Friday’s Fave Five ~ Outside & In…

It’s that time of the week again to travel to snowy Springy Alberta to visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and join in with your favorites from this past week.

Here’s Dear surveying his new wall… It should be finished today with a few more levels of block…

Here’s what added to my joy this week…

1. Getting the dreaded boxes from the attic project done. Whoohoo it feels great!

2. Having work done on our yard. Grading and a retaining wall. Work should be done today.

3. Enjoying pretty fancy tulips that only cost me $2.50.

4. Bringing some of the Apple Blossoms inside to enjoy.

5. Having a good meal fresh off the stove.

Psalm 63: 3-5

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

Have a great day and weekend everyone!

Progress and Coyotes…

It’s Thursday morning and the sun is shining right now but we have a small system moving through later. I wanted to show you some photos of our attic now that I have everything back up there.

Lots of stuff but we still have half the floor space up there vacant…she pats herself on the back.

On to our outdoor progress…

These are before and after looks at the side yard.

Yesterday the gravel and the concrete blocks arrived. After the gravel was delivered I headed out for a walk.

I took a new route today heading straight down a very busy street so I could photograph some unusual yard art that I’ll show next Thursday. After photographing I headed back up the hill and spotted something I wasn’t thrilled about…

This coyote was across the street looking at me. Yikes! Thankfully the traffic was very busy and he couldn’t make it across the street until I was well past him.

Looking back he’s still waiting for a good opportunity to cross…

I’ve got to say that this is my preferred sighting on any given day! A pretty Robin doesn’t make me nervous.

Back at the homestead the big boulders have been moved and set in their new home. We’ll clean up around them later.

The block arrived and the wall is going in at a good pace. We should see a lot of progress today.

Hope your Thursday goes well for you!

Tablescape Thursday ~ Apple Blossoms!

If it’s Wednesday that means it’s time to get ready for Thursday and the world of Tablescapes. Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is the hostess with the mostess for this event. Click on over to see a lovely array of styles, shapes, and colors!

This week I brought my Apple Blossoms inside as the inspiration for my table.

When I was at Goodwill earlier this week I found these great apple and apple blossom napkins, 10 for $4.99. I don’t think they’ve been used at all. The napkin rings are part of an apple with the stem and leaves.

I only have 4 of the apple blossom dessert plates so I set the table for 4. The plates are “Blossom Time”, Made in Staffordshire, England with a 22KT. Gold Decoration. I bought the goblets from Goodwill last year and they have a gold/yellow tint to them. The pink depression glass items are from Dear’s Great, great aunt.

I started with one of the napkins on the center of the table but thought again and took it off.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see my Apple Blossom Table.

Psalm 17:8 ~ Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings.

Proverbs 7:2 ~ Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

Proverbs 25:11 ~ A word aptly spoken
is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Enjoy your day!

Yard Art ~ Another Walk in the Neighborhood!

Visit Mary at Work of the Poet to join in on this fun weekly meme. This meme is a real motivation for me to get out and walk. On Monday when I walked and I got to the top of the hill I turned right instead of left and here’s what I found.

I think the happy face painted on the rock is very funny. Most of the yards that I found “art” in this day were in serious need of some weed pulling! Have a great end of the week everyone. Oh and I walked again today specifically to get to a unique Yard Art house. I’ll show you next week!

All In The Neighborhood…

I’m adding this post to Susan’s Outdoor Wednesday. Click over to A Southern DayDreamer to see more of the great outdoors!

It really is boring walking alone. Good thing I have my camera to keep me going….

The duck flew into my view and landed close enough for a photo session. I’ve been thinking about adding a lilac bush or two in my yard. I really like this deep purple color. The last photo of the mosaic are the blossoms on my Blueberry bush.

Now to some exciting outdoor work that is being done in our side yard.

Pretty soon we’ll have a retaining wall and then eventually this will be a driveway. We’ll have to find a spot for these huge boulders!

Never a dull moment at this Old House. I’ll be showing the progress as we go along.

Have a great Wednesday everyone! Oh I almost forgot I finished my attic project and all the boxes have been gone through and delivered to their appropriate destinations. Yippee Yahoo!

Still Plugging Away…

…and the end is in sight!

Some of you have wondered “Where does she put all that stuff?” I wanted to show you my nifty little pull down ladder that is hidden most days neatly tucked away in the ceiling. Last year we totally emptied that attic and put everything in the basement for sorting through. Since I’ve been back in Washington I’ve been sorting through and everything has one of three destinations now…in the trash, in the garage sale pile, or repacked nicely and back in the attic. Going up and down those stairs heaving boxes up there has been a good workout!

Christmas is up there. Easter is up there. Thanksgiving is up there. Katie’s keepsakes are up there. Suitcases are up there. Rex and Verna’s stuff that we won’t get rid of is up there. Papers we need to keep for a couple more years are up there. You get the drift. See those 3 blue boxes at the top of the stairs…if you ever need wine goblets for a big party or reception call me.

Just a very few more boxes and I’ll be done with this project whoohoo!!  And in other news…

Some big equipment and workers are arriving today to work on this part of our property. The utilities have been marked so we don’t have any unfortunate accidents. Puncturing a gas line wouldn’t be good. We are going to be doing some grading and a trench will be dug along the property line on the right to put in a retaining wall. Eventually this will be a driveway and the area at the top of the photo will be built up and leveled out…

Fun times around the homestead. So today I hope to finish those remaining boxes and then put on my rain coat and mud boots so I can watch some heavy equipment make noise moving dirt. What are you doing?

Today’s Thrifty Treasures ~ Toile Runner

Since Winter is over and Garage Sales have begun again Rhoda at Southern Hospitality has re-instated Thrifty Treasures. Click on over to see the great bargains that people find all across the World.

 

This week I found this great Toile runner that is reversible and the rooster and duck napkin rings. The runner cost me 99 cents and the napkin rings cost me $3.00.  I need to find one more duck! :0)

I’ve been looking for a vase that would work better for tulips  and I found this one for $3.50 at Goodwill. I’d like to buy some irises this week to replace these poor spent tulips in the vase.

I’m looking forward to getting around to see your bargains this week.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer ~ Hymn

 

Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer

Spirit divine, attend our prayer,
And make our heart Thy home;
Descend with all Thy gracious power;
Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Come as the light! to us reveal
The truth we long to know;
Reveal the narrow path of right,
The way of duty show.

Come as the fire and purge our hearts
Like sacrificial flame,
Till our whole souls an offering be
In love’s redeeming name.

Come as the dew, and sweetly bless
This consecrated hour;
May barrenness rejoice to own
Thy fertilizing power.

Come as the dove, and spread Thy wings,
The wings of peaceful love;
And let Thy Church on earth become
Blest as Thy Church above.

Come as the wind, O Breath of God!
O Pentecostal grace!
Come, make Thy great salvation known,
Wide as the human race.

Spirit divine, attend our prayer;
Make a lost world Thy home;
Descend with all thy gracious powers,
O come, great Spirit, come.

Words: Andrew Reed, June 1829

My heart goes out to the people of Poland this morning who have lost so many of their leaders in this gruesome tragedy. May God’s Spirit comfort them in their loss and may their hearts turn to God for comfort and peace.