Imminent Storm Sandy

Hurricane Sandy

Today's weather was absolutely "stunning" (my sister's word), phenomenal, gorgeous here where I live.  It was a day you could do almost anything; go to church, walk, play in the park, fish, fly a kite, swing, read, relax, you name it, you could have done it.
I chose to ride.  As I was horseback in the pasture feeling so blessed by the incredible weather here and by just the opportunity to have a horse and have a great place to ride him, my thoughts went out to the folks being caught in the middle of "Sandy".  The weather forecast, the threats, the predictions regarding the hurricane headed for the east coast are all terribly frightening.  It's likely that if your not in the wake of this storm, you will know someone who could or will be affected by it.
Mine and many other prayers are going up and out for those of you who will be touched one way or the other.  Stay safe, stay warm and dry, and keep God close to your heart.

MATTHEW 8

²³ Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴ Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.²⁵ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

²⁶ He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Encourage one another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Blessings and love

If You Like Eggs

I read this on someone else's blog and I thought it was worth sharing.  I'm pretty sure there are some folks who don't like scrambled eggs, but pretty much everyone in our family does.  And how simple are they?  Eggs-pan.  So, next time I'm cooking them or neighbors or guests, they will be better!

5 Common Scrambled Eggs Mistakes

10:00 AM / OCTOBER 23, 2011 

/ POSTED BY Danielle Walsh

• COMMENTS (4)

Photograph by Lisa Hubbard

They're an everyday breakfast staple, but scrambled eggs are no piece of (pan)cake. What's supposed to be a creamy, delicate breakfast often turns out spongy, grainy, browned, and overcooked. It's okay; most people don't know how to properly scramble an egg. And it's no wonder--there are so many variables. Do you use high heat or low heat? Add cream, water, or neither? What kind of pan is best? To get some clarification, we asked the staff of the BA Test Kitchen how to correct some of the most common mistakes home cooks make. Their advice, below.

1. "Don't be wimpy with your eggs. Whisk well and be vigorous about it--you want to add air and volume for fluffy eggs. And whisk the eggs right before adding to pan; don't whisk and let mixture sit (it deflates)." --Kay Chun, Deputy Food Editor

2. "Don't add milk, cream, or water to the eggs. People think it will keep the eggs creamy while cooking, but in fact, the eggs and added liquid will separate during the cooking process creating wet, overcooked eggs. Stir in some creme fraiche after the eggs are off the heat if you want them creamy." --Mary-Frances Heck, Associate Food Editor

3. "Don't use high heat. It's all about patience to achieve the soft curd. Whether you want small curd (stirring often) or large curd (stirring less), you need to scramble eggs over medium-low heat, pulling the pan off the heat if it gets too hot, until they set to desired doneness." --Hunter Lewis, Food Editor

4. "Don't overcook them! Take them off the heat a little while before you think they are done. The carryover heat will keep cooking them for a minute or so. Also: Use a cast-iron or a nonstick skillet. If you don't, there will be a rotten clean-up job in your future." --Janet McCracken, Deputy Food Editor

And last but not least, ditch that fork! Scramble your eggs with a heat-proof spatula, a flat-topped wooden spoon, or for the perfect curd, chopsticks. 

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2011/10/scrambled-eggs-five-things-you.html#ixzz2AVFr0E9N

Deuteronomy 10:17-19

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. ¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Blessings and love..

With or Without Marshmallows

With marshmallows for me!   Hot chocolate that is!

Today was the first cold day of fall and hot chocolate was absolutely called for.  A northern blew in sometime early this morning in a huff and you could feel the difference.  The wind blew all day, hard.  I don't believe the temperature ever got above 50 degrees here today.
Ikey and I, we just hung close to the house, close to some hot tea, grilled egg and cheese sandwich for lunch and chili with rice for dinner.  I wish I"d had a tamale or two to go with it.
Ikey insisted on being in my lap all day and has only been out three times!  Generally he's got to check out every scent in the yard.  Today, however, he just did what dogs do and headed straight back to the house...in a hurry!
Tomorrow is suppose to be sunny and cold.  Another perfect day.

Deuteronomy 28:2
All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:.
Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Blessings and love.

Cowboy Tom and Cow Dog Jewel

Several weeks ago when Baby Gray was staying with me in the country we had the opportunity to witness some "cattle workin" right outside our window.
We were busy eating breakfast and from the corner of my eye I saw my neighbor, horseback, gathering his calves in the pasture next door.  I said "Look, it's a cowboy!"  Low and behold right in front of him, leading the herd was his rat terrier, Jewel, just running, circling and barking up a storm.  She was jumping and and down and bouncing trying to stay on top of the tall grass so she could see.  It was just this side of hilarious seeing her out there.  Surely the timid, loving little dog I had met next door recently was not out there being all brave with these big ole calves? But, yep, she was.  It's amazing what a dog will do for someone they love!  I had to text the cowboys wife and tell her of the goings on out here in the country.  Her text back was a "lol".  Baby Gray and I left our breakfast on the table and headed out to the porch to watch.  We had to see this up close and personal.
Sure nuff it was Cowboy Tom!  After he got his calves in the pen we gave him a holler!  He loped ole gray over to see us (his pony just happened to look a lot like my horse Mosey).  I introduced him to Baby Gray who was just in awe of the whole thing.  And then here came Jewel.  I said, "Oh my gosh she is out there amongst all those cattle like she knows what she's doing".  Tom said "actually, I'm pretty impressed.  She's staying in all the right places".  Now if you know about cattle, you know they don't like dogs, not even a little bit.  They'll snort at them, kick at them, run at them and run from them. They seemed to have all kinds of respect for this pint sized girl.  Did I mention, she's small.  My goodness, she's not bigger than a minute.  But obviously, she's got the heart of a big brave girl.
She came bounding over to Baby Gray and I and we gave her a big ole pet.  Baby Gray also gave Chama, the new gray horse, a pet and before leaving gave "Cowboy Tom" a knuckle!
It was just truly a sight to see and a great way to start out day.
Later the next day we went to the parade.  Guess who was there?  Cowboy Tom!  Baby Gray recognized him immediately.  Another knuckle!  What an impression he must have made on Baby Gray.  He talked about it the rest of the weekend.
That particular day, with Baby Gray in hand I did not get any photos.  Today I got a second opportunity to see this amazing event happen again.  Cowboy Tom, another cowboy and cow dog Jewel were out in the pasture gathering those same calves.  Jewel was once again bouncing over those same tall weeds doing her job.  They managed to get them into the pens with Jewel as proud as ever.  I rushed to get my camera this time and here are the photos.

 I see Tom and Chama first.

 Oh my, there she is, and in a big hurry.  Legs stretching as far apart as possible!

 Just look at her looking at him!

 "What's next dad?"

"Oh, ok, pushing them into the pen."

 Go Jewel go...she's right there in the middle!

 Almost there.

 Almost.

OK, now, finished, shutting the gate....good girl!

What an amazing little dog.  I don't know for sure, but I suspect Cowboy Tom might be thinking about  loading little Jewel up in the trailer and taking her to the next pasture to work cows.  Truly she measures up to her name!

Miss Jewel, cow dog extraordinaire!

Zechariah 9:16
The LORD their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Blessings and love to you.

The Butcher, the Baker.....

Luke 4:4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’ ”

About a month ago I put out a request on Facebook to see if any of my friends knew anyone who made homemade bread and who might be willing to show me how.  I got a couple of suggestions but I got phone call from a friend with a solid offer to show me how to make sweet (cinnamon) rolls.  I immediately took her up on it and we set a date!
That date was last Friday.  I asked if I could bring anything along.  The only things she suggested were pecans (uh, no), raisins (uh, a BIG no) and pans.  The pans are what I took.
When I arrived we perused the recipe (which she had read over numerous times already since it had been quite some time since she had made some).

She already had just about everything set out for this event including bowls, measuring cups and spoons, ingredients, etc.  So fun.
We set about our task, each making their own "batch".
First up, bowl of liquid ingredients including milk, sugar, salt, butter;
Second bowl, warm water, yeast, sugar.

When the yeast is ready it's sort of frothy.  

Beat 2 eggs, mix/knead 7 cups flour in slowly, till no longer sticky.

 This was the fun part.  Kneading!

Linda's on the left, mine on the right.
Put in bowl to rise in a warm place, cover; resting, rising.
After a couple of hours, dough doubles, punch it down.
Rise again...roll out dough, spread with softened butter (a lot); cover with brown sugar (a lot).

When you think you have enough butter, add more; when you think you have enough brown sugar, add more.

Linda added chopped pecans to hers.
Roll up dough, cut in slices, grease pan, line pan with rolls,

Let rise, bake at 400 degrees 12-15 minutes
Icing is made of powdered sugar, tbs spoon butter, vanilla, milk or half and half (yum).
Viola!

Ice while hot then EAT!!

Oh my, heaven!
I'm hoping the friend I found who does make bread will call and make a date with me.  I'm sitting by the phone.
Till next time...

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Footnote:  I took 85 photos; I didn't figure you wanted to see all of them!

It's a Breezy Easy Kind of Day

Ikey and I are just hanging around the house, resting once again, and re-cooping from a few days away.  We're relaxing inside with the windows open watching the trees blow and listening to the chimes sound.  We're also watching the cattle standing outside, napping and chewing their cuds under the oaks.

Only thing that would make it better would be if those were "our" cows and they had names like Daisy, Bess, and Lula!

We'd just be watching them get fat and feeding their babies.  It's hazy so the temperature is in the 70s.  It's a fabulous fall day without a doubt.

So if you'll excuse me, we're just gonna chill!

Psalm 62:5
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.

Encourage one another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

"I Can Do It Myself"

I remember reading that book to my daughter a 1000 years ago and yesterday I was saying it to myself. I guess I'm a bit lazy when it comes to doing things that need doing.  I prefer a "fix it" person, a "honey doer" or someone else to do it.  I just don't want to get the stuff out to do it.

Well last week and this week I've been trying to get some more things put up, out of boxes and organized.  I got some organizers for my scarves (actually one was for pants but I used it for scarves) and belts (found a belt hanger in a box that was my dad's and I have no idea why I kept it but I did).

 I also put this boot rack together but it only needed a screw driver.  I did read the directions as it had about 50 pieces!

Well the scarves, when hanging, took up a lot of room in my closet.  I have one other closet that had room but no rod in it.  I thought it would be a great place for those things to hang...so I went to the other closet to see how that one had been done.  I measured the empty closet free space, got out my drill and plugged in the battery to recharge it, went to McCoys, bought the bracket and the rod, came home, measured some more, drilled the hole, placed the rod and "voila", closet rod installed.

 See my drill there resting after it's hard work?

Simple really as I got the brackets that only called for one hole instead of three like the other closet (1-2 holes would be easier to measure for than 3-6 for the screws).  Ok, it's no real feat, no major deal, and almost anybody could have done it.  I guess it's just the point I got up out of my lazy self and did it.  I'm officially naming this my accessory closet!

So, I'm feeling more organized today and liking what I did the last few days.  Anything to get the rest of my things out of boxes and somehow put in a place I can find and use it is making me happy.
Next week I start this e-course called "Creatively Made Home" with some amazing gals on the internet.  I'm hoping for some great ideas for my "space/studio/art room/room I share with my grandson" when he comes to visit.  I want it to be awesome.  I want things to be visible.  I also will need for it to be practical for a 2 year old to stay in.  So we'll see how it goes.  It's the only room that is still totally in a disarray in my new home.  All my art stuff is still in cardboard boxes.  First call of action is the sleeping arrangement that will need to include a place for Baby Gray to sleep and for anyone else that might come to visit...so that's a bit of a challenge.  He is still in his crib at home.  Anyway, that room and that creation will be an ongoing story I'm sure.

God is good.  He gives us gifts we sometimes ignore, sometimes are too lazy to use and sometimes take for granted.  Using my hands and creating things is a gift and I thank God for it.  I thank Him for bringing it to my attention and letting me be successful, no matter how big or small!

So, till next time, just call me "Tim the tool man Taylor" or "Mr/Ms Fix-it" or just plain "do whatcha gotta do when there's no one else to do it".  Have drill will travel!  I have another project or two in mind and I'll keep you posted on those.  I'm pretty sure, like Ernie, "I can do it myself".

Deuteronomy 2:7
The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. 

Encourage one another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Blessings and love.