FROM THE INN ON THE HILL

     So here we are and the day is most spent...but quick before the clock strikes.. and night turns to early middle-night... let me share my Thanks-givings with you. Let me begin this posting my introducing you to my old cabinet. This cabinet was built for service--not as a furniture     piece.    Built in fact several generations ago by an unnamed relative. It was made to hold canning jars~~~~what you say are canning jars? Well, if you are to young to know~ then you are of the generation that trusts Mr. Google to tell you that which you do not know.                         But please come back after your search or stay with me and I will in time be telling you enough of the info so you'll decode it yourself. Well, back to my introduction. This cabinet has been used by several generations. F...

Don't you just love fall~ with a crispness in the air~ ~and the ever changing colors? I am finding the older I become,the more about fall I enjoy. The creative side of my soul gets excited with all the endless possibilities that exist in the decor I can create. Take this little centerpiece that I created for my daughter . I found all the separate pieces on sale and couldn't help myself..... They are flame -less battery operated votive inside the glass holders-(kid friendly for sure)--there is even a vanilla fragrance-fake though it be. In my wanderings that day I ran upon a beautiful platter that had a quote painted in it's center. I was not only unfamiliar with this quote ~but it put into words something I've known some place deep within myself. However, I had never found the "right run on words" to express it quite the way this author had. What it said would soon stir that place in me, that "ah ha moment" when thought found expression but from an...

Shadows....... One August evening... On our drive home... We were chasing shadows....... I'm not sure when it all started for me, might be that it's always been this way...seems familiar yet not.....like something new to me yet not.....following me? You say not? Well, let me try to explain what I'm trying to say and not very well at that...with me now? Not sure when I first became :taken: with the afternoon shadows, especially fall shadows. You know how they look.....lower than summer shadows...earlier than the summer shadows -in the late afternoon they are. Perhaps it's that they are quietly speaking "day's most done" or "evenings come".....perhaps it's that they.....beckon "take note" day's most spent. With their beauty, these casting shadows,they invite me to notice..to marvel..to enjoy..to exam and reflect upon how have I spent these hours --since casting shadows last did beckoned me to notice. Is often that I find myself ch...

I just love bringing fresh flowers from my gardens in to brighten my home.....tonight was one of those times. Problem is: then it's not well enough that they grace my table ..... But I want to capture their beauty.....because winter will be here before I am fully prepared to.... to say good bye to sweet summer and............. loose my grip on fall. These photos will cheer my soul long after the pedals fade and drop away. The joys that come with living where there are 4 seasons within one calendar year..makes for variety and anticipation......for with the change comes yet other opportunities to find new joys in the season --no matter the season. As we leave summer behind and tumble into fall--there will be many great views from the Inn on the hill......the hills will be ablaze with color........ Please plan to return and enjoy with me the view from the Inn on the hill.

Today I took a much needed break and spent some well earned time on the patio. The sky was truly this blue and glorious..... I couldn't help myself...I took many photos of this ever changing panorama! This was one of my random shots......from my spot there on the patio. White arbors feed my soul.....it's just there my white arbor...serving one purpose and one purpose only...and that is to nourish my soul. So enjoy these photo's from the patio and nourish some place deep in your soul today. I'm getting better at"just being".....just "carefully wasting time".....especially on a day such as this.....alone with the beauty that surrounds this place..alone with my thoughts, my reflections, my plans, my pondering ...... How about you my friend? Can you as well, enjoy a break such as I took today and be alone with just yourself and enjoy the calm, the quiet, the peace and the pace of doing nothing at all? Just perhaps I will share more of my p...

Could you tell that I dropped you off the last cliff? I was distracted (comes easily for me) and hit my ever-so-sensitive mouse pad and off went the unfinished post!!!!! So I'll be right back from this distraction as soon as possible...................

                           WORDS ARE GIFTS!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok...I just heard someone say " Well, they can be but....." We will get to that "but" later...for now let's look at the "gift of words". Can you recall a recent time when you felt that someone gave you a gift in the form of words? And in fact it was a greater gift than any birthday or Christmas gift you have ever received!!!!!!!! If so then perhaps it sounded something like this; " That was a great job you did on your  last project"!  You should be proud of yourself!!!! I see you have great potential!                                  OR "You have your priorities in order -I commend you for that"! If this or something of it's nature was said to you what might these "gifted words" do for your soul? Not hard to get in touch with that " good feeling" right?  We all desi...

" DO WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART SING" So when you read this statement what is the first thing that comes to mind? I purchased a sign many years ago with that thought provoking little statement ...it's meaning touched a deep place within me. At the time I could have given you a list to include many things that made my heart sing. I can still remember how I felt when I spotted this sign in one of my "favorite gift shops". I knew I had to own it! I know you know exactly what I mean...be honest :-0) Ok then, perhaps not a sign like this- but something of equal "heart stirring" significance! I bought it, and I brought it home with me---no second guessing on this purchase......no squirming because of the price or of the color or because it was neither too large or too small--- nope....just a "typical heart stirring" impulsive purchase..... that day there in my favorite shop. It took me longer to decide where and how I would display it.. What room and o...

It was a great night for all of us with cameras!!! If it weren't for the very warm evening temperatures these beautiful balloons would have drifted one by one up and away....... But due to the warm air....it meant that not only did they need to burn a great deal of propane to lift off and stay "afloat" but.... There was not even a slight breeze so...they just hovered not far from where they lifted off........was a wonderful sight.....and certainly maded for great photos. This unique one was just doing it's own thing.....was by luck that I caught it with enough light to make it look "light-up". If you have never been to a balloon festival I strongly recommend you take one in....a sight to behold for sure.

The cost of Freedom..... I have a question I've asked myself and now want to ask you...Is freedom really free? Before I give you my thoughts on what I perceive as the answer.....I want you to come with me.... in your imagination that is. In our small home town every Memorial Day and Fourth of July we have a parade.....Impressed are you? Well, perhaps before I run the risk of causing you to exert unnecessary mental energy trying to imagine what these parades might consist of.....I'll, well, ok---I'll just tell you how it is- then you'll decide if it's impressive or not; These parades are not sophisticated, they are not showy, they are not so impressive as to cause people from " ALL AROUND" to come and view them......They are just a small home town " make it a parade" kind of thing. In fact they are so long on hometown spirit that no one but a true outsider would ever see- if anything be l...

My old fashion rose bush, this variety has rose hips...they are a great source of vitamin c. However, I have not till now taken advantage of the use for them. Perhaps this will be the year!!! One can always hope:-). Last years poppies--they are such a delicate graceful flower. These Roses are from an arrangement my son and family gave me for Mother's day......I am blessed...... Could you ever find a more perfect rose than this...I can almost smell it inviting fragrance, can you?

What would life be like without friends? Seriously - I would not want to live that life. There is a saying of old--"That if you want a friend, you have to be a friend". While that is very well the truth, I would like to explore, examine and evaluate---what that statement really implies.     Well, at least as I see it thru the grid of my life's experience. Growing up living in the country, on a dead-end road--actually our home was the last house on that particular road. The other homes being approximately 1/2 mile away. There were perhaps 6 other homes on this country road, and at the "4 corners" this road from the east met roads from west,north and south.....AND THEY BE DIRT ROADS AT THAT!!! There, where the east road intersected the southern road --- was a church. A large old white church, and a rather common one at that. It was the center of this small rural community.     Common to this community-- were the many activities found throughout ...

You might start to realize that 'detour' is my middle name....if you haven't then follow along for a while and you will soon have to agree . This curve in the road will be a fun light hearted one, well deserved after the seriousness of the previous one. So sit back, get your apron out---what you don't know what that is? Then you are much tooooo young to be reading my blog. Over a decade ago a friend gave me an antique cook book ( guess we know what she thought of me)...might I add I could have been her baby-sitter. The copyright of this collection of recipes was in fact dated a special year- -the year before my birthday.......nope, not giving that info out--not yet--- I'll give a hint...it was 19??....good luck figuring it out. I just- a few weeks ago took this book down from it's resting place above the kitchen cabinets---doing what all the other items there are doing in unison--catching dust. After successfully removing "close to a decade" worth ...

I took a little road trip.......fetching Elderberry plants, and a Red Baron apple tree......replacing one from yesteryear that had winter killed .  The fruit from this variety of apple is crisp and juicy with a touch of red thru out the flesh of the apple.     Back in 1983 we planted out first Cortland tree.... our son was 11 1/2 years old and our daughter 5 . During the following season we planted 2 pear trees and 9 other apple trees of a wide variety........oh, the delight these fruit trees were to me......watching them grow.  Then when it was their time for producing fruit-it was our reward for the hard work of caring for this small orchard.  In the fall of 1989, after having kept up with the every 2 week spraying all thru the summer- we harvested a large crop of blemish free fruit. But and Unfortunately- the principles of "pruning", at that time I  just could not embrace.  "I" thought it impossible/ or more plainly stated WRONG  to pr...

Just when you think you have it under control, the unexpected happens. For several days here the weather has been warm and sunny---perfect for gardening as well as relaxing on the patio ( one of my favorite places to be).......then less than 24 hours later a storm hits and dumps up to 18 inches of white/wet moisture on the gardens as well as covering the patio with all it's furnishings in an unwelcome blanket of snow. I find this truth to be most frequently at work....just when I "feel" in control of "things"..be it my gardens or the state of my soul......reality hits...often without mercy . So once again I am found with a situation I had not prepared for...in regard to the gardens there was little that I could have done to have prepared for this...after all how do you protect these eager little perennials from the suddenness of a spring snow? There certainly many things we can not protect the garden from in spring especially...but there are always ways to pro...

As I continued to think on the similarities between cultivating ones soul or ones garden....I realize that we have many different types of tools to accomplish the task at hand.......for example, as we cultivate the garden we will need a few to several tools to help us achieve the desired results. Every gardener will find one tool in particular that they will favor over another. But there will always be that "one weed or problem area" that will require yet a more specific weapon for the destruction of that tenacious weed......if after an honest try the gardener fails then perhaps it is time to "ask" for help. So it is with the care of our soul....we may have a favored way to handle the "weeds" in our heart, one that brings the desired result quickly and completely....however, if it is one who's roots have grown deep or old and thus toxic then a more affective method must be sought. I have my own favorite tools for the care of garden and soul..... whic...