Enjoy a few pictures from a special tea party I attended last week. I'm leaving on a trip soon, and don't have time to write much, but I thought you all might enjoy these photos. The tea party came about when we had a "bean auction" at church. Everyone attending the auction offered some kind of gift, and then all the participants were given beans to bid on the gifts we wanted. My friend Bettina offered a "tea party for six", and so I was able to take my mother and four oldest nieces to … [Read more...] about Tea Party for Six
Sights to See— Obie’s, Ricketts Glen, and a Hundred-Dollar Bill Purse
Obie's General Store in Goodville is a pilgrimage every seamstress should make at least once in a lifetime. So when I heard my friend Melissa had never been to Obie's, I told her, "You've got to see this fabric shop!" Melissa is one of the best seamstresses I know (or best sewist— if you prefer the newer term). She even has her own fabric store. Since I'm planning to take over the retail fabric buying for Good's Store in a few months, Melissa and I can always talk fabric shop. Yes, we are … [Read more...] about Sights to See— Obie’s, Ricketts Glen, and a Hundred-Dollar Bill Purse
How to Make a Candy Scramble T-Shirt
"So I get to be a human piñata?" asked my nephew, Austin. He wasn't really complaining— when I asked if one of the older boys could wear a t-shirt with candy glued all over it while being chased by the younger kids, Austin was the first to volunteer. Last weekend, my family was planning to go camping in a remote area near the Juanita river. Unfortunately, there were heavy thunderstorms and flash floods in the forecast, so we decided camping with small children next to a river wasn't safe. … [Read more...] about How to Make a Candy Scramble T-Shirt
Camping in Pennsyltucky
Public campsites are to camping what decaf is to coffee. They might be safer, cleaner, and more conducive to sleeping, but they're favorless and boring. So when my church small group went camping last month, I was glad we were doing primitive, private-land-next-to-state-game-land type of camping, not pitching our tents at a KOA and trying to avoid eye contact with the neighbors at the next campfire. Marlin and Amy, one of the small group couples, did most of the planning. Marlin has … [Read more...] about Camping in Pennsyltucky
A Day in Queens
"It's not a good idea to go up to people and ask, 'Are you homeless?'" It's mid-Saturday morning at the Ministry Training Center (MTC) in Elmhurst, a neighborhood in Queens, NYC. About two dozen Lancastrians have just gotten off the bus in the Big Apple and are getting a crash course in local demographics and street ministry. "There's about ninety thousand people per square mile here in Elmhurst. Most of them are immigrants or the children of immigrants. Many of them don't speak English." … [Read more...] about A Day in Queens