Today was such a beautiful day in Southern California. Our temperature was 69 degrees which just happens to be my favorite temperature in the world!

I was able to leave work 3 hours early today so I decided to stop by Disneyland and take a stroll around the park. I headed over to the Mark Twain, Disney's riverboat, to take a picture or two for Pat over at Mille Fiori Favoriti
Just as I walked up to the entrance the boat was coming around the river bend so I decided to hop on for a ride. There were ducks everywhere and they were all in very happy moods. Flapping their wings about and throwing water up all around them. Out of nowhere swooped this large black duck who dove under the water. When he finally surfaced he had this fish in his mouth that was 3 times as big as his head. It was amusing to watch him as he struggled to keep hold it. The next thing I knew he took this giant gulp and the poor fish was down his throat. It reminded me of a cartoon I once saw where a little bird ate everything in sight. Once he had swallowed it, he seemed so delighted with his catch of the day. He swam about and I kept expecting him to jump straight out of the water and do a flip. He didn't of course but that's okay too.

After disembarking from the river boat I decided to head for Pooh's Corner to indulge in the yummy sweet that's pictured above. I keep thinking to myself that one day I'm going to make a whole batch of these delightful little treats. I had to take a picture of it for all of you to see. It's a pretzel dipped in caramel, rolled in cashews, and dipped in dark chocolate, then drizzled with milk chocolate. They are the best! And very impressive to look at, don't you think?

Well, I have to run for now. My husband, who receives most of his meals from a 2 x 2 aluminum window would like his dinner now. We're going to the Colonel.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me to depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,

Charitie de Cheney Lees Smith Bancroft
1841-1923

The spiritual life needs opposition to bring out its best development. It flourishes most luxuriantly in adverse circumstances. The very temptations that make our life one unceasing warfare train us to become true soldiers of Christ. The hardness of our experiences, which seem to us to be more than we can possibly endure, make the very school of life for us in which we learn our best lessons and grow into whatever beauty and Christ likeness of character we attain.
From the book: "Today, Lord I Will."

Today is Friday and I'm so thankful that this work week is over. I have some weeks that are so heartbreaking and other's that remind me of "why I do what I do." This week was mixed with a little bit of both... the heartbreak and the blessing.

Today I'm just going to putter in my yard. I bought a Hydrangea on my way home yesterday and I will plant it this morning. I may even go to my favorite nursery and pick up some more flowers. I feel like my garden is completely green and lacking in color. I desperately need some pink and purple and possibly some Daisy's. Later in the afternoon I'll set the Tea Table in the backyard and sip some tea with one of my favorite magazines while my fluffy companions romp around in the grass.

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday.

It is only Wednesday and already it has been a hard week. Yesterday one of my sweet friends told me that she had miscarried and today while I was at work I received a call from another dear friend (8 weeks pregnant)who had gone into the Dr.'s office for an ultrasound and was told that there was no heart beat.

I can't imagine the heart break these two ladies are suffering right now as they try to carry on thier everyday activities of caring for husbands and children. How does one deal with the broken hopes and dreams of knowing that a precious little life is no longer there?

I think it is only through the love and support of family and friends but, most of all through a deep trust and faith in a wonderful Savior, Jesus.

He is the only one who can bind up the broken hearted.

Pray for them, won't you?

My husband and I started working in this room last July... yes, I did say,"last July." What can I say other then we are slow... very slow.

I have always dreamed of having a bedroom with white bead board and hardwood floors. Actually, if I had my druthers I'd live in an old Victorian Farm house in the middle of nowhere but, here I am in this mega metropolis in a little Ranch style from the 50's. I do count it all joy and feel very blessed to own my own home. Now if I can just turn the interior into a Victorian Farm house.

Rabbit trail, sorry. Back to my room. This is where we are with our room redo. I wanted "White bead board" and everything was going great until we base coated. All the sudden my husband was no longer happy with the idea of "white." He wanted something different but, I wasn't sure what that different meant. After hours of discussion we arrived at Brown Bead board. Sounds disgusting doesn't it? It actually looks really nice.

I thought to myself, "this is your opportunity to have a brown and pink room. Pink is of course the only color that exists for me.

The summer became so swelteringly hot that we had to stop work due to the fact that we were being asphyxiated from the fumes (oil paint). We closed up the windows, put blackout cloth over them, and 9 months later it's still there.

So, my challenge begins. I have collected all my fabrics for the window treatments but what do I actually do with these windows? They're called ribbon windows and are 72" x 24." A very odd shape and almost impossible to drape. I've decided that in order to tackle this project I need to take a week off work so I can have enough time to complete the task.

Oh! We are still missing the cap at the top of the bead board. It has to be painted with the oil paint. Also the windows need to be rebuilt this summer. My sweet hubby will tackle that project on his own. He'll do a wonderful job, I know it!

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;

what is essential is invisible to the eye."

The Little Prince by:

Antoine de Saint Exupery

The weather here has been so strange lately. On Monday it was 102 degrees. The hottest place in the nation! Today it was a mere 72, cloudy for most of the morning, then burning off to a beautiful afternoon.

My husband and I were going to bar-b-cue in the back yard and have dinner out in our little vineyard however, he got busy on his plane and I've been puttering on the inside of the house.

You may ask, "what does this have to do with the weather?" Nothing really. I was just commenting on the weather. Maybe the unpredictability of the weather has to do with our lack of enthusiasm for bar-b-cueing. Who knows. Anyway, this has been a very strange week weather wise.

Friday morning me, Elmo, and Coco have a dogie date with one of my sweet friends and her two dogies. the six of us are meeting in Seal Beach for a coffee and a stroll along the waters edge. The question is, how do I dress Coco? She's just a little girl but, mighty in spirit and a definite Tom Boy if you can call a dog a Tom Boy. Anyway, she rolls and rolls and rubs and rubs and basically rolled and rubbed her darling little hair into huge knots so I've had to trim her back to nothing. She has this giant head and humongous thighs and a weence little torso. She looks quite silly. So, do I dress her in a little sweater for her beach excursion or do I let her go au -natural? A woman of any intelligence would simply pack a sweater along with her cookies and water bowl.

So, Friday afternoon we'll see what happens... whether it is hot or whether it is cool.

This is my beloved White Wisteria. She bloomed about three weeks after the Purple and her fragrance filled the entire house every evening. I love when my wisteria wake from their slumber as that means spring is truly here. The Black Bees have also come out to play.

This is a corner of the backyard that we call the Vineyard. The little white picket separates the grassy area from the area filled with pebbles. A few years back I asked my darling hubby to build me some Adirondack chairs so that when we had friends and family over there would be somewhere to sit. We placed them in the vineyard to protect their feet from the water.

This is what the vineyard looked like Sunday when I returned from my retreat. You can barely see any of the Adirondacks or anything else behind there. It's so beautiful to just sit under the wisteria in the cool of the evening and do nothing but daydream.

My time away in the mountains was restful and I enjoyed traveling with the two women I drove with. They are both so full of life and willing to spend time with anyone who needed a shoulder to cry on. What examples they were to me of God's grace and love.

Working in full time ministry I sometimes adopt the attitude that I minister during working hours and when it's my time it's my time. I often forget that no matter how tired my Lord was, He was never too tired to minister to those around Him.

Every common walk of life is glorious with God's presence, if we could but see the glory. We are always under commission from Christ. Every morning we have sealed orders from him that are opened as the days events come. Every opportunity for duty or for heroism is a Divine call. I must be loyal to duty, no matter where I may hear its call nor to what service it may bid me. Duty is duty, however humble it may be; and Divine duty is always noble, because it's what God himself requires. The work which the day brings to us is always his will, and the sweetest thing in the world to a loving, loyal heart is always God's will. The service of angels in heaven's brightness is no more radiant than the faithful duty-doing of the lowliest saint on earth.

This morning I'll be making a trip to the mountains for my churches annual women's retreat. I'll be traveling with two women who are in their seventy's and are both absolute doll's. I love them dearly.

I usually drive on my own so I can process my time away plus I'm not fond of having my wings clipped..."no auto and at the mercy of others." This is very frightening for me as I'm extremely independent, but I thought it would be good for me to stretch my comfort zone and of course I wasn't willing to miss out on all the laughter.

So, I will think of you all while I'm there and I hope everyone has a blessed weekend. Be back Sunday.

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! a pirates life for me!

Friday I went and visited one of my favorite places in the world! Disneyland! When my husband and I first met I asked him two questions, 1) Do you love Tolkien's writings, and 2) Do you have an annual pass to Disneyland? I was very sad to hear "No" to both my questions. How could you practically live in Disney's backyard and not have an annual pass. This was very perplexing to me but, I married him anyway.
Soon after we were married my birthday came around and my sweet hubby asked me what I'd like for my present. Hello! An annual pass to Disneyland. He thought I was joking until one night he woke up in the middle of the night and whispered in my ear, "what do you want for your birthday?" I talk in my sleep and he knows this so I always tell him that he can't hold me personally responsible for anything I may say. After all, I am asleep. My response of course was, "Disneyland." So every year since then I've had an annual pass. Sometimes I stop in on my way home from work for a cup of coffee. Other times I just look at the window displays on Main Street and occasionally I'll get on 3 or 4 rides then come home. I find this to be very therapeutic as my life is much faster paced then I would like it.
So, I spent a lovely afternoon wandering through the crowds and riding on the Mark Twain. It was a perfect day.

The Bible seldom speaks, and certainly never its deepest, sweetest words, to those who always read it in a hurry. Nature can only tell her secrets to such as will sit still in her sacred temple till their eyes lose the glare of earthly glory, and their ears are attuned to her voice. And shall revelation do what nature cannot? Never! The man who shall win the blessedness of hearing her must watch daily at her gates and wait at the posts of her doors. There is no chance for a lad to grow, who only gets an occasional mouthful of food and always swallows in a hurry.
F.B. Meyer (1847-1929)

Thank you Pat!

I would like to thank Pat over at Mille Fiori Favoriti for presenting me with this "You Make my Day" Award. Pat was the very first person to post a comment on my blog and I was so excited! I don't know how she found me, but she did and I'm thankful.
I clicked over to her blog and thought my heart would stop. She had just posted about her trip to Ireland and the pictures were so beautiful so, I decided to linger awhile and read other posts. What a sweet lady!
So I would like to say "Thank You Pat" You have made my day! And thanks for finding me!

God has brought us into this time; He, and not ourselves or some dark demon. If we are not fit to cope with that which He has prepared for us, we should have been utterly unfit for any condition that we imagine for ourselves. In this time we are to live and wrestle, and in no other. Let us humbly, tremblingly, manfully look at it, and we shall not wish that the sun could go back its ten degrees, or that we could go back with it. If easy times are departed, it is that the difficult times may make us more in earnest; that they may teach us not to depend upon ourselves. If easy belief is impossible, it is that we may learn what belief is, and in whom it is to be placed.
F.D. Maurice (18005-1872)