just an ordinary day

Today I had my clock cleaned.

Our grandfather clock has not run properly since we bought it at an auction last summer. Can you believe there actually is a clock repairman in the area?

Isn't that a nice thing to know?

He is a very nice man who promised to clean the clockworks and have the parts returned and up and running by next week. Hubby has declared that this is my birthday present from him.

The gift that keeps on giving: every hour and half-hour for months to come, I will enjoy those copper chimes.


Is it cliche to use the term "Winter Wonderland"?

-because that completely describes the view that greeted us this morning from our front porch.

It was a perfectly normal day, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that would make a headline. But here are a few shining moments that I wish to think upon as Jack Frost decorates my window pane tonight:

-the light that shone in Friend #7's eyes when she was presented with one of her birthday gifts. It was an antique stoneware mixing bowl, replete with her favorite design. It had a chip on its gilt edge and it didn't make Blanchard's Auction House rich with it humble sale, but she told me it is her "new favorite thing".

-my impetuous purchase of an 11 foot harvest table. I didn't even see it until the bidding started. My survival instincts ( the same ones that cause me to load up on carbs in the winter) kicked in and I raised my card in the air without thinking. Bam. Sold for to the lady with the crazed look in her eyes for $120. I promise to post pictures AFTER I clean it up. You will laugh at me if I post pictures now. I know you will.

-a drive through dark, wintery roads to a cozy, warm, inviting home which houses a lovely lady and her family. This lovely lady has been confined to the couch with some seriously painful back problems. But we brought beef stew and two batches of soup and buttermilk biscuits and assorted Christmas cookies. Oh, and two loaves of fresh bread. And who can feel bad after that kind of love?
We also had an uplifting time of healing prayer and a good medicinal dose of God's Word -which was read aloud in front of the glowing coals of a wood-stove. I tell you, there was goodness in that room!

-coming home to a house that smells of balsam fir.

Some people count sheep. I count blessings.
Good night, friends!