Saturday, April 28, 2012

A Nature Outing


 Dear Friends,

A happy weekend to you! We hope that it is a time of wonderful memory-making, as well as relaxation, for your family.

There are wonders all around us, if we take the time to seek them out.

Two days ago we decided to take an excursion to a nearby wildlife conservation area, to see what Mother Nature was up to. At first it seemed like nothing exciting was going to happen, but then we passed a pond full of bullfrogs, who screamed at us before leaping to safety. How could we help but laugh and wish we had our pond full of screaming frogs?


We loved seeing all the birds who were nesting in the area, and Evangeline wanted to camp overnight and wake up with a snuggly goose next to her!



 We saw beautiful waterlilies,


 A snake who had just swallowed his dinner. . .

A funny crayfish castle~
Our first hemlock in bloom (definitely NOT queen anne's lace!)~

 
  
Lots of pretty butterflies~

 Beautiful lakes and ponds~



 ~And mulberries!


We left feeling refreshed and ready to go back home and fill in a few pages in our nature journals.
 We'll be back soon when the elders are in bloom!

And lastly, we just had to make one more fun graphic. This one is for you, Jane!

Love,

Marqueta





Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Fun Graphics For You

Dear Friends,

Here are some more fun and/or silly graphics that we made for you. You may put them on your blog, or anywhere else you like. Have fun!






Love,

Marqueta

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Another Weed Walk Video

Dear Friends,

Due to overwhelming (ha!) requests, we've posted another video for you, to help learn a few uses for the plants that may be growing in your yard. This time AnnaMarie is with me, and she did really well for not being prepared!

We're enjoying perfectly sunny weather here today, not too hot, and not too cold, so we're going to have to get out and do some harvesting! We hope that this encourages you to do the same.

Love,

Marqueta

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Family Walk and Another Birthday

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for the nice comments about my plant walk video. Two things make us hold our breath more than anything else; publishing a book, and putting yourself on video! :)

The weather has been so nice lately, that we've been taking a walk each evening, after Mr. Graham comes home from work.
The irises are beginning to bloom, and we love how each color has a smell that matches the colors: white smells like vanilla, purple smells like grape, and yellow smells like banana/lemon!

The tulips are so pretty, too. These pink tulips make us miss our Angelique tulips we left in Idaho, minus the ruffles.
Frankie and his bear are wearing matching farmer duds,

And the little Button Nose has the best seat in the house!



The sun sets on another day of life, and as I celebrate another year of my own life, I ponder on what I am giving to this world, and am looking forward to all that this one holds!


Love,

Marqueta

Friday, April 13, 2012

My First Plant Walk Video

Dear Friends,

The girls and I had fun putting a little video together on YouTube (much easier than using using Google!) for you, teaching a few common wayside weeds, and what they're used for. You'll have to pause the playlist down under my blog banner first (You can watch the video on YouTube, also, if you want to avoid pausing the playlist!)~

I hope you enjoy it!

Love,

Marqueta

Sunday, April 8, 2012

A Blessed Easter to You

 Dear Friends,

We have been so very blessed by you, our friends, who gift us with beautiful things! We were surprised twice this past week with sweet, thoughtful presents from afar, including this German Easter cloth with chicks, and the handmade bunny banner in the photo below. Thank you so much, Evelyn and Devina!

 Thank you, too, all who come and visit us here in our humble little cottage. You make our lives a brighter place, although we may have never met face to face (That sounds like a poem!).


 This Eastertide, between the wonderings of "Whatever shall we wear?" and "Whatever shall we eat?"

 We hope that all of you have had a few moments of peace, to ponder upon the Great Sacrifice which makes earthly life more sweet, and eternal life possible for all who "Come Unto Me."

 Give thanks to the Lord above for the empty tomb, and all that it means to you today!



 Sometimes we're in such a hurry for the Savior to return and save us from the mess that we're all in, that we forget to thank Him for His presence all around us.

Truly He does give us to eat of the good things of the earth, and an abundant life if we choose to accept it.

May His sacrifice not have been in vain for us, the poor sinful creatures that we may be. Remember that He delights in those who delight in Him, and who humbly admit that they need His Light in moments of greatest dark.



A blessed Easter to you, dear friends, from all of us at Sweete Felicity!

Love,

Marqueta
***********************
"Long Barren"

Thou who didst hang upon a barren tree,
My God, for me;
Tho' I till now be barren, now at length,
Lord, give me strength
To bring forth fruit to Thee.

Thou who didst bear for me the crown of thorn,
Spitting and scorn;
Tho' I till now pave put forth thorns, yet now
Strengthen me Thou
That better fruit be borne.

Thou Rose of Sharon, Cedar of broad roots,
Vine of sweet fruits,
Thou Lily of the vale with fadeless leaf,
Of thousands Chief,
Feed Thou my feeble shoots.

~Christina Rosetti 


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Apple Blossom Time

Dear Friends,

According to our "Mother's Magazine" from 1914, the best way to add a beautiful perfume to your hair is to spend some quality time in an apple orchard. We thought we'd give it a go, since our tree is covered in beautiful blossoms right now, but since we don't quite have a whole orchard, we had to get right up close and personal with the bees, so we didn't stay there for too long (although we did see lots of interesting green ones)!

We've been enjoying a cool day in the 70s today, after a few days near 90; we even had a little rain shower that refreshed us all (the chickens were especially appreciative).

The warmer weather certainly provided lots of quality outdoor drying time for the laundry, which is something we always appreciate~

The yard is full of delightful edibles like wood sorrel~

And dandelions~

And clover~

There are also a few budding gardeners popping up here and there, who enjoy the meditative act of gardening with a hose.
For those of you who need some inspiration to get to your tasks today, we provide you with this cloud picture, which we thought was a good reminder from Someone in charge of such things~


We've made a couple videos of ourselves doing a weed walk in the yard, but Google won't let us post them (perhaps to save ourselves from embarrassment)~ ☺ We'll have to go out and make some better ones, and then try again (brace yourselves!).

Love and blessings to you,

Marqueta