Fishing with Grandaddy

I'm a little late sharing these pictures. I'd taken them with Ry's camera and then we couldn't find it (slid under a seat). Then I was busy with my patient. So here they are--a week late.

They lost their Grandaddy this past year and were really missing him this Father's Day. They all wanted one thing on Father's Day weekend--to go fishing. That was their way of spending a little time with him.

This is the Day

This morning when I woke up there was a song rattling around in my head. No, sunbeams weren't shining down and birds fluttering around me. It was 4:30 a.m., it was definitely more of a rattling. Rattling nonetheless, there was a song in my head, even though my eyes weren't completely open.

Know what it was? A perky little number based on Psalm 118:24. "This is the day, this the day, this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it...." My sleepy brain didn't finish the rest of the song because, all of the sudden, I had a thought.

This IS the day that the Lord has made. God made it. I made it through another night simply because God chose to make another day.

This day has a purpose. It is part of His plan. He does nothing haphazardly or without thought. This day is intentionally.

And it intentionally includes you and me. That means we have a purpose too. What is mine for today? Not exactly sure. Maybe it's no more than to share this with you and to be nurse to my recovering little fellow.

Once my eyes were open enough, I got my Bible and read the verse from the song and the verses surrounding it. They are verses of victory.

In fact, the footnotes in my study Bible say that when it reads "this is the day", that 'the day' refers to victory. The day of victory.

This is a day of victory.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
He made it for a purpose.
He included us for a reason.
And it is a day of victory.

Now that is something to sing about.

Another Verse, Just Like the First

I thought I'd better report in. Patient #2 is home from the hospital. His surgery went well this morning. I was afraid his surgery would be worse than his sister's, but he has really surprised me with how well he's done.

At this rate, he'll be all well by tomorrow. Probably not. It took his sister a full two weeks to recover. I'm just waiting for the anesthesia to wear off and the real work to begin. My cousin Sharon gave Meredith a stuffed animal that had a squeaker in it when she had her surgery. That toy turned out to be a life saver. Every time she needed something she just squeaked the toy dog. Ry is now using it for his turn. They have the comfort of a toy and a built-in calling device. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone else who has to play nurse to little ones (and not so little ones) that can't talk.

Flowes in Pink

Thrift

Mimosa tree blossom

Pretty pink hibiscus given to me by my friend Teresa.


http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Have a great weekend!

Food for Thought--The Real Voice

Right now at my house there are rumbles of thunder and one of our famous afternoon thunderstorms is brewing. It reminded me of something I read earlier in the week.

Psalm 29--Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;

the voice of the Lord is majestic.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;

the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks

and strips the forests bare.

And in His temple all cry, "Glory!"

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

The Lord gives strength to His people;

the Lord blesses His people with peace.

How often we say we want to hear God speak to us when all we really want is a little confirmation of what we're thinking on our own. The voice of the Lord is so much more than a feel-good moment during a Sunday morning worship service or a certain passage you happen to flip to that 'speaks to you'.

The voice of the Lord is powerful. It thunders. It strikes like lightning to your very heart. It electrifies. It rattles us out of our comfort zone. You cannot remain unchanged by it. It is unmistakable.

Even when it whispers. (I Kings 19:11-19)

On television they're looking for The Voice. Let's remember that we already know where the voice is coming from, and keep an ear open for its distant rumblings.

P.S. Stay tuned next week. I've got something swirling around in my little head. Get ready to join the club!

My New Neighbor

Meet my new neighbor Izzybelle.

She belongs to Brenda who lives next door. (Brenda is the one who loves to paint, I've shared some photos of things she's painted for me.)

Izzybelle is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel.

She's so cute I just had to show her to you.

Updates and Uglies

First off, my comment problems are fixed. Hooray! In fact, the comment part is working better than ever. So now I need lots of comments.

Also, did you visit Pink Saturday this weekend? If you did, you saw that our friend LV from http://livinatmemescorner.blogspot.com/ was featured. How great to see her honored in that way. She always offers such sweet encouragement to the rest of us. Did you know that the LV stands for LaVoice? I bet her mama was hoping for a singer. Can you sing Miss LV?

My mom was also fond of unusual names. Her plan was to name me Cherokee Rose. Thankfully (I think) fate intervened and I ended up plain old Kelly. I just can't imagine someone saying, "Cherokee, where'd you put my socks?"

If you want to check out the post on LV you can do so at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Now for the ugly. One of my vegetable boxes, the one filled with garlic and asparagus, keeps having a spider web in the corner. I keep attempting to knock it down, but to no avail. It's the toughest thing you've ever seen. The spider went one step further and began pulling down the asparagus ferns to use as cover. I knew I had a formidable foe.

I just didn't know how formidable she actually was. Or big. This past week while I was watering she ran out when I got her web wet. She was a

Big

Black

Widow

Nasty, nasty, nasty. Spiders are not my favorite. I called my expert (a.k.a. oldest son Jack) and he spied three egg sacks. Sure enough, all these little black widows came out. We have since established an arachnid eradication program. At least in my vegetable boxes.

On that creepy note, let's think about food.

Monday--Seven Layer Dip, tortilla chips

Tuesday--Roast, potatoes, carrots, rolls

Wednesday--Turkey Salad, croissants, sliced cucumbers

Thursday--Creamy Chicken & Pesto Pasta, tossed salad, rolls

Friday--out to eat

Saturday--homemade pizza

Sunday--leftovers

Vintage Hankies

My mom gave me some of the vintage hankies that she's collected over the years. I thought I'd share a few with you today, especially pink ones. Most of these are hand tatted or embroidered.

Thanks for visiting. Have a happy Pink Saturday! Visit Beverly and everyone at

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Food for Thought Friday--A Little Reminder

I read over this passage when I was having my quiet time this morning. Kids are still in bed, Jon's off to work, it's just me, my Bible, and a cup of coffee. It's such a great group of verses I wanted to share them with you as you head off into the weekend. They remind us of who He is, that we have a purpose and a precise place, and of how He wants a relationship with each of us.

Acts 17:24-28 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us. 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.'"

The great God of heaven and earth created you for this exact place, for this precise moment. He is reaching out to you, longing for a relationship. He is not far.

I pray that you do know Him. That you seek Him.

Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you,'' declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you..."

Comment Box Gone Crazy

I've heard from some of you that you can't get through to leave a comment. Guess what? I can't either! Can't even leave a comment on my own blog.

Apparently Blogger is having issues with some of the blogs. Of course mine has to be one of them.

I'm not the only one though. I tried to leave a comment on another blog and it did the same thing.

A couple of you have magical blogging powers and were able to get through. I'll have to quiz you and find out your secrets.

To those who've sat a long time and fiddled with that frustrating screen--

I feel your frustration

and I love ya for trying!!!!

Southern Staples

My little patient is resting and recuperating. So I'm finally back to the kitchen. I love cooking in the summer when everything is fresh from the garden.

I thought I'd share one of my favorites, a Southern staple--stewed tomatoes. Our tomatoes are really starting to ripen and I had a big bunch ready at the same time. I made this favorite with them and it was out-of-this-world yummy. A big pile of stewed tomatoes served over rice, you don't get any more southern than that. Well, maybe if you served it with a side of cracklin cornbread. But even I'm not that old school southern. Mama don't eat no cracklins.

Making stewed tomatoes is oh so simple. I never use a recipe, it just depends on how many tomatoes I have. If we have a hankering for them in the winter, I simply use a large can of crushed tomatoes. If you're using fresh ones, I'd use about six to eight tomatoes, depending on their size. Peel them, cut them up (preferably over a bowl to save the juices) and dump them in the pot. To this pot you're going to add salt and pepper to taste. I like a generous portion of black pepper in my stewed tomatoes. And the only other ingredient--bacon grease.

Okay, I'm letting you in on a little secret. most good southern cooks I know keep a cup of bacon grease in the refrigerator. Don't turn your nose up, you non-southern gals. It is the essence of yumminess and the secret to good southern cooking. After I cook my bacon (which I do in the microwave) I save the grease in a little coffee cup.

One or two heaping tablespoons should be all you need for this many tomatoes. You add more when you use more tomatoes. That's all there is to it. And you end up with a little pot of heaven.




And speaking of a little bit of heaven...peaches are starting to get ripe down here. We picked the first peach ever off our own peach trees. It was small but the best one EVER.

Have a happy Rednesday. Be sure to visit over at http://suelovescherries.blogspot.com/
and get you cup full of bacon grease.

Answered Prayer

Well I said yesterday on the blog that I was praying for rain. I guess someone was listening because it rained yesterday afternoon when there was only a 50% chance (around here that usually means no chance) and AGAIN this afternoon when it wasn't really supposed to rain at all. Thank you, Lord!

Now let's pray for our friends Ruth and Debbie. Ruth is a faithful reader of the blog and a sweet friend. Her daughter Debbie also has a blog, The Early Bird, which you can access from my blog list. Ruth's husband Bill is in the hospital in ICU.

Monday, Monday

I thought I'd share a few more pictures with you today. Everything's really blooming, despite the heat. My poor grass is dying. I really should be watering the yard, but I haven't gotten that far. I keep hoping for a good shower or two, I've yet to get my wish. My yard needs the kind of soaking we get when there's a tropical storm off the coast. Isn't that first one supposed to be named Arlene? Arlene, where are you? I could use a good sprinking.

Jack told me he didn't think I should've planted those black-eyed susan seeds a couple of years ago. We keep having them pop up all over. He said they're getting to be like weeds. If these are my weeds, I'm happy to have them.



This rose bush only puts out a few at a time. The ones that do bloom are very big and last long. I'm not sure of its name.




I don't have a clue what this one is either. It's one of my pretty rescue plants. Lowe's always has a rack with $1.00 plants that are about dead and out of season. I take that as a personal challenge. I've found losts of great stuff on that rack. And 9 times out of 10 the plants bounce back with just a little attention.

I was taking a picture of one of my butterfly bushes for you. This particular bush is right next to a pink seven sisters rose and they kind of twirl together in a pretty display (a.k.a a wild jumble). I was going to take a picture so you could see it, but the butterfly bush's flower looked so pretty up close I thought I'd share that instead. Each blossom is like a little field of flowers. No wonder the butterflies and bees love it so much.

We went for a ride yesterday to a farmstand in a nearby town for some of their homemade peach ice cream. Peaches are coming into season here. I picked a few other vegetables too. Tonight I'm making a peach cobbler. Yum.

Monday--Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Sauteed Squash, Rice, Stewed Tomatoes, Rolls, Peach Cobbler

Tuesday--Cheeseburger Pie, Corn, Salad

Wednesday--Grilled Pork Chops, Creamed Peas and Potatoes, Rolls, Sliced Tomatoes

Thursday--Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Homemade Bruscetta

Friday--Turkey Salad, Croissants, Southern Cucumbers

Saturday--Homemade Pizza

Sunday--Leftovers

Chicken and Roses

But not necessarily in that order. Not a lot of time for sharing today. I'm still in the midst of fetching ice cream, giving medicine, putting down for naps and playing Polly Pocket. I did want to stop by and share a quick picture from the yard and a new recipe that we tried and everyone liked. To be honest, when I mixed it up I thought they weren't going to care for it. It makes a thick baste that turned rock hard when I put it in the fridge. We heated it up before putting it on the chicken and it tasted great when we grilled it. Oh me of little faith.

Orange-Maple Glazed Chicken

I believe I cut this out of a Taste of Home magazine.

1/3 c. orange juice
1/3 c. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (I'm out, used apple cide vinegar)
1 1/2 tsp. dijon mayonnaise
1 tsp. salt, divided
3/4 tsp. black pepper, divided
1 Tbsp. minced fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. grated orange peel (I used lemon and added a couple drops of orange extract)
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

In a small saucepan, combine orange juice, syrup, vinegar, mustard, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes (didn't take that long for me, so watch it). Stir in basil and orange peel. Remove from heat; set aside. Sprinkle chicken with remaining salt and pepper. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until chicken juices run clear, basting frequently with orange juice mixture. Serves 6.

Tonsillectomy #1

Well, little bit has her tonsils no more. Riley will have his out in a few weeks. She did remarkably well. They give them some medicine to relax them before they go back to the operating room. She had us laughing so hard we were crying with the things she said and did. I'll talk to y'all more a little later, right now I'm off to play nurse.