And the Saints Go Marching In.... A Heart Strings Post

We said good bye to Mama's last beloved brother this week.
 

I'm sure Mama met him at the Gates with great joy!  He was so sad when she left us and I never thought he'd be following her so soon, since he had always enjoyed good health.  But, the Lord took him swiftly.  He left behind his beloved wife of 59 years, who had fallen and broken her hip only a week before.

I read this devotion Sunday morning, based on Psalms 118:24:  This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

Then on Monday, when I saw the cover of Uncle B's Funeral program, I was pleasantly surprised to see the same Bible verse.  I know this is an often quoted and well known Bible verse, but is Somebody trying to tell me something?  Most of the time I probably miss these little gifts from the Lord because I'm not paying attention.  Note to self:  Be more observant.  There is so much wonder all around us, but we don't notice it.

A pearl from the devotion:  Be GLAD  G=Go to the Lord; L=Leave your burdens with him; A=Adore Him; D= Do these things Daily. 

The Devotion Book is Words of Encouragement for a Discouraged World.

A Heart Strings Post

The nursing home where Mama was a resident has an annual remembrance service for all the residents who died during the previous year. Yesterday we had the privilege of attending this sweet service.

As each deceased person's name was called, their family was presented with a small gift:
 

After some music, words of comfort and refreshments, there was a memory balloon release. 

This is the Arican Violet that was in Mama's room that she loved.  Purple was her favorite color.  It now sits in my kitchen window and is blooming again.

Love u Mama!

Heart Strings Post - The Coat that Mama Made

I saw this post over at the Sew Chic Blog and it reminded me of this coat:



This is a red corduroy coat my mother made for my daughter when she was about five years old. It has a soft feminine lining and fold up cuffs on the sleeves. My mother did a professional job on this project. I loved this coat when my daughter was small and have kept it all these years. Its one of those things you keep forever. I might even have a granddaughter to wear it some day.




Unfortunately, I couldn't lay my hands on a picture of my daughter wearing the coat. I'm not sure if we have one, but if I find one, I'll post it.

I have a couple of other items my mother made for my children and myself that I plan to post at a later date.

Grandma's Needlepoint - Heart Strings

My maternal grandmother was all that I would like to be. She was a very spiritual woman, first and foremost. She also was excellent at all things "Home". She sewed, quilted, did needlepoint, gardened, cooked and raised eleven children, all of whom turned out to be very special people. The flowers in her yard were so beautiful in the summer time that people passing on the road would stop to walk through it. My own yard is full of plants from her yard: A camelia bush, a rose bush, many nandina bushes and many yellow irises.

My mother says that as soon as she got every one fed breakfast she would retreat to her chair for her "prayers". Then if there was time, especially in the winter time, she would start stitching. She had a wood stove for heat and I can just see her sitting by the heater sewing in my mind's eye. What a way to be remembered by her children. Praying and sewing... I hope mine remember me that way.

I ran across these pieces that she made in my mother's linen closet and borrowed them to take pictures of and try to copy. I'm sure they are at least 50 years old, if not older and they have been washed many, many times. I'm not so sure my own handwork will hold up like this! And how she learned to do this, I don't know.

This is a pillowcase. You can't see it too well in this picture, but there are white birds on there. Probably doves.




This is one corner of a table cloth. The other three corners have identical stitching. See the edging on there? That's a very delicate crochet thread edging. She had to go around this piece of cloth at least 4 times to achieve this edging.





I have been doing some crochet edge flannel baby blankets, but to be honest, I'm not pleased with the outcome. I think I'll stick to quilting! I have one of my grandmother's quilt tops that she made from feed sacks, and what ever fabric she had on hand. It was never quilted. Some day when I have more time, I hope to finish the quilt and to show a picture of the quilt top on this blog.

We're having a NOR'EASTER! The next three days look rainy and very windy. In fact its been very windy all week! Hubby is supposed to be playing in a golf tournament sponsored by his work place today at a fancy golf course. Does not sound like fun to me! Good Luck to Hubby!

Happy Thursday!

Heart Strings - Good Bye Faithful Friend!

SLEEPY EYE MY SWEET DAVE
FEBRUARY 20, 1993 - AUGUST 11, 2008


Good Dog!

Heart Strings - What I learned from Doris

I lost a good friend and former co-worker a couple of weeks ago to a rare disease. She had been sick for six years and finally passed over to where I know she is jumping and dancing! I worked with her for 14 years before she got sick. She loved her job and was THE most generous person I ever knew. Its been on my heart to share what I learned from Doris.

Most of you have heard of the book from a few years ago called "Everything I need to know in life I learned in Kindergarten". Well, most of what I needed to know in life I learned from Doris. These are some of the them:

1. COVER FOR EACH OTHER: At work this went a long way toward creating a more pleasant working atmosphere. At the time we had six ladies working together and you know how that can be! Covering for each other meant no backstabbing. It meant when someone made a mistake, you didn't run tell, but helped fix it. It meant when someone had to run an errand, you covered for them. Then they in turn would do the same for you.

This is a very good Christian like attitude don't you think? Do we cover for each other in our day to day life? examples: Your husband or teenager accidentally locks himself out of his vehicle 25 miles away. Do you rant and rave and complain or very sweetly go as fast as you can to their aid. Don't you know that sooner or later you'll do the same thing? LOL. You see that your daughter desperately needs a day to run errands. Do you offer to babysit, go help or offer some spending money if she needs it? What ways can you "cover for each other" today?

2. DON'T EMBARRASS THE FIRM: This meant that we should be careful of how we acted and dressed away from work. If we were seen at the grocery store wearing sloppy clothes and someone saw us there, it would reflect on our work place. Same thing with how we behaved. I always remember this when I go somewhere, even to this day. You won't see me at the grocery store in short shorts!!!

This can be applied to our life in other ways besides work. Do we embarrass our Lord or families by the way we dress or act. I suppose this is where dressing modestly and acting sweet comes in. I've never been an immodest dresser, but I always need to be careful to be sweet. Like any good Southern girl, bless my heart. LOL I don't want anyone to see me doing anything that would be a bad reflection on being a Christian. I forget which Saint said, "Use words if necessary". We don't have to say a word sometimes to be a good witness for Christ.

3. DON'T TALK OUT OF SCHOOL: This meant that we should never tell ANYTHING outside of the office that went on there. Everything in my office is completely confidential.

At work and away from work, do we carry stories and gossip where it doesn't need to go? Are we loyal to our loved ones and family? You will never hear me put my family or spouse down to other people. If I can't lift them up, I keep quiet.


4. YOU CAN'T OUTGIVE THE LORD: Doris was the most generous person I ever knew. She would give you anything she had and was overly generous with it and there were no stings attached. I once saw her give a single mom we worked with her gas credit card because she knew she had to go somewhere and didn't have the money to buy gas. She gave to others even when she was too sick to even leave the house. Even after her death there are gifts waiting to be given to their new owners, both material and spiritual.

Are we generous enough? I hope to always give with "no strings attached". If I give something to my children, I don't expect them to pay me back later. Giving in secret is so much fun too! No recognition now, but in God's own time it'll be rewarded!

By the way, Doris's nickname for me was "Debbie Cakes". How sweet it that? I hope to live up to what she taught me. I never could have made it without her.

Counting Our Blessings!

Among the many heart breaking happenings of the last two weeks, a bright spot... Two of my older brothers built my Mama a wheel chair ramp yesterday and so this morning she was able to be wheeled outside to look at her garden....

We have been eating the bounty of her work this past spring. Its way too hot for her to be out there working anyway, but I know its breaking her heart to know she can't work in it.... probably not any more this year, maybe never again....

You see she is a farm girl through and through. She was one of eleven children raised on a farm in the twenties, thirties and forties. All her brothers were away in the war and she "HAD" to help run the farm. No one was there to help her "papa" so she did it. She enjoyed it. Her sisters wanted to stay at the house and cook and clean, Mama wanted to help her Papa. When she was a tiny thing he would give her a little bucket and she would follow him around in the field and help him.

So even in the bad times, remember to count your blessings!

Heart Strings Update

I posted yesterday about the story of my neighbor, Edison, here.

I'm sad to report that Edison passed away early this morning. I got the call before leaving for work and was able to wake Jacob, tell him about it and spend a few minutes with him. He's really sad, but knows that Edison couldn't live like he was and that he wouldn't want to live like that.

I went over to my neighbor's house to give some hugs and share some Edison stories before going to work. Why do we wait until a person has died to share these things? We never knew he had so many friends or had done so many good deeds! I miss him already! It'll be sad to not ever see his truck going by again...

Thanks for your prayers!

Heartstrings

"OUR NEIGHBORS'HOMEPLACE"

I haven't done a heartstrings post lately, but my heart strings are being pulled this week and I wanted to share this with you.

This picture shows the farm house down a lane that's located across the road from my home. Sometimes you can't even see it because the farmers plant corn between us. I've lived in this same spot for 30 years and its always been there, out my window. The residents of the farm house are a brother and sister who never married, the youngest of a family with 5 children. They have lived there all their lives. Around here we call houses like this the "home place".

The brother's name is Edison and I'll call his sister Ms. "B". They are getting on in years and their health is failing. All they have is each other and one other sister who is still living. Edison takes Ms. B to church and to get her hair "fixed". He has always bought the groceries, good old southern staples.... Ms. B. never married, held a public job or learned to drive. They both sit on the front porch and watch the goings on in the neighborhood. Ms. B has become more and more housebound of late, not even sitting on the porch much.

My son, Jacob, and Edison have a long running friendship. Edison never had any children, and Jacob seems to have a special feeling for older folks. One of my earliest memories of my son is him seeing Edison driving by in his pickup and hollering, "There goes "Medicine". He thought we were calling Edison, "Medicine". LOL

Two years ago, while sitting on their porch, Edison and Ms. B witnessed Jacob being involved in a wreck right in front of their drive way. He was turning in to visit them and was hit from behind. This impact sent his truck airborne right in front of their eyes. Everyone was terrified until they saw Jacob crawl out the window of his truck. Of course the truck was totaled and it was a while before insurance matters could be settled and a new truck bought. Edison offered Jacob the money to get a new truck. We didn't take the money, but were so touched by the thought.

Jacob and Edison have a lot in common. Both love the land they live on, love farming and country life, love to ride around in their pickup trucks. Edison understands Jacob. They both understand each other.


Last week Edison got to where he couldn't breathe and the rescue squad was called. Unless there is a miracle, Edison won't be coming back. You can see in the picture that his pickup truck is sitting where he left it after his last ride. He also had a stroke and his kidneys are failing now. He has been moved from the regular hospital to another hospital, that seems to be the holding spot for those who can't be helped.

Jacob has visited him in the hospital two times, but we're not sure if Edison knew he was there. Maybe.

I know Jacob's heart is full. It makes me so sad. Life is hard. Things change. Life goes on without those who make a difference in our lives.

I'm so proud of Jacob because he has taken on the task of checking on Ms. B. He goes over there several times a day, goes and gets her some food, checks her mail and is going to get a grocery list from her today and go pick up groceries for her. Last night Chicken Pot Pie was on my menu. It never occurred to me to take her a plate, but it did to Jacob. He fixed her a plate, wrapped it up in foil and took it over riding on his four wheeler.

I am praying for Edison. I will let you know if he comes home...or goes home....

Simple Joys and Easter Joy

These are some simple joys of my Easter weekend.

Knowing my husband was thinking of me is a major joy in my life. He brought me this cheerful little pot of yellow tulips and a sweet Easter card.




We visited a new consignment shop/boutique in the small town near where we live and saw many treasures there. Its located right across the street from my favorite thrift store. This new store has charm and a very sweet owner and will be a new shopping haunt for sure. She offered to let me display one of my pocketbooks in her store and take no commission if it sold. This would be a great way to advertise my wares.

We bought this old tin with sunflowers on it. I will put it in my little sewing room which already has a sunflower theme. It will be great to hold thread, ribbon or bobbins.



We also found this for my sewing room to hang bags on. It is metal and has hand painted chickens.



Sewing brings me much joy. I love to make handmade items to give away and this is a clothespin bag made for a friend.




The most profound joy of a Christian is knowing that Jesus died on the cross for us and rose from the dead on Easter morning. Nothing can surpass that joy!


Happy Easter to everyone!

Heart Strings Post --- I must be getting old!

Today marked the 20th year of working at my present job! Yes, February 8, 1988 was a big day! If I have been working in the same place for 20 years, I must be getting old. I do happen to have a milestone birthday coming up later this month too! :o(

My coworkers are so sweet. I mentioned this 20 year anniversary a few months back just in conversation and they wrote the date down and gave me a little party. I have blue and silver balloons, my favorite color. I have a card signed by everybody and we had CHOCOLATE! We have homemade chocolate brownies, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup! I even got my own bag of jelly beans! Hubby came by too and got some food. If you mention brownies, he will come! I love that guy!

I really do work with nice people and I thank God for my job.

Josh's Angels

This is a heart strings post that pulls at my heart strings more than any other could. I wanted to show you the Christmas ornaments that we have been collecting for 20 years in memory of my son, Josh, who died at the age of 2. This is Josh, our little one in heaven.





We bought the first ornament without realizing there would be another one each year. The ornament was from Hallmark and was called Mary's Angels. We actually started collecting them the second year they were being offered. My daughter, who was 5 when her brother died, found the first one on EBay as a special Christmas gift to me many years later. So we have the complete collection so far. My daughter buys me the ornament each year. So far there are 20 and I'm not sure how long Hallmark will continue this series.

What better ornament to remember our precious son than an ornament called Mary's Angels?

Here are just a few of the ornaments.



Josh died in 1986 from a birth defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. At the time there was nothing that could be done for him and it was a miracle that he lived for 2 years. I have seen on the internet that the babies born with this birth defect now are being saved by surgery.

We love you Josh!!!!

Heart Strings

My sweet husband, ever the bargain hunter, found this quilt rack at an antique/used furniture store located out in the country about 25 miles from our home. He only paid $10.00 for it! The second picture shows wheat designs carved into the wood on each side. The quilt is a Wolf quilt I made for him a few years ago. He folded the quilt and placed it on the rack for a surprise.

Heart Strings

I have the sweetest husband in the world. Just in case you didn't remember me telling you that before!

His eyes rove to and fro looking for gifts for me.

He came home with this table/shelf Saturday. He saw it at a moving sale. The people were moving to South Carolina and were getting rid of as much of their stuff as possible. This is absolutely perfect for my laundry room/pantry nook.

It can be used as a place to put folded laundry or I can use it as an extension of the pantry.

Here it is pictured with some of my 82 year old Mama's home made sweet pickles. If you haven't had potato salad or chicken salad made with Mama's home made sweet pickles, you haven't really tasted potato salad or chicken salad. I don't expect that she will be physically able to make any more pickles, although I'm sure she will try. She has 20 or 30 jars left in her storage room, but that may be the end of the home made sweet pickles. I am planning to get her recipe and start the tradition at my house.

The ceramic pitcher with kitchen tools in it was made by my husband's Mama many years ago when the ceramics hobby was so popular around here. She passed away long ago, before I had a chance to know her. Her reputation as a wonderful lady is still famous in this area. If she was anything like her son, she was great!

There are also a few of my favorite cookbooks, "Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook", "Not Just Beans" and "Heavenly Dishes". "Heavenly Dishes" is an old cookbook published by my church as a fund raiser at least 20 years ago.

The basket was hand made years ago by my elderly aunt and uncle. That was one of their many hobbies.

This picture reflects my husband's love for me and holds many memories and therefore qualifies for a HEART STRINGS post.

Thanks Blake, Mama, Ms. Florrie, Aunt Patty, Uncle Phillip, and the church ladies! I love you all!

HEART STRINGS

Sometimes people do things that are so nice they just touch my heart.

We have the nicest rural mail lady ever! She always gets the mail in the right mailbox and she always waves to us if we are out in the yard when she delivers the mail. If we have a package too big for the box and aren't home, she will put the package on the front porch and leave a post it note in the mailbox letting us know where it is. The other day I received a really large envelope that wouldn't fit in the mailbox and it was a windy day. She put the envelope on the porch and sat a couple of flower pots on the corners to keep it safe. She just goes beyond the call of duty for a mail person.

When our new grandson was born we put a blue bow on the mailbox and I posted a picture of it here:

Yesterday when I checked our mailbox for mail there was a baby gift in there. The tag said, "For the new arrival. I know he is precious". And it was signed by our mail lady! Well, this is one mail lady that is definitely getting a Christmas gift from us.

Sometimes when I think the whole world is just going bad, someone will rekindle my hope in the human race!

The only question I have is this. Do you think she thinks "I" had the baby? Surely she knows I'm a little old for that!!!

Have a great day!

Debbie J.

HEART STRINGS and AUTUMN IN MY HOME

As promised I am posting pictures of touches of fall in my home every day this week in celebration of the long awaited arrival of my favorite season.

This post is also a "Heart Strings" post.

I love sunflowers, daisies and brown eyed susans! I have been seeing some beautiful wreaths with fall flowers on them on the front doors of many homes and had commented to my husband how much I liked them and that I was going to try to make one of my own. I had a small fall wreath on our front door that wasn't very pretty.

Saturday when he was on the way home from work I called him to ask him to bring something from the grocery store and he told me he had a surprise for me and he hoped I would like it. Well, he came in with this beautiful fall wreath with sunflowers on it!!! I absolutely love it and will always treasure it because he remembered me making that one little comment and went to the trouble to go to a florist and get it for me.

Thank you Honey!!! You are the best!!!

HEART STRINGS

I'm starting a new category on my blog called "Heart Strings". These posts will be about things that touch my heart. This is the first one, though I may go back and re-categorize some previous posts that should go under this title.

A GIFT OF LOVE:

This is a Raggedy Andy that my good friend and co-worker's mother made for Dylan. She just calls them "Raggedys". I was amazed at how detailed the hand work was in the doll. All of the yarn hair is hand sewn on the head. The face is hand embroidered and there's even a heart on the chest that says "I Love You", which is hidden under his clothes. His little outfit is hand made too.

This is the story behind this doll: My friend (Ann), bought the pattern for the doll in 1972 when she was just 14. It was a Simplicity pattern. She wanted to make the doll for a baby gift for someone she knew and worked on it the entire summer that year. She never made another one, but gave the pattern to her mother, who has made lots of them since then.

Ann forwarded a picture of Dylan to her mother and she thought he was so cute that she made him a "Raggedy". She's never even met my daughter or Dylan. Isn't that the sweetest thing? A gift from the heart with no strings attached!!!

Ann's mom is also the person who regularly gives me bags of scraps, which I love!!!

When I give this Raggedy to Dylan I'm going to take a picture of him with it and send it to Ann's Mom with a big thank you and I'm sure Lori will send her a written thank you note too.

This inspires me to make more baby gifts for people that don't expect it. There is a home for unwed mothers in one of the tiny towns near me that accepts donations of baby items. I've often thought of making baby quilts to donate there. I understand that the home requires the mothers to do jobs around the house to earn the gifts and are required to go to school and be responsible for their babies after they are born. I've seen the girls getting on the school bus and they went to school with my daughter at the local high school. Its a great program. My church donates to them at Christmas because this type of thing is pro-life and encourages girls to have their babies and not to get abortions. Each Christmas we are given baby bottles to fill up with change. We turn them in and the bottles and the money are donated to the home.

I hope you have a great Saturday! I want to do some sewing and I "have" to do some cleaning and laundry. I bought some Winnie The Pooh fabric that you make a baby book from that was marked down to $1.00 yesterday. All you have to do is add quilt batting, which I have plenty of. I think I could make more using the same size fabric squares and rectangles, especially picture books. I suppose you could use a fabric pen to write words to go with the pictures.

We escaped any storm damage last night, but there were several tornadoes and severe thunder storms not too far away. Tornadoes were spotted and touched down just a couple of miles from my daughter's house, but she didn't have any problems. It just scared me half to death... I called her and told her to make sure they were prepared to get into the center of the house and put something over their heads. Thank goodness, it wasn't necessary.

Thanks to the Lord, we did get 2.3 inches of rain according to our rain gauge!!! But, its too late for most of the poor farmers I fear!!! They certainly are at the mercy of the weather.