I've Gone Country A blog about a city girl learning a whole new world

My niece Minnie accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, the most important decision she will ever make in her life, and was baptized yesterday.  

We all gathered together to celebrate with her (The men were there as well…but we could never get a picture of all of them together).

These women are a support group that Minnie can always come to.   It consist of her Mom, some of her Aunts and cousins.  Women who have already prayed for her all her life.   We are so very proud of her.

These are some of Minnie’s friends.  I pray they will all grow up to be strong women in their faith.  That they will love the Lord with all their heart and minds and souls.  It is important to have friends who are like minded.  It helps hold us accountable to one another as we walk daily in our faith.

Minnie you are beautiful on the inside and out!

It seems like when I think of February, I think of it as a month of Love.  We have many family things that take place during this month besides celebrating Valentines Day.

The common thread though is love.  It is what makes these other events so special.  Sometimes things remind us of  an important time or special people in our lives.

When we moved to the country, I sorted things in the attic and closets.  I still ended up moving too much stuff, so I have been trying to go through it again.   It just isn’t easy.  You have heard that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.  I believe that…because I love to go to thrift stores and yard sales.  Even the love of going to all my sales must be inherited if that is possible.  I remember my grandmother would take us along with her when we visited.  If you liked something she had, she would say “oh,I got that at Sally’s”.  That meant she got it at a rummage sale or something of that nature.

I do love to find treasures!  I am usually on the finding end of it.  Yet, as I clean out my attic and closets, I find that MY treasures would be someone else’s junk.

Like this:

This is a corsage and ribbon from my Mother and Fathers Wedding.  The satin ribbon is from her bouquet that included a Bible and the ribbon cascaded down.  I only know this because I remember her smiling as she told me about it.

And this:

This is a nut..a walnut (I think)…that my grandfather cut and carved into a basket complete with little artificial flowers.   The flowers looked better when he made them many years ago.  I remember hanging it on our Christmas tree when I was growing up.

And then there is:

This fork.  It brings back many memories of home cooked meals and laughter at the dinner table.  I always loved the design on the handle….reminds me of candy canes.  I do not have the whole set….just this one little fork.  But it is all I need.

It isn’t priceless silverware by the worlds standard…but it is priceless to me.

And this cute little pitcher.

It always makes me smile…why… I don’t know.  I love the colors in it….but I think I love it because it was my Nannies (my grandmother).   I was told it also belonged to my Nannies Mom.

I saw one just like it back in the summer at an  Antique store.  I was shocked…I had never seen another one.  It was priced for just a few dollars.  I laughed…because that one didn’t even have a broken and re-glued handle like this one does!  So, I am pretty sure this would not be worth anything to someone else.  But that’s alright with me.

There are many, many more small items such as these.  These are just some of the older things.  I haven’t even started with the cards my children made me and now grandbabies are too.  There are the sweet cards my mama sent me through the years.  The love letters from my husband while we were dating…and the ones he still writes me.  Like when I looked into my coupon envelope at the grocery store recently and written on a box top was a little note that said “I Love My Wife”.    Yes, I still have that one too.

I picked up several things and set them in a give away pile.  When I looked after a long time of sorting…I found my give away pile was really the newer, cuter things.  But the keep pile was what a lot of people would have taken to the curb.  It really isn’t the item.  It’s the sweet memories you get when you look at them.   The love you feel from having your loved ones in your life.  That is where the true value lies.

For now, I will just keep all my junk…I mean treasures!

I have a friend who is known as the “card lady”.  For years and years she has sent cards to people for sickness, encouragement, sympathy, birthday’s,  anniversaries and for you to know that you were being prayed for and loved.

I call her Mrs. Shirley.  I have known her for many years.  Matter of fact she was in the church where I grew up.  I didn’t know her that well as a child, just knew her when I saw her in the hallway.  In the following years I got to know her differently.

My mother would speak  of Mrs. Shirley and how she enjoyed her friendship.  It was only after my mother passed away that I realized what a neat friend Mrs. Shirley was to have.

She would call, checking on me and my family.  She sent cards in the mail, often a little cartoon would be inserted from the morning paper.  It would bring a smile to what otherwise were very sad days.  We began exchanging  prayer requests and then would be excited to share with each other the outcome.

She played the piano by ear and would go and visit people in assisted living homes and play for them several times a week.  Always hoping that in some small way she could bring a smile and let them know that they were loved.

For seven years…..Mrs. Shirley continued to call and send cards to me on a regular basis.  This past summer she developed her own health problems.  She is now in assisted living.  It happened very quickly and it is hard to watch her go through this stage of her life.  I miss her calls,  her cards, our talks and laughs and I miss my prayer partner.

When I think of Mrs. Shirley I think of others too.  Like my own mother and other women I know today that go and do as she did.  The hospital visits, the cards in the mail, the dinners that feed many people after the loss of a loved one.

Even recently I received a card from both of Mrs. Shirley’s daughters carrying on the example set by their mother.  The example she taught them from scripture.  Not just reading it…but putting it into action.

I keep in touch with Mrs. Shirley.  Our talks are not the same, but she still knows who I am.  I have been blessed to watch God continue to work in her life.  She has been in her new home for several months now….and so far….she has received at least one card everyday.  This has ministered to not only her , but to her daughters.  I know that makes her smile!

I grew up in a church family that showed me the love of Christ by example.  She is one of many that I have watched show the love of Christ.  I am reminded of this scripture found in Matthew 25:40  (NIV)     The King will reply “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”.

Ellie looks forward to this everyday!

Billy does too….

She is a good girl.

We went to check on Violet and Jethro.

He is so cute….. and sweet.

I always have baby fever.  It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of animal it is…a baby is just adorable.

I had asked Billy if he would hold Jethro, so I could get a picture.  They grow so fast, I just want lots of cute pictures along the way.  I have found that I better take several because I never know until I download them if they are as clear as I like.

And it seems that whenever I snap the picture, I often miss the perfect moment.  I thought the pictures were turning out pretty good so I kept taking them.

Jethro looked away and Billy said hey Jethro….give me a kiss.

And so he did!   I was so glad I caught it in action.

Surely that stole Billy’s heart!  It did mine.

Violet blessed us with a new baby boy.

This is Jethro.  He was born on January 27, 2012 at 2:30.

We named him that in keeping with his brother and sister who were named before we got them.  We have Jed who was the father on the Beverly Hillbillies and Pearl who was Jethro’s mother on the show.

When I arrived in the pasture it was the sweetest thing.  Almost all the animals were looking on.  It was like humans do, anxiously waiting to hear the good news and get a peek at the baby.

You can see here that most were facing Violet and the baby.  Punkin and Bailey are facing the camera.  They let out a nice bellow when I arrived…like hurry….your gonna miss it!

He is beautiful.  Mother and baby seem to be doing fine.

This is after the birth, we were about to take them to a place where they could just be together.  Violet turns to all the animals and it looks as if she is thanking everyone for coming.  I am telling you, these creatures are amazing.

Violet is such a sweet goat.  She let me hold him without any hesitation.

I sure was glad because I DOOOOO love babies!

He seemed to like it to0.

I have enjoyed my husband’s sense of humor.  He does little things and then goes about his business never letting on.  Eventually I see what he has done and it makes me smile.

Such as this…he likes to tease me about “pillows”.   I had not really even thought about it.  I just fix a bedroom with a comforter, and yes, usually there are pillows to complete the set.  I usually make the bed, but occasionally he will.  So you know what that means….pillow arranging Billy style.

Recently I was under the weather, he brought me a bell, so I could let him know if I needed him.

And so I did.  I rang that bell when I needed a slurpie…( our way of saying…I need a big ole coca-cola).  When I needed him to fix me some chicken noodle soup.  When I needed him to fluff my pillows.   When I needed…wait…where’s my bell?   So let’s just say…he confiscated the bell pretty early on….HEE HEE.

Maybe that was because I would text him, while he was busy on the land, and ask him if he couldn’t hear my bell?  🙂

But he did continue to make the bed for several days.

He would add things that he found around the house.  He is very creative.

I just had to take a few pictures as he continued to amuse me with all his creative styles.

1 Peter 4:9 (NIV)-Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

I think he displayed this very well.

He told me today that he thought I was all better and besides that he had run out of ideas.

Too cute.  Laughter is great medicine.

It has rained and rained and rained.

Makes you think about Noah and his family.

When my son was little, I would take him to the library each week.  We would check out books and VHS tapes (tells you it’s been a while..huh?)

This was one we liked.  Everytime I look at this cartoon I get amazed at the imagination of these cartoonist.  I believe you could watch this a hundred times and find something new everytime.  The animals are so cute the way they help out.

I hope we see the rainbow soon!

Hope you enjoy!

My friend is working on this quilt.

It was  pieced by her husband’s grandmother!  The exact age is not known…but the grandmother passed away 49 years ago.  So it is VERY old.

The fans are from the original quilt top, but through time the material they were attached to deteriated.  So she  just couldn’t stand the thought of throwing it away.

She patiently and carefully disassembled the fans from the quilt top, with the help of her mother.  She picked out new material and sewed the original fans onto new quilt squares.

She now has it on the quilting frame and is attaching it.  We  had fun looking at all the fans and how different they were.  You can really tell that it is old material.  It feels different, the patterns are not what you normally find today.

Look at all the stitching that already has been done….and there is a lot more to come.

You couldn’t help but wonder where the scraps of material came from originally.  Was it a favorite shirt, dress or an apron.   Clothes were worn until they practically wore out.   It was then that they were used for other purposes.

I couldn’t help but notice her pin cushion. I remember my mama having one  just like that.

She shared with me that one of the thimbles is hers and one is her mother’s.   Although her mother cannot sew any longer, she keeps it close and it feels as if she is there working alongside.  They have pieced many quilts together through the years.  What wonderful memories to hold in your heart.

There have been two different sides of this family that have lovingly worked on this project.  Oh, it could have been tossed away and forgotten.  But there is just something special about seeing stitches hand sewn over 50 years ago by someone that  is a part of you.  You can’t help but admire, treasure and respect it, knowing someone put so much time and love into it.

I think these quilts did more than keep you warm they warmed the heart as well.