Pearls are More Amazing Than You Thought

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Pearls are the 'birthstone' for the month of June.

I love wearing pearls, don't you? So shimmery and sleek - classic and chic. (hey, that rhymed) ;) I think they glow like tiny moons. They're unique in the fact that they're the only "gem" that is actually a material created by an animal - a pearl oyster. All the other gems are rocks and minerals. Oh right, except for some rare corals.

I kinda have a thing for jewels. ;)

Treasures of the sea have always fascinated me. I grew up near the beach, you know. When I was a little homeschooled girl, we had a large library of books in our house, and one of them was all about treasure that had been brought up from the ocean - loot from shipwrecks. I don't know how many times I read that book, over and over again. I stared at the pictures of the emerald-encrusted gold cross, the Spanish doubloons, the ruby-studded dagger.

But anyway, where was I? Talking about pearls, that's right.

You've heard about how they're made a thousand times, right? So often that it's become a little tired-out, I would imagine.
Pearls are formed when a tiny irritation enters the oyster, like a grain of sand. (Poor thing. Imagine having something like that in your eye and you can't blink to get it out!) The oyster coats it with layers upon layers of pearly 'nacre' as long as it remains inside the shell. After about five seconds on Google I found an article that details the process a bit more here. To a jewelry-maker that works with pearls often, it's even more interesting.

This part sounds super scientific, but bear with me: "The nacre is not just a soothing substance. It is composed of microscopic crystals of calcium carbonate, aligned perfectly with one another, so that light passing along the axis of one crystal is reflected and refracted by another to produce a rainbow of light and color."

I'm sorry, but that's just beautiful. I'm freaking out over here. Pearls are actually tiny worlds composed of millions of rainbow-reflective crystals. How awesome is that?!

I was sitting on my bed, holding my Bible, thinking about pearls, after reading three verses the evening before with my family. (They're in Matthew, chapter 13, if you want to go read 'em yourself in your own preferred translation, but really, KJV, people, it's just so rich)

The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 

Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 

Um. Wow. I can't begin to imagine giving up every single thing I own for one pearl, even if it was gorgeous and bigger than my head. But this guy here, he didn't hold back. Not one bit.

These verses are in red letters in my Bible, which means Jesus said the words. He was actually talking to the disciples in this scene, because after he'd come back from preaching to a huge crowd from a boat they started asking him what the heck he meant with all those parables. ;) So Jesus starts to patiently explain to them what they meant.

They he hits them up with this pearl story. I believe the field represents believers, as a whole. Jesus sacrificed everything for those who would accept the price he paid for them on the cross. The pearl of great price?

That's me.

My hands fly to my cheeks and I almost blush, thinking about it. Jesus gave his life for me. He thought of me as he hung there dying for my sins. Sins that, at that point in time, I hadn't even committed yet, because I hadn't even been born, nor had my great-great-great-grandparents.

I can't even begin to fathom it. I'm just grateful that I've accepted his beyond-generous offer.

Have you?

If your heart answers "Yes, I believe it, and I've said it - Jesus is Lord. And he died for me." then - WOOOOOOHOOO! We'll be dining together at the most glorious banquet ever, in heaven, and worshiping the one and only GOD. There's no way I'm not accepting that party invitation! :) In fact, I already have!

When your heart is looking forward to something so incredibly beautiful... it's easier to let the day-to-day irritations become softened and covered in grace. forgiveness. love. mercy.

Like pearls.

I'll never wear pearls again without thinking about the fact that I'm treasured by the creator of this world (and the little pearl-worlds of rainbowy crystals - still can't get over that) more than anything.

And guess what? So are you!

"And Oh, You Electrify My Soul..."

WARNING: PRETTY FLOWER PICTURES AHEAD ;)

I've begun to not take blog post titles that seriously. :D They don't have to perfectly describe the post like a newspaper headline! :) (FYI: The title is a line from a Natalie Grant song that I got on iTunes recently. The last half of the line is ... "and you're bringing the dead to life!" Love that victorious note in there!

 So yeah! Look at me, coming through on a promise! I did go out and snap some shots of the beautiful spring blooms... it just happened on an unexpected day off instead of Sunday. It was raining so hard on Monday that they canceled all of the events at the Rock Ranch.

On the one hand, I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to go to work, I love that place, but on the other hand... yay for not having to work with muddy ponies!! :D Feels like I dodged a bullet with that one! ;)

 You know... my post title does go with this post. Looking at these pictures electrifies my soul with some sparks of awe at the grandeur and majesty our Creator displays even in the tiny veins of a dogwood blossom petal. My God, how amazing you are!

 I will admit, there is a hint of a photo filter in these pictures, I about gasped when I clicked the button whilst editing them and saw the result. WOWZA.

 My faithful readers are welcome to pin these to Pinterest, but please don't take them for anything else. (You'll notice I actually watermarked them this time!) :)

Noticed this little fellow and got right in his face for a close-up, marveling at how he matched the flower center exactly!

 I hope my grandma Pat is seeing this blog post - wish I could show her our sweet GA spring season in person, she has always had a great appreciation for flowers!

Oh... and we also have azaleas.

I know!! Aaaagh, I love them so much. I will take more pictures as soon as they hit peak bloom, there are only a few at present.

My faves are these "Peppermint Azaleas". They look as if they have a bright brushstroke on each crisp white petal!

Take care, lovelies! I shall write again soon...

Leaf-ing ;)

Hey Ya'll! I'm going on a weekend trip up to North Georgia and leaving tomorrow, and I'll be unplugged for the weekend. :D I'll miss everybody's posts... I'm going to have to catch up when I get back! :)

I'm hoping to find a few little treasures to take home in the quaint little tourist shops, and come home with shots of the fall colors that should be farther ahead up there than our woods down here. :)

In the meantime, here's what I've seen roundabouts lately...

(and if you steal my photos without asking, be warned, I will hunt. you. down. Grr. So don't do it.) ;) I did not have time to edit these or add a watermark, so don't anybody take them, please!

Love the oranges and yellows together with that hint of red... (this tree has since turned candy-apple sports car red.)  Must take more pics soon!

 The rope around the base of the tree in this pic is one end of the clothesline. :D Yes, sometimes we hang our laundry on the line just for the fun of it. :D

 The sky has been so brightly blue lately! I think it's due to the clear Autumn atmosphere. :D

In the next few shots, I was playing with the view of the setting sun through the leaves, and trying for a hint of bokeh whenever possible. :D

Yum. Yum. Love the colors in the above shot... (and this is unedited!!)

Have a great weekend, everybody! I'll see you when we get back. :D

Being Green

"It's not easy being green......" or so Kermit the frog says. But according to this little guy....

Being green is pretty easy and laid-back. :)

Daddy found him out in the garden sunning himself on a green bell pepper that coordinated ever so nicely with his reptillian skin. He told me about the little lizard and suggested I get out my camera and take his picture. So I followed Daddy out to the garden on the cool September morning and snapped a few shots of the charming little fellow, who looked oh-so-relaxed lying in the sun on a nice warm vegetable.

"Who is that crazy girl taking pictures of me as I sunbathe?"

"Ah, well, I suppose she's harmless, after all."

"...might as well get back to my *yawn* - nap."

Isn't he cute?

Newest Family Photo

Hey Friends!
Life has been full and rich for me the past few months. It's been wonderful! Unfortunately, I haven't been blogging very often. :( I've been doing more real-life activities instead of being at the computer. Which is good in some ways but not so great in others. So, a few news snippets before I share the newest family picture (The impatient reader will have already scrolled down to see it by now...) Yes, I've got you pegged. :D

News Snippet 01:
I'm writing a book. Not like I haven't always written little stories here and there, kept a journal since I was 11, and blogged for 2+ years, but this time it's.... different. I have the whole framework already written out in notes, and all that remains is to fill in the nooks and crannies and flesh out my creation.

The book is about a young woman named Felicity living in the 1800's in Derbyshire, England. My story was hugely inspired by none other than Jane Austen. I've loved her work for a long time, and then one day I thought, "Hey, what if I tried writing my own Jane Austen story?" and... Lissie was born.

I wrote one third of the book just thinking I was doing it for my own pleasure and would never actually share it with the outside world. But then I mentioned it to a few friends, and the response was so enthusiastic that I decided that I just 'might' publish it in e-book format once the whole thing is complete.

So that's where that news snippet ends. I'll let you know when I'm done with the book. (I currently have about a hundred pages written and it's going to be a full 350+ page novel, so I'm about one-third of the way there). :)

News Snippet 02:
We have baby chicks! Well... actually, they'll be a month old this saturday, but they're still small and adorable compared to our huge adult hens. We ordered a whole batch of Buff Orphingtons after getting one in a mix of chickens and loving it the best. They have a sweet disposition and are excellent for either meat or egg chickens. (Ours will be kept for the eggs!!) :D And, they should be laying by this spring.

News Snippet 03:
My mom and I have joined the local Fitness Center (our ladies' gym closed about a year and a half ago... sniff!) and we are both getting back into a regular workout routine. I am already seeing a big difference in muscle strength, and mama has been more flexible recently after swimming in the pool. Yaaaay! :)

News Snippet 04 - The Picture!
I took this family picture yesterday with the timer on my new camera on Sunday afternoon (Before we'd changed out of our church clothes) and we are going to send it along with a letter to our little orphan boy in Thailand that we've supported for ten years. It's a pretty great picture, so I thought I'd share it with you! :)

Awww... I love my family. :)

DISCLAIMER: The height is actually not accurate in this picture, because the kids are standing downhill. I am taller than Mom, and the boys are a couple inches taller than Daddy. :D

I wuv it, regardless! :)

Tips and Tricks for making a crocheted afghan

I've been asked several questions about making my afghans, so to make things easy I thought I'd just do a post about it for you all! :) I've got a few tips and tricks and thoughts to share on creating a handmade afghan.

Firstly, I get all my crochet block patterns from this wonderful book, 200 crochet blocks for blankets, throws, and afghans by Jan Eaton.

This book has taught me so much about crochet and the patterns are all so clearly written and easy-to-read! There are illustrations in the back that show how to make each crochet stitch mentioned in the block patterns. From this I learned how to make Popcorns, Bobbles, Puff stitches, and Triple and Half-double crochet stitches. (SO much fun!) 

These are some of the patterns in this book.

Ok. First thing I do when starting an afghan is to make a plan. I choose what size I want my finished afghan, and what crochet blocks I want to use in the afghan. I draw up a diagram like so... (Sometimes I take the time to use a ruler and make much straighter lines) This diagram below was hastily drawn in a moment of frenzied creativity... :D

And here we have one of my typical crochet blocks. I use an H/8 size hook, and regular worsted weight (4-ply) yarn... sometimes mixing in some baby yarn here and there... and since I've discovered I crochet with such a large (rather loose) tension my crochet blocks all come out about 8 1/2 to 9 inches.

When creating your afghan, make up a 'test block' and then multiply the dimensions to whatever size you want the finished creation to be and calculate how many blocks you'll need.

To piece the blocks together, I lay them out in the order I want on top of a solid-colored surface (i.e., a white sheet on top of my bed) and pin them in place, for a large afghan. I sew the blocks together, row-by-row, with coordinating yarn and a large plastic needle. I use a whip-stitch sort of technique... ah, might have to post pictures of that later so you know what I mean.

 

Colors are very important for me when making an afghan. What 'feel' do I want the completed piece to portray? The muted berry colors and purples I'm using in my current afghan create a feeling of understated elegance and sophistication, and the touches of pink and lavender add a hint of sweetness.

Feel free to ask me any other questions you have that I didn't answer in my post! :) I'll be happy to help.

Rachel asked me ... Q: Where do you get your yarns?

My answer ... A: I wait for super-duper sales, like you, Rachel, and I also adore this beautifully soft and inexpensive yarn that you can get at Hobby Lobby called "I Love This Yarn" - how appropriately named - It's usually $2.39 for a 7-ounce skein, which is a great deal when you consider that the Vanna's Choice yarn (which I love as well) is usually around the same price for only 3 ounces of yarn. So check out the Hobby Lobbys in your area! :D 

Can it really be October already?

But it must be, for there is a new crispness in the air, and the leaves outside my log home on a woodsy hill somewhere in Georgia are faintly tinged with the promise of vibrant color to come. ;)

You know it's Autumn when I wax eloquent. :D

I've enjoyed a mini-bloggy-break, after my prolific posting of September, but I couldn't leave my dear blog alone for long! :D

I've been kept extremely busy creating lots of unique and intrisically beautiful objects, such as crocheted doughnuts, necklaces in all the popular shades of this season, (hint: Plum and Magenta) earrings, and even a bracelet or two. Also been helping my dear mother make hot packs filled with corn - you know, the ones you stick in the microwave for a few minutes, and then cuddle up with under the covers on a chilly night. :)

The reason for all this productivity?

On October 10th, (Next Saturday!) I will be running a booth in a nearby small town for the "Fall Fest" it's hosting, selling all the delightful aforementioned things! :D If you have a suspicion that you live close by me and would like to come, feel free to leave me a comment with your email (it won't be published) and I will be happy to email you the particulars. :D

Pictures will be forthcoming of some of my projects, if anyone would like to see what I've been working on. :) Don't expect them right away, however, because I really am quite busy! ;)

Feeling Better... and Pictures!

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who prayed for me! I am feeling so much better! The pain in my neck is 99.9% gone... I will be resting a lot today so hopefully the remaining 0.1% will get better. Thanks, dear friends!! I really appreciate it.

Now for some pictures for all of you who have been sooo patient! :D

After I last posted those pictures of our trip, we went hiking...

Us at the trail head

(L to R) Daddy, Steven, and Mark on a BIG rock...

Me on another big rock

In this picture Daddy is showing us where a spring started... the springs running down the trail made it extremely muddy! Most of the time we were walking on the side of the trail instead of in the middle, just to avoid all the mud!

However, despite the mud, it was a beautiful hike. :)

But the best part was climbing THIS...

9-story-high firetower.

And seeing the incredible view!

Note the amazingly gorgeous clouds above the shimmering lake....
It was SO windy up there... which didn't make the climb up and down any easier for the boys and Daddy. (I discovered that I have absolutely no fear of heights, especially on a nice sturdy firetower.)
It was truly amazing being up so high and seeing so far.
Okay, that's all for now... I will see if I can do a post about the Blue Mountain Lake Museum next time. :)

Pictures From New York

Hello Everyone! :)

I decided you might like to see what pictures I've taken so far on our trip, so I figured out how to use my Aunt's computer (lol!) :) and I've selected a few for your enjoyment. :)

We got up early on Saturday and got a great start - we were out the door at 7:00. (yeah, that means I had to wake up at 6:00 to get ready...)

Then we drove, and drove, and drove, and .... you get the picture. :D We went up through South Carolina, and then North Carolina, and then Virginia...

This was shot out of the window of the car, it's just a fleeting glimpse of some of the beautiful Virginian countryside.

This is a flower blooming cheerfully at a rest stop we stopped at... and I just had to capture a picture of it! :)

These are some crochet blocks I made on the way up here... I made one other one w' popcorn stiches but it's not in this picture... the pink/yellow/brown one is a 'Catherine Wheel', the aqua/tan/brown one is a 'Spinner', and the half-finished green/brown/tan one is a 'Gothic Square'.

We stopped at a BP in West Virginia to gas up and I spotted a cute little produce stand and just had to snap a pic. :) I loved the watermelon wagon!

We stopped at 8:15 pm, having gotten all the way to Hagerstown, MARYLAND! Whew! Not bad for one day's drive!

As I said before, we found a lovely Holiday Inn Express and were able to get a suite for only $13 more than a regular room would have cost us. Yay! It was beautiful, and sparkling clean. The ideal hotel room!

No air matress for me... This is the most comfortable pull-out I've ever slept on! It didn't even squeak! And the blanket was soooo soft. Ahhhhh.

Mark here is reclining on the bed he and Steven shared... I think he looks pretty comfortable. :)
I have this button on my purse (it belonged to my great-grandmother) ... and it was so perfect with the moment that I took a picture of it. "It's Good To Be Here!"

The next day we got up early, ate a delicious continental breakfast in the hotel, and headed out! Within a few minutes we had reached Pennsylvania, and we drove through lots of pretty scenery and a mountain ridge. There were so many gigantic cornfields!

And then, finally.... We reached New York!

We stopped at a very pretty Rest Stop/Welcome Center right inside the New York State border. We stopped to get gas a little farther in and went inside to get some ice cream... and we met a real "New Yoaker"! He welcomed "Youse Guys" to New York and was amazed to hear we were all the way from "Gee-or-gee-ah, the Peach State!" (That's how he pronounced it)

We stopped at a babbling brook just outside of Cooperstown... You know, where James Fenimore Cooper wrote "The Last of The Mohicans", and "Deerslayer". (I saw Lake Glimmerglass!!) right before we got to my Great-Aunt's house and took a few pictures...

Me and my two big, strong brothers...

The lovely brook....

A peach-tinted Daylily... (There were tons of these alongside the roads...)

Then we got to my Aunt's house (Yaaay!) And discovered....

We had a stowaway!

Survivorman had tagged along! :D He did that when we went camping in North Carolina too.

After a delicious dinner of beef and potatoes, Mark and Steven enjoyed relaxing on the floating dock ... some friendly ducks came over to see who the newcomers were.

We all got a great night's sleep after our long two days of driving! :) Daddy woke up to the sound of a loon calling, out on the lake.

Daddy took Steven out for a canoe ride this morning after breakfast... I was amazed at how well my camera behaved, letting me get such great long-distance pictures from my Aunt's porch!
The view....

Well, that's all for now! We plan on going hiking this afternoon and I will be sure to take along my camera. :)