A PICTURELESS POST UPDATE

Just wanted to post a little before Thanksgiving. We got a big surprise when JT, Kori, and the girls walked into our house on Saturday evening! They had called Friday evening asking us to pray for Emma. Seems she'd been under the weather with stomach issues and they thought she was doing better. They planned a surprise trip home from Colorado and when they put her in the car, she vomited all over. So they headed to the emergency room instead of to Michigan. Two hours later they called saying the doctor said she'd be fine, gave her something for nausea, but that the trip was off. I suspected it was still on for some reason, but calculated their ETA for sometime Sunday.

Well, were we ever surprised when they did show up, but sooner than we expected! They drove straight through, taking turns sleeping! We were able to spend a lot of time together eating, visiting, and playing games over the last few days.

Tomorrow Rhiannon and I have to take off (yes, on Thanksgiving day) to make it to a wedding in Pennsylvania. Rhiannon is a bridesmaid for a Bible college friend and must arrive before Friday night rehearsal. So the kids came home for Thanksgiving, but we had a quick turkey breast meal yesterday instead of tomorrow since she and I will be gone. Clint is invited to three different meals and might join JT and Kori at Kori's family's on Friday so he can spend a little extra time with them before they go home on Saturday.

So for the last few days I have cooked happy meals for a full house again and enjoyed little tea parties with Emma. Sophie is walking and she was very sweet and sociable to us. Seems like last time we saw her (only 5 weeks ago) she was a baby, and now she's becoming a toddler who likes to interact, smiling and hugging everyone. We read our favorite books, watched our favorite nature shows, and played with all the favorite toys. Once I saw them I realized I had missed them much more than I ever realized. Saying goodbye tonight was a heartbreaker all over again. I didn't cry too much this time, though, hoping another visit will be only about three weeks away.

As well as that, Clint started a sabbatical on Sunday. We haven't taken one since 2004. This was a HUGE year for us in many ways. His mom moved out of her house of 49 years and since he was the only child, much of the organizing and clearing out fell to him. Getting her settled into a new place was a lot of work. As well as that, JT moved to Colorado and we took a trip out there to help Kori move. We became instant surrogate landlords (not really much work to that!) for their home (now rented, thankfully). The changes were mostly big emotional changes and they took a toll on both of us. It was even more so for Clint as his mom left the home he grew up in. As much as we wanted her to leave and get into a more manageable home, I admit I almost shed a tear or two myself the last day we were there and the house was empty. Plus having a son who lived less than a mile away move 20 hours away was a big adjustment for Clint, the father that was often around (preachers have home offices!). Since we were a homeschool family, it made us very close. This is the first real separation we've experienced as a family since Rhiannon went to Bible college in 2002. Even that was only 4 hours away and lasted for a nine month school year.

I chipped my front tooth yesterday, but thankfully a quick and inexpensive trip to the dentist this morning repaired it good as new!

We have much to be thankful for this year and we are very aware of that. God has been so good to us. He gave me some very special assurances when JT and Kori first talked of moving away to attend Charis Bible College. It has made me thankful. It made the transition easier as well.

When we get back from PA, I will have two days before we have to leave for the annual Iowa trip. I hope to post some really great stuff as soon as I can! Take care, Happy Thanksgiving, and Blessings, LORI

A PICTURELESS POST UPDATE

NOW THAT'S BAZAAR!

I wanted to share some pictures of our annual bazaar with you! Our church has held a bazaar nearly every year for as long as I can remember. I've been there almost 30 years--so that's a long time!

We almost always make raised doughnuts, which are a highlight every year. Often people would line up for the doughnuts well ahead of the opening time. We could hardly ever make enough! Here is a picture of some of them along with homemade cinnamon rolls.

Several dedicated workers get up in the middle of the night to start making the doughnuts so they are fresh and ready for customers at 8 am.

As well as the food, we also have a baked goods area and many handicrafts. Notice the quilts and comforters. All the stuff pictured with the quilts was auctioned--among which are the antique embroidered kitchen towels that my Mom and I saved out of a box of stuff given to us last summer. We washed them and ironed them the day before the sale. They ended up being a $50 item and we were thrilled with that.

Several years ago we started a rug project. You can see the many lovely rugs hanging on the bars also. The ladies of the church sew up the rags or new material that's been donated and then send them off to be woven. The rugs are a popular item each year. The comforter on the far right of the bars was not sold but ended up being donated to a family who lost their house in a fire that same week. The love of Christ was extended beyond our walls with the present of a comforter. In addition to all that we sell lots of crocheted items and Christmas decorations. We even have a bit of a rummage sale. The bazaar is unique each year because of the donated items. No two bazaars are ever alike! We once cracked over 100 dozen eggs to make noodles and angel food cakes!

For the last several years we have had a few hogs butchered and had whole hog sausage available. This is a very popular item. Some of the men grill it as well and sell sandwiches. I had my share--yum, yum!

All the proceeds go to missions. Despite the poor economy, we did well this year and the money will be appreciated by the various groups that receive it. A lot can be accomplished with everyone working together. With everyone pitching in, each little effort goes a long way! Isn't that the way it is in the body of Christ? Few of us are the big evangelists that draw large crowds and minister to thousands upon thousands. So we still need the local church. We learned a valuable lesson about all this last week. Clint taught Bible class for a local Christian high school back in the mid 1990's. He had just a few students but he faithfully presented the truths of Bible doctrines to these teenagers. In the recent election one of his former students was elected to the United States House of Representatives! Another lady from our church was one of this man's school teachers and one of our men in the congregation coached him in basketball. This was a sobering thought for us as we realized we never know who we are impacting when we think we are just doing the little things (like teaching three or four kids around a little Sunday School table). Though this man was not from our church and now lives a ways away, who would have ever thought that someone from such a rural place would end up in Washington for "such a time as this."? I like to think Clint was able to positively impact this person's life who is now serving the United States in Washington, DC! Keep doing the so-called "little things," that God assigns you to--you never know what the impact will be! Blessings, LORI

FALL FENCEROW FILIGREE

I wish I had had this picture of the lacey little cabbage earlier in the summer when I did a post on "Nature's Lace." Check it out at http://lorizehr.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html It would have been perfect. I was pretty excited to see it in my garden this time of year when everything else is dry, brown, and frostbitten. I love light green and off white together--it's one of my favorite combinations in clothing, dishes, etc. This pretty little cabbage is just as nice as a rose, if you ask me and should have been in the other post!

We've been having unusually nice weather here this week and so I went out to the English garden to do a little more fall cleanup. I was surprised to find this bittersweet growing in profusion in the nearby fencerow. It is very pretty and I had no idea that it was there. What a nice surprise.

We've had a very busy week and I haven't had time to post anything yet so I hope you enjoy these few pictures until something more exciting comes up in my knitting, baking, or homemaking world!

HANDSPUN HAPPINESS

Proverbs 31:19, "She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her handss hold the distaff."

Proverbs 27:26, "The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of a field."

Here is picture of me in our front yard holding my latest skeins of spun yarn. This group is Alpaca/Wool blend. I really enjoy spinning and knitting, but when I was thinking about the Proverbs 31 woman, I had to wonder if the charm would sort of disappear from the hobby if it were a duty--part of the necessary work of a woman. What if I had to actually spin all my thread, then weave it, then cut the cloth to make clothing? Since I also have some experience weaving, I can't begin to imagine the amount of work that would involve. I can't spin yarn fine enough to suit me right now, let alone fine enough to weave into cloth for clothing! I've been trying to consistently produce nice sport weight or fingering yarn with an eye to lace weight eventually. Yet, even that would be pretty large thread size to be made into cloth!

The sweater I have on in the picture is one I made a few years ago. The yarn is a bulky/chunky type of novelty yarn. I love it and yet it was a little scratchy on my neck as I wore the sweater today. I can't imagine what some forms of homespun would have been like for everyday clothing. It's so hard for me to think about creating all my clothes from the sheep to the shirt. But our ancestors did it on a regular basis. No wonder the Proverbs 31 woman was revered! I have trouble cooking supper sometimes and she was doing all kinds of hard work on a daily basis!

Well, anyway, it was a beautiful fall day here. Though it was cold, the skies were a lovely mix of dark clouds and vibrant blue skies with sunshine and shadows alternating. The browns of the late fall leaves and the occasional evergreen against dry yellow corn fields just made scenes worthy of a painting, in my estimation. This is one of the prettiest times of year, I think. I went to my spinning and knitting group today and had a great time. I hope you enjoyed the day too. Think of the Proverbs 31 woman while you are doing your daily tasks and be thankful for ready-made clothing, electric mixers, washers and dryers, freezers, and so on....Blessings, LORI

PROJECTS

Just wanted to post a few pictures of some completed projects. Take a look at the socks I've been working on, finally done! I am fairly pleased with them, but am already planning on how to improve the next ones.



This really bad picture is of me pointing to the "I Voted" sticker I got right after we went to the polls yesterday. Clint and I made history yesterday, not just in voting--because I think this election was of historic proportions--but because he had to do a graveside service in the late morning and he asked me to help by reading scripture. That's why I'm all dressed up. We did the graveside service, visited with the bereaved family over a lunch and then went straight to the polls. Clint does lots of funerals, (like nearly 100 in his 18 year pastoring career) so that's not history-making, but the fact that I helped is! For some reason, he asked me to read scripture yesterday. I was glad to do that for him.


The final picture is of the squash we finally got baked and scooped and bagged for the freezer. We have one more squash to do. A friend from church gave us these lovely huge squashes. I love to make pie out of butternut squash. We got three very generously packed quarts so far. One more fall project out of the way. Yesterday we also got most of the garden ornaments, lawn furniture, and various piles of leaf debris taken care of in the yard so we are pretty much ready for winter. Are you all ready for the snow to fly? Blessings, LORI