Photo courtesy:

Columbia Pictures

One of the women from our church invited sweet hubby and I over to her house for the 4th where we had such a wonderful time. She has a daughter who's my age and was a gymnast growing up. I was one too. She also has an in ground trampoline that I got to jump on, but I had to be very careful not to jump too high as I had on a long dress with a petticoat underneath. It was so much fun!

Once the fireworks began we all went out front and watched the show. In the city where we live it's illegal to shoot off fireworks, but you can go over three blocks which is another city and buy them. It makes absolutely no sense to me, but then there was the time when an entire neighborhood went up in flames due to their shake roofs. They have since been outlawed in our city, but there are still homes that are adorned with the sweet little shakes, ours being one of those homes.

All in all we had a wonderful time and got to make some new friends which is always nice.

P.S. I still love Mel...he is after all only human. Maybe a little uninformed, but human.

True Freedom

Behold, I stand at the door
and knock.
If anyone hears My voice
and opens the door,
I will come into him
and dine with him,
and he with Me.
Revelation 3:20


Therefore, if the Son makes you free,
you shall be free indeed.
John 8:36

I walked through a county

courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man

was sittin' there.
I said, "Your old court house is kinda

run down,
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag

you got hangin' on it."
He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down,
"Is this the first time you've been to our

little town?"
"I said, "I think it is."
He said "I don't like to brag,
but we're kinda proud of That

Ragged Old Flag
"You see, we got a little hole

in that flag there,
When Washington took it

across the Delaware.
and It got powder burned
the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it,
writing "Say Can You See"
It got a rip in New Orleans,
with Packingham & Jackson

tugging at its seams.
and It almost fell at the Alamo

beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and

Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on

That Ragged Old Flag
"On Flanders Field in World War I,
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun,
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp, and low, a time or two,
She was in Korea, Vietnam,
She went where she was sent
by her Uncle Sam.
She waved from our ships

upon the briny foam
and now they've about quit wavin'

back here at home
in her own good land here

She's been abused,
She's been burned, dishonored,

denied an' refused,
And the government for which she stands
Has been scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting thread bare,
and she's wearin' thin,
But she's in good shape,

for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
and I believe she can take a whole lot more.
"So we raise her up every morning
And we bring her down slow every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On second thought I *do* like to brag
Cause I'm mighty proud of
That Ragged Old Flag"

Song By Johnny Cash the Man in Black.

Whenever my hubby and I take a road trip I never leave the house without my Johnny Cash. I first time I heard this song I cried and every time since then. We have been blessed with a great nation and it's my prayer that we would not take that for granted.

I've been having a lot of fun with this little birdie and butterfly motif at work (and as you can see they've managed to work their way onto my blog as well). It's always a challenge to see how many variations with the same theme I can create without the concept becoming old and over worked, but the more I play with this the more I love it. One of my co-workers came into my office this afternoon and asked if I ever get tired of working on the same project. "Nope!" I get to "draw" all day on the computer where she gets to balance the books. So, I asked her the same question. I get to use my imagination and come up with ideas and she has to work with figures all day. I definetly have the better job, plus, I get to create my own deadlines where she is always given deadlines.

Do I have a great job or what!

Cottage Embellishments

We have several projects going on around our little cottage and many more that need that last final detail. Right now I'm working on curtains for mine and sweet hubby's room. We have what are called "Ribbon Windows" that span two walls in the room. The other two walls are broken up by the closet, the door into the bedroom, and a door into the bathroom. So we have no "Bed wall" due to these two lovely ribbon windows. Not only do we not have a bed wall, but the walls under the "ribbons" are practically useless as nothing with a mirror can be placed against them. I've never understood what architects are thinking when they design houses, but it's clear they know nothing about furniture placement. Sorry, but this is one of my pet peeves in life. Architects don't like designers and designers don't like architects, but if they could learn to work together homes would be much better designed. OK, enough of my rambling and back to my projects.

The picture above is the fabric I chose for our windows. Yes it's quite dark, but it is gorgeous and rich in detail. I started this project on Saturday and only completed "stage 1" last night. Tomorrow I'll begin stage two. Once they're finished and in place I'll post pictures.

Sweet hubby took a piece of melamine and fitted it to two folding tables to use as a work table. It's finished dimensions are 4' x 6' and takes up the entire kitchen area. When we built the island I had sweet hubby build it on a frame that has wheels so it can be rolled out of the way if necessary. That's my island over there to the left and just look at that beautiful 30 year old flooring. One day that is going to go! As a side note...it looks like my walls are in need of pictures or something of interest.This is our other current project. A new screen door for Bramble Berry Cottage. I have been begging my husband for years to replace the screen door on the front of our cottage and as we are "do it yourself" people it takes us a bit longer to do it ourselves. My hubby built this new screen that hopefully will get hinged, painted, and hung by next Friday. I hope.
Two detailed sections of the door. We still need to purchase the hardware and determine how it's going to lock so our puppies don't escape. Once it's hung I'll post some pictures.

I hope you all have a fun Wednesday!