Some September goals

 

Ah .... it's September!  Time to turn the calendar page!  Today is a gorgeous crisp sunny morning, and we began the month with a morning campfire at our little cottage.  Coffee and devotions by the fire in the morning; what could possibly be a better start to the day?  Here are a few goals for September:

* Keep up with Flylady's homemaking zones of the week
* Continue working through the "Make Room Challenge" from Make Room for What You Love
* Post in this blog as often as possible -- hopefully several times per week
* Continue planning for family birthday gifts and crafting any handmade ones
* Stay at our little camp as often as possible
* Volunteer at The Wilds of New England as we are needed
* Go out to lunch with my hubby
* Have friends over for lunch after church
* Join friends for dinner on Saturday evening
* Prepare food to share at above, plus food for Sunday's fellowship dinner
* Craft some homemade Christmas gifts and decorations (yes, even now!)
* Do some sewing projects ( a few more sachets to stave off musty odors) for the cottage
* Do a couple cleaning/painting projects at the cottage
* Sew 2 pillow quilts for youngest granddaughters
* Spend a little time on some UFO craft projects
* Continue decluttering the entire house, zone by zone
* Take a short getaway with my hubby
* With my hubby, set some goals for the rest of 2023
* Host a church missions team meeting at our cottage
* Have friends over for the day on Labor Day
* Continue stocking my Etsy shop and continue selling vintage items
* Finish up my trust responsibilities
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able
* Plan meals with a greater emphasis on healthy eating
* Begin a focus on improving my gut health
* Get more serious about Scripture memory
* Prepare and teach a ladies' Sunday School class each week
* Take part in a ladies ministry beginning for our church ladies
* Attend a monthly ladies Bible study at a friend's home
* Attend a ladies retreat at The Wilds of New England with friends from church*
* Attend a one-day senior outing at TWNE*
* Attend a couples retreat at TWNE*
* Get back into our study of the book of Daniel with younger believers
* Continue to help a widowed friend with the challenges of life in general
* Drink enough water each day
* Walk and/or exercise at least 4 times each week

HEALTHY HABITS FOR SEPTEMBER:  Drink more water/get more sleep/get more exercise/intermittent fasting/limit carbs/work on gut health

All that should be more than enough to keep me out of trouble!  Of course, many of these goals are ongoing ones and will not be finished just because August has ended. 

(You can read about the fall retreats at The Wilds of New England here: Fall Retreats.)

Couples retreat 2022

As part of our mini getaway, we spent Friday evening and an entire Saturday at The Wilds of New England for a couples retreat.  Housing for couples is limited on the campsite, so we usually get a hotel or Airbnb for that night so we don't have to be driving home late Friday night and then heading back to the retreat early on Saturday morning.

This time we stayed at the cute cottage referenced in this post: A mini getaway.  You can read more about the cottage here: Trailside Cottage, if you are interested.

Yes, that was the cottage where we had to pass this gorgeous autumnal pond coming and going:

The photo at the top of the post and the one just below were taken on the Saturday afternoon at The Wilds of New England.  Such lovely colorful trees!

We always enjoy this retreat so much.  It has become an important part of our fall.  In fact, we are at the point where we don't want to miss it.  The fact that we need to get an Airbnb or other lodging turns it into an overnight getaway, so that's even nicer.  It also gives us some time together to talk over what we have learned or are learning.  Sometimes, we even take two nights -- Thursday and Friday -- so we can spend some time exploring the area the day before the retreat.  That's how we got the photo below, last year:

 
As usual, the Bible teaching at this year's couples' retreat did not disappoint.  Our speaker was Brian Trainer, and although he spoke on Marriage 101, it was by no means too basic for us, even though we've been married for decades.  We picked up a number of really important concepts (and also a few easy but effective tips) and we will be implementing these into our marriage.  

One of the really important ones is that if both spouses are believers, then they are not only husband and wife but brother and sister in Christ.  Now, Mr. T and I understood this and have even remarked on it a few times.  But Brian expanded on this and pointed out that, as brother and sister in Christ, we are responsible for all the biblical "one another" instructions, including admonishing and encouraging one another.  Food for some deep, deep thought.  I think that many times we are prone to not treat our own spouse with the respect we would other believers.  On the other hand, I think I've sometimes hesitated to admonish my husband, wondering if it might be disrespectful.  As with so many things, balance is so important, right?

One of the smaller tips (with a potentially big impact) we picked up in the last session: if it seems like something is amiss between you, ask your spouse the question: 

"Are we okay?"

Sometimes everything is fine between you, but one spouse is dealing with some other difficulty and is coming across as if things are not okay.  In that case it opens the door for the hurting spouse to say that yes, we are fine, but I'm upset, stressed, or whatever over this other thing.  

Or sometimes things are not okay between you and need to be brought out into the open and worked through.

A related tip (it seems to me, anyway) came up in the Q&A session with Brian and his wife Sherry.  They noted that often in a marriage, one person is a night owl and another has a brain that shuts down at 9 pm.  So if a "robust discussion" looks like it will go past 9 pm, just stop right there.  Pause the discussion, pray, and make a concrete plan to continue the discussion at a specific time, over coffee, a meal, etc. at a better time for both of you.  This not only enables you to go to bed without "letting the sun go down upon your wrath"; it also moves the problem into a solution-oriented phase.  

To me these two tips are worth their weight in gold.  They are just a sample of the great things to be learned at a couples' retreat or conference.

Do you live in New England?  Why not plan to attend a retreat at at The Wilds of New England next fall?  In addition to the couples' conferences we enjoy so much, they also offer retreats for men, women, and even a one-day retreat for seniors.

Ladies' Retreat 2019

Okay, now that it's nearly time for the couple's retreat at  The Wilds of New England, I guess I need to get busy and finish my report on the ladies' retreat ...

So last month (September 13-14), I had the opportunity to attend the Ladies' Retreat featured above.  There are usually two retreats, and sometimes I've attended both.  This year I felt like I could only do one.  I have heard Mardi Collier before, and I knew that the sessions with her would be a blessing.  They surely were.

This is probably the most unprepared I have ever been for a retreat.  I think I finished with packing maybe 90 minutes before my friends picked me up!  I don't really have a reason -- just that it was a busy day and that I had a lot of things (especially laundry) that I wanted to complete before leaving.  The Lord provided a ride to the retreat with my daughter and friends from her church, so we had great fellowship along the way!

After arriving at The Wilds of New England, we found our cabin and selected our bunks.  The cabin was one of the newer duplexes, near the bathrooms, and up a steep little hill.  After my first trip up this stony little hill, I was thankful for our hilly everyday walking route which had somewhat prepared me for it.

It was nice in many respects, but if we had known none of us would get much sleep, we might have been less enthused.  Still, it's a retreat.  No one really expects to get much sleep.

After getting our bunks all made up, we headed for the coffee shop.  It was a warm afternoon, so though others were getting hot drinks, I chose an Italian cream soda.  I like to get a combination of coconut and pineapple -- so refreshing!

 While enjoying our drinks, we took up some of the huge UNO cards and played a few rounds of Uno.  Those big cards are a bit of a challenge to keep track of, but it was fun and relaxing.

This photo by my daughter Carrie shows part of the coffee shop, Cool Beans.  The porch to the shop is visible through the door.

Time flew and soon it was time for supper, served at the fashionably late hour of 7:30.  This gives everyone time to check in, find their cabins, and get settled before the evening activities begin. The food was delicious as it always is.  I can't recall everything, but there was salad, bacon-wrapped chicken breasts, and mashed potatoes.  Dessert was an amazing pumpkin whoopie pie with what I think was a salted caramel filling.  (It's always a relief to be told that the calories have been removed from the food.  I seldom worry about such a thing on a retreat weekend anyway, because I tend to do a lot of walking.)

Interestingly, though I retouched the photo above to remove the "Instagram arrows", I cannot get the edited version to appear here.  First time that's ever happened!  I feel badly, because this one doesn't do justice to the table decor.  The various candles pictured here are such lovely ideas.  At left is a candle in a jar, placed in a candle ring made of acorns.  For some of them, the acorn cap has been glued to an acorn-sized "pearl" which makes for a very pretty acorn indeed.    The center candle is just a votive holder placed inside a glass goblet, with coffee beans filling the space between the votive holder and the outside of the goblet.  So clever!  And then the candle at right is a votive holder placed inside a smallish hurricane, with colorful silk fall leaves tucked in between the two.  The dining room decor is always so lovely for the retreats!

After dinner, we moved to the new barn at TWNE for our orientation, fun time, and our first session with Mardi Collier.  Mardi's theme was "Our Good Shepherd" and focused mostly on Psalm 23 and John 10.   Session 1 was titled "Reality" and pointed out five important truths: 1) We are sheep who are needy and need a shepherd; 2) Jesus is the Good and Great Shepherd, the only One who can meet the needs of His sheep; 3) True sheep don't listen to the false voices of strangers, but to the only way to God: Jesus, the Door of the sheep; 4)The thief wants to steal, kill, and destroy the sheep, but the Good Shepherd came to rescue and free sheep from sin and death; and 5) The Good Shepherd provides for His sheep physically and spiritually through all of their lives.  Of course there was scripture to go along with all of this.  Two quotes that I jotted down from this session were these:

If Christ can meet our deepest need -- that of salvation -- can He not meet every other need that we have?

and

"I shall not want" does not mean we never go through difficulties.  But our Good Shepherd goes through the difficulties with us.

 

There are always activities going on that first evening after the session finishes -- a campfire, Cool Beans, the Sweet Shop, games -- but I don't think I've ever had the energy to do any of them.   I usually head for the cabin and get ready for bed.   That's what I did this time, but I didn't sleep ...

There are heaters in the cabins, which is so nice.  (I can remember in the early years of TWNE when there were no heaters, which was quite the adventure and meant dressing very warmly for bed.  Some even wore hats or hoodies to bed back then.)  But for whatever reason, the heater in our cabin didn't do much.   I got up really early (4:30 or so) since I was awake already.  It was still dark when I came back from the shower, so I rested awhile in my bunk.  No real sleep for anyone -- well, just one. You know how in a cabin situation like this, sometimes people snore.  And in the morning you might speculate, maybe even joke with one another,  about who it was.  Not this time.  We all knew, because she was still sleeping.  And still snoring.  Oh well.

When Carrie was ready, we headed down to Cool Beans.  On the way, she showed me this glorious sunrise she had captured from the porch of the cabin.  So beautiful and a wonderful blessing to start off our day!
 
We hadn't expected to be able to get coffee this early; we were just going to the coffee shop as a quiet place to go where there would likely be a fire going.  However, we soon found we could order coffee if we liked, so I got a large hazelnut for each of us.  So restorative!


 We passed the time until breakfast chatting with other ladies and with one another, and getting nicely warmed up after a chilly night.  A yummy breakfast awaited us: Pancakes (with warm syrup!), sausages, peaches, and even lemon poppy seed muffins.  Bring on the comfort carbs!  We all needed them.

After breakfast we had Session 2 with Mardi, then God and I time.  Session 2 was titled "Relationship" and focused on three important truths: 1) The Good Shepherd knows everything about His sheep and wants His sheep to know Him well; 2) When sheep are afraid, quarreling, or irritated, they are unable to rest.  They need the presence of the Good Shepherd, who cares for them and wants them to be calm, content and satisfied; and 3) Sheep need to spend much more time getting to know their Shepherd.  A quote from this session:

Sheep are ruminating animals.  We need to ruminate -- meditate -- on truths about God, to chew on these truths over and over.



Carrie and I ended up going to separate, quiet tables in the closed coffee shop for our God and I time.  Mardi had given us an assignment.  I always like it when speakers do that.    She had given us a handout with information from her book, What Do I Know About My God? and instructed us to choose one or two of the things we can know about God

and to look up and write down the Scripture references.  I chose the categories "My God wants me to trust Him" and "My God wants me to "think Bible".  One of the Scriptures in the trusting category was Jeremiah 17:5-8.  I am not going to write that out for you -- it would be good to look it up if you are interested.  Something from that passage really jumped out at me.  Here's what I wrote:

 I never really (that I can recall) looked closely at the contrast between the one who trusts the Lord and the one who does not.  The person who is not trusting in God "will not see when good cometh."  He won't even recognize good when he sees it!  How sad is that?

(One time, at a couples' retreat, Mr. T and I went to the gazebo below for our God and I time.  That was a lovely place, too.)

 Following this, there was some free time.  I went back to the cabin and read and rested just a little.  Our friend Patty had the heater turned up and it was really toasty in there.  If only one of us had figured that out the night before! 😉

Session 3 came next.  It was titled "Restore" and focused on three truths: 1) All sheep want to go their own way and stray, but straying from our Good Shepherd is foolish and dangerous; 2) The Good Shepherd wants to refresh and restore us spiritually each day and will come after us when we stray; and 3) The Good Shepherd loves lost sheep and pursues them; like Him, we also should love and pursue lost sheep.

A discussion in this session that really spoke to me included the following ideas:

As sheep, we may be drawn away from our Shepherd for various reasons:
• We stalk off rebelliously
• We have unconfessed sin in our lives
• We meander off and are drawn away from what God says is important
• We become distracted in our thinking
• We believe Satan's lies about God
• We have sinful weak areas in our lives.

All of these ways of straying can begin with one common factor: not being in God's Word.  We can't know or be close to our Shepherd if we don't read His Word.

We're in a dangerous, vulnerable position if we stray from following our Shepherd.

Wow!  I found this so sobering and rebuking.  I don't want to be in that dangerous or vulnerable position ... do you?

So then we had lunch, a really nice meal of make-your-own burritos -- or maybe fajitas or soft tacos -- not sure what it was classified as, but there were flour tortillas, Mexican seasoned chicken and every topping one could think of for these.  There was also a spinach salad, I believe.

Hours of afternoon free time came next.  Carrie and our friend Gail went on a hayride, while others from our group went to the zipline and maybe laser tag ... I can't remember.  Later, Carrie and I played table games with our friends Kristina, Stacy, Gina and Beth, who were there from churches in MA.  We also enjoyed treats from the Sweet Shop at that time: in my case, a pumpkin Nor'eastah, which is like a blizzard made with vanilla ice cream and pumpkin.  Such a delicious fall treat!

Sweet Shop

The afternoon flew by and it was time for Session 4.  This one was titled "Righteousness" and had to do with following our Good Shepherd's leading, thus walking in paths of righteousness.  It covered four truths: 1) No matter what trial comes or what the future holds, sheep don't need to fear if they follow wherever their Good Shepherd leads them; 2) Submissive sheep follow their Shepherd as He leads in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  They faithfully obey His voice; 3) Sheep should be overflowing with gratitude because of all that their Shepherd is and all that He does for them.  Sheep are eternally secure in His hand and the Father's hand; and 4) Because the Good Shepherd is good and great, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.

A quote or two from this session:

We tend to think that we can do so much better for ourselves than Christ can do for us.  But we don't need to find green pastures and still waters by ourselves.  We only need to find the Shepherd.

Sheep are also led in scary, uncomfortable places at times -- for instance, the valley of the shadow of death.  Several important points were made here:  1)We pass through the valley of the shadow of death; 2) The verse says, "For Thou art with me."  We never go through trials alone.  God goes with us; 3) We walk through the valley of the shadow; we don't panic and run.  We can walk calmly because the Shepherd is with us; 4) A shadow implies that there is light shining from somewhere. 

Wow.  I had never thought about that last one before!

And just one final thought concerning basic Christian disciplines to help us follow for His name's sake:

* Read and study God's Word carefully
* Pray
* Memorize God's Word
* Be faithful to your local church.

These seem so basic, and yet many Christians don't do them all (and some don't do them at all).  What a difference it might make if more of us worked at this!

Leaf lines by my friend Vee

Following this and just before heading home, we enjoyed a delicious pot roast supper with some amazing cheesecake bars for dessert.  What a good thing that the calories had been removed from the food!

So there's maybe more than you wanted to know about our time at the ladies' retreat.  It was such a blessing!  I hope that maybe someone who hasn't been able to attend a retreat will be blessed by this virtual account.

Better WAY late than never: Ladies' retreat 2018

This post has been in draft form for months and I kept forgetting to finish it. Even though we are now in Spring 2019, it really is high time I posted about this, for it was something I really wanted to share.  Also, if I don't post this soon, I'm likely to forget much of what transpired.  (I won't be forgetting the messages from this retreat's speaker,  Denise Cunningham, however -- she had great handouts and I look loads of notes besides, now neatly copied into a journal for future reference!)  I'm also not likely to forget how God worked out even little details to make the retreat so special and just confirm that He wanted me to be there.

Usually I go to one or both of the ladies' retreats offered at The Wilds of New England, and nearly always I've been able to travel there with other ladies from our church or with friends from another church.  This time I could only go to one retreat, as we would be in Nevada during the time of the second one.  I didn't know of anyone else from our area who would be going to this first one, but I was fairly determined to attend, even though we would be leaving for our Western trip just a few days later.  I've been reading Denise's blog,  RefreshHer, for years, and I was really excited to meet her in person and hear her speak.

(My sweet husband was determined that I should not have to drive myself to the retreat and so he left work just a bit early Friday and drove me and our granddaughter Sarah to TWNE and then came back to pick us up on Saturday evening.)

As the retreat approached, I had begun to pray that Sarah and I would have congenial cabin mates.  I knew we would want to get to bed at a decent time and that we would prefer not to be with a louder group of ladies.  Since none of my local friends would be there, it was really questionable just who we would end up with.  God had that detail all worked out, however!

I also prayed for a bottom bunk for myself.  This sounds a bit selfish but was really in the interest of my own safety.  A fall on the ice back in March injured my back, and I felt that another tumble might do some permanent damage.  Climbing down a ladder in a dark cabin in the middle of the night was probably, I felt, not the best idea.

My daughter Carrie often goes to the ladies' retreats, but with our Nevada trip coming up so quickly she felt she couldn't do it this year.

This is so much fun!  Carrie's photo was featured in a TWNE promo for one of last year's retreats!

 Carrie had emailed me: "Just took a minute to pray that you'll get a bottom bunk and congenial cabinmates! 😊 Keep me posted!  I hope you and Sarah both have a wonderful weekend!!! ❤ Drink a yummy coffee drink or cream soda for me!"

Dining room windowsill trim from a previous year's retreat

When we got to our assigned cabin,  we saw that three bunks had been made up.  All three were bottom bunks.  However, more bottom bunks were available -- a specific answer to prayer!  I promptly claimed one and Sarah chose the top bunk above me.  As we set about making up our bunks, we speculated a bit about our cabin mates.  There would still be room for several other ladies besides those who had already claimed the three bunks.  We decided that maybe the previously claimed bunks belonged to older ladies.   However, we were wrong!

After finishing with our  bunks, we headed for Cool Beans, the coffee shop and some cold drinks.  Sarah chose a strawberry smoothie and I ordered an Italian cream soda.

View from the Cool Beans window

As we waited for our order, I heard someone calling my name!  It was a young friend of mine, Stacy, and her sister, Kristina!  I had just learned that afternoon that they would be there.  After getting our drinks, we joined them, only to learn that the previously made-up bunks in Cabin 1 belonged to them and their friend Missy!

When I emailed Carrie to report this, she replied: "Well, whaddya know...I prayed that by some miracle you'd end up with [those] girls...and you did!!  Now that's pretty awesome!  God answered prayers very specifically and I think it's a sign that you're in for a great weekend.  Enjoy your yummy drinks!!  I miss being there!!!"

This specific answer to prayer was such a neat thing to see.  And she was right: we were in for a great weekend!

As the time went by on Friday night, I spotted Denise several times, but she was always deep in conversation with someone.  At least once, I saw her praying with a lady she'd stopped to chat with.  Even though I'd told Denise (via Instagram) that I'd be there and we were looking forward to connecting, I was certainly not going to interrupt divine appointments to do so.

Saturday morning as we got ready for breakfast, I told Sarah that I was really praying for an opportunity to meet Denise, but that I didn't want to interrupt any conversations ... that I was asking the Lord for the opportunity.  At breakfast, we chose a table and just as we had seated ourselves, along came Denise!  She graciously asked if she could join us.

Sarah looked at me and said quietly, "There's your opportunity!"  What a blessing!  She and I switched places so I could sit next to Denise and I quickly introduced myself.  Turns out she had been looking for a chance to speak to me, as well.  We had a lovely chat over breakfast, something I would never have expected to happen.  It is always so exciting to see God work, isn't it?

As I mentioned previously, the sessions by Denise were simply amazing.  Whenever I attend a retreat at TWNE, I am blessed.  I have never come away without being hugely encouraged and challenged.  I always learn something!  But this time ... I had seen God work out so many details that I just knew He had something extra special for me there.

Denise spoke on the book of Ruth.  But the things she shared were nothing like anything I had ever previously studied in Ruth.   The title of her sessions was "Craving Connection on Life's Journey".  Session 1 had to do with Detours in Life; Session 2 was on Making Connections.   In Session 3 we learned about Construction Workers: the Woman God Uses, and Session 4 was titled A Journey to Joy!

I will share just a few little nuggets and quotes from the sessions and then share why "Making Connections" was the session God used the most in my my life.

So here are a few quotes:

"Any decision that takes you away from God is not the will of God."

"If we don't stay the course, we'll miss seeing what God wants us to do."

"It's marvelous what God can do with one woman who gets right with Him!"

"We get out of our comfort zone in order to comfort someone else." 

"Much construction work is done at night.  God's work is done in dark times."

"When we understand and appropriate the love of God FOR us, the joy of God cannot leave us."

Now, as to why Session 2, Making Connections, was so greatly used by God in my life.  It prepared me for one of the most remarkable blessings I have yet experienced in my walk with the Lord.

During summer 2018, a young couple visited our church.  New believers from another part of our state, they were in our area visiting family.  They visited the church whenever they were in the area, so eager to be in God's Word and fellowship with other believers.  Because they lived an hour away from us, my hubby and I would not have thought we could be involved in discipling them.  But God had other plans!

He used Denise as a big part of that plan.  She began Session 2 with the statement that God wants to use each of us.  With the idea of life as a journey, she showed a photo of a highway sign: Merge Now.  She pointed out that when you merge, you move into someone else's lane.  She urged us not to wait to be involved in the lives of others, but to do it now.  I will share her basic points.

1.  You should connect because you have what others need.

A.  Use your walk with God to teach.
B.  Use your life's experience to help.  Even the hardest things of life can be used to encourage others.
C. Use your possessions to bless.  Be a friend, reach out, open your home.

2.  You should connect because you need what others have.

A.  Encouragement and hope.  We need to have someone encourage us to move to the next level.
B.  Accountability.  We can challenge one another as women as to how we are doing spiritually.
C.  Example.  Even if you didn't grow up in a strong, godly influence, you can learn how to become that and how to begin a legacy.

3.  You should connect because the needs are varied and great.  

Break out of our "tribe"!  There are many outside of it who need us: teenagers, young girls,  young women, our daughters-in-law, our mother-in-law, our pastor's wife, and many, many more.

Well, I'm sure you can see that God absolutely touched my heart with the need for my hubby and me to help this couple -- to move into their lane, so to speak.  When we returned from Nevada and our young friends returned from their honeymoon, we talked about how we might make this work.  It turned out that simply getting together for supper every week or two on a Friday night was the answer.  We picked up Bible study books geared to basics for new believers.  We all worked on the lessons on our own through the week, then got together to talk about our answers over a meal.  We had already been getting together with another young man on Friday nights, so this dear couple began joining us.  It worked out so well!

We finished the Basics for Believers study and have moved on to this one:

I cannot even tell you what a joy this has been.  The privilege of being involved in the lives of others, the blessing of seeing them learn and grow and memorize Scripture and begin to serve God with their lives -- there are no adequate words to describe it.

I am so thankful for Denise's clear teaching and her exhortation to "Merge Now"!  God certainly used her in an amazing way through that retreat to impact not just my life, but the lives of others as well!

Friday five (fall baking edition)

I didn't intend for this Friday five to be all about fall baking, but it sort of turned out that way, so ... here we go.

1.  First, let me say how thankful I am for last weekend's couples' retreat at The Wilds of New England!  My hubby and I just never want to miss this time.  It's like a yearly reset for our marriage; edifying Bible teaching for couples along with great food, fellowship, music, campfires, coffee, hayrides, ice cream and so much more.  All this in a glorious setting of New England fall foliage.  Yes, there is a baking connection here:  Friday night's dessert was homemade pumpkin whoopie pies with a delicious spiced filling.  Mm-mmm!

2.  A working oven.  Last Thursday we had guests for brunch and then a guest at supper.  My oven was going a good bit of the day.  That evening, I turned the oven on again to a low temperature, to dry out a metal pan.  There was a strong smell of gas and I remembered that my hubby had been saying he needed to order a delivery of propane, so we both assumed we might be running out.  But the burner flames looked fine.  Still, I turned the oven off immediately.
     When he called the next day to order the propane, he unthinkingly mentioned the strong gas odor, and was told they needed to send a technician out to look over the tank and stove.  In our state, maybe others, this is required by law if a customer mentions a strong propane smell.  He did come, everything is fine with both stove and tank and our tank is now full (we were not running out, as we thought, but it was time for a delivery to get us through winter).    So thankful for a working oven, as I've been baking a lot the past couple of days -- it's my turn to bring snacks for Sunday's coffee break at church.

3.  Aprons.  The older I get, the more necessary I find it to wear an apron when I cook, just like my mother and grandmother always did.  Thankful for cute aprons!

An apron I made for my granddaughter Sarah one Christmas

4.   Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.  I like to use this for cookies, cakes, muffins, and biscuits because it means I can just use my old favorite recipes, substituting this cup-for-cup for regular flour.  (Don't try to use it for pizza or yeast breads, though, because it won't work.)  I absolutely love being able to use some of my old recipes again!

5.  Recipes.  As I was baking in my kitchen this morning I was thinking about how thankful I am for recipes old and new, but especially those that have been handed down from loved ones.   I guess this came to mind because I was making a Cranberry Coffee Cake.  This recipe got its start with one from my mother's good friend Evelyn, a fabulous cook and a faithful sharer of good recipes, so that's probably why it came to mind.

That, and all of the clearing out I've been doing at my childhood home, has really got me thinking about the importance of recipe boxes and notebooks.  This deserves a post all its own, so watch for it -- hopefully soon!

In the meantime, why not do some fall baking of your own?  You can check out some of my favorites here -- Some of my favorite apple recipes, pumpkin and squash recipes (this post also contains some main dish recipes) or just click "pumpkin" or "apples" in the label cloud.  Happy baking!

Five things I love about fall

Inspired by this post: 5 More Things I Love about Fall at Creekside Cottage, I decided to answer her question here on my blog.

1. Gorgeous colors in fall foliage.  The photo at top was taken at my husband's job site (he works all over the state; never know where he'll be next!) last fall.  I also love looking at individual leaves; they vary so.

2. All things apple.  Cider, apples, apple crisp, apple pie, apple crisp pizza, pretty much anything apple.  Click "apples" in the sidebar label cloud for some good ideas.

3.  All things pumpkin.  Pumpkin desserts, pumpkin muffins, doughnuts, and coffeecakes, pumpkin spice coffee ... Again, click "pumpkin" in the label cloud to see some good recipes.

4.  Cooler temperatures.  I simply love the crisp, cool, brilliant sunny days of fall.  It's the nicest time of year here in New Hampshire.

5.  Fall retreats!  I've saved my favorite for last.  There is just nothing like a fall retreat.  I've been to 2 ladies' retreats this fall and am headed off to a couples' retreat soon.  The glorious scenery, the great fellowship and food, the encouragement from God's Word, the relaxed time to focus on God and on one another ... well, let's just say my hubby and I never want to miss a retreat.  We are so incredibly blessed to have The Wilds of New England here in our state!

And there you have my five favorite things about fall.  What would yours be?

And from the September archives, Part 2

Just a handful more (okay, maybe two handfuls) of posts from the September archives.  I couldn't resist ...

From 2010, this Roasted Squash Medley is so delicious!  I plan on making this again very soon!

Photo from Taste of Home

I think I've shared this one before, but the Fall tea wallet, from 2011, is my own spin on someone else's design (link shared in post) and is such a fun project, I had to share again.  If you need a little gift for someone this fall, make one of these and fill it with fall-flavored teabags!

From 2013, a fun repurposing project was making my own padded mailers.  This was such an easy and enjoyable project.  Older kids could do it, too.

And from 2014, From the Hand of the Master Artist tells the story of a unique leaf I found. 

Saturday spiritual sustenance was a post from 2015 and might encourage you any day that you might have a longer amount of time available to spend with the Lord.

A wonderful weekend tells the story of 2015's ladies' retreat.  Retreats are always a highlight of my fall ... such a blessing!

 And that's it!  Hope you'll find a post you enjoy among this mix!

September 20 Hodgepodge

Graphic from CrossCards.com

 Another Wednesday!  Truly, the weeks fly by so fast.  So it's time again for the Hodgepodge with Joyce and friends at From This Side of the Pond.  Head on over and get the questions, answer them on your own blog and then on back over to Joyce's to link up!

Yesterday was a crazy busy day and I was out of the house for most of it, so my hodgepodge answers are likely to be short and sweet this week!

1. What's something you'd rate a 10/10? Tell us why.

Hmmm.   In the interest of quickness, I'll say the Italian cream sodas at Cool Beans, the coffee shop at The Wilds of New England.  I had two this weekend -- a pineapple/coconut one on Friday evening and a peach/pineapple one on Saturday afternoon.  So refreshing!

2. What job would you be terrible at? What makes you think so?

I could never be a taxi driver!  I detest city driving, parallel parking, curbside parking/parking garages at airports and hotels.  Plus they have to drive in all kinds of weather and make conversation with all kinds of people.  Not a job I would ever even attempt, and for that the traveling public ought to be grateful.

3. When did you last take a fall? 

 About a year ago I had a scary fall down our cellar stairs.  No broken bones, but a severely bruised leg that still isn't back to normal, and a banged-up elbow that thankfully healed very quickly.

What's something you're falling for (in a good way) these days?

 I've been having a great time embroidering a fall themed dishtowel, using this embroidery pattern: Pumpkin Spice Latte, found at an Etsy shop.  It's an instant pdf download and such fun to make.  Other cute designs in the shop as well, so check it out!

4. According to the Travel Channel here are some of America's best fall festivals-

National Apple Harvest Festival (near Arendtsville PA, close to Gettysburg), Harvest on the Harbor (Portland Maine), German Village Festival (Columbus Ohio), Wellfleet Oyster Fest (Cape Cod), and Wine and Chile Fiesta (Santa Fe NM)

Have you ever been to any of the festivals listed? Which one appeals to you most? Does your hometown have any sort of fall celebration, and if so will you make it a point to attend?

I haven't  been to any of these.  Looking at them, the one which appeals to me most is the National Apple Harvest Festival.  That would be interesting to attend sometime.

5. What is your goodbye message to summer?

"Come again when you can stay longer."

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Fall retreats are so refreshing! So thankful I can take advantage of the ones at The Wilds of New England!  If you live in New England and have never been to TWNE, you owe it to yourself to check out their fall retreats.  Beautiful surroundings, wonderful music, excellent Bible teaching and just unlimited opportunities to relax and be refreshed.

Taken at last year's couples' retreat

And so ends this simple Hodgepodge.  Enjoy the rest of your week!