful. He keeps busy while home and I do not have our grandson to babysit when his daddy is around.

My web site is not progressing quickly yet - admittedly my fault as I have not been working on it because of other things ... and work on Valley Sunshine took priority because my readers subscribe to it. This issue just sent out on Friday is on Prayer - a very important part of our relationship with God. It is - simply put - conversation with God and touches on all areas of our lives.

2009 marks 100 years of powered flight in Canada. There was a related contest held for school age children, and I am pleased to say that my 12 yr. old nephew (my sister and brother-in-law's son) won in the intermediate photography category. On May 20 we attended the impressive demonstrations, air show and activities at Greenwood Base. During the awards ceremony my nephew received a certificate and other things, which he was very happy about. Following that was the air show and if you have never seen the Snowbirds in action you have got to add that to your "things to do" list! Those pilots are AMAZING! It was exciting, loud, breathtaking, heart stopping and so worth seeing as they demonstrated their skill and teamwork. I loved it! - prayed a lot, too!

After the air show my nephew got the pilots to sign his certificate. He and the other young winners stayed overnight on the Base on May 22nd for a fun time, from which he came away with a bag stuffed full of neat gifts. My husband picked him up at the Base the next morning and we had the pleasure of his company that day because his parents were attending a conference. Not having sons, only daughters, I always find it interesting how boys' interests differ from girls', although now video games and such make it fairly neutral ground.

Our daughter who lives and works in Alberta arrived home last night for a visit of a few weeks with us. SO happy to have her home!

Now for the very sad news -- Late one night last week our beloved, healthy, nine year old dog, Shasta, started having seizures. We took her to the Animal Hospital and even though they did all they could for her, she passed away in the wee hours of May 29. It is a puzzle as to what happened to her. It seemed like poisoning but we cannot find anything that would have harmed her. The veterinarians have not been able to figure it out, except it may have been fungal infection which is usually devastating to dogs. Whatever it was hit her hard and took her quickly.

I am surprised at how much losing her has upset me; it is a great sorrow and tremendous loss to us. Shasta was such a good dog, the offspring of a purebred German Shepherd (her mother), and a husky/wolf (her father), so had personality plus. She was protective, funny, smart, loyal, playful, affectionate, and enjoyed her family (us) so much. She was excellent with our little grandson and motherly with our daughter's miniature breed dog. The two dogs played ball together, and if Sammy would get too rambunctious, Shasta would walk over and put her foot on him until he calmed down. Sammy has been confused by her absence.

Gone are the days of hearing her howl (so much like a wolf), and my being playfully pushed over when I squat down to tie my shoes, and being informed when anyone comes onto or near the property, and seeing her sit for hours patiently waiting for a scolding squirrel to attempt its descent from a tree. Pets play such a huge role in our lives, don't they?

Tonight we bring our beautiful Shasta home from the Animal Hospital where they are keeping her for us and then we will bury her beside the flower garden she liked to snuffle through (and sometimes dig in). My heart is heavy, but I have lots of good memories. She was a happy dog.
Hmmm ... I just realized, my husband will have gooseberries to eat this Summer; Shasta won't be here to pluck them off those thorny bushes before he gets to them.

Do you have any stories to share about what interests you, or anecdotes about your pets? I'd love to read them.

Thanks for reading, and ... blessings on your day. :)

Spring projects

Welcome Spring weather! Warmer days and nights. March winds, April showers .. and mayflowers; love those sweet bouquets of Nova Scotia!

Since I last wrote we have celebrated the meaningful Easter season. On Easter Sunday I attended a combined service, some of the members of four fellowships all together in one church. It is always special to meet with others and worship the Lord together, rejoicing in Who He is and what He has done.

Later my family and a couple of guests met at Dad's for Easter dinner, but we missed two daughters and a son-in-law who had to work or were too far away (in Alberta) to be with us. Even so, there were eleven of us there for a great meal and family togetherness.

In April a second copy of my manuscript for a children's book was rejected. :( I am not sure right now if I should spend time pursuing that dream as my business website is ready to be fully launched, as far as its construction is concerned. My designer had the work done in four weeks, earlier than he had expected! There will be some touch-ups later, and I have yet to load my items on there and get the site ready to my own satisfaction. There is so much to learn, but my designer is patient and willing to help me when I need it, even after all his personal instruction. It is a challenge for me to remember everything. Hopefully, I very soon will have it to the place where I will take down the Under Construction sign and welcome customers and visitors. (Actually, I am already getting visitors even though there is not much there to see as yet.) So, I guess the writing has to wait again, the business takes priority right now.

My husband is going to start building shelves for my business so that I can have better storage for fabric and books and things I will be selling on my web site. He is such a great guy, my husband. :)

Further to the above projects it is soon time for mailing of another issue of Valley Sunshine publication, the Christian newsletter I publish, so that is also on the proverbial drawing board. There is a lot of activity going on in my life, anyway. :)

Do you have any interesting Spring projects on the go? I would enjoy hearing about them.

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

rejection & possibilities

Well, it happened yesterday. I returned home after a day consisting of playing train dominoes with my sister and brother-in-law, sitting in a lengthy meeting with my new website designer discussing the possibilities for my new website that is soon to be under construction, chatting with a friend briefly and making conversation with my young soon-to-be-a-teenager nephew, followed by the drive home ... then rushing around to get the house set in order after my being away since the day before ... and making supper for my dear husband and myself ...

then it happened. My husband came in with the mail. My first manuscript copy -- the one I had to send twice because their address in two public places was the incorrect address ... the first copy of my manuscript was returned.

I told my husband .. I am on my way to being published! This is my first return.

One less thing to use brain cells on right now, anyway. Two more publishers to hear back from .. one of them not at all if not interested.

So, ask me if I am having fun yet!

Life is full of ups, downs, sunny days, foggy days, days not worth the time it takes to crawl out of bed, and those days you love to live over and over and over again in your head and heart. I have had all of those in the past two weeks! No wonder I am tired! lol

And how is your day?

(The above is an email I sent a friend & I thought it worked well for here. I am not terribly disappointed about the rejection letter with my returned manuscript. There is still hope for my story and lots more ideas where that one came from.)

So, how is YOUR day?

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! :)