Did You See It?

We did!  It was fun.  We had friends over (they homeschool, too) and we used Tim's fancy welding helmet!  It worked perfectly.

I didn't take any photos here, but Lindsay sent me this one from Tennessee.

This is how it looked during totality.  She took her Nikon with her too, so once she gets them edited, I'll see if she'll let me share a few with you.

My niece sent me this cute meme -

I started the day by mowing our property.  It was about 10:30 when I started and the day was already very warm.

This is how I get my Vitamin D!



I'd love to hear your stories about the eclipse.  I read that this is the first time since the founding of the USA that we've had a total eclipse visible from one side of the country to the other.

The Weekend, Fellowship, and The Eclipse

We had a really nice weekend.  Friday evening we had an intense thunderstorm.  Lots of rain, too.  

Saturday was beautiful, and I worked on changing things on one of my livingroom walls.  I'll show you soon. I promise.

We had a fellowship meal at church today.  We were busy yesterday, and decided that we would order a pizza as our contribution to the meal.  Two other families did the same thing!  It was funny.  After the meal we had a congregational meeting, then several families came over to hang out and visit with Denny, who didn't make it to church today.

Tomorrow is eclipse day!  We didn't buy glasses but are going to use Tim's welding mask.  Its a special kind.  Kay is bringing the girls down, and my friend Jen is bringing her kids over.  What a great science project!

Lindsay and Joseph went down to Tennessee (where Emma and Vinnie are for the summer) to see the eclipse in totality!

NASA has a website set up for viewing the eclipse, too.  We are going to be looking at this site as well, as I really want to see it in totality!  You can find the link here.

I can't wait to hear about all your viewing experiences!  

That Time I Saved My Hydrangea From The Big Storm

It's been really humid here the last several days, and today we had a really big thunderstorm in the late afternoon.  Lightning, thunder and pouring rain!  Our creek was overflowing its banks for a while.


Thankfully I knew this storm was likely so I went out and cut the biggest of my limelight hydrangea.  I didn't want them to get damaged.

 There are only three blooms in this pitcher!  Aren't they amazing?  And did you notice the touch of autumn on the flowers?

So pretty!

Our patient is recovering well.  He likes the curry that we make here so I made a big batch of it and we enjoyed it for dinner and will likely have it Saturday as well.  That works for me, and will give me more time to work on some rearranging I want to do, especially on the living room walls.

I hope you have a really nice weekend!

A Bedside Table

We've been on the lookout for a table for next to Sarah's bed. She had been using, by her own choice, a cardboard box!  (smile)  

Today, I was at Christmas Tree Shops picking up cute napkins for daily use here at home, and some napkins to use when our homeschool co-op starts up next month.  I always make a trip through at least the perimeter of the store and in the furniture section, I struck gold!

 I saw this table and thought that the styling, in spite of their 'modern' label, reminded me of a campaign desk (here is a link to one).  I knew it would look great in her bedroom, and they were marked down by $30!  They only had grey and white on display and I was bummed, but as I looked at the boxes I saw that they had black tables in this style!  Score!

I brought it home, and assembled it this evening.  I had her take a few photos but they were mostly dark.  I'll try to get a better shot or two of it, in her room, tomorrow.

I love the way it looks in her room! And I'm happy that she has a nice table beside her bed now, rather than a cardboard box!

Mid-August Evening

 I had a busy day yesterday, so I waited until evening to get to the mowing.  I noticed that the walnut tree was dropping leaves and changing to its autumn yellow color.

 The light always draws my attention at this time of year.  There is a more golden tone, as we head into autumn, than the bright shining of summer.

20 minutes later, I ran out of gas for the mower when I was almost done.  So I took this photo (from a different spot) and enjoyed listening to the birds.

The horses love to come around when I mow near the pasture, because they know that I'll shoot some fresh grass in to them.  Cheyenne was the only one who came because Sandy was helping Lindsay teach a young boy how to ride and care for horses.

We are midway through August friends.  Autumn's on its way.  Are you noticing signs of  it where you live?

Caring For A Friend

You may remember that our friend Denny was going to get his knee replaced right after our California trip.

He postponed that until winter, but found out he'd developed a hernia.  Surgery is this morning.

Rachel and I are up at O dark thirty, and will get him there by 6:00 am.

Naps are likely later today.

Have a wonderful day!

My Freckles Are A Reminder

They remind me of the beauty God designed for the many tones of skin He has given to the Nations of the world.  When I look at my freckles, I am reminded of His love for PEOPLE - we are all created in His image.

My freckles give me a bit of the same color of skin as my friend Nick, who has African heritage, and my friend Thelma, who has Mexican heritage, and my friend Barbara, who has Dutch/Indonesian heritage, and my friend Tim, who is Irish, and my great nephew Logan, who has African heritage and Scottish, Irish, and English heritage. I could go on and on.

There are many ethnicities, and how beautiful they are.  God could have designed all humans to have purple skin.  He didn't though. He designed our DNA to be able to produce different melanin counts.  Its a beautiful thing.

There has always been fear of those 'not like us' since the Tower of Babel when God changed the language from one to many, and people scattered all over the world.  Darwin's theory of evolution contributed to this idea that some 'races' were not as advanced as others.  Did you know this?  You can read about that here.

I'm grieved over where the loss of truth has lead us to as a nation. I'm thankful that I was raised in a multi-ethnic church and learned to love people for their character and not the color of their skin. Every day, when I look at my skin, I'm thankful for the daily reminder that God made only one race - the Human Race!