Dedicated to a dear friend of mine whose husband of 52 years has just passed on to glory. To my dear sister, as you told your dear one at his bedside, this is only temporary. You'll see him again over there. Be still and know that in every change our God faithful will remain, even though through thorny ways. Love you, dear sis. . . you have been so special to me over the years.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my foot upon a rock, and established my goings. Psalm 40:2
Now it's birthday time for Shana. As of tomorrow, our little Shae-Shae will be all of two years old! Do you remember when I posted about her birth? How can that possibly be two years ago?! Well, it has been and she is no longer a little baby. That doesn't mean Nanna can't still hold her on the lap and cuddle and give lots of kisses and hugs. She'll never get too old for THAT as far as I'm concerned.
Many people love little Shae. Of course, her mommy and daddy do; her big sister REALLY does, her Auntie Nee does too, and I could go on and on. But need I say, that she has a Nanna and Poppop who love her and are so thankful to the Lord for her and all the happiness she brings to all of us with her winsome little ways.
God bless you, sweet Shana-Bana. And may you come to love HIM even while you're young. We'll keep praying for you and your big sister.
Unbelievable. The Phillies kick off the playoff season with a No-Hitter! In a no-hitter, for those of you who don't know (or care), the star of the show is always the pitcher and credit goes to him, but the catcher is the next biggest part of the whole thing. Above you see Roy Halliday, who made history by throwing only the second playoff no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball (and his second this season), but also you see his catcher, Carlos Ruiz, a/k/a "Chooch," who also happens to be my favorite player. And then we must remember, the other seven players who fielded all the plays should get a lot of credit also.
Such excitement in our area last night and this morning! All over the radio and TV it's being talked about. Nice to have something that's absolutely of no significance to life to take our minds off of the many serious things that are going on in our world.
I'm quite a fan of the Phils, but Jesus still reigns whether they win it all or not. Needed to remind myself of that. ;)
Hi there. Long time no talk to. How's the weather there? It's cold, damp, and shivery here, especially nice weather to be home baking bread and drinking tea. Well, I'm doing neither, but will soon be going out to run some errands rather than stay in and be cozy. It's fall, which is the favorite season for me, but unfortunately, cold and flu season has started and we're already seeing that first hand in our family and among the people from church.
Now don't make fun of me, but when my daughters were young, they got lots of colds and flu illnesses with high temps. Oh, how I hated those days. Once, when Bev was five or six she got a really scary virus, which made her lethargic and with which she was running a particularly high fever. Somewhere in an old beaten up medical book which we had rescued from my husband's family home we read that putting onions and garlic in the sickroom would cause the fever to break. So we said why not try it, and try it we did and her fever broke that night, never to return. We've tried it on occasions since then and it just seems to so happen that fevers aren't quite as bad or last as long with garlic or onion in the room, even though not the most pleasant aroma to greet you when you enter.
Now, that has been of course poo-pooed as an old wives' tale, etc. etc. by the moderns of today but I say, what's it hurt? So last year with all the swine flu scary talk I kept an onion in Neesie's room all winter in a pretty little dish. When one would shrivel up, I would replace it. I figured it wasn't hurting anything and she just lived with it as she has had to do with many of her mom's weird ideas. Now I am not saying I necessarily believe all that, but as I said, I felt it wouldn't hurt anything. I do know that eating a few cloves of garlic when you have lots of chest congestion, will clear things out nicely if you don't mind what goes along with it. :)
And I do feel that the Lord can use whatever He wants to heal us and however He wants, so why not an onion or garlic? After all, He gives "herb for the service of man" as it says in Psalm 104:14.
With all that said, my purpose for this post is to pass along a link to an article on the Old Farmer's Almanac website which has lot of suggestions for natural remedies to help you when you get a cold. Please note fact number 4. When you get to the OFA site, also check out the link to the article on cold and flu prevention. I already practice a lot of the suggestions in that one and I really do believe doing so makes a big difference. So, read it all here and take or leave whatever you want from it. Oh, I just saw a link to cough remedies there too! Have a blessed day.
What wonderful weather we've been enjoying for the past few days! I even was thankful for the rainy day yesterday because of the drought watch in our area. Ahh, days of low humidity and temps in the mid to upper seventies. My favorite kind of days. And best of all, thoughts of the coming of fall. Summer stickiness leaving, limited days for mosquitoes, and the gentle and cool breezes flowing through the open doors and windows of our home. These are the days I love best.
Now comes the the time for baking the good stuff. Love, love, LOVE fall baking, especially with apples and pumpkin. And NOW sweet potatoes come into season, even though I eat them all year long. Do you eat them in your house? Does your family like them? Do you have ANY idea how nutritious they are? I was thinking this morning that it has been AGES since I've done a Sneaky Nutrition post, so it's high time that we have one.
Believe it or not, though, this sneaky post recipe is sweet and tasty. As always, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOUR FAMILY BE TOLD THAT ANY OF THESE INGREDIENTS ARE GOOD FOR THEM. Okay, so the sugar and butter (and milk fat) make this post suspect to say the least, but at least while you're attacking the arteries and vital organs, you're serving up Vitamin A, C, & D, carotenoids, potassium, fiber, and calcium. Doesn't that make you feel a little less guilty? And if you want to sacrifice taste to offset the bad stuff, try it with canola oil in place of the butter and non-fat canned milk. I've never done that, but it may be worth a try. Now, we won't talk about the crust, but you could always make it without it and call it a sweet potato casserole. I have a crust recipe with oil which may be worth trying and may sometimes try using whole wheat flour some day, we'll see.
So here goes a favorite from my culture. Even though I like pumpkin pie a lot, for us there is nothing that can top sweet potato pie. No holiday celebration would be complete without it. And in all seriousness, you would be better off serving this powerhouse vegetable just as it is, baked in the skin and like us, with a glob of applesauce for extra moisture instead of butter. Oh, and by the way, our family uses yams instead of actual sweet potatoes. They are usually richer in flavor and more moist and colorful.
SWEET POTATO PIE
2 pounds yams
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 tsp. mace (opt.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup water
4 large eggs
1. Place yams in boiling water. Lower heat and cook until done. Drain and peel. Mash yams thoroughly. Add butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace. Stir well.
2. Add vanilla and lemon extract, milk and water. Stir well.
3. Beat eggs until fluffy and pour into potato mixture. Stir well.
4. Pour into two unbaked pastry shells. Place in preheated 375 F. oven and bake for ten minutes. Reduce heat to 325F and cook until center of pies are firm, about 30 min.
On a cool day, this is a wonderful aroma to have in your house. It's one of those smells that take me back to childhood. And really, there is nutrition.
"No Words Needed" is the title of an email some friends forwarded to me and this is the picture.
When I started blogging in July of 2006, in every post that I wrote in those days she was centric. You see, at that time she was still in the womb and I was about to become a grandmother for the first time. Those of you who have been there know what it's like.
She was born on Labor Day of that year. I saw her just a few minutes after her birth, lying on her mama's belly with her eyes wide open and fixed on her mama's face. I was right outside the curtain when she came out and heard her first cries, a moment I'll never forget.
The baby days and toddler days are over for her and she's now a little girl. A precious little girl who is loved more and more (if that is possible) by her PopPop and Nanna each passing year. She is growing more endearing and delightful each and every day.
We love you very much, Selena. Happy Birthday, four year old!
If I could place an order for beautiful weather, today's would be exactly what I would choose. We've had the hottest summer ever!!! This is so refreshing. Seventies, low humidity and a wonderful breeze. Thank you, Lord. "He restoreth my Soul."
My dear birdie friends are so happy outside and it's so nice to have the windows open so that I can hear them.
How is it with you, dear ones? Please forgive your neglectful friend. I promise that I haven't deserted you. Blessings to you all.
I guess this cured me from being down in the dumps about my sore toe. This is not particularly pleasant viewing, but one of the good things about modern technology is that it can often be used to put us right there on the scene of the sufferings and sorrows being lived out by people far away. Personally, I think we who live in such a pleasure and entertainment based society need to be put there more often. Can you add these little children, victims of the Pakistani floods, to your prayer list?
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul. . . Isa. 58:10a
And who might that be? You guessed it! Joseph of the book of Genesis. I just told you about our trip to the Sight and Sound production of this story and now I wanted to let you know we just completed our week long VBS on the same story. It was quite a blessing. The really good thing about it is that the number of children who attended from the community far outweighed the number of children who came from church families. Pray that the Lord will use our efforts to His glory in the lives of these children and their parents.
We took lots of pictures, but I'm sharing a couple which I took that included my granddaughters. The top one is of Selena's class during their craft time on Friday. You can see her in the purple sun visor (which she had just decorated) intent on getting the little beads onto the pipe cleaner. Shana is too young to attend, but one of the ladies at church who had nursery duty gave her little bits of time to work on "projects" of her own. Shana was pretty happy, especially since Mrs. H. has always been a favorite of hers.
We all enjoyed it but are tired and thankful that it's over. Btw, I was the registrar for the first time. I really liked doing that and walking around being a utility person. Good exercise which was sorely needed!
Last week was a sort of "vacation" week for us as Neesie had off work and we just sort of "hung out" as the young folks say. The best part of the week was an overnight stay in Lancaster County, PA (Amish country) where we went to the Sight & Sound Theatres to see their production of "Joseph." It's well worth your time if you live anywhere in that area. Next week is our VBS and the theme is the story of Joseph. So I'm getting a double dose of my favorite Bible story. Do you have a favorite story and if so, what is it?
Here's a very quick trailer of the production:
The preacher recited this to close his sermon on Sunday and I've been thinking about it ever since. If you're saved you should reflect on these words, but if you are not saved, I urge you to think about your answer to this question:
Jesus is standing in Pilate’s hall,
Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all;
Hearken! what meaneth the sudden call?
What will you do with Jesus?
Jesus is standing on trial still,
You can be false to Him if you will,
You can be faithful through good or ill:
What will you do with Jesus?
Will you evade Him as Pilate tried?
Or will you choose Him, whate’er betide?
Vainly you struggle from Him to hide:
What will you do with Jesus?
Will you, like Peter, your Lord deny?
Or will you scorn from His foes to fly,
Daring for Jesus to live or die?
What will you do with Jesus?
“Jesus, I give Thee my heart today!
Jesus, I’ll follow Thee all the way,
Gladly obeying Thee!” will you say:
“This I will do with Jesus!”
What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be;
Someday your heart will be asking,
“What will He do with me?”
~ Simpson
"Dad, I think the Browns next door are angry at us."
"Why is that?"
"They're probably mad because our dog can retrieve the newspaper and theirs can't."
"How could you possibly know that? We don't even subscribe to the paper."
"Yeah, that's probably got something to do with it, too."
