Thursday, October 9, 2025 Of Hedgehogs and Yellow Raincoats

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I entered into a shop in Bayfield and thought it would be like all other shops of its ilk. But as I wandered through the place, admiring its wares, I heard a strange, high-pitched voice saying, “Psst! Over here!”

Puzzled, I looked around but didn’t see anyone, so I kept going.

“PSSST! Wrong way! You’re getting colder! Turn around!” I turned toward the sound of the voice, which appeared to be coming from a rack of beautiful cards made by quilling. Curiouser and curiouser!

A tiny movement caught my eye…and then I saw it (him? her?) – the hedgehog on a card was clearly gesturing to me with its tiny paws. I came closer to hear it better.

“If you don’t buy me for Teresa’s birthday, I will have been brought into this world in vain,” it said. And having delivered its message, it went back to being a card.

Strong words! Compelling words! What else could I do?

As it happened, I already had something for the aforementioned Teresa’s birthday, found many months ago in another shop of vintage items and remnants from estate sales. Teresa and I were there together ambling through the delightful collection of oddments, when she held something up and said, “Look at this! It’s adorable!” And it was: a figurine of a girl on a bench wearing a yellow raincoat, yellow boots, and sitting beside a little hedgehog. Although the item showed its years with small spots and minor discolorations, this did not detract from its charm one whit. Teresa put it somewhat reluctantly back on the shelf and as soon as we parted for our respective cities, I circled back around and raced into the shop hoping she hadn’t had the same idea. She hadn’t.

And now these two hedgehogs have been brought together. I expect the little yellow-raincoat girl is just as happy to have two of them to keep her company – and when they meet Teresa’s other hedgehog named Percival, there will be all sorts of rejoicing.

Happy (pre) birthday, dear friend!

A friend loves at all times…
Proverbs 17:17

This post may have exceeded the limit of hedgehog mentions and if so, will summarily be deleted in the morning.

Wednesday, October 8, 2025 The Workshop: Not Departing from Tiny Arting

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Yes, the Tiny Art experiment continues.

My daughter shared a Pinterest idea of making them look like stamps, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I wanted to write “Home, tweet home” on the birdhouse one, but came to my senses just in time. It already looks too “kitschy.”

Balloons with tangled strings. Happy birthday and all that. Let’s move on to the next pages.

(The photos are kind of dark – perhaps I shouldn’t take them in a dimly lit room at night, eh?)

Pumpkins are once again pushing themselves as subjects for painting as if the month of October is ALL ABOUT THEM.

I went off into a little fancy about the tulips, giggling a bit to myself as I wrote.

I apologize for nothing.

I’ll be deleting this in the morning unless pumpkins take over the world LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO.

Tuesday, October 7, 2025 Tip O’ the Iceberg Quotes

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People say and write interesting things. Profound things. Funny things. Memorable things. Inspiring things. Whenever I copy a quote into my commonplace book, I’m aware that those few things I come across are just the teeny tiny tip of a very large iceberg. Here are a few more.

Stories give us something concrete to visualize: it is one thing to be told that bravery is important; it is another to see Frodo stand at the Council of Elrond and volunteer to take the Ring into Mordor. We need stories to show us what the good life looks like.
Leslie Anne Bustard, Strong Allies

So true. I remember reading The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew as a child. It made me want to be a better daughter and sibling more than any number of lectures could have.

I have now concentrated all my prayers into one,
and that prayer is this,
that I may die to self
and
live wholly to Him.
C.H. Spurgeon

Why use a lot of words when you can distill it all into one simple prayer?

The church is not a club or a content platform.
It is the miracle of bones coming together,
joints connecting,
breath entering dry lungs.
The Spirit does not hover over individual hearts
like vapor over isolated tea cups.
He fills a body.
A living, awkward, breathing, bruised body.
And when the body gathers,
Christ is present in a way that He is not
when you are alone.
Pastor Rich Bitterman

What do you think?

And now, in honor of Voddie Baucham (1969-2025):

We cannot continue to send our children
to Caesar for their education
and be surprised
when they come home as Romans.
Voddie Baucham

Sometimes God is glorified
when sick saints get well.
But more often than not,
God is glorified
when sick saints die well.
Voddie Baucham

This is another brother in Christ that I look forward to meeting in glory. Rest in peace, Pastor Baucham.

I’d love for you to share some quotes in the comments section that caught your eye and made you think.

If I told you that I was going to delete this in the morning, would you believe me?

Monday, October 6, 2025 The Ten O’Clock P.M. Post

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I don’t actually have anything to say at 10:00 at night, and I’m sorry for you to have received this, thus wasting your precious time. However, to make it a little more interesting, I’ll drag a couple photos out of the “never used” photo file.

It’s all quite startling isn’t it? What bold colors! A bird in mid-flight! I took that photo last March or April and upon looking at it realized that I’d forgotten to take the camera off “vivid setting.”

So I fixed it and took another photo of the same three birds, although by this time both the finches were perched and the cardinal looked like it was ignoring them. The finches were probably having the kind of perky conversations that finches have – you know how they go on. If you were there, you might have ignored them, too.

But enough of that. I’ve taken up too much of your time already.

This perky post will be ignored in the morning.

Friday, October 3, 2025 My Moped Moment

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We went to Madeline Island in Wisconsin recently. My husband suggested ahead of time that we would want to rent mopeds to get around on the island. Inwardly, I rejected this immediately because…well, fear has no rationality. The closer the trip got, the more it seemed clear that a moped ride was going to be in my future, whether I liked it or not. I looked at the website of the moped rental place and was reassured that no prior experience was necessary; the staff would show you all you would need to know. But I still would have been happy for a reason not to do it. “Oh no – it’s raining! Too bad!” Or “It turns out I’m really too old to learn something new, Too bad!” In spite of my misgivings, the day came.

I had pictured that the moped training session would start with perhaps a 5-10 minute video, followed by the kind of of hovering instruction a parent gives when teaching their precious child to ride a bike without the training wheels. Instead, the young man showed me the moped and in about 15 seconds covered the three things I needed to do to run the thing. I am not exaggerating (which I need to say because I love to exaggerate). “You’ll do this on the left handle, push this button and do this on the right handle. Have fun!” Not so fast, buster. I asked him to tell me again more slowly and at the amused look on his face, I had to tell him, “I’m not kidding.” So he went over it again. I still wasn’t completely clear on things, so he suggested that if we wanted to practice a little bit there was a parking lot just up the street. Of course my motorcycle-riding hubby did not need any practice, but yes, I want to practice a bit. Perhaps more than a bit.

Somehow I managed to get myself over to the lot, fielding a series of “micro-panics” on the way. (Did I invent that term? I really like it!) Once in the lot, I proceeded to careen here and there, turning awkwardly and not using the two handles (brake on the left, accelerate on the right) very well. While my husband’s back was turned, I ran into a bush and had to extricate myself. I managed to get over to where he was and I said grimly, “I don’t have any muscle memory for this at all.” He responded cheerily, “You’ll be fine!”

And I was. It turns out that once you hit the open road, there’s not a lot of fussing that you have to do with the handles. In addition, there was a great deal of fortifying prayer going on in my mind. By the time we got to the Big Bay State Park (25 minute ride at 25 mph), the micro-panics had subsided almost entirely and I was actually enjoying it. On the way back to the rental place, I was feeling like a pro. Hubby joked to the kids that I was already looking at buying leathers. Ha ha! I feel a micro-panic coming on.

Fear not, for I am with you
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you.
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

This post will self-destruct at the first sign of a micro-panic. Oops – gone already!

Thursday, October 2, 2025 The Lost and Found Three of Hearts

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I picked up this card in a parking lot at one of our state parks after a hike a few years ago. Why do I still have it? I guess I’ve not completely given up my tendency to be a bit of a pack rat, especially intriguing little odds and ends.

When I was a child, I tucked things away in my room in little boxes or containers and thought of them as my treasures. One time I went to the Rose Gardens and created a little hole in the ground for some of these tiny treasures on a little hill just up from Dupont Avenue. I covered it over carefully and delighted to come back now and again to see if they were still there. The day inevitably came when the hole came up empty. I consoled myself with the thought that perhaps another pack rat had come upon my eclectic cache and felt like they’d struck the mother lode. I know it would have been a dream come true for me to come across something like that.

Anyway, the design on the back of the card appealed to me, the owls and other birds taking their places on the ornate circle of swirling leaves on vines. The other side shows what a beating the card had taken, being driven over at least once, I think. Someone lost just one card while they were at the park, the three of hearts. Did they go home to play a game and mourn to find out that their favorite deck was missing a card?

I actually lost one of my favorite barrettes on one of those hikes. It must have gotten caught on my hat and fallen to the ground when I took the hat off in the parking lot before getting into the car – I didn’t notice it until later. I went through the kind of mourning that you might do for a very trivial but valued thing. There was a short and meaningful memorial service that took place over only a few seconds in my mind. Did someone find that barrette and see it as a treasure? Or was it pitched unceremoniously in the nearest trash bin? Perhaps even now, someone is writing a blog post about the lost teal-colored barrette. Perhaps…

As for the card, I put it in the front zipper pocket of my Bible holder and there it resides to this day. Every once in a while I take it out, admire it, and put it back.

I’ll be burying this in a hole on blog hill in the morning.

Wednesday, October 1, 2025 The Workshop: Tiny Art Cart

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I feel an odd determination to continue finding fun little rhymes for “art,” but am aware of the fact that this train of destiny is coming to a halt when it comes down to using the letter “f.” Sorry – not going to do it. But you can think about it and laugh if you’d like.

So, the latest in my tiny art world:

By October 1, pumpkins begin to push and bully their way onto the paper. Who can help it? But make sure you understand that a loose watercolor pumpkin is still a morally upright plant.

Blueberries are falling into a container. By the looks of it, there will be some falling onto the floor as well. And, if the truth be known, onto the back of the next painting.

If you were offered a cup of hot something on a cold day, what would your preference be? Tea for me, please! Or if I’m feeling luxurious and extravagant, some hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

Look! It’s a curious bluebird! Something has caught his eye – wish I knew what it was.

This cup of hot blog post will be too cold to drink in the morning.

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 Let’s Not Be Hasty

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More quotes to ponder:

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:9

Do not spoil the wonder with haste!
JRR Tolkien

Lots of reasons not to be hasty, apparently.

If I find in myself a desire
which no experience in this world
can satisfy,
the most probable explanation
is that I was made
for another world.
CS Lewis

Every experience God gives us
is the perfect preparation
for the future only He can see.
Corrie Ten Boom

Comparison
is the thief
of joy.
Theodore Roosevelt

Nobody ever outgrows Scripture;
the book widens and deepens
with our years.
Charles Spurgeon

That ought to be enough to chew on for now. Get those brain cells working!

This is the part where I say I will probably delete this in the morning. There – I said it.

Tuesday, September 23, 2025 Like a Bird, Like a Leaf

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More quotes to ponder…

When I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird.
When I fall,
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.
Wendell Berry

The summer has been splendid,
but it has lasted long enough.
This morning, I viewed the falling leaves
with cheerfulness.
A.A. Milne

Don’t ever imagine that anything is too small to pray about.
If it concerns you, it concerns God.
Elisabeth Elliot

O bed! O bed! O delicious bed!
That heaven on earth to weary head!
Thomas Hood

I wonder many times that a child of God
should ever have a sad heart,
considering what their Lord
is preparing for them.
Samuel Rutherford

O blog! O blog! O deleting blog! …in the morning