Corner View: Fire

In Corner View, we are finishing up a series on the classical elements of earth, water, sky, and now: fire.
(I was not part of it back with  the first two.)

 I remember burning the tips of my fingers with the short matches that come in a box with the side rough to use as a scratch/lighter.

I don't know when I wised up and began using this tool, one that is more often used to light gas barbeque grills, but I do know my fingers are grateful. :>) 

The fire glows warmly, sending out a whisp of blueberry scent

from this wax blueberry ? ?-- I'm not certain if it's intended to represent a cobbler or a muffin.

The lighter is especially handy for 'firing up' the wick in those

 lovely scented, decorative glass container candles. 

This one is a Mother's Day present from my daughter a few years back.

  I bring it out in May and grace a spot with it near where I read,

so I can savor its lilac scent and its reminder that I'm loved.

Then the best gift to fingers: using the lighter for birthday candles!

Happy Birthday to you!  Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Addy and Dillon!

Happy Birthday to you!

Dillon, now 7,  was closest, so he blew out most of the candles,

while Addy, now 5,  was more concerned with modeling her new mermaid outfit.

Big sis Peyton looked on---her day for blowing out the candles' fire was in February,

when she turned 9.

For more views on fire,

check out Francesca's fuoriborgo.

Barn Charm # 42

I'm not sure I could find this barn again.

My husband knows the back roads much better than I do---

 thanks to some of his friends living out 'in the sticks'

when he was growing up,

his grandparents' farm's location,

and taking shortcuts to the coal mine

where he worked for several years in his twenties.

When we go on our barn drives, I have no clue where we are going

and usually how to get back!

But I enjoy the trips

and I trust him implicitly!

Below is a photo that got separated from its counterparts.

I exhibited side views of it and its companion here.

For more views on barns

please click below:

Delight in the beauty

The moment you begin to delight in beauty,

your heart and mind are raised.

Basil Hume

Great are the works of the LORD,

they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Psalm 111:2 NIV

(Please click to enlarge photos.)

This spot has been my first glimpse of Seneca Lake,

coming from Barnesville,

since I was a child.

During one particularly difficult time in my senior year of high school,

I skipped art class and headed to Seneca Lake in my cherished 69 Mustang.

I was deeply troubled.

I pulled over at this spot, got out, and breathed in the lake and feasted on its beauty.

I was contemplating suicide,

though not at that specific moment--

more of a way out in the near future.

But God spoke to me through that lake

and the lush countryside

of my beloved southeastern Ohio hills.

I sensed that I too was one of His works

and  to destroy me was to dishonor Him.

I went back to school for the rest of the afternoon

and back to making sense of my life.

And the art teacher?

Bless her heart!  She never told on me!

I really didn't need getting in trouble

at that point.

(She knew I was having a tough time.)

I was 17.

I am now 58

and I still love that spot.

Corner View: In the sky

Monday was a beautiful day here in Southeast Ohio,

so when I arrived home from school,

I grabbed my camera from my school bag

and headed out in search of the 'assignment' photos.

I pointed my camera at the gorgeous sky

and below are the results.

For more corner views go to Francesca's Fuoriborgo

Barn Charm #41

'DRIVE-BY BARNS'

These are examples of "hang out the window and go click with the camera,"

while husband slows down,

vigilantly on guard for a swiftly approaching car.

This is a new version of a barn

and it may not qualify as such to some folks.

But I liked it.

Here is the opposite: a huge barn that is quite old,

accompanied by a deteriorating silo.

The road was built long after the barn and silo.

I would love to be able to explore it.

We have to 'book' it as a truck came bearing up on our 'tail'!

I pass this one every day on my way

to and from school.

However, this is the best I've been able to get of it.

It's on one on the few straight stretches,

where folks tend to make up time

by passing the people

who have slowed them down on the more hilly

and curvy sections. 

For more barns, please  click below:

In silence

At times it is only necessary to rest one's self in silence

for a few minutes,

in order to take off the pressure

and become wonderfully refreshed.

--Dresser--

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,

for my hope is in Him.

Psalm 63:5

Where I live:windows

A lot of the old homes in this Victorian town, where I live, have doors with cut-glass,  multi-paned, stained glass, or a combination of them.
This is the front of a house that was up for auction. We were interested, but it had to go for a low price as it had sat empty for three years.  The bank bought it back and they are asking more than we are willing to pay on a house that will need extensive work.

Some window hightlights of the house:

This window is in the foyer of another home that is for sale--again for much too much. This house needs even more work than the above one and the owner is asking twice as much.  I featured this in a post about "My Dream House."

The huge, stunning winow on the stair landing. 

These next windows are from The First United Methodist Church

which I have featured in the "Where I live: roofs and doors."

Every window in this church is stained glass.

These stained glass windows are in the walk-in-closet that used to be my bedroom

when I lived in the Methodist parsonage

here in Barnesville.

My Grandpap Jarvis built a vanity area under it for me.

Another one of The Victorian Villages stately homes

with LOTS of windows.

My town should have stock in Windex!

For more window views,

check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo.

Corner View:On the Ground, At My Feet

Some of my perenials are showing themselves quite prettily.
To the left is some thyme.

I forget the names of the one above and below---just know I like them and they are dependable.

A glimpse of some garden 'ornaments': a marker with a hummingbird and flowers

and  a frog riding a turtle's back with some lavender inbetween (also some toes that need polish).

 Glorious catnip and one of the two cats waiting (not as patiently as he looks--

you can't hear his demanding meows) for me to drop the cut catnip onto the basement floor.

George using his paws to enjoy his treat.

Spray-painted masks that will be part of the decorations for our school's junior/senior prom

this coming Saturday night. The theme is Mardi Gras.

Also pictured are feet of some creative and reliable junior girls.

For more views check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo

Barn Charm #40

One day my husband and I headed out on SR147 east towards Bethesda, Ohio

from our little town of Barnesville.

The first stop was to check out a house that would soon be up for sale.

The house was not for us.

However, nearby was an old barn and silo.

The land was flat for this area of Ohio,

although there is a slight glimpse of hillside in the distance

of the second photo.

I was able to get out and walk around some,

so I got some shots from slightly different angles.

It was not as isolated as it may appear,

therefore I didn't do as much exploring as I would have liked to.

The land drops off a bit in back of the barn and there is fencing,

so I didn't explore back there.

More more barns,

click below: