By our love....

 ^"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  ~John 13:35 

This past Sunday in our humble country church we sang the song, They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.  I can't remember when I last sang this song, but I am sure it was in the 1970s with a guitar strumming and a group of young singers singing.  In all truth, I was surprised it was in our hymnal.  I sang it with my whole heart and soul and spirit, just like I remember doing back then.  Hubby and I have been praying for revival in our land and this song reminded me of how crucial it is to love one another right now.  The pastor's message was, "Love Your Enemies."  

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We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love


All praise to the Father from whom all things come
And all praise to Christ Jesus his only son
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

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Do you remember singing this song?
Have you sung it lately?  

The power of music...

Here's something I've learned about myself.  When I am driving home from a day of being in town, I sometimes start to get tired, and do you know what revives me (besides peppermint gum)?  Music.  Especially my Oldies Station, COOL 101.9.   It's the music I grew up with.  When I click on that station, my mind wakes up, I can sing all the words to songs that I've not heard in years.  When I see this video of Alzheimer's patients, I think to myself, we ALL respond to music, don't we?  If you'd like to read the article from Dr. Mercola on the power of music on dementia and Alzheimer's patients, it's really worth a read HERE.

I love so many, many kinds of music:  60s, 70s, Bluegrass, Jazz, Country, Classical, Hymns.  Just about every style and type.  Let's do something fun!  In the comments, will you list some of your favorite songs or artists or types of music? Who is on your iPod or on your Pandora Stations?
Here's mine:  Alison Kraus & Union Station, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, Etta James, Leon Bridges, Motown, Sinatra, Gaithers, Selah, James Taylor, Eagles, YoYo Ma.  And I could go on and on!  Ok.  Your turn!

Fresh voices on old carols...

 I'm in love with these fresh, young voices. Enjoy! Blessed Advent to you!

I've seen fire and I've seen rain....

Catchy title today, right?

You know James Taylor, yes?

(author of Fire and Rain, his first hit in 1968 )

We saw him this weekend.

In concert!!
I've always wanted to see him.

AWESOME! 
It sounded just like JT!

Some people came to the concert 

in this fun and funky double-decker VW Van.
Isn't it cool?  And so appropriate for a JT Concert.

 This July has been full of fire for us.

I've seen fire.

Every single cloud that comes over shoots lightning out of it,

and the men have been out fighting fires a lot.

But guess what??

We got RAIN!  Twice.

Wet, delicious, air-freshening, grass-washing, puddle-making

RAIN!

And I've seen rain.

Thank you God.

We can trust YOU.

Dancing violinist and other weekend links...

Have you ever watched a dancing violinist?  It looks like quite a feat to me.  This little lady looks like a music fairy dancing and playing her violin with spunk and joy!  Her name?  Lindsey Stirling.
She played in the CMA Christmas Special.  Wonderful!

While I was shopping in my favorite health food store, Good Earth, I stumbled upon a brand new tea blend by Rishi.  It's called Chocolate Chai.  I couldn't resist buying a little bag of loose tea to try and I think it's really good!  I like a strong tea, so I prefer to make it like chai and allow the tea to simmer about 15-20 minutes and then add a little milk and honey.  The ingredients include:  black tea, coconut flakes,  cinnamon,  cocoa shells, sarsaparilla root, licorice root, cocoa nibs, roasted dandelion root, cloves, natural chocolate flavor.

I've also been making my own version of chai tea.  I mix Yorkshire Gold tea (my all-time fav) with cinnamon stick, fresh ginger root, a star anise, nutmeg, and a grind of black pepper.  Throw all spices in a tea bag like this, crush it with the side of a knife, and throw it, along with the tea bags, into a pot of boiling water.  Simmer with the tea bag(s) 15-20 minutes and add honey and milk at the end.  It satisfies a sweet tooth without too much sweet.

Next on my list of drinks to try is a Dirty Chai Latte.  It's a blend of chai tea, strong coffee, hot milk, a dash of cinnamon and a little sweetener.  Here's a homemade recipe.

Have you ever cut your own hair?  I have.  Lots.  The hairdressers say you shouldn't, but I do anyway.  A year so ago, I found this video by a young lady who cuts her own curly hair.   Since I'm a curly head too,  I took her advice and haven't been to the salon since.  I'm cutting my hair tonight!

Look at this!  A blue poinsettia?  I bought one at Stuff-Mart yesterday upon my husband's insistence.  He thought I should loosen up a little bit this holiday season.  Bah!   So I bought a red one for me and a blue one for him.  I put the red on the mantel and the blue on the dining table.  It's kinda pretty with its glitter and all.  They say it's a special dye that is sprayed on the white poinsettias and the glitter is added while the dye is still wet.  When the afternoon sun comes through my big window, I move the beauties to the floor to catch as much sun as possible.

I hope you're all making merry!  And feeling loose!

JOY (a Christmas carol)

A beautiful masterpiece of JOY-ful Christmas carols.
EnJOY!

Snowflake window...

Would you like to look out my kitchen window?  Ok.  First you have to look at the pretty paper snowflakes and then you can focus past them to the bright, snowy landscape.  The snowflakes also stand out beautifully with a black night backdrop in the evening.  I cut these snowflakes from coffee filters but you can use ordinary copy paper.  Then I sewed down the middle of them leaving some space in between each by sewing and pulling the thread through and then sewing over the next snowflake.  Here's a link to Dave's Paper Snowflake Patterns to get you started.

I have a special Christmas carol to share with you, sung by the Pentatonix.  This a capella group won "The Sing Off" a year or so ago.  I loved them and continue to appreciate their music -- all voice, no instruments.  Pentatonix has a new Christmas album out called PTXmas.  I just downloaded it via mp3 this morning and I love it.  Enjoy!

What I've been doing....

Be Careful....

We're still out in the fields making hay while the sun shines, and boy, does it shine!  Our temps are climbing into the 90s and 100s which makes for good hay-drying weather.  Sometimes the men have to bale at night so the moisture content of the hay is just right.

 This is an old John Deere 2520 which was purchased brand new back in the 1970s before I arrive here on the ranch.  It's old, but it runs like a charm.

 A view over the top of the tractor.

 An here's a view from behind me.  The rake wheels spin the hay into the center where the hay can dry and it makes a nice windrow for the baler to go over.  So far, we've made about 2014 big round bales, and there are more to be made.  See the rake in action HERE.

Front of my latest baby quilt.

I've finally finished Rootie-Tootie's baby quilt.  She's only just turned 7 months old so she's crawling off her blankies already, but hopefully she'll still enjoy her own especial blankie from her Gram.

Here's the back with an R and a few posies in the corners.

There are other things that I've been up to, but these are the latest projects.

Look what my Sweetie gave me this morning.  

I woke up to this song and these fresh-picked, happy sunflowers!
Do you know the song?

Anticipation...

Carl Larsson (Swedish Realist Painter, 1853-1919) 

Lisbeth with Yellow Tulip

(doesn't she look like she's waiting for a baby to come soon?)

This particular Advent Season, my family and I are waiting for a baby.  To me, it is a prayerful, hopeful anticipation of the day we know is coming soon.  In these last days of our daughter's  pregnancy, I awake each morning and think, "This could be the day.  Perhaps we will get a phone call."  Every week I see my daughter as she goes to another doctor's appointment, heavy with child, and the realization becomes more and more clear and evident --she is one day closer to her delivery.  The waiting and wondering and concern for health and well-being will be over, and we will be glad that the child is born.  We will touch and smell, we will cuddle and coo, we will smile and bless, and praise God that the child is with us.

Until that day, we pray and watch, anticipate and prepare.  As we wait for a new life to be delivered to us, it reminds me that this should always be my mindset and my hope in Jesus.  I remember well one Christmas Eve long ago when we were singing Oh Little Town of Bethlehem in church.  When we came to the verse that says, "Be born in us today," my heart melted.  As a mother, I knew the oneness I had with a child living and growing inside me, and I knew the exhausting work of labor and then the joy of delivering a child.  In that Christmas hymn, God showed me how very near He is and how near He will always stay.  

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heaven
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

(A Pause in Advent)

All creatures great and small....

 All things bright and beautiful,  

 

All creatures great...

 

and small,

 

All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell, 

How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well. 

 ~Cecil Frances Alexander

(read the whole poem here) 

Is it any wonder that our Lord Jesus was born in a lowly place amongst the creatures, great and small?   I know the song, Friendly Beasts, is just a sweet old English carol, but I like to think of it when I'm out walking in nature this time of year.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD!

~Psalm 150:6
(A Pause In Advent)

That's right, you're not from Texas...

...but Texas wants you anyway!  Gotta listen to a little Lyle Lovett now and then.

Have you ever seen a bear? Did you take him to lunch with you?

She said, "Yes!"

We just got the news that SecondSon is engaged!  We are so happy for the two of them.
In honor of their engagement, "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You."

Let's see your true colors....

That's why I LOVE you!

I need a housewife...

We were up early this morning and got our barn chores done -- checking the lambs and the ewes and feeding the bum lambs. The two revived lambs were thriving and seemed healthy enough.  One went back to his mother and she was glad to welcome him back.  The other is living with the rest of the bum lambs and is doing well.  I came in to warm up with a cup of coffee while T. went to feed with the tractor.  I spent a little time reading my Bible, but what I really wanted to do this morning was to sing.  Sing hymns.  In days gone by, I sang a hymn or two every morning with my kids.  It was such a sweet time and I am thankful for those memories and songs.  Today I turned the pages of my hymnal to A Mighty Fortress is Our God (a family favorite), It is Well With My Soul, and What a Friend We have in Jesus.  It just felt good to sing this morning.

It was a very full day today.  More triplets were born, and more bum lambs were added to the pens as we turned out the triplet-moms with only two lambs each.  Now the bummies number 16 and counting.  I'm mixing up a gallon of powdered lamb milk for each feeding, five times a day.  Thankfully, I have help feeding them.  It's a lot easier to double-team the babies as any mother knows.

I took a quick trip to town with Hubs.  We had to get a trichinosis test for a bull who will be traveling to CA soon, and then we picked up supplies -- 50 pounds of lamb milk, more nipples, chicken feed, and a few groceries.  I took a half an hour and went to The Bakery (my fabric store) with G. and Betsy to check out the possibilities for kitchen/dining room curtain fabrics.  And found!  I'm anxious to get sewing.....soon.

Prairie Paisley by Moda

An hour and a half later and we were back in the truck and on the road to home, and back to our sheep and cows.  I helped the guys get the heifers in to give them a booster vaccination which will help prevent scours from happening in their baby calves when they are born.  While they were vaccinating, I spent an hour resting (ahhhh) and sipping a cup of coffee and then went back up to the lambing barn.

I told Hubby that I need a housewife -- someone to fix us a hot supper each night, someone to tidy up the house and keep us in clean socks and underwear.  She could fix us a delicious snack once in awhile and make the house smell lovely with a lavender-scented mopped floor.  Oh, and wouldn't it be nice if the curtains were sewed-up and hanging prettily at sparkling clean windows?  If I only had a housewife.

Even so....I managed to fix us a nice supper in a half an hour.  Chicken-friend steaks with mushroom gravy, baked sweet potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  Oh boy, did it taste good!  It was worth the wait.  Hubs said, "Take a picture of this meal," so I did. 

The weatherman is calling for a possible snowstorm starting tomorrow and continuing through Tuesday.  It has been cold enough here each day without a snowstorm, but we'll deal with that if and when it comes.  One day at a time; do the next thing.  That's my mantra. Since the housewife didn't show up, I guess I'll go fold the laundry.

Sneak peek....

 

I'm lovin' my kitchen.  Lovin' it!

The installation of the cabinets and counter tops is done.  So many, many little details are left after the initial installation.  My hubby and my dad, along with two sons have been doing all the work.  I pitch in where they need me.  Every single step of the way there were "issues."  When working with an older home that has shifted and moved with the years, it brings on challenges. 

Today I spent most of the day painting the ceiling (ugh).  I'll probably need a neck rub tonight before bed.  I also did some touch-up painting here and there in the kitchen and dining area. 

The kitchen is a combination of both wood and soft cream cabinetry.  I'm so glad I did this because the wood adds a warmth to the light, bright kitchen which I love. 
I am waiting on the wood knobs for the cream cupboards which should add more warmth and some rustic charm, I hope.  

Some of the hardest work of all has been the boxing and un-boxing of all my kitchen stuff and then reorganizing the kitchen cupboards.  I'm giving myself permission to move things as I work along in my kitchen.  Most things are in their same places, but because we tore out a wall between the living room and kitchen, I lost some upper cabinets that are now lower cabinets.  It takes some getting-used-to since I've been the cook in this kitchen for 22 years without a change.  

But change is good!

More to come soon!

I've missed visiting with you.
And now for a blast from the past....one of my favorite shows from the 70s, Soul Train!
(RIP Don Cornelius)

Two new Loveys....

These are just so much fun to make and today's lil Loveys have tags.  (You know how babies love to chew on tags.)  Well, I thought I'd add my own tags for these fellas.  I found a tiny set of rubber stamps in my stash along with some twill tape I saved from a set of sheets.  I marked the rubber stamps with a Sharpie hoping to make "LOVEY" stay put through washings.  And if it doesn't.... oh well!  Both boys were made from patterns by Wee Wonderfuls, however, I did a little improvising and put a football helmet in Tim's hands and wrote my favorite football team's name across his shirt.

Betsy Cupcake will get the Tim Tebow lovey (her mommy and daddy are big fans) and The Blankie Boy lovey will go to a young friend who is going to have a baby soon.  There's a baby shower coming up so I'm in my workshop getting a few things sewn for her and the wee one.  Fun!  (thanks for letting me share)

It's snowing here today!  (just a light dusting so far)  An Arctic front is pushing down from the North and we're in for a Deep Freeze.  Single digits and sub-zero wind chills.  Living on the prairie has its disadvantages -- wind and wind chill.  The wood stove is burning steadily.  Time to put another log on the fire.  (remember that old song?)

Holy Christmas....

Sweet Little Jesus Boy

we didn't know who you were...

A childlike Christmas in Art...

I adore Carl Larsson's art.  The faces, the colors, the real-living.  

Enjoy Christmas with the Larsson children and those who love them.

These first three pieces are close-ups from his painting called 

"Now It's Christmas Again"

 

Even Grandma looks like a youthful child at Christmas!

 (Do you see the young lady in the background praying before the creche?)

 

This is the original "Now It's Christmas Again" and as you can see, there is so much going on in this one image that the close-ups give us a deeper look.  If you wish to see these images in a larger, clearer size, click here .

 This one is "Christmas Eve Banquet"

So many details here too.

 

"Brita as Iduna"

 Iduna, the Norse Goddess of the orchard, apple-keeper of the Aesir who grows the golden apples that keep the sky gods eternally youthful. 

 

Kersti's Sleigh Ride

Christmas Morning

Ulf

Esbjorn

Young Girl with a Doll

Brita's Cactus

I hope you've enjoyed A Childlike Christmas.  I sure have.

Thanks to Pom Pom for hosting this joyful event.

I wish you joy-filled days leading up to Christmas Day.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today
We hear the Christmas angels
Their great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel.

~From O Little Town of Bethlehem

Breath of Heaven (Mary's song)....

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, 

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life....~Genesis 2:7

I have traveled many moonless night

Cold and weary, with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy Father, you have come

And chosen me now

To carry your son

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone,

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now

Be with me now

Chorus:

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Light up my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

Do you wonder as you watch my face

If a wiser one one should have had my place

But I offer all I am

For the mercy of your plan

Help me be strong

Help me be

Help me

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Light up my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

Thin as the curve of a raccoon's whisker...

Tonight on the horizon

"How dark is the dark tonight?" asked the little raccoon?
"Not so dark," said his mother.  "There is a new moon tonight, thin as the curve of a raccoon's whisker in the sky above the tree tops."
"Can I see it?" asked the little raccoon.
"No," said his mother.  "You must wait.  Wait till the moon is full."
"How big is the night?" asked the little raccoon.
"Very big," said his mother.
"How big is Big?" asked the little raccoon.
"Wait," said his mother.  "Wait till the moon is full."

~Excerpt from Wait Till The Moon is Full
By Margaret Wise Brown
 .........................................
I gave myself a crash course in night photography yesterday after reading the short version booklet that goes with our big camera.  I don't know if I learned anything, but I tried.  I waited and waited last night for the midnight hour  when the next wave of Northern Lights would come upon us, but......there were clouds.  Strangely, I could see the lighter night sky glowing behind the clouds, which was very cool because there was no moon last night. Hubs and I drove out to our spot to watch, but we couldn't see The Lights.  I woke up a time or two in the middle of the night to see what I could see, but all that I could see was Dark.  It was cloudy.  Rats!  Maybe tonight.  I don't know how many more nights in a row of this I can do, but I'm livin' large.  I'm trying to live large.

Northern lights seen from Kennebec, S.D. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. (Photo courtesy Randy Halverson)

Click to enlarge