The Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera) I bought as a prize for a family game was so beautiful I wanted to keep it for myself. I will keep my eyes open when I go out this weekend for a similar plant. I have had several over the years, but I only have a small Thanksgiving cactus now. I want to find a new Christmas variety and grow it into a large specimen.
I’ve experienced rebloom on my Christmas cactuses, but never to the extent of the number of flowers they have when you purchase them brand new from their greenhouse start. This one may prove my experience with them wrong. I hope the winner of this plant enjoys the beautiful pink flowers.
Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life. ~Corrie Ten Boom
Now and then, I am quick enough to prepare a post for the Lens-Artists Challenge. This week, the challenge is to use photographs that portray five elements that make up the world around us. The elements are fire, water, wood, earth, and metal.
My first photo portrays fire. The fire of the sun is an element in all of my photos. The view is what I see as I stand in my front yard and attempt to watch the setting sun through the trees.
Dandelions conquer whatever earth their seeds land upon. I love the way the clocks of the plant let loose their seeds in puffs of wind or are blown into the breezes by a wish-filled child. If I look closely at a dandelion in the fire of the sun’s rays, each small piece of fluff seems to mirror the sun’s light.
The sun’s rays seemed to deepen the shadows of the heart carved into the tree’s wood.
The last photograph combines the elements of water and metal. It is a bit blurry, but it was taken with my phone through a plate glass window as we finished Thanksgiving dinner in a favorite restaurant. The ship is sailing down the Delaware River near Philadelphia, and we are on the other side of the river in New Jersey. The light illuminated the metal ship with fire and reflected in the water.
This post is one to pull back to the top of the blog for Throwback Thursday-a timely tip for the holiday. To keep a pudding, pumpkin, or any other pie without a top crust fresh, cover first with an overturned paper plate.
The paper plate protects the top of the pie from damage when covering with foil or plastic wrap. The plate has enough substance to protect the pie, but not enough weight to break the fragile crust.
I have chosen everlasting flowers today as my post for Cee’s Flower of the Day. A heart of Maple Keys seems appropriate to send to Cee and Chris. Blue Violets also mean Love and Faithfulness, and I send that to Cee. I believe in Life Everlasting. God bless us all.
I post this fun Christmas craft every year, inexpensive, and oh so rewarding.
This is a throwback post and a craft that’s been around for countless years. Since the time of paper and scissors, adults and children have been cutting paper snowflakes for windows and gift packages.
I cut over a hundred every year for my windows. I’ve included a how-to video with this post, but I have tweaked my snowflakes over the years and want to share a new tip or two. There are two weeks between now and December. I need to cut a few daily to prepare enough for December 1st.
The most important tip I want to share is to cut many different-sized snowflakes. The snowflakes on my windows look more interesting if they are not uniform in size. I use squares of computer paper cut into various sizes, four inches to eight, and everything in between. If you start with a square and do the folding correctly, your snowflakes will be a success.
As always, the best way to store paper snowflakes is inside a book until you are ready to use them. Here is a true story and a tip, too. Write down what book you place them in and where they are kept. I lost dozens and dozens of finished snowflakes a year or two ago. I found them months later in the “safe” place I had stashed them.
To finish off the snowflakes, press them between sheets of wax paper with an old iron you reserve for crafts, or to preserve your iron and board, encase them in several layers of newspaper and press them in wax paper. When you pull the wax paper away, your snowflakes will have a protective layer of wax to keep off the condensation winter windows often form.
I use washable school glue sticks to keep the snowflakes in place. When it’s time to take them down just pull the paper away from the windowpane and swipe with a wet washcloth once or twice. Let the moisture soak in for a minute, wipe again, and all the paper and glue washes away. Sometimes, if I use the right cloth, I don’t even need to use window cleaner. Anyone who has ever picked transparent tape off of a piece of window glass will know how tedious it is and how long it takes. Gluing the snowflakes to the windows sounds scary, but believe me, I’ve done it for years and it is SOOOOOO much easier than taping because of easy removal.
Step by Step in Photographs
You will need squares of paper. Computer paper is a good choice for snowflakes. I use different sizes, eight, seven, six, five and four-inch squares. All of these sizes are fairly easy to fold and cut.
Fold the square into a triangle shape by matching catty-corners, or in more modern terms, opposite corners.
After the first fold is complete, using the corners on the long side of the triangle, fold the paper corner to corner once more.
This next part is a little tricky. Let the longer side of the triangle face away from you. Bring up the right corner and fold it about a third of a way from the middle. Turn the paper over and repeat this step. You will have an accordion folded piece of paper with two bunny-type ears if you have folded it correctly. If this step is confusing watching the video at the bottom of the post will help.
After I fold the triangle into this shape, I trim the ‘ears’ off leaving a cone shape. This does not have to be perfectly rounded, you will be cutting into it.
* Important * You must always leave a bit of the folded sides intact to keep the snowflake whole. Don’t worry if you accidentally cut one and have it fall to pieces…it’s only paper after all.
Begin cutting your snowflake. Try to use both rounded cuts and straight snips. The combination of round and straight will give your snowflake a natural look. After cutting, open up, and prepare to be amazed by your beautiful handiwork.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.
Thank you WordPress. The years have been wonderful blogging with you! Thanks to all those who have read my posts over the years. I’m not sure that I have blogged since that date, but hey, it’s nice to know that is when I registered with the site.
This past week, I finished reading The Bronte Sisters, The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef. It was an excellent biography of the Bronte sisters who authored several books. Between them, the sisters wrote Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Shirley, Villette, The Professor, and a volume of poetry called Poems.
Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is far and away my favorite. I have read and listened to it on Audiobook, and I especially enjoy viewing the many versions of it on movie screens and television. I want to enjoy Wuthering Heights, too, and I do, somewhat, but it is a dark story and I’ve never taken to it like I have Jane Eyre.
Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard are excellent writers and always find a way to make history enjoyable for me. Confronting the Presidents is not an exception to that fact. I am a quarter of the way through and beginning to read the chapter on President Zachary Taylor. I am strangely mesmerized by the peculiarities and eccentricities of the presidents who helped form our country. Believe me, they all had a few. Did you know one of the early presidents skinny-dipped daily in the Potomac and was often joined by staff and occasionally pedestrians walking by?
I’ve enjoyed this book because it reminds me of long-ago learned history, which has settled at the bottom of my brain. I have loved being reminded of The Louisiana Purchase and other significant events brought about by the first presidents.
Since chronological order doesn’t matter, I read the end chapter on President Donald Trump. I felt lukewarm about O’Reilly’s assessment of President Trump’s first presidency. I was offended by Martin Dugard’s opinion on President Trump, but he is entitled to think as he will.
The word for today’s Ragtag challenge is Gobbledygook. I looked it up to ensure my take on the definition was correct; I was thinking foolishness, junk, etc. I was not far off. Some synonyms for Gobbledygook are bafflegab, double-talk, gibberish, rigamarole, song and dance. Most of these have to do with the spoken word.
I don’t know about your area, but I live near a major swing state and an important city for the upcoming election. I am across the river from Philadelphia, and our media stations are from the city. The commercials, at this point, are constant political GOBBLEDYGOOK. All of the candidates have gifts, talents, and flaws. Of course, I lean heavily toward one candidate, as most of us do now, but I am tired of ALL the negativity bombarding us.
Only a few more days until the election itself is behind us. To counteract, I hope, the possibility of the rampant fraud in the last election, I voted early this year. It was the first time I took advantage of this type of voting. I am in my 60s and have voted yearly for decades.
We thought we’d be one of a few voting early. Oh my! I knew that was a wrong assumption as soon as we pulled into the parking lot of the voting center. Inside, there were long lines, but the atmosphere was wonderful. Doesn’t that sound odd? Everyone seemed happy and lively, and no one complained, campaigned to, or criticized the person near them.
I felt happy to be utilizing my civic right and duty. I voted. I am glad to support the candidates I think are the best choice for the country, county, town, and school board. VOTE! Vote early or on election day. But for those in my country, please vote. Thanks!
The beautiful fluff emerging from the pods of the Butterfly Weed has entranced me for days. God fashioned the pod’s tip to open the fluff before it rides the wind. The sharp end helps the poufs round out as they await launch.
This week, I held the fluff above my head and watched as it rode the air currents fifty feet into the air. Quickly out of sight, I wished they would reach the heavens and lightly brush the face of God. Yes, I’ll admit I was momentarily childish in my thinking. Still, His Spirit certainly touched my spirit in return, and I was reminded of that verse that tells us to receive the Kingdom of Heaven like a child.
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15
The seeds are ready to be airborne and fly into the sky. A perfect photo for Skywatch Friday.
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything. ~Thomas Merton
I visited Longwood Gardens on Friday afternoon. The weather in our area was perfect: Autumn coolness and bright sunshine combined with glorious, colorful foliage. We decided to sit down and enjoy the fountain show. The time came when the music and fountains began to soar simultaneously. I was glad I had sunglasses on because I began to weep. The beauty of the classical music combined with the spectacular fountain show reminded me of heaven. I imagined how marvelous heaven will be. The sights, the sound of millions of souls singing praises to the Father, the Lamb, and the Holy Spirit. If earthly man can create such beauty, can you only imagine what God can do?
Longwood Gardens Fountain Show
Here is a clip of a great song. I have this CD and I just love to listen to this song.
I missed seeing the Aurora Borealis in the sky over New Jersey, but thankfully, my son was outdoors cooking dinner on the grill and sent me these photos. This is southern New Jersey, not far from the city of Philadelphia. I’m hoping it will return.
I didn’t know until today that there is a website that gives forecasts for the Aurora Borealis.
