Lost & Found

Here is my Bench Monday Post.
We were on our way to the farm to see the animals
as we spotted a little Garage Sale on the side of the road.
Of course we had to stop.
There on the ground was an old Raggedy Ann doll.
We just had to save her from being stuffed into a box and lost forever.
Poor dear.
She had no clothes, but was surely filled with love.
We took these photos the very day we got her.
In the meantime we have dressed her in a blue frock with daisy's on it.
She is quite happy here with us.

I once was lost but now am found.

An Old Fashioned Thankgiving

Our Thanksgiving day was splendidly quiet.
The sky was blue, the sun was out.
The wind blew slightly through the trees.

Yet, there was bustle going on in the
kitchen as dinner was being prepared.

There was time to make a hand turkey too!
Remember those in grade school?

The turkey was done by 3:00,
just as everything else was placed on the table.

We gave thanks to God for all our blessings
and for providing such a generous bounty.
We read scripture as we finished our feast.

Mr. Darling sat in the parlor and read a Thanksgiving devotion.
We then played a game and enjoyed the delectable
desserts that sweet Freckles prepared.

We talked about the first Thanksgiving and closed
with a short story, which Maestro kindly read aloud to the family.

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving
By Louisa May Alcott
(1832-1888)

We then watched the movie...
but much different than the story itself.
It was sweet anyhow.

By the end of the day...
We were stuffed and so was the Turkey!

I do hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving !
Now off to plan for Christmas!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

The table is set and your family is with you.
This is the time to be thankful.

Wishing you a blessed, bountiful Thanksgiving.

Waiting For Anything.....

Good Day! Here is my
Bench Monday
For the week. What is Bench Monday you ask?
It is a group on Flickr...
You take a picture of someone, anyone,
or yourself standing on a bench or whatever,

somewhere, anywhere, wherever...
That's it !!!
Have a wonderful day.
We are off to celebrate my
dear Mr. Darlings Birthday!!!

Tales From The Dollhouse

In her room she plays for hours...
dreaming up stories in her little doll house.
And so the tale begins....

Good day dear friends, do come in.
The house is busy this morning.
There is so much to do.

Smells of fresh baked goodies fill the air as little
Anne peeks in the kitchen, in hopes to steal a little taste of bread.

Her dog Sally hopes to find any morsels
that may have dropped on the floor.

The kitchen was already cleaned and tidy...

There were no crumbs to be found anywhere.
The table was set for a feast.
The dolls ate their fill and continued on to their chores.

Rebecca busily swept the
house from top to bottom.

while her sister played with
her playthings on the floor.

Later that afternoon the dolls played quietly in the house.

Rebecca played with her beloved Lucy doll.
She loved her so.

In the next room her baby brother
Jon quietly played with the kitten.
He was such a good baby.

Little Anne jumped on Rebecca's bed,
excited to see Lucy doll.
She wanted to play with her too.
Rebecca agreed, she could play
with her until it was time for bed.

The dolls had their supper early.
Rebecca held baby Jon in her arms
and comforted him with stories as she
rocked him back and forth,
back and forth in her rocker.
Baby Jon loved to be rocked.

Little Anne sang him lullabys while
Rebecca laid him in his carriage for the night.

Goodnight Anne.
Goodnight Baby Jon.
Sleep tight!

Rebecca quietly crept into her room and
knelt down to say her goodnight prayers.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take..

She climbed into her bed
to watch the sun go down.
This was her favorite time of the day.

She laid her head down on her
pillow holding her Lucy doll close.
With happy thoughts in her mind of a wonderful day.
Goodnight Rebecca.
Goodnight Lucy.
Sleep tight.

Autumn Evenings

If you have noticed through this season,
I have been taking pictures of this tree
and the changes it is going through.
The leaves are almost all off....
a sure sign of Winter ahead.
The day's have been warm yet,
as I have mentioned in past posts. Yet,
there is a friendly little chill in the evenings.
Enough to light the fireplace.

These are the kind of evenings perfect for quiet embroidery.
I am slowly making progress with this crewel
project I started earlier this Fall from
this post.(click)

Of course I have my little Mini Me right along side me doing a project.
Freckles just learned how to use a Knifty Knitter
and is in the progress of making an Autumn Cap.

I also finished a puzzle that my son & I started.
It feels so good to actually complete a project!

This scene is one of the sweetest reminders of Autumn.
It tickles me to the bone.

We are now preparing for our
Thanksgiving dinner for next week.
It has surely come too soon.
I am grateful to be able to spend the day with my little family.
I sure hope ya'll are having wonderful Autumn evenings
along with making your Thanksgiving plans.
Many blessings from my home to yours!

Nuts!

It's hard to believe that my beloved
most favorite Season is coming to a close!
Here in California the weather has been too
warm to even think of Fall let alone Winter coming.
These are truly the times I miss back home in Washington,
where there's still some sort of Seasonal change.
We have made the most of it though,
trying to build good character in our children
and giving them a sense of tradition.

I took the kids down to The Nut Farm
to get some Nuts of course!

We walked around the Farm a bit and fed the animals corn.
Freckles and this goat
( which she affectionately called Blackie)
had a special bond during their short time together.

And...this guy was starving for attention!

I caught Maestro coming out of the outhouse.
He is such a NUT !

With Thanksgiving coming upon us very quickly.
I ponder and absorb the things in which I am thankful for.
I must say, these are such things.
The times I have with my children.
It is precious.

"Lord,Help my children to live lives that are always
overflowing with thankfulness and always giving
thanks to God the Father for everything."

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph. 5:20

Rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in
the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Col. 2:7