Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Fleur Cottage on Face Book!

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Projects, health, recipes, thrift finds, gardening...
 simple, fun stuff!




Monday, July 23, 2012

Church Attendance

I found this church attendance sign at a yard sale on Saturday.

It's got a split down the center, missing pieces of wood to hold the words/numbers in and is generally a wonky piece. I could buy all of it for $5.00.
I really bought it for these...
Numbers!
Zero to nine!
Eight of each!

I nearly bought the numbers and left the sign there but figured that would be a tad on the stupid? silly? side.
I can think of uses for the numbers that include a hole puncher and raffia, ribbon or lace.
But the board itself?

What would you do with it?

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Old Porch Posts

Discarded wood porch posts are amazing additions to the outdoors! I was fortunate in having access to seven and a half free wooden posts that Mr D cut in half, giving me six halves to place around the yard. I love the look all of them!

These came from a local church that Mr D & co replaced with vinyl and I immediately claimed them. This was a project we both worked on.
This single half post came from son L when he replaced an old shop/garage with a new one. It's topped with an old wooden finial.
These came from Mr D's sister. They had an old, abandoned house on their property that got torn down.
I had a vision for them, though they were stored for several years before I figured it out! This one is topped by a de-electrified outdoor light.
 There are two of these along side a path in the back, topped by finials from old lamp pieces.
These run along the south side of the house and are topped with simple wooden balls I bought at HD and aged with time.

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Wooden posts are hollow in the inside center and part way up from the bottom.
 Hammer some kind of sturdy stake in the ground - this is part of a fiberglass fence post. Just place the post over whatever you're using. And no, it's not sturdy - it's for looks only!
For the finial, I used a small enough piece of board to fit inside the hollow post, drilled a hole in it and screwed the finial to it and plopped it in the post.
 It's easy enough to use them without a lot of effort. I've moved these around several times but believe they've 'found' their places now!

How have you recycled old wooden posts?


LINK PARTIES
Grace at Home
Cottage Garden
Time Travel Thursday

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Reunion Twenty-Twelve

Reunions are as summer as hot dogs and ball games! Mr D has one sibling, a sister who lives in southern Indiana. We have a reunion every two years and take turns hosting it. This year was our turn and all sixty-one of us spent Friday to Sunday evening together at our son Lin and Martha's house...thanks to both for doing the 'behind-the-scene' work. We had a MUCH NEEDED rain Friday night into Saturday forenoon, but nobody was complaining and were able to eat all of our meals outdoors except Saturday breakfast. Between our two families, we have have thirty-five grands! So yes, it was loud but fun!

Our week end in picture.
We spent a lot of time on their new deck - it was perfect!
We started Friday evening with a hot dog roast.
 Ty enjoying his marshmallow the best he can!
 ALL the food was delicious!
 We served Lapp Valley ice cream twice...Lapp Valley is a local farm that produces all their own milk to make their own ice cream - it's the BEST! Bryant, Ty and Curtis, our three year old grands, are loving it, too!
 Grandbaby Kyra spent a lot of time trying to pick up tiny leaves and put them in her mouth.
These roller skates were a big hit with the littles, so much so they 'shared' them!
 {yard games}
corn hole
 swinging
 boccie
The Three Musketeers played their own form of corn hole. These cousins became good buddies this week end.
Some of this was happening with various people at various times!
Saturday afternoon our two firemen sons brought the ladder truck to do a candy throw - such excitement for the kiddo's and yes, the adults as well!
 There were seven three year-olds - they hardly knew what to do with soo much candy!
 Loren waving from the top of the extended ladder after the candy throw.
 As we were wrapping that event up, a neighbour flew over with his para glider and threw more candy, creating more excitement for the littles.
Sunday afternoon was water balloon time. The adults had as much fun filling the balloons with water as the kids had throwing them!
 Lots of squeals from the girls and a 'go get 'em!' from the boys!
Sunday evening's meal was leftovers, hot dogs and mountain-pie time. It starting sprinkling so the men carried the canopy over to where the food table was.
Our weekend ended with another storm going through the area at dusk -
a nice farewell to a lovely week end!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

A Lovely Wedding

I was invited to do a preview of an outdoor wedding reception that was held in June.
Oh my, it was bee-you-ti-ful...
dreamy, dreamy stuff!

They had a yogurt bar (homemade yougurt made by the bride's mother!) for the appetizer and an outdoor lounge area to enjoy it.
The couch was a free sidewalk pickup without its feet but that wasn't hard to fix -
 wooden blocks did the job!
The pillows were made by the bride's sister.
Love the lace and chandelier!
The railing was taken down between two posts, framed with some old, lovely wood art and doors hung for the entrance into the reception under a tent.
Blue jars were hung at each fence post.
The bride used embroidery hoops to hang laces above their section of a long bridal table.
So love, love this idea!
Most of the flowers came from friends and the roadside - simple and gorgeous!
I love simple, creamy whites weddings!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Our Week in Retrospect

Mr D, after he was feeling better!
Never did Mr D and I think our week would be spent with he in the hospital and I putting everything on hold and spending each day there with him! When Doctors throw words around like 'bone marrow tests' and 'his platelets are low,' right away our minds went to the dreaded 'C' word - unspoken, at first, but there.

Mr D started feeling unwell the week before, mostly with no energy at all. We blamed some of that on the heat but when he started with extreme sweats, then shaking like a leaf with chills, we knew it was more than that and decided we'd go to our family Dr. first thing Monday morning. After a typical exam, we were sent to do some blood work and from there to the emergency room, where they did a lot more blood work, after which he was admitted to the hospital.

By now, we knew his platelets and white cell count were dangerously low and the medical were very puzzled why his blood looked like it did. Mr D did tell them of an occasional pain on his left side (about which I knew nothing of !) that he'd been feeling for several months. He had mentioned it to his doctor when he had a recent colonoscopy earlier but he passed it off as 'probable adhesions.'

Tuesday the doctors did a bone marrow test, and after a C-scan, took a sample out of  the 'pain in his side' and placed a tube in to drain it. The 'pain in his side' was the culprit of all of his not feeling well...the infection had depleted the white cell count and platelets to a dangerous level. He was put on intravenous antibiotic meds and Tuesday he had a platelet transfusion. By Thursday, with the infection under control, his platelet and white cell count went up quickly and he was feeling much better.

On the following Monday, they did another C-scan and the good news was there were no cancer cells in any of the tests, including the fluids that were being drained. The bad news was there is a golf-sized tumor that needs further attention. The doctor said the best way he could explain it was 'the inside of the tumor ran out of oxygen and it 'liquified' - hence the infection.

Mr D came home on Monday evening and is feeling well. There are no restrictions but he is learning to 'listen' to his body. We are thankful for our grandsons, who help to pick up the slack for him on the job! We jokingly called his eight-day stay at the hospital an 'expensive motel' but are very, very grateful for the wonderful  caring care he was given! The doctors explained things clearly so we could 'get it' and made the necessary contacts for us to start the second phase of this journey.

His room was on the eighth floor with a large window overlooking Lancaster City. I was scared to drive in the city but I learned a lot about city driving and where buildings and routes are located. I even drove into the hospital from church - a huge step for me! This was our view over the city for eight days.


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The first Monday was a long day for me. After I started hearing medical terms like 'bone marrow tests, depleted platelets, we're puzzled,' I started shutting down emotionally. I felt frozen a good part of the week. As the news started sounding better, I could feel myself beginning to thaw. Though I didn't want to, Mr D strongly encouraged me to go to church on Sunday. Lancaster City Children's choir was giving a program after Sunday School, so I snuck in the back and was planning on sneaking out again before the service was completed.

But something happened.

As I sat there, surrounded by strangers (there were a lot of guests there), I realized there was a piece of my heart still frozen. The messages of the songs began ministering to me and melting that hardness. I wept all the way through that hour of singing. No longer did I want to crawl in my little cave and close the door behind me. No longer did I want to hold my friends at arm's length. No longer did I have that small, hard core inside me. No longer did I need to be 'strong' or hold back the ever-threatening tears. I was FEELING again and it was FREEDOM!

My thanks to -
 our children who offered to come in & sit with me at anytime!
our 'out-of-state' children who faithfully called their father
 our local children who helped to pass the long hours of convalescence
for faithful friends and family who called, visited and cared!
to Elizabeth, who lives in the city and offered her home as a place of respite
to Delmar and Lauren, who showed Elizabeth and I around First Friday in the city
and last but definitely not the least...
your encouraging comment and prayers lifted up on our behalf!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Our Fourth of July

My nod to our Fourth!
Last week I bought flannel squares at Wal Mart, cut them in half,
then on a diagonal and hot glued them by folding around rope.
They're hanging in the back.

But our Fourth is not what we chose. Mr D is spending the week in the hospital, undergoing tests. Yesterday he needed a platelet transfusion and a bone marrow test. We won't know before tomorrow,
at the earliest, what the results will be.

Once again, we worship while we wait!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Fun Stuff Around The House

Our week end was very quiet as Mr D wasn't feeling well. I went to a few yard sales and the GW without buying anything spectacular. Several weeks ago, I found these shower curtain hooks at a yard sale and hung them on this de-electrified outdoor light. They make a lovely morning sparkle.
I happened to catch this in the Glory Hour light, where it looks lit from within but comes from the sun shinning in it.
 Another Glory Hour scene - this was set up for the garden tour and left for the summer.
I had a tea with a dear friend on our back porch.
Cut your roses and enjoy them in the house - it's Japanese beetle season!

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From our Sunday School Class:

What is Christian fellowship?
It's more than a pat on the back.
It's sharing our burdens and our blessings.
It's a willingness to enter into a heart that is hurting.
Often, it's time, time and more time!