"....Rest Beside the Weary Road..."

My Grandmother has had pneumonia for several weeks now. She was admitted to the hospital two days after I returned home from visiting her in
Arkansas. This is an unexpected turn of events as we have been giving so much attention to Granddaddy's health in recent months.

Word reached me today that Grandmother is declining and that doctors are just trying to make her comfortable.

The third verse of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" has been on my mind all through this holiday season as I have thought about and prayed for my grandparents. I share it here as I think of them.

"And ye, beneath life's crushing load
Whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing:
O rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing!"

My First Real Project With The Cricut!

A few weeks ago, I got on a crafty kick. Remember? I made this book-page canvas wall hanging.

It was fall-themed, so I eventually had to take it down leaving a blank space on my wall.

Earlier this week, I saw a DIY post at Blue Cricket Design showing how to make a beautiful book-page canvas with a silhouette of birds. I decided to make one for the blank space on my wall!

Since I recently gained access to a Cricut machine and have downloaded the Sure Cuts A Lot program, I wanted to use it to make the silhouette instead of drawing it as done in the tutorial. I did a search for free SVG files of bird and branches and found this one. I imported the branch to Sure Cuts a Lot and manipulated it and cut it out several times, combining them to make a branch to my liking. I also cut out the bird in two different sizes to give variety.

I stayed up late into the night to finish it, because I was so excited to see the final product! I love the world that the cricut has opened, and can't wait for future projects. This one fills the blank space on my wall nicely!