Close to Nature...

Many of you probably feed the hummingbirds during this time of year in this part of the country, but today I was able to get up close and personal with our hummingbirds with camera in hand.

One of the hummingbirds actually flew round and round me while I was filling up the feeder, I think he thought I was stealing his food! LOL!

This first little precious bird is very plainly colored, kind of taupe and off-white. This one seems really gentle, and actually ate while I was standing right there nearby - seemingly with little concern. You can see in the pic above that she is peeking around at me in between drinks just to keep an eye on what I might be up to...

Another drink, another peek out of the corner of her eye! LOL!

This second little bird is a bit more colorful, both in plumage and in personality. He doesn't like to share the food, and he was very concerned about my standing so close-by! I actually took some video with my camera and I wish I knew how to load it on here; if I figure it out I'll add it later. Anyway, I have footage of him zooming around the feeder, afraid to land because I was too close, and then he got brave and started dive-bombing me! I just knew I was going to get pecked in the head. The sound of a hummingbird zooming down and around your head is unique indeed! Anyway, he is not nice to the other little bird either. He runs her off , actually hit her once as he chased her while I was watching. Don't be deceived by his seemingly quiet and unassuming manner in the picture below! LOL!

This next picture is of him flying. It is a bit blurry, as he was moving REALLY fast! you can just see the blur of his wings. It amazes me how fast they can move!

And last, but certainly most obnoxious, is the nasty red wasp. I truly got a nature show while standing out by the little feeder. A red wasp would fly up while the birds were feeding at different times, and would chase the birds away. Then, another red wasp decided it was hungry, and tried to feed. Well, these critters apparently don't tolerate one another either - sharing is definitely not in the vocabulary. I cannot even describe it to you in a way that will really give you a true picture of what it looked like. One red wasp would fly at the other, and they don't mind hitting each other, then they would actually lock up like a couple of kids fighting - even a few times hitting the ground and rolling on the ground fighting. I cannot tell you how much it looked like people fighting - it was HILARIOUS! I was remaining very still during this whole event - as still as possible that is - with the occasional duck of the head. I finally stepped back a few feet because a couple of angry red wasps were not exactly something I wanted to come into contact with me accidentally! They would probably forget all about each other and start stinging me! Well, maybe not. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take anyway.

It was very upsetting to see the wasps chase off the birds, and very upsetting to see one bird chase away another bird, but that's how it is in nature I suppose. I'm just glad to have had my brief little glimpse today into the wild kingdom of rural America, and to have had a chance to get so close to some of God's creatures - although I have no desire to ever again see the red wasp any closer than I did today!

This One's For You Vols Fans!...

Here is my fourth purse, it's a University of Tennessee Volunteers purse. I'm so excited about this one, I'm a big fan, although I can't even come close to being as big a fan as my hubby!

This is all done in single crochet with Simply Soft yarn. I did the handle a little differently than I have been doing on the other purses, just for a change! I did the "T" with needlepoint. The liner is done in a Tennessee Vols printed flannel fabric.

Update...

I just wanted to update ya'll. I will be posting a new purse this evening. Sorry I haven't posted, I've just been really busy! So, I hope you'll come back and visit later on to see my newest project!

Happy Thursday everybody!

Take a Moment to Stop By...

I just read a really good post over at Pinkshoelady, and I would like to refer all of you over that way if you have a moment. Pamela has some really good wisdom that she shares on her site, and I think this is such a good post. Here is the link...

http://pinkshoelady.blogspot.com/2008/08/counterfeit-castles-and-fake-pearls.html

My Third Project...

Well, it is 3:41 a.m. and I have finally finished my third purse. I made really good progress and got the body of the purse done at the first of the week in one night. But, I was doing some different things with this one, so it took a bit longer than I had expected.

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I used a shell stitch for the body, which I had never done before. The handle was crocheted using two strands of yarn together, which I had also not done before in my purses.

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I decided to do a bit of decoration on the stitching, so that took a little while, but wasn't very hard. The flap for the purse needed to be angled (at least I wanted it to be!), so I had to learn how to do that, and my mom also showed me how to do the button loops in a different way than I had done before, which I liked much better, and stronger.

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I also got my first order for a purse yesterday. A lady asked me how much I was charging for the purses, and told me what color she would like, etc. Also, Misty suggested that I start a separate blog for my purses, so I will be putting that up shortly. I am deciding on a name and trying to get the details worked out before I put up the new site. This is SO exciting!!!

"It's a Slow Fade..."

I just wanted to share this very powerful song with all of you. Many of you may have heard it already, but for those of you who have not, please see/listen to the video on YouTube. It is called "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns. Even if you have heard the song, just take a minute if you can to read over the lyrics - very powerful! I have also added it to my playlist so you can hear it while you read! :0)

Here are the lyrics:

Slow Fade
By Casting Crowns

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

Chorus
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

Bridge
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Our choices truly affect other people, whether we realize it or not. Secret sins don't stay that way. We have to live a life of no compromise every day, knowing that our children are watching and following our every step.

My Second Project...

Here it is...

This is my second purse (if you missed the first one, please see my last craft post). I started it on Wednesday night, and got through with the purse and liner (used the Winnie the Pooh fabric again) by Thursday night. However, it has taken me the better part of the past three days to complete the rest - the two handles, fastener, button, and the two flowers on the bottom left-hand corner. This purse is just a little over twice the size of the last purse I did, and my mom has taught me some new stitches since I made the first one. My last purse was all done in single crochet, while this one was done with single and double crochet. I might be able to go faster with a pattern, but I'm just not quite ready for that yet! My mom sat down and showed me how to do the flowers, and I have made three so far - I really like them! This is a close-up of a the flowers and button (below).

Thank you, ladies, for your encouraging words about my last purse. Your craftiness has been a big factor in my yearning to learn to crochet. You are all inspiration to me and precious to my heart. And this does not just go for those of you who crochet or knit or sew, but to all of you who take care of your families with such zeal and love, and share bits of your wisdom online for the benefit of all. I love you all. Great BIG ((HUGS)) to all of you! You have blessed and enriched my life through your friendship across the miles.

Thank you, mom, for showing me through my whole life how to be a christian, a wife, a mom, and for setting an example of producing things like this with your own hands. You have helped to shape my personality and every aspect of my life. You are amazing, you are a rock - just a mountain of strength. I love you!

How Many Times Have We Circled This Mountain?

Do any of you struggle? Do you struggle with temptation? Do you struggle with old, bad habits? Do you struggle with negative thinking? Do you struggle against yourself constantly?

Well, I ought to have some pretty built up muscles, because it seems as if I struggle against myself quite a lot.

I was just sitting there today thinking about the fact that once we have victory over something, once we have resisted temptation, once we have broken an old habit, once we have kicked out all of that old negativity...why do we allow it to slip back in? Why do we have our old sinful nature, our bad attitude, our untamed tongues, pinned down in a tight hold - defeated, only to allow them to creep back up and get us in a choke-hold again?

Are we gluttons for punishment? Do we enjoy the constant struggle?

I don't. I really don't, and yet, as I said before - I continue to struggle.

Well, once again, I picked up my handy Joyce Meyer devotional calendar, where God had a word just for me today, and I hope that it will speak to your hearts too...

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"Tuesday, August 5...

The people of the nation of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for forty years, a journey that should only have taken eleven days. Why? We really shouldn't look at the Israelites with such astonishment, because most of us do the same thing as they did. We keep going around and around the same mountains instead of making progress. The result is, it takes us years to experience victory over something that could have and should have been dealt with quickly.

Deuteronomy 1:2 It is [only] eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan's border; yet Israel took forty years to get beyond it]."

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There have been so many times that I have looked at the story of the Israelites and wondered "How, after all of the amazing miracles that they had seen, could they ever doubt that God would deliver on his promises?"

And yet, today, I find myself again in the position of one of the Israelites. I find myself once again circling the same mountain one more time.

God has made us overcomers. He has given us victory over every single weapon Satan would use against us, and He has given us victory over our old sinful nature. We are a new creation and old things are passed away, so let's stop looking up at the mountain and walking in circles, and focus our eyes on what is ahead, moving forward through His strength, into His promised land.

I'm tired of circling the mountain - I'm moving on...
Thank you, Jesus.

My First REAL Project...

I am SOOOOOO excited!!!! I have not posted this week because I wanted to wait until I had my first project to post.


My mom had told me at the first of the week that I should try a different yarn, just to try something new and see what the different types of yarn are like. I also used a different hook. My mom had brought me a bag of some leftover yarn of hers, most of it was baby yarn. There was some HomeSpun yarn though, that was leftover from a project she had done for my son, so I tried it first. I thought this would give me a chance to use a bigger hook too (K). I found that I really did not care for that type of yarn much at first, it's not smooth, and I thought I would have a hard time with it. I actually ended up liking it pretty good.


I was just practicing with it, but I kept going until I had a pretty good sized square. I took a few minutes trying to figure out what I could do with it. I didn't just want to sit around crocheting for no reason...I wanted to MAKE something!!! So, it came to me as I looked at it; I would make a purse! Nothing fancy of course, but I knew exactly what I needed to do. I didn't have a pattern or anything, I just went by what I had in my head.



Well, I just finished it a little while ago, and here it is...

I had some material in my craft stuff that would go just perfect, I thought, with the yarn. It was an off-white fabric with Winnie the Pooh characters on it, very cute.

I found some really cute big buttons at Wal-Mart and made just a really basic loop fastener to go around the button. In retrospect, I think maybe I should have used a different color yarn for the loop, but I'll have to save that for another purse - I'm not changing this one now! The loop works fine and is easy to see in person, but I think it would have made it a little prettier to put a different color fastener on.

So, please let me know what you think! I certainly know it is far from perfect, but it is my first project and I'm so, so happy to have completed it. I have such a sense of accomplishment just from completing this purse! I already have more ideas for what I will be doing next.


Also, this purse is fairly small because the width was already set before I decided to even make a project. I definitely plan on making my next purse BIGGER!