Three Beautiful Things

 Hello effurrybody!  Gracie here - I was out
helping Mummy take pictures in the garden last
week. The Shepherd says that Somebody needs to snooopervise her to make sure that she doesn't trip on something and fall on her casaba.  I'm very good at snooopervising. 

We went out in a hunt for beautiful things, and thought we'd share some of them with you.







We found a little fairy cap mushroom growing in the mulch bin...

One of the last marigolds in the garden.  Such a pretty summery color. 

More 'shrooms - the caps are almost as big as dinner plates! 

Ok, so I lied - four beautiful things - more Sweet Gum leaves - oddly enough, Mummy found out that Sweet Gum seed pods contain shikimic acid, a major ingredient in Tamiflu. 

Herbalists have used Sweet Gum tea as an herbal treatment for the flu and the Cherokees made a tea out of the bark.

So many things from nature that we don't know about that heal or harm.

Have a great weekend!  XOX  Gracie!


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Meow Like a Pirate Day & 3BT

Well I missed Meow Like a Pirate Day on Friday - too much going on -

Changes at work have me feeling anxious - I'm sure everything will turn out OK - it's just like I feel like an old episode of Star Trek, venturing into the unknown, I guess. 

I made some Chicken Stew tonight with some end of the summer vegetables - It really turned out delicious - I wish I'd thought to get a nice loaf of Italian bread to go with it - maybe tomorrow - there's planned left overs for tomorrow night.  I also thought it might be good over brown rice.  I'll have to see what The Shepherd would prefer.

The Seahawks are behind - Darn!  Also,k it rained cats & dogs this afternoon and today at church we talked about Gratitude.  I was grateful that I didn't have to be out in the rain, that's for sure.

 It made me remember that I have been remiss in posting about Three Beautiful Things.  - So here goes -

Peach Cobbler - probably one of my favorite desserts - I like to make it in my Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker so I can put LOTS of peaches in there.  I just use the old recipe out of my Betty Crocker Cookbook - it never fails.  

Ah, another food item - POPCORN!  I love popcorn, and generally make up a big sack full of it and then snack on it for several days.

I got this popcorn from Amazon.com - it never ceases to amaze me what you can get from them - it comes prepackaged with popcorn, flavored coconut oil and popcorn salt.  The idea is to dump it all in the pan at the same time, but there is WAY too much salt so I have been pouring the salt into a shaker and only using part of it - YUM. 

And pretty Yarn - this yarn turned out so colorful - (I need to get back to taking pictures of the roving so I can see how it looked before being spun)  I was hoping to get to do something with it, but I sent it and a bunch of other yarn to the Bow Little Market with my friend Donna & I'll be darned it it didn't sell - but it was beautiful.  I hope the person who bought it makes something pretty with it.

Everyone have a great week out there! 

Three Beautiful Things -

 I realized that I hadn't done a Three Beautiful Things post in quite a while -

So here are three beautiful things from our garden -

First is another picture of one of our Bellingham Lilies -

 The Shepherd's petunia garden is in full bloom right now.

This is one of my favorite views on the farm - sitting by the barn and looking towards the house.  This view changes weekly as the seasons move along.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Three Beautiful Things this week! 

Three Beautiful things, courtesy of The Shepherd/Landscaper

  

Some pretty pictures of our church.

As part of his service to the church, The Shepherd, who is a professional landscaper, does our gardening.

A previous member made the trellis.

My girlfriend did the stained glass work.

Pretty, huh?  

The front & side of the building.  The roses are especially beautiful this year. 

And a quiet place for people to meditate.

The wooden pillar behind the bench is called a kopjafa. It is a memorial pole and was made for us by our partner church in Transylvania.  It is a treasure.







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three Beautiful Things

I love this fern.  It welcomes me home every evening.  Thank you fern.  

Oli Scarff / Getty Images

This Japanese Anemone has survived with little care in my garden - it just comes up year after year - it is very reliable.  










Well, the Kate-Wait is over - Will drove mommy and baby boy home in the Range Rover - 14 hours in labor and she's still pretty as a picture.

At Christmas time we sing a song at church - "Each night a child is born is a holy night."   I wish all good things to this new little family.  They seem like sensible kids - Kind of makes you want to send them a "Congratulations on your new baby" card, doesn't it? 

Do you suppose he'll get to call the Queen "Grammy" - or -- Prince Phillip - "Paw-paw"? 


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Three Beautiful Things

Wow, it's been a couple of years since I did a Three Beautiful Things Tuesday blog - shame on me!

When you switch computers - my switch was a couple of years ago but I lost all of my "favorites" among them being Three Beautiful Things - her blog is kind of made of up things that made her day - I used it to show you pictures of things that I wanted to share, but didn't necessarily have a whole "blog" about -

So my first of these "Three Beautiful Things" is the pretty singles that came from my January "Roving of the Month" Club that my sisters & I got me for Christmas.





My second TBT was a concert that we went to a couple of weeks ago by our friends Lydia McCauley and Nancy Rumbel - It was called "Live in Rome" - because it was performed at the "Rome Grange" - a sweet old building that has seen many, many events in the community. Their concert was a wonderful mix of old Italian melodies and folk songs and some of each of Lydia & Nancy's newer contemporary pieces.
It was a wonderful evening!



And what could be more beautiful than the promise of spring?

Three Beautiful Things

Last summer I told you about The Bellingham Lily but didn't have a very good picture of it - that was then - this is now - (and with a different camera, I may add)

Sweet!









How nice it is to sit on our deck and have the colors and the fragrance of these pretty petunias.












Sometimes a simple white daisy can bring back all sorts of memories - daisy chains - or playing "he loves me - he loves me not". What memories does it stir up for you?

Three "Bleautiful" Things......

This was the sky last weekend during the heat wave - it was the most beautiful color of blue.

And here is my beautiful blue yarn - (that won a blue ribbon)

And here is the BIG blue ribbon that I won for my crocheted "hobo" bag. I used all the yarn that I spun "learning" to spin - including some Pitt Island Merino and some Gottland from New Zealand from Kathy, and lots of different samples from my teacher Yvonne (check out her "chicken house adventure"!) including alpaca (- a dream to spin), some Correydale and and a whole bunch of colored Angora locks that I hand carded and plied with the Correydale and some other pretty white wool which escapes me now. (the reason it escapes me is because I DIDN"T WRITE IT DOWN, ok, there I said it!) Anyhow, I still got a beautiful Blue ribbon even if I (oh, how embarassing) forgot to tie up a few loose ends...

Three Beautiful Things Tuesday

Good Golly, Miss Molly - it's the first of April!

Nope - don't get too excited - this picture is two years old. (Dare I say April Fools?)

It it Pearl as a baby - and I looked and looked through my albums to find a current picture of her, but I couldn't find one. She is such a sweet girl. One of The Shepherd's favorites.

She is currently playing "Lady in Waiting" to Gwendolyn the Grumpy. They are ensconced in the front pasture by themselves because Gwen was bashing the three junior girls. Since Pearl is the only one she gets along with, Pearl got the job of being her girlfriend while we wait for Gwen to have her babies. They'd better be spotted! I'll see if I can't catch a picture of them this weekend.



This was last year on April 1st. This little iris is blossom about the size of my thumb. So exotic looking!

It has been so cold this year everything is about two weeks behind what it was last year. The Tulip Festival will have to start without the tulips this year!













This beautiful wall hanging was on the wall in Gretchen's Wool Mill. I didn't get a chance to ask her about the origins of it, but I thought it was very cool!

Hope you had a Happy April 1st and that there were beautiful things coming your way all day long.

Three Beautiful Things Tuesday

Spring is coming - there is a lot to find that is beautiful right now - those seductive almost sunny, almost 60 degree days - the hundreds of daffodils that The Shepherd has planted around our beautiful garden are getting ready to POP! - the flowering plum and cherries are starting to show that delicate pink color that will become their blossoms.

* The Shepherd brought me this pretty planter back from his weekend away last week. He went to Tacoma for the PNW Unitarian Universalist Annual General Meeting (Isn't that a mouthful? we generally just all it PNWD...) He took an extra day just for himself - I got to be "sheep mom" (ie. Good morning ladies, dad is gone, I'll be your hostess for the weekend and don't expect me to get up at the crack of dawn like he does!)

* And then, there are THE FROGS! Our neighbors field, for all intents and purposes is a wet lands - there are so few left in the county that haven't had mega houses built on them. Once they are all gone, where will the frogs go to meet their girlfriends in the spring time? What a joyous sound - I'm here - pick me, pick me, pick me!

* One of the most beautiful things I have seen this week is Miss Peach in her new Kimono. It was a gift to her from Adan and Michico from Japan. How cool is that! Cat bloggers and sheep bloggers are right up there as being the nicest people!

And an extra TBT (I guess that make it FBT) Of course there are also Isis' kittens (click on Kitten Photo Gallery to see the pictures of these little sweeties). I can't wait to see them when they are a little older - unfortunately, they live in London, England - so, I will only be able to appreciate their "virtual cuteness" Oh, well...

I hope you are finding beautiful things where ever you go this week!

Three Beautiful Things

So, it's not Tuesday, but what the heck...

Happy Valentine's Day! No, this isn't blooming yet, but the buds are forming - and the anticipation of the sweet musky fragrance is there. It will be sunny when I leave for work in the a.m. (Yikes! I need to go find my V-day card for The Shepherd before I go off to bed)

• I actually experienced these TBT on Tuesday, tho. I went to lunch at the Black Angus. They have a great coupon deal - you can get a really good steak sandwich for about the same as a burger deal at Mickey D's - who wouldn't want to do that. I really like one of the lunch waitresses there - she has been there for at least 6 or 7 years if not longer. She is always so cheerful. The coupon deal brings in a lot of Seniors - and she definately has her regulars. She treats everyone like they are her "BEST" customers. We all leave her great tips.
• The sun was shining that morning when I went to work. It is supposed to be sunny ALL day tomorrow! What a welcome site!
• Reading Becca's story about the surprises she found in the barn when she went out to feed on Sunday a.m. and laughing while reading her "Famous Last Words" list.

One more beautiful thing - Congrats to "Uno the beagle" who won Best of Show at the Westminster Dog Show! "Snoopy" finally gets his day!

Good luck x 10, New books & Lollipops!

It's Three Beautiful Things Tuesday!

• I got out of the car at the Paper Zone today at noon and there were 10 pennies scattered on the ground right in front of my door - Since finding a penny on the ground is supposed to bring you good luck - does this mean I'll get good luck times 10?
  
  
• I recently joined a "Craft Book Bookclub" - you got 4 books for .99 - I picked out two crochet pattern books, a book on how to make garden art and a scrapbooking book. The package came yesterday - they are really nice books and the crochet pattern books actually have some things in them that I might make.
  
  
• At choir tonight one of the sopranos brought us each a little bouquet of "See's Candy Lollipops" Oohh - they are really good!

Three Beautiful Things Tuesday

It's Three Beautiful Thing Tuesday! How fast the weeks go - it seems like it was just TBT/LAST Tuesday!


* Getting this picture of my dad as a young man in the mail from my sister. Surprisingly, none of us can remember ever seeing it before. He was a handsome guy. (smile)





* Finding the yarn that I think my younger sister will like for the scarf she wants me to crochet for her - the green is actually a lot more "lime" and the orange is more "orange" - but this one really showed the purple, so there you go. . I'm trying something new - a "crydon square". Each square will be different combinations of all the colors, edged and connected with the black. It is Red Heart's "soft" yarn - I know, but I couldn't find the exact colors I wanted in the other brands. And it is very soft.


* Since I'm talking about my sisters, (of which I have three, get it, Three Beautiful...), I'll take this opportunity to again say Happy Birthday to my "oldest" sister. She is really a wonderful person and works harder than anyone I know. I got her Pearl Django's new album Modern Times and she said she's really enjoying it.


And since I'm talking about family, I'll remember my mom, who, had she not died 30 years ago, would have been 88 today. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Three Beautiful Things Tuesday!

I have been dreadfully delinquent on my Three Beautiful Thing Tuesday - in fact, (gasp!) the last TBT post I did was in OCTOBER! Oh my - Guess I'd better get cracking here!

For new readers, the object is to find Three Beautiful Things about each day. It causes us to focus on the good, when there is so much evil and ugly happening in the world (was it always that way, or do we maybe we just hear about it more easily now with TV and the internet?) The original Three Beautiful Things blog is written by a woman named Clare who lives in Kent (UK, not WA). She reminds us that it is not important to have a HUGE thing be beautiful, small things often have more impact.

My Three Beautiful Things for today are:

• Watching the joy that my friend (who raised three sons) gets from playing with her not quite two year old granddaughter.


• The gals at my favorite sub shop who made my sandwich today "just the way I like it" without any direction from me.


• Getting the notice this a.m. that our Washington Wool.net benefit auction raised over $4000 for the Black Sheep Creamery - Awesome, just awesome! (and I got that beautiful green & lavender purse that Sharon made)

The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful...

THE GOOD:

There is NOTHING darker than a motel bathroom at night and the Hampton Inn on Grant Street in Tucson, AZ has the BEST idea that has hit motel bathrooms in decades:

Just a plain old night light! All it takes is a 20 watt bulb (or so) that is behind this little 5 or 6" grate...keeps the bathroom just light enough so you can see where the potty is in the middle of the night. They have my business forever!



The Hampton Inns also have the best complimentary breakfast - nothing "continental" about it either - a hot dish (sausage, ham, gravy, scrambled eggs, etc. - there was something different every day), with fluffy biscuits - warm pastrys, all sorts of breads, bagles, & muffins, fresh fruit, cut up fruit bowl, yogurt, cereal, coffee, tea, 3 different kinds of juices (are you ready to make your room reservations yet?) in a bright and cheery room with a BIG screen TV with the morning show on. Such a deal.














Now, this was REALLY good - it was the cheesy spinach & corn dip that we had at Buster's in Flagstaff. (Kathy, I'm working on the recipe - I'll let you know as soon as I have it perfected! )





THE BAD: Knowing that some yahoo had been through your suitcase as you started your journey. Did it make it better that they left a little note - not really -

We noticed that they didn't bother to go through our suitcases on the way back - way too may dirty clothes - or maybe it was all those little plastic baggies full of wool that Kathy sent back with me from her stash.

and, finally THE BEAUTIFUL - how can you help but not have a great vacation when you have scenery like this?
















Next on the itinerary? Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument.

The end of summer, "fall clothes" and good 'nip

Quoting an article from MSNBC: "In dozens of randomized, controlled experiments, people who focused on the things they were grateful for were happier, healthier and more successful. In her new book, “Thank You Power” (Thomas Nelson), TV journalist and author Deborah Norville marshals this research to advance the argument that a simple but consistent expression of gratitude can carry us a long way down the road to happiness."

I didn't have time today to really study this article but I've got it printed out and I'll report on it here soon. I do believe that gratitude is good for the heart and soul and finding Three Beautiful Things about your day can certainly make that trip down the road to happiness a lot shorter. I have been neglecting that in my life lately - sigh - so much to do, so little time...but here are my three beautiful things for this week.

We had a small patch of tomatoes this summer - they are shaped like Roma's but they are little - arent these green ones pretty?
















The ripe ones were very tasty - and not a one made it to the house - well, I actually only got 5 ripes ones and the temp is supposed to dip into the 30's tonight, so I suppose the plants will all be done for tomorrow. Next year I'll have The Shepherd put them where they will get more sun.




John's bonsai collection is beginning to put on it's fall clothes. He tucked this oak into the greenhouse to delay the inevitable - it is just gorgeous.







Neelix & Sinda found the 'nip bag that I got them last spring - if Sinda isn't sleeping on it (sort of like some kind of aroma therapy) Neelix is licking it. They have definately been two happy cats this week.