Meekness ~ Innocence ~ Liberty… and Peace

Finished her today! Not exactly sure what I’m going to do with her, but the papercut version is hot on her heels! This Lady Liberty is taken from a motif on Edward Hicks’ Peaceable Kingdoms… I gave her a flag because I thought she needed one. 

My mind keeps returning to the subject of peace… and it’s come up quite often in our conversations lately, both at home and with others. Peace on this earth is not easy to come by, but knowing that our heavenly Father is in charge of our lives gives us a peace beyond human reasoning. He can redeem any situation and use it for His glory. He can make beauty out of ashes. He can create something out of nothing. As humans, we’re looking at the bottom of a beautiful tapestry. From our side, we see a bunch of tangled threads and knots… but some day we’ll see eternity from God’s perspective and truly understand the concept of a Peaceable Kingdom.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:
not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
~ John 14:27 ~ 

 

 

A Not-So-Square Triangle.

I left my plastic triangle on the dashboard of our mini-van this morning. The mini-van was sitting in the sun. And now, the once flat and very accurate triangle is now an abstract sculpture! Maybe I can sell it on E-Bay!?

We spent the afternoon painting frames, painting papercuttings, and digging in the dirt. Actually Hubby did most of the digging, with Kate coming in a close second. I went out for the grand finale and planted asparagus roots. Chris has been working on some new raised beds for asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries, and nearly has them finished. We’ve planted all sorts neat things this past week… chestnut trees, a mulberry bush, red currents, blueberry bushes, thornless blackberries, sweet cherries, and apricots! Hopefully the farm will have lots of fruits and nuts in years to come! Kate’s working on her end of the garden too… she has peas coming up nicely, just thinned out her broccoli, and the lettuce is looking good! The carrots just went in today. There’s a sort of  ”no man’s land” in the middle of the garden, and Kate and Dad are each advancing their trenches toward each other. I wonder who’ll win? I’ll try to get a picture sometime this week!

And our lilacs are blooming and smell heavenly! However, we usually enjoy them outside… they get a little heady for us indoors. 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth;
but the Word of our God shall stand forever.
~ Isaiah 40:8 ~ 

The Pecking Order…

I finally got this flock of hens in a frame! One of our customers requested a flock of chickens a while back, and after several versions of it, I’m pretty sure this one is my favorite! It really shows the personalities (or chicken-alities?) of the gals in our backyard. I particularly like the attitude of the old gals who is completely unimpressed by the rooster’s loud crow or the squabbles of the younger gals. If you’ve kept chickens, you will definitely understand about the “pecking order.” It can really get vicious sometimes, and we’ve had to rescue more than a few gentle hens from being pecked to death! Some of the terribly wounded ones have recovered though, when sheltered in a quiet spot and shown lots of love and a bit of first-aid. We had one named “Sweetie” that was so bad none of us thought she’d survive, but our resident-mother-hen Kate took her under her wing and doctored her. Sweetie resided with the goats from then on, followed Kate as if she was her protector, and finally passed away gently due to old age.

The frame on this one is actually wider, but it wouldn’t fit in my scanner, so this is a cropped version.
Framed Size 6″ x 12″ (Outside Edges)

P.S. If you have a backyard flock, treat them to a marshmallow every once in a while! They will get their exercise chasing each other around, and you will have stitches in your sides from laughing at their antics!

There’s something about Mondays…

… that I really like. That’s probably contrary to the popular view on Mondays, but for me, getting “back to business” after the weekend is a joy. Monday is my day to get my house in order… to catch up on laundry that was neglected (or created?) over the weekend, to tidy up after being home, or after being away, whatever the weekend held. To get back on schedule and back on track. It’s like a clean slate. 

(Photo by Kate)

This morning, Kate and I ran through our homekeeping tasks, and then tackled some disorganized spots upstairs. Mine was my closet and dresser… spring clothes were starting to trickle in, and space was beginning to be a problem. So, today I pulled out all the stuff that needed to go into the attic, and made a large pile of things that will never worn again, and then took them to the thrift store. I have no clue whatsoever how I get so many things to donate, because I’m really not a clothes shopper. And I’m a clearer-outer too. Hmm… something else to ponder.

After dropping off our bags of stuff, we ventured over to our new old library! And were we ever impressed! (And should have taken the camera!) The original library was in a little trailer in Bethany Beach, and was a mish-mash of sand-covered paperbacks, but they built the South Coastal Library when the girls were pre-schoolers, and we were impressed. A few years later, they added on and expanded the parking lot, which was even better. And for the last year, they moved temporarily to another building, and practically rebuilt the entire library! And today it opened!!! It is incredible. Seems like a silly thing to blog about, but our girls practically grew up at the library, and we have the very best librarians in the world working there. Once we were there when somebody opened up the suggestion (complaint?) box, and read (outloud, so everyone in the library could hear) “The librarians in this library are too loud.” That sort of sums up our library… for us it’s been full of hugs and laughter and snacks and dress-up and reading aloud and volunteering and art and crafts and music and special programs and overdue fines and movie discussions and stacks of books that took three of us to carry and oodles of fond memories. We’re glad to have it back.

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. 
~Anna Quindlen~

We had a ball!

Or at least we went to one! Many thanks to the Petersons for putting together an evening of dancing for young and old! (I think my avoidance of the Snowball Reel officially puts me in the “old” category! However, Mr. Frey did his duty as a gentleman and made sure the young ladies had a chance to whirl around in circles!)

Just a few pictures… the Gothic Dance (or Race?)

A waltz…

And another…

Pattycake Polka…

And a novelty game…

And lots of good old-fashioned fun!

 

Grandboy #2…

Our little grandboy Derik got his first taste of peaches the other day, and Jo caught him on video! What a cutie!

Derik’s First Dinner

And just in case you hear me scream, there was a Very Large Spider next to my keyboard, and while I went to find the spider killing stuff he disappeared. Kate was supposed to keep an eye on him, but the piano called to her and she left her post. Can one court martial their own child?

The joy of bubble wrap…

Just wanted to share something our daughter Jordan posted yesterday… our oldest grandboy Jackson, experiencing the sheer joy of jumping on bubble wrap! Thought you all would enjoy it as much as we did!

Jumping Jack!

It is Edward!

You must say that with an English accent, just like Margaret Dashwood does in Sense & Sensibility, as Edward Ferrars comes trotting down the lane to visit the family. This startled little fellow desperately needed a name, and since Edward Hicks was reported to portray himself as the Lion in his Peaceable Kingdoms, naming him “Edward” seemed appropriate. Personally, to me he is very much like Jane’s Edward… wondering how in the world he got into the mess he was in!

This first Courageous Lion is the prototype… meaning Kate took one look at him and claimed him for her very own. What’s a mother to do? So we’ll have to take orders for him. He seemed a little scrunched up in his frame, so he’ll be just a tad smaller next time around. Also, being the first, he gave me ideas for a second… and here it is…

This guy looks a little less startled, and is very happy in his oddly greenish grained frame. (I found a really neat limey-greeny undercoat that I had to try! Perfect!)

Well, it seems as if the rain might be stopping soon… it’s a good thing, since we have a bunch of crafters on the porch at the store today! And Mr. Rick said something about cooking us lunch out back (sorry, not for the public!), which means an Eastern Shore feast, and I don’t want anything to stand in the way of his crabcakes!

Have a blessed Resurrection Day tomorrow! We’ll be greeting it at sunrise in a historic chapel!

Something free is always fun!

Just a quick note to let you know that Kate’s doing a bloggy give-away at Daffodil Hill Studio!  It’s a really cute little vintage embroidery kit!

Two table-fulls of papercutting & painting ladies today… and I’m heading to soak in the tub ’til my toes turn into raisins! 

A wonderfully fun day…

Today we had our first “Cut & Paint Workshop”… and had a grand time! We got right down to business at 10 this morning, and cut two different papercutting designs…

Then we took a short break to eat lunch, and quickly got back to work at painting… most of the ladies had never tried their hands at watercolor before…

… but they were soon painting like pro’s…

… and don’t you agree they did a great job? I think so!