Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Yesterday, Hub and I went for a ride to see wildflowers.  We went south on the Natchez Trace Parkway, then to Booneville, Mississippi, then home on Highway 72. The wildflowers were not hard to find; in fact, they were everywhere we looked.  I blogged about mayapple  here. Purple trillium and purple grape hyacinths. They are small, but smell so good! This butterfly found the wild phlox before I did. When I was a child, we called these wild Sweet Williams.  We always picked them and carried them home for bouquets.  Maybe that is why I am not bothered with allergies as much as some people are. We saw much more than wildflowers. . .

My beloved spake, and said unto me,  Rise up, my love, my fair one, and  come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is  over and gone;  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of  birds is come, and the voice of the  turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green  figs,  and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my  love, my fair one, and come away. ~Song of Solomon 2:10-13

My friend, Lee Carver, first gave me the idea of making something blue to show our support for law enforcement.  When I was packing up the Christmas decorations this year, I left the blue lights out and stored them in the pantry.  I kept looking for an old bird cage, but wasn't able to find one that I thought was suitable.  Last week, I was poking around on Pintrest, and found some "light balls".  They were made from the wire flower pots that have a straw lining for planting. I went searching in my potting shed (actually two shelves under the deck), knowing I had a couple of those pots back there.  I had bought them a while back, but didn't use them much.  They won't hold a lot of soil, and whatever was planted in them had to be watered every day in our hot Alabama summer.  Ain't nobody got time for that!  The pots were rusty, but a little silver paint helped them a lot.  Please don't be jealous of my painting table. Using some wire, Hub joine

Image from Wikipedia It would have been easy for her to do nothing. At six weeks old, she caught a cold that led to inflammation in her eyes.  A doctor prescribed mustard plasters for treatment.  The treatment permanently blinded her. When she was eight years old, she wrote: Oh what a happy soul I am, Although I cannot see; I am resolved that in this world Contented I will be. How many blessings I enjoy, That other people don't; To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot, and I won't." She later remarked: It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me. She also once said, "when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!"

Last Friday, I took a walk around the back yard, hoping to see some blooms.  There was nothing.  What a difference five days and some sunshine can make. Carolina jasmine on the corner of the front porch.  It has a couple of bird nests and lots of bees already. The pear trees seem to have blossomed out overnight. Old-fashioned bridal wreath. There is a white-out in my back yard. First azaleas.  I have some larger ones that are not blooming yet. Last year, our friend, Stephanie Brown, gave us a small Camilla bush.  There have been buds on it since December, and some of them are finally bloomed out. How beautiful is that?  Definitely worth the wait. Thanks again, Steph. Hopefully, there will be more photos to share later.

  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that  was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,  and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.   And every creature which is in heaven, and on the  earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the  sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto  him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb  for ever and ever. Revelation 5:12-13

We were in Decatur, Alabama, yesterday, and you know what that means! I mean, who can go to Decatur and not stop here? It was a little past normal 'lunch hour' but there were a lot of us enjoying some "Q". This is worth the trip. It took Hub a while to make up his mind, but he settled some on pulled pork. I had the loaded potato.  That is a regular sized dinner plate that it is on. You hungry yet? The restaurant is full of ribbons and trophies that have been won for their fabulous barbecue.  In my opinion, they were all well deserved.

If you read this missive regularly, you know that Jerry Brown and his art have a special place in my heart.  I wrote about his pottery  here,   here,  and  here .  Mr. Brown became ill early Thursday morning, and passed away late Friday.  Before his death, he insisted that the festival go on. Hub and I got to Hamilton about 11:30, and the Brown booth only had a few items left.  The people working there told us that the store was empty, and these shelves held the only items that were left of his work. I bought one last piece that Mr. Brown had signed, and stood in line a while to pay for it. Mr. Brown's work was always the highlight of the festival, but there were many more wonderful artists there. My friend, George Jones, Jr., with his fabulous handmade brooms. With Mr. Brown gone, I have to wonder about the future of this festival.  I really hope it continues.

O give thanks unto the  Lord ; call upon  his name: make known his deeds  among  the people. Psalm 105:1