Hearts in Service

        I feel like I'm living in the midst of piles of messes all around my house as you can see in the first picture of my kitchen island.  I'm racing against the clock to finish an order that went from 25 tea totes and 10 cozies to 65 totes and 18 cozies!  I also am trying to get things together to put in a new store tomorrow morning as well as gather and make items for a farmer's market tomorrow night.   This morning I came to the conclusion that 1) the customer who changed the order on me will just have to be content to wait a day or two longer to receive it, 2) there is no way I can do it all so I'm going to have to just show up with what I have at the shop and the market and, 3) I may have truly lost my mind. ;-)   I've been trying hard to stay on top of meal making and housekeeping in the midst of all this but the fact that it's 1,000 degrees out and even in hotter in the house doesn't h...

I sat on my deck, reading my Bible and praying this morning and as I sat there the bees caught my attention.  They never stop moving and fly from flower to flower, collecting the pollen inside. Then I had to laugh because that is how my past few weeks have gone.   I feel like I'm a bee, buzzing around, getting my many tasks done.  So I haven't had a lot of time to sit and think of inspiring blog posts.   This week alone, I need to do the following:   Fill a large order of 60 tea totes and 18 tea cozies. Make multiple batches of soap. Make multiple batches of salve. Get my hair cut (that's happening this morning) Run to a new shop that will be carrying my things to set up a display. Pick up fabric to fill an order. Meet with a customer about a new order. Make multiple batches of jam. Make a few batches of granola. Head out on Friday night to a new venue in town called, Uptown Fridays, where I will have a table to sell...

Katharine Fullerton Gerould ~   The real drawback to the simple life is that it is not simple. If you are living it, you positively can do nothing else. There is not time. Every night I fall into bed and plan on reading a bit.  But I can barely keep my eyes open.  Most of the 30 minutes or so of my reading time is spent with the book dropping every few seconds as I keep falling asleep.  I finally give up and turn out the light. The next day, I plunge back into my busy and simple life.  That is why this quote made me laugh when I saw it this morning.  I enjoy finding ways to save money.  I love baking my own bread from scratch.  I feel so much satisfaction when I can and process my own foods.  But it most certainly is time consuming. This week alone I canned 10 quarts of dill pickle spears, 10 pints of dill pickle chips, 13 pints of bread and butter pickles, 7 pints of relish, and put up a bushel of corn in the freezer.  ...

Genesis 1:29 (ESV) ~ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. Genesis 1:11 ~ And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.   Genesis 1:12 ~ The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  

I Thessalonians 5:11-14 ~  "So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.   Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other. Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. Are you an encourager?  If someone were to describe you would they say, "She is an encouraging person to be around?"   Even if this is not your primary personality characteristic, we are all called to encourage one another.  However, it always surprises me at how many people find this difficult to do.  We don't give it much thought even though so many really could use an encouraging word.  Some people feel loved when they ...

Colossians 2:6-7 (HCSB) ~ Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,  rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.   I am overflowing with gratitude this morning!  I have so many things to be thankful for this week that I don't even know where to start.  We haven't been on a real vacation in quite a few years so it was such a joy to get away, clear our heads and rest.  Having a beautiful setting to do that in was a huge blessing. I was able to spend time in prayer and meditation.  I wrote, walked, talked, sang and communed with the Lord as well as my husband.  It was good. This week I'm thankful for blessings #2521 - 2530. 2521. The generosity of my brother-in-law and sister who gave us an efficiency apartment at the retreat center he is the director of for free. 2522.  Warm days and cool nights made for wonderful sleeping. ...

We were so tired from the week that yesterday was spent at home, catching up on laundry and baking a bunch of items for today's outing.  Last night Dan and I headed out for something different - a dessert theatre to hear a professional storyteller and folk musician.  I'm glad we did because they were really good.  It was definitely a different style than we were used to but I'm glad that Dan is always willing to try something new because he ended up really enjoying himself.   This morning, we headed out early to my aunt and uncle's home in the Catskill Mountains and had a family get together.  The last time I saw any of my extended family was a year ago so it was fun catching up. I ended up getting my daughter back but gaining a niece too!  lol  I'll be taking her back on Thursday but Emily wanted her cousin, Lydia, to come and I thought, why not?  They never get to see each other and get along so well.  So...

After a breakfast of pancakes and sausage, we packed up the cars and headed home.  We left one precious thing behind and that was our daughter. :-). She is spending a few more days with her cousin. We got home, unpacked and then Dan and I headed out for a long awaited combination birthday/Father's Day/Anniversary present.  I had purchased tickets back in May for Dan and I to go see Jerry Seinfeld's standup comedy act.  Tonight was the show.   We stopped for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and got appetizers, drinks, the main meal and dessert for $45 which included the tip.  So while not necessarily frugal it was a lot of food for the price and it was a celebration meal. Then we headed off to the local theatre and laughed until it hurt.  Jerry's act was clean and without the bad language.  It was definitely worth the ticket price! We still have two more days of vacation and so far I'm staying within my budget!

Today was sunny and beautiful, with low humidity which is my favorite kind of weather. We decided we wanted to hike so headed further up the mountain behind us and into the woods.  It is so pretty here and it's been fun reliving childhood memories. I knew there used to be huckleberries on the old airstrip that sits up the mountain so I brought a bucket just in case.  I'm glad I did because it was full of berries. They are going into pancakes in the morning. I  was surprised that Dan and Nathan were so willing to help because usually the thought of picking berries brings groans. Lol On the way down we ran into raspberry bushes so got some of those too which I turned into sauce to put over ice cream tonight. The rest of the day has been so relaxing. Fishing, ping pong, frisbee golf, writing and visiting with my sister.  She had is down for lunch as well as a missionary couple from Paraguay. We just finished up dinner and will be playing some board games later. Total c...

Day 3 of vacation was so enjoyable.  I woke up and it was a misty, cold rain most of the day.  Emily slept in and I worked on my book. Then I spent a few hours chatting with my sister before Dan arrived.  I know I'll sleep better tonight now that he is here. While Emily hung out with her cousin, Nathan, Dan and I walked up to the gymnasium on the hill where we had a blast playing ping pong, basketball and pool. Then the guys relaxed while I made dinner - stir fry veggies over linguini with some of the fresh vegetables I picked with my sister today (by the way, I'm officially jealous of her beautiful garden).  We also had a tomato and cucumber salad.  I love that whoever popped in got to eat - Emily and Lydia showed up as well as my nephew and his friend.   Total cost today = $ 28.02 for ice cream, chips and a bunch of other snack stuff (junk) Dan bought at the store. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm so I'm looking forward to any adventures that com...

Emily and I set off early this morning for day two of vacation.  Our first stop was  for lunch to meet up with three of my aunts which is always fun! Then we were off for our final destination.   We are spending the week at a retreat center run by my brother-in-law in the Catskills Mountains.  The above photo is the view from my chair as I type. We are staying in a two bedroom efficiency apartment that they allow pastors to use. I brought food to cook for the week.  It's so beautiful and I grew up on this mountain so I'm loving coming back home! As I sit here a cool breeze is blowing, birds are chirping, leaves are rustling, and the spicy scent of wild thyme is all around me.  Thunder is rumbling in the distance.  A chipmunk just ran over my foot!  I think it was just as startled as I was!  Lol The moment we got here Emily disappeared with her cousin.  After visiting with my sister I'm sitting and working on my book. Aaaahhhhh!!!!  ...

    Today began the first day of our vacation and because we are on a tight budget, I'm trying to keep the costs down.  We chose to go spend it with Stephen.  I think he's been feeling a bit homesick and even his cousin who works at the same camp he does, noticed it.  So we postponed our plans for a day and headed off to the Adirondacks this morning since Monday is his day off.  I am thankful that it's only 2 1/2 hours a way so it's an easy day trip. Nathan had to work so it was just Dan, Emily and I.  I packed a picnic lunch and water to save some money and we headed off at 7:45 this morning.  We picked Stephen up and went off to one of the smaller mountains nearby his camp to go hiking. It was such a beautiful day with lots of sunshine.  It's been quite a while since I've hiked up any inclines so let's just say I wasn't too impressive in my pace.  Even now, my knees are killing me and my legs...