Goodness and Mercy

We have been aware of the presence of Goodness and Mercy,
but we have finally come face to face...

They appear tattered and worn on the outside,
but on the inside..their spirits are refreshed by the thought
that they have been sufficiently acknowledged.

Isn't that how it is?
We 'feel' a presence,  just like we 'feel' the wind...
but when we finally see it face to face....
like leaves swirling in mid-air...
we can truly believe!

Goodness..who is nicknamed 'ohma'
because of Grammy's favored saying,...repeated often by Xavier .."ohmagoodness"..
is now known ..
as something God shares with those who seek Him.
Her dearest friend is Mercy...
formerly known as a very southern term ..followed by very many exclamation marks...
is now known for being one of God's greatest gifts!

These two have been around for quite a long time...

working steadily... all these days... in the home of Grammy and Big Daddy.

They scurried silently through the rooms...


...Welcoming children who would call out "Grammy and Big Daddy"...

Xavier, lover of all God's tiniest creatures...
including Chicky Chick...who would go to Heaven, not long after Easter...

and Baby Bun...
wounded beyond repair, who we would lose the following week...

loving them with his tender heart, whilst they were on this earth...


Princess Kyleigh...who would enjoy her very first Tea Party......

..... ever smiling...Colin...

..and "Miracle at Christmastide"... newborn, Sophia...

Around the kitchen, they'd sneak ... smelling eggs that were 'scrandled'...

spying their Dormice friends, John Jacob and Eliza....

 ...passing Scout's favored 'circle of sunshine' she found each morning, in the foyer...

And up the stairs...


into the play room....
watching Xavier as he played with a set of 'lincoln logs'...
enjoyed and cherished so many years ago, by my Matthew, Cale, and Olivia....

and the wooden train set...each piece, a Christmas gift for my mother , who began requesting the set when she became a 'memaw,' and her grandchildren became toddlers...

out the windows, they hopped....

...landing with a bounce, into the blooms of the climbing hydrangea..

...and into the blushing petals of the 'Bride'...

'neath the towering stalks of Xavier and Grammy's Hollyhocks...

...stopping to gaze at the first bloom of Xavier's 'Rainbow' summer cutting garden....

down the drive...
to the pond and the great marshmallow tree...

a little boy claimed as his own....

......Sprinkling their blessings every where they stopped to rest.

How evident are their gifts all around...do you see? Goodness and Mercy are everywhere at once..for that is the nature of these two ..

They are now joined by a new friend, Shirley...

Who shares with Goodness and Mercy, the resource she has found...in Grammy's growing library...

(Thankful to a very talented craftsman, Seth Tudor...
son of our beloved Tasha Tudor....who crafted the wooden art stand)

..and Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy shall follow Grammy and Big Daddy for all the days of their lives...

into their new home,
and into the lives of their children and grandchildren.
Such a gift!
How blessed we are!
And one day, we will all dwell in the house of the Lord!

These are the children...along with the ones who love our children...and the grandchildren ...of Grammy Christie and Husband...worshipping on Easter Sunday...
All of us together, at once. I believe it was a first. God is so Good.

Thank you, in advance, all my dear friends...new and dear...tried and true...
for all of your prayers in these next several...
very hectic...
days ahead.
May God add His richest blessings upon you!

On a Morning in May...

"I can hear the violins begin,

I can hear the piper play,

But every time I think of you,

You just steal my heart away....Just like a morning in May like this...."

Grammy and Big Daddy's story began on a morning in May, seven years ago, and the lyrics from Van Morrison's song became "their song." 

This was such a beautiful morning, I took a stroll, with a letter to mail and my camera in hand, and captured a bit of the loveliness along the way to the mailbox at the end of the drive.

  I never tire watching this climbing hydrangea attach itself, 

climbing ever upward.

Good "Morning, Glory!"

Welcome! little "rainbow" garden...Xavier will be so happy to meet you!

I am so proud of my Peony Girls...

Pretty ..and Pink ..and Deliciously Fragrant....

Oh, how I wish you could feel this cool breeze and hear the calming sounds of the waterfall, as I stand in the shade of the Grand "Marshmallow" tree....

I must say...April Showers brought Fields of Flowers...

I place my letter in the mailbox, lift the red flag, and turn to walk the length of the drive to our house....

such a pretty sight...the cottage, our home, and the stone barn....with a backdrop of the most vibrant shade of blue...it catches my breath....and steals my heart away....

A Saturday in Spring...April Showers brought flowers for May

After all the rain, floods, tornado warnings and horribly windy days, we finally have a wonderful gift! A gloriously warm, sunshine-y Saturday...the last day of April....and I simply had to fetch some photos of the lovely irises appearing against the fence, making a beautiful backdrop for the grape arbor, with its climbing, productive vines.

Look closely...do you see the baby grapes beginning to form?

The Tennessee state flower is the Iris, in the lovliest shade of purple...which is why I purchased my 'Iris' wellies... (Natalie..they are just the right color, don't you think?)

These bloomed on the prettiest day of the year!

This is another one I adore. It is the creamiest peach, and looks so pretty in the glass pitcher.

This Easter season, I was blessed to receive gifts and packages from dear family members. Once again, I have used my treasured art stand to display the two new books I received, which form the back drop of a sweet tea table still life.

Well, I must say, my little Eliza Dormouse shared that her sweet John Jacob has been ever so fretful to stay at their cottage in the baseboard aside the tea table...Scout pounces and hops about...ever-threatening their safety...and Scout believes she is having quite a grand time, playing with her new friends. I believe there has been a terrible miscommunication of intentions, but as their mistress, I think and think...until I have found the next most perfectly perfect spot for their home. Atop the mantel of the fireplace in the keeping room, I have found a lovely bit of real estate...slate rock for a front porch...the greenest of green topiaries, in tiny little pots....greenery that grows instantly over the cottage door (a sprinkle of glittery dust creates such things), even a welcoming wreath, hanging with invitation to enter,... and the Dormice are as happy as larks!

I think of all the pictures I've ever seen, of cottage gardens, cottage doors, cottage furnishings...and my imagination runs full speed ahead...searching craft closet, kitchen cupboards, and even the garden outside...and I find little pieces of this and that, forming a miniature "cottage world" for deserving little friends. What a delightful way to spend those extra minutes in the day...between the household chores, visits with grandchildren and family, errands that must be run...  I am glad to share the "harvest" of those moments.