PRAYER REQUEST !!!

Hi everyone, Just a quick note. Linda over at Prairie Flower Farm has asked all of us to pray for  baby Elliana. She's a little baby born just a  few weeks ago. She's got some serious health problems and is currently on life support. It's not looking good. Click here to read the most recent post. You can also scroll back through the posts to find the original prayer request too. Oh, please do leave a comment on the Prairie Flower Farm blog. Linda said that the parents, Mark and Hannah will read it..so I'm praying for this precious little lamb. I know it would co mfort the parents to know others are praying, too!!  That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather

MY 27TH TEACUP AND TEA THINGS TUESDAY & TEA TIME TUESDAY

Hi everyone, Wow, last week was an "event" for me. I mentioned in an earlier post that my computer hard-drive crashed. So my father and I were without a computer for FIVE days. It was a struggle for sure. It also made me realize how dependent I am on the internet. Everything is in working order now. It's time for a little tea. I brought a friend today :) :)

MEET MY PINK STUFFED KITTY CAT, MR. KITTY. MR. KITTY IS MOST PLEASED TO MEET YOU TODAY.

I invited a long time precious stuffed toy of mine for tea. Meet Mr. Kitty. I literally stitched him together when I was in kindergarten with a real  needle and thread. I have very clear memories of  sewing Mr. Kitty together. Although Mr. Kitty is a bit sensitive when I talk about that. So, he just likes being known as a cute pink kitty cat ;) :) :) I invited Mr. Kitty over for tea today . Since there is an obvious difference in height, Mr. Kitty was allowed to have tea on the dining table :) Mr. Kitty was concerned about the size of the tea cup.  So I decided to use that teacup for my tea today.

MR. KITTY  PREFERS TO USE A DEMITASSE WHEN HE HAS TEA  !!!

 Mr. Kitty was a bit concerned that the previous teacup would be too much for him. So we decided that a lovely German demitasse with matching saucer was just the thing. Mr. Kitty is very, very pleased with the new  teacup. Demitasses are perfect for pink stuffed kitty cats :) :) :) Oh, Mr. Kitty was so excited to meet you all today, he forgot to take actual tea.  Well, there is always next week. I told Mr. Kitty he could bring a friend. So there may be another guest or two next week :) :) :)

 Thanks for stopping by for tea and a lovely visit. If you have any ideas of how I can clean Mr. Kitty, let me know. I made him when I was five years old. Now I'm 30-something. I don't want to ruin Mr. Kitty's markings.  That's the news from Oregon today. Extra special tea time love and hugs, Heather :)

SCRIPTURE SUNDAY

Hi everyone, Happy Sunday to all of you. Here's another good Bible verse.  Feel free to borrow this photo if you 'd like and share it with your friends etc.   The women's Bible study that I belong to is going through a study called "His Princess" by Sheri Rose Shepherd. We've been listening to the CDs the last three weeks. Next week, we'll actually have the DVDs and workbooks. I'm making these little memory verse cards for myself AND all the ladies in the Bible study. It's a great way to   add beauty and Scripture to everyday life ;) :) Plus, it's a ton of fun to make these up for everyone :) :) :)  That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

MY COMPUTER HARD-DRIVE CRASHED!!!!

Hi everyone,

This is just a quick note.  I had a post all set for last Tuesday. Guess what happened? My computer hard-drive crashed last  Monday. So I had to take it in to the computer store to have it fixed. I just got it back today. Everything looks good now...but I just wanted to let you know where I've been for the last few days.. NOWHERE :) :) I'm so happy to have my computer BACK!!!!

That's all the news from Oregon today. Extra bonus love and hugs, Heather :)

p.s. (added at 2:43 p.m.  PST) I have about 30 memory verse cards I've got to get written out and decorated for tomorrow. I'm WAY behind. I'm in a women's Bible study. There are 10 ladies and three v erses so far... Yikes. I'd better get going ...FAST

Also, we didn't lose anything on the computer. Praise God. Anytime I download photos, I ALWAYS make copies on my USB drive right away ...just in case ;) :) :)

MAGNOLIAS ARE MY NEW FAVORITE FLOWER

MAGNOLIA BLOOMS PHOTOGRAPHED JUST THIS AFTERNOON. AREN'T THEY JUST THE MOST ROMANTIC, GRACIOUS FLOWER EVER? IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A GRACIOUS FLOWER? YES, AND IT'S A MAGNOLIA !!!!

Hi everyone, How have you been doing this week so far? I've been doing well.  I've been a bit lazy in posting. There was an idea I had for Tea Time Tuesday that didn't quite make it this week. However, it will be ready for next Tuesday. It'll be so cute. The only clue I' ll give is that it's pink :) :) :)

My dad and I were driving around town the other day when I spotted these magnolias.  These particular magnolias are just the loveliest shade of pink and white. Aren't they gorgeous and romantic? I think I want to plant magnolias. These are either "Saucer Magnolias" or "Japanese Magnolias". I vote "Saucer Magnolias" because we do have saucer magnolias, in general, here in Southern Oregon. Either way, these sure are pretty. Wouldn't you agree?

Oh, I'm on this crazy mission to read my Bible in a week. Well, at this rate, it'll be more like a month. However, it was just a spur of the mo ment thing that my father and I decided to do. So we're going for it. It's really interesting. God makes lots of promises. He keeps them, too :) :) Plus, I think God has a sense of humor, because there are certain passages in Exodus that are just making me howl with laughter. What is it you say?  Well, one in particular is after Moses has just led the Israelites out of Egypt. I'll save that for another post. I have this funny dialogue running in my head about this :) :) Isn't neat that since the very beginning God is watching out for us :) :) That's awesome :) :) :)

I was having very serious doubts... well, more like worries, about being able to pay bills. Today I was reminded "not to worry", because that's what God tells us to do. So it's been neat for me personally to see how God is reassuring me that everything will be okay. It will and I'm NOT worried :) :) :)

Have a great Thursday everyone :) :) That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

LAUNDRY ROOM FREEBIES & ONE YARD SALE FIND

Hi everyone, How was your week? Mine was really good.  I'm sure you have heard the news about the earthquake in Japan. Please pray for that country. They have a long road ahead of them  to  try and fix/repair the damages. Pray for the people, that God would comfort them during this very difficult time.   Pray also for the West Coast of the United States. There has been some damage there as well as a result of the tsunami.

THIS IS A FLOOR MAT WITH CATS ON IT. MY DAD FOUND THIS IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM. WHILE I LOVE CATS, THIS IS NOT MY STYLE. SO I'LL  PUT IT BACK IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM THIS WEEK.

As most of you know I live in an apartment complex. My particular complex does not have built-in washers & dryers for clothing. However, we do have a very nice laundry room.  Once in awhile people will leave stuff there as "freebies" or "give-aways", whatever you want to call it. So my dad did his laundry Thursday and came back with his basket full of freebies. This was the first one. It's in excellent condition, but it does not match my decorating style at all. So I will be putting it back in the laundry room this week.

 HERE ARE TWO MORE TINS. ONE IS AN EMPTY COOKIE TIN. THE OTHER WAS A SET OF THREE MINIATURE TINS THAT HELD DIFFERENT TYPES OF COCOA MIX.

 My father also brought these back into the home. He is such a sweetheart. He knew that I would be interested in all the laundry room freebies. Definitely. Once in awhile I have been really blessed with some great stuff this way. He was not sure what I'd like, so he brought it all. Here are two more tins. Now these I will NOT keep either. These will also go back to the laudnry room. Now don't despair, because next comes the stuff that I will definitely keep. 

HERE ARE FOUR THINGS THAT I WILL DEFINITELY KEEP. FIRST IS THIS LOVELY ROUND BASKET. SECOND AND THIRD ARE THESE TWO TINS. LAST IS THIS LOVELY FLORAL NOTECARD SET.

Now this is what I definitely WILL KEEP.  I love tins, especially vintage looking ones. The Hershey's Tin is a reproduction from an early 20th century Hershey's chocolate ad. The other one is a Christmas theme tin. It's so cute!!! Then when you look below is the set of notecards with matching envelopes. Now the front of the envelopes match the outer floral border on this set. The actual notecards themselves have that simple floral set in the center.  The set was practically brand new. I'm not sure why the person gave this away. I'm thinking it was a lady who bought this :) :)  However, I'd been thinking that I "wanted" to buy a set of notecards, so I could write more letters. Notice I said "want" It's definitely not something I needed, but God provided anyway. Isn't that the coolest?

THIS IS THE BACKSIDE OF THE ENVELOPES IN THE NOTECARD SET. ISN'T THIS GORGEOUS? LOOK AT ALL THAT PRETTY DETAIL.

I just had to take a photo of the backside of the envelope. Isn't it so pretty?  I'll definitely be putting these to use.  There is something about writing a real letter that is so comforting, even if it's just a few lines.  So I've made it my "mission" to write more letters to friends. I don't know about you, but a real letter is way better than a so-called "love letter" from the bank :) :)  So every once in awhile the laundry room is a great place to find free give-aways. It was last Thursday :)

 THIS IS A  REALLY LARGE PILLOW SHAM THAT I PURCHASED AT A YARD SALE FOR JUST $0.50 CENTS. WHAT  A DEAL !!!!

Now I had been meaning to post this awhile back. I don't think I've done that, so I'm sharing it now. A couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a small yard sale. So of course, I had to stop. There wasn't a lot of money in my wallet. There usu ally never is anyway...ahem..but that's not my subject today. I just had to stop and see if there was anything for the home that I could bring to my home. Oh, there was this sweetest pillow case. It's for a rather large square-shaped pillow. It fits into my decor just perfectly. Isn't it the sweetest thing with those wavy edges on the pillow sham? I asked the lady how much she wanted for it. I would have been happy to pay at least $1 or more, because it was in excellent condition. She told me "I'll charge you 50 cents"..that's 50 U.S. cents. YES!!! My father didn't raise a dummy, so I immediately accepted and brought this home. Now, I ' ll just have to wait until I find the perfect pillow to fit :) :)

 THIS IS THE  APRIL/MAY 2011 ISSUE OF MARY JANE'S FARM MAGAZINE. IT IS ONE OF MY MOST FAVORITE MAGAZINES IN THE WORLD :) :)

As if that wasn't enough, I received the current issue of Mary Jane's Farm magazine in the mail. Click here to visit their website. It's a great website. Now I have been subscribing to the magazine since 2009. However, I am able to find issues of this magazine at my local Barnes & Noble store or at Fred Meyer. Usually it's kept in the agricultural section where you might find magazines like Mother Earth News. This is such a neat  magazine that really sp eaks to my female heart. It expresses my style and love of country, home, feminine beauty & style just so perfectly. Oh that lace is mine. I used that to cover up my address, which was printed on the magazine :) :) 
There are so many quality magazines out there. This is how I narrowed down which ones are my favorite. There are a few others which I think are high-quality publications like this one. I'll definitely share those with you in the future .  Basically it came down to this, as my finances were shrinking, I had to let go of those magazines that weren't really interesting. I only kept those magazines which are, literally for me, front cover to back cover, excellent. This is one of those magazines for me. It comes out every other month. It's full of great crafts, DIY projects, living life on the farm, inspirational stories from other women, cast iron cooking, organic lifestyle, farm style etc. This is wonderful. Oh, and literally there is no space left unusued. Oh, and this is perhaps the most unusual, but really cool, is that even the advertisements in the magazine are beautiful, too.
I also subscribe to Country Woman magazine. Then I purchase The Girlhood Home Companion magazine from Remembrance Press. I'll write more on that latter magazine in an upcoming post. Everything on this site is high quality, full of faith, love and all that  girly goodness and beauty that we all love :) :) :) My sweet friend Jill blessed me with two of the Tea Cozy Club newsletters for my birthday. What a sweet gesture  :) :) Thank you, Jill, it is a real blessing. Thank you for loving on me like that ;) :)Again, I'll write more about this in another post. This last magazine I would highly recommend if you are a mom,  grandma, daughter or single like me...but you like things like tea, faith, good stories, craft projects etc.  Now my mother never had tea parties with me or told me stories etc. She did love me, but didn't always show it in a traditional way. However, I've always loved/enjoyed things like this. So for me, it's really fun and such a blessing. I'm hoping that God will bless me with daughter's of my own, to raise up in faith and have tea parties with :) :) Besides, this would be perfect for a Sunday class of young women or girls at your local church or community center.

THIS WAS ANOTHER SWEET BIRTHDAY GIFT FROM MY DEAR FRIEND OVER AT RED PINE MOUNTAIN.

My really sweet friend over at Red Pine Mountain sent me this as a belated birthday gift.  I love healthy beauty products. So when she sent me this book, I was super  surprised and super excited. This book is written my Janice Cox and her daughter, Lauren. They've got a few books out on home beauty treatments etc that  are ecologically friendly and fun to make/use at home.  There are recipes for the top of your head to the toes of your feet. Please check out my friend's blog Red Pine Mountain. It's really fun. She's a real neat lady. Her husband can build anything with his own two hands. Click here to visit their site.
That's about it for today.  I'm going to a women's Bible study tomorrow morning. There will be some other ladies from church there. It'll be interesting. I'm a little nervous, yet excited at the same time. I'd been praying that God would bring along a Bible study that met in the morning. So Saturday morning it is. What an answer to prayer. We're doing a study called "His Princess". I don't remember the author's name. When I find out, I'll let you know :) :) Pray that God would give me a teachable heart :) :)

That's the news from Oregon today. Extra love and hugs, Heather :)

HOW WAS YOUR DAY TODAY?

THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN  LAST MONDAY. IT SEEMS LIKE I DON'T GET OUT MUCH LATELY, SO I TAKE PHOTOS OF THE SAME THING. THAT'S OKAY. OREGON IS GORGEOUS  :) :)

 Hi everyone, How are you doing so far this week? I 've been doing really well  :) :)  This is just a random sidenote, but does anyone notice that irksome little fibre in the upper left hand corner of my photo?  I'm not sure how it got there. It's in the camera. I tried cleaning it, but it keeps coming back. oh well, it gives my photos character...ahem :) : ) :)

I just wanted you all to know that I'm still alive and you aren't forgotten :) :) I called a local community health clinic. I have an appointment in April to have a doctor look at my sh oulder and see if there's something else wrong besides just bursitis.  So be praying for that, because my shoulder bothers me everyday. It's been a real time of learning to  watch how I speak. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, right?  So it's important, even in ti mes like this, that we  speak words of truth, faith, grace etc :) :)

What else?  I watched the premier of Secret Millionaire on tv last Sunday with Dani Johnson. It was awesome!!! she's a Christian lady and I've been familiar with her story for awhile now. One of the things I've been challenged is how I"m going to give back.  So it's exciting and scary...but I"m happy to see what God will do. I'll keep you updated on that.

Let's see, God's been really teaching me some good lessons about money this week. ...mainly, how it's HIS money first, not mine.  It's really easy to say it's mine, especially when it gets tough...but you know what?  I've never been disapointed when I obeyed God :) :) So that's something to talk about in another post as well :) :) :)

I hope you all are having a great week so far ;) :) You are always welcome to visit here :) :) I read all of your comments. It's a joy for me ;) :) 

Oh,  my church is having a big yard sale at the end of April. I was trying to figure out how I could sell some of the stuff I didn't want anymore. However, one of the things I felt led to do this week is donate it all to the church yard sale. My church is so little, but they do a lot to help the church folk and people in the co mmunity. So that's where I want my "unwanted" but still good stuff to go...to bless others :) :) :)  It turns out it's part of a city-wide yard sale. Can you imagine? You know I LOVE me a good yard sale. So this will be a time of  practicing financial restraint :) :) I'll be sure to have my camera with me :) :)

That's the new from Oregon tonight :) :) Extra love and hugs, Heather :)

JUST A HELPFUL TIP

Hi everyone, I saw this post over at The Graphics Fairy  website.  She was having some trouble with her computer and kept getting this FALSE warning. You can click here to read her post. I thought I'd repost it here just in case any of you encounter the same problem.

Now I haven 't had this happen to me, so I am CANNOT speak from personal experience. I have a really good co mputer protection software where I can speak to som eone live if there is any problem. However, I really dislike when annoying things happen to my computer. So I'm passing on the information to you :) :)

THIS WAS SOME OF THE BEAUTIFUL RAIN AND SUNSHINE WEATHER I EXPERIENCED LAST TUESDAY.

You can't see the sunshine here, but there really was some sunshine and rain happening, all at the same time. It was gloriously beautiful. Those are my favorite kind of days. oh, and the rain was more of a gentle sprinkle and warm. Those are the best. I'll often experience those kind of days in summertime.

That's the news for today. It's only 6:35 a.m. here Pacific Standard Time. I'm trying to figure out what I'll have for breakfast. Oh, random note of coolness, I found out that my local Fred Meyer store sells ORGANIC beef hot dogs ;) :) Yeah :) :) Oh, laundry awaits, so I supposed I'll do that today, too.  What are you up to today?  I hope you all have a wonderful week. I'm so thankful to God for each and ever one of you.

Welcome to the new followers ,too :) :) I am really happy you are here.  Thanks also for the lovely comments you uleave me. I enjoy reading all of them. That's the news from Oregon today.  Love and hugs, Heather :)

THE CUPCAKE COMPANY & RED VELVET CUPCAKES !!!

Hi everyone,
Oh, my word, I think I have fallen in love.... with cupcakes.  My birthday was yesterday.  I turned 30-something years old. It's funny, because I stil feel like I'm 18. Anyways, this story today goes back a couple of weeks.  One day my dad and I are out running an errand at the grocery store. I spot this new shop. It's a cupcake shop. So my dad treated me to a red velvet regular and mini cupcake. Here's a photo of what I ate today...so delicious.

Oh, goodness, this is the large cupcake. It's not too big or small. It is the PERFECT size and so tasty.  Ever since I found out that there was a cupcake shop moving into town, my desire was for a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.  Would you be surprised that there was no cupcake shop in town until two weeks ago? Oh, I'm so glad that they  opened up.  I told my father that I wanted a red velvet cupcake for my birthday.  Today he bought me my cupcake :) :) This is my cupcake on  my red transferware plate. Doesn't the cupcake look absolutely delicious?  Oh, it tastes so good. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cream cheese frosting, too.

Okay, so let me go back a couple of weeks. A little over two weeks ago I noticed that someone had moved into this store front. It used to be a tanning salon. I'm not sure what happened to them. Anyways, I was praying that something good would  move in. This is the store front of The Cupcake Company as seen from the car.  Click here to visit their beautiful website.  There were a lot of cars at the shopping center today, so getting a better picture was a bit tricky. I'll try another time. Oh this place is just gorgeous inside.

Oh, this  place is so beautiful and spic-and-span clean. It's also bright and cheery with lots of windows to let in natural light.  So when my dad and I walked in, my dad immediately asked if I could take a couple of photos. The owners said "Yes"!!! That was really sweet of them. I always feel nervous about asking, but they were so gracious.  My father explained that I have a blog and that I wanted to write about the shop today. This is part of their menu board with  some of the specials that they offer throughout the week. They have a total of 24 different flavors. The display case had about 12 flavors for the day. 

Here are some of the luscious, decadent super tasty cupcakes in the cupcake case ;) :) :)  It is really neat to find out why people start new business ventures. The owners are a husband & wife team. One was involved in construction and the other one was involved in real estate. When the economy made a downturn, they decided to take a leap of faith and open a new business to earn money. They took a leap of faith!!! That is the short version of the story. I hope I got it right. The couple was just so sweet with the most precious, friendly smiles I have ever seen. The same goes for their beautiful, sweet assistant who rang up my cupcake purchase :)
There was something about their demeanor that prompted my dad to ask if they go to church anywhere. They  attend a local church here in Southern Oregon. It's a church that my dad and I first went to  when we moved to Oregon. So it was really neat and a blessing  :) :)  The shop, when you walk in, is absolutely delightful. It's so clean and bright. There are lovely tables that you can sit at to enjoy your cupcakes. They also have  coffee, too.  When you walk in, you can see right into the bakery/kitchen in the back room. Oh, it was so CLEAN...it was gorgeous. So I felt really good about what I was buying, because I knew that if they take such good care of their kitchen, the cupcakes are going to be delicious!!!  The owners start baking at 3 a.m. So not only are the cupcakes delicious, they're fresh every day :) :)

I have been dreaming of red velvet cupcakes for a couple of weeks. Here's a close-up photo of these gorgeous cupcakes.  The regular ones and the mini cupcakes. Oh,  isn't that great? There is something to fit every taste.  Not only can you pick and choose which flavors you want to eat, you can get regular and minis. The mini cupcakes are awesome because you can have  small taste that easily pops into your mouth. Then if you find a flavor that you like, you can get the larger one. In this case, my father bought me one regular and one mini cupcake. They were so rich and tasty, that I shared both with my father.  Oh, when you pick and choose your cupcakes, they are lovingly placed on one of these plastic trays like you see here.  The associate than asked us if we'd be eating here or taking them to go. We took ours to go, because we had some other errands to run.

Here is one of their beautiful sticker labels. The associate was very kind to let me have two. Isn't this beautiful? It is so well designed and the website is there, too. So please  pop on over and visit this local business. It's really sweet ;) :) :) Oh, I forgot to mention that one of the cupcake flavors that was also in the cupcake was was a  "Samoa" cupcake. Oh goodness, I'm in heaven. That's the flavor I'm going to try next time :) :)
Here are some photos of my beautiful red velvet cupcake. I ate the mini cupcake in the car. I couldn't wait till I arrived home. So the one that made it home is the regular cupcake :) :) Here are some various plate settings for this luscious tasty treat :)

It was such a gorgeous day today. It was overcast and bright/blue skies today. Oh, what made it especially beautiful was that it was just sprinkling ever so slightly. It was just gorgeous!!!! 

I was not paid to do this review. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this particular business and their cupcakes. So I voluntarily gave this review in case any of you are ever in this neck of the woods. This is definitely a place that you want to come and visit ;) :)

That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)