Thank you

thank you to those of you who stopped by last evening,

and for your gracious comments.

if you couldn't make it, but were interested in something you saw here,

please let me know, I will take orders and provide ship dates.

~~~ Laura ~~~

~~~ Gathering in the Harvest ~~~

Hello dear friends,

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by my little corner of the world. I have a few little things I would like to show you . . . . (good lighting has been hard to come by these past few days with our dreary weather so I struggled a bit with the pictures.)

Don't you just love this season with its warm colors and rich landscapes and the promise of provision. I have become inspired by those landscapes and the hard working agrarian way of life. While I have never lived on a farm, I have such a great respect for those who are called to work the land requiring such hard work and trust in the One Who Provides.

~~~ Harvest of Field & Flock ~~~

I love this 6" x 6" theatre with its warm brown and cream colored tones in a country setting. The ram, sheep, wheatsheaf and banner woodcuts are all hand colored and covered with beeswax giving it a beautiful softness. The top lid (see below) covering the theatre has been hand painted, stenciled, and rubbed with walnut ink to give it a wonderful aged look. The inset on the top is a woodcut from an old Farmer's Almanac and is also covered in a light coat of the beeswax. The box is finished with a pretty ribbon of deep rusty brown.

~~~ SOLD~~~

~~~ Shepherdess & Gleaner ~~~

This pastoral like theatre came to me one night as I was reading a book which explained gleaning in the perimeter of the wheat fields -- in biblical times, farmers were to leave the edges of the field unharvested ensuring that the poor and those in need could glean enough to live. And in ancient times, many women, children, and older family members were left to tend the flocks in the fields as well. This ladye's countenance is rooted in her love of home and land. This theatre is nearly 8" square; each woodcut is hand colored and given a beautiful glow of beeswax. The top lid (below) is hand painted, stenciled and rubbed with walnut ink. The old Farmer's Almanac woodcut has an accompanying prayer and is covered in a light coat of beeswax. The banner overhead reads, "the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys covered in grain." Ps 65:13
And, of course, a beautiful deep rust colored ribbon finishes off this theatre.



~~~ SOLD~~~



~~~ Peace and Plenty ~~~


This sweet theatre is 5-1/4" x 3-1/4". It reminds me of the hard work of the early settlers who came to our country and were sustained by what they found in the land, so I have used a backdrop of script paper telling about the settling of Plimouth Plantation. The frame inset that fits around the perimeter of the box and the woodcut of the settlers are nicely coated in beeswax giving it a nice patina and soft glow. The picture here does not do justice to this warm little theatre.
A wheatsheaf woodcut sits atop the cover (see below), with a copy from an old Farmer's Almanac on the inside. Dark brown ribbon finishes off this little theatre.



~~~ SOLD~~~



~~~ Pumpkin Glory ~~~



In this 5-1/4" x 3-1/4" theatre, sits a fat old pumpkin in an aged urn. The crow seems to enjoy his resting place atop the pumpkin. Each woodcut is hand colored. The backdrop appears as if someone has removed the wallpaper to reveal "words of the night" . . . This theatre box is handpainted and aged with walnut ink and topped with a fitting 'rusty orange' ribbon. The top (see below) was give a very rustic grain painting and the inside is finished off with Old Farmer's Almanac paper.




~~~ SOLD~~~



~~~ The Country Housewife's Garden ~~~

This little notebook was inspired by my love of herbes. This was most certainly used by the ladye of the house to record 'the doings' of her planted herbe bed and garden throughout the growing season. Perhaps it may have been tucked inside her ladye's pocket each time she inspected her garden. The notebook is made with old lined ledger paper from an old school ledger book. It has three sections (one shown above) titled, "Of the soil", "Of the site", and the "Husbandry of Herbes" in which this young ladye would record her thoughts on planting and growth of herbes and flowers. The inside cover has a lovely quote and the back inside cover depicts a primitive garden layout. This book is covered with an old woodcut, aged to give it that lovingly used look, and is assembled in a humble manner with old fine yarn. A dried slip of balsam-scented geranium tops the little book with garden twine.


~~~ SOLD~~~




Thanks so much for stopping by.
Please email me with any questions you might have at littleworksofgrace@sbcglobal.net.

A bountiful harvest of love to you and your family,

Laura

"Gathering in the Harvest"

Hello dear friends,

I know it's been a while since I've posted any
new goodes. Life has taken some different turns these last six months.
It's hard to believe this is the last week of October.
So. . . . .
I want to invite you for a little visit here tomorrow evening,

(perhaps with a little hot apple cider in hand)

Monday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m. central time
to see what's been on my mind and in my hearte.

Some little workes of grace to celebrate the Harvest season.

Hope to see you here!

Warm wishes to you all,

Laura

" . . . . . learning the unforced rythyms of grace."

no weariness or heavy burdens, just rest, and restoration . . .
in the beauty of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,
where my Dad was from, and now where my brother has a cabin set right on a lake.
This is where I spent the last four days with my Mom, my brother and my husband.
The splendor and majesty of the landscape, showing off its beautiful array of Fall colors
took my breath away; I was standing in the presence of a gift from my God who says
"Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest." (Matthew 11:28, the Message). And I did . . . as this view on the dock beckoned me further down near the water . . . .

which revealed this . . . .

I can't even begin to put words to what my heart and soul felt. . .
but that this was certainly something special, for me . . .
And as I turned around to go back up the dock . . .

I walked back to the cabin (built by my brother and his friends) where we would rest our heads, reminisce, laugh, watch movies, and be warmed by a wonderful stove heater.

I love this old shed with the moss covering the roof which they built as well . . . .

We had a couple visitors in the yard one morning . . . .

Down the road, was a beautiful meadow . . . . . . so peaceful . .

it just made me want to stop and rest awhile . .

. . . . and an old schoolhouse, now covered up a bit and a little run down,

but beautiful just the same . . .

One day we took a drive to an old resort site, now vacant. It was called Chief Lake Resort . .

. . . . this was a peek of the lake through some of the beautiful trees . . .

For four days I was comforted and held . . and kept by the captivating beauty around me . . the pine, the birch, and cedar . . . the quiet . . . . and I was given more understanding . . . and glimpses, into the place my Dad was from, and what inspired him, and how it is shaping me.

" . .And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. "

(ps. 40:3)

one saturday afternoon

I spent a delightful Saturday afternoon past enjoying a bit of 18th century right in my own back yard . . . . The occasion took place at Garfield Farm Museum, http://www.garfieldfarm.org just about a stone's throw from my home. Donna Finegan of http://www.donnafineganantiques.com/ (see also http://thepowderedwigs.blogspot.com/) shared her collection of 18th century clothing amidst the picturesque and historic Garfield Farm and Tavern, a 370 acre historically intact former 1840s prairie farmstead and inn.
Let me just say, this is just what I needed that day . . . transported to another time and place, if only for an hour or two. While I won't share the photos I took of the clothing here, Donna will be sharing her own photographs on her blog in the near future.

This place was a quiet respite in the midst of a rather difficult season of life I have been walking through and it gave me pause to soak in the natural beauty of a time past.

The exhibit was held in this quaint old home and inn . . . .

with its rickety old fence

I love how this fence held its own around the perimeter of the home . . that's no small
task here in the midwest . .


Another old fence at the back of the house corralling a rather wild herb garden



I just love the uneveness but sturdiness of this fence,


Then there was another fence, with some lovely hollyhock ladies posing . . .

A beautiful measure of space . . . . . but much more tame now.

I loved this little fellow, one of the wrinkled merino sheep. This is not a good closeup,

but he was rather wrinkled.

the heirloom vegetable garden on the back side of the barn . . . . . .

And finally, this stately pink hollyhock lady, holding her own

amongst the other growth.

I wonder what sort of stories these fences and gardens and buildings could tell . . about the people that tended to them long ago . . .

Learn, respect, and cherish . .

that's what I found on a quiet Saturday afternoon.

~~~~~~~

my room with a view

It was dusk . . . . and the view from my little room draws me . . . beckons me . . to seek contentment and rest.

The view is a simple and comforting one . . .

it draws me past the kitchen garden . . . . . . . . .

It gave me pause to note the simple wonder of seed bursting through the soil to seek its potential along a rusted trellis . . . . . . . .

it made me smile at the old mailbox showing some peppermint-striped petunias

off in front of 'big old Joe Pye Weed' . . .

it caused me to note the beauty of a simple stand of coneflowers resting upon an old but sturdy fence post . . . . .

and the enormous twisted vines of bittersweet at the end of the fence that grew from one little male and female vine planted several years ago . . . . .

turning beyond the vine, my eyes darted to and fro as a little bunny danced to my every move and he soon danced out of sight, too quick to sit for a portrait . . . I ambled past the raspberry bushes, now completedly stripped,

but producing several bowls full of promised pies . . . .

As I wander back past an old rusted chair with some flowers proudly sitting in its lap,

I find refreshment . . . . in this view, this simple view, and I see even more . . . I see provision, I see wonder and beauty, I see dependence, I see humor, and I see tenderness . . . all beyond my little room with a view. The fragrance of His love and care were all about me.

And as I step back into my little room, I realize that I may never quite see that simple view in the same way anymore and I'm so very thankful.

~~~~~~~~~