Goals for week beginning 8/26/2012

Newfound Lake from Little Sugarloaf

Another busy week!  It wasn't as busy as the weeks preceding it, but still there was plenty to do.  I am very pleased to have spent the time I wanted to in the category of my schedule that has to do with pursuing spiritual growth.  It seems sort of cold-blooded to put spiritual growth on my schedule -- but I know myself.  If I don't make a plan for pursuing spiritual growth, and carve out time for the important activities that will help bring that growth about, it just won't happen.  So, with no apologies to myself or anyone else, I will continue to schedule in important things like Bible reading, Bible study, reading growth-promoting Christian books, prayer, and adding to my prayer journal.

Here are my goals for this week:

*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 12
*  Limit sugar
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 4, the bedrooms and Zone 5, the living room
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family
* Do some serious planning and preparing for our family's visit in mid-September
*  Clean several closets; free up some drawer space in dressers
*  Weed garden and keep up with harvesting vegetables and herbs
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.


And here's how last week went:


*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 12  -- Not quite finished but spent lots of time on it, so I'm calling it DONE!
*  Limit sugar -- managed only a couple of days of this.
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter -- didn't accomplish all I would like to.
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times -- yes!  6 times!  DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- DONE!
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs -- not as much as I hoped to.
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 3, the bathrooms and Zone 4, the bedrooms -- I can call Zone 3 DONE! (if one is ever really done with cleaning) but accomplished nothing in Zone 4.
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family -- DONE!
* Add 2 pages to prayer journal -- DONE!
*  Weed garden -- not done.
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do -- DONE!


I am very thankful for all that I got done in the past week, but as always, I hope to be more productive in this coming week!

My August hutch

I love to decorate my hutch for the seasons.  This year I kept my strawberry themed decorations in place for both June and July.  In fact, I kept the strawberry theme for the lowest shelf for August too, though I changed a few things.  Since I collect strawberry items, I tend to display some all year round.

This shelf, in addition to strawberry themed items, contains three lovely tags by my friend J.  She also made the patchwork mat beneath the strawberry basket.  You can't see, but its prints feature strawberries too.

A closer look at that one tag which was hard to see in the previous photo.  The sentiment is printed on vellum and there is a pretty scene of friends underneath it.

I've showed this teacup (a gift from my daughter and son-in-law) before, but maybe not with this Avon spoon with strawberries in its bowl.  I think they look so nice together.

Top shelf of the bakers' rack with more strawberry things.

 But for August at least, I love to decorate my hutch with seashore themed items, so that's what you'll find on the two upper shelves.  Some of these I've shown before; others, probably not.

One shelf

Another shelf

Both sea-themed shelves

Entire August hutch

I've had the jar for years and also the potpourri, but just this year thought to combine them.  I made the tag last year.  It just seemed to fit with the jar!

Clipped from a Mary Engelbreit calendar and glued to a wallpaper sample in beachy colors

Vintage PEI postcard and a sand dollar painted by my daughter

Hope you've enjoyed this peek at our dining area decor for August!

Something out of [almost] nothing

 A few weeks ago I was offered a bag of small curtain samples from a local store.  They were being thrown out and replaced, and someone thought I might be able to use them in crafting.  In looking them over, I could see some very obvious possible uses for them.  My granddaughters turned two of them into iPod cases.  Some of the thicker, more upholstery-type samples would make lovely little purses.  Some are trimmed with fringe or with prism-like dangles.  It will be fun to see what I can do with these in days to come.

Two of the samples were obviously for kitchen curtains.  One was a chicken/rooster print and the other an apple print.  I thought these would make good potholders, but I decided before sewing them that I would open out the hems to make more of the print visible.  This gained me a good inch or more on all sides.  I then cut backing fabric the same size as my curtain sample, and added 2 layers of cotton batting for the inside.  When these were finished, they were actually much larger than one would use for potholders, so I decided they would be nice hot mats for the table instead.

My daughter and her family have chickens, so I knew from the beginning that the chicken mat would end up on their table.  I gave the apple one to them also.

The apple-themed one came out cute too but there was a lot of blank space at the top above the design, so I used a Sharpie® to trace the word "Delicious" on it before sewing.  I heat set it with an iron in hopes that it will hold up in the wash.  This type of item doesn't typically get used all the time or washed frequently, so I think it should hold up okay.

That is some of my more recent simple crafting.  Check out my Christmas blog for a more complicated project I recently finished!

Goals for week beginning August 19

a perfect summer day at Newfound Lake

Oh, my.  August has been SO BUSY.  It has been enjoyable -- much of the busyness has been fun with friends and/or family -- but it has been so busy.  However, as my wise husband reminded me yesterday, the weeks to come with visiting family are going to be even busier.  So I guess I'd better get used to it!  Here are my goals for this week:

*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 12
*  Limit sugar
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 3, the bathrooms and Zone 4, the bedrooms
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family
* Add 2 pages to prayer journal
*  Weed garden
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.


And here's how last week went:


*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study  -- didn't happen.
*  Work on Sunday School lesson 12 -- did work on this a lot, so I can call this goal DONE!
*  Limit sugar -- nope.
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter  -- finished a UFO of long standing, so I'm sort of calling this DONE!
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times -- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- came close, but didn't quite manage this.
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs -- posted some, but not as much as I'd hoped.
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 3, the bathrooms -- didn't even get started.
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family -- DONE!
* Add 2 pages to prayer journal -- nope.
*  Weed garden -- did some weeding, but not as much as I'd hoped or planned.
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do -- DONE!


And, as always, I'm hoping for a more productive week ahead!

Another vintage treasure

 
Our friend Dave has done it again.  He knows that I love and collect vintage cookbooks, so he keeps an eye open when he is out and about.  Look at this gem!  It was published in 1961.

Front of the book

Back of the book

Most of the illustrations inside the book are color photographs of the sorts of scenarios where one would be cooking and eating outdoors.  They are nice -- and so are the two-colored sketches that illustrate many of the pages.  But what I really love are the color vignettes from the front and back covers.  Take a look!

Backyard Barbecue

Beach Picnic

Autumn Cookout

Family Picnic

Lunch Afloat

The book is illustrated by Tom Funk, so I assume that the cover art is his work as well.  Simply beautiful!  It's a treasure, all right.  Don't you agree?

Root Beer Float Pie

(Photo by Taste of Home)

Doesn't a root beer float sound so tempting on a hot day?  Now, I am not a real root beer fan -- or a big fan of any sort of soda pop -- but now and again I do enjoy a frosty root beer float, or an ice cream float of another flavor.  I saw this pie in a Healthy Cooking magazine and decided to try it.  Here's the link:  Root Beer Float Pie.

I had a few problems with the recipe, which may be partly due to the fact that I decided to double it.  I was taking the pie to a potluck and thought two would be better than one.  It was supposed to chill in the refrigerator overnight, the recipe was very exact about that.  I did make them the day before the potluck to be sure they had enough time.  But after 6 or so hours in the fridge, it seemed obvious that this pie was never going to firm up enough to slice neatly.

(From looking at the reviews later, I saw that some others had had the same issue.  I don't care for sugar-free ingredients or diet soda and I had not used these versions of the ingredients.  I used regular root beer and regular instant pudding.  I'm not sure that is why the pies didn't firm up, but for whatever reason, they didn't.)

But at this point I hadn't read the reviews.  I had, however, invested money in ingredients and time making gluten free crumb crusts out of homemade gluten free vanilla cookies.  I was not about to waste all of that effort and money by tossing the pies in the trash, and I knew very few people would even try them if they looked this sloppy.  I decided to freeze the pies instead.  I took them out of the freezer a few minutes before serving to make them easier to slice.

Freezing the pies was definitely an inspiration!  They were delicious and really tasted much more like a real root beer float,  having been frozen.  Every bit of both pies was eaten.  I will make these pies again, and I will definitely freeze them.  (I think, though, that I will put them in the fridge for 5 to 6 hours first so the filling won't slide around as much as I'm positioning the pies in the freezer.)

If your family and friends enjoy root beer floats or just frozen ice cream desserts in general, they will enjoy these root beer float pies.  A perfect dessert for a hot summer day!

Goals for week beginning August 12

August continues to fly by, proving the truth of a favorite saying:  "Time flies, whether you're having fun or not".  Don't get me wrong, much of my week was enjoyable, but it cannot all be categorized as "fun".  It was certainly busy.  Here are my goals for this week:

*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
*  Work on Sunday School lesson 12
*  Limit sugar
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 3, the bathrooms
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family
* Add 2 pages to prayer journal
*  Weed garden
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.


And here's how things went last week:


*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study -- nope.
*  Start Sunday School lesson 12  -- did start this, so I can say DONE! to this goal, though I continue to work on it.
*  Limit sugar -- didn't happen.
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter -- made great progress on a UFO; nearly done with it.
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times -- no; managed only 3 times.  Still, better than nothing.
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night --  not quite.
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs -- did fairly well with this; well enough to say DONE!
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 2, the kitchen -- nope.
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family -- DONE!
* Add 2 pages to prayer journal -- not done.
*  Weed garden and move several plants (these would be marigolds getting overrun by squash) -- DONE! -- although weeding is an ongoing process.
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do -- DONE!


 You knew I'd say this, of course, but I surely am hoping for a more productive week (and a more energetic one) this week.  Heat and humidity just sap my energy.  Today is much nicer.  Hot and sunny, yes, but there's a pleasant breeze and things feel much less humid.



 

A little of this and a little of that

Ducks at the lake

 What a week.  It has been busy, busy, busy, and I find that today I have very little energy for doing much.  I've done a few household tasks, but wanted to post a few lines here.

The week wasn't terribly stressful, just full.   A day in which I don't have to leave my house is a happy day for me.  I had only one of those this week, on Friday.  And it rained most of yesterday, quite forcefully at times.  That meant no hanging laundry outdoors and no time spent in the garden.

I did have a lovely chat with my daughter and son-in-law on the phone.  Part of our conversation sent me on a mission of hunting for a particular cross-stitch pattern.  Many years ago when our daughter was in college, my mother-in-law and I put together a special quilt for her using many different cross stitch motifs. 

Now, years later, that quilt is often in use in their bedroom and their little girl loves looking at the designs.  (She is a color fanatic just like me!)   One in particular has become her favorite, and she even asked her mom if Grammy could make that design into a picture for her room.  Well, of course I will try.  I was sure I still had all of the patterns, but that one eluded me.  Thankfully, though, I have just found it!  I will try and complete it for her birthday in March.

I didn't have much time for browsing blogs this week, but one post I did read was this one:  Adventure of the Best Kind, by my friend Mrs. Smith at Sweet Tea and Simplicity.  It's worth the read!  Very inspiring.

Backing up to Thursday, probably the busiest day of my week, Mr. T got home in the early afternoon and proposed a trip to the lake.  I needed to be back home before 5 to start preparing a meal for my dad (I take supper to him on Thursdays), but we took off anyway with just a couple of hours to spend there.  Mr. T swam a bit; I worked on my Sunday  School lesson and waded a bit.  It was somewhat overcast so the pictures I took aren't the best.  One plus of going that late in the day was that most other people were leaving.  It made for a very quiet beach and a relaxing time.  We had both had a crazy week, so it was good to relax for awhile.

That evening we attended a believer's baptism at a different lake.  There is just something very precious about an outdoor baptism in a lake or river.  It was a blessing and we were glad we could be there.


 
This morning we were unable to have our quiet time out by the campfire as the trees were still dripping from yesterday's heavy rain.  It was okay, though, and we treated ourselves to breakfast out this morning.  We both had a meat lover's omelet -- so good -- and home fries, and Mr. T had toast.  Coffee, of course.  That goes without saying, right?

I really need to go accomplish a few more things before my dad arrives for supper.  I have much I hope to blog about this week -- a hymn that blessed my heart, a psalm that encouraged me, a simple craft project, and a bunch of recipes -- so hopefully I will be back here soon with more to share!  Until then, I hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend!

Blue Cheese and Berry Tossed Salad

(Photo by Taste of Home)

My dad's blueberry bushes have been producing like crazy this year (and I need to get over there and pick some more!) so I am looking for unique ways to use his harvest, not just baked goods.  I decided to try this recipe:  Blue Cheese & Berry Tossed Salad for our church potluck this past Sunday.  Was it ever a hit!  Every scrap of this salad was eaten.

I made just 2 changes in the recipe.  One was to use a bottled raspberry vinaigrette dressing rather than the homemade one -- only for lack of time.  And the other was that instead of toasted pecans, I used these Candied Walnuts instead.  I'm sure the toasted pecans would be good too, but I just thought the candied walnuts would kick the flavor up a bit.

(Photo by Taste of Home)

 Oh my, are those ever good -- and so easy!  I used just regular cider vinegar rather than the balsamic, and light olive oil rather than canola, and it worked out just fine.

This is a nice recipe to keep in mind for blueberry season every summer, and for whenever you find a good price on fresh blueberries.  I will be making this again and again!

Goals for week beginning 8/5/2012

I cannot believe it's August already.  This summer has flown by.  In one way I'm glad time has passed quickly, because we have family coming from far away to visit in September.  But in another way I'm sad that the summer is passing so quickly.  However, having said that, September and October are really my favorite months, so I don't mind the passage of time tooooo much.  Here are my goals for this week:

*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
*  Start Sunday School lesson 12
*  Limit sugar
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 2, the kitchen
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family
* Add 2 pages to prayer journal
*  Weed garden and move several plants (these would be marigolds getting overrun by squash)
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.


And here's how last week went:


*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
*  Limit sugar -- failed miserably at this
*  Keep up with crafting goals for UFOs and Christmas, plus maybe a dress for a granddaughter -- not too badly -- I made great strides on a UFO project.
*  Exercise 5 to 6 times -- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- didn't do so well with this
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs  -- DONE!
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 5, the living room (for the first part of the week) and then Zone 1, the front porch, entry and dining room -- did okay with this, but not as much as I'd hoped
*  Do better at staying in touch with friends and faraway family  -- DONE!
* Add 2 pages to prayer journal -- not done
*  Weed garden and move 2 plants -- DONE!  (Not that weeding ever really stays done, but I did weed most days and I did move 3 plants.)
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do --  DONE!

So, all in all, things went fairly well.  My week (once today and tomorrow are over) doesn't look too busy, but I may be just kidding myself.  I am hoping for a productive week, however!

Pork Chow Mein

(Photo by Taste of Home)

Here's a yummy recipe which I've made many times over the years.  I believe I found it originally in Taste of Home, and you'll find the recipe here at their site:  Pork Chow Mein.  This is a very adaptable recipe, and last night I tried a variation that I'll probably return to again and again.  Instead of the celery, cabbage and spinach called for, I used a 1-pound package of coleslaw mix.  It was delicious!  I also added a few torn leaves of mustard greens and about half of a medium zucchini, julienned.  I julienned baby carrots too, rather than slicing regular carrots in rounds as the recipe directs.

I really liked using the coleslaw mix as it saved a lot of slicing or grating.  I had seen a similar recipe that called for 4 cups of shredded cabbage and decided that a pound of coleslaw mix (I used the Nason brand, made in Maine) would approximate to the same thing.  I found a great buy on pork sirloin steaks at our local supermarket yesterday, and that's what I used for meat.

This is great over rice and with a simple salad of leaf lettuce and mandarin oranges. 

Hope your family enjoys this chow mein if you try it!

Shades of green

I wonder how many shades of green are in this picture? 

I've heard it said that there are forty shades of green in Ireland.  Summer in New Hampshire may have at least that many shades of green -- especially on a misty morning of a day that promises to be hot and humid.  Tuesday morning was like that, and I took a few pictures, but they really don't do the morning -- or the shades of green -- justice. 

Misty green morning

These apples will turn redder, but for now they add to our shades of green.

This summer I have noticed the shades of green so much and I find myself drinking in their calmness and serenity.  I find myself taking literal deep breaths as if to take in the peacefulness and keep it within my heart -- stored up against those hours, days and seasons of life that are not so peaceful.

A favorite picnic spot

I was thinking today about Psalm 23 and how our Good Shepherd makes us to lie down "in green pastures" where we can feed on His Word and find rest and restoration of soul.  I love what Elizabeth George wrote about this in her book The Lord is My Shepherd:  "We, too, can partake of green pastures.  How?  By having a 'quiet time'.  We have all of the Shepherd and all of His Word available to us ... if we will simply lie down in His green pastures and partake!  All we need to do is stop everything and enjoy a time of resting and lingering with the Lord as we feed on His Word. 

"What happens when we withdraw from the clamor of a sinful world and enter into the serenity available in God's green pastures?  We experience the same sense of rejuvenation, the same revival of spirit, the same deep satisfaction that literal sheep enjoy when resting in the presence of a faithful shepherd."

Our quiet time spot out back

That is so true!  Good quality time with the Shepherd, feeding on His Word, is as refreshing, as satisfying and as restorative as time in green pastures for the sheep.  God is also impressing on me more and more the necessity of knowing Him.  We can only get to know Him as we spend good time in His Word and in prayer learning more of Him and then applying what we learn.  Have you spent time in God's green pastures today?