After the Storm

During our travels throughout our lives we will weather many storms. Some we will come through unscathed and going forward with gusto. Other storms will leave us bewildered, confused and hurt. But after every storm there is always a rainbow. God positions the rainbows for us to see his Glory and Love for each and everyone of us. Sometimes, we just can't see the rainbows. There are times when we may have to strain our eyes to be able to see the rainbow and when we do, we generally stand in awe of its splendour. God's love is like that. It is always there for us to see, hold unto and lean on. But because of the storms we go through we often ask, where is He when I need Him the most. He is always as close as your heart, you just have to let go, Believe and Trust in Him.

God will never give you a Storm you can't handle and He will never forsake you, no matter how bad you may think it is. Life is about choosing the journey that God has planned for you and Trusting in Him and Him alone. We tend to mess things up because we think, we know better. I am forever trying to HELP HIM, by sticking my hand onto the stirring spoon in the pot. I have learned in the last two weeks that if I just sit back and leave it all in His encompassing hands, things will turn out just fine.

So when you think that you are unable to handle what is happening in your world, Stop, Listen and Look for the Rainbow. God is right there, ready to show you where your Rainbow is. All you have to do is Listen.

"Blessed are those that hear the word of God and obey it"

Luke 11:28

Until we post again,

Roscoe and I.

etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52

etsy.com/shop/weebeginnings56

A Special Day

Today is a Special Day. This is the day that my Heavenly Father decided was my time to enter this world. I came here in the wee still hours of the morning. In fact I have been told that there may have been a mix up on the actual time of my arrival. There have been comments that I came into this world a day earlier, which means that maybe yesterday was my Special Day. The only people that would have been able to tell me the truth are no longer in this world. But is it really that important? In years past it was always really important to me to celebrate birthdays; whether it was my parents, sister, or kids. I always liked to TRY to make their days special for them. We would have whatever their favourite meal was for dinner, cake and ice cream. Life was fun. We didn't always have a lot of money but there was always a gift or two for the little ones etc.

Life is not like that now. As we grow older things change and life seems to become complicated. At this time in my life I expected to be relaxed, living in a loving and fulfilling home. Enjoying my grand kids and "trying" to help out my daughters with whatever they needed help in. My life is not like that. There is DRAMA in it that I do not want. Curves have been thrown at me that are right off the "Jerry Springer Show" or any of those other type shows. The things that have happened to me in this last week or so will definitely have a life altering effect on me, my girls, my grandchildren and my closest and dearest friends. We all thought that a particular person was genuine and trustworthy. He has turned out to be a bigamist, a liar, a fraud, a thief and too many other things that I can't even think of right now. He has not only hurt me and mine but he has also hurt people in what I thought was his PAST LIFE. These people are/were still a part of his "CURRENT LIFE" and he has determined or never planned on telling them that he had moved on. He has cleaned out this other lady as well as myself. I pray that God will help him to see all the bad that he has done and the hurt he has caused. When all of this was going on I had little nudges that were not what I was really wanting to pay attention to. I would pray that God would convict this man's heart so that he would decide to be at HOME where he belonged, thinking that where I was, was where home was. God answered the prayers. This man did, I think, get convicted and went home but forgot to tell me that his home was somewhere else. He also forgot to tell me, that there never was a divorce from the other person, when he married me. This poor other lady had no idea as to what all he had been doing for the last 12 years behind her back. I don't know if she will ever be able to trust him again or not. I pray to God that they will be able to get over this and she can and will forgive him. Life is to short to live with this kind of pain. It is difficult to go ahead when somebody has hurt you as bad as this and even more difficult to know whether you could trust another person in a partner-like friendship.

I know and believe that God has a plan for me but right now I have no idea which way my path is going. I am finding it very hard to see the "Lighthouse" in the fog. I am taking each day one at a time and I have a lot of Christian Friends and Family that are standing beside me through these hours of despair. If any of you are reading this, please know that I am so grateful for all of your love and support. I am trying very hard to be on God's radar system so that I am following His path and not mine.

 God Bless You All.

&

Happy 60th Birthday to Me.

Until we post again.

Roscoe and I

Unexpected Turns

In this life of trials, tribulations and joys there are always unexpected turns. Just when you think that you have things figured out and life is going to be just the way you want it to be, other then maybe some minor little changes, something gets thrown at you that makes you put the breaks on full force.

Just such an event has happened to me in this last week. It has left me devastated and unsure as to who I am and what I am suppose to be doing with my life.

I have taken some time to be with my oldest daughter and her family to try to determine if what has happened was my fault or did I walk into this situation with "Rose Coloured Glasses" on. I still have not determined the answer to this but I do know this, in the future, my heart has a great big huge solid brick and mortar wall around it. It is so high, that nobody in my age bracket, will want to take the time to climb the wall or find my heart because it will be to difficult. I know that there are some very good and respectful truck drivers out there but it will be a long time before I will  be trusting any of them. That is all that I am saying regarding this matter. I may at sometime want to blog about this event but right now it hurts to much.

Now on to other things. I am trying to keep my head out the above field by trying to keep busy with creating things for my Etsy Shops. Some new wall hangings will be appearing in the upcoming week as well as some tea cosies, new aprons, hot pads, and oven mitts. These will be on: etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52

On my other site there will be new sweaters for the little angels in your life. I am going to be working on some new smocked items as well for:

etsy.com/shop/weebeginnings56

Wee Beginnings will also be undergoing a change in its appearance. So please keep checking to see what is going to happen over there as well.

So until we are ready to post again please keep Roscoe and I in your prayers because we so definitely need them.

Catch Up Time

I have been so busy in the outside world that I have been very delinquent in my blogging. But wow, what a lot there was to do and still to do outside.

First I want to bring you all up to date about my neighbors, The Robins. They flew in one day and decided that they liked me and were going to become my "neighbors". They didn't bother to "negotiate" the agreement with me, they just decided that they liked the "neighborhood." They stayed long enough to have "children" and to get them out of the "nest" and just as quickly they were gone. Please check out some of the "Proud Parents" Pictures and their lovely "home"

This is "Mrs. Robin aka Mama, I think" keeping her babies nice and warm.

This is the first time that I actually got to see one of the babies little heads. There were actually five babies in that little nest, hard to believe that many could fit in there. "Mama" is keeping a very close eye on them and me. There were times when I would be sitting on my Porch Swing minding my own business and I would here a cheep from her "Letting the little ones know that she was coming in with dinner but had to wait for me to move."

This is another picture of one of the little ones. You have heard the phrase "A face that only a mother could love" well that would definitely apply here. It is hard to believe that this little baby turns into one of our favorite beautiful birds in the spring.

As they begin to get older the changes in them are amazing. And these changes happen so fast.

 This is another one of the little crew in this nest.

Mama and Dad maintained quite a feeding line for this little group. At one time I seen both of them up on the nest feeding the babies.

These little tikes are getting braver everyday. They get up and stretch out their little wings while Mama and Dad perch out in the nearby tree branches encouraging them.

This little fellow has tried twice to get up on the edge of the nest. I am sure I will see him on the ground soon.

This was the last one to leave the nest. So we now have the "Empty Nest Syndrome"

I also want to take a moment here to remind everybody that this is the first Monday in June, which means it is the begining of a week long "Virtual Flea Market" over at Etsy Cottage Style. Be sure to take some time to go over and check out the shops over there.

Mama and Papa

The other day I wrote a Blog about TRUST . It seemed as if, I felt like I had been abandoned and didn't really know which way to go regarding some things in my life. I prayed and asked God to give me some direction because I was truly feeling very lost. As I went into our bathroom I could see outside the window, the little nest that a Robin has made in the rafters over our back porch. She has been very diligent in minding her nest and for the longest time never seem to ever leave it. But on this particularly day when I looked out, there were two Robins, perched on the edge of the nest. They touched their beaks together and it looked like they were poking deep into the nest. My friend told me they were probably regurgitating and feeding the babies within. All of sudden the one flew away after touching his beak to the other one's beak. As I watched, it occurred to me, that what I was watching was exactly the same thing that goes on in my home and many other homes in this world. Mama stays home and minds the nest while Papa goes out and earns their keep. I thanked God for showing me this little scenario and helping me to realize that all will be OK. When I feel lonely just reach out and He is there. His shoulder is always there for me to cry on and His ears always ready to hear my inner needs and fears. As He states in the Bible He knows my every need, fear and desire.

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you."

This is the Mama Robin in the Rafters.

Just to the left of the main part of the tree
can see Papa Robin keeping watch.    

.

Thank You God for being my creator and my Friend.

                                                    Until we Blog Again,

                                                     Roscoe and Linda 

etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52

etsy.com/shop/weebeginnings56

TRUST

TRUST

Random House Definition:

1) Unquestioning belief in the integrity, strength, or ability of a person or thing.

 2) Confident expectation.

3) A person or thing that can be relied on.

4) The responsibility of a person in whom confidence or authority is placed.

5) Charge or custody

6) Something committed or entrusted to one's care.

The word "Trust" appears 147 times in the Bible; 134 times in the Old Testament and 13 times in the New Testament. The phrase "Trust in the Lord" appears 10 times in the Bible.

 Are you like so many people today that have trouble with issues of Trust. I will admit here and now that I am one of those people. If I was to tell you the number of times that I have believed and trusted that people were going to do what they say and then didn't, your head would probably spin off your shoulders. So for me, Trust is a very big issue. I can remember one time I was at the hospital waiting to have a test done. My husband was waiting with me when the Anaesthetist came in to see me and introduce himself. I was pretty worried and he thought he could make me feel better by saying "Trust me" I looked up at my husband. He knew what was going through my head. Everything turned out okay but what a flurry of thoughts that went through my head at that moment.

This time last year I was counting down the number of weeks till my wedding day and getting more and more frazzled by the moment. You see my Husband is a long distance company truck driver. His time is not his own. There have been so many times that he has told me that he will be home on such and such a day and then the company he works for, will do what they call a trailer switch. These trailer switches are not usually close to our home and it is usually heading right back across the border away from home. Some of you ladies out there may know exactly what I am talking about if you are married to a truck driver. The first time it happens, you don't think to much about it and you just kind of shake it off. But when it starts to become the norm you begin to wonder if he is requesting it to happen, so he doesn't have to come home. When you have Trust issues like I do, this is very difficult not to believe. As of this morning, when the sun starts to rise it will be 3 weeks since I have seen my husband. Prior to that, it was the whole month of March that he was gone. I was so upset this last week because of so many other things that are happening here, that I really wanted him to come home. So I called his place of employment and talked to his Safety Coordinator. I asked him to please tell Dispatch that my husband had to be home for the weekend. While talking to him I could feel myself starting to well up with tears. All I wanted was for my man to come home. I needed him. I TRUSTED that the Safety Guy would oblige my request. Guess what: He didn't or the Dispatch Office ignored him; one of the two. My husband called late on Friday night and told me he would definitely be home one way or another on Saturday. So I was happy about that and really started to look forward to seeing him for the whole weekend. Saturday morning came and went, afternoon came and went and evening came and went. Not even a phone call to let me know what had happen. Same on Sunday and at noon I couldn't take it anymore so I called his Dispatch to see what had happened. I got told that I couldn't call like this anymore. He (Dispatch) would send him (husband) a message to call Wife. I still haven't heard from him and to be completely honest about it I don't even know if the message was sent. This does not help to fix TRUST issues. 

You can look at this story from all different angles and believe me I can dream up some of the best but I have to choose not to go down those nightmarish paths. I have been turning more and more to my Bible for consolation and searching for answers. There are times when I wonder if I was even suppose to marry this man. But I keep getting directed to follow God's words and just be calm and pray. In my heart I know that my husband loves me but he likes to make sure that everyone is happy with the job that he does for them. Because of this, I know it isn't intentional, but I get put on the back burner. We are, neither one us "Spring Chickens" and this is a third marriage for both of us. We came together with a lot of baggage and are constantly trying to work through it. But because of the absenteeism and the TRUST issues sometimes it seems futile.

I pray everyday that God will keep him safe out on the highways and byways of his life. That He will bring him home to me safe and sound. That this, is where my husband wants to be. I pray that our financial issues will survive this storm and that I will understand God's direction in all of this. 

Why did I start to write about TRUST? Well when you have trouble TRUSTING and believing the touchable and real things in our lives sometimes it is very difficult to TRUST God with our troubles. Not all so very long ago a very difficult scenario was presented to me.

It goes something like this: 

"Before you TRUST and believe in the world you live in, learn to TRUST and BELIEVE in me, your heavenly FATHER"

All things are possible with GOD in Charge of the PLANNING.

Luke 18: 27 "The Lord said" The things which are impossible with men are possible with GOD"

Matthew 6: 26 " Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

Matthew 6: 34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Until we blog again,

Roscoe and Linda

etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52

etsy.com/shop/weebeginnings56

   

Anonymous

Definition:  1. without any name acknowledged as that of author. 

2. whose name is withheld.

3. without individuality. 

Have you ever had something happen to you and wonder why or who? Today I had that experience happen to me. Let me take you back a couple of days.......

We had some absolutely beautiful weather happen to us here where we live. The temperature was almost summer like readings. Our gardens were beginning to look like Spring had arrived and I was starting to think about Summer time sewing. I love to sew little girls' sundresses, bonnets and matching bottoms. I was looking in my fabric stash and couldn't find anything that would suit my ideas. 

So I went over to my favourite shop online; Shabby Fabrics to see what I could find. Oh there was oodles and oodles of beautiful fabrics for me to choose from but my bank account was telling me "NO, NO, NO" So I had to descipline myself  and be very good. I very reluctantly left the site and went back to check out my stash again. It hadn't changed since I had looked at it the last time and I turned away with a feeling of regret.

A dear friend of mine had loaned me a movie the other night to watch "The Help". Oh what a fantastic movie. I love that time period and how people would dress their little girls. Again I was reminded of the "Need and the Want" of new fabrics to sew some little outfits with.

Now I believe that God knows our every need and desire. He knows what our prayers are before we even speak them. God knew that in the last couple of days I had been struggling with the thought of returning to full-time work. Whether to do that or to keep on doing what I am trying to do?

Remember the dear friend I mentioned earlier? This afternoon she came by to retrieve the movie she loaned me. As she pulled up into my driveway I opened my front door for her to come, in while I finished something else that I was doing. She calls "Hello" then she says " What are you doing with the boxes of fabric here in your driveway?" I responded to her " What are you talking about?" "Come on out" she says to me. So I went outside and there, just behind the vehicle parked in my driveway and the garage door are four boxes. They are Canon Paper Supply Boxes, so you know just how big these boxes are. My friend and I carried them inside the house and proceeded to open them up.

Inside each and everyone of these boxes were beautifully folded pieces of quilting cotton fabric. There are pieces from a yard to 3 and 4 yard lengths. There are pieces that are colour coordinated to at least two other pieces. There is Christmas, Harvest, Halloween and Easter fabrics in this stash. There are plaids for little boys. Beautiful florals for little girls. There is even some ladybugs, butterflies and bugs in general. Now I know that these boxes didn't fall out of the sky but I do know that God fulfilled my need and desire via

"An Anonymous Person"

So a great BIG THANK YOU TO GOD and the ANONYMOUS PERSON.

So please be sure to check on both of my Etsy sites for some exciting new things that will be appearing soon. 

Until we Blog Again,

Roscoe and Linda

etsy.com/shop/weebeginnings56

etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52

Cranberry Cottage

On April 3, Cranberry Cottage will have been an online Etsy Shop for one year. We have decided that we are going to make some changes over there. Some of them have already started to happen. We are changing the look of the shop and we are going to have a

BIG GRAND REOPENING CELEBRATION.

We will be making further announcements has the time gets closer so be sure to keep checking the shop as well as this Blog.

One of the New things will be Gift Certificates. This is a beautiful way to give somebody a gift that they can use for whatever they want from our shop.

At this time I would also like to send a major Thank you to the Beautiful Lady that did all my new Graphics for the site. Her name is Mary and she owns "Graphic Confections" As you can see from my site, she does beautiful work. She will do custom orders for Branding your style as well as "purchase off the shelf ". I would highly recommend this wonderful woman to anybody that is looking to Brand their Business. Her turn around time was fantastic. 

So keep checking for all the new news regarding 

Cranberry Cottage. 

Until We Blog Again,

Roscoe and Linda. 

etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52  

What Do I see that is YELLOW????

This is my Roscoe, on our front doorstep, admiring all of our new Daffodils. Yesterday morning I was opening the blinds of our living room window and overnight three or four beautiful Daffodils had opened up. Roscoe and I had to go outside to check them out. By the end of the day all of these Daffodils were open across the front of our house. So Roscoe and I decided to go out and check them out a little closer tonight. We took some pictures to share with all of you.

These are some of the closeups at the front step.

These are Soft Pink Geraniums. I have kept two of these plants for the last two winters. This year I decided that I was going to try and root some inside my home.

  

 In this egg carton I planted some Hollyhock seeds. This is the first seed to pop through the soil. I hope I can plant some of these along the fence at the one side of our yard.

I also planted some Pink Pampas Grass in the egg carton. And I have some of them coming up as well but the pictures that I took didn't show them to well. There is about six or eight of them coming up as well .

My next door neighbor has two beautiful Magnolias in her yard coming up in full bloom. One of them is a beautiful white and the other is a soft pink.

I always think that when the Forsythia comes into bloom Spring has officially arrived. The Forsythia is in bloom along the fence as well. So Spring has officially arrived in Fort Erie, Ontario.

I hope Spring has arrived as nicely in your neck of the woods as it has in my neighborhood and that you are enjoying it.

Until we Blog Again,

Roscoe and Linda

It's Friday, Wahooooo

Oh it is Friday and it is so good to be Friday. It is the end of a very long week. For some it has been a GREAT Vacation Time, ( Students off for Spring Break) for others it has been a very long week of waiting for things to happen.

I am waiting for my Spring Gardens to start popping up all over the place. So I went out for a tour of our Gardens with my trusty companion, Roscoe and my camera. Here are some pictures of what is happening in our Gardens.

This is the first of my Crocus. They are so pretty and usually don't last very long.

Not too far from the Crocus' are these Primulas. They are just beginning to revive themselves so no flower buds yet.

Travelling down along that fence line are my Tiger Lilies. They are so anxious to "spring" through the left overs from last year. They provide such a bright colour in that corner of my yard.

Just to the right of the Tiger Lilies are some Wild Strawberries. Unfortunately, we don't get too many of the Strawberries because I believe we share that corner with a little wild Cottontail. We have seen him/her a couple of times last summer but not this year yet, only the lovely little "droppings" they leave behind as their "Calling Card". If you know what I mean.

In front of my Garden Shed just to the left of the door I have a Climbing Hydrangea growing. I have been trying to train it to climb the wall but plants are not like our dogs, that generally listen to "Sit, Stay, and Come" Plants have minds of their own and do as they please.

And to the right of the Garden Shed door I have a patch of Lavender/Pink Irises. I usually plant some Impatiens in front of them to fill in the little garden after the Irises are done.

On the back wall of our home I have a Creamy White/Yellow Honeysuckle growing up the wall. We may have to climb onto the roof and create some kind of anchor for it to climb. I noticed last summer it was starting to fall forward.

There are so many more things to come up so I will save them for another day.

I hope you are enjoying your Spring Garden as much as I am.

Until we Blog Again,

Linda and Roscoe.

Spring Morning

This is what it looks like as I look out my windows this morning. It looks so dismal, dull and depressing but if I close my eyes and listen I can hear Robins, Chickadees, a Cardinal and the neighborhood doves all talking together. These are my gentle reminders that we have to go through the "yucky" stuff to get to the good stuff.

  

Then I look at this picture of the remnants of the bouquet of Tulips from my Tea Party and I know  Spring is not to far away.

I was outside in my gardens yesterday starting to do the Spring Cleaning that is necessary. During the process of doing this I came across a caterpillar. A beautiful Black and Brown one. That seems a little early but that is okay just another reminder of the beautiful seasons ahead. I also started taking some of my wicker chairs out to set on my back step. Oh I can hardly wait.

I was so daring that I even took my bowl of Cheerios outside this morning and ate my breakfast partially out there. Still just a little too cool to do that but I am so ready for it.

The changes in the season also gets me so inspired to get sewing as well.

Here are some pictures of some Easter Tea Towels that I am making for my Etsy Site.

This set is yellow and still needs to be decorated.

These are a set of two different green ones that I have added the eyes and tails to.

These are the two towels finished and the picture below is a close up of the Easter Eggs the Bunnies are hopping over. These Tea Towels are already sold but I have more on my Etsy Site.

etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52

Hurry Hurry It's Market Monday

Hurry Hurry You mustn't be late.

It's Market Monday over at Etsy Cottage Style.

Oh the delightful things to see over there are just to beautiful to be passed up.

So do be quick and get there soon before all the lovelies are snapped up.

Market Mondays go all week

but

as we all know

the most lovely, the most beautiful, the most wanted,

will always go first and the fastest.

So Hurry Hurry

Over to Market Monday.

Until we Blog again 

Roscoe and Linda

etsy.com/shop/cranberrycottage52 

etsy.com/shop/weebeginnings56 

My Tea Party

This time last Sunday I was getting ready to have my first ever Tea Party. So this morning as I am having my first Tea of the Day I thought I would share with all of you some pictures from the Tea Party.

We had such delicious treats even if I do say so myself, but I am quite sure I am safe in saying that after hearing all the compliments last Sunday. The beautiful bouquet of Tulips on the table are from my wonderful husband. Even though it was Sunshiny outside last Sunday it was definitely on the cooler side and he walked to the store to get the last few items that I needed to make my Party a success. He said that these Tulips just said to him "They had to come to the Tea Party as well" So he brought them along too.

We made these Salmon Croquettes Canapes. Ed made the dip that is on top of them and they have a sprig of dill inserted. The dip has both Lemon and Lime in it.

This is a different angle of looking at the Canapes. Peaking through the "Pink Tulips"

A beautiful platter of Orange Marmalade Thumbprint Cookies.... mmmm it looks like somebody has already tried one of these. I wonder who that could have been......Ed????

These scrumptious looking bars are called Key Lime bars and what a puckering experience.

 This is a beautiful shot of the 2 tiered platter Ed made for me for the Tea Party. Now I have a tiered platter that matches my dinner ware. He is so sweet to me.

The only treat that we didn't make at this Tea Party were the Lemon Tarts. I had another kind of tart I was going to make but ran out of time. All in all I think that I can say that this Tea Party was a success.

Can you guess what is the common element besides the tea in Party?

So much so we are planning a Mother's Day Tea Party. Mothers and Daughters are coming for a Saturday afternoon Tea. I will let you know how that Party goes.

Until We Blog Again,

Roscoe and Linda

My Buddy Roscoe