Showing and Telling # 2

Kelli over at "There is No Place Like Home", hosts an amazing Show and Tell each Friday. I have joined once before and thoroughly enjoy the different blogs that are showcased. A great way to see what other bloggers are up to.

Today I would like to share a book that I purchased at a thrift store years ago. It is entitled The New Dictionary of Thoughts published in 1959. I consider it one of my most valued reference books.

In years gone by I have created many a bulletin board for church hallways, and many a church flyer or bulletin entry using quotes and thoughts from this edition.

Can you read this interesting quote on this page?

A great thought is a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked,
then he who is the first to utter it,

and then, in a lesser,

but still in a consideraable degree,

the man who is the first to quote it to us.

~ Bovee ~

Love the creative way that they made the index.

This preface, if you can read it, details how Tryon Edwards first compiled a book of quotes in 1852 under the title JEWELS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. Huh, I wonder if people back then were more refined in their speech and careful in what they said.

Thanks for looking at my Show and Tell

Not My Dog!

A dog's life can get in the way of its master's life, can't it? I know from a bit of experience with dogs. For most of the last 12 or so years we have had four dogs joined by a leash to our family circle. Most times have been good. Some not so much.

Today, it is pouring rain outside and I am sympathetic to my present two dogs, Matty and Luky. I don't cherish the idea of having big dogs inside my house, but I know it is beneficial in the Dog / Master bond. Today is one of those bonding times.

I go about my regular business

and they do more or less what dogs do best:

ZZZZZ Sleep ZZZZZ

While I am at the computer emailing friends and looking up recipes, Matty, our one year old, totters off. She returns with a sock in her mouth that belongs to the 'Genius'. Now as much as I love my dogs and know that they are very smart, Matty isn't THAT talented. She did not open his drawer and carefully select a lone sock. Dogs don't have opposable digits. The answer, my friend, is that my son, the 'Genius', has a different system for storing his clothing.

His motto: "Wear and Toss"

God still loves him (and so do I) but his room's mess makes a tornado look like a summer's breeze.

Now back to the problem at hand: Matty with incriminating sock in her mouth. I correct her, retrieve the sock, and throw it back into his room.

Instant replay. I am on the telephone chatting with a friend. Matty seems so pleased as she brings the sock to me the second time. I guess it is like a game of catch to her. I couldn't deal with it then (remember I'm on the telephone), so I flash her a mean glance, and continue on with my conversation. She twirls around and lays down on the floor beside me ~ * ~ Nice doggy ~ * ~

Well, you guessed it. That twirl was the fatal turn of events. Oblivious to her actions (remember I was engrossed in conversation), she proceeded to rip and shred her prize. Uh oh. Funny how life is like that sometimes, isn't it? Chalk it up to another valuable lesson learned and just move on.

The Sweet Life

Well another Hallowe-en has come and gone. Candy wrappers can be seen swirling with the golden fall leaves. Kids look dazed from sugar rush. And Christmas decorations have sprung up in the shops. As a family we have never celebrated Hallowe-en. I mean really, how can you celebrate witches, and demons, and evil??? I am not against young children having fun, or depriving them of a few sweets. Just the fact that the day represents so much more ... but I will hold that thought to another day.

Let's concentrate on the candy issue. Being very frugal, thrifty and down right cheap, I find it hard to resist a great deal. I happened upon one such deal yesterday ...

75% off all Hallowe-en candy! Wow! Honestly ... It was like the three boxes jumped into my cart by themselves ... each with 90 or so mini candy bars ... at a meager total of about $9.00 I had purchased enough calories to sustain a whole army! What was I thinking? Obviously it was clear that I wasn't. Looking back I recall being somewhat peckish while walking the aisles at the grocery store. That was it. That most important rule of ALL rules was forgotten ...

~ * ~ NEVER SHOP HUNGRY ~ * ~

Well, what is done is done. The 'Genius' son has been off sugar for months now. I knew that. The Hubby is able to eat anything he wants and so he will have his share of the plunder. Myself, I have to lose a few ... OK many, many pounds, so I should keep the candy at arm's length. And then somewhere in the back of my mind, I have a faint recollection of our two daughters trying to scrape out a meager existence for themselves in their univeristy dorm rooms. That's it! I can just see the sheer joy on their young faces when they open a carefully wrapped and candy laden care package from me ... their favourite mom.

Problem solved ... Life is indeed sweet!

Work without Fear

Some say if only my fears and doubts will leave

then I will get to work.
But instead you should get to work

and then your fears and doubts will leave.

~ D.L. Moody ~

'Being confident of this very thing

that he which hath begun a good work in you

will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.'

Philippians 1:6

Quilt Room

My Hubby is the owner of a beautiful work shop ... if 'beautiful' is the proper adjective you use for a work shop. For years he crammed his tools into a 400 square foot building. A pretty ridiculous concept now that we look back. Something had to be done. So a few yers ago his dream shop was built: A 2,000 square foot structure with sky lights, windows, doors AND a 14' high garage door. For a tradesman, my Hubby had arrived!

And right on his heels was me ... "Whatcha going to do with the 400' shop?" I sweetly asked him. Never being able to resist my sweet talk, the idea of a dream quilt room began!

In my dreams, however, nothing seems to go in fast forward speed. So it has been with this quilt room. Slowly but surely there has been progress. The room has been mostly emptied. The walls filled with paste and sanded. The corners have been painted their first coat.

Isn't it beautiful?

Of course, I will keep you posted with the progress during the next many weeks. We hope to work on it most Saturdays and some week nights. The word 'work' doesn't quite fit here as each step is sheer joy to me. I consider myself one lucky girl.