Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Little Man, Cammie, Spooky, and the parents who keep their bowls full! May you come the know the baby in the manger as your Lord and Saviour.

Here is this year's Christmas verse, which I have seen and heard so many times in the past month that I know it is the Spirit bringing it to my attention: Call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21.

Little Man's Not So Little Storm

Here is a picture of our house after the big snow, and how Little Man and Cammie coped.

Red Shed Garden

The garden in front of the red shed had completely gotten out of control, so I pulled out EVERYTHING and started over. I am using the lasagna method, so I put a layer of newspaper over the existing dirt, covered with a layer of topsoil. Then I spread leaves I got from Little Man's grandmother. Lastly, I emptied all the containers from 2008, which had been filled with Miracle Gro, on top of the leaves. Now the whole thing will sit and hopefully percolate into a desirable place to grow tomatoes and other veggies. Note the new window boxes. They were made by Little Man's uncle to replace the ones that Little Man's grandfather made about 10 years ago. The original boxes had been bolted to the building. This time I have them sitting on bricks so they are portable. The new ones are also made of pressure treated lumber, so hopefully they will not disintegrate. Lastly, don't forget to admire the beautiful roof, which Little Man's father and I put on ourselves a few years ago. It was a very satisfying project and I now have a whole new respect for roofers!

Little Man's Little Feast

Last night Little Man's father brought home shrimp for dinner. Little Man LOVES shrimp. Then, Little Man's mother (aka Yours Truly) was cleaning out the fridge to make room for Thanksgiving, and cut up a piece of leftover steak and put it on the cat food bowl. When Little Man came begging, I showed him the steak, which he polished off. So, Little Man had Surf & Turf last night! If he tells you he is being neglected, don't believe him.

Alphabet Thanksgiving (what did I forget?)

A - apples, aunts

B - Bible, beads, books, brother-in-laws

C - cats, coffee, chocolate, Cammie, cousins

D - Dad, dogs (equal time!), donuts

E - eating!

F - family, friends, flowers, fruit

G - God, gardens

H - home, health, hypertufa

I - income, internet

J - Jesus!, jewelry, job

K -Kettle Corn

L - love, Little Man, life

M - Mom, mosaic, marbles, music

N - nature, nieces, nephews

O - old age

P - piano

Q - quarters (in the year, in the dollar, in a game)

R - reading

S - sugar, salt, Spirit, snow, sisters, sister-in law

T - tea

U - unlimited long distance minutes, uncles

V - voting rights

W - water

X - x-rays

Y - youth

Z - zillions of mind-boggling stars, named and placed by God.

Another reason to love the internet

Acting on a tip from my brothers-in-law (2 separate occasions), I checked out www.pandora.com. It is TOO COOL for words. It is a music site that customizes your radio to your personal preferences. They have analyzed zillions of songs for all sorts of characteristics that you would never even think of (like excessive vamping, which I apparently like since it shows up a lot in the songs they choose for me). You choose an artist or a song and they start offerings possibilities. You can vote yes or no or not at all. If you choose no they delete the song from the playlist. I'm not sure what doing nothing does, but a yes vote hones their choices.

Just for fun, I tried an experiment. I love the song All My Tears by Julie Miller. It has been recorded by her, as well as by Jars of Clay, Selah, and Emmy Lou Harris. I haven't done the Emmy Lou version yet, but I created stations based on each of the other versions. It's very interesting to see how the different versions give rise to different playlists. I spent the most time with the Julie Miller version. She has a spare, Appalachian sound with folk instruments. Some of the subsequent offerings were Allison Krause, the main song from O Brother Where Art Thou, and many artists and groups I had never heard of.

What a great way to explore music. And - it's free! I don't know how they do it, except they have links for every song so you can buy the song or the album, which must generate some kind of revenue. According to their FAQ's, they add about 15,000 songs per month. They take suggestions (so I suggested Lianna Klassen and Damaris Carbaugh) and submissions if you are an aspiring musician.

The Ball that Started It All!

Here is the first bowling ball I ever decorated. It only sat in a corner for 3 or 4 years waiting for me to grout it. Well, last month that finally happened. If you want to see more pictures, check out my other blog: bowlingballsiveknown.blogspot.com. There you can also see the rest of my bowling ball endeavors, as least as many as I have posted so far.

Things I Learned the Hard Way

1. Everything
2.
3.
4.
5.

C.A.S.E. or Copy and Share Everything

I learned this lovely acronym at Stamp Camp. My teacher said it was from www.splitcoaststampers.com, a wonderful site to get ideas for paper crafting. My teacher retired from school-teaching about 10 years ago. Just before she finished, she was introduced to Stamping Up, a home-sales company for rubber stamps, inks, papers, and other supplies for paper crafting. Since then she has made a wonderful stamp camp studio in her basement. The usual drill is that about 9-12 ladies gather around and she shows us each project. The sample and materials for each are on a tray. Once she has demonstrated them all, she turns us loose! After about 2 or 3 hours of controlled chaos, we each come away with 5 or 6 completed items. The pictures are my finished projects from three seperate camps.

What I especially enjoy is seeing the final results. Even though we all start with the same ingredients, each person puts their own spin on things, so they are all slightly different. I've also learned that you can cover a multitude of sins with sponging and glitter!

Get 'Er Done!!!

I read a suggestion somewhere about reading the chapter in Proverbs that coincides with the day of the month. My efforts are hit and miss, but yesterday was a hit. Low and behold, what did I read but God's version of "Get 'Er Done", my uncle's favorite saying. (Which, by the way, he was saying years before Larry the Cable Guy made his catchphrase popular." Anyhow, here it is:

Proverbs 14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Makes me think of my uncle's other favorite saying also: "Less talk, more work"!

Couldn't have been more timely, since my plan was to take the AM off from work and finish painting our front porch before the cold weather set in. We put the first coat on over the weekend, so round two didn't take long. I was helped along by some good tunes on the CD player, pointed out the window, and supervised by Little Man, who meowed encouragingly and kept a close eye on all the proceedings. The side tree did its best to fling leaves into the wet paint, but in the end, I got 'er done!!!

Sweet Contentment

This week I enjoyed listening to the CD "Love in the Ruins" by Lianna Klassen. She has an angelic voice and deeply inspiring lyrics. Here's a song that really spoke to me:

Sweet Contentment
words and music by Lianna Klassen

There's a place of sweet contentment
But that place is a harder journey than it seems
and the journey is a mystery
'til Messiah, He lights the way for eyes to see
and though I'm as a child
and quickly lose my way
I know that place of sweet contentment
grows closer everyday.

And the character I'm building on this journey we call Life
Is the Character that gives me hope and that it'll be alright
and the hope I find in Jesus, is the hope of better things
So I will wait in sweet contentment, for the next step that He brings.

In that place of sweet contentment
The Father, he whispers gently in our ear
But on the journey to contentment
and through the breaking , His voice it shouts loud and clear
Oh the pain that I have known
Has brought me closer still
To that place of sweet contentment
In brokeness fulfilled.

And the character I'm building on this journey we call Life
Is the Character that gives me hope and that it'll be alright
and the hope I find in Jesus, is the hope of better things
So I will wait in sweet contentment, for the next step that He brings.

The song notes include this quote from C. S. Lewis: God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

www.liannaklassen.com

Who Knew? #2

And now for something completely different!

In an attempt to find an easier way to cook bacon, I stumbled across the oven baking method. Here it is:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Fit a cooling rack into the sheet. Arrange bacon slices on the rack in a single layer. Place the pan into the oven and heat to 400 degrees. When the oven tells you it’s preheated, start checking the bacon - it should be done about five minutes after the oven reaches 400 degrees.

I got this information from http://jessthomson.wordpress.com

Little Man's father tried this yesterday AM while I was still snoring, and the results are WONDERFUL!!! He ended up cooking it a little longer than the 5 minutes, and then just turned the oven off and left the bacon in there until we sat down to breakfast. The slices where flat and crispy and delicious!

Who Knew? #1

A loved one of Little Man has been diagnosed as being unable to absorb the vitamin B-12. This individual is being treated with a series of B-12 shots, plus is taking hig dose B-12 pills. Already an improvement is felt, but what is amazing is the range of symptoms that this condition will cause. Type "pernicious anemia" into google to read all about it. I've written that to say this: when you have a routine blood test done, ask to have your B-12 levels checked! It is something that is not mentioned much, but has a huge effect if they are out of whack.

Apple Egg Casserole

I am listening to "Death of the Party" by Carolyn G. Hart. Annie & Max are staying at a bed & breakfast on a private island, and busy solving a murder. (All in a day's work for our heroine and her hunky husband!) Anyhow, the story mentions a breakfast casserole featuring eggs and apples and bacon and cheddar cheese, all of which sounded wonderful, so I found this recipe on Cooks.com and tried it the other night. Little Man's father pronounced it delicious and worthy of being cooked again soon. So, without further ado...

APPLE - EGG CASSEROLE

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

4 cooking apples, peeled & thinly sliced
2 tbsp. sugar
2 c. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 lb. bacon, fried & crumbled
1 1/2 c. Bisquick mix
1 1/2 c. milk
4 eggs, beaten

Combine apples and sugar. Mix well. Spread evenly in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle bacon and cheese on top.

Combine remaining ingredients and beat at medium speed until smooth. Pour over cheese and bacon. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Great breakfast or brunch dish.

(Note: To lower the carbs, I used splenda instead of sugar and carbquick instead of bisquick. Tasted fine to me. )

What does Perseverance look like?

Side Garden Comparison - August 6 to September 1

Here are some shots of our side garden, from August 6 and again on September 1. Little Man's fathers has been dead-heading and applying Miracle Gro, with visible results.

Flower Pictures

These pictures were taken August 6.

Soul Rest

Lamentations 3:22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;23 they are new every morning;great is your faithfulness.24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,“therefore I will hope in him.”

I"m so thankful for the promise of these words!

Lord's Day June 22, 2008

Our pastor is working his way through James.

Last week he focused on James 1:9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation. And what is the exaltation of a lowly or poor person?

1. We are an heir to a mansion in glory.
2. Jesus makes no financial requirements - salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
3. This is because of the richness of the ransom paid for my soul - Jesus dying for me!

Final conclusion - be rich in Christ!

This week he focused on James 1:10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. And what should the rich boast in?

1. What we've been given in Christ - His grace in spite of our sin and rebellion
2. Gratefulness for His provisions

Final conclusion - boast in God!

So, in light of all the random posts I've made on this blog, I just want to make it perfectly clear that the most important thing in my life is my relationship to God through Jesus, my Lord and my Saviour. He has saved me in spite of my sinfulness, and His grace is truly amazing to me. I've been blessed with a wonderful husband, a loving family, a safe and comfortable home, and more blessings than I have ambition to list, but at the very top of my list is Jesus, the Pearl of Great price!!!!!

Seen any good movies lately?

I love asking people what movies they've seen and their opinion of them. I've seen several lately, so here goes:

(theater) Prince Caspian - Wow! Loved it, even though they strayed from the book. I came out of the theater exhausted - all those battles. And Reepicheep - loved him!!!!

(theater) Indiana Jones - a hoot! Way over the top and completely unbelievable, but loads of fun.

(DVD) Flicka - very enjoyable and what a gorgeous horse. However, being a typical horse movie, I cryed buckets.

(DVD) Ella Enchanted - My favorite scene was Anne Hathaway singing Queen's "Find Me Somebody to Love". She is multi-talented for sure. Aside from the blatant "girl power" and "if you believe it hard enough you can do it" themes, which got tiresome, it was a cute and fun picture.

(DVD) Finding Neverland - Excellent! I never realized Peter Pan was originally a play. I thought it was a book. Anyhow, Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet were great, and I felt like they were portraying characters, not just decorating the screen as "stars".

(DVD) Becoming Jane - A tad slow in spots, but interesting. I also enjoyed poking around the internet and finding out how much was fact and how much was conjecture. Plus, I could watch James McAvoy all day! I first saw him on a BBC mystery/thriller, and am a sucker for those blue eyes!

Experiments

A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday, when it was ninety degrees and 100% humidity, I spent a delightful half hour or so wandering around the yard playing with the macro button on my digital camera. The results were better than my wildest expectations! Plus, many of the flowers I photographed were the result of last year's winter sowing experiments. If I get ambitious I will write about winter sowing, but meanwhile, if you are curious, check out www.wintersown.org. The method appeals to my lazy and cheap nature, and the results were well worth the time I invested. Also, the beds along each side of the paddock fence were created using the lasagne method. What a time (and back!) saver. I sure wish I'd heard of it years ago. Anyhow, put very briefly, it is a method of creating a garden by laying down a barrier (in this case, 10 sheets of newspaper) right on top of existing lawn, coverin that with layers of soil and mulch, then planting. Voila!!! I now have sixty feet of garden, about 3 or 4 feet wide, running down both the north and south sides of our paddock fence. I did the north side 3 years ago and the south side last summer. It sure beats digging and beating soil out of sod clumps. Ideally there would be several layers each of soil, compost, and mulch, but even my scaled down version worked just fine.

Made me laugh out loud!

Here's a picture I received from a friend that made me hoot out loud. Definitely one of my besetting sins!

Linwood Gardens

Little Man's father and I celebrated 28 years of marriage on May 24th. We took the day off and visited Linwood Gardens, which is near Pavilion, NY. (www.linwoodgardens.org) It was a beautiful place and a perfect Spring day and we had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures I took using the macro setting on the digital camera.

Yes - I'm still here

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted anything. I've thought about it, but then shot off in another direction. Anyhow, in case anybody is checking, things are fine at Little Man's house. He was last spotted in his little bed, trying to get some sleep after supervising his parents usual morning mad dash to get ready for work - all so we can afford his favorite cat food - Fancy Feast chopped grill. Cammie was at her post in the blue room window, keeping an eye on the birds and squirrels, and Spooky was chirping away on the back deck, making sure routine was maintained in her little world. Buttercup, aka The Thug, has been mostly MIA lately. He must have found a better source of food. It used to be 2-4 days between visits. Lately it's been 2 weeks or so.

Today's Tightwad Tip

The other day I made a lap through Sam's Club. They have excellent rotisserie chickens, so I bought two - one for dinner and one on speculation! For once in my life, I pulled all the chicken off the bones when it was cool enough to handle and not after procrastinating for 3 days while it languished in the fridge. I highly recommend this - it was way easier. I put the chicken into 2 zip lock bags and then for curiosity's sake, weighed them. I had just under two pounds of cooked, ready-to-use chicken, for about $2.50/pound. It's now in the freezer, waiting for creativity to strike. Considering that I didn't have to cook it, plus it's a mixture of white and dark meat, I thought it was a bargain.

Dump Cake!!!

My new favorite website is The Pioneer Woman. If you haven't yet, check it out. It is loaded with great recipes and photos, and is wonderfully written. One of her recent recipes was Dump Cake. I couldn't resist, so bought a can of cherry pie filling and some margarine and tried it Tuesday night. The scent brought Little Man's father in from outside, wondering what I was doing. Yesterday, Little Man's father asked if we could make a batch for him to take to work, so last night, I made a cherry one for him and an apple pie filling version for me. We are both very popular right now with our co-workers! Anyhow, here's the recipe, with credit to the Pioneer Woman.

Dump Cake

1 can cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple
1 box yellow cake mix (white works, too)
1 stick margarine
1/2 stick butter
Whipped Cream

Dump cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple into baking dish. Stir together. Sprinkle cake mix over the top of the fruit. Slice margarine and butter and distribute over the surface of the cake mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

Hypertufa Mushrooms

Last fall we had our 4th (or was it 5th?) hypertufa party. In case you've never heard of it, hypertufa is a mixture of portland cement, vermiculite (or perlite) and peat moss. It is used to make containers for planting, or in my case - mushrooms! Anyhow, here's my share of the haul - 7 mushrooms and 3 planters. The mushroom caps were molded over a cereal bowl. The tall containers were molded over a popcorn bowl and the shorter container was molded over a round serving bowl.

Homemade Yogurt

Last fall I read "French Women Don't Get Fat". If you can get past the "French women are wonderful and the rest of us poor slobs are clueless" stuff, the author has some good points. She advocates eating food that is seasonal and available locally, enjoying the work of shopping and food preparation, and savoring good food. One of her most important points is adjusting your eating on a meal to meal basis, rather than thinking that if you pig out on a meal, the day (or weekend or week!) is shot, therefore an eating free-for-all is unavoidable.

Another point is her love of homemade yogurt. She included recipes for making yogurt with and without a yogurt maker, which sent me on a quest. After reading the reviews (mixed) of yogurt makers on Amazon.com (an amazing consumer reference), I googled homemade yogurt. One source (sorry, I have no idea where or who) said that the best information they had ever read about homemade yogurt was in the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. Since I just happen to have that book, I checked it out. (In the complete edition, the article starts on page 718.) In true Frugal Zealot fashion, she researched yogurt inside and out and ended with her preferred method on page 721. I have been making it now for several months and have had 100% success. (And I didn't have to buy a yogurt maker!!)

Here it is:

Before starting, take 2 tablespoons of starter aside, to come to room temperature. I used Stonyfield non-fat organic yogurt to start off with. I also put some in an ice cube tray, and now have the cubes in a bag in the freezer, which should keep me going for months, if not longer. I now leave a little in the jar and just start a new batch off the old batch. Supposedly it gets tarter with each batch, but I like tart yogurt, so that's not a problem. I think I made 4 or 5 batches before I decided to try one of my frozen cubes.

Put 1 quart of milk ( I use skim, the recipe doesn't specify) into a large saucepan. Stir in 1/2 cup powdered milk. Heat the milk to 180 degrees and remove it from the heat. Let it cool to 115 degrees.

Add a small amount of this warm mixture to the starter, whisk, then add that back to the pan. Blend well and pour into a quart jar. (I always have enough to do a partial pint jar also.) Place the jars on a heating pad set on low, cover with a towel, and cover with a large soup pot. Incubate for 8 hours.

Attached are some pictures, which came out in reverse order! Sorry the middle two are blurry. I didn't test them until this AM. At least you get the idea. Pioneer woman I ain't! (If you haven't yet, check out www.thepioneerwoman.com. It is a GREAT website - funny and loaded with wonderful recipes and photographs.