A very special place built by a very special man, my grandfather (dad's dad). This was his oasis from the cares of the world where he could garden, fish, cook, putter, and generally lose himself in the beauty. I spent untold hours here as a young person, and I can still hear him saying "Hey Squeege!" (his affectionate name for me) when he saw me coming around the corner. So thankful for this beautiful place and that is still being enjoyed by his family. It's hard to believe that I did this piece as a gift to my dad for Christmas over 11 years ago...

A very full holiday season…

All the wayyyyy back in November, I wrote a post (in my head) about all my preparations for Thanksgiving…. now that the train has traveled all the way down the tracks to May, I think it is high time I posted something here.  In the interest of wanting this to sort of be as much of a journal as a blog, I am going to fill in with some posts about what has gone on since.

November started out with me trying a new project.  I am not much of a decorator, but I love TRYING to do things myself.  I have a set of antique cherry Chippendale dining room chairs that were given to me, along with a dining table, when we moved into our current house thirteen years ago.  The fabric on them, while a lovely color and not terribly worn, was stained in several places where I could not get the stains out.  They were desperately in need of new fabric. I knew this would require disassembling the chair bottoms and completely redoing even the spring coils on the underside of the chairs, as they had slid out of place.  In case you’ve never seen this, the above pic is what it looks like underneath a spring coiled dining room chair seat.

All of the fabric underneath the springs had dry-rotted, so it was no longer supporting the weight of a person, and badly needed to be replaced.  This required removing the old – which had been tightly stapled together and then nailed to the chairs with about 40 gazillion nails – and adding the new.  Removing the old was quite the task, and adding the new took nearly every bit of strength this old woman had.  After crawling around on the floor, pulling, then stapling, then pulling, then stapling, and repeating that until all strips were tightly criss-crossed underneath and the springs firmly in place, it was time to put the padding over the top and to staple the fabric on. 

I purchased a lovely damask fabric in golds and greens which I had kept for about 6 months with no “round tuits.” After cutting the fabric to fit the chair, I took staple gun in hand and went at it with just about all the strength I could muster.  Once I had the fabric securely on, I then stapled a layer of dark cover fabric on the underside to cover the unfinished places.  Lastly, I glued on the trim.  And the above photo is the result.

I absolutely love the fabric on these chairs;

I really enjoyed doing this myself, but I have to admit that I really overdid it trying to get this done in two days and injured my back in the process. They were, however, all ready for Thanksgiving which I held at my home for both sides of the family, including my brother- and sister-in-law and their family.

Of course, I got busy and forgot to get photos once the guests arrived.  But, at least I remember how I decorated the tables.  I was lucky enough to find these lovely cloth napkins in fall colors from Christmas Tree Shoppes four for $2!  What a steal.  The tablecloth was $3.  So, for under $10 I had cloth napkins for everyone. Not only did I feel like my house looked so lovely, but the fellowship was just wonderful…  so much so that I am still looking back fondly on the day and being thankful! 

Happy 4th!

I hope, for those of you who are a US citizens, that you are having a happy 4th surrounded by family and friends! I am very thankful for the freedoms we have in this nation, including the ability to live, work, and worship as we choose.  Our nation is so far from perfect, but at least for now we are able to still do these without fear of retribution.  Our family celebrated yesterday with my husband grilling out (accompanied by potato salad, stuffed eggs, and homemade Butterfinger ice cream) and ending the day with fireworks in our neighborhood.

 

Today (the actual 4th) we are just watching historical movies and eating leftovers!  What a great blessing it is to have been born here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.  May I never take it for granted. And I do pray for God to continue to bless America because, ultimately, freedom can only come from knowing Him.

milestones in life

What a great month it has been! (unfortunately, it has left little time/energy for blogging!) As a pastor’s wife, and worship leader, the Palm Sunday/Easter season carry a lot of responsibility.  It fills me with joy to know that HE LIVES not just on Resurrection Day, but EVERY day.  As a board member of our art association (but thankfully no longer president!), we have made it through another Spring Show without major incident or cancellation.  It was a gorgeous weather day, even though the sales were down quite a bit this year.

Another new website is up and this one is for a local chef who is starting his own restaurant!

I just love getting to birth new babies like this one.  If you ever think it is too late for you to try a new thing, let this inspire you.  This man has been a chef for years always working for others… but he has always dreamed of having a restaurant of his own.  At 60+ years-old, he is now seeing that dream come true!!  So exciting to be a small part of that.

And this happened last weekend…

Another tremendous milestone in our lives …our middle son graduated from College with Summa Cum Laude honors!  We couldn’t have been prouder of his hard work and attention to excellence.  He wants to teach on the college level, so he has quite a bit of school ahead of him – next on the docket is his master’s degree and then doctoral thesis after that.  A lot of prayer went into homeschooling him and his brother and sister. God has answered every prayer above and beyond what we could’ve asked or thought.  We are grateful for all the blessings in our lives!!

Teeth, teeth, teeth... and a Public Service Announcement

Well friends, I guess I can officially just chalk this up to getting old. When I first went to the dentist back in NOVEMBER!, I had been having some really painful issues with the nerves along my lower jaw line. Usually I could knock it out with a few ibuprofen (Advil) and some heat on it. But, it had gotten consistent enough that I knew I needed to see someone about it. My dentist did x-rays, looked at things, had her technician clean my teeth, and was ready to dismiss me as "nothing really wrong" when her technician spotted a very small 5th wisdom tooth on the x-ray (I had never heard of anyone having a 5th wisdom tooth) sitting up in my gumline just above my other wisdom tooth on the same side that I had been having nerve pain, but in the top instead of the bottom. Well, I had also been experiencing shooting pains in that area on top when biting down on that tooth, so I decided maybe that was the cause of what I was experiencing with the nerve pain in the lower jaw, too. (photo above right: The tech let me take a photo of my x-rays with my phone.) In addition to this, I had also had a tooth extracted six months earlier on the other side of my mouth, for which I needed to see the oral surgeon about an implant. So, I decided to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone and have both the implant done and the wisdom teeth extracted. And, that is how I ended up having this done three weeks before Christmas.

I recovered beautifully from both procedures with very little need for pain medication other than ibuprofen. I was very thankful for this and hopeful that this would be the end of tooth pain. And for a while it was. Fast forward to one week ago... I began to experience further jaw pain, but this time NOTHING would knock it out... 2 ibuprofen, 3 ibuprofen, 4... not a smidgen of relief. I would put a heating pad on it, and it would ease a little but not significantly. I was perplexed because the dentist had not seen anything else suspicious going on with other teeth, so I was stymied about what to do. I began to pray for wisdom from the Lord because the pain continued to get worse and worse, but I could not pinpoint where it was coming from.

Well, on Sunday I received an answer to my prayers when the pain just really intensified and collected in one spot under one tooth. I have never really wanted an answer to prayer to be THAT painful, but it was probably the most pain I have ever experienced (and it was relentless) with the exception of childbirth. After going to two dentists, I ended up in the chair again yesterday for a root canal. Apparently I had a large abscess under that particular tooth that had been festering for a while. The doc who did the root canal said it was huge and no wonder I was in so much pain. He said that an abscess can cause the roots to radiate pain all up and down the jawline, usually staying on one side of the face and rarely crossing over to the other.

The PSA part of this is HOUND YOUR DENTIST if you are experiencing anything like this. My dentist just looked on the surface, saw nothing in particular, and dismissed me (until the tech saw the 5th wisdom tooth). She also didn't seem terribly interested in helping me figure it out. I am not thrilled about that and about the fact that what I went in for originally was not ever even diagnosed by her. I wish I had hounded her further, even though she was dismissive originally (basically telling me I had "self-diagnosed" with trigeminal neuralgia). Nope, I just knew that there was a problem and was trying to get help for it.

Today I am very sore and very thankful to have this issue resolved. And, I am simply worn out from fighting the pain. After a month of dealing with this, I hope to NEVER have another issue like this again. And I wish the same for you! 

'Tis the (busy) season...

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we have rapidly moved into busy season!  I have finally gotten all my inside decor up and am very thankful to have all the boxes back in the attic.  I have also been working on a two week art show for the association of which I am serving as president and have several commissioned pieces lined up.  So, I am really thankful to have the decorations up.  Although we have two trees, here is a peek at "my tree" as my children like to refer to it.  I am sharing this first photo because I loved the effect that the lights made. 

 

However, as I continued taking photos I realized after three or four tries with this same result that my lens was smudged. 😉 So, here is the entire tree without a smudged lens...

This is "my tree" for many reasons... one reason is that it was inspired by my grandmother ~ a beautiful gracious southern belle of a lady ~ who always had a special way of decorating her own tree by using only white, silver, crystal, and gold ornaments.  I have taken this tradition as my own and used only those items (with a couple of exceptions for ornaments with burgundy and red ribbon hangers) on it.  While I have used only those colors, the ornaments are not "designer ornaments" purchased from a store just for the purpose of decorating.  Rather, they are primarily either heirlooms or gifts from family and friends... like the beautiful Gorham angel on top of the tree that was a wedding gift.

The above photo captures several ornaments from my grandmother. The white fireplace and stockings at the bottom was a gift to hubby and me from her early in our marriage, the blown glass ornament top right, the small glass frosted pine cone at top left, and the crystal icicles are heirlooms from her very own tree after she passed on.

 The bottom left gold glass ball wishing us a frosted "Merry Christmas" was my husband's as a child.  The two Lenox snowflakes at the top, one crystal and one white, were gifts from precious friends.

The brass bear with a photo of my oldest son was a gift from my aunt when my son was a baby, and it sits beside a white glass ball with a Currier and Ives scene that was also an heirloom from my grandmother.

The two Precious Moments ornaments, the Little Drummer Boy and the bell, in the photo above were baby gifts from friends when my now adult sons were born.  There is another white glass ball with gold stars and the small frosted pine cone in the photo that were heirlooms from my grandmother's tree.

 

These two twin brass ornaments are also heirlooms... the one on the left belonged to my grandparents long before I ever thought of marrying and the one on the right belonged to my husband when he was a child.  I just love that.

You couldn't have looked at all these photos without noticing the round cross-stitched, gold and white Chrismon ornaments. (If you're not sure what a Chrismon is, it is an ornament that is a Christ Monogram... a symbol of Christ: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chrismon and a little more info here: http://www.blcelgin.org/chrismons) 

These Chrismons were lovingly made by my mother-in-law's mother.  She was a precious woman who was severely handicapped by rheumatoid arthritis. Rather than sulk in her suffering, she chose to be joyful and to be as productive as she could.  Though her hands were so bent by the disease that her fingers were permanently curled so that she could hardly hold a needle, she insisted that we should all have a set of these beautiful ornaments.  She tried her best to get a set for each grandchild and even great grandchild before she died.  She was a treasure, and I am so thankful for these ornaments but even more thankful that our children got to spend a great amount of time with her when they were small.   

  

I am thankful for all the ways these ornaments remind me of those who have loved me and my family well... so many have gone on to be with the Lord, and what a glorious reunion we'll have someday!

Thankful...

We had both sets of parents along with my brother, his wife and new baby with us for Thanksgiving.  Here are a few photos.  I have been too busy to craft a really thoughtful post about Thanksgiving, as we are planning for a two week art show opening this Friday.  Here are a few photos from Thanksgiving...

The table...

 

The food (this is what comes from having four families making food for the day!) ... oven roasted turkey, smoked pork loin, smoked Boston butt, smoked turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, squash casserole, creamed corn, collard greens, gourmet potatoes, green beans, purple hull peas, sweet potato casserole...

...lime jello salad, deviled eggs, Greek salad of broccoli & cauliflower with feta cheese, homemade cranberry relish, canned cranberry relish, pickled and olive assortments, French silk pies, pecan pie, and a homemade carrot cake. Abundance would be an understatement... but everyone had their favorite things!  And leftovers to go for one and all!

I am exceedingly thankful for all the wonderful blessings God has given me and at the top of the list is my family. Praying your Thanksgiving was warm, wonderful, and filled with loved ones.

Gratitude...

A lump in the road....

Well, I thought I would share some of what has been going on with me for the past few months, unrelated to artwork, holidays, or kids. At the beginning of September, I discovered a large lump under my left arm. It did not hurt at all, but was fairly large. I don't know how long it had been there, but I had not noticed it before. After a series of doctor visits, ultrasounds, and mammograms, the latest doctor in the series of doctors assured me that he saw no cause for concern. He did, however, want to keep a close eye on things which required me coming in for subsequent visits. After the last of these which was also followed by the requisite dopplar ultrasound, there had still been no change. So the doctor recommended that, in lieu of the continuing visits, ultrasounds, mammograms, etc., he would go in and take out the offending lump and do a biopsy. So, this past Tuesday I went in for the outpatient procedure. I am the lucky recipient of a 2 1/2 inch incision under my arm, and later in the week I received the fabulous news that the lump (a lipoma) is nothing to be concerned about.

In all honesty, I must tell you that I really was not worried about it... in fact, I hardly thought about it at all. But then, I am not a worrier by nature. On the other hand, my mother-in-law, my mother, and my hubby all do enough worrying that I don't have to. Of course, this is all fresh for my mother-in-law who just two years ago completed chemo treatments for breast cancer herself. In her case, we all felt that her original doctor was not proactive enough. So she did not want the same thing to happen to me. And believe me, I am very thankful that these precious people love me like they do. I must tell you that I am also thankful to only be recovering from the incision and not having to make decisions about what kind of treatment comes next. Many people were caring and praying for me, and I want to give God the glory for answering those prayers.

I have many responsibilities as a wife and mother which I truly enjoy. But I haven't been able to do some of those the last few days. I am looking forward to getting back into a routine now and truly moving on from this "lump in the road."

Blessings to you all,

And some non-commissioned artwork....

"Poinsettia"
9" x 12" watercolor

Before the commission rush hit, I was trying to come up with some artwork for Christmas cards. I thought I would share these and ask you what you think. Which would you choose... or would you choose neither? The poinsettia will obviously cover the front of the card. I thought the dove would be nice with the word "Peace" in some lovely font. Any ideas? Or more ideas for other artwork for a different sort of card. I don't have time for creative juices these days, as I am heavy into architecture. :)

"Peace"
9" x 12" graphite and Prismacolor

Thank you all so much for your kind words of encouragement. I am THANKFUL for you!

Blessings,

Looking toward the new year...

It was this time last year when I decided that rather than making resolutions, I wanted to have a theme for 2008. That theme came from the desire for 2008 to be a year filled with the "Fruit of Thankfulness." As I look toward 2009, I want to again allow the Lord to lead me. I want to seek to follow Him in every area of my life. I am thinking now of Proverbs 3:5-6 which says I should trust in Him with all my heart, that I should not trust in or lean on my own wisdom or understanding, that I should think of or acknowledge Him in all my ways... and that if I do these things, He promises to direct my path or make my path straight. A straight path is so much easier to navigate and so much less hazardous than one with twists, turns, and nuances that are unexpected. I don't know about you, but I like the thought of walking on the straight path with level ground around my feet at all times. He can even make the hills and valleys seem level if I am walking closely with Him.

This past year has been one of rediscovering my love for artwork and just the creative process in general. I am so thankful for what the Lord has done in my life over this past year. And while rediscovering my artwork was exciting, it means nothing apart from Him. So I am looking forward to this year with great anticipation that whatever it might hold, the joy is not in what happens but in the One with whom I am walking through it. I pray the same for you... may you discover that the joy is not in the circumstances or in the "doing"... but the real joy comes from knowing the One who has created you, gifted you, and brought you to the place in which you find yourself.

May God bless you in 2009 as never before,

From Charm & Grace Cottage

The Season and the Theme

As this new year began, instead of making a New Year's resolution I wanted to come up with a theme for the year that would be honoring to the Lord. As I meditated on this, I believe the Lord showed me that He wanted this year to be one that produced fruit inspired from deep within ... from a thankful heart... and thus my theme became Fruit of Thankfulness. You can read more about that here, if you'd like. And now, as we reach the thankful season, I have been reflecting on how well I have "kept" the theme in my life.

My artwork has been a source of many ups and downs, but in all of it I have really and truly been thankful to be blessed to get to do what I love to do. God has shown Himself to me so often in this process, and for that I am TRULY thankful. I know that there are many days when I am not as productive as I could or should be, and on those days I am truly thankful that He loves me in spite of me.

I have also seen fruit in my family this year... not of my doing, mind you, but fruit straight from the hand of the Lord... fruit of children who are following the Lord and desire to serve Him, of a husband who loves the Lord and his family above anything else, of an extended family that is more excellent than gold or fine jewels and such a blessing to me, of God's healing mercies in my father and in my mother-in-law, of a precious church family who has gathered around us so often to lift up and encourage us in ministry, and so much more. I am truly blessed and as we head into this Thanksgiving week I just need to praise the Lord publicly for all that He has done.

From a thankful heart...

Fruitful Fridays

My theme for 2008 has been Fruit of Thankfulness. (If you're interested, see my post from the Charm & Grace Blog here.) In keeping with that theme, on Fridays we will focus on being fruitful. What kinds of things have you been doing lately and what are the fruits of your labors? Maybe you have been working hard in your yard or garden, and the fruits are in the form of flowers or something edible. Or perhaps you are a writer, and your fruit comes in the form of essays, novels, articles, (or even blog posts!) Are you a web designer? Then your fruit is out for all the world to see and visit on the World Wide Web. Some of us are artists, and the fruits of our labors are evident in the things we create, paint, draw, assemble, etc.

I truly believe that all of these things are an outflow of the gifts that God has given to each one of us. God has given us so much beauty in this world to enjoy. And I love that He has put within each of us a desire to be creative... gifting each individual with unique abilities and desires so that no creation is just like another. That creative spark is a desire to fashion beautiful things, to create, to design. And in each of us that creativity manifests itself in different ways… for one it is with words, for someone else it is painting, for still another it is decorating, or the ability to speak eloquently about a beloved subject, or the skill to capture a beautiful image with photography, or the ability to design a computer program, or the aptitude to understand finances, or the passion to garden… but we all have that divine spark of creativity. It just blows me away sometimes as I read blog after blog and each person’s giftedness comes shining through.

So for all of you beautiful, creative bloggers who wish to participate... my challenge to you for the weekend, or for the coming week, is to create something that you can offer from a heart of thankfulness ...thankfulness for all of the blessings in your life. It can be something for your family (a father, for instance), for a friend, for your church, for a charity, or some other organization. I would love to hear what your plans are, or better yet, come back after you have given your gift and give us a report. Tell us how creating, while thinking of and being thankful for all the blessings in your life, and then giving your creation made you feel.