Mary’s Monday Musing to Quilt Encouragement.   Sunflowers       Live sunflowers always make me smile, and an entire field of sunflowers makes me laugh. What is there about a sunflower that brings cheer?  Perhaps it’s because they stand so tall and the blossoms are so large as well as the yellow so bright.

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement. Mine!! Mine, Mine! Cries of indignation and screams of outrage are almost guaranteed when a group of two- and three-year old’s gather. Howls of protest ring out their distressing sounds when toddlers engage in tug-of-wars to jerk toys back and forth with each child determined to claim possession. Fortunately,

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement  Hearing Our Shepherd Not a sheep was in sight when our bus pulled up to the fenced-in pasture outside the barn. We sympathized with the animals. The inside of the barn offered welcome shade from the hot sun. “Never mind,” our guide said. “As soon as I call, they’ll

[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form] Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement   Tangled     Rounding a corner of Peace Hill farm, we were rewarded with the sight of a flock of angora goats happily foraging in a wooded area. Those gorgeous animals sported lovely

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement   Old Letters     Keeping old letters is my family’s custom. My mother kept many special ones from her sisters, mother, and grandchildren. When we read them years later, the letters blessed us with insights, information, and inspiration; therefore, I often kept ones from dearly beloved people. Since

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Dealing with Dread     Sometimes anticipation is unpleasant. Anticipating shots, surgery, disagreements, layoffs or worse can bring dread and anxiety. Somehow, life has a way of sprinkling in experiences that run the gamut from distasteful to horrific.  Sometimes the sprinkle arrives more like a downpour of hurricane proportions.

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Anticipation        Spirits can soar with delight when we are looking forward to something. We’ve had days upon days of delicious anticipation this summer. Visits from much loved family members gave us lots of delighted anticipation in advance of the actual visit. By the end of July, we

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Talents     With two strong, sure blows, the handyman pounded a nail into the wood under my cabinet to hold my kitchen tongs. With several swift strokes of her watercolor brush, my granddaughter painted a green tree to illustrate a picture for me to hang on my wall. 

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement     Going the Extra Mile     Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone going the extra mile? This week was a glorious example. My cousin’s daughter didn’t go a few extra miles. She drove 320 some miles round trip in one day to bring

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement   Trust     It gave me the hee-bee-gee-bees to watch the couple from a famous tightrope family work their way over a tight wire high above Times Square in New York City. I only watched re-runs later when I knew they had made it safely.  Most of us