Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Tarantulas The museum promised a display of hundreds of tarantulas from many foreign lands, I couldn’t imagine an entire room full of glass display boxes occupied with tarantulas, big, hairy tarantulas. However, my great-grandchildren thought the idea was ‘cool’ so off we went. I was prepared for long legs

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Sharks The huge shark that hung in front of a Florida restaurant brought a shiver through my body. Its length was well over two times my height, but it was the rows of sharp, wicked teeth that made me shudder. No wonder a shark attack inflicts horrible damage, if

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Gingerbread Houses The imagination of the human mind can amaze us with endless ideas. The Gingerbread house contest in our community was a case in point. From humble slabs of gingerbread, creative people made a football stadium with an accompanying parking lot, high rise apartment, a seashore, and a

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Toy Trains Distraction We were all adults standing around the toy train making circles on the dining table. If you listened, you would have thought we were a bunch of kids from the exclamations of delight we made while watching the toy “Polar Express Train”. The engine whistled, a

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement New Beginnings We all are rejoicing mightily to see the end of this very unusual, frequently nasty year of 2020. While there have been some grand and glorious happenings this year such as the miracle of babies’ births, the mix of 2020 events leans more to the bad, dreadful,

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement   The Christmas Star The Bible tells us about wise men who followed an extra bright star to find little Jesus.  A few days this December offered us a privileged peek into this story. What many are calling the Christmas star could be seen in the sky for a

Mary’s Monday Musing to Quilt Encouragement St Nicholas We had fun this month participating in a charming custom that goes back to the fourth century. Saint Nicholas was a generous bishop in the church way back then. He had a great heart for children, the poor, the ill, and sailors. His generous giving is still

Monday’s Musings to Quilt Encouragement Hope “Hope springs eternal in the Human breast.” An eighteenth-century English Poet, Alexander Pope, first penned this expression. Hope is wonderful. Romans 15:13 “…the God of hope fill us with joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope….” Hope is a precious commodity for our soul. Some

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Smiling Masks “What a great mask! We can see your smile.” I always hear these remarks when I wear a mask with a window of flexible see-through plastic covering my mouth. I love that I can express my delight in seeing someone by smiling at them as well as

Mary’s Monday Musings The Perfect Beach The waves were gentle, the sand white. The row of rocks not far off shore provided shelter for beautiful fish of many colors. The setting was a protected environment that didn’t involve learning deep diving scuba qualifications. The young men in our party enjoyed discovering beautiful sea creatures in