a spirit of simplicity

  Just outside my kitchen window is a big old jack pine tree.  I find it rather ironic that such a large tree produces such tiny little pinecones. Just beyond the tree is an antique house that was probably built some time in the early 1800's. Just beyond that house is the Marblehead harbour.  My house was originally built in the 1700's but has been rebuilt since then. The original owner was Captain John Merritt who fought in the revolutionary war.  There is a chance that big old jack pine was a sapling back then which is what I think of  when I put a bowl of it's tiny pinecones on my kitchen table.  The lights are a reflection. The tree is too large to light without a crane of some sort and our street is a very windy and narrow one way with one ways on either side of it so a crane would hardly fit and would be considerable trouble if it did.   ~ ~ ~ our world Tuesday nature notes image-in-ing pictorial Tuesday all about home Grace at home

  ~ ~ ~ t And in his name will the gentiles hope. Matthew 12:21 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Sunday scripture blessings scripture and a snapshot You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

  We drove about a half-day's drive up to Camden, Maine to spend Thanksgiving with my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law.  At one point during the late afternoon my husband and his sons went outside and built a fire. It was cold!! It was about 25 degrees! Too cold for me so I sat inside next to the fire in the wood stove and chatted with my mother-in-law. It had been a few years since we'd had a chance to see her. She moved up from Florida at the beginning of the pandemic after losing her husband and suffering a stroke.  We all were so grateful that we could all be together again.  My brother-in-law and twin nieces were with his father, who is recovering from cancer treatments so it was just the six of us.  ~ We were home by late Thursday afternoon so I took a little nap and then watched Christmas Vacation and started decorating for the season. It's been my tradition since my grown daughters were little girls to watch Christmas Vacation on the day after Thanksgiving. I'

  Thanksgiving a few years ago. It was my mother's habit all of my life to take a picture of all the grandchildren around the Thanksgiving turkey. My daughters are both seated and my niece and two nephews are standing. I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving day. Remember in the midst of all the chaos and hard work to be grateful for those in your life. I will not be with any of my own family this year but instead will be spending this first Thanksgiving with out my mum at my in-laws.  Honestly, my wish would be to stay home for the day and not get out of bed until it's over. But, I am happy that my husband will get to see his own mother after a few years of not seeing her due to distance and COVID.  I am blessed beyond measure with my daughters, my son-in-law, my grandchildren, my husband and his family.  Happy Thanksgiving eve y'all.  

  Tucker has been climbing onto my lap as I sit at the kitchen table and type away on my computer. It's sort of nice to have a big fluffy, cuddly cat asleep on my lap but it does make it rather difficult to move my hands along the keyboard and keep my legs balancing him so he doesn't tip over. My grandmother's birthday would have been at the end of this month and I always like to start listening to Christmas music with the song Ave Maria because it was her favourite. She liked the Perry Como version. She suffered through quite a bit of loss in her life. She always made me feel as if being with me was her sole reason for visiting. She had such beautiful eyes.  One of our class mothers has brought in baskets of treats for the teachers. One of them was filled with three different boxes of tea. I've been enjoying a cup of tea in the afternoon while the children are napping. It was so very sweet of her. I really enjoy her little girl and will miss her when she moves to "

  I grew up in this little town of Marblehead, MA. It's the kind of a place that claims a spot in your soul and you carry it with you where ever you go. My husband grew up here as well and we live in a second floor apartment above the first floor apartment where my mum lived up until her death on 27 June of this year.  Every where I go she is with me. This is a blessing and curse...or neither. Perhaps it is just simply the way of things when one loses their parents. I am beginning to see a light on the path ahead of me.  A tiny flickering flame dancing with the sorrow in my heart.  The bible tells me that God hears me even when I cannot put my thoughts or feelings into words...even if I can only moan or cry out my prayers, God hears me and understands. Where there was only darkness and sadness now there is just enough light for me to make out a few words on this page, in this chapter of my life. The words I am reading say that it can be time for me to become who I am. To claim the

  t For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Acts 2:29 Scripture and a Snapshot Sunday Scripture Blessings You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

  We are blessed by a humble bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums on the kitchen table. When the morning sunlight shines upon them they appear as pretty as the most glorious flowers  in the grandest of gardens.   Perhaps it is not only what we have but how we see what we have that makes the most impact. One of the children in my class has started to find worms while we are out on the playground. He actually finds a surprisingly large amount of them! We do have to be sure he hasn't got any in the pockets of his jacket before we go in for snack...                and be sure that his hands are well washed! My husband has been making me laugh a lot lately. We've been friends since we were 11 years old. We both went our own ways after high school and after circling around quite a bit ended up together when we were about 47. I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. I went to see my daughter, Hannah, yesterday. She invited me to dinner and said she wanted to make a roast chicken but

  On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the end of world war one is marked and set aside as Armistice Day. Today we call it Veteran's day. I am thankful for all those who gave their lives to protect their country and their loved ones.  t Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "write this,  blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labour for their deed will follow them." Revelation 14:13 ~ ~ ~ Thankful Thursday

  My favourite time of year! I say, let the leaves stay where they fall. I love the sound of children shuffling through them as they walk home from school. I love the sound of them rustling down the road with the breeze.  I love the way they smell as they slowly decay. And, of course, the colours!!  Just before the first snowfall is the perfect time for raking... although there is always that one retired neighbor whose garden is always perfectly manicured...not a leaf anywhere to be seen.  ~ ~ ~ image-in-ing pictorial Tuesday nature notes our world Tuesday

  O hushed October morning mild, begin the hours of this day slow. Make the day seem to us less brief. Hearts not averse to being beguiled, beguile us in the way you know. Release one leaf at break of day; at noon release another leaf; one from our trees, one far away. Retard the sun with gentle mist; enchant the land with amethyst.  Slow. Slow! Robert Frost ~ ~ ~ encouraging hearts at home all about home You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

  t And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them,  so that your Father in heaven may forgive you for your sins.  Mark 11:25 ~ ~ ~ Sunday Scripture Blessings Scripture and a Snapshot You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

  All Soul’s day was 2 November and my husband and I went to a remembrance Mass. We took home a candle with my mother’s name on it. It was terribly sad but I am so grateful that I was able to pray for my mother. ~ I purchased a lap top because the iPad I’ve been using just isn’t cutting it for work.  I haven’t had a chance to set it all up yet so I’m still using my iPad but I plan on spending some time on it this weekend.  ~ The weather has been getting cooler and we set the clocks back tomorrow.  I know I’m in the minority but I love this time of year.  The T-shirt I ordered finally came in the mail! ~ Only in a sea coast town would you be a few minutes late for work because you were stuck behind a large boat on a trailer! The next day I saw it sitting in someone’s driveway where it will be until next season! ~ ~ ~ Friday Fave Fives Friendship Friday

   The campus of the school where I work was a tree farm at one point. Autumn is such a beautiful time to be able to look out of the windows of my classroom. I'm so grateful to be able to enjoy that view! ~ ~ ~ thankful Thursday

  My mother loved orchids. She had quite a few of them and was one of the few people I knew who could make them flower again. This is a small one that I picked up at the store a few weeks ago. It is still flowering brilliantly!  I am under no illusions that I will be able to make it flower again but it’s beautiful right now! Makes me think of my mum. ~ ~ ~ All about home Grace at home The hearth and soul