Water

I was watching tv and the Brita Water filter commercial caught my attention. I watched as scenes of water flashed and I remarked to SR about how amazing it is, that to us water is so beautiful. All of God’s creations are awesome, but I think water is one of the most lovely. The way the tide flows back and forth, and the undulating waves of light and dark.

www.transportcafe.co.uk

 The fizz of a cascade, and the flow of the stream as it tumbles to the edge.

picture coutesy of Brian Kelley

The deep blue of island waters, and the amazing amount of marine life in tide pools.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/

The lazy flow of a small river, winding its way through the rise and fall of banks and trees.  The soothing sound of rain falling and the reflection of clouds in a small pond.


Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Gen. 1:2

…but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Gen. 2:6


A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. Gen. 2:10

And I remembered how God chose to describe the Holy Spirit as “Living Water”…

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. John 7:38

http://www.walksydneystreets.net/

Water is beautiful because water is life.

Thursday....Three?

No, couldn't come up with thirteen things, so I cut it to three. Not much going on around here lately.

1. I entered a Pottery Barn giveaway sweepstakes. I never win anything, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

2. I've been pestering LeLe with questions about the baby's room this week and searching for the perfect fabric to use for window treatments and accessories.

3. I only lasted 25 minutes at the gym today. I normally stay at least 30 and often 40 and 50. Just didn't have the get up and go today, plus the weight machines were overtaken by all the men today. By the way, why aren't they at work????

This and That and Rambling

I haven't come up with a good post topic, but hated to let the time go on and on without posting something.

Finally got over the illness that plagued me all last week. Thank you Lord. It was not fun.

SR and I ran up to Russellville Sunday to check on the boy child. I say child, but he's 26 years old. He will always be a boy to me though.  His hot water tank ruptured and his floors were flooded, so we went to see if we could be of any help. He wanted to replace his flooring anyway, so this was not the catastrophy it might have been. Still, he has a $1000.00 deductible so he may not get much from insurance.

I've had so many projects in my head that I can't focus on any one of them. The biggest problem right now, is not having the supplies I need to actually do them. J decided he wants Mama to sew a quilt for him. And she's all for that, but has nothing to do it with. Nada. I did take some graph paper and draw out three block patterns I want to do. I love old quilts, but the creative part of me won't settle for the simple beginners quilt blocks.

Yes, it's crooked, but I cut them out and taped them together to see how I wanted to place them. And I may have to create three more to make it work. I hope not. I may fall on my face, but I'm going to give it my best shot.  I know I won't get it the perfect size, because my blocks are not the norm, so that may be an issue. But, if it's large enough to cover him up when it's cold, that's good enough for me. I made a new friend through Erin, and she is helping me get started on this. I'm so grateful.

I was looking through old photos, because he also wanted one of himself as a little boy. And I found these.

Poor baby had just been through a lot to get here.

He was a beautiful child.

Couldn't post those without one of LeLe....

Ohhh, the memories........ So there is my rambling post.

A New Recipe

I was cleaning out some clutter from my computer station the other day and came across a little recipe book I bought one day at Walmart. It's Mr. Food Quick & Easy Diabetic Cooking and I thought I'd see if there was anything in there I(we) might actually eat. I found one for a chocolate pie that looked promising, so I tried it yesterday afternoon.

Creamy Chocolate Pie

¼ cup unsweetened coca powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup low-fat (1)% milk (I used fat free evaporated)
4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened (I'll try fat free next time)
1 container (12 ounces) frozen light whipped topping, thawed (I used 8 oz.)
1 9 inch reduced-fat graham cracker pie crust

1. In a large bowl, combine the cocoa powder and oil. Add the sugar and milk; mix with a spoon until smooth.

2. Add the cream cheese and beat with electric mixer on medium until smooth. With a spoon, fold in the whipped topping until well blended.

3. Pour into pie crust, cover loosely and freeze for 4 hours, or until firm.

Servings: 8
Calories: 302
Fat: 15 g
Carb: 35
Sugars: 19

Let me add here that I wasn’t able to find a low fat graham cracker crust at my local Walmart. and that mixing the cocoa until smooth was a job. We all know how it likes to clot up when it gets wet. But, I was very pleased with the outcome. SR and I both think it tastes a lot like chocolate ice cream. Serving suggestion was to add more whipped topping and sprinkles, but I think it was great just like it was. It wasn’t too rich and had just enough zing to it. As you can see below, we took a big chunk out of it last night....well, SR did. I only took a small wedge. He got a good sized wedge and took some for his lunch today.

I can actually catagorize this one as a success! There are some other interesting sounding recipes in this little book, and I'll try them soon. There are also some that I would like, but after living with SR for almost 33 years, I know I would be wasting my time cooking them.

If you try this, let me know how you like it. It's a quick and easy dessert to take somewhere or keep in the freezer for anytime you want a quick chocolate fix.

Not so Hot

Been a little under the weather the last couple of days. I won't go into boring details, as it's just one of the many things I deal with on a regular basis, but it has laid me a bit low.

Before I started feeling bad, I caught some pretty good shots of my winter birds. I stood at the back door, patiently waiting, still as a mouse. The best shots flew away before my camera could snap, but here are some that made the cut.

I finally caught a chickadee. The little rascals fly down, pick up a seed and flit back up to the trees to eat it. I tried several times to watch for one coming down, to snap early, but this was the only shot I got.

Looks like Jay was picking up anything Rocky left behind.

The cardinals don't usually wait their turn. Doesn't look as though the titmouse is too worried.

This looks more like how the cardinals act. Always fussing and fighting.

I haven't given up on getting a good shot of a chickadee. Wish me luck.

Back to Business

So, I changed my mind. I know....back and forth, back and forth.  I should have thought about it longer before I actually imported to facebook. I never felt comfortable with it, and I should have listened to myself. I will copy and paste some of my posts, but not send every one of them automatically.  At least now I know there are a few folks out there who read me and keep up with the goings on around here. Anytime you want to comment, please do. You can email me, comment here, send a facebook message or send a card or letter.

The cold has really messed with my get up and go. After the beginning of the week was so hectic, I needed a day to just relax, but now I feel like a slug. I can't gather any momentum and can't get more done than simply sweeping the floor or dusting the living room. And yes, I'm blaming it on the cold....not on being lazy.

I did print out some patterns from my computer this morning. A couple of baby shoe patterns and a graphic I want to try to re-create for Little Man's room.  The first shoes were from http://www.maked.ca/ and the second from http://www.hellomynameisheather.com/ .

www.maked.ca

I do want to say that even though I'm a little off my game this week, I am so thankful that I can choose to dust the living room or not. I can choose to sit on the couch all day long and read if I want. I can print out whatever I can find, sit at the computer as long as I wish, and watch as much HGTV as my poor brain can stand. I can go to the gym, go to Walmart, or go to sleep. I can cook a big supper or open a can of soup. I'm thankful I have a husband who allows me these privileges and is supportive in my staying home. I thank God for it every single day.

Importing to Facebook

Ok, I am now importing posts to facebook to see if I get any more feedback, and make it easier for some folks to access and read. If you read me here, and want me to add you to my fb readers list, let me know. If you are already on that list, you know who you are.  I'll try this for a while and see how it goes.  I'm a little uncomfortable with it for some reason. I guess not knowing who is reading what I write, feels less like I'm bearing my soul to everyone. Knowing the ones listed on fb that can read it and might, is strange. Makes me a little more careful about what I might write. I've never been one of those folks who say what they are thinking, naughty or nice, unless it's in confidence. 

Show of Hands

I've been thinking.....been thinking for a while now, about deleting my blog. Or ending it anyway. As far as I can tell, there aren't many folks out there interested, and seldom do I get a comment from more than the same two or three folks. So, as far as they are concerned, I can always just send email to those few folks with whatever I would have blogged.

At first, I was really into this blog thing. I would wake up at night thinking of things to blog about. Sometimes I would even get up and type it out, just so I wouldn't forget it. Now, I can hardly think of anything worth writing. It's like my creative writing bug has died with the winter cold. So, I'm seriously considering ending this.

I would like a show of hands. Anyone who thinks this is worth continuing can let it be known. I know there are probably lurkers out there who never comment, and who won't now, and that's ok. I am a lurker myself, but I always click on the "Follow" button, to make sure the blog owner knows they are read.

I still have Seam Rippers with LeLe, and I can post anything important there. But you know, there doesn't seem to be many folks reading that one either. And I think the ones who do, are more interested in LeLe. That's ok, I don't mind. I'm more interested in LeLe myself. ;)

More of the Same Ole Same Ole Nothing New....

Other than the weather being freakishly cold, there's nothing new going on.

Aunt is improving and we are hopeful she will go back to assisted living in a couple of weeks. That is our prayer.

Mom received her port yesterday, then chemo. She was feeling ok this morning when I checked on her.

Still thinking about new bedding. I'm thinking I need to stick with a pattern that has dark red, tan, beige, etc. in it because I can't afford to redo the master bathroom too. And since they are connected, I don't want two different color schemes. I found something on the Pottery Barn site that I really like. But, the cost is a real issue, so I might have to look for fabric that is similar and make it all.

I like these two, but also like the fabrics below.

And of course I love me some celtic knotwork.... It also comes in green, which I would prefer.

There are other designs I liked, but didn't want to fill up the entire blog with those photos.
I'll have to make some kind of decision soon, or put it off indefinitely.