The price of a lamb

Well, Pat got back home and showed me the sale slip for Speckles. He weighed 115 pounds and he sold for $1.23 a pound. After the sale barn takes it's cut, we got $134.79. About what all that colostrum and lamb feeder cost. But isn't that how it is with babies, expensive but worth it. I try not to think about Speckles becoming lamb chops.

BooHoo

Well, we decided that it was silly to keep Speckles, the lamb, any longer so he went off in the trailer to the sale barn today. He wasn't cuddly and cute anymore and we couldn't stand the thought of butchering him ourselves so... boohoo my baby is gone. I remember how he would sit on my lap so peaceful when we drove to the nursing home or church (the children's story). The old folks loved him. And yes, I was driving with him on my lap. But he was better than a dog or cat or some children I've met.
So after I said my prayer this morning, I was singing out loud, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and I truly heard the line, God and sinner reconciled. The writer of that hymn understood the truth of Jesus' birth and why that was peace to us.
We did kill the roosters (all 5) Sunday, I'll write about that another time. It was crazy and the roosters were too old.

Anyway, here's to spring lambs and hopefully no more bottle fed babies. and here's to gratitude to Jesus for reconciling us and giving us that perfect peace.

 

Saw a card using an old reader illustration and thought I'd give it a try. It's 6x6. Have alphabet paper on top then a strip of green cardstock, some old blue ricrac with glitter to cover the exposed adhesive. a punched blue cardstack flower with a lavender flower brad that has a rhinestone on it and a tag that says, "you're so fun!" tied to back of brad with twine.

December 3

Sometimes when things are stressful, you just have to bake! And new recipes are the best to try because you need to sing a NEW SONG, like David says in the Psalms. So today I made Orange Cranberry Loaf from the cookbook Colorado Collage. It sounded good, the batter looked wonderful and the bread measured up in every way. We have restrained ourselves to only eating half the loaf tonight, but I was wise enough to double the recipe and make 2 loaves so we would have more longer. Here goes:

325 degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. One loaf pan greased and floured.

Big bowl: 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 cup sugar
stir this together

little bowl: 1 egg beaten, 2 TB melted butter, 3/4 cup orange juice stir this together

another bowl: 1 cup cranberries cut in half (be smart use the food processor and a couple of pulses) and 3/4 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Make sure oven hot, pan ready and tada, add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix, then add the berries and nuts and stir in well.
Mixture will be thick. Pour into pan, put in oven and set timer. When done set on rack til pan cool enough to touch and then take out of pan and let finish cooling on rack. Divine.

November 1st

Dug most of our potatoes tonight, ate some boiled then browned in butter and they were yummy.
The ram, Blackie, got to join the girls yesterday and he and the girls were happy to be together. So we will have March baby lambs in 2011.
Mabel fell Saturday night and re-broke her left wrist (had just gotten the splint off from first break) and she broke her left hip. So now she has broken both hips in less than a year.
Aunt MaryJane died, I found out when I called Mom Sunday as she had just gotten home from the funeral. Sad but she's out of pain now.
Crystal is engaged to be married and we are all happy for her.
Pat's family is all coming here for Turkey Day (as Uncle Bill used to say).
Managed to get all 3 class supplies for this month cut and ready; so now it's get house ready for influx of people and then cook my head off.
We have a cat now. Walter (Mabel's cat originally) who gave us a scare last week when he disappeared. But he returned a couple of days later and apparently decided he would have to be satisfied with us as his feeders.
Not much to tell, it's just life as usual.

pictures

Okay, all the baby pictures are posted along with old, ugly me. and just in case you wondered about the big ball picture it is the one of the moon Pat took with my camera and his scope of the full moon! Aren't my 1/2 day old lambs cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butternut Squash Rolls

Found in an old craft/cooking magazine but don't remember what title is but it says the recipe is from Bernice Morris of Marshfield, Mo.

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (110-115 degrees F.)
1/4 c. warm water (110-115 deg. F.)
3 TB softened butter or margarine
2 tsp salt
1/2 c. sugar
1 cup cooked and mashed butternut squash
5-5 1/2 c. flour

In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in milk and water.
Add butter, salt, sugar, squash and 3 cups of flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Form into rools. place in 2 greased 10 inch cast-iron skillets or 9 inch round pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes ir until golden brown. Yeild about 2 dozen.

I put mine in a pyrex rectangular dish, made them big and got 16 rolls.
They are wonderful!

New babies!

Last night when we put the sheep up for the night we realized that Little Girl was going to deliver very soon. Her bag was swollen and tight. Sure enough this morning about 9:30 AM her water broke. I had to go to work so we put her in the birthing stall in the barn. With Pat's help on the second one; she had two precious babies. The first was a little boy who is white with a pale brown face and a brown circle around his neck. He was 9# 3 oz. Then came the little girl who had her front legs folded under her instead of feet first, nose between. It's rather hard to give birth to head and knees simutaneously! But Pat worked with her and one very dark brown little girl with a white patch on her head and striped legs, esp. the left rear leg, came forth. She was 9# 1 oz. In honor of Pat, I named the babies Wayne and Patty (Patrick Wayne). The mama is a barbados hair sheep and the daddy 1/2 wooly and 1/2 suffolk so we get some fantastic little ones from that mix! They both have barbados faces, slender and small and suffolk legs, long. Of course, I am in love with them. We'll try to get some pictures tonight before we put the sheep in their night pasture.

I made the butternut squash rolls and they are rising this late afternoon. Thank goodness for the kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook! I had never used it to make yeast bread before but it's such a snap and makes the kneading part real minimal. I felt about 14 again kneading bread! I'll let you know how they turn out.

Gotta clean out one more kitchen cabinet before I start supper. Ta Ta.

Fall is here and how!

Well, I had no idea how busy I would get with fall harvest! But I learned how to make Kosher dill pickles and I wish Daddy was alive to taste them. They turned out better than store bought. I still have many pie pumpkins to harvest, a few squash and many grapes plus the tomatoes are finally peaking. So I'm torn between wanting the tomatoes to go on forever and wanting frost to put an end to those gardening chores. I have boxes piled on the dining area floor of canned goods and jelly. I ran out of cupboard space long ago. So as we strive toward the obtaining of money to finish our root cellar, we have boxes mounting up. The utility room has stacks of pumpkins, acorn squash and butternut and buttercup squash. The potatoes need to be dug. The okra cry a few more leaves off every night. They are so fragile.

Talked to Mom today, she enjoyed the wedding (Lydia and Dennis). Her memory is getting bad and she forgets how to do things if she doesn't do them every day (like how to work the tape player) and her cataracts are making reading anything difficult, probably time for them to come off. She continues to be dizzy a lot. Hard to know whether meds or not getting enough fluids down. But it's probably a combination of the two. I so dread getting old as I watch so many people struggle with it and see how litle advice matters. And, I'll probably be as bad as they. Watch out nursing homes! My generation is going to be terrors!

For those of you that are keeping track, our Sabbath school class is now in the middle of Proverbs. We are reading 7 chapters each week and trying to find one each week that we would like to hang on the wall. I'm happy that we are reaching a place in our relationships where we are more comfortable sharing how the texts impact our lives and what we wish we had better understood as we were growing up. We came to the conclusion, as a group that it's not what you say but how you say it that makes the difference in our understanding and accepting correction and discipline. Anyway, we are now half way through reading the Bible! Isn't that cool!

Somehow, Blackie got to Little Girl before we seperated the sheep for summer and she is very pregnant but when the babies will occur, we haven't a clue! Sleeping Beauty is looking a little too fat for our comfort so I suppose we will have to get her down and take a peek. To much wool to see without the sheep upside down.

Pat's doing our 3rd cutting of hay today. Not a very big harvest but the cool weather tells you it's now or loose the alfalfa with a hard frost.

Well, that is it for today

hiatus over

I do so appologize at the long gap. First I passed my annual kidney stones and then I had to catch up with all I let go during that time. We took pictures of the baby chicks tonight all crammed in with their mother and it appears we got 4 roosters and 2 hens from the comb growth. So soon I will get to try the age old practice of killing and eating our own chickens. I'm not looking forward to it! We are being swamped with zucchini and spaghetti squash and soon it will be armenian cucumbers, too. We finally got our rains these past 2 weeks, a bit late for the root vegetables but the squash and pumpkins are making the garden look like a jungle.

I wrote some notes durin the time I didn't post, however, I didn't date them. Anyway, you can get an idea of some of the stuff I thought about.

Wednesday: this morning it was hazy gray with clouds and more impending rain. I had 15 minutes before I had to shower and get ready for work, so I went out and sat on the deck. I looked at the trees and flowers, I've planted. The sheep were grazing peacefully in the pasture. The chickens are finding nice bugs after last night's rain. The mama chicken is showing her babies how to scratch and find good things to eat. If the mama got too far away, I'd hear a baby chick make a tiny trilling noise and run toward her. It was a totally different sound than the cheep, cheep they usually make. Did the noise mean "wait for me, mama" or "mama, where are you?" or maybe it was the happy sound for simply looking up and seeing mama. The dog lay on the lawn and munched on an old bone she had stashed and recovered. My stress melted away. Then I realized that my 15 minutes were probably gone and I jumped up and raced to the shower. I looked at the clock and was stunned that only 5 minutes had passed!

Of course, I knew the passenger side wiper needed to be replaced and procrastinated until it rained, and rained hard, too. I had changed the blade probably 2 years ago all by myself and did it with difficulty. Now I couldn't remember exactly how it went. So in the pouring rain I got the old wiper off and managed to knock a little part out of the wiper assembly so I had to look at the driver's side wiper way too many times to figure out where and how it went back together. then I finally got a new one on with much prayer and frustration. It was much easier once I found the helpful little diagram in my trunk that had come with the wiper. Now will I remember the next time I need to change one how it goes? I am so NOT mechanically inclined.

When I got to Gene's house, the gentle rain and humidity continued and Glenda's dill made the air smell faintly of polish dill pickles. It made me hungry for sharp cheddar cheese sandwiches with dill pickles, sweet onion and miracle whip on oatnut bread, a few Lays classic potato chips and an ice cold rootbeer.

Stopped at the library and returned my books and got 5 more.
Ladies With Options by Cynthia Hartwick
The Tie That Binds, Where You Once Belonged, Plainsong, and Eventide all by by Kent Haruf.

Finished Ladies With Options. It's a must read for those times you need some humor and a quick read for pleasure. The author has some sharp bites of humor that are quoteable. "She's an intellectual omnivore, she wants to know everything." "Aikido, which I think is Japanese for flowing water or call a doctor." Yoga's a lot like being a demented mime" or on having a bad singing voice, sounded like a "professional beagle imitator".

Finished the last of Kent Haruf's books. I'm glad I read them in order of his writing of them so I could hear his voice beginning and watch him grow. He writes about the farmers and ranchers and people of the Eastern slope of Colorado. I understand them better now. But his best two are the last two. First, Plainsong and then Eventide. I hope he writes more in this vein. Excellent stories.

So now we are caught up. Tomorrow is class at my house and we are going to start on our art quilts. It will be 12 x 12 and it will be interesting to see how everyone chooses their topic and makes their quilt. Tomorrow, we will look at various pictures of other's art quilts (in magazines) and I'll show them my idea of what I will do, plus how Steam and Seam iron on applique stuff works. I'm going to use a baby picture of my lamb Speckles and use flower appliques, beading and a bit of stamping but I won't be sure of how exactly it will turn out, it will evolve as I do it. But I die cut some flower appliques out of the material I bought for it and it's going to be real cool. The first time I've ever tried this but I'm crazy so I lead the pack!

Mary Lou's cactus bloomed!

 

Latest Read

Just finished reading, "The Calligrapher's Daughter" by Eugenia Kim. Very interesting book and well written. I started it last night, read all but a few last chapters while waiting at Big O Tire for them to put on two new tires and do the realignment (about 3 1/2 hours) and then I came home, ate a late lunch and finished it. It is about Korea during the Japenese take over until it was finally liberated because of the bombing of Japan by the USA. I've read several book in the past year on Japanese, Chinese and now Korean nations and how they lived,ate,dressed and thought. This bigoted (not proud) American (me) thought they were all quite similar but most definitely they were very different in many ways, rice being the main constant in food and scarcity in meat similar. But how they seasoned their food made it very different. Anyway, if you can find it at your library, read it. It's hard to put down.

Next Sabbath Psalm 43-56

Sabbath school class nest week read Psalm 43-56. Make note of the verses that mean a lot to you in each Psalm and try to memorize a verse or part of a verse if you can. Then share why that verse is so important to you.

Pictures of Hen and baby chicks and nanking cherry tree before being picked

 

 

 

 

 

So Sad

We ended up with 7 baby chicks. From yellow to brown to black. Adorable little balls of fluff. I went out to check on them I got home and I kept counting only 6 chicks. Looked everywhere and then I found the little chick with brown on head floating in the big water tub, I would have sworn it was too high for a baby to get into! It made me so sad. Emptied tub so no more lose their lives but there are plenty of dangers on a farm for little ones to get into trouble. Boo hoo.

Baby Chicks

Pat went went out to do the morning chores and came right back, saying he saw a baby chick. I couldn't find my shoes fast enough! So I race out there and you could see one popping it's head out of the left side of her feathers and I reached in and being very gentle pulled some of her feathers aside saw at least 3 baby chicks. The whole time I did this she pecked at my hand but the pecks weren't as vicious as when she just had eggs. It is so exciting. Can't wait until they are all hatched. Which they should be by the end of today.

Naps

I just woke up from my nap. It seems I need one almost every day now. My mind feels sharper after a nap and I feel like I can go on until evening now. I got to talk to my best friend in the whole world today, Sharon M, and it always makes me sad that we are so far away from each other. But thank God for cell phones, and e-mail. All you pray-ers out there please join me in praying for my friend, God knows what about.

I wrote last week about memorizing, and this week I realized I should do it like anatomy in college. Index cards and carry it with me and drill myself when driving or a few minutes to spare, plus I wrote keywords to remind myself of the correct order. I thought I already knew the 23rd Psalm but apparently I didn't remember the exact order! So that has been my passage this week to memorize. I trust with more effort the memorization will get easier. Anyway, I went and got the index cards and the cute little boxes to hold them in for all the people in my Sabbath school class. Walmart has these cute little snap box holders in the back to school section this year. Just don't throw away the cardboard insert or you'll never snap your box again until full of cards. I cut the insert into a front, back and bottom joined piece (got rid of the top section) so I can put the unused cards into the cardboard sleeve and keep the card or cards that I am memorizing in front of the insert. Did this make sense?

We ate our first two tiny ripe tomatoes from the garden last night for supper. You forget after awhile just how much store bought tomatoes lack, even the ones still on the bit of dried up vine, until you have that first one out of your garden. Oh, the juicy sweetness that bursts into your mouth as your brain does a giant sigh of bliss! Fresh tomatoes! Summer is here at last.

We finally got the parsnips, carrots, beets and radishes re-planted with the sawdust on top to help with moisture and we have radishes coming up thick as thieves and teeny tiny little beet sprouts are visible. The wind and heat here have been extra wild this year. Makes you feel like a brand new gardener wringing your hands!

I have been following several different blogs this week and one of them is a woman gardener in France, they have bind weed there, too! Some people write, some people take pictures and some do both. It's very interesting! I need to get my childlike spirit rekindled and take more pictures. It is important to see other's worlds through their eyes.
If you are reading any other blogs, tell me about them and why you llike them and I'll share mine with you, too.

Have a wonderful Sabbath and rest in Jesus.

4th of July

Well, we decided there were too many wild cherries yet. So we picked the rest and today I enjoyed the holiday by making 4 batches of wild cherry pancake syrup and 4 batches of wild cherry jelly. Dad Coady is coming for supper of dogs and buns, chips and potato salad Dad Troyer style and baked beans.

The wind is blowing like mad and the trees are bowing halfway to the ground with it! The dog always freaks out with the wind howling like this.

In case you ever have wild cherries to pick the recipe is 3 1/2 cups juice to 5 cups sugar and 1 pkg of pectin. To make the syrup just omit the pectin.

Now I'm out of jars, so guess I will be buying many more for the bumper crop of grapes and plums to come.

Hope your 4th is fun and you get fireworks to watch. None for us, too much fire danger.

Lesson for next Sabbath

Please read Psalm 15-28 for next Sabbath and memorize one verse. Plus pray for all the members of class so they will find memorization easier than we did this week. I, personally found it extrremely difficult. It was a great big fuzzball in my brain week. Satan doesn't want us to memorize God's word. But I realize that much of it is my sinfulness and finding other things more important than God's word and I am ashamed that I can remember which row of re-inkers has the brightest blue or the new book I want to find at the Library and who wrote it, but couldn't memorize Psalm 5:1,2 adequately to recite word for word. I find it easily to remember concepts and what it means but verbatim!!! Sad, isn't it. How do we get ourselves to find God's word valuable enough to store it in the quick retrieve part of our brain? Any suggestions?

Anyone who has good ideas that work for them please share with me so I can share them with the class. And if you are a pray-er, pray for Julie, Bill, Peter, Pam, Debbie and myself. Thanks, in advance.

wild cherry jelly

Sabbath school class: this week read the first 14 Psalms and memorize at least one verse of the 14 to share with the class. We read last week that people in Bible times memorized much more readily than we do now and we talked about how we need to memorize more because in the time before Jesus comes we might not have our Bibles any more and we will need to comfort ourselves and others with God's Word, and hence the only way we can do that is by memorizing.
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The nanking cherries (wild type cherries) did well this year and the ones that I planted 6 years ago when I first moved here, the ones God blessed and made live, did the best. I made 10 batches of jelly yesterday! It only took me 7 1/2 hours to do it and that was after all my morning jobs away from home! And there are still more to pick if I feel in the mood. I'm sort of thinking that the birds could enjoy the rest.

When we first moved here, Pat was gone helping his Dad back in Denver so I tried to dig holes to plant the trees that I'd lucked into because someone didn't want their order from the conservation agency. The ground was like concrete and I couldn't dig a deep enough hole to bury roots so I finally heeled them in and told God if they lived it would be because he made them live despite my pathetic efforts. And they did live and they always out bloom, give the most berries and it is because of God and God alone that they do well.

The others that we planted the next year do okay, though. The next year we planted wild plums and hackberry trees. All are doing good, if is continues as it looks I'll be making plenty of plum jelly later this summer. The hackberry are just a deciduous tree that forms a wind break.

Our asparagus plants are doing wonderful and our mouths are watering for that tiny crop we can eat next year and the big crop we can eat the year after that!

I had to replant the okra as the first crop didn't take and we are going to have to re-plant carrots, beets and parsnips as the first planting did so poorly. We have so much wind here! It dries the soil and since it rarely rains (high desert) we have to irrigate everything and we have had a late melt this year (hasn't happened yet!) our irrigation water has been cut to only 60% of what we usually get. But we are finding that sawdust is good to put on top of tiny seeds so it will hold in the moisture better and give it more of a chance to germinate. Our tomatoes are pathetic, too. We are trying to germinate some more in the shop to supplement but something, a mouse?, ate almost all the tiny first leaves off 2 nights ago!

Well, I'd better get back to cleaning my craft room, any excuse to play seems more fun! If I'd quit being such a pack rat and if I'd put things back when I was done; I'd be someone else! Kind of like telling someone today my weeds are growing...like weeds!

Father's Day

Yesterday we ate our first spinach. It was sorta ugly because of the hail damage but once it was cooked until just barely wilted it was marvelous with the ravioli in Alfredo sauce. Store bought fresh spinach isn't bad but I swear our just picked stuff had the most wonderful nourishing taste, the essence of warm green vitamins filling winter's lack in your body. A spring tonic like poke greens and lambs quarter in the spring when we were kids. I often believe that our bodies have this sense of what we lack in the way of food supplied vitamins if we can hear it speak. But we tend to overeat and fill our stomach with convenient food rather than think what does my body need to survive. I also believe that we often confuse hunger with thirst. We are easily confused. But if you doubt, try for even just one day, and every time your body or mind says hunger, give it water instead. Yes, eat your three meals a day but all that inbetween stuff, take a drink of your body's main component, water. I think it will make you laugh at how you've been fooled.

Sabbath school class, this week read chapters 29-through the end of Job. Then we get to read the Psalms.

It's been a crazy week, Betty left to visit Michael (Washington) so I had her house to look after and then Mabel fell at the nursing home and ended up in the hospital with another break. Same side as one not yet healed. They are debating whether or not to do more surgery. Old people sure need good advocates, doctors just don't work well with them and this old person is often confused so what does she know and how quick will she forget, 2 seconds or maybe 1 hour. So I feel like a crazy person running from one house to another, hospital, nursing home (Merle is there) and then my own house. I managed to get Pat and his Dad's Father Day cards done in between frying chicken! The bad thing about being able to make cards, is now you are obligated to make all cards or you must not love them!

Speeaking of cards, this week is birthday card committee thursday at church, I feel like the rabbit in Alice of Wonderland, oh what will I do!

I did get in a couple of yard sales Friday morning before all this happened. I got a baker's rack for $10.00 which I promptly set up in my kitchen to hold all my jars of beans and pasta. I collect decorative glass canisters or containers with attractive lids and store my stuff in them because they look pretty. Now I have a bit more counter space and cupboard space. And let me tell you, my cupboards need re-organization again! How does this happen? Oh yes, I'm in a hurry and just shove it where ever! I also got a deck of cards from Shanghai China that says, Characters in Water Margin. The cards all have different chinese people like samarai warriors, peasants, etc on them. I don't know if this was a play or a painted piece of chinese art. Water Margin, guess I'll have to investigate. But I love the pictures and they will turn into some spcial cards with some chinese calligraphy rubber stamps. Okay, Water Margin is one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. It is during the Song dynasty or the 11th century.

The Annual Lamb Roast

The recipe for lamb roast was utterly delish! Those Greeks know how to cook lamb! This lamb was so yummy that I even liked it cold and before you could not have paid me to eat it cold. Of course the lamb was on the spit so all the grease came out, but something about the lemon juice made all the difference and while warm the oregano was evident but not overwhelming and it married in the lamb overnight to become one. Not as many people showed as we had asked but those that did show, I hope had as good of a time as we did. After the feast, Sharon played the keyboard, Sheryl the violin and Omar the harmonica. It is always so special to have live music and hear the musicians jam, first one starts some music and then the others come on one by one. Now we need more musicians and more parties! I'm thinking a fall harvest one could be fun! No one was a garlic aficionado, but several tasted it and pronounced it good. Best of all 3 people brought chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, each was different and each was yummy, I assure you! I enjoyed hearing a bit about Scotland from Matt, who is going to law school there. I always wish I could be everywhere at once and hear every one's stories. Doug and Coady brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers to adorn the table. All in all it was a great party for me and I had fun. Ryan and Crystal brought their little boy (4 months old) with them, our first glimpse, and he was a smiley baby and seemed intrigued by all the people he saw. His name is Osage River! I'd like to be a mouse when the first grade teachers get this new generation. There are some really unique names out there right now. Hope this encourages you all to try new recipes and have more parties! Ta ta!

Garlic Confit

For Christmas last year I gave Pat the cookbook How to Roast a Lamb, new Greek classic cooking by Michael Psilakis. We're having our annual lamb roast this Sunday and we're going to do it the Greek way. So I thought it might be time for me to deal with my garlic phobia (don't like). I bought a bunch of garlic and made garlic confit per the same cookbook. It does get sweet when cooked like that. I ate a whole clove all by myself. So much better than garlic salt! So now I'm the proud owner of 2 and 3/4 pints of garlic confit! It consists of 3-4 cups whole garlic cloves peeled (took me about 2 hours to peel all those!), whole peppercorns 15, kosher salt, fresh thyme (from my garden), bay leaves, and 1/2 canola oil and 1/2 virgin olive oil, roast in oven in a dutch oven @300 degrees. It took 1 3/4 hours for my batch. You can use the left over oil in the jar once the garlic is gone to drizzle over whatever you need. We'll serve some at the lamb roast and I'll let you know the verdict. I still have to make the barley salad and the tsatziki sauce (yogurt sauce with cuke, onion and mint that is delish with lamb).

devotion this am

From Charles Spurgeon, "We shall not be ashamed of our love. Jesus is to us the altogether lovely, and never, never, shall we have to blush because we have yielded our hearts to him. The sight of our glorious Well-beloved will justify the most enthusiatic attachment to him. None will blame the martyrs for dying for him."

pictures

The first picture below this is the dog in her bone chewing palace aka my herb and flower garden by patio. The 2nd one is Pat petting suffolk sheep and sleeping beauty racing to me as I try to take her picture so you can see she's growing up! All the other pictures I got of her she got so close that I could only capture part of her face, she runs well.

 

 

Brain Damage

Apparently, I have a severe case of brain damage. Class wasn't last night but next Monday! Oh well, I'm all preped for it now! Got up early and did my gardening job and it was nice to have it so cool but I felt confused all morning going to work 2 hours early!

When I got home Pat was gone on his jobs for the day so I laid down with the mail from yesterday, my options were Architectural Digest (AD) and Adventist World. I know hard choices! But I felt so sleepy so I chose Adventist World, the June issue. I think it is probably the best one yet! There is a web site about a creation movie presented in Germany that I want to check out www.dieSchoepfung.eu and then the article In God's Image by Richaard Spillman on creativity was great. Then The Greatest Story Ever Told by Connie Vandeman Jeffery and the section Ron's story was very touching, indeed, Jesus took our pain! And the very first of Small Things....can lead to great results by Ellen G. White says: "Our ministers are to go forth to proclaim the message of present truth to those who have not heard it. And our churches should not feel jealous and neglected if they do not receive ministerial labor. They should themselves take up the burden and labor most earnestly for souls." We forget that we are supposed to be fishers of men and to work along side with our pastors instead of waited for their sermons each worship day like little robots.

As I was reading a part of the magazine, I had this overwhelming need to stop and pray for someone, like the thought was put there by the Holy Spirit, such an urgent thing that I stopped right there and the words flowed into my brain. I was astonished! Now, I can't wait to see what God is going to do! And after that another person came to mind and I prayed for that person, too, but it was me this time not a powerful must do thing. I don't think I've ever felt such a thing before, truly.

When I finished reading the mag, I picked up AD but after a couple of pages my head jerked with drift off sleep and I took a nice nap. Then, after the nap, I looked at AD but I wasn't too impressed today, it was a good reminder about what is really important!

Well, it's time to water things and cook things and care for things...you know... LIFE.

chickens

Thought you might like to see a picture of my chickens. They are taking a dust bath in my new addition to the flower bed! Chicken names for the curious are: brown chicken and white chicken (we raised from chicks) and big mama, kevin, and chicken hawk which were gifts from someone who had to move and yes, kevin is a girl. Probably a bit of confusion occured in the one who named it. Kevin shrieks madly when you first pick her up but seems to like being held and petted. White chicken likes to chase after the dog and try to get the dog bones from her (Lacy). Lacy does not like this at all. The brown chicken lays green eggs.

 

 

The beat goes on

Remember the cookbook thing? Well, Lois gave me a copy of An Apple A Day, which was published in 1967 (3rd printing) by wives of Loma Linda University Doctors(Los Angeles, California) A vegetarian cookbook. I noticed the bread and cookie section were marked and stained with food, which means that was the good stuff. There were some pretty good quick breads recipes. Now, I just have to cook!

#2 scrapbook class meets here tonight. We're going to play with grunge paper die cut into bird cage and bird with separate wing as well as decoupage, paint, glitter, etc. to make a 3-D tag. It's a messy, do you own thing class. I hope they enjoy it.
I took a couple of pictures of the tag so I'll try to post them.

trial and error

Okay, I roamed about on my blog settings and layout and found a new layout I liked better and I think you can leave comments now, Darlene, and whoever else wants to. I sure wish I knew more about computer stuff. But I know once I quit learning or wanting to learn the neurons die fast and I'd like to keep all the little brain cells i have. But I sure do wish I had a computer savy kid!

Iris

thought you might like to see a couple of my iris

 

 

 

Life is hard, but God is good

It's made me feel sad to hear of all the people I know and love to be ill, dying, fighting cancer, having strokes, waiting for donor organs and then knowing of the spouse and children and parent's sadness and struggles to cope, to say nothing of the person afflicted and trying to cope, to survive. And it's been at the top surface of my mind the last few days. Then today as I was driving about to my jobs, I heard the song, Life is Hard, but God is Good. And the part of the verse where it says, God never promised it would be easy, but He said you'd never be alone, hit me and comforted me and I hope it comforts you, too.

Oh, won't it be wonderful to get to heaven! No more sickness, death, pain, strokes, cancer, organ failure and whatever else ails us. Oh, the stories we will have to share with one another, the tears God will wipe away, and our joyous laughter that the old world is no more.

Let us all take hope and courage in Jesus Christ when our own hope and courage fails. This world is not our home.

Praying for each of you.

end of May/ start of June

Next week is a mini "vacation". It's campmeeting time. So no church as usual. Then the following week we will be reading the first 14 chapters of Job and will do that for 3 weeks (14 chapters) then we will be done with Job. Even though Job's friends erred in their explanations of Job's sufferings, there are many truths remaining about God, pick your favorites as you read along. Some of them are so awesome and others so comforting. I have more stuff outlined in Job than the previous chapters of the Bible.

There will be no scrapbooking/ stamping class the first Tuesday of June. We all need a rest and then we will see how things go for July.

Day Trippin' With God

Sabbath school, read the book of Esther this week. Where do you fit in this book? If there was a play which role would you like to play or which role would you feel the most comfortable playing?

Now to the title subject. Sometimes I get lonely, need some spice in my life or what ever and God so often is that friend and that spice in my life. I wanted to share this with you because it's not what one might think about but it is a delight to me.
I went to the thrift store here in Delta, there's only one, and I was looking for more children's books because I love to see Rachel enjoying them. I remember how much I loved books and well, you know....we like to give what we like to get. Anyway, some dufus had put some adult books in with the childrens books. One of them was a book entitled, Feast Here Awhile; Adventures in American Eating by Jo Brans. It looked interesting so I threw it in my pile to peruse as to whether I wanted to purchase it. Then I found the book Microwave Gourmet by Barbara Kafka, I started to put it back, but it was such a large book on microwave cooking that I took a second look and put that in my pile, also. Finally, I had this huge pile of books so I sat down and made the decisions. Had some wicked child scribbled over each picture with black crayon and therefore it was ruined, was the story decent for a young child. Was the art work good. When I got to the 2 books for me, well, Feast looked interesting and Microwave actually was written by a woman who was skeptical about microwaves and learned how they worked and what you could really do with them. So I got them both.

Got home picked up Feast and it was well written and enjoyable. She talked about eating as a child and then learning to cook on her own and then cooking trends in her adult life, various chefs who influenced America and her, cookbooks, etc. But the prize to me was on page 108. and I hope she forgives me for quoting. She was talking about church sponsored cookbooks for fund raisers.
"Sometimes a community, however well knit, has a resident heretic, like Mickey (Mrs. Gerald) Sandridge, whose Best Ever Rum Cake considerably enlivens Sharing Our Best, the publication of Bethel Presbyterian Church in Olive Branch, Mississippi. Here's the recipe:
Best Ever Rum Cake
1 or 2 qt. rum baking powder
1 c.butter 1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. sugar lemon juice
2 large eggs brown sugar
1 c. dried fruit nuts
Before you start, sample the rum to check the quality. Good, isn't it? Now go ahead, select a large mixing bowl, measuring cups, etc. Check the rum again, it must be just right. To be sure the rum is of the highest quality, pour one level cup of rum into a glass and drink it as fast as you can. Repeat. Now with electric, beat one cup of butter in large fluffy bowl. Add one seaspoon of thugar and beat again. Meanwhile make sure rum is of highest quadidy. Add 2 argeLeggs, 2 pucs of fried druit, and beat until high. If druit gets stuck in beaters, pry it joose with a drewscriver. Sample the rum again, checking for highest conscisticity. Next, sift 3 cups pepper or salt (it really does not matter which). Sample the rum again. Sift 1/2 pint lemon juice. Add 1 Babblespood brown thugar (or whatever color you can find). Wix mell. Grease oven and turn cake pan to 350 gredees. Now, pour the mhole wess into the boven and ake. Check the rum again and go to bed.

Now wasn't that funny! I certainly laughed myself silly!
So then I started reading the Microwave Gourmet the next day and this woman can make jam in the microwave! And I keep thinking this author sounded familar, well, yes she is, she was in the Feast Here Awhile book. So I got on the internet and Barbara Kafka is quite the cookbook author.
Vegetable Love
Soup, A way of Life
Roasting, A Simple Art
Party Food
as well as the one I now own.
Then I started laughing, God did this to me earlier in the year to get me to read Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains and thereby get a better understanding about Haiti. He had led me book by book to get me to that book.
I have been missing creative cooking ideas and need more veggie ideas since potluck at church is veggie, just incase someone in church feels eating meat is sinful and unhealthy (okay it is healthier to not eat meat but that ain't the only thing honey, watch us throng to the dessert table!)
Anyway, I had a good laugh at God's love to me and I know He had a good laugh at me laughing about His sneaky way to give me fun and love.

You know that song, Will I dance for You, Jesus, etc, etc? Well, I've often wondered what I would be like with Jesus when we have our special time. One day I heard a whisper and saw a picture in my mind that I would hang onto His hand and talk and talk and talk about all the cool things He's done that makes me happy and I'd ask Him a thousand questions and we'd laugh a lot. Now isn't that just like me? Dancing around and being silly happy! Yup, that's love!

Nursing Home Food

When will nursing homes realize that food is love? They need to hire people who love to cook and have great cooking skills. They need to have a larger food budget. Not extravagant, just a little more money, time and energy into providing what people actually want to eat and need for nutrition and that sense of being loved.
Examples:
If you serve soup, many people like a few crackers in their soup, plain saltines work. Plus the thicker substance is more easily kept on the spoon. Home cooked soup lets you cook the vegetables until they are soft and when it is pureed for those who need puree they will have great flavor and nourishment.
Rolls should be allowed to be served at room temperature, keeping them warm means they dry out and become hard. Dentured and edentulous people need soft bread and rolls.
Pureed food should be taught to all preparers to be food with a tiny bit of liquid and a tiny bit of gel, instead of a tiny bit of food and lots of water and gel which results in a glob of thick, sticky glue on their plate. I would not be able to force myself to eat it unless I was literally starving to death and that was my only option to preserve my life and even then I would probably say, let me die.
I love dessert. Who doesn't? Usually the very last taste sense we have before we die is for sweet. Sheet cake is easy to make for a bunch of people and icecream on top makes it easy for anyone to eat, even pureed. Mix up the icecream in the bowl with the cake, voila, pureed!
Someday, we are going to be old and in nursing homes. Is this how we want to eat when our time comes? Lets start caring about what our relatives and friends are eating in nursing homes now so when our time comes we've bettered the world and bettered nursing home food. Let's get real chefs to lead our kitchen help and teach them how to make wonderful tasting food that will nourish not only their bodies but their souls and let them know we love them. Because food is love.
Incase you are wondering, I have just dealt with atrocious food in the nursing home and they think, I am too emotional about her diet.
They don't know the half of it!

scrapbooking

I finally found a die I was needing, that was out of stock here and the main sources online and so I started searching various online stores to see if anyone had it and success! They had it, they shipped promptly and so it merited a better look. I checked out the gallery and you simply must see Gabriellep's pages in the gallery! I am pathetic compared to her. They also have a FREE online class of 24 lessons about learning to scrapbook. So I signed up and they are good lessons and they have links to YouTube so you can watch the demonstrations. I'm doing one a day and printing out the page for my reference. It's great for newbies and actually I'm learning some stuff, too. I always like to learn new stuff! The site is: Scrapbook.com.
And just in case you wondered what I wanted and bought it was the Tim Holtz die, Caged Bird. It cuts out a cage, a bird and a wing and if you die cut it out with grunge paper you can stamp it, curl it and it has great dimension. I wanted it for my next class so we could do something different, and fun.
just thought you'd like to know.

Just As I Am

While listening to the song, Just AS I Am, it hit me anew how wonderful God is to let us come to Him all dirty and sinful. We don't need nice clothes, a new haircut, glistening white teeth, polished shoes and all the various things one would need to do if they were going to meet the president and have him listen to us fairly. The president would never know our true heart, he would judge us by appearance. But God doesn't need all those trappings, He can judge us fairly by knowing our heart. I am so grateful that God knows the real me and that when He sees a flaw in me, He will help me change if I desire it and allow Him to teach me a new and better way. Praise God today for His fairness and for knowing our true heart.

Spring has finally arrived, we hope

Sabbath school class, please finish Nehemiah this week.

We finally got our garden planted today, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, parsley already in. But today we planted green beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, okra, cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, buttercup squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash (Pat likes this far better than I), beets, radishes, parsnips, and carrots.
We didn't plant corn this year because the grass hoppers ate us out last year. Nor onions, easier to buy that, than to store. We need a root cellar but......
Pat did build us a rotating composter this year and we are cooking our first batch.
We are going to have a small batch of plums this year due to frost but we will have lots of Nanking cherries. The grapes are leafing out now. We also got a new one to replace the one that died and it is a seedless green grape. Did I tell you that Pat planted 100 asparagus plants, also. And we got 2 more rhubarb plants so someday I will have rhubarb for pies!
We're thinking maybe next year we'd do strawberries.
We let speckles out in the yard to graze while we planted and when we went in, we left him in the yard, but he doesn't like being alone. (People are fine and preferable to sheep.) So he came up to the patio door and grabbed the rubber stripping that holds the screen in and pulled it out. Pat was so mad, he had just fixed that door this spring! So now Pat's working on it again and Speckles is banned back to sheep pasture. Soon we will be moving Blackie our ram and Speckles the pet to new quarters so we can control when our sheep get pregnant this year. We're just waiting for the electric and telephone company to mark where the lines are for the final fence. The gas company came out right away.
Have a good week!

Break a leg

Some people say break a leg for good luck, but Mabel will not agree. Poor thing, she fell and broke her right hip today. Keep her in your prayers.

Sabbath school class read Ezra 8-10 and Nehemiah 1-4 this week as you finish Ezra please notice the comparison to your Christian life. I cheated and read through Ezra already so I know the point form each chapter of Ezra 8,9and 10 that I picked up, it will be interesting to see what each person thinks. And I like how we all had praises, too. Let's do that each Sabbath, bring our praise of how we see God in our life. Remember how I mentioned Michael Card's song about our reading the Bible is just scratching the surface of the Book. Guess what song they were playing on the Christian radio station on my way to the hospital to see Mabel? Yup, that very song. Sometimes, I feel so unsure if I manage things right or say the right thing or wrong, and certainly I am sinfully human but the song Take time To Be Holy today, the last verse comforted me. They are:
Take time to be holy
Be calm in thy soul
Each thought and each motive
Beneath His control
Thus led by His Spirit
To fountains of love
Thou soon shall be filled
For service above.

The be calm in thy soul part helped me.
May you have calm in your soul today and all week because of Jesus.

Ezra

This week the reading for Bible is Ezra 1-7. How does the restoration of Jerusalem compare with your life?

This afternoon I had a wonderful restorative nap! The lilacs are starting to bloom but it goes below freezing last couple of nights. I've prayed about our fruit trees, so we will see down the road. Sometimes God says yes and sometimes He says no or sometimes He lets Satan have his evil way. We just have to trust that the most important thing in the end is Jesus will provide our eternal life if we accept His gift of eternal life.

Some people are so afraid of forever. Does one have to be old to look forward to forever or do you have to feel great lack in your life, in some manner, to desire eternity. I remember being young and hoping Jesus wouldn't come back until I married and had children. We forget that these are earthly values based on heavenly instilled implants in our brains. Because, if God thinks marriage and children are so important that He put those desires into our brains, don't you think that somehow the model got skewed with time on sinful earth and perhaps things we've heard about heaven may be from the difficulty of understanding. For instance,in Ezekiel, God shows him the Holy Spirit's working and poor old Ezekiel, he does his best to try and describe it. But it sounds like Star Trek stuff. People say based on the Bible that we won't marry and have children. But the Bible says we will not marry as on earth and will be like the angels and apparently they have great joy and love in their lives so probably it is better than this earthly thing of marriage. You and I both know that inspite of loving our spouse, marriage is a difficult thing a lot of the time. So not marrying, like on earth, must have some wonderful aspect of loving and being loved that we can't understand, that sounds like it's weird and lonely whereas it is anything but. God loves us and loves us to be happy. Why would He not give us great joy and love?

Can you imagine not hurrying like we do now to get everything done in 24 hours? We'll have eternity to do things, no rush to get things done so we can fall asleep and do it all over again. We can actually take time to enjoy every aspect of life, whether the cooking of a meal for pleasures sake, or learning to paint, or building our homes exactly how we want them. We will be able to travel to other universes and meet the people and taste new cuisine and admire their buildings and travel their back lanes and view their natural wonders of water and land. Our minds tend to be small and childlike in our desire to understand, only when we meet God will we see clearly and be able to understand the vastness of God's abilities and His purposes for our good.

I think it's going to be good to have our sinful passions removed, too. No more guilt at eating too many bad things, like a whole bag of potato chips in two days or a quart of icecream at a pop. We'll have no warped needs to fill ourselves with the love of food, but we will enjoy the appropriate amount of food at meals and take great pleasure in them. We will have all of our love needs met. And I don't think we're all going to look like emaciated little models, there will be many body types but not obesity or anorexia.

And hey, no electric bills! Because Jesus will be our light!

So, you all plan on visiting me! My porch will always welcome you for cold lemonade and needlework or whatever craft you enjoy and later when we get hungry, I'll whip up something yummy and we will eat and sit around and talk and laugh til we decide to do something else spontaneous. Looking forward to heaven and then the new earth and seeing you there.

weather and praise

Last night was crazy, the wind had blown like mad all day but it only got worse as evening came. Then around 10:30pm the electricity went off while the wind howled and whined and rattled the windows. Around midnight the electricity came back on which always triggers the dimmer switch in the dining area to come on at high beam. So I got up and reset my clock and alarm and turned the dining room light off and that was the last thing I knew til this morning. Got up to see the light dusting of snow, Pat said it rained like crazy during the night and we needed it like crazy, haven't had much rain at all this Spring. The wind blew our irrigation pipe around the fields like they were tinkertoys.
I fixed my bowl of cereal and sat down at my computer and read my devotional and I couldn't believe it, a problem I had had 5 years ago had been comforted by this very devotion and this time 5 years later a similar problem had arisen, I confess I hadn't prayed about it yet and God had solved the problem yesterday so I could praise Him today as I realized His past and present mercy to me and what a wonderful God he is. It always pays to keep a brief journal with your devotional so you can see the workings of God in your life. I hope that all you who read this blog have an event this very day that shows you how God is working in your life, too.

recipe

Kidney bean salad

2 26 oz cans of dark red kidney beans, drained
2 stalks celery diced fine
about 1/4 small onion or around 3 Tb. finely diced onion
8 boiled eggs, from your own chickens are best, diced
generous sprinkle of celery salt
med sprinkle of onion salt
small sprinkle of garlic salt or garlic powder
miracle whip to moisten and mix ingredients well
mix well and taste, if more salt needed add now.
This salad is best the next day, it allows for the marriage to take place (commonly called the honeymoon).

Life!

Sometimes it seems as though life is too much, too busy, too confusing. Nahum 1:7 says in the Message Bible, "God is good, a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes anyone looking for help. No matter how desperate the trouble."

We talked ahead of the schedule this past Sabbath because we are so desperate to get out of Chronicles and into NEW stuff! So start with 2 Chronicles 29 and finish and be prepared to discuss what the world was like in Ezra's time before we start reading Ezra.

Got all my raised bed and front flower beds weeded now and need to start on patio area.

I just checked out a book today for Mabel and I to read together and we read a couple of chapters and it was so good, I snuck it home and finished it! It was "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne and in the teen section. Mabel was a school teacher for years and likes good children and teen books and so do I. I highly recomend this book for the enjoyable child's view of life and for the story itself.

In my zeal for Spring, i managed once again to forget about all the allergies! It seems to get worse with age, I'm so sick of earaches! It doesn't seem fair to have bad earaches at the age of 60! Oh, well, good food from the garden is still worth it all!

Remember, Prayer is the world's greatest wireless connection.

Also, if you need some humor in your life, go to YouTube and look up Jeanne Robertson, Don't send a man to the grocery store, and Bungy jumping in Canada.
also,Dennis Swanberg and Bengy and the zipper.
Also, although I must warn you the guy likes the F word, is Bill Connolly's (scottish)Colonoscopy which is probably one of the most hysterical true depictions of the prep for such that I watch it periodically to cheer myself.

Take care!

Tulips, china, books and children

This morning when I went to toss out scraps to the chickens, I noticed that the tulips are starting to bloom, red ones. Hooray! It's Sunday and I am making it a lazy one.

Sabbath schoool class: This week read 2 Chronicles, chapters 8-14.

Last week I took Mabel to her book club, she wasn't thrilled, everything since the stroke has been difficult for her to face with the difficulty in speaking and expressing her thoughts. But I had a wonderful time. One of the ladies had a talk about china, porcelain and earthenware. The history, types and how made and she showed us examples from her own collection. And if you know me I have a thing for American made china around 1930-1950. She had a piece of Majolica so I finally got to see Majolica in person, the brilliant colors and to hold it in my hand. Each women shared about their favorite woman author and a book they had recently read by a woman author. Thus, I heard about the author Jodi Picoult. So I went to the libray and checked out Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult. It is about OI (osteogenesis imperfecta). It is about a disease when the bones are malformed and break very easily and usually the baby is born with fractures. They have to be delivered by C-section. From what the bookclub lady told us each of Picoult's books covers a different disease or illness. I haven't finished it yet but it is good and she writes well. While I was there I looked over the new books display. I found the Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond and realized after I peeked inside that she was the woman who wrote the blog about marrying the Marlboro man the I have read quite a bit of. So of course, I checked that out and read it already. A good cookbook for the basics with step by step pictures. It also has pictures of the ranch life. Then I picked up a book called The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths. It was a mystery and the heroine was an archaeologist. I put the book back on the shelf and then thought well, I've never read a mystery with an archaeologist so picked back up and checked it out, too. Guess which book I read first and couldn't put down, yup, it was this one. The heroine considers herself and atheist which always bothers me. But the character and location were English and the English have some interesting words. The heroine had some doubts about her maternalism and found out in an unusualy ways the she did have maternal feelings. I emphathized with that. Then Friday I stopped at my local thrift store to find some new books for Rachel, she's three but she loves books. And of course, while I was there I had to look over the knick-knacks and kitchenware. I found a large Crooksville china platter with a bit of a well used stain but not a chip or crack. The price sticker said $1.99 which was right in my price range. When I got to checkout, it turned out it was a green sticker and green stickers were 25% off! Yippee! Now I have to figure out what pattern it is and I fear my antique identifying books are still out in Pat's shop from moving here 6 years ago!

Watching Rachel yesterday looking at the pictures of the children's picture Bible and asking her mother what things were or what was the story about. Rachel points the the burning bush beside Moses and asks her mother what was that and her mother says the burning bush was God. I could almost see the wheels turning as Rachel asked what the glowing sun was or anything else that looked bright. Then, I think it was the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea after the Israelites had passed through and mother told her that these people were bad and hadn't listened to God. And Rachel loudly whispered, "I would save them." I had never thought about how vile and vicious God can be portrayed in the old testament stories to a little child. Oh, how careful we must be to emphasize the tender love and mercy of God to our little ones. How eagerly God forgives them when they admit they were bad. That He does not make a list of their failures, and that when they say they are sorry He doesn't remember the wrong anymore. That was one of the hardest things for me to accept and believe as an adult that God truly did not harbor remembrances of our sins if we had asked His forgiveness. But it's a liberating fact once you find out God is so forgiving. I marvel at the wisdom one needs as a parent and we should pray for each parent with little ones for God to give them wisdom.

I got a package from my brother Paul yesterday, mostly school pictures of me, but there was some others as well. One of me and Darlene in a metal wash tub getting cool in the summer time, that I didn't remember seeing before. There were a few of me as a young woman and I was shocked, I was pretty and I didn't think so at the time. Sad. There were some of Grandma Grant and Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill helped teach me my ABC's and numbers to 100.
so when I entered first grade, I was way ahead of the game. I could read, too!

Have you ever tried drawing the earliest house you can remember from your childhood? Childhood memories aren't always accurate. But it's fun to see what you can and can't remember and the things that are most vivid to you.

Roubideau Canyon (some say Ruby dough, I found out)is gorgeous, the trees are leafing out and that pale green is so pretty against the canyon walls. The river is running swift and a lot higher that last week. The water is brown from the runoff of the Uncomphagre Plateau melt.

Edna and Bill are doing great and don't want anymore food but we went and saw Julie and Bill Rea and they are not doing well, I asked Julie if they would be offended to receive some prepared food once a week and they would be grateful. Julie has fallen acouple of times this week and has skin tears and bruises. I guess a tooth filling fell out and she will need a root canal now. She continues to have much pain and Bill is not getting any younger. So we will fill out the remainder of Edna's food delivery to Julie and Bill. Then reevaluate their needs. Thanks for all you do!

Tuesday already?!

How time flies! Okay let's catch up.
Sabbath school class, Please read the first 7 chapters of 2nd Chronicles and look for similarities between the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness and now the building of the temple by Solomon.
First scrapbook club of the month will now meet on the first Tuesday of the month and this next month we will make a clear acrylic card and play with alcohol inks and then we will all play with my Everyday Button Bits stamp set from Paper Trey Ink. So bring your blank cards, and button box as well as glue dots to adhere buttons. Then you will have cards to take home and give to those you love.
Second scrapbook club of the month did the acrylic, alcohol ink card and enjoyed learning the tecnique last night. What we will do next month for 2nd class I haven't figured out yet. But I've been thinking gold leaf would be fun to place with.
My goal this week is to figure out how to get pictures on this blog. I have a great picture of Speckles taking a siesta on the bench outside patio door, that Pat got for me. And I'd like to put some card samples on here so you can be inspired.

The nanking cherries are blooming! The hay field is turning green and in Delta the forsythia is blooming! Today we had alternate sun, rain, sleet and thick ploppy snow through the day, nothing stuck except the moisture into the soil so I'll not whine.
My devotion this morning was good. I'm still reading Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith by Charles Spurgeon. It's a lot like the Bible; new stuff to find as I go through life. It's based on Phillipians 3:21
"Often when we are racked with pain, and unable to think or worship, we feel that this indeed is 'the body of our humiliation'; and when we are tempted by the passions which rise from the flesh we do not think the word 'vile' at all too vigorous a translation. Our bodies humble us; and that is about the best thing they do for us. Oh, that we were duly lowly, because our bodies ally us with animals, and even link us with the dust!"
"But our Savior, the Lord Jesus, shall change all this. We shall be fashioned like his own body of glory. This will take place in all who believe in Jesus. By faith their souls have been transformed, and their bodies will undergo such a renewal as shall fit them for their regenerated spirits. How soon this grand transformation will happen we cannot tell; but the thought of it should help us bear the trials of today, and all the woes of the flesh. In a little while we shall be as Jesus is now. No more aching brows, no more swollen limbs, no more dim eyes, no more fainting hearts. The old man shall be no more a bundle of infirmities, nor the sick man a mass of agony. 'Like unto his glorious body.' What an expression! Even our flesh shall rest in hope of such a resurrection!"
I hope this gave you peace, as it did me.

Spring

The Nanking cherries are showing color in their buds now, so maybe tomorrow or the next day they will bloom. They are a wild cherry that grows brilliant red tiny berries but the jelly is absolutely marvelous. The wild plums are getting bigger buds and the lilac's leaves are starting to open. The honeysuckle is leafed out with tiny leaves now. The iris are up and getting taller. But best of all the bleeding heart is coming up. I plant one every place we live in memory of Grandma Grant. It's time to cut back the old stems of the yarrow and mums and time to pen the orphan lambs in the pasture with the other sheep so they won't get into the garden. Because soon it will be cold season seed planting time and I bet sheep love spinach, baby pea vines and other such delicacies.
Merle was sick this morning so we missed out on our serenade. A conference pastor had church so we had power point and he talked about treasure hunters in the desert (of which he is one) and compared it to our need to treasure hunt in God's word.
Walter it turns out had to have a temporary pacemaker inserted to see if that relieves his cardiac problems (NOT GOUT).
Went and saw Edna and Bill in Roubideau Canyon and she is doing great!
Glenda not at church. I know Ernie isn't doing well. Probably the next funeral. Glenda told me Rachel(age 3) is asking her now if she(Glenda) is old. Because they have been telling her that people who die are old. So Glenda had to tell her that no, she wasn't old at all. Children sometimes are just too smart and clever.
It's nice and warm today. Spring, spring, oh how I love Spring!
Once upon a time I didn't understand how people said they came to church for the friendship, I thought it was an incorrect reason, but you know, friends are a very good reason to come to church. Yes, we come to worship God but people are what make our worship more meaningful and we are Jesus's companionship to one another.
Bill and Julie having troubles healthwise. Keep them in your prayers. Old age is not a golden time in any way for most. Rust might be a more appropriate term.

Ah, Sabbath rest coming up

It's Friday, sundown is Sabbath until sundown Saturday night, the way God set up creation. And I do so love a chance to rest from the craziness of life. Sure, there are duties even on the Sabbath, esp. for women, we have to eat, you know. But you can cancel out some of the stuff, like work and take a trip to the springs (bed) if you're old or hike or take a scenic drive if you're young. I usually pick up Merle at the nursing home near me and take her to church and then back to nursing home for lunch. We have one cassette tape she especially loves with the Heritage Singers, that is old time songs for the most part and banjo playing in it. She cracks me up with her bobbing her head and tapping her left hand to the music and we both sing along as loud as we feel in the mood for. Let me tell you, you would prefer to be deaf if you heard us. Her right hand is contractured and pretty much a nuisance but she can make it grip a kleenex or the rim of a bowl or cup if need be. She has the gift of finding joy in life no matter how hard life is. She had a very loving courtship and marriage then her husband developed Alzheimer's and life got hard. Of course, she lost her child before it was born, and so she never got to be a mother, and she would have been a great one. She has macular degeneration so she can't see to read any more and when I take her for rides she remembers places in her mind when I try to describe it, she tells me. She loves her books on CD and gets lost in the land they present to her mind. Occassionally she lives more in bookland than reality, but who could blame her. She is a sweetheart and a joy in my life.
So tomorrow, will be church and Merle and maybe a trip to Roubideau Canyon or a nap.
Went to Aleta's memorial today. Way too long the pastor talked on. Oh, well. The family seemed pleased so that is all that matters. The church was packed, and they were hauling out folding chairs in the aisles and back of the church, putting people in the choir loft and upstairs. Aleta had been a beautician for many years and knew lots of people and Gene had been a mail carrier and in a barbershop quartet and knew lots of people.
Hope your weekend is great and you get some heavenly rest and peace.

me day

Today was so exciting! I finally had a day off in the middle of the week so I could have a me day! It's been a long time (months). Pat was gone so I got up at 7am and did the chores, ate a apple strudel for breakfast (sinful) and then reset the alarm and went back to sleep until the phone rang, only 15 minutes before alarm went off. Sylvia could get me in early to cut hair. So I dashed into the shower and dressed and took off. Got about 6 inches of hair removed so now I'm down to the first wrinkle on my neck (from chin) with hair length. I sure have been developing wrinkles this year, every squint line emphasized anew, and the face is falling rapidly now. Yeah to be 60! If only I were so much wiser.
So with new hair cut, I drove to Montrose and Hastings book store where I spent some of my precious hard earned money on magazines and one book. Then to Salvation Army where I found some new tops and a replica of a wooden bell they put on their water buffalo in Thailand for Pat's bell collection. And I found the deluxe version of Scrabble with the turntable base and the wells for letters to fit into so they don't spin off and ALL the letter tiles were there for $1.49! Then I felt my saturated fat intake wasn't adequate today so I stopped at Long John Silvers and had the 2 pieces of fish special with diet rootbeer (please notice the diet). Came home, looked at the beginning of the first magazine Somerset Memories which is artistic scrapbooking/ART and realized I needed a nap. Am I getting old or what! Had a nice 1 1/2 hour nap! Then started the laundry of the new tops. Then Pat came home and now here I am day of me over and time to start supper. Ravioli and tossed salad. Tomorrow back to work and Aleta's funeral/memorial at 2 pm. Hard to believe another week went racing by!

More

Sleeting snow when I came home at 4:15pm. Orphan lambs both napping on the bench outside patio door. Orphan lambs know you always sit on furniture to be polite, especially when one needs a nap.
Today as I was reading to Mabel from Tales from Grace Chapel Inn: Recipes and Wooden Spoons by Judy Baer, I read the following based on:
"Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 NIV
"God is able. Able to do anything we ask or dream, able to love us as we are, able to save us from ourselves, and offer us salvation through his Son."

Thought you might like to hear this too. It's one of my favorite verses the older I get.

Crazy weather

This morning it was balmy and wonderful, just needed a light jacket and as I walked Mabel's dog, Georgie Girl, I marveled at how the globe willows were getting so green and remembered how when we used to visit this area I thought the trees were so beautiful and wanted some. Well, sometimes you do get what you wish for. We have a globe willow and a bunch of scrawny ordinary willows and they are all turning green. The tulips and jonquils are coming up. The lilacs are starting to open their leaf buds and my spirea has actually leafed out ( the teeny, tiniest leaves, to be sure, but none the less, leaves!). This afternoon the winds came and the dirt blew and you couldn't see but maybe a half a mile away at times. You need the winter coat and hat to do chores. The orphan lambs hate this weather as does the dog, me too! But we aren't having flooding, earthquakes, fires, mine cave-ins and lots of other bad stuff. Isn't it wonderful that so many of the chinese men in the collapsed mine lived! Truly a God thing.
Sharon just called me and Walter was sent to hospital via ambulance and in ICU. We don't know what is wrong yet, but last week he went to Kaiser with left arm pain and they told him he had gout. We love Walter but he is many pounds overweight and diabetic as well as many other serious problems. We seriously question the gout dianosis! Anyway, it was good to be able to turn the situation over to God because we are simply feeble, helpless people so far away. (He lives in Denver.) What do people do who don't have God to turn to, it must be so scary.

Easter Sunday

Okay, up to speed now. Next Sabbath read 1 Chronicles 21-through the end. 1st Monday's class is moved to Tuesday due to revival going on at church. Betty says this is a better day for her anyway so maybe we'll switch to Tuesday???

This morning I went to a Peter Rabbit tea party with Glenda and Rachel. Rachel (age 3) was shy for a long time but by the time the party was over she was starting to warm up. Mrs. Osiek was as always a great hostess who thought of everything and served delicious food, her scones with blackberry jam were my personal favorite. she had goodie bags for everyone as they left and her daughter was very sweet and looked like her mother. Mr. Osiek had a new puppy, I think about 11 weeks old, a Bernese Mountain dog from Switzerland. Puppy fur and this one had lots of it, there is nothing so beautiful to feel as puppy fur. The dog had a beautiful face, too. I always enjoy talking with Glendaso it was nice to spend time with her. She's one of those people you can be honest with and we still like each other! Probably because we both have awry sense of humor. I'm so grateful for God bringing her into my life! Speaking of being grateful, I'm grateful He brought Sheryl to live here and attend Delta Church because I so love her and Pam's music. Pam, her daughter plays the piano beautifully and Sheryl plays the violin wonderfully ad-lib through the church music and I appreciate it more than I have words to express.
When I got home I threw together the food i had prepared for Edna and Bill (Edna had her left upper lobe of lung removed due to cancer- never smoked)They weren't home but Pat and I enjoyed the drive into Roubideau Canyon (pronounced Ruby Dew). We drove quite a long way up there and I found 3 more rocks for my rock garden. Then on the way back we saw Bill driving down the road so we pulled over and talked to him. He said Edna's chest tube was still draining quite a bit so they decided to keep her a couple more days. All I could think of most of the way on their road was how much this was going to hurt poor Edna to drive home on this rough road. I hope she takes her pain pill about Delta so it will be kicked in full strenght as she hits the rutted rough dirt road.
By the way Rachel said, on the way home, "Mommy, everytime we go to people's houses they give us presents!" She was very estastic. Aren't kids wonderful!

So, Jesus, we thank you for giving your life that ours might be saved. That we can rejoice in children, friends and surgeries that once were not possible to prolong our time with friends. That there are still rough roads and traces of what the flood did to our earth; so visible in a place like Roubideau Canyon. I can't wait until we can see the movies in heaven about things like the flood. How awesome it will be.

My friend Aleta died last week and I am already missing the Spring gardening with her. She taught me things like you can break off the side shoots on tomato plants and root them in water and have lots of tomato plants for the price of one!

May we all have a good week and find special joy in our life because of the simple things that God gives us.

There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good
character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions of the council. His hometown was the Jewish village
of Arimathea. He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Taking him down, he wrapped him in a linen shroud and placed him in a tomb chiseled into the rock, a tomb never yet used. It was the day before Sabbath, the Sabbath just about to begin. Luke 23:50-54 The Message
So Jesus' body rested in the tomb during the Sabbath hours. (From
daily prayer message by praygal).

This is something most people forget, that Jesus kept the Sabbath holy even in the grave. It was a day of rest for all on earth and in heaven. But Sunday was not a symbol of creation as Saturday is so the rest was over, it was back to work and then Jesus rose from the grave. He conquered death for not only Himself but eventually for us.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." NIV