Feb 15, 2010 | Baby Photos, Hometastic Goodness
I hope you read the story last week about how I was blessed with those pictures at a fraction of the cost at Pick N’ Pay (that’s the name of the grocery store across the street from us, in case you were thinking it had to do with shoe shopping!) I promised to share the pictures of the pictures now that they’ve replaced the others.
Without further ado, I’m very pleased to share the before and after, which I hope will make you smile and rejoice with me!
Before: (frumpy frumpy)
It was kind of boring and the pictures weren’t very good ones for frames that hang on a very bare wall. But with some blessing and some resourcefulness we’ve arrived at:
After: (happy, happy!)
It has made the wall seem so much less bare and more happy to have these warm colourful photos and the ribbon that makes them look like a ‘gift’ with the Scripture (Psalm 127:3) that says children are a gift. Can you believe that ribbon has been reused and reused and initially came off a box of chocolates Mark gave me I think when we were dating?
Have you gotten creative with budget decorating lately? I’d love to hear about it.
Feb 10, 2010 | Hometastic Goodness
I mentioned getting crafty this past Saturday and promised pictures. Herewith, the promised fulfilled! As I’ve shared with you, I’ve been hoping to make our place feel more “homey” but we are living on a very tight budget, so I’ve been working on getting creative in making the place feel like home without spending anything. And the Lord blessed us with the wonderful photos of Asher to help! I’ve been inspired by a blogger called the Nester, and her trademark saying, It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
The week before last we drove to a few different wood cutting places to see if they might have any off-cuts we could play around with and perhaps use to decorate the place. We came home with a bunch of totally random stuff. Different shapes and sizes, and wood types … a bedraggled lot they were. (It’s a word, look it up!) We thought for a while about different ideas of things to do with our random wood pile. Mark made a picture frame for me, but I think I want to paint it and will share the pictures when it’s done. We also painted a wee piece of wood and gave it some hooks to hang my aprons on which I forgot to take a picture of, so I’ll have to share that later, too. Sowwy!
In the meantime, I wanted to share a wallspace-taker-upper we came up with that makes me smile every time I walk past. We’ve yet to come up with a name for it so let me know if you have an idea. And remember the theme is It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful before you start thinking it’s too rustic or college dorm-esque! We started with a pretty piece of (free!) wood which then received seven evenly placed nails by Hero Hubby. He drilled holes through it and we took a broken guitar string off my guitar (I have been lazy to change it because I haven’t been playing lately) to use as a wire hanger to attach my hanging ribbon to. Then I played around with photos, notecards, old birthday cards, ribbons and even Christmas ornaments to arrive at:
Tell me you love it even if you don’t! haha I love it and am so pleased to have a bit more of the tons of white wall space covered around here at the awesome cost of $0 and an enjoyable Saturday afternoon doing something fun together! What was that? You’d like a closer look? I thought you’d never ask!
I am really pleased with my nice hangingwallthingthatneedsaname. I was given that birthday card ages ago and just couldn’t let it go (thanks, BB!) The notecard is Isaiah 26:3 if you’re straining to figure it out. And the bottom right photo of Asher on his car is one of the ones they gave me at the grocery store for next to nothing. I already had the other photos printed out from ages ago.
Here’s the Beautiful Breakdown:
Wood: Free
Nails: Free
Photos: Next to free
Raffia String Stuff for Tying: Counts as free because it was already in the craft bucket.
Christmas Ornaments, Birthday Cards, Ribbon, etc.: Same story
Having some wall space covered with stuff that makes me smile: Priceless.
There’s more to share from our Crafty Crafty Saturday, and it’s on the way. In the meantime, I’d love feedback. Especially before we have guests over and they think I’m a fruit loop for hanging this on my wall! Tell the truth! 🙂
Feb 9, 2010 | Stories, Travel..ling Tuesdays
Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is going well so far. In our neck of the woods, more specifically in the Cape region, there are lots of fires going on… Apparently in at least seven different places at the moment. Don’t worry, none of them are very near us, and we live on a harbour, so I think we’re safe. But I was hoping to catch a few shots for you that might demonstrate the strange haziness floating around today.
Most of the fires burning right now are regular occurrences in this area. They clear the bush and open up seeds that give new fynbos the opportunity to grow. They do unfortunately also destroy homes and businesses in the process. (Some of our friends lost everything they owned, except their car and fortunately their dog, a few years ago when a fire on the nearby mountains sent an ember or two in the direction of their thatched roof.)
You’ve probably heard it pointed out before that some of the most amazing trees — like the ginormous sequoias on the west coast in the US, are the result of forest fires. The pods their seeds are held inside only open under immense pressure — the heat of a forest fire. I think that speaks volumes about life in general, but this is Travelling Tuesday, so I’ll keep it light and leave you to think about it. Â On to the pictures.
You may recall the picture from our balcony, which I shared just after we moved in… (click here to see it — sorry, I couldn’t find it in my photo library!) This is the view from our balcony today:
You may also remember a picture of a fisherman, where you can see the mountains on the Cape peninsula in the distance:
This is the same spot today… The mountains have disappeared!
On my way to grab these TT shots to share with you, I discovered a guinea fowl Mom and Pops with their wee chicks and had to take photos. If you’re not familiar with guinea fowl, they’re a bit of a ninnymuggins type of bird (but don’t think I’m getting too proud — sheep are not very bright and the Lord compares us with sheep all the time!) They only fly for short distances, have a really awkward run, and are notoriously good at running out into the road to do damage to your car. If you want to try to eat one, you put it in a stewing pot with a brick, and let it stew and stew for ages. Then you take the guinea fowl out of the pot and eat the brick.
They’re not so pretty when they’re all growed up, but they are adorable as little chicks:
I rather like polka dots, so despite the funny blue heads, I still think the grown-ups are pretty. But mostly if admired from a distance. I kinda felt like this one was telling me to go away!
But they’re so cute I needed a few more shots!
Fire and fowl… That’s a slice of life ’round these parts today. 🙂 I hope things are well with you, and that the road rises to meet you wherever your journey takes you next!
Feb 2, 2010 | Travel..ling Tuesdays
Since it sounds like a lot of you folks are experiencing some chilly temps, and many of you have just enjoyed a good snowfall, I thought perhaps this week to warm you up we’d travel to beautiful Corsica…although I’ve never been there. Corsica is a lovely wee island in the Mediterranean. I suppose it’s French but you shouldn’t say that to a Corsican. It’s the official birthplace of Napolean Bonaparte, and Mark visited on holiday a year before we met, in 2004. We happened across the album the other day, and the pictures were just too beautiful not too share! I had trouble narrowing them down, so I think there are twelve. Perhaps you’ll really get warmed up.
I really liked this one, although it wasn’t one of Hero Hubby’s faves.
HH’s comment: I ate wild boar there.
How gorgeous is this spot?
HH’s comment: Grain de Sable. That means the grain of sand.
This one is so warm and fuzzy to me.
HH: Pretty…?? It is just north of the famous Calanqes de Piana. Famous is a relative term.
Can you tell I’m asking him for comments and he doesn’t really have any? 🙂 This picture makes me want to be a tourist for a while. But I kind of always feel like a tourist these days anyway.
HH: Little roadside cafe. On my way into the mountains of Corsica.
This one reminds me a little of Edinburgh Castle at sunset. But only a little.
HH: The beautiful town of Bonifacio, on the southern coast of Corsica. If you see one thing in the Mediterranean, see this. Did I say it’s beautiful?
Wow! That time I got two complete sentences! This is another one of those photos that just makes it hard to be where you are…sorry. Too pretty not to share!
HH: Cap Pertustato from Ile Cavallo. Taken specifically because of the beautiful colour of the water.
I should mention here that I can’t upload these in as high a quality as I would like to, because we pay for data instead of having unlimited internet in these parts! Just pretend it’s a lot brighter, because really it is. If you hold your cursor over this next photo, you should be able to see the long and complicated title HH gave it, which I couldn’t be bothered to retype. It’s getting late!
HH: I took a walk up a river valley called Gorges Spelunca to take a refreshing swim in the swimming pools here. The bridge is called Ponte Zaglia, and it’s a Genoese bridge which dates back to the 14th century.
So there. He made me type it all anyway. Here’s another pic to help you warm up…
HH: Plage de Virghio. The beautiful scene belies the fact that the pathway that runs behind the trees of this idyllic beach poses some land mine threatage…human feces. [Me: What??] There are no toilets! So people go poo in the bushes!! Sorry to spoil the idyllic picture.
Moving swiftly on…gross, Mark! Moving swiftly on…we’re getting to the favourites I have saved for last, of course! I hope you’re still with me. This one is picture-postcard-perfect to me.
HH: The view from the old town of Calvi, just below the Citadel. You’re looking across Golfe de Calvi towards the mountains of northern Corsica.
Did you love that one? I feel like I’m in Japan looking at this one…
HH: An early morning departure…no. An early morning photograph of the cloud inversion from Col de Bavella. I drove through these clouds descending the winding twisty road from the Col to Solenzara on the east coast. One of the most beautiful mountain passes I’ve had the pleasure of driving. I was particularly enjoying this last day of my car rental. 🙂
Gosh my fingers are tired from that caption, Mr. Dickens! Here’s my very favourite…
HH: One of my favourite photographs of all time. I was strolling around the old town of Bastia and saw this bell with the backdrop of the very blue Mediterranean, and as I was lining up the photograph this yacht came sailing into the picture. All I had to do was press the button!
Welp, happy Tuesday! I hope you enjoyed those, that you warmed up a bit if necessary, and that the road rises to meet you wherever your journey takes you next!
Jan 30, 2010 | Baby Photos
When life causes you to take a tumble…
It’s a darn good thing if you’re brave enough to get right back up again.
It sure does make your parents proud, and I think it probably makes the Lord smile too. 🙂
I create resources to help people find deeper, more meaningful relationships with God through pursuing, pondering, and prayer. The "Shop" link above will take you to the home of many of the lovely resources I’ve created to help you keep walking one day deeper with Jesus.