She Got the Blue Ribbon!

So happy for my Chelsea.

She won the blue ribbon for those

brownies!  They are amazing...

and the woman in charge of this area

of the fair said that one judge was 

exceptionally impressed by the presentation.

That's my girl!

She also got a job today.

At a nearby theater.

You might be able to guess which one.

I think she will enjoy working there, 

although she had another job offer

that she turned down for this one....

and it paid more.  

She made sure she

pointed that out to me.

But, that one didn't have her 

Grandma, Dad and 

best friends working there.

Nope!

This will be much better.

I'm pretty sure.

Heaven help me if I am

wrong...those teenage eyes

do know how to roll!

Good Stuff but Little Time

In all of my years of blogging

I have never been at such a loss 

for what to post.

I just have so much on the brain

and none of it seems like it would 

interest you.

The mountain posts appear to be 

done for reasons I'll keep to 

myself....sorry.

I looked outside at Oliver yesterday

and thought he was looking pretty 

leisurely and decided to go 

bug him for a picture.

Such a life this kitty has.

Tough, I tell you!

It is Fair time.

This is Chelsea's brownie

entry this year.

They are Mocha Oreo Brownies.

Amazing!!!

We'll try to remember to share

the recipe later.

But there is one more fair to 

enter them in.

The judges vote today

in our local fair.

This is the beginning of a very
busy candle season. I'm trying to get
my Etsy shop loaded up with items so that
during the Christmas Shopping Season it will
have enough to last while I am up to my
ears in fund raiser orders.

This was fun yesterday....

a custom order,

in baby powder scent,

for baby shower favors.

 

I sometimes feel that my brain is so consumed with 

candles and that you will get as tired of it as 

my family sometimes does.

So...I'll try hard to keep most candle stuff 

on the Candle Blog....but no promises.

On a different subject,

today is Chelsea's first day as

Review Teacher at a local Bible Study.

She has worked with the children for the 

past two years and has been promoted

this year.  It is a bold move for my shy

girl but one that will be very good for her.

We are excited!!

She is excited (and nervous) too.

But she loves the children and they love her.

It will all be good.

Mountain Drama

We had a bit of drama this year 

on our mountain journey.

Before we had even reached the cabin

Jonathan, Chelsea and I had reason to 

scream.  As we were eagerly anticipating

the cabin just a mile down the road a large

deer jumped out of nowhere, over the guard rail,
and right in front of us.

 She also narrowly missed

 a man who was jogging.
I slammed the

brake pedal to the floor and held on.

We missed her by a piece of fur.  

Jonathan insists she kicked the fender but

we can't find any evidence of that.
I'm also glad I was the last car in 

our three vehicle convoy so there wasn't 

even a risk of someone hitting me 

from behind.

Our brakes worked very well!

Chelsea screamed loudly, which is pretty 

amazing for her.  She is the quiet type.

To my amazement you don't actually have 

to hit something to remain sore for days.

My neck, shoulder, wrist and back were

felt as if they actually had hit that deer.

I guess that was the impact into the steering wheel.

That poor jogger!  

His face reflected the terror we were all feeling!

  I am so very 

thankful that we didn't swerve into him.

God protected all of us.

So, as we arrived at the cabin and unloaded we

were watching for our friends from the Blue Barn 

Bulletin Blog.  We were so amazed and pleased

that Clarence, Karen and the girls agreed to drive

from Michigan to join us this year.  We had reserved

a cabin for them and were all ready for our time

together.  It wasn't too long after we got there that 

they pulled in.  We visited for a while, ate a late dinner 

and then decided to take them over and get their 

cabin opened up and them settled in.

It was around 10pm by now and it was beginning to 

rain.  As we pulled into the driveway Warren noticed

that the electric line coming to the cabin appeared to have

an issue.  Sure enough, when we got inside there was no 

power to the cabin.  That meant no water, no lights....

nothing.  The guys went outside to investigate and came

back to report that a tree had fallen and taken out the 

power lines leading to this cabin and the one beside it.

There was nothing to do that night but to go back and 

squeeze all of us into one cabin.  That first night was the

tightest because my brother and his wife were there just 

for that night.  We did absolutely fine.  Everyone worked

well together with one tiny bathroom and some took couches.

So if you want to count....
That meant that we had:
Four in our family
Allan and Bev
Four from Michigan
My Mom
Warren's Mom
Pastor Mike
and three dogs
all under
one roof.

The next day we considered whether Clarence and Karen

would want to attempt to rent a different cabin but they 

chose to stay with us as there really was enough space.

It all worked out just fine!

The guys did the dishes once!

 The girls had so much fun together!

It was great!

Although it rained most of the day 

every day we still had a wonderful time!!

I'll share more in the next post about our

furry daily visitor.....think Bear!

More photos to follow, as well.

Canine Blogger

 Good Morning.

The Mommy human asked me to wake up 

and blog for her while she puts her 

vacation post together.

 Frankly, I don't know why she would 

trouble me for this job, 

but as long as I am here I guess I'll 

do it.

Mmmmm......this sure is a comfy place 

to sleep.  I hate to even think of getting up.

So I don't think I will.

 Let me share, instead, about an issue I have.

You see, I am a "licker".

I love to lick the furniture.

This pillow tastes awesome.

It is Grandma Ruth's.  

She happened to leave it on the sofa in the 

cabin after she slept there one night.

I found it and enjoyed it soooooo much!

It was great for sleeping on too.

Mom must have gotten this photo 

when I wasn't paying attention.

 And this one too.

Good grief!

Doesn't she have anything better to do?

Hey!  Not so close!

Wow!  I am getting gray.

Maybe Mom's friend, Jenny, would help me out!

A little highlight here 

another there.....

 Oh!  Are you still here?

Well, I do hope you'll have a great day.

Mom is going to work on that post when 

she gets back from a birthday breakfast

and gets caught up on unpacking and 

shipping some candle orders.

Really.

I believe her.

Some of the photos are so much fun!

In the meanwhile.....

I am going to reminisce about how 

amazing this pillow tasted.

See you later!

Looks Can Be Deceiving

There it lay

in the bottom of a bin.

Moved several times with us and 

never actually unpacked.

A jewelry box.

On the lid of the box the contents

were spelled out very clearly.

It was a three carrot ring.

How exciting!

Warren's Grandfather had been a 

jeweler so this must have been one of his

pieces.  Passed down through the family.

And then we opened the box.

It was exactly what the box declared it to be.

But not what the expectations led one to 

believe.......

Now, truth be told the kids

knew the story of 

this ring.

According to Jonathan

Grandpa Gene gave this ring

to Grandma Georgia

because he couldn't afford the real

three carrot deal.
I don't know if this happened
before or after they were married.
I'm taking it as before...
but I do know that at some point
Georgia ended up with a diamond.
How many carrots
I'm not sure.

But, this ring is sweet!

We returned it to Georgia 

last evening.

She got quite the chuckle out of 

seeing it again.

This week we will venture up to 

the mountains to the cabin that holds

so many memories.

We are excited that some blog friends 

from Michigan will meet us there.

We will play games and laugh,

probably get ice cream.

And we will treasure memories

from the past that include 

our Dads.

They enjoyed the times in the 

mountains.

One who loved to golf and sing....

and one who would give 

his bride-to-be a 

Three Carrot Ring.

I'm not sure when I'll get 

to post again.....

Internet is spotty up there.

But, know that I'll be thinking of you

and missing the visits to your special

places here on the "net".

Evidence and Good News!

For over a year someone at church

has turned this word Faith around every week.

Sometimes several times on a Sunday.

I would return it to its right direction and

wonder who I was "playing" with.

I figured it was a young person.

I was right!

But I had NOT guessed that it was 

this one......

She and I laughed so hard when 

this disclosure was made.

She had gotten such a thrill out of 

making me crazy.

I'm not a perfectionist but seeing 

that word turned around just made 

me "have to" fix it.

It is all the way at the back of our 

fellowship hall so I made countless

trips out of my way to turn this silly word 

around.....

I love this girl.

Then there is this new development.

Chelsea has been practicing at least two hours a 

day for months now.

Last night she brought the guitar to music 

practice.  She and Pastor Mike worked on

one song.....

many times over.

He was very patient and she got the hang 

of it.  It sounded great!

Then I joined them
on the piano.

Fun stuff....
Making music with my daughter.
I loved making music with my Dad.
I confess it was just a bit emotional.
Tiny tears popped into my eyes.
So...I blinked them away and enjoyed
the moment!

 I don't know when she will join the other youth

that play along with the music

but I'm thinking it won't be too long.

She is almost there.

All self taught from YouTube

and hours of practice.

Once she has a job she desperately wants to 

take lessons.

The man who gives lessons at our

local Christian Music store desperately 

would like to give her lessons.

We stopped in to have the guitar

restrung the other day and when he found

out her commitment to practice he was nearly 

begging us to take lessons.

He said he is lucky if his students

practice two hours in a whole week!

The really, really good news is that we were in Hershey

to see the nutritionist yesterday.

Chelsea is just three pounds away from the end of her

need to gain weight.  

Then she will begin her maintenance.

Its a long story and it has been such a hard journey

but yesterday on the way to Hershey I told 

Chelsea that I noticed a peace about her now

that wasn't there before.

She smiled and agreed.

I asked if it was the guitar

and the music?

She said that while it was a 

distraction and that was a good thing

that she "had to give the credit to God".

I know that this has been and continues to be

the hardest thing Chelsea has faced in her young

life.  But I am so thankful that she has learned that

He is her strength.  

He is the one who is changing her thought processes

and teaching her to be ok with the size and shape 

HE wants her to be.

As her nutritionist has said many times,

we are all healthy at different weights.

Chelsea is very close to her healthy weight.

The one that allows her body to function

without stress.and distress.

We are just past the one year mark

for treatment.

What.a.year!

God has been faithful.

If you all want to keep us

in your prayers for these final three

pounds we would appreciate it.

While it doesn't sound like much to 

most of us, 

each one is still dreaded and the process

remains hard.

Then begins the learning how to maintain.

Her temptation will be to slip back.

But she will just have to learn how to 

stay where she needs to be.

Many hugs to those of you

who have faithfully kept us in your prayers.

Note:  This was shared with her permission.

I Cannot Say it Better Than This....

Cass, at That Old House, 

has written a post that 

went straight to my heart.

A post about caring

at home and abroad.

Opportunities are all around

us...sometimes they are hidden under

layers of mental illness, other times it is 

the neighbor who just needs a helping hand.

In more recent days, it is people 

impacted by tornadoes, earthquakes

and hurricanes.

A scriptural reason to 

get involved.

Want to read it?

Go to 

That Old House.