I go through this season a few times every year.  The pace of life seems to quicken, and one must constantly re-evaluate the most important things.  Perhaps you know exactly what I mean. :)

I’ve made three lists.  A list of all the things I want to do; a list of all the things that absolutely must be done; and a list of things to remove from the first list, especially if the want-to-do’s are distracting from the must-be-dones.

And my, what a list of must-be-dones!  There’s homemaking, NRP, art projects, art lessons, piano for church, and the garden.  Life is wonderful, but sometimes it’s so fast and overflowing!

I would really like to share a few of my notes from the Father & Daughter Retreat from last weekend.  (We had a wonderful trip down to Georgia, by the way.)  But until then, I highly recommend making a list of your most important things and the things that hinder you from accomplishing them.  This has been helpful for me!

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” - Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)

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A quick note - The new Ladies Against Feminism site has been relaunched!  In honor of the relaunching, Noble Rose Press is having a sale!  (Emily Rose did a great job of redesigning Mrs. Chancey’s site, didn’t she?)

And I am happy.  Just because the Lord is so good!

I haven’t been blogging as regularly as I’d like, but there have been so many other things to keep me busy.  And I’m sure you understand!

Last week I took my first long walk in the back yard since most of the snow melted. The air was tinged with the mild, damp sweetness of Spring, and a day-long south wind brushed it over the homestead.

“Windflowers” by John William Waterhouse

Art, studying, reading, cleaning, exercising, etc. are constants on my to-do list.  And the calendar seems to be filling quickly with spring and summer plans.

For an up-coming event I’m sewing a dress out of a light blue paisley fabric.  Mom has given me some pointers and cut out a few pieces for me while I was slumped over with exhaustion, but I think I can say (so far) that this is the first dress I’ve made pretty much on my own.  I’ve never made cuffs or a collar, or have even altered a pattern before, so this is a bit of leap for me!  But it seems to be going well and I’m very happy with how it is turning out.

I can hardly wait until the sun decides to stay and warm up the earth some more.  Last year we built raised beds for our garden.  My, how easy to weed! and everything looked so charming and organized.  They did well with our vegetables last year, so we’re planning on building a few more and transplanting the rest of the herbs and flowers into them.

Asplundh has cut down three trees in out front yard because, of course, they were too close to the power lines.  But we plan on replacing them with shorter, flowering trees.  It will look even more beautiful in the coming springs when everything is in full bloom!

Can you tell I’m looking forward to digging in the dirt again?

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The latest painting is now available in my Etsy shop! For each print sold, $10 will be donated to Rescue Haiti’s Children.

“I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food” was created in watercolor and colored pencil. The prints are reproduced with toner on Archival-quality, 80lb bright white card stock. Print will not have watermark, and will come with artist’s hand-written signature. Please note that the coloring may slightly vary due to your monitor.

Print size: 8″×10″ on an easily-framed 8 1/2″×11″ sheet.

Click here to order your copy!

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For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you clothed me,
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
- Matthew 25:35-36 (ESV)