MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I have not been on The Daisy Chain in a while...not since I was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in November. I am going for a second opinion after Christmas and I will have more to tell you all then.  Thank you for your prayers and loving wishes...~Jean

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

GRATITUDE

I thank you for these gifts, dear God,
Upon Thanksgiving Day --
For love and laughter and the faith
That bids me kneel and pray.

For life that lends me happiness,
And sleep that gives me rest;
These are the gifts that keep my heart
Serene within my breast.

Love, laughter, faith and life and sleep,
We cherish every one --
They carry us along the road
That leads from sun to sun.

~Margaret E. Sangster

VETERAN'S DAY - REMEMBER TO SAY "THANK YOU."

I know three things must always be
To keep a nation strong and free:
One is a hearthstone bright and dear
With busy, happy loved ones near;

One is a ready heart and hand
To love and serve and keep the land;

One is a worn and beaten way
To where the people go to pray.

So long as these are kept alive,
Nation and people will survive;
God, keep them always, everywhere --
The home, the heart, the place of prayer.
~Anon

Let us never forget the sacrifices of the many who gave their all and the men and women in uniform who are presently serving all over the world today, our thanks, our prayers and our love.

WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?

Below are some of the finished product of our knitting ministry at my church and where I am a "knitting beginner" - I have always wanted to learn to knit (I do know crochet) and this was the perfect opportunity for me to learn with some really experienced knitters. I love the red, white and blue of the scarves. As you can see these are "no-frills" scarves as they have no fringe. These are being made for the homeless at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.

This is our teacher Cheryl (seated) pulling yarn out of her bag to show Gladys some of the colors available for her project.

These are the experienced ladies who are amazing at whipping up hats and scarves!

I chose blue as the color choice of my first project. I made so many mistakes on this first scarf I'm embarrassed, but the scarf will keep someone very warm this winter! The small "round" in the center is my sample work - I worked on this one all August. Someone said you must always keep the first item you knit - so this is mine.

Here is the finished blue scarf - please don't judge me :)

The burgandy that I'm presently working on...

...and I even surprised myself with how this one turned out!

Then, of course, there are the drawing lessons I've been taking which has taken up a surprisingly large amount of time. I'll have a project to show later.

SOME FUN STUFF TO AMUSE

It is a rainy and blustery day here today and I wanted to bring a few smiles your way. I hope I have succeeded!A HEALTHY VOCABULARY:

Artery: The study of paintings.
Bacteria: The back door of a cafeteria.
Cesarean section: A neighborhoot in Rome.
Cauterize: Made eye contact with her.
Dilate: To live long.
Nitrates: Cheaper than day rates.
Node: Was aware of.
Outpatient: Someone who fainted.
Postoperative: Letter carrier.
Terminal illness: Getting sick at the airport.
Urine: Opposite of you're out.
Varicose: Nearby.
Vein: Conceited.
-Lifelines 1997


SAY THAT AGAIN?
Eight well-known quotations or phrases have been reworded below -- but the original meanings have been kept. Can you identify the originals? Answers: Scroll down.
Example: Unnoisy, like a small rodent. (Answer: Quiet as a mouse)

1. The papal region was not erected within the time span equal to one earthly axis revolution.

2. During the time that the feline is not in attendance, small squeaking creatures will frolic.

3. A pair of incorrects do not create a solitary non-left.

4. Those who seek handouts are not able to be those who opt.

5. Human attractiveness does not extend beyond the epidermal layer.

6. Numerous appendages contribute to easy labor.

7. Continuous labor with an absence of recreation makes young John a lifeless lad.

8. The pathway to the underworld is covered with wonderful purposes.

-Penny Press Means Puzzle Pleasure, Oct. 1993











Answers:
1. Rome wasn't built in a day.
2. When the cat's away the mice will play.
3. Two wrongs don't make a right.
4. Beggars can't be choosers.
5. Beauty is only skin deep.
6. Many hands make light work.
7. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.
8. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I hope this gives you a smile or two today. It is always good to be able to smile or laugh even when things are not always sunny! Have a great day.

THE VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD!

Woo Hoo! I been awarded The Versatile Blogger award by Lynn of Flea Market Lady. What an honor! Now I have to tell 7 things that you may not know about me:

1) I am putting together a "bucket list" of things I've always wanted to do or try.

2) I've always wanted to learn to knit and I've joined a knitting ministry at our church and we are going to be knitting hats and scarves for the homeless in Atlantic City. (Ha! maybe I can make one!)

3) I have always wanted (since high school) to learn to draw and I've now had the chance to take lessons at our Senior Center for free due to a grant given to seniors--nine lessons but it is a start!

4) I want to take a ride in a hot air balloon and a company that offers rides is located in a nearby city so the chances are looking better all the time that I might get to do this.

5) I want to para-sail one time over the beaches and waves of Ocean City. This one may be a bit tougher to achieve but I'll pursue it.

6) I love to write and hope to one day publish a book for my children and family of my days of growing up in the late 40's and early 50's.

7) I've just discovered that I have a new snack love! Who would have thought that pretzels with mayonnaise would be so delicious! Try it - I dare you! (grin!)

Now the rest of the idea is to give the award to 7 others. Since some of my blogger friends have "award free blogs" I won't be passing along this award. Please feel free to play along, however, and post the Versatile Blogger award on your blog! I'm linking up to Lynn at Flea Market Lady HERE.

OCTOBER

Golden leaves in an amber pool,

And rocks all warm in the sun,

Why should we fret that summer is gone,

When autumn has just begun?

October Ale

Esther C. Grayson

THREE? ALREADY??

Someone just turned three? Yes, my dear little granddaughter is now three! What a fun birthday she had with the other boys and girls at her birthday party. They helped her celebrate with these pretty cupcakes and many other goodies. Oh, and there were presents too! I wonder what could be in this big box? Daddy is helping me unwrap it...

Oh my, it is an in the house tent! How much fun is that? I can be inside here and no one can find me. I can't wait for Gramma to come play with me...

Gramma loves you and can't wait to come play with you Bebe, but tell me...wasn't it just yesterday that we met for the very first time??

SIMPLE PLEASURES

I would like to share my collection of shoes with you for my Simple Pleasure today. Some of them are from the "Just the Right Shoe" collection sold through Hallmark stores. The little book of "SHOES" just seemed appropriate for this collection! It shows shoes through the ages and is quite fascinating. Shown below are some of the shoes from my collection. How about a feather boa slipper?

...or a wedding shoe called "I Do?" Both are from the "Just the Right Shoe" assortment.

I love this pink strappy, romantic heel also from "Just the Right Shoe."

This is a rather bold looking shoe

Don't remember where I found this dark blue buckled shoe.

or this pink sparkly shoe.

White beaded - same as the blue beaded.

This one is a pink and white ceramic shoe labeled "made in Japan."

I am linking up with Dayle at a Collection of This and That for her Simple Pleasures party on Thursday. If you would like to join us go HERE.

NEEDED SOME PRETTIES TODAY!

Just adding a little brightness to my day. Cutting some of the last zinnias and wanted to get them on my blog today to enjoy before they are gone.

Close up of the pinks on my dining table. God's wonders never cease to amaze.

Here is a bouquet I put on my hall table to enjoy as I come inside. Love the deeper pink (magenta?) of these. I painted the sign at a Christian retreat last year.

Don't you just love the orange color of these (there were only two orange flowers this time amid all the pinks). These are on the table that is at the bottom of my stairs and the first thing I see when I come downstairs in the morning. I thought myself so clever to get this double image in the mirror (smile). I hope your day is full of color and smiles too.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 (NIV)

NEVER FORGET - SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

SIMPLE PLEASURES

After a particularly hot summer it was nice to be at America's Keswick again. I'm using pictures from last year (June, 2010) as my camera is not working properly so I didn't have it with me this time. These pictures were taken early in the season last year. This year we were there the last week of August and Irene had just come through a few days before and left us running on generators to provide some electric. There was very little damage although a tree had fallen on a transformer on the property and it took two days for the electric company to restore electric. God provides however, and the days and nights were so cool and delightful we didn't need any A/C!

I caught a picture of this robin early in the day last year.

A lovely spot to sit and read or just relax. Love this swing down near the lake.

One of our favorite things to do is check out the thrift shop. I scored some really nice yarn at 50 cents a skein!

Our stay was much too short as usual and we are looking forward to next year's "Young at Heart" retreat for seniors. I'm connecting with Dayle at A Collection of This and That for Simple Pleasures. If you would like to join the party go Here

AFTERMATH

This is just a tiny bit of the damage left behind by Hurricane Irene this past Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon. I looked out my kitchen window about 10:00pm on Saturday night and saw that my beautiful Bradford Pear had lived up to it's reputation and split almost in half. At that point in time, with the storm still raging, there was little I could do but wait until morning to assess the damage.

This huge branch fell onto my neighbor's driveway in the exact spot his wife's car had been parked until he, with a sudden "feeling" that he should move it, parked it in another neighbor's drivewayat the beginning of the storm. As it is, you can see it missed his pickup truck by mere inches! All this to say that I'll be busy with the cleanup and getting someone to come and take the rest of the tree down, so I won't be spending much time at the computer. I hope all who were in the path of Irene are okay and, like myself, only suffered minor damage.

SIMPLE PLEASURES

Here we are at the Wilbur Chocolate Co. museum in Lititz, PA during my visit to see my daughter Jillian and granddaughter Bebe. We decided we needed to keep busy during some of the hotter weather we'd been having this summer so off to Lititz and the chocolate museum. Below are some of the molds that were used for many years in the chocolate making process.

Here is the "cooking area" and some of the many pots, pans and implements used in the candy making business.

I think the best part of the museum was the gift shop where we perused the many different types of candy. Wilbur's is known for their Wilbur's Buds kind of a Hershey Kiss but more densely chocolate! HA!

Linking up with Dayle of A Collection of This and That for Simple Pleasures Thursday. If you would like to join our party goHERE.

GARDEN ROAD

In the fall of the year I was seven, I attended public school and Jude went off to Catholic school. I rode a bus to school every day to Kingman School the tiny, two room schoolhouse surrounded by a very large playground which, in turn, was surrounded by a cyclone fence.
In the first classroom was Mrs. Voglin's kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. In the classroom behind hers was Mrs. Curcio's 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes. We had moved to Garden Road in April of 1948 and I was in Mrs. Voglin's 2nd grade class finishing out the year that I had started in our old home town. Now, I was in 3rd grade and had graduated to Mrs. Curcio's classroom. In this classroom the 3rd grade was one row of desks, 4th grade was another row or row and a half and 5th grade was another row or rows. I belive there were 4 or 5 rows of desks with the teacher's desk at the front of the room. She would teach one class at a time and then assign seat work or reading to the class she had just finished and go on to the next class. It was very hard for me to get used to this as it was distracting to me to hear another class being taught. I was also intimidated by the "older kids."
I enjoyed books very much and was held enthralled by Mrs. Curcio's voice as she read aloud to us every afternoon. The books she chose were classics and I'm sure were chosen to appeal to all three grades. I so remember her reading Heidi, Tom Sawyer, Black Beauty and many others as well in the three years I was in her classes.
One time I was chosen to read the part of the narrator of a play we did for our parents, I don't remember much about the play except for a line in the narrative, "send not to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee." Perhaps part of a John Donne devotional poem? I can't say - I don't know.
Now this would never happen today, but I remember being dressed in a green and white crepe paper costume and standing in a corner on a box between two low bookcases. On each bookcase was a burning candle. I was standing in between them in a CREPE PAPER COSTUME! I remember someone remarking whether or not I should have been between two burning candles. I think in those days, teachers were pretty much left to their own devices and designs and I can only say that God was watching over me then as He watches over me now and I praise and thank Him for it.

SIMPLE PLEASURES

Linking with Dayle at A Collection of This and That for Simple Pleasures Thursday. To join the party go HERE. Thank you Dayle for hosting this fun meme.

Enjoying PB&J on rainbow bread at the Tomato Pie Cafe in Lititz, PA with Mommy and Gramma.

GARDEN ROAD

In the 1950's, most farms had a brooder house where chicks were raised until they were two months old. Since their chicken houses had long since fallen down, Jude's mom decided to use the brooder house to raise some Rhode Island Reds as she was very fond of brown shelled eggs. She had it on good authority that brown shelled eggs were better for you than white ones. A portion of the large, square building was sectioned off and she began raising the chickens for their eggs.

One day, Jude and I were playing in the feed room of the brooder house. The feed room was connected to the brooder house and in it were the feedbags of corn and mash, the staples of the chickens' diet. We had found an old pot and decided we would make some "food" for our play dinner. On that particular day, for whatever reason, just playing pretend was not good enough for us. We had to have some mash to put into the pot. When Jude came in carrying some eggs he had just gotten from the hens' nests, I said, "Jude isn't your Mom going to be mad that we're using her eggs for playing?" No, he didn't think she would mind at all. We cracked the eggs into the mash and mixed and mixed and we were haiving a great time. "Hey, doesn't this look just like a cake mix?" I asked. A cake mix that isn't cooked just isn't much of anything. I don't remember who thought of it first...but, Jude went outside and found some small twigs and dried grass. We placed them on the cement floor in the middle of the feedroom and got the matches that his mother kept on a shelf inside the door and started a small fire. I was sure the egg and mash mixture that looked so much like real cake batter would cook into a perfect "cake." Well, it didn't look much like a cake and, after awhile, we tired of the game. We carefully put out the fire, cleaned up the mess (as best we could for an 8 and 9 year old) and went home to our respective dinners.
As I was setting the table, we heard the wails of the fire trucks coming down Garden Road. Fire trucks on Garden Road? We never heard fire trucks on Garden Road. My father ran into the front yard to see where they were going. As he ran back into the house, he yelled, "They're turning into Jude's driveway!" In the back of my head I heard a distinct "ut oh." Dad ran to the back door and said, "There's smoke coming from the J's brooder house!" Yes, we had almost burned down the brooder house, feed room and Mrs. J's Rhode Island Reds.
Luckily, the black smoke could be seen a long way off and Jude's mom had called the fire department and saved the whole building from going up in flames. To say that my parents were upset and angry would be putting it mildly. I don't remember how I was punished that day but I am sure I was given a stern lecture if nothing else. However, Mrs. J. was a very special woman and didn't want us punished. She said the fact we were safe and nothing was destroyed except a few bags of chicken feed and the lesson learned that day was punishment enough.
We never did anything like that again. Although there was that one winter's day when we went hiking and were gone for hours without telling anyone and taking my sister Margie and little sister Gayle along. . .but that is a story for another day.

This is the sight that met us as we arrived at the newly opened Turkey Hill (ice cream) Experience. What fun as we viewed this giant cow and "half gallon" of ice cream outside the doors. We saw how the operation was started many years ago and the old tools that were used back in the day. On our journey through the experiene we came upon the dairy truck that delivers the delicious ice cream.

Well, what could we do but "drive" it!

And, oh my, we got to have a free sample, too. I had some sort of cherry that was creamier than any that I've had before...I made a mental note to find this one and buy it next time I'm in the food store. I think I will remember the name of it when I see it. HA!

Time to find a comfy seat and eat our ice cream. Bebe had vanilla and my daughter had a mixture of chocolate, peanut butter and fudge. YUM!

We had a good time seeing all the ways ice cream is mixed and flavored, the old tools and fixtures, reading about the start of it all a hundred years ago and even playing in the "ball room!"

What better way to spend an afternoon?

Joining Dayle of A Collection of This and That who hosts a Simple Pleasures party every Thursday. You can find lots more ideas for Simple Pleasures HERE.

HIATUS

A brief hiatus is much needed by me right now during the dog days of August. There are some things I really need to think about and attend to so I'll be back in a few days to share more blog musings, ideas and other, I think, interesting things with you.

SIMPLE PLEASURES

My Simple Pleasure this week as part of our hostess Dayle's Simple Pleasures party is "The fruit of my Labors." Please join us as we share what little things in life help us slow down and enjoy life's Simple Pleasures at A Collection of This and That. Below - tomatoes, zinnias, hydrangea and celosia all blooming. Zinnias in full bloom and I'm cutting them for surprise bouquets for friends!

Tomatoes are starting to come on strong...so nice to see these in the garden!

...and I decided to put my collection of handmade and homemade bird houses out to enjoy. However, I'm not the only one who enjoys them...I noticed bees living in the tall white one!