Made For Each Other (1939) and a Sweet Spirit, Why Not?

 Lea, Rebecca and I watched this most rare litle gem of a movie Monday:

This is one of the sweetest, most poignant movies ever, I actually saw this movie as a newlywed years ago.  This movie has some of my favorite actors, Jimmy Stewart, Charles Coburn and Carole Lombard.  Do you know Charles Coburn started acting late in life?

This movie has romance, humor, idealism, and sadness -- things that make movies of the black and white era watchable and enjoyable.

There are some precious scenes in this movie...In just one of those scenes Carole Lombard cries out to Jesus in the hospital as their baby is fighting for life, it will touch your heart.  So many scenes will!  One scene is Willie the maid tearfully understanding that she will have to be let go...finances aren't allowing the luxury of her any longer.  Oh her sweet response!  If you like my blog you will love her response.  Sooo...pure, so sweet - oh that I could have a friend like Willie.

There is a meddlesome mother inlaw but there is also a bridge that mends that is one of the most touching scenes ever. You will laugh, be on the edge of your seat at times... you may cry, you may relate.  There is hope in the end and sweet optimism.

They just don't make them like this anymore...

I was just talking to my longtime friend, Sandi.  We both treasure those WWII years and the sweetness of them.  We also both keep our homes in that atmosphere.  Why not?  Why should we give our kids cheapo street talk when we have beautiful old movies that can bring back that sweet atmosphere?  If our kids know the Truth, and true beauty they will recognize the counterfeit culture quickly.  I can testify to that, my girls know the difference! : )

Yesterday I left my front door wide-open inadvertently when I went chasing after one of our wee little doglets. While I was on the back of our property, our sweet fellow-Christian postlady had come by to deliver a package, she saw the door open and had carefully placed the package just inside the door by my dining room table.

I saw the package, and as I stood processing I thought for a moment, realizing the postlady saw the inside of our home...What did she see I thought as I re-enacted her short couple of steps?  She didn't see the most decluttered neat-freak home, she did see autumn decor here and there scattered over the table along with Mar's court reporting stuff, even a porcelain manger scene out...paper towels soaking up a spill on the floor as I had hastily ran out.

...More importantly I think she heard Glenn Miller music perhaps eerily but soooo sweetly playing from our kitchen; another world, another time... I hope she sensed a Sweet Spirit.  It was kind of nice seeing things from another person's perspective.  I explained to my daughters, I really don't care that she saw the clutter, we don't live in a museum, but I do care about the Spirit of our home! *big smile*

  
I hope you too will enjoy this sweet movie and music as much as we do!   

~Amelia

Noticings...Gifts.

Friday was delightful dear friends in such simple ways, life gives out those simple pleasures and I drink them up. I love the simple pleasures (gifts!) more then Elvis loves jewels yes I do.

Things I saw Friday that I noticed and gave adoration for- as Gifts from the Lord.

My daughter Michelle waking up and asking me if I wanted to go to smalltown to shop at Dollar General, I do believe she had read my mind or my heart, needing to get out and adventure a little.  You see I can make a little adventure out of most little drives in the country devoid of billboards given the right music and sweet attitudes sometimes my music is God's music in nature.  This day I said...Oh yes, let's goooooo....let's go to the store..... let's go to the stowe......

On the way to the store we listened to Steven Curtis Chapman and the sweetest most beautiful song about February 20  2008 when Steven Curtis Chapman lost his little girl.  The little angel had drawn a picture of Heaven that morning and was asking questions what Heaven was like that day... So beautiful.  The cellos in this song, this most hallowed music weep for him I do believe...It is beautiful. Music is a Gift.  Steven Curtis Chapman is a Gift. 
 

I was wrapped up in the clouds so much that I had to make Michelle repeat something she had asked...I even muttered or shall I say whimsically murmured.....

Hold on...I'm enjoying the clouds....

The minute I said that, I said to myself,

...now that is a really cool thing Amelia, you seized the moment...  a study of God's most beautiful handiwork, a love affair with God's work...

My daughters know their mama well...no offense was taken, they know my inner-workings and that wonderment is norm for me- the hopeless-romantic artistic, sensitive mama perhaps more conventional then most but then a little more out there than some.  The last child in the woods...sometimes the kitchen.

It's just me Amelia.  Do you ever feel like that?  Fill in the blank your name, your characteristics.  We are just sojourners as children of God....citizens of Heaven.  I think we have a lot to say and a lot of Gifts.  Gifts.  Don't let people rush it. Slow down and enjoy.  Be a little child again.  Talk to the Father.  Talk to people and love them, oh love them...  Oh. And let your kids see you being a little child...I sure hate to see parents rush, rush rush all around...I think to myself, oh my goodness, those poor kids living with a mama like that.  Gee wilikins. 

At the drive-thru as Michelle and I drank our tea and nibbled potatoes, (gifts) a precious black man, a car hop randomly came to the car asking if we needed anything, he spoke with a bit of a lisp, and a childlike way that blessed my heart.  An angel.  A Gift.  Oh Lord, does he know that he was an angel to me today?  Help us to be an angel to him too.

At Walmart, we had a ball trying on shoes for the fun of it, beating the system, (gifts) and yes Michelle found some of those black voille Laurie Petrie shoes for under $6.00.  She had been needing ballet flats, this was the perfect deal. You can't find a prettier shaped shoe.

When leaving I spied, Adolph the doorman, a recent widower he has clearly been in grief.  He was looking away... I'm thinking...No I mustn't let him get away from me.   I didn't.  Hey Adolph!  

His smile and sweet surprised face he flashed at Michelle and I when turning around was worth a million to me.  A Gift.

At the stores: Walmart and the grocery I saw angels. Do you know sometimes we see angels?  A precious old black couple dressed so darling, as if they stepped out of the 30s or 40s?  Classic and beautifully simple.  A dark blue small print cotton dress with black dress loafers, he in his dress pants.    A sweet looking mexican girl kept smiling towards us, I felt she would have liked to be friends, and I managed to make conversation with her sweet mom.  At the grocery another beautiful black saint, he wore dress suspenders and a nice hat.  A pretty red headed lady, a checker and the bag guy who was so sweet to us and we all talked about our veggies and recipes and how we each liked to cook them. Oh so many colors, different skin, different hair colors, but all so very sweet. Gifts.  In some cases...angels.

Well life goes on and I'm a weird age.  I'm 52.  Isn't that strange?  How could I be 52?  My husband Jem is 60.  Huh?  How did that happen?

Life is weird, life is crazy sometimes.  I have battles like the rest, I want this to be an uplifting blog that offers encouragement but I don't want it to be a pie in the sky blog either that makes people think there is something wrong with them because their days aren't full of yes indeedies and murmurings about clouds.  Ya know?   I have days when I'm worried sick about my mom and dad at 83, they live apart my dad is far but yet they talk like brother and sister calling eacher honey still... and their sweetness just blesses me so very much I want to cry sometimes, I'm not sure they are appreciated like they should be.  I have days when I feel so misunderstood, that not a person in the world get's me.  So.  You're not alone.  I'm with you sweets. 

I'll close with some pics  a couple of weeks ago, Marianna and I made a trip to smalltown too!  So fun!  We went to Dollar General, (that is one fun little place) and Mar found this kitty-cat mask! : ) We thought it was so cute for any time of the year!  We decided Marianna must have the mask.  She decided she must wear it around town!  One dollar will provide much laughter!  Yay!  Soooo fun...and the looks we received...even funner...

 Marianna Ma'am...You are hilarious dear one.  A pretty good rendition of the 60s Cat Woman?




What's a trip to smalltown without a stop at this fantastic hardware store from the 30s???  So. Great.  We just wanted to go in...I told the owner' grandson that.  Yes I did.  I told him we just wanted to come in and look around because we thought it was neat.  I did find a nice metal 'No Hunting' sign to buy.  Mission accomplished. (see the glass blocks up above?)




 Cat woman turned back into Marianna at the grocery.  She spies a gigantic tree roach crawling down the windshield.  This girl is afraid of insects and spiders of any kind.  Put her in a murder trial courtroom and she smiles at the defendant, put a bug in her way and she melts....You're a trip Miss Marianna.  ; )

 Me. The brave valiant one. ; )  I promised Mar I would look to make sure the roacher was gone.

 Back at the Forest Cathedral...Jem gets a kick out of Marianna's fun little mask.

Life at the Forest Cathedral.  What Gifts have you noticed lately?  In what ways have you slowed down, seizing freedom in opposition to this crazy culture we're in?

Love to All, Amelia, the last Child in the Woods

Autumn Show N' Tell Time!

"Ah Autumn...I love you my favorite season, my cozy friend who returns loyally each & every year." 
 
Me in my pjs and polka-dot rubber boots in that glorious morning sun...out feedin' my chickens.
 I got the sun in the morning...

  
...and the moon at night...
 My going out-outfit.  Jem, our girls and I were attending an elegant banquet this eve.

I do tell Jem on the way to midtown...
I'm just as happy if not more happy at home with a cotton skirt and my keds (wannabe keds) tennies..

Even though I'm just as happy if not more in my cottons and tennies, there are times when we have to dress up for an occasion which leads me to...

  Show N' Tell Time!

The above is my dress-up outfit for fall and autumn. I just go-to it, I don't think about it.  This outfit doesn't cost an arm or leg, doesn't break the bank.  I love, love, love beating the system!  Jem is a Realtor, broker, we own our own Real Estate company so that equates to no perks, plenty of bills and commission-only for boss man. I am a stay at home mom, a homeschool mom to boot being quite skilled in saving moneys.  It is truly an art to do so and I quite enjoy it!  

I can make a dollar stretch longer then this southern girl can make a vowel howl!  *slaps knee laughing*

The above outfit is a stretch black velvet skirt I made with a matching black velvet top.
The skirt is made with my favorite (say it with me gals) ...Simplicity #4881.




This pattern is a must for me to keep safe in my pattern treasures!  It has 3 length options, and it is flattering.  This pattern option has 2 pieces to it and the skirt only requires 2 yards for the longest length.  I used black stretch velvet on sale.  I found a simple sleeveless top pattern and added flutter sleeves.  You don't have to use difficult patterns, you can go easy-breezy using fancy-schmancy fabric found on sale of course. The patterns are from Hobby Lobby on sale for a dollar or so.

The lace hosiery?  Marianna picked this pair up for me at Dollar General for $5.00.

The Laura Petrie feminine ballet flats were found at good ol' Walmart for $5.00 a couple of years ago.  These are the little flats that hang up, these are made of a black voile type material.  I have a pair of Dr. Scholl's insoles also from Walmart I like to put in less expensive shoes and it works wonderfully for me.

The scarf is from Coldwater Creek, a gift from Jem last Christmas as we were shopping one delightful Christmasie eve.  I have quite a collection of scarves and I can make different outfits with my scarves.  Do you know the French women will wear an outfit several days in a row but change the scarf for a different look?

My jewelry, simple pearls dahlin...simple pearls.  Fakes or real they work.

Trust me, this outfit is a wonder.  I wore the same top and skirt last year belted with a silver belt carrying a black cardigan with pearl buttons along with my customary pearl necklace at the same banquet sitting next to Attorney General's Greg Abbott's inlaws. (the sweetest people in the world by the way).  This year the governor was there, so trust me, I wear this outfit with confidence.  It works, it's classic, and it didn't break the bank!  No muss, no fuss, no wasted time, no gas wasted and no missing bandwidth from shopping stress on my brain.

K.I.S.S.  =   Keep it simple sweetie!   ~The late Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore, pioneers of the modern homeschool movement. 

Ah Autumn...

Nothing Like a Gal in Her Skirt

Skirts work for feeding chickens....

  

Skirts work for retrieving scared little kitties up in a tree...




Skirts work.  They are comfie and feminine. 

The skirt Marianna is wearing in the chicken shot is also the Simplicity #4881. I hope you too will enjoy this pattern, and it will ease you into a simple no muss no fuss kinda life. : )  It has helped me greatly in my wardrobe!

  One day in the near future I will try to sew up some 40s style feminine overalls very much like these.  We shall see what we shall see!

  Today I'm making veggie pizza for supper.  I've blogged for the fun of it, listened to the instrumental theme from Pride and Prejudice this morning...Listening to Rush now...Reading?  The Street of the City (1942) by Grace Livingston Hill  and  Lessons from Lucy about Loving God.  I may be working on a knit top later....washing clothes, I love the rhythms of home, prayers a-going forth for all.  Many things in the background. Our parents in their 80s are always a concern.  Talk about the sandwich generation!  Wow.  It's a good thing I know the Lord and can talk with Him.  There are days when I'm puttering along and then I get news for a brand new worry, the day then turns into one of those turny-twisty kind of days.  I'm such a worry-wart.  Shame on me.  

  I just had a wonderful phone call from Michelle on witnessing to a young lady at a restaurant.  Michelle had an extra Bible in the car and they will be meeting for lunch in the future.  So. Neat. What opened up this convo?  Michelle had kindly responded to the young lady that she didn't drink when the young lady asked, because she was a Christian.  The young lady was so sweet, and very apologetic that she mentioned drinking (a breath of fresh air!) and shared she was earnestly interested in Christianity.  Oh so many traveling here on earth, may they understand it's a relationship, a personal relationship with our Lord not just another religion. People are hungry for truth, oh that we may be a good witness to them in humility.  When I was in highschool, I would watch people and sooo many times I would be secretly disappointed in their witness.  Yes, I was watching.

We are so thankful for God's divine appointments.  It renews our strength.

"Christians who are set apart are not necessarily eloquent, confident or brilliant; rather they believe God's promises."

I hope you all are and have been having a nice decent kind of week.

Let me know how you are too if you like!  God bless you all!   Amelia