Day of Rest

Have you ever read the comic strip Mutts?  It is my absolute favorite, and I have the strip of the day sent to my email everyday.  I really look forward to it. It's all about animals, specifically a cat named Mooch and a dog named Earl who are best friends.  Yesterday the strip had a kitty on the beach, and it had a lovely quote, actually a Spanish proverb:  "How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterward."  I really love Sundays - when I was young it was just understood that it was a day of rest, a day to write letters, read poetry or the comics, or walk through a cemetary.  No noise, no shopping, no technology.  Just simple easy food and relaxing.  How wonderful.  Today is so different for most people.  I still love to have a day of rest on Sunday - after church and lunch, we can nap with the dogs, write letters (or emails), and now for me, write on this blog every Sunday.  It is a comfortable rhythm, and I so clearly see God's wisdom in giving us a day of rest, and a day for family.  I treasure this time, more than I can express.  Sometimes on Sundays we do a leisurely craft or project, and I'd like to share one with you today.  Though I enjoy getting on the website Pinterest very much, nothing takes the place of an actual pin board or bulletin board.  They are in some ways an art form, yet fluid and thought provoking.  Robin has been keeping several boards in her room for most of her life - she started out taping pictures and cut outs from magazines on her closet door when she was around four years old, then graduated to boards, and currently has 18 of them in her room right now.  I have two going, though recently I've had an addional six that I've taken down because I plan to paint soon. Here are my two:

my first, and this one Robin gave me for my birthday:

I have lots of room to add more to this one, Robin made the background and I'm sort of adding things in the same color scheme.  It's a lot of fun.  I guess it's like 3-D scrapbooking, sort of.  Robin's are more detailed and interesting, and some of them have history, quotes, and pictures, some are biographical  - about people she admires or have read a lot about.  This next one has some famous faces you might recognize - I love the sketching of Victoria and Albert near the top right.

Do you see the photo at the very top left of this one? That's Robin at age one between Pooh and Tigger!  We also like to add other little things to the boards such as brooches, stamps, prayer cards, stickers, and postcards, as well as vintage illustrations printed from the internet or greeting cards or notes from friends.

It is fun to look at these, and to see the way they ebb and flow over time.  Have you ever made a board?  I highly recommend it.  Just put one up and add to it gradually.  See what develops. 

This artistry has also managed to express itself on the refridgerator door.  I read somewhere a long time ago that a busy and full refridgerator door was a reflection of a happy home.  I've found that to be true for us, and now just see how busy and happy our refridgerator is:

Here is the side, covered with those tiny word magnets you find in bookstores:

a close up:

and the front:

No particular order here, just little things added here and there. 
I've been working away at my cross stitch daily - here's a progress photo of the Queen's Crowns, nearly finished:

It has been a lovely and restful day after all, it started out right, too. We got to church a little early, so Robin took me to the park and showed me a lovely foot bridge.  I realized it's the only place this summer I have gone outside of the normal schedule - what a gift.  Thank you, Robin for sharing this lovely morning with me!
Here's Holly patiently waiting for me to get off the computor, so I'll say bye for now, see you next Sunday.  Have a restful day!

Peace!  Shari