It's raining here in my neck of the woods... Some reason I planned on it raining this weekend.. not today.. I had plans to hang out a bunch of clothes to flap in the breeze to dry... When it rains though.. my motivation drops down a few notches.. and all I want to do is sit and read...Since I can't do that at the moment I thought I would share a "sunny" picture of my plum tree..

Let me tell you about my plum tree...

In truth there really isn't MUCH to tell other than many people are at "ahh" over it. I guess it's not one of those trees that many people plant in their yard. Hubby and I did it because the tree was on clearance and it looked sad... I really didn't think it would do much of anything. We have EXTREMELY POOR soil on our property and we thought that perhaps the plum tree might have needed a "mate" in order to reproduce. Apparently.. it does not... The older generation in my neighborhood LOVE this tree... I can't tell you how many knocks I get on my door asking if they can have some... and they get sad when I tell them they have to wait til the 3rd week of September... We eat them straight.. It's something I don't can because to hubby and I they taste the best fresh... they really melt in your mouth..

Now that it's the end of September my tree is almost bare.. it's been picked by us, the neighbors and the squirrels..But it's truly pretty for as long as it lasts... I have felt blessed with the abundance of food that I have harvested this year with such a bad economy and the rising of food prices.. I'm also very willing to share with my neighbors.. last week.. I packed up a bag of pears, plums, and chicken eggs for the elderly... most of them are on a fixed income...with no raise in sight.. and if they do get a raise.. medicaid cost goes up for them.. so they still don't get extra $$.

"The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield it's harvest." Psalm 85:12

I'm really trying to put my faith in God and our economy right now. It's frustrating.. but I'm TRYING to find things that I'm still thankful for through it. I try not to speak of the negative in my life to much... and I'm trying NOT to see it as negative.. but a blessing still... my husband's job cut him back to three days a week.. which.. still wasn't bad.. because the days are longer .. so he still gets his 40 hours. However.. after 17 years of being an "incentive" worker.. my husband and all are being cut down to an "hourly" rate. We are losing $6.00/hour. And then his company has told them that they are going to do a "marketing study" to see what the surrounding areas make and pay their employee's .. so their rate can be cut.. yet again... funny how they're not lowering our medical insurance costs though.... The Blessing?? He still has a job. They let go men with more seniority with the company that what he has. They based it on how many times you called out, how many times you were late.. and so on... good thing my hubby is a loyal employee..being faithful did pay off.. at least for now.

So.. back to the sunshine in life....


I got this craft from a fellow blogger..Covered in Crafts... These are your basic marble tiles...4x4 in size. I bought mine at Home Depot since that's the only store around here... I used a Chunky style stamp. I found this to work BEST when designing these. The thin stamps did give as much definition. So the stamp I used was from Stampin UP! along with the STAZ ON ink... STAZ on ink is the best ink to use.. because if you want to seal the "coaster" the ink will NOT run.


This is what the finished project looks like.. I'm country of course.. so I used burgundy gingham to wrap the 4 coasters together...

I also took felt and glued it on the backside so the surface you place the coasters on doesn't scratch...

And these are a sample of what they look like. I plan on giving these to a friend for her birthday this week... along with other little goodies.. I've been DYING to go see her and give them to her... since she's been working so hard all summer... I haven't been able to see her much!!