Lovely Pincushion for the Fall

Handmade by Bethany,

my sissy.

Autumn,

in western

New York.

Pleating~ The Finished Project

The Dress

The sweet little Christmas dress,

size 12 months.

All finished, except for the

buttons; I'm waiting until I complete the matching,

older sister's dress.

Small & Cute, But Not So Sweet.

Yes folks, you are seeing correctly,

that is a cantaloupe.

I thought they were so cute sitting there in

the garden that I just had to get

a picture of them sitting next to

a tomato.

Imagine my surprise when they weren't

as sweet as they were cute!

Family

'Good lil' Boys'

Lil' cousin Travis,

from Pennsylvania

Lil' cousin CJ,

from Pennsylvania

Lil' cousin Austin, from Oklahoma.

Because I have no idea what to call them, 'are they

my second cousins, or my cousins once removed?',

I've decided to call them what they are;

'my lil' cousins'.

I miss you lil' guys!

Nutcracker

Practices have begun again for this year's preformance

of the Nutcracker ballet.

Nutcracker 2007

Becca, Joanna and Bethany

A Surprise September Blessing

What a pleasant surprise awaited us in the berry

patch last week! Brand new, delicious purpleberries!

And what a surprise, since they normally just produce fruit

in July.

These berries are an old variety and no one 'round these

parts has ever heard tale of them besides us. My grandpa V.

grows them at his farm and has started two new rows

of them for the future generations to enjoy, thank you

Grandpa.

Pleating

~The Joys of Sewing~

Last week I started on an order for a little girl's dress. It is a dress for Christmas and another older girl's dress in the same adorable matching print is next.

The dresses will be pleated and smocked and so the first step in the process was to pleat the bodice pieces.

This is my faithful pleater.

Here I am feeding and cranking the fabric through

the pleater, making sure that it runs through

evenly and neatly.

Every so often you must slide the gathered fabric off

of the pleating needles so as not to put too much

pressure on them, for fear of them breaking.

I find it a bit tricky at first when guiding the fabric

through with one hand and cranking with the other,

thankfully practice does make perfect, or at least almost

perfect!

After the whole piece has been drawn through the pleater, all that's

left to do is just slide the fabric all the way off of the needles and snip the

threads.

This is just the beginning, the best is yet to come!

I'll share with you the completed project as soon as I'm finished.

Labor Day On The Farm

Here we are, off to visit the horse and mule.

Up, up, up the hill we run, is that the 'horsey' I see?

Oh what fun! Now off to see the piggly wigs.

We hope your Labor Day was just as fun and full of the Lord's best blessings!

Make this Valley Full of Ditches

I have often wondered if my hopes and dreams are just too big, especially when I can see no answer to my prayers in the near future or even on the horizon. I am weak and small, but I know that the Lord is not, He is able. I have been so encouraged by this piece of scripture from 2 Kings, chapter 3. It is the story of how the Lord provided and made a way for three kings and their armies, how He worked through their faith and obedience and in the end, showed forth His might and glory. I find it interesting that these men went on a roundabout route for seven days through the Wilderness of Edom. 2 Kings 3:8-9 Just the mention of the word 'roundabout' makes me think that this was not the path well worn. This route was not well known to them and to make matters worse, it was a wilderness. At the end of verse 9, we see that there is no water for man nor animal, and in verse 10, the king of Israel has begun to fear. Elisha is brought on the scene and he inquires of the Lord for these kings, and what the Lord speaks to him concerning their trouble is what has encouraged me in my time of uncertainty.

And he said, "Thus says the Lord: 'Make this valley full of ditches.' "For thus says the Lord: 'You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.' "And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand." verses: 15b-18

Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom (the wilderness), and the land was filled with water. verse:20

I can trust in the Lord, and I will. I will prepare my heart and body, my time and resources; I will be ready, no matter how bleak it may seem. I will trust in Him even if I can't see 'wind' nor 'rain', because, this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord.