Katie's Photo Contest

Katie is having a photo contest! Here are the three I'm going to enter.

The 1st place winner will get a special blog button.

Grace be with you,
Abby :D

Anna's Giveaway!

Anna at Farm Girl is having a giveaway! You can win some beautiful books and a cd! Click here for details.


Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Wordless Monday...

My 100th post (and my 2nd giveaway)!

My 100th post has finally come! Here is what I'm giving away:

A homemade leafy necklace and earrings

And some homemade leafy cards (there are envelopes as well)

~To Enter~

For 1 entry, leave a comment. 
For 2 entries, write a post about my giveaway.
For 3 entries, follow my blog.

Please write separate comments for each entry.

My giveaway will end on June 10th, and I'll announce the winner the next day.


Grace be with you!


Abby :D

The Caterpillar

Squirming little worm
Eating lots of leaves
After shedding twice
A cocoon he weaves
Many days have passed
Watching, waiting, sigh
And finally, then, at last!
Comes a butterfly...

This is a caterpillar my mother found on our parsley. It is a Black Swallowtail.
Aren't they amazing?


Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.
-Lin Yutang

Speckle!

This is the faithful family dog, Speckle. She is nine this year. Isn't she cute! She is a mixed breed (although I think she is part Springer Spaniel). I couldn't resist taking a few photos. As you can tell, she doesn't really like having her picture taken.



Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Shake and shake...

Shake and shake the ketchup bottle, none will come and then a lot'll.


Be alert. The world needs more lerts.

Song for Monday...

 Crown Him with many crowns

Crown Him with many crowns
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.

Crown Him the Lord of Love.
Behold His hands and side,
Rich wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye
At mysteries so bright!


Grace be with you,


Abby :D

The very best books in the whole wide world (probably)

I just finished reading The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S Lewis.
These books are, I think, some of the very best books ever written. Has anyone read either of them? If you haven't, you should.

Do you have any books that you love?

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Ariel's Mystery

It was a dark and stormy night. The wind whistled eerily outside. Ariel Roderick rushed all around her mansion (left to her by her mother and father) closing windows and lighting candles (She didn't like electricity). Her dogs rushed around too, casting eerie shadows on the wall. She had 44 dogs, all hounds. Ariel looked out the window as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. She shivered and ran back to the dining room, the only room with gas lamps, to finish setting the table. Ariel was expecting company, and had the dinner all ready for them. She hastily peeked out of the window at the garden walk, to see if they had come yet. Yes, there was a carriage, and a couple coming up the path. She rushed downstairs. Let's see, Ariel thought, I invited the Stephensons , the Smiths, and the Farris's. I won't have to think of any interesting conversation, that's for sure. The doorbell sounded in 20 different tones. The Smiths entered first. "Hello, Ariel dearie!" Mrs. Smith's cheerful voice came over a crash of thunder, "I said a big storm would come, and look now, it did, didn't it? Well, I've got so much to tell you..." They went into the sitting room until the other guests arrived. Ariel smiled patiently as she heard about Mrs. Smith's opinion on everything-or just about- all in five minutes. As they talked, the Stephensons drove up. They entered the big house, their nineteen mischeivous children looking about in wonder at the twenty-four foot ceilings and the stained glass window with its elaborate draperies. "Thanks so much for invitin' us, Miss Roderick," drawled Mr. Stephenson. "Yes, we really don't have a lot to eat- besides potatoes- at our house," said Mrs. Stephenson nervously, wringing her hands as if there was something wrong. The children, having gawked long enough started running about.You could hear voices in different parts of the house, shouting things like, "Hey, did you look at this?" or "I wonder if this breaks when you do this... oops, it does." or "Let's go climb that ladder looking thing," and crashes, banging, and cracking. "Uh... children... be careful... no.. don't touch.. oh, no, you broke it!... I'm sorry, Miss Roderick," cried Mrs. Stephenson, rushing about. "That's perfectly fine," smiled Ariel. She loved children. "Oh, and please, call me Ariel."


When the Farris's arrived, they went into the dining room, Ariel was kept busy with serving food, cleaning up spilled drinks, and keeping the children from beating marks in the beautiful oak table. "I don't know why you don't employ servants,"  Mrs. Smith remarked loftily, " they save a great deal of trouble." Ariel smiled uneasily. "I don't like servants. They're too sneaky. Plus, I have my dogs." she finished. "Yes, but they are better company than dogs, especially now..." Mrs. Smith turned away and started cutting her steak. "Now?" Ariel inquired, "Whatever do you mean?" Mr. Farris broke in. "She means, there's a dangerous burglar on the loose!"

Thunder crashed outside. "Did you say a burglar, Mr. Farris?" Ariel inquired. "Yes, and a dangerous one!" he said, nodding his head. Suddenly one of the Stephenson children screamed. "There's the burglar, I saw him!" Everyone looked toward the window and saw... a shadow cast by the rose bush. It did look rather like a man's head. Ariel swallowed and breathed a sigh of relief. Mrs. Farris sighed too. "Well, that burglar was last seen in Meadow Field, so he couldn't come here so quick." she remarked.
After everyone had gone, Ariel checked all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked. Then she paused. Do I hear noises coming from the other room?

She did hear noises. They sounded like someone opening drawers, cocking a gun, shooting... Pull yourself together, Ariel, She told herself. Ariel didn't know what to do. Should she go investigate herself? Send one of the dogs? I'll call the police! Ariel thought, I don't know why I didn't think of it before. She crept downstairs and called on her newly installed telephone. After she called, Ariel waited anxiously until they arrived, lights flashing, and knocked on the door. "I heard the noises upstairs," She told the officer. They tiptoed upstairs and with a flourish, the officer swept the door open. There, standing in the room, was....

...a dog! Ariel was very surprised. When the police left, Ariel fed her dogs and went to bed.

THE END

Updates...

Today I need help answering a question:

Should I do my giveaway now or wait until my 100th post?


Anyway, today we have a piano recital. Fun! I am playing:

The Spinning Song
The Music Box Dancer
Bagatelle

I am a little bit nervous, but not too much.



**********

I just got back from the recital. It was fun! I did pretty well, and so did everyone else. My piano teacher had some cookies and some other yummy stuff after the recital.

How is your day going?

Have a great day!


Grace be with you,

Abby :D

The answer is...

I got my ears pierced! Since I have two opinions about it, it was kind of hard to actually go through with it. I got my ears pierced when I was about nine years old(that time I had flower studs), and they started to grow into my ears, since I didn't take care of them. This time we went and I got diamond. It was fun. :)

What are your views on ear piercing?


Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Can you guess what I got at Claire's?

Today I went to Claire's, and... can you guess what I got?

I will give you three guesses...

1. I got a necklace for a giveaway.
2. I got my ears pierced.
3. I got my hair cut.

I'll tell you tomorrow!


Grace be with you,

Abby :D