Remembering St. Martin's Feast......

....was it really just a week ago?!

From this.....

......to this!

All just in the space of a few short weeks!

Can you see my hummingbird feeder still hanging up in the lilac bush above?

I was not ready!

But even with a windchill of about 9 degrees outside, we are managing to stay cozy.

Thank heaven for a good wood stove!

Inside-Out and Backwards.......

  

........this is how she gets herself ready to go outside.

:)

Happy Things.....

The view out my kitchen window, now that the old barn is gone.

Jars of ruby~red crab~apple jelly.

Big pots of soup, simmering away on the stove.

A fire screen for our fireplace. 

(~Now I can relax about keeping the little ones from getting burned on the stove! And I think it really adds an elegant touch to the area as well. I love it.)

Napping little people, snuggled up under quilts.

Boys who love to read.

Girls who "work together" to press leaves between sheets of wax paper

(~something I have fond memories of doing as a child),

......and then use them to decorate up the dining room table for their mother.

So very pretty!

What Begins With C?

This Little Lady's name for one.

And a few of her favorite things;

like coloring pictures... 

and calling in the other children (usually for dinner).

So cute! :)

On Courage

"Courage and a man's part, that is what I ask of thee; no room for fear and shrinking back, when the Lord thy God is at thy side wherever thou goest."

~Josue 1:9

Keeping Cozy

When the weather is blustery, and the rain comes,steady and cold.......

.........the best thing to do is stay indoors........

........and watch the colorful confetti come whirling down outside the windows........

Perhaps your children have picked ripe crab~apples from your little orchard; and it really is a perfect day to get the jelly started (which they have been pestering you about;) in between all the school lessons.......

........And in the evening there will be the soft glow of candles, and a fire.

It really doesn't get much cozier than that.