Encouragement!

Having a wonderful time in the nice weather we've been having. It was a bit cold yesterday, but today was absolutely beautiful. I hung out a load of laundry, took a long walk, fed the chickens, and worked in my garden a bit before getting ready to head to Portage to meet a friend for a late afternoon supper. Rhiannon and I had other errands to do in the "city" and so we left a little early and I got to visit my favorite knitting shop. I spent about an hour knitting on one of their "ribbons" that they leave in the sitting area. There are always several balls of yarn and all sizes of needles. Customers are invited to add several inches of their choice to the long scarf-like ribbon and when it reaches a certain length the proprietress hangs the ribbon on the walls. Many interesting ribbons adorn the walls of the shop adding exciting color. I can always pick out the areas I knitted. I try to do interesting stitches that I'll remember.

My friend and I hadn't seen each other for a year and so we had a wonderful dinner and conversation. Rhiannon joined us after she ran a few more errands. We got home in time to plant the new perennial I bought and the three JT and Kori brought me for Mother's Day. I think the perennials were Kori's idea and JT picked them out. I'm so thankful they thought of them. What fun I had choosing where they were to be placed. I will give them good care to help them thrive. It seems I lost some flowers over this hard winter and don't want that to happen again. With the ones Rhiannon bought me recently, this really helped fill the empty spots out there.

We stopped for a few groceries before we got home and I noticed that a few items I buy seemed to have dropped in price. Rhiannon told me she went out for a bite to eat after she dropped me off to see my friend and the place where she ate had lowered their prices. Well, I suppose a down economy naturally produces some positivie benefits. I remember my dad describing the conditions of the Great Depression to me. He said a loaf of bread cost around a nickel. Problem was; no one had the nickel! I guess that's why we're seeing price drops. You hear it all over. Everyone is having to lower prices to get business.

Not much else to tell. We are working hard around here to get outdoor work done and keep up with church duties and family time as well as keeping little part time jobs. Soon Rhiannon will go back to work and I'll lose my best help! I sort of dread that, but know it must happen. Oh, also today we got many of my garden items--chairs, bird feeders, oranments; hauled out to the English garden for the summer. We also loaded the tractor bucket with a few rocks that the next-do0r-farmer tossed out of the field yesteray. I am trying to border all the beds with large rocks. Someday we'll have that accomplished!

Rhiannon and I took a few moments to visit a particularly large greenhouse in the Portage area today. We have been wanting to go there since they specialize in roses. We were just amazed when we walked in. The entire first greenhouse was filled with the most vividly colored flowers I've ever seen. There were hundreds of them in hundreds of varieties. I saw an old friend there and I commented to her that if you worked here, you'd have to be in a good mood. Who could be surrounded by such constant loveliness without being encouraged? Our family has received encouragement from some unlikely places in the last few days; some good words from people we didn't even know. That just goes to show that Christians need to be "ready in season and out" (2 Timothy 4:2) to give a good word to someone, especially as directed by God. I wonder if I am always ready to be a bearer of joy and hope. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Isaiah 52:7 I hope I have encouraged you today to be an encourager! Blessings! LORI