Turn the page Tuesday/ The Light at the End of the World

                2013 starts off the with turn the page Tuesday.
         I just finished "The Light at the End of the World" by Lorraine Dopson. I picked this book up at a thrift shop and it has been sitting on my shelf for quiet awhile. Looking at the back I realized the author a counselor, artist and writer lives in Bismark approximately 100 miles south of our farm. Perhaps I will meet her someday? This is a fascinating book and one of the best I have ever read.

"We danced in the night until we became the night, our feet kicking up stars"
 Thistle's words could have been spoken by any of those around her, the people of the Mother, a peaceful folk roaming Europe's windswept plains. For this is the time of the Great Mother, a primal period in which humans experience themselves as part of a group, not as separate beings. But around 10,000 B.C., some among them sense a warning of change.

Through no more than a child, Thistle ponders her elders words and ways. Puzzling images soon come to her as well, forcing her to set out on a journey for the truth. Her path takes her to to the camp of the Arn, yellow haired giants with eyes like the sea, then leads her through loss and loneliness to the terrifying realization that will change her life forever.

 The Light at the End of the World is not only Thistle's story. It is the tale of all who lived at the end of the last Ice Age, an era remembered in myth as the time "when sky made war on earth" taking our ancestors to the threshold of catastrophe. And perhaps it is our story as well. In the turbulent decades that await us, our challenges are the same: to align ourselves with love rather than fear and to remember that everywhere we walk is sacred ground.

To find more good books go to Some of a Kind

Happy Reading!





Be inspired

 

  I took down the Christmas decorations and did a bit of redecorating. The fire place mantel was looking a bit drab, so I redistributed the decor that had been sitting above the fireplace and searched high and low for just the right pieces to accessorize our mantel. I think it looks much brighter and cheerier now.

 Out with the old and in with the new.

 

 on another note I've come up with my 2013 new years resolution. To be inspired and enjoy the good things life has to give. I want to surround myself with things that inspire me. Good music, pleasant scents, the wind blowing through my hair, watching the dogs, the sound of birds, gazing at the sky, skiing, skating and hiking, going out on the boat, an ice cold beer, ice tea, good memories, good books and there is so much more......

 

What inspires you?

Quiet Christmas Day

A blanket of snow covered the land.

The temperature was 15 below.

The people had no place they had to go.

Gathering under the Christmas tree

they opened the presents from you and me.

The people feasted on ham, potatoes & corn.

They ate until they could hold no more.

Summer June berries made into a pie

was a delicious dessert

so good you would sigh.

Some of the people went out to play.

Then they all settled into the cozy cabin in the woods

and rested up for another day.

Santa Claus is coming to town

 

There is a tradition in the small town of Elgin Oregon

where I grew up. Santa comes in his bright red fire truck and brings bags of treats to every child in town. He stops at every house and bursts through the door with a jolly "Ho, Ho, Ho" handing out bags full of candy, peanuts and an orange.

 

              We always spent this special evening with Grandma Simmons when we where children.

 

                The tradition still continues to this day.

Turn The Page Tuesday- Beading Artistry

 
It's not a novel that has been holding my attention lately but a craft book. Beading Artistry for Quilts has three of my favorite things going for it. Beads, art & quilting. This book has beautiful pieces made by Thom Atkins. It has inspired me to start several projects.

This was an embroidery piece I picked up at a thrift store that I turned into a wall hanging embellished with beads.

 

Here is the next project I am working on.

 

This book has great ideas to bring your quilts to life. In fact I think I'm going to have to join "Quilters Anonymous"

 

 For more great books go to

Some Of a Kind

 

 



First Winter Storm

We have become a winter wonderland.

Snow and ice has covered every surface of our world.

Sourri the guard dog is on duty ensuring no abonimal snowmen wander in to cause harm to us.

 

Penny doesn't venture far from the house.

She prefers to stay in by the crackling warm fire.





Mom's note book

I have been going through a box sent home with me from my Dad and came across a note book with some of Moms writings in it. I would like to share her writing with you.

This was written October,12th, 1997 after moving to California.

        The coyotes are howling in the early morning darkness and setting the neighborhood dogs to barking. It reminds me of the years spent in my beloved Blue Mountains of northern eastern Oregon. Oh how I miss our 48 acres of tall pines and whispering aspen and rocks. Especially in the fall when I could walk through the falling leaves of the aspen and smell the fragrant smell of the pines.

 We live on the edge of a neighborhood now about three miles out of the city limits with open fields just beyond the neighbors house across the street. The cattle roam these fields and so do the coyotes. When I hear them it takes me back home to our place in Oregon that was 13 miles from the nearest town. We could hear the coyotes howl, elk bugling in the fall and occasionally the scream of a mountain lion. In summer the little sounds of fox and raccoons as they cross our place on their way to the pond and always the pines whispering in the breezes. Oh how I miss this place.
                                             
                                              Written by Janice Sannar