Drying and Preparing

As I drove down Mud Lane the other day, what a picture the fields were with their rows of hay, piled neatly and evenly. The John Deere was working its way around the perimeter of the field. The air was perfect for drying hay.

This week was a busy one and the Lord is teaching me things about Himself (and myself) which I needed to learn. I am thankful that He is sufficient for all things. He is the one who brings conviction and forgiveness. I am so glad that, despite my sinful ways, He is there ready to forgive and to lovingly continue the work of grace. What a privilege, to be so intimately related to the Creator of the universe! As I viewed the neat rows of hay piled through the field it reminded me of how the Lord makes all things straight and keeps them in order if we will only let Him. He is "drying us" and preparing us to be useful in His service.

The colors are just starting to show in the trees. Here and there will be a splash of yellow and orange. This time of year is my very favorite, as the air begins to be crisp and mornings downright chilly. Our heater came on for the first time the other day. As I descended the stairs and heard it running I jumped down the last step and ran over to turn it down! It's just too early for the furnace! We will be covering the tomatoes before you know it.

Syd, Mom, Sarah and I headed over the hill to our local World's Fair last week. We saw so many people who we knew, talked and laughed a lot, walked a lot...and ATE a lot (though not nearly what I used to eat). An added bonus, we met up with our very dear friends, the Richardsons. Each year we see the same displays, walk through the same historic barns, eat the same foods, but the tradition of the fair is something I look forward to throughout the entire summer. As a child I used to be so happy that we were fortunate enough to live this close to THE WORLD'S FAIR! Mom even entered two items in Floral Hall this year.

Her saw, painted with the skyline view from her Darling Hill porch

Quilling Owl. Quilling is a method of twirling small pieces of paper on a small tool. These she fashioned on velvet to make a lovely owl in a little shadow-box frame

 My two small paintings and pen and ink brought a blue and two reds. Syd did not enter anything this year. We ran over one more time on Sunday evening, when we had to pick our items up. As the booths began to come down we made our way to the Barbecue tent, where we enjoyed just one more pulled pork sandwich.

I have been playing around with our tiny camera, trying various settings to see if we can start to get some CLEAR photos, to no avail. The three above were taken with it. Thankfully our computer does a great job at making them look like watercolor photos, which I like. Here are a couple:

A few photos of Autumns past:

a tiny Autumn tree, all decorated for the season!

Uncle Frank's cabin

Last night we spent time with Sarah and Mom, had dinner here and then just sat back and enjoyed coffee and a slideshow of friends and family photos on the computer. The rain is still pattering on the roof. A welcome sound, as we pray that the Lord will replenish the shallow well for us, as well as for others who have no water at this time.

Coco is with us again this week. They love having company