Gearing up for spring

Our new stove was delivered on Saturday! Not to say that cooking with the microwave, toaster oven, crock pot and camp stove for 7 months hasn’t been fun and everything, but I would just like to let out a hearty, “WA-HOO!”

Anyway, getting the new stove in place has inspired me to gear things up around here, so we’ve been unpacking boxes that have been sitting “in storage” upstairs for weeks (nay, months) and finding places to put things away. In a few cases, I would open a box, look in it and think why the heck are we keeping this? So there was a Goodwill pile and a Salvation Army pile and a trash pile. My mom came over Saturday and helped by cleaning out and washing the inside of some of the kitchen cupboards I’ve been putting off. (When we moved in I cleaned just enough space for us to have a little room for our dishes and some pantry space - why go overboard, you know?)

I organized a staging area for our trash and recycling (a place to keep it until we take it to the compactor site.) I even cleaned up the breakfast nook, a.k.a. my “temporary” office space, which had gotten quite out of control.

And while I’ve been engaged in a flurry of organizing activity inside, look what happened when I wasn’t looking:


Yes, whilst Pioneer Woman and her clan are playing in the snow and feeding their horses in snow covered pastures, our paperwhites are busy blooming their little heads off out in the pasture. I just love living in the South! And I love flowers you don’t have to plant or water or anything. Well, I guess you do have to plant these if you don’t having any growing around, but then you don’t have to do much of anything and they just keep on coming back! These were planted several generations back, I think. Maybe longer. I wonder if the person who planted them thought about us here in the future, being blessed by the fruits of their labor?


I feel inspiration coming on ... I think it’s time to paint!

For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For thy church, that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For thyself, best Gift Divine,
to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

Text: (1864) Folliot S. Pierpoint
Music: (1838) Conrad Kocher; Arr. by W.H. Monk

Back Home

Psalm 103:1-2 (from The Message)

O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God, don't forget a single blessing!

Paul and I got back home this week after a great trip to California - north to San Francisco area to visit his parents, and then to southern Cal to visit with my sister and family, and to check in with the corporate office of the company I work for as a graphic artist. It was good to see coworkers again, and meet a new one (hi, Al!) whom I only knew through phone conversations and email, but after a few days in the office I sure was reminded of how spoiled I've gotten not having to commute to work in heavy freeway traffic every day! My usual morning commute is carrying my cup of coffee (with French vanilla creamer) from the kitchen to the computer desk. And believe me, I don’t take that for granted!
It was a wonderful trip, but as usual it’s good to be back home.

(... pause to take a sip of fresh hot coffee - with French vanilla creamer - from my favorite mug ... )

I love this time of year. No matter how busy life gets in the fall, I thank God for a heightened awareness of seasonal blessings ... gifts that appear for a time and then are gone with a promise to reappear at their appointed time.

The spider lilies that have populated the yard since mid-September have come and gone ...



... hay is being stacked and stored for equine and bovine midwinter snacks ...


... it’s harvest time for cotton ...


This was a good year for cotton around here; most was taller than my husband, who’s 6 foot 2. I took these pics a couple of weeks ago.



Now the cotton is being harvested; it stands in huge, heavy bales by the side of the road until it’s hauled off to the gin (to get rid of those pesky seeds), leaving behind remnants on the ground that look kind of like the last patches of dirty snow that linger after the spring thaw in parts north. (snow simile courtesy of my childhood in North Dakota.)

... and a happy surprise that greeted us upon our return home ... the beautiful Confederate Rose hibiscus planted just outside our back door - a housewarming gift from a very dear friend - is in glorious bloom!


I've been seeing monarch butterflies in the yard, passing through on their yearly trek to Mexico. These days I’ve traded in my usual sandals for thick socks and tennies, and I’ve broken out my sweatshirts for the chilly morning hours; I’ve noticed that I’m wearing said sweatshirts later and later into the day. This old house is holding the morning chill long after the day warms up outside. I guess it’s time to move “thinking about getting some heat in here” from the back burner to the front!

And I am getting back into the daily routine ... including new paintings and continuing work on the house ... it’s kind of hard to get back into the swing of things after a long trip, but I’m newly inspired, and I’ll be posting new artwork soon!