Cozy bedding, Autumn drive, Genealogy updates, Gift wrapping, Spittoons, 400 Shoebox, my Princess (Issue 131)

and my precious Granddaughter would have been 10 years old

There’s nothing like new cozy bedding to bring lots of little joy to many days! It is so clean and new that I just want to stay in bed for hours! This time I got a plain white fitted sheet and bought a different printed flat sheet. I do not like the print when it is just the sheet on the bed because it is oh-so-busy! However, I do love seeing it peek out in little bits from under the quilts. And the quilts! So many textures and I take delight in the visual and tactile of each one. I also love the muted colors, as always. What about you? How would you describe it when you get new bedding? I feel a little guilty for spending the money on myself and I have to talk myself out of the bad self-talk by reminding myself that it is just bedding and that is a normal need for ever person. It is not as if I was splurging on some unnecessary want. I also used the old bedding far beyond what a normal person would have used it. I deserve this little luxery.

Miss Tizzy thinks she deserves this little luxery too! There she is sitting like the princes and the pea!

Here is the new website page for the Castor River Conservation Area. We have driving by signs for this so many times, but finally we took an Autumn drive to check it out for a day trip. This Area is so huge that it will take several trips to explore it all.

Here is the YouTube video of our trip to just part of the Castor River Conservation Area. If you see people sharing Autumn colors online and it seems to unreal to be true, it is probably over processed. I see a lot of the fakeness. And then I see people going to that location and being disappointed. Don’t be one of those people who overprocesses photos to bring out colors that are not there and do that to other people. Can we just stop it with the fakeness? The colors were not really that fab this year here in Missouri. Sure, there were some here and there, it is true. For instance, the poison ivy in my neighbor’s tree has a wonderful red to it right now. Sigh.

I worked long time since I last shared on finishing up the Bible folders for my Winter Project. With it came taking the handwritten information on the Bibles and putting them on website pages. For those following my genealogy research and surnames, there are a lot of images and edits to the James & Rubina Rutledge page. Also some to the Andrew Jackson Wright and Mary Lucinda Marshall Wright page. This was very time consuming and not of interest to most readers, but I really enjoyed anaylzing the information for tips, especially trying to break down the brick wall of Mary Lucinda Marshall Wright’s parents. If it had not been for her granddaughter Rubina’s handwritten notes, I would not even have names.

We were chatting Saturday morning, as we always do, about what our goals and plans were for the day, and I remembered that when we were young, it was tradition to watch cartoons every Saturday morning. You just do not see them on television anymore. So since it was just Halloween, I searched for Casper on YouTube and we sat and watched a few cartoons! I might just have to look for more to watch next Saturday morning! It was fun to watch. I must have watched this many times as I could almost remember what was coming next.

I am thinking about and remembering our grandaughter Abigail Ivah who would have been 10 years old Saturday. She was born November 2, 2014, and died November 8, 2014 (10 years next Thursday). I made these layouts while we were waiting for her to die, photos taken on November 7. Spending time in digital work, pondering words to put on the graphics, helped me through those difficult 6 days. It helps now to reread those words. Abigail means "Father is rejoicing" and Ivah means "God's precious gift." Logan gave her the teddy bear. She was perfect in every way. Inside her brain was too small to sustain life. At about 4 weeks inside her Mom's protective womb, the CMV viris caused her brain to stop growing. I always say we have 5 grandchildren because I will never forget our precious Abigail. She was the second born. Excuse me while I'm subexisting in sentimental sappy mode for the next week.

I love wrapping gifts this way. We only keep craft paper as wrapping paper now. We’ve done this for years. Then I just head out in the yard and grab some outdoor elements and tie them on the top of the package. Even the twine is from my patio where it sits in a roll as a decoration and is used to tie up plants as needed.

The theme of this gift was giraffe and I thought the colors were fitting as well.

One of the gifts inside were burp cloths, so I made this quick graphic to put on top of them to tie the things inside together. We always called them spittoons and my hubby came up with that word.

I had not idea I spelled it wrong and that there actually was something called a spittoon back in the day! Apparently they were outlawed and that just makes our coined word even funnier!

Convenience turned to concern in the late 19th century when a global tuberculosis epidemic took hold and scientists realized that spittoons might actually spread diseases.

I helped out with operation Christmas child yesterday where a large number of people walked around the tables and filled 400 shoeboxes for children! Wow! I had always wanted to help and finally was able to. It was a unique experience as you thought about the child you were packing for and praying for them. The items for this event are collected by a mother (at our church) who lost her son (whose honor this is in) year round. Her son had once wanted to participate in this project and now after his death it has turned into this huge undertaking year after year. It is quite fantastic.

I recently put out some Autumn pillows and blankets on the couch. Of course, Momma’s little princes Miss Tizzy gathered them up and made herself at home!

This little dog of mine is always making me laugh and smile.

I always have so much in my mind to share on these posts and then when I go to write them, I cannot remember what I was going to say!

My Christian music YouTube playlist is always growing and I keep wanting to share new songs, but I forget to do so. This song Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down is such a peaceful and relaxing version.

These are just a few I have found recently. Click on the above playlist link for more.

Wishing you all a happy November full of thanks.

Until next time,

Cheryl