MERCY TREE, GARLIC FRIES AND OTHER STUFF

Hi everyone,

Oh, it has been quite the week. It's been rough, beautiful and just full of all sorts of interesting things. NONE of them were things I expected, but somehow I'm seeing beauty, joy and laughter through all of this :) :)

I was going to blog about a hat that I'm knitting for a friend's daughter, but I'll save that for another night.  Today was a rough day out on the sales floor and I just wanted to cry. So when work was over and done with, I met my father at Whole Foods and consoled myself with some fresh, made to order garlic fries...oh, boy was it ever tasty good... :) :)

My job is also full of many blessings and really interesting stories as I get to interact with people from the community.  I got to help a couple of my favorite customers. It was an old retired Philippino couple who've been married since God was a boy. The wife is retired military. The husband uses a walker and EVERY TIME I see them in the store they're always holding hands. ... So while the husband was sitting, I helped the wife. When they were finished, I walked over to the husband and helped stabilize his walker, so that he could stand up. The first thing he did was reach out for the walker with one hand and his wife's hand with the other How romantic is that In any case, I'm so glad God brought that couple my way tonight. They always bring a smile and laughter to my day This is just one of the many, many reasons I love my job and being able to interact with all sorts of people on a daily basis.

When I got home, my sweet dog was at the door to greet me. However, lately she's developed a habit for eating the leaves of this one little tree in our living room and now the tree has almost no leaves on it. I'm not sure how to get her to not eat the leaves...but every time I catch her eating them, she puts on the extra sorry puppy dog face as if she's saying "Who me? Lil' ole me?"  Any ideas on that? I'm totally clueless why my dog is eating the leaves

 

 

 

 

 

I did get a copy of the latest Mary Jane's Farm magazine in the mail. So this was just another blessing to the end of an otherwise rough day at work. This magazine is so much fun...and it's got everything that I love in it - farmgirl stuff, farmgirl of the heart, feminine, frilly, DIY etc ;) :)  Click here to visit their website.  It's all about organic, American living and so much other fun stuff. 

 

Oh and then to top it all off, there was a Billy Graham program on tv tonight. We don't have a t.v. anymore. So my father was watching it on-line and he asked me if I knew who Lacey Strum was. I had never heard of her before. So I looked her up and came across this beautiful music video called "Mercy Tree" that was featured on the program.

 

 

I don't normally cry with songs, but after this one I was just a mess of tears. It's a beautiful song and beautiful video. So maybe I needed to hear this tonight and be reminded that I (and ALL of us) are loved by the Author of Ultimate Love. 

 

Tomorrow I have the day off from work. So I'm going to the LUSH cosmetics store in Carmel to have henna applied to my hair. It's a natural hair dye alternative that will hopefully cover up a few of the gray hairs. In any case, I'll make sure to take some pics and let you know how it all turns out :)

 

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

 

 



My 365 Day Photo Challenge Photoso for Saturday - November 27th till Friday - December 3rd, 2010

Hi everyone....oh, tea...I forgot again...I was going to do a late post and it just isn't happening. HOWEVER, I do have something all ready for this coming Tuesday...It's really cool and I think it'll make up for last week.

Oh guess what else? I found out my dad reads my blog on a regular basis and he thinks it's just the cutest thing. He told me today he's waiting for the next installment :) :) Okay...here are my photos for this  week's portion of the "365 day photo challenge" :) :)

Saturday - November 27th, 2010 The beginning of those "toasted almond" socks that I was knitting.

I finished the socks Thursday night and wore them to work on Friday. My feet were really nice and toasty warm. I knit the cuff large on purpose. Now the next pair, I'll knit the cuff much more form fitting. My socks came out beautiful, but the cuff was slouching a little bit. I'll show a finished picture sometime this week :)

Sunday - November 28th, 2010. (photo actually taken on Saturday)

This is just one of the many views I see as I'm coming into Ashland, Oregon. It's such a cute little town...and I always LOVE to come here for a visit.  My favorite knitting shop is here, so there is ALWAYS a good reason to make the drive down here :)

Monday - November 29th, 2010  (also taken last Saturday)

This is one of three Queen Anne style houses/Bed & Breakfast places in Ashland, Oregon. These are up on a hill...and a little hard to get a photo of from the main street here in town. This was the best photo I could get. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these types of houses  and would love to have one of my own someday. If I ever find the backstreets, I'll get some better photos ;) :)

Tuesday - November 30th, 2010 (also taken last Saturday)

This is the last place to get a good cup of coffee "tax free" before entering Ashland's city limits. Ashland has a 5% restaurant tax. That includes all fast food and coffee purchased at drive-thru coffee stands. Strange, I know. I think that is the only city in the entire state of Oregon that has that kind of a tax.  You can see Dutch Bros in the front and  The Human Bean a little further back.

Monday - December 1st, 2010.

I do love me some Oregon mountains and grey skies ;) :) :) I never get tired of this scenery. So you'll probably see lots of similar photos up here on my blog from time to time :) :) :) There's something majestic and mighty about these mountains!

Thursday - December 2nd, 2010 (actually taken on Wednesday)

My dad hung up my house for me while I was at work on Friday.  I still haven't cleaned it yet. My housekeeping skills are really shameful when it comes to this item. However, I did pile some random items up there, just to see how I like it. I like it a LOT. What do you think?  I might try to mix up some of the pieces to make it  more varied. However, it's really cool to see more decoration up on the walls. Random objects of loveliness are always a necessity :)

Friday - December 3rd, 2010

I really love it when the skies take on this blue/black tint. It's only for a few minutes between when the sun goes down and the skies turn completely dark for the night. It's really pretty!!! What's your favorite time of day, if you were to pick a time?

I started another pair of socks out of this crazy/brightly colored Noro sock yarn. It's so much fun to knit with because the colors are so bright. My dad looks at these socks and smiles. I'm wondering if it reminds him of the sixties somehow!!! Not sure. Maybe I'll ask him . Thanks for your prayer about work. It's a challenging environment. My coworkers are awesome. Friday I kept humming "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" to myself while I was working at the computer. It kept me sane and happy :) :) Oh, I'm thinking about opening  a store to sell some of my knitted items. It would just be for fun.  If you have your own Etsy, eBay or  personal website for your items, what has been your experiences with that?  Well, that's the news from Oregon today.  Bonus love and hugs, Heather :)

The Tea Pot is Empty

Hi everyone,

Oh, I missed the boat on tea today.  I didn't get to it in time. So I don't have anything to share for tea today.  Work has me whipped....and I will have to start my tea posts the previous Tuesday if I want to keep up :) :) :) I'll look forward to reading all of your blogs today when I get home from work.

My dad is making me a coffee downstairs and I can smell up here. It smells so good!!!

Oh, the first time I ever had green tea....well, it kind of reminded me of boiled lawn grass. However, green tea is supposed to have some really good health properties. Of course, I enjoy green tea now...just back then...oh that was funny :) :) :)

Have a lovely day everyone!!!   I'll be praying for you all :) :) :) That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

Memory Verse for Sunday ~ August 29th, 2010.

Feel free to borrow this image and share in on your blogs or on Facebook with your friends/loved ones.  Left click on the image and enlarge it, before saving it.  The background graphic is courtesy of The Graphics Fairy. Go check out her site. She has some really neat vintage images and ephemera :) :) :)

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a great Sunday.  My shoulder feels MUCH BETTER today. The tension in the muscles seems to be going away very slowly...and  I'm moving it as much as I can, gently, to keep myself active. I don't want to become petrified like a tree.

Enjoy today's Scripture verse. The background graphic is from The Graphics Fairy and it was just too cute. It was actually an altered piece of sheet music...and I thought it went well with today's verse.

I'd read Ephesians 5:19 on one of you sweet lady's blogs...and lovely me, can't remember which one :( In any case, I wrote the reference down on a little 1" by 2" index card and took it to work.  Since at least half of the people I work with are Christians, I figured someone might have a Bible on them. NO!!! It was so funny. I went from one co-worker to the next asking if he/she had a Bible..no, they all left them at home. It was really quite comical, because I really wanted to write out the entire verse.

Instead, I just placed the little reference card underneath the monitor screen, right in my line of vision...so it would remind me to be joyful unto the Lord!!!

Yesterday was a very tough day.  My job basically entails telemarketing. We're a soft-sell company...and I can handle rejection. However, yesterday people were just plain very mean.  Sweet Linda over at Prairie Flower Farm gave me some great advice....pray for them. That is exactly what I will do, because I don't know what's going on on the other end of the phone. I'll admit that when customers yell at me, it does make me cry sometimes because I'm just doing a job. There's no excuse for treating anyone mean...not at all. So Linda really made this heart of mine very glad yesterday :) :)

Oh, I came up with a title for my stories about work. It'll now be called "Tales from the Pear Tree" even though right now we're still in peach season. The Royal Riviera pears are what we are world-famous for here in the States and internationally.

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

365 day photo challenge from Saturday, August 7th, 2010 till Friday, August 13th, 2010.

Hi everyone, I'm back!!! Yeah...I'm so happy to be here!!! Really and truly. I've missed blogging. I started back to work at Harry & David last Monday. This whole week has been retraining and learning some new things too. It's been exciting, but also busy and tiring...but a good kind of busy and tired :) :) :)

Here's the next installment in my photo series.  This week I have more "bonus" photos for the days I wasn't able to photograph anything. This upcoming week I'll have more time. I'll explain as I go :) :)

BONUS PHOTO Saturday ~ August 8th, 2010  This is "verbenia".  It was such an intense blue, that it was "glowing" and I literally couldn't get a clear photograph, no matter how hard I tried. Isn't God great with colors? :) :) :) :)
It was really good to see everyone again.  There was a small group of 20...18 ladies and two gentleman...and I've been working with these wonderful people for just over two years now. It was almost like the first day of school. We are all excited to see who would be there. We had a lot of fun chatting and getting caught up. Of course, we are all very grateful to be back at work.


Sunday - August 8th, 2010 This was a teeny tiny little yellow flower peeking  through all that bark-mulch in the parking lot at Albertsons grocdery store. This was the only living thing in that entire island in the parking lot.  I had to snap a photo because this little flower was struggling for life and clinging on with every ounce of strength. I love this little flower..struggling but still beautiful!!!!


Monday ~ August 9th, 2010 This is an old-fashioned smudge pot used for keeping orchard fruit warm. This was actually redecorated by someone at Harry & David. I love the vintage feel to it..and it's what it very typical for this region of Southern Oregon...the Roayl Riviera Pears..some of the trees are almost 100 years old and still producing tasty fruit. Yes, I do love pears!!!!

Tuesday ~ August 10th, 2010 Some ducks over at the duck pond at work.  I love it that my job provides this beautiful pond for ducks and humands alike to enjoy!!! I tried to get a photo of all the ducklings..teeny tiny duck babies...but they got scared and swam away...so it's just the adults today!!!

BONUS PHOTO Wednesday ~ August 11th, 2010 This was a photo taken at the phone museum in Jacksonville, Oregon.  I just added "sepia" tones to it, to make it look vintage.  I really love the old typewriter. It's got some class and style!!!

BONUS PHOTO  Thursday ~ August 12th, 2010 A beautiful orange flower in a softer focus!!!!

BONUS PHOTO for Friday ~ August 13th, 2010.  I added some "glow" to this photo, although you almost can't see it..but it does make the colors come alive a little bit more :) :) I love hyndrangeas.

I didn't want to go into too much detail about work...mainly because I'm one of those people who loves to keep my work life and my private life seperate!!  I will say this, that I'm excited about some of the improvements in the computer system. It will enable me to take better care of my customers and to make their shopping experience a happy one. It's so fun to talk to so many different people.  Every day is literally so different!!!

The one prayer request I would have is for hours.  The one thing that is certain in this business is change.  So my co-workers and I were counting on full-time hours every week. It looks like it'll only be about 16 hours for the next few weeks, until it draws closer to the CHRISTmas season :) :) :) Yes, we do say "Merry Christmas" at Harry & David :) :) :)  So, all my "plans" went out the window...but then I'm reminded of a couple of things... 1) If you want to make God laugh, than tell Him your plans...and I'm thinking He's having a gentle laugh at me...I know I'm laughing at myself right now :) :) :) 2) God will provide and this will be another great opportunity to see what God can do in a situation where I'm totally incapable..especially now!!! I'm going to bloom where I'm planted...and I"ll use this as an opportunity to be even wiser with the resources God has given me. Hopefully I can use that to encourage someone else later on down the road. In any case, I would covet your prayers because many of my co-workers, while they understand the "why's", it still puts a strain on everyones budgets. Thank goodness we all know how to laugh about it all :) :)

WELCOME TO: Holly at Banner Haus News. Click here to visit her site. She has some great free images and other cool stuff to look at!!! I don't remember which blogger friend directed me to her site...but today's post has a great image for fall...so cute. Check it out!!!

I've been working on a knitting project...just a simple square cloth made from a yarn by Araucania...It's 100% sugar cane fibres. It's like silk and so shiny. I'll make sure to post a photo of it when it's finished. In any case, I'm making the square cloth as a "placemat" for my travel coffee mug when I"m at work. It beautifies my work space and serves as a way to clean up any potential coffee spills..not that I'm a messy coffee drinker...no way...messy eater, sometimes...but very neat with precious coffee :) :)

Well, that's about it for the moment. It's been super hot weather-wise this week. So the air conditioner has been coming in handy.  Last night was especially warm...even at midnight. I slept with my bedroom window open because it has a lovely screen. That's a small blessing that I'm thankful to God to have!!!!  I was sick last night and went to bed at 9:30 p.m. I feel much better now!!!  My dad made me a special "Daddy Breakfast"...so that always cheers me up!!!

I almost forgot to mention a very IMPORTANT PARTY/GIVEAWAY over at Prairie Flower Farm. Linda is having a super fun giveaway that ends on the 20th of August. Check out the button on my sidebar for more info on the giveaway. Otherwise you can click here to visit her blog :) :) :) There are some great things AND she's been running this fun "write your own story" piece for the last few days. So you'll want to check that out, have some laughs, be encouraged and just feel really good for being there :) :) I love me a good giveaway and I'll enter anything and everything because it's so much fun!!! So pop on over and tell Linda that I sent you and say "hello"!!!!

I'm off to work on my post for Sunday!!! I hope you all had a great week. You were missed and THANK YOU for leaving so many comments on my blog!!! It really made my day...coming home tired from work and then seeing so many greetings on my blog :) :) :) Way cool!!!!

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

My Fifth Tea Time Tuesday & Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday for August 11th, 2010 !!!

Hi everyone...oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers for work. Today went really well and I was very happy to be there!!! I'll write about it more later this week...but I wanted to get out my next tea post...because well, tea....it's just as important as breathing!!! Oh, funny story, I think I was supposed to be AT WORK at 7 a.m. for retraining...NOPE...I got the time way OFF...it was actually 8 a.m. so when my team leader saw me she was very surprised..OH, I'd been waiting at work since 6:40 a.m. Well, rest assured I won't be making that same mistake again. The blessing is that I got some uninterrupted knitting time !!

Okay...let's have a cup of tea, shall we? Now this was a lonely little tea cup I found a couple weeks ago at a yard sale. This yard sale was right across the street from the hospital, so there was no parking in front of the house. However, my dad and I just parked across the street in the hospital parking lot. You'll understand why I just had to buy this sweet little cup. It's more the shape of a coffee cup...but you know what...just like there's oodles of different varieties of tea, there are oodles of varieties of lovely teacups. It's "Wedgwood"...so I figure I earned a pass :) :)

Here's my Peter Rabbit Christmas china tea cup from Wedgwood!!! I LOVE the Beatrix Potter stories and "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" is my favorite.

Now the cup didn't have a price on it...but I had posted a really cute Campbell's soup bowl with matching lid that I'd purchased at the same yard sale. It was only $0.25...so I figured I could ask the same for the cup...:) :) :) So now I'm the proud owner of an orphaned Peter Pan china teacup :) :) :) Here's another view of the cup...It had quite a lot of detail on it!!! It's a Christmas teacup...:) :) :)


I really don't know anyone who doesn't love Beatrix Potter. Oh, and her books, she had them designed small on purpose, so that precious little hands could have books that fit and were kid-friendly :) :) :)

Here's the view on the other side of the cup. It says "Merry Christmas" in two spots and Peter Rabbit is doing something different in each image :) :) :)



The backstamp was lovely, cleary and had lots of detail. Check it out. I don't know about you, but now I want to start collecting Beatrix Potter items...this is so cute!!!

Oh, the day my dad and I had to go to this local church pantry was hard. It took us LITERALLY almost THREE hours to finally get some much needed food...BUT that's okay, because it was well-organised, clean etc...AND here's one of the small blessings from that long day. There was a table of random items...all FREE. So I waited until the wolf pack..I mean, ladies, cleared away..and I decided to take a look. Here was this lovely plate hiding underneath one very ugly bag...Oh, I think God meant this plate for me on that day...Look at it...with all the delicate pink roses and vines. Wouldn't this be especially nice with a chubby slice of cake or better, cheesecake? What's your favorite tea time dessert?

I think one of you dear people has a plate or teacup just like this. I thought someone posted something similar to this awhile back..


This is the backstamp. It's very simple and slightly faded. It had a crown at the top and says "Vienna..Austria. That's it. If anyone knows anything more about this particular design, please let me know :) :)

Now the floral design on this plate is unique...because it's not symmetrical or even...you'll notice there's some "irregularities" on purpose...the common element that ties it all together are those lovely pink roses with the green vines!!! It caught my attention. This plate was FREE.  Here's a couple close-up pictures of the detail on this lovely plate!!! I'm going to make this my dessert plate :) :)

 

 

Oh, today was my first day back at work for Harry & David. I was layed off in February along with all my friends. There was a small group of us that went back for three weeks at Mother's Day...otherwise, we've all been job hunting!!

 

It was so good to see everyone again. Here's the blessing...we all worked in the outbound telemarketing department and I know what most people tend to think of telemarketers. However, we are never pushy...NEVER...and besides, I know the product VERY WELL, so it's one I can confidently tell people about, because I use it...well, eat, is a better word...those Royal Riviera pears...yummy!!!

 

When the department was eliminated two years ago, we all went back to just taking inbound calls and handling customer service issues. Praise comes in the strangest of directions sometimes...the new CEO of the company recognized the value of our department & the money we were able to earn...so he brought our department back. It's a blessing in so many, many ways...the first one being a regular paycheck and pretty much guaranteed 40 hours per week of work. Not everyone gets that...

 

Well, I'm getting ahead of myself and I'm going to talk about it some more later this week.  I'm really praying for a good attitude at work...and that God would keep my heart open to learn something new. I will say this...I don't know where you are at in your working lives, whether it's at home, outside of the home... :) :)...there are skills that are important no matter where you work...honesty, integrity, faithfulness, being on time etc.. :) :) :)

 

Oh, okay...that's not tea related..BUT Harry & David does sell some lovey tea things in their stores and online...so I'll be adding some of that to my collection soon :) :)

 

Thanks so much for stopping by for tea and letting me babble on about work :) :) It's been a real good thing for me...and came at just the perfect time...Hmm..God's timing is ALWAYS perfect!!!

 

WELCOME TO: Teresa of Grammy Girlfriend. Click here to check out her blog. Teresa, thanks for joining my blog and leaving a lovely comment :) :) Your blog is delightful...LOVE the background, too :) :) :)

 

Love and hugs to you all...I hope you have a great week!!! That's the news from Oregon, Heather :)

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off To Work I Go & Scripture Memory Verse

Feel free to borrow this and share it on Facebook or on your blogs. Please link the photo back to my blog. Thanks ;) :) :)

Happy Sunday everyone,  I hope you are all having a really great day so far. It's only 7:11 a.m. here and it's already starting to warm up. I plan on taking a walk later today and catching some sunshine. It's good for the hair...makes your hair pretty :) :) :) It's all about the Vitamin D :) :) :) I read somewhere that Vitamin D helps in hair growth. My hair is about chin length and I want it LONG, LONG, LONG...so sunshine is essential :) :) :)

I'm getting my outfit ready for tomorrow. I found a really cute, LONG denim skirt to wear. It's hard to find a long straight skirt...but it was worth the search. The denim skirt will go with just about everything in my closet. So that will help with what to wear :) :)

Oh, I'm excited and I'm nervous with anticipation all at the same time.  It will be good to see all of my work friends again....all of them are women with the exception of a couple of guys.

This really sweet photo is courtesy of Prairie Flower Farm. Click here to pay Linda a visit. She has a really cool "Write your own story..." post. Click on the link for that on my sidebar :) :) :)

Linda, over at Prairie Flower Farm, is having a really fun activity called "Write your own story..." If you click on the button right above the Prairie Flower Farm button on my sidebar, it'll take you directly to that post. She starts it off for us, and it's our job to finish the story :) :) It looks like a lot of fun. I'm definitely going to have to participate :) :) :)

I didn't get a lot of crafting done yesterday except for another dishcloth :) :) :) It looks a bit unconventional, but it will work :) :) :) That means I was a little off in my brick stitch count while knitting. I was also too far along in the project and didn't want to undo it all. So I continued on and fixed it from that point. It actually looks kind of cool :) :) :)

I'll still be participating in the Tuesday tea parties, showing off tea things etc.  Scripture memory verse on Sunday is a given!!!!  After that, I'm not sure when I'll be able to post since I'll be working a full 40 hours a week.  Praise God for a job...I'll be able to take care of so many things that have waited a long time...like getting  a haircut!!! So I hope you all will still read my blog. I'll still be posting things :) :) :)

You ladies are awesome. Thanks so much for all the prayers, encouragement, godly wisdom...all of it!!! I've not only been encouraged but I learn a lot, too!!...besides, you all are fabulous :) :) :) That's the news from Oregon for this morning. Extra bunches of love and hugs, Heather :)