Puzzles and Life!

On Friday morning Summer came by for a visit on her way back from a doctor's appointment.

Sad to say she is still in a good deal of pain and the options are not plentiful.

She has grown up with a puzzle on the table for much of her life so it was only natural for us to work on the current one - which was started in 2015 and STILL not done! - while we visited.

We searched and searched for that one little two headed flat armed piece to no avail.

I finally found it this morning and sent her a snapshot of it in place.

Isn't that the way it is in Life?

We seem to constantly search for that missing piece.

I found this while I was looking for something else.

That's pretty much the way it works.

I didn't get a pic of Summer on Friday but Sabrina sent me this one from New York on Thursday.

I love it!!!

There really is a story behind Summer wearing flip flops.

She had a good pair of walking shoes - or so she thought!

She literally walked the soles off of them as she went up and down stairs to the subway in NYC!

The flip flops were the only other shoes she brought!

This could be a fashion statement someday!

Summer left in the early afternoon on Friday and I spent the rest of the day taking Christmas down in the guest room and putting fresh sheets on the bed and otherwise returning it to Pre-Christmas condition.

It was such a treat when Nita called and said they were in the area so they dropped by!

Most of the house was still decorated so we gave them a tour and then sat down for a nice visit!

In other news - I received Royal Mail the other day!

This arrived from my friend, Penny, at The Homemade Heart!

Penny lives where I would live IF I didn't already live in Texas!

She is from Scotland and sent me a Lavender  Filled Harris Tweed Heart!

It smells heavenly and I have put it right beside my bed!

Thank you, Penny!!!

Speaking of favorite places......

this afternoon (now it is Saturday) I took another walk.

Friday I did Pilate's so I am trying to alternate my walking with other forms of exercise.

I stopped to rest on a different curb than I usually sit on. 

I was keeping the sun out of my eyes and as I sat there, the fragrance of the Rocky Mountains was all about me. The shed pine needles smelled so good that when I closed my eyes I felt like I was in Colorado! Louis Dean wants me to take my phone with me when I walk so I carry it along with my scripture cards in this denim bag.

Today's verses were Psalm 34:18 and II Peter 2:9. I think I will simply add the cards to the bag until I have memorized all of them in my scripture card box.

Look who was watching for me when I walked back up the driveway!

We are in serious Taking down Christmas mode now.

Rain may be on the way so we got the tubs out where can get them if it does arrive in the next few days.

This afternoon I did the dining room.

Deanie gave me some beautiful crystal champagne flutes that Louis Dean and I will toast the New Year in with tonight.

There's no 'normal' setting to any room in our house.

The furniture pretty much stays the same but everything else changes from time to time.

It's amazing how quickly you can take something down as opposed to putting it up!

So true in Life as well.

My easel is back in place and I have several canvases still to finish and I am looking forward to returning to a more regular routine. There's something comforting about knowing I will be doing art on Tuesdays again. I used to have a special activity for each day of the week. Quad Monday and Art Tuesday and Church Sunday are the only three I keep now on a regular basis.

I do so love a clean room! 

The table is ready for 2017!

There will be art nights held here as well as family dinners and lunches with friends.

I'm sure the table will hold Party Buffets as well as crafts with the grand kids.

In January I intend to dump out the billion pieces of Legos and let the quads sort them into some kind of order! This table is also a good place to do Play Dough in the colder months.

But for now it is a festive table celebrating the New Year!!

No New Year's Eve is complete without looking back on a few memories.

Here are just s few of mine and rather recent ones at that!

Back in 2012 we were living in our 31 foot Wilderness Camper down in Katy, Texas where Amber, Mike and the quads lived. Ben came home from California and he and Summer drove down to visit us. I think that was our first time to have overnight guests in here.

Remember the Quad Table?

This is from December 31, 2014.

The babies have always loved their tea parties!!!

I am about to go in and journal in my Country Diary for this New Year's Eve.

As in any year, we have had much to be thankful for and much to pray over.

There is something that is as true of Life as it is of Art:

The lights only show up when there is a layer of  darkness behind them.

I am learning to not fear the darkness. We all have some. We can still SHINE!

Yes, it IS!!!!