Be Encouraged

 

(Courtesy of Pinterest)

I Capture the Castle ~ a book review

 

I Capture the Castle was written by Dodie Smith in 1948 and was out of print for a number of years.  The copyright was renewed in 1976 by Dodie under her married name, Dorothy Gladys Beesley.  

The story is basically the journal of a 16-year-old girl by the name of Cassandra who lives in England in a rundown castle.  Her father was once a famous author, who ended up in prison for a few months.  Her mother has died, but we see into the lives of the other members of the family...Topaz her stepmother, Rose her older sister, Thomas her younger brother, and Stephen a young man whose mother had died, and he lived with Cassandra's family.   

The father, whom Topaz declares is a genius, is often thought of as lazy by the community in which they live.  He hasn't written anything for a long while and the family has become extremely poor as a result of it.  Any furniture in the home that was worth anything has been sold, as well as dishes or anything else that people were willing to pay for.

And then one day a family by the name of Cotton came from America to see the home that they've inherited that is close to Cassandra's castle.  She journals of their visits and the two families become quite friendly.  The Cotton's are wealthy and one of the sons is quite taken by Cassandra's sister, Rose.  A wedding is planned, and the Cotton's are quite generous in seeing to it that Cassandra's family are taken care of with food and anything else that they need.

Cassandra also journals of her first love when she is 17.  

The book is 343 pages long and, for the most part, I enjoyed it overall, but I think there are a few parts of it that would not have been well accepted when it was published in 1948.   There was actually a movie made on the basis of the story and the movie is also titled I Capture the Castle.  It was put out by Walt Disney in 1963.  The book was well written, but there were a few things I objected to, so I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it here.

May I Make a Recommendation?

 Last Thursday, I learned from reading a few blogs that February 20 is known as National Cherry Pie Day.  Who knew?  I'm assuming that is a tribute to President George Washington since we now combine his birthday and Abraham Lincoln's birthday for President's Day.  

We had actually planned to go out for a meal on that day, but due to ❄❅❆ falling from the sky, we thought better of it.  Especially since the restaurant we had in mind was in a neighboring county in MD where my friend Karen lives.  It's at a higher elevation and they always have even more snow that we do here.

I digress.

The plan was that Strong Heart was going to have a piece of cherry pie there to celebrate National Cherry Pie Day.  We seldom have sweet treats around here these days, and I wouldn't be having the pie anyway, since the restaurant does not do Gluten-Free desserts.

Since we weren't able to go out, and we really didn't need to have an entire cherry pie around here (I do know how to make gluten-free pie crust 😀), I came up with an alternative idea.   Why not make brownies and use the 1/3 bag of frozen cherries I had left over from when I made cherry jam and make a cherry sauce for on top of the brownie?

This is where my recommendation comes in...

This Gluten Free Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix by King Arthur Baking Company is the best brownie one could make, in my humble opinion.  I have a lot of from scratch brownie recipes and I've also tried other brownie mixes from the store, but both Strong Heart and I find this one to be the best brownie I can make.

I took the cherries from the freezer that I'd had left over from when I did the cherry jam recently because it was only a partial bag...maybe 1/3 of a quart bag, put the juice in the saucepan, added maybe 1/4 cup of sugar, a touch of water, and brought it to a boil.  Then I added a mixture of 1 T. of Clear Jel (the cook kind) and 2 T. water to the cherries and stirred until I had a nice consistency for a sauce.  When I took it off the heat, I added a drop (or two) of Almond Extract and stirred that in.

I served the brownie with a spoonful of cherry sauce.  I'm sorry that I didn't think to take a picture of one before serving it.  So, I will share this picture from Pinterest with you to give you the idea.

This is What Resilience Looks Like

 "If"

by Rudyard Kipling 

If you can keep your head when all about you

Men are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop to build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your nerve and heart and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more- you'll be a Man, my son!

This poem brings back so many memories from my high school days.

It was one that a close friend recited often in the years of our friendship before he left for Vietnam.

He was the one person who at least strived to live out these words of Kipling.

He was a wonderful example to me of the word Resilience.

For background information on the history behind this work of Kipling's,

click HERE

From My Journal

 TODAY IS: 24 February 2025

AROUND ME:  We are about to enjoy some warmer weather!  Yipee!

I AM PONDERING: all of the laws and sacrifices in the Old Testament and how wonderful it is that Jesus became THE sacrifice that ended all of the other sacrifices.  What a wonderful and glorious Redeemer we have when we carry His name.

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS: 

The way the light filters through the kitchen window this time of the year.

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING: Favorite Poems Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.  Methinks I may have taken on a "project" with the second book, but the title listed by my friend Lisa  among her favorite ten books in 2020 intrigued me.  So, I have to give it a good try.  It's a resilience thing, 'ya know?

I AM THANKFUL FOR:  folks that God has put in my life that I know I can go to and ask them to pray about things on my heart and can rest assured that they do actually pray.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN:  when my husband says he's hot and it's cold in the house, he's probably not feeling his best.

FROM THE KITCHEN:  

The fruits of my labor from Jam making last week.

Currant jam made with honey

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY: 

This new artwork for our bathroom.

Sorry about the glare, but this is based on Micah 6:8

and is something to think on.

(And I do believe that the picture is crooked.  One of my pet peeves.)

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK: 

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY: Laundry

"So teach us to number our days, 

that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:1

Be Encouraged

 

(Courtesy of Pinterest)

Chicken and Spaghetti

 

(Picture courtesy of Pinterest)

I thought I would share a recipe that my mother would make fairly often.  We had it for supper last night and I had intended to take a picture of our plates before we started eating.  I was halfway through mine when I realized that I'd forgotten to take a picture.  😀 

Chicken and Spaghetti

1 cup chopped onion

2 T. bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

2 T. Butter

2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce

1 small bottle of catsup

1 tsp. chili powder

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

1 chicken, boiled and deboned

1 box spaghetti, cooked and drained

Grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a stock pot or Dutch oven.  Add onion, pepper and celery and sauté until the veggies are tender.  Add the tomato sauce, catsup and chili powder and mix well; add mushrooms.  Remove meat from the bone and chop or cut into bite size pieces and add to the mixture, mixing well.  Then add the cooked and drained pasta.  Place in a greased casserole dish.  Add some of the chicken broth if you feel everything looks too dry.  Bake in 300-degree F oven for about 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.  

A couple of side notes... the recipe calls for a whole chicken.  I did not have a whole chicken in the freezer, so I used what I had...several chicken legs and about three chicken tenders.  

The recipe just says 1 box of spaghetti, but didn't specify the size.  Since I use gluten-free pasta, I used just one 8 oz. box of it.  Actually, depending on how much pasta you prefer, it could have used more than 8 ounces.  It worked fine for us, but I realize others may prefer more.  We enjoy the flavor of the sauce.

I've Been Trying Something New

 

I've been working the month of February trying to make a few batches of jams a week. 

I've accomplished getting our Christmas Jams made for our church family and have them all neatly tucked away in a tote.

Then last week, and again yesterday, I started making jams to replenish our supply here at the house.

At Strong Heart's request, I made some of it with honey.

I've done Blueberry Jam, Cherry Jam, and now

Currant Jam.

I made some of the Blueberry Jam with honey and some with sugar.

I did the same with the Cherry Jam.

When I did the Currant Jam yesterday,

I decided to just make it all with honey.

Using honey as the sweetener is something that I've never done before.

I was a bit hesitant, but he seldom ever asks me to do anything special

so, I certainly wasn't going to turn him down.

This is the product that I used.

It's activated by calcium, which has calcium powder in the box along with the pectin.  You just dissolve the calcium powder in water, add the correct amount for your recipe, and put it in the pan with your crushed fruit.  Then mix the pectin and honey together.  Once the crushed fruit has come to a boil, you simply add the pectin/honey mixture to the pan, stir vigorously for one minute and jar up the jam.  

I'm really glad that I gave it a try, 

even though it took me out of my comfort zone. 

 Perhaps I'm growing a bit in resilience?

By Grace Alone - a book review

By Grace Alone by Sinclair Ferguson, with the subtitle, How The Grace of God Amazes Me was such a good read.  It is the author's thoughts on a poem by the African pastor Emmanuel T. Sibomana, and both are backed up with Scripture time and time again.  

The poem has seven verses, and Sinclair Ferguson takes each verse and highlights the beauty and richness of what Christ did for us on Calvary.  The book is only seven chapters long, with the author's insight and wisdom that helps us grow in our relationship with Jesus.

Here is a link to the words of the poem and I do hope that you will take the time to read it because it will definitely create a desire in you to read the book.

Chapter One of the book, "My Chains Fell Off", deals with how Jesus breaks our bondage from sin and brings us into freedom by His grace.

Chapter Two, "Unconditional Love" (my favorite chapter) deals with the beautiful parables concerning lost things, with a great emphasis on the parable of the Prodigal Son.  The author brings more than just the two sons into view, he presents the third Son...the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter Three, "At God's Expense" is a very sobering look at Jesus' suffering and crucifixion, focusing on how great His grace was to us.

Chapter Four, "A Great Exchange" goes into an explanation of "the basic problem, the exchange, the release, and the transformation" that brings us to salvation.

Chapter Five, "Guaranteed Security" deals with how Christ has become our shield and buckler as He protects us when Satan throws his darts at us.

Chapter Six, "Delivered from Evil" takes us into the company of Job and his "friends".  This chapter was very helpful to me as it dealt with our thoughts and how we are equipped to deal with the fiery darts.

Chapter Seven, "True Freedom" reminds us of who we were in Adam and who we are now in Christ, if we are truly a Christian.

Would I recommend this book?  Definitely!  Sinclair Ferguson is such a gentle and kind personality, and it comes through in his writing.  Reading these chapters in correlation with the poem by Pastor Emmanuel Sibomana was a blessing, to say the least.

From My Journal

 TODAY IS: 17 February 2025

AROUND ME:  We woke up Sunday morning to a temperature of 52 degrees F and rain.   On our way home from church, the temperature had already begun to drop, and wind continued to bring the temperature down.  Shortly after 1:30 it began to snow, and it has been a mixture of rain, ice and snow with LOTS of wind.  This type of weather is to continue through midafternoon today.

I AM PONDERING: a book I read recently and the social issues that it dealt with.

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS: 

Old Pottery Pieces and birds!

(Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING: Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

I AM THANKFUL FOR:  my husband, family, friends, Scripture, seasonal changes in the weather.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN: 

(Courtesy of Pinterest)

FROM THE KITCHEN:

 

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:  

This picture reminds me of my paternal grandmother so much.

(Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:

(Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY: Laundry

"So teach us to number our days, 

that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12 

Be Encouraged

 

Courtesy of Pinterest

My Day on Tuesday

 

This is how I spent my day on Tuesday.

I had these jars given to me by a friend.

They were brand new and came complete with the rings and lids.

I spent a small portion of my day yesterday washing the jars to remove any of the "sticky" that may have been on them.

Then I labeled them ...they are all Red Raspberry Jam.

They are now all tucked away in a tote to give as Christmas gifts.

And our freezer is a little lighter for my efforts.

Jack's Life ~ a book review

 

Jack's Life by Douglas Gresham is one of the most heart-warming books that I have read in a very long time.  

It is the life story of C.S. Lewis written by his youngest stepson, Douglas. I've always found C.S. Lewis interesting, perhaps with a bit of mystery about him.  After reading this book, my respect for Jack has grown even more immensely.  Douglas writes with his heart and shares things about his stepfather that I never really knew before.

I knew of some of Jack's childhood from reading other books and I've also known about his love for Joy Davidman.  It seems in recent years, his and Joy's relationship has been the primary focus in books concerning Jack.   But in this book, Joy isn't even mentioned until the last two or three chapters.  The majority of the book speaks of Jack from his birth through until his death in 1963.

The book details Jack's relationship with his mother, and how his life changed dramatically when she died while Jack was still a young boy.  His father did not cope well after the passing of Jack's mother, and Jack was sent off to boarding school.

The book details his close relationship to his older brother, Warner (or Warnie, as he was known).  

It details Jack's time that he served in World War One, how his injury sent him home, and then how, even though he and Warnie both by this time had been back home, wanted to be involved in what they could do in their community when World War Two began.

In this book, you will also learn a great deal about the mother and sister of Jack's dear friend Paddy.  They were in World War One together and had promised each other that if something happened to the one, then the other would take responsibility for caring for their family they left behind.  As it turned out, Paddy was killed in France and even though Jack was only 19 years old, he carried through with the commitment he'd made to Paddy.  I am amazed at the stamina that Jack exhibited because of this commitment.  Talk about resilience!

As anyone who knows much at all about C.S. Lewis knows that through all of the circumstances of his early life after his mother died, he was a self-proclaimed atheist.  In this book, you will find how he came to know Christ and how he went all over England during the war years, giving lectures about Christianity.  He became so well known for these lectures that he was requested to speak to the troops, which he gladly did, and he was also requested to give these lectures on the BBC that more people could be exposed to what Christianity was about.

There are beautiful descriptions of Jack's and Warnie's home, The Kilns and how Jack diligently worked with Paxford, the gardener, to make the grounds free of all of the overgrowth, etc. that was there when The Kilns was purchased.  

Would I recommend this book?  Absolutely...especially if you are already a C.S. Lewis fan because you will get to know Jack more intimately.

The Very Positive Side of Resilience

I've been becoming acquainted with my One Word 2025 Resilience over the past six weeks.

I've been learning just how strongly it is connected to one of its synonyms, Perseverance.

I've also been learning what a positive thing each of them is, in their own right.

For the most part, I've always been one who loved to start projects (and often many of them at one time), but not being really very good at completing any of them.

I've been enjoying, of late, the beauty of Perseverance.  

I recently cut back my time on social media...cut back in way of eliminating my Instagram account.

Then I began to wonder what I should do with the time that I had spent on social media.  Here are just a couple of things that I've given my time to of late:

Reading again!  It isn't that I really ever completely stopped reading, but I had cut back drastically because of using that time to be on Instagram.  I'm so enjoying learning new things about different topics.

Crocheting again! I started a baby blanket in white well over a year ago.  I've picked that back up again and have added quite a bit to it.

Staying motivated with my homemaking skills with a renewed spirit about it all.

There have been times when I have wanted to give in and re-enter the world of Instagram, but I haven't.  I have Persevered.

There have been times when I really haven't felt like reading and want to give up on a book, but I haven't.  I've Persevered

There have been times when I wonder why I'm crocheting this blanket because I don't even know anyone who is expecting a baby, but I haven't quit.  I've Persevered.

There have been times when I've been doing a homemaking task and wanted to just quit and leave it undone, but I haven't.  I've Persevered.

And in my Persevering do you know what I've learned?

I've learned Resilience!

And I've learned it in a positive way.  Staying with a project is worth the effort because I love the feeling of accomplishment, of giving to others, and pleasing the Lord.

And I've been able to persevere because in my weakness, He has been Strength.

From My Journal

 TODAY IS: 10 February 2025

AROUND ME:  We are preparing for more winter storms.  We are looking at 3-6 inches of snow from Tuesday through Wednesday.  But I still believe that spring is not far off.  We are already seeing so many signs of nature coming back to life to believe otherwise.

I AM PONDERING: the Providence of God.  Our pastor had arranged for someone to come and preach yesterday morning so that he could hear the man preach in person.  As it turned out, our pastor ended up getting the flu and God had already taken care of someone to fill the pulpit by the previous arrangements.  

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS:  Wednesday evening we were under the threat of an ice-storm, so our pastor moved our Wednesday night prayer service to Thursday night.  His lesson was on prayer and then we went on to individuals praying as they wanted.  What a sweet, sweet time of prayer and fellowship as my brothers and sisters in Christ, shared the needs of their families and friends.

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING:  By Grace Alone by Sinclair Ferguson

I AM THANKFUL FOR:  my hard-working husband who did a bit of a redo in our bathroom by replacing ceiling tiles, painting the ceiling, and taking up old floor tiles and installing new floor tiles.  He also assembled a new cabinet...without any grumbling.  I so appreciate him and all that he does to make our home comfortable.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN: that resilience is a positive and not a negative.

FROM THE KITCHEN: 

 

Almond Cherry Fudge

The recipe is found here

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:

Yummy root vegetables

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY: Laundry, clean kitchen window and wash kitchen valances.

"So teach us to number our days, 

that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12 

Be Encouraged

 

Spring is on its way!

Of the Bygone Eras

 Over the Christmas break, I watched so many Christmas movies and I came to the conclusion that for the most part they all had basically the same theme of boy meets girl, they fall in love, and marriage was sure to follow.  I enjoy documentaries, biographical stories, and a PBS presentation of All Creatures Great and Small.  I'm not a mystery story type of gal unless it's Murder She Wrote, and that's only because I really like Angela Lansbury.  Things didn't seem as violent in those episodes as they do in today's mysteries.

Anyway, there is a point to all of this...truly.  😊

When January 2025 came around, I started thinking about some of the GEMS from when I was younger...some of them from when I was really younger.  I thought it would be fun to start watching some of them again that were still available.  I've really been enjoying some of the "oldies but goodies" and thought I would see how many of them my readers would remember...just for fun.

The Andy Griffith Show

(Dear Little Opie, Aunt Bea, Barney Fife, and Andy Griffith)

A bit of a side note regarding Don Knots who played Barney.

He was born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, which is my hometown.

He and my dad actually went to high school together.

We can't forget to include the Darling family.

The funniest Andy Griffith Show in my humble opinion was when Mr. Darling "declared" his love for Aunt Bea.  I still laugh every time I watch it.

I'm currently rewatching The Danny Thomas Show and am loving it.

The little guy that plays Rusty, Danny's son, steals the show every time.

I know it's the way the script is written, but it seems he is almost always the one who gets the punch line.

I appreciate the strong family values that this show displays.

We can't forget Leave it to Beaver.

As a kid growing up, I always liked this show because of the age difference between Wally and Beaver, because there was 8-year age difference between me and my oldest brother.

Again, family values displayed.

Lassie was always a favorite that I remember from my early childhood days.

We had a Collie as well, only ours was black and white.

Lassie was always the hero.

I can't forget my hero

SKY KING!

And last for this post is the lady who was my idol.  

Annie Oakley!

I would much prefer to watch her over cartoons any day.

As a matter of fact, I loved her so much that I had to have a cowgirl outfit like hers...including the holster and cap pistol.  
I think my favorite part was all of the fringe on the outfit.

How many of these programs did you watch as you were growing up? 

 Which were your favorites?  

They don't have to be from these I've listed...I'd just love to know what you enjoyed watching.

Please let me know in the comments!