Easter Sunday....

"He is not here for He is risen, as He said."
                                                               
                                                           - Matthew 28:6a

Strains from the "Hallelujah Chorus" will echo today from all across the world!  Did you know that George Frederick Handel composed this marvelous oratorio - "Messiah" - in only 23 days?  Charles Jennens, Jr. chose the Bible verses that were used as the text. 

This is a comment by Janette Woolsey appearing in "Treasury of Easter Celebrations," 1999.

"Messiah seems more and more to express the true meaning of Easter.  For it not only is the telling of the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of Christ, the Herald's announcing His birth and then Christ's life on earth, but the real meaning of the Crucifixion and Resurrection is finally summed up in an expression of man's faith in all that for which Christ stands."

A glorious and blessed Easter to each of you!

More for the season....

Bits and pieces make up this post on this Saturday. 

Mugs that adorn the kitchen shelf.

The kites have certainly had a lot of wind this month!

Sugar bowl and cream pitcher.

There are also some other pictures of events already mentioned.

Breakfast for Founder's Day at Emory and Henry.

Some of the dormitory decor.

A bathroom sink in the new dorm.

A gift to the President from the builder.

 I hope you are having a good week-end.  Will you be watching NCAA basketball?  The Lady Vols will play Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City!  Should be exciting!

Thank you for reading.   I appreciate your comments.

For the season....

Happy Friday to you!  I hope the week-end has good things in store for you.

There are books for all seasons around here, and here are some special ones for Easter.

Some wonderful thoughts in this one!

Children like these.

One of my favorite children's books!

Follow up the reading with the movie!

Can't leave out lovable Charlie Brown!

This is the week-end that many children will be enjoying Easter egg hunts.  Will you be hiding eggs for any little ones to find?  If so, I hope you have a great time with all the activity.

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.

Spring?

Many of us have had some challenging times this week believing that Spring is actually here!  Hopefully the snow is winding down and will not reappear until NEXT winter!  I definitely think that groundhog needs a good refresher course in weather predicting!

Regardless of the weather outside, we are ready for spring inside!

Just hanging out.

Who?  Not me!

Prim and proper.

A couple of little ones.

Checking things out.

Under the shelf in the kitchen.

Yes, that's right!  More rabbits are in this house!:-)  We have also seen a couple outside, even in this cold weather!

Even on top of the basket!

A candy dish!

Another candy dish!

And - another candy dish!

Bunnies around the plate and cups!

Wait a minute!  You're no bunny!:-)

So, there is still more Easter decor that hasn't made it to the blog.  It will definitely be a push to get it all posted in time!  More to come!:-)

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.

Making the newspaper!

In the last post, I mentioned a trip we took last week to Emory and Henry College for Founder's Day.  Also on the schedule was the ribbon-cutting for the new dorm that will be ready for occupancy for the fall term.

This is Hickory Hall!

This is the first dorm of this size to use the Passive House design.

All dorms need kitchens!

There was no dishwasher in the kitchen in my dorm when I was a student!

All lined up to cut the ribbon!

And - pieces of ribbon fell on the concrete!

A large room used for class presentations.

There is another dorm with a similar floorplan that has been opened a couple of years.  The point was mentioned that this room had become a really valuable spot in the dorm!

Also a smaller one for smaller group study.

This dorm is constructed to be 50% more efficient than the most recent one!

How about this shower?

This is in the apartment for the head resident advisor of the dorm.

I took many more photos of our tour through the dorm.  There are many energy-saving practices in place.  Lights are activated when one walks into the room, and they go out when you leave.  The Husband became involved in a conversation with the builder about the way the heating and cooling works for each room.  The windows are triple-paned! 

I wouldn't mind going back to college - if  I could live in this dorm - and didn't have to study.:-)

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate  your comments.

Last week.....

.....we had a trip to take here.

I am a graduate of this college!

When we arrived and parked the car, this was the temperature.

Just a little cold!

Can you see the thermometer reading?  It was 23 degrees!  We were met with scenes like these.

Snow on the rooftop!

Snow on the golf course!

There was also wind blowing, making it seem colder than the thermometer had indicated.  Nevertheless, The Husband and I decided to WALK across the campus from where we parked.  We wrapped ourselves up warmly, and off we went!

We make several visits to the Emory and Henry campus during the year.  City Girl, Munchomom, Machoman, and Country Girl also graduated from there.  One thing that was so interesting about our trip this time is that we had driven along the Interstate for a number of miles, and we didn't encounter any snow at all until we reached the exit for Emory and Henry!  True to form, the weather there was colder than it was anywhere else we were that day.:-)  

We were on campus to attend Founder's Day activities, in addition to be present for the ribbon cutting of the new dormitory.  That is what I will share with you in the next post.

On Monday we had snow off and on all day, with no accumulation.  I think most of you probably experienced some snowfall as well!  Never fear!  Spring will be here!

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.

The week-end....

...included watching this game on TV.

Yay Lady Vols!

The Lady Vols won their first game in the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament!  Now they will play Creighton tonight for a chance to advance. 

We had an opportunity to celebrate with this.

A birthday cake!

The Country Couple joined us for dinner on Saturday evening, and we had a belated birthday celebration for Country Man, whose birthday was on March 20th.  The cake is chocolate (the recipe has been on the blog before) with white cream cheese frosting.

Our Sunday also included attending our church services.

Palm Sunday.

This week leading to Easter is Holy Week. 

I hope you enjoyed a good week-end and are ready to have a good week ahead.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Late thoughts for Palm Sunday....

                                              


                                                         Carol of the Children

                                                                                   - Author Unknown

                                                      Our Lord came to Jerusalem
                                  
                                                             On that first Palm Sunday,

                                                      Not clad in royal robe of fur,

                                                             Nor festive garment gay,

                                                      No steed had He to ride upon,

                                                             No kingly palfrey,

                                                      But meekly on a lowly beast,

                                                            Rode slowly on His way.

                                                 And as He drew near to the gates,

                                                           The people thronged around,

                                                They cut palm branches from the trees

                                                           And spread them on the ground,

                                                 The little children flocked to Him,

                                                           And sweetly they did sing

                                                 Hosanna, Hosanna,

                                                           Hosanna to the King.

Sending wishes for a blessed Sunday to each of you!

                                                           

Last Saturday....

Happy Saturday to you!  I hope you have some good plans for the week-end.

I have already posted about last Saturday's UMW event when I won one of the attendance incentives.  The host church was a little less than an hour away, and this is the view from the front of the church.

On the lake.

This is from the church parking lot.  You are able to see that it was a beautiful day.

Our Conference UMW chooses a theme from a selection in the Bible to carry through our events for a two-year period.  The current one is "Fruit of the Spirit," using Galatians 5:22-23 as our reference.

On the altar.

The flowers represent one of the facets of the fruit of the spirit.  For kindness is Valerian; for patience is the Ox-eye Daisy; for goodness is the Goosefoot; for gentleness is the Daisy; for faithfulness is the Iris; for love is the Aster; for joy is the Pink Rose; for self control is the Clove, and for Peace is the cattail.  I must confess that I had never heard of the names of some of these flowers!:-)  Are you familiar with all of them?

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.

More about books....

Well, we have another Friday!  Are you glad to have the week-end so near?  Are there special plans you might have for this week-end?

As you know, if you have been following this blog for awhile, I have a love of books, especially good children's books.  While I was teaching, I became aware of Ruth Heller.

Books on nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and more!

Also books based on science concepts.

And that's not all!  Even art!

Isn't this beautiful?

So colorful!

Ruth Heller not only wrote the books, she also illustrated them!  They continue to be a favorite of mine!  I used them to read aloud to the children to further reinforce concepts of language and science. They were excellent to use in the classroom!

Thank you for reading.  I really appreciate  your comments.

"Over taken by rabbits...."

That is what The Husband said the other day, and you will see why when you finish with this entry. 

They are all hanging out on the bookshelves.  At least they are not chomping down the baby hazelnut trees The Husband has set out on our property, hoping they would grow!  No, no!  Those rabbits have had other ideas!  The ones in this post are quite proper, only going where they are directed.:-)

I wonder how the rabbit would be as a predictor of winter weather.  That groundhog certainly needs to have some additional training.:-)  We have a chance of winter weather in our forecast during the next few days, and I know some of you have seen all the snow you want to see for quite awhile!

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.

Another special day....

This is another special day for our family.  It is time to wish someone a Happy Birthday!

                                 "Happy Birthday to you,

                                       Happy Birthday to you!

                                  Happy Birthday to Country Man!

                                        Happy Birthday to you!"

We send wishes to him for a very special day!

"It was a dark and stormy night...."

Well, not really "night," but it was certainly a dark and stormy Monday afternoon.  With a break in the rain, I hurried out to the mailbox, and this is what I found!

The box from Kim K.'s giveaway!

Well wrapped!

Well-protected.

Still unwrapping.

And - here the goodies are!

Kim is a very talented crafter and has come up with some wonderful Easter treats for this giveaway.  I feel very fortunate to have won!  Thank you, Kim!

You will be able to follow Kim's blog by going to :  kenward.blogspot.com.  I am sure you will enjoy it just as I do!

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.