Beautiful Music

My friend Susan posted some links for good Christian music. I had been listening to Faith Music Missions,which she also posted the link for. From her list of recommendations, I have been listening to Old Christian Radio when I'm at the computer, and sometimes even if I'm not. I haven't found a good Christian radio station for our area, and it's so nice to have the variety of music that a radio station offers.

A little of everything...

I'm sitting here enjoying Celestial Seasoning's Chai Tea. 'Tis the weather for tea!

Our fall weather has arrived. Today's high is projected at 58*. Brrrrr! I like a little more of a transition between summer weather and fall weather. :) The trees are turning more and more each day. This is one thing that I tremendously enjoy about fall.

My fingers are healing well. They still hurt, of course, but the wounds look like they are healing properly. I don't know if I'll ever be able to use that knife again, without thinking of my accident!

I finished Pride and Prejudice. It took me a while to read it, because of the old English. It's funny that people really used to talk that way. :) The chapters are short, and that proved helpful in finishing the book. I had watched the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice previously and realized as I read the book how excellent their casting was. Mrs. Bennet especially! I want to read the rest of Jane Austin's books, but I'll save that for later.

I have a small job! I have been looking for a part time job, without success. The office manager at Kevin's work told him I should clean houses, and that she would have me clean her house. I'm going to start out at every other week. My fingers need to heal first, though. I'm not sure when I'm starting, but I'm looking forward to it. One of my sisters cleans houses, so I'm planning on getting some tips from her.

I want to get some pumpkins for my front porch. Pumpkins are so cheery and fallish. Some years I have cooked the pumpkins I decorated with and frozen the pumpkin puree. (This process involves the big knife I cut myself with. Hmmmm) Other years the pumpkins haven't lasted long enough.

Well, I have much to do today, so I'll sign off for now. Have a blessed day!

Potato Pancakes

I love potato pancakes. Kevin does not. On the rare occasions that Kevin isn't home for dinner, I will sometimes make them for myself. Monday evening, Kevin was away, so I decided to make my favorite dinner.

It was a late dinner, because I had gone shopping that afternoon.

I had two small pancakes cooked, and realized that they would be turning out better with butter.

No butter in my fridge. Hmmm, guess I'll have to get out the frozen butter.

I pulled out a knife. Why I used the largest knife in my drawer, I'm still not sure.

I just needed a bit. The knife slipped. Ouch! I grabbed my hands and stood staring at a deep cut. I stood and dripped blood for a minute, trying to figure out what to do.

Finally, I got a clean rag and wrapped it around my fingers, and decided that the best thing was to get help. I didn't want to drive myself to the emergency room, and even at that, I wasn't really sure where it was.

I rushed over to my next door neighbors, who welcomed me in, helped me decide I needed to get stitches, and even came back over to my house and cleaned up the blood all over the floor. I was so thankful for their help. They are two older ladies, sisters, that live together.

I left a note for Kevin and then they drove me to the emergency room. Kevin came about an hour after I'd been there. I had just gotten in a room when he arrived.

It was busy, and after the doctor numbed my fingers, he had a more pressing emergency. So he had to re-numb my fingers again.

After 6 stitches in my left ring finger, and 4 stitches in the middle finger, 2 and a half hours of mostly waiting, I finally was able to leave.

I don't think I'll ever attempt to cut frozen butter again. Live and learn!

I am so thankful that the injury wasn't worse, and that my neighbors were so helpful.

Ok, you can call me weird. No, wait, don't call me weird! :)

Our brains are marvelous! Have you ever talked yourself into something? I have. In fact, my whole family did one time! My grandpa called us, and we all went over to his house. We were going to watch the moon eclipse. So we watched, and wow, yes, the moon was being eclipsed. Yes, it was getting smaller. We sat outside for a good 15 minutes or longer, watching the moon eclipse.

Then my grandma came out. She had been watching the news. Guess what? The eclipse was the next night! We all laughed at ourselves, and then watched the real eclipse the next night!

For the past 10 months, I have done my own convincing to my brain. Kevin gave me a Colonial Candle for my birthday last year. I have enjoyed burning it throughout this year. It smells so pretty. It's red. Everyone knows that apples are red, right? I have always thought this candle was an apple candle. To me, it even smelled like apples. Never mind the fact that there is a picture of a bundle of cinnamon sticks on the front. Apples and cinnamon go together, right? Never mind the fact that the candle is clearly marked "Cinnamon" right by the cinnamon sticks. In my mind it was an apple candle, therefore, it smelled like apples!

It was just a week or so ago that I looked at it and said, "This is a cinnamon candle?"

It may be funny when we're talking about candles and moon eclipses. But what about the people all over this earth that have convinced themselves that they don't need God to get to heaven? Or that they can work their way to heaven? I'm glad that I haven't done that kind of brainwashing towards myself!

Huh?

“It’s absolutely wrong to change the definition of science by introducing God.”

What?

I heard this on the news this morning. I rushed to get a pencil and paper and make sure I copied it down word for word. The woman who said this is part of the group fighting to keep teachers in Dover, Pennsylvania from having to teach “Intelligent Design” to their students.

I did an online search for “Dover, evolution” and came up with many articles about this feud that has been ongoing since last Thanksgiving.

What a sad state America and her schools are in!

And the rain came tumbling down....

Do you know that song? Well, we got lots of rain tumbled down on us on our way home from church. Kevin was really tired, so he had asked me to drive. As we were within 5 miles of home, the sky got really dark, and we could tell that we were driving into a storm. The rain came down so hard that I could hardly see to drive. Everyone had slowed to around 30 mph.

Now that we're home, it's raining, but not too hard. Just a nice drizzle, with an occasional outburst.

*Sigh* I love rain!

Praise the Lord for Nice Neighbors!

Kevin asked our neighbor two doors down if we could borrow his lawn mower. He said he wouldn’t mind, but he was out of gas. Well, we had plenty of gas on hand, so that was no problem. Our neighbor’s lawn mower had “Simplicity” on it. Yep! It was simple—but it got the job done. I had a bit of a time getting it up the incline of our front yard, but I was finally able to figure out the best way to get it up. I bet my arms will be sore tomorrow! At least the lawn got mowed. I hate to leave a job undone!

No more lawn mower!

Well, I’m lawn-mower-less. The lawn mower that the previous owners of our house left for us has gone kaput. Now my tree lawn has a strip of un-mowed grass in the middle, and the rest of the lawn is in need of mowing. Hmmmmmmm…..I guess putting oil in your lawn mower is important! Oh well, live and learn!

A beautiful morning!

It’s beautiful out! The air is so brisk and fresh! I feel so invigorated and ready to tackle my chores!

Birds keep bonking into our front window. It’s sad, but kind of funny. They perch in a tree in the front, and then fly to the bird feeder, and as they swoop through the porch, they sometimes fly right into our window. This morning the blinds were shut, and we heard a loud “bonk” and saw the shadow of the bird flying away. I can understand it flying into a window that has no covering, but to fly into it with the blinds drawn? They need to watch where they are going!

Have a blessed day!

What do YOUR dogs get for dinner?

Yesterday I was doing some shopping at Sam's Club. I was waiting patiently in line, when I noticed the lady in the next aisle over, who started talking to the lady behind her. This sweet, little old lady had 3 rotisserie chickens that she was buying. She proudly told the other customer that she was buying them for her dogs! Wow! I can't imagine buying roasted chickens to feed dogs!

Another Knitting Challenge

As I've said before, I just love to challenge myself and learn new techniques. Knitting is a relatively new passion for me. I started following knitting patterns just this year. I've known HOW to knit since I was 17 or so, and I had made a few scarves, but I didn't know how to follow a pattern. Library books have really helped me!

I haven't given up on my lace...I just haven't worked on it for a while. :)

But anyhow, my new project was to learn "Entrelac". If you look closely at the picture, the knitting looks like it is woven strips of knitting. It isn't. It's knitted that way! I had a lot of fun learning the technique. It wasn't hard at all, especially since I had detailed instructions out of a book. I plan to make this into a pillow for my couch. I just need to knit a back for it. My next challenge using this technique will be to knit it in two colors, so that it looks like a checkerboard. I think I will work on my lace a bit more, before I get yarn for that project though!

Fall has come to my house!

On Saturday I pulled out my fall decorations and decorated my living room and dining room for fall. I also went to Hobby Lobby (a huge store, somewhat like Michaels)and all the fall decorations were half off! I got a few new things to add to my fall decorations I already had: a leaf garland, a scarecrow, two sets of candleholders, and some votive candles.

Here is the scarecrow I got. Doesn't he look so friendly and welcoming?

I put up a leaf garland in the doorway between the living room and the dining room. I think it adds just the right touch! I plan on putting some sort of garland up for my Christmas decorations.

Every fall, I bring out two afghans that were crocheted by my great grandma, and Kevin's grandma. They were made in the 70's so they are orange and brown and green--not colors I would normally decorate with!

Here is my coffee table~

The doilies are ones I picked up at a yard sale several years ago for 5 cents each. They are perfect for my fall decorations! I crocheted the pumpkins several years ago.

Here is the dining room:


I had a lot of fun decorating for fall this year! I love the fall season....the briskness in the air, the leaves changing, and the apples! Last fall I discovered all the different varieties of apples at fruit stands! I love to go to a fruit stand and get the tree-ripened apples. Last week I got a variety called Honeycrisp. They are tarter than their name suggests, but they are crisp!

Happy fall, y'all!

More pictures!

For some reason, I could only get a few pictures on my one post.

Here is a view from the dining room. This cabinet is where I keep my recycle stuff, and cleaning supplies.


And here I am:


There are a few things I am going to change. I need to change the decorations around on the wall so they don't look like a line of decorations. Hehe...I'm not very good with getting decorations up on the wall and liking their placement on the first try. So I usually have to try a few times.

Secondly, I am going to somehow do something with my valance. I made it today. I'm not sure if the fabric shrunk, or I didn't measure right or what, but there is no fullness to the valance at all. I am so disappointed. I realize that sometimes valances will not have any fullness, but it just looks so plain and unplanned. It looks like it's made for a smaller window. I will have to get another piece of the same fabric, in order to do anything different. I could have cried when I got it put up! Oh well, at least my painting is finished! I'm very happy about that!

My kitchen is finished!!!

I am excited that my kitchen is finally painted. Every surface that needed paint is now sufficiently covered in paint! I am so relieved to have this job finished!

Here are some before pictures. You can see the inside of the cupboards. They were a nasty green. I decided I couldn't live with that, and I was going to paint them. I didn't realize it would take four coats of paint to cover it! It did take a lot of time, but I am so glad that I got it done! The insides of the cupboards are fairly nice, now that they have been painted.



Here's a picture taken after the cupboard doors were removed:



And now, the finished kitchen!!!




Beside the stove is a perfect spot for a small bookshelf. I have all my cookbooks and binders on it. It's very handy! I've never had a good place in my kitchen for my cookbooks, so it's nice to have a spot just for them.


Keep on going...I had to do these pictures in two posts, since it didn't want to take any more pictures for the first post. I changed the time on the second one so that it would appear after this post.

Quote on Prayer

There’s nothing you can do for God until you go to God in prayer.

Last night at church we had a church planter visiting. He is planting a church in Marysville, Ohio, which is near Columbus. He said the above during his message. I thought it was a very good thought!

Today...

Today is a rainier day than Wednesday was. I just love the sound the cars make when they are driving down the wet roads.

Tonight Kevin and I are going on a date. I do hope that it's not wet out tonight, because we're planning on going putt-putt golfing. We're also going to a Vietnamese Pho Noodle place. We were so happy to find this restaurant! It had been a long time since we had Pho noodle soup. It's so delicious, and one of the foods I consider a "comfort food". It's really a simple soup. It's just a large bowl with rice noodles, thinly sliced beef, sliced green onions, onions, cilantro, and broth. They give you a tray of basil, lemon wedges, and mong bean sprouts. I never add anything to mine. I love it just the way it is. Kevin likes to liberally add prune sauce (there is a name for it, but I can't remember what it is right now), and he also adds basil and mong bean sprouts.

Mmmmmm, I can't wait for dinner! We always loved to go out for Pho noodle soup when we lived in California, and rather missed this soup. One night I had a hankering for it, so I looked in the phone book, and sure enough found this restaurant! The restaurant owner is a sweet lady named Rosie, and she came out and talked to us for a bit. She even gave us a discount. =)

Have you ever lost a shoe while driving down the road? I haven't! *Grin* This is something that I have puzzled ever since I was little. Surely you've seen shoes by the side of the road? Or maybe in the middle of the road? HOW do they get there? My shoes have always stayed firmly on my feet! Kevin and I had this discussion last Wednesday night, because we saw a shoe in the middle of the road. The only conclusion we came to was that perhaps they fall off the back of trucks. That many people drive around with shoes in the back of their trucks? Hahaha Oh well, I guess I'll quit worrying about it.

Have a blessed day!

Crunch, crunch, crunch

I'm eating my breakfast. :-) Kevin asked me to get Grape Nuts, so yesterday when I went grocery shopping, I picked up a box. I haven't bought them in over a year. I used to buy them quite frequently. I'm not sure exactly why I stopped. Can someone tell my why they are called Grape Nuts? They have neither ingredient in them!

When I poured them into my bowl, I was remembering when I was about 8, and my mom was expecting my sister. I think Grape Nuts must have been about the only thing she could eat. But my sister Holly and I didn't know that, and we sat down and ate quite a bit of her cereal. Later on that day, I must have had a guilty conscience, because I wrote her a note that said something like, "I still love you, even if I ate all your Grape Nuts."

Do you know something? Cupboard doors are a pain in the neck! I hung all the painted doors yesterday, and now I have to open and close all those doors while I'm working in the kitchen! I got used to no doors on my cupboards. It may not look nice, but it sure is handy!

Speaking of my cupboard doors, I only have four left to paint! Yay!!! I had to buy more paint yesterday, so I didn't get two coats of primer on them like I wanted. But that's ok, I'll still be able to finish painting by Saturday, as I had planned. I can't wait to share pictures of my finished kitchen!

It's raining, it's pouring!!!

Ahhh! I love a nice, rainy day! This summer has been very hot and dry. Kevin heard on the news that we had the hottest summer since 1950-something. For a California girl, I sure have been miserable with all the humidity. The 90-degree temperatures didn’t bother me—but the humidity sure sapped my energy.

I’m so excited! I have the majority of my painting finished! All that I have left to paint now are four cabinet doors. Those are taking five coats of paint—two coats of primer and three coats of paint. I am so glad to see the end of this project in sight! Those cupboard doors gave me such a headache!

I’m going to get my house all “spiffed up” today. Rainy days are good for books and cleaning. I hope I have time for both today.

Ouch!

Today I went to the lab to get some blood drawn for some tests the doctor ordered. I've never had blood work done before. The doctor had ordered five tests to be done, and I just assumed that they were going to take one vial and "divvy up" the blood for the different tests. Well, they took five vials of blood. I am feeling a little spaced out right now. I had to fast beforehand, and I've eaten now, so I'm feeling a little better!

I still have my painting to do today, but I think I'm going to go knit for a while before I get started on my project!

This is the project that never ends...for it goes on and on my friends...

My kitchen has taken me forever and ever to paint. I’ve run into multiple frustrations while trying to get this task finished. I started before we moved in, and here it is two months later and I still haven’t finished this “simple little project.” Yes, that’s what I thought it would be!

Last night I mapped out a plan so I would be able to get done with this project by next Monday. If it weren’t for the multiple coats needed, I would be able to finish it sooner. Next Monday I will be posting pictures of my finished kitchen! Hurrah!

Here I go, off to paint! Have a blessed day!