Thanksgiving

It’s here.  One of my favorite days of the year.  Having unexpected company come to town was the little push I needed to pull the house together.


I’m loving the velvet pumpkins I dyed and made last year.  They add such a lovely pop of color and texture, and their shapes are fun to pile at whim around the house.




I wanted some kind of art to hang on the window I brought upstairs .  I painted this for fun, and enjoyed doing it in a very non-traditional color scheme.  I’m definitely an novice but I had fun.




Across the room we have a wall of artwork by our children.  I hung my Thanksgiving banner across the frames.  I tried to leave a bit of whimsy in the angles and the curl of the rope so it plays well with the artwork.




Years ago I abandoned the idea of pillows on my couches.  All I did was pick them up off the floor 300 times a day.  I have made an exception in the last few weeks and have enjoyed the color and pattern that pillows add to the dark leather.  My favorite pillow (below) I made with vintage fabric.




With all the stress of preparing for company, having this space look nice helps calm me down.   It also makes me want to make more pumpkins!




There is so much to be thankful for today.  This has been a year of increasing awareness for blessings I never really counted before… things like being able to walk, work, think, pray.  I am so grateful to the Lord for all that he has done for me in my life.  Without a doubt, I am one of the least of His daughters, and yet his kindness to me is everlasting.  That kindness becomes so obvious when my heart is in the right place, and I suppose that some of the difficulties of the year have opened my eyes to the tender mercies of God.

May we all see our lives, today and always, through the precious lens of gratitude.  It enlivens the soul, softens the heart, gives joy to life.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Jennifer

A temporary spot



I was expecting a quiet Thanksgiving weekend.  Instead, we’re having unexpected company come to town.  (Unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome.)  It’s kind of thrown me for a loop to get everything ready.

I’ve been up early every morning this month to sew, and am getting a lot done.  I didn’t want to lose the entire weekend where my goals are concerned, so I made a little sewing spot in my room.  My poor husband gets to roll over at 5 a.m. when I start.

As I sat there in the darkness this morning, I realized it looks rather cozy.  It’s not a very effective space, but I did take a few small projects upstairs to work on when I can.  I’m feeling a little “empty” emotionally, so I have a quiet place to run to and regroup when I need a break.

I’m off to work in the kitchen!  Have a great holiday.
Hopeful Homemaker

Joy, week 46



I can’t believe another week has come and gone.  I’m going to break with my standard format and share a picture I took this afternoon:


It hadn’t been raining.  They were playing ping pong in the basement and hollered up that we should look at it.  We all ran outside and discovered a faint second rainbow as well.  The bow arched so high above the clouds it nearly took my breath away.  It got brighter, for soon we could see a distinct green color emerging.  We stood outside and talked while we watched, and within minutes it began to fade slowly.  A moment later and the sun was suddenly sending it’s last horizontal rays across the earth before sinking behind the mountains.  The rainbow was gone as quickly as it came, giving way to the sunset.  We went back inside and I thought how happy that moment had been, and how we would have missed it if we had waited only a few moments before acting.

So much of the week was like that.  Little rainbows tucked here and there in cloudy moments, unexpected, fleeting, and then gone.  Some of them I chased like we did tonight; others I assumed would be there when I finished whatever “pressing” thing I had going on.   Of course they weren’t.  But the ones I grabbed were happy and good for my heart.

I thought things would slow down more than they have.  We’re still too busy and I’m trying to fix it.   I was hit with a cold this week which is making it harder to combat the stress of getting ready for out-of-town company during Thanksgiving.  I feel like I’m off my game and really hope I can “come round right” in the next day or two.  I am thankful for small reminders of how good life truly is so I don’t get too far ahead of myself.  I have a lot to do before Thanksgiving, so the task ahead is to savor the rainbows while working harder.

I am grateful for the opportunity to make good decisions, to make mistakes and learn from them, to be a part of a family and become who I’m supposed to be.  There is much to be thankful for!

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