/ / Pause Button / /

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

Psalm 145:3

Apple Season Already?

It seems crazy for me to think its that time of year already when the leaves start turning, the fruit is ripening and the nights get cooler. But its not officially fall yet, I just need to make that clear!
Change is always happening, you think we would be used to it now. What about change that your not sure should happen. Like a move, change of jobs, and the times when prayers are said like "Lord please only if its your will" because you just don't know what the right decision is. Does the Lord so often (in my opinion) bring us to these forks in the road just to see how we respond? And even when we do make the wrong decision, the Lord is still there, scoops us up and makes something beautiful out of our own mistake even if its just to help us see where we went wrong so we can learn and not make that mistake again. Like a bruised or crow bitten apple, cut the bad off and turn it into...oh decisions...apple sauce or apple cake? hmm...
How about Appley Cake

 This is a very tasty recipe, the cardamom gives it a great flavour. And very apple-y...so moist.

4 cups granny smith apples (or the like) peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tb. sugar
3/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tb. sugar

Butter a 10" pie plate. In a large bowl combine the apple slices with the lemon juice and 1 tb. sugar, and distribute evenly in the pie plate. Then wisk the melted butter and 1 cup sugar, add the eggs, 1 at a time wisking well after each. Add the flour, spices and salt and mix until smooth. Pour evenly over the apples and then sprinkle the last tablespoon of sugar over top. Bake in a 350 oven for 45 min. or until the apples are tender and crust is golden brown and when pricked with a fork it comes out clean.
 

The little old apple tree that gets lots of apples and gets lots of crow visitors to peck away at my apples :( oh well turn them into baked goods :) 

Thinking about praying for Gods will... Ive been stressing myself out over a certain decision and praying for God to open or close the door in this, according to His will, got me thinking... what if it just happens any old way and I fear if the door is open but it isn't God's will. But then I found these truths in God's word:
Luke 11:9 "And so I tell you, keep asking and you will receive what you ask for."
1 John 5:14,15 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
And so with these truths I know that when I ask that His will be done, and please close the door to the possibility of anything that is not His will, I can trust God that He will do as He said in His Word. Thank you Father for that assurance.

Perspective

 I'm walking along on this dry grassy hill, looking down in the coulees, wondering when things will begin to grow and get more colorful. There has been only one rainfall this spring so far...its not looking to promising of May flowers. As I walk along, the grasses are so dry that little pieces break off and poke me as they fall into my shoes.

I look out mostly over the hills and down in the coulees and the land seems so barren. The parched land looks like it has nothing beautiful to offer right now.

But when I slow down I see something. Some color. I bend down to see what looks like something similar to crocuses, soft, fuzzy, purple petals closed up pointing to the sky. Clusters of them, and some single flowers scattered over the hills. They are so beautiful and I am so happy to see them there.

 As with new eyes I look more specifically over the hills and notice these pretty little flowers scattered here and there quite frequently.

Its amazing how much more noticeable something is when you specifically look for it. It brings my thoughts to how we can look at ourselves or others. Quite often when I am frustrated by my short comings or short comings of a loved one its hard to see something positive going on. When I think about failure after failure in areas that I struggle, I just see a Big F. But when I take the time to focus in on these certain areas I cant neglect to see that I have made many wise choices and that is also why more often than not, things can go along pretty smoothly. When positive choices are made they need to be acknowledged and praise God for His faithfulness and guidance. Then it is easier to see how good choices can be made easily and its encouraging to keep heading in the right direction to see how much more beautiful its going to get! Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. (Isaiah 43:18) Remembering this helps us accept that God is always wanting to use us and our experiences to do good. He is always at work in our lives as long as we are letting Him.
(And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28)
Each choice to honor the Lord is a beautiful little flower in a dry barren land, that when each one is gathered together, there is too many to fit into any ordinary vase. And yet the flowers is all He sees in our dry barren land. 

Turns out these flowers are called Prairie Crocuses

Psalm 103
Praise the Lord, O my soul!

With all that is within me, praise his holy name!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not forget all his kind deeds!

He is the one who forgives all your sins,

who heals all your diseases,

who delivers your life from the Pit,

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

who satisfies your life with good things,

so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

The Lord does what is fair,

and executes justice for all the oppressed.

The Lord revealed his faithful acts to Moses,

his deeds to the Israelites.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.

He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry.

He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.

For as the skies are high above the earth,

so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers.

As far as the eastern horizon is from the west,

so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.

For he knows what we are made of;

he realizes we are made of clay.

A person’s life is like grass.

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

but when the hot wind blows by, it disappears,

and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.

But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,

and is faithful to their descendants,

to those who keep his covenant,

who are careful to obey his commands.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven;

his kingdom extends over everything.

Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders!

Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his,

you servants of his who carry out his desires!

Praise the Lord, all that he has made,

in all the regions of his kingdom!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

/ / Pause Button / /

Sparkly Stars

 An easy re-cycled craft using toilet paper rolls, some paint and a little bit of wire. I hope to do something creative each year and this was something easy and its great to use up things at home!
 Start with just trimming half inch slices off the flattened end of the toilet paper roll. Cut half way through the middle of each sliced piece. With two pieces in opposite direction insert the small slices into each other, to form your star.
 Paint the star white (or whatever) then with glitter paint when dry.
 Loop a wire through to hang on the tree.

Twinkle twinkle little star

More with Cranberries

I have cranberries on my mind. Hence the juniper, cranberry arrangements I made in my last post. I love me a good scone emmm emm. Especially when they are dense and sweet. This one has all the above.

 ::Lemon Cranberry Scones::

Preheat oven to 375, and place oven rack on upper 3rd level of the oven

3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1tbsp grated lemon peel

1 tsp salt

-Mix this all together in a large bowl-

Add 3/4 cup of chilled butter, cut up into small squares.

-Use a pastry blender to incorporate the butter to make a coarse meal consistency-

Stir in 1/2 cup of sliced (each in half) cranberries (I used frozen)

1tbsp of lemon juice, poured in a 1 cup measuring cup.

Add half and half to the measuring cup to fill it to measure 1 cup.

-Pour into your scone mixture and mix until clumps form then gather with you hands to form one solid lump, don't over mix. Divide in half and pat each into a 6 inch flat, round. Cut each into 6 triangles. Place on greased/ parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 min.-

Once the scones have cooled, make a glaze of

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted

a dribble of lemon juice

and just enough milk to make a slightly runny icing (about 2 tbsp)

-Mix this up and drizzle it over your scones. Once this dries you can stack them up in your tin just fine.-

Now speaking of icing makes me think of what I saw outside early this morning...

The trees look like they were dipped in frosting.

Dusted with icing sugar

What's going on here (?)

A little over a month ago now we were blessed to have moved out to an old farm. A little ways off from the area we first moved to when we relocated to western Canada but only to the next county SE from where we were. We really felt it was worth it for sure. So this beautiful location brings lots of trees in the immediate area surrounding our home, lots of land to explore, hills and coolies, barn cats, old buildings, quiet...

I really am so thankful for this new location.

 

The other week we got to see these beautiful birds which we found out are called Bohemian Waxwing. They come this way from colder regions, eating the berries on the trees.

 

 

This morning there was a beautiful hoar frost that covered everything.

 

 

 

This is the friendliest of all the barn cats. He was named Garfield.

 

 

 

 

Willow is a naturally outdoorsy dog. She is in Heaven out here.

 



 

I grabbed some juniper branches to stick in jars with some cranberries for my early Christmas decorations. It smells wonderful in the house now.

 

 So often I get to thinking why do things happen the way they do?

 I'll be honest to say that I was having a very hard time living in the area we just moved from. I was not used to the over-crowded living. Everything man made, and hardly able to enjoy nature or quiet and privacy.

 Then there is another part to this story I have been adapting to the fact that I've recently developed Epilepsy. Which has been kind of mind boggling for me. And a little less than a year ago I was told I can't drive until its under control. You want to talk about depressing and totally inconvenient! There was nothing I can do about it. I have gone through a lot of feelings that I felt were defining. But I am slowly coming to the realisation of what the truth is of these feelings. Satan wants me to feel defeated by this disorder, and let it undo me. 

 Not to mention there are other issues that have been growing within our family as well.

So as I write about this new venture of a place we now live it makes me ponder... maybe this place was made possible as a refuge of sorts. I've thought a many times -what were we thinking moving out to the country when I cant get to town?? But Its not really that much more inconvenient any way and I love it out here and the way I can spend my days. 

 So usually it takes me quite a while to see the big picture, but maybe the Lord has given me a chance to see this one earlier than usual.

 You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. Job 11:18



Huckleberries

I've never seen or thought about huckleberries before until I moved out here to western Canada. But I think that, that has got to be one of the best names for a berry! I saw an ad in the paper for a Huckleberry Festival and liked the way it sounded and so off we went on a two hour drive to this ski resort that was hosting the festival. It didn't look like the nicest day but checking the weather before hand I decided we would be ok with light sweaters and shorts and I even chose to wear sandals. When we arrived at the mountainous location it was six degrees. And everyone had on hiking boots, pants and lots of layers. But I was bound and determined to make the best of our huckleberry excursion. We got lift tickets some buckets and slowly, slowly got lifted to the top of the hill. The slow progression on the lift made it all the more cold while I endured all kinds of comments about the choice of my attire. Yes, thank you, I realize I made a bad decision with the sandals and shorts, I want to say as I smile, and gritting my teeth! 

 At the top we take a few steps and my husband says to me so what do they look like, and I say I read that they look like a blueberry (what a boring name for a berry) so we look a bit and I found a little bush with burgundy leaves that had deep purply blue berries and I pick one. I eat it and fake a dramatic choke and then say well they are safe, these must be it. So we start picking tiny berries from soaking wet bushes on top of a mountain that must have been 3 degrees (IN AUGUST!!) ! And also I should mention they are pretty sparse little bushes.

 I'd say we endured about 15 min. only because our hands stopped functioning at around that point, and collected half a cup of berries. Good times, good times. 
 On the way down, as it was on the way up the lift we spotted deer walking by and this time they were walking even right beneath our chair! That was cool. The sights were awesome. The experience was....an experience. And hey, I got to make some Huckleberry muffins after!

2 cups flour  1/2 tsp. salt  1 tb. baking powder  1 cup sugar
Sift these ingredients together. Stir in 1/2 cup huckleberries (or more if you could gather more:) or just plain old blueberries)
In a separate bowl mix
2 eggs  3/4 cup oil  1 1/4 cup greek yogurt  1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Gently stir this into the dry ingredients with 1/2 cup white chips
Plop into greased 12 cup muffin tin and bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 20 min.

 

 If its a typical August day sit outside and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
 So from all this I guess I should learn, always be prepared and don't have to many expectations!

Keep calm...the chives have sprouted!

 Keep calm...the chives have sprouted! It has been a hard spring for me, waiting for things to grow. When everything did finally start sprouting it almost seemed unreal. And I am still in awe at the growth. I thank the Lord for this simple thing...chives that grow and sprout early, even before the grass is all green. Yes so simple but the small things are usually what is real and is a blessing too. Because this small and simple thing can not be attributed to anyone else but God. There is no way for anyone here on earth to have manufactured a seed and make it grow. I can get so disheartened by all the big, fast things in this world because it makes me feel like I'm being silly paying such attention to a plant growing. But in truth I see so much beauty in a seeds growth and should not be ashamed by my simple amusements and wonders!

 Psalm 111:2 How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in Him should ponder them.

 

 

 

 

 (This is our new addition to the family, her name is Willow and is 5 months old, is a BALL of ENERGY, and apparently likes chives too!)

 

 So in celebration of the first harvest from my newly acquired garden allotment, I baked up these yummy cheddar and chive biscuits.

 

MIX: 1 3/4 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tbs. snipped chives, 1/2 tsp. dried thyme. CUT IN: 3 tbs. margarine, to resemble course crumbs. STIR IN: 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Then, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup yogurt. Dough will be sticky. Drop large tablespoonfuls on lined baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 12 min.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cant remember if I mentioned that we really downsized on our living quarters inside and out, when we moved out here to the West this past year. It has been a challenge adjusting to the size or lack there of, of the yard. It may be temporary or not. Depending on where we sense the Lord leading us. But I have been working at making due with what we have. I've figured container gardening is the best for this year considering that the amount of yard we have is too small to tear up and plant veggies. So its a new adventure in trying this out. I'm thinking it'll be a bit more work making sure they get adequate water and food. On the positive I'm learning something new.

Lemon Poppy Seed Fluffins

The fresh sent and colour of lemon makes me think of spring, spring makes me think of fresh starts. Every morning is fresh with new grace and possibilities. And the chance to stop trying and rely totally! on God. This simple thought is really what I have really been aiming for lately. Picture the word START and this being the acronym for Stop Trying And Rely Totally. This is good for anytime, there is a fresh start every moment. Christ is always waiting for us to turn away from our own trying, ambitions and efforts and to rely totally on Him.

 

 

Sometimes it is healthy to try to figure out why why why we do what we do. But I know for me lots of times I need to stop focusing on the bad choices, the flubs and just humble myself to say to God "I can't do this on my own God!" I think maybe even say it out loud...loudly. "And for crying out loud...I shouldn't even try!!" So stop and then START right again. Its ok, He knows me, He knows you. And He loves you and I just the same, no matter what.

 

 

These muffins are so yummy and fluffy

 

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

lemon zest of 1 lemon and the juice of 1/2 of it.

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. poppy seeds

3/4 cup sour cream

 

Preheat oven to 375 and line or grease muffin tin, I used a large 6 muffin tin. Beat in each wet ingredient, according to order listed. Sift the dry ingredients together in another bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet alternately with the sour cream, in 3 additions. Spoon into pan and bake 20-25 min. or 25-30 for the large muffins.

Now you can have a tea with the left over lemon :)

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

 

 

Something Tasty in a Hurry

I can really appreciate having something ready and tasty to eat in a hurry for those times I'm not in the mood to prepare something or am really hungry. I'm almost always leaning towards something on the sweet side also. So in an effort to eat more green foods I found this idea of having ready made fruit and yogurt parfaits, great! Another great re-use for your left over jars too. So now your up-cycled jars are travelling parfait jars. You can easily grab one to go.

Simply put a layer of fruit and low fat Greek yogurt in jars or two layers of yogurt with the fruit in between is nice. I make up to 3 or 4 jars ready sitting in the fridge.

Have some easy to make granola on hand to sprinkle on top for when you pop the lid off and want to dig in.

This honey granola variation is so tasty, and easy:

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup of slivered almonds

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

~Mix all these ingredients together in a large bowl until the mixture is equally coated.

Then spread it out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for about 15-20 min. or until golden colour. Once it is cooled you can store it in another re-purposed jar.

 

I'm really hooked on these parfaits. They are so yummy and I can feel good about eating them.

 

 

Eager for Green

There has been a string of warm + double digit days in the Celsius and that has gotten me pretty hyped up about this up coming spring. So I got inspired to bring some extra growing green things in the house, by making a terrarium. Its fun and easy to make and there is just something strangely neat about them. Its like your own little personal tropical forest ecosystem, that almost takes care of itself. I even added little plastic forest creatures to make it more fun. Its something easy for kids to make and take care of too. All you need is:

 

 

Need a jar? Just eat all the pickles up! Where to get the charcoal? Check out the pet section for fish tank supplies. This helps keep the environment fresh. Looking for stones? Look in the ditch...or dollar store. Thankfully here in Alberta there is a surplus of them in the streams beds.

Add your supplies like so...

Don't forget some decorations.

Lightly spray the plants and place the lid on. You don't need to water it that often because the water is recycled within the jar. If it looks too damp, leave the lid off for a while. But if its set up right you wont even need to water it after the initial watering.

 

 

Here is another idea for an eager gardener. Place the cut off bottom of a celery plant in a container with water. After a week or so it will start to grow wee little celery stalks. And garlic cloves will sprout bright green stems. Its nice to see bright green growth, this time of year.

 

 

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

I was thinking about how often I focus too much on the areas I need growth in and working hard at making that happen that I loose sight of what is most important. Or I guess I forgot what the whole purpose was. Its that I am meant to grow in the Lord. And that when I cultivate a closer relationship with the Lord, then growth in my life will happen as a result.

I'm so thankful that the Lord can use a little plant to remind me of  His grace and to help me re-focus.

Courage to be Me

 

I was at bible study this morning and the topic of courage came up. (Yay, my word of the year!) And it made me think about how I felt pretty good about some of my progress in courageous steps. I've been making a better effort to reach out to people, I've even been starting conversations with people I normally would not ever have the confidence to speak to, and so I know this is Christ in me. I have stepped out of my comfort zone to share an experience with my husband that I knew he would so enjoy...I shot a shot gun for the first time! So I was already getting complacent. I checked a few cool things off my list and was sorta thinking... ok, that's good for now. Oh no, the Lord was showing me this morning, that that was not it, He has so much more in store for me.

He has been bringing me to a spot, through the "Made to Crave" book study, that I need to have the courage to constantly put food in its place of only being nourishment of my physical health. It does not bring happiness or mean I am loving on myself when I get to eat yummy food. This verse really hit it home for me this morn. :

Isaiah 8:13 Make the Lord of Heaven's Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. (...not weight gain, or looking bad, being unpopular) That is what usually fuels weight loss, the shallow fears. Not the Lord. I want to have the courage to face the Lord each morning honestly and say to Him "I want to honor You with my life." He has given me the privilege to courageously do His will boldly because He has already given me the victory. I don't need to fear anything, I have every right to be me as He has made me, and in faith follow His leading. He is not done with me yet, and that's ok, because Christ died for me when He knew what I would be like. I fall but like a father with a new toddler on wobbly legs He lifts me up and encourages me to try again with His loving arms ready to catch me. Oh do I ever forget that He does take me as I am, and that I have to remember I can go to Him as I am. That's when He can truly shine through me, and show Himself.

I get so excited when I even just think back in my own life, and all the things the Lord has done. We are called Gods children because we can be courageous only through Him. Like a child to their Father we will always need to go to the Father and constantly ask Him what to do, ask for guidance, "check in", lean on Him, lament to Him, cry to Him, get comfort, tell him everything, ask for stuff... He is our daddy. He accepts me as I am, He wants me to have the courage to do the same. He loves me so much, that He refuses to leave me that way, and He wants me to have the courage to believe that and let Him work in and through me.

 

New Every Morning

What more can we ask for when the Father is so faithful in His love, and His mercies. This is what every human being yearns for. Every being is crying out for unconditional love, and true acceptance. Just when we feel defeated the Father wants us to never forget, that His mercy never ends, its always new. This to me is so freeing. Satan wants us to never really "get" this. To feel ashamed to think we can have another do over. To get wrapped up in guilt that clouds Gods promises. We all have the right to be courageous and turn to the Lord for victory over our stumbling blocks, turn a deaf ear to Satan's lies that we are to be punished/punishing our selves. Christ already took our punishment, and He wants us to live a new life, a free life, in Him.

Red Neck Travel Mug

 I doubt I'm the only one that loves a coffee that is around for a sip here and there while going about in the house, that stays warm for when that time arises. So here is an all cozie, convenient, and fun(ny) way to help with those occasions.
 Keeping your mason jars makes for lots of handy uses. But this time its a red neck travel mug. The kind with a one piece lid, not a ring and snap seal top.
 The sock sleeve is what makes this- cozy and feasible. You just simply cannot handle a steaming beverage in a jar. Plus you cant use the traditional sleeve to hold this handy mug, because it'll slip and crash. You are going to have to make a snug sock cover. With, literally, a sock. Yup, just yank the one off of someones foot... well you can use another one or new one, if you have an issue with that.

 Grab your sock, turn it inside out, and measure how long it will need to be, leaving some room from the top, so your lip doesn't get fuzzies stuck on it, but there is enough for seam allowance.
 Trace the bottom of the jar onto the sock, for the bottom of the cozy.

 Pin the bottom edge of the tube with the edge of the circle, right sides facing. Zig-zag stitch about 2 or 3 times, to ensure it will not unravel. Use a tight, small stitch to hold it together. Turn it right side out, then stitch the fringe inside the cozy to the edge of the side, very close to the bottom. So you will end up seeing a seam on the outside of the cozy at the very bottom, but this will give extra durability and will better hold the shape of the tube.

 

Now I can savour a steaming cup of joe, warm my hands, and I get to enjoy the smell of my honeys feet wherever I take it!

 

 

Put the lid on and have another steaming sip in a bit.
I love it, and my kids each want their own! Gimme your socks guys!