garden shed

My garden is a pleasant place

Of moon glory and wind grace.

O friend, wherever you may be,

Will you not come to visit me?

Over fields and streams and hills,

I'll pipe like yellow daffodils,

And every little wind that blows

Shall take my message as it goes.

A heart may travel very far

To come where its desires are,

Oh, may some power touch my ear,

And grant me grace, and make you hear!

- excerpt from My Garden is a Pleasant Place, by Louise Driscoll

My garden is a pleasant place, as is the garden shed my hubby has worked so hard on. We had a very old garage on our property that we were tearing down, and as we were doing so we found the roof to be made from old saplings (the shed was probably over 100 years old). We decided to keep this piece of history and turn it into my garden shed. It is a working shed, but also a peaceful retreat. I have decorated it with the burlap bags I collect, as well as old tools. I "repurpose" things quite often, using old freezer baskets as places to store chemicals. The shelves also are very old, probably used when there was an old general store run out of our house - also 100 years ago. The hutch was a piece my mom found....not a 100 years ago....and it is perfect. My dad restored the old barn light on the outside. Inside, there are little bits of me, my family, and now my kids. So fun! I made my own light fixtures out of clay pots (I will do a post on that another time).

Corner of my workbench

a local seed bag

letterholder for seedpackets



my bottle collection

the tools and hutch...and a good place for a nap

the shelves live on

my light fixture

the sapling roof we found (used white to accent)

Not quite finished, but sure fun already



upcycled feed sack

I have collected old feed sacks for awhile now and am looking for creative ways to "upcycle" them into things that are beautiful and useful. For this BEMIS A Extra Heavy SEAMLESS, I decided to make a weekender bag that can hold a lot of clothes and still keep the art of the sack. I used canvas material to compliment the feed sack material on the exterior. For the inside, I used the canvas on the top edge, then finished with blue jean material. I made a row of pockets along one side, and a hidden pocket on the other (with a bright pink zipper). Also inside is a clasp on a fob to hold keys. For the strap I used an old belt - it had a neat look to it and is adjustable. For the top closure I made a small strap with a d-ring to loop the strap through.



BEMIS A EXTRA HEAVY SEAMLESS weekender bag

in color

top closure

roomy inside, key holder, and side pockets

hidden pocket with bright pink zipper (I unzipped it a little)

the belt used as the strap

update to an old classic

I like to look for old patterns when I am antiquing or garage-saling. Sometimes I actually find patterns that have never been used, in my size, and a cute style.....so when I find them I get excited. This particular pattern I found last year: it is a vintage Simplicity pattern 4209. The fabric I used came from Jeremy's family; it actually is suiting material with light brown stripes. I contrasted with a silky tan fabric for the sash and bow. The wide sash was my addition as well. The pattern did not exactly match the picture on the front, and you would need to have a size 12 waist for it to pouf the way it shows in the picture. The way the dress turned out is actually more practical for me. The dress is tea length with a zipper closure on the back.

Side view

Back view with zipper and sash

Draped neck and rosette pin

Simplicity pattern 4209

in all circumstances

I wanted to name this post "Murphy's Law", but the Lord quickly spoke to my heart and reminded me of his words to "give thanks in all circumstances." Some of the crazy things that have happened this week are down right laughable, others not.

The freezer. We came home tonight to unload groceries only to find our deep freezer was completely thawed....apparently our breaker was malfunctioning or it was hit by lightening. As I was pitching our meat and emptying freezer boxes full of food into the dumpster, I was wondering the good. "Give thanks," he said, "and be grateful." So I began.

• I dumped the applesauce: my sister-in-law had so graciously made it for us last summer when I was pregnant.
• I dumped the fish: Jeremy and my brother had caught some when we were in North Carolina last.
• I dumped the whipped topping: our friend Foster had given us some great varieties from his work. I kept the tiny milk jugs for my daughter to use with her play kitchen, thanks again to Foster.
• I dumped my freezer jam: remembering some family meals with Jeremy's family where they always served homemade jam.
• I dumped the meat: the steaks, the roasts, the hamburger, and wishing I had shared more of it with my family and friends. This freezer should have been empty for other reasons.

Somewhere floating in the back of my mind were the words a friend spoke to me recently that she now cans most everything because she once lost a freezer full of food. (I don't remember who said that, but your words live on....take credit for them, please, whomever you are). There was good: I remembered so many things while emptying the freezer, and I give thanks for those memories, the kindness showed to us. We have been so blessed.

The heart. Thursday my Dad had a heart attack and was taken to the emergency room, then careflighted to a local heart hospital where they were able to put a stint in. Watching my Dad get packed into an ambulance (the pain very high for him even though he is so strong) and then seeing him with tubes everywhere was a jolt. He did maintain his sense of humor the whole time, joking with the EMT that he was allergic to hospitals and doctors. His poor nurses kept telling him he wasn't allowed to leave yet. While I was praying for my Dad, the Lord led me to read Psalm 112. Here is an excerpt: "Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands...They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes."  Tonight, I give thanks. My dad is home from the hospital! Thank you to so many for your faithful prayers.

Elauna's note to Papa

food for the soul

In the quiet of the morning, I was spending a little time to myself but knew that Frederick and Claire were both awake. I could hear Frederick trying to get his toy cars off the bed where he had been playing with them, saying, "Stuck, car is stuck." So I just reasoned that the other noise I heard was due to him finding creative ways of getting his cars. I listened. It sounded like wadded paper. That didn't make sense so I dismissed the idea. Again, like fine paper, tearing. That really didn't make sense. What was he doing? My ears hardly ever are wrong. Frederick was still talking about his cars, and this tearing sound was so delicate. I was thinking, "That really sounds like very fine paper being torn."

Then my heart about stopped. MY BIBLE!! I ran to the bed and sure enough, there was sweet little Claire ripping a page out of my Bible, then putting it in her mouth. She was so happy. She even looked up at me with those big, innocent eyes. I was mortified. I had left my Bible open to the passage in Timothy I had been reading last night before bed. I guess there is more reason than one reason to hide God's Word in your heart. 

still chewing on something

so sweet is little Claire

the offended page, no Scripture damaged

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you!