Corner View: Box of Tricks

The theme for Corner View this week is

 "A Box of Tricks."

The intention was for each of us to interpret that any way

we wanted.

This should be an interesting week!

I have two suitcases that I keep full of special 'stuff'.

 This suitcase was part of the set

given me by my parents when

I graduated from high school.

That was 39 years ago.

This suitcase was mine when I was a little girl a long time ago.

You can see the age not only in the metal but also in the design of the latches.

Inside these two suitcases I keep clothes, scarves, aprons, and jewelry.

Some were mine; some were my mother's, some were my daughter's,

and some of all three were made by my mother.

The old blue suitcase from my childhood has special lacy-type

tissue paper, a bag of potpourri, and two pages of explanation

on top of the clothes and other treasures.

The items are all for dress up. 
My daughter had hours
of fun with these.
Some of the items came from trips
her father's parents took
all over the world.

The vests and hat in these two photos
are examples of those.

The majorette dress was part
of a play outfit that she wanted
and received as a gift.
Note to daughter (who reads my blog), "Sara correct me
if I'm wrong."

 This was a kimono my mother-in-law brought back from a trip for me. 

This dress was part of a princess outfit my mother made

for my daughter for Halloween.

There is a cape and wand that go with it.

(Mom made the wand too.)

They are shown in the last two photos.

 Mother made this pink dress for me for May Day
at my high school my senior year.  We senior
girls danced around the May Pole. I think we
were in a girls' club of some sort headed by
the eccentric English teacher Mrs. K.

Here is a glimpse of some scarves.

I actually put some back in my closet;

they are back in style!

Here is an over view before I folded everything back up

and put them away in the suitcases.

There is much more that I didn't 'highlight'.

A few pieces of jewelry my mother
gave Sara to play with.  I'm fairly
sure mother was
responsible for turning
 my blue suitcase into
a treasure case for
my daughter to play
make-believe. 
Sara liked to dress up in my mom's
and my dresses and pretend to
be a secretary or a business woman.
There were high heels and purses too, but they have disappeared.

Clip-on earrings of mom's.  She eventually pierced her ears.

Now:

Ta Da!!!

My middle granddaughter is shown playing dress-up.

She spent five days with me last summer.

One afternoon I surprised her

with my suitcases of tricks and treasures.

The trick part is being able to 'become'

anyone you want to be.

The treasure part is that each item

has a special significance and memory.

The cape and wand in these pictures

belong to that one dress that mom made Sara.

Addy Jane at 3 years of age.

The heels are princess ones.

I hope you enjoyed my interpretation.

Thank you mlle paradis for choosing this fun theme.

Thanks to Francesca for showcasing everyone's.

Check out Fuoriborgo to see more corner views.

Barn Charm and a Sunday drive

Sunday I was  a bit blue.

At 3 I was still in my pj's.

I needed a good cry.

which I got spectacularly

from watching Steel Magnolias.

 (I think this movie is the all-time best chic flick.)

My husband suggested we take a drive to Fairy Land,

a sandwich, ice cream, etc. place that we like,

 but aren't often out that way.

There were some houses for sale on past it,

so I got dressed, downloaded info from the Internet,

and off we went.

.After a delicious lunch, we  hit the dirt and graveled roads

looking for one house in particular.

We found it and it has a wonderful two acre setting

complete with barn.

However the extra miles to my school would not only add

 too much more driving time,

the road was grueling.

It would beat the crud out of my Mountaineer.

So, no to that.

However----

we found lots of barns!

Here is the first one I photographed.

It's on a country road

outside of our hometown in southeastern Ohio.

This one was taken from inside the car.

Then my husband suggested I get out, which surprised me.

I didn't think he'd want to sit in the car while I traipsed around

'shooting' barns.

Patience was the rule of the day apparently,

so I traipsed and clicked.

(It took me most of the trip for me to realize

he was deliberately doing this

to get me out of my funk.

His plan worked wonderfully.)

Notice the fence post.

My husband was telling my daughter and son-in-law

about how fascinated I had become with fence posts and such.

I tried to clarify that I was fascinated with barns,

however I couldn't be heard over the laughter.

Well, at one point in photographing this barn,

 I put my finger on the zoom button

to get more distance for the above two shots.

I accidentally hit the zoom in

and what should appear smack dab in front of my eyes,

taking up the whole frame?

A fence post!

I burst out laughing.

My husband laughed heartily when I told him the story

once I was back in the car.

A close-up of a door that caught my interest.

These next guys were on down another road with another barn.

I just had to put them in this post though.

Aren't they cute?

The big one has such a beautiful face.

That's it for my "Barn Charm" post.  Click here to see more.

Psalms of the Week

I looked up verses in Psalms in a book I have for just such a purpose.

I went to the chapter about:

"When You feel Angry of Resentful."

The following are the verses I found.

I thought the discovery interesting.

I'm believing they will be helpful.

Psalms of the Week:

I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel:

my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand,

I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad,

and my glory rejoiceth:

my flesh also shall rest in hope.

Psalm 16:7-9

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath:

fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

Psalm 37:8

Behold, thous desirest truth in the inward parts:

and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;

and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51: 6, 10

In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust;

I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Psalm 56:4

Teach me thy way, O Lord;

I will walk in thy truth:

unite my heart to fear thy name.

Psalm 86:11

 Tiring week.

Tough day.

I pray you find the remaining hours of your weekend full of blessings.



A father and his daughter

My son brought his three children out to our campground place at Seneca Lake.

We have many amenities one of which is a well-cared for, good size pool.

It was his night to have them, but he couldn't keep them overnight

because he was leaving very early the next morning

for a meeting in a city several hours away.

I suggested they come for supper and the kids could stay the night with us,

so that he wouldn't have to have them back to their mom by 8 PM.

I would then take them to their sitter's home the next day.

That way he would have more time with them.

I went up to the pool to take some photos of them.

My heart was overflowing with love, pride, concern, happiness, and sadness

as I watched him with his children.

He's a wonderful father.

The following are some of my favorite photos from that day

along with some quotes on fathers and daughters.

A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.

The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter:

"Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river."

The little girl said: "No, Dad. You hold my hand."
"What's the difference?" Asked the puzzled father.

"There's a big difference," replied the little girl.
"If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go.
 But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens,
you will never let my hand go."
Anonymous
 

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.

Sigmund Freud

Any fool can be a Father, but it takes a real man to be a Daddy!!

Philip Whitmore Senior

Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic

as of a father to a daughter.

In love to our wives there is desire;

to our sons, ambition;

but to our daughters there is something

which there are no words to express.

Joseph Addison

Corner View: Positive Thoughts

"This too will pass."

My senior year of high school was a tough year for me.

Boyfriend problems.

Cattiness of other girls.

One of my closest friends got pregnant and then got married.

I no longer picked her up in the morning for school;

she lived with her husband and he didn't want her even riding in a car with her girlfriends.

My parents and I moved in the middle of the year.

Mom and Dad  truly included me in the decision.

The new church and town was only a half hour away

 and

my school was allowing me to commute and finish up with my classmates.

Then I had a summer of waitressing to get through before heading to college.

So--- who was I to stand in the way of a fantastic opportunity for my father?

Much adjusting had to be done by all of us:

some we handled well and others not so well.

(There were lots of miscommunication between mom and I)

Then my Grandpap Jarvis became ill with terminal cancer.

I dearly loved him and was close to him.

The year was a teenager's nightmare.

.

I  had an art teacher, Mrs. Dyrdek who would listen to my troubles

in the art supply room.

She always had time.

And she always said the same thing:

"This too will pass."

You know what?

Everything did eventually pass.

Of course some of  the outcomes were traumatic (Grandpap died),

but I survived.

I grew stronger, more resilient.

I learned to cope.

I learned that a story book ending doesn't have to happen

in order for something good to come out of the situation.

I now always look for the good in a bad situation,

knowing that the good will remain after the bad passes.

I grew up a lot the year of 1972.

I had a lot more growing to do, of course.

I still do.

But I've never forgotten Mrs. Dyrdek,

her compassion,

her concern,

her time,

and her saying,

"This too will pass."

I remember that saying when I'm in the middle of a difficult time.

(I now read scripture, have time with God, and pray,

which I didn't that senior year and of course that helps.)

                       

                      This is my contribution to Corner View:"Positive Thoughts for Bad Moments."

Check our Francesca's fuoriborgo for more corner views.

Computer Problems

The mother board on my computer quit working and has to be replaced.  I'm struggling with a temporary one and since it has none of my programs on it and Mike can't find the piece of equipment needed to transfer my files from my old hard drive to this one (we have things stored 3 different places), I can't access my photos and picture programs, etc. So I might not be posting for a few days.  I will try to comment but have had problems with that. 

Blessings to you all.

Corner View: On My Wall:Texas grandson and POW father

The theme for Corner View this week is "On My Wall."

I took a myriad of photos in several rooms of my home.

Then after downloading them, I chose the following.

In my bedroom beside the front window

 and

next to the dresser set with all sorts of precious 'memories'

hangs the calendar of photos of my two year old Texan grandson.

My daughter made me one before this one.

I cherish these calendars designed out of  love and gratefulness

for this precious "little man" God blessed her and her husband with.

Just glancing over at it and seeing his grin brightens up my day

and helps lighten any load I'm carrying.

This grandson reminds me in many ways of my father, "Big Roy"

who's been gone over four years.

In the dining room hangs a priceless photo.

It is of my father with a group of his buddies

right after they were freed from a German POW camp

by General Patton's troops.

Dad was captured during the Battle of the Bulge.

Framed with it is one of the three telegrams my mother received:

the first one telling her he was "missing in action,"

the second one telling her he was "a prisoner of war,"

and

the third one telling her "he had been released."

                                                                              

                                                                                                            My Dad

My father is the sixth man from the left.  He is in the right hand corner.

His name: Roy Milton Hilliard.

He lost a lot of weight. You can see his clothes are hanging on him

as they are on the others.

Dad wondered why we didn't put the POW telegram in.

I'm not sure how it was decided .

One of my brothers arranged for several of these to be made.

Dad is gone now, but one of these hung on a wall where he lived right up to his death.

Words cannot tell how much this means to me.

For more on Dad and his German POW story,

go here.

For more interpretations of this week's "Corner View," check out Francesca's. 

Barn Charm

I took this photo in May of this year, 2011.

This barn is only two miles from the high school where I teach.

It is still in use.

I can't figure out the age.

Part of the foundation is relatively new; that's fairly obvious,

but as to the rest of it, I don't know.

Check out other barns.

Embracing the moment while facing uncertainty

The house was built in1915.

It is a bit battered in places.

The basement door opens out to a small sitting area rimmed on two sides

by flower gardens.

The third side is open to the side yard.

The elderly lady, who previous owned this home,

 laid outdoor carpet over bare ground

and that was her patio.

It has been ours also as we fixed up the house in Cinci

so we could sell it,

maintained the campground place at the lake,

and remodeled inside this house.

I dislike the carpeted bare ground area intensely.

But we ponder how much to do to fix it,

because we don't know

how much longer we will be here

and

whether we will sell this place or rent it.

 We struggle with what to do next,

waiting for that house

that calls our name

and frankly not finding it

yet.

Meanwhile,

this house has witnessed me struggle

these past four years.

I've dealt with:

 living separately from my husband;

being recalled to my former job

 only to find the responsibilities different and tougher;

taking care of my ailing dad,

 then my dying dad,

then his 'estate';

mourning over his death

and

struggling with living without him.

These are just some of the obstacles I've faced

in just four years.

Of course, always hovering in the background is the chronic illness,

which some don't believe exists: Fibromyalgia.

So now I plant flowers,

sort through boxes,

move stuff here then move it there,

always wondering,

"When Lord, when does my life settle down?"

But as I do this, I find plenty of moments to smilingly embrace,

 cherish, and remember.

These moments put in perspective the ones I can't "get my arms around."

Please understand, I'm not depressed.

Just pondering.

With that I give you this prayer by Stormie Omartian,

which actually led to me 'voicing' all of the above.

"Embracing the Moment"

Lord, Help me to embrace the moments of my life

 that are hard to get my arms around.

Enable my eyes to see You in them.

Help me to always acknowledge the abundance

of Your goodness to me.

I lift to You the deepest struggles in my life.

I trust You to open my eyes to see

all You have for me in them.

Reveal to me the fullness of it all.

Thank You that I can be filled with the joy of Your presence

in every step I take,

because You have given me

the light

I need for whatever step I am on.

Amen.

In the day when I cried out, You answered me,

and made my bold with strength in my soul.

Psalm 138:3

Blessings to you all as you begin the week.

Psalm of the week:Inner Peace

Psalm excerpts from "When You Need Inner Peace,"

a chapter in THE MOTHER'S TOPICAL BIBLE

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep:

for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

But the meek shall inherit the earth;

and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright:

for the end of that man is peace.

Psalm 37:11, 37

I will hear what God the Lord will speak:

for He will speak peace unto His people,

and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

Psalm 85:8

Great peace have they which love thy law:

and nothing shall offend them.

Psalm 119:165

Flowers featured here grow along side a friend's driveway.

Praying you are experiencing inner peace

this weekend.

Blessings.

Favorite photo of the week

I asked my husband to help me build a low retaining wall for

this flower bed by the back door.

We were both tired of stepping on loose stones

and into pools of rain-soaked dirt and debris

and were aware it was "a sprained ankle waiting to happen."

I agreed to go buy the material at Lowe's.

In the end, he used a pile of old bricks we had beside the garage,

from which he had to chisel the cement,

so they would lay right.

This is my favorite photo of the week--my wonderful husband

creating a rustic wall while a few of my newly-purchased plants

eagerly watch,

waiting for that moment when I can plant them.

Joining Fabulous Friday.

Corner View: Destination--clothes, cats, and dryers

Destination: A place to which a person or thing is going or is being sent to.

What goes in a clothes dryer?

A. clothes    B. food       C. cats

Easy answer: A. clothes

Where do clothes go when taken out of dyer?

They are folded in stacks or hung on hangers. 

 I hang up a lot of my tops; they don't wrinkle that way.

What do cats do the most?

Sleep.

Where do they like to sleep?

On their owners' stuff.

In this photo, Scruffy is sleeping on a pile of dirty rags

and garden gloves --she loves the scent.

.

Safe, secure, comfy, right?

What happens when husband comes home from his last trip

hauling our stuff back from Cincinnati?

Scruffy gets up and I turn away from unloading dryer

and hanging tops.

I open door to peer out as there is no window by the dryer.

I decide to go meet him.

What happens to clothes?

I toss them back in dryer and  turn it on to keep them from wrinkling.

Normal routine stuff that makes up a day, right?

Wrong.

I went out to meet Mike with my camera in hand.

He had the last load of his 'important' stuff.

See here.

After a quick hug and kiss, he goes into house to get something.

Next I hear, "Beth, you need to come in here. Your cat was in the dryer!"

Me, as it hits me what the dryer was doing: drying clothes, "Oh no!"

I run for the house.

A disgruntled, frightened, FLUFFY Scruffy is panting frantically

as Mike tries to hold her and soothe her.

She sees me and jumps out of his arms and away from me.

He is her hero.

I am her enemy.

Yes, folks, she crawled into the dryer in the few seconds that I grabbed my camera.

She has only done that twice in the past few months.

NEVER before has she done that and she's 7-years-old.

So I didn't think to check the dryer. 

I just shoved clothes back in, shut the dryer door, and punched the knob in.

(The photo of clothes is not of that actual day. 

A big pile was  in the dryer instead of the almost empty image in this post.

The clothes were not white, but instead all dark colors.

Scruffy is dark.)

Mike said she was initially so hot, he drew back from his first touch.

He also said she shot out of the dryer like a torpedo.

How did he know she was in there?

He heard a thumping and nothing was in the washer.

George (Scruffy's brother) was standing by the dryer looking at Mike

with the "Scruffy is gone, in trouble, being bad, etc." look

and meowing the same message.

(George has a particular cry that alerts us that something is up with Scruffy.

He's such a good brother, except when he wrestles, pins, and nips her.)

That's when the realization hit:

Thumping in dryer.

Scruffy is gone, in trouble, being bad.

Oh---Scruffy is in dryer.

 What?

No!

Not the proper destination for a cat, would you agree?

It took a half hour for her breathing to return to normal,

her frantic panting to calm,

and her racing heart beat to slow.

It took almost two hours for her to look at me

or come to me.

She was not happy that I captured her and took her upstairs.

When I set her down on the cool tile floor,

she crawled underneath the table

and turned away from me each time I tried to stroke her head,

where she most likes to be petted.

In the end we made up.

But Mike is still her hero.

Mine too.

The obscure white half-oval shape is a bowl of water.

For more corner views check out Francesca's.

After more consideration and comments, I decided I'd best tell

that this was a month ago and she has been and is quite fine.

But she stays away from the dryer now.   

(By the way, Scruffy never has to rescue George.)