Focus

Snowy day, darkness settling in, chased away by a season of lights!...and a daily cup of cocoa with two peppermints melting in the bottom!! We've been amazingly blessed by the gift of a Christmas Tree from a family owned tree farm to thank hubby for his military service. So, while both warriors were home for Thanksgiving, we put a tree up for the first time the day after Thanksgiving! It is mostly decorated, a few final touches. This year it is a combined tree ~ my daughter and her husband's tree skirt, my tree topper! If we can keep the youngest (and biggest) cat away from the tree, we'll be lucky. This picture is last year's tree. If I can just keep focused and keep breathing through this month of so many things going on in so many layers, that will be wonderful! Seems to me we did this a few years ago...saying good-bye right after the holidays. This trip won't be as long, although I'll have a divided heart as both warriors will be heading out. I am so grateful baby momma has moved in with her hubby and my precious grandbaby!! So, instead of "5 o'clock somewhere" for us it's that 10:30 am cup of cocoa with two peppermints melting and Amber Skye to snuggle with!...breathing, resting, staying focused, and standing on God's promises.

A Moment In A Day

The Baby Momma's under the weather, catching a nap with the baby, and the dark shadowy thing is the old gramma kitty, not wanting to be left out of a good morning snuggly snooze.......so this grammy doesn't seem to find time to do much of anything but help where I can, keep the kitchen stocked with chicken soup and tea and honey, and fill the house with the warm, spicy smell of a cardamon braid,....change an occasional diaper, lots of laundry....no complaints at all.

Trick or Treat

The treat ~ carving pumpkins. The crafty baby momma carved a baby pumpkin into a "baby face" complete with binky. The trick ~ dropping off hubby at 5 am for 20 days military training...bringing us closer to a long good-bye....again.

View from the Swamp

Some fall pictures from the swamp. After dropping my camera in the swamp, I've been without for the summer. Yesterday I only managed to get down at noon time so things were pretty quiet ~ a few turtles sunning themselves on some logs, startled one waterfowl but I have no idea who it was, it flew quite noisily to the other end before I had myself in a spot where I could see clearly. The last picture is my "gateway" to the water's edge. I have to duck underneath this arch. It's so exciting to have a camera again, now I just have to learn how to use it!

The Rock

A favorite poem by David McCord:

This is my rock,
And here I run
To steal the secret of the sun;

This is my rock,
And here come I
Before the night has swept the sky,

This is my rock,
This is the place
I meet the evening face to face.

Reminds me of a favorite song/chorus that I can only remember a piece of but it is the PEACE in the song that permeates my spirit and reminds me of My Rock..."Jesus, I am resting, resting" I don't know why I can never seem to remember the rest but that is enough for me.

My favorite birthday present~ a rock my son in his mid teens brought all the way up a steep hill from the edge of the swamp. When my children were very young, I would take them on swamp walks following an old stone wall on the edge of our property, down the hill steeply till it disappeared into the swamp/beaver pond. The last rock before it became submerged was a distinct white rock, I always raved about it because it was so unique from the gray stones that made up the rest. One birthday, my son decided to give me that rock for my present, asked his dad to help and they pried it away from the rest and rolled it up the hill to put in my garden. Funny how a rock can melt your heart...and remind you to rest.