HAIL AMONG THE HYDRANGEAS....

See my garden, or what is left, in the photo below this post.  Yikes.

Hailstorm......squash is totally squashed

In the winter, I lost all the broccoli to the hungry squirrels.  This spring/summer garden was so lush and big and healthy.  But one hailstorm came and took it.  It gives a little insight into how devastating it must have been for farmers to lose their entire crop in a storm.  At least I can go to the market and buy more.  This photo does not show the peppers or the tomatoes.  The tomatoes on the vine are now bruised and pitted.  The peppers chewed up.  The hail sounded as if rocks were being thrown against every window in the house.   

get these girls off of me!

Now Josiah is a good-natured, always smiling fella.  He is so easy to take care of.  But when the camera comes out and the sisters hold him down for a smile, well you can see the reaction.  I think it is funny.  But then he is my little grandson.....the girls try very hard to pose, but him, not so much.

Sunday....a time of rest

Lately I have been trying to make Sunday a time of rest.  Not easy, as I think of those loads of laundry, and a porch that needs sweeping, and I feel guilty about reading a book on the sofa.  One thing I never feel I should not spend time on is Bible Study.  I try to accomplish that, especially if my bible has not been opened for several days.
Childhood memories of Sundays include the drive to my grandma's, family members sitting on the porch or under trees and talking for hours and hours (it dragged by when I was five or six) and a quiet drive back home in the dusk.  Going to church was a given.  Then K-Mart came to town.  And they were open (gasp) on Sundays!!!  So we all thought, is it wrong to shop on Sundays, and visit this store where folks were giving up their day of rest?  To this day, I feel a little nagging feeling when I shop on Sundays.  I think I am going to start listening again. 

If I ever wrote a book on growing older, it would be called that...."Listening Again".  I observe many of my generation, who have spent their adult lives ceasing to listen to the older people, refusing them the honor of wisdom, and now they are going back.  They are listening again.  Me too.

God, I want to spend the sunset years trying to listen harder.  To you, to your Word, and to the folks who taught me it was right to rest on Sunday.

The 4th generation to like this doggie....

My hubby's father had this (if you can believe it) as one of only two toys he owned as a little guy.  He also had a ball.  The cast iron dog is not light weight, and is our door stop, but our grandson, as his two sisters before him, and his mother before that, finds it intriguing, and always pets it as if it will come to life.

1928 Book-ends - where did I get these? So long ago.....

I have had these so long.  They have been doorstops, too.  On the back they say Angelus Call to Prayer 1928.  They are wrought iron coated in bronze, I think.  I love the way they look so Arts & Crafts period.  I just had a thought.  If our house ever burned down or got blown away from a hurricane, I would have a pretty good inventory of my stuff on my blog!  :)