{every good & perfect gift}

::welcome:: uNdeR cOnStruCtiOn

of the writing of many blogs there is no end...

here is mine.  welcome - to my welcome post, which i randomly edit...

...i found today, on Pinterest, in word form what it is that i've been doing here for years:

ahh yes.

 
i've been plinking around here for over two years {three!} now. 

random... life. fun. favorite things, thoughts, art, rants, beliefs, quotes & photos. 

i h{art} writing... nO RuLeS. just write. it's therapeutic somehow.

it's a journal. a challenge. a need?

i'm crazy about photography -and i don't even know what i'm doing. but, ever the learning amateur... i just adore my cameras and lenses. and- digital editing! smile. {now, especially iPhone camera & apps.}

pour some coffee or tea. stay awhile-

{New POSTS CONTINUE BELOW... & check out the archives!}

leave me a little comment?

 

j penelope b

...yes

Imago Dei

http://vimeo.com/62116940

where ever have you been?

i didn't know i was, but i was taking a sort of sabatical from here. it's been about a year. our only daughter became engaged: 

we had 6 months to plan a September 17 (?) wedding. 

she planned. we planned. we used Pinterest a lot! 

mother of the bride  -  what a great way to store ideas!

..the daddy of the bride, in the meantime - turned 50. we celebrated with friends & fam at a cool bowling alley in downtown Denver. 

for his mid-wife mid-life crisis - this is how he rolled. tsss. hot!

on his birthday, our oldest son (twin, by 20 minutes older) and his wife told us that he was going to be a grampa!! for the very first time ...which would make me nana neen... early in December.

in all of the excitement, i had to go lay down. sometimes. {giggle}

no. seriously. 

we started shopping. at one 'bootiik' they made us wear these gross gloves that looked and smelled as if someone had eaten chinese food in them... so as not to touch our clean hands to the wedding gowns.

...we began to practice baby talk so we would be able to speak it fluently. and we can.

the precious new little one grew and grew. we learned it would be a boy. 

the bride began assembling her team of cohorts. these are some of them... i was honored and thrilled to be included - always... treasured memories. 

...TREASURES began revealing themselves almost immediately... or rather, our cups overflowed with God's provision and gracious favor... people, places. perfect. stories forthcoming. maybe i'll ask them to tell these gems here.

lovely offer of a wedding spot, don't you think? oh. my. word. the generosity and loving hospitality stunned me. more naps! 

a lot of us looked like this ... a lot! you now - that overwhelmed, goofy, thrilled feeling??

i tried my best to record it all. my sis recorded me trying. i'd been working on my triceps waaayyy to hard for them to still look like that. oh well. 

this was a photo a day challenge i was in (fatmumslim) and we were supposed to record a reflection of ourselves. so that's what that says there. don't strain to try and read the fuzzy part. 

she loved this dress and thought it was 'the one'... i said we ought to at least look past the very first stop. 

this was her reaction.

meanwhile, the little punkin' was growing. he was already adorable, no?

and back to shopping - she thought this one was especially fun to sit in... 

we also went to our niece's wedding during this time. and another at a golf course. research and development! fun times...

more shopping, and this lady liberty style was voted all thumbs down.

ok, so anyway - we've been a little busy - & i have a lot of wonderful stories to catch y'up on! in time... some things i can't even talk about yet!! but i'll be back...

enjoying every good and perfect gift from above, j penelope bean

 

 

 

 

 

...something magical happening in the garden.

last year i gave up on our garden.  it's been veggie, herb, cottage flower and perennial garden for about 15 years. it just wasn't happening any more. little pests were eating everything, especially any new seedlings. everything just seemed to be phasing out up here in our 8200' arid garden.

every spring... though - that urge comes back. so, i asked at the local garden center if they had any ideas about the best way to amend our depleted soil. they sold me some 'cotton boll' compost or by product of a cotton crop. so, i spread it... i didn't even turn it under.

oh my. it's all so happy. i'm so happy.

grateful,

jpb

summer saturday - rummaging!

so, i succumbed to my addiction again. rummaging. there were about 18 yard sales listed in the paper and since i have legit reasons now {ahem...} to go rummaging {daughter's wedding in about 4 months - see this page to get the 'feel' for it and what i might be in search of..., and first grand baby coming in december by way of first son/daughter-in-law...!!!} - after d.h. washed and polished Chancy up for me, off i went with my stragetic list of addresses.  in order... i had to get there first you know! early.

score!! very first sale, two boxes full of old, old bottles, several with glass stoppers. my blood pressure rising... i'm thinking how we'll have the cutest centerpieces of old jars and bottles all done up with twine, ephemera and old-fashioned labels Love Poison Potion #9... {do you hear it? the song?}

then i spy a stack of old, short, shabby, chippy-paint fence pickets. we need these! for signage, you know, the posts with a bunch of them pointing this way and that giving directions- and they even have the pointy end! there are about 30 of them... {breathe... breathe...}. a tin of buttons! 

ok, the rest is a blurrrr. vintage dictionaries- we need those for many, many things. an old story book. little vintage containers of brass fasteners, pins -i need those because i have a collection of vintage office um, ... stuff. a gorgeous pink pitcher, antique lace stretched in an embroidery hoop. a darling old window screen with chippy paint; black under, green on top. we need that too. could use it to post the menu! antique cutlery - including a cake knife and server!!! ? um, hello! bushel basket, natural woody basket, cute ceramic planters. a $400 {she said} wool braided rug for a steal {she said}. yep. need. jelly jars, mason jars. a beautiful, big, old, blue bottle with it's glass stopper, another basket with old lace tied onto it. two pieces of real, old fiesta ware. i heart that. i love using old chippy dishes and bowls for soap dishes or 'counter stuff'... and then several old, industrial wooden spools- to wrap old lace on... or to just sit around and be cool. a jar of buttons!

and about the iris. i don't even like iris. but there was this place-

...walking into the back yard of this charming Victorian home was sort of magical. layers of garden spaces... vignettes all sprinkled with this woman's things for sale... and the sign for the iris said 'old-fashioned' purple and gold. $2 per bag. so, i have to try them!

...in a corner of one of the many garden spaces was this! cuuuute.

{a Victorian home in a sweet neighborhood with grass yard, trees, garden- i dream...}

this fencing!
i went back to this one in the end - with trusty iPhone camera. bought a few more things... too. fun. now THIS is how to have a rummage sale.

and then this! a flea market... darn cute.

here's a fun sight from along the way... you don't see cows grazing in the front yard every day-

couldn't resist.

such a good day. serendipitous. just love these kind of days.

eighty degrees or so, everything smelling so good... antiques, gardens, good coffee...

and now for a nap! jpb

 

 

...wondering which are the best iPhone photo apps?

i just about squealed with delight when Rhonna shared her faves. sweet! she's so generous. amazing. jpb

 

...iPhone photo app fanatick...

...too fun. convenient. easy. most free. Jpb

right in town, where i run.

right up on the pass, coming home from my sis's @ thanksgiving.

right outside my door. spruce berries.

right downtown, in front of the coffee shop.

right in the next room. {studio}   ...jpb

iPhone app fanatick

... see what I mean? iphone apps are crazy fun. jpb

...so, i took these blogging courses...

during and after the first blogging course, i got bad at blogging. hmmm. then took the second, and got so bad that i haven't posted for a close to two months. not sure why. well, not completely. some of it was that both of them were all 'self' - self-discovery, self-fulfullment, self-expression, self-truth. even if it's potty mouth, etc. self. eww. could.not.relate. road/block. {even thought they were both brimming with great info on blogging/promoting self, beauty, etc.}

{tried to insert photo here. no go. grrr.}

ok, then the 8-week  James study came along. good stuff. opposite. freeing, settling. confirming.

clarity.

searching. ...mmm, thinking.

to blog, or not to blog. that is the question. still not sure there, but lots happening, and most of it's been posted to facebook. by way of photos mostly. i've become an iPhone photo app fanatic. so, facebook and photo sharing there seems sooooo much more convenient than this. typepad has frustrated me for years. but i'm keepin' on keepin' on. and will transfer some over. the new facebook layout 'timeline' is so bloggy! i love it. but then i worry that people think i just live on and use fb as my 24/7 blog. but i still do it. i still love it.

so, helloo typepad - gonna try you again. too much invested here to leave.

stay tuned for as many photos as i can post... in a sane amount of time- because-

i've been doing photo a day on Instagram with fatmumslim - check that out!

and my dh turned 50, fun partayyy!

and our daughter became engaged...

so, we're planning a wedding... check out my Mother of the Bride pinboard on Pinterest there -which should actually be entitled Mother of the Burlap.

i've been dieting{strikethrough that} -eating healthy. check out that pinboard too!

i've been hiking, running, zumba-ing with toning sticks, biking, yoga {there's a whole post i want to do} and teaching/doing Pilates. check out this page too! it's inspiring to me every time i look at it.

did i mention that i've been Pintresting? hoarding might be a better word - but what a great way to keep ideas!!! yes?

and so, etc.!

...studying James...

...with Beth Moore

comfy. jpb