Look Who is Back
Today was beautiful from beginning to end.
There was a slight frost during the early morning.
The birds are back at my feeders – mostly because I began feeding them again. 
It is so much fun watching them.
I never tire of seeing their pretty feather patterns.
It doesn’t take them long to pulverize a black oil sunflower seed.
You will be seeing more of these interesting creatures throughout the fall and winter.
We know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.
Romans 8:28 (J.B. Phillips New Testament)
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All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 (New King James Version)
An Ordinary Day
This was an unusual day for me – I had to go outside with my camera to find something to photograph so I could post something tonight!
A light frost killed some of the less hardy flowers during the past few days.
This is the only branch that was felled on our property during the snow storm on Saturday.
It was a beautiful, sunny, fall day – highlighting some of the leaves that remain on our trees.
These hickory leaves get brown early, but will remain on the trees for most of the winter.
Beautiful sky
This maple tree is the prettiest one in our woods right now.
After getting back in the house, I discovered that a bag of cheese curls had been left open in the man cave last night, so I put them on a cookie sheet and baked them until they were fresh and crispy again.
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How is that for an ordinary day?
I love ordinary days now and then.
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Make yourselves beautiful on the inside, in your hearts, with the enduring quality of a gentle, peaceful spirit. This type of beauty is very precious in God’s eyes.
1 Peter 3:4 (Common English Bible)
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Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.
1 Peter 3:4 (The Message)
Substitute Grandparents
This event happened on October 7 – when we were coming home from Michigan – but I just got the pictures from Deb yesterday.
I was disappointed that we were away for “Grandparents’ Day” at Lititz Area Mennonite School, and knew that I had to find someone to take our place.
Ian and Jared’s other grandma died earlier this year, and I certainly didn’t want them to not have someone there for them on grandparents’ day, so asked our daughter Deb and granddaughter Abigail to take our place, and they were excited to do so.
As you can see, Ian was glad to see them.
Ian tracing Abby’s hand.
Abby, Ian, and Deb
That looks like a good award.
Ian and his teacher
Jana (their sister, standing – left) goes to a different school, and did not have school that day, and asked to go along. In this picture, I think she was surprising Jared.
Jared and his teacher
Jared and Deb
Abby, Jana, Jared, and Deb
Reading to Jana
Thanks Abby, Deb, and Jana for making their day.
I pray that God’s great power will make you strong, and that you will have joy as you wait and do not give up.
Colossians 1:11 (New Life Version)
May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience.
Colossians 1:11 (Good News Translation)
Longhorn Steakhouse
No Electricity
It was a beautiful day, but inside thousands of homes and many churches there was no electricity – including our house – because of fallen trees and branches.
I woke up at 5 a.m. thinking, “I am cold.” (That’s because I am used to a heated mattress cover.) My next thought was, “It is really dark.” That’s when I realized we did not have electricity.”
We dressed, combed, and brushed our teeth by flashlight before going to church. I noticed that we had lots of visitors, then when church was over, found out that most of the visitors were because their churches were without electric.
Cerwin, Roy, Deb, Kristen, Jere, Chris, Jeff
This was our 2011 birthday celebration – when we treat our Pennsylvania children to a nice meal – usually at a steakhouse. It was good I didn’t plan to cook the meal at our house. However, we did plan to have the ten Pennsylvania grandchildren at our house for pizza – they ended up going to Jere & Kristen’s house.
Mark and Diane – we always miss you on this day.
Cerwin’s steak and sweet potato. He also had a salad.
My “Redrock Grilled Shrimp”
Jeff’s “White Cheddar & Bacon-Stuffed Filet”
Chris’ sirloin salad
Jere also got the “White Cheddar & Bacon-Stuffed Filet.”
Kristen’s “Grilled Chicken & Portabella”
Deb’s “White Cheddar & Bacon-Stuffed Filet.”
Roy chose a bacon wrapped filet and vegetables. He also had a salad.
We got two dessert samplers and shared them.
Deb wanted to taste the banana cheese cake – and shared it as well.
We were still out of electric when we got home from lunch, so Cerwin used the generator to run our big freezer and extra refrigerator in the garage.
When we checked what else in the house had electric because of the generator, I was delighted to discover it was running my computers and internet, also our bedroom and bathroom. We still did not have water or phone.
That worked nicely for the next five hours – until the electric came on. Because Cerwin had to turn off the main breaker to run the generator, we weren’t aware when the electric came on – but eventually caught on when we saw that the neighbor’s dusk to dawn light was lit at 9:00 p.m. We understand that the electric had come on an hour earlier.
Snow!
This is how it started this morning.
Before long it looked liked this.
By late afternoon the branches were heavy with snow.
There was not a lot of accumulation on the ground because it was heavy and slushy.
Cerwin was concerned about our young sunset maple, so removed the snow with a long branch trimmer.
This is how it looked when he was finished.
It certainly did look like a midwinter day.
It was interesting to watch snow and leaves falling at the same time.
I think this was one of the first times I heard snow thunder. At first we thought snow was sliding off our roof, but when going outside the snow was still there. Then we heard the local weatherman say that the rumbling we heard was snow thunder.
We haven’t even had a heavy frost yet, so some of our flowers are still blooming.
It certainly was a pretty snow.
Remember the spider and web I featured a few days ago? This is what the web looked like today – but I couldn’t find the spider.
I expect she is in hibernation on a day like this.
Soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—That’s where your future lies. Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.
Proverbs 23:17-18 (The Message)
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Always continue to fear the Lord. You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed.
Proverbs 23:17-18 (New Living Translation)
Summer is Gone
Plus a Funny Story From Jesse
One beautiful morning last week, the sunrise drew me outside.
I loved the long morning shadows on our leaf-covered yard.
The sun caused our hickory leaves to look prettier than usual.
I also noticed the sun glistening 0n a shepherd’s hook that holds a bird feeder.
As I looked for signs of fall, I noticed an abandoned bird nest under the eaves of our shed. The birds will be back again next spring.
The ferns in our woods are no longer young and green.
…and today is grey as we await a predicted snow storm.
A snowstorm! I thought fall is still young.
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Jesse was here for a few hours today while his mom attended to some business. I wish I had taken a picture of what happened when he was here, but these will have to do.
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We have this brown, soft hassock, which is usually in our living room. Jesse loves to roll on it and play with it. The other week, I moved it to the man cave, because the guys are always looking for pillows and soft things to use to prop up their feet or to lay on.
I was in the living room working on my laptop when Jesse walked in holding the hassock. He held it up, looked at me like he was quite upset, then shook it in my face and said, “Can you tell me who moved this to the cave man” (his name for man cave)?
I replied that I had done it so the guys could use it. He didn’t seem amused – but Cerwin and I sure were. I guess he thought the hassock is his.
