watch out

Some time ago the hospital gave me a watch for working there 20 years. It was nothing fantastic and I've already had it at the watch doctor once. It seems to keep time when it feels like it. Any many times it's not in the mood. So the Gardener was thinking I needed a new watch for my birthday. Which got me thinking about how I am a watch-wearer. But I don't think I know many other women who do wear watches. Even nurses I work with seem to prefer cell phones or wall clocks. Are watches out of style? The photo to the side is proof that I have always worn a watch as long as I can remember. My mother also, even now, wants a watch on her wrist every day. Maybe for me it's a control thing ... always needing to know the time.

I was at a department store the other day and heard a mom ask as sales lady what's "in" for teenagers right now. And she pointed the mom to the watch counter. Not quite the watch counter I'm used to. Huge watches, decorative in all kinds of ways ... Then I remembered a younger woman sitting next to me in church last week wore such a thing. So, I guess I got my answer about what's "in." They are fun, but probably not practical enough for me.

So I'm taking an unofficial survey. Do you wear a watch?

snips

A few snippets from my sister's camera when they visited a beautiful estate somewhere on 

the west side of Florida. All I did was fashion them into a little mosaic. 

I can't even remember how I did it, but it may have been dragging 

them into a Word document, just for something different! 

Have a good week ahead!

Linking to Mary's Little Red House for Monday's Mosaics!

Love at first sight

This little guy or girl, stayed in this position for close to 20 minutes or more. The two seemed mesmerized by each other. We figured out later that Live Bunny had a large tuft of fur in his mouth. Maybe he/she thought Frozen Bunny was in need of a little more. I came out this close to catch the image with my cell  phone and his/her eyes flickered but still no movement. True love! When he finally left, the tuft remained behind, but was gone the following morning.

summertime at the card party

I decided to celebrate summer at Vee's monthly Card Party.
I wish I lived in this house. I don't even know who does, it's just up in
a small Pennsylvania town near where the Gardener grew up.

The Gardener's tomatoes...from a previous growing season. We're not quite here yet this year.

Rest in the mountains. Yes, that's the spine of a Jan Karon book.

Homegrown by a friend. These all were in previous posts, but I don't remember where. 

Vee gave me the idea of looking on Fli--r  for my old photos, and it was sure easy! 

Then I doctored them a bit with an "urbane" look at picmon-ey.

Join the fun at A Haven for Vee.

small daily joys

"She spoke of the duty of being ready to welcome happiness as well as to endure pain, and of the strength that endurance wins by being grateful for small daily joys, like the evening light, and the smell of roses. and the singing of birds. She spoke of the faith that rests in the Unseen Wisdom and Love like a child on its mother's breast, and the melting away of doubts in the warmth of an effort to do some good in the world." (Henry Van Dyke, in the 1800s)

Joining with "Think on These Things" at With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart.

thinking about fathers

As we approach Father's Day, I, of course, am thinking of my father, now in heaven. He's pictured here with his firstborn daughter. Look at the joy in his eyes. He was separated from her the first month of her life. The night she was born, he hopped on an overnight train to arrive in Chicago early Sunday morning, where he preached his very first sermon in his new church. I'm not sure if my sister came late or early, but the timing of her arrival was interesting, I can't imagine the stress this young minister must have been under--to go through labor and delivery with his beloved wife, meet his new baby, and then begin his career the next morning 800 miles away! A month later, when baby and mother had gotten settled in their new relationship, my father proudly brought them, again by train, to their new life. There was no parsonage. That first year they lived with different families in the church. Times were sure different then. My father always worked hard, spent little, and gave sacrificially. Rather than spending anything he inherited, he put it to work to make more. He never made a great salary and did not have a "retirement package." But as a result of his hard work, my mother is provided for as she lives into her nineties. As the Gardener and I care for my mother, we are grateful to my dad for his wisdom in thinking about the future. What an example he continues to be for us! 

caught on camera

I was passing a window in a small restaurant recently and marveled at the view. 

I snapped the photo so quickly as I walked, I was amazed at how well it turned out. 

It's beauty to behold and made it's own little mosaic! 

Outside on the patio, further eye candy.

See Mary's Little Red House for more Monday Mosaics

and if you were to look inside ...

... some of our windows you might see glimpses of ...

 ... nothing new ...

... nothing special ... 

... but dearly loved ... 

... passed down through generations ... 

... or delightfully discovered ... 

... and tucked inside them all ...

... stories to be told !

the view inside

Inside looking out or outside looking in, windows are a way to go deeper. 

They frame a familiar world we can see, or a world we can only guess about. 

My go-to window in our house is in the dining room. 

I see it from my chair at the kitchen table, and from it I have a general view of the comings 

and goings of the neighborhood. 

This favorite window of mine includes the Gardener's first Christmas gift to me when we were seriously dating teenagers ... two green glass vases. (He's always had good taste.) The little lavender vase is from a friend who has been with me through much of the "stuff" of life. And the little angel a gift from a former neighbor. One Valentine's Day I woke in the wee hours of morning, looked down at her house and into her kitchen window. The light was on and the priest sat with her at the table. I knew her husband had died. I got up and started cooking. It's just one of those little reminders of a piece of life.

The "Etching from Ecuador"--how I love this little piece of glass that moves with house currents that I don't even notice. Such a reflector of light that makes its way into an amazing number of places in our house. I had a hard time taking it's picture it moves so much. It never tires of finding the smallest piece of light to reflect!