Tolentreasures

    The blonde one in the middle with the brown sweater used to come to our house after school.  Somewhere along the line, I think possibly prompted by JWS,  she hid salt packets all over my house, and I mean all over.  It’s been two years and I am still finding them. They sightings are getting farther and farther apart and unless she reads this,  she is not going to know how much  I have enjoyed finding them!   These four,  always fun.  Thrown together as sisters,  20 years ago,  ups and downs,  they are still there for one another.            That brings us to the Shelby Tree. This little tree that stays decorated    and has stayed decorated for many years,   through many moves  to many houses,  has always had Shelby’s preschool picture on it. We have always called it  The Shelby Tree.  It is always a sou...

  Food plays a big part in travel for me.  I love to find local foods to any area.  The pizza above, while it was Domino’s,  certainly had an Indian twist with the chicken on top.  This little boy seemed to enjoy it!          The vegetable, picked from the tree could not have been any fresher!  I don’t remember what it was called.        And momos!  Not enough good can be said about these little dumplings!  These were from a restaurant on our return from Darjeeling.   Then we made our own!  And these eggrolls filled with vegetables, including beets, were amazing.          Chili Chicken from the restaurant was great,  but then Mridula made her version and it was heavenly!  I don’t have any pics of hers, but it was one of the BEST things I ate.  It was similar to General Tso’s Chicken,  but wit...

I often think of Lydia in the Bible.   I think of her working to provide for God’s church,  of her entrepreneurial spirit.  How God used her and I am sure other women’s Spirits, gifts and experiences to enrich  His church.   I don’t know the stories of all these women,  but I could easily see their work ethic.  I am sure many of them were providing for their families and I know that some of them were working  to care for God’s people.  The first one is of women running a stand at Darjeeling.  Food for the tourists.                A teacher at the school that I visited who brought her baby to work with her every day. Here she was cooling her down and washing her up on break time  between classes.      Nepali women at the Himalayan Zoological Park selling corn snacks. A young girl running her own tea stand in the tea fields ...

It was time to escape the snow. I know that I had enough. I always hope when i get home that its almost over. We pulled out after church on Friday night  drove to Clarksburg, West Virginia.  Saturday brought us  Skeeter’s Hot Dogs in Wytheville, Virginia, for lunch and Sunday’s Soul Food in Walterboro, South Carolina for supper.  Spent the night in Kingsland, Georgia.    Sunday was spend wandering around Ameila Island.  Traveled down A1A and rode this ferry across the St. Johns River. Found this amazing shop!   The art and creativity of the vendors was amazing!  Then we went to supper at Safe Harbor Seafood.   The line was so long that we opted for takeout and a tailgate picnic along the river.      Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a huge bird fan and JWS knows this well.    So Why?  Why would he choose to feed the rest of the seagulls his French fries right over ...

      In my case, apparently a ton or  seven to be exact!     In my defense, I started a prayer shawl for a friend who is going through a rough time right now.  I felt that it would help me to remember to pray for her daily.  I didn’t like the yarn. (see the mint green) I bought white. (not soft enough) I finally got to a Hobby Lobby and bought the blue variegated. Perfect.   To be fair, at least I prayed through all the ones I didn’t like.  They will still be fine for church donations,  just not quite special enough for my friend.    Then there is this stash above.  I found this great little yarn shop in Punsxutawney Pa.  Autumn House Fiber Works     The owner was so helpful finding me great yarns that were not wool and so many were on sale. I am learning new stitches and trying to expand my skills.   Then there is the Annie’s Kit Club that shows up ...

  First of all,  I have lived in this house 19 years.  That is officially the longest i have lived anywhere, ever in 63 years. I guess that meant that I never lived anywhwere long enough  to change what I had done.  I might have repainted but never had to strip my own wallpaper.  I guess I should apologize to all those people that bought houses that I had gone wallpaper crazy in over the years.    And I really loved wallpapering.    This was my last place I had wallpapered. 19 years ago, when I moved in.    I am not as young as I was then.    And this is kicking my butt.     After an entire day working on this yesterday,  and not being as far along as i thought  I would be in my mind,  I am almost too sore to go back to it this morning.    Full disclosure: My mind might think my body is a little younger than it is.     …update, tomorrow!...

So, the saga of the hutch. I beleive it is creating a history of it’s own.    My mom and dad moved last July to a smaller house.  Mom had all these beautiful cobalt dishes that she displayed in her old (larger) house on a plate rail that ran all around her dining room.    The new kitchen has a place for a hutch and we started to look for one.  A woman walked in the shop one day with a picture of this one for a great price.   I would have to go and pick it up.    The problem was... I was on crutches and non weight bearing.  But the hutch was perfect.  So, a quick call to my grandsons and a suggestion to draw straws  over who gets HAS to go with gramma.    Logan draws short straw and off we go.    First of all, the man at the house insists, vehemently that it won’t fit.  I calmly tell him it will.  He gets out a tape measure and begins to measure.    I...