Blog give away

" Behold, this is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified My name."

What love and joy the Father must have felt for his son, how great the love Mary must have felt for her Miracle.

This birth was and is one of the most profound examples of love the universe have ever known, next in comparison only to the death and resurrection of Christ.

The birth of the Beloved Son into mortality is the manifestation of the very love that created the universe and by which it continues to expand.

I love the phrase, "the condescension of God", Christ, born of Mary the chosen vessel, condescended to be a human baby, to poop his pants, to cry with hunger, to toddle, to fall and get up again. To die.
Then there is Mary. The most beautiful virgin. So intelligent, virtuous, decent and faithful she was chosen to bear the Beloved Son and raise him, to help him fulfill his destiny of the cross, to help him get there.

I think her love for this child and her suffering as she watched him grow up and die must have been unimaginable.

What I do like to imagine and what I believe with all my heart is that he as the resurrected Christ returned to love and comfort his mother. Wouldn't it be wonderful to know what he said to her? His Mommy.

The most noble title given to the Mother of God?

Momma.



Heather on the excellent blog www.womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com is having a give away.

I have made a print of the painting of The Beloved Son available for her to give away on her blog.
Go make a comment on her blog and enter to win this and several other great prizes.

I hope you enjoy this painting, it took forever to do.

The original is done in colored pencil and gold leaf.

If you do not win her give away and want a print they are available in my etsy shop, flyingfox.etsy.com


Blessings.....

Oh No! another one.

Oh no, not again. This little one, just learning to fly ended up in a dog yard where a golden retriever mistook it for a squeaky toy. Its injury was minor by most standards but these tiny ones are so frail. It would rally and then fail, rally and fail until it simply stopped. Who knows what was going on in it's tiny body. I hate it when this happens, just hate it. Poor little thing managed to hang on for about 48 hours is all.

It is rare when they survive, it is just so difficult to care for them. Burgess is a miracle really, kind of a pest but a miracle.
Speaking of Burgess, this is darling Yoda watching him flutter around my office. She would like to have a go at him but she is too pudgy to make the effort, she thinks about it though. She is sitting on my knitting, it is a bright blue baby shrug, so cute! It's not very big so her butt covers nearly the whole thing.

Recently I purchased some handspun Icelandic yarn from a lovely little girl who had cleaned and spun the wool herself. She is not very old, a teenager, and she has done a wonderful job. I am quite impressed. Anyway, it is a natural warm grey color and I have started a lace shawl with it. Icelandic sheep can have a fairly coarse wool and this is not very soft, but it will be a great shawl to throw over the jeans jacket I wear so often in the winter.

I do have some white Icelandic that is very soft, from a great old ram named Hammer, and nearly seven pounds of roving from my Icelandic ewes named Marilyn and Berry. I've been saving Hammers yarn for something special but I have not decided what to do with it yet. Marilyn had a very soft creamy fleece, almost a vanilla ice-cream color. It will be wonderful yarn if I ever get it spun. Berry was a chocolate color and not as soft but it will still be gorgeous yarn. Someday.

This lace is going to need a very serious blocking when it is done.

She also spun a deliciously bouncy white wool and I am so in love with the squishy-ness of it, I don't know what I am going to do with it. It is very soft and, well, sproinky.

Shall I keep it natural white? shall I hand dye it? Will it make a small shawl? Socks would be luxurious with it.... Hmmm I don't know, though I am leaning toward a small lace shawl.

Gotta go clean my studio, its a disaster.

After lunch...

Today I picked up a friend from her chemo treatments. We went to lunch at a favorite Mexican place and had a long talk.

Once again I am reminded how very, very blessed I am, blessed with wonderful, insightful intelligent friends, reminded again of the power of prayer and how faith can make even the most wounded person more whole than those without faith can possibly imagine and reminded again of the nobility of the human soul.

There are no depths to great for a human being to sink, no limits to mans ability to degrade himself or herself. On the other hand there is also no limit to the greatness of a human being determined to continue in the course of refining oneself, with self-restraint, kindness, prayer, humility, grace and a commitment to being Christ-like. This is a daily process and a difficult one.
Perhaps that is where the commitment comes in, you make the decision and determine to stay with it, never falter always trying, the decision to simply be good. Just be good.

Commitment and then obedience.

I am reminded that prayer is not just a quick post to the Lord as you go about your day but a cherished conversation with a Father and friend.

I am reminded my grand and handsome sons are worth every sacrifice I have ever made.

I am deeply and profoundly grateful.

After lunch I ran downstairs to check on those sons, One was asleep on the couch, one was playing x-box and shushed me so I would not wake his brother and then he pointed out that Burgess was also asleep on the open door of the TV cabinet, his little head tucked under his wing. his tiny chest feathers falling up and down with each breath.

I love this weird household.

Negligent

Well I have been just terrible about updating this blog. There has been allot going on too.

I put the "Fall into Winter" quilt in the county fair and it won a Sweepstakes ribbon, I did not get to see it hanging because I had gall-bladder surgery at the same time.
Jacob had four teeth pulled and he was super miserable then there was school to get ready for.... a million different things going on it seems. Blogging was just not high on the list.

Anyway here is a picture of Mr. Tinky. Isn't he adorable.



Tigger...pretty stinkin adorable too.

Mr. Tinky and Miss Piggy. She is doing so much better, not anywhere near as frightened and miserable.

Here is Burgess driving me crazy. He loves to "help" with my knitting.

This is a silk shawl in the most wonderful silvery grey, for my friend for Christmas.

Lace scarf done in Baby Alpaca, it needs to be blocked.

Collage backgrounds done and ready for painting.

another background ready, and some small bird paintings.

I have been working on re-painting my bedroom too. The top part is the most delicious chocolate color, exactly the color of Hersheys syrup right from the bottle. The bottom2/3 of the wall is a creamy antique white with trim work and the ceiling is the palest blue.

I LOVE it. Hopefully this week I can start putting in the new hardwood floor.

So even though I have not been writing, I have actually been doing stuff.

Have to admit though, I get a bit crazy trying to do everything all at the same time.

The yard has been suffering all summer. It looks terrible. This time of year I keep hoping for a hard frost so there is an excuse for my yard to look the way it does.

Burgess is driving me nuts as I type. He keeps running across the keyboard. What a funny little bird.

Okay, he is going to keep this up until he mangages to delete my whole post.

Signing off now......