With Hammer and Nail

Guess it is time to show what is happening around here when husband, John, gets together with his demolition and building guy friend, Tom. It gets dirty, noisy and things change.

Goodbye carport lounge---
Hello one-car garage and multi purpose area.
Almost didn't get a before picture but you'll get the idea.

The last of the wide open view

Framing going up

Now there is a window and door spot

Header for the garage door support system

Window in and door framed

Door to the front porch

Side door to the back yard

Side view with crooked guttering

And here missing the obvious door

View with the front porch-- can't see the walk way from this view.
It curves around the Japanese Maple.

The doors have the blinds/shades right in them-
 got to figure out how to work that 

And so, lots of pics I know, but wanted you all to see the process.

Not sure when the next post will be on the progress.  

Sometimes house projects

 can take a long time around here,  

but not this part.

Really got started about  

11am  last Saturday when we got back

 from Lowes with the doors and windows.

By 8 pm with a supper break, 

it was "call it a day" time.

Oh and my job as head supervisor?

Bring water, sweep up,

 and serve up the chicken for supper.

All in all- a fine start.

 Thanks, Tom, for your great help!

.

Visual Prayer Cards

In this new time of ministry- how does transition work?
Where to begin?
New people to meet- names to learn.
The only way that has made sense
 in the rush of change has been to stop and pray.
And so we begin-
starting-
by stopping
 to pray.

a 4 by 6 card
using mixed media artist's paper
a non-bleeding Fine point Sharpie in black
and colored pencils

Using graph paper
 cut into 4 by 6 card size

Selecting a Bible verse to center a visual prayer

then copied before sending in a card
 so that the prayer may be continued.

Placed in a small photo album
Portable and changing
Growing

Covering those in ministry in prayer
 Lifting them to the Lord for His
mighty Hand to preserve, protect and guide.

Be strong; take heart. Don't quit.

 Stay with God.  Psalm 27:14

And a prayer for my own heart

Liminal Space

Shasta Daisies-  
they were magnificent in bloom
 Suppose to be a perennial
 and then they just went away
I thought they would just sit back
 and wait and come back next year.
 It was a one time show.

The waiting birdhouse. So far this year no takers.
Maybe in a drive-by-
possible renters
 thought it needed a little
 bit of help in the upkeep department.

A lantana that I have been waiting
for it to unfurl profuse blooms.
Somehow this one didn't get the memo
 that this species- Loves Heat 

My vintage chair- waiting for me
 to come and sit
 and rock a bit and just pay attention.

And more bird houses- gifts from friends -
 and maybe tops in the looks arena but not
a seller in the practical world-
waiting and wondering-
 is this all there is?

And in a reading today- the words of Richard Rohr-

 talking about liminal space- from the Latin word Limina, 

which means threshold. 

 He says that Liminal space- the place of waiting is-

"a unique spiritual position where human beings hate to be,

  but where the biblical God is always leading them. 

It is where you have left the tried and true, 

 but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. 

It is when you are finally out of the way. 

It is when you are between

your old comfort zone and any possible new answer. 

If you are not trained in how to hold anxiety, 

how to live with ambiguity, 

how to entrust and wait,

 you will run... 

anything to flee this terrible cloud of unknowing."

So I think I see that I am training in waiting.

Still Life

Begonia- boliviensis--
 introduced in 1864 from the Bolivian Andes


Summer winds down and the scurry of back to school begins to gear up.
 Still miss that start up excitement of getting a classroom ready for students.
  But don't miss the anxiety of "feeling you can't get it all done".

Rudbeckia-Black-eye Susan

Right now-- reading Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership- By Ruth Haley Barton.

Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry.  Need to explore a little more about the word Crucible.

Coleus- Pink Chaos

    A favorite quote from today's reading-

Spiritual leadership springs forth in grace

from our very desire for God's presence.

This does not take effort or striving. It takes courage,

 a kind of showing up, attentiveness.

Gerald May, 1998 lecture.

Such vibrant colors and fine detail
 of God's etchings in each leaf

                         Lord, I pray that your Spirit allows me to Show Up. And Looking at the handiwork of your nature still life scenes----- let me know that in the mix of it all-

 it is STILL- LIFE.

Fall Las Vegas Visit

  Just found this post and saw that it never published  --
 so a touch of Fall a little early.

Blessing Reminder Shadow box for daughter Laura-
 taken from a first apartment to her new home
 to remind her of God's faithfulness in her life.

Mantel with Fall Thanksgiving Garland-- 
add tags each year of gifts and thank yous
add copies of vintage Thanksgiving cards

Assorted collection of "family" pumpkins
 with vintage botanical unframed

Empty frame keeps mantel from feeling
 too "heavy" yet fills in space
Love the mantel painted white!!!!

Vintage floral prints frame out
 a vignette of collected treasures

An artist's collection of tools for a spot to draw or doodle
 Trays and wood boxes contain the clutter and a cross collection covers all

Laura D. Schumacher design
 pottery bowl with gourds

Needed to fill a big space in a new home and took flea market black and white prints and mounted them on canvases wrapped with free Donghia fabric swatches to enlarge the wall grouping without a big expense

Original Laura D. Schumacher watercolor -
 Remember the East Coast colors 

WE fell in love with this pin and made our own version-- we sewed the rows and used 3 fabrics: burlap, onasburg and unbleached muslin on oatmeal felt.  Ohhhh!

Thrift store candles became something special when we used  Mod Podge and rolled them in Epsom Salt.
 Who would have thought!

A visit to the home of a daughter and her husband filled the end of October days with laughing, a football game, good food, treasure hunting and "pinning".  It is fun to see her style develop and what she likes and how they choose to "create home". The ingenuity that comes with a smaller budget is fun to see the projects develop into something all are proud of and enhances their living space. In our short time together we even managed to do some actual projects from things we had pinned on Pinterest.
 What memories!!
Denninger Style is morphing into Schumacher style  but it has a BIG D! CAn't wait till my next visit.

Patient Waiting

Today was the first bloom of this passion Flower
Watered and waited and waited
Guess none of it is My Timing

This plant actually overwintered outside here
in Virginia in this past mild winter
A head start for this year....

The Plumbago has been pokey too.
Almost afraid to let us
 see the magnificent blue color

But not shy at all is this canna
 Stretching towards the sly
at least 7 feet in the air

And so this Sabbath rest ends-

 with the brilliance of 

noticing that waiting on the Lord

 is not such a bad thing after all.

He's  "Got That".

30 and Counting

The four rose corsages from the installation
this past weekend in Richmond.
A honor for myself and  the three young ladies in our family.

The Spoils

Not all bad when a young adult daughter moves home
and brings her Crate and Barrel leaning shelves along.
Grabbed them right away and had fun styling all that  vertical space.
( a personal mantra-- Go HIgher!)
Turned out to be super spots for
 Keep the Faith Art projects---
 that tell pieces of our family story.
Hmmmm-- not sure she is getting them back.
Didn't know if  I'd like the modern look
 with all the old things in our house.
Just the right mix and still lots of empty space 
to rest the eye.
My friend, Diane, will probably want
 her needlepoint chairs
 back now that I am storing for her.
 So the spoils of a move- not all bad.

Can you guess what the metal piece was in a former life?
I liked it because it had a modern "cross" design.
OK------  it is a gas burner piece from an old gas stove -
probably had a more formal name than that.

The crape myrtles are in bloom here in Virginia.
Always a wonderful sight in summer
when the landscape can once again turn shades of pink.

Tonite there was a rain spoil.  Lots of lightening
and thunder but not a drop.

The spotty showers turned out to be just that---- activities called off because of the rain,,,,

but nothing came..... spoiled again.

Brilliant red of the mandevilla stands out
 in the landscape for sure.
It takes the heat on the deck 
and the unrentless summer sun.
So I just keep on watering.

But, all in all, the "spoils" have got to refer to me.
What I have left over-
 because I cannot use up all of my
 quotient of grace each day.
The boundless outpouring of God's love
 and grace makes me crazy to watch any slip away...
 unnoticed
unused
just gone.


So it a day filled with bounteous
  spoils and spoiled rain showers and
spoiled health interventions
(for my sister)
and spoiled
 plans for my To Do list
I sit back and see myself with just a hint of
God's lavish grace dripping from my forehead,
and I grin-
 Yup- I am wonderfully spoiled.