Just had to share these photos

 ... even though I don't have time to put together a proper post.  I did put  a couple of them on Instagram, but wanted to quickly share them here as well.

The handsome barred owl above flew into a tree so close to our little cottage on Sunday afternoon.  We had left the camera in the car, but Mr. T sneaked out and got it and managed to get several photos and a video.  Simply amazing!

Meanwhile, deeper into the woods, we found several beautiful patches of Indian Pipes. 

These pretty pink-red mushrooms were out there too, as well as the little cream color ones below.  The variety of fungi we are seeing must be due to our extremely wet weather.  It is interesting to observe.

Hope you've enjoyed this peek at what's going on in our woods this week!

Sunday Scripture

 

As I mentioned last week, I'm planning to post each Sunday about a simple study of Psalms that I worked on last summer.  It was such a good one to be working on in 2020 -- and some of it was done while we were on vacation at places like Grand Canyon and Zion National Park.  So awe-inspiring and such great reminders of just how amazing God is!

This Psalms study is another from Good Morning Girls.  These are simple studies but I got so much from them.  I like to use the SOAP method of Bible study, and the journal from GMG uses a very similar method.  I find it a real blessing whether I am studying shorter passages or longer ones, and I hope that you will give this method a try if you haven't ever done so.  

This week's study is from Psalm 112.  The particular verse to zero in on was verse 6, but I chose to study verses 5-7.  I also thought that in this case it was important to include verse 1, so I wrote that out at the top of my journal page:

"Praise ye the LORD.  Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in His commandments."  (Psalm 112:1)

S= "A good man ... will guide his affairs with discretion.  Surely he shall not be moved forever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD."  (Psalm 112:5-7)

O= Verse 1 sets the tone for the entire psalm.  We're exhorted to praise the Lord and we're reminded that the blessed man is the one who fears the LORD and delights in His Word.  This person will then be able to guide his or her affairs with discretion.  He will have a heart that is firmly fixed on God and will be able to trust God fearlessly, even in the face of trouble and difficulty.

A= Fearing God and delighting in His Word gives me the wisdom to live life in a way that pleases Him.  Life right now is upside down and backwards, yet I still need to live life with discretion.  In my lifetime,  in this country, there has never been a more challenging environment in which to be a believer.  I need to stay my mind and heart on God and move forward.

P=  "Lord, I thank You that You are my steady Rock.  I pray that You will help me to cling to You in these uncertain times, delighting greatly in Your Word and staying my mind on You.  I pray that You will give me the wisdom I so desperately need to live my life in a balanced way in an unbalanced world.  Thank You for all You'll do, in Jesus' name, Amen."

This particular lesson had a reflection question (many of them do, in this study, but sometimes I end up answering them in my SOAPing of the verse) that I'll share my answer to.

Question: When trials come, the depth of our roots in God are revealed.  How deep are your roots?  Is there an area where you have been shaken?  If you have slipped, return to God and go deeper with Him.  He loves you and wants to be your steady rock.

My answer: My roots are deep. I have not, by His grace, been shaken.  Life can be scary right now as we see so many of our liberties being threatened and so many of our citizens believing lies.  Yet we need not fear trouble.  God is with us, and He will see us through anything that we may face.

I hope that this simple little study will be a blessing to someone else today!

Recipe ramblings

 

As I mentioned last week, I've tried a few new recipes lately.  The recent hot, humid weather prompted me to go through a stack of main-dish salad recipes that I'd saved.  The potato salad with kielbasa, above, is a Woman's Day recipe I've had for years but had not tried.  It's very good!  Below is the rest of the recipe:

Another salad recipe I've saved for years but never tried is this Hearty Pasta Salad from an older issue of Taste of Home.  

Photo from Taste of Home

For the meat, I used cut-up smoked turkey and it was very good.  I didn't use either carrots or celery as I was really crunched for time.  Instead I used some frozen petite peas, thawed in a strainer under hot running water.  I also added a good bit more lemon juice to the dressing.  1/4 teaspoon is a pretty small amount.

When we visited Nevada this spring, my sweet daughter gifted me with a copy of Taste of Home's Healthier Cooking.  It has so many good recipes in it!  This Slow-Cooker Chicken Taco Salad is one of them.  I've made this multiple times now,  and it is SO delicious.  That entire magazine, in fact, has such a variety of great recipes that it is well worth owning.  Very few, if any, ads. 

Photo from Taste of Home

I used that taco salad recipe while we were staying and working at a Christian camp early this summer.  It was so easy since I cooked and shredded the chicken at home, then brought it along in a container along with bags of salad mix, cherry tomatoes, avocados, shredded cheese and a bottle of ranch dressing.  It made for quick, simple, nourishing meals after busy work days.

 Another new recipe I recently tried was for Quick-Pickled Red Onions.  I kept seeing this condiment mentioned on people's blogs, so I finally bought a red onion, found a recipe, and went for it.

 

Photo from Martha Stewart

We both enjoy onions on burgers, but seldom have them because we are still tasting the onions for days afterward, it seems.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that we could put these pickled red onions on a turkey burger or a sandwich with no ill effects at all.  Now I am looking forward to trying these out in the company of grandson Sam, known in his family as the Condiment King when it comes to burgers.

I can't forget to share this recipe for low-carb Cream Cheese Chicken Stuffed Peppers!  I tried this one day when I had some colorful sweet peppers to use up and this recipe happened into my email inbox.  I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand.  This is a super recipe by Karly from Buns in My Oven.

Photo by Karly from Buns in My Oven

This is a scrumptious recipe and so easy!  My hubby could not stop raving about how delicious these stuffed peppers were and that there is no need to ever make them any other way. 

Lastly, I want to share an eggplant recipe: Slow Cooker Eggplant Parmesan from Anne Wolfe Postic.  Someone gave my local daughter a very large eggplant; in fact, it seemed like two large eggplants that had grown together.  Their family doesn't really care for eggplant, so she offered it to me.

 

Photo from Pixabay

The weather was so hot at that point that I couldn't even think about making moussaka or eggplant parmesan in the oven as I ordinarily might.  My hubby suggested looking for a slow cooker recipe, and this is the one I found.  It was also too hot to think about making my own marinara, so I used the jarred kind.  This eggplant parmesan turned out so, so good!  I loved the fact that, although the eggplant slices are dipped in egg and crumbs, they do not need to be fried.  Again, this was a recipe my hubby raved about and declared there was no need to make eggplant parmesan the regular way ever again.  I really think he's right!

There are my recipe ramblings from the past few weeks.  Maybe you'll find a recipe you want to try among them.

Sunday Scripture

 

In last week's Sunday Scripture post (which ended my study of 2 Corinthians) I wondered if readers would like for me to continue this type of post.  Becki replied with the thoughtful comment, "I think writing this kind of post should happen whenever, and however often it suits you, Mrs. T. They will touch the right reader when they're posted."

I really appreciated this comment, and so I'm going to post each Sunday from a simple study of Psalms that I worked on last summer.  It was a good one to be working on in 2020 -- and some of it was done while we were on vacation at places like Grand Canyon and Zion National Park.  So awe-inspiring and such great reminders of just how amazing God is!

This Psalms study is another from Good Morning Girls.  These are simple studies but I got so much from them.  I like to use the SOAP method of Bible study, and the study guide from GMG uses a very similar method.  I find it a real blessing whether I am studying shorter passages or longer ones.  

So without further ado I am going to share my little study from Psalm 111.  Verse 10 was the one suggested to SOAP, but I looked at portions from verses 4 and 7-8 in addition to verse 10.

S= "The LORD ... hath made His wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion ... The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure.  They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness...
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth forever." (Psalm 111:4, 7-8, 10)

O= This psalm is filled with praise and reverence for God and all of His wonderful works which He has made to be remembered:

🌿 He is gracious and full of compassion
🌿 The works of His hands are truth and judgment
🌿 All of His commandments are sure
🌿 All of His commandments stand fast forever
🌿 All His commandments are done in truth and uprightness.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and all those who do His commandments have a good understanding.

A= How can we help but stand in awe of this omnipotent, omniscient Creator and all of His wonderful works?  Our awareness of God should lead to our putting into practice obedience to His Word, and to our praising Him forever.  It is an incredible blessing to remember God's graciousness and compassion and how He has shown these qualities to us personally.  Knowing that His commandments stand fast forever in such a comfort!

P=  "Oh Lord, what a great God you are!  Like David, I praise You with my whole heart.  I remember Your wonderful works in creation and also in my own life.  I pray that You will give me the wisdom and understanding to balance my life and to live it in a way that pleases and glorifies You.  I praise You in Jesus' name, Amen".

And there is my simple study for Psalm 111.  I hope it's a blessing to someone today.

Friday five

 

Well, it has been awhile since I posted a Friday five.  I probably shouldn't even be taking the time (it's time I am borrowing from other tasks) but well, I want to.  So ... here goes with five blessings from the week.

1.  Having a working oven once again!  

 

Or maybe I should say, having a handy hubby who can pretty much fix anything.  Our oven died last week.  We were planning to take supper to our camp and share with our daughter and family who were having their place spray-foamed (insulation) and couldn't cook in the house.  I brought a crockpot of chili and some tortilla chips, but planned for cornbread as well.  I turned the oven on to pre-heat and mixed up the cornbread, but the oven never came up to temperature.  My handy husband diagnosed the problem and ordered the part, which finally came today.  Voila, a working oven!  (But it's too hot outside to use it.)

2.  Trying several new recipes lately that really turned out well.  

Since we were speaking of cooking, that jogged my mind to mention recipes.  I hope to blog about them next week, but the salad above was one.

3.  A fun way to stay hydrated in the hot, humid weather.

The water bottle (and matching hand-painted coaster) was a gift from my friend Amanda Reed following the conclusion of a Bible study in May.  It's really been inspiring me to keep it filled with water and ice.  The red color in the water is from a Watermelon Mint cold infuse water sachet from Twinings.  These come in lots of flavors.  I've only tried the Watermelon Mint but I really enjoy it.

4.  Continuing to see answers to prayer in my use of time.  The rhythms and the one-minute rule that I mentioned in one of my Summer Planning posts are really helping me to become much more effective in my use of time -- something I've prayed about for many years!

5.  Time spent at our little camp.  The photo below was taken in the early evening, when it was still light outside but we needed some lights on inside.

 We are settling into a summer routine of sorts where we plan to spend three nights a week over there.  Even though there is still a lot of work to be done (and it is slowly getting done), we feel such a sense of peace when we walk into this little place.  We often bring a simple supper from home to eat as well.  We don't stay long into the next day (too much to do at home and elsewhere) but we get up at 5 a.m. so we can savor a couple of hours in this tranquil spot while we enjoy our Bible reading and prayer time.  So, so thankful to God for providing this little place for us!

Hope you all have enjoyed a blessed week as well!

Sunday Scripture

 

Here's another Sunday post from my study of 2 Corinthians with Good Morning Girls that I did in Fall 2020.  This is the thirteenth and last post in this series.  As mentioned previously, I used the SOAP method of Bible study here, since the GMG study guide uses a similar method.  I find this very helpful for a quick little study such as this one, but even more for digging into passages more deeply.

For today, the verse to study was 2 Corinthians 13:11.  I chose to study verse 14 as well.

S = "Finally, brethren, farewell.  Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind; live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen."  (2 Corinthians 13:11, 14)

O=  Paul concludes his letter with these words.  I chose to include verse 14 because I thought it was so meaningful that all three members of the Trinity are mentioned in it.   Greek scholars tell us that the word  translated "farewell" in verse 11 can also mean "rejoice", and that this is the most likely meaning.  So Paul concludes with instructions to the Corinthians to rejoice, to become mature in their faith, to comfort one another, to be like-minded and at peace with one another.  The God of love and peace was with them, after all!

A=  These closing thoughts from Paul should encourage me as well.  I should be rejoicing, should be maturing in the Christian life, should be of the same mind and at peace with others in the church.  It's a blessing to be reminded that God -- the God of love and peace -- is always with me and will enable me to do these things.  The God of love and peace will surely help me to love and comfort others and to live at peace with them.

P=  "Lord, I thank and praise You for being the God of love and peace.  I thank You too that You are the God of all comfort.  You are able to help me show Your love and comfort to others and to live at peace with them.   I pray that You will help me to continue to mature in my Christian life and to learn to rejoice no matter my circumstances.  I thank You for all You will do, in Jesus' name, Amen."

So ends this little Sunday Scripture series.  Thanks to all of you who have visited and left insightful comments on this little study.   What do you think?  Should I continue doing a similar type of post on Sundays?

Goodbye, Old Blue

If you have spent much of any time in rural New England, you know that as a people we are prone to saving things that might be useful again someday.  One of our poets, Donald Hall, wrote a book of essays titled String Too Short to Be Saved.  He took the inspiration for this title from a container he found (I think it was an envelope, but it may have been a box) in the old family homestead, with just this label on it.  The pieces of string it contained were too short to be useful, but they had been saved anyway. 

Many New Englanders take this frugal habit to the extreme and save very large items like vehicles, campers, and even houses for potential later use.  Most of the people I know have an additional, unused vehicle somewhere on their property, and some have several.  Often, these are hauled out into the woods and sometimes they sort of sink out of sight out there. 

 

Old Blue here, this early 1970s pickup, was originally my Dad's, then my hubby's.  It plowed snow for many years and made countless trips to the dump.  But the time came when Old Blue was no longer roadworthy in anyway, so out to the woods it went.

We had decided that this would be the year that Old Blue would go to the scrapyard.  In our view, it was just time to get this vehicle out of our woods, along with some other bits and pieces of scrap metal.

But one day this spring, someone stopped and talked to my hubby, asking if he might take Old Blue off our hands (and off our property -- yay!).  Mr. T was happy with this solution, and they agreed that sometime this summer they would make the move.

They had to wait until the ground dried out from mud season.  So a July Saturday was recently agreed upon as The Day.  Of course, no one could have predicted the several days of monsoon-like weather that happened this week,  and the ground was pretty wet, but they proceeded with their plan this morning.

 

 And there goes Old Blue!  Off to a new home with plenty of company and the potential for future usefulness.

I'm posting this mostly for my Nevada daughter, but knew other readers would find it entertaining as well.  Hope you've enjoyed this look at real life in rural New Hampshire!