Sunday Evening Ramblings, September 29, 2019

New Scandinavia Lutheran Church
Dallas, WI

'Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come before him.
Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is king!” Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth*. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.' From I Chronicles 16

*Note that the LORD coming to judge the earth is a good thing, in which all of creation rejoices - because only He is the just and merciful King, and at last all the wrongs will be righted and all the hurts healed. Our God reigns!

 Morning has broken

It was only 43 degrees F. on the porch yesterday morning, but it was a beautiful, sunny morning! I take my phone with me and listen to the USCCB Daily Scripture Readings, a great way to start my day.

View from the porch to the southeast
Yes, I am grateful every single day for this view, even in the winter.
(Perhaps a bit more grateful May through October, however)

 Lots of work on the Dallas house this week.
New back deck, new paint, new lattice.
Will someone please bring a body bag.
Oh wait. I guess he's just working on something under the bench.
False alarm.

Two someones stopped in to see us.
This cute little grandson is such a happy baby!

Can you believe that Tuesday is already October 1?!  Wisconsin often has gorgeous Octobers. I hope this is one of them. 

 Here are a couple photos from other Octobers,
taken in the neighborhood.

 Really. It was this beautiful!

And from two years ago today,
the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Blockley
in the Cotswolds.

Have a blessed Lord's Day, everyone.

Checking in on Wednesday

One of many large rocks in our backyard

Hi there!  I'm sure everyone is dying to hear what's happening in Wausau, right?** (Huh? What's a Wausau???)

Anyway...

We had a landscaper come out here to advise us regarding the huge pond/waterfall project that is in our backyard at the Wausau house. After listening to a couple hours of advice which was mostly suggesting coming up with a plan to completely take out all the rock and pond and make it into mowable backyard, we decided that we might not care to pay for future advice. We love all this rock and the less lawn to mow, the better. That is one thing Mr. C and I agree on. (The only one.) Just kidding.

First day of Fall

The back of the house
(Try to ignore the black temporary drain tile.)
This house is on a hillside, and we've been hearing from everyone in town that this was the worst ever year for water getting into basements. Wausau had a big rain on ground that was frozen solid, so it had nowhere to go, so...   BUT, we're getting gutter and draining away from the house, even with this temporary fix until we can get around to doing the permanent fix. I know, it's a boring and long story.

The sun peeking into our backyard.

My St. Francis statue looked a little lonely, so I cheered it up with the beautiful necklace Mr. C. bought for me. Of course, that was just for a minute in order to get the photo op.

Donna does beautiful work. She can be found in our tiny village of Dallas, WI making jewelry and also collaborating with Kim Losse Pottery. I'm not on Facebook, but Donna is, so you can find her there, or go on Instagram to see what she's up to. @donnacmillard

The weather has been cooperating so that we can still take lunch or dinner out to the gazebo. I swept this walk a couple days before the photo. I'm pretty sure we're going to need a leaf blower here. Good thing Mr. C. has about 3 of them in his work shop. (I think he has 3 of everything.)

 Someone asked about seeing the front of the house, so here it is.

"Rockapulco" impatiens, still going strong

It was so fun to find this box of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies in the freezer. I believe in LOTS of chocolate chips. Otherwise, what's the point, right??

Last but not least,
two of the sweet ladies that greet us when we walk along Fifth Avenue.
I never tire of these creatures. Imagine what a boring world it would be if God had just placed us on a planet with asphalt and no trees, birds, cows, streams, woods, etc. How can our hearts not overflow with praise to Him for his love and generosity!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Wednesday.

Oh wait! I forgot to tell you that our daughter and I went to see the Downton Abbey Movie while Mr. C. stayed with the kids, having a movie and popcorn night at home.

 Very Art Deco

 We got a great deal on the tickets, because evidently tickets on Tuesdays are a much better price. The seating was all large recliners (actually HUGE recliners) and there was an extra-large screen for viewing. Of course we had the mandatory popcorn and Mike and Ike while watching the movie.

So, about the movie: The brilliant Julian Fellowes did not disappoint. He gives his characters such great and clever lines. So much fun. As always, Mary was beautiful, Edith was Edith, Mr. Moseley was a delight of embarrassment, and Mr. Carson was the rock. All the costuming was gorgeous, and the parade through the village was brilliant. If you know what King George V and Queen Mary looked like (as I do - from photos, not from personal acquaintance mind you), you could squint and imagine that these actors were the royal couple. Julian Fellowes managed to tie up all the loose ends very nicely indeed, so that there is no need for a sequel. Although fun to see Downton Abbey on the big screen, the story wasn't any better than any of the others, in my opinion, but then I loved all of them, except for the dead Sybil and dead Matthew episodes. 

It was definitely worth the money and effort to get to the movie theater for another Crawley Family Fix. And so fun to share the experience with our daughter.

Have a great evening, everyone.

**We've now got all the floor tile laid and are ready for walls. But now we have to do some things back at the Dallas house. Are you getting confused? Don't worry. So are we.

Join me on Instagram: @cranberrymorning

Judy