Just checking in to let you know that I will be taking a short blogging break - this week has been very busy and so I have been unable to get any posts typed up. I have a couple written up - I just need to take the time to get them typed up and posted. So hopefully by Wednesday I will have some posts going out. I hope you all are doing well. We are - just had a whole lot of things on my calendar for this week. 

His Robe or Mine...Favorites...1

 "The problem was the wedding garment. The bride had insisted upon wearing a garment of her own choice - not that plain, old-fashioned garment which the Groom's Father had planned for her to wear....

There is no garment like the wedding garment in the whole world. It brings peace, joy, satisfaction and love into the human heart. But it is invisible to the wearer, as well as to other members of the bridal party (the church). However, it becomes the magnetic force to draw others to accept the gospel invitation." Speaking of Matthew 22.

~Frank Phillips

In his book "His Robe or Mine" another excellent book that I was led to read!

Pina Colada Jam- the How-To

So a reader ask me to share recipe for the Pina Colada Jam. So here it is. This is where I got my recipe. I made it the way she says to make it and to be honest - I felt like things need to be changed just a bit. And I will explain in a bit. But first - I want to say - I do not drink alcohol. But some of the research that I did says that when you cook alcohol the alcohol is cooked off of it. Well when I finished making this - according to the recipe - I put a spoon full of the jam on a cardboard and I held a lighter up to it. I had looked up how they determine the proof of alcohol and they had mentioned this test - starting stuff with a lighter. Well my jam did not like up. So I am thinking that it cooked the alcohol out of it. But once my bottle of coconut rum is gone I will probably be using coconut flavoring - you know the stuff that you find near the vanilla. I will probably be using half of the alcohol in the future makings of this jam. And when I do make this again - I will try to do a post to explain what I did different and what I thought of the changes. 

One main thing I will be changing next time I make this is that I will be using 2 full packs of sure-jell - the way she explains it is you use 1 1//2 or so. It did not thicken very much- it was fine - especially since i love it over cottage cheese. So that is something you will want to keep in mind! Anyway I hope ya'll enjoy! :O)

Daisies

 Daisies 

by Pearly Lange Schuler 

Daisies, white and yellow, 

Bloom in low estate, 

Unassuming creatures

Near the garden gate. 

Casting forth their shadows

To protect the dew 

From the sun that rises 

In a sky of blue. 

Dainty, shy and blushing, 

Nature's common pet, 

Constellated flowers...

Stars that never set. 

My Best Deal

This week I was able to check out a nearby Goodwill. I found and awesome deal! 

This super soft cardigan - is what they call it - it has pockets and made from Modal! Modal is amazing fabric- it feels luxurious to me! 

Most of the time things like this are marked 5.49 or more but it was marked for only $1.99!! 

I was able to look it up on the internet and this is it! and the price on Amazon - $23.99! 

I got a great deal!! 

I hope you all had a great week last week and as we begin this new week - that you are blessed! :O) 

 

Only One Truth - WHY I SPEAK - Episode 1

This week we start a 13 part series. These videos are really short - so not much time needed to watch. I hope you are blessed! :) 

Freebie Friday

So I found a few more things on Baker Creek Seeds that I was wanting for next growing season, so I ordered a few more things. And these were my free seeds! 

 I went ahead and started 6 seeds a few days ago and I already have some coming up! :0)

My Current Read....

 So a couple of weeks ago I shared a little bit about a very cool thing that happened a couple of weeks ago. 

A couple of weeks ago when a pastor from my old church knew that I liked older books and cookbooks - so I was asked to come look through several boxes of books - The cookbooks were fun to go through and when I started going through the other books - I depended on the Holy Spirit to help me decided which books would be worth reading. I am very selective in what books I read. There are a lot of books that have what I call mush in them. I like books that draw me to Jesus. Books that help me understand the gospel better and uplifts Jesus. One book caught my attention and I knew it was a book I was suppose to read, "The Branch and the Vine" by name!

As I looked through the introduction - it said that it was a great book to follow after reading the book "His Robe or Mine" a book that had been given to me years earlier. I just had not read the book yet. I had not felt like it was the time to read it yet. What a God sent book! I knew it was time to read the book I had gotten years ago and I can not wait to share a few things from it along the way. 

Good News for you! I found both of these books free online - in pdf form. So you are able to go check out the book if you would like! :O)  

Pina Colada Jam...Yummy

So teaching the jam class to the teenage girls inspired me to finally get my pina colada jam made up. The ingredients had been sitting on my counter for several months. But the very next day after making the mixed berry jam with the girls found me in the kitchen canning again! 

Once you know the basics of water bath canning - the process goes a lot smoother and quicker. 

Isn't it pretty? 

Not only is it delicious, but it also has a bit of nostalgia for me. 

So one of the delicious ways to eat jam is to spoon it over cottage cheese! 

My Grandmother used to make a wonderful lime jello desert - Lime jello, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and so on... I love the stuff, but I don't get it very often. 

Anyway this pina colada jam over cottage cheese reminds me of this delicious desert. Yummy!!! 

Have you done any canning yet? Any plans to can?  

 

It's Harvest Time!

This past week-end, before our onslaught of rain - I was able to harvest my kale. I was so surprised at how much I was able to get. 

I have been buying a 16 oz bag of kale to cook up for the week. So this week - I pulled out what I thought was 16 oz...lol ... I was off. Will need to add more next time. But hmmmmm it was so good! It felt good to go out and harvest my own kale and cook it up. The truth is that it took a lot more time then to just cut open a bag, but it was still very rewarding! 

This year I am learning so much about gardening... and I have learned a good amount from mistakes made. I am trying to keep track of things I want to remember for next growing session. Gardening is like a classroom - and you will always be learning. And thankfully it is rewarding as well. :O) 

Garden Friends

 Garden Friends 

by J. Harold Gwynne 

Whoever tends a garden 

Has many gentle friends....

The beauty of the morning, 

The peace when daytime ends. 

The birds their carols singing, 

The flowers of lovely hue. 

The tender plants upspringing, 

The leafy foliage new. 

The dew, the rain, the sunshine. 

The soft and verdant sod...

The deep and mystic feeling

Of walking close with God. 

Best Deal ... bonus Freebie Friday

So last Wednesday morning I had to be at my son's house at 5am. I woke up at 4:15am so I decided to get up and get ready for the day. So I got up and got a shower and was at his house on time. I was excited because what that meant is that after I went by HEB - I had planned on going home and eating breakfast and then I was going to try to get by the consignment store that I take clothes to and also a Goodwill store and then I was planning on going to Winco. 

So half way through HEB - I started getting a migraine...Oh Great.... I prayed and hurried through part of the rest of the store and went by the clearance rack and then off to my house I headed. Thankful that God got me how safely. And after feeling crappy for a couple of hours I decided to get a nap in so at about 10:30am - I laid down for a nap. I was able to sleep till almost 12:30pm. I felt a bit better after my nap. I was disappointed about not getting to run my errands. But lucky for me I was able to go on Thursday! 

 So here are my best deals of the week: 

10# bag of sugar - $1.16 - around here 4# bags of white sugar are running $1.95

1# powdered sugar - $.25 I am not for sure the regular price but I am thinking $1.00. 

So these are my best deals of the week! I got a couple of things free - and will share today since I was not able to get stuff posted on Friday. 

So on my last visit to HEB I had gotten a couple of great freebie coupons:

I was able to get a good sized box of cereal - that my husband likes ever so often - normally $2.48 - free! 

I was also able to get this loaf of honey wheat bread - $2.00 - free! 

My husband has already had a sandwich or two...lol 

Have you gotten any great deals lately? I would love to hear about them! :O) 

Sermon: How to Get Victory over sin

It happened again! As you know I have started reading a new book last week. It is another great book. So Friday morning I decided to pick out a sermon to watch to see if I wanted to share it this week end. And I just happened to see this one "How to get victory over sin?" As I watched it I realized that this was talking about a lot of the things I had been reading about! I love when that happens - when God brings the same information from several different sources. When that happens I know that it is something that God has orchestrated. 

 

What lesson can we learn from a can of soda? Watch the video to find out. And if you don't have patience to find out - you can always read below. :O) 

God's presence makes you holy. 

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; Philippians 1:6

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25

Trying to fight sin in our own strength is like shaking up a can of soda and opening it up and trying to control it.  

When Starting From Seeds...Don't Skip THIS Step

So as you know this year - I started most of my plants from seeds. I have really enjoyed this whole process- but I have already learned a hard lesson. A lesson I want to share with you so that you do not make this mistake.

You can not just willy nilly go plant your little seedlings in the ground. There is an important process that will help you have better success. It is called "Hardening Off."  You have to harden off your plants, toughen up your plants before you plant them in the ground. This is a great Youtube video that explain this process in a very easy to understand way. 
I hope that by me sharing this you will have more success in your garden. :O)  

I had been trying to figure out how to do this:

A couple of years ago I went to a greenhouse/garden open house nearby - 

They had a few little snacks for us and one of the snacks was roasted chickpeas. They were so tasty and I had wanted to learn how to make them! Well just last week one of the youtube channels that I follow shared this great video - it is less than 5 minutes long but she shows how she makes bbq chickpeas! 

I hope you enjoy! :O) 

Sharing Some Beauty With You Today!

Today I wanted to share a bit of beauty from around our yard, or nearby. 

I have been so happy with all of my perennials that have been blooming around my yard, such beauty to enjoy!! 

Last year we didn't end up with very many lady bugs in our yard. 

I was very disappointed. :( 

This year they are out in force and I love it! 

There were just a few that I saw in the front yard when doing some work out there! :) 

 

My Mother's Garden

 My Mother's Garden 

Jessie Goddard Broman 

Today, in thinking, suddenly I knew 

The secret of her garden and its ways; 

Why all the curly roots made haste and grew 

And were the first to start their blossom days. 

Her pinks would hurry into spicy growing 

While still the iris purpled lovely banners; 

And past the time for poppies to be going 

The petals quite forgot their garden manners. 

For I remember how she used to talk 

To pansies that looked up with childlike faces; 

She knelt to touch them by the garden walk 

And all their beauty took on added graces. 

Now this one thing at last I surly know.... 

Flowers, like children, must have love to grow. 

Just a little happy mother's day note to you :)

Just checking in to say Happy Mother's Day to each and every one of you ladies - As a pastor once said - even women have not had children of their own have had pets or taken other people under their wing as children. And as a momma to 4 kitties and 14 chickens at the moment - even being a momma to our animals is an important job! 

So whether you have children or not or have pets or not - know that you are important to those around you.  Your influence is very important! You are loved! Have an awesome day! :O) 

 

Grace Plus....sermon

Happy Sabbath morning friends! Here is a great sermon that I heard last week. Just wanted to share it with you all this morning. I hope you are blessed. 

This week I finished reading "The Ten Commandments" book and I am very excited about the book that I started. It is a funny store - I was given the book quite a long time ago. And just hadn't felt like it was time to read the book yet. 

Fast forward to a week or so ago when a pastor from my old church knew that I liked older books and cookbooks - so I was asked to come look through several boxes of books - The cookbooks were fun to go through and when I started going through the other books - I depended on the Holy Spirit to help me decided which books would be worth reading. I am very selective in what books I read. There are a lot of books that have what I call mush in them. I like books that draw me to Jesus. Books that help me understand the gospel better and uplifts Jesus. One book caught my attention and I knew it was a book I was suppose to read. As I looked through the introduction - it said that it was a great book to follow after reading the book I referred to earlier! What a God sent book! I knew it was time to read the book I had gotten years and years ago and I can not wait to share a few things from it along the way. I may even buy a few more copies of the 1st book to give away. And if I see the second - which is much smaller I will get it as well. But I am getting ahead of myself. For now I hope you enjoy this sermon and are blessed! :O) 

Freebie Friday

 Since we have Mother Day coming up really soon - I thought I would show you a freebie I go that both of my boys put love into to make it possible for me to use it. 

This pretty bench was something that my oldest son picked up while out looking for scrap metal. It was broken so someone put it out at the curb. 

Well a week or so ago my youngest son was working on a welding project and he welded this back together! 

I had seen a really pretty white garden bench at HEB - I think I shared a photo of it with you all several weeks ago- it was $149.99! Well I could not justify spending that kind of money. This bench blends is so much nicer. I don't think I would want a stark white bench out in the garden. I think it would be an eye sore, really. 

 

I am so thankful for other people's junk. It is awesome to be able to put a little effort into something to make it useful again. And best of all I have an awesome bench for my garden!! It rocks- we just need to get some brick to put the legs on to make it work better. :O) 

A New Favorite

When I find new favorites - I like to share them with you all. 

Last week I had a coupon for $.50 cents off when you bought 2 bottles of this Goya Coconut Water. 

So while I was at HEB shopping I bought 2. 

I love them! One of the reasons why I love these so much is because they have pulp- which means little chunks of coconut! Yummy! 

 Later I discovered that Aldi's also sells these- and their price is .20 cents cheaper per bottle. These are not cheap - $1.06 at Aldi's I believe. But they are so good-  they make a perfect treat ever so often! Something great to look forward to enjoying! 

Have you every tried these? If so, what did you think? 

What are you looking for?

 "Faultfinding is another form of transgression. The person who seeks for faults in others will find them, for we usually find what we look for an often fail to see anything else. A vulture flies over a beautiful landscape and see nothing except what it is looking for, a putrefying carcass. The many beautiful things are overlooked. The same is true of a fault finder. The beauties of character are unseen, and the eyes are fixed on the little that is disagreeable and ugly."

~Taylor G. Bunch in his book "The Ten Commandments" in the chapter about:

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." Ex.20:16

What's Going On In The Garden?!

So you remember the Basil that I started from a $1.00 package from Dollar Tree? 

This is just one of the trays I have of basil plants from it. I think I have at least 6 maybe 7 in the other tray. 

On the 13th I started some Malabar spinach- I have 6 plants that have germinated! I am excited about this! My Dad introduced me to this kind of spinach. The first year I did good at germinating a decent amount of seeds. I tried the next year and they did poorly. So I am thankful to have these plants!! 

Another things I have started in the last couple of weeks is Butternut squash! 

I ended up having 6 germinate - but apparently these end up to be very large plants - so I have give 2 plants to my daughter in law for our grandsons to watch them grow. And giving 2 others to a friend from church. I will be planting the last 2 in the next week or so. This photo was taken a week ago - and they have grown to much since then!! I am excited to see how this does this year. Would love to get some butternut squash! I will keep you all up dated! 

There are so many options of things you can grow - especially when you grow from seeds!! :)

 

Tulips

 Tulips 

Georgia B. Adams 

It took the rains of April and 

The sunshine's golden ray 

To bring the lovely tulips here, 

Along our path today. 

They stand so stately and so tall, 

The purple, red, and gold; 

It makes me wonder how much charm

A single flower can hold.

And then I think of how life's sun

Smiles down on one and all, 

How into every human life 

A little rain must fall. 

We, like the tulips, need to wait 

Amidst the driving rain, 

To see the beauties that await 

When sunbeams smile again. 

Best Deal

My Best Deal's for this week were found at my favorite little thrift store!  

Two new without tags pairs of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans!! 

I was so thrilled to find these! I love the darker jeans, they are my favorite! 

 I got these great jeans for $3.00 each!! With a total of $6.50 with tax. 

Oh and I got a cute valance for my back door for free! 

I just couldn't pass this valance up! <3

Sermon~ Incredible Grace - Part 2

Happy Sabbath to you all! I hope that this part two of the sermon will bless you! :O)