Goodthoughts

Catching a Dream!

I've had a dream for almost 8 years of starting a ukulele band at our church.  I know it's a little crazy.  I get amused looks from friends when I talk about it.  They weren't exactly knocking at our door to sign up...until NOW!  You see there's always been one problem, I actually have no talent for singing or playing the ukulele.  Yeah, that's kind of important you might say.  

I love my friend Ruth.  She always has a smile on her face.  Ruth understood my dream.  She bought a ukulele of her own two years ago. Ruth was ready to join the band!  She even learned to play Swing Low Sweet Chariot.  But what we really needed was a leader.  Somebody who could play the ukulele like a pro...but most importantly...somebody who knew how to have a good time.

That person turned out to be under our nose all along.  She was Ruth's sister, Judy.  Judy is a guitar teacher in Roanoke.  I never dreamed she would consider coming all the way to Chatham to lead our band.  But one day I asked her... and low and behold...she said YES!!  She's perfect!  She's a talented teacher. She loves God.  And she has a huge notebook of old hymns and silly songs!

So, a couple of Sundays ago we had the very first practice of the Chatham Baptist Church Ukulele Band in our den.  We had 8 people come(Chuck's taking the picture)!  Judy taught us Rock-a-My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham and we laughed a lot as we tried to make our fingers land on the right spot!  Judy wants us to not just strum down like we're chopping wood. She she says we also need to strum up... so we'll sound more melodious.  

I'm having a problem on my upstroke.  I keep accidentally sticking my finger in the hole of my ukulele. Judy says I'm going to be trouble!!  You know, I think I'm really going to enjoy this ukulele band!!

 

Roses for Mother's Day

When I was a little girl everybody at church always wore a rose on Mother's Day.  A red rose meant your mother was living and a white rose showed she had passed away.  I remember going outside with Mama to pick a little red rose off the bush.  Mama would carefully pin the pretty red rose to my Sunday dress with a straight pin.  I was always glad that my rose was red.

This week our roses on the fence are in full bloom just in time for Mother's Day.  I'm fortunate to still have my sweet Mama alive and well.  She visited us for a couple of months in the late winter and Chuck and I really enjoyed having her smiling face with us.  

I'm thankful for the things my mom taught me as a child.  It was plain everyday living with a lot of laughing together and hugs.  Chocolate pudding and pie was a yummy thread in life's fabric, that gave us a reason to sit and talk with each other.  And I learned without being conscious of it, that life had a pattern to it.  That being kind and being yourself...and having fun and loving God were all part of the same thing...just the way life was lived.

I'm also thankful that Mama and I still have such a good time when we're together today.  And I notice the little ways she finds to be kind and loving to each person who crosses her path.  Of course, she still  has a little chocolate in the afternoon to sweeten the journey!!  Love you, Mama!  Happy Mother's Day!

 

 

 

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

 

So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.  

Proverbs 23:25

 

 

 

 

What is God like?

"Nana Banana" and the Falling Piano

 

This is a true story.  Well, more or less a true story.   I first told it to our grandson, Wesley, when he was about 4.  I called myself "Nana Banana" from the time Wesley was a baby because it always got me a big grin.  He asked to hear it again last month after we had just finished Thanksgiving dinner.  My mom, who is also in the story was also there.  Wesley's 12 1/2 now.

When "Nana Banana" was a very little girl Santa brought her a blue baby grand piano for Christmas.  It was about a foot long and stood on 3 very short legs.  "Nana Banana" loved playing her little piano with the black and white keys that really worked...until  one day when her Mama noticed a big nail sticking out the side. 

Being a good Mama, who didn't want her little child to be cut by a rusty nail, she carried the little blue piano up the folding stairs to the attic.  Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months until one morning "Nana Banana" remembered her blue piano. 

"Pl...eeeee....zzzzzz   get my piano down from the attic!" begged "Nana Banana."  "Pl....eeeeee......zzzzz, Mama!"

"Okay," said Mama, "but first I have to fix the rusty nail."

"Nana Banana" watched eagerly as Mama pulled down the folding stairs and climbed into the attic to retrieve the piano.  "Nana Banana" stood at the bottom of the stairs.  Her brown eyes big as saucers looked up in anticipation as Mama held the piano tightly with one hand and the stair rail with the other.

Just then Mama lost her grasp on the blue piano and she gasped in helpless horror at what was about to happen next.  Fortunately, for "Nana Banana," that's the last thing she remembered.  The blue piano tumbled quickly and quietly until it landed with a loud "kerthunk" on "Nana Banana"'s forehead...right between her eyes!!   Blood gushed from the jagged cut on "Nana Banana" 's head!  "Oh, no, I've killed her!" yelled Mama as she picked "Nana Banana" up and carried her to the bed.

A nurse lived next door and Mama called her for help.  The neighbor ran over to check out the situation and declared that "Nana Banana" would indeed survive and would not need to go to the hospital for stitches.  After a few minutes of resting on the bed with a cold washcloth, "Nana Banana" got up to smile and hug her relieved Mama and play a few songs on her little blue piano!   THE END

Well, almost the end. 

When I finished telling the story after our Thanksgiving dinner...my mom said quietly over her pecan pie, "Well, she wasn't exactly a nurse."

To which I  replied, "Well, what was she then?"  

"Well, she worked at a doctor's office." said Mama as she enjoyed her pie. Chuck and Wesley began to snicker quietly.

"So, exactly what did she do at the doctor's office," I asked.

"She was the receptionist...."

"The RECEPTIONIST?!!  You based my medical help on the advice of the receptionist?"

"Well, she had a lot of experience with medical situations." Mama said as she chewed her last bite of pie and smiled.

By then we were all laughing hysterically.

No wonder "Nana Banana" is still sporting an inch long scar between her eyes to this very day!!

A day of goodthoughts

 I had a wonderful birthday today...with my favorite garden buddy, sweetheart and best friend, Chuck! We had great food, lots of conversation and the sun was shining...yaaaay! I talked on the phone with our daughters and my mom....and had birthday wishes from lots of friends! All is well. Thank you, God!

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens.--James 1:17 Contemporary English Version

Visual storytelling

I love stories...don't you?  When it's all said and done...life is about stories.   Stories shape our lives...they form our identity.  Stories have the power to make us feel impoverished or empowered.  They tell us where we came from and where we're going.  They tell us who we are.  We all need a story...a story of hope...of dreams...of joy...of making a difference in our world each day.

Art has power to shape our stories in ways that inspire and give us courage to walk along our God given path with joy and purpose...unafraid of the obstacles along the way.  Why not tell those stories of our lives with pictures as well as words?  Instead of having photos and family momentos in the back of a drawer somewhere...wouldn't it be better to arrange them into a visual story told from your hearts point of view?  Which brings me to my collage...

I went back to Tennessee a few weeks ago to visit our daughter, Amy, son-in-law, Randy and grandson, Wesley.  Amy and Randy have a farm in the rolling hills south of Nashville.  They raise milk goats, chickens, ducks, cows and horses.  I took some pictures on the way to the goat barn one sunny fall morning. The old abandoned farmhouse behind their vegetable garden looked stunning against the bright morning sun.  The picture turned out so well, I wanted to use it as a centerpiece for a collage.

When Amy was about 6 years old, I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up.  She said, "A singer by day and a farmer by night!"  Chuck and I thought that was so funny.  We said, "Wouldn't it be better to be a farmer by day and a singer by night?"  She stuck with her first choice. 

Today, Amy sings every morning to her goats, Nannette, Georgette, Maisy, Polly and the new Billy Goat, Jean Paul.   At dusk, she and Randy round up the chickens and put them in their coop.  Singer by day...farmer by night.  It seems to be working out! 

The collage is just one thread of Amy's story...told from the heart. 

Don't worry, Laurie, your story's next!!

My collage was inspired by a magazine I bought last week called Somerset Digital Studio. It had some great ideas for digital collage with understandable instructions.  My collage was created in Photoshop CS3 and is made up of over 34 layers. I made several other versions but liked the above one best.  But, one of the best things I learned was about a website...obsidiandawn.com which has tons of free brushes and patterns you can download to use with Photoshop or Elements.   I could not have made this collage without the cool brushes and patterns from Obsidian Dawn.  Thanks, Stephanie, for sharing your talent with the rest of us!   Note to artists:  If you work in Photoshop you owe it to yourself to check out Obsidian Dawn!!  Here's just a sampling of some of the brushes I downloaded free!

The yellow moth takes a ride

  One day last month when granddaughters Vivian and Maggie were visiting,  we walked uptown to our new restaurant/ice cream shop called Chathamoocha.

It was a hot July day and Maggie, 5,  walked proudly in the shade of her new pink Princess umbrella she had just chosen at the dollar store.  Vivian, almost 9, being older and wiser decided to leave her giant bubble wand on our front porch.

Right before we got there...Vivian who loves all creatures great and small...saw a giant yellow moth lying on the pavement behind a parked car.  She bent down and gently picked it up...the moth was really beautiful but obviously in some physical distress.  We decided maybe he ran into the car as it was parking.

Vivian and Maggie naturally wanted to take him with us and nurse him back to health!  But since the taste of ice cream was dancing in their future...we put him back down where no one would be likely to hurt him while we ate.  They loved the strawberry and birthday cake ice cream as much as their cousin, Wesley, had the week before! 

Our yellow moth friend was still waiting for us when we started back home.  To our surprise,  he crawled from Vivian's hands to her t-shirt and hung on for the ride to Nana's front yard!  About  that time...Maggie realized there was only one moth and her pink princess  umbrella seemed to lose its charm!  So, with some compromises and a few shed tears we finally all arrive back home...safe...and smiling! 

  The moth seemed very happy to sit on their hands and shirts...I guess he knew he was among friends!  After a few minutes of picture taking,  we knew it was time to let him rest in the shady flower garden under the dogwood tree.

Vivian was gracious enough to give Maggie the privilege of setting the yellow moth in his new home!  We watched as Maggie gingerly placed him on a short pink zinnia...he seemed content.

We checked on him everynow and then until we had to leave the next day to take the girls back home.  He may have recovered from his injuries...I hope so. 

But, I'm wondering if he's the one who ate all the petals off

the yellow heliopsis in my front fence garden a few days later! 

But no matter...even if he did.  I'll happily trade the heliopsis petals for a chance to see... two tender-hearted  girls come to the rescue...of a big, yellow moth...who needed a little help from his friends!

Sweet Frankie's Cabin of Dreams

Hold on to your dreams...because they just might come true!  My friend Charlotte knows that from first hand experience. 

Charlotte is a kind, gentle person who loves her family and the simple things of life.  She's a lot like her mother...Sweet Frankie...who grew up on the farm in a little cabin...very rich in love.

Charlotte's dream has been to someday have a little log cabin of her own to relax and enjoy the quietness of the country.  Her husband, Jerry built a small room onto the back of their house and put in some ceiling beams and a woodstove to give it the feeling of a log cabin.  But Charlotte still dreamed of her cabin in the country to remind her of Sweet Frankie.

Last week Charlotte called and said, "I have my little cabin!"  I was so happy for her!  Her daughter, Cheryl had recently married and moved to a beautiful old home in the country with her husband.  The farm has several outbuildings and it turned out that one of them was a little log cabin that had been covered in wood siding many years ago.  They asked Charlotte if she would like to have the little cabin as her getaway from the world place....and that's how Charlotte saw her dream come true!

Since then, Charlotte and Jerry have been painting, washing windows, and turning an old vacant log cabin into Sweet Frankie's cabin of dreams.  Charlotte loves antiques and brought some of her collection to the cabin.  It's all finished now except for planting flowers outside.  

Yesterday, she invited me to go on a picnic at the cabin.  It was like being transported to another century.  It was a hot, humid day at my house in town so I dressed to stay cool but wondered if we might spend the day sweating and swatting mosquitoes.  I wasn't prepared for the wonders of the entire day!

The first thing I noticed when we got to the farm, which is way out in the country, was the temperature under the tall, tall walnut trees was at least 10 degrees cooler than it was at my house.  There was a breeze blowing...no humidity that I could feel...and no mosquitoes!!  But the best part was inside...

It was like stepping back to a simpler, quieter century!  Charlotte and Jerry had painted the old beadboard walls a sparkling white and decorated the cabin with treasures from the past.  The well insulated log and wood walls kept it cool inside.  The  large windows with their original wavy glass stood wide open letting in the breeze and the sound of the jar flies singing in the walnut trees.  Only 1 car drove down the gravel road the whole time we were there.  You couldn't help but relax and be thankful!

Charlotte had prepared lunch...delicious hoagie sandwiches and chips in little tin buckets that she had painted and decoupaged for her 3 girls when they were young.  Her ice cold homemade lemonade was already there waiting for us.  I must have had 6 glasses...it was so good!!  Dessert was chocolate brownies with rich chocolate fudge icing.  Yum!  But the best thing was the care and love that goes into everything Charlotte touches!

Charlotte's also an excellent writer.  She has a notebook filled with wonderful stories about her mom, Sweet Frankie, growing up on the farm.  Her writing reminds me of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her "Little House" books.  After lunch, Charlotte sat in her rocking chair and read several stories aloud to her youngest daughter, Jeri Leigh and me.  They were stories she wrote for her grandson, Mark, when he was younger about the nighttime antics of the scarecrow in their backyard garden.  With the help of a friendly fairy, the scarecrow was able to hop down from his pole and run around all over the neighborhood after everybody else had gone to bed!  It was a treat to be read to...like listening to ocean waves...relaxing and soothing.

This picture of Charlotte and her mom, Sweet Frankie, now sits on the mantle in the cabin.  It's a dear, tender picture of a young mother with her baby close to her face.  A rich legacy of love...passed from mother to child.  Charlotte continues to generously share her legacy of love and simplicity with everyone who's fortunate enough to know her.

Thank you, Charlotte, for the loving memories of yesterday at Sweet Frankie's Cabin of Dreams!

Simply making memories

Amy, our youngest daughter, and grandson, Wesley, came for a visit this week.  We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving...so we had some lost time to make up for!  

We decided to take the simple approach...playing games, dining at Chathamoocha, painting, moving furniture around, sitting on the porch,  laughing... lots of laughing...and creating some fresh memories to go with all those from years gone by.

Wesley worked on his painting for a few hours for 3 days.  He's always been a good artist...everything he draws is very energetic and happy.  This year he was painting characters from Yugio...very intent on his work! 

We found a vintage croquet set at Goodwill...just the thing to entertain grandkids!  Chuck and Wesley read the instructions on the internet and then went out to the backyard to put the wickets up.  After they practiced playing a few rounds...the guys challenged Amy and me to a game.  I hadn't played since I was a little girl visiting my grandparents!  It took us girls a while to develop our technique but we finally got the hang of it.  Grandaddy beat the rest of us!

 Here we are at Chathamoocha our cute little eatery in town.  We had a tasty lunch and then watched Wesley eat "birthday cake" ice cream.  He gave it 2 thumbs up!    Last night we played Uno and Scrabble till we were ready for bed.   Amy kept score in Scrabble and challenged our words...we had dictionary.com on Chuck's laptop to settle any disputes.  We all had a great time!

Amy and Wesley left this morning and are back in Tennessee.  I'm sure our son-in-law, Randy, was thrilled to see them.  He had been milking Amy's goats for her while she was gone! 

It was a simple week.  Amy called when they got home and said she asked Wesley what his favorite part of the week had been.  His answer was, "Everything!"  I think we all feel the same way.

The best Mama THEN...and NOW!

I've always loved this picture of Mama and me.  It was the summer before I turned 3.   I think this picture tells a lot about us. 

Skinny little Mama in her shorts and striped t-shirt...always ready to give and receive a little affection.  I've kind of got her in a head lock here...giving her a little kiss.  She didn't mind...she always had time for kisses.    Mama never gave big bear hugs though. Mama's a patter...she pats on everybody.  I'm a patter, too...got it from her I'm sure.

I'm standing there barefoot in my pajamas.  We have a lot of pictures of me standing in the yard in my pajamas.  Don't ask me why...must have been a lazy child. 

As I look at my naturally straight hair curling around my face...it makes me think of how Mama would roll my hair in little pincurls around my head at night.  I'd go to bed like that and the next morning...curly hair!   I loved it when she played with my hair and she enjoyed it just as much as I did.  It made me feel special...and also sleepy and ready for bed!  No wonder she liked to play with my hair!

There's a lone petunia that I almost cropped off the left side of the picture.  Mama loves flowers and we always had petunias and zinnias and other pretty things.  I have her to thank for my love for flowers...the best hobby anybody could ever have.

A lot of years have gone by since then.  Some things have changed...I don't wear my pajamas in the front yard anymore.  Mama and I live in different states now and don't see each other as often as we would like.  I do have to reach down a little bit to give her a kiss now.

But  the important things will never change.  We're still best friends.   We still pat on each other when we're together.   We talk and laugh on the phone and enjoy hearing each others stories....what flowers we're planting.  Mama makes me feel special...I hope I make her feel the same way. 

Thank you, Mama, for always being so sweet to me...then and now.  I always feel happy from being with you... whether it's in person or on the phone.  Your contagious laughter rings in my mind whenever I think of you.  Thank you for all the years of joy and love...and then there's also the chocolate pie...and chocolate pudding...and chocolate fudge!  Like I said...you're the best Mama THEN...and NOW!  I love you!  Happy Mother's Day!