. . .here are my interpretations this week:
Water
Even Cats have to drink sometimes.
Petal
Red petaled sunflower
Fresh
Picking it fresh
Eight
Eight skeins waiting to be knit into a shawl
Calm, not
Calm was not found when our family went to the shooting range.
If you shoot a fire extinguisher. . . you get a lot of smoke.
Joining Ashley , sharing neat finds.
The garden at Cozy Acres is loving this hot summer weather.
the Farmer is loving this hot summer weather.
the Knitter is trying to survive.
Volunteer Watermelon plants are looking good;
about ready to thump this melon to see if it is ripe.
A few bell peppers have been picked, sweetness.
About a half dozen red, ripe tomatoes have made it to the kitchen.
The cherry tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes are coming into the kitchen by scant handfuls.
I think the Farmer is munching in the garden.
I love the method the Farmer has developed to water just the plants;
that way we have a beautiful weed free garden.
All this vegetable bounty has supplied
the first Saturday Veggie Stand of the season.
I sit and knit and wait for the customers.
Everyone this Saturday asked when the tomatoes would be ripe.
the Farmer’s tomatoes have a reputation all their own.
Available for sale, Pesticide Free Squash,
zucchini, yellow crooked neck, and scallops,
green cucumbers, Fresno Chilies, Jalapenos, eggplant,
Green bell peppers and range free eggs.
I’m joining Ginny at Small Things, to share our gardens. Ginny has a raised bed vegetable plots – so pretty.
ps: the Farmer is retired; gardening is his passion. He is also co-caretaker of the church property, where we worship and live and garden in the back corner.
Set up by 8:00Am
(We live down the driveway on the right.)
Pesticide free and tended with loving care by the Farmer
squash, scallop, yellow-crooked neck and zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, green bell peppers and Fresno chilies and jalapenos.
We also sell range free chicken eggs. They are the ones with very yellow yokes.
I was there with my knitting waiting for you to come.
Saturday Mornings 8:00-12:00 noon
Whitney Avenue, Carmichael
Hope to see you next week!
(message for address)
“Are cats lazy?
Well, more power to them if they are.
Which one of us has not entertained the dream of
doing just as he likes,
when and how he likes, and as much as he likes?”
~Fernand Mery
Liz: There’s nothing wrong with Garfield. He’s just a happy, fat, lazy cat.
Garfield: No need for a second opinion.
Cats sleep
Anywhere,
Any table,
Any chair,
Top of piano,
Window-ledge,
In the midle,
On the edge,
Open drawer,
Empty shoe,
Anybody’s
Lap will do,
Fitted in a
Cardboard box,
In the cupboard
With your frocks-
Anywhere!
They don’t care!
Cats sleep
Anywhere
– – – Eleanor Farjeon
Most beds sleep up to six cats. Ten cats without the owner.
– – – Stephen Baker 
If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.
– – – Alfred North Whitehead
Have you hugged your Cat(s) today?
Pickin’ happens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Good Morning
Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
A number of ministers was assembled for the discussion of difficult questions. Among others, it was asked how the command to “pray without ceasing” could be complied with. Various suppositions were started, and at length one of the number was appointed to write an essay on it to be read at the next monthly meeting.
This being overheard by a servant exclaimed, “What a whole month to tell the meaning of that verse? It is one of the easiest and best texts in the Bible.”
“Well, well, Mary,” said an old minister, “what can you say about it? Let us know how you understand it. Can you pray all the time.”
“Oh, yes, sir.”
“What, when you have so many things to do?”
“Why, sir, the more I have to do the more I can pray.”
“Indeed. Well, Mary, do let us know how it is . Most of us think otherwise.”
“Well. sir,” said the girl, “when I first open my eyes in the morning I pray, ‘Lord open the eyes of my understanding;’
and while I am dressing I pray that I may be clothed with the robe of righteousness,
When I wash I ask for the washing of regeneration;
as I work I pray that I may have strength equal to my day;
when I begin to kindle the fire I pray that God’s work may revive my soul;
as I sweep out the house I pray that my heart may be cleansed from all its impurities;
while preparing and partaking of breakfast I pray to be fed with the hidden manna and sincere milk of the Word;
as I am busy with the little children I look up to God as my Father and pray for the spirit of adoption, that I may be His obedient child–
and so on all day.
Everything I do furnishes me with a thought for prayer.”
“Enough! Enough!” cried the minister. “these things are revealed to babes and hid from the wise and prudent. Go on, Mary,” said he. “Pray without ceasing. And as for us , my brethren, let us bless the Lord for this exposition, and remember that He said,
‘The meek will He guide in judgment;
and the meek will He teach His way.'” (Psalm 25:9)
Watch ye and pray always. Luke 21:36
Trust God for your day…Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
I love the water circles in this picture…
the cat is pretty special, too.
Good Morning
Lord, increase our faith. Luke 17:5
Faith is not clinging–it is letting go.
Somewhere we have read a story that goes like this:
“A traveler upon a lonely road was set upon by bandits who robbed him of all he dad. they then led him into the depths of the forest. There is the darkness they tied a rope to the limb of a great tree, and bade him catch hold of the end of it. Swinging him out into the blackness of surrounding space, they told him he was hanging over the brink of a giddy precipice. The moment he let go he would be dashed to pieces on the ricks below. And then they left him. His soul was filled with horror at the awful doom impending. He clutched despairingly the end of the swaying rope. But each dreadful moment only make his fate more sure. His strength steadily failed. At last he could hold on no longer. The end had come. His clenched fingers relaxed their convulsive grip. He fell—six inches, to the solid earth at his feet! It was only a ruse of the robbers to gain time in escaping. And when he let go it was not to death, but to the safety which had been waiting him through all his time of terror.”
Clutching will not save anyone from his hopelessness.
It is only Satan’s trick to keep you from being afforded
security and peace in the solid promises of God.
And all the while you are swinging over
the supposed precipice of fear and mistrust.
Let Go!
It is God’s plan that you fall–not to defeat,
but into His arms, the solid Rock.
As soon as you recognize your sheer helplessness
and your failing strength,
you let go;
and falling upon Him,
your fear goes,
your mistrust goes,
and the blessed assurance come forever.
For He–not your clinging but–
“He shall save his people from their sins.”
from ‘Streams in the Desert 2’
Trust God for your day. . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
These ‘hens and chickens’ stay where they belong,
are very quiet and don’t make a mess. . .
and they are so pretty.
Good Morning
For I am the LORD, I change not; Malachi 3:6
God’s eye has never yet become dimmed with age;
His ear has never yet become dulled with the years;
His arms have never yet been wanting in strength,
nor have His footsteps ever faltered.
He is not changed;
He is still the same immortal,
immutable,
invincible God,
from all the ages.
He makes a commitment of Himself to me.
What a gift,
what an offering,
what a mearsureless,
boundless condescension
of the infinite God to give Himself.
Trust this God for your day . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
Did you ever see a preying mantis ‘ghost’?
This little guy was so light green; he turned white in the flash.
Good Morning
The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, . . .
the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
The LORD is good,
a strong hold in the day of trouble;
and he knoweth them that trust in him.
Nahum 1:3, 7
The fiercest wind that may blow in me
is held in the hollow of His hand.
Behind what seems cruel chance,
there is the love so wise
and wisdom so loving of our God
.
If God can send a storm through space;
And dot with trees the mountain’s face.
If He the sparrow’s course can trace,
What can He do for you?
If God can hang the stars on high,
Can paint the clouds that drift on by,
Can send the sun across the sky,
What can He do for you?
If God can send us sunny days,
And nature from her slumber raise
Till song birds lift their notes of praise.
What can He do for you?
If God can do these many things,
Can count each little bird that sings,
Control the universe that swings.
What can He do for you?
If God can bring sweet peace to be
And to my soul bring liberty,
By Christ who hung upon the tree,
This He can do for you.
G. E. Wagoner
Trust God for your day . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
Looking through the fir tree at the Crepe Myrtle
Good Morning
And when she (Martha) had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. John 11:28-34
“The Jews thought Mary was going to weep at the sepulchre,
and she did;
but she heard that the Master had come,
and she went first to Him
and He went with her to the grave.
He went with her first to weep
and then to turn her mourning into joy with life from the dead.
Ah! my friend, whatever we mean to do,
let us got to Jesus first.
Mary wept for her brother
and she had the sympathy of Him
whom it is our blessed privilege to claim as our Elder Brother; . . .
So, heart stricken mourner,
He knows the grief and anguish you feel;
He knows the desolations of your spirit
and its yearnings after a solace the world cannot give!
Go to the grave of your beloved one;
but as you go let not your tears so blind you,
neither so hang down your head
that you may not see that Jesus has come to sustain you.
Hear His gracious voice from beside the tomb,
“I am the Resurrection and the life.”
from Streams in the Desert 2.
We suffer grief from the loss of many different things during our lives, not just the death of a loved one. May we, too, go to Jesus early; so He will go with us every step of the way of grief.
Trust God for your day. . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
Sunflower backs.
Good Morning
Heb 6:13-20 Amplified Bible
“For when God made [His] promise to Abraham,
He swore by Himself,
since He had no one greater by whom to swear,
Saying, Blessing I certainly will bless you
and multiplying I will multiply you.
And so it was that he [Abraham],
having waited long and endured patiently,
realized and obtained
[in the birth of Isaac as a pledge of what was to come]
what God had promised him.
Men indeed swear by a greater [than themselves],
and with them in all disputes
the oath taken for confirmation is final [ending strife].
Accordingly God also,
in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt
to those who were to inherit the promise
the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan,
intervened (mediated) with an oath.
This was so that,
by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath]
in which it is impossible for God ever
to prove false or deceive us,
we who have fled [to Him] for refuge
might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement
to grasp and hold fast the hope
appointed for us and set before [us].
[Now] we have this [hope]
as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul
[it cannot slip and
it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it–a hope]
that reaches farther
and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence]
within the veil,
Where Jesus has entered in for us [in advance],
a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever
after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek.”
Trust God for your day. . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
I asked Emily to take a picture of me knitting – Margaret caught us in the act. This Picture makes me smile.
Good Morning
I know that, whatsoever God doeth,
it shall be for ever:
nothing can be put to it,
nor any thing taken from it:
and God doeth it,
that men should fear before him. Ecclesiastes 3:14
Devotion
The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to ocean –
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition.
Robert Frost
God endures – holds one position; so we can have hope of enduring until the end.
Matthew 10:22 . . .but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Trust God for your day. . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
A glimpse of San Francisco on the way home from Monterey, CA
Good Morning
We all know that God does not listen to sinners,
but he listens to anyone who worships and obeys him. John 9:1
Most of our prayer lives could use a tune-up.
Some prayer lives lack consistency.
They’re either a desert or an oasis.
Long, arid, dry spells interrupted
by brief plunges into the waters of communion. . . .
Others of us need sincerity.
Our prayers are a bit hollow,
memorized,
and rigid.
More liturgy than life.
And though they are daily,
they are dull.
Others lack, well, honesty.
We honestly wonder if prayer makes a difference.
Why on earth would God in heaven want tot talk to me?
IF God knows all,
who am I to tell him anything?
IF God controls all,
who am I to do anything?. . . .
Our prayers may be awkward.
Our attempts may be feeble.
But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it
and not the one who says it,
our prayers do make a difference.
He Still Moves Stones, Max Lucado
Now we know that God heareth not sinners:
but if any man be a worshipper of God,
and doeth his will, him he heareth. John 9:31
Trust God for your day. . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
Have you seen the Farmer’s hat, yet?
He calls it his umbrella. Thanks, Dan.
Good Morning
So let us go on to grown-up teaching.
Let us not go back over the beginning lessons
we learned about Christ. Hebrews 6:1
I like the story of the little boy who fell out of bed.
When his Mom asked him what happened,
he answered,
“I don’t know. I guess I stayed too close to where I got in.”
Easy to do the same with our faith.
It’s tempting just to stay where we got in and never move.
Pick a time in the not-too-distant past.
A year or two ago.
Now ask yourself a few questions.
How does your prayer life today compare with then?
How about your giving?
Have the amount and the joy increased?
What about your church loyalty?
Can you tell you’ve grown?
And Bible study?
Are you learning to learn?. . .
Don’t make the mistake of the little boy.
Don’t stay too close to where you got in.
It’s risky resting on the edge.
When God Whispers Your Name – Max Lucado
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection;
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,
and of faith toward God, Hebrews 6:1
Trust God for your day. . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
Happy July 4th to all.
We are blessed with freedom to choose.
I choose to knit.
WendyKnits’ Summer Solstice KAL started well:
then my daughters and I went to Monterey, CA for the weekend.
Emily, Margaret, Leslie (mom) and Mary
Knitting was still accomplished.
I am loving this shawl, Muted Jazz. The yarn is so soft and smooshy.
So after that brief vacation, Summer Solstice was the #1 knitting pleasure.
I have just two more rows of Clue B to do. Clue C came Tuesday so I am almost ready. One knitter added more beads to Clue C – it was a really nice touch, I have lots of beads.
Just finished listening to “Look Again” by Lisa Scottoline. I really enjoyed the story line of real mother’s love. It reminded me of the story in the Bible of Solomon and the two mothers. 1 Kings 3:16-28.
Coneflowers
ByWalt Whitman
America, where each one can choose and have joy in the choosing.
Build ye houses, and dwell in them;
and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters;
and take wives for your sons,
and give your daughters to husbands,
that they may bear sons and daughters;
that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
And seek the peace of the city
whither I have caused you to be carried away captives,
and pray unto the LORD for it:
for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Jeremiah 29:5-7
Trust God for your day. . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie
Thoughts of Grace 