Planting Fall Garlic

 

 

 

Garlic is a wonder plant!

There's just SO much to enjoy.

 

 

 

Fry up some garlic and onions, and the taste buds

start working.

"What smells so good?" comes into the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

In the summer, snip off the scapes on the garlic

plant and you have the beginning of a great dip.  (This

also helps you get a much bigger bulb in the later summer months.)

Who can resist some scape pesto!?

 

 

 



 

Planting Your Garlic Patch

 

Break apart the bulbs of garlic.

Place each clove, root side down and point up about

5-6 inches in the ground.

Cover with dirt.  Plant next clove about 6 inches apart.

 

You will see the little shoots come up in the early spring months.

 

 

All tucked away for the winter months.

 

 

Some other links below to the health benefits of garlic.

Having garlic on hand is a huge advantage when a sickness

arises in your home.

 

http://www.tiredoflyme.com/10-foods-you-should-be-eating-if-youre-battling-lyme-disease.html#.VEVpqcJ0y_D

 

http://www.aboutnutritionfacts.com/the-health-benefits-of-garlic.html

 

 

 

Overcoming Wreath Fears

 

 

For as long as we've lived in our home, we've

never had a front door.

The door we used all the time was out back and inside

the porch.

But once the front porch was enclosed and made

into our main entryway, a new

found pleasure was found.

 

Decorating the front door.

 

 

I began looking on Pinterest for different

autumn wreaths.

 

This totally intimidated me.

Flowers, fresh and fake scare me.  I've

never mastered the look of arranging them!

 

While out with a friend, I mentioned making a wreath

to her.  I knew she did NICE work on wreaths, as

I saw some of her wreaths.

 

We went to the local craft stores and picked out

the supplies I needed.  HOW MUCH FUN!
But I thought I had it made as we were going to

work on the wreath

together.

 

Our schedules didn't work to get together this week.

I really wanted to get it done as I'm having some

ladies over Monday to sew and Bible study.

 

So I tackeld it today!

 

First I gathered my supplies and sent the boys

outside.  I wanted peace and quiet.

 

 

 

 

The first thing I did was to wire the garland of

leaves to the grape vine leave base.

 

 

So far it was pretty easy. 

I think I could do this!

 

I started to place the other fall decorations

on the wreath.

 

The two youngest boys and I went up the road

to a cemetary where there are tall pine trees.

We gathered some pinecones, but I also

had to buy some as there weren't enough.

 

 

 

 

Slowly I added more and more.

 

I really liked how it started to look.

Each time a boy would come in, they'd comment

how good it looked.

They really know how to make me more motivated!

 

Two hours later, it was done!

 

 

 

I just love it!

 

Stop in for a cup of tea.

 

 

 

Note:  The wreaths I was looking at were in

Hobby Lobby.  They ranged from

$50-199!  I had NO idea a wreath cost

that much.  The nice ones were not any better

than the one I made.

 

My supplies cost $25.  If you have

access to grapevine, you could save $5.

 

Thankyou, my friend, for the encouragement

and confidence you gave me,

  to try this project!

 

 



Birthday Blessing

 

As my Birthday was approaching, I commented

that I would like to get a fish tank for our

new family room.

 

We've been working on the additions alot lately.

Tile flooring in the front entryway, new drywall

on the walls, mudding and painting.

 

 

The family room gets the most traffic. It's

the middle room that leads to all the other rooms

on the first floor.

The woodstove is in this room.

So, I would like to make this room more cozy

and comfortable.

 

I picture warm evenings by the stove, the

fire crackling and my boys quietly reading

(HAH!!  Maybe one of them quietly reading!!!)

 

Fish tanks are always so cozy to me.  Gurgling water and

the dim light in the tank.

 

 

My fella and boys were helping an older man move last month.

He had oodles of stuff and was down sizing into a

smaller place.

The boys were beginning to bring home

piles and piles of "treasures."

My sweet fella saw a treasure he knew I would enjoy.

 

While I was away at the lake, he set it up for me.

I was SO happy when I came home to it!

He had cleaned it out

and it was peacefully gurgling when I

walked into the room.

 

Last night, my younger guys all picked out

some fish for my gift!

 

What fun and coziness!!!

 

God is so good with the special things He gives His

children.  A hard working, thoughtful fella is SUCH

a wonderful blessing too!

 



Blessings in Old Age

Children's children

are the crown of old men;

and the glory of children are their

fathers.  Proverbs 17:6

I've been thinking about this for some time.

Finally, I'm going to actually put this into words.

I'm in no way criticizing either situation,  it's just total

observation.

I've observed two widows.

One widow is a dear friend of mine. 

A few years back, my fella and I stopped at her home

for a visit.

It was right before she was going to have a surgery.

I volunteered to come clean for her during

her recovery.

During my visits cleaning, we became

friends.  I enjoyed sitting and listening

to her and she listened to me.

We'd laugh and cry together.

Recently another lady in our church became

a widow.  She lost her best friend after

many, many years of marriage.

I stopped over to visit her at her home

a few times.

I instantly noticed something about her home.

It was busy.

Although there was sadness for this widow,

her home seemed happy.

Siblings, children, and grandchildren filled

\each corner with memories, pictures and cards.

The second widow has five children and many

grandchildren.

She also has her siblings around her.

The first widow only has one child and one

grandchild and the grandchild is not on this earth anymore.

She has one brother.

Her home is cheerful with her neat, clean memories, but

there were no colorful drawings from young children.

No recent pictures on her frig.

There was no box in the corner, filled with

toys for the visits with the grandkids.

The only voice was from her television.

Quickly I noticed the very striking difference.

Children.

Even in older years, children continue to be a blessing

to one's home.

Each time I've visited my dear friend (the first widow),

she'd share how lonely she is.

How sad to see such sadness.

I stopped to visit the second widow, she was busy

packing up to spend the week with her youngest son

and his family.

Sometimes things in life can't be helped,

such as the amount of children you have or the

length of days you  spend on earth

with your spouse.

But I have noticed that one of the

biggest blessings in life, is the relationships

you have with people.

Parents, siblings, spouses and other loved ones

can fill the space around us with love and dear memories.



Changes

I can't believe it's been almost six months since

I've written.

I was thinking this morning of all the changes in that amount of time.

At Home

Yesterday I began Brendan's high

school scrapbook.

He will be graduating from high school next month.  Of course,

this brings lots of changes for him and our home.

How quickly time flies and brings changes into one's life.

Addan and Titus are now becoming better with their reading.

Addan has been a bit slower to catch on, but
Titus sure has made up for Addan's slower

pace.  In a way, this is nice, I can see days of doing

school together.  What joy each day bring

as I hear the two of them sounding words

out as they see words around them.

The additions slowly are becoming a cozy

part of our home.

I'm so very thankful for these. I never thought

these would ever happen.

God is so good!

Two "new" cars sit in the driveway.

Jordan purchased his first
"new" car and so did Brendan.  Our driveway is starting

to look more and more like a parking lot.

It's the little changes I notice each day that bring sadness

and smiles at the same time.

No more standing on tip toes to reach onto the counter.

No more booster seat at the kitchen table.

Huge grocery bills, huge laundry piles and

huge blessings!

I'm beginning to feel rather short!

At Church

Our church is a huge part of our lives.

I've seen some changes.

I teach a teen girl Sunday School class.

I've seen so many changes in the girls' lives.

One young lady had a prayer request that was very

important to her.  Each week we pray together

for special requests.  Together we

prayed for her request.

The Lord was very gracious in answering this request.

This past Sunday night, she gave testimony to the whole

church about God answering that request.

The Lord is so good and personal to us!

Our church just "hired" an assistant Pastor.

He and his family will be coming this weekend.

We are so excited about this change.  One of his main

responsibilities will be working with the music in our

church.  My fella and boys are involved with the music program.

They will soon have another good man in the lives!

Jordan continues to teach a young boy's Sunday

School class.  He is changing from one of the young

boys to leading the young boys.

Silas joined the men's softball team at church!

Hunter began helping with Jr Church the last few months.

*********

Hunter was just looking at the calendar of all the upcoming

events.  He commented, in his matter-of-fact way,

"Time is flying, this year is flying

already!"

It's so true.

Time flies and changes happen.

Some are good and some are unexpected,

but all are part of His plan.

I'm so thankful for the security of that.

For I am the LORD, I change not.

Malachi 3:6

For what is your life?  It is even a vapour,

that appeareth for a little time, and

then vanisheth away.

James 4:14

Through the Bible

It's the beginning of  another year.

Another year to begin again.

Another year to begin challenges.

One challenge we were given was to

read through our Bible this year.

Our older boys have read through the Bible each

year since joining the youth group at our church.

The church gives the teens devotion books

that go through the Bible; each day

giving them the chapters to read with a little

fun lesson, along with some questions.

I check the books each week at church to help

keep the teens accountable.  

Our bookstore at church also sells

the devotional books for kids.

All the books work together.

The adult, teen and kids each read the same chapters.

A friend suggested having the younger kids

listen and follow along to the Bible on CD.

What a great idea!
(Thanks Sam!)

Tim and Luke were excited to get new books but

I thought it might be too much for them.

But following along is perfect.

They're seeing it and hearing it!

The CD's we have are nice because they have a bit

of animation with great sound affects too!
What a fun challenge to do together and start out our
day with!


The devotion books we're using can be
ordered from,

Mercy and Truth Ministries
http://www.heritagebaptistchurch.cc/

Another friend of mine also infomed me
that you can find the Bible being read on Youtube.

Remembering

One thing I love about this time of year,

is all the memories!

I put up our Christmas decorations Monday.

It was a big job.

Usually Jordan does that for me the day after Thanksgiving.

I would go out shopping with my Aunt, sister,

and Mom and it would all be up

when we got back.

This year was different in many ways.

We, for the first time, didn't have Thankgiving here.

This year we went to Maine and celebrated

with Mark's parents.

It was a nice change.

Jordan also started working full time this year

so he wouldn't have had time to put them up, unless

he did them on Saturday.

Anyway, I ended up putting them up without much help

(although some tried!).

Each box I opened, memories came pouring out.

Painted gourds by my sister,

village pieces I've gathered over the years.

Many, many nativities- some made,

some given and some gathered from family and friends.

This is one of the nativities my father gave me.

I got the trees last year at an antique store with my Mom.

I love how they go with the wise men.

***************

I got this snowglobe while out with some friends in Maine.

We had just moved there and we went out to eat with

a couple from the church.

This one always reminds me of that night.

*************

Every year since it entered our home, this one has

been watched and touched endlessly!

There are four wisemen that circle

the manger scene.

**************

The boys like to collect nut crackers.

These are some of them on the piano.

*************

And this is the window over the kitchen sink.

Some of my favorites are here.

Snowmen I got on an outing with my Mom,

pine trees and a glass bird from friends from church

and other snowmen from our years in Maine.

One Christmas, I was out shopping with my sister.

She liked this ornament so I got

it for her.

Only, some how it got broken.

I glued to back together but didn't end up

giving it to her.

So now it sets by one of Addan's

lost teeth.

I think of her when I see it.

Tonight we start a new memory.

The guys have been so excited to start it!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!