Grace and Glory

Musings from the Threshold

More Snow!

Thought I’d just link to a slideshow of the picasa album I made for snow pictures. We had more snow last night (it was glorious!!) and I got some next shots this morning. I’d click on the slideshow to go see the picasa album if I were you. But I’m a bit biased.

And I’m gonna tell a little story on myself…
Last night, while it was snowing fast and furious, I realized that the chickens needed to be watered. On my way out to the coop, I spotted one of the sleds. And I glanced up at the sledding hill. And after I fed the chickens, I just couldn’t help myself. I grabbed the sled, trekked up the hill, and sledded down in the dark… in the falling snow… face first on my tummy. I whooped and hollered all the way down.
It was So. Much. Fun!!

I think snow is one of God’s most beautiful and marvelous creations. And I love the way that I feel like a little kid again when it snows.

Snow, Glorious Snow!

While the snow was not as deep as the forecast predicted, it has been a beautiful day. Even home educators need snow days sometimes!

Here are a few pictures…

First of all, here’s a picture of “our” birds today. I think they liked it that I threw out some ground feed on top of the snow. Most of these birds are juncos, also known as snow birds. They are, for the most part, ground feeders, and they have come south for the winter! You can also see some cardinals, as well as some gold finch, and one purple finch – if you click on the picture to see it up close. Jonathan got this shot through the back door…

The frozen snowy pond:

Around the property:

Stephen loved the snow!

Sledding was hard to catch:

A quote

There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself.

~John Gregory Brown, Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery, 1994

Stephen’s Late Christmas

On January 5, I was chatting with Mama via google chat.  She asked how Stephen had liked his Christmas present from them.

*puzzled pause as I tried to remember what they had gotten for him*

*Kodak moment as the light bulb goes on in my head*

*mad dash to the living room to look in the back corner of the boxes of books stacked in the future reading nook*

I sheepishly reported to Mama that I had totally forgotten about Stephen’s present hidden away back there, and proceeded to fetch him to open it. 

Present opening is serious business for Stephen.


But he likes them a lot!

Nesting

We got some wall decor up this last weekend, and though things are not finished, I thought I’d show you some of my progress. Any suggestions are welcome!

Here are the living rooms walls at this point. The shelf on the right is actually a quilt holder, and will be doing its job as soon as I dig out a quilt for it. My dream is to have at least four quilts made especially for that holder, one for each of the seasons. I’d love to have more than that eventually.
The area rug is a beautiful one that Mama bought for me when they were here in November, from the estate sale of a dear Christian lady we knew in St. Louis who has gone home to Glory.

These next two are of another wall in the living room. It needs some additions, but I’m so thrilled with the job I’ve done of covering up the thermostat that I have to share them. The nails holding the sandpainting on the shelf need to be replaced with something less conspicuous, don’t you think? As you can probably tell, this is going to be a Navajo Wall.

And this is the wall of the fireplace that you see when you’re coming down the hall from the Blessings’ rooms and the bathroom toward the kitchen/living/dining areas. It’s become the Precious Moments gallery. Two of these are my work, one (top right) is that of my beloved sis, Beka.

Mistreatment Update

I think I’ve found the method I’m going to use for pulling my mistreatments back during the day. I tacked the middle of the ribbon on the side and did a simple tie (Jonathan let me know it is officially called a “half hitch” – he’s my encyclopedia!) to hold them back.

I actually did a nifty Roman-shade-type-thingy that I liked a lot, but I’ll have to save it for a mistreatment that will be stationary.