The Life of Mrs. Miles

METAL CLIPFRAME ELEMENT

download

Thanks to all of you for leaving me comments and encouragement while I was off visiting with our parents. It was a treat to check my email the few short times I did. Speaking of encouragement - my friend Kat lost her Grandmother over the weekend. Its not so far from my Grandma's loss that it all comes flooding back. Won't you find a few moments of your day to encourage Kat in her sad time? You can find her blog by clicking HERE.

Mom and Dad are headed home now - they truly enjoyed their visit, Mom even said it reminded her of the farm they ran when Miles was a boy. Our friends Roman and Bonnie invested some time into our folks, answering their questions on how the farm is run etc... and coming for coffee and a good chat. Thanks to you - you made our parents feel right at home! I know it gladdened their hearts to see that we are good friends too!

AMY W'S PROFILE PHOTO

We all know AMY! Now, for a profile photo - this tells us a great deal about you, Girl! Amy has used my hair and glasses elements to bring some fun to her photo... thanks for sharing Amy, you brought a smile to me. You can always request a 'do' of your own - the style and color to match your own special project... Make sure you slip over to Amy's Blog to pick up her free Memorial Day Kit which is also featured in her profile!

THESE CHIPMUNKS LIVE AT ROGER & MARIE'S PLACE..

I'm still making my way through the book on colour - yep, I've had to check it in and out a few times, but its worth the long read. I've made it up to yellow and and am currently learning all about saffron. It used to be that most saffron was grown in Spain, but nowadays Iran is the biggest producer. Iranian saffron is redder than Spanish saffron is purer and redder than Spanish. Saffron is the world's most expensive spice - being it takes so many to make plants to make any small amount of the actual spice. Saffron is grown from shallot-like bulbs called corms. The purple flower blooms in one day and then by the end of that day, is gone! The saffron is harvested from the middle of the flower (I think its like the stamen) It takes 170,000 flowers to make one kilo of saffron - and it has to be harvested by hand. Being so lucrative, saffron is often prey to being adulterated - so there are stringent testings done to assure quality before it ever reaches the consumer. One kilo of saffron sells for $700 usd - but it's not so expensive to use, as you only need a tiny bit! Besides being used as a spice, in the medevil days, it was used in manuscripts, as an inexpensive alternative to gold leaf.

After our folks left, I spent the entirety of yesterday 'trimming the trails' ... I've never done this 'pruning thing' before, so its all a bit daunting to me. However, after the first 800 yards I really got into the swing of things, and by the end of the day had most trails done... and it looks simply beautiful. Isn't it funny that sometimes things we would not have chosen to learn, which scare us a bit to learn, turn out to be empowering gifts? It was good for my soul to spend the day outdoors in the sun and wind, listening to nothing more than the wind in the trees and the birds singing. One bird in particular which kept me highly entertained, was the ever varying call of the 'cat bird'... does anyone know the proper name of this bird?

Have you ever discovered an empowering gift of your own - by having to jump in with both feet? I would love to know! I have to share this writing with you, which touched me after my day out-of-doors...

Brown butterflies in happy quiet rest

Upon the blooming ragwort's golden breast,

Giving unto the mind a sweet employ

That everything in nature meets with joy.

Ah sweet indeed! For trifles such as these

Full ofthen give my aching bosom ease,

When I am in little walks my mind employ

Aright - and feel those happy reveries

That nature in her varied lessons tend

To bring our thinkings to a happy end,

And in her varied moods for ever tries

To mkae us that great blessing comprehend,

That spreads around us in a fond caress

Emblems and moods of future happiness.

- by John Clare

Being outdoors puts me closer to God - away from the daily distractions... it centers me in a way nothing else can. Can I encourage you to find a quiet spot to enjoy today, too, some special place where you can appreciate the creation of God's hand?

PSALM 8

3. When I consider your heavens,

The work of your fingers,

The moon and the stars,

Which you have put in place.

4. What is man that you are mindful of him,

The sun of man that you care for him?

5. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honour.

6. You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

you put everything under his feet.

7. All the flocks and herds,

and beasts of the fields.

8. The birds of the air,

and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the sea.

9. Oh Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is your name in all the earth!

Today in History:

1453 - Constantinople falls to Turks (Signaled end of Middle Ages)

1660 - Charles II restored to English throne after Puritan Commonwealth

1721 - SC formally incorporated as a royal colony

1848 - Wisconsin becomes 30th state

1849 - A patent for lifting vessels was granted to Abraham Lincoln

1919 - Einstein's light-bending prediction is confirmed by Arthur Eddington

1951 - 1st North Pole flight in single engine plane - CF Blair

1953 - Edmund Hillary & Norgay of NZ become 1st to reach top of Mt Everest

BARB'S HANDY TIP # 268

Be Posted in Famous Museums...

Welcome to museumr. In just one minute, you will be famous, and your photographs will be displayed in halls all around the globe. Eternal fame is just around the corner!

DUMPR MUSEUM