Black Friday Madness

I've watched with horror as the events of Black Friday unfolded on the news and have been wondering what has happened to us? We are so intent on acquiring "things" that there seems to be no bounds as to how we will obtain them. Greed and selfishness have a firm grip on our society. There is NOTHING worth the chaos of Black Friday or for that matter ANY other day to get things. I know what truly upsets me is that we have forgotten just what Christmas means. This is a time of year to celebrate our Savior's birth. Yes, I know that Christ was probably not born in December, but it is the time of year we celebrate His birth nonetheless. Christ is the reason for the season. I pray that we can accept His gift of salvation and eternal life. There is no waiting, no long lines. It's FREE for the taking.

My husband and I have decided that our gift to each other would be to help missionaries in the field further the Kingdom of God. We are thinking that perhaps this is how we will do it in the future. No more gifts for families of things that they will probably not use anyway. The monies we used to spend on them will instead be donated to Christian missionaries around the world in their names. Rapha House, is one of our choices. There are so many others, and as time goes on we will add them as well.

As we go about our daily lives this December let's keep in mind why we are celebrating. It is for Christ's birth. And through His birth we were given the chance of an eternity with Him. Take the Gift.

The One Child Yet To Be Found | Rapha House

The One Child Yet To Be Found | Rapha House

Not sure where the hubby

hid the camera! Would love to take pictures of my afghan block. So instead I am shampooing rugs, giving the dog a flea bath and washing the blankets :( When he calls from the road I will ask him where in the world he put the camera.

I got a new gadget to help me remember to take my seizure medications. I was having a hard time keeping track of when I took my medication and a good friend and my preacher suggested a pill timer. I looked on Ebay and found the perfect solution. It's purse sized and carries several days worth of pills. The alarm is loud enough to hear in just about every situation and so far I haven't missed a dose! You gotta love American ingenuity!

Well, if I'm going to bath the dog I better get going.

I've Been Working on Christmas

gifts for the past several months and still have so much to finish. I just purchased a couple of balls of really pretty yarn to make a scarf for my daughter and a book of sample stitch squares to make another afghan. I finished one of the blocks and then cut the wrong loop. No help for that, so I started another block. The title of the stitch is King Charles Brocade and it looks very pretty. Not sure if I'll stop at the 12" they say to make a block or if I'll just keep knitting until I reach the end of the skein and make it into a panel. I'm leaning towards the later and have selected the next sample stitch that I think will compliment the Brocade very well.

It was a great day here in central Florida. But then that's nothing new. I thought when we were contemplating moving here that I might miss the change of seasons. Even though I loved the fall foliage in the Northeast, I did not like the snow and cold. There are subtle changes here, with different plants blooming at different times of the year. The beauty of having such great weather is that I can grow so many more things than I ever could in the North. All things considered I wouldn't move back. It's kind of neat to go shopping in November in my shorts :)

QUIT MESSING WITH TIME

As far as I can tell our chickens have no clue that I was granted an "extra" hour last night! This whole business of changing our clocks ahead or back is foolishness and I can just about guarantee that few people even know why we go through this every six months. It appears that I'm not alone in that assertion. http://ellicottcity.patch.com/articles/daylight-saving-time-fall-back-but-why

I guess it goes to show that once a piece of legislation is signed it is almost impossible to get it off the books, even when the original premise is proven false. We should bear that in mind the next time we hear our politicians say anything they enact will be temporary or for our own good. ;-)

Now that I have had another cup of freshly brewed coffee to clear the cobwebs out of my head, I must say that this looks like it's going to be another gorgeous day. I am rarely disappointed in the weather here. In fact I can't think of a day I was (even during rainy season). As I peer through the curtains of my window and see the sunshine playing off the still damp grass and peeking through the Spanish moss I am filled with a sense of contentment. The birds (who also weren't informed of the time change)are singing their greetings to each other and I can hear my husband's own contribution to this symphony from our bedroom. Does it get better than this?

I am truly blessed.

A DETERMINED WOMEN!

A few months ago my husband saw a beautiful rocker that he expressed a desire to own. As a surprise I decided to go to Sebring and pick it up for him. We had just traded in our Ford Explorer and had gotten a Ford Focus. When I pulled up to the store and paid for the rocker, I instructed the young man that I would be taking the rocker home with me. He said, "Lady, I don't think you can do that." Really??? Just put the rocker in the car young man and I'll figure out the rest. So after a little re-positioning of the junk in the trunk and lowering the back seats we got the rocker in. Next to the furniture store was a tent full of all sorts of odds and ends and in between what I already had in the car (for emergency, you never know when that string will come in handy) and what I purchased I managed to tie down the rocker and began the 30 mile trip back home. I will say that NO ONE tailgated me that day ;-)

I DECIDED TO BEGIN

writing my blog again. It's been two years since we've moved to Florida and I honestly can't imagine living anywhere else. The house we live in is the oldest in our little area and outside of the drafty windows and doors, it's a home that has enveloped us in warmth.

I'm looking out of my little office window this morning and can see the neat, compact rows of the orange grove across the street. While I was outside earlier I had to take a photo of the sprawling tree with the Spanish moss draped so delicately from it's branches. The sun was just peeking its head through the lacy moss and the sight made me smile. I'm not much of a photographer, but I hope I captured some of the beauty that made me stop in the first place.

We began raising chickens again. It's been over 10 years since we had a place that we could do this again and so far so good. There have been a couple of hick ups, so to speak, but all in all it is a very rewarding experience. There are eight hens all together and they have been laying about 4-5 eggs a day. As the weather turns cooler we think the laying will increase. Skip changed the food about a month ago and it seems to be making for heavier hens and strong shelled eggs. They are a lively bunch of girls. Here are just a couple of the girls.

I started the "Chixs with Stixs" group at church too. The intent is to teach whomever wants to learn, how to knit. I have opened the group up to all needle crafting this year and even offered to teach any man who would like to learn how to knit. My first group met this last Wednesday at church. I had five beautiful, talented ladies show up and while we were only going to meet for an hour, the session lasted two! They all showed an eagerness to learn and were up to the challenge of learning something new. It's wonderful to see the art of knitting passed on to others. I am hoping that Anne will teach me how to crochet. On Saturday I will be showing another small group how to knit and from there, who knows???? I'll try posting some pictures of the groups after clearing it with them of course.