The Finished Products

I told you I would post pictures when I got finished. It just took me a while. :-)

This cat cracks me up!

I think I've Found It!

Drum roll please.....................


I am reasonably sure my unidentified visitor is a Brown-headed Nuthatch. Here are a couple of better pictures. Check this link and see if you think they are the same thing.

This guy is a little acrobat! He will tilt forward and swing all the way around until he's upright again. Sometimes he just likes to hang upside down to eat. The link says "The Brown-headed Nuthatch is one of only a few bird species in the world known to use tools. By holding a small piece of bark in its bill, they pry open bark on trees to expose insects." They are also fond of sunflower seeds. (I could have told you that!) Hop over to the link and see what a group of Brown-headed Nuthatches is called.

My husband had a bad day yesterday....

....so did my car...

Raymond was traveling north from Collins, MS. Road crews were sweeping the road creating a dust storm. Raymond didn't even see the truck in front of him until after Raymond hit his bumper. The car behind Raymond was obviously having the same problem since that lady hit Raymond's bumper. Our friend Kevin took Candace and I to Collins to pick Raymond up and take him to the ER at Baptist Hospital. Even though Raymond's arm hurt like crazy, the ER personnel said it wasn't broken. He's very banged up and sore, but thank God he will survive. We would appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery and wisdom in obtaining another vehicle for me. Until then I guess I'm stranded. (Unless someone's insurance will provide me a rental.)

Does anyone recognize this bird?

I'm sorry that this video and these pictures are not high quality. Keep in mind that I took these through my not-so-clean kitchen window. I'm not trying to win an award from Birds and Blooms; I'm just trying to identify this bird. I've been watching Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, and Tuffited Titmice eat my sunflower seeds all summer. About two weeks ago a few of these fellows showed up. I've searched my bird book and just can't seem to identify them. I thought they might be Bushtits, but those are not indigenous to my area. Candace and I did decide they arrived around the same time as Gustav. Could they be evacuees?

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!

These are the questions about cocoa powder that haunt me...

Why doesn't cocoa powder come in a child-proof container?

In other words...Why can't I be more careful??

What law of physics causes cocoa powder to multiply as you clean it up?

Just how far do cocoa particles travel?

Will cocoa powder come out of a yellow t-shirt?

These are the questions that haunt me!

Patchwork Hearts

I recently made this pillow to give a friend for her birthday. Her daughter wanted to know how I did it. This tutorial for making the heart is for Amber.

Cut a heart out of tagboard slightly larger than you want the final size to be.

Cut out various strips of fabric.

Start sewing those strips together.


Iron the seams open.





Trim off excess.

Repeat the process.









Keep sewing on strips until your patchwork piece is large enough for your heart.





Turn your fabric to the seam side and trace your heart onto the back using an ink pen.




Cut out.


Turn back to seam side and baste down about 1/4 inch seam.


Turn over and iron flat.



Draw in the white area what you want to embroidery. (You can write it in black on a piece of paper and trace it.)


I cut my fabric to the desired size before sewing my heart on. If you do this, center your heart on the fabric and pin it. You also just pin it to some fabric and cut it out later.


Place in a hoop and sew on with a button-hole stitch.





Then use a stem stitch to embroidery your word.

I added a flower to mine.
Here are some other ones I've made.










When I've turned the one with "Friends" into a pillow I'll post it too.

End of the Spear

End of the Spear
By Steve Saint

If your life has been touched in any way by the true story of five missionaries martyred in Ecuador in 1956 trying to reach a brutal tribe with the Gospel,
if you’ve ever doubted whether love is truly stronger than hate,
if you’ve never seen the transforming power of Christ,
if you want your faith strengthened and challenged, or
if you doubt whether God is able to bring good out of evil, then this is a must read.

End of the Spear was written by the son of martyred missionary Nate Saint. Here Steve tells how completely intertwined his life became with the very ones who murdered his father and the other missionaries. His is a story of heart ache, adventure, forgiveness, and love. “Truth is stranger than fiction” so the saying goes; nowhere is that more evident than in End of the Spear. Even if you saw the movie by the same title (which was poignant in its own right) you need to read the book as book and movie complement rather than detract from each other. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and be totally amazed with our awesome Redeemer.

~ Reviewed by Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

Through Gates of Splendor/ These Strange Ashes

Through Gates of Splendor and These Strange Ashes
Both by Elisabeth Elliot

On January 6, 1956, five American missionaries were speared to death in their attempt to bring the Gospel to the Waodani, a brutal Indian tribe located in Ecuador. Through Gates of Splendor is the poignant retelling of that story by one of the widows. Later, that widow (Elisabeth Elliot), her daughter, and a sister to one of those killed lived among the Waodoni eventually leading them to Christ.

I don’t remember how I discovered this book, but it was my first glimpse into real lives 100% totally sold out to Jesus regardless the cost. It left me awestruck, challenging my own level of devotion to the cause of Christ. It built upon what God had been stirring in my heart with In His Steps. I also feel it planted the seeds which eventually grew into my own heart for missions and our family’s two year service overseas. In some ways that service was disappointing, leaving me empty. Elliot’s These Strange Ashes – another incredible book about self-sacrifice- helped me put that experience into perspective which is this: it’s all about Christ and my relationship with Him. (These Strange Ashes is a must read for anyone going through a severe time of testing.)

The Through Gates of Splendor story has been retold in a new film scheduled to be released on January 20, 2006. My husband and I were privileged to a free screening last night. You won’t want to miss End of the Spear. It is rated PG-13 due to violence. (Let’s face it, spearing to death is not a pleasant thing to watch.) There is also quite a bit of flesh showing, however, if you’ve read Elliot’s The Savage my Kinsman you will quickly realize the film covers more flesh than the real tribe did. It is told from Mincayani’s perspective. (He’s one of the killers.) All the Indian dialogue is in subtitles creating a greater sense of realism. The film is a must see and is evangelical in nature, though not pushy. My only disappointment is that it left, in my view, the conversion of Micayani underplayed. In reality, a church was planted among the Waodani people and Micayani baptized Nate Saint’s son, Steve, in the same river where he murdered Steve’s dad.

Another outstanding telling of this story is is Fate of the Yellow Woodbee by Dave and Neta Jackson. (A trailblazer book and great children's read-a-loud.)

~ Reviewed by Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

Under the Overpass

Under the Overpass
by Mike Yankoski

What would God show you, what would He say to you, how would He change you if you forsook your upper-middle class college life to live on the streets for five months as a homeless person? Sounds crazy, doesn't it, to leave all and follow Christ into a dying, lost word?

In the spring and summer of 2003 Mike Yankoski and Sam Purvis did just that. You can read about their life-changing experience on the streets in Under the Overpass.

Prepare to be shaken, challenged, and changed.

~ Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers

The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers

by Amy Hollingsworth

I was not quite four years old when "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" made its television debut on February 19, 1968. I'm not sure if my family wasn't able to pick it up, or if my parents limited my t.v. consumption allowing me only one viewing per day. Whatever the case, my own childhood t.v. memories revolve around Sesame Street which first aired November 10, 1969.

It really doesn't matter when I first "met" Mr. Rogers via tv, it just matters that I did. He became such a part of my children's lives that then 4 year-old Kyle was distraught we had to take his 1-year-old sister to the Urgent Care for stitches during "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood". I don't blame him. I always found "The Neighborhood" to be a peaceful place where children were highly valued - everyone was highly valued. We "went" to see how crayons and assorted other things were manufactured, and who couldn't love Daniel Striped Tiger?

Though my children had outgrown the show by the time Fred Rogers died, we were all still saddened by news of his death. The man was gentle and kind, traits hard to come by in today's television market.

Mr. Rogers granted few interviews for he knew the habit of many in the media to distort the facts. He did, however, grant a couple of interviews to a woman by the name of Amy Hollingsworth which sparked a close friendship. After Rogers' death, Amy wrote a book about the man behind the very successful "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood".

While I would not add The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers to my list of life-changing books, I highly recommend it for anyone who get's warm-fuzzies when they are around trollies or who often catch themselves singing "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood." Fred Rogers' faith was deep and real. He considered the space between the television and the viewer to be sacred ground which required him to be in tune with the Holy Spirit each and every day.

I think even we adults could learn a thing or two from Mr. Rogers' simple faith.

~ Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat