'Tis A Gift To Be Simple

I never want to be so hurried that I forget to be thankful to God for His great love. He has given me so much; eternal life being number one on the list.  I am so thankful that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and that I can increasingly have a more intimate relationship with Him .  Family, friends, the desire to serve others, a home, clothes, food, health, talents, creativity and music are just a few of the other wonderful gifts I thank Him for. I want to remember to thank God for all things every day; not just on or around Thanksgiving.

Just before Thanksgiving in 2009 my husband and I enjoyed a reenactment of the first Thanksgiving. We were served a green salad with walnuts, stewed pumpkin, turkey, a corn dish, bread and apple juice. We even had the opportunity to taste eel meat. I have to be honest, I really didn't like the food. I am truly thankful for the food God provides me with every day.

 Actors portraying William Bradford and Miles Standish spoke to the audience with the pilgrim dialect telling of their life in Plymouth and of their first Thanksgiving meal in the new land. People dressed in period costumes portrayed the pilgrims in their daily life. Though I have read there were no cows in Plymouth at this time, there was a cow for us to pet. I guess a turkey, deer, seal or swan might be a little harder to acquire for an event like this. I am thankful that I have such a pleasant memory to look back on.

A Walk Through The Park

Last week the air was very crisp, and the shadows were getting long but I just had to get out and walk through the park. The trees seemed to be from all different seasons. Some were still green as if summer was hanging on. Others were beautiful fall colors: yellow, orange and red. Others were bare and seemed to be in a hurry for winter. A walk out doors always lifts my spirits. The fallen leaves did not disappoint me. They crunched under my feet as I walked along the path.

I couldn't resist taking more shadow silhouette pictures.

As I am writing this post, I keep looking out my window. The sun is shining so brightly, and the orange leaves are blowing gently in the breeze. The air is quite warm for this autumn day...... I think I might take a little walk. 

My Little Doll Collection

Me. Two years old.

 When I was born we lived in small mountain town in western Washington.  On a few occasions we visited an elderly neighbor lady named Mrs. Raver. I'll always remember the walk my dad an we three older girls took with her down an old back road canopied with maple trees. That day she found a dead hummingbird with it's beautiful plumage still shinny and unruffled. She picked it up and put it in her apron pocket. It may have been this same day, she took us to her house and showed us around.  I don't remember many details about her house but I do remember a feeling of wonder and curiosity at what I saw. I remember her late husband's arrow head collection and a beautiful vintage floor lamp. On this visit she gave me the doll in the picture below. I felt so special to receive such a gift. The word Poland is printed on its cloth leg. The body is filled with sawdust. It seems to have been made in or before the 1950's. 

My mother, grandmother and I took a road trip this summer to Kanab, Utah. We went to the Western Legends Round Up and met quite a few western movie and television actors from the 1950's and 60's. We had such a nice time together. On our way home, driving out of the small town of Kanab, we stopped at an antique store. I saw the doll in the next picture there. It caught my eye because it was the same type of Polish doll as mine. I didn't purchase it at the time. We went home but I kept thinking about that doll. I decided to get it two months later so I called the store, ordered it and had them ship it to me.

These next dolls are my favorite dolls because my daughter, Justine, and my son, Sergio, made them for me. They made them about twelve or thirteen years ago. Justine was about eleven and Sergio eight years old. Justine made the two girls; she even braided and sewed the straw hat. Sergio made the man doll, sewn completely by hand. I think this one is Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Not included is his Zorro doll also completely hand sewn.

  This doll is about thirty years old. My parents bought it for me on one of our outings when we lived in Colorado. I thought it was so exciting to have a doll made by a real Indian. The Navajo Indians still make these dolls and sell them at different locations.

 I have two more dolls to add. Both are porcelain. My grandmother made the baby, below, and gave it to me for Christmas in 1978.  I was thirteen years old.  She made one for each of us four girls.

 My mother made the little girl in the picture below. She has made many dolls starting from pouring the body parts into molds, baking them in her kiln and all the steps until she has the finished project. She even made the little clothes. I will always treasure these dolls.

    I don't have many dolls but I love my dolls because of the stories behind them.

Halloween

We didn't dress up this year but I really wanted to post Halloween pictures. I chose these pictures from our past three Halloweens.

2010  Sergio and I are Lucy and Ricky, Justine is a French Marionette, and. . .  a friend.

 2009 Anthony seems to be in a wind storm. It was fun putting so much hairspray in his hair.

Togetherness. Sergio J., Cousin Wil, Elizabeth and Anthony. I love this picture.

 Elizabeth and Cousin Angie. Aren't they cute.

2008 Justine, or should I say Audrey.

 Elizabeth looks so cute in her great, great aunts vintage dress.
We have had such fun dressing up for Halloween. The best part of it was the happy times we spent together. 

A Little Bird Told Me

Birds, one of God's fascinating creations. I love to watch them and photograph them. Some hop on two feet to get around, and some walk along putting one foot in front of the other like this European Starling we saw on the side walk in Washington State. In winter it is a delight to see their little claw prints in the snow, and to try and figure out what kind of bird made the tracks.

This bird was perched in the tree in our back yard. It could be a Coopers Hawk. I was so excited to look out of my bedroom window and see it just sitting there looking around one morning.

Shadow Silhouettes

It is quite entertaining and calming to take a walk and find different objects to take shadow pictures of. I thought this grass shadow on the side walk looked so picturesque. We took our walk to the park with an adorable little friend.

(I took my shadow picture early this summer. I got the idea to post it from mayamade.blogspot.com.)

Garden Update

                                                                                                                                                                      Elizabeth did wonderful work in the garden this year. Of course we have to give some credit to her grandparents who helped plant in the spring and weed when they visited three times during the summer.

With winter just around the corner and warnings of frost, we gathered in all the gifts from our garden. We harvested everything: tomatoes, eggplants, tomatillos, peppers. Everything else stopped producing just a little while ago. The potatoes and sweet potatoes are still in the ground waiting to be dug up. I plan on harvesting the potatoes tomorrow.  I can't wait to see what I'll find; big potatoes, small potatoes, a lot or a little.
Gardening and harvesting give the gardener feelings of joy, contentment and expectation that warm the heart. I find that working with the soil and growing plants has a calming effect on my mind.