NEW PAINTINGS

I've really been painting a lot lately, even though we've been so busy with the house. I'm really serious about painting and making it a priority. I'd doing one a week approx. now.
This is one I did on Mother's Day while Al fished with Owen at Marquette Lake at the Gap.
I was going to call it "A Good Fishing Spot" like our friend Bruce suggested, but they didn't catch a thing =)
It sure was a beautiful spot and a glorious day, and I felt so very blessed to be there painting . Plein air painting is wonderful because you're at a place that you love (or you would not choose to paint it), hopefully in nice weather, and usually quiet and secluded, listening to birds and at times the sound of the wind rustling in the tree tops. (Reminds me of the OT when they heard God's presence in the rustling of the trees)
I wasn't planning on mentioning this, but I'm thinking of my friend Sharon who recently asked me to post these pics (sorry I took so long), and remembering an experience we had while we were out painting in Bedford county in the middle of nowhere, on a dirt road overlooking miles & miles of undeveloped land. You couldn't see a person or a car, and we were talking about the Lord as we waited for our under painting to dry, and all of a sudden, on a perfectly still sunny day, out of nowhere we both hear a " scraping" noise (to best describe it), as if someone was dragging lots of metal trashcans along the road. It got louder and louder very quickly and as I spun around to see what was making such a racket, we were both engulfed in a whirlwind so great in force that it took my straw hat which I had tied under my chin, and sent it straight up in the air about 15 feet or maybe even higher, then dropped it a few feet away when it was all over.
We were both speechless, and had goosebumps to say the least. We just both knew and felt God's presence was there, and He wanted to let us know it.
The "wind" was only around us, and never touched my large umbrella attached to my easel, nor Sharon's covering over the top of the van hatch (she had there to keep the sun off her painting), which was maybe only a foot or two away. The slightest wind would have taken that as well as my umbrella, causing my easel to capsize. The wind only engulfed both of us as we stood close together talking and sharing about the goodness of the Lord. I believe He wanted us to know He was there, and even the sound of His coming was awesome, because we could not see the effects of wind, and so we did not know what it was.
Right afterwards Sharon said something like "WOW!! We just had our own Pentecost Day experience!" And I had to agree. I still have that painting which I never finished, to remind me of that awesome time when God showed up in such an amazing way. I don't think we'll ever forget it!
Then I believe it was that very afternoon, we went to another spot to paint, and I stood on the edge of a covered bridge painting, when after an hour or so Sharon came over to see what I was painting. For a lady that I would describe as reserved, she jumped as quickly as she could onto a rail at the edge of the bridge, with her feet up as high as she could get them, all the while saying "WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW......" That was all she could get out (remember that Sharon? =) Then I heard some rustling in the bushes by my feet, and I heard the word "SNAKES" come out of Sharon's mouth. She said there were two snakes sunning themselves around my feet.
I am grateful for God's protection always, for the things I know of, as well as all the rest I do not know of. (which is fine with me =)
We laughed so much that day, and have great memories of that week's painting excursion in Bedford county .
Next week we're planning another painting trip to her cabin again (if my Monday scheduled jury duty does not last long).
Who knows how the Lord may reveal Himself this time! "With God ALL things are possible"!

This painting I did one rainy day in the studio at the MD workshop last month. The strange thing is I really like it because of the painterly style. I was exhausted from the long trip and did it very quickly with not much detail. (Someone had brought in some flowers to paint since it was raining and we could not paint "en plein air")
Maybe I should paint more when I'm really tired =) What do you think?

Jordin Sparks song "This Is My Now"

Although I did not see American Idol, my friend Vicki encouraged me to go to americanidol.com and listen to the winning song by Jordin Sparks.
I loved it and listened to it over and over. It is so encouraging!
I believe that God wants us to live in "the now" instead of our yesterdays. It's all we have (yesterday is gone, and tomorrow may never be). Regardless of our yesterdays, we can choose to live differently now, putting the past behind us, and by faith living fully the life God has for us today. We don't need to settle for less, when we can have so much more.
I feel that this song is also my testimony in many ways.

Here are the lyrics of Jordin Sparks song "This Is My Now":

There was a time I packed my dreams away.
Living in a shell, hiding from myself.
There was a time when I was so afraid.
I thought I'd reached the end,
But baby that was then
I am made of more than my yesterdays.
This is my now, and I am breathing the moment.
As I look around I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubts
That was then, this is my now.
I had to decide, was I going to play it safe?
Or that somewhere deep inside,
I'm going to turn the tide and find the strength
To take that step of faith.
This is my now, and I am breathing the moment.
As I look around I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubts
That was then, this is my now.
And I have the courage like never before, yeah.
I've settled for less now I'm ready for more,
Ready for more.
This is my now, and I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubts.
That was then, this is my now.

...and I can barely grasp the love I see and feel! God's love has brought so much healing and freedom to my life, that I too feel "This is my now", that I'm living the life God created me for, and have more peace and joy inside than ever before. It's taken some steps of faith, but He gives the courage, and I know He'll continue to for the future.

Our New Septic System

Here is our home with Al's work van in front of it. Notice the huge bulldozer on the right.
Mounds and mounds of dirt, gravel etc. This was taken from the lane close to the main road.
Taken standing on our bridge. The house is on the right.

Look at all that dirt! Some of it was trucked in, but they're also moving around a lot of it as well.

That's our house with our two vehicles on the left.
Work has stopped for the weekend, but it'll resume bright and early tomorrow around 7 am =)

This is what's coming out of our house. That's the electric line on the left.

To get to the garage in the back of the house you have to drive over all these buried pipes, so Al had the great idea of burying railroad ties on top of it all, and then putting dirt on top to keep the septic pipes from caving in. He's so creative, and with the Lord's help usually finds amazing ways of solving problems. God also blessed us with free railway ties, when he went to deliver the firewood. Thanks Lord!!
How many people can blog about a new septic system - actually we paid all this money just to make this blog interesting. What will we think of next? Who knows... so stay tuned =)

Have a Good Memorial Day

We just came back from spending two days, yesterday and today with our five sweet grandchildren, and what a time we had! Never a dull moment, and we loved it all, well.. most of it.=) They just called to thank us individually for the things they enjoyed most - how precious is that!! (Dana & Will had a wedding to go to in MD).
We took them down a logging trail with the 4x4 pickup to a wonderful secluded creek with a swimming hole, and we all had a great time swimming in the frigid water and catching crayfish etc. We did this both days, (this is what they wanted to do), but the only problem was each time we got back, everyone had to have baths, (including Al & myself). I was running from the upstairs bathroom, where two of them were having a bath together, to the master bathroom downstairs, where two more were in the tub, baby in arms, still cold and wet from the creek, trying to keep things under control. (Al was on his way with the take out wings and pizza, thankfully=)
While I was giving the baby her bath, the two downstairs had almost emptied the shampoo bottle in the Jacuzzi tub and turned the jets on. They thought that was hilarious, and when I went to see what was going on, all I could see is Megan's little face with mountains of bubbles all around, and Tim looked like a snowman. (Dana I forgot to tell you, you'll need to buy more shampoo=)
Then cleaning up after them was another story. Dead suckers ("salmon" according to Andrew), stones for the baby to suck on, (it took her 2 seconds to find it and get it in her mouth) "dirt balls - Tim's speciality, crayfish claws and legs, or shall I just say "body parts", not to mention leaves twigs and creek mud.
Then there were all the caterpillars and bugs to feed Herby the pet frog. At least the lizard stayed in his cage the entire time. I was afraid to mention feeding him just in case he too would have to be hand fed on the floor. Flopsy, their rabbit also stayed put.
While I was still trying to get the creek out of the bathtubs, Owen brought in a huge cardboard box "to make something with". The only problem was it had been behind the shed waiting for the burn barrel, and was covered with "stuff" hanging off it. Cobwebs, dirt - you name it!
I gave him a few paper towels to work on cleaning it - outside, and I finished the bathrooms -sort of! Of course, when Owen brought the box back in the house, yours truly had to clean the box too. (Far be it for me to quench such artistic creativity =)
In the meantime Tim helps himself to a hamburger patty from the freezer to use as bait for "his traps", saying "Grandmum, It's really tough anyway!" I take a butcher knife and saw it in half, putting the other half back in the freezer.
The house was spotless when I arrived on Saturday morning. Dana was dressed like a princess ready for the ball, and Will looked like Prince Charming. How they do it I do not know! It didn't take very long before all the toys were out of the pack n' play, and the life size wooden guns were out. Needless to say it soon became a war zone and the cushions off the furniture, the enemy.
What really gets me is the famous two words (OK maybe three!) ..."WE'RE ALLOWED!!" Everything from knives to chips to cell phones =)
Well, back to Owen and the box. They proceeded to cut up that box into tiny pieces, gluing the pieces together with a glue gun, so of course I could not move from the basement where they were, so we put a movie on for the others to watch. They are really good readers, probably because of reading the words at the bottom of the screen. (They put it on themselves since most of the time they could not hear what was going on).
What a mess that box made, but the creation was definitely special, and worth it.
We tried to keep things as simple as possible, but of course no movie night would be complete without popcorn. We won't mention that the "professional " popcorn maker apparently nearly burned the house down, but you'll have to talk to "Granddad" to get the full story =)
When Will and Dana came home today, they had had a little "honeymoon", we had spent time having fun with five of our precious grandchildren, and they with us. The only negative was the poor house. Maybe we should have Will and Dana go somewhere with the kids so Al and I could clean up the house and do the ton of wet laundry, but on second thoughts maybe we better not because if I know the kids they'll want to go to the creek.

Cutting down the tree

Al took these shots of a friend of ours who took down a tree that was too close to the cottage.
Quite a shot isn't it? We are so grateful to have it down. Thanks Bob!

It was a huge tree, but we did not think of taking pictures until the last. Al was really busy on the ground, either holding ropes and directing where the limbs fell, or cutting them up with his chainsaw. Quite a task! Yesterday he even delivered it (two trailer loads full), to our good friends from the Ukraine to use for firewood since we don't have a fireplace here.
The front yard is such a mess now. Before we moved in the owners put in a good drainage system, which was buried right across the front and along the side of the house. All we have there now is mud, rocks and roots, especially since it poured today =). Then we were also supposed to get a new septic system put in before we moved here, but it did not get started until last week.
It really is amazing how huge a project it is - just for two people to go to the bathroom, take showers, and clean dishes and laundry. The tanks that are being put in are enormous, then there were I don't know how many truckloads of gravel, piping etc for the huge drain field. Then all this is connected by yards and yards of more pipe, not to mention electricity for the pump. Incredible (I'll try to take some pics tomorrow - I did not think of blogging about our septic system before now)

Owen's Birthday Treat & Mother's Day

For the grandchildren's birthdays we have them sleep over, as soon as they are big enough. We try to find out what will really bless them and make them feel special. We try to do whatever they want (within reason =) and just love them to bits. Owen wanted to go fishing at Clark's Creek, and wanted a headlamp. (Owen with his new headlamp on below - he even slept with it around his neck =) He didn't bargain for this ride, but he couldn't have enjoyed it more. Look at that face - so pleased with himself! This riding mower has a zero turning radius, and takes some getting used to, but Owen was a natural.
Owen and Granddad having fun on the new riding mower. I think Al enjoys it just as much.
The first week we were here he mowed the lawn three times =)

Fishing at Clark's Creek. Owen is quite the fisherman. He is so much fun to be with!
I enjoyed just sitting on the sidelines watching. It is such a beautiful scenic creek. PA has so many beautiful places like this.

Getting ready to catch the big one. (Owen is Mr. Confident) We sure enjoyed him!
Yup, here it is - the big catch that he bragged he would get.
We slept that night in our RV at the side of the stream because Owen wanted to. It was gently raining and we played a few games of chess after dinner (hot dogs, chips, soda, strawberries, popcorn and cookies). After praying with him and snuggling, he was out like a light. Al and I listened to the soft raindrops on the roof of the RV and fell asleep feeling so very blessed by this little life, asleep next to us snuggled in his sleeping bag. Such a little guy, but such an incredible blessing! (They all are!)

The following day, Mother's Day, we took him to Lake Marquette to fish some more while I painted. He soon got bored, and Al took him around the Gap to see tanks, and helicopters while I finished the painting. In the afternoon Will, Dana and their family came over for dinner. We spent a lovely day together, eating, chatting, playing in the stream and going for a long walk. (Even talked to Christian, Holly and Sean )I could not have asked for a better day. I feel like the most blessed mom ever.

Tim's Baseball game

Last weekend Al and I went to see Timothy play baseball. It was a long game, but it was a lot of fun - and they won, I must add =)
Afterwards we took Owen home with us for his birthday sleepover at Grandmom & Granddad's. Tim up to bat.
Making a run for it!

Just hanging out (liming=)
Dana and Will (giving me a hard time=)

Tim practicing his swing
Prince Andrew

Owen, the little entertainer Megan and her Grandad - she loves nothing better than to be in his arms, or his lap. (No, it's not a cigarette, it's her lollipop=)

Mary Kate - what a cutie!!! (She loves cell phones)

Owen turned 7 -wow. This was his birthday cake - look at that face!!!

ART SHOW TODAY

Today I will be showing 10 of my paintings as part of the Mechanicsburg Art Walk in downtown Mechanicsburg, (at the square), at the Warm Hearts Cafe. It's owned by and connected to 12:30AM The Fortress, the local Christian radio station, One Heart Ministry.

I'm sorry I did not post this ahead of time for anyone interested, but I attempted to a number of times and could not get a connection. (Thankfully on Monday we'll have Comcast).

It's a beautiful day here, and I think it'll be a lot of fun. I'm going to try to get there early and treat myself to the largest latte, cappuccino, frappuccino specialty coffee that they have (they have great coffee as well as an entire wall of Christian books to read or purchase). They also have live entertainment on Fridays. Al and I went with Jill and Ken and had loads of fun. We were surprised to see lots of people that we knew and had not seen for ages. It's a great place to hang out on a Friday night.
Have a wonderful day, be blessed and enjoy all the Lord has for you today - I'm certainly going to try!

Our new address & PICS of the cottage

Hi guys, I'm finally able to post some pics of the little cottage. Sorry it took so long, but we still won't have Internet access until Monday 21st May.
This is our new address:
200 Timber Trail Lane,
Harrisburg, PA 17112 This is our little stream running across the front of the property, apparently running year round. We have not done anything to the outside yet, except Al is presently cutting down the huge tree right against the house. When we're finished on the inside, we plan to start working on the outside =).
That's our car on the right parked in the middle of the driveway because the tree is being cut down on the right (but that's going to be another post). Al plans to redo the little bridge coming onto the property, and put some rails on the side. The house is on the right and the gravel lane (Timber Trail) on the left in this pic.

The view from our dining room window. What a blessing from the Lord to have all this green surrounding us. The trees are spectacular! I even set up my easel and painted this view already.

We are so grateful to be here, even though there is so much to do. God always gives the strength and the time to do what He calls us to do, so we are resting in His goodness and faithfulness to us, and enjoying the process. I have learned from past experiences that He always brings us through, so we're not going to allow any anxious thoughts, but keep our eyes and hearts fixed on Him, obeying what He tells each day.

In Psalm 32:8 the Lord says "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." The way I see it is, unless my eyes are fixed on Him, He won't be able to guide me with His eye.

Sorry, this is upside down and I don't know how to delete it. (Does anyone know?)

My still unorganized art studio -BUT I have an entire room just for an art studio! It's in the basement, and I don't mind at all because I can leave works in progress and not care about the mess. As you can see it also has a window - WOW!
The view out our front door. Boy did we get a deal with this door! It really was a miracle - thanks Father! Still can't get over the view out almost every window! (There was a small really dark wood door here before and you couldn't see out. This is one of the first things we did and what a difference it made. It still is not painted as yet, but at least we can enjoy the beautiful view).

Sorry, but I didn't mean to put the bathroom up first, before the living room. (I'm still learning how this posting works---BUT I'm doing it, thanks to my patient family =)

I just had to put a beautiful curtain up to hide and distract from the tub, which looked like a hot tub on it's side (very serviceable but a little strange - that's a seat that you're looking at on the side wall, so you can sit and shower =). We still have towel racks and things to do yet in every room, but it's coming along. Christian and Sean, we'll leave a few things for you guys to do when you come in July. Sorry, Christian, I already put in my cutlery trays - no customizing there=).
Ready for all to come and stay! In the future we are planning on removing the closet with the glass doors and pitting a big picture window with a window seat to take advantage of the lovely view on the other side of the house. (I tell you, when Will and Dana come over it's dangerous, with all those creative juices flowing together - so it evolved to moving the window. Exciting stuff! Thanks guys! That's synergy for ya!)

Our "bling bling" bedroom - it really isn't that shiny, it's the flash, ....OK..the new cushions do have beads =)

Too small for all our bedroom furniture, so we put half of it in the guest room - perfect. At the foot of the bed Al put a door into the bathroom for me. It's great!! There's a large dresser with a mirror on the right,as well as his and hers small clossets - a great incentive to get rid of more clothes.

Celebrating Sean's birthday with strawberry crepes - Sorry Sean that you weren't here - they were good=) We'll celebrate when you come xxXXxx0ooO

This was taken from our couch, looking toward the front door. No pictures on the walls yet, but soon.
From the kitchen. That's the dishwasher under the peninsula. I can't tell you how I love this kitchen - so open spacious and bright. (Al moved the location of the sink as well as all the appliances, and put a new window in - an entire new kitchen! Isn't he wonderful? And to think I said I did not need a new kitchen. I keep repeating myself, but ... God is too good to me!!!

The fridge and more cupboards are hidden behind the buffet on the left. The door you see on the left is in the hallway and leads to Al's study. (Al's changed all the doors in the house to lovely white panelled doors). Wherever we are in the house, we are together because it's so small and open (under 1600 sq, feet). We love it!
Looking toward the living room. The door on the right of the clock, believe it or not, is the bathroom and turning to the right is our bedroom down a very small hallway. (There's a powder room off the hallway across from the guest room).

Well there you have it, cottage living, on 1+ acre. All that we need and still more.

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus our Lord" when we "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, (and) all these things shall be added unto you". Putting the Lord first, He certainly meets all our needs and blesses, and I know He'll fulfill the plans He has for you as well, as He loves us all the same. He says He's a re- warder of those who seek Him. My prayer is that we will always put Him first, walking ever so closely with Him, getting to know Him and His great love for us, and so love Him more and more and more.

MOVING DAY (10am update 5/16 =)

This is the crew who helped us move on Saturday April 30th. From left to right is Justin Sellars, his brother Ryan, Al (with the biggest muscles), and Justin's brother-in-law Mike. A great group of guys. We were so blessed to have just the right guys, and were moved in before 10:30 Because we were able to take over many loads before the actual moving day, only the last minute things and the big things has to be taken. The move went so smoothly, and we can't thank you enough for your help and prayers. When we thought of moving, we were so overwhelmed, but by Gods grace we made it. We got rid of a lot of things (which was not easy) and look forward to living more simply.
Sunday morning I could hardly describe the joy Al and I experienced waking up at the sun filled cottage. We could barely contain ourselves because the Lord's presence was so very real. We are so grateful for the Sabbath rest on Sundays, and had a glorious day resting and recuperating. (I even went out to the golf course and painted) God is so good!
We went back on Monday with my good friend Diane to thoroughly clean. The old place looked wonderful when we turned over the keys to the new owners, and we headed home to the mountain of boxes, exhausted but full of joy and gratitude in our hearts for all the Lord had done for us.

Thursday before our move

Because we have not gotten our Internet service as yet ( should have Comcast by next week Monday), I was not able to post these pics until now. I'm picking up a very low signal right now and thought I'd take the opportunity to post.
We were so very blessed on the Thursday before we moved with Al's Dad and Mom and the Aguilar girls coming over to help get the cottage ready to move into. What a boost this was to both Al and I. Here are some pics of us when we stopped for lunch. Mom brought roast beef sandwiches, and Vicki sent all kinds of delicious things - we had a feast, and so much was done.
Thanks so much everyone.

The Aguilars, Mom and Dad with Justin (Al's helper) and Al. (See how bright it is?)

WE MADE IT!!!

Hi everyone! So sorry this took so long to update, but we are having trouble getting Internet service where we've moved to, although it's only 10 mins. outside of Harrisburg.
Right now Al and I are in Newport, PA at a coffee shop (Expresso Yourself), and we took along our computers so I can post this. (Great suggestion Sean!)
Thank you for all your prayers, because the move went so well. We had just the right help, ( three guys and Al) and we were moved in by 10:15 am on Saturday 30th April.
Because the house is not finished, all the loads we had brought prior to the actual move were stored in the basement, and we're organizing it all little by little. We've been having really long days, working late at night organizing the piles of boxes as well as continuing to rehab the cottage.
We absolutely love it there and cannot get over how quiet it is and peaceful. (We are waking each other up at night because the sheets make a little noise in the silence of the night =) We certainly do not miss the highway traffic noises, and gladly trade it for the sweet sound of birds and running water in our front yard. The Lord is so very good to us!
I will post pictures as soon as I can, with more updates - but right now we are going to see our eldest grandson, Timothy, play baseball, and will have Owen, our third grandson, overnight fishing and camping for his birthday. (Will take pics to post).
Also Will, Dana and the family will come over for Mother's Day tomorrow, and we're really looking forward to it. (This breakfast was Sean's gift to me for Mother's Day - thanks Sean!) I'll miss you, as well as Christian and Hol and their family. Will post pics and more news soon, and boy do I have some news!!!