Still baking...one old picture

Had to run yesterday and did not have time to come back.

Took my Mom to her hair lady. It was so icy...I slid a few times but did not fishtailed, thank the Lord.



I don't understand how a huge mass of Pacific moist air can override an Arctic cold air front. The weather guy explains it, and it makes lots of sense...physically speaking...hot and humid air rises, but cold dry air sinks (is this boring you?) so the rain from the Pacific air mass drops as rain above the Arctic air and cools as it goes through the cold air. The Arctic air--not being dense--allows no time for the rain to re-freeze so, when it reaches the frozen ground--that would be our homes, cars, roads, etc, etc--that very cold rain freezes as it touches the frozen surfaces. Thus resulting in black ice, frozen over snow, frozen windshield wipers [and I mean, crusted on] and all of that wintery stuff.



You who have not experienced this weather phenomenon cannot appreciate the fact that the glazed over key lock in the car is troublesome when one does not have 'keyless entry'

Ok, when I took my Mom back home, I slid backwards on her driveway. Then I backed all the way to the street again and drove over the snow, which gave me the needed traction to get very close to the garage, and the carpeting I had laid down for her to walk on without slipping. It all worked out great. Thank you, Lord.



Today the sun is shining brightly. Temp is around 12F and there is a stiff breeze. The weather guy said that tomorrow it will be 40F and Friday 60F. Do I believe him? The Pacific air mass is relentless, and maybe it would get that high...we shall see. Now it is officialy/calendarically (this is not a word) WINTER.



I will get back to my 'irks' another time. Now, I have to make more seasonal goodies for the 'festivus' celebration.



I'll leave you with this:




"He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow." Psa 147:16-18



In His hands, ^__^

Post without pictures

I went to post last night and found something wrong with my picture accessing apparatus.

DS 'the computer genius' who comes to the rescue, was busy and could not help me. Hopefully he can help before the 'big winter eating festivities' (which said festivities are at his house, again, this year), but and if he is cannot, then you will read more than you'll look [maybe you won't read at all] I'll bore you with a ton of pictures in a couple of days or so.

In the meantime I will share my irks, or that which is irksome to me. Actually just a couple.
One of them which comes to mind is the inappropriate use of plurals. i.e., "we are having so and so for dinner" {this one could be acceptable, but you know she does not include her husband in this sentece, because she had to clean, cook, set the table, and make all the preparations}
The so-called Imperial "We" can be used when the person is representing a group, or a company, or a govenment. Such as I heard yesterday in a report about Secretary Rice. In the audio clip she said: "We made some progress in our meeting" She represents the President and the people of the U.S. so it is acceptable; however "we" were not there with her in the meeting.

Another example: [I know this annoys most of those who pay attention] "How are we doing today?" I used to answer with a 'clever' response, but...what's the use. Those using such a push-button-buzz-word-unthinking greeting do not wish to hear an actual answer. Why not say, Hello. Now, that would be quite radical today. A long time ago I decided not to greet anyone with the typical, "Hi, how are you?" but say, "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" etc. You'd think that people would answer likewise, but no! I have heard so many respond: "Fine, thank you" Of course, now I have stopped laughing, and just smile politely. But, it is 'great puzzlement' to me that the vast majority of people pay, absolutly, NO ATTENTION when doing public exchanges.

Yesterday I could not follow a cooking lady in YouTube as she kept using WE instead of I and OUR instead of THIS or THE. "We add OUR such and such, then WE pour OUR this and that. Then WE put it in OUR oven, and WE bake it for this long" OY!

Gotta run, more later

So cold everywhere

The temp in the house is this 63F

And outside it's this...8F

I know that most of the U.S. is in the deep freeze and will not bore you with details. We have not lost power, the roads are all ploughed, and DH shovelled the driveway yesterday.

But, I had to put these on. I finished them last winter and did not have an opportunity to wear them. Let me tell you, that they did not work so well indoors. I think that they would be great for outdoors. Since the leggings are fairisle they are thicker than single yarn leggings. I am certain that they will guard me in the fierce 40-60mph winds we had for the last two days. Good thing I did not have to go outside.

Stayed in and worked on finishing stuff, and made bread and pizza.

I had to show you my mill--the one I use all the time--it looks like it's 'plum-tuckered-out' from all the milling it had to do.

Well, I only did one batch of four loaves--as always--but I think the picture is sort of comical, with the sponge filter half way out.

I did not want to bore you with more pictures of bread and pizza.

Now I have some version of cabin fever, not having gone out since Saturday. DH wants to take me for a pleasant drive, but the weather guy has been frightening the population by saying that we are going to be coated by ice. So far...nothing! Just looked at the doppler radar and *nutt'n* coming down. That means we could go for a *pleasant drive* before dinner.

DH had an office "snack day" (I sent one pizza and a loaf of bread, sliced) He said he was so full that he did not want any dinner...(maybe a salad)...I'm thinking Matzo ball soup...yum!
At this time of year his office "snack day" is more like the *dining halls of the Roman Empire* but I digress.

I have the doldrums, probably a combination of recovering from that 'lots of cough' cold, being indoors, and no sunshine--that reminds me to go take my cod-liver-oil (Carlson brand, it's lemon flavour, not bad)

Complaint:

Also, have a complaint about bloggers, including me.

Ok, so, I have many blogs bookmarked in my favorites, and go to them 2 or 3 times a week. Well, there are many of them that have not had a new post in days [not too bad], weeks [not too good] and some have not posted in months! [that's crummy]

Mind you, 'my' blog favorites are knitters, crocheters, homekeepers, cooks, wool combers/carders, spinners, quilters, and sewers, for the most part. And these do not include my 'blogs I like to visit' on my right margin.

It seems that when I find a really good, informative, practical blog--although she has posted regularly--there are no new subsequent posts.

Should I delete the delayed blogs?

How long do you 'put up' with such postlessness?

I am too demanding of my fellow bloggers, albeit taking, occasional vacations myself?

Perhaps, I am too demanding {besides being a hypocrite--I do the same, that I accuse others of doing}

Maybe these are rhetorical questions...you are welcome to leave input.

I'll leave you with this:

"The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God." Psa 14:2

In His hands, ^__^

Some festivities over...back to routine...almost...

And *the people* have ALL gone back home, each to his respective state.



Wow! it was busy, and noisy, and busy.



I've been doing some cleaning, picking up, dusting, and LAUNDRY, and putting things back. I'm sort of slow doing it all, since both DH and I have a nasty cold. HATE IT!

Feeling much better today, and should be finished folding all the bedding tomorrow.

Have to make bread also, and get goat's milk as well. Good thing the goat-sitting did not work out (remember I told you, back then?) or I would not have been able to take care of the doe while having company. Phew!



This morning #4 calls me to find out what are the plans for *the winter eating festival* What is he thinking?!?! I asked him to, please, give me a few days to recover before making another menu for the *resident army*...he laughed...you are MOM (super is implied) and you can be making plans already...yeah, sure...my head is not pounding now, so it's funny to me too, right now. . .

...I did not tell you, that for the Thanksgiving dinner we were 27 sitting down at table and 2 babes in arms. The Friday following Thanksgiving, we 'hang out' together most of the day, and leftover lunch is the *main event* (plus football)...so for Friday's hang-out-for-left-overs-lunch we were 32...this time we were not so formal...#4 and Mrs. #4 with brand-new baby were able to come.
Lord bless #2 and Mrs. #2 for having the most floor space to accomodate the 4 tables and the 'million' chairs, for all of us to be together. It was so nice to be all in one room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Got some snow, and cold temps, but...it's almost Winter. (10 more days of Autumn)




I'm so glad...I found, again, a place to purchase one of my soap making ingredients. Now I can make soap again. I have several orders on hold (maybe 4)
By the way...I found Nancy Today on YouTube several weeks ago. She is a lady in Canada, native of Georgia. She is delightful, teaches stuff, is poignant and funny...maybe 'cause..."been there, done that" (well not quite, but almost). She uses downspout drain PVC tubes as soap molds. I shall have to try it. Seems to reduce the shaping time of the bars. She goops the inside of the tubes with petroleum jelly, i.e., Vaseline (R), and uses a home made pusher-outer to slide the long bar of soap easily.
She has something like 1600 videos, and has been vlogging for one year. Amazing stamina!

I'll leave you with this:


"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." I John 1:5

In His hands, ^__^

100th Post!

And not much to say, except...we are still *full* of people...OUR people...loving it.

I will give you a *brief* report:

All's well.

Ate turkey and the appropriate accompanying stuff.

Took tons of pictures, but will not be sharing them here, too bad!

Some of *the people* back in their home...several states away.

God is exceedingly, abundantly good to us.

Got first snow...a dusting.

No knitting, no sewing, no needlework of any kind...well, sewed a couple of buttons.

Lots of cooking, dishes, and laundry...you know...the basic food pyramid.

#4 and Mrs. #4's baby arrived on the 24th. All good. (Sweater looks great on her, and so does the cap.) Parents doing great! Siblings love her.

I'll leave you with this:


"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Pro 3:6

In His hands, ^__^

Ever Present Help

Did you ever wonder...how, and I mean --H O W?!!-- in the world does God take care of us?
Have you ever been aware of Him actually helping you?

I believe God, the Almighty God, helps me always (time) and alway (space).
I will share one event with you, which happened one summer ago.

Two dogs?

About 9 in the morning a guy came to the door; he was all official looking with his ID hanging around his neck, and company clipboard in hand. He was from the new cable-internet-phone company which had been digging, around our town, for several weeks.

He told me that they would be in the easement part of our back yard the rest of the day. I thanked him for telling me, and I asked him if they were going to need anything from me. He said “no, just letting you know we would be there today.” As he walked away I felt a creepy check in my spirit. The guy did not look menacing, or creepy, or scary in any way, and I dismissed the feeling.

Not a minute later, a couple of big dogs were running together across the street—very rare sight in our neighbourhood. I thought “who would let their dogs run? and without a leash?” I watched them turn as if they heard someone calling them, and head toward our front yard. The dogs came right up to our front door and sat looking at me looking at them, as they panted like they had been running for a long time. I went outside to see if they had tags, but, no tags. One had a collar. I shooshed them and told them repeatedly to go home, while motioning with my hand. They just would not leave. Could they have been abandoned? I’ll never know.

It was near 90F already, so I went back inside and got a big stainless steel mixing bowl, filled it with water and took it out for the dogs to drink. They drank it clean, and sat under the red maple’s shade as if they belonged there. I refilled the bowl, and went back inside checking on the dogs every time I walked by the front window.






When they heard me coming near the door or window, they got up excitedly, wagging their tails and expected I would play with them—I thought.

Meanwhile, the cable laying guys came and went to their trucks, had their lunch, and came and went to their trucks some more. The dogs lifted their heads attentively every time one of those guys walked by in the side yard.

I was so intrigued by those dogs that I hardly got anything done, except some dusting and laundry. Those two dogs behaved as if they lived here. Every now and then, I went outside to give them more water, and they greeted me as if they knew me well. They never once sniffed my shoes, or skirt, as most dogs would do. Their behaviour was peculiar, to say the least.

When it was near the time that my husband would be driving up from work, I stayed by the door, to give him the head’s up about those dogs being there. I knew his sense of ‘protector of the wife’ would immediately rise upon seeing the dogs, so I wanted to be outside as he drove up. Sure enough, when he saw the dogs—which did not even look up when the car drove up the driveway—he frowned with concern, but quickly unknitted his brow as he saw me smiling at him. One of the dogs glanced, uninterested, at him as we came up to the door, and laid his head back down on his paws.

I told my husband the whole dog story, and when he noticed the cable-internet-phone guys in the back yard, I told him about the guy from the morning.



While hubby was freshening up I notice the dogs drinking a little water and then walking away, and soon trotting and running just as they had come in the morning.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
When hubby came back to the kitchen, noticing the dogs were not where they had been, we both wondered and speculated if the Lord had sent them to protect me from those guys. Their assignment completed, they left. Only God knows if one of those guys would have been up to no good that day, or would have thought to do me evil, if it had not been for those two huge dogs, sitting in our front yard all day. I imagined those guys would be well acquainted with guard dogs, and these two big dogs would look threatening—two of them, at that, and untethered! They could have growled, chased them, or barked…but did not. Just sat and watched.

These scriptures came to mind as I saw the dogs disappear in the distance:

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Ps. 91:1)

“The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” (Nah 1:7)

Thank you, Lord!

Finally the pink baby sweater

But first, we dance!...no, no, wait, that's from The King and I.



But first, the outrageous colors of tree death aka 'fall colors'



Back yard-regular-sweet gum,

Waaay in the back, some oaks, and hedges. Also two huge piles of fallen trees to burn next weekend. (DH took this one. Our church's back yard)

Next, comes the skeining of the ravelled 'what-was-I-thinking' sweater. The niddy-noddy made by DH. It is his own design of what I described to him that I needed. He is brilliant! You will not find a better design engineer. But, I digress.

Here are four skeins, all properly curled before their straightening bath, and subsequent weighting on the clothes line--probably tomorrow.

I hung them on the back of the chair, and now they look like a pretzel. (to the upper left you will notice DH's creative hand, on the mouse)

Finally the long awaited for pink baby sweater. Drummmmmm rolllllll....
Just needs the buttons.

And, the very lovely, accompanying pink baby cap.

And a close up of the cuff. Isn't it cute? Soooooo tiny.

The sweater is this one, and the cap is my design. Just regular 5 DPNs, make a tube, decrease, and there you go.

I'll leave you with this,

"For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" Heb 1:5

In His hands, ^__^

So very busy

I see that I have not posted for an entire week, sorry.
I took things apart. Put them back together.
Cleaning, laundry, cleaning, shopping, cleaning...

Having out of town company in the next couple of weeks (double YAY!!)...so I better have a clean house.

If I have time later, I'll post pictures of the knitting.

I'll leave you with this:


"Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." Pro 14:1

In HIs hands, ^__^

Elaine Crochet

She has so many YouTubes on crochet. I go to her blog most days, since she has a new video several times per week.
She had not posted for several days--not like her. This morning she gave the news that her little girl passed away in her sleep. Very, very sad. As far as I can tell--no speako the Portugueseo--the little girl had a brain tumor since she was four. Had 10 surgeries in her short, 12 year life.
I posted a comment, gave her a scripture to encourage her. (I found the Bible in Portuguese, found the verse, and copy/pasted it--the Word of God will not return void!)
When I clicked on the comment box, she already had 363 comments.)

Lord, bless her heart and mind, give her peace...draw her to yourself, and fill her with your Spirit.

I'll leave you with this:


"Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Heb 4:7

In His hands, ^__^

Dream BIG

Here at Peasant House we like to dream big.


I, for one have no strictures on how big I like to dream. So, for my *dream house* I like to look at the Horchow Collections

When I was a little girl I had a bedroom sort-of-like-this, but without the canopies--desk and all.



But...I had always wanted one like this,

Of course my parents would not hear of it.

Now, I'm thinking...I could do bedroom #2, but I would have to clear it with DH. I'm sure he will like it, and would not be opposed to it, if I could find some fabric like it in a garage sale...(ha, ha)

Hey, I can dream! You go ahead and dream too.

My whole point of this 'dreamy' post is to make reference to the *new* style of bed spreads.

Had you noticed? A top which covers the mattress, with an attached ruffle. This style is so doable! Quilts would take a lot less time to finish...and I could make more.

In my childhood 'everyone' had this type of bedspread. A one-layer one for summer and a quilted one for winter. But, both with the ruffle....something to consider. Thank you, Horchow, for the inspiration.

Before I forget, I also want to thank Hobby Lobby for not having disgusting, ugly, freaky to little children, decorations in their store.

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday looking for double pointed bamboo needles, but they were out. However I 'had to' buy some DMC cotton #20 for a project that I have in mind.

So...Thank you Hobby Lobby for not having your store all uglied-up for the door-bell-ringing-by-children-day. (you may have guessed, we don't do 'pagan's holidays')

I'll leave you with this:

"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" 2Co 6:16-17

In His hands, ^__^

I'm still here

I see that 'nobody' has been coming to read my blog.
I know 'you'll' be back when I get back to posting.
Been very busy with lots of 'people' coming and going for over a week.

One thing I'm sad for is that the fence around our house is only 3ft. tall.

So what's the deal with that?--you ask...

My goater friend has a little doe that will not stop nursing, she is over 4 months old, and the momma goat won't push her away. So... the little doe needs to be away from the momma for about 3 weeks. I offered to keep her, but did not 'pass inspection' The young doe is 'my best jumper' my friend said, and needs at least 6ft. of fencing or she'll be out in the neighbourhood bleeting up a storm...sigh...it would have been my opportunity to 'play at being a goater'...oh, well.

Got a yogurt start from my goater friend, it is delicious. As we speak the milk is getting ready to be 'yogged' {my very own term, I feel free to use the noun yogurt as a verb, hope you don't mind}

This is the yogurt starter, blurry, but you've seen yogurt before.
I had to stop the kefir making, long story short (yeah, sure) it was not coming out of hibernation--or whatever it's called when the kefir grains slooooowww doooowwwn production.

These are the kefir grains. In all fairness, they--the grains--have been in non-stop production for over 5 years...time for a winter vacation, guys!
I had to rinse the grains very thoroughly in water; now they are hibernating in water in the refrigerator, until I'm ready for kefir again. So there!



I have a 'ton' of knitting to do. My blue sweater that I started last winter...I don't know where I was at the time I casted on the stitches...but...I have to take it apart, and do the fronts again.

DH has asked that I 'redo' his 'sleeping cap' He would like it to be less, showy and more practical. I'll show you before and after pictures...



One DD sent me a link to a baby round yoke sweater, and I'll go with that one, since the Brazilian Tesituras lady never got back to me. Oh, sigh...this baby is due in about a month, have to get the sweater done!

I'll leave you with this,

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." Pro 15:13

In His hands, ^__^

Ponderings...(wassat?)

Lately, and since it is Autumn, many are saying colder weather phrases.
For example,
'We got a cold snap'
'It has been sunshiny and crisp, this week'
'Snuggly, frosty weather today'
'Crunched together on the couch to watch a video'
'The cold wind cut to the bone, during our walk'
'Definitely got a break from the heat!'
...and many other that you may want to add to this list.

The blogs are showing favourite cold weather foods, such as Thick Soups, Stews, Watery Soups, Biscuits and Gravy...for desserts we see, Double Chocolate Turtle Cake, Oozie-Goopie Caramel Torte, Sour Cream Apple Pie...and on the list goes.

Now, stand back and really observe [I may be the only one who has noticed this phenomenon...nooot!]

Let me help you...snap, crisp, crunch, toast, and break, are onomatopoeic words which describe hardness to some degree or another. When the weather is this way, we want soft, smooth, mooshy, liquidy--thick or thin, foods.

When the weather is hot, and humid, and thick, then we like to eat Crispy Potato Chips, Crispy Nachos, Crunchy Pretzels, Crispy-Crunchy Salads, Snapple...and other foods which imply hardness.

Well, what does that say about us? It seems that food companies have, already, banked on this peculiar human condition and made barrels of money (would that be hard money or soft money...you decide)

You may profit by doing a word study in your Bible about hardness, hardship, and see what the Lord shows you.
When my heart is hard, what do I want to hear?
When my heart is soft, what then?

I'll leave you with this:


"That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits" Isa 30:9-10

In His hands, ^__^

Tea For Lunch

This is my lunch.

A cup of Detox A.M. from Celestial Seasonings, and a meat turnover.

Turnovers are such a portable meal. They are made in all parts of the world that use wheat flour. They are known by many different names. They come in many different shapes, and are filled with different meats, cheeses, vegetables, jams, assorted creams, etc., etc.

They can be fried--as mine is--or boiled, or baked.
Pirogies, Empanadas, Spring Rolls, Samosas, Bunhuelinos, Raviolis, Rangoons, and Blintzs; just to name a few.

I think they are all fun to make and even funner to eat.

You can make them for snacks, appetizers or meals--even deserts. It all depends what the filling is, and how you top them or not top them. They can be dipped in a myriad of sauces, or covered with them.

You can make them very bland, or very spicy, and anywhere in between.

Try them as a side dish, or as a main course.

Make a whooooole bunch and bring them to your family or church get-together. Or, call the girls and have a 'Tea'

I think this is the ORIGINAL Humble Pie, but I may be wrong.

The Humble Turnover--whatever you call it--is among the most versatile foods.

I'll leave you with this:


"He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit." Pro 17:27

In His hands, ^__^

Whaaaat??? a spiiiiiider webbbbb? on my keyboard!!

Can you seeee it?! It goes from the end of the keys, across the whole table. It is very dense.
Maybe you can see it in the 2nd picture, it sort of has an ethereal and undulating glow. Now it's gone!
I did not use this computer since Sunday night, and today is Wednesday...fast little varmint!

Once, last winter, had a tiny spider that made a web in the triangle from the cabinet, to the window, to the sink, in the kitchen--at least two times a day for more than a week. I never saw the spider until its last day...tiny little thing, was not catching anything, so I put it out of its misery. What was it eating? something I left behind? some minute bugs that could not be seen with the naked eye? I dread to think about it. My kitchen! how dare they?!!

I'll find this computer spider yet...and will give it a techy kind of send off.



Now...on to the baking.

A little yeast and warm water, and the flour I hand milled in my French Hand Mill,

Voila! a peasant loaf, very, very yummy with butter dripping off the first warm slice.

Yummm!

I like to sprinkle flour on top and bottom of the loaf, so it looks like the $9.00 loaves of 'artisan bread' at the 'whoop-tee-do' market.These are my regular loaves. Rather shiny this time.

Then, after taking some knitting apart--rip, rip thank you Susan for the definition--I decided to make this pink ball of yarn into a narrow scarf. Brainless sort of knitting, chevron-like stitch which does not use a lot of yarn.

And, the 'hello kitty' purse-in-progress for the next little girl (#2c) shhh, don't tell her.

Almost forgot, here is this Cuisinart [I'm all French this month] mini processor. Always wanted one, but...too expensive and I have knives that work just fine, thank you.

One of the garage sales [saw it on our way to dinner, it was almost 5pm so I could bargain] had it for $5.00, but due to the late hour she gave it to me for $2.00. You can plainly see that it was used very little. The previous owner got an upgrade which does all sorts of things. Again: good for me!

I made my pizza sauce in it, and it did not turn the garlic to paste, like the blender does, but it minced it very small. I really like this little thing. Now I can give my knives a rest.

After the rain stopped, and the cold front came through, the temp dropped to 43F in the late afternoon, then, the sun was shining, which made the sky that bright, indigo blue--typical of fall in the Midwest. How beautiful!

I'll leave you with this:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2Ti 3:16-17

In His hands, ^__^

Rainy, 48F...let's make bread!

Yup, another batch of wonderful bread. The house smells so yummy.

Have not posted for a few days because I have a life outside the blog, really?! As much as I would like to spend time with you, others require my presence...I mean besides all the actual house work...yawn...

I am blessed, I am blessed, I am blessed! Have a wonderful family, beyond most people's dreams. My people love me--and I am not even running for anything...and I love my people. How cool is that?!

I could go on and on, about each one of my many blessings, but...have to go punch the dough...sigh...

If the bread comes out nice, I'll show you, but then, you have seen my bread before. I don't want to bore you, especially since I like it when you come to visit...

Finished another sweater and did not take a picture of it...it is gone to #4b.
Got a handknitted wool sweater at a yard sale, for .50c. I will take it apart, make skeins and wash it at that point. I'll show you later.
Some call this unknitting 'frogging' What does a frog have to do with raveling a knitted piece???? If anybody knows the etymology of this term, please share it with me.

The walnut tree has lost most of its leaves, and all the other trees are dropping their leaves also. Except for the oak and the pecan, they seem to be the last trees--in our yard--to drop their leaves.

To be continued...

Actual triumph at memorizing

I may be the only one--or one of a few, to whom memorizing does not come easily.

Tried as I may, this verse has been very slippery for me, for some reason...until last night...I was asking the Lord why is this particular verse sooooo....well, by now it was one of those: I-will-get-this-I-will-get-this-I-will-get-this! ! !

It seems that the Lord said: Remember that 'truth' is first, then honest...sort of 'th' from the. [never mind] then, remember the quaint expression: 'just puuure lovely!' and you've got it!

Sure enough,
I will quote it for you, then I'll go find it and paste it...here it goes: Finally, bretheren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Whew!

Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
WoooooHoooooo! I even got the punctuation.

Been trying to get this one for years. Thank you Lord!

I'll leave you with this:


"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Php 4:8

In His hands, ^__^

Crocheted hot pad and more garage sale finds

I got my hair highlighted today--DH loves it!

So I crocheted this hot pad/pot holder for my 'hair lady'. She is really sweet.
I had just learned this 'bullion' crochet stitch and wanted to practice it. It is a fun stitch to make. It was going to be a circle, but ended up being...a...whatever-you-call-it shape. My 'hair lady' was very pleased with it since she recently redid her kitchen to all-white.

The hanging loop is made of Romanian Cord--thanks for the applause.

Next, is the beady garage sale find.

Several bags of patriotic beads, and many tubes of more beads. Plus a Strong's Dictionary (not the concordance) brand new, never used [they got it as a gift, and were not interested in it] all for $10.00--If I'd had to buy them at the store: the book is $19.99, the tubes of beads are about $2.00 each. And the bagged beads about $5.00...all in all, about $60.00. I never figure retail prices of stuff from garage sales, but these were all brand new/never used/never opened.

Loooooove red, white and blue.

I found this stiffened, crocheted bowl at another sale, with more odd balls of yarn--all synthetic, good for something I have not thought of yet.

It holds all the beads until I find a more permanent place for them.

Now THE FIND of the month. (with the long re-enactment)

Mrs. #5 called me to alert me about a garage sale in their neighbourhood. I went right away and found some canning jars, yarn, zippers (no picture of those) and...

this beauty...

I saw it, when I was there, but did not think I needed to get it since I have an electric mill that I use all the time.

While driving away I thought that Mrs. #2 would like to have it since she is always experimenting with different grains (her mill does not have a size dial)

I was sharing this information with Mrs. #5, later when I saw her.

When #5 and Mrs. #5 came by later: #5 had the hand mill in his hand (she had told him). He had gone to the garage sale, and found a bunch of 'guy stuff' i.e., tools, iron pipes, sheet metal, what...ever guys like. He did not tell me if he paid the full price or not. But it was a huge blessing that they got it for 'me' (meaning our family...whoever needs it)

It is a French-made Samap brand (Mouline Cereal Manuel--Hand Grain Mill)

After taking it apart and thoroughly scrubbing and washing, it looked very nice.

It clamps on a table or counter

Then you pour the 'most wonderfullest' wheat...and crank away...

And crank...and on, and on...

It took about 7 minutes to mill one cup of flour. Since it did not come with instructions, I had to wing it. Got very coarse cracked wheat, until I figured that the top beige 'bolt' is the regulator.

The flour is just as fine as my electric mill (Magic Mill Plus III) or any store-bought WW flour.

I'm thinking I'll make some white bread--oh no!--and add this to it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Here is a new one, if you want to see.

I'll leave you with this:

"The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Pro 10:22

In His hands, ^__^

Sunny Sunday

I wanted to wish you happy Sunday, restful, peaceable, full of enjoyable activities.

We are doing just that.

By the way, and while I'm here: I just took apart 1/2 of a sweater I was crocheting...the directions are all wrong. They want you to make this for a child who looks like spongebob squarepants.

I do a lot better knitting sweaters, and crocheting 'things' like square thing, afghans, hot pads, table mats; and circular things like doilies, rugs, chair mats, etc.

Back to knitting sweaters. Ok, ok, I thought I try...maybe during a snow storm.

'Talk' to you later.

I'll leave you with this:

"In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." Isa 54:14

In His hands, ^__^

Finished a couple of things

Surprise baby sweater--all done, and pretty cute--ready for coolish weather.
A sort-of tote bag tutorial.

Did not take pictures of every step. However, I started with some pre-quilted remnants. The pocket is made of a left over piece from the Thomas the Train bag that I made for #5c.
The bias, I had a huge roll of that yellow bias.

The yellow and the very dark green are the inside. Did not have enough fabric to make the tote the size that I wanted, so I added the green as sides.

Here it is sew together. When I had assembled the main part and the 2 sides, I serged all the seams to tidy them up.

This is the inside of the bag with a skein of yarn and a tube of crochet thread. [still learning to take pictures with good lighting...bear with me]

The outside of the tote, posing outdoors in the cool sunshine--63F yay! with some tree shadows.

Here is a better--not great--view.

I had the strapping which looks exactly the same color as the fabric, in person--how do professionals take pictures...oh, I see...air brush, you say? reflectors? sure, sure. Maybe I'll try that in my next photo session...mm, hm!

You can see a tiny glimpse of the green side. Very 'primary colors' (sort of KUish)

It'll work great for me. I'll take it with me with my current knitting project. I'm leaving in a few minutes to meet with a friend, so I'll knit while I wait for her--Then I'll show it off.

I'll leave you with this:

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Psa 1:1

In His hands, ^__^