2011

Grace and Peace,

Jane

sun on my garage

Jamie, Brad and the grandkitties just left to go home. It was a wonderful visit and I sure am glad that it's sunny today or I might cry.

Grace and Peace,
Jane

Rose

In Memory of Mary Louise Starr

"God will wipe wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4

Grace and Peace,
Jane

star

Shine in the Dark by Luci Shaw:

From a dark dust of stars
kindled one, a prick of light.
Burn! Small candle star,
Burn in the black night.

In the still, hushed heart
(shadowed as a black night)
shine! Savior newly born,
Shine till the heart's light.

Grace and Peace,
Jane

holly

"And ye, beneath life's crushing load, whose forms are bending low,

who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,

look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing:

O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing."

-It Came upon the Midnight Clear

.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

winter leaf

Grace and Peace,

Jane

azalea

This flow'r whose fragrance tender

with sweetness fills the air,

dispels with glorious splendor

the darkness everywhere.

True man, yet very God;

from sin and death he saves us

and lightens every load.

-Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

German hymn, ca. 1500

Grace and Peace,
Jane

hydrangea

She hath suffered many a day,

now her griefs have passed away;

God will change her pining sadness

into ever springing gladness.

-Johannes Oleanrius, 1671

Grace and Peace,

Jane

waffle and peppers

This is what happened when I was trying to take a photo of the yummy peppers Jamie made. Really, I am not a cat person but they crack me up!

Grace and Peace,

Jane

cranberry conserve

I made some cranberry conserve for the holidays. I took this just before my grandkitties jumped in front of the camera. You would never believe that I am not a cat lover the way I am acting with them. They are winning me over.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

fence 2

We got our first snowfall yesterday. I took this picture from inside because I stayed inside for most of the day reading and being entertained by my grandkitties.

I am waiting for the whole Christmas excitement to arrive for me. It's not here yet, but maybe that's what advent will be for me this year. A time of anticipation and waiting for His arrival into my darkness.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

fence

This fence is along the side of our driveway. The vines are all brown and I just like the way the sunflower my Dad made is brightening things up.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

ornamental cabbage

Grace and Peace,

Jane

craft show

Here are just a few of the things I will be selling at the Northpointe Chr. school craft fair tomorrow. If you can't make it out there and you still want to purchase something let me know. I would be happy to show you the other cards available too.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

compost

Mike has really gotten into composting. We compost kitchen scraps, leaves, grass clipping...all that stuff. Last week we even drove around our neighborhood after dark taking (stealing?) some neighbor's leaf bags (17) that were by the curb. Seriously. Mike called me yesterday on his way to work to tell me the compost was up to 140 degrees in the middle!!!!! yippee! I guess this is how the empty nest is going to go for us!

Grace and Peace,

Jane

purple coneflower

Brrrrr. It's getting cold outside!.... I'm going to be a vendor at my very first craft show at Northpointe Christian school this Saturday. I'll be selling my cards, signed and matted photographs, and my famous granola. (Well, the granola is famous to my family and friends anyway). I am excited about this new venture! Maybe I will see you there.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

japanese anemone seeds

I took a walk this morning and when I got home I grabbed my camera and went to the backyard. I was doubtful I would find any inspiration but the japanese anemone were doing something I didn't know they did. How beautiful they are.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

iron weed

This is what's left of some of the flowers alongside our driveway. It has been a beautiful week and I've been cleaning up my pots of perennials getting ready to store them in the garage for the winter.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

potatoes

Mike and I spent a great weekend in Pittsburgh with Jamie and Brad. On Saturday we helped them clean up their urban garden plot and harvested some potatoes! Yummm.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

cosmos4

"I'll plant her in the good earth.

I'll have mercy on No-Mercy.

I'll say to Nobody,

'you are my dear Somebody'

and he'll say, 'You're my God.'"

Hosea 2:23 (the Message)

Grace and Peace,
Jane

sunflower quiche

Grace and Peace,

Jane

chihuly sculpture

I took this picture during a recent visit to Fredrik Meijer Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit. This was one of my favorites.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

brussel sprouts

I have a love/hate relationship with the brussel sprout. I love how they look, but sometimes the taste is just horrible. We roasted these babies with olive oil and salt and they were delicious with a little goat cheese.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

cosmos3

"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

Grace and Peace,
Jane

sunflower

My favorite first line of a book:

"Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person."
-Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

Grace and Peace,
Jane

dahlia

"But go and learn what this means:

'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' "

Matthew 9:13

Grace and Peace,

Jane

rutabaga

This is a picture of the one and only rutabaga we harvested from our garden. Up close I was surprised by the beautiful colors! I think I will frame one of these for my kitchen.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

turnip

Grace and Peace,

Mom

pink cosmos

We planted our cosmos late so that it would be ready for Jamie and Brad's wedding. We tried to time it just right, but they were just a big bunch of green in September. Right now they are blooming up a storm! It 's a wonderful gift this fall when the garden is winding down.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

autumnal things

When my kids were little I would give them a paper bag and we would take a walk and collect "treasures". This is what I came home with today. I do love autumn.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

carrots

Grace and Peace,
Jane

cosmos

Poem by Wendell Berry:

We travelers, walking to the sun, can't see
Ahead, but looking back the very light
That blinded us shows us the way we came,
Along which blessings now appear, risen
As if from sightlessness to sight, and we,
By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward
That blessed light that yet to us is dark.

Grace and Peace,
Jane

sunflower

"I will plant her for myself in the land;

I will show my love to the one i called 'Not my loved one.'

I will say to those called 'Not my people', 'You are my people';
and they will say,

'You are my God.'"

-Hosea 2:23

Grace and Peace,
Jane

blue jar

The last couple months have been busy with the wedding of jamie and bradley. These flower arrangements were on the window ledges of the old one room schoolhouse where they had their ceremony. The week was a joyful celebration of community and love. Congratulations!

Grace and Peace,

Jane

beet

I had never had a beet before last summer. Now we are growing them in our garden. I love them roasted with potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Summer is flying by.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

cherry tomato

Tomato season has begun. We are going to have soooooo many cherry tomatoes!

Grace and Peace,
Jane

orange zinnia for karen

When Mike and I go to our garden plot in the evening, I often bring my camera and after I am tired of weeding I wander around and take pictures. This zinnia was is our neighbor's plot.

A few years ago, I jotted a line from a hymn on a piece of paper and put it in my Bible. It often goes through my head and I haven't been able to remember what hymn it is from. This morning we sang the line in church. Eureka! Here it is:

"In you we rest, sure answer to our every quest."
from the hymn - We Come , O Christ, to You

Grace and Peace,
Jane

hydrangea

My favorite hydrangeas are along my driveway by my backdoor. They are huge this year and have so many blooms! (We may need to stop using our driveway soon). Mike would know what variety these are, but I can never remember. I just know they are beautiful and out of control.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

foxgloves

"Praise the Lord, all His works

everywhere in His dominion.

Praise the Lord, O my soul."

Psalm 103:22

Grace and Peace,

Jane

masterwort

We're still in the pink/purple phase. It's been a busy couple weeks with a graduation, an engagement, and a move home....all different children, different situations... But our garden continues to bloom and I continue to take pictures to ease my mind.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." 2Peter 1:3

Grace and Peace,

Jane

azalea

We are in the pink and purple phase of blooms in our backyard.

Grace and Peace,
Jane

jack in the pulpit

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for that moment. I want to give that world to someone else."
- Georgia O'Keeffe

Grace and Peace,
Jane

Josh

Happy 18th Birthday Joshua!

Grace and Peace,

Mom

foxgloves

"God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day."

Psalm 46:5

Grace and Peace,

Jane

solomon's seal

"The only incentive to live the Christian life is to keep the mercies of God in view."

Walter Lorenz said this while preaching on the book of Romans.

Grace and Peace, Jane

hosta

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it"

Psalm 24:1

Grace and Peace,

Jane

may day

One of the traditions I was never a part of but wish I could be is making bouquets of flowers and hanging them on your front door and/or the doors of your friends on May 1. I made this yesterday and hung it on my fence... I also made one and put it on my front door. All the flowers are from my yard and I just copied the idea from another blog I read. Nothing but fun.

Grace and Peace,

Jane

self portrait

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

Grace and Peace,

Jane

Leek

We found this leek the other day when Mike and I checked on our neighborhood garden plot/cottage. Just like us, it made it through the winter!

Grace and Peace,

Jane

virburnum

We have two flowering trees in our front yard. They smell heavenly right now!

Grace and Peace,

Jane