Blessings To You This NEW YEAR!

Blessings to you this New Year! This is a pond close to our farm.

It was such a beautiful day a few weeks back and had to take this picture.

I can't believe we will be in 2010! Where has the time gone? I am excited to see what the Lord has for each of us. I do thank Him for all of you who follow my blog. Can't believe how many precious friends I have made and for that I am truly thankful!

I am still working on the post for the Grammie and Poppa Snowman party. I was gone for 2 days to Lawrence and it did cut into my time on getting it up. I have to do a few pdf's for your use if you want and I need Tressa to help me on that. She is leaving for two days so maybe the first of the week.

I would love to hear of one special blessing that you received this last Christmas or maybe a way I can pray for you for the New Year. I love you all bunches!

From my home to yours,

Linda

CHRISTmas Memories

The REASON FOR THE SEASON! LOVE WAS BORN ON CHRISTMAS MORN.

You can see that I used an old wash bucket for the bottom of our tree. It really looked cute!! I think this will be a must for every CHRISTmas from now on. I also tied white sheer bows to the end of the branches.

We all sat with only the light of the tree as Poppa read us the CHRISTmas Story. It will never get old hearing my honey read. It is such a story of grace and mercy. What a Heavenly Father we have!

This little mitten had a sheet of paper with all the names of the family that was

present at our 2009 CHRISTmas dinner.

I had lots of these little angels all over our tree. I bought them with the gift certificate that Stutzman's Greenhouse gave me. They looked so sweet!

I like it when I can find "Merry CHRISTmas" decorations. It helps keep our focus on the one we are celebrating for.

Found the cross and sconce on mega sale! Thought it really added to my CHRISTmas decorations. The cross is a reminder to us of why JESUS came as a little baby. Oh my, what a price he paid for us who want His salvation.

JESUS has the key to my heart!

This last CHRISTmas was so special for our family. I can't believe all we have left are memories. I tried to make my decorating so simple this year. Stutman's decorating classes really helped me. Like Larry said, if you just gather what you want to use and have that all organized before you start decorating, you will save time. I tried it and it worked. Using mostly white this year also helped. I loved decorating and going to all the classes, that I was able to attend. I learned so much. As you see I really had a white CHRISTmas. I liked it.

I am saying goodbye to another CHRISTmas, but not to all the memories. This Momma and Grammie has tucked "all her memories" in her heart. Just as Mary pondered those things, so have I.

If you have some memories of this CHRISTmas, would you please just take a minute and encourage us all with some of them? Thank you ladies. You are truly a blessing!

If you have any pictures on your blog of your CHRISTmas tell, so we can all come over. I will anyway, if you comment. Smile! I love looking at your blogs. It is my treat to myself every day.

LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

LATER TODAY ALLLLLL MY GRANDBABIES WILL BE COMING TO THE FARM.

WE ARE HAVING OUR "SNOWMAN PARTY GRAMMIE AND POPPA CAMP!"

Blessings,

Linda

When They Saw The Star..........

James 1:17

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the East went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 2: 9-12.

What gift do we have for Him this year? Asking the Lord to help me.

I know I can't do it on my own.

Merry CHRISTmas friends

Blessings,

Linda

THE BIRTH OF JESUS

The Birth of Jesus

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them,

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

"Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:4-20

I want to be like a shepherd for the Lord. How about you? I am so thankful for God's son Jesus. My life would be empty without HIM.

''For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.''
(Isaiah 9:6)

Merry CHRISTmas

from The Stubbs Family

Linda

Girlhood Home Companion and Our Tea Cozy Pattern

I designed this Tea Cozy for The Girlhood Home Companion for their Christmas Edition. We received the magazine in the mail a few weeks back and have enjoyed flipping through each page. It is absolutely beautiful. Jill and her family have again captured loveliness. Young and old will enjoy the articles and craft work that is found in this edition.

The Girlhood Home Companion Magazine

The pattern for the Tea Cozy is in the The Girlhood Home Companion. It is very easy to follow the pictured tutorial to make this cozy for yourself or friend. You can get the pattern now for only $5.00, if you buy the magazine.

The Girlhood Home Companion has been having a lot of wonderful specials going on their site, so please run over see. Please leave them a comment of encouragement. They all would love it.

A few weeks back I received a email from Econobusters. They asked for permission to put up my free Tea Bag Cozy pattern. I went over to Molly's Econobusters site and loved it. I think you will also. It is just full of wonderful ideas, that I am sure you will enjoy. Be sure to look at the new posts and their older posts. Molly has just tons of wonderful ideas and interesting information for your needs. I have found some great sites by searching on Econobusters. Enjoy and tell me what you think.

I am still making gifts for my family and grandchildren. Here is a picture ofone of the blankets I made for each of the grandsons. I will have some fun tutorials for you the first of the year of some of the gifts I have made.

We will also be getting ready for our Snowman Grammie and Poppa Camp soon afterCHRISTmas. I have been collecting and I think we are going to be ready for a fun camp. I will let you in on the party and the fun things we have planned. Maybe you can have a party also. I will let you know in advance! If you want to have a party I found lots of little favors at WalMart, Target, Hobby Lobby and Dollar General. I will look at the sales after CHRISTmas and maybe find a few more items. I haven't spent very much, because a lot of the things only cost 1.00 each.

A gift for my grandchildren to take home to their mommy and daddy!

Love you all and as a friend blogger told me "I am one blessed lady" How true, how true! It is all because you decided to let me into your home and I let you into my heart!!!!!! Thank you again for making my life so full and blessed.

Merry CHRISTmas

Blessings,

Linda

And The Winner Of The "Little Nativity" Is......

Your Nativity is ready to come to your house!!!!!!!!

Viola from

Life's Journey and Connections won the "Little Nativity"!

she said,

I´m a follower already. Also signed up for your emails. I will post the button on my blog (violarissasblog@typepad.com). And.... my favorite Christmas gift was a little "Kaufladen" (store counter, offering little play food and stuff, the counter was made of wood, the food cardboard boxes miniature you could get at the normal store and marzipan or wood or felt "food/fruits"...
Blessings,Viola.

Congratulations Viola, I tried to contact you and the email is not working for me. Please email me with your address and I will get the Nativity out for you!

Thank you ladies for entering our giveaway. I have enjoyed coming to your blogs and still have more to look at. With the CHRISTmas Season it is very busy at our home. Blessings to all of you that have come to my blog and welcomed me! May you all be blessed in the year to come.

Blessings,

Linda

And Thou Shalt Call His Name JESUS!

Welcome to our farmhouse during the CHRISTmas Season. This nativity set is a very special gift our family received from our adopted daughter (by friendship), Alicia. She really sacrificed by giving us this gift, because she thought she would just beable to find another one for herself. She never did. Thank you Alicia, we love you bunches and no you can't have it back! We love it not because of the figurines, but because of the Word of God that is on them. It continues to help us to keep our focus on Him this season. For the scripture in the frame we used pages on our computer and wrote out the scripture and took it to Office Max and had them print it out for us. The verse says it all! I am so thankful for His grace given to our family. We all have accepted His gift and will live forever with Him! Thank you Jesus! I took pictures of the scripture verse on each figurine, so you could read it. They are so wonderful. I have also added some of the other areas in our home. I have been having a "white thing" this year. If you have read my blog you know I did some pictures of decorating at Stutzman's Greenhouse. Well, they blessed me!!!!!! I was so excited. They gave me a gift certificate. I am spending it and it shows in my home. I am so thankful. I really learned a lot from Larry and Kim!

Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy.

Luke 2:10

A Child is born. Unto us a Son is given.

Isaiah 9:6

My soul Magnifies the Lord.

Luke 1:46

Shepherds keeping watch over their flock

Luke 2:8

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

Matthew 2:10

They presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:11

We have come to Worship Him.

Matthew 2:2

I bought this wooden plant holder a long time ago and have used it by changing the picks for each season.

It is a favorite in my home.

I found this whole pick at Hobby Lobby already done.

It was nice to just lay it on the little shelf.

My daughter came up to me holding this single strand of a pick, that had been pulled apart. She said, "Mom, I think this would make the cutest tree". I knew exactly what I would do with it. Here it is! I will cherish it forever. It is my "Taylor Tree".

Auke Lake (imagine the lake in the winter with snow), picture taken by Linda Garrison

I want to thank every one of you for the wonderful comments on our Little Nativity Drawing.

If you have not signed up please scroll down and join in! Your favorite gift as a child comments have not only blessed my life, but the lives of others. I love it. I forgot to tell you mine. When I was a teenager my sister and I received a pair of blue ice skates trimmed with grey fur. I just called my sister and she said that the laces were sparkled grey. I forgot. We thought they were the most beautiful skates ever. I couldn't wait to get on some ice! There was a beautiful lake called Auke Lake. You could skate and in the distance see the glacier. We would go in the evening and build a fire right on the ice. We always had a thermos of hot cocoa to warm our bodies. Another memory was we would get a group of kids and hold hands all skating in a line. Shannon reminded me that it was called the whip. One would be at the head and then there was always someone at the end. We would all skate together and then the first in line would stop and hold on (it was usually a really big guy) and we would start skating in a circle. The one on the end would always get a really fast ride. I think I could still do that if I had a chance. I would be the one flying across the lake, because I forgot to let go of the whip. Okay I am a very visual person and I am having the giggles. I remember we laughed a lot skating. Sweet memories; they are so wonderful to remember?

This is a picture of my brother Bud, Uncle Mikie, myself and sister Shannon in the year 59. Wow, I feel old. hehehe Look at the tree! My Dad loved icicles. You had to put them on one at a time. Ugh! Our family would get all bundled up with warm coats, stocking hats, mittens and boots. We would go out into the woods as a family, tromp through the snow and chop down our Christmas Tree. The days when we could do that.

Now ladies if this seems like a long post it is. I have been without internet since last Monday at 9 in the morning. I have 23,987 words to use so here is. Enjoy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I just came back on to let everyone know that we were having problems with the Payloadz download for the free Tea Bag Cozy! Soooooo sorry. We are now using Google. Hope this works until we can figure what we need to do. Please email me if it does not work for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings to you!

Linda

A Little Nativity Drawing!!!!

"The Setting was humble.... but the cast was Divine" by Chris Shea.

We live by Amish and Mennonite families. One night the little town of Yoder stores were open for the public and they also had a live nativity. One store had over a 1000 nativities for sale. When I walked in I saw this "Noel Collection" small nativity sitting on a little table. I picked it up and read the little caption on the front I sighed!!!!!! I just wanted it so bad, Mr. Phil said yes. I had never seen any designs by the artist Chris Shea before, but I just loved this piece. Her designs are called, "Lifesighs". You can see why.

I went shopping today to see if I could find another one as a giveaway. I did! It was in the back of the same shop that I had bought my first one. The clerk didn't even know that they had another one back there. I took mine, so she would know exactly what I was looking for. I was so excited! So here is the deal. This drawing giveaway will go on until Monday, December 21st at 12 (noon) Central Time. I will get it right out. So you will have to get me your address real soon. Then you can have it for Christmas.

This is what you can do to win this drawing

1 vote, leave a comment of one of your favorite Christmas gifts as a child

1 vote, if you are a follower of Prairie Flower

1 vote, if you post or put up my little nativity button up on your blog

and

1 vote if you sign up for our emails.

Now, some people have had problems leaving comments on my blog. Please email me!!! That will count for any one of these votes or all of these votes. Please, I don't want you left out!

ALSO, IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOG, LEAVE ME SOME WAY TO GET AHOLD OF YOU!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Blessings,
Linda

Our CHRISTmas Apple Fresh Cake Bread

I was in such a hurry to get this up, so I had to put the loaf in the bag hot. See the steam!!!

If you were here, I would make each of you a little loaf of our CHRISTmas Apple Fresh Cake Bread. When we had our CHRISTmas shows, this is what we would serve. It is absolutely sooooo delicious!!!!!!! You will enjoy for sure. Try it! It is so easy. I put everything in my food processor after the apples and sugar have set . Here is the recipe.

CHRISTmas Apple Fresh Cake Bread

3 cups chopped apples

2 c. sugar

1 cup corn oil

2 eggs

2 cups unbleached flour

2 tea. cinnamon

1 1/2 tea. soda

1/4 tea. salt

1 cup chopped pecans

1 tea. vanilla

Chop apples peels and all in a food processor. Pour into a bowl and add sugar. Let stand at least a half an hour. In the mean time wash possessor and chop the nuts. After the apples have set their time, add to the food processor with all the other ingredients. Mix just long enough to wet all the ingredients. Don't over mix. Grease 7 mini loaf pans and fill with batter half full. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I enjoy picking up sweet little plates at antique shops. They are great to put your breads, candies or what ever for a pretty gift. It doesn't have to cost much. I took an evergreen sprig and an ornament and there you have it. A nice gift for your Pastor and family, teacher, friend, great little housewarming gift. Enjoy our recipe. If you are in the area stop by. I will have one for you!!! Promise. I live right in the middle of Kansas. I am not hard to find. Look for the 5 horses and a two story farm house. smile......

Here is what it will look like before you mix. Mmmmmmmmmm doesn't it look so good??????

As I was baking this morning it made me think of the last CHRISTmas show we did. I didn't have a blog at the time so I thought you could see a little of our show.

You can't see the unit real well, but when we did the International Quilt Markets we would have to decorate our booths. We made a 8'X8' wood unit with a picket fence on the back for a wall and picket fences along each side and a little in the front. It also had a wood floor. It made it so cozy for people to walk into our booth. One time we made a little cabin. It was so fun. Oh, how I miss those days. It just got so expensive for our family to travel. So now we just stay home and let everyone else sell our things. On the top we had a canopy, that we put lights and garland all around. It was so fun to do. I am hoping, that after we get situated in our new farm, that one day we will do something like this again. You can come and we will have a party!

A shot of the picket fence in the front. I would hang garland and lights along the inside and outside of the fence and then hang ornaments on the garland.

I have always thought it would be so fun to make a unit like this in my house and have a place built on with a ladder for my grand kids to climb and have a place to go read books. With the high ceilings in the old houses it would be easy to do. HONEY P H I L, I need you!!!!!! Don't be surprised to see a picture with this done. When I was a little girl, if you couldn't find me, you could go look under the table. I would be there with Rebecca of SunnyBrook Farm. I loved those books and I loved cozy places to read. What we did as kids. I still like to make forts for my grand kids. smile They made Poppa and I lay inside the fort while we watched Nemo. I think they are going to be like their Grammie for their kids! Some would say that is good; our sons would look at you, like they look at me sometimes. It's just that look.

Now that I have had classes from Larry at Stutzman's Greenhouse, I think that my tree would look better. hehe! I really do miss having the CHRISTmas shows! It has been fun for me to reminisce today. Thank you for doing so with me.

Merry CHRISTmas Everyone!!!!!!!

Blessings,
Linda

Simple Little Mittens For A CHRISTmas Gift

Well, I bought these little white mittens for myself. When I got home I set the mittens on the table, right beside the mittens were my little punch needle snowmen heads. Remember posts August 24 and August 28? Well, my brain just started to spin and I had the most wonderful idea for a Christmas gift for my little granddaughters. I couldn’t wait to go to Hobby Lobby’s store, to buy the supplies I needed for the idea. I found the little beads and DMC floss.

Now doesn't she have the sweetest little face?

Supplies Needed:

A pair of mittens

one punch needle snowman head

or you can make a wool head

(instructions below)

Rust #918 DMC floss

Black floss for eyes

1O little blue beads size 4mm

Red checked ribbon for two bows

Blue #159 DMC floss

If you need to learn to do punch needle, I have a web site for you to go to. How to, scroll down and the instructions are there for you to follow. It really is so easy. If you need more help, please feel free to email me. I will help you. I just love doing this! My favorite punch needle is a Cameo needle, it is blue and at the top of the page when you open up the site. This needle is so easy to work with and the little loops on the top are always uniform. You also need an embroidery hoop with locking lip.

Now to make the mitten!!!!

1. Punch needle one snowman head. Draw a 1 1/2 circle (I use one of the ends of my spools of thread) onto a large piece of muslin, big enough for your hoop. I draw lots of little heads with at least a 1/2 space around each head. Look at photo and draw a nose on each face to the snowman face onto your muslin. Punch needle the nose (#918 DMC floss) first and then the rest of the snowman head is white. I sew the eyes and mouth with double thread (black) and use french knot stitch. Again look at the photo.

Wool or flannel Head: If you can't do a punch needle head, then draw a 1 1/2" circle onto fusible webbing. Iron fusible webbing to wool. Cut out wool circle. Draw a small oblong triangle to fusible webbing and iron to rust fabric for the nose. Cut out nose and iron onto front of wool. Use a pressing cloth! Sew french knot eyes and mouth.

2. Snow Flakes: Thread needle with two strands of floss. I didn't follow any pattern. I just started with one X for the first part of the snowflake and then another straight line through the X, really easy. Look at the close up photo. I can't ever make one that looks the same. smile

3. Space the little beads on the cuff. Sew 5 per mitten.

4. Make two little bows and glue or sew each to a mitten.

You are finished! Now isn't that the easiest? Please let me know if you make this little gift and how you used it. I love stories!!!!!!

There is a party going on over at FarmHouse Country Style. She has a beautiful blog and wonderful decorations. You will feel so welcome and the party is so much fun!!!!!!! She even featured Prairie Flower Farm. That was so totally sweet of you Miss Dee!

Merry Christmas!

Blessings to you all!

Linda