Hurricane Irene #2

We did a lot of prep for Hurricane Irene--including taping our big windows

Thankfully it was unnecessary as we had no damage!

We are thankful to God for that!

Our neighbor lost about 1/2 of his big tree--Brad has helped him for a few days to

chainsaw it up and haul it away

We're glad it wasn't closer to their house!

One blessing that came out of the hurricane was additional time spent w/my mom

as she stayed here during the hurricane.

Here she and the kids are all smiles because it is all over now.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,

 and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock

Matt. 7:25

Hurricane Irene

Thanks to all of you who prayed for us during Hurricane Irene

It came with fury from North Carolina and visited Delaware on it's way north

Although we were fortunate enough not to have suffered any damage,

others in our state are suffering from flooding, downed trees, lack of electricity and more.

I borrowed these pics from facebook to show a sampling of what it looks like here in DE today

All of the coastal areas were evacuated, and with good reason!

They also closed all of the roads last night at 10 pm for everyone's safety

A tornado touched down in Lewes damaging 15 or more homes

The above pic was taken in our state capitol of Dover

I have pictures that I took of our area that I will do another post on--but, I just

wanted to give you an idea of our surrounding area

We were fortunate to have my mom here with us-she lives in a mobile home and was

much safer here with us.

We feel blessed indeed to have had God's protection.

Below is a shot of Hurrican Irene entering Va before she made her way up here...

We could have had a very different experience indeed by the looks of it!

I hope that you and your families are safe as well.

August is Flyin' By!

        Our summer has been a busy one...

We used our own onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs to make salsa and

spaghetti sauce

(I had to use my big pot for these tomatoes!)

We canned some, and we ate some :)

We purchased corn from the Amish and froze some...and ate some

Brad made cookie bars for church fellowship..yum!

I made carrot raisin salad

My sweet neighbor and friend gave me a lovely pink rose as a thank you

What a blessing!

She's moving this weekend, and I'm really going to miss her and her family!

My two little darlings are enjoying their summer

Don't they look the picture of orneriness  innocence?

It's been quite hot out, and Bingley gets bored when he can't go for long walks!

We've had several rainstorms that were downpours!

(we're thankful for the rain!)

We had a particularly lovely day...so we snuck in a day-trip to the beach

We came back with an unknown extra passenger though...

This Ghost Crab snuck in via Bri's beach bag!

We have to make another trip back to let him go!

Bri and I set him up in a temporary home

So far he is still surviving!

Well, I'll try to post more soon.

We've had a lovely August, hope you have too!

Enjoy these last fleeting days of summer!

August Produce from the Garden

\

Brad's garden has been doing quite well!

His cantaloupe was a whopper! It weighed 10 lbs (and was delicious!)

 

This Moon and Stars Watermelon weighed in at 19.6...but, it wasn't quite ripe :(

(We have tried all the "tricks" at knowing when to pick them, but, they don't seem to work for us!)

We have picked many buckets of tomatoes. Brad picked this basket (which holds less than the buckets)

and it weighed in at 20.6 lbs. I made salsa out of them. :)

How is your garden growing? I hope that you are enjoying the

fruits of your labor too!

Pig Pickin' Cake

On our trip to North Carolina we learned a lot of new things...

we met relatives we hadn't known...we went to places we'd never been...

and, we tried some food we'd never had before.

One of those was the Pig Pickin' Cake.

Now remember, we might be southern at heart, but we're northern city girls...

we never even heard of  Pig Pickin' Cake before! :)

So, last night, Bri and I made one for our church fellowship.

 It turned out to be a hit.

Thought I'd pass along the recipe for those who like us-had never tried it.

Enjoy!

photo credit

Be Thou My Vision

Anyone who knows me really well, knows that my favorite hymn is

Be Thou My Vision.

I never heard it until we attended Community Fellowship Church a few years back.

But once I heard it, it touched my heart deeply, and I've loved it ever since.

It's a very old Irish hymn, with lyrics dating back to the 8th century.

The music was published in 1909.

Here are the lyrics:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

In church today, the men were speaking of the importance of our music in worship. And, how the Christian faith (believers in Jesus Christ) have the absolute best and melodious music, because it glorifies GOD.

This song sprang to my mind, and, I thought I'd do a little post on it this Lord's Day.

Here's a link to a lovely instrumental of it.

(just turn my music off at the bottom of the page first)

Blessings to you and yours!

THANK YOU LORD



THANK YOU LORD

Lord, thank you for this sink of dirty dishes;

we have plenty of food to eat.

Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry;

we have plenty of nice clothes to wear.

And I would like to thank you, Lord, for those unmade beds;

they were so warm and comfortable last night. 

 I know that many have no bed.

My thanks to you, Lord, for this bathroom,

complete with all the splattered
mirrors, soggy, grimy towels and  dirty lavatory;

they are so convenient.

Thank you for this finger-smudged refrigerator that needs defrosting so
badly;  

It has served us faithfully for many years. 

 It is full of cold
drinks and enough leftovers for two or three meals.

Thank you, Lord, for this oven that absolutely must be cleaned today.

It has baked so many things over the years.

The whole family is grateful for that tall grass that needs mowing,

 the lawn that needs raking; we all enjoy the yard.

Thank you, Lord, even for that slamming screen door.  

My kids are healthy and able to run and play.

Lord, the presence of all these chores awaiting me says You have richly
blessed my family. 

 I shall do them cheerfully and I shall do them gratefully.

This was sent to me by my dear friend Marie.

I loved it, hope you do also.

Hallee's Giveaway!

Go check out this wonderful giveaway for Halle's blog anniversary!

Making it sssttttrrreeeettttccchhhh!

I've been thinking over my household chores, and the money that needs to be spent

to keep things clean.

I am stretching our money (as are a lot of us during this tough economy)

so, I thought I'd pass along a few things that we do here to stretch money at home.

• Make our own Window Cleaner (1/2 rubbing alcohol and 1/2 water) (a little stronger for tough jobs)

It is inexpensive and effective! We picked up a .99 squirt bottle, and use a squeegee to clean windows and mirrors

• White Vinegar and Baking Soda make a wonderful cleaning paste!

We even washed our clear vinyl shower curtain in this - came out looking like new!

• Eat at home-and, we make our meals from scratch (planning for leftovers for lunch the next day when possible!)
• Buy in bulk (at the Amish store-whenever possible)
• Some of the items we purchase there are: spices, flour, brown rice, wheat berries, popcorn, honey, yeast, baking soda and powder, sugar and brown sugar.
• Planted a garden and use the produce (both fresh and we freeze and can the excess)

We use our squash in casseroles, and stir-fry. We use the tomatoes for sandwiches and spaghetti sauce fresh, and make salsa and sauce to can. We also cut up the tomatoes and put in quart freezer bags--perfect for soup and chili!

• Use masking tape and a Sharpee marker to label our leftovers so we know how fresh they are (keeps us from wasting food!)
• When we make muffins-we mix up a 2nd batch and freeze the raw dough in the cupcake papers - when you are ready to bake them-just take straight out of the freezer and bake! Great for a "pinch"!
• Use pay by phone to pay my bills--saves me stamps!
• Use the library for borrowing movies, books, magazines, cd's and books on tape
• Organize our errand runs so that we don't waste time/gas
• Put sheets up over our windows during those 100 degree days--kept it much cooler in here!
• Arranged a tarp for shade over our heat pump to keep it from having to work so hard in the hot sun (we were careful to be sure it had proper air flow)
• Put a small fan in front of our a/c vent in the living room to help the cold air into the room
• Wash our clothes in cold water - making sure to measure our detergent so we don't waste (we also use less than they suggest)
• Keep our lights off if we're not going to be in the room
• Hang our clothes on the line (they get dry for free!)
• Shop at Thrift Store (I'm trying to do this only when I need to look for something-If I just "pop in" I will buy something I don't need!)
• Cut the men of the house's hair ourselves (I found a pair of professional clippers on amazon- usually $160, and I got them for $15!)
• We also took the Dave Ramsey FPU course, and we try  hard to stick to a budget
• I use the internet to get Swagbucks-and get free amazon gift cards
• Use Paperbackswap.com to get free books!

These were just a few ideas that came to mind. I am sure you have lots too! Feel free to share them with me!

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 31:27

May God bless you as you "look well to the ways" of your household!