Hummingbirds

A couple of weeks ago I noticed the hummingbirds had arrived for the season. I had stepped out onto the porch and whoosh...there was one hovering near me, obviously letting me know, with some fanfare, that he had arrived and dinner wasn't waiting on him.  Ooops!  I quickly made up a batch of nectar and got it out for him ASAP.   I enjoy their visits to my feeders.

A couple of years ago, with camera in hand, I quietly sat on the top step of my porch waiting for a "hummer" to arrive at the feeders.  I snapped a few photos and when I looked at them I was surprised I had caught this one sticking his tongue out at me...how rude.  Whew! I would never have guessed their tongues were this long.

The nectar recipe I use. 

Mix 1 part white table sugar and 4 parts water. 
Slowly heat the mixture until sugar is dissolved
Allow to cool and fill feeders.

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~willa~

Look Who Came to Visit

Aren't these guys cute?  We met them on our walk last weekend.  We heard one of these burros's braying as we approached a farm in the neighborhood, funny we've walked past it many times before but never noticed these guys out in the pasture.  As I stopped to take their picture one of the guys stood still and looked up as if to give me a good pose for my effort.  He and his buddy were curious about us so they sauntered over to the fence for a visit.  Sadie, our border collie, surprisingly, sat calmly while these guys checked us out.  We all had a sweet visit.

Growing up, my family had a burro, his name was Hosea and he was a sweet boy, but as the saying goes "stubborn as a mule",  the mule side of Hosea was stubborn.  He was very unfavourable toward kids riding him so in protest (and stubbornness) he wouldn't move an inch, hoping he would discourage us against hopping up on his back.  Hosea had a sweet face and a mild disposition, when I think about him, I can still hear his braying pulling me out of a summer's morning sleep.

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~willa~

The Good In Good Friday

This photo is of Brenda White Giles, a high school friend, who died this week from cancer.  The first thing I noticed about Brenda when I met her were her sparking green eyes, then her engaging smile which added more sparkle to those beautiful eyes. I loved her playful demeanor, which included a touch of mischievousness and her upbeat attitude, she always had a positive outlook on life rather than a negative one, which is an attribute that makes it a joy to be around someone, and Brenda was certainly a joy to be with.

Her death is mourned by many who loved her and she will be greatly missed.  Which brings me to Good Friday, the day that Jesus, the Christ, died.

Why in the world would a day that someone dies be called Good? My dad died of lung cancer, a horrible way to die...I would not call that day good.  When my mom died, I would not call that a good day!  One of my sisters died in a tragic car accident that caused horrific injury, certainly that was not a good day. Another sister died from cancer...not a good day.  One of my husband's sisters died from a car accident, she suffered greatly from her injuries before succumbing to death's call...good day? not for us.  My husband's uncle died, lost to us behind the dark curtain of Alzheimer’s  disease, so sad, I can not call that a good day either. And, the list goes on and on.  I know you have all faced these tragedies too and probably would not call it a good day.

So, why was this horrific death of Jesus called Good Friday?

Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted. 

 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
  he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
 and by his wounds we are healed. 

 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
 each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
 the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:

No other death could have satisfied the punishment our iniquity deserved except the punishment and death of Jesus.  

My friend Brenda's death this week from a devastating disease, mine and my husband's family members who have died, they each, being an eternal being, stepped from this life into an eternal life provided by the "suffering servants" death.  His sacrifice took away the sting of death for them.  That put the Good in Good Friday.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”  

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
1Cornithians 15:53-57  

Good Friday wasn't the end
Resurrection Sunday Followed.

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~willa~

 

Keep the Faith..Don't Give Up

Adversity is not discriminating

It doesn't matter color, creed, gender, financial status, religious standing or any other human condition, it comes knocking at everyone's door sooner or later

And often at the most inopportune time. 

There is no hiding place

And no detours around it.

When adversity takes you down its path, it won't announce how long the road will be like the sign in the photo above.
  
I've not mentioned it on my blog, FB or any of the other social media network
and few people know...

My husband has been unemployed since the end of December.  We knew it was coming for a few months.

But

Prior to knowing this was going to happen, we systematically paid off as much debt as we could

Prior to this happening, We cinched in our financial belt and saved as much of our paychecks as possible

Prior to this happening, we steadied ourselves

Prior to this happening we prayed

Prior to this happening we had faith

Prior to this happening, we gave and helped others

We did what we could

After my  husband lost his job

It would have been easy to fall apart

But

We remained steady
We continued to pray
We continued to have faith
We continued to give and help others

But....

We had times of discouragement.  My husband applied for job after job, he had interview after interview but someone else was selected. There were several hopefuls that never panned out, many promising leads that ended up nowhere.  

We wondered why is this happening to us and then remembered why wouldn't it happen to us.

I believe God gave us foresight about this before it happened and helped us prepare.  We listened and made the necessary steps.  I had my ups and down times but I never wavered in my faith that God would see us through this time.

And He did bring us through!  My Sweetie started his new job last Monday.

We learned a few things going through this...but that's another post for another time.  But I will share this, faith is not the ability to pray the best prayer so God will hear us.  Faith is not looking for the answer we think we should get from God. Faith is not "having it all about us".  I found during this time, and other times of my life when I have faced struggles, that faith is the firm trust in God and His answer.

Whatever you are going through, don't loose faith and don't give up. 

Winner of the Farm Fresh Giveaway

Congratulations to Jen of the Country Mouse you have won my Farm Fresh Giveaway.  Thanks to all who entered. 

Jen, please send me your address so I can mail this to you as soon as possible.

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~willa~

Farmer's Market Sign

I had a busy weekend....as you can tell. I've been eyeing signs here and there online wanting to make one for myself.  Finally, I dug through the wood in the garage and with the aid of my Sweetie found the piece I needed.  He cut it to size then I sanded and painted it...of course.

I started with a 1x8x40 pine board.  I primed it then painted it with a coat of dark chocolate by DecoArt Americana. I added two coats of Buttermilk, also by DecoArt Americana.

I created the Farmer's Market graphics in PicMonkey and saved to my computer. I opened the document in Block Poster and printed out the PDF it generated. I traced the design on the prepared board and painted in the letters using Lamp Black by DecoArt Americana...of course.  Once the letters dried I sanded the board then stained it for an antique look.  After taking this photo I noticed the letters still looked darker than I wanted, I got the sand disk out and sanded over the letters again.  When I finally had the look I wanted I added two coats of matte poly to finish it.  I found a couple of black hooks to add to it so I can hang some baskets or tins. 

I ( I mean my Sweetie) will be hanging this over my kitchen window.  I'll take some photos once he's finished.

This project was inspired by Candace at Vinatagenewsjunkie   pay her a visit for more ideas and details for this sign.

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~willa~

Spring...Oh...Blessed Spring

 I've enjoyed making the rounds of blogs, FB, and Pinterest to see the wonderful Spring creations that artisans are making.  I have seen many of these eggs in robin blue, speckled and decorating nests, urns, baskets and such.  This weekend I decided I better make some for myself before the season is over and I put away the plastic eggs, otherwise they may never get done.

I think I've mentioned before that we are finishing a family room in our basement. We have a wonderful wood stove in the room that keeps it nice and cozy in the winter along with a French door and  a regular sized window that brings in lots of light.  This was a raw unfinished room when we first started.

We added board and batten to this wall.  It is going be painted white with chalkboard paint in the top section.  This wall is planned to be a mudroom style area where the kids can hang their back packs and put their shoes since it's just inside the French doors. I'll be sharing some finished photos soon.

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~willa~

Don't Push

I've hit a dry spell on what to blog about, I've decided not to push it; the more I worry about it, the less inspired I feel. I've devoted a small amount of time working on a few projects I have going but they remain unfinished.  I spent a few hours last week reading; it's hard to find much time for such a treat so I basked in it as long a possible.  My Sweetie recently bought me a new Kindle Paper White, got to say I love it!  it's small compact and super easy on the eyes.

I've had this cutting board sitting by my studio table for a few months.  I considered painting a design on it but I have a few boards I've painted over the past couple of years and didn't want another one.  But...I love painting these boards so I decided to try a graphic transfer on it instead. This graphic is from   The Graphics Fairy  where you can find a large selection of graphics to choose from. You can find the instruction for creating the wax paper transfer (which is the process I used) HERE

Look who is posing with her toy.  There is a story behind this toy in her mouth...

A few months ago I began a new game with Sadie.  I can't remember if I mentioned it in one of my posts or not but if I did please indulge me on repeating it.  Last summer I watched a show on Dog Town about a family who trained a border collie to be a rescue dog.  In this small segment of the show it demonstrated a few of the techniques they use for this training.  I decided to give it a try on my Sadie.  At first, she was easily distracted so I didn't push her. I have discovered it's no fun for either of us if I try to make her do something she doesn't want to do, the pout (her pouting, of course) just isn't worth it.  Every few weeks I go through this training with her and she shows a little more interest each time, she's able to go a little longer without distraction.  Sadie is actually getting pretty good at this little game.   This photo is what she does when she wants to play the "rescue" game.  She sits with this toy in her mouth and will follow me around with it if I'm not paying attention.  If you notice in the photo she isn't looking at me while I snap her photo.  She will always sit pretty for me as I take her picture but she won't look at the camera, she always turns her head to the side as if to say...this is my best side...I think she's shy.

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~willa~

Egg---cuse Me...It's Spring Thyme

March 20th officially announced Spring, but our weather here in Northern Virginia must have missed the memo.  Even if the weather isn't cooperating there is still a breath of Spring in all the posts I have been reading on blogs, Facebook and Hometalk.  Spring pins are flying on Pinterest, all of it has been inspiring me to think Spring projects.

I picked this decorative tricycle up at our local Hobby Lobby.  I decided to use it on my mantle along with some other Spring goodies I pulled out of winter storage.  I picked up a bag of plastic eggs to add to the tricycle basket but wanted to spiff them up so I added all purpose joint compound to the eggs, allowed them to dry, sanded them, painted them and decorated them with ribbons and bows.

 

I'll enjoy pulling these out each Spring to add to a basket, bowl, or wooden box.

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~willa~

 

Banana Nut Muffins

Old Man Winter certainly doesn't want to release his grip, does he? Sunday early evening it started snowing, and of course that means I start baking.  Hubby had set aside a few bananas to ripen for banana bread, believe me, they were very ripe. But rather than bread we decided to make some muffins.  Oh Boy, they turned out perfectly, melt in your mouth perfect.

The flavor was banana perfection!
A lovely nutty crunch
Delightfully moist
Heavenly lite
Quick and easy to make

What more could you ask for!

Of course I will share this Banana Muffin Perfection recipe!

Banana Muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tps baking soda
1/2 tps salt
4 over ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of apple sauce
2 large eggs
1 tps pure vanilla
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Pre-line muffin cups with cupcake liners

Combine together: flour, baking soda and salt.

Add bananas to a mixing bowl and mash with fork; add eggs and mix with mixer for appx 2 mins.  Add sugar and mix appx 1 min. add vanilla, oil and apple sauce mix until blended. 

Add the dry mixture (flour, baking soda and salt) and walnuts.  Mix by hand until dry ingredients are blended in. 

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with mixture and bake for appx 25 mins.

Hope you will try these.

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~willa~