Arty Pie

September 6, 2015

"Rest, Mom!"
I guess there is really no rest here on earth, especially when you simply go to the closet for something simple, and you realize that with all of the tossing out, you still have more than will fit.

Well, it fits, but not like in an 'Anthropologie display" kind of way.

Then a sit down is required, with some mental re-organizing. Sometimes I wonder if it is a blessing or a curse.

This morning we went back to Genesis. You know, the start of it all. Yes, when you grow up in church, you pretty well know Genesis, right?

Actually one of the really exciting things about reading God's Word is that it never is really old, and as many times as  you read something, you can always discover something new.

Interestingly, as some struggled with "in what order did God do what and how to I remember it?"....I found that really simple.  Perhaps it is because that is the way I taught landscape painting (among other things)..."Order of Creation" I called it.

New today for me though was actually thinking about the reasoning behind the order and how the happenings of the first three days were necessary for the second three days (of Creation.)

Planning. Ahead.     I would call it.
Strategic. Thinking.   Karin would call it.

Practical, I imagine was God's thinking.

Never one for doing unnecessary work, I like to plan it out in my head and hopefully discover what won't work before I dig in.

So here I am with dishes and baking stuff covering the nicely decorated table that was cleared of a few minutes ago.  At 9 PM.  Eesshh! This is what happens when one is left to their own devices!

It probably happened because I started polishing silver. That little project is ending up an a nice tidy bag with a lovely note to one of my favorite thrifts.....(I have two...New to You (TMA) and Goodwill)     The note says, "Enough with the polishing, already. May God richly bless the person who finishes the job so you can sell it to someone who has no clue what polishing will be needed. Please enjoy it as much as I did when it was nice and shiny!"

And the post about pondering.....well, you can only ponder over just so much silver.

At the moment, the challenge at hand is PIE.

Roger's Lesson:  Now tell me why you have seven pie plates when you do not even like to make pie? When would you really even make seven pies at one time?  And if you had that need, you cold call Mrs. Smith. Hers comes with a plate.  Maybe just keep one. 

True enough.  There must be a reason for all of this. I will call it inheritance.  However....my girls will not inherit these pie plates. They do not bake pies either.

So.....who among my relatively close in distance friends has a need for a number of gently loved glass pie plates?  Speak up quickly, for I will be making a trip to Oviedo on Saturday, pie plates in hand!

*Green Anchor Hocking x 3     ** Corning ware white / cornflower   - I would call it a thin pie!

The two on top in the photo - for mini pies, I think, but for the moment, I am thinking they would make really cute paint palettes !

Two simple clear glass ones.....I'll keep til Christmas. If no pie by then, out they go!

Whew!  Plan is in my head....now to go and act on it and create new space in my pantry!
Loved that Genesis lesson!

Little Birds

September 3, 2015

Look at that, all of August has passed and I did not post at all.  What is going on in my life?  Routine disrupted?  Consistency disregarded?  A little too self absorbed?

Maybe some of it all. August was a month filled with wonderful days spent with my niece, a day trip to the beach to spend time with family, and the regular standing doctors' appointments - mostly tests.

I guess that is enough to disrupt anything 'routine,' but oh, so worth it all!

Through it all though, I've done a lot a whole lot of thinking, contemplating, wondering.....pondering. (Love that word!)

And sitting. I NEVER thought I would be a La-Z-Boy gal, but my chair that does not look like the big puffy piece of furniture that eats up your house, has become a constant companion lately. Power naps, we call them.

My biggest struggle lately is accepting that napping is fine, and healing.  This go-go-go girl just does not want to do it.  God keeps showing me that people can and will heal if they rest and it is allowed.   I think I am doing better....at least better than a month ago, so that is progress.  Also, some good test results rather confirmed that I am heading in the right direction. Of course, I give far more credit to the power of prayer than to rest, but I accept that both are needful.

Then there came that little tug. The little one that often leads to something much larger than you expected to be heading into.  Call it....warm colors. Fall colors.

BER has arrived.  Karin won't allow herself certain indulgences until BER arrives. Such discipline - she must get it from her daddy.  Somehow pumpkin cookies made their way into my cart yesterday. I realized it this morning. Magazines are filled with gold and orange and glorious warm browns, rather than hot pink and lime.

Bam....next thing you know, I am whipping out burlap pumpkins and harvest wall hangings.

It actually started with simply rotating the china, from rosy pink to golds and teals. (MY fall scene leans toward teal and purple, with metallics.)  When I think about it though, in February, I did not expect to see fall, so this is actually pretty magnificent!

I'm not sure how the silver polish arrived on the scene, but the little bird was so dark and tarnished that he just needed a little shine.

And that made me think of Roger (even more than I normally do) - because few people - perhaps only myself.... know that he was the greatest silver polisher around.  Talk about never giving up!

Thinking back, I wonder if it had anything to do with the way he loved to see a shiny and bright fire engine - with not a smudge on it.  Firefighter friends....am I close on this one?  Wadding something is an item he loved.

So, with all the love I could muster, it seemed that I should at least give this love of his a shot.  That lasted about 5 minutes.  Perhaps I could be just as happy with a little black sparrow as with a shiny silver one?

Roger's Lesson:  The black stuff is just tarnish. It comes off with a little paste and elbow grease. And all the time spent? Well, just use it for good. Think about stuff while you are rubbing and buffing. It is the gently, repeating action that you are using that brings out the shine. And don't forget the crevices, use the right tool, be sure it is soft because you can't blast the stuff away or you will ruin what is underneath. And ponder. Just enjoy the time and ponder*. 

*Roger knew I loved that word.

In all the busyness of life, we don't often ponder like we ought, and buffing surely keeps your hands busy in an entirely different way. Off the keyboard, and onto something of unique beauty - if you stick with it long enough to see what is underneath the tarnish.

I guess each of us is like that. All that tarnish on top....everyone has something....everyone has something different....but we all have it.  But when we allow Jesus to gently buff - the beauty of what lies beneath will come out.  For people - souls - that real, true beauty is Christ living within.

I could whip out my trusty can of silver spray paint and fix it up, but that would equal dressing up the outside of me, instead of letting God keep buffing away the tarnish to reveal a unique beauty.

Both take time.
I'm kind of glad that the "new" in decorating is metallics.
I'm going to pull out all of my stored silver and buff away.

And while I'm at it.....I shall ponder.

God still has a lot to teach me and I have so much to absorb!