I Won Something

Paula at Hearty Works, was having a contest to give a way a book called, Rekindling The Romance by Dennis and Barbara Rainey. And I won it. :o)

As I told Paula, in the comments section, I never expected to win so it was a nice surprise. :o)

Thanks Paula! :o)

More Blog Fun !! :o)

I have another great contest to tell you about.

It is being hosted by Carolyn at Scrappingservant. You DO NOT have to be a scrapbooker to join in the fun. So, be sure to stop her blog and get all of the details.

Works for Me Wednesday

Hmmmm??? What could I share for "Works for Me Wednesday"? I haven't participated in this for a few weeks, but I read the other WFM posts and get alot of great tips. I wanted to share something, but I couldn't figure out what that might be. Until this morning.

I was hanging out my laundry (yes the weather is that nice here now! Yay!) and I thought that I would share what I have found to work for me. Hope it might work for you too.

1) I wash all of our clothing inside out. Yup, all wrong side out. :o) I find by doing it this way that the fabric doesn't get all picky and rough looking.

2) I wash all clothing in cold water to prevent it from shrinking.

3) I don't put clothing in the dryer unless absolutely necessary. I will either hang it outside if the weather is agreeable, or I will hang it upstairs.

4) When hanging my laundry outside, I make sure to hang any exposed 'right side' material (necks of tops, etc.) away from the sun. Early in the morning, I would face it in one direction. After a few hours, the sun is on the other side of the line so I will hang it in the opposite direction. By doing this it will help prevent fading. I have a pair of pants I bought about 6 years ago and they are still in great shape. Very faded on the inside, but still bright on the outside. :o)

5) Towels, dish towels, dishcloths, etc. I wash on warm/warm and put these into the dryer. I think it may be healthier to have these things dried in the dryer because of the heat factor.

Well I'd better go an d bring my laundry in. Don't like to leave it out too long. ;o)

Stop by Rocks in My Dryer to read more 'Works for Me Wednesday' tips.


Graphic from Cute Colors

God's Loving Kindness

When we were away last weekend, we decided to spend Sabbath afternoon at a nature park. We had driven by it many times before, but never had gone in. We were happy that they had walking trails and of course some wildlife. :o)

After walking for a little bit, we saw on a sign that there was a pond along the trail. When we got to it we found that there were ducks living (or visiting) there. I said something about how I wish I had known and I would have brought something with us to feed them. Just then our son looks to the the right (the pond was on the left) and there is a whole slice of bread, missing just a little bit it the middle. I can't tell you how blessed I felt at that moment.

I know how kind and loving God is, and how He is concerned with everything in our lives, but I tell you when He shows Himself in these ways I am left speachless. Isn't He amazing?! :o)

I think the ducks were happy to get a little snack.

Our son loves nature and we love watching him. :o)

Home Again, Home Again

Ahhh, it's nice to get away and it is nice to get back home again. :o)

We left on Friday and the weather was beautiful! If I was going to be home, it would have been the perfect day for hanging out laundry. (I love to hang out laundry--I know that's crazy, but I absolutely enjoy it!) The weather was really great all weekend. When we left, on Friday, there was snow all over the field. Well the weather was so nice that we came home today to no snow!! It melted. Yay! :o)

We were delegates for our local church at meetings for the Conference in our region. It was so nice to be able to meet friends again that we sometimes only get to see at campmeeting. Now I can't wait for campmeeting. (I think we are going this year??)

The old saying...'You don't know what you've got til it's gone' was so true for us this weekend. The city water where we were staying was not drinkable. I'm sure it was safe, but not tastey. :o( On Sabbath, I started to get a headache. I realized that I wasn't drinking enough water. They provided bottled water, but I didn't want to be greedy. lol ;o)

The thing is that when I am home through the day, I drink about 3 liters of water. (These cups each hold 1 liter. I just use one at a time and refill it) ;o)


Ann, at His Grace to Me, has a great post about drinking water. You have no idea how many times that post went through my mind this past weekend. :o) I had carefully packed everything, but I never gave a thought about taking extra h2o. I am so thankful to be home to my well. :o)

Have you had enough water today?? ;o)

Sew Crafty Friday

It's 'Sew Crafty Friday'. I love seeing what crafty things everyone is working on. If you are working on something crafty, stop by and add your name to the Mr. Linky on Shereen's blog.

This week I decided to knit some dishcloths. :o) I used the same color yarn for both, but in my pictures it looks like they are different shades.

The first one I did has 3 crosses on it. Go here for the pattern.


This is the star dishcloth. You can find the pattern here.


Hmmmm, I wonder what I will work on this week?? ;o)

His Plan For Me

I found this poem while surfing the web. The last paragraph should be my prayer each and every morning.

His Plan For Me

When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ
And His plan I begin to see,
The plan for my life as it might have been
Had He had His way with me.

Will I see how I slowed Him and blocked His way
And would not yield my will?
And will there be grief in my Saviour's eyes,
Grief, tho He loves me still?

He would have me be rich,
But I chose to stay poor.
He wanted to bless,
And I kept closing the door.

Will my memory run like a hunted fawn,
Down paths that I cannot retrace?
Will I remember things I should have done
As I gaze on His precious face?

Then will my trembling heart well nigh break
With tears that must be shed,
I'll cover my face with my empty hands
As I bow my uncrowned head.

Lord, of the years that are left to me
I give them into Thy hand.
Take me, and break me, and mold me to fit
In the pattern that You had planned.

D. Windsor
September 8, 1986

Contest !!

While looking at Wordless Wednesday posts, I came across this fun contest at Tea Time Ramblings.

She is "giving away 2 knitted hanging tea towels and three knitted dischcloths in a variety of patterns using the brightest of bright crochet cotton from Bernat".

To enter this contest, all you have to do is post a link to the contest on your blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky on her blog.

So stop on by and join the fun!! :o)

Wordless Wednesday

For more Wordless Wednesday pictures, go to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Tackle It Tuesday

Here are a few things I tackled to day.

My Little Sweetie gave me these muffin tins for Christmas. I've wanted to try them out sooner, but I don't have many muffin recipes but I found this one for banana bread/muffins


It made 3 loaves (the 3rd is in the oven) and 12 muffins (we taste tested) :o)


While waiting for the muffins to cook, I figured I had time to tackle this messy drawer. It holds alot of stuff.....oven mitts, hot pads, pot holders, battery and phone chargers, tape, scissors, coupons, plastic baggies, plastic wrap, waxed paper, tin foil......Lots of stuff!! It gets messy so fast.


But in less than 15 minutes, the drawer was back in some sort of order. :o)


Oh the computer desk!! With 3 of us using the computer, it gets soooo messy and cluttered. I think I have to take most of the responsibility for the mess though. ;o) lol


A few minutes spent at it and it was back to usable shape. It's strange how I can seem to think more clearly already. Clutter surely is a peace stealer!!!


To see what other blogers are tackling today, be sure to stop by Tackle It Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

I Keep Forgetting It's April

We are still getting hit with winter weather. :o( Today has been freezing rain & snow.

My mom gave me some very ripe bananas so, I had planned to make some banana bread today. I found this recipe that will make lots! However, with the rain, snow and wind, I was afraid that the power would go out. I didn't want to take a chance that I would end up losing all the batch. We've been fortunate though because the power has stayed on. I've charged up the cell phone just in case. :o)

It looks like our Tuesday plans will be changed because of our weather situation. That's okay though, I can always find lots to keep me busy. Always lots of cleaning and tidying to do. Looks like I'll be able to participate in Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom. :o)

The knitting bug has bitten me. I dug out my yarn & needles last night. I thought I would work on a dishcloth (or 2) for Sew Crafty Friday. It's a new pattern I found online and I'm pleased with how it is turning out.

Catalog Card

My Plans for Monday. :o)



To make one of these catalog cards, go here.

Sew Crafty Friday

It's Friday again, so that means it is 'Sew Crafty Friday' at Shereen's blog Stop on over and see what everyone is working on. If you are working on something crafty then join in the fun too. :o)



Little Sweetie wanted to make something crafty to share today too. :o) I have given him my 35mm camera, since I now have my digital. A few weeks ago he bought a film for it and took some pictures. So, while I was making my cards, he scrapbooked. ;o) These are pictures he took of his 'Maple Leafs' stuff in his room. (Wall border, poster & comforter)


I said, a while back, that I would share the process I use to make my cards. So today seemed like a good day. It's snowing here again. :o(

I use cardstock to make my cards. I like to have sort of an idea, of what I want to make, before I start. Once I have an idea I need to decide if I am going to cut the paper(8.5"x11") length-wise......


......or width-wise. To do this I use my Fiskars cutter. It will cut 12"x12" paper or smaller.


I am just realizing now that this picture didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to. Oopsy. ;o) So depending on how I cut the paper, my card can open 3 different ways. The first card shown has a fold at the top. The second is folded on the left side, and the last is folded at the top.


I knew I wanted a red background for this design, so I cut the red cardstock into 4.25"x5.5" pieces. I needed to cut some white cardstock slightly smaller to place on the red background. I like to do it in steps instead of card by card. So, I do all the cutting first.


The next seep is to stamp a background onto the white cardstock. I used red ink and a 'speckle' design stamp. To make the ink a bit lighter, I stamped it in the ink and then onto scrap paper before stamping the cardstock.


Once the background was finished, I stamped a butterfly (full ink) in the center of it. To stamp the butterfly portions at the top and bottom, the stamp was inked, stamped on scrap paper and then on to the white background.


The completed background.


I use 'Stampin'Up!' 'Stampin' Scrub' to clean my stamps. This opens up and has 2 sides for cleaning. I spray one side with a cleaning solution and then I dry it on the other.


For the next step, I cut coordinating red ribbon to put across the front of the card. I taped the ends to the back using double-sided tape. Then I added more tape and centered it on the red background.


Once that step was completed, I cut white cardstock and stamped 'Happy Birthday' in red ink. I cut red cardstock to place behind it, and attached it (with double-sided tape) over the ribbon.


Then I attached the completed card fronts to the folded white cardstock I had cut out earlier. I stamped the back of the card with a stamp that says, "Hand stamped by" ,and added my name along with the month and year.

Ta dah and my 6 cards are finished. :o)

Q&A - Maple Syrup

A while back, I said I would answer these questions in a post, so I thought I should do that. :o)

Does your son get involved every time your beloved makes it?
Yes. He loves to help his dad. :o) He helps gather the sap. Today they went out on the tractor to gather up some wood for the stove. He spends quite a bit of time at the sugar shack while my husband is boiling the sap, but he also like to run up here to the house and have a little break. ;o)

Is it only during a certain time of year that he can make it?
Yes. Maple sugaring time is for about 4-6 weeks in the spring. In order for the sap to run, the temperatures need to be below freezing at night and above freezing in the daytime. It also helps if the sun is shining, as that draws the sap up from the roots.

When my Big Sweetie is boiling it down to put into the bottles, he has to boil it until it reaches 7 degrees above the boiling point of water. That is when he knows it's finished.

Little Deeds of Kindness

Last December, around Christmas time, there was a request for prayer for a lady who lives beside our church. I felt impressed that we, my Little Sweetie and I, should make some cookies to take to her.

So that is what we did. My Little Sweetie really likes to make ginger snaps.















We had also made cinnamon dough ornaments, so he decided that he would give her 2 of those, as well. Along with a card that he made.

















Later that week, Big Sweetie, Little Sweetie & I went to the church to decorate for Christmas. While Big Sweetie got things dug out from storage, Little Sweetie and I made the delivery.

We took them to the door and left them with her husband. We said that we were from the church next door and had heard that she was in the hospital.

This past Sabbath, as my mother-in-law was coming into church, the neighbor lady came by and gave her a package and card to pass along to the "children" who had brought her the cookies.















The card said "Thank You" for the cookie and ornaments and she also included 2 packages of mini chocolate bunnies. :o)

We just reached out and never expected anything in return and that is what made her card and gift such a surprise.

Little Sweetie is the only child that goes to our church. (Except when our pastor is scheduled to be there, and then his children attend.) This last Sabbath, there was a little girl visiting with her dad, so Little Sweetie gave her one of the packages of chocolate bunnies. He was tickled to be able to share with her. :o)

I don't post this to say 'Look what we did'. As I mentioned, I felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to reach out. (I am a people person, but still I was a bit nervous.) ;o) We were able to bless her with our simple gift. She blessed Little Sweetie with her gift in return, and he was able to share it with our little visitor. Ripple effects. :o) Little deeds of kindness. :o)

Playing Catch Up

It feels like I haven't posted in forever!! ;o) I had good intentions, but that's as far as it got.

My Big Sweetie boiled more sap last week and we had some friends come out to visit and see the process. I learned some more maple syrup making facts too. :o) I'll share those in another post this week. :o)

On Wednesday I cooked something that apparently had MSG in it and I had a doozy of a headache for 2 days. :o( I never get headaches, except for sinus headaches, so I knew there had to be a reason for it. Thinking back, I could trace it to the ingredient containing MSG. Another lesson learned I guess. :o)

On Thursday, it was snowing. I mean SNOWING! It was crazy. I mean it is April. Spring. We're not supposed to be getting snow. But we did. ;o)

So Friday, my mom & aunt we're coming out to visit for the day. Well, my Big Sweetie wasn't sure that they would be able to get up our hill/driveway. The government plow will usually plow up here so they can turn at the top of the hill, but since it is a private drive and the ground was soft, they prbably didn't want to tear the road up. So we, my Big Sweetie, Little Sweetie and & I, all went out to shovel as my mom and aunt were on their way out. Shoveling on a hill??? Ugh!! Long story short, they got stuck, we shoveld some more, pushed the car and they made it up the hill. Wowzers was I ever sore the next day. I must have muscels, because everyone of them was sore. :o)

So I think I am starting to get back to a routine after a busy few days. Looking forward to posting more this week. :o)

Video from new movie 'Amazing Grace'

'Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me.' What an amazing Saviour. Beautiful message.

Source of the following: http://www.joyfulheart.com/misc/newton.htm

"I used to think America's favorite hymn, "Amazing Grace", was a bit overdone: "... that saved a wretch like me." Really now!

But the author was a wretch, a moral pariah. While a new believer around 1750, John Newton had commanded an English slave ship.

You know what that meant. Ships would make the first leg of their voyage from England nearly empty until they would anchor off the African coast. There tribal chiefs would deliver to the Europeans stockades full of men and women, captured in raids and wars against other tribes. Buyers would select the finest specimens, which would be bartered for weapons, ammunition, metal, liquor, trinkets, and cloth. Then the captives would be loaded aboard, packed for sailing. They were chained below decks to prevent suicides, laid side by side to save space, row after row, one after another, until the vessel was laden with as many as 600 units of human cargo.


Slaves were "packed" in ships for the voyage across the Atlantic. (The Granger Collection) in Peter Wood, The Seafarers: The Spanish Main (Time-Life Books, 1979), p. 63)
Captains sought a fast voyage across the Atlantic's infamous "middle passage," hoping to preserve as much as their cargo as possible, yet mortality sometimes ran 20% or higher. When an outbreak of smallpox or dysentery occurred, the stricken were cast overboard. Once they arrived in the New World, blacks were traded for sugar and molasses to manufacture rum, which the ships would carry to England for the final leg of their "triangle trade." Then off to Africa for yet another round. John Newton transported more than a few shiploads of the 6 million African slaves brought to the Americas in the 18th century.

At sea by the age of eleven, he was forced to enlist on a British man-of-war seven years later. Recaptured after desertion, the disgraced sailor was exchanged to the crew of a slave ship bound for Africa.

It was a book he found on board--Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ--which sowed the seeds of his conversion. When a ship nearly foundered in a storm, he gave his life to Christ. Later he was promoted to captain of a slave ship. Commanding a slave vessel seems like a strange place to find a new Christian. But at last the inhuman aspects of the business began to pall on him, and he left the sea for good.

While working as a tide surveyor he studied for the ministry, and for the last 43 years of his life preached the gospel in Olney and London. At 82, Newton said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour." No wonder he understood so well grace--the completely undeserved mercy and favor of God.

Newton's tombstone reads, "John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy." But a far greater testimony outlives Newton in the most famous of the hundreds of hymns he wrote: "


Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come.
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

Why I Know I can't Sew (I can Rhyme:) )

I told Shereen and Mona that I would share the story about how I cannot sew. Well, I can sew on a button and mend a rip, but I could never make clothing. Not that we could wear in public anyway. ;o)

We have to go back about 22 years to grade 8 Home Ec. The teacher, Mrs Campbell, told us that we would be making sweatshirts with 3/4 length sleeves. Sweatshirts with 3/4 length sleeves?? Are you kidding? It was the mid 80's and that was the style, so we were all very excited. Poor me. If I only knew. lol ;o)

Mrs Campbell gave us the sheet telling us what pattern # and what kind of material we would need to buy. I can still remember going to Zellers (Canadian chain store) to get the material. Grey and white stripe. This was going to be the best shirt ever.

Skip ahead to 'cutting the material day'. (I'm sure there are a few steps I am forgetting.) I had my pattern and material all neatly arranged to begin cutting. I asked Mrs Campbell where I should cut. She was preoccupied with classroom activity and she told me to cut at the bottom. Hmmmmm. The bottom?? Was that the bottom of the pattern or the (folded) material? Now, 22 years later, it is clear what she meant, but the 13 year old me couldn't tell for sure. So I did the unthinkable. Instead of double checking, I went ahead and cut the bottom of the material, which I found out moments later, meant I had just cut the back of the shirt in half.

Mrs Campbell was sure that we could fix it. I would just have a seam up the back of my shirt. lol ;o) So fix it we did. I thought it looked good and nobody would be able to tell. Ugh. Wrong!! When we finished them, we had to try them on and show our completed project. Thankfully, I don't remember anyone's reaction to my finished shirt. I do remember that I must have mis-measured the size or that cutting the fabric incorrectly(and having to make the extra seam) made the shirt too small. I exited the dressing room wedged into my shirt, looking for the teacher while saying, "Mrs Campbell can you get me out of this." So I think that is when I decided that I couldn't sew. lol :o)

Quote Contest

I was doing some blog reading at Five Minutes for Mom and saw a link to this quote contest.

The contest is closed and the voting has begun. To vote click here.

Here are my 3 favorites I plan to vote for......
#7 "I am not afraid of failure. I am afraid that I will succeed in things that matter not to God." found at Wired Wisdom

#41 "God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
found at Life as a Mama

#46 "God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." C.S. Lewis found at Oh Amanda