This morning I was reading this little devotional by J. R. Miller.

Finding The Good In God’s World

Thankfulness or unthankfulness is largely a matter of eyes. Two men look at the same scene: one beholds the defects, the imperfections; the other beholds the beauty, the brightness. If you can not find things to be thankful for today, every day, the fault is in yourself, and you ought to pray for a new heart, a heart to see God’s goodness and to praise Him. A happy heart transfigures all the world for us. It finds something to be thankful for in the barest circumstances, even in the night of sorrow. Let us train ourselves to see the beauty and the goodness in God’s world, in our own lot, and then we shall stop grumbling, and all our experience shall start songs of praise in our hearts. J. R. Miller

~~~

Lord, please give me eyes that see Your beauty and Your provision. Fill my heart with thankfulness so I may live a life that is pleasing to You. Amen

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

I think most of us have heard this said before.  I don’t agree.  I think you can teach and old dog new tricks.  He, or in this case, she just takes a bit longer to learn them.

I am speaking from personal experience.  I wouldn’t say I was old or that I was a dog.  Old is a misnomer.  Age is merely a number.  True, that I am turning 50 at the end of this year but I feel as young as ever.  I may not be as energetic as I once was but I have come to enjoy taking my time.  A dog, I am afraid not as I am not as loving and forgiving as one of God’s dearest creatures.

Learning something new takes more time than it used to.  I am teaching myself new software and though I find it frustrating to understand, I am very pleased when I do.  I do find it time consuming and I miss my time here.  I’m glad Sundays are a day of rest and quiet moments.

Blessings to yours.

Today is Show and Tell Friday. Show and Tell Friday is so graciously hosted by Kelli at Kelli’s House.This week, I wanted to show you some of my birdhouse collection. I have some other birdhouses that I put away in the attic to change with the seasons. I believe I’ve lost count just how many I have!

In our garden room,  we have a good many birdhouses. On the piano sits this birdhouse clock.

On the side wall, I have these two precious birdhouses, the school house and the potting shed. I believe I ordered them from Faith Mountain Company (pity the company folded..).

Along the floor near the piano is a sweet little country birdhouse. I love its simplicity.

On the far wall of the garden room is my birdhouse cupboard. It holds a great many CD’s. I love this cupboard. I can’t remember where I ordered it. I bought this one and its twin through a catalog somewhere. It seems when I have visitors, they always fall in love with the birdhouse cupboards. :)

The downstairs bathroom also is home to a variety of birdhouses.I have a small bathroom cupboard that sits between the bathroom door and the shower.Aren’t the little birdhouses sweet? The taller one on the top shelf is a really tiny little cupboard.

I have a country bathroom hutch that sits above the toilet. On the top shelf is a pair of birdhouse bookends. I change books from time to time. On the other shelf sits various birdhouses, many of them in a country red, white, and blue. I love the little red claw footed bathtub!

Back to the garden room and you can see my little birdhouse lamp.

I have the twin birdhouse cupboard that sits in my living room or the gathering room as I call it. It looks lovely next to the oak entertainment center.

Well, this concludes my Show and Tell for today. I hope you had a lovely time.

Blessings to you.

Yesterday went by so quickly that I didn’t have time to sit and write.  I’m glad today is less busy.

I’m in the mood  for a summer walk.  Would anyone care to join me?

I would love one day to visit the English countryside and stay in a little cottage bed and breakfast.  My second daughter went with her college roommate a few years ago and loved the English countryside.  It seems everyone has a little dog and a big garden.  My kind of place……

I hope you are having a lovely day.

Good Tuesday morning to you. The sun is truly shining! Someone told me that it has rained 30 out of the last 40 days here. I don’t mind really. The weather has been cool.

My take on Jon and Kate is posted here at the Gazette. What do you think?

Every now and again, one needs a quiet relaxing day. That day, for me is today. My dear husband has a late meeting/dinner in the City. I don’t need to cook dinner. My third daughter is home for part of the day. We are going to enjoy the morning and early afternoon together before she has to drive back to school. I do have one load of laundry to do but I don’t mind. I actually am happy to wash these clothes!

I ordered some lovely Christopher Banks skirts and some various jumpers from ebay at great prices. They arrived yesterday and not only are they all in excellent condition but they fit! We do not have a Christopher Banks store near here and I have heard such great things about their clothing that I went out on a limb and bought the skirts. Love them! And my jumpers as well. The clothes came from ebay sellers in the Mid West region. You can not find sweet denim jumpers or dresses here in the New York City area. Practically everyone dresses fancy. I prefer plain and simple. Plain and simple is best, I think. Still lovely yet natural. Does that make sense?

Little Miss Matilda Bear is awake from her nap and wants to play. Blessings to your day!

After a long delay, the Simply Heart and Home Gazette has started their presses! If you are looking for news on what is happening around us today from the outlook of a gentle spirit, the Gazette is just the place for you.

Tomorrow’s column is about Jon and Kate Plus Eight. What is really best?

Blessings

It has been a busy day. Little by little, I’m getting everything organized. Time for a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate.

‘Tis a peaceful thought to live simply and to let go of stuff that one accumulates over time.  I desire my little cottage home to be filled with treasures that I hold dear as well as family and friends (and the occasional wayfaring stranger).

I love this quote by Robert Louis Stevenson:

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.

Happy Father’s Day, everyone. What are you doing for that special man in your life?

I am treating my husband to one of his favorite meals, Granny Davis’s Chicken Divan and baking him some of his favorite cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies (made with spelt flour).

He is barred from doing any work today and should just enjoy a few of his favorite pastimes. His favorite hobby is photography and today he is taking pictures for my ebay store. We are both excited about it!  I am slowly but surely putting it all together and will let you know when it is up and running. I’ve lovely rubber stamps, cards, and other sweet items I’m listing.

Here is a picture of little Miss Matilda Bear.

Isn’t she lovely? She is truly such a sweet devoted little dog, a heartbeat at my feet.

Little Bear was groomed on Friday morning. I am very happy with our groomer. Ellen is such a blessing to us. She is very friendly and truly loves her work. I asked her if I could post a link to her business website here and she said that I could. If you live in the Northern Bergen County area and are looking for a wonderful groomer, I highly recommend Royal Canine Mobile Grooming.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Please forgive my tardiness in posting this month’s winner of the Country Heart Giveaway.  I was caught up in the birthday celebrations and didn’t realize that time had passed.

I am pleased to announce, this morning, that Carolyn has won!

Carolyn, your sweet Susan Branch stampin’ set will be on its way asap. I look forward to seeing the lovely crafts that you will make. Thank you to everyone who took part in this month’s giveaway drawing.

~~~

This morning is extra quiet.  My eldest daughter left last night for her residency orientation.  She will be back tonight and then stay until Sunday afternoon.  She’ll start her residency on Monday.  We hope to see her off and on (hopefully once or twice a month) when she has time.  We plan on driving down to see her after she gets settled in.  Unfortunately, her apartment isn’t ready quite but the hospital has set her up at a lovely hotel until her apartment is ready.  When the apartment is available, we will help her move everything in.

I must brush little Miss Matilda Bear this morning.  She is very patient when I brush her and she always gets a treat when she is through.  I don’t usually brush her this early but she has her grooming appointment at 9:30.  The groomer comes to our home and grooms her here.  I can not imagine dropping Little Bear off at a shop for hours and hours.  This is much simpler and less stressful for both of us.

Blessings.

..my son was born.  It was Father’s Day and what better present for my husband and me!  I remember asking my doctor while he was closing up the c-section if he was sure it was a boy! He just laughed and said yes.  After three daughters, a son was born.

He was blonde as can be until he turned about 3 years old.  His hair then turned to a handsome strawberry blonde.  He keeps it at a medium length and, as my husband remarked, he looks like a young Paul McCartney. Tall, tall, tall - he is roughly 5′ 10″.  He’s still a string bean lean young man.  I miss that chubby little baby.

I’ve been busy today with birthday preparations.  His birthday dinner is tonight.  He loves spaghetti so that is what I fixed.  And he absolutely loves apple pie.  I baked one this morning and I have been so good about not nibbling on it.  After all, it is not my birthday.

He already received 99% of his birthday present from us.  My husband went with him to a Coldplay concert last month.  My son loves Coldplay and piano.  He’s been playing for about ten years now and is very good.  I believe music is one of his gifts.  I love to hear him play the piano.

Twenty years passes too quickly.  I know days are hectic when they are little and you may be wishing and hoping for those days to pass but enjoy every moment.  Hold onto that chubby little hand.  Kiss those sweet baby cheeks.  In a blink of an eye, instead of a toddler before you, there will be a fine young man too soon.  Too soon..

**I will post the results of this month’s Country Heart Giveaway in the morning.