Corner to Corner gift and misc.

 Francesca of Fuoriborgo posted an idea that originated with her friend Joanne and a Japanese tenugui cloth designed by her.  The idea was to wrap something small in it and send it to the next person on Corner View. That person 'creates' a gift package in the tenugui and sends it on. The tenugui will eventually makes its way back to Francesca where it will stay.

 Corner View participants are from all over the world and many have been a part of it since its inception in mid-April 2009. It is a fun way to connect with others from "distant corners of the world"(Francesca) and many friendships have developed because of it.
Francesca got a list of all of us who wanted to participate and the tenugui wrapped around thoughtful and creative gifts has been traveling the globe.  It came to me about 7 days ago from Elizabeth in Canada. 

I was so excited to see it waiting for me when I got home from school one day!  I immediately opened it and the following photos show what was in the package.

The tenugui is on the left.

The bag that the gifts and the tenugui were in is in the upper right.

The special tag, that was attached to all the other tags, is the fish.

The wonderful gifts are real Maple syrup from close to where Elizabeth lives.

The washcloth and soap were both made by her.

There was a lovely note card explaining it all.

(I don't have a photo of it---ooops!)

Such terrific and thoughtful gifts!

I am very blessed and very happy!

A big "Thank You!" was sent to Elizabeth.

Now I will be sending it on to Heather in Florida

with the special gifts I've assembled for her.

Such fun!

Doesn't she have beautiful handwriting?!

Right now, I'm displaying the washcloth and soap

on an old-fashioned double soap dish

that is hanging on my bathroom wall.

Eventually, I will indulge and use them both.

But for awhile, I will show them off.

Now onto more:

This past Saturday hubby and I took another drive--

to look at houses this time, not barns.

Anyhow, we ended up down at the lake park.

I got my camera out and took shots of this adorable family.

I will share one photo with you for now.

Next:

I had planned to participate in Francesca's "Where I live" Friday series,

but alas, I didn't get a post created in time.

However, I will show you what would have been some highlights:

These heavy double wooden doors flank each end

of the long portico that runs the length of most of the front

of First United Methodist Church here in Barnesville.

This church is where my dad pastored for nine years

and where my present hubby and I eventually married.

(I have a photo of us at the top of the many steps leading up to these doors.)

.

                                       For more "Where I live: doors," check out Francesca's.

Well, that's my 'montage' to update you all and to welcome Monday.

Blessings as you begin the new week!

( I can not click on my spell check, so please forgive this English teacher

if I miss some errors.)

Corner View: Hmmmm!

One of my husband's favorite meals is liver and onions.

I fixed it for him for his birthday dinner last week,

using his mother's recipe.

It smells delicious.

It looks like veal (which I love).

He persuaded me twice (years ago)

to try a bite.

My reaction both times: Yuck!

Worse though was that the taste lingered for the rest of the day.

So this is my "Things that make you go hmmmm!"

Liver: looks good, smells good, tastes yucky.

For more of this topic, check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo

Barn Charm #38

I don't have a fancy telephoto lens.

However, my small  light-weight camera

works hard to bring into focus

what, from a distance, only slightly resembles a barn

Here are two 'hidden' barns

from my day of exploring on a back road west of town.

For more barns, click below:

Monday's Words of Wisdom

"We have a God who delights in impossibilities."

Andrew Murry

"With people this is impossible,

but with God all things are possible.

Matthew 19:20

Where I Live: Roofs

Francesca who hosts Corner View

now hosts a new segment on Fridays.

It's called "Where I live."

Each Friday will feature a different aspect of where we live.

This week roofs are featured.

I haven't found a niche for Fridays,

yet need to write and create some kind of post

to unwind after teaching teen-agers all week.

So I'm joining Francesca today.

This is a small bird's eye view of Barnesville

 looking down from the highest hill on the north end.

We have beautiful stately homes on North Chestnut Street

which runs through the town

becoming South Chestnut after its intersection with Main Street.

This one is sadly in disrepair.

The center window does not have any glass in the top portion.

There are other signs of deterioration, but that's a story for another day.

This green brick home was recently restored and is beautiful--

at least on the outside.

I hope it eventually makes The Mother's Club Home Tour,

because I'd love to see inside!

This is just a section of the huge, multi-level tile roof

of the Presbyterian Church.

The church is quite old.

This shows a portion of the north side and the back side which faces west.

This turret belongs to the 'manse' where the Presbyterian minister and his family reside.

A glimpse of some of the roof lines of the church, its manse, and a neighboring house.

This roof belongs to the First United Methodist Church,

which is where my dad preached and ministered

for nine years.

You are viewing a tiny section of the large, multi-leveled roof.

This is a view looking down from the highest hill on the south end of town.

Note the gray roof of the First United Methodist Church in the background on the left.

Also note the bright red tiles of the Presbyterian Church.

These last two photos were taken

as I stood on a hill surveying the roofs of the town

where I live.

This may be too long a post for some readers;

however, creating it was an antidote to an extremely stressful day at school.

I hope some derive enjoyment from it.

For views of roofs from all over the world.

check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo

Corner View: Room with a View

This is the view from my desk in my class room.

If I go close to the window, lean in, and look far to my right,

I see a bit of countryside.

This is what I used to see from my desk in my first class room

at this school.

Below is what I see by standing near the window;

I don't have to lean in close to see this.

My friend Tracy has this view now.

I did before I was laid off for a year.

When I was called back, it was to replace a teacher who had retired.

I got her room.

I miss my old one.

This is the view my friend Alaina sees from her desk.

Her room is on the front of the first section of building.

Tracy's and mine are in that same section, but on the backside of that hallway.

For five years, I taught in a musty room on the second floor

with no windows.

There were no windows anywhere on that floor.

That was in Cincinnati.

One of my 'musts' for my next job was to have a room with a window.

You can imagine my joy when I got the view of the farm in the distance!

However, even though I don't have that view any more,

I do have a wall of windows

and sunlight does pour in.

So I'm still grateful for my room with a view.

Check out more views on Francesca's Fuoriborgo

Barn Charm #37

My husband and I discovered this barn

on a gravel road that wound back into the countryside

from Rt. 147 towards Bethesda, Ohio.

At first I was disappointed that I couldn't rid the photo

of the utility pole and meter (or whatever it is).

But then I decided I liked the contrast of the old weathered barn

with the modern-day contraptions.

If the barn could talk, I wonder what it would say

about these new-fangled stuff!

Tiny bit closer.

Bursting at the seams!

View from the other end.

A glimpse of the 'rolling' Southeastern Ohio hillside

and other farms in the distance.

For more barn views, click below:

Words of Wisdom

The God Who made the wole world and everything in it

is the Lord of the land and the sky . . .

This God is the One who gives

life, breath, and everything else to people.

Acts 17: 24 - 25

Great are the works of the LORD,

they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Psalm 111: 2

While waiting for my husband,

who was getting a business permit,

I stolled around with my camera

and caught sight of this beautiful tree

and the calico stray

basking in the warmth of the sun.

A Story:

My favorite moment with you:

". . . we were rushing to get to a radio interview [in San Francisco],

so I was race-walking along the piers at Fort Mason,

and you were dreamily watching the seagulls and pelicans

and scanning the water for seals.

I was begging you to hurry it up,

but at the same time

I remember dropping a book,

and my papers were all disorganized,

and I wa trying to shove stuff back

 into my Fibber McGee purse,

and you stopped.

Quote:

You said to me sternly,

"Mom, you'e moving too fast,

and you're carrying too much."

I still think, to this day,

that that explains what's going on

whenever I start to get crazy."

 Novelist AnnieLamott told this story to her son Sam

when asked to sit down with him

and converse

with MORE magazine

April 2012 edition.

Annie has a new book out--

Some Assembly Required:

A Journal of My Son's First Son

May you take time this week to slow down.

enjoy God's beauty,

and patiently 'be' with a child'

or someone at any age

who needs your time.

Blessings as you begin your week.

Corner View: Typical Family Dinner

This week at corner view we are featuring our 'daily' meals

or an interpretation of such a meal

as in Susanna's Van Gogh painting.

Several times a week, Mike and I have a sit-down dinner together.

Last night was one such night

as he had just arrived home from a business trip.

I enjoy cooking, but a lot of nights, due to chronic illness ,

I am too tired after teaching teen-agers

 to deal with much of a meal.

If Mike doesn't feel like cooking,

one of us makes a run to the limited choices of restaurants:

I am a one-pot or frying pan or crock pot cook usually.

I like the following meal because it is one conveniently kept in the freezer

until needed time,

takes only ten minutes,

and serves as a wonderful base for adding other ingredients.

Bow tie pasta, spinach, and chicken make up the 'foundation'.

The fridge's vegetable drawer always serves up additions.

In this case, I added onion (always), red sweet pepper, and cauliflower.

Frozen garlic bread is almost always a companion.

Of all the possible selections in this category,

Bertolli provides our favorite.

You Italians may be shuddering right now--sorry!

                                         One of our wedding (almost 14 years ago) gifts was
                                                    a wonderful pasta recipe book
                                                 complete with a beautiful pasta bowl set.
                                                  Below is a recipe I have tried and liked. 
                                                    Above is a photo of it from the book
                                                PASTISSIMA! Pasta the Italian Way.

For more corner views,

check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo.

Enjoy!

Barn Charm #36

My last two posts have featured the countryside out west of my small town.

This is the first time I have driven so far into this part.

I had been to the dentist and thought I deserved a treat,

which this scenic drive certainly was.

I took long distance shots from a two-lane part blacktop/part gravel road.

The first three photos are of a barn and its inhabitants way down in a valley.

The rustic glow in the lower part of the first two pics is a fence line.

Notice the cattle in the fenced-in area and

the lone sheep looking towards them.

I didn't notice the sheep from my hilltop spot, just the cows.

The next two photos are taken while looking south partly down and then back up.

It's back towards town where barns and neighborhoods coexist

throughout.

For more barn shots, click below:

Monday Scripture & Words of Wisdom

"I've always thought anyone can make money.

Making a life worth living, that's the real test."

--ROBERT FULGHUM, American essayist--

"Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good,

behave yourself,

and never mind the rest."

Beatrix Potter

"For He Who is almighty has done great things for me -- and holy is His name."

Luke 1:51

As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.

We pray that you will have the strength

 to stick it out over the long haul---not the grim strength of gritting your teeth

but the glory-strength God gives.

It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy,

thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part

in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

Colossians 1: 11-12 The Message

May you have a blessed week.