Patience & Wisdom

I received this in an e-mail today. It was sent as a joke, but there's a lot of truth in it!

One of the greatest secrets of life is having patience & wisdom...

What Pasta Dish Are You?

You Are Spaghetti Bolognese

Compared to most people, you are well grounded and down to earth. You have old fashioned values. Your taste tends to favor what's tried and true. You love comfort food. Familiar situations put you at ease. You think that the best cooking comes from your family's kitchen!

What Pasta Dish Are You?

A Beagle Birthday and more....

Today is Betty's 9th birthday!! Happy birthday, Betty!!! It's hard to believe so many years have passed since she and Veronica came to live with us. I made her a little party hat which she was NOT happy to wear. Poor Betty.

My son and his girlfriend gave me two jigsaw puzzles for Christmas last year. I completed the first one in January. I worked the one pictured here this past week. It's part of a series called "Angel Wishes" by Kathleen Francour and is entitled "Vintage Violet". The glittery wings made it fun to work!

Here's a little time waster for those of you with nothing better to do. Click on the ball and it will change color. "Ball Time Waster"

Family Time

Tonight was one of those rare occasions that I managed to get all my family in one place at the same time. Of course food was involved!

My older daughter has a busy life working as an RN and being the single mother of a first grader. My younger daughter and my son are both college students. One begins classes in a nearby town tomorrow, the other in a neighboring state next week. We all gathered at a local Chinese restaurant for dinner and photographs. The last photo I had of all three together was taken in 2006. It was time for an update! The cutie pictured here is my granddaughter.

It was great getting everyone together: my husband, both daughters, my son and his girlfriend and my granddaughter. Nothing like family!

Onion Ring Chicken

I got this recipe from a magazine years ago. As you can tell from the photo, I've changed it around some for my family. We prefer our vegetables separate from the chicken and rice. I've included both the original recipe and the changes I make.

Mrs. Schermerhorn's Famous Chicken & Rice

2/3 C. uncooked regular rice

1 can (2.8 oz.) Durkee French Fried Onions

1/2 tsp. Durkee Italian Seasoning

1-3/4 C. prepared chicken bouillon

4 chicken breast halves, skinned if desired

1/3 C. Italian salad dressing

1 bag (16 oz.) frozen vegetable combination

• Combine rice, 1/2 can French Fried Onions and Italian Seasoning in 9"x13" baking dish.
  
• Pour bouillon over rice mixture. Arrange chicken on top; pour salad dressing over chicken.


• Bake, covered, at 400F for 30 minutes.


• Place vegetables around chicken, covering rice.


• Top chicken with remaining onions; bake, uncovered, 1 to 3 min. or until onions are golden.

My changes: I use the larger can of French Fried Onions, reserving about 1/4 of the can for topping the chicken at the end. I don't measure the Italian Seasoning or the salad dressing and probably use 1/2 cup (or more) of the salad dressing. I leave off the frozen vegetables and just uncover the dish to bake the remaining 20 to 25 minutes. I use boneless chicken breasts or tenders, depending on which I have on hand.

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

Most Sunday mornings we attend an early service at our church. Occasionally we'll go out for breakfast afterward or I'll make something special when we get home. This was one of those days. I decided to try a recipe for blueberry muffins that I found in the Tea Shop Mystery I'm currently reading. They were quick and easy to prepare and tasted quite good. If I make them again, I'll skip the paper liners and cook them directly in the muffin pan. Also, they needed to bake a couple of minutes longer than the stated time. Here's the recipe as it appears in the book:

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh blueberries

Stir together applesauce, sugar, and eggs. Combine flour and baking soda, then add to wet mixture and mix well. Stir in sour cream, then fold in blueberries. Spoon the batter into muffin tin (use paper liners) making sure cups are about 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Mid-August Ramblings

Rain, blessed rain! Having experienced the driest July on record in our county, we finally got some rain last weekend. I don't know what the "official" amount was, but we received 4.3" at our house from Sunday through Tuesday. We had another brief shower today and it looks like we'll get a little more over the next day or two. With the rain came cooler temperatures which I know was a relief for all our animals.


We often see does and their fawns grazing in our yard. Many times a doe will have twins with her. On several occasions this year we've seen a doe with triplets!


Despite frequent watering, the heat took its toll on our tomato plants. We're still getting a few, but are no longer overwhelmed with the harvest. I must say, though.... it was good while it lasted: bruschetta, tomato & onion salad, salsa, tomato sandwiches, spaghetti sauce and more.


I'm currently using Shelfari on my blog as a way to share some of the recent books I've read. It's a neat site in general, but I doubt I'll use it for more than that since there are some features about the site I don't like.


Tom, our original Boer billy goat, is still limping, but finally getting around a little better thanks to some antibiotics and a little TLC. We're still not positive what happened to him. It's not easy to examine a 200+ pound goat (with massive horns), but we think he either cut himself or was bitten by a snake. It was a little touch and go for awhile.... the vultures were on the ground with him that first day!


I collected owls when I was in college (they are my sorority mascot) and still think they are beautiful creatures. This puzzle by William Vanderdasson is entitled "Silent Watch". It measures 18" x 24", but is a large-piece format which made it easy to work. I completed it in just a couple of hours.

Catching the Big One

"Catching the Big One" appeared on the August 3, 1929 cover of The Saturday Evening Post. This puzzle was a pleasure to work.... hard enough to be challenging, yet not so difficult that it took away the fun and relaxation. I think what made it most enjoyable was that every time I sat down to work on it I thought about the friend that gave it to me. Thanks, Quid!

What kind of tea are you?

Those of you who have followed my blog in the past know how much I enjoy my cup (or two or three) of tea each day. I had to share this blogthing when I saw it!

You Are Black Tea

You have a bold personality. You're not afraid of simply being yourself. You have the courage to speak the truth. You are fearless in your actions. You come off as a bit intimidating and unapproachable. Only confident people are attracted to you. You don't try to scare off anyone. You're just an intense person!

What Kind of Tea Are You?

Should we ban Dihydrogen Monoxide?

A friend sent me an e-mail this week that included the YouTube clip I've featured here. It made me realize just how gullible our society can be! After watching the clip, I decided to type "dihydrogen monoxide" into my Google search and was amused to see what all came up. Snopes and Wikipedia both had articles regarding hoaxes, but one of the more entertaining sites I found was the DHMO homepage.

In this Internet age of ours, it's important that we check out the "facts" we're bombarded with. There are several "myth-buster" sites out there, but my favorite has always been Snopes.

So, please...before you open your mouth (or hit that forward key).... check it out!! It might save you some embarrassment.

When Bad Christians Happen to Good People

This is a piece I did for another site about six years ago. Several things I've read recently have brought it back to my mind, so I thought I'd share it here. I visited the website mentioned in the article and found that it's very much still in existence and up to date.

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. –Brennan Manning

I’ll bet the title of my pearl really caught your eye, didn’t it! Well, I really can’t take credit for it. It’s actually the title of a wonderful book I just read by Dave Burchett, which reaches out, to both Christians and those who have been turned off by Christians. Many things have been said and done under the guise of Christianity, things which have caused irreversible damage.

I was born into a church-going, Christian family. I can never remember a time that I didn’t believe in God. I was not one of those who had a life-altering conversion experience. God has always been a part of my life. This is not to say that my faith has always been unwavering.

My earliest experience in faith was a positive one. When I was six years old, I was diagnosed with a relatively uncommon leg disease affecting my hip joint. The surest way to treat the disease was to put me on crutches for a period of three years. As an alternative, the doctors suggested putting me in leg braces, which had worked in some instances. If, after six months, there were no change in my condition, I would be put on crutches for the duration. The braces extended from my feet to my hips with a metal bar holding my legs apart, keeping the thighs out of the pelvic socket. I had a specially fitted wheelchair equipped with a platform to hold my legs in this rigid position. In spite of the pain and blisters on my heels, I don’t remember this being a terrible time in my life. In fact, I was honored to be the flower girl in my sister’s wedding.

Even at this young age I had faith that I would be healed. I was taken to the home of a local missionary preacher to be prayed over several times. I think this memory is so vivid because “laying on hands” was not a part of my own denomination’s ritual. God chose to work through this man and heal me. When I went for my three-month check up, there was no sign of disease on the x-rays. Some might argue that I would have been healed from the treatment anyway, but I considered it a miracle. The basis for my faith was established.

Fast forward to my father’s illness. As I related in a prior pearl, I was never told that my father might die. For years I thought I was shielded from this knowledge because I was so young, but I later learned that no one acknowledged the fact that he might die. The mantra was “pray and he will be healed”. Based on my own healing experience, I did just that. I prayed with absolutely no doubt in my mind. Within six months he was dead from cancer. My world was rocked! Not having been prepared for death made the grieving experience confusing and that much harder. I railed against God and questioned His existence. I could not believe He hadn’t answered my prayers!

My faith was stronger than I thought. I could never quite push God out of my life. Over the next six years I managed to draw close to Him again and reconciled the fact that prayers are not always answered in the ways we expect them to be. When my mother became sick with cancer the summer before my senior year in high school, I asked my brother, a doctor, to tell me the truth about her illness. He made it clear that she was seriously ill and would probably die. I appreciated his candor. It helped me to view the situation realistically. I didn’t discount the fact that God could intercede and work miracles, but I was prepared for the worst in the event that He didn’t. I knew that many were sincerely praying for my mother. I also knew that I was praying with all my heart. However, my prayers were different than with my father’s illness. I focused more on praying for strength for myself, peace for my mother, and that God’s will be done.

When my mother died, it was no great shock. I never really felt betrayed by God, just sad. Here, though, is where the “bad” Christians come in. Several well-meaning, but “bad” Christian relatives proceeded to say, “if we had only prayed right, your Mother wouldn’t have died”. This was repeated many times and carried a sense of implied blame.

Fortunately, my faith was too strong to buckle under the burden of these insensitive statements. As I’ve matured, so has my faith.

It’s sad how often we encounter “bad” Christians. The pro-lifers who think it’s okay to bomb an abortion clinic, the religious- right-extremists who insist on imposing “their way or no way” beliefs on everyone, those who think only the “big” sins count as sin, or even my daughter’s peers who tell her that she isn’t “saved” because she hasn’t been baptized the right way (she was sprinkled as a baby rather than immersed).

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not always a “good” Christian. Reading Mr. Burchett’s book opened my eyes to many ways that I can improve my life. To those who are Christian and can admit that you might sometimes be a “bad” Christian, or those who have ever had a damaging experience with a “bad” Christian, I would highly recommend that you read this book. You can find out more about it at Dave Burchett's website. (written June 2002)

Popsicles

Take a break from the heat with this fun Blogthing!

You Are a Coconut Flavored Popsicle

You are easygoing. For you, summer is definitely a time to kick back. You are a peaceful soul. You shy away from drama and stress. You are warm and compassionate. You give everyone a fair chance. Your tastes tend to be simple. You'd rather have a few high quality items than a bunch of junk.

What Flavor Popsicle Are You?

iPod Roulette for August

It's been over a month, so I thought I'd post another round of iPod Roulette. I've been feeling rather mellow today and many of the songs that came up suited my mood.

1. Amandla (Miles Davis) - One of the big names in jazz. This is from the album by the same name.


2. She Drives Me Wild (Michael Jackson) - I don't mind admitting it. I've always been an MJ fan. Too bad he turned out to be so weird!! This one's from his "Dangerous" album.


3. The Rose (Bette Midler) - The Divine Miss M.


4. Brahms: Violin Sonata #3 in D minor (Itzhak Perlman) - Op. 108-2. Adagio.


5. Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) - This was the opening theme from the movie The Exorcist which, believe it or not, I've never seen.


6. Saturday in the Park (Chicago) - One of the first groups whose music I owned a "boxed set" of: At Carnegie Hall, Vols. I - IV.


7. Captured (Ephraim Lewis) - See my entry on Ephraim Lewis from June.


8. Take it Back (Pink Floyd) - One of my favorite groups, this is from the 1994 album, The Division Bell.


9. Superstar (Carpenters) - Some of my friends would make fun of me for liking The Carpenters, but I always loved Karen's voice. It was the perfect range for me to sing along. I have a CD boxed set of their hits from 1965-1982.


10. Release Me (Hugo Montenegro & his orchestra) - Well.... what can I say? He's better known for stuff like "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly" which I also have on my iPod.


11. Promenade (Peter White) - More smooth jazz.


12. Jumpin' Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones) - I've never been a big Stones fan, but this is one I like.


13. Closed Door Jam (Lee Ritenour & Larry Carlton) - Lee Ritenour is one of my favorite jazz artists, especially when he teams up with Larry Carlton.


14. Cool Change (Little River Band) - I prefer "Reminiscing", but this isn't a bad song.


15. Sloop John B (The Beach Boys) - I must have really liked The Beach Boys at some point in my life because I sure have a lot of their music. Not my favorite anymore.