coming down

This is how Lucy comes down the stairs.

Well, let me back up.

Lucy spent the night with me 

last night.

She sleeps upstairs in the guest bedroom.

When she comes,

she brings a lot with her including an array of

her favorite stuffed animals.

So, she brings her suitcase with her name monogrammed

that we gave her for Christmas several years ago,

loaded to the brim.

Earlier in the morning we had been talking about

sledding in the snow...

something we don't get to do much around here.

We both agreed 

that sledding would be so much fun.

So, just before we were heading out for the afternoon,

I saw her at the top of the stairs,

unloading her suitcase.

When I asked what she was contemplating,

she answered this,

"Gram,

 I'm thinking about sledding down the stairs in my suitcase."

Horrified,

I said "NO" a hundred times!

So, she modified her plan,

sat down on her rump

and bounced 

all the way to the bottom of the stairs

pushing the suitcase in front of her.

All I will say is that had to hurt.

I do remember though, when I was her age,

I did the same kinds of things.

I was always hanging upside down from the top of my swing set.

I love her.

I guess you can tell.

comfort

When you open the door to our condo at the beach,

I want it to convey the feeling of

comfort.

It goes back on the rental market on

February first.

We have had it all to ourselves for a whole month to

refurbish and enjoy.

I chose a white quilt and pillow shams

for the king sized bed.

The khaki pillow with starfish

make it scream beach.

In this room both lighthouses

on the island

are represented in the pictures on the wall

There is also a sign that says,

"Weekend Getaway."

I always have the door facing the water open

when I am there.

This passed by while we were working.

I always call it the 

"best show in town."

The queen sleeper sofa

was new last year.

Bubba painted the little fold out leaf dining table

and the coffee table white for that real "beachy" feel.

The kitchen is very vintage.

No dishwasher.

Bare bones,

but who wants to do much cooking 

while they are at the beach?

Just so long as you have a big enough pot to boil

 shrimp and crab

and lots of paper towels,

what else do you really need?

Best deck in town for the best view in town.

Its ready to go again

I love this place!

On a sad note,

someone finally stole my big, huge conch shell

that had been sitting on that deck since we first got the condo..

I hope they are enjoying it....truly, I do.

Need to get Frankie to take me to 

Warsaw Island 

to get another one. :(

one of those days

I had a hard time getting up this morning.

I never have a hard time doing that.

I also had a hard time staying up

or getting anything done.

Had an appointment with the dermatologist at eleven.

Took a shower,

but didn't do my hair

 or apply any enhancement to my face.

Drove into town...the brain fog continued.

Missed my turn

and had to go way out of the way.

At least I got a good report from the doctor,

nothing even needed to be cut 

or burned away.

Had about ten errands to run,

but came straight home instead of running them.

Figured that was the best thing to do in my condition.

After eating lunch and resting a bit,

I started a project.

Big mistake!

I turned this beautiful antique piece of furniture over

so as to attach these "magic sliders"

onto the bottom of the legs,

so that I can, in the future, move it more easily.

Using the world's most successful "super glue,"

I commenced with my project.

Somehow I got the tube of super glue

attached to the bottom of my thumb.

I will stop here and do a little commercial for "super glue."

IT WORKS!!!!

I tried to get it off...no way.

I ran it under hot water....not budging.

Didn't want to tell Bubba,

because I knew he would say

"Cathy" 

in that way he says it when I've done something wrong.

He did.

But I needed help.

His first thought was alcohol immersion.

then I thought we should read the packaging.

The package said to use acetone

fingernail polish remover.....

mine had no acetone.

Finally at my point of despair,

because he had told me,

"Cathy, I'm just going to have to jerk that thing off of your finger,"

at which I cringed and teared up,

he appeared around the corner with a can of what else?

WD 40.

He sprayed it all around the edges and

the tube of glue slid right off of my thumb.

Never been so happy in my life.

and

WD 40 really does work on everything!

refuge

I have read 26 Psalms on this 26th day of January ~ 2015.

In this reading I have come across

the word refuge

9 times.

The word refuge in the Psalms

refers to God.

God is our refuge.

Webster defines refuge like this....

"Shelter or protection from danger or distress."

God is our refuge,

our safe place in the storms of life.

He is where we should run when we are in trouble or distress,

when the circumstances of our life are not what we want them to be.

The world has plenty of places that we run swiftly to when we hurt,

but they do not last, they give no real relief or help.

People turn to all sorts of things,

drugs and alcohol,

movies and TV,

shopping,

reading,

travel,

food.

All of these distract for a while,

but they don't bring lasting relief.

They only cause us to want more and more

to try and feel better,

to escape the cares of the world.

The Bible says that God is our safe place...

the right place to run

when we are overwhelmed with life.

In His word,

God has given us

"Everything we need for life and godliness."

The answers for all of life's hard questions are in His word.

Do you run to it as your only safe place,

or do you seek after the things of this world?

There is peace for the heart

and life for the soul 

contained in the pages of His word.

Run there!

joy

 Love . This . Picture

Pure joy caught on camera.

Jake, Lucy, Harry, Gus and Eli frolicking

on the lawn a couple of years ago.

This was a birthday celebration weekend.

In this family,

there is nothing like a birthday.

You are indeed made to feel special.

Yesterday dawned much colder and windy,

but it didn't stop us from getting on

 I - 95

and driving south to Jacksonville, Florida.

Eight total in the van,

one in a full leg cast in the seat between Erika and I,

all children taking ten minute turns on my IPad.

They loved it and did not fight.

PF Changs tasted wonderful.

We had not been in quite a while

which enhances those flavors even more,

Crab wontons

Chinese dumplings

Egg rolls,

Shrimp and chicken kung pao

Garlic noodles

Fortune cookies,

It was a sumptuous feast to celebrate David's birth.

When we finished shopping we all went to the candy shop

where we each got to pick our own.

Archie choose a chocolate alligator,

several chocolate covered Ritz crackers were consumed,

granddaddy got a praline

and I got two chocolate covered cherries

and some sea salted caramel.

A stop at Trader Joe's at the beach finished  our day.

We left to come home

 happy campers 

with bags full of goodies.

Thank you God for good times,

 fun times with our family,

for good food shared together with lots of love.

Now,

one more week in January.

Days are continuing to get longer,

Spring is coming......warm weather too.

Almost there!!

happy birthday david....

....what a beautiful family you have!

The older you get the more thankful I am

for all of you....

watching God work His miracles

  to make you who you are.

David and Erika 

got to spend the day together doing fun things

and Bubba and I 

got to love on our grandchildren.

I rose very early this morning to make

 David's birthday cake.

It was a red velvet.

It tuned out

to be amazing in all ways.

The only thing for next time 

would be to make a little more icing.

Here is a slice for you....

I put this next picture on facebook this morning.

I love the color of the batter.

Tomorrow morning,

Lord willing,

we are going to Jacksonville to celebrate at

PF Changs.

Its been a long time coming.

What a birthday weekend!

David, I love you!!

here it is....

....the natural jute,

 eight foot round rug.

Today, 

I completely emptied the room 

of everything 

from top to bottom.

I scrubbed the walls 

 the bookcases 

the beadboard 

 the floor 

 the windows

and the overhead fan

until they were all clean as a whistle.

Then,

I pushed the rug into the middle of the room

and unpackaged and unfolded it.

At some point during this unpackaging process,

 Bubba screamed down from upstairs,

"You are going to kill yourself."

I didn't answer him.

(He is down with a sore back)

Now Amanda,

you may be right.

The rug, the furniture, and the new coffee table 

may be a tight squeeze.

The table is not done yet, so I couldn't bring that in.

After I placed the rug,

I moved all the furniture back.

Then I moved it around and about, here and there.

By this time Bubba is out cold,

and wouldn't care if I moved all of the furniture out of the house.

(the meds kicked in for him)

And along with a heating pad and his recliner,

he is out for the night.

I did take time to cook a delicious meal,

shrimp creole.

It was amazing and gave me lots of energy 

to continue working on into the night.

Just kidding,

In 50 minutes I will be in bed with my book.

I may get one sentence read before I'm gone for the night.

The days are getting longer!

Hooray!

facebook

I love Facebook.

In reality, it is basically a place to keep up with people.

Some of my friends on facebook go all the way back to my childhood,

some I have made since we moved back to Savannah.

And then there are those from 

high school and college,

students I taught,

friends from our time in Atlanta, 

the list goes on and on.

It is a place where we share pictures and good news.

recipes and music,

fun places to search out.....

a way to keep in touch with people

who would otherwise

 have passed from our realm.

Earlier in the month I shared three collages

of the pictures I shared in 2014.

This is just a little sampling of some of my "statuses."

So fun to look back over the last year this way.

David and Archie went to the

Shriner's Hospital

in St. Louis

yesterday

to start the casting process

 that will make his foot straight and usable.

Keep Archie in your prayers.

He will go back in two weeks for a new cast.

We just picked them up from the airport

Archie was riding on a cart,

with David pushing.

Also on the cart 

was his Star Wars suitcase that we gave him for Christmas,

and his very own little walker.

God have mercy on Arch and his family

as this process progresses.

Not easy ~ Always thankful for God's grace and your prayers

We love this little boy from China

who always

has a smile on his face.

beautiful afternoon....

.....down at our condo on 

Tybee Island.

The wind was blowing as you can see,

and all the grass in the dunes is the color of winter.

The sun was shining brightly

and there were two kites in the air.

Most relaxing, most restful place on earth

just a stones throw away.

We are getting it ready for the next rental season

which starts very soon.

This year I bought a new duvet cover and shams

for the king size bed.

We are going to paint the furniture

to give it a fresh look,

maybe a few new lamps,

and fresh rope lighting on the deck.

I like to read the guest book....

people just love

the view.

That is what keeps them coming back year after year.

The ocean,

the Savannah River,

the big container ships,

the little boats,

Hilton Head,

and the dolphins...

all of these together put on the best show in town.

They love the color on the wall,

reef it is,

the moldings,

the vintage sinks,

the king size bed,

the coziness,

but most of all the view!

Than you Lord for this little place by the ocean,

the we call home!!

a saturday morning.....

....chit ~ chat

of  this and that and of

 nothing in particular.

First picture....

I can always tell when our grandboys have been here.

Found these super heros this morning

on the bottom step.

Evidently they forged into action sometime during the night

to save and protect this house.

The bleached, jute rug arrived sometime during the night.

I noticed this big package on the porch

this morning after the sun

peeked out.

I have no idea how it appeared without

either of us noticing.

Maybe that is why the super heros came down.

It is almost like it flew in and just landed on the porch.

I love it!

It is beautiful!

Here is the table project.

The pedestal will be cut down ten inches 

making it coffee table size.

Bubba will take it all apart and paint it linen

and then the top and bottom will be reattached.

It will then sit proudly on top of the bleached jute rug.

Isn't work wonderful....

a project to accomplish,

working together with your best friend,

taking good care of what God has blessed us with,

the delight in finishing a project.

Sin hinders here on earth,

but in heaven our work that God has for us

will be accomplished perfectly 

every time.

Sin is a burden that weighs heavily on all that we do,

but in heaven there will be no more sin.

There is plenty of joy here,

but in heaven the joy In Christ will be limitless!

Oh to feel that burden of our sin nature lifted

and to be perfectly free in Him!!

finishing up....

.....moving in.

Last year when we moved into our new home,

I put things wherever I could find a

place.

This year I have been overcome with

the nesting instinct.

All I want to do is clean and organize.

Drawers, closets, cubbyholes,

whatever,

they are are being examined and decluttered

with this mindset...

"If I haven't used it in the last year it is going."

E-Bay will be buzzing again real soon.

Report on the rug and the table

from the blog entitled

"up...up and away."

Sure enough,

Bubba read about the new rug and the table project

on my blog the next morning.

He was upstairs, 

so he sent me a text saying this....

"Reviewed the Amex bill & then went to the blog.

Walla! 2+2=4."

That very same afternoon

the table appeared in the garage

ready to go!

I was impressed and happy.

It is still sitting there,

but I have high hopes!

Can I find something beautiful

in these gray, cold, and wet January days?

Yes,

My heart is full of the joy of the Lord.

my home is warm and beautiful,

my husband is here with me

and I have the best children and grandchildren

in the world.

I did not take the picture above,

but I love storms over the ocean.

seeing hearts

The other day

 I looked at my real live Christmas wreath on the front door

 and saw a heart.

So beautiful, and a perfect message.....

"For God so loved the world

that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him

shall not perish but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

God,

who made and sustains us,

who loves us with an everlasting love,

has promised eternal life to all who believe on His Son.

I always wonder why the world hates Jesus.

Why even to speak His name

 here in our own country

causes outrage.

The greatest, most exciting truth

in all the world,

clearly stated for all to see and know,

is rejected by the most.

I pray for all who read.

May this message of God's written word

reach all the way down into your heart 

and give you life in Jesus.

My words cannot change a thing, 

but God's words can change your heart.

up....up and away

Went to the Mexican Restaurant with these guys last night.

The servers always give the kiddos balloons.

Rather than take them home where they cause a lot of trouble,

we make a big deal of letting them go when we get outside.

I tried to capture the excitement that this always brings.

Watching them fly away into the night

makes for a real party.

I just ordered an eight foot round,

bleached jute rug for my beach/fireplace room.

I think it will be just the touch of beauty

that will finish the room off.

I have an old, very antique table

that we used to eat off of for many years.

I want to cut that down,

sand and paint the table linen,

and put it in the middle of that bleached rug.

I haven't told Bubba about the table project yet.

I'll let him read of it here.

He is planning on setting up a workshop in the garage....

so there you go, first job!

We have a rainy, cool week in store,

but I don't mind.

I have so many projects here at the house to keep me busy,

friends to have lunch with,

and grandchildren to play with.

I want to start selling on e-bay again,

exercising,

and working on the outside

(putting out pine straw).

So thankful for a rich, full, and healthy start to 2015!

So much to look forward to...

Eli ~ Epcot to name a few!!!

with the breath of kindness

"Oh, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person;

Having neither to weigh thoughts or measure words,

but to pour them out....

just as they are...

chaff and grain together,

knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them,

keep what is worth keeping,

and then with the breath of kindness,

blow the rest away."

Dinah Maria Craik

1826 - 1887

On the way to the beach yesterday afternoon,

I had a lot on my mind.

Much or most of it needed to come out.

Bubba listened,

sifted,

and told me the truth.

I love him for that gift to me.

Our marriage is blessed in so many ways....

communication

 being chief among them.

I respect him for his wisdom,

he listens to me in an understanding way.

The above quote 

from a friend's post today 

caught my eye and said what was on my mind.

I am so thankful for this man I married.

God brought us together because 

He knew what each of us needed in a spouse.

The reason 

that I trust his wisdom 

is because he is so frequently in God's word and in prayer.

During this last year of suffering,

his prayers literally kept me from going under 

in the waters of sorrow.

God gave me a godly husband.

I had no idea that I needed a godly husband at age 22.

I don't remember even praying for one,

but He knew,

and I am so thankful.

year in review #3

Blessings...

so much to be thankful for.

These pictures really do capture the year.

Not blogging much this week,

still just sharing pictures and such.

I hear its gonna be really cold tonight.

So glad most of our winters here in the deep south are so mild.

Tonight I am thankful for

warm blankets,

my fireplace,

my gray lovey cashmere sweater,

and your warm body next to mine in the bed.

Bubba to me....

"You put the beautiful in life."

Love it!!!!

Nothing better to me could be said.

sunset on a winter day

I took this picture from our condo just now.

I was on the walkway down to the beach.

The man sitting on the dock watching the sun set

said I had just missed the best of its color.

I think he was wrong about that.

To me it was still beautiful.

If you look just above the sunset to the left

you can see the planet Venus....

It was brilliant in the western sky.

I love photography.

It consumes me with excitement.

So glad to have found this hobby in my old age.

Thank you God tonight for the beauty of Your creation.

Even though it is tainted with sin,

and no match for what heaven will be,

what You have given us here on this earth to enjoy is

breathtaking.

the moon tonight

As I passed by the front door just now,

I noticed a brightness.

Looking out,

I saw the moon shining through the window over our front door.

I snapped 3 pictures on night portrait

and this is what I got.

Amazing, I think.

The more amazing truth is that God hung it there.

He called it the lesser light.

The moon ~ so beautiful.

Go out and take a look.

:)

year in review #2

Not blogging tonight ~ just sharing another review picture.

I was in the attic this afternoon 

putting away Christmas decorations

during the tornado warning.

Lo and behold,

 one tore through just a mile or two up the road.

Thankfully,

 I was spared being flung from the attic.

After dinner at the Mexican Restaurant

I did my new calendar for 2015 ~

mostly people's birthdays and ages.

My ~ my we are getting old!

I also cleaned out my receipt folder and cleaned my desk area.

I am ready to start the new year!!

Hooray for 2015!

year in review

I do this every year.

Facebook compiles all of my posted pictures

 into a collage.

It is always fun to look back and remember

all the fun things that happened.

Taking down the Christmas decorations today.

Sometimes you just have to stay home and work really hard.

The house looks so bare and drab...

so, some lights will stay up.

The one good thing about January is.....

we can look forward to the days getting longer,

the nights getting shorter,

and Springtime!

On January first,

I started over with reading the Bible.

I finished it a couple of weeks ago and took a short break.

My plan is to read each day in the Old Testament,

the New Testament,

and then to write a Psalm.

It is good to read the Bible through.

You see God's plan from beginning to end.

Here's what God says about reading His word.....

'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor stands in the path of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But,

HIS DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD,

AND IN HIS LAW HE MEDITATES DAY AND NIGHT.

He shall be like a tree

planted by the rivers of water,

that brings forth its fruit in its season,

whose leaf also shall not wither,

And whatever he does shall prosper."

Psalm 1: 1~3

Its a great promise!

The law is God's word.

If you make His word your delight,

your life will be very fruitful

and you will prosper spiritually.

Maybe you would like to read God's word through this year too!

Ask Him for wisdom and knowledge and understanding

of His written word.

He will graciously give it to you.

at the beach just now

At the beach, where our condo is located,

is a great place to watch the ships and boats go by.

This is the Agnes Marie,

a shrimp boat.

She goes out to catch the fresh shrimp we buy 

at the seafood market down there.

The normal array of sea birds were following her,

but not a single dolphin did we see.

Lucy and I went to the beach today to hunt for

buried treasures.

We gave her a metal detector for Christmas.

There were a lot of good strong signals,

but we didn't find anything of value.

She spent most of her time looking for hermit crab

while I dug for treasure.

That's Lu there in the pink rain boots,

perfect for the beach by the way.

She was fascinated with the barnacles on this old pole.

As the holiday weeks come to a close,

as I look back on all the pictures,

I am so glad I do this blog.

Life is about remembering the good times

and being thankful for the life God has bestowed.

Thank you all for reading as I begin yet another year.