do you love coffee?

 I'm pretty sure many of you love coffee in the morning... 

as do I.

But, how many of you have coffee that LOVES YOU??

(see photo of my hot water pot below)

“Come, let us drink our fill of love..."

~Proverbs 7:18 

(taken completely out of context, I know!! 

but tell me that didn't make you smile!)

morning glory....

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.

~Walt Whitman

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible...all things were created by him and for him. ~Colossians 1:16

treasures discovered...

After two hours of driving (hooray for low gas prices!!) and singing at almost-the-top-of-my-lungs, I arrived at my beach destination yesterday afternoon. The time at the beach was absolutely glorious! The day was beautiful--in the 60's with a crisp winter ocean breeze, a brilliant blue sky with not a wisp of a cloud, and sun, sun, sun! One could not ask for a better day of winter weather! And the colors of the rocks and sky and water and sand were all so amazingly bright and clear!

I took far, far too many photos in my three hours there. I am, however, having some uploading difficulty, so I must keep it relatively short today. I had wanted to share the whole day with you in photos, but will do a couple of days of posting to give you some of the best shots. Today I will share with you the special TREASURES God gave to me... (nothing live today... those will be later!) It was a bit difficult to sort out what were actually the "treasures," as the day itself was just so wonderfully delicious!

But here are a few of my favorites... starting with the incredible sparkles on the water!!

...a couple of lovely stripey treasures ...

Now, don't be frightened! This little jewel is not a scarab or a beetle carcass or any other such creepy thing... it is called a Mermaid's Purse... and it is (do you know?!?!)....

... a shark egg! (empty, of course) but isn't it wonderful!! and, yes, those are bird footprints around it, if you're wondering...

When my mom was out to visit a couple of years ago, we took a day trip up to this beach. It's such a great place--the mountains behind and the ocean before... and many times, nice shells to be found and taken home as souvenirs of a delightful day. I had found a few sand dollars here on a past visit, and I had hoped, perhaps, my mom would find one, too. I knew it would thrill her to find one. We had prayed even for some special treasure--if not a sand dollar, something else fun. And, she found not only one, but TWO sand dollars on that trip! God is so good! : )

So, while I was combing the beach yesterday, I called my mom to chat for a bit. I was exclaiming over some sea creatures I was examining and mentioned that it would be cool to find another sand dollar. Not too much longer after the comment, while I was still talking with her, I FOUND ONE!!! It was a baby one, no bigger than a dime... but beautiful!

Also while still on the phone with her, I stumbled across this wonderful bit of sandy love!!

(She's used to hanging out with me while I stop a million times for some photo opportunity or another--she's quite patient that way!--and the phone conversation was no exception!! I kept saying, "hold on a sec--gotta take a picture...")

Isn't this heart great?!

And last, but definitely not least, on the Treasures list was a heart rock... one I could NOT take home with me, as it really was a heart boulder!! (I probably should have taken a photo from further away for perspective, but trust me, this is too big to go in my pocket--about 3ft wide!) BIG LOVE. actually, big green mossy love! : )

And, I was especially thrilled to find this heart rock, as I was only able to see it due to the low, low tide! If the tide were up, the rock would have been under water, and I would never have seen the love!

Thank You, God, for these many treasures at the sea... I am grateful!!

frost-ing on the cake, pt 2...

...and here, as I promised yesterday, is the frosted "green stuff"...

Frost is the greatest artist in our clime--
He paints in nature...
~Thomas Hood

...and a bit closer...


...a frosty fern...


...closer...


...CLOSER...

...and closest for true crystal enjoyment...


...a frosty fall leaf...


...and look at that cute cactus-like furry frosty leaf!...

...and a little bit of brown frosting, too...

('cause it's just too pretty not to include!)

The Frost performs its secret ministry,
Unhelped by any wind.

~from Frost at Midnight
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

...several of these photos can be enlarged for detail-viewing by double-clicking on them

• the artistry of frost (115)
• ice crystals (114)
• a reason to get up early in the morning! (113)

"frost"-ing on the cake, pt 1...

I love the beauty of frost and snowflakes... the amazingly detailed crystals that are formed as the rain or dew freeze into incredible patterns and shapes. One morning last week when I was in Michigan, I awakened to a wonderful 27degree freeze and the glory of the frost-ing on the day. I, in pajamas and a jacket, ran outside with my camera and lost myself in the crisp, cool delight of the frost.

At first I focused on the grass and leaves and flowers with their edgings of ice (see tomorrow's post), but on my way to the garden, I passed a truck in the driveway. On the side of the truck bed was a metal ring, and the frost crystals on it were spectacular! This is what I saw...

The light of the sun was just right, and I was in awe!

The denseness of the crystals almost looked like a spiky fur coat adorning the ring...

...beautiful...

...and tomorrow, I'll show you the green stuff... : )

lemon head...

I have a bowl of 'fruit' sitting on the table. Well, actually, it's a bowl of fake fruit, but they are very real-looking, and from a distance, one would think they were (real, that is!). I do have a habit of also tossing my REAL lemons and oranges on top of the other fruit in the bowl, and sometimes, I forget that I have real fruit in sitting in the bowl with the fake. And, no, there's nothing wrong with that, unless, as I also have a habit of doing, I forget the real fruit long enough for it to begin to resemble the stuff of science projects--meaning it begins to turn strange colors and grow a bit of mold on it!

Well, this morning, as I was walking into the kitchen, I passed the fruit bowl and noticed that I had, once again, started a science project. One of the lemons had begun to turn a bit white and green with mold. Not at all disturbed, I picked the penicillin-producing lemon out of the bowl, opened the trash can, casually tossed it in, and closed the lid. And that was that!

I finished getting ready for work and was clearing some junk mail off the table before leaving. I opened the trash can lid to toss in the junk mail and burst out laughing!! This is what I saw gazing back up at me from inside the trash can:

Yeah, Mr. Lemonhead, that's exactly how I feel some mornings!! : ) He does look a bit shell-shocked, doesn't he?! (I guess it was a trashy morning for him!)

I hope you enjoyed my fruity little friend as much as I... I do so love the delightfully quirky things in life! Happy Friday!!

Sabbath praise...morning has broken

Morning Has Broken

~Cat Stevens

Morning has broken like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for the springing fresh from the world

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven

Like the first dewfall, on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where His feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning

Born of the one light Eden saw play

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's recreation of the new day

mornings and mowed grass

Alright. I'll admit it. I don't really like mornings. I don't think I ever really did. Let me think... hmmmm. Well, actually, I guess I don't mind mornings themselves so much; they can be quite beautiful and refreshing-- a new day! It's the GETTING UP IN THE MORNING that I don't like. I can STAY UP all night and welcome the wee hours of the morning with no problem, but ask me to get up and get going early, and it's definitely not on my list of likes!

So, here it was --another morning. And a Monday morning at that, which, of course, means it's time to get up and go to work. Sigh. I lay there in my nice cozy bed, trying to force my eyes open but not being too successful. I thought, instead, that I would go for a big deep breath and a stretch to start the getting-up process.... (that's what my cat used to do, anyway! it's worth a try)

Mmmmm. What IS that I smell?! With that deep resigned breath, I caught the wonderful smell of freshly-mowed grass! (ok. who on earth is mowing the lawn at 7am??!) I LOVE the smell of freshly-cut grass--so green smelling, so crisp, so summery! Nice. What a treat!!

I lay there (still in my nice cozy bed but a bit closer to actually getting up!), breathing deeply of the delicious smell, and my thoughts were no longer of Mondays and struggle. I was transported to a place of blue skies, open meadows, a summery breeze, birds singing cheerfully. It was a delightful way to start my day. I am grateful! Thank you, Father, for the way you bless our days in the small things if we will just breathe them in!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."

James 1:17