Saturday, August 7, 2010

Will You Help Me Write A Story?

Hello sweet friends,

I have wanted to do this for a long time, write a story with you. I thought it would be fun to take a picture of my favorite bowls that I use in my kitchen and put part of the story on them.

I will start the story and you will add your part to my comments. Simple, I think this will be a fun way to get to know each other a little better. When I see that we are not having any more comments I will wrap the story up and put it on my blog.

The story starts with a young mother named Sarah..........

she had just opened her eyes to the morning sun. It was peeking through the new cotton curtains that she had just made days before. The pretty little
pink rose flowers with sage leaves made her think of the day when she bought the material at her favorite quilt store. Thinking of how she always enjoyed buying from Stitches Made Into Memories. It was tucked in the quaint town of Skagway. As soon as she walked in the front door Miss Clarice (who didn't showed her age of 90) greeted her with her sweet smile. "Hello Sarah," she said. I always loved seeing Miss Clarice. Thinking of all that she has taught me over the years about life, sewing, knitting, and always sharing her favorite recipes. Sarah had to bring herself back to the present, her day was going to be full with all the needs of her little family. She pulled herself out of their bed, with her feet touching the soft braided rug, she was reminded of how her little girl had helped her with all the stitches that made the rug into the oval shape. She thought what a beautiful memory. Her little girl was always eager to help her Momma when it came to the sewing room or the kitchen. Sarah looked around the bedroom and was enjoying how it was taking shape to her liking. As she padded her way down the hallway she made her way to the kitchen to get started on the breakfast, before everyone got up. She whispered a prayer to her Heavenly Father to help her stay focused on Him today and tell Him she loved Him so.

Sarah was a day dreamer, standing in her little farm kitchen.............


I hope that this will be a fun adventure for us. You can write one word, a sentence

or as much as you like. I can't wait to read the happenings of Sarah's life

through the eyes of my Blogging Family.

Enjoy and pass the button around,


so we can have some fun.



Hugs and prayers from the farm,


Photobucket

25 comments:

  1. Sarah was daydreaming of the beautiful new baby that would soon be living at her quaint little home. The baby and her older sister would spend many hours baking in that kitchen. Learning how to make delicious treats and baking sweet breads and cakes for the family.

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  2. Sarah began daydreaming about when she was just a little girl. And how her grammy would always have her over to help her with the baking that needed to be done. They really like to bake cookies together, and grammy let her get some of the dough to eat. She'd pretend that she was trying to get it before gammy saw her and then they would both just start laughing. Grammy's kitchen always smelled good from bread baking or some sort of dessert baking. And that is just what she was doing with her little one now. After I would measure everything she has so much fun putting it in the bowl. Just then, her little one ran in the back door and announced that grammy is here, can we bake?

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  3. She thought...about how much fun it would be to try and duplicate her grandmother's kitchen. Why not, she considered dreamily whipping the eggs vigorously as she prepared them for a breakfast of french toast. She fondly studied the bright red bowl she cradled in her hands. Hadn't she saved several of Grandmother's mixing bowls from the auction table several months ago. It had been heart-wrenching to sell the house and all but a few things Grandmother could fit into the tiny nursing home room where she lived now. How comforting it would be to walk into Grandmother's kitchen in her own house.

    Sarah pulled the milk out of the refrigerator and poured some in a clear, glass pie plate, adding salt, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla to complete the recipe for the bread. Putting the milk away, she paused and pondered dreamily how the cabinets would look with a fresh coat of white paint, bright red or green knobs to match a couple of the bowls and for a wake-up splash of color. Red and white gingham curtains on the windows with white eyelet trim and she would have a good start.

    Just as Sarah was going to dip a piece of bread in the batter and put it on the hot griddle, she heard a soft rustle from the arched doorway that led to the hallway. Six-year old Katie stood their sleepily rubbing her eyes, her short, curly, blonde hair framing her face like a halo. She could hardly wait to tell Katie about her plans...

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  4. Ladies............love that you have joined me.........you write so beautiful! Can't wait to see where Sarah, Katie, Miss Clarice and Grandmother take us.......... come back and write anytime you feel like it. I will read it to my children, grandchildren and honey. You are so precious and I truly love the story so far.
    You are blessings!
    Linda

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  5. Hello Mummy, has Daddy gone to work yet. Yes darling, do you remember yesterday Daddy telling you he and Mr Phipps would be moving the cattle to the back paddock first thing this morning. He had his breakfast early this morning but promised to be back in time for morning tea at eleven o'clock. We must think of something very special to cook as Mr Phipps will be coming back with him as well. Do you think they would like some nice apple muffins? Oh! that would be so good Mummy. Can I help you make them? Of course you can. Now if you will just go to the porch and bring me in four of those lovely Granny Smith apples from the bucket, we can get started. We'll just pop them in the oven and while they are cooking we'll stroll down to the hen house and collect the eggs. How many eggs do you think we'll get today?

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  6. "I say.....twelve! A dozen. I love even numbers," said Katie skipping along friskily.

    "I say....thirteen," said her Mama, affectionately tugging on Katie's pigtail. "A baker's dozen, since we are going to be baking with them."

    Much to their surprise, they had enough for both...a regular dozen, and a baker's dozen.

    "Whoa, quite a bonanza today," said Mother with stars in her eyes thinking about all she could do with the bounty.

    She also had stars in her eyes about the Hoosier cabinet she saw in town at the little antique store next to the fabric store.

    She could not get it out of her mind. It would be perfect for her kitchen, to display all her beautiful bowls and other kitchen essentials, and would be good working space for for her busy plans of canning, baking, and cooking.

    She thought, if we continue to get some extra eggs each day, I could sell the eggs to the neighbors, make some baked goods and sell them as well, and start saving for the cabinet that made my heart go pitter-patter.

    "I bet I could do it before the baby comes, even," she dreamily hoped.

    (Linda, insert picture here of the cabinet:

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kA4kr8zoCDk/St3wsF-Im8I/AAAAAAAAAQk/GjD87Cq8h6s/S269/shop+pics+7-27+032.JPG

    If it doesn't work, just find and use another one that you think Sarah would like.)

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  7. Duh, Linda....it just dawned on me, you probably can't embed pictures in comments. So don't know ~ don't think I have ever seen that.

    So, scratch that.

    Maybe you can put it in the picture below the bowls or something....if you want to ~ not trying to tell you how to run your blog...smile. (Just thought it would be fun and nice to have a visual, along with the text)

    I'm pretty "computer basic," so don't know how to do a lot of stuff.

    Anyway.....LOVE this idea. Such a fun concept!

    Can't wait to see how the story goes.

    Blessings and love,

    B.

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  8. So each morning Sarah and Katie collected all the eggs, made cookies and muffins and took them into town. The local feed store agreed to put them on their counter and all the hungry farmers were glad to gobble them up when they came to town. It won't be long before Sarah has her cabinet to keep her special bowls right where she can see them and keep the long ago memories alive. One day Katie would have the cabinet and bowls, her mother's legacy passed on to her.

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  9. Sarah looking our the kitchen window as the sun came up. The chickens in the yard scratching and eating lots of grasshoppers. Sarah was getting ready to checking in on her son, Jacob as he was asleep on his bed. Getting ready to go feed the goat and milk her to make a batch of soap to take to the market later that week.

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  10. Sarah thought of her grandmother fixing eggs for her 5 children who most likely did their chores on the farm before coming in for breakfast. These wonderful bowls that were used daily to whip up so many wonderful meals. That was back when everyone came in and ate at the same time around the table. Where everyone talked about their day.

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  11. thinking of how much she missed her grandmother's love and advice.

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  12. "Oh, I must stop all this daydreaming!" Sarah thought. "It won't help me get that cabinet any sooner!" Off to work she went busying herself in the kitchen, listening to the sound of her children playing, and praying fervently that the Lord would help her wait and trust in Him. "Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that you hold my needs and desires in Your Hands. Please help me to wait patiently for you."

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  13. Just then, she felt the Lord gently tug at her heart with this verse; Psa 21:2 "Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips." She gently smiled to herself - and added, "Thank You, Lord - for hope!"

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  14. Today was wash day for Sarah and Katie........they were thankful for the gentle breeze of the day, as they hung their clothes on the line. Her husband, Tom had strung up a line between the two big cottonwood trees by their house, so it would be close to the house for her use. It was going to be a busy day as the produce in the garden was starting to fill their little kitchen with wonderful vegetables that they needed to preserve for the winter months. Today they were going to start on the tomatoes. Katie sat at the table carefully using the knife momma had given her to cut the tomatoes up and then she was to put them into the big kettle. Momma was at the counter cutting up the onions, while tears were rolling down her face. The onions were strong this year for some reason. She always wondered what made them strong sometimes and not others. Next she cut the celery and green peppers. Oh, she forgot the garlic, it was still out in the garden. She went to pull some from the ground and was thankful that they were so nice and plump this year. While she was there she thought that she also needed some parsley. Now she was set to make up the tomato base that she always canned for her soups. It was wonderful to be able to go to the cellar where she stored all her canned jars of numminess for the winter months. So far she had canned peaches, blue plums, green beans, canned chicken, and now she would be able to put up jars of tomatoes on the shelf at the end of the day. She thought of the Proverb 31 woman who provided food for her family......she loved reading that verse. She always felt like it was unattainable, but she knew that it was seasons of a women life and she would have to trust the Lord to make her into that women he wanted her to be. The days were full of puttering around her home, caring for her children and encouraging her husband. Then ...........

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  15. .... the magic of ordinary days came to a screeching halt. Pain, accompanied the blood that was dripping down her thigh.

    "Oh, Lord, please....no," she screamed in her head so as not to alarm those within ear shot.

    "Go get Daddy, Miss Kate," Sarah said, as she sat down at the kitchen table, praying for help, as she remembered that God was her ever-present help in time of trouble. "I'm trusting you, Father. Please, please help."

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  16. When Sarah finished praying, she remembered she had scraped her elbow while she was in the pantry a few minutes ago. She had been in such a hurry to get back to her canning, she didn't think nothing of it. Now the blood was dripping down her apron and on her thigh. "I'll bet I scraped against the nail I had been meaning to hammer back in , " she said to herself. She looked and realized the blood was indeed coming from near her elbow.

    Soon the back screen door opened and in came Sarah's sweet husband, Tom, with Kate trailing close behind.

    Tom took a look at her elbow, carefully cleaned the wound, and lovingly wrapped it in a bandage. Then he asked Sarah if she needed anything else. Sarah said,"Thank you!" and kissed her loving husband on the cheek as he turned to go back out to the field where he was working.

    As Sarah watched her husband walk back to the field she offered up thanks to her Heavenly Father for blessing her with Tom.

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  17. Katie wanted to be sure that her mommy was ok that she took her hand and had her sit at her comfy chair and ran to her room for her favorite book. She sat down next to Sarah and began to read to her. Sarah sat there with her eyes just shining, to think her little one is doing what she did when she had a booboo. When Katie was all finsihed reading she turned to Sarah and said "Mommy are you all better now?" with a big smile on her little face. Sarah took her in her arms and gave her a big hug, and said "Yes, sweetheart, I feel the bestest I ever have."

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  18. The day had been full with company for Sarah's family. They always loved it when her parent came. They didn't live far from her farm, so the visits were often. When her Daddy came into her farm house he was carrying the pie basket box with something her family knew would have something very special on the inside. She looked at the Pie Box.......she remembered when her Daddy had made them for CHRISTmas presents one year for all his girls. It was shaped like a box about 15" x 15" and 15" high. He had used lath to make it into a square three stories box. One shelf was on the bottom and then another two shelves on top of that. Then he made a handle so it was easy to carry all the pies at once. Sarah loved hers, she kept hers on the top shelf in the pantry, with an old quilt top coming out of the top when it wasn't in use. She loved using it for decoration. It was a reminder of the love her Daddy had for her. Every new bride in the church received one of Daddies Pie Boxes for a wedding present.

    Momma took the first pie out carefully and set in on the kitchen counter. All the children were huddling all around Grandma trying to see if her Peach Pie had any red juice. Grandma always said, it wasn't a good peach pie, if it didn't have thick red juice mixed with the peaches. Sure enough the red juice had bubbled up over the lattice that Grandma had weaved across the top of the pie. It looked so good. Sarah knew there were more pies in the box, but this was going to be the one she would try first! She thought........ I need to get Momma's recipe for her Peach Pie, she had been noticing that her Momma was ailing soon. The children's chatter brought her back to her senses, they were guessing what the next pie would be, when their Grandma was slowly taking it out it was a..............

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  19. ...cherry pie. The top was sparkling with sugar and the crust browned to perfection. Sarah remembered picking cherries with her dear Grandmother and her grandmother's best friend, Irene. They would pick buckets of them from the trees just up the road from Irene's cozy farmhouse. Sarah recalled the long process of pitting all the cheery, red stemmed bounty, sitting at the long, worn kitchen table. As a little girl she would delight in the tales the two older friends would tell. Sarah laughed as she remembered HER first cherry pie...
    Sarah had been only 20 years old and newly in love with her dear, sweet, Tom. She wanted to impress him with her cooking skills and had chosen a cherry pie for her first culinary gift to him. She had picked the cherries with only her grandmother that day, as Irene had gone home by then. Later that evening, Sarah had sat at her apartment's tiny, kitchen table and pitted every last cherry until her sticky, red-stained fingers ached! Then she had carefully rolled out the crust, and piled high the delicate, sugar-encrusted cherries. The pie had turned out perfectly, just like her grandmother's, with the sugar sparkling and the hint of red juice oozing from the pretty patten of slits she cut into the top. She was anxious to share the pie with Tom the next afternoon at the Church's "basket dinner". Her little kitchen lacked counter space, and so she had placed the pie atop the small refrigerator, out of sight, with gleeful anticipation of Tom's surprise the next day. Sarah couldn't help but giggle when she remembered how surprised SHE had been the next morning. Upon retrieving the pie from its perch, she was HORRIFIED to find her kitty Shasta's round pawprint NOW decorating the pie's pretty top crust. Fortunately, so many years later, Sarah could laugh at what had reduced her to tears on that sunny Sunday morning.
    Sarah's mother, hearing the quiet giggle, turned to Sarah and asked....

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  20. are you day dreaming again? Sarah giggled again and told her mother about the story of the Cherry Pie, both remembering how it made Sarah feel at that time, they both started to laugh, This is how memories are made, even though you don't realize it at the time. Sarah and her mother had a good laugh.

    Sarah had learn so many things by now and She still bakes Cherry Pies for the love of her life, Tom.

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  21. It was August 16th and as she laid next to her man who was still sleeping she started to think about their wedding day all those years ago. Walking and sharing in his mans joys and sorrows. Her mind drifted off to that special day. It was a simple wedding that had been held at the farm of her new to be mother in loves rose garden. She and Tom stood in front of the old picket fence with a row of every color rose bush you could imagine. It was a beautiful morning, the birds were singing and only a hint of a breeze was in the air. Before all the witnesses of family and friends, they promised a vow of commitment forever. In the good and the bad for better or worse. Sarah thought of the goodness of the Lord and His faithfulness to their vow made that day. Thinking of the little ones all tucked in their beds down the hall and the joy they had given Tom and her over the last 10 years. She turned to her sweet man and lifted him up in a prayer of thanks. She asked the Lord to bless him........... using her to give him a home of refuge, that God would give him the strength he needed to lead their family in the ways of their God...and as he sought the Lord as he read His word ..........that there would be a straight path for them. He started to stir, which brought her thoughts back to this very special day. She finished her prayer with a Thank you so much Father for this man you gave to me to love, for you. The day was going to be a special day filled with....................

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  22. with joy and maybe a surprise or two! Be that as it may, there was still the task of getting breakfast on the table and getting everyone ready for church.

    Maybe, Sarah thought as she grabbed her housecoat, if I hurry and get the coffee ready and the biscuits in the oven before Katie and Jacob wake up, Tom and I will have a few minutes to enjoy our coffee together on the front porch. It will be nice to linger a few minutes while watching the sun come up over the trees, after all it had certainly been a busy summer.

    "Hey, Hon, is the coffee about ready?" Tom asked as he gave her waist a gentle squeeze.

    "Just a couple more minutes."

    "Good. I'll be back in a minute. I need to do a few things in the barn."

    Sarah was sure disappointment showed on her face. "The barn, this early? I thought we might have time to share our coffee on the porch."

    Tom grinned, that slow,easy smile of his, "I'll be right back. You pour the coffee and I'll join you on the porch swing before the coffee has time to cool."

    Tom couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he hurried to the barn. His beautiful Sarah was going to love his surprise!

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  23. "Heavenly Father, please don't let Tom see disappointment in my eyes when he returns. I hate when I let my feelings show so easily. I know feelings are tender because of this sweet child I am carrying, but I just wanted this to be "our day" from start to finish. Please bless Tom. He is so very good and thoughtful to both me and the children. I am so thankful to have such an amazing husband."

    Now, I must slip the biscuits in the oven and pour two steaming cups of coffee.

    Even though it was August, Sarah carried the double wedding ring quilt her grandmother had given them as wedding present out to the porch and carefully placed it on the seat of the swing. Touching its folds tenderly brought back a rush of memories. Oh how she loved this quilt! The colors were perfect, vibrant sky blues and golden brown like the color of wheat in the bright noon day sun. But now she needed to hurry back inside for the mugs of hot coffee.

    What was taking Tom so long, Sarah wondered as she began to allow her mind to daydream just a bit. She was please with the decision she had made concerning the money she had earned selling breads, cookies and all. Yes, she really wanted the lovely little Hoosier cabinet at Mr. Bennett's store, even so the look on Tom's face when he saw Michael would be worth the delay of getting the cabinet.

    Michael was Tom's twin brother. He and his wife, Mandy, ran an orphanage down near Twin Rivers, about 70 or so miles away. Even though the distance wasn't that far, getting together was always difficult. Tom stayed busy working long hours on the farm and helping his dad run the feed store. Michael and Mandy rarely had the opportunity to leave the orphanage, due to a shortage of both help and money.

    That's where Sarah was able to help. It had taken well over half of the money she had saved but she had sent it to Michael in hopes he and Mandy could find someone to take over their duties at the orphanage for a few days. It wouldn’t be right to celebrate the most important day of their lives without the couple who stood up with them during the wedding!

    Fortunately, God had provided. As it turned out, Michael knew two widow ladies that belonged to the local church and they were not only glad to take over Michael and Mandy's responsibilities for a few days, they were grateful for the extra income it would provide.

    It was going to be such fun to spend time with Michael and Mandy after the morning church service! Secretly, Sarah had worked hard preparing a wonderful picnic of all of Tom’s favorite foods. And there would be no cat paw prints in the cherry pie this time!

    Papa and Nana Lehman, Tom and Michael’s parents, were anxious to keep Katie and Jacob along with their three cousins.

    Sarah jumped when she heard the crash! “What on earth? Tom, are you alright, dear?” she asked as she hurried back through the door.

    “Sarah Beth, now honey, you just go on back to the porch. I’ll have this cleaned up in just a minute and join you.”

    “Oh my,” Sarah exclaimed. “Tom, you didn’t…..

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  24. "Didn't what? I'm sorry about the floor."

    "The floor?" Sarah asked, then gasped as she looked at the floor she had freshly mopped yesterday. Eggs, broken eggs where everywhere! "Where did the eggs come from?"

    "Well," Tom said as he took the tarp off the rather large object sitting in the middle of the kitchen, "my guess is your favorite little red hen thought your new cabinet was a dandy place to hide her nest."

    "My what?" Sarah asked as she tried to look up from the mess of raw scrambled eggs on the floor. "Oh, my!!! Tom you," Sarah's hand flew up to her mouth just in time to quieten a squeal of delight.

    "Yes, I did, hon. Happy Anniversary! I love you Sarah Beth!"

    "But we can't afford it."

    "Shhh, you don't need to worry about that. Things at the feed store have been going real well and our calf crop is looking better that most around these parts. Besides, you work so hard looking after me and the kids, you deserve something you want for a change."

    Sarah fell into his arms making strange noises that seemed to be a cross between a giggle and a muffled sob. "I love you, Tom Lehman!"

    "Not as much as I love you, Mrs. Lehman!" Tom said as he kissed her tenderly. "But I need to clean up my egg mess."

    "No, you go on and do what you need to do. I'll finish up breakfast and get the kids up. We still have time to sit down and enjoy breakfast before leaving for church. Uh, what's that smell....oh, no! My biscuits!"

    Sarah rushed to grab a couple of pot holders and remove the slightly burnt biscuits from the oven. "No!"

    "That's just the way I like them," Tom said as he peeked over her shoulder, "nice and crusty on bottom!"

    "Crusty?" Sarah asked.

    "Yep, they're my favorite." Tom grinned and slipped out the the back door, whistling as he headed to the barn.

    Sarah grinned to herself, "Nothing, absolutely nothing is going to ruin our day. Thank you, Father, for always being our provider and showering our family with your loving kindness. We are blessed, blessed indeed!"

    Sarah hurried up the stairs to wake the children. It was going to be a glorious day!

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  25. Prairie Maid.......I had just finished your entry earlier today and my computer told me I had a new email. I love what you have done to the story! Made me smile. I will try to write this week sometime!

    Thank you for keeping it going!
    Ladies come back and write some more???????

    Hugs, Linda

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