Sunday Blessing

There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God.
A place where sin cannot molest,
Near to the heart of God.

Refrain:
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us who wait before Thee
Near to the heart of God.

There is a place of comfort sweet,
Near to the heart of God.
A place where we our Savior meet,
Near to the heart of God.

There is a place of full release,
Near to the heart of God.
A place where all is joy and peace,
Near to the heart of God.

Near to The Heart of God
by: Cleland B. McAfee

Around the house...

We have a new chair!

Our 4th wedding anniversary was Thursday, the 28th, and my parents brought this over as a anniversary/thank you gift. (Mark has been helping them get some computer things set up.) Thanks, Dad and Mom!!!

Knitting makes a great accessory for chairs!

I've been busy the last week! Want to see what I've been up to?
Last Friday, my friend Melissa came to visit along with her baby girl Piper, and mom, June. We had a fun time visiting and admiring Princess Piper.


Memorial Day, my parents hosted a picnic at their house. We had lots of yummy food, and played some serious volleyball!


Tuesday was Regina's birthday. I took her gift, and also did a quick photoshoot of the girls. They are growing so fast!

(I did this "scrapbook page" on Picnik.com)


Look what is peeking out from under some leaves:


Yes! Red tomatoes! They are almost ready for a taste!
(And thanks, June, for the tip. I trimmed off some of the lower fruitless branches to help the plants put more energy into the fruit. Guess it worked!)

In another bit of news... I am now officially a full time stay-at-home wife! I quit my main part-time job on Thursday. It was a little sad, I had worked there (on and off) since 2001! My boss made a yummy blueberry cobbler (her specialty) and we had ice cream. I will hopefully have my Etsy shop stocked soon! :)

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! It is a beautiful day here, and I have been getting some things done around the house.

Blessings!
Charity

Remember the Fallen

In all our celebrations today, we need to remember to take a moment to remember those who have fallen in service to our country. Freedom is never free, it comes with a great price.

My Dad's Uncle Henry that died in the Pacific in WWII at age 18.

Thank you to those who are serving now!

Sunday Blessing

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

From: What Wondrous Love is This?
An American Folk Hymn

Today is a special day - my mom's birthday! (excuse me a moment while I wish her Happy Birthday...) Happy Birthday, Mom! You're the greatest! Love you!

I hope each one of you have a great extended weekend! We have a fun day planned for tomorrow.

Many Blessings!
Charity

Finished Object Friday

I had a few sick days last week and so had some extra knitting time! (bummer, huh?) :) I was happy to finish this bag:

I love the stretchy-ness of the bag. I think it will fit about anything... for example:

A pillow from my couch! :)

On the other hand, I don't like that it stretches quite so much. :) I used it for my library bag last week and it was hitting me around the knees. I think it would make a great beach bag or a bag for bulkier items.

I really enjoyed knitting it. I love the handle construction - you cast off on both sides then cast back on for the length of the handles - the pattern called for 40 for each handle - I cast on 62. It fits over my arm nicely. For those interested: here is the pattern link and here is the link to my Ravelry project page. It is a great little pattern, one that could be modified and still look very cute! :)

Oh, and speaking of knitting... I got a fun phone call this week. My cousin called me to share her excitement of just learning! She said she was having so much fun knitting, she couldn't even put it down enough to finish her book... and she was at an exciting part! :) I love having someone else to join in the knitting fun!

I also am really enjoy FOFriday! I am excited to see who else has something to share. (Here is the main explanation for FOF.) Everyone is welcome to join in! Happy Friday!

My Day...

I've been on a sewing frenzy!! :) It's been fun creating some new things - and I am loving my new rotary cutter and mat. I'll save some of the little scraps for Gracie and Faithie to use... of course, I save most of my scraps anyway... you never know what little project might turn up! :)
Now I must go clean and cook supper!!

What have you been up to?

Charity

Sunday Blessing

O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free.

Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.

His Word shall not fail you - He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell.

From: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
by Helen H. Lemmel

Isn't it amazing how the troubles of this world just seem to fade the closer we get to God? I love that last verse above: "His Word shall not fail you - He promised!" God's Word is true. We can trust in Him for our ultimate good. Sometimes it's hard thinking of what we may have to face as Christians, but we know when we believe God that "all will be well." When all is said and done, we can have faith that everything is going to turn out all right.

My apologies to those of you who visited my latest post and a picture was missing! I have resolved that little problem. You can now see how much my garden really has grown! :)

I hope all of you have a wonderful week!

Blessings!
Charity

It just keeps growing!

Do you remember what my garden looked like two weeks ago? Here it is then:

And here it is today!!

The huge tomato plants are just loaded with tomatoes... but when do they start ripening??? I think they've looked like this for at least a week!

Do I see a hint of orange there, or is it just wistful thinking? I can't wait for a fresh garden tomato!!

I also grabbed a few plants at the hardware store yesterday. (I had to make a stop for slug bait... those critters are having a hay day - the last straw for me was when they started munching on my bonsai!! War is declared!!)

Marigolds are supposed to help keep pests away. Hope they work!

And this one?? Just to cute to pass up! :)

Oh, and does anyone have a tip for my poor rose bush? It's more of a tree!

I'm thinking a sever pruning is in order soon!
...but when?

Enjoy your Saturday!!

Show and Tell: The Nest

For Show and Tell, I wanted to share something that is sitting on my coffee table. The bunnies are probably familiar, but the new thing is the jar. :) I had been wanting a (real) bird's nest. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law brought me one that a bird had build on Mark's grandmother's wreath a year or two ago - don't worry, it was vacant. :) Later I found this jar at a Salvation Army sale, and put them all together. (I found the eggs before Easter... aren't they cute?)

I love the artful way the birds arranged their little home - the softest layer for the little birds.

"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life. "
—John Burroughs

Happy Friday!

~Charity

Blog style for people who aren't that great with code...

... like me!
I am absolutely no expert on blog design. I wanted to start with that statement. I do a little tweaking of my HTML - but usually only with step-by-step instructions. I have been doing my headers recently at Scrapblog.com. I love their cute designs, and I can usually find something to work with. However... I have a problem matching my headers to all the cute backgrounds that I have found on various sites. I rarely find a good match.

Soo... I did a little research and found a way to put in my own background. I made this picture on Scrapblog:(click to enlarge)

I made it pretty subdued, and repeatable. I don't know how to get the column down the middle, so my pattern needs to be able to repeat. (I told you, I'm no expert!!)

I hosted this image on Photobucket.com, and inserted the direct link in my code under the "body section."

Here is what the code looks like:

body {

background:url (The Link to your picture goes here!!);

I got the three column layout by *very carefully* following the instructions here. (There is also a premade template to download at the bottom... WHY didn't I see this when I was getting so frustrated??) :)

Minima has a little black border around the header. I removed this a while back by following Tori's instructions.

Also I resized my header to 880 px wide to match the width of the three column template. For a two column, the size is 660 px. I just use Microsoft Picture Manager.

This isn't a great "tutorial" but hopefully it gives some helpful tips, and basically leads you to where you can find help. :) If you have some more tips, please leave them in the comment section. I don't know about other folks, but I'll take all the help I can get.

Happy (Sort of) coding!
Charity

A little of this and that...

First a little game:

What do these fabrics have in common?

(Answer at the end of the post. If you can't wait that long, click here.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I'm sure you all had a busy weekend like we did! Mine started Thursday evening with this:

(Discovered: the batter - without eggs - is almost as good as the finished cheesecake! Yum!)

I made the cake for my mom for Mother's Day. We celebrated with her Friday evening.

After a yummy dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we came to our house for cheesecake and presents.

On Saturday, Mom, Angie and I went on a walking history tour of our downtown area.

Saturday evening, Mark and I left to go spend time with his family for Mother's Day. Lauren, Mary and I arranged flowers for the Mark's grandmothers. We had fun with the arranging and deliveries.

Here is the table set for Sunday dinner with Mark's Mother's gift and her pretty dishes.

Today, I've been puttering around the house. I don't feel the greatest, a result of a cold (or allergies). Oh, well. I've done some laundry and unpacked, as well as getting a start on supper. Brittany's Chicken and Dumplins. Yum!

So have you guessed the answer to the question? You probably went ahead and clicked the link, huh? That's right! I'm gearing up to opening an Etsy shop! It is off to a slow start, but I'm hoping to have some things listed in a few weeks. After May, I won't be working my regular part time job anymore... a big decision for me as I've worked there for about seven years! Nothing wrong, just time to move on. I will probably be babysitting more as well as some volunteering here and there. I am really excited about the shop, though! I will have several aprons listed and some other things. I'll keep you updated! :)

Happy Monday!!

PS~ Yep, I missed Sunday Blessing this week. I didn't get it up before we left. It will be back next Sunday. :)

Finished Object Friday

It's Friday again!! I haven't finished my bag yet, although it is coming along fairly quickly. I do have a new project to share.

This was a gift for our pastor's wife. We celebrated her birthday at a local restaurant earlier this week.

I really like how the detail turned out at the top. It really pulled the apron together.


As you may have guessed, she loves teapots/cups. She was so excited about the apron, and proclaimed it "too pretty to wear." :) I promised her that it is washable. (I didn't get a picture of anyone modeling it, but it looks like this one, this one, and these.) It was fun to design it and pick the fabrics.

I am excited to see your FOFs! If this is your first time joining in (or you need a refresher) you can find the guidelines here.

Happy Friday!

Currently...

I'm working on this project:

It is my take on this pattern. I've been wanting to make a stretchy bag for a while. I am loving this pattern because it is on circulars (no seams!) and has been going fairly quick. I think I am going to like the way the handles are designed as well.

Don't forget! This Friday is Finished Object Friday! (My bag won't be finished - I don't think - but I do have something else to share.) :)

See you Friday!
Charity

How does your garden grow?

Remember my garden when we planted it? It's grown quite a bit since then!

There are also a couple of new plants in it. The cucumber I showed here and a little watermelon plant my friend gave me! (As well as a little yellow tomato plant that I don't think will survive!) :)

Saturday, I did a lot of weeding, fertilizing and general yard maintenance. While weeding the flower bed in the front of the house, I found these:

They look pretty enough to eat, huh? (I haven't tried them.)

We started our hard work Saturday with blowing insulation above the family room. I hope this will make it more bearable in the summer and winter! :)

Here are the bales of insulation:

I loaded them into here:

while Mark was in the attic directing the fluff!

We make a great team!!

Well, I'd better go get more done around the house! Dishes and laundry are calling...

Blessings!
Chari

Sunday Blessing

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

from: The Love of God
by Frederick M. Lehman

This is one of my favorite songs. How great is God's love for us!! He has created each of us, designed us purposefully. God doesn't make mistakes. His love for us can not be measured.

The picture was taken at a local public garden. It is some kind of water plant. Maybe someone knows what it is? :) I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Blessings!
Charity

PS~ There is a new post over on Time to Bloom! :)

Happy May Day!!

I wanted to share some of the flowers around my garden. So just pretend your doorbell has rung and you find this post hanging on the knob! :)

My impatient if finally blooming again. Hmm... I think it likes water or something like that! :)

I have a miniature bush that Mark gave me last year. It is blooming it's little head off! I love the cheery yellow at the end of my flower bed! (unfortunately, it is getting eaten and doesn't look the greatest close up. I need to do some work on it.)


I put geraniums in my little bed out front. I think they are pretty happy there!


This one surprised me this morning. It's my cucumber plant! (The lone seedling to survive! I'm glad I planted four!) It's still in a little plastic pot, but I guess it's happy there!


Some more little yellow flowers! I'm really happy about seeing a bunch of these!


...because they turn into these!

I hope you enjoyed my May Day tour! Have a great weekend!

Blessings!
Charity

Show and Tell: Old Knitting Books

When my grandmother came to visit in March, she brought me some books she thought I would enjoy. I wanted to share them with you!

The first three are knitting books: Learn to Knit, Women's Sweaters, and Classics from 8 to 16 (children's knits.) They are put out by the same company that makes Red Heart Yarn.

This book starts with the basics:


How's this for a hat? Gotta love the pom poms! :)


And the Snow Maiden for a little girl:


The book at the bottom of the stack was a catalog for supplies:


I sure wish I could find yarn this cheap!!


I thought these embroidery projects were funny. :)
(Hot Toast Makes The *butter fly*)

I hope you enjoyed my Show and Tell. I sure was glad my Grandmother brought them to me! I have enjoyed looking at these books. I love vintage things anyway. :)

We had a very special time with her while she was down here! This picture was taken at a lookout a little ways from here.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday! Thanks for dropping by! If it's your first time, welcome, and come back soon. :) For more Show and Tell visit Kelli's blog.

Blessings!
Charity