Flowers – Old Things New

How to Create an Ever-Changing Flower Arrangement

August 23, 2017 by Patti 20 Comments

NOTE: This is your regularly scheduled Tuesday post, which I finished and walked away from yesterday, neglecting to hit the PUBLISH button. So now it’s Wednesday’s post. 🙂

Did you ever have a toothache when you were a kid and your mother told you to put an aspirin on your tooth to numb the pain? Did you do it? If so, just how long were you able to hold the aspirin in your mouth before spitting it out and declaring that the toothache was more tolerable than that nasty aspirin?

I called my-daughter-the-dentist today to ask her about this practice of her late grandma’s and she informed me that she has actually had patients come in with burns on their gums from trying this. I knew it! And this is exactly why I never made my kids do the same thing.

“What,” you say, “does this have to do with creating an Ever-Changing Flower Arrangement?” You MUST know by now that I always get to the point eventually.

…

July in Review and a GIFT CARD WINNER!

August 1, 2017 by Patti 28 Comments

Don’t you hate it when you’re pulled into an article with a smooth “tickler” phrase, only to find out that you have to read through a post of some 3,698 words to find that tidbit your looking for? Me too. That’s why I’m going to announce the winner of my recent drawing right up front! After that, if you want to continue to read my July in Review, that would be swell.

So with the proverbial drum roll sounding in your head, dum-dum-dum-dum, the WINNER of the $100 Amazon Gift Card drawing is:

…

Freedom Friday – Focus on God Destroys Fear of What Surrounds Us

July 28, 2017 by Patti 27 Comments

A God smile just for you 🙂

Faith in God includes having faith in how He acts - Pastor Jeremy Havlin Click To Tweet

Hoo boy! That can be hard when He doesn’t seem to be acting the way we think He should, can’t it?

Perhaps you have an impossible situation in your life that you’re asking God to fix. You can see what needs to happen to fix the problem and maybe you’re even telling God what you think He should do, as if He doesn’t already know the end from the beginning.

Welcome to FREEDOM FRIDAY – A devotional, emotional, spiritual and sometimes hysterical series that I will be sharing on occasional Fridays, in addition to my regular Old Things New posts. Why? Because though once bound in chains Christ has set me free – FREE to live, to love, to dance, to sing, to be who God created me to be!

…

Monday Musings – Dogs, Vignettes, and God

May 22, 2017 by Patti 25 Comments

Summer came in earnest on Saturday with the first REAL humidity of the year. The kind that leaves even heat lovers like us seeking air conditioned spaces. Then in the night came thunder, and lightening, and a real downpour that my yard gladly drank in.

Spring is my favorite time of year in the South. The yards are so green and different varieties of flowers are blooming daily.

May seems to be the month for magnolias and gardenias.

I’m musing today on the complexity of doggie relationships . . .

. . . as I consider why this perfectly behaved ten-year-old dog of ours would suddenly begin leaving nasty little messes in the house.

Oh I know it has something to do with the new puppy entering her world, but I’d like to get in her head and understand her WHY?

Because maybe if we knew the WHY we would know the answer to the problem.

In the meantime, she received a good scolding this morning and I do believe she is smart enough to think twice before trying something so foolish again, especially on the oriental carpet 🙁

I’m musing as well today on why my funny seems to have left me of late.

Hubby and I discussed it a bit this weekend and I came to the conclusion that my funny feeds off of other funny people and I haven’t been around enough of those types lately.

I know, a lot of people say that Mr. OTN is funny. But he’s funny in a different kinda’ way. Like the smart guy who acts goofy kinda’ way.

Right now I just might be hoping hubby doesn’t read this post. Click To Tweet

It’s all good honey. It’s like Disney’s Goofy. You like him, right?

My kind of funny is more like this:

At times I'm shocked at the brilliance of my words. Then I try to get out of the car with my seat belt on. Click To Tweet

I think I need time with some of my quick witted friends to get my funny back. Soon gals, soon. 🙂

Today I’m also musing on the message we heard in church yesterday about how we can be certain to know God’s will when we don’t allow ourselves to be conformed to the world’s views, but are instead, transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2).

We renew our minds when we spend time in God’s word and in prayer, getting to know Him, and when we deliberately focus on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, and on all things good, excellent and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8).

It is so important to be careful about the things we allow our minds to settle on isn’t it?The more we fill our minds with toxic thoughts, the less room we have for God. Click To Tweet

And the less room we have for God, the less we know His perfect will for us.

I don’t know about you, but I want to know and walk in God’s will for me, because I know it far surpasses anything I could plan for myself.

As a bonus, and to keep you engaged while listening to my musings, here’s a little Spring vignette I created for my kitchen dining nook.

Thanks for stopping by 😉

Blessings,

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!

Sunday:

TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays, GiveMeGrace

Monday:

IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired, InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, CelebrateYourStory, Making Your Home Sing Mondays, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, SmallWonder, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends

Tuesday:

TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles, Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story

Wednesday:

SavvySouthernStyle, Posed Perfection, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, ChristianBloggerLinkup, Mom’s Morning Coffee, Women with Intention, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday

Thursday:

ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife , ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner, I Choose Joy, Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThankfulThursdays, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday

Friday:

FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Sweet Inspiration, Faith’nFriends, Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday

Saturday:

FunkyJunkInteriors, OneMoreTimeEvents, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet

What I Learned in April

May 8, 2017 by Patti 15 Comments

Let me start off by saying that the biggest thing I learned in April is that I’ve become very, VERY lazy about carrying my “real” camera with me and I’ve relied on my iPhone way too much. While this is good for Instagram, it is not so good for blog posts 🙁

Caution: Poor quality pictures ahead!!!

It has been another busy month, filled with ups and downs and everything in-between. Isn’t that just how life is?

Early in the month I had the chance to attend the Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference in California. It was a huge opportunity for which I’m extremely grateful and I owe a debt of gratitude to my husband for making it happen.

These conferences aren’t cheap by any means and the fact that Mr. OTN was willing to spend his hard earned money to send me caused me to realize (I learned), once again, that my husband believes in me and supports this writing journey of mine. For better or for worse 😉

The setting of the conference in the California Redwoods was amazing, but so was the chance to spend time with my beautiful friends: Debbie Kitterman and Michelle Bengtson – Las Tres Amigas!

I learned, (though I already knew) how much I miss the company of my writer friends when we are apart.

I sent a portion of my book manuscript ahead for review and went in a little fearful of what they might say about my writing. After meeting with the reviewers I was very encouraged and felt ready to push forward with greater intensity. After thinking about their suggestions I also realized that I need to change up my story quite a bit.

I was encouraged to use my life experience when writing this story, but not to think about it as our story (hubs and mine), as doing so will keep me from allowing my characters to step outside of my life own experience. I’ve learned that this has freed me to become much more creative in my writing.

I am having so much fun!

We were invited for Easter dinner to the home of Greenville friends, Mark & Leslie Hoyt. This is the most fun-loving couple I know!

Here’s Leslie after testing the cheesecake. LOL!

In the interest of saving a friendship I’ll share with you a more flattering picture of this lovely lady. I’ve learned through experience that it is always best to share the most flattering pictures of your friends.

I’ve learned, during my third Spring here in SC, that April is my favorite month in the Upstate. All of the trees are so green and the flowers are at their peak. Here are a few pictures from my yard.

Another thing I’ve learned is that I never grow tired of spending time in downtown Greenville and it is also most beautiful this time of year. Hubs and I took an entire Saturday and spent it downtown at Fall’s Park on the Reedy River. Writing, napping, and snapping photos with my iPhone.

After a day in the park and dinner at Pomegranate – a local restaurant with Fabulous Mediterranean cuisine – we went to see our local hockey team, the Swamp Rabbits, play game 5 in the playoffs. I learned that sitting iceside can be a scary place to be!

I accomplished quite a bit of writing during the month of April. I’m writing in my dining room now, which is nice because I can spread out all my books and papers and leave them there (until I have company – then I stash them under the table). I’ve learned that the only problem with writing here – well, anywhere in my house really – is that I get distracted with decorating and wanting to change things up for the seasons.

Case in point: As my eyes wandered away from my computer they were drawn to this plain frame. Very soon it was bedecked with Spring flowers.

April included a Celebration of Life for me. I learned quite a lot in the months leading up to this celebration and one day I will write about it here.

Our month ended with a rockin’ concert by The Newsboys. This is Michael Tait, their lead singer, pouring his everything out on the stage. I learned, that this is one band that does not disappoint 😉

That almost wraps up my April except for:

We’ve had a few dogs in our lives and in the past two years both of our Beagles have passed on. We still have our ten-year-old Boxador Sasha, but things have been a little quiet around here with all us seniors! In April we learned that a dog we’ve been waiting for would soon be ours.

You’ll have to wait until next month for the full reveal of our new CharliGirl!

Until then, blessings y’all 😉