Martin Luther, Grounding, This Little Light of Mine...

His parents wanted him to become a lawyer but Martin Luther, in order to seek God, became an Augustinian monk, but eventually became disillusioned with the Catholic church. On today's date in 1517, his 95 Theses attacked the Catholic Church for selling "indulgences" to absolve sin. The 95 Theses (click to read a former post at Thistle Cove Farm blog) have two central beliefs: the Bible is the authority and salvation is obtained by faith alone and not by works. This sparked the Protestant Reformation, divided the Catholic church and forever changed "religion". If you're of the Protestant faith, you have Martin Luther to thank. Additionally, he wrote many hymns and one of my favorite is A Mighty Fortress Is Our God .

This Autumn has been glorious! Even though we're in dire need of rain, the colors are saturated against brilliant blue skies.

Sunday afternoon, Sam alerted me there were strangers on our road! How dare they! Sam is such a comical little feller; he's a good guard dog but will stay in our driveway while he's barking, barking, barking. When I acknowledge him and told him it was all right, he calmed down; all the while, Sadie is right beside me, making sure no one gets close.

A few years ago, I crocheted (is that right...crochet or crocheted???) this rug which is used in the bathroom. Every so often it needs to be washed, then hung over the gate so it can dry. It's not the best job ever done but it brings me pleasure, and, yes, even joy, when I both see and use it.

Warm, sunny days are taken advantage of by doing a bit of grounding. I wrote about it here and Wellness Mama writes about it here. She goes into scientific jargon while I basically say, "Here I am, it works." The book is Pushing Up Daisies, an Agatha Raisin mystery by M.C.Beaton...LUV this series and the made for television series, here. Heck, I LUV the Hamish MacBeth series as well!

I love where I live but one huge drawback, for me anyway, is the lack of thrift stores. A recent thrift visit found these lovelies...the little green pitcher, with lid, is used to hold cream for coffee and the little butter dish perfectly holds one of my half pound blocks of home churned butter.

I'm not sure of the original intent, but this cut glass vessel will now be used as a water pitcher. As a wedding gift, Dave and I received a Waterford pitcher and this little jewel looks like it will work wonderfully well alongside. (Gee, how do you like that onomatopoeia thing I got going? or is it? It's "alliteration", thanks to Mags for the correction...at Late Dark Thirty last night, I knew onomatopoeia wasn't correct, but couldn't sus out what was correct.) (The Lassie movie poster, background, showcases my farm, center, just under the word Lassie...woohoo!)

This little light of mine makes my heart beat quickly. I'm so glad my 'old granny' taste is out of fashion so folks will take things like this sweet, sweet lamp to thrift and consignment stores where God allows me to find and purchase.

The upper globe can be turned on or

the lower globe can be used as a rather bright night light, or

both upper and lower globes lit here.

Do you know Mags of Fraise Lachrymose blog, here? Last month, it was my pleasure to visit Mags, in Ireland! and she's begun blogging about the visit. I'm working on a Irish travelogue and, God willing and the creek don't rise, will soon have photos and verbiage posted. In the meantime, visit Mags for the first of her four parts...enjoy!

Sara, Sweet Magnolia Farm, recently commented, "Sandra, you live a beautiful life..." and it caught me by surprise. My life is centered on food, shelter, clothing with enough excitement like travel thrown in for good measure and I'm always surprised when people like it as well. Like Pam R. who wrote, "I just love your style of writing, the words and phrases. You have such a way with words!"

Sara and Pam, thank you so much and thank you all who read my natterings and give the gift of your time to comment! I do love my life, my animals, my farm and even though Dave is missed, dreadfully, the light at the end of the tunnel is light and not an oncoming train. I work terrifically hard, keeping it all going but I always...always!...take time to sit and bask in the beauty surrounding me. I have never taken my life, nor where I live, for granted and am well aware of the blessings and gifts God has given me.

Bless you all for the gift of your time in reading and the gift of your comment...bless you all!

Ponder this ~ "I have learned that my strengths are a result of my weaknesses, my success is due to my failure, and my style is directly related to my limitations.
   I have discovered that after all those years of musical instruction, after all that practice to be perfect, after all that hard work trying to compose the right notes, I am gifted with the knack of hitting exactly the wrong notes at precisely the right time.
   This is the secret of originality. Think about it...Only you can commit a colossal blunder in your own exquisite style. This is what makes you unique. But when you are faced with solving the problem, this is what makes you inventive."
~ Billy Joel ~