Grow Your Blog Party!

Today is The Day! It's Vicki's, at 2 Bags Full, Grow Your Blog Party...WOOHOO! I'm excited, can you tell? What? You forgot to sign up? NO WAY, surely you didn't!? Oh gee, I am so sorry...   Please visit Vicki's blog to see all the participants and to leave a nice comment for Vicki...the hostess with the mostess...yeah, it's cheesy but hey! I'm in a party mood and, down on the farm, it's simple pleasures that please best.

Welcome to Thistle Cove Farm where it's beautiful one day and perfect the next. Yes, the header photo is the view from my window, photos change seasonally, and, yes, I am greatly blessed. Dave, my husband, and I bought and established Thistle Cove Farm in 1995. We've spent our time renovating the house, re-siding the barns with rough cut hemlock and, in early days, I bred and raised rare American Curly horses and Shetland, Merino, Romney and cross bred sheep. The Curly horse link is for information only.

Our lives took a turn when, in 2004, I had an opportunity to teach in Russia and that jump started our traveling adventures. Since then, I've taught in Armenia, Georgia, Morocco, at fiber festivals in the USA, at Concord University in Athens, WV and on the farm where I held workshops and conferences. I'm in process of putting together my curriculum in a book, Increasing Farm and Small Business Income, that teaches how to develop your farm or small business by using tourism and networking and partnering with other folks to increase profits. Essentially, it's a how-to manual to help you succeed.

In November, 2011, Dave passed away and the ensuing months have been spent on a very steep learning curve. He and I were going to sit down, me with a three-ring notebook, and I was going to compile "everything" he needed me to know. He died, very unexpectedly and quite suddenly, two days before. Since then, it's been a Very Steep Learning Curve and my hard earned and hard won experience is going into another book...Putting Your Affairs in Order ~ "death comes to us or for us, it's best to be prepared". I'm not trying to be morbid but there's a ton of stuff to know and it's best knowing it and preparing before you need to so you don't waste or lose so much money. Trust me, the only people who couldn't possible use this information are the Gates or Buffet families! -wry smile-

This blog is about life in general and, in particular, life at Thistle Cove Farm. I try to encourage and enable people to do their best work, live their best life and, whenever possible, prepare for the future. You'll find blog posts on how to DREAM LARGE, PDS or Pretty Darn Smart Goals, and, sometimes, You Just Need to Know where I push you in the direction of other folks who offer excellent advice or simply fun stuff worth knowing.
There are posts to your good health -Coconut Oil and Lower Back Pain Relief
and, every Sunday, there's Sabbath Keeping dedicated to the wise words of other folks and each Sabbath Keeping post ends with Prayer Keeping where we pray, one for another.
I am a practicing Christian and, even so, life is still hard; it's been a lot harder since Dave died. I'm just trying to lighten your load and help us both along life's path. I invite you to sign up on the follower's side bar on the right; you're very welcome here!

Okay, more good stuff...there are 5...FIVE...giveaways on this post! Yep, five people will have their choice of goodies starting with ...

~on the left, a skein of purple, blue, muted red Socka, 75 percent virgin wool with 25 percent polyamid yarn made in Austria! It's 30 meters and would make a lovely pair of baby socks, trim for a pair of adult socks or any number of beautiful things.

~on the right, a skein of red Sunbeam Aran Double Knitting Pure New Wool, made in the Republic of Ireland! There are approximately 1 and 3/4 ounces or 50 grams and it's vintage. It's enough yarn to make a small hat, neck cozy or add some color to a pair or socks or fingerless mitts. Then again, it's your choice as to how you use it.

Creating Keepsakes is a scrapbook magazine from May/June 1997; yep, another vintage prize! Along with great ideas for scrapbook projects, this issue still has the "FREE cut and Copy Insert from Design Originals". The magazine is intact, as far as I'm able to ascertain. 

~Summer Cottage magazine is from Summer 2011 and is lovely. The photographs are beautiful, the recipes are delightful...last week, I went to town to the library so I could copy the recipes...no tearing out of pages in this Special Collector's Issue! It's from the publishers of Southern Lady Presents Tea Time and Hoffman Media Publications. You will treasure this special treat!

~Quilters...attention, please...the last prize is a Collins Sneak Peek Preview of 5 Charm Shapes. "A charm quilt is traditionally made of pieces all cut from the same shape, and each cut from a different fabric." The Sneak Peek Preview may be used to design quilts by using as is or rotating designs for varied interest and impact. You may also make special effects with border prints, stripes and florals or develop your own patterns by alternating prints and solids or lights and darks. The templates include the following shapes: Tumbler, Hexagon, Diamond, Equilateral Triangle and an Apple Core. You'll have unending fun using this charming collection.

Winners will be notified on February 1 and chosen randomly. These prizes are open to everyone...domestic and internationally; you only have to leave a comment and a way for me to contact you. No anonymous comments and your e-address has to be linked with your name or in your comment. 
You're invited to follow my blog but it's not a requirement to win and your kind, thoughtful comments are most welcome.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~ Albert Einstein ~

Today's Miracles ~ Vicki, 2 Bags Full ~ you, a visitor ~ prizes ~ American Curly horses ~ my wooly sheep ~ Thistle Cove Farm ~ 

The Comfort of Books

 ~ for deep growth ~

Are you a reader? Do these words ring true? "Hi, my name is _____ and I'm a reader." I think it's fair to say only readers understand other readers. The need to have reading material at hand, a stack currently being read but also to be read, along with magazines makes me a happy, satisfied and content camper. Thank God for thrift stores and books to be had for pennies on the dollar; too bad magazines aren't as thriftly hand. Generally, I tend to pay full price, minus ten percent, at BAM because that's where I can find what I like to read.

The stack of books above are, from bottom up, the KJV Bible. I have and do read other versions but the KJV is my favorite and the one I find most comforting as well as the most difficult to read and understand. It stretches me, makes me think and ponder which are both mighty good things.

Joyce Meyer is a prolific author and i dare you admonishes you to Embrace Life With Passion. That's something I've always strived to do although I've not always known what it was called. From the time I was a toddler, I've run toward life, full tilt boogey, arms open wide and skinned knees to prove it. Yeah, I've had my share...and then some...of hurts, misfortunes and even a tragedy or three but, through it all, God has provided. Even when I had no clue, even when I was running without acknowledging Him, He has always provided. Now that I'm older, I can see where my life has been spent running with and toward HIM even when I thought I was running alone. Do you understand?

My Daily Journey With My Utmost For His Highest is a companion to Oswald Chamber's classic.


The Women's Devotional Bible 2 is the New International Version and an enjoyable read. It's not a tough a read as the KJV but still enjoyable.

Exceeding Gratitude for the Creator's Plan by James P. Gills, M.D. is written from an eye doctor's point of view and is extraordinary. God blessed me with an attitude of gratitude but I can always use a boost. Dr. Gills writes on how to have a  more satisfying life,a more useful life, simply a better life by learning how a loving Creator has had your picture on His refrigerator since before time began! Okay, maybe God doesn't have a refrigerator but He has had you on His mind since before He began time. Now that's an awesome thought and I rarely use the word awesome!


We Brake for Joy is a devotional written by Patsy Clairmont, Thelma Wells, Luci Swindoll, Marilyn Meberg, Barbara Johnson and Sheila Walsh. If you're not familiar with these women, you should be.

Tullian Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, wrote Do I Know God? I love the subtitle, Finding Certainty in Life's Most Important Relationship. That says everything that needs saying.

Is any bookshelf complete without Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest? I think not.

 ~ fun and entertaining ~

Decades ago, Rachel Ashwell wrote Shabby Chic and spawned an entire industry. Shabby Chic is still a beloved favorite, well thumbed by folks who like the cozy, put your feet up style of cottage.

Another beloved favorite for decades is Alexandra Stoddard. Living a Beautiful Life is my idea of a cup of liquid comfort: hot, sweet, milky tea in hard cover. Some of her more recent books show she has a bent toward Eastern philosophy and that's not in keeping with my belief of Christ and His Father's plan of salvation but it's okay, I still read and enjoy her writings.

Do you remember a television movie staring Angela Lansbury called The Shell Seekers? I'm drawn to those types of movies: languid, a great story with wonderful actors and scenic location. Some of my favorites have been The Whales of August, The Big Fish, Harold and Maude, Trip to Bountiful, or Simon Birch; have you seen any of those? Anyway, back to Rosamunde Pilcher; a Scots woman who writes lyrical, well woven stories of people and how, essentially, the six degrees of separation come into play. Of course, she was writing well before Six Degrees of Separation but the idea is the same.

Wind in the Ash Tree is by Jeanine McMullen and I've lost count of how many times I've read this and her other books. She, an Australian, writes of buying a small country holding in Wales and her efforts at taming that small farm in the Welch countryside. No matter how many times I read this, or one of her other two books, I still laugh like a crazy woman and cry with the same abandon. Anyone who has farmed, ranched or had livestock will know, deep inside that place of knowing, what it took for her to follow her heart.

Michael Korda wrote Country Matters, his story of finding, buying and moving to an established, but decrepit, farm in a Duchess County, NY community of families with deep roots. He even provided the drawings that adorn the book, cover to cover.

Myrtle Beach Pavilion by Lesta Sue Hardee and Janice McDonald recounts the hey days of Myrtle Beach and, more specifically, the Beach Pavillion. Lesta Sue is the sister of my name sake friend, Sandra K. Hardee, and I've known the sisters and their families for decades. Photos and writing bring back a day that will never be again as the Pavilion was torn down for "modern commerce". Do you know how to Shag? And, no, I don't mean the rude term used by the Brits, rather, the dance begun in Myrtle Beach, at the Pavilion, and now the state dance of South Carolina. I've always wanted to learn how to shag; it's the coolest dance ever to the best music ever!

When we first came to Richmond, I found two little thrift store books to help me cozy up corporate housing. Chris Madden's Guide to Personalizing Your Home and Beautiful Home on a Budget by Barnes and Brogger have given me a few pointers on how to turn this townhouse into our home.

Dr. Laura - love her or hate her, she's a bright woman and, imo, on target more often than not. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands probably won't set well with those of a feminist bent but I like the book.  Her premise is, men are simple creatures. They want, so Dave my husband, tells me to protect and provide for their women and family; some would add be a spiritual leader in the home as well. I like Dr. Laura although I don't listen to her on the radio...does she still have a program? I don't like listening to stupid callers belittle their husbands, talk rudely and, generally, act like they are sitting on a gold mine when, let's face it, if it's been used once, it's second hand goods.

CAN SHE SAY THAT?!!! Just did, didn't I?

Let's face it: if there's discontent in the home, there's going to be discontent in the world, workplace, etc. And, vice versa.

My last book by Monica Larner is In Love In Italy - a Traveler's Guide to the Most Romantic Destinations in the Country of Amore. Dave and I have been to Italy but want to return and stay a while, put our feet up and breath deeply and long. We have high hopes and big dreams; God willing, we'll get back to Italy again.


So, there you have what I'm reading, have read or will read; what's on your bookshel?

Blessings ~ good books ~ devotionals ~ favorite books ~

Soli Deo Gloria,
Sandra