Ghostly Snow Landscapes

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place

Where she's loved... concrete angel.     Martina McBride

The View From My Front Porch Today

Two weekends of snow...unheard of in the Tidewater Region of Virginia!

I think it's beautiful, but folks are grumbling.

Norman Rockwell

I use Google for my business constantly.  I love how those clever Google folks change up the Google logo for various holidays or events.  And they're kind of random, too, and I do love random!

Did you use Google today?  Today Google celebrates the birthday of one of my favorite artists, Norman Rockwell.

Norman Rockwell celebrates all things family, old-fashioned, patriotic, and quietly humorous.  One of my favorite paintings is one called "Breakiing Home Ties."  I assembled a huge puzzle of this painting many years ago.  We put together the puzzle over several days, so it gave me a lot of opportunity to contemplate it as I looked at the box for clues to find the right piece.  In the end, it taught me how to view all art.

Norman Rockwell's work always tells a story and the story is often more than initiually meets the eye.  All art is like this, but Rockwell's particularly so.  "Breaking Home Ties" is the story of a farmer and his son, as the son prepares to leave for college.  But look closer.   

The father is weary and careworn, but the boy is eagerly looking for the train.  Even his socks are in colleage colors.  He is anxious to succeed.  If you look very closely, his new school books have been read halfway through, with the bookmarks in place.  He was reading them over the summer.

Rockwell was also a social commentator and didn't sugar coat evil.  His painting, "The Problem We All Live With" needs no explanation and holds nothing back. Look carefully toward the second group of men to see the aftermath of the tomatoes which racists have thrown at the little girl.  Note also how carefully she is dressed and that she is clothed entirely in white, the color of innocence.

I"m off to have coffee with my old-timey friend, Hester.  She is 96 years old and full of life in every way.  I am proud that I gave her a Starbucks habit when she was 91.  It is our special pleasure that we share together.  My morning will be filled with stories of her youth in Wales, living through the depression and World War II, and a lifetime of wisdom gained by knowing the Lord.  She is a treasure.

Show and Tell Friday

It is a very cold evening here in Southern Virginia and we anticipate a significant amount of snow  I hope that I never grow so old as to complain when it snows.  I can't wait!  Even though I'm planning some snow angels Saturday morning,   I always love to have fresh flowers around the house.

I've had my old sewing machine table so long that I no longer remember where it came from.  I spray painted it off-white several years ago. The picnic basket was recently thrifted at Goodwill.  Today I filled with cut flowers and plants from Food Lion.  The lacy fabic you see coming from the basket was tatted by my husband's grandmother, Irma Fodge.

Please visit over at "My Romantic Home" for more Show and Tell Friday ideas at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/.

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together!

Somewhere along the way, I realized that I loved old suitcases.  Maybe it was something I saw in Victoria Magazine.  It was so long ago that I don't recall.  For the past five years or so, I've been picking up vintage suitcases at church tag sales, from the curb waiting for the trash, and, most recently, for $4 from Goodwill.

Finally, I have enough to make the stacked vignette I've been planning for my stair landing for all these years.  That's my grandmother Dunn in the flapper-esque picture.  I believe this was her engagement photograph.  The little orangey box  came from her dresser set from way back then.  There was a mirror, long gone now.

Stormy Weather

Greetings from damp Tidewater area, Virginia.  I sipped my morning Earl Gray, listening as great gusts of wind rattled our windows and wet tires outside whooshed their drivers to school, to work at the shipyard, the Naval Hospital, the Norfolk Navy Base, and parts unknown.

When the weather rages ugly outside 256, I always think about the storms, weather-related and metaphorical, that this old house has witnessed over all the years.  World War I, the Depression, Jim Crow Laws, World War II, Korea, the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, and on and on and on.

Today's reading in my "The Journey" devotional?  Coincidence?  I think not.  "And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had been built upon the Rock."  Matthew 7:25

Mixed Messages

I spent time yesterday "fluffing," but noticed when I'd finished that I'd given some mixed messages.  I have hopeful spring flowers out front and I'm bemoaning a cold winter in the front hallway.  C'est la vie

That's Little Bit in the doorway.  She runs the household.

Seek Ye First

So I was finishing up my eye make up, shower done, hair done, when I heard my sink making this ominous glug, glug, glug sound that I imagined as Jabba the Hut's voice.  I was about to run downstairs to tell Bruce, when I felt the Spirit tell me, "No, wait.  Don't worry about it until after church."  I'm generally not quiet long enough to hear that voice, so it is a true miracle that today I was praying while I put on brown eyeliner vs. worrying about something or thinking about the smart-alecky things I could have said the last time I got mad.

Then Bruce came up with a grim look on his face and told me not to use the water, that the plumbing was all backed up.  He said he needed me to got to church by myself while he called a plumber.  Instead of just giving my un-asked for opinion, as I often do, I asked him if he wanted some input.  He agreed that he did.

I brought up the Scripture that we'd recently read in our devotional, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."  We talked about how this would apply to our situation.   We made the decision to go to Sunday School and church and worry about the darn plumbing later.

The sermon, by the way, was based on Jesus' admonition to Martha that "she was worried and upset about many things, but Mary has taken the greater part," which was to sit with Jesus.

And when we came home, all the plumbing worked.

'Twas a Dark and Stormy Night

It was the proverbial dark and stormy night this evening, the stuff about which melodramatic and lurid Victorian novels were penned.  But we were just dropping our godson off at home and getting some gas at Wawa.  That name always cracks up people unfamiliar with the chain convenience stores.  Think 7-11 but better.  However, saying, "I'm going to Wawa" still makes me feel faintly infantile.

Tonight was one of those serendipitous evenings.  Sometimes you can plan to do something, look forward to going to a restaurant for a week and not be too impressed. OR you can get gas in the pouring cold rain and happen upon the best Mexican food you've eaten east of San Diego.

I had zuccini fajitas and Professor Bremer had the Mexican burrito.  The food was superb...fantastic guacamole, our waiter Luis from Guatamala was lovely and the bill didn't break the bank.  The best part was that I left feeling that I had not only had a delcious meal, but I had eaten in a way that is kind to my body as well.

And the evening didn't seem so cold and dreary after all.

Haiti

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;

Sold I to the merchant ships,

Minutes after they took I

From the bottomless pit.

But my hand was made strong

By the 'and of the Almighty.

We forward in this generation

Triumphantly.

Won't you help to sing

These songs of freedom? -

'Cause all I ever have:

Redemption songs.          Bob Marley

I really don't have the mind to encompass the horror of Haiti.  I don't really have the words.  I haven't been able to post about it for a week.  Somehow, my little life seems all too easy, my solutions all too few, and my bargains at Goodwill, well, not too important. 

All I can pray for the people of Haiti is, "mercy." 

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long?" Rev. 6:10

.

Time for Flowers

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.


Albert Camus

Thrift Love - Goodwill

I sure do love the Goodwill close to my house. I'm not a big garage saler. It makes me uncomfortable to haggle But at Goodwill, I get a punch card for donations that enables me to accumulate 20% off all my purchases after making four donations. My Mom often gets rid of things, hates to go to Goodwill to donate, so I do it and get my discount.

Yesterday, there was an amazing shadow box from TJ Maxx with the original price tag still on it, marked way down, which I purchased for a few bucks. I already had the items I put inside. I'm crazy about birds, skelaton keys, old silver, and white-on-white decorating. Strangely, Blogger doesnt see to have the pic function available. Will post one when I can.

Frozen Laundry

Okay, I've been cold before. I grew up in New England and New York State, for Pete's sake. I'm not one to complain about the weather In fact, I far prefer cold weather to hot weather.

However, there IS a limit. Our laundry room is off the dining room and is not insulated. I've never noticed that it was particularly frigid before. Just now, when I picked up the Tide, it wouldn't pour out, despite feeling quite heavy. I peered into the spout. It was FROZEN. That's ridiculous!

Before and After - Dining Room Hutch

I NEVER remember to take "before" pics. Except today...for once I remembered!

A woman named Beth used to live next door to me, in a little white, run down but charming, Craftsman bungalow. She was hard-drinking, attractive in a sort of hard way, with an enormous tattoo of a phoenix which covered her entire back. Beth's mother was a decorator and Beth had an amazing shabby-chic home. Beth was full of contradictions, to be sure.

Then the owner decided to renovate the house and Beth moved out. Kate, the newspaper reporter, moved in. Things were much quieter, more gentrified, and quite a bit less interesting, if you know what I mean.

However, before she left, Beth gave me the bottom of a Hoosier cabinet. It had been painted a truly hideous seventies green. It had great "bones" and I covered most of it with a crocheted tablecloth. It has great storage.

Beth said she might be back for it, but we both knew she never would be. Still I waited 7 years before repainting it. Which I finally did this weekend.

Happy New Year

Good Evening and Happy New Year from 256!

We are spending the first night of 2010 quietly, having dinner with our dear friends, Neil and Nancy. They like a block away in a wonderful Queen Anne style Victorian Home. Nancy loves all things vintage. Her father was an antiques dealer and she has so many wonderful things in her house. She's always up for a walk or a bike ride.

We are having twice-baked yams, an Indian main dish called "dal," which is based on legumes and vegetables, a black bean salad, and a green salad.

I challenged myself to spend very little money on my table. The candles are from the dollar store, as are the silvery decortions. The tray is from Goodwill, as are the white pillars for the candles. The silver is inherited and the plates and chargers were given to me by someone who didn't want them anymore. They are Mikasa.

Christmas at 256

We're waiting for snow here in Virginia

I've been watching this beautiful aviary shown above in Bowman's Garden Center for about 7 months. It was far too indulgent of a price, but I admired it from afar. Last week at Starbucks, I ran into one of the owners and mentioned how much I loved that piece. He said, "Take it, I'll give it to you half price. You can see it displayed on the built-in book case.

My godson and I had fun putting it together and getting the lights inside. Please enjoy the rest of the decorations. The silver tea service is extremely precious to me. It was my grandmothers and we would polish it together when I went over to her house.

A Member of Our Family

Last week, I was visiting my sister in Atlanta. At the same time, one of the inner-city kids I mentor got himself into terrible trouble. He made some bad decisions about what type of people he was associating with. However, the bottom line is that he was falsely accused of something I am 100% positive he did not do. Bruce and I are assisting him and have left this in God's hands, believing that (as Romans 8 says) that "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes."

As I was advocating from afar for Kewon, I was having to make a number of phone calls in the presence of my two young and appropriately sheltered nieces, I realized that, smart as they are, some explanation would be needed.

We all went to IHOP for breakfast and over Funny Face pancakes with whipped cream smiles on them, I struggled with how to explain this all to the girls. They live in a world composed of Burnt Hickory Baptist Church, Christian Cheering (GO STINGRAYS), practice for the play, and Christian private school. They are loved, cared for, cherished, and have no concept of what Kewon's life has been about. They live in a house with their Jewish convert father, my sister, who loves the Lord, and their grandparents, a teacher and pastor, respectively.

Finally I said, "I know that we are not used to this in our family, but I guess you've both figured out that Kewon is in trouble. Now, you have been raised to respect the law and police, but it is possible to be falsely accused and arrested and this is what has happened to our friend, Kewon."

Jaime raised her hand. I love when little kids raise their hands to speak outside of school. It is adorable. She said, "I know someone from our family who was falsely accused and arrested."

My sister and I looked at each other across the table, mystified.

"Jesus was falsely accused and arrested."

She is 7.

The Hoosier Cabinet

I've been wanting a Hoosier cabinet for most of my adult life. A Hoosier cabinet was used in the 1920's and 1930's, before it was common to have built-in cabinets and counters in kitchens. Hoosiers were made by various companies over the years. Some had built in flour bins with sifters, some had glass fronted cabinets; there were a variety of styles to choose from.

Now I'm not the kind of girl who gets the crazy good buys at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. That's more Debra from As I See it Now or Manuela from the Pleasures of Homemaking. However, if I only have to get a good deal once, I'm glad it was this one.

I finally have my treasured Hoosier cabinet for the grand total of $100. I think it looks like it was made to be in my kitchen. We removed a counter to slide it into place. The wonderful rooster bins you see were a gift from my mother.

Show Me Your Glory

Exodus 3:18 - 23

18Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

19And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

21Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

I was a Christian for years before I realized that Jesus appears in the Old Testament in disguse. I've heard it said that the Old Testament is Jesus concealed and the New Testament is Jesus revealed. Pre-incarnation appearances of Jesus are called a "theophany."

Jesus appears to Abraham in the desert, he is in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego. (Daniel 3:24 and 25 24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.)

Jesus is also here with Moses. Jesus IS that rock. Remember the old hymn, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee."

I love this passage of scripture. There's a lot of great theology here. Imagine, a man of ancient times, leading his people from slavery. Every other God is capricious, subject to change at any moment, basically endowed with human emotion, fickle, selfish, etc. Ashera, Molek, Ishtar...they must be appeased at all times because they are so changeable. Who knows what they'll do next?

Here comes the LORD, the God of Hosts, the I AM, the Eternally Self-Existant One and humanity will never be the same again.

And think about Moses. Here he is before Jehovah God. He can ask for anything. What does he ask? "SHOW ME YOUR GLORY!" How audacious! How trusting! Talk about having your priorities straight. Would I ask to see God's glory or would I ask for my diabetes to be healed? What would you ask for?

Which brings me to my favorite Christian group, Third Day. The link below is to a vide of their song, "Show Me Your Glory." It is the song of Moses with modern words.

Why don't you ask God to show you His glory right now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bo97_jQuUU

Third Day was nominated for three Grammys last week.
http://www.thirdday.com/



Show Me Your Glory

I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I'll never be the same
Show me Your glory
Send down Your presence
I want to see Your face
Show me Your glory
Majesty shines about You
I can't go on without You, Lord
When I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won't settle for ordinary things
I'm gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won't rest 'til I see You again
Show me Your glory
Show me Your glory
I can't live without You

Corners of the Dining Room

Here are ome pictures of my vintage dining room. The one green chair's cover was made in needlepoint by my grandmother, Helen. The pottery pictured is called Majolica. It was considered old-fashioned and out of style when Helen collected it, but is now sought after by collectors.

http://www.majolicasociety.com/matters.htm

The shelf they sit on is in a style called "tramp art." It was made by itinerent workers durng the Depression out of found objects, in the case of my shelf, it is made of wooden spools for thread and wooden cigar boxes.

http://www.folkartisans.com/sup/tramhist.html

I was buying some other vintage items in a thrift shop in Norfolk, VA and the owner threw in the tramp art shelf for free. Enjoy!

Fluffing

One of the blog decorator girls, maybe Daisy Cottage Kim or perhaps Manuela over at The Pleasures of Homemaking, calls making small changes "fluffing" a room.

I did some fluffing in our bedroom. The headboard was picked up curbside. I spraypainted it 1930 green. The plates were all thrifted. The window is the old chicken house window from Bruce's childhood. The shutters were in my attic when I moved in. I found the white scarf draping over the top on line. Please note that the headboard is too small, so I had to sort of "build out" arond it.

The glass-paned Hoosier cabinet top was left by my neighbor when she moved. The bottom of it is in my dining room.

Enjoy!

The Most Beautiful Ten Year Old in the World

Look, Ma, no braces! My beloved Piper Claire.

New Rooster

I'm crazy about roosters. Or maybe I'm just crazy. In any case, I love roosters and chickens so much that I have a chicken coop, the kind you take chickens to market in, right in my kitchen.

This is the newest addition to the flock. This handsome fellow came from Lowes, of all places. His tail feathers are tin and you can fit a reminder note on an index card right in there.

The cake tin, flour sifter, and enamel-topped cabinet (it is painted white and has a 2 drawers, as well as a door with a medium-sized cabinet inside) were all purchased at a thrift store in Manteo, NC. Manteo is the town where Andy Griffith lives on the Outer Banks of the state. I prefer looking in old junk stores to commemorate a vacation vs. buying touristy things.

That enamel-topped cabinet, and another enamel counter and a back splash sporting a red and white 1950's design (rescued from the curbside) help me fill in for the lack of ktichen cabinets. I use a Hoosier cabinet to store my dishes, pots, and pans.

As you probably know, old houses didn't typically have a lot of cabinets and counters. I was musing about that, since much more prep time was needed for cooking without microwaves and electric appliances years ago. Seems like they would have needed more counter space, not less. I think ladies were less spoiled back then and realized that you could actually use a table for more than one purpose.

My Grandmother Dunn used the kitchen table as a work surface. She was an austere woman who used Fels Napha soap and kept an immaculate home. No dust bunny ever dared form at Nana's. Nana was a great baker and it must have been at that kitchen table that she rolled out all of those cookies.

My grandmother Galvin had a big kitchen with one narrow counter next to the sink and another next to the stove. She filled in some of the space with an amazing copper-lined antique dry sink filled with plants which had quite a lot of storage underneath.

Helen (my grandmother) had a huge pantry which was a separate room, and a built-in ironing board which I would give anything to have now. There was also a wonderful breakfast nook with a window, a shelf with a scalloped edge, and an old radio tuned to WTIC-AM. She used that breakfast nook table as the work surface. I can see her right there mashing potatoes.

A big pot of lentil soup bubbles on the stove, the Noreaster is finally leaving us, and good riddance. Homemade soup is so good on a raw day, but I think I'd rather have Helen's mashed potatoes. They had lumps in them and we liked them that way.

November Noreaster

Welcome to beautiful downtown Portsmouth, where the waves of the Elizabeth River break right over the street!

Our beloved Flagship restaurant is flooded, our friend Jason lost both his personal vehicle AND his squad car, our friend MarthaAnn had to be evacuated by the fire department and our friends Neil and Nancy had water from Scotts Creek flooding into their winterized porch.

We are thanking God. Our basement is slightly flooded, but Bruce is busy pumping the water out before he heads out for Norfolk Naval Base on a two-hour delay. We are okay, but really glad we took down some problem trees in our yard five years ago and had a new roof put on three years ago. You're mighty grateful for those kinds of painful financial decisions at a time like this. We haven't lost power, gas, or the cable for our TV and Internet.

So the storm rages on outside, the wind howls, the rain pelts the windows. Inside, an old black lab is curled up on a blanket nearby with her stuffed bear, the coffee is brewing, and pita pockets with scrambled eggs inside are waiting.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. Matthew 7:24