the goblin king

Our Gus in costume for his role in the play

The Princess and the Goblin

presented by the sixth and seventh-grade students at

 Veritas Academy 

in beautiful downtown Savannah.

Gus, and all of the other performers, 

did a great job and finished to a rousing round of applause.

For me, it was another night at the theatre.

Who doesn't love to see a good play?

These kids worked so hard and gave us a great show.

We ate at the Crystal Beer Parlor...

always good food!

Hooray for the actors and their love of entertaining the audience,

 

red sun glasses

Many years ago we were invited to go to the race track in Savannah.

The kids were still little and they were thrilled.

Somehow we were allowed to sit on the rear of the race car

and take a slow ride around the course.

It was such an exciting afternoon,

but this post is not about the race track.

It is about my sunglasses.

I bought the sunglasses at Anthropology, one of my favorite stores.

They were my favorites.

The kids loved them.

They were referred to as Grammy's red sunglasses.

I always had them on when we were outside.

One day we were at the beach out frolicking in the ocean.

A big wave came and knocked them off of my face.

We all scrambled to find them,

but they went out in the current and I never saw them again.

The joke was and still is that Dolly Dolphin,

the heroine in a favorite book we used to read over and over,

took them out to the depths of the ocean and is still wearing them today.

I miss those sunglasses and hope that one day Dolly will return them to me.

I have been told that she now lives in the waters directly in front of my beach condo.

Pods of them are frequently out there putting on a great show.

Speaking of the ocean,

we have never heard from the bottle we sent out into the Atlantic Ocean last June.

Inside was a $5.00 bill and my email address.

I keep hoping we will hear from someone one day.

I would love to know where it landed.

Off the end of the pier ~ There she goes to parts unknown!

Tybee Island, Georgia

6/17/23

 

favorite things ~ favorite spaces

Last Friday evening the ladies of Hope Bible Church met together for a "social."

It was beautifully done with candles 🕯 and flowers 🎕 on the tables,

Greek roll-up sandwiches, salads, and homemade goodies for dessert.

All the ladies brought a gift 🎁,

one of their very favorite things,

beautifully wrapped and laid out on the steps at the front of the church.

We could choose whichever gift we wanted.

It was such a special time,

a way to get to know the newest ladies a little better.

I brought a bouquet of my favorite roses and a bar of my favorite body soap.

I chose as my gift some exotic hot chocolate.

So much fun ~ 

so good to spend time with my sisters in Christ.

I was watching the sun flood my favorite place in the house this afternoon.

It took my breath away.

That's my spot early in the morning before the sun comes up.

It's quiet and still, with no distractions.

I read and study God's Word there before the day gets going.

I get recharged to meet the new challenges.

I search for what God has for me to know.

Lucy gave me this miniature plant last year.

It doesn't grow and spread out,

 but it produces beautiful little roses.

It sits by my nighttime chair where I read and sometimes watch a home improvement show.

This plant is one of my favorite things.

because it gives and gives and doesn't require much care.

Find beauty.

It is all around us.

Make beauty in your home.

Share beauty with others.

Share Jesus.

He is beautiful.

💗

 

"what can man do to you?"

Who else can say this but God?

"Let your character be free from the love of money,

being content with what you have;

for He Himself has said,

'I will never desert you,

nor will I ever forsake you,'

so that we confidently say,

'The Lord is my Helper, 

I will not be afraid,

what shall man do to me?'"

Hebrews 13: 5&6

💗

 

just a quick reminder

I've always kept up with the news,

all of it.

The world and what's going on,

especially politics.

Sadly,

I am thinking of giving it up.

It does not honor what God's Word tells us to think about.

There is nothing good or honorable in the worldly news sources.

What is reported there brings only anxiety and despair.

There is no hope, no peace, no rest for the soul.

The Bible makes it clear what we should think about...

"Whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is of good repute,

if there is any excellence,

and if anything worthy of praise,

let your mind dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:8

Where can we find these wonderful things to let our minds dwell on and bring peace to our souls?

Why in God's Word of course.

Feast on the Bible daily!

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law, he meditates day and night."

Psalm 1:2

The Bible tells us everything we need to know about this life and eternity.

Drink it in!

Think about it all day and when you can't sleep at night.

 Let it permeate your mind and your soul.

Jesus said,

"I am the way the truth and the life.

No one comes to God except by me."

John 14:6

Jesus is our Good News.

💗

 

can you find Cathy?

A long time ago.

Same half-lidded eyes.

Same dark circles.

Kind of melancholy.

What an eclectic bunch we were.

 

the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe

Last Friday night I got to see Harry perform at the Tybee Post Theatre.

He was one of Aslan's army from the much-loved children's series Tales of Narnia,

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

The main characters...

Susan, Lucy, Aslan, Edmund, and Peter...

just before the final curtain went down and the lights went dim.

Harry played one of the men in Aslan's army.

He maintained his beard very well.

I love at the end of the play when all of the characters come out and take a bow.

Loud applause and whistles greeted them all. 

This group of homeschoolers gave it their best effort. 

Lots of talent here.

🦁

I love my nights at the theatre.

 

Happy Birthday Archie ~ #16

We had another birthday last week.

Willian Archibald Cleland turned 16.

I 💗 so many things about this young man.

He is kind and thankful.

He has a desire to help others.

He can fix just about anything that's broken.

He changes my batteries and sets my clocks when the time changes.

He loves every meal I cook.

Archie loves cars.

He knows all about every make and model.

He has his learner's permit and has been practicing driving for a while.

Practice makes perfect and that's what he is aiming for.

He will be able to drive by himself in July.

He is saving for a car.

I know he has saved almost every penny he has ever been given.

He is a good steward of his cash.

💲💲💲💲

We partied Tuesday night.

We had Hot Dogs and Hamburgers,

Baked Beans,

Grammy's famous and much loved Potato Salad with a secret ingredient,

and Chips and my homemade Onion Dip.

For dessert,

Archie requested an ice cream sundae bar with all the fixings.

🍨

After dinner, we went out back for a rousing game of Lawn Darts.

Amanda was here and that made everything funnier.

Amanda is always the "life of the party!

🎉

These kids are growing up so fast!

I want to savor every minute!

 

 

total eclipse of the sun

I wish I could have been where I could have seen this happen.

🌞🌑

"The heavens declare the glory of God

 and the firmament showeth His handiwork."

 Psalm 19:1

 

54 years ago today...

...Bubba💙 and Cathy💗 got married.

So much has changed since that April day in 1970.

A whole lifetime has happened.

Some of these friends and relatives have passed on,

styles have changed,

 but I still wear my hair the same way.

After the service and the reception,

Bubba took my hand in his,

 and in a flurry of rice thrown by those who came to cheer us on,

  we made a dash for his car 

and never looked back.

I just spent some time browsing through my blog.

So much of our life is recorded there.

God blessed us abundantly.

I am now living the fruit that Bubba provided for me,

basking in the memories we made together.

 

We had a rich, full, fun life filled with the blessings of the Lord.

💗💗💗💗💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

April 11, 1970

 

grief lingers

We who have lost the love of their life💕 know the above quote to be true.

As time passes,

you begin to live your life again.

Your heart starts to heal,

you can actually be happy and have good times.

But,

 there are those moments of grief that still sneak in and bring tears.

The loss is so great.

Grief lingers and will never leave completely.

It stays hidden in the corners of my heart to appear at random moments.,,

and I cry.

😢

 Amanda is driving up the 95 to see me today.

Good times rolling in for a few.

Easter ~ 2024

Beautiful Easter flowers from Lucy. 

Delivered to me last Saturday.

Still just as beautiful today.

🎕

The Menu...

Honey Baked Ham

Savannah Red Rice

Macaroni & Cheese

Broccoli Salad

Green Beans

Pineapple Bake

Homemade Sourdough Bread

(made by Anna)

Fresh Strawberries and Real Whipped Cream

For dessert, Lucy made these delicious

Carrot Cake Cupcakes.

🥕 

The egg hunters.

They traveled in a pack.

No one could find the golden eggs.

🥚🥚

I couldn't resist.

I hid the small golden egg under the dumpster at the construction site.

(I don't think this unsightly mess is ever going away)

Walter went off on his own and found it.

He got $10.00.

That took the wind out of their sails momentarily, but there was still another egg to find...

The Golden Egg.

I had to practically show it to them.

                         It was inside the freezer in the garage in a Pepperidge Farm Coconut Cake Box.

                            David found it and left $20.00 richer.

Our group fell apart at the end because of the gnats.

David and Lucy went into the house and Erika and I took the picture.

We had such a wonderful afternoon celebrating together and having fun.

That's Ivan and Grace,  Anna, Robert, and six weeks old Sadie and my grandsons.

💕

 

picture in a dirt pile as seen by me

At first, I texted Harry to see if he would make me an "Old Rugged Cross."

(He loves to build things)

He texted me back and said,

"Sorry, I can't do that, we don't have enough wood."

(Punctuation was added by Grammy.)

The real reason he couldn't do it was that he had to work all day at CFA.

I told Lucy about my dilemma when she came to help me hide eggs.

She said,

"I can do that."

She took a much simpler approach.

She found two fairly straight tree branches in the back forty.

You can see the finished product in the pic above.

So, that is a big pile of dirt from the construction site across from my house.

It is almost on my property but not quite.

Yesterday she planted the cross on top of the dirt pile and I was well-pleased.

It is leaning a little but that just adds to its beauty

I took this picture early this morning.

The cross was still standing.

There is so much to see...

I love the simple cross she made.

Jesus had been taken down from the cross and buried in a newly-hewn tomb.

We hid an egg in the hole in the ground you can see.

The stone was on top of the egg.

Someone removed the egg and put it in his basket leaving the stone to the side.

To me, this was such a clear depiction of what happened on Resurrection Sunday.

The stone had been set aside.

The tomb the stone had been covering was empty.

Our Savior was not there.

He had risen just as he said.

I see the shape of the bottom of a heart on that stone in the dirt pile.

The love of God sent Jesus to the cross to die for our sins.

@seeing 💗s

There is an abandoned palm branch thrown off to the side of the dirt pile.

All palm branches that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem had been cast aside.

This photo had not been staged.

Only the cross was placed on the pile by my Lu.

I didn't notice any of these things yesterday when we were outside hunting eggs.

He is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!

Hope Bible Church

Resurrection Sunday

3/31/24