Living Simply and Deliberately

Thursday, February 6, 2014

A Very Wintry Foto Friday!

Welcome to Foto Friday!

Grab a cup of something warm and enjoy!

Winter in these parts has been grueling.

We had become used to mild winters in recent years.

With all this Arctic air and white stuff, we have had ample opportunity to just

STAY HOME!

Winter has definitely afforded me the ability to do a lot of camera clicking

...and might I add....

with the new camera hubby bought me for Christmas!

In my last post, I promised more backyard winter bird pictures.

Since winter is

For The Birds.....

Lets' start with those bird photos....

(These photos were taken out the window- from the comfort of my warm and cozy living room)

On Monday, we had a fresh coating of wet snow.

As I was admiring its beauty, I noticed a flock of (very confused) robins in the trees.

Beautiful!

On another day, we had a hawk circling during one of our doggie play dates.

He may have been looking for a chicken dinner. But he left hungry!

Monday, we had wet snow, and on Tuesday......a coating of Ice.

This gives new meaning to ICE SKATES

This morining.....

everything was that

walk -on -top -of- the- snow -crispy!

But a little bit of ice never stopped Josie girl from havin' a little bit of fun!

Well, that's all for now folks.

Thanks for stopping by....

Please stay tuned-

for more

FOTO FRIDAYS

are coming soon!

Linked up to
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/02/clever-chicks-blog-hop-73-with-three.html#

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Post Christmas Busyness (and a trash to treasure!)

Greetings....

Let's do first things first and allow me to apologize for abandoning both you and this blog.
Where does time go?
It seems as though the older one gets, the faster time flies.
Why is that??

Okay, so allow me to catch you up.....

We had a lovely holiday. I hope you can say the same.

We rang in the new year with friends.
We had a great time, just staying in and playing games.
You know...
good friends + good food = great time!

Hubs really gets into playing Wii!

For me, the new year has always been the perfect time to do some organizing.
It's the time of year, when we're held up inside.
No gardening to do.
No holiday preparations.

So once the decorations were taken down and replaced with our home's usual vintage-ish decor, I got busy on some re-organizing and purging. As the title of this blog implies, I'm very into keeping things simple.
While I can't really call myself a minimalist,
I do like to keep things simple, clutter free and organized.
So I started with the closet where I keep the wrapping paper, since it was a mess after all that holiday wrapping.

With all the snow (and cold) in these parts, we have had ample opportunity to play in the snow.
The dog loves the snow!
Okay, so she really doesn't care.
She just likes to play.
When we take potty breaks, allowing her time to burn up some energy is a must. Some days, we even have

doggy play dates

with a friendly German Shepherd.

I have been enjoying watching the birds this winter, I have taken some awesome pictures out my front window that I plan to share with you each (Foto) Friday. Hopefully, I can follow through on this! :)

So as promised,
a trash to treasure.
While cleaning out a closet, I came across this cosmetic travel case.

I can honestly say, I never use it anymore.
However, I deemed it keep-able.
But it was in need of a makeover.
Sorry I didn't get a before picture of the inside.
Suffice it to say it was worn and ugly.

So a little scrapbook paper and a piece of burlap gave it a

cute and quick fix.
(I used spray adhesive for both the paper and the burlap)

At first, I thought it might make a good magazine holder for the bathroom.

But in the end, I needed something for some miscellaneous stuff in my bathroom.

Walah!

In case you're wondering about this case....
Yep, it was mine....

Given to me on my first day of beauty school some 35+ years ago.
It seems like a lifetime ago.

Since then....

I have raised and homeschooled 2 children....

and am currently caring for 2 darling grandchildren...

teaching water aerobics at the Y.....

and yes, I am

head chicken keeper and gardener.
One just never knows where life will lead them!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Monday, December 23, 2013

Thoughts on Christmas

Christmas Greetings!!!

Like many of you, our Christmas celebrations are under way!

We kicked off the holiday season with a wonderful Christmas celebration at our church. Music is a great way to get you into the Christmas spirit- don't you think?

We had our get together with Hubby's family over the weekend. We certainly had a house full of

chow, chatter and children!

Over the years, I have made a lot of interesting gifts,

all in the name of fun- of course.

Many have fallen under the title of re-purposed, recycled and even

Redneck

(Here are just a few!)

This year, I conjured up some new ideas.

Each of the girls received one of these lovely blue Ball jars with the pump.

AND

some lovely brooches made from the cans of their favorite beverages!

These precious jewels

may not look like much to you,

but I have to tell ya, every time I wear my

Arizona Tea brooch

on my jean jacket I get comments!

Good comments!

With the big family gathering behind us,

I am looking forward to our Christmas Eve traditions.

The kids will be here, with the grand kids in tow.

Little Jack is really looking forward to opening some presents.

He is so excited he can't stand it!

It's going to be fun!

I have to tell you....

This year I'm feeling extra blessed.

Yes, there is a wonderful present under the tree for me that I can't wait to get my hands on :)

Okay, I confess......I already tried it out, but don't tell Santa!

But that's not the reason I'm so blessed....

While driving the other day, I saw a festive military type banner in someone's yard that read,

WELCOME HOME

When I saw it, tears flooded my eyes.

What Joy they must be feeling as they welcome their spouse, or son or daughter home this holiday season.

And about 2 seconds after seeing that sign,

I heard the gal on the radio talking about a dear friend of hers who is preparing to say good bye to her 18 year old daughter.

This young girl had been dealing with cancer for 15 years. And now, just days before Christmas,

she was preparing to say good bye.

She said that as the reality of it all was settling in she collapsed into a chair and cried out to God, " I can't do this!"

And God responded with, "you can't, but I can!"

And then of course, I wept some more!

I know first hand the power and the truth of that statement.

On this Christmas,
I'm thankful that I don't have any children
fighting a war in a foreign country.

I'm thankful for the health of my family....

especially my own.

This March, I will be celebrating 10 years of remission!

AND WE WILL CELEBRATE!

I'm feelling especially thankful.

It's a thankfulness, deep in my gut.

One, I really can't rightly express.

The last few Sundays, our pastor has been speaking on the

Meaning of the Manger.

He wrapped it up this Sunday by sharing that it is our responsibility to

fully follow and fully worship the (newborn) King.

And I have to say, it's when we have felt forsaken
lonely
sad
and totally empy
and we have nothing but our worship to give..
that my friends is when we really get to know that baby in the manger.