A Basket of Pansies and Bullets!

I've been crocheting again. I had put it aside for a few weeks to work on some counted cross stitch, but my crochet hook and I just can't be separated for very long! I decided to finish up a project that I started about the time I started homeschooling my two boys. Okay, so it was 9 years ago. Who's counting?!! The important thing is, I'm almost done with it now! Here's a picture of the basket of lovely colored pansies
There's 41 of those little pansies in that basket. I only need 40, but wasn't thrilled about one of them I had all ready done, so decided to make another one to replace that poor looking little thing.

Here's a picture of the afghan itself waiting for the pansies to be put on. You crochet the pansies on, so there's no sewing involved. The border is actually crocheted around the pansies with very lacy looking stitches.

It's so nice to finish up something that has been sitting around for so long. I'll post a picture of the finished project.

On another note. We wondered what had happened with the house behind us. The windows were all boarded up and the lights blazing night and day for a few nights in a row. My hubby thought maybe they were repossessing the house and he wanted to find out. So tonight, we drove over there and instead of seeing a repossession sign, we saw crime scene tape and official notes on the doors saying "Stay Out". We were very surprised, but not as surprised as when we got home and I looked it up on the internet in our local paper. It seems that there was a man shooting up the neighborhood from the windows and then he moved to the roof and began shooting! When the police arrived, they got the man down from the roof, but there was 4 other people in the house. One woman and three men. The woman gave herself up right away, but the men wouldn't. So after a 3 hour standoff, the police threw a non-lethal gas into the house to get them out. They found more weapons in the house!! The newspaper said if your home was damaged from the bullets to let them know.

Okay - I had no idea I should be looking for bullet holes in my home, let alone my cars and trailer! Tomorrow, we go on a bullet hole hunting expedition around here! I told my boys about it and I asked them if they had heard anything. They said, "Yeah, but we thought it was fire crackers." Oh my. I said, "If you hear anything that sounds like gun fire or firecrackers again, please come and tell your Dad and me, okay?" My youngest said, "Well, I asked my brother if he heard that gun fire, but he thought I was crazy and said it was fireworks." *sigh*

When we moved out here, we had NO ONE around us. We live on 10 acres and the land behind us was state land. We didn't realize they would sell that off and create a housing development. It's a nice development, but there have been very wild parties at that house - I mean, all night parties - with the speaker blaring and so forth. I never, ever dreamed we would have to worry about someone trying to shoot us! It's getting too much like living in the big city around here. I'm just so thankful that no one in my family was hurt! I'm still in shock that this happened so close to us and we didn't even know it. We have a very loud air conditioning unit in our bedroom and that's probably why we didn't hear the gun fire. Normally, I would have been on high alert. If I see those people come back, believe me, I'll be more cautious!!

That's enough excitement for this post! Hope all is well in your corner of the world!

God bless you ~ Julie

Prayer Shawl

We had a wonderful Father's Day on Sunday. We didn't do a lot, but it was really nice and relaxing for my hubby. I fixed him his requested meal of Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes & Pan Gravy, Summer Squash and Turnips. We don't eat like that much anymore, so it was a real treat for him. I think he really enjoyed his day.

Here's a couple of pictures of the prayer shawl I finished not too long ago. It's just like the one I made my friend, but blue to match my jeans and I did the fringe differently. It's not all uniform - I made it different lengths.

It gives it a rather funky sort of look. Here's another picture of my shawl where you can see my kitty getting ready to make herself comfortable on it. The yarn is so soft, all the pets really like to lie on it!

If you enjoy crocheting, you'll find the pattern HERE. It's very quick and easy, but beautiful when you're done.

God bless you ~ Julie

Happy Father's Day to my honey!

Happy Father's Day to my dear, sweet husband. You are such a wonderful man and a great example of a godly man to our children. You truly show the love of God to us each and every day. You are his hands and feet. We are blessed.

You have loved me with a love incomparable on this earth. You have stood behind me and beside me and loved me and encouraged me through every turn in the road of our lives together. You've always encouraged my dreams and believed in me when no one else did. You always see the good in me even on those days I'm not so good.

Our boys are becoming such wonderful examples of men because of what they saw you do and say. They will be wonderful husbands to their wives because of what you've shown them and taught them.

Thank you, honey, for being who you are. I know that I can never really show you all the love and appreciation that I feel for you, but I'm going to try!!

Happy Father's Day! I love you!

Love, Julie

Bluegrass Concert

Here's some pictures from the concert my son did on Saturday with the "Old Time Fiddler's Society", along with his teacher and another of his students. Cody cracked us up because he said all the way to the concert, "I'm going to throw up." He didn't, thank goodness, but he still looks like a deer stuck in the headlights in this picture!

Cody received a scholarship from the "Old Time Fiddlers" and that has been such a blessing. He's learning more about the fiddle after playing the violin for about a year and a half. He's been playing the mandolin for years, now, and it's his favorite. This was quite a large group that played on Saturday. I couldn't get everyone in the picture, but you get the idea.

The little girl standing next to my son is only 10 years old, but plays like a pro! She is also a scholarship recipient.

Here's a picture of my son with his teacher playing a duet they put together, "Nobody knows you when you're down". Take a good look at that guitar Doug is playing. Amazing!

Here's Cody during one of his solo's. He's looking a lot more relaxed.



Here's Cody and Doug playing an old favorite, "Whiskey Before Breakfast". Don't you just love those Bluegrass song titles? (By the way, we do not recommend this. LOL)

And finally, here's the two guys - student and teacher - friend and friend - after the concert looking very happy with themselves. One of them actually looks relieved that it's over, too!

I actually did video tape the concert and am thinking of putting one of the songs on YouTube if I can figure out how. If I do, I'll let you know so you can go and see it!

God bless you ~ Julie

Back from Camping!

We just got back from a camping trip. We didn't go too far as my hubby had some business he had to take care of and this way we could still go, but he could still use his cell phone and take care of things that came up with his business. We only went about 15 miles from home, but it was in the mountains, it was cooler and we did get to go fishing. We didn't catch a thing, but it was still fun!

Here's something that totally was a shock! The last time I got a fishing license was in 2001. The license was $12.00 and the trout stamp was $8.00 for a total of $20.00. I remember at the time thinking that was just outrageous. LOL Well, was I in for a shock the other day when I went to WalMart to get my license. It was $23.50 and the trout stamp was $15.75 for a grand total of $39.25 On top of this, I had to buy my sons' fishing license and theirs was $26.50 EACH so that was $53.00!!! My hubby said we could have gone to the store and bought a boat load of trout for that kind of money. He's absolutely right, but then we wouldn't have the fun and relaxation of fishing. I LOVE to fish and am so glad I'll be doing it again after all these years. I had given it up for a long time because our lakes had gotten so bad they weren't stocking the lakes anymore. However, we've had some good rain the past couple of years and things are better this year, so we can go fishing again. Believe me, after paying that kind of money for our licenses, we are going to be going fishing a lot! We have a local lake here in town that they stock, so we can go fishing locally all the time. It will be fun, but I have to say, I'm still in shock over the cost of those licenses!!!

We also had to stick close to home because my youngest son had a "gig" playing his mandolin with his teacher and the Old Timers Fiddle Society at the local museum for Pioneer Days. He was really scared about doing it, but once he was on stage he was fine. He had several solos and even though they ended up playing for an hour (because of the encores!), he was able to follow along and play songs he had never played before. I taped the whole thing and I can't wait to see it! My hubby didn't realize what a great player he is (he hears him play around the house, but it's different when he's up on stage and playing with other people) and he got all emotional. It was really exciting seeing my son do something he loves so much. He and his teacher have a great relationship and really have a lot of fun together. He's really grown as a musician because of this teacher. That was a concert none of us will ever forget!

I learned something on this trip! Paper plates, cups and silverware are GOOD! I'm telling you, I spent 3/4 of the trip washing dishes and doing "housework"!! I'm not going to do that again. It just wore me out! I always try to be frugal, but in this case, if I'm not having a vacation with the rest of my family, something needs to change. I'm going to load up with paper goods next time and relax more with my family!!

We had such a great time, but there was a small downer on the trip. We took my mother-in-law with us and as I've said here many times, I just love her to death. However, she has real issues with God. Today I was sitting outside in the campsite reading my bible and drinking my coffee and she came over (from her camper) and saw me.

She stood there a minute and said, "The Jehovah's Witnesses come to my house and talk to Bill (her husband) all the time."

I said, "I know. I've told Bill that they don't have the Bible right and not to get involved with them."

She said, "Well they like to talk to him."

I said, "I know. They are trying to get him to join their organization."

She said, "Well, they look at me and don't say a word. I'm an atheist, you know."

I said, "I know, but I haven't given up the hope that you will come to the Lord."

"Forget it. I never will. We are born, we live, and die and that's it. There's nothing else after that", she said.

I told her, "For your sake, you better hope you're right!"

"I am," she declared!

She then walked off toward her camper, but turned to tell me, "We are just a higher form of animal!!"

"I totally disagree!!" I told her.

She disappeared inside her camper and I didn't see her for awhile. I continued to read my bible and drink my coffee. Pretty soon, she came over again and sat down. I could see her out of the corner of my eye watching me. She then said, "The bible is just a book written by men, you know. It was written by men to keep the women under control." I could see her staring at me out of the corner of my eye, waiting for me to say something. Dear friends, I didn't say a word. I felt she was just trying to start an argument. She stared at me a long time and then when I didn't say anything, she got up and stalked off to her camper again. *sigh* She has done this before. In fact, we stopped going camping with her about seven years ago because of stuff like this. We like to get up early and go out and sit by the camp fire and read our bible. The last time we went camping with her (before this - 7 years ago!) she got so angry that my hubby was reading his bible, she said some very, very hurtful things to him and it took him a long time to get over it. It's amazing how angry it makes her. She's a lovely person in every way but this. Her heart is so hardened against the Lord, that she becomes a totally different person when she sees us loving Him! She usually doesn't "take me on" like that, so I have to say I was rather shocked, but I told my hubby, I had to defend my faith the first time, but I wasn't going to get into an argument with someone that just wants to prove to me that I'm totally crackers for believing in Jesus Christ. He agreed. I just hope she doesn't do this again as it's very uncomfortable. I have tried in vain so many times to bring her to the Lord, but I don't think it will be us to brings her to the Lord. It's so hard to have family members that don't believe The Truth! We pray for her and her hubby every day that they would accept Jesus as their Savior. I do hope it happens!

It's back to reality tomorrow. We will get back to our homeschooling, our business and the housework again. I have to say, though, it's good to be home. I love getting away, but I also love coming home again.

God bless you ~ Julie