Hi y'all! Well, I feel like I'm back in the south with the beautiful sunshine here today. It's about time for Michigan to get its share of sun. Almost all of the rudely late snow has melted today. I actually hung some stuff on the line this afternoon. That is great since we are all trying ways to beat the slowed economy. One of my ways is to hang more laundry out than I dry in the dryer. But this is really just normal life for me after many years of living on a shoestring during early marriage and child rearing. There is nothing like the smell of fresh clothing that has hung on the line on a crisp day. A little extra work, yes, but well worth the effort in freshness and economy. Try it. Another tip: carefully laundered white linens can be sun bleached by placing them wet on green bushes or out on the grass in the sunshine. I have often been the privileged recipient of old linens since people know I save them for needlework, cutting the good portions out and using the lace and embroidery. This little trick of laundering them and then placing them on the grass in the sun has resurrected many yellowed treasures. Just make sure they don't blow away and don't let the neighbor's dog drag them off!

I checked the gardens again today and no visible progress has occurred. Can you blame the stuff? It is too late in the year for snow and yet we sure got it. I wouldn't have wanted to poke my head out into this cold yet either if I was a flower. I would put it off until major days of relentless sunshine were upon me. Putting things off.....hmmmm.......

This morning I was reading in Acts 24 about the Apostle Paul standing trial in front of Felix the governor. I noticed that Felix was convicted at one point when Paul was speaking. Make sure you read the 24th chapter and watch his response. When Paul was talking about righteousness, self control, and the coming judgement, Felix became uneasy. He sent Paul away and told him that when it was "convenient" he would call for him again. Wow! Is that ever the way we people are when it comes to spiritual things. Don't put off the promptings of the Spirit when they occur. You never know what you may be missing. If you have not yielded to the promptings of the Lord to receive His grace and salvation, what better time is there than today? Today is the day of salvation, according to the Bible. It is not worth putting off until tomorrow. There may not be a tomorrow. But that's not all. If you are a Christian already, do not put off those things that the Lord is telling you to do. The Lord is counting on you to represent Him in the world.

Got into sewing a little spring dress today for Emma. It turned out differently than I thought since I decided to use what I had in the drawers and stash of ribbons and fabric rather than purchasing anything new. It's cuter than I could have imagined if I had spent tons of money on new supplies. So, sew, rewarding, and another economy beater! Hope you all are having a wonderful day in the sun. Blessingss, LORI

We arrived home from our southern vacation last night at about 7:30. We had gotten a call from our daughter saying a storm had come through our area leaving thousands without power. We then decided that we might as well take our time coming home and even possibly stay one more night somewhere. So we drove rather slowly through Indiana, stopping to shop here and there. Later in the afternoon we got word that the power was back on and so we headed home only to find that Michigan had received several inches of snow while we were gone. What a sight to come home to after a week in the south with spring weather!

I had never been further south than Kentucky in the spring and what a delightful surprise this trip was! The beautiful redbud trees lined the highways in profusion. I thought we had alot of them in Michigan, but I think the south has us beat! As we traveled further south, the dogwoods were just abundant in the woods of Alabama. Breathakingly beautiful! I so enjoyed spending time outdoors for the first time this year. I felt almost rude as I kept trying to get outside when I should have been visiting with friends. I so miss the outdoors after a long winter and it's hard to describe how I long for spring.

We had many wonderful experiences while visiting friends in various places. One friend we visited has a cave on his property. Even though he and his wife weren't home when we arrived (we just popped in unannounced for a short visit), some people working at their house invited us to explore the property. We did and took a short walk back into their land. A pleasant little creek that runs through their yard seems to originate in the cave. How beautiful! The day was sunny and the woods surrounding the land were filled with the flowering trees of spring.

When we arrived in the Nashville area, it was like coming home. Having visited there so many times, it's becoming familiar. We met my cousins from Kentucky and stayed at a wonderful guest house in one of the smaller towns. It was a great time for renewing friendships and just relaxing. We went into the city a few times and went "antiquing" and out to eat. We also walked the mall right before going to the Opry. As usual, the Opry was loads of fun.

Back to the cabin in Eastern Tennessee for a minute: I got a little knitting done on two sweaters while I was gone and that seemed nice. I had alot of uninterrupted time while we were in that area. We got to our cabin in the afternoon and decided to go exploring the local area and get groceries. We grilled steak--a treat for us--that evening. This cabin was way back in a wooded area with a pond just off the front porch. Very quiet and much time for knitting. The second day there we did a little shopping at the local stores and intended to come back and enjoy porch sitting. That didn't work as a cold front was moving in and the winds kicked up rapidly making it nearly impossible to spend time outside on the porch. Before very late in the evening a huge rain hit the area and it rained heavily all evening and most of the night.

We tasted so many wonderful foods while we were gone. I had chocolate gravy for the first time--mmm, mmm! We also had smoked chicken salad, fried squash, fried okra, black-eyed peas, country fried steak, crab cakes, dumplings, cornbread dressing, homemade potato chips, and the list goes on!!

Good to be home and see Emma. She loved the little tin painted egg complete with fuzzy chick that Granny brought her from the south. So good to see her. We read "Over in the Meadow" about five times last evening!

It was back to work this morning. I hurried in to clean the local library before they opened. Staring right in on the old routine. I guess vacations can only last so long! Blessings, LORI