When we put our heads together...

From left to right:
Lulu, Tallulah, Amber, Sarah N. Dipity, and Miss Alaineious...she's a bird.

My friend Amber opened an Etsy Shop selling sweet little crocheted beanies (do they still call them Beanies?) so my friend Kathie and I along with Amber and her two daughter's spent the morning painting our lovely Styrofoam heads. We had so much fun stressing out about lip colors, eye shapes, cheeks, and hair while Amber's youngest daughter Halley spent her time humming happily as she dabbed her bird girls head with bright colors.
The darling cloche above is one that Amber crocheted and felted. It fit so perfectly on my head I that I just had to buy it.

You can find her darling beanies at Tortuga Style. And yes! She's amazing with a crochet hook!

Image: John Waterhouse

Now that the time has come
Soon gone is the day
There upon some distant shore
You'll hear me say

Long as the day in the summer time
Deep as the wine dark sea
I'll keep your heart with mine.
Till you come to me.

There like a bird I'd fly
High through the air
Reaching for the sun's full rays
Only to find you there

And in the night when our dreams are still
Or when the wind calls free
I'll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me

Lyrics & Music:

Loreena McKinnett

Come, my beloved,
Let us go forth to the field;
Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards;
Let us see if the vine has budded,
Whether the grape blossoms are open,
And the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
And at our gates are pleasant fruits,
All manner, new and old,
Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.

Song of Solomon 7: 11-13

I keep finding myself going back to the Song of songs and the love that the Bridegroom has for His bride. How gently He woo's our hearts to His. For that I'm eternally grateful.

For more ABC's of the Word visit Pam at Grey Like Snuffie and help us stir up God's Word in our hearts.

Tumbling, tumbling down we go...

To Selia's Tassel Tutorial...
I know, I'm in a weird rhyming mood, please bear with me.

If I could I'd like to ask you a question? Do you visit certain blog's for particular reasons? Have you categorized them in the corner of your mind and you know just where to go for inspiration, encouragement, beauty, or to nurture that creative spirit who dwells somewhere deep within your heart? I do and one of my favorite blog's to visit, when I'm in need of a visual feast, is Selia's "Down The Rabbit Hole." Everything she posts is filled with simple beauty and elegance.

You may be wondering where I'm going with all of this so I'll tell you. I tumbled down the rabbit hole one afternoon and Selia was having a Tassel give-away...she makes the most beautiful tassels and I LoVe tassels of all shapes and sizes! I have them on every door knob, lamp, and pull in my cottage.
She had one with a little bird on top that would go perfectly in my living room so I tried 3 times to post a comment, but to no avail. Let me tell you I was so sad, but those things happen in life and we learn to go on :).

Several weeks later she had another give-away that once again I missed, but she had such a huge response to those sweet little tassels that she posted a Tutorial.
So I decided to follow her instructions and see what I came up with.
Here's my results...


Pinks and greens are my favorite colors and since I had plenty of trims in various shades I decided to use what I had lying about... of course I had to buy a few things.
I have a tendency to over embellish everything and decided to add some extra trim to the bottom half of my little tassel so just to be safe I reinforced it with some embroidery floss.


I used a vintage salt shaker for the top and pulled the colors from the small flowers that circle the rim. I think it looks like a ballerina whose tutu has been blow by a gust of wind to expose her petticoats beneath, don't you? I would imagine she's very embarrassed as I know I would be.

It turned out to be a simpler project than I expected and took only a few hours to complete. Of course I cheated by using a salt shaker with holes already in the top so I avoided having to buy a small drill.
I wasn't sure where she would find a home so for now she'll dangle from the old metal lamp in the dining room. Once my new cupboard is built she may find her permanent home there. I know, I keep referring to the tassel as a person. For some bizarre reason inanimate objects take on personalities at Brambleberry Cottage.

OK, I think I've done enough rambling so if you'd like to try your creative talents at tassel making just click on the link to Selia's tutorial at the top of this post.

Oh no...I just remembered! My friend Kathie and I were going to have a tassel making party. She is going to be so mad at me...oops! I guess I'll just have to make another one (smile).

Image: Herbert James Draper

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
admit impediments.
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken..."

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

Where Bunnies Play

Is there something that you love to collect
that makes your little heart sing?
Mine would be bunnies, they're my favorite things.
I love their little fluffy toes
and the way they wiggle their velvet nose.
I love when they lay on their backs in a trance...
I love the way they jig and dance.
Bunnies sing to my heart!

Alas, for bunnies lives are too short
like seasons that pass
and then are no more.

So I have resigned myself to bunnies of another kind.
Those that rest on shelves and dwell beneath jars
and some that peacefully sleep beneath stars.
Bunnies sing to my heart.

There are little chickies that neither squabble or squawk
and their only desire is to listen while you talk.

Jars filled with fruit to nibble and munch,
when the humans are asleep they all meet for lunch.

They gather together and scatter abroad
dancing around objects, some of them odd.
Steam heaters for warming cold toes in the night
wooden airplane propellers that lift them in flight.

Some are the playful sort and some just have chores,
but somehow it's me who still mops the floors.

Bunnies that watch over chocolate eggs
and chase little puppies while their masters away.

Bunnies sing to my heart!

What sings to yours?

And the God of all grace, who called you to HIs eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.

1 Peter 5:10

There are "blessings in tribulation." After I have gone through a season of suffering and can stand beyond it looking back, there should be a new light in my eye, a new glow in my face, a new gentleness in my touch, a new hope in my heart--and a new consecration in my life. I ought not to hang back in the shadows of sorrow; I must move out of them, radiant with the light of victory and peace, willing to step into a place of service and ministry. The comfort that God alone can give puts new joy in my step and gives me a new baptism of love and power.

Taken from the book, "Today, Lord, I Will"

The Letter B Round 2

By night on my bed I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but I did not find him.
“ I will rise now,” I said,

“ And go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I will seek the one I love.”
I sought him, but I did not find him.
The watchmen who go about the city found me;
I said,

“ Have you seen the one I love?”
Scarcely had I passed by them,
When I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go,
Until I had brought him to the house of my mother,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.

Song of Solomon 3: 1-5

For more ABC's of the Word stop by Pam's blog Grey Like Snuffie and join us as we stir up God's Word in our hearts.

Forgive me, but I'm a little slow

Have you all seen this cute little symbol? I think the first time I saw it was when my friend Fairmaiden left a comment on one of my posts months and months ago. "Is it a new Christian symbol that I don't know about? What does it mean?" Then it started popping up everywhere and every time I would look at it with wonder, but still couldn't figure it out...until today.
I was merrily skipping down a blog trail when it appeared in the title of a Valentine's post. "What does THAT have to do with Valentine's Day?" I thought to myself. And then I turned my head ever so slightly to the right and it was like a tiny dim light bulb went on in my cluttered brain. It's a Heart...duh! Did I feel dumb! I know I should have asked my friend Fiffer Lou months ago because she knows everything (and includes it in her emails to me), but then I guess I didn't want to show my age or my ignorance.

So just in case there are any of you out there scratching your head over this... IT'S A HEART!

On to other things. I spent 3 lovely hours in the dentist's chair before going to work this morning and my jaw is so tired. Have you ever had a dental dam wedged around your mouth? Once it's in it doesn't come out and it's not a pretty picture. So there I sat for 3 hours with my mouth wide open which is not an easy thing for me to do. You see, I have a severe case of TMJ. At least it's severe to me. Now I'm on anti-biotics and taking 600 miligrams of motrin every six hours. So far I've had very little pain but who knows what I'll wake up to tomorrow.

Is there a moral to this story? Not really, but if you'd like one I can certainly think one up.
Oh, and don't forget to floss your teeth <3. Hey, there's that little symbol again. Cute isn't it?

If you have found a smile
that is the sweetest one you've known,
If you have heard within a voice,
the echoes of our own,
If you have felt a touch
that stirs the longings of your heart,
And still can feel that closeness
in the moments you're apart...

If you've been filled with wonder
at the way two lives can blend
To weave a perfect pattern
that is seamless, end to end,
If you believe God's hand is guiding
all that's meant to be,
You know He chose the one you love
to share your destiny

Emily Matthews

Two Sweet!

Last week my sweet friend Just A Gal awarded me these two darling blog awards and I'm just now getting around to posting them. I know, shame on me! It's been one of those weird weeks where I haven't been able to tell my left from my right...I seem to have those quite often.

Anyhow, Just A Gal is one of those gals that happened upon my blog and kept posting comments so I decided to pay her a visit and enjoyed my stay so much that I kept going back. She is a woman who is just now getting to know who she is and is off on a new journey in life.
So Just A Gal, THANK YOU for the sweet awards and for being my friend. I look forward to seeing where your journey leads.

If you haven't stopped by Just A Gals blog you should stop over and say "Hi", and don't forget to tell her Cori sent you.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

John 13:34

What a commandment! Divine love is immeasurable, yet Jesus tells me to love as He loved. Can I measure up? Probably not. But does that excuse me? Definitely not! "As I have loved you" is agape love, "in spite of" the recipient rather than "because of." It is a gentle love, but a tough love, too. It has to survive rejection and ridicule, meanness and miserliness. There are those around me who's personalities prick and prod me, whose sharp corners sometimes "scratch and dent" me. If all Christians were angelic (and I was too), it would be quite easy to "love one another"--but since they aren't, and I'm not, I will have to work at loving. Lord, let me be patient instead of proud, forgiving instead of spiteful, kind instead of cruel, loving instead of hateful.

Taken from the book: "Today, Lord, I Will"

Happy Pink Valentine's Day!

Hello Ladies,

Another Pink Saturday is upon us and sadly for me it will be my last.
I've met so many wonderful women through Pink Saturday visits and I love visiting all of you, but I have a class each Saturday morning that takes me away from my beloved computer and all of you...my bloggy friends. By the time I get home hubby and puppies are waiting for me to go off on another adventure.

I will leave you with this beautiful pink heart for Valentine's Day and hope you know that a little piece of my heart will be left behind...sorry, but I ate all the chocolates.

Sweet Beverly, I'd like to say thank you for being the best hostess ever and for helping to make blogland a richer place for all of us. You have the true gift of hospitality.

Ta Ta for now!
Who knows, maybe I'll drop in every now and again.

Are we friends,
Are we not.
You told me once, but I forgot.

So tell me now and tell me true,
So I can say I'm here for you.
And if I die before you do,
I'll go to heaven and wait for you.

I'll give the angels back their wings,
And risk the loss of everything.
Just to prove my friendship is true,
Just to have a friend like you.
Sadie

I found this sweet little poem on a web page
called Valentine's Day Poems.

A is for Apple

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3: 1-5

Good morning Ladies,

Again I am late in getting my post up. I thought today was Wednesday :0. And I do realize that I'm stretching the A a tad bit and I'm sure we all know it wasn't an apple that Eve ate. But I've been stuck on this thought for two weeks now and thought it would be fun to see what you all thought.

THE SERPENT SPOKE TO THE WOMAN.

I was listening to Brian Broderson the other day and a woman called in who had just lost her beloved pet and the question was, "will our pets be in heaven?" Brian went on to explain his thoughts and then brought up C.S. Lewis who believed that all the animals in the garden of Eden spoke with Adam and Eve. They had voices and the ability to reason and think for themselves. Then he went on to talk about the scripture where the trees are clapping their hands or branches if you prefer.

My question is, "Do you believe the animals had audible voices? The serpent did speak to Eve did he not? Of course it has nothing to do with salvation but I find it to be an interesting thought.

A Most Peculiar Day

Picture courtesy: Scott Gustafson

This has been a truly peculiar morning indeed. I had a dental appointment at 8:00 am (what WAS I thinking?) so I asked Hubby to wake me on his way out at 5:00. He tip toed in the room, kissed me on the head, and whispered in my ear, "GET OUT OF BED!" So I rolled over and slept until 6:00.

Have I ever told you that mornings are my favorite time of day? I love spending quiet time with my thoughts when the cottage is silent and the puppies long to be curled up in a blanket on my lap. I'm one of those girls who could spend days and days alone and think nothing of it. Anyway, back to my peculiar morning even though it's now evening.

I like to sip two cups of coffee each morning that are really equivalent to five, but decided that may not be the wisest thing to do since I was going to be in the dentist chair with who knows what kind of instruments dangling from my mouth and for how long. So I only enjoyed the one that was equal to 2-1/2.

I left the house with only minutes to spare and headed for the fwy., but as I was driving I noticed a peculiar symbol on the dash of my little orange Pumpkin Coach. "That wasn't there before." I pondered where it had come from and what it might mean. I continued on my way hoping the orange light would stop glaring at me from behind the steering wheel.
It continued to glare...I continued to ignore it until the thought occurred to me, "what if something bad happens, after all, it does have one of those exclamation point thingies as part of its symbol." So I decided to deal with it once I got to my appointment.

I pulled into the parking lot 5 minutes early, grabbed my manual, and went into the office. The receptionist gave me a glance and asked, "can I help you?" with a peculiar look on her face. "I have an appointment at 8:00 am?" "You do?" "I do!" She looked on her schedule and saw that my appointment wasn't until the following Tuesday. I was one day late and a whole week early so I got back inside my pumpkin coach and decided to read the manual before pulling out into the street. Apparently I had a slow leak in my brand new tire. I have the worst luck with tires! Off I went to check the tire pressure and sure enough I was 10 psi's short of a full tire. That auto shop class sure did come in handy. I know how to work a tire gauge.

I had half an hour before I needed to be at work so I treated myself to a steaming cup of coffee from the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf...so delicious and hot!

I spent the rest of the day thinking it was Tuesday and tomorrow is Wednesday when it's really Thursday! I AM SO CONFUSED!!!

We wandered off exploring after the refreshing rain...

here and there, everywhere, looking for delightful things...

green things were growing...
flowers gently opening
with sweet faces, oh so fair...

we wandered till our noses twitched
with scents too wonderful to bear,
but something drew our attention
to the seat of this old chair...

or was it in this broken pot beneath the ladder there?

or could it be this rusty water into which I stare?

We searched and searched high and low, but never did we find...

that delightful little scent that eludes our nose and mind.

(It must be the peanuts the Jays left behind).

Do you remember "The Sign?"

This is what the sign said on my way to work this morning.
I thought it was kinda cute!

What did you see on your way to work?

Could it be A.A.D.D.?

I was walking about my cottage looking for something I couldn't find when I noticed dusting supplies scattered from room to room. You hear stories on the news about Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, but I've always thought it was a result of being scatter brained...
now I'm beginning to wonder.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

Darkness is the Father of fear--and light dispels it. Jesus Christ came as the "light of the world" and in the face of this fact, how can I be fearful? The Revised Standard Version has, "The Lord is the stronghold of my life," and that speaks to me of His ability to protect and watch over me. Psalm 62:2 says, "He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be greatly moved" (RSV).
In Christ I have light to dispel my darkness and strength to replace my weakness. What more could I ask? Why am I still fearful and weak in my witness and my walk?

Taken from the Book: "Today, Lord, I Will"

My thoughts:
When I came to the last line and read the words there I sat and thought about them for a minute. God created us to be in fellowship with Him and other believers. He also created us to be witnesses of what He's done in our lives and those around us.

We are people who want to love and be loved.

I know that in my own life I've had times when I knew I should share but didn't for fear of what someone might think of me, for fear of not being liked or unaccepted, or for fear of someone labeling me as one of those crazy Christians. But God's word tells us that there is no darkness in Him and if we are in Him then we shouldn't fear what others may think. In the end His opinion is the only one that matters and if we are in Him then we are accepted...loved...forgiven...free...His hearts desire...the apple of His eye...and engraved in the palm of His hands.

What do you wear when you post Pink?

Pink Fuzzy Bunny slippers with striped socks.

For many more Pink Posts visit our sweet Hostess Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound and get hooked on Pink!

A New Bloggy Friend Award

Isn't this a cute award? And perfect for the Valentine's season. It was given to me by my new bloggy friend Deanna over at Timeless Things. She has a darling blog that looks as if it stepped right out of the fifties filled with oodles of vintage finds and wonders, plus she's a great writer! Thanks Deanna! I love my new award and look forward to our new friendship.


Now for the rules:
“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”
Ok, I have to admit that I haven't been out searching for random blogs lately, but a few lovely ladies have popped up in my comments and I've visited and visited and visited. They all have such wonderful blogs with sweet spirits so I'll pass this award on to them.
They are: Just-A-Gal @ Cottage Gals Musings, Sandra @ Romantique Inspirations
Stacey @ A Lamb in the Field. If you haven't been by to visit these ladies stop over and say Hi. Who knows, you may have a new friend too!

AND THANK YOU DEANNA, MY NEW BLOGGY FRIEND!

10 Things I LoVe!

I was visiting Pam's blog yesterday and she had this real fun post about 10 things she loves that begin with the letter "P".
I thought this sounded like so much fun so I asked if I could play along and she graciously assigned me to the Letter "M".
I was at work so I tried as quickly as I could to think of 10 things starting with M, but was only able to come up with nine... until this morning. While walking from my kitchen to the guest room I saw the pile of magazines (still thinning them out) and thought, "ah ha! " The last letter M.
Now please don't think that my favorite loves are in order because that would put my hubby beneath my puppies...this is not true...I love my hubby more although there are times when he would beg to differ...oops! Anyway, I tried to arrange them on the paper in a pleasing fashion without them resembling a huge jumbled mess.

If you would like to play along let me know and I'll assign you a letter.
Enjoy!