Wordless Wednesday

Here's to a much drier Canada Day here this than last year!

Happy Canada Day!

For more Wordless Wednesday, go here and here

*Note Picture credit: Anonymous city resident

Monday Mish Mash

This weekend was a thoroughly enjoyable affair mostly spent down in our river bottom. The weather was absolutely perfect on Saturday for the bikes, so hubby and I jumped on and rode to the other end of town to visit my mom and then we decided it was just too nice outside and we wanted to keep going. So we rode back home, hauled the seats out of the van, threw the bikes in and took off to the river bottom. Now why didn't we just ride down you ask? Because of this:

Getting down this baby would be a snap, but coming back up would seriously do me harm. So we chose the only other option and drove down. This pic was taken in the early spring and every thing was quite brown still. After some good rain, you'll see how lovely and green it all is now.

Before we even started I figured I better make a little visit to the fort's powder room (yes, we have our very own RCMP fort) but was greeted with this:

Which I promptly ignored because when a girl's gotta go, a girl's gotta go and some little sign is not going to get in her way. Anyhoo.

Back to the bike tour of the river bottom. As you can tell I brought my camera along. I love taking pictures down here. There so many gorgeous things and lots and lots of contrasts. Which is what I love the most. Love to take pictures of contrasts. So I had my eyes peeled. And I took lots of pics. Like this:

And this one:

And some of these:


And maybe one or two of these:

As a result of all my snappying away, Hubby was doing a lot of this:

Praise God for a patient man!

Friday's Fave Five #42

Hello and welcome everyone. It's great to be here on a Friday looking back over our weeks. It's been great looking for the little blessings in the midst of my day and remember to be thankful for all that lifts my days and makes me smile. If you are new, you can go here for details about Friday's Fave Five. Then the only thing to do is jump right in! Thanks to all of you who faithfully join in and bring a smile to me each Friday!

1. This post by my friend Katherine at Raising Five. It really, really spoke to me. It's about teens and church camps and games and overflowing toilets at midnight. You know. All the stuff of getting a whole bunch of teens together for a week. But it's also about so much more! If you've never read Katherine's blog and you have children, preteens or teens you need to check her out. The wisdom this lady has is incredible. She really needs to write a book. You hear that Katherine! You need to write a devotional book or something! :v)

2. Family together for Father's Day. Unfortunately, I didn't take a darn picture. What's up with that?! I need to smarten up! LOL. But we did have a great day. A big bbq at my sister's place with our dad and both our families. Love it.

3. Having a neighbor that talks over the fence with me. Being at home all the time with the dayhome kiddies it sure is nice to have a neighbor who's also outside with her own dayhome kids and we have a chance to chat. A real live adult to talk to and one who understands all the things relating to dayhoming!

4. Reading outside with a tall cool drink. Love being outside to read. Listening to the kids playing, listening to the breeze going through all the leaves of my trees, sitting in the Adirondack chairs, sipping on a cold drink. Definitely one of my favorite things!

5. I have flowers on my two little tomato plants! You don't know how excited I was to see those little yellow flowers pop their heads out yesterday. Hear that, Barb?! We're both going to be enjoying a tomato or two this summer. Good thing for all the babying we're both doing with those plants. Sheesh. I can taste those bacon and tomato sandwiches now. Yummy!

What are your favorite things from your week? What made you smile and feel good inside? What little things have made you thankful this week? If you've done a post, don't forget to sign on to Mr. Linky. Again, we still need to click on the icon which will take you to the sign on page. Please make sure your link has worked and takes us to the specific page of your Fave Five post. Have a great weekend everyone!

Spring Reading Wrap Up

I know I'm really late but I'm finally posting my Spring Reading Thing 2009 wrap up post. I really have no excuse, so I'll just leave it as my bad.

I made my self a list that I thought would be quite easy to finish but alas, I still did not finish it. I was just shy of my goal. I'm not sure what happened but I hit a real reading funk sometime in the middle where I didn't pick up a book for about a week and that set me behind. And I had a couple of non-fictions in there. I always find those much harder and rarely do I ever finish a non-fiction unless it's an auto-biography or biography type book. I did finish one cover to cover, however, pat myself on the back. The other I'm about half way through. It's a Scottish history book and while very good I find I do have to concentrate much harder simply due to the style of writing so it's taking much longer than a fiction book.

So onto questions from Katrina for the wrap up:

Did you finish reading all the books on your spring reading list? If not, why not?

You can see my original list in my sidebar. "Never the Bride" was added after the reading thing started. As stated above the non-fiction bogged me down as did a reading funk in the middle. I didn't finish the fiction, but only by a small margin. I'm halfway through the second last one and the last one I sort of traded for "Never the Bride" which was a review book. So I just missed by half of a fiction and half of a non fiction.

What was your favorite book you read this spring? Why?

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I have to say I think it might have been one of the non-fiction ones: "Clutter-Free Christianity". It was so practical, easy to read and put into practice, lined up with the series my own pastor has been teaching on, and was just the back to basics teaching I needed at the time. Go figure. LOL.

I also really, really enjoyed "Never the Bride" and "My Heart Remembers".

Did you discover a new author or genre this spring? Did you love them? Not love them?

Robert Whitlow was new to me. I did enjoy the book and will probably try out another of his offerings when I am in the mood for a spiritual based mystery. I liked it because it dealt well the the spiritual end of things without it actually being a "horror" story and scaring the pants off of me. LOL. I don't do well with really scary stories. And this one fit the bill nicely.

Kim Vogel Sawyer was also new to me and I loved her story of the Irish orphan children that were put on trains and transported from the east to the west to unknown futures and how the siblings in the story always held out the hope that they would one day see each other again.

Arthur Herman was new to me and his is the history of Scotland book. Like I said, interesting, but by it's very nature and writing style, requires much more concentration so you don't get to the end of the page and then ask yourself what it is that you just read. Lots of detail. I probably wouldn't pass a test on it. :v)

What was your favorite thing about the challenge?

As usual, reading everyone else's list and getting many ideas for future reads.

So that's a wrap! Until next fall anyway. I've got some summer reads lined up that I'm looking forward to including "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. I've never read any of her books as of yet and I nabbed this one because the movie is coming out soon and I wanted to read the novel first. So what have you got lined up for a summer read?

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

8

Timestamp: 2009-06-21 03:01:05 UTC

Congratulations to Barb from A Chelsea Morning

Last chance to get in on this book giveaway. I'll be drawing tonight!

Friday's Fave Five #42

Welcome to Fave Five. Another week gone by already. I could hardly believe that it's already late Thursday evening. Already another chance to look back and find the nice things over the week. If you're new you can get details here. Then just jump in! Thank you all you regular posters. You're posts on your favorites have been such a blessing!

A busy, busy week this last week. Lots to look back over but these were my top 5 favorites.

1. 26 years together with my favorite man, my hubby. Thursday was our 26th Anniversary. I can hardly believe that. Happy Anniversary, Sweetie. Here's to at least 26 more!

2. Graduation. Not a big grade 12 grad, but a big enough one. My youngest has graduated junior high (grade 9). That means I am no longer a mom of anyone younger than high school. Wow. I can't believe I just typed that sentence. Congrats, Tia! You looked beautiful for your celebrations.

3. Iced Coffee. Specifically, iced coffee I can make at home. Goodbye hot coffee in the afternoons. A nice tall glass of iced coffee at about 1:30 when all is silent during quiet time is worth it's weight in gold!

4. Fresh Fruit. Yummy, for all the fresh fruit that is in season lately. We've been enjoying an especially delicious batch of gala apples, and sweet cantaloupes and really tasty red grapes.

5. Vacuum cleaners. After the Father's Day crafting mess, I am very happy and grateful for my vacuum cleaner. Beats beating rugs with tennis racket!

What are your favorites this week? I'd love to hear (read). If you've done a post, please click on the Mr. Linky icon and join in. Just a reminder to link to the specific post that you want us to go to. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

From bud

to blush

to full bloom

my favorite flower in my garden this year.

"On top Sunset Shade Begonia"

For more Wordless Wednesday go here and here.

Book giveaway here.

Book Tour & Giveaway

I told you ladies that I'd have a great summer read giveaway this week and I'm excited to say here it is!

Never the Bride by Cheryl McKay & Rene Gutteridge

Publisher's Summary:

Jessie Stone has spent thirty-five years fantasizing about marriage proposals, wedding dresses, and falling in love. She’s been a bridesmaid eleven times, waved dozens of couples off to sunny honeymoons, and shopped in more department stores for half-price fondue pots than she cares to remember.

But shopping in the love-of-her-life department hasn't been quite as productive. The man she thought she would marry cheated on her. The crush she has on her best friend Blake is at very best…well, crushing. And speed dating has only churned out memorable horror stories.

So when God shows up one day, in the flesh, and becomes a walking, talking part of her life, Jessie is skeptical. What will it take to convince her that God has a better love story than one of the thousands she’s cooked up in her journals? Will she trust Him with her pen when it appears her dreams of being the bride are forever lost?A romantic comedy with a spiritual twist, Never the Bride is what it means to lose control—and getting more than any woman could ever imagine.

My thoughts: When I saw that Cheryl Mckay, who wrote the screenplay for one of my favorite movies ever, "The Ulitimate Gift" and Rene Gutteridge, who wrote the novelization of the same movie & the "Occupational Hazard Series" which I totally enjoyed as last summer's reads, teamed up to write this book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. And they didn't disappoint me. This is the perfect summer read.

At times laugh out loud funny, at times touching right to the core of the heart, it is a wonderful contemporary story of letting go of the anxiety of trying to control ones' life and surrendering to God's love and plan. The main character has a quirky sense of humor which I loved and the story totally spoke to me as I know someone going through this exact thing. There is a message in this story for every woman, married or not. This will definitely be a keeper on my bookshelf and will be reread by myself. I can hardly wait to get it to my oldest girl to read.

And guess what?! I have a brand spanking new copy to give away! Just leave me a comment and I'll draw a winner this Saturday June 20th. As usual, please make sure I can get ahold of you either through a blog link or email otherwise I'll have to redraw. You don't want to miss a chance at this book!

Friday's Fave Five #41

Welcome to another week of Friday's Fave Five. I'm really appreciating the exercise is involved in making me look for the joys of each day and week. I'm not just looking back over the week on a Friday but it's starting to make me look each day for those little blessings and things that make me smile, those small blessings which God gives each day. Which is a very good exercise for me right now, indeed. If you need the details, you can check it out here.

1. Your sweet comments to yesterday's post. Thank you for being so uplifting and encouraging to me.

2. So You Think You Can Dance has started with the top 20 on Wednesday. And boy it was good. Love this show. Dare I say, better than Dancing with the Stars?! The special singer on results night I can live without, but hey, it gives me a couple minutes to load up the dishwasher.

3. Chocolate with toasted coconut. Oh yum! Found this at the grocery store and oh I have a new chocolate love.

4. A fun novel I read this week. I'm not going to say a lot right here because I'm reviewing it next week and giving a copy away. Make sure you come back at the beginning of the week. I'll just say it's a wonderful, fun summer read. And it's one of the one's in my sidebar. ;v)

5. This picture. Sorry, I just had to post it again. It makes me smile. I can hardly believe I took it.

So what made you smile this week? If you're doing a fave five post, then don't forget to sign on to Mr. Linky and let us come and visit you! Again Mr. Linky is not quite back to normal so click on the Mr. Linky logo and it will take you to the page where you can log on!

Thank you to Jerralea from Jerri's Journey for giving me this nice award. I'm very honored. This award is given to bloggers who continually entertain, uplift, and inspire.

And in turn I'd like to pass it to Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom because she always inspires me to be a joyful homemaker

and to Jientje from Heaven is in Belgium because she inspires me to take better and more creative pictures and her pictures on her blog are so beautiful and uplifting

and Linda from 2nd Cup of Coffee because she never fails to entertain and she has inspired people to do everything from putting themselves on video for her "I See What You're Saying" meme to showing our Ugly Mugs to getting off our duffs and getting moving to get in shape for summer with her currently running 30 x 5 program.

Jerralea also tagged for a meme a while back so here it is:

6 Unimportant Favorite Things. That's sorta like an oxymoron, no? I guess it means things that are favorites but that you could do without if you had to. Which is really ironic that I'm doing this meme right now because it is so what we are going through in the Living to Tell house.

1. Starbucks. Definitely a favorite treat. Definitely not crossing their threshold as much as I'd like. A favorite yes. In light of other things; Unimportant. For sure.

2. Purchasing Books. Reading I could never give up. Buying books, yeah I could. Although I love owning books and love being the first one to crack open a cover and smell that new book smell it is definitely unimportant when there is a great library system here where I live.

3. Salon Brand Products. Love the shampoos, conditioners, hair sprays etc. that one can purchase at a salon. A definite favorite for me. But makes the unimportant list because I can find good stuff on the drugstore shelf too.

4. Massages. Oh I love a good massage. I've always had neck and upper back issues and I loved my regular monthly massage. A favorite appointment in my life. But unimportant right now. Do I still want and crave them? You bet. Are they so important I can not go have one? Not right now.

5. New purses. Oh how I love my new purse purchases. My favorite thing to go fun shopping for. Probably because one size fits all. LOL. But unimportant.

6.

I'm having trouble coming up with a sixth one, which leads me to say this is sort of where my brain is sitting right now. And gives explanation to why my posting is not very consistent lately. Right now is a time in my Christian walk where I need to be seeking the Lord and laying things at His feet and trusting in Him and His care and plan for my family. I know there is a job out there for hubby, it's just a matter of His timing and our resting in Him and doing what we feel He is telling us. Hence the laying things at His feet. Some days are easier than others. On some days I don't even think twice about it. Some days it is a moment by moment struggle. I'm the type of gal who like my ducks all in a row and like things planned out in advance. I like to know what is going on. I guess that's a nice way of saying I like to be in control and I resisit big change. But God calls us to trust and obey. To give up "our" control and let Him have control. To live a life of joy even in the midst of struggle. To truly know what is important in this life. And I believe that is what we, as a family, are learning right now. I know there are others in much, much more harder circumstances than us and I hang onto the scripture that tells me He never gives us more than we can handle. And I say a prayer for those who are also facing hard times and letting go. He is good and He's brought us through and proven His faithfulness in this kind of thing in the past and I know He will in the future.

All that to say, forgive me if posting is sporadic. On the tougher days, I must focus myself on step by step laying my worries and stresses down before Him, and it is those days that I find it hard to think of things to post. Some weeks I feel there is lots to say, some not so much. So please bear with me as I walk through this time.

"Casting the whole of your care--

all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all--

on Him; for He cares for affectionately, and cares about you watchfully."

I Peter 5 : 7 Amplified Bible

"Cast your burden on the Lord

(releasing the weight of it)

and He will sustain you..."

Psalm 55 : 22a

Wordless Wednesday

For Jientje:

Little flower all curled up because of it's been c-c-cold with the sun hiding behind the clouds:

Same little flower soaking up the warm sun

For more Wordless Wednesday, go here and here

Wanted: To Start Immediately, Warmth and Sunshine

Oh I'm telling ya, if I see one more frost warning out for the nights, I'm going to stage some kind of protest. Not quite sure yet to whom or what shape that will take, but it's worth a try. I wonder if mother nature listens to petitions. But in any case, we cry "uncle" to these cold nights.

For 3 nights in a row, in June, that's June with a capital "J", I have been out covering plants with buckets, towels and sheets. And if you don't think having your sheets on display for the neighborhood and anyone driving by to see is not just a little strange feeling, then give it a try. I'm sure there has been a passerby or two questioning my decorating taste as I've been using a few old sheets that I've had shoved to the back of the linen closet tucked away from when we were first married in the '80's and let's just say the patterns and colors are not of today's styles. LOL.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd show you just what it is that is worth saving and warranting my putting my "vintage" linen closet out for display.

This is one of my favorites this year. A Sunset Shade Begonia.

Little violas with Deep Orange begonias peeking out from behind.

Kenilworth Ivy with it's delicate tiny, tiny purple flowers.

Purple violas. I love these little flowers. I wonder if they'll reseed themselves. I hope so.

My other favorite find this year is this Pinwheel Periwinkle Felicia. So cute. So far this is the only bloom that's opened but it's got about another half dozen or more buds just waiting for some warm weather to tickle them open. Notice how the delicate petals are curled under? That's what it does at nighttime or if it's colder or cloudy outside. When the sun kisses it, those little petals straighten right out and bask in the warmth.

You hear that Mr. Weatherman. We all to want to bask in warmth. You best listen.

I think I'll have to make this a "To be continued" post. There's just too much to show and well life is beckoning. Have a wonderful day!

Say It Isn't So!

Guess what I was just out doing. Biking? Nope. Walking? Nope. Sunning? Nope. I was out hauling every potted plant under the front porch or into the garage or covering it on the deck with sheets. Including my 2 little tomato plants. Why you ask? Because, dear blogging friends, we have frost warnings and isolated flurries predicted for tonight! In June!

Now, that's just all kinds of wrong!

Update: Praise God, no snow! Although it was a bit nippy this morning! On our walk this morning lots of people had sheets and bags out over their flower beds but the sun is making attempts at breaking through the clouds so it's all good!

Update on the update: Arrrgh! Frost warnings again for tonight and rain/snow mix in the morning predicted. Someone needs to have a chat with the weatherman around here. Off I go to rehaul everything to safety and cover what I can. All I can say is thank goodness I didn't pitch them old sheets.

The Time Has Come by Margaret Graham

"The time has come" to announce a winner of this wonderful CD!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:5
Timestamp: 2009-06-06 16:20:20 UTC

Congratulations Donnetta from My Quiet Corner

To purchase the CD or individual songs you can check out Margaret's site here.

Friday's Fave Five #40

Oh my goodness. We are on #40! I can't believe it. What a wonderful time it has been too! Reading everybody's favorite things from their weeks and looking back over my own week to find my favorites has been so good for outlook! Thank you all for joining in with me. We'll have to do a special celebration one for #50. I'll think on it and bring details in the following weeks. If you're new, now is as good a time as any to jump on board. Details are here.

For this weeks favorites:

1. This little guy:

I know I already posted this picture this week but seriously? How could you not love a face like that? Or love that he does goofy things that make for good blog pictures?

2. Bike riding. The first of the year. Hubby and I have gone on two wonderful bike rides this week. It's been so much fun, out in beautiful sunshine that is not burning hot yet, but just right and it gave me a new appreciation for where I live. But both times I completely forgot to take along the camera. Durn. Next time I will have to write it across my forehead or something.

3. Ice Cold Watermelon. Again our first of the season. Yummy. So juicy, so flavorful. And good and cold. Hubby likes his room temp but I like mine right out of the fridge.

4. HydraSense. My new best product friend forever. I have so many issues with dryness and a hard time breathing easily, especially at night time. My sis introduced me to this all natural, no preservative, no rebound congestion product. (Apparently it's supposed to be great for kids with colds or allergies, but I haven't tried it with a child yet.) And what's even better? In looking for the picture I just found a Canadian coupon for $5 off. Score, 'cause it ain't cheap. But I can breathe!

5. Bar-b-qued cheddar smokies. My mouth waters as I type this and I just had them for supper a few hours ago. I love them. Add fresh buns, chopped tomato & onion, a dash of mustard and there's supper! I don't get tired of them.

Now how did I end up with two food items. Sheesh.

What were your favorites from your week. And they don't have to be food! A favorite moment, feeling, conversation, quote, it can be anything that made you happy and grateful. If you've done a post, sign on to Mr. Linky linking to your specific Fave Five post for today so we can come and visit. Regular Mr. Linky still is unavailable so just click on the Mr. Linky icon and a new page will open where you can sign in as usual and link to others.

Sometimes It Works!

Today is the last chance to enter this CD giveaway. Go on over and leave a comment!

Five o'clock. No supper started. Five or Six chicken breasts sitting in a dish in the fridge. What to do, what to do? I've made every chicken dish in my repatoire one too many times lately. So out comes the adventurous part of me. The itch to make something up. And to make it a tad more difficult, it's 5 days before payday which means the pantry is getting down in staple ingrediants. Whoo Hoo a challenge!

I must confess. I have no pictures. Not a one. This was scooped into and half eaten before I could even get the camera. But I can tell you, it was somehow fresh tasting, it was pretty easy, used ingrediants that are in most any pantry and mostly, the all important, "This is good Mom, make it for my birthday", which is what Jay always says when he really likes something. So far this year, I've got a few things on his "make for my birthday" list. Not afraid to experiment with food himself, he's the kind of boy every mama wants at her dinner table. LOL.

PASTA CHICKEN BAKE

-5-6 chicken breasts
-2 Tbsp. oil (I used light olive oil)
-seasoning salt (Lawry's is my favorite)

-4 cups dry whole wheat penne pasta
-4 cups frozen brocolli/cauliflower mix
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
-2 Tbsp. lemon juice
-1/2 light mayo
-1/2 cup milk
-1 tsp. dried thyme
-3/4 - 1 cup parmesan cheese (or more if desired)
- 1 tomato sliced into 8-12 wedges
-fresh or dried basil

Cook pasta according to al dente directions. Do not overcook as it will continue to cook in the oven. Drain well. While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in fry pan. Rinse chicken, pat dry and season with seasoning salt. Place chicken in hot oil, and cook through, turning once, until juices run clear. Set aside to cool.

In same fry pan, stir fry the brocolli/cauliflower with a sprinkle of salt for about 5 minutes, until the water starts to let out and it is crisp tender, scraping all the yummy chicken brownings up as you go. Cut chicken into large bite sized chunks.

In a bowl, mix mushroom soup, lemon, mayo, milk, and thyme with a whisk. Pour over the pasta in the cooking pot and mix well. Add chicken and brocolli/cauliflower. Stir gently until coated. Pour into a greased or sprayed 13x9 glass baking dish. Place the diced tomatoes all over the top. Sprinkle parmesan thickly over all. (I personally think the more the better, it will make a nice crust). Sprinkle a little basil over each tomato.

Bake in a 350*F oven for 30 minutes until heated through and cheese is starting to brown.

Amish Story Love

Amish Love

What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here (http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7676659&page=1) about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.

Wordless Wednesday

When you're a hard working pooch following your master around all morning

sometimes you just have to lay your weary head where you can

A spot where you can keep your eye on your master is most fortuitous, just so he doesn't leave without you

For more Wordless Wednesday go here

Don't forget to go leave a comment to win a great CD here!