TODAY IS: 21 October 2024
AROUND ME: We have been experiencing some beautiful foliage during these cooler days. It's interesting to wake up in the dark now and the evenings seem longer with it also getting dark earlier. Looking forward to November 3 when we switch back to our regular time.
I AM PONDERING: the goodness of God. Our pastor had surgery on his right shoulder to repair some tears last Thursday (17th) and they were able to do a nerve block on him, which they said would take a couple of days to wear off. He was in the pulpit this morning without pain preaching! God is good...all the time, God is good.
AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS: A good book, good tea, and a cozy throw to wrap up in.
BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING: Refreshment for the Soul is a collection of Richard Sibbes thoughts on different topics and is compiled as a devotional. So, it will be an ongoing reading throughout this year.
The Soul's Conflict by Richard Sibbes I'm making a bit of progress on this read. While Richard Sibbes writings as a Puritan are much easier reading than some of the Puritans, I have taken my time on purpose as I've read through the pages. It's been not only a learning experience, but also a convicting experience as well.
A Place for Weakness by Michael S.Horton Almost finished with this one. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a book review next week. I had hoped to have it finished so I could do a review this week, but I didn't quite get that accomplished. I only have one chapter left, so I should definitely finish it up and do a review for next week's blog.
I AM THANKFUL FOR: the wonderful time that we had with our son and daughter-in-law when they were here a few weeks ago. I hope to share a bit about that this week here on the blog. I was still missing them too much last week to share much.
NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN: We have a saying around here when we are having trouble trying to figure out how to accomplish something..."you have to be 2% smarter than the object you are trying to get to work". Well, I have had a few of those times this week. Saturday night was the latest one. I was trying to open a new bottle of facial cleanser that has a pump. I tried and tried and finally took it to
Strongheart to have him open it for me. I knew he was 2% smarter than that bottle. 😊
FROM THE KITCHEN: I've enjoyed trying some new recipes this past week, but I kept forgetting to take a picture to share. The latest new recipe was for Cheesy Butternut Squash Rigatoni. And it was delicious! Yesterday afternoon I did prepare some apples for baking...and I did remember to take a picture of those before they went in the oven.
They are stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.
SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:
Bunny art!
What do you think they are chatting about?
I have a vivid imagination!
A QUOTE TO REMEMBER:
TO DO LIST FOR TODAY: Hopefully having an early morning date with Strongheart, as today is when he is going to have bloodwork done in preparation for his upcoming regular check-up with his doctor. Then we will go out to breakfast afterwards. Then when we get home, I want to continue on my journey of Swedish Death Cleaning. Are you familiar? I wiped out everything in the living room last week, as well as a good portion of our bedroom. It's onward and upward from here!
"So teach us to number our days,
that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90:1221
I have not heard of Swedish Death Cleaning... sounds daunting! I hope Strongheart gets a good report!
ReplyDeleteYour bunny art made me think of Beatrix Potter. I loved those books. I know what you mean about opening that facial cleanser. It happens to me every single time. Not sure why it has to be so difficult. I'm sure you must miss your family and I am looking forward to hearing about your time with them. I hope you have a great week! I better get to work!
Swedish Death cleaning isn't really that bad and it's something that I am just going from room to room doing. I'm looking at our material possessions and weeding out all of the junk so that one day our kids don't have it do. We've been on that end when our parents died, and it isn't a fun process so I'm trying to spare our kids as much of that as I can.
DeleteWe always enjoyed the Beatrix Potter books as well. :)
Hope you had a good day at work today. Thankful that you have a job that you enjoy!
So funny that you mentioned bunny art. Lately, I can seem to enjoy enough of it. It seems every other "pin" I save is one cute bunny picture or another!! So sweet! I have to admit that I often wish I was just 2% smarter than my phone or my smart tv...but they usually outsmart me. You left me a couple questions on my blog and I just wanted to leave you a copy of my response (in cases you don't see those....) I said, "the funniest thing - when I decided to stop eating meat - was I found it hard to give up Chick Fil A!!? I probably would have stopped sooner but I loved a CFA sandwhich for lunch. Or anytime! And I did miss them (and other chicken dishes for awhile) but can honestly say that I do not miss them at all now. Did you find the anti-inflammatory diet too restrictive?? And, yes, I do "know" Karen at LifeisGood. Goodness but doesn't she challenge you with all those steps every day!!:)" I hope you have a great week.
ReplyDeleteOh, my friend! It isn't wise for me to try and do anything with my phone or smart tv either! I do just the basics and that's it. Giving up Chick-fil-A would be a problem for sure. Thank you for sharing with me how things went for you. You asked if I found the anti-inflammatory diet too restrictive...the first couple of weeks I did but the thing that helped me is that I had a cookbook that had menus for three meals a day, plus snacks, for six weeks and that made it easier for me. The hard part for me was preparing food for myself and then something different for my husband. It definitely had me in the kitchen a lot. As a result of that diet, we seldom ever have any white sugar still and that has been three years ago now. I use recipes that call for maple syrup or honey, or maple sugar. I did go back eating gluten until I got so miserable that I was sick from the sensitivity to it. I have now been gluten free for a month and am feeling so much better.
DeleteKaren is a blessing, isn't she? Her morning walks contain more steps than my entire day, but that's okay. I know Karen personally...she lives close by. We have done things together as couples and she is just the same in person as she is on her blog.
I had not heard of Swedish Death cleaning, so I looked it up. We've talked about going through our shed and attic some time so the kids don't have to deal with it. Otherwise, I keep a box in the pantry (we have a big pantry) where I put things to give away as I come across them, and then take them to the thrift store when the box is full. Plus the change of seasons is a good time to cull clothes that I don't wear any more and give them away.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your pastor is doing well after his surgery. I hope your husband's lab work turns out well.
I actually don't like when the time changes back and it gets dark so early. But there's nothing I can do about it, so I try to roll with it and keep busy. :-) As far as daylight goes, I like the amount we get in spring and fall.
I've gone through the house and "decluttered" before...several times. But I turned 75 this year and because we know what it's like to go through our parents' belongings once they have died, we want to spare our kids as much of that as possible. So, there were things that went North with our son and daughter-in-law when they left, and I've passed on a lot of things to our daughter also and will continue to do so. I'm not getting any younger and I figured while I was still able to do such things, I would do it. I jokingly tell my kids, "If anyone is going to throw my stuff in the trash, it's going to be me!" lol
DeleteThank you for your kind words regarding our pastor. Thank you for mentioning it. I haven't heard today how he is doing, but he was definitely tired yesterday morning when he finished preaching.
Carroll's appointment is Thursday of this week. We continue to watch our diets for the most part, so I imagine things will be fine. Still appreciate prayers. :)
I've heard of Swedish Death cleaning. I'm interested to see how it works for you. I'm sorting through things slowly. Maybe that counts.
ReplyDeleteThe bunny art is cute. Unfortunately, my first thought was that they were gossiping. Hopefully not!
Yes...that definitely counts, my friend! I just set small goals for each day rather than dragging out a bunch of stuff because otherwise I would get overwhelmed. I just don't want to leave all of this "stuff" for the kids to do one day.
DeleteThe bunny art... I chuckled at your thoughts. It actually caused me to go back and look at the picture again. Because when I saw it what I thought was that it was "Mama" and "Papa" out for a walk after dinner, discussing the children and how they could encourage them. I pictured Mama in the brown coat and Papa in the gray coat. Isn't it wonderful that God was thoughtful enough to give us imaginations?
It's so beautiful here too. Bob and I took a drive on Sat and were talking about how it seems impossible to believe in evolution when you see the glory of creation!
ReplyDeleteYour apples look like they were so good!
Looking forward to hearing more about your time with family. It's true that when you see them, you really miss them when they go.
Hope Stronghearts appt goes well!
I know, Mari. It is hard to understand how anyone can look at the beautiful surroundings this time of the year...or in spring....and not believe in our Creator God. I guess a lot of it has to do with humans wanting to be in control.
DeleteI should have taken a picture of the apples AFTER I took them out of the oven because they were beautiful then! And delicious. Just a little brown sugar (I was out of maple sugar), cinnamon and chopped walnuts. YUM!
Thanks for prayers for us when the kids were here. I know that God certainly honored your prayers because our time was so special. First post about it tomorrow!
Thank you for your good thoughts concerning Carroll's appointment on Thursday. It's a routine six month checkup.
I would love one of those apples.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Swedish Death Cleaning before so looked it up. I've cleaned things out before and everything left I want yet!! :)
Forgot about the bunnies. I think they are deciding if they want tea or hot chocolate when they get in the house!
DeleteOh, Karen, those apples were really good! This evening, we had our apples cored, sliced in eighths and then I drizzled a little bit of Gingerbread Pecan Butter over them. They were good too!
DeleteMany years ago, I went through and cleaned out everything but there were still boxes in the attic that belonged to some of the kids. All of that is gone now. But then, we started going to the auctions and I accumulated more "stuff". There are things that our son will get in time that I wasn't ready to part with yet, but I have/had so many seasonal decorations because I would change everything out four times a year and I just don't have the desire to do that anymore.... or the energy. So, I figured now is the time to pass on what I no longer use or want and that way they won't have to do it later.
I like the way you think about the bunnies! :) I thought they were Mama and Papa and were on a walk after dinner, discussing the children and how they could encourage them. Melanie thought perhaps they were gossiping. :) No wonder the three of us had such a great time that day in Springs! We all three have great imaginations! :) Hugs to you, my friend.