Shhhhhh, Christmas Eve Morning

                                 

found this list my daughter made...:)

It's almost here. I steal a few precious quiet moments here at dawn to sit and contemplate the magnitude of Love came down.
The wonder of it is enough. 
The weather here has been strange.
                                                                     

  
Last year we were dealing with a massive ice storm, and this year it is mild, foggy and drizzly wet.
My children want snow. I want snow, just a nice white blanket to brighten things up a little.
But then I remember the heart of Christmas.....The Light of the world came to us, and I sit here and whisper "thank you, thank you." For Love and for Love that comes down to each of us at Christmas.
                        

                                        

olaf meringues with many more cookies in the freezer await.....

and buns for Christmas morning......

                                                               

From our home to yours....

                             

                                   our family....crazy or sedate...you decide:))
                                       

                                
                   Merry Christmas! see you in the New Year.

                                                                       

Painted Hutch and Blogging Siesta

Today I'd like to share a wee project that I've been working on...
painting the china cabinet in my kitchen.
I used Annie Sloan chalk paint...
I haven't quite finished yet as I still need to decide on the hardware,
but here it is before, in all it's oak glory...

mid way...
                                   

nearing completion...

I am quite pleased with the results...I love seeing the transformation happen!

and now I must let you know that I will be taking a break from blogging for the month of December.

I will still pop in to visit you if I can, and will be wishing you peace in your heart and home during the undulating rhythm of the coming weeks.

Warmly, Lucy~

Seasonal Subtleties

                                          

Recently I replaced the quilt on my bed, with a plush and cozy comforter. (I found it calling my name on the Target clearance rack.)

                                        

I am partial to quilts, but I thought it may be nice to add some warmth and this comforter is nice and neutral enough to do that. I think it even works with my green walls.(for now!)
After I did that my casual throw rug looked rather forlorn, so I pursued a few more clearance places and found a rug that works well!

                                                      

                     Fun to make a few changes now and then, isn't it?

It has changed out doors too. The world is blanketed in white today, and looks like it may stay a while.    my flip flops are still under my chair....
I am not sure if I am ready but much like children growing up, it happens anyhow.

                                                    

So the subtle and not so subtle changes happen here, as I get ready to give the china cabinet in my kitchen a makeover. I'll keep you posted on this and other subtleties. 

Off to the races.......Lucy~
                                                          

Ps. Apparently if the leaves are still on the apple trees, the snow is not here to stay! I am pleased to report the leaves are still on the apple trees!


                                

Remembering The Cost Of Freedom Today

                                   
I have listened to this song on this special day for the last number of years. 
I first heard it at a remembrance day ceremony at our school. 
There is something about the grit and strength of it that moves me every time.

May I never forget how they died.
May I never live my life in fear either.
May I always believe that good is bigger than bad.
May I always pray for people fighting their own battles.
May Hope never be snuffed out.
                     Thank you Jesus,  Amen.


       

               love the poppy sweater my daughter wore to school today.

                   It's a beautiful day for all the ceremonies being held today.

                                                 Blessings, Lucy~

Welcome To My Cape Cod Inspired Bathroom

                                                           

Many years ago we decided it was time to add a bathroom to the lower level of our house.
                                                                                                                  

My two oldest had moved down there to share a bedroom, and it soon became clear that a bathroom on that floor would make life much smoother for everyone!
Five females in one home was definitely enough reason, so  hubby rose graciously to the occasion, and the tedious renovation began.....

It did not take me very long to choose the theme for this bathroom though...
                                                   

                               a few touches here and there                                                         

                       the spacious shower is built in under a porch...double sinks are wonderful...
          even though it still takes them forever to get ready for bed!
                                                 

                                               a prayer of blessing tucked into the mirror...

I have always considered it quite a novel idea to have a claw foot bath tub. So my bathroom elements were pulled together around centre stage...

                                                                        

                               "I believe in another life I lived by the sea."


It was so much fun to put this room together. I still find myself soothed and calmed here as I soak in the tub or touch my bare feet to the  heated tiles on the floor.
                                                         

             the windows are built with etched glass, completely opaque, even though it doesn't look like it here... 

It's a little bit of the beach here in our home on the farm. A whisper of the waves crashing or sea gulls soaring. A small sanctuary and ode to the sea.
                                                                         

this is a photo I took quite at random at the beach...it made the perfect artwork for in here...
                                                                  

side note; This bathroom has recently "changed hands"...with Brittany getting married and Katrina in university, the younger two saw their opportunity and moved in.

I heard my youngest say to Katrina when she was home recently...

"ummm, we kind of took over your bathroom!":)

Thanks for visiting my Cape Cod bathroom.

It was a pleasure to have you here on it's shore.

~Lucy~

Spelling J.O.Y.

                                                           

                             

                            J.O.Y...
                          J- Jesus first.
                          O-others second
                                  Y- yourself last

                        it 's such a small word.
                       but there are times I forget how to spell it.
                Sure I know how to spell it.....I get it wrong though...
                        I put myself first and Jesus last.
                  Then I wonder why I feel so misconstrued!

                         It's not that I don't matter. 
                  I just don't matter more than these other two.....
                                     

When I focus on the love that Jesus has for me it affects my life in intrinsic but profound ways.
I see others through His lens of grace and compassion.                             

            Filling my heart with an effervescent emotion.
        bursting open .....bubbling and gurgling, 
                bringing me joy because I wasn't budding in line....

isn't this cool? 

the store is called Epiphany too...

The photos were taken today, in my lovely hometown of Elora, where we enjoyed a glorious Sunday stroll.

The weather was near perfect for November and I felt myself savoring each and every drop of sunshine.

Daylight faded quickly tonight...because we turned the clocks back last night. 

My Top Ten(ish) Books...(at the moment)

Recently Brenda and Deborah shared their top ten favorite books.
"Hmmm, I should do that," I mused.
After all; I love books! 
                                

                                (a few that have taken up residence here...)

I love reading them and I love the warmth and beauty they bring to a room.
I recall many years ago taking a house tour of someone I knew. She had a beautiful,old farm house full of character and charm, but as I pondered later over what was missing...I realized there were no books!

Turns out choosing my top ten  was a little more difficult than I first thought....but here are some I have really,really enjoyed....
                                       

1-  The Holy Bible...no other book can give us what this one does...Divine truth and power and much more...and- I can enjoy an intimate relationship with the Author!

2-The Melendy Family...this is a nostalgic read from my childhood. The one I read then was an edition of the three of these stories in one. It was a hardcover, about four inches thick and plain dark navy. Not much on the outside...but the story whisked me away from my own wonderful childhood into another one that seemed oh so dreamy and idyllic. It was fun to read these to my girls not long ago. I still loved the story and even more now seeing it through experienced eyes.


3-A Holy Experience- Ann Voskamp is beyond gifted. Humbly she writes and literally has helped millions. Her writing is so profound, yet at the same time so fundamental. Amazing!


4-With New Eyes- An article in a focus on the family magazine introduced me to this writer about 17 years ago. Margaret Becker shares her life experiences in a deep, soulful and honest manner. Hard to read her words and remain stagnant.

5-Anne of Green Gables- I had to include this whimsical story...read countless times the antics and passions of Anne are mandatory for a  wholesome and educated childhood ! A few years ago we visited PEI, where her stories were born. I read recently that good fiction feels like truth, definitely the case here!

6-Little Women- Is it because I have four daughters or that I have four sisters, or that I am a mother and a girl. Who knows but this endearing story is one of my all time favorites. Read it with my girls a few times. The chapter where Beth dies is written so beautifully! 
On my list to read more of Louisa Alcott. (other than Little Men.)

7-Quiet Moments For Women-found this devotional by June Masters Bacher at a garage sale quite a few years ago. I added it to this pile because her earthy insight is one I always appreciate and admire. Timeless treasures.

8-Same Kind of Different As Me-the title alone is enough to make one want to read it. I talked more about it here. Definitely a must read true story!

9-A Garden To Keep- J.L.Turner is an English teacher and it shows in her writing. A MASTER at articulation and detail, which I happen to love! (Some may not!) I enjoy description and details yes, even what colour the geraniums in the window boxes were!  I have read all of her novels, but I think this one may be my favorite.....

10-How Do I love Thee- This is another story that taught me much while at the same time resonating with me.Nancy Moser's history on this and other of her books comes to life in a real and exciting way.... rich and textured....I would love to see this story as a play and acted out... 
( I think I may read this one again soon.)

11-Simple Abundance- I purchased this book on the advice of my sister who had it. 
' You would love it,' she had told me. I do. It is a classic book filled with inspiration and wisdom and the knowledge that I am not the only woman who has at times needed reassurance that life is what we put into it and what we make with what we have!

12-The Secret Keeper- I  added this one because it is my most recently read novel that I simply could not put down!! I had taken this book with me on our holiday to the Dominican back in January, and if I would have known then that I wouldn't of been able to put it down, I'd have left it here:) It was a library book, but serendipity had me find it on the discard table there this summer! Got to love that!! I think I may have been the one that caused the rippling pages when I innocently laid it across my damp bathing suit in the tropics while I contemplated the plot!!....shhh, don't tell!
 I was expecting I would need to purchase it...I guess I did; in a way!


there are some of my favorites...what fun that was!
Isn't that what makes books so special? The connections are unique and universal all at once...

Love what Sara Ban Breathnach says here...
It would seem an easy thing really the reading of a book.You pick a book up, open it,fix your gaze and begin. Well, maybe so,and maybe not. As a reader I'm hard on books and other writers. A passionate woman, I like my books to knock my socks off. It's got to be love at first sight. I need to be bowled over at an author's insight, to wonder how I lived before the book explained it all to me, or how the author knew me so well.
In reality, while there is often a mystical bond between writer and reader, the author is just trying to figure out his or her own life,on the page, not mine.
But as the Irish poet W B Yeats once told an admirer of his work, "if what I say resonates with you, it's merely because we are both branches on the same tree."

this concludes my bookish post.... 



                                                          :))) Happy Reading ....Lucy~

Night Reaping

     loving this song lately....

                                
Last evening while we were eating supper, a monstrous combine pulled into our driveway.sorry, didn't get a picture!
The late, wet summer was pushing harvest into it's last minutes. 
Even ever patient hubby was beginning to wonder if the soybeans would dry in time to harvest and still get spring wheat seeds into the soil.

A warm. windy weekend and forecasts of imminent cold, were just what the fields needed to be ready for reaping.

The purposeful roar of machinery in the fields around our house lulled us to sleep.
                                                    

 When we woke this morning rain had fallen on the newly planted, wheat fields.

                                                 

At the eleventh hour gathering and planting had all taken place. 
The reaper had come to gather the harvest. 

 I bow my head to the Giver, who in due time will come to one day, to gather together His loved people here on earthly fields; working and waiting for Him.

                                        

Spilling Sunshine In Spite Of Sorrow

I love when morning sunlight bathes every room in it's radiance.
                               

                                          
   
                                        

                     

                      

                                   

                                 

          although the weather was lovely today, it was marred by 
another senseless and tragic event in the news. 

It is all quite terrifying if allowed to dwell on the evil lurking so close.....then I remember....

                                                                            
                                 via      pinterest

Blessings where ever you are....I have been meditating on this verse....
So glad that He will NEVER forsake us.