Winter pursuits

The row of trees in the sheep paddock at the back of my house have been lopped off and I now have a nice view of the Ben Lomond mountain range from my kitchen window...

it's not this close, I zoomed in :)

I've finally got the blanket squares sewn together and can get it up off the lounge room floor.  All that colour was getting a bit much for me :)...

crocheting an edge around it now

My little foray into the world of thriller/crime books has come to an end.  I read two David Baldacci books and although I enjoyed them, I'm happy to be back to my 'calm' reads.  I picked this one off my bookshelf A Lantern in Her Hand.  I've had it for a couple of years and not read it, but it is proving to be very interesting.  Shades of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder...

I might check out the library for more of her books

We've had all sorts of weather this week.  Cold frosty nights and early mornings, and calm, clear, days...  

late afternoon by the river

Clouds and fog...

Bliss!

And the swans are back...

I'm doing come rearranging.  Moving all the books from my lounge room shelves to book shelves in my spare room.  I'll set up a little 'library corner' in there.  Although I love books, they were making my lounge room feel cluttered.  And I DO NOT like clutter.  Or too much colour :))

Maybe I'll have some photos to show you next week.

It's lunchtime and I'm getting hungry.  Chicken and cashew stir fry with rice.  But I still have to cook it!

xx

Weekend Words

From Beside the Still Waters devotional...

A Leap into the Unknown - Read: Genesis 12:1-5, Luke 14:25-35

For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. - 1 Corinthians 13:12

I partially buried a tub in the pasture to water the geese I had purchased.  The brim was about six inches above ground level.  One morning I found two toads swimming in the tub.  They were trapped; the water level was too low for them to escape.  They had taken a leap into the tub with no thought of how they would get out.  Don't we humans sometimes do the same, and then call on God to rescue us?  With a water hose I soon filled the tub to overflowing, and the toads hopped to safety.

In today's first Bible reading, God directed Abram to leave his home country and travel to a land that God would show him.  This was not a blind leap into the unknown.  Abram went in faith, trusting the words and the leading of God.  We likewise do not know what the future has in store for us.  The path may seem untraveled and very rugged.  We stumble and our feet get sore; the muscles ache and the body grows weary; but the faithful hand of God continues to guide us if we reach for it.

In today's second Bible reading, Jesus showed the importance of thinking seriously before we leap.  What will be the cost?  Do we have enough faith and commitment to take us through to the end?  Elsewhere Jesus spoke of those who gladly received the Word but endured only for a time, because "when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended" (Mark 4:17).  Indeed we do not know what is coming or even what we ourselves will do in the future.  But if we trust God and remain faithful one day at a time, we need not fear the unknown before us.

Harold Zimmerman - Myerstown, PA

Faith is letting down our nets into nontransparent depths at the divine command, not knowing what we shall take.

August Yarn Along

August Yarn Along time already?  Where is this year going ?!?

Finished the cardigan I was knitting for Hazel and got it in the mail to her in time for her 2nd birthday...

And finally finished knitting all 28 squares for the Wrap with Love blanket...

sewing them up now and will then crochet an edge around it

On to my second Baldacci book (Walk the Wire)...

And pulled Falling Free of my bookshelves 

There are signs of Spring...

over my back fence

and in my garden

But it can still feel wintry on my river walks...

And a quote I read recently...

"What you surround yourself with should bring you peace of mind and peace of spirit."

- Stacy London

xx

Weekend Words

From Beside the Still Waters devotional...

A Reason to Hope - Read Psalm 42-43

This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope.  It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. - Lamentations 3:21-22

The other day at work, a few lines from the song "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" were going through my head.  "Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!"  I came to realize that in those few words, we are promised all that we need to be at peace even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

God promises "strength for today."  Do we find our troubles overwhelming?  Are we discouraged, confused, and just plain weary?  We need to turn our eyes away from the storm of problems around us, and gaze upward instead.  If we live one day at a time, we will find that God's mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23).  God walks beside us every step of the way, and He gives us strength to face each trial as it comes - not before.

Even when the future looks dark and foreboding, we can still have "bright hope for tomorrow" if we trust in our almighty God.  He has promised that no matter what happens to us, it is part of His plan for our good.  Can we lay down our worries and simply trust Him?  As Christians we should really be the most joyful people in the world, because we can take refuge in Him who is greater than the storms of life.

In John 16:22 Jesus spoke these reassuring words to His disciples: "Your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you."  How could He say this just hours before their hopes were shattered by His crucifixion?  It was because nothing can take away joy that is rooted in God.  How great our God is, and how great is His love and faithfulness towards us!  He is great enough to be trusted with everything.

Jeremiah Stoll - Gravel Switch, KY

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! - Thomas O. Chisholm

A Day Out

A trip into Launceston this week with Marnie and Denver...

I bought a new coffee machine :)  My old one served me faithfully for over 5 years, and although this is the same brand it is a different model and I'm still learning.  It is their bottom of the range and supposedly simple to use. Hmm...  But I'm getting there...

So after my walk around the river this morning...

It was coffee time...

day 3 and I've almost perfected it :)

I finished the pink cardigan I was knitting for granddaughter Hazel and it is in the mail to her, but I'll save the photo for next week's Yarn Along post.  Now I'm back to my knitted squares for a blanket for Wrap With Love.  Only one more square to knit and then I will crochet them together.  Hopefully I'll have a finished photo for next week...

 

And I've discovered a new author.  David Baldacci, who I think will become a new favourite.  I only had a few minutes at the library before closing time last week so I randomly picked this book up. It's one of the Amos Decker/Memory Man series.  I'm really enjoying it.  I like his style of writing.  A real page turner...

and while in Launceston, I bought his latest one (Walk The Wire).

Read this quote recently...

"A path is little more than a habit that comes with knowledge of a place.  It is a sort of ritual of familiarity."

 - Wendell Berry, A Native Hill

I hope the path you are on is enjoyable...

xx

Weekend Words

I know for many of you it's summer, but here in Tasmania it is winter.  We don't have snow in the area I live, but we do have bare branches :)

From Amish Peace - Tricia Goyer

The Rhythms of Nature

Even the stork that flies across the sky knows the time of her migration, as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.  They all return at the proper time each year.  But not my people!  They do not know the Lord's laws.

Jeremiah 8:7

Snow covers the silent ground, and an Amish couple sits by lantern light looking through a seed catalog.  Outside, a cold wind rattles bare branches, but in their mind's eye the husband and wife are considering the seasons to come: the earth's thaw and a hint of warmth on the breeze, followed by spring planting.  Green shoots sprout, and fields are cultivated to protect young plants from the threat of weeds.  Then, later, comes the harvest.  Cutting, raking, bundling, drying.  The loving Creator designed an arc of life and growth.  Even when winter's cold grasp holds the world outside our windows, we know that it only lasts so long.

Sometimes in our world of to-do lists and electronic devices we miss the rhythm of nature.  We trade our fall sweaters for winter parkas but forget that seasons are about more than simply adjusting our clothing choices.  God's creatures know the journey of the seasons, and the Amish understand too.  They live and work in the rhythms of nature.  Just as spring is a time of hard work, winter is a change of pace.  Do you live by this too?

Have you lost touch with the rhythms of nature?  Do you forget to pause and consider the natural world?  Take a moment and look outside your window.  What we see outside is a reminder to us to still our lives and our hearts.  There is a time to plow, a time for growth, a time to harvest, and a time to be still.

Is there a way to add stillness to your day?  Do you have ten minutes to sit before God?  Look at your calendar.  Can you carve out some extra time for rest or quietness, knowing that another season of work is right around the corner?

Dear heavenly Father, treating each season of life as the same is so easy - with a similar to-do list and the same urgency about my work.  Help me to rest today.  Open my eyes to the rhythm of nature and still my heart - not for the sake of stillness, but so you can speak.  Amen

Rest time is not waste time.  It is economy to gather fresh strength. - Charles Spurgeon

In the Bleak Midwinter?

I thought of that poem by Christina Rossetti.  It is midwinter, but there is nothing bleak about it.  In fact, it is a beautiful calm sunny day, although it was cold and frosty early this morning...

winter sunshine on my walk this morning

But these shorter days don't seem to leave much time to get things done.  I still eat, sleep and walk.  Just as well I like routine :))  But some days it seems I no sooner get started than it's time to stop.  It's nice to have a break from the busyness of the garden, although Denver did lop the top off my apple tree (which was blocking my view) for me last week, then I had fun chopping all the branches and bagging up for the rubbish.  And gained blisters on 2 fingers for my efforts.  They are just about better now, so will continue cutting back my bay tree this week (also blocking my view).  There is still garden work to get through, but not at the frantic pace of Spring/Summer.  And we've had some lovely winter days - some of them almost Spring like.


Of course we've had some rainy, grey days too, and on those, I work on my crocheted blanket, and am also sewing up Hazel's cardigan.  Hopefully I can show a finished photo next post...

reading Yes, God Still Speaks Today and One Quilt at a Time

And on my morning coffee break...

new Anabaptist publications to read

Baking...

Anzac slice - quicker and easier than making biscuits :)

date scones

Through my kitchen window...

sunrise

and a few minutes later it looked like this

on another morning

Down at the river...

blue skies

fog

bottoms up

I hope your world is right side up :)

xx