Sunshine..Raspberry Tea & New Dresses

Well after a week and a half of rain the sun is shining again and we are warming ourselves up in the winter sun on the front porch.

We are enjoying some Raspberry and Hibiscus tea....

Anna is finishing up her school

Noah is bird watching...
And Liam is off tucked away somewhere reading a book that is what he enjoys.He is always difficult to find and snap a picture of. You never know where he might be he has always loved to hide away with something good to read.
I have been sewing again recently trying to think ahead of what Anna and I would like to wear this spring and summer. And I have been digging into some new patterns.
I sewed a Dress for Anna out of some nice light weight denim. I want to make her a few dresses that will look cute with her pinafores and aprons. I used Mcalls Pattern 4648


And for myself I tried out a new pattern Simplicity 2539. It is a very cute square neck jumper. I just love this pattern and I think this will become my main dress this season since it works great with that cotton floral fabric that I have tons of. And it is very easy to sew.



I will be enjoying this weekend the surprise my father sent me in the mail today. The Cranford movie collection! I can't wait to watch this! ~Thanks Dad!!


And I will leave you with an Irish Prayer that I like in the hopes you have a most blessed weekend with lots of sun to warm you ~Love The Watts Family
Dear Lord,
Give me a few friends
who will love me for what I am,
and keep ever burning
before my vagrant steps
the kindly light of hope...
And though I come not within sight
of the castle of my dreams,
teach me to be thankful for life,
and for time's olden memories
that are good and sweet.
And may the evening's twilight
find me gentle still.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3

Homeschooling and Hymn Study

Anna along with her regular studies is enjoying a lapbook/notebook study this week on some of the more famous Hymns and the writers of them. We thought we would pass on the link in case anyone is interested. Faithbooking Hymn Study

Here is a version of the Hymn we learned about today from You Tube. You will need to pause the music on the blog so that it does not overlap with the hymn when you listen.
O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing. Words by Charles Wesley

Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.
1 Chronicles 16:23

Anna's Secret Garden.

This weekend while browsing the Goodwill we spotted a very nice wood twin bed for twenty dollars. Anna was in need of a new bed or more of a downsize she has always had a queen bed which was nice to have when family visited us. But Anna's new room is just to small and the large bed left her with just a narrow walkway and no room to play.Which just was not working for us at all. So we purchased this wonderful little wood bed and got to work figuring out how to make some space for Anna in her room. While we were moving things around in her room I decided to finally grant Anna her wish of having a wall mural painted on her wall. Something you aren't able to do when you have a landlord but now that we are in our own home we can paint away. So Anna now has a secret garden right next to her bed. Here are some snapshots of Anna's Secret Garden.


















This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

My Hat

Here in our family we love hats everyone wears them even Mr. Watts. I recently found a beautiful straw hat from Italy for 2.00 that just needed a little attention. When buying a used straw hat you can straighten it out and bring it back to life with a good steam. We have a hand held steamer we purchased from Khols that Mr. Watts likes to use on his suits for his International Travel when they are packed into a suitcase. The steamer is wonderful though for hats, it is great for disinfecting and for pressing any creases out that may have occured during the life of the hat from improper storage. Also a fake head can be purchased at Sally Beauty supply for 3.99 which is a great item to have for steaming and especially if you like to add flowers or a new ribbon to your hat it makes a wonderful stand. Here are some snapshots of some of my new thrifty hats that I have found and brought back to life as well as a wonderful poem and craft.



My Hat!
The hats of a man may be many
In the course of a varied career,
And some have been worth not a penny
And some have been devilish dear;
But there's one hat I always remember
When sitting alone by the fire.
In the depth of a Northern November,
Because it fulfilled my desire.



It was old, it was ragged and rotten
And many years out of mode,
Like a thing that a tramp had forgotten
And left at the side of a road.
The boughs of the mulga had torn it,
It's ribbon was naught but lace,
And old swaggie would not have worn it
Without a sad smile on his face.



When I took off the hat to the ladies
It was rather with sorrow than swank,
And often I wished it in Hades
When the gesture drew only a blank;
But for swatting a fly on the tucker
Or lifting a quart from the fire
Or belting the ribs of a bucker
It was all that a man could desire.



When it ought to have gone to the cleaner's
(And stayed there, as somebody said!)
It was handy for flogging the weaners
From the drafting-yard into the shed.
And oft it has served as a dish for
A kelpie in need of a drink;
It was all that a fellow could wish for
In many more ways than you'd think.



It was spotted and stained by the weather,
There was more than one hole in the crown,
And it made little difference whether
The rim was turned up or turned down.
It kept out the rain (in a fashion)
And kept off the sun (more or less),
Bt it merely comanded compassion
Considered as part of one's dress.



Though it wasn't a hat you would bolt with
Or be anxious to borrow or hire,
It was useful to blindfold a colt with
Or handle a bit of barbed wire.
Though the world may have thought it improper
To wear such old rubbish as that,
I'd have scorned the best London-made topper
In exchange for my old battered hat.

By~
William Henry Ogilvie



Here is a great link to make your own straw bonnet like the one we made above out of a straw hat!
CLICKHERE!!


May joy and peace surround you,
Contentment latch your door,
And happiness be with you now,
And bless you evermore.

Have A Blessed Weekend Love ~The Watts
Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:2

In between storms...

We are currently in between storm 2 and 3 as we await the approach of the final storm on Thursday that is supposed to be the worst. There has been lots of wind and rain and power going on and off fortunately with this storm it has been short power outages so we have not had any food spoil. We have been tucked inside our little house weathering the storms celebrating a birthday even entertaining an old friend visiting for dinner, homeschooling, reading and keeping busy while we wait for the sun to come back again.


Mr. Watts Celebrated a birthday with a wonderful Chocolate Cake that Anna made all by herself for him.

Wyatt keeps growing bigger, droopier and hungrier...Here he is at his favorite spot waiting by his food bowl.

The wind blew the greenhouse over....

Oh No!! There goes all our seedlings....

What a mess!

While the rain brought devastation to some of our plants for others it has brought more life and beautiful blooms.


Keeping busy with school and enjoying a bible study on the names of God!

While we love learning together with the one room school house approach, Anna is also learning this year about independent study.

and she is doing a great job working quietly by herself.

We sure do hope the sun is shining where you are. Wishing you a most blessed day
~Love The Watts Family
"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."
Luke 6:43-45

Keeping Busy on a Blustery Day!!

We have another winter storm rolling through and here where we live it means blustery winds and lots of rain. Today the children have the day off from school we handed in their grades today for the second semester of homeschool. So we are tucked inside our little home keeping busy on this very dark and windy day.
Noah is working on an airplane model....






Liam loves Lego's so he is busy building all sorts of things...


Anna is busy painting butterflies. She is always painting yellow and black butterflies these are the ones she would always see when we lived in Florida but she was never able to catch one. Maybe this is her idea of catching one!


And I was busy sewing. I took my first attempt at making an Edwardian Apron for Anna. I would like one for myself but I decided to start on a smaller scale first. I had originally ordered the epattern from sense and sensibility patterns but my printer for some reason would not print it out. Talk about frustrating. So much for modern technology I will have to wait for the adult size pattern to come in the mail. But in the meantime I decided to put my art skills to good use and draw out my own pattern. So this is similar to the pattern I will be getting in the mail but I made a few changes to it like a much larger pocket and a ruffle on the bottom. I also lined the entire apron so there are no frayed edges and it is heavy duty to withstand anything Anna could dish out!
Here are some snapshots of the Edwardian Apron.


sketching out the pattern....

choosing some fabric......

getting to use the beautiful chatelaine that The Graham's sent to me....How did I ever make it without little scissors before? and thankyou so much for this thoughtful gift.
Here is the finished Apron I am very happy with how it turned out.

Okay before you say Wow you have alot of books this is only a small fraction of them lol!! Yeah we have that book collecting disease hehe!!



Some big pockets for all those girlhood treasures....

Just the right size for a friend!

We hope the sun is shining where you are today ~Thanks for visiting with us and have a Most Blessed Day ~Love The Watts Family

The Reason For Our Hope!
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
1 Peter 3:15-16 NIV