Cottage Life - Signs of Spring

The crocuses in my garden testify that our long, bitterly cold winter is nearing its end. I hesitate to say it's over, for just as Mark Twain said, "In the Spring I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours."

“And the Spring arose on the garden fair,

Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;

And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast

Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.” 

― Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Complete Poems

“Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.” 

― Victor Kraft

My latest rug is finished and waiting removal from the loom. It reminds me of a spring garden.

“Despite the forecast, live like it's spring.” 

― Lilly Pulitzer

Thank you to Kris of Junk Chic Cottage for hosting the Hello Spring Giveaway. The tote I won expresses perfectly my sentiments this morning (even if it's not yet officially spring).

Cottage Life - Time Well Spent

The holidays are over and the Christmas decorations have been packed away. (Well, mostly packed away. I can't get to the box that holds my Nativity scene because there's two feet of snow in front of the shed where the box is stored. So for now the Nativity is still on display in the cottage. C'est la vie.)

I'm always ready to get back to my everyday cottage decor after  Christmas.

Happy to have a more streamlined, simple winter mantel.

The storage boxes I mentioned in last week's studio update arrived and I organized everything under my work table into neat, stacked containers. 

I even have a small space above the stacks for odds and ends, such as a tin or a small box.

Now everything is in order and kept out of sight behind the skirt.

Thanks for all your encouraging comments on my studio reorganization and rearrangement. They spur me to action!

The colors in the new rug I'm twining remind me of a spring garden. I'm using a heavyweight cotton that tends to fray, but I rather like the rustic appearance. It reminds me of farmhouse rugs of the past. The strings you see are loose, and I'll brush those off.

This is the fabric I'm using.

One of the things I enjoy most about twining rugs is choosing a particular fabric and pondering how it will appear in its new form,then seeing it as it comes together and thinking, "Yes! That's exactly how I imagined it."

It seems to be the tradition of many bloggers to share thoughts going into the New Year. A word for the year, goals they've set, and so on. I've chosen a word for the new year in the past and shared it on my blog, and last year at the advent of the New Year I wrote a post entitled Finish Well. You can read it here. I re-read it yesterday and found it means as much to me now as it did when I wrote it. Maybe more. 

So, I won't be sharing a word this year, although I have plenty of them rolling around in my head. Instead, I'll share a quote that I wrote in my journal during my blogging break last summer. A quote that sums up what I learned during that time and what has become most important in my life.

"If you find that you're simply too busy for a daily chat with your heavenly Father, it's an indicator that you probably need to take a long, hard look at your values and how you're spending your time." ~ Hugs Daily Inspirations for Women, August 27

No matter what my plans are for the New Year, having time for a daily chat with my heavenly Father will be at the top of my list.

May 2017 bring blessings from God meant only for you.

Content In Our Cottage

In This Perfect Moment

At this moment of the day 

sunbeams stream through 

the lace at the studio window 

and hover in a shadowy pattern 

over my loom.

Ginger tea scents the air

Enya serenades me-- 

Peace and Solace join me here

in this perfect moment.

A daily question for me, posed in  prettiness. . .

Printable from Kerryanne at Shabby Art Boutique

"Happiness depends less on our possessions than on our thoughts. When we focus on our blessings instead of on our shortcomings, we make our lives richer. You have the power to obtain that joy. So claim the contentment and joy that can -- and should -- be yours." ~ Hugs, Daily Inspiration for Women

Those words come from this lovely book, a gift from my dear friend Kim of Exquisitely Unremarkable. She is one of my greatest blogging blessings. (Thank you, sweet Kim.)

"for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."
1 Timothy 6:7-8

I've been busy the past week researching osteoporosis and its treatment. You see, I received the results of my DEXA scan and they weren't good. As my health care provider put it, "You've got osteoporosis. . . no question about it." Then she went on to tell me about the pharmaceuticals I can take to stop and perhaps even reverse it.

And she told me the possible side effects (most of which I was already aware).

No, thank you very much. That will only be a last resort.

I found a blogger in the UK who has reversed her osteoporosis naturally and we've been in contact. I've ordered a book she recommended, and I'm continuing to research my options.

It's what I do.

It's funny, I was wondering how I would top 2015's challenge of building our cottage. Now I've got the challenge of my bones. Much bigger. Much more important.

So, sweet Cottage Friends, I'm off on another adventure, not of my own choosing. But there are no accidents, no God looked away and I got hit with this. 

This was today's devotional from the Hugs book:

"Although we must occasionally struggle to rise above the distractions and disappointments of everyday living, we never need to struggle alone. God is here - eternally and faithfully, with infinite patience and love." 

Today's devotional.

An accident? Happenstance?

I think not.

God's got my back. Literally.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 
Philippians 4:11-13

Finish Well

Greetings Cottage Friends,

It's a new year and I'm back from a blogging break. Much of the intermission was spent recuperating from a cold.

There was an advantage to my being sick though. . .resting opened the door to quiet contemplation. 

Time to reflect on 2015 -- a year primarily spent on the building of our new cottage. A dream brought to life. (Thank you for sharing the journey with me.) 

And what of 2016? It's been my custom the past few years to choose one word to focus on in the new year. Actually last year I chose two words: Simplify and Beauty (you can read the post here). They're both good words and I feel no need to select new ones.

Time is passing at an alarming rate and I want the remaining years I have to be simply beautiful.

"How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. 

December is here before it's June. 

My goodness how the time has flewn. 

How did it get so late so soon?" ~ Dr. Seuss

Growing old isn't something I think much about, even though I'm clearly a senior citizen. Just in case there's any doubt, the government made sure I know I'm a Senior -- they sent me a Medicare card for my last birthday.

My mirror relentlessly affirms my age, too. Facial lines are deeper and there's a lot more silver in my hair. The good news is zits are a thing of the past and the Bible says, "Gray hair is a crown of glory. . ." (Proverbs 16:31).

No botox for me (not even if I could afford it). I'm embracing the wrinkles and wearing the crown. 

I like the following quote from Elisabeth Elliott*:

Elisabeth Elliott
December 21, 1926 – June 15, 2015 

“George Macdonald said, 'If you knew what God knows about death you would clap your listless hands', but instead I find old people in North America just buying this whole youth obsession. I think growing older is a wonderful privilege. I want to learn to glorify God in every stage of my life.”

. . .growing older is a wonderful privilege.

“Well Honey, you just don’t let that rocking chair take over…
you get up and go even if you don’t want to.” -- Connie Reeves**, Cowgirl

"I often wonder if God, in His sovereignty, allows the eyesight of the aged to cast a dim view of the here and now so that we may focus our spiritual eyes on the ever after." 

 ~ Billy Graham, Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well

I want to learn to glorify God in every stage of my life.

When I was in my 20's I met an older woman at Hume Lake Camp in Northern California. She and her husband had retired from their respective careers and moved to the camp where they worked as caretakers. One morning she took a break and sat with me on a log. We drank coffee and talked. She was happy and content in her unglamorous work, and told me that every day she was reminded of God's glory by looking up at the pines around her.  "Each tree points to its Maker," she said.

All these years later that precious lady's words have stayed with me. Every time I see a pine tree I'm reminded of what she said. . .

Each tree points to its Maker.

Glorifying God and worshipping Him doesn't only take place in a church service. It can happen while sweeping out cabins and changing bed linens, emptying trash cans and dusting window sills.

I've been reading the online version of "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence***:

It was observed, that in the greatest hurry of business in the kitchen, he still preserved his recollection and heavenly-mindedness. He was never hasty nor loitering, but did each thing in its season with an even uninterrupted composure and tranquillity of spirit.

“The time of business,” said he, “does not with me differ from the time of prayer. In the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Supper.”

I possess God in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees 
at the Blessed Supper.

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. 

And when I run I feel His pleasure." 

~ Eric Lidell, 1924 Olympic Gold Medalist, and Missionary

I recently purchased a twining loom and have completed my first rag rug.

I quite enjoy twining. The rhythm of my fingers as they weave the weft back and forth over the warp is soothing, calming. 

Creating under the watchful eye of The Master, I sense His presence. 

I feel His pleasure. 

My heart exalts Him in response.

"You make known to me the path of life;
    in Your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:11

Cooking, cleaning, running, weaving, blogging -- 

whatever we find to do

we can offer it up to God as an act of worship.

"The end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshippers of God we can possibly be, and as we hope to be through all eternity." 

~ Brother Lawrence

To be the most perfect worshipper of God I can possibly be.

This, my dear Cottage Friends, is my goal for not only 2016, but for the rest of my days on earth.

I 
long
to 
finish 
well.

This beautiful praise song by Selah 
is one of my all-time favorites.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to play it.

*Elisabeth Elliott was a missionary to the Auca Indians and best-selling author. From 1988 to 2001, Elisabeth could be heard on a daily radio program, Gateway to Joy. 

**Connie Douglas Reeves was the oldest member of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, and one of the first women to study law at a Texas law school. She died at the age of 101, 12 days after she was thrown from her horse, Dr. Pepper.

***Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (c. 1614 – 12 February 1691) served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Christians commonly remember him for the intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God as recorded in a book compiled after his death, the classic Christian text, The Practice of the Presence of God.