Friends are the Best part of Christmas ..

~*~ Friends are the Very Best Part of Christmas ~*~

Well I hope this blog post finds you all ready or near ready for Christmas day. I hope you all have been enjoying the beauty of the season from Coast to Coast rather you're enjoying a warm sunny day in the west or your bundled up by the fire in the East.

Here in the Ozarks we enjoyed a light dusting of snow on Saturday Night .. making for a beautiful scene the next morning. It's cold and we have been bundled up rather indoors or out .. I do love the winter .. !

I've been a busy little bee this last week enjoying doing some hand stitching which I haven't done in so many years probably nearing dare I say 15 yrs.  Many moons ago I created and designed little prim stitcheries and either turned them into pillow fronts or framed them. A dear friend of mine always loved those stitcheries and sweetly thought of me this year to design a stitchery with a special saying on it. My Friend Joni's son passed away a few years back unexpectedly. Like all Mama's who have had a child pass away the heart never gets over it. With time the pain maybe lessens but the hurt never goes totally away. And like all of us who have lost loved ones you never stop wishing they could be with us again.  And it seems when the Holidays roll around those memories and those desires seem to strengthen because you just want things to be the way they were.

Well I was so blessed to have Joni ask me to create a stitchery with this special saying .. I did some research to see if there were any designs being used along with the saying and overall it was pretty much just the saying on some stacked packages. So I set out to create something simple yet meaningful and a design that reflected Christmas and the memory of Danny.

I got a few quick shots of the finished stitchery before rushing it off to the mail so it would make it in time for Christmas. Joni hasn't decided yet if she will frame it or make it into a pillow. I think either will be positively lovely !

I'm just so so thankful to have been honored to be a small part of keeping Danny's memory alive. And knowing that a little bit of my handiwork that the Good Lord has blessed my hands to do will be a special part of a dear friends home each year and that it will make her heart smile.

To all of you who have lost a loved one.. I know the road after is not always an easy one. Each person responds differently to death and heals differently and moves forward differently and that's o.k. because God made us each different inside and out. We are each special in his sight and he loves us so dearly.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas !
Jesus the reason for the Season

A Grateful Heart ... free fall design

Well we are on countdown week till Thanksgiving ... 

I can't believe Thanksgiving is already here .. it just seems a short while back I was watching fireworks shooting into the night sky and bursting into beautiful color..

And..

Here we are but a few months later and the weather has cooled and the leaves have changed to beautiful fall colors and many have drifted on the fall breeze to the earth below preparing for a long winters nap... 

Well we're not quite to winter yet .. although I hear some of you in the higher elevations of the west and the east coast may have a beautiful blanket of white headed your way pretty soon. 

I personally think I would really enjoy a white Thanksgiving this year .. although  I don't think there's any chance of that happening .. we are having an unusually warm fall here in the Ozarks .. I think today and tomorrow we are looking at breaking records today was 78 degrees here ! Looks like that's about to change Saturday much cooler temps are on the way Hooray !

Well now that we've talked of the weather...

I wanted to offer up a sweet little Thanksgiving Design I created this week. Please feel free to use it for your personal use. Print it out and make a cute poster .. or make some charming ornaments .. whatever you would like or just share on your blog or pinterest page whatever makes your heart happy...

And lets not forget to "Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart ..."

"Give thanks with a Grateful Heart"  ..is one of my favorite sayings I guess that's because it refers to so many scriptures in the Bible .. and a favorite praise song of mine that we sang in church..

Psalm 100:4, ESV Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Psalm 107:1, ESV Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

 And these are the lyrics to the praise song I loved singing so very much ..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong,"
Let the poor say, "I am rich,"
Because of what
the Lord has done for us.

Give thanks
Give thanks

 

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So do you all have any fun Thanksgiving traditions ... ? One of my family members who has hosted Thanksgiving has a wonderful tradition. They purchased a basic tablecloth many years ago .. and each Thanksgiving whomever is at their table signs the cloth with something they are thankful for as well they have traced the hands of the kids on the tablecloth too. What a fun memory for the kids to look back on .. and to see what they were thankful for and how the size of their hand has grown throughout the years. Traditions are a beautiful thing no matter if you are just on your own or there is 2 or 3 or a dozen gathered for Thanksgiving . My parents and I celebrate Thanksgiving each year just the 3 of us ..by having our traditional favorite Thanksgiving foods .. and then we at some point in the evening sit and go through the Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog and choose gifts for families in need.  To me that's the best part of Thanksgiving ..  knowing we are able to be bring joy to someone else that they too might take part in having a grateful heart.

 

 

I am so very grateful for all the Lord has done for me ..  It's always easy to be thankful in the good times .. but much harder to be thankful in the tough times .. but from experience I have learned I will thank him and praise him all the time .. 

Wishing you all a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving 

Until next time ..

Thankful and Grateful ....

It's a beautiful cold crisp sunshiny day here in the Ozarks. It's a day to stoke the fire or turn on some heat .. just to take that little bit of coolness out of the air. 

It's Sunday .. another beautiful day to Serve our Lord Jesus and to give him all the praise and glory

for the blessings that have been bestowed to us. I am so thankful and so grateful for all the Lord has done for me and my family. We have walked some precarious paths and wondered where they would lead and why in the world our Lord would take us down them ..but in the end each path has had it's reasons, each path has had it's lessons, each path has had it's way of growing us and bending us in new directions which we never would have chosen for ourselves. Many times we grow comfortable and complacent in our lives and God finds ways to grow us in the direction of his will for our lives. Sometimes the growth is painful other times it's uncomfortable .. and sometimes we have fun when we are growing and don't even know that's what he is accomplishing in us until one day we look back and realize how much change has taken place in our Hearts and Minds .. 

 this is a picture I took a few weeks back of an old dliapadated house that sits on a hill overlooking a beautiful green valley... it made me think ... a house... for God.... is a house that will stand forever and weather the storms with him by it's side ...

Merry Christmas Santa Clip Art Image ~ Free

Well .. Halloween is over .. and my goodness everyone's ready for Christmas already ! .. 

Well I can understand why .. I think everyone wants to spread happiness and cheer .. brighten up our world with the Most wonderful time of the year ..as the song says ...

So I had fun playing today with some of my new and vintage graphics creating this charming little Christmas image. 

This would make cute little gift tags for packages or a charming graphic for an ornament .. whatever your cotton pickin' lil' head comes up with ...

Feel free to use this for your Personal use only .. ..add it to your blog, pinterest board ... or FB page

I know I haven't forgotten Thanksgiving .. the forgotten holiday as I refer to it .. but this little Santa was peeking out at me today asking to be the center of attention and I couldn't deny Santa now could I ....

Until next time ..

She who walks with Integrity ...

I've been so enjoying taking photographs of God's beautiful creation and adding beautiful scriptures to them.. Here's a new one ... 

She who walks with Integrity walks Securely. Proverbs 10:9

Enjoy .. and feel free to share ...

until next time ..

The things that hide in the countryside ~ Rosewood Farms ~ Hartville, Mo

The things that hide in the countryside .. you'd be amazed !

Well I'm always up for a good drive in the county and if that happens to include stopping in at a shop and food along the way .. well you can pretty much count me in.

About a month or so back a post came up on my FB page from Ozarks Alive. They were featuring a darling country store and gifts shop out in the middle of nowhere. Well I guess not really the middle of nowhere unless you consider a 2 lane farm road with no other business around and an hour from the nearest city the middle of nowhere. I suppose if you're a city dweller that just might be your definition of the middle of nowhere !

Well we finally got around to taking our afternoon trip to "Rosewood Farms". This is a family run business which you can read more about HERE. Gift shop, and Handmade Chocolates ... Oh MY! You'll see below that there are not any photos of chocolates ..well I ate them ! I got S'mores Dark chocolate with graham cracker and marshmallow inside and we also got some Dark Chocolate covered English Toffee .. lets just say the camera never had a chance no matter how quick the shutter speed would have been set ..LOL .. Yes that should tell you the chocolates were amazingly good .. wished I had bought a few more packages the day after ! However if you want to see their chocolates and or buy some you can do so HERE

And if you want to see inside the gift shop then visit Ozarks Alive HERE they were given the opportunity to photograph the shop inside and well you'll just love the photos !

The Farm is beautiful... and even doubles as I believe a Wedding Venue and a place for photographers to come do stylized shoots. ( be sure if you go there is a fee and waivers if you're doing a professional shoot)  Well the grounds were beautiful ... and even though they don't allow photography inside the shop they do allow for photos of the farm to be taken so here's a few for you all to enjoy...

I loved Grandpa Joe's Windmill ...

And there were such beautiful Fall flowers in bloom .. My gosh the flower heads on these must have been 6 inches across at least...

The Honey Bees were out and buzzin' round the flowers .. taking in all the nectar they could get.

On our way back we stopped in the small old town of Hartville, MO. It's a town that has a few shops and a cafe..but mainly the storefronts are sitting empty. At one time in history it was a small working town of business but as so many of small towns go today they are places of history you seem to just pass through...with a working gas station and convenience store.

On one of the old brick building walls was the old Coca Cola add .. these old adds painted on the brick buildings are such icons of a bygone era. An era my heart loves for the simplicity of it's time.

Across the street on another building wall ..is this painting of a Soldier Praying with his Bible open .. I Love this ! 

We left the small town of Hartville and wound our way a few miles down the road and stopped off at this dilapadated beauty.

An old farmhouse perched upon a hill with bare branched trees surrounding it. I imagine the trees were full but just a few weeks back ..but with 1 little cold front that pushed through a week ago.. so many of the trees went bare .

I imagine this house has a great many stories hidden in it's walls to tell.. Hard winters, Hot Summers, Christmas's past, Laughter, Joy, Tears and times of hardship.... Now it stands as but a mere memory of a time that past long ago.

But it still stands tall holding on to the bits and pieces left of it . Perched on a hill overlooking a vast countryside filled with rolling hills .. and vast amounts of trees... a countryside that is positively picturesque.

Thanks for stopping in and enjoying but another journey with me.

If you live in the Springfield, MO Area or surrounding areas or are planning a visit to our beautiful city and countryside .. be sure and make time to go out and visit Rosewood Farms... as I said it's family run .. they are at the store each day ..greeting you with a smile when you open the door and there to help you rather you're looking for a gift, or and item for your home or a specialty piece of clothing which they have oodles of ... And don't forget Grandpa Joe's Chocolates .. Oh my stock up before you leave !

P.S. they'll be closed Oct. 31st through Nov 4th as they are gearing up for their Christmas Open House ... so be sure and call or look on their site to see when their open house is...

Until Next Time ...

Update on Flossie: Tales of an English Springer Spaniel

Well I wanted to give a latest update on Sweet Flossie. So many of you took the time to pray for her and send well wishes when she was so very ill this year that I thought we should share the Good News too.

Flossie is doing Amazing ! Especially considering her original diagnosis of less than a 50% chance of living due to having AIHA. She's living proof that Lots of prayer, love and Good Dr.s , medicines and natural supplements have been a blessing to her body.

I took her into ER on April 24th of this year ..and here we are at October 29th ~ 6 months out. She is only on 1 medication twice a week .. along with natural supplements.  So far her blood tests have been good .. we are up for another one here in a week or so just to make sure all is still going well. From her energy level and appetite I would say she's doing pretty o.k..

The picture above is from this week. We were on a little jaunt out in the country and she was so Ornery ... wouldn't sit still for the life of me. Just look at those eyes .. she knew she was being a handful. After the picture I let her go and she just ran her little heart out back and forth across the field until you could see she was winded but smiling ear to ear. We got back in the car and she had some water and took a nice nap coming back home.

Anyhow so far so good .. April 24th of 2017 will be the 1 year mark we are shooting for with no relapse as well we don't know what caused the onset of her disease so it could have been something as simple as the spring grass pollens etc. So we'll continue praying and building up her body with good things and hope that she's one of the lucky ones that lives a long life and never has a relapse again.

Thanks again for all your wonderful prayers !

Until next time ..

Happy Fall Y'all .. have you decorated ? or do you need some inspiration !

It's a Beautiful Fall day here in Missouri. A Crisp cool morning turning to a warm sunshiny afternoon. 

We had our first Fall favorite breakfast this morning ... and Oh boy was it ever delicious. Buttery Croissants and Piping Hot "Hot Chocolate."  

We've been enjoying fall in our new home state. Slowly watching the leaves turn color on many of the trees from green to yellows, oranges, and vibrant reds. Other trees are already bare with just the twiggy branches showing now... and it's amazing to see what's on the other side of those leafless trees. The trees in this part of the country are very dense and it gives you the impression that there's a deep dark forest through that stand of trees .. but ultimately as the leaves fall and make way for a view you find homes tucked in hillsides and open pasture land with cows and horses grazing away in the sunshine just on the other side. Fall opens a whole new world of splendor to take in here. 

Well I hate to say it but we're still searching for our Home Sweet Home. Honestly just never thought it would take this long . We missed out on two homes we really loved ..and it was our fault we just thought a bit too long about them and they sold. So we've been back on the hunt but due to the fact schools back in and it's fall headed into winter the market has slowed way down. And what we would really like in a home just hasn't presented itself yet. So we are patiently waiting to find the right place. It's a lot of money to spend and you kinda want to get it right and not be sorry for rushing into something and it not suiting our needs for home and work. We'll get there ..all in God's time !

In the meantime we have been enjoying pinning beautiful fall photos and decor ..

So do you all have your houses decked out for fall ?

If not and you want to and just need a bit of inspiration well we have loads of it for you ..

Abbey recently started this new board...

You can visit "Autumn in Rustic White" HERE

OR

 

You can enjoy a 3 year compilation of

 some traditional fall decor ..

Then come visit "It's Fall at the Farmhouse" HERE

OR

"It's Fall Y'all"  HERE

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And if you're looking for some fun way's to say "Howdy" or just give someone a big smile rather they're visiting or just driving by your home ..

 

 

Then come visit our "Scarecrow and Friends" HERE    

This collection should give you some amazing ideas and inspiration for creating your own scarecrow 

I can't wait till we finally get settled in to our own Home Sweet Home once and for all .. I tell Abbey all the time this is it .. I'm never moving again. And she tells me Never say Never .. LOL ! I know she's right but I'm still going to say it .. Anyhow... I was saying I can't wait to get into our home sweet home .. I've collected some cute old dresses and old straw hats and umbrellas to create my own one of a kind fall scarecrows .. I've got so many things I'm waiting patiently to do and share with y'all ... 

Until then come visit us on Pinterest  HERE

we have lots of new boards with ooodles of inspriation

Or Facebook HERE

Hugs and Blessings Dear Blog Friends

A Beautiful day for a Country Drive

Ah .... how I love Country Drives...

I remember growing up we took Sunday Drives or Country Drives often. I love the drives .. seeing beautiful places and getting a treat along the way. 

For our years in CA.. we loved to leave the inland desert and drive to the coast. Drives along the coast through little beach towns and then open vistas of ocean in between. Occasionally we would drive up north into the countryside through the beautiful winding hillsides and I loved the quiet and the beauty of the open land that was dotted with old oak trees. Over the years as CA has grown and grown and grown .. the drives became less with  less open land and the lost art of slowing down and not being in a hurry. Taking time to "smell the roses" as they say or in our case just enjoy the beauty faded with the people living there. Fast paced driving took the enjoyment out of country drives with people tail gaiting, weaving behind you or flashing their lights off an on. Rudeness has become the rule of the road sadly in so many places.

Well we gave a country drive a go this week here in MO. It was a last minute idea ..which in my opinion are always the best. The pace is slower here ..not by much in town but out of town it is moreso.  So we headed out a road we saw last week that would give us a 42 mile drive to Table Rock Lake. 

It was such a nice drive .. and I only had to pull off the road 3 times to let anyone by ..no flashing lights or tail gaiting .. just me doing less than the speed limit and trying to be thoughtful in pulling over so those that wanted to get home or to their destination could do so at the speed they wished.

Anyhow along our country drive the land and hillsides and vistas were just breathtaking. We came upon the small town of Galena.. and then upon this old but amazingly crafted concrete bridge that's no longer in use for cars but can still be used to view the river and the surrounding beauty of the hillsides by walking across it .. This bridge is called the Y Bridge which you'll see later...

  

I love old bridges .. they were so beautifully crafted in the day and there truly is a feeling of stepping back in time when you walk across this bridge .This bridge opened in November 1927 it's nearly 100 yrs old and still standing proud. It crosses the James River ..which was just stunning.  More about the Bridge here: http://stateoftheozarks.net/culture/history/bridges/ybridge.php

Our view from the Y bridge looking south down the James River. 

The bridge you see in the distance is actually for the train to cross.

 And here is the reason it's the Y bridge ..at one end it's shaped like a Y .. which allowed traffic on and off the why with ease. I love the shale cliffs and the beautiful trees that cover the hillside.. so picturesque. 

(the bottom of the Y split pict. from state of the Ozarks)

Hwy 425 the scenic Ozark bypass .. getting back on the road and heading south ..

We plan on heading back to enjoy this drive again in the future .. along the way we were delighted to pass by and make a quick U turn at the town of Crane, Mo. I had heard of Crane but never realized it actually had a sweet old main street that had shops and diners on it. It was late in the day so we hurried through a few shops which were charming ...so we'll make it a point to go back and spend an afternoon having lunch and homemade pie and doing some antiquing too !

Here's a beautiful Scripture pictures I created from one of the photos I took .. with one of my favorite scriptures .. Enjoy and feel free to share it.

Until Next Time ...