A bit of a catch up

 It's certainly looking very wintery at the river...

Even though, on a recent trip to Devonport, there was still plenty of blue sky around...

I did NOT test the water!

It's cold and grey today.  I went for my walk earlier and then made a Cold Tea Loaf...

Sorry it's a bit hard to read... 

 but if you click on the picture it will bring it up clearer

I'm still working on Marnie's birthday blanket so I can't post a picture.  I have 2 weeks to get it finished.  I ran into a bit of a problem as I needed more of two of the colors but they had been discontinued, so I had to change my original idea a bit.  But all is well...

When I can't work on the blanket, I have this, what I think will be a baby blanket using left over yarn from other projects, on the go...

I finished reading The Long Winter.  And now I'm living it! :))

It was so

 cold this morning, even Freya didn't want to get out of bed...

So I thought I'd warm up a bit and read Summer at Fairacre.

"Dolly Clare must be the best loved person for miles around.  For years she taught at Fairacre School ... 

Ill health forced her to retire to the little thatched cottage at Beech Green, some two or three miles away... 

I have always loved the cottage, and not so long ago Dolly staggered me by telling me that she had left it to me in her will...

On this fine spring afternoon, I took with me a posy of polyanthus and a pot of freshly-made lemon curd.  There was a scent of spring in the air, and the lane between Fairacre and Thrush Green wound between hedges hazy with young leaf...

Miss Clare looked as pretty as ever ... despite her great age.  

'Now sit down and tell me all the Fairacre news.'...

Me thinks it is time for a cup of tea and a slice of cold tea loaf :)

xx

The Summer Garden

 Even though it's winter here for us at the moment, it's good to remember summer is coming.  Or not remember if you are like me and don't like the heat and sun :))

From A Year's Journey with God...

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was making it grow ... For we are fellow workmen - laborers together with God; you are God's garden and vineyard ... under cultivation." - 1 Corinthians 3:6,9, AMP 

I never get over the miracle of July!  All the tiny seeds I planted in the greenhouse during winter are now filling my garden with vivid color.  'Isn't God clever,' remarked my three-year-old granddaughter.  She is right, but not yet old enough to realize how much human hard work is involved in making a garden beautiful!  I had certainly played my part in the miracle!

If we are God's garden, I suppose keeping our spiritual lives beautiful is also a partnership and often hard work on our part.  I remember once helping my son move into a 'student house'.  It was clean enough inside, but the garden had not been touched in years.  As I fought my way through the jungle of weeds I realized someone had once filled that garden with roses, but bindweed had wound itself around the bushes, strangling their beauty, while giant nettles stole their light.  I shuddered as I realized how easily my own garden could look like that.  I pounce on weeds as soon as they show their ugly heads because they are so easy to pull when they're small.  Surely it's the same with 'spiritual weeds'?  Those resentful thoughts, discontented grumbles and negative self-pity can be removed comparatively easily if we 'yank them out' quick!  If we ignore them or even 'water them' with encouragement they soon 'take over' and start spoiling everything that is beautiful and valuable in the rest of our lives.

Thank you, Lord, that I don't have to clear all these weeds from my life on my own.  I pull them out but you burn them at your cross.