“Life is too short to drink from an ugly mug!”

That’s what I say to myself 

every time I select my mug for the day.

Hugs and Blessings,

Mèmére

Christmas Cozy

 

“What are you doin’ up there Itsie?”

“Well Miss Charlie, before you came along and before Mom turned on the lamp to take this picture I was nestled in for an afternoon nap.  Even though we live in Arizona it is a little nippy today and in this chair I am feeling quite snug.  Now, thank you for inquiring about me, but mossy on and please tell Mom to turn the light back off.”

Blessings and hugs from Arizona,

Mèmére 

Absolutely Enchanting

 

Oh yes! In Kentucky or Tennessee please❤️🌺🌸❤️

Everything in this picture screams my taste and personality:

Lace tablecloth <smile> 

Alyssum <smile> 

Old wooden table and chairs <smile> 

Vintage chandler <smile> 

Shelves on the wall <smile> 

Porches <smile> 

Wooden floors <smile> 

Hanging plants <smile> 

Geranium cuttings in terra-cotta big <smile>   

How do you decorate and would you choose to live somewhere differently given the choice?

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires to your ❤️

Psalm 37:4

Blessings and hugs from Arizona,

Mèmére 

#cottagecore

#thankYouJesus

Testing Testing Testing

 

It has been so long since I blogged that I wonder if my spot in cyberspace is still viable <smile>

Pushing the publish button now and hoping for take off . . .

Home Sweet Home

Quarantine sounds like such a negative word to me.  I hear and read of so many people complaining that they have to stay home!

Not me! Not for one minute.  

"Home is where the heart is"  has always been a favorite quote of mine and now it is being put to the test.  I pass with flying colors cause there is no better place I would rather be than HOME, SWEET HOME!

Blessed to share my nest with my Precious Husband and now one of my adult children.  It is truly a blessing and honor to get up each day and do what it takes to create a home for my loved ones.

Quarantine, empty grocery shelves, no TOILET PAPER, oh my!  We are living our lives right now sheltering in place and wondering what the future holds.

This world as we know it seems to be turned upside down and topsy turvy but I know that my Lord has it all in His hands just like the song I sang as a little girl.  "He's got the whole world in His hands, the whole wide world in His Hands, He's got the whole world in His hands!"

I know no matter what happens I can trust the heart of my loving Heavenly Father to see His Children through whatever comes about.  That is a fact that brings peace and confidence to my heart as I shelter in my HOME, SWEET HOME!

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

Encouragement in Pandemic Times

Stress. Worry. Fear. So much is being hurled at us on the TV, the radio, the neighbor across the way.  All I want to do on my blog today is share some words of encouragement.  Encouragement based on God's Word that brings calm, faith and peace.  I pray these two devotionals from BE STILL AND KNOW by Mildred Stamm will encourage you as you read them.  

Hugs and Blessings,

Mèmére

Domestic Accomplishments

Last week I felt like I got my yeast rolls nearly perfect.  Attested to by my family also wink wink.

Do you ever feel like some things are more work than you would like to do and so you opt out for a quick mix or grocery store purchase?  Me too but I don't feel good about it.

This week when I made the rolls, twice in fact, I decided to put all the dry ingredients together so they would be a quick fix next time.  That felt good.  Yogurt pancakes came to mind and I continued measuring flour and baking powder, etc. into my Ziplocks.  

Precious Husband loves his chocolate chip cookies so that is made ahead too.  Just add the butter, eggs, vanilla and chips. Walla - cookies hot out of the oven in nothing flat.

I put all my make-a-head mixes in my little picnic basket and it stores nicely in the pantry.

Yes! I am feeling so domestic and so accomplished (big smile)!

I am a messy cook I must admit and there was flour all over everything by the time I got done.  Oh well, I make the mess and I clean the mess up so nobody can complain.

Hugs and Blessings,

Mèmére

6:01 PM New Years Eve 2019

Happy happy New Year to all my friends and family.

2019 definitely brought great change to our family and we still are dealing with those changes but God is good and because I know Him I know that all is well.  Definitely a good feeling!

This verse has been popping up a lot as I read and I am taking it to heart this year:

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.  I Isaiah 43:19

Oh yes, God is able and I am eager to see what the new year ahead holds.  

Can't create a new post without sharing some pictures of course.  Winters in Arizona remind me of spring when I can enjoy my little baby pansies.  Took a while to find them at the nursery this year but find them we did 😀  They are gorgeous and they make me smile big time.

Hugs and Blessings,
Mèmére

What I Am Wearing Today

 Don’t shine so others can see you.  Shine so that through you others can see Him.

—C.S. Lewis

I ran across this quote of C.S.Lewis on FaceBook recently.  

It was a new to me quote.  

A day or two later I was in my happy place, I mean Hobby Lobby and found these cute encouraging reminder bracelets.  I couldn't resist them, especially being 50% off too.

Each bracelet shares sentiment that I find so fitting and true.  

Encouragement I like to be reminded of daily.

So guess what?  Each day I am getting up and getting dressed

 and then choosing my cutesy bracelet to wear for the day.

In my next blog post I will share what else I think is important

 to put on when getting dressed in the morning.  Stay tuned.

Joy and Blessings,

Mèmére

Shopping From Home

Had to include Mr. Itsie here too.

Home Sweet Home.

I love the sound of that.  I love my home.  I have always loved the home the Lord has supplied me. 

 When I lived at the Acres I lived in several different abodes.  We began our 12 years with the children  living in the little white house that served as an infirmary for the children that would get sick with various colds, flue, and misc. childhood illnesses.  Jason and I had two rooms that served as our bedrooms and then shared the rest with the sick children from time to time.  

Later I became a houseparent and Jason and I had an apartment that was part of the dorm.  10-12 kids called me "Aunt Dorothy" and our home was filled with lots of activity on many levels

When Precious Husband and I married we were still at the Acres and we lived in a double wide mobile home.  I loved opening my home to the older and often single people that also were at the Acres.  Muffins and coffee were served often.

Hey, I have completely gotten off track with this post.  I typed out Home Sweet Home and then my mind and my fingers totally took off in another direction.

My original intent here was to share the fun I have of shopping in my home and redecorating or freshening things up quite often.  That is what all the above pictures is about.  I just got in the mood one day recently and started changing bedspreads and went wild.  Everything came from what I had in the closet or in another bedroom.  

It was fun and I came away feeling good about fresh views and feels and it did not cost me a thing.  What's in your closet?

Blessings and Joy,

Mèmére

First We Have Coffee

First We Have Coffee by Margaret T. Jensen is one of my very favorite books ever.  She has written several books but this one shares her background as a child growing up.  Look it up and enjoy a good summer read.

Blessings and Joy,
Mèmére

I miss my blog!  I miss coming here to share my heart.  

I miss the encouragement the Lord gives me when I share my heart - my thoughts.

My photos say it all today so well.  Love never fails.  God never fails.  Love never fails!

When I opened my photos to blog this one above showed up first.  

It made me smile - it made me smile BIGTIME!

Anthony was out and about with his day program at Bass Pro and was surprised to run into his cousin Justin who works there.  Justin snapped this pic and sent it to me.

Anthony, you have always been known for your smile 

and it continues to be true.  

Your Momma loves you Sunshine!

Joy and Blessings,

Mèmére

Mr. Itsie has to always be in the middle

 of whatever I am doing it seems.

Confession time.  I spend too much time on the internet and especially in blogland. But oh my stars - what delight and what encouragement I find peeking into the lovely lace curtain trimmed windows and seeing how other like minded women are living.  

Today I opened a favorite blog and she has listed some of her favorite blogs which has inspired this post.  Lady Lydia is my inspiration for all things tea.  If you have seen my big Anchor Hocking Star of David punch bowl on the dining room table it is as a result of a post Lady Lydia shared on hospitality many years ago.

Most of my favorite blogs are written by Christian women that are wives and mothers and find their purpose encouraging women to glorify the Lord in their own family and home.  So good to know we are not alone in our calling and in our walk.  Good to know other women get discouraged sometimes and read about how they find victory in Jesus.

Personally I have been extremely sporadic posting on my blog but I continue on as I feel so inspired. My intention of blogging has always been with the hope of living snippets of life for my daughters and a journal of sorts too.

Maybe tomorrow I will update my blog roll and share some good links to encourage others as I have been blessed and encouraged by.

                Mèmére

Yesterday Precious Husband reminded me to go check our cactus because it was ready to bloom at any time now. The pictures below show you what the cactus looked like yesterday.

Today I got up and grabbed my cup of coffee along with my phone to capture the beauty of the fully bloomed cactus flowers.

Seeing these flowers and knowing that tomorrow the beautiful pink blooms will be limp and hanging down toward their pot and dirt.  Such a short lived beauty they are. 

Such is our life.  So quick and fleeting are our days.  So beautiful but so delicate and fragile in so many ways.

I am reminded by this beautiful fully bloomed cactus that life must be appreciated now, today.  We have no promise of tomorrow.  Truly I remember that I know not what the future holds but I know Who holds my future.  I am so glad I can trust in the love and goodness of God and I will strive to see the beauty of each day He gives me. 

❤  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: 

BUT the word of our God shall stand for ever. ❤ 

 Isaiah 40:8 

Hugs & Blessings,

Mèmére

National Laundry Day

(Pinterest)

So on this morning's news I was told it was National Laundry Day.  Well, it just so happens Mondays are a laundry day for me.  So yippee! My laundry is done for another day and I also celebrated a national holiday.  Washoooo!

❤   With a grateful heart I must add how much I appreciate my washing machine and dryer.  I am blessed.

Hugs and blessings,

Mèmére

My African Violet

never ceases to amaze me.

I purchased this plant about 2 years ago and it originally traveled in the motor home with us.  It has been faithful to produce this kind of beauty even when I had my doubts.  You see my plant can at times look quite pitiful in my opinion.  It seems to be so fragile and so shallow in its roots.  But then I begin to see its sprouts of new buds, giving me hope and that hope does not disappoint.

I think life for the Christian is similar in nature to my plant.  Personally I can feel on some days pretty pitiful, fragile and without much depth of roots.  But God the master gardener is always at work and in the right time and season there will be new growth and new beauty and this fact this hope does not disappoint.

Psalm 138:8

The Lord will [a]perfect that which concerns me;

Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Hugs and Blessings,

Mèmére

It's Nap Time

And another day:

Is there anything more hygge than this?

Miss Daisy Grace loves her nap time!

Hugs and Blessings,

Mèmére

Happy New Year

Want to wish all our family and friends a very blessed new year.  2018 seemed to pass quite quickly in some ways yet stretched long in ways too.

I am glad the Christmas things are all packed away and my home is back in its normal order. 

The little pigs have replaced the green wreath to speak welcome at the front door.  The pigs were my mother's and they always make me smile.

Daisy Grace is tucked in her bed cuddled up with Pooh and really doesn't care what time of the year it is.

Itsie on the other hand misses the Christmas tree I believe.

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére