Southern Living Yankee

Let me explain the title: Berries reminds me to bear fruit as God enables me, and to not compare the quality or quanitity of my fruit to others. In nature each plant serves a unique purpose and thrives in certain conditions-- Just like people. * I'm also reminded of the juicy blackberries and black raspberries I found at Prairie Pond Woods retreat house. * And earlier last week I was delighted to find a mulberry tree right here at our condo complex! I grew up with one, so this discovery was a special pleasure. Butterflies reminds me of the three species I met yesterday at Prairie Pond Woods. A huge Zebra Swallowtail floated across the front porch to greet me and the other house church women as we arrived. Then, on our hike Natasha spotted a Mourning Cloak. And all along the way we saw huge Great Spangled Fritillaries! Birdsongs remind me of the time of solitude when I let myself listen and hear all that was going on in nature around me. Deep breath . . . ahh . . . relax . . . res...

Hey! Today is Father's Day. I called my Dad, and guess what? He loves to read this blog! "Hi, Dad! I'm glad you're reading this!" Now I have to get him to try something. "Hey, Dad, slide the mouse over to the bottom right hand corner of this blog. Click on the line that says 'Friends in Washington.' What do you think? Neat, huh? Now click on the "Comment" at the bottom of today's post and type in 'Hi to the Greatest Daughter in the World besides Anjee.' Easy, huh? Welcome to cyberspace!" If he does the above it will really be a moment in history--and the downfall of my mom's reign on the computer. Once Dad finds out all the history and Navy stuff he can discover on the internet it'll be "Outta my way, Eleanor!" Hey, Dad, now click on this: http://www.google.com/ and type in anything you want in the little box. Now I've done it! Instant Monster. Sorry, Mom. Happy Father's Day, Dad. WRITING UPDATE: P...

We're talking chocolate and babies, what could be sweeter? First, check out my niece Megan's blog. Her baby turned 1-year-old this month and will be having his second heart surgery in July. Please stay up-to-date with her blog and be praying for them all. http://www.evanalmightycurtis.blogspot.com/ Second, on the "Couponing" link on the lower right sidebar here, I came across this sweet offer--free chocolate! Free Chocolate Friday! Mars is giving away 250,000 Free chocolate bars every Friday starting at 9 a.m. until September. Click here to get your Free chocolate bar. I could use a little chocolate right now! *Note You can sign up for this 4 times. I just cut and pasted the info from the blog, so if it doesn't link, just click on the "Couponing" link here on my blog, and scroll down Cindy's until you find the chocolate offer. You can thank me in chocolate. :) WRITING UPDATE: This week my writing day is Tuesday. Last Thursday I got so wrapped up in ...

Here's why I didn't blog last Monday--drum roll, please--ta dah!! On Sunday we had an open house. Here's Aaron with Brett and Caitlynn. Families from our house church came, Mom & Dad Hardy arrived the Friday before, Jim flew in on Saturday, and Brooke & Chris drove down on Sunday. Aaron's friends Brett and Jake came over, too. The three of them played some songs they'd written--really nice! So we even had "live" entertainment . I have more pictures but they aren't uploading well at the moment. I'll try again later. WRITING UPDATE: This week my writing day is Thursday. I took off last week. This week I plod on to chapter 4. Each rewrite has encouraged me; I print off the new and throw out the old. But glancing back at the pages I've re-written I see I've already marked them all up! Another re-write already. oh well. For now I need to continue with what I'm doing and quit looking back--just like living for Christ, isn't it. ...

Tammy reminded me of my responsibilities by sending me this picture. My bad. I'll catch up. I'd never want to scare the kitty. Thanks for checking in on me!

I stopped and planted flowers at the cemetery on my way to visit Brooke and Chris the week before last. The purple petunias rode all the way from Dayton with me. (I think I was feeling a little blue when I decided on them.) As I drove I decided more colors would be better for the picture and the summer ahead. I stopped at a garden center along the road I used to live on for the red salvia and the white allysum. I do some of my best thinking while driving, don't you agree? The only thing I didn't think of was water. I completely forgot about water! So I gave the flowers the melted ice from my Coke, and then I watered them with my tears.

This is Brad and his kitten on their way to Colorado. I miss him. I drove up to NE Ohio to see Brooke & Chris this weekend. Their church moved into its new building and I enjoyed celebrating with them. I don't know if they have pictures of the new building up, but here's their website: http://www.eaglevilleonline.com Read Chris's blog and encourage him to keep writing. And singing! You should have heard him and Brooke and their deep South song. You can hear it on youtube with the vocalist Brooke tried to sound like, and came really close, except, of course, Brooke was better. :) Do a search for Mindy Smith Come to Jesus, and click on the youtube link. Then imagine Brooke singing it, Chris doing backup vocal and guitar, add a bit more passion and electricity in your imagination--enjoy! Last Wednesday I came home from work for my one-hour break and went back afterwards totally mellowed. Aaron had a guy and gal over and they were making the coolest music ever. The girl h...