Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Start Afresh                            Bright eyed, eager faces under royal blue mortarboards marched into the auditorium their gowns swishing past proud parents gathered to smile and cheer their graduates’ accomplishments. Armed with a camera to record the milestone event, I marveled at how wide open the doors of the

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Youthful Enthusiasm    The young striped kitten jumped on the back of the old black and white cat time after time only to find himself rolled over and pinned down or swatted away by the annoyed old cat. The old fellow’s days of wanting to play were over, but

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Mine             If two or more very young children play together for any time at all, we are bound to hear an impassioned proclamation announcing, “Mine, that’s mine.” More often than not, these words are accompanied with grabbing, pushing, hitting, or all these actions at once. Really, ownership isn’t

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement: An Animal’s Instinct             When God made animals that could be domesticated, he knew they would teach us important principles and delight our souls. Simon was such a cat. An abandoned Siamese, he stumbled upon our house, a thin, bedraggled animal that hovered around the edges of our property.

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement: An Animal’s Instinct             When God made animals that could be domesticated, he knew they would teach us important principles and delight our souls. Simon was such a cat. An abandoned Siamese, he stumbled upon our house, a thin, bedraggled animal that hovered around the edges of our property.

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Buzzards I rounded the corner of a neighborhood to see three enormous birds in the street. At first I thought they were turkeys, they were so large. But as I drove closer, I could see they were turkey buzzards with bright red on their heads. A dead squirrel was

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement: A Tribute to a Good Friend             I’m so glad God created pets. In particular, this morning I’m thankful for a dog named Tyson. A large, muscular dog, his attractive black coat sported patches of white which were dotted with  black spots in assorted sizes. A mixed breed, he

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Not a Hallmark Christmas.             Well, our Christmas Day, 2015 certainly will not grace the front of a Hallmark card. Because I did it early, the Christmas tree was up, small though it was. Nowhere else did boughs of holly, wreaths or bells pronounce a Fa-la-la-la-la over the season.

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Sea Gulls The storm left behind a strong wind, so we bundled up, grabbed left-over potato fries and walked to the beach. The storm and wind had swept the beach clean. Not a remnant of a shell decorated the clean sand, nor was there a bird in sight. We

Mary’s Monday Morning Musings to Quilt Encouragement Contagious Enthusiasm             As I walked down the store’s center aisle, a man passed behind me and a smiling man in front of me called a jocular greeting to him. From behind, a cheerful answer rang out before the person disappeared down a side aisle. The smiling man