Summer Of My Refreshment

I love old things! I love going through flea markets and antique stores and walking around and touching old pieces of wood that someones ancestors probably hand carved and picking up delicate pieces of china that probably were stored for years in someone's old china cabinet, only to be taken out on very special occasions.

 And I have a special place in my heart for old quilts and hand embroidered pieces. I can remember as a little girl going to grand-ma Reaves house and her quilting rack would be up and she would be once again working on a quilt. So I am a bit of a sucker at auctions when old quilts come up for sale. I will buy them if possible and adopt them into my family heirlooms.

I have one very special sister-in-law named Lola whose home I love to visit. A sense of peace and tranquility seems to invade every part of her home. And she loves to not only make quilts , but she loves to embroider, crochet and cross-stitch. How I envy her that ability! Some times when life seems to be getting too much and I need a break, I like to go to her home and wander around and touch the home-made things. She's very creative and some of the things I see she has made, I think "I can do that too."

She has taken an old window frame and put antique tractor pictures behind each pane and hung it on the wall. My father-in-law hunted me down an old window so I could do the same. He did some logging when he was young and I want to take some old family pictures and enlarge them and put them behind the panes in that old window. But, I would never have thought of doing that until I went
to Lola's house.

Another thing she has done that I want to also do, is make a memory quilt. She took a small quilt and attached assorted sewing implements to it, including sewing scissors, old, wooden thread spools, old buttons etc. I have several old things from my grand-mother's sewing box , especially a couple of small , round doilies that she made that I can also add to my quilt. Even old pictures can be added to the quilt. I am not a very creative person, but I can see what someone else has done and make something like it work for me.

Sometimes, I have to remind myself to slow down and take time to do the things I really enjoy . If we are not careful, life can get so hectic that the really important things seem to get shoved aside and we don't make time to do the things that give "rest to our souls." I have decided that this summer will be the "summer of my refreshment" or a time in my life when I will concentrate on doing the things that I enjoy the most. Gardening will probably take up most of my time and that is O.K. because God speaks to me many times during my times in the garden, but I also want to do some of those things that I have been putting off for so long.

 I want to wander through more flea markets , visit friends that I haven't seen for a long time, have some special "Hicksey Chicks" times with my sisters and even spend time sitting in my porch swing drinking a glass of tea and enjoying the sounds of nature. I'm going to slow down and learn to "wait upon the Lord." At this time in my life, my children are all gone from home, I don't need to work as hard as I use to just to keep the things of home going and I want to enjoy life while I am healthy and able to do so. So the promise I am making to myself is to learn to relax.......and stop doing the busy things.....and start doing the fun things...........