A Valentine Tea Party

Happy belated Valentines Day everyone!!

This year I hosted a tea party for some young ladies on Valentine's Day. Two years ago we had an impromptu tea party with some of the same friends around Valentine's Day as well and as they were so much enjoyed then, we did some of the same crafts this time with added flourish.


After all the ladies had arrived, we gathered in the family room and began to create some beautiful beeswax candles.


The girls different interests and characters showed through in there candle making and provided an abundant variety of designs.

The next craft we moved onto also related to candles. We made rose candle holders for our just created beeswax candles.


We each took a small glass candle holder and picked out the colors of rose petals that we wanted and then with the help of the official hot glue gun user (Faith) we glued the selected petals onto the bottom of the candle holder.


They turned out so beautiful and the ladies were so creative. Some made more than one holder to pair with their multiple candles.


Once we were finished we had quite a little garden of rose candles of all colors grouped on the table.


Our crafts finished we began our afternoon tea, which besides tea of course included all sorts of dainty refreshments.


Almost all the snacks had a valentines theme of some short. In fact we quite shocked Josiah by cutting even the cheese in heart shapes!!;)


Then of course there was the miscellaneous assortment of accompanying cookies to be eaten with our delicious tea.


The crowning delectable dessert on the table however was a stunning chocolate peppermint torte, which according to all the ladies (and gentlemen) tasted just as "sweet" as it looks.


After tea we played a most amusing game, with the quaint name, "Biographical Nonsense". It was immensely funny and we all enjoyed it very much.

We are very thankful for the sweet young ladies that we are proud to call our friends, and we pray that God will bless them and help us all to become women who do everything for His glory!

~Chs

PS. Thanks to Grace for the majority of the beautiful pictures.

Treck Through the Woods

Last Saturday found 5 of us along with Mr. Reiche at our local Nature Sanctuary. You see, one of our "resolutions" this year was to take a hike at this Sanctuary and also at a nearby state game area once a month. The February walk is now marked off.


The snow was still very deep and Baby was quite the little snow plow. We all slugged on after her (Baby always likes to be first;) enjoying the cold beauty around us.

There are quite a number of small lakes on the sanctuary as well as a windy stream, but they were all still very frozen over.

There were so many interesting details that we were able to see as we traversed the path, God's creation is so amazing and diverse, even in the "dead of winter".

~Chs

Grace is Home!!!

Yep, that's right after a 6 week sojourn (visiting John and Mandi) in Texas, Grace has finally returned to her native environment. By all signs she is happy to be back too, we sure are! We love you Gracey girl!!

~Chs

Duckies in the Bathtub!!

So, the other day my duckies escaped from their enclosure and finally were placed in the small hole in the pond that has not frozen. The only problem being that the hole was full of rust and dirt... the result - yucky duckies.;) Therefore, I carried them into the house and placed them in our "clean" tub.


My, didn't they have fun? They splashed, play fought, bit the water coming out of the faucet, and hid behind the shower curtain, and peeked out at me. =) Such fun!!!


After a while, they let me know that they were done, and then preceded to clean/dry themselves off. They were so cute wandering around the bathroom. Dick hasn't been in here since he was a duckling, and Tommy never has entered that portion of the house before in his little ducky life. They had so much fun that I had to make sure they understood that this was not a daily thing!

~Chs

A Coin Fest

Recently a few of us have become quite interested in coins, old ones in particular. So all winter practically, we have been trying to get together a coin fest with the coin collector extraordinaire/neighbor Daniel, and Mr. Reiche who dabbles in almost every hobby.

The amount and time range of the pennies we all had was amazing. We had a lot of fun sorting through the piles and finding the different ones that everyone wanted.


I think there were at least 5 different folders with varying years of pennies in them, most of them were over 75% full!

There were also a variety of silver dollars and foreign coins floating around being admired and discussed.


Mr.Reiche also brought along a gold windup pocket watch that was his uncles. He estimated that it was from 1890. I love clocks and watches in general and Mr. Reiche is letting me borrow this one for a photo shoot. Actually this watch is very special as it has brought to fruition an idea of mine which I promise to inform you of at a later date.

It was a wonderful evening of fellowship and learning!
~Chs

A Fragrant Messenger of Spring

To a Primrose
By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Thy smiles I note, sweet early Flower,
That peeping from thy rustic bower
The festive news to earth dost bring,
A fragrant messenger of Spring.

(the first verse)

The Snow Storm

Last week we (along with most of the rest of the United States) were hit with quite a storm. Not the worst I have seen, but big enough to demand respect, and it delivered enough snow to create the need of shoveling.

In some places 24 inches of shoveling! But that was just in drifts, because the wind was so bad. I think we received an average of 10".


Speaking of the wind it created some very interesting sights with its wuthering around the house. Some were thin peaks of snow mountains, other cliffs with over hanging edges, everywhere stern beauty for the finding.


A nice smooth blanket of snow had laid itself over the garden, completely obliterating any of our rows. Only a few leggy herbs peek out from the herb box.


Though our house wasn't actually "buried" in snow, it was rather well covered, and I think looked all the prettier for the white covering.


On the other hand our little farm sign did get almost completely entombed in snow. I do think that we need a taller post!


Part of the reason for the burial of our sign was the clearing of our drive way. I am glad for our men's sake that we don't have one of those mile long driveways! This one is plenty enough hassle to clear.

We thank the LORD that the storm was not worse, and I thank Him even more for snows constant reminder of how he washes us whiter then snow! Thank you Father.

~Chs

A Puzzling Time of Year

When winter begins and the cold wind blows, we tend to search in the depth of the basement for a pile of puzzles all dusty and forsaken from the last winter. We unearth one of them and set up a table in the living room just to have something to do.


This year it all started with Josiah getting a new puzzle for his birthday, but as soon as it was finished we found one downstairs that we had never done, then another, then another.


We are currently working on our fourth puzzle since Josiah's birthday; the fish one in the pictures was our second. None of them have been up more than three days. One and a half days to make it and one and a half days to admire it. Josiah and Charity are mostly responsible for this quick pace, but the rest of us will occasionally put in a piece or two. It is an enjoyable winter family activity to pass the time.
~Chs

Lady Washington

Meet Lady Washington, Faith's gorgeous maroon geranium.


We first met Lady Washington in May and she lived happily on the steps outside our porch blooming cheerfully for most of the year.

But when it began to get cold and the snow flakes began to fall, we moved Mrs. Washington, who had long since stopped blooming, inside to our "sunny" window.

It did not take very long for her to perk up and begin to show herself in these dainty little pink buds which matured and bloomed into elegant maroon blossoms. What a cheery sight on a cold February day.
~Chs

Summation of January

Unlike many previous January's, this year the month has stayed quite level in temperatures. Other than the melt down on the first, we have had lovely cold winter weather with just enough snow to make things beautiful. One of the last days of January, (it was a beautiful sunny day) I took a walk out back, and came home with some gorgeous pictures. So here is a sample of January beauty.


That morning a light snow was falling and the snowflakes were simply exquisite. My only wish was that I was the owner of a photo microscope so that I could properly photograph these minuscule marvels of God's creation.


As the sun arose, one of the most striking beauty's of winter began to show. It is amazing how incredibly blue the clear sky looks; so dark, so crisp and clear!

The way my camera interpreted the glaring sun was amazing, especially, as I could not look at it without the lens intervening in between my eyes and the suns light.

The light made everything beautiful, even more so with the back drop of snow.


There were little pine cones on all the pine trees, a bit frozen but still very sweet looking.

On my way back up to the house, I passed our big maple tree and upon examining the branches closely, I found a bit of hope; a little piece of spring to come, for the end of the branches were swollen with little buds. Buds that in a couple of months will break into tiny baby green leaves and turn the world into a green haze!
~Chs

Sledding

A week or so ago, we had a sledding party of sorts. The older Kinne children, Joshua, Josiah, Mr. Reiche and I all went together to General Squire Hill. The Kinne's had never been there so it was fun to "show them the ropes."

At first they were all content to slide down the hill in the usual manner.

Well, at least, mostly in the usual manner. A few of them "accidentally" flipped around on the way down and went down the rest of the way backwards! =)


So as I said, at first everything was normal, that is until the boys noticed a relatively large bump/ramp that had been built on the other side of the hill. Of course they could not rest until they had tried it out.

When they did, they found themselves flying through the air before landing with a resounding bump!

Here is a video of them all going down one after another. It is quite amusing, I hope you enjoy!

~Chs