Sigh...

Our Akita, Diamond.

She is part Japanese part American Akita

- a beautiful breed!!

Our newly mothering cat adopted a wild baby bunny t

he day before she gave birth

to her second litter of kittens

Perhaps it is the cabin fever and arctic, cold, tundra like weather. Perhaps it is shear bordom from being cooped up inside for weeks on end looking forward to another three and a half months of cooped up-ness. Perhaps it is the adorable pictures posted all over the Internet.

A sudden "urge" has come over me. The sweet pictures of Welsh Harlequin ducks, beautiful pictures of Florida Cracker Horses, cuddly pictures of Romeldale/ CVM sheep and lambs... it doesn't help that all of these animals are on the "critical" "almost extinct" watch list. It's probably the maternal instinct kicking in at a ripe young age.

In 2006 I had a Suffolk sheep who (unexpectedly) gave birth to twin rams. She died from starvation. We had no idea she was expecting, and had two (very) cranky soon-to-be-mother goats who hogged the food. I figured the sheep was big enough to fight for her own food, but sadly found out she was passive and not the fighting type. After giving birth to her second ram she just lay in our barn floor - it was sad, pitiful, pathetic, and heart wrenching. Her runt, the second born, was still attached to the umbilical cord when I found them. I was shocked to find that she had given birth to two healthy, happy, tiny rams.

The vet gave the mother a few hours to live, and kept commenting on how surprised he was that the lambs were so healthy and so small.

We had two Suffolk sheep. A ram and a ewe. Both of them were given to me for my fourteenth birthday (two years before). I had not expected, was not at all prepared, and hadn't desired lambs, yet. We still needed to finish expanding and complete the inside of the barn before we had planned to start breeding the sheep.

The two ram lambs lived in the house for two weeks. It was the most wonderful experience in my entire life. I bottle fed the two little guys about two times a night (their first week three times). Cleaned up after them, and they slept rather comfortably in a laundry basket under my dresser by the vent to the heater (the only vent in my room). Lambies would cry to get attention, and would make cute little noises when I talked with them. When they were a week old I moved them to the mud room (which was down stairs). The runt became distraught and wouldn't hardly eat anything. The day before I gave them both to some friends who took better care of their sheep herd and dogs than most people do their kids, the runt wouldn't eat at all. It was sad and pitiful.

About a week after giving the two lambies to our sheep herding friends, the runt died.

Although we sent our Suffolk ram (the father of the lambs) to the auction last fall, and the experience was hard, sad, and emotionally taxing (to an extent and if you are an animal lover) I absolutely fell in love with sheep.

Both my parents have decided that we don't need animals right now, and in all honesty we don't. We do not have good fencing, don't have resources to get grains for less than an arm and a leg, do not have reliable sheds for animals, and don't have a excellent watering system as of yet, it is a beautiful fantasy to think about the possibility of owning sheep from the ALBC Conservation Priority List (preferably a breed in the critical category). Alright, it would be incredible to have sheep, possibly goats, horses, chickens, ducks and rabbits from the critical category, but hey, you have to start with something right? Why not sheep?

Heritage Farm Animal: http://www.albc-usa.org/

ALBC Watch List: http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html#ducks

Dairy Goat Journal (A sister magazine of "Countryside & Small stock journal): http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/

Welsh Harlequin Ducks (do your research :): http://www.cacklehatchery.com/harlequin.html

McMurray Hatchery (we have ordered from this Hatchery before and were very pleased): http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/blue_swedish.html

Mt. Healthy Haterchies (have never ordered from this hatchery before, but are looking into it): http://www.mthealthy.com/product/BS-DK

My favorite Things…

During the Winter

We have two younger kiddos in the family, so we rarely watch videos rating more than GJ Finding Nemo is definitely my favorite! Okay, Mary Poppins is better. The book “The Girl who Loved Wild Horses” was given to my by my great aunt twelve years ago, or so. I have thoroughly enjoyed the book ever since. An children’s book with incredible pictures! Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen’s “The Hadassah covenant: A Queen’s Legacy,” which was given to me by my older sister for Christmas. Mom gave me a book called “The Kabul Beauty School” by Deborah Rodriguez, but she’s an avidly ambitious reader and high-jacked it. So I settled for Tommy Tenney’s, until mom gives the Kabul Beauty School back.. Oh, and of course Hot Chocolate is one of my favorite things!!!

The red, wool yarn is left over from a project mom did several years ago, so I figured it could go to good use in a scarf

The red lipstick was a Christmas gift from two years ago (yes, I still use it and still love it), the lotion by L’Occitane “Honey Miel & Lemon Citron” was given to me by my older sister (in the silver tube)
The black brooch is from mom’s jewelry box. There are so many things you can do with brooch’s! Last week, instead of buttoning a nice black dress sweater I pinned it with this little sucker. It works beautifully! The hat is also from mom - my "Elanor Dashwood" hat :) I bought the necklace while I was in Tennessee.

I’m sure if I thought about it I could come up with another three thousands lists of “my favorite things.” I thoroughly enjoy my colored pencil’s and drawing note-pad, Celtic Woman, and a song burned onto a CD (I have no clue who wrote the song but it’s incredible!!), as well as my feather-down, baby blue throw, and I thoroughly enjoy my pillow and bed!

Have a Happy New Year everyone!!

Style.. Style... Fashion... Style

Victorian Era Revolutionary War Modern Make-up and Up-doo Are we sure this is a human being

and not just a manikin?

see, one can achieve the natural make-up look

and still have vibrant colors in their color pallet!!!

This years winter/ spring fashion brings a lot of bleak colors.

As a general rule I try to bring as much joy and as many vivacious (yet matching) colors into an outfit as possible. My goal is to show rejoicing, joy, beauty, femininity and style all at once. I don't always succeed, but I do try - and it's the though that counts... right?
In a lot of articles I have read in the past femininity and skirts go hand in hand (even in articles recently published by young woman, especially Christian woman). This, I believe, is not always true. Although skirts definitely add a unique flare to the western woman's wardrobe, I don't think skirts and dresses are the only way to achieve a feminine outfit. They are, however, the all-time world-renowned "woman outfit" though. A lot of fashion magazines and popular magazines show woman dressed in some sort of dress or skirt looking thing on the cover (most of the time it resembles lingerie more than a dress).

Femininity is probably captured most in the late 1800's and early 1900's (yes, I am again referring to the Victorian and Edwardian eras, as I did in a post immediately before this one). The definition of a well defined male/ female culture in history. Frills, pastels, flowers, ribbon, pearls, beads covered the attire of the woman of that time. Hair-doo's consisted of curls, up-doo's, lace, ribbons, hats, teased hair. To an extent, not much different than today's. Woman desired the more "dewy" facial looks than that dramatic look that so many people seek today.
If you go back even further to 1700's, mostly in France, woman had perfected their feminine - identity - to the point of ridiculousness!! Woman used so many beauty products on their hair alone that the darn thing could weight as heavy as six pounds! Not including the yards, and yards, and yards of silk, or the pounds of pears and jewels that a rich woman would adorn herself with. To keep lice out of clothing (they were attracted to the products that the woman used in their hair) woman would tie glass tears filled with honey inside their hoop skirts. As the lice climbed up their skirt they would smell the sweet incense of honey and drown in it. YUCK!! Talk about desperation for femininity!

Eew!!

Going back to my original point, femininity can be easily seen in the sort of attire that woman in France would wear. Lots of lace, pastel colors, and clothing that (sometimes) accented their body types. I'm not talking about the plunging necklines (although they had plenty of those) or over done make-up (though that was also quite popular too)... Woman in that era knew how to use the resources around them to distinguish men from themselves. Woman wore flowery things (hair decorations, flower shaped jewelery, patterned dress, clothing adornments, shoe adornments etc.), pearls (the light color and softness of a pearl somehow causes a woman's skin to look quite radiant and elegant), lace (which softens ones appearance), colors that look good on the woman (since ivory, even white skin tones were popular during this time, fabrics mainly consisted of pastel colors).

In the Victorian era this was also the case. Ivory skin tones, floral patterns, lots of lace, pretty pastel colors, pearls, emphasis on the hair (BIG hair as you eased into the Edwardian era) and also high heels (boots especially).

What strikes me the most, that our culture has lost, is the differences between how men dress and how woman dress. The trend this last Summer was for woman to wear "manly suit jackets." A couple of years ago the "boy-friend sweater" look was in for teenage girls. What in the world? Sure, I get he masculine "strong" thing - I am a girl - but seriously, do we really need to look so much like guys that the "all natural make-up" and "pants and T-shirt" thing makes it hard to differentiate between men and woman (unless the woman is also wearing a tight shirt, high heeled boots, or some other hint of her gender).

I was reading "Kabul Beauty School" yesterday (I was half way done when mom swiped it) and was rather insulted when I read "People in Afghanistan think western woman look manly - homely men at that" (paraphrased). Western woman have gone with the "natural look." This sometimes consists of just mascara, sometimes foundation and mascara with some "natural" skin tones on one's eye lids. Don't get me wrong, please, I used to wear just mascara. I didn't even start wearing make-up regularly until I was about seventeen. being shy, introverted, and not liking to appear to be drawing attention to myself make-up was not appealing to me. However, I love painting my eye lids all sorts of colors now!! Not for the attention, but because it's fun, and it's like painting a picture:
"How can I use colors to manipulate my natural skin tones and make my nose look smaller, or eyes look larger, or cheek bones more prominent."
It's all quite different for every individual!

The newest "runway look" is pale skin, big eyes, with gray colors. Ick! Are they trying to make their manikin looking models appear to be ill with some dread disease?
(Believe me when I say I'm very well aware that I am opinionated)
I don't think fashion or make-up is everything, nor do I think we should go "over the top" just to get attention.
However I am strongly convinced that woman were created to be creative and that includes are own faces and wardrobe. Even in Song of Solomon the bride is said to have "pomegranate cheeks." This implies, to me, that she applied some sort of blush. It was popular for court woman of that time to wear make-up in order to look their absolute best before the people (as a representative of the people as a whole).

Are we not representatives of something in life? For me this is my faith in Jesus. I am an ambassador for Jesus Christ. I also believe that I do all things for the glory of God! It seems, to me, this included my outfits and make-up.
God is a god of beauty, joy, and peace. Should I not show this all in the way I dress (and act- but that's another post some other time)?

Yeah, I guess I covered a LOT of ground here, and maybe rambled a bit, but these are thoughts and ideas that I have kept locked up inside for quite a while, and I would really like to share them with someone!

I hope you enjoyed it :)

Happy Holidays and Happy New Years!!

99 Things To Do

I saw this meme over at Harmony Art Mom's (Barb) blog and thought it looked like fun. So, grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable, and learn a bit more about me.The items I have done/experienced are in green...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped - but I sure want to!!!
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - yes and no. Mom's an artist at heart :)
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train - This is another "no but I want to"
21. Had a pillow fight - if you have siblings this is an daily occurrence almost.
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - am home schooled, so I can't get away with it :)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb and a kid goat
26. Gone skinny dipping - almost did.
27. Run a Marathon - does Awanas count?
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - no but I have seen Sioux Falls in Falls Park SD.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. Some day...
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person..on my list ;)
39. Gone rock climbing - another not quite, but truly desire to.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight in FL and Puerto Rico - no but does a swimming pool in FL by moonlight count?
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - another "on my to do list"
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class - for a month. Bad teacher.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving - *sighs* to do list.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp - and again, to do.
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter ~ all by accident too!!!
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book - umm.... maybe... or not
81. Visited the Vatican - to do :)
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem - to do list.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House - no but I wasn't far from it :)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - that's disgusting!!!
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Alright...now that you know a bit more about me, I wanna know more about you! So, copy this and paste it on your blog, answer the questions, and then leave me a comment so I can read it!

How my Train of Thought Flows

From Christmas, to Victorian Attire, to Modern Fashion...

As I gaze at the thoroughly decorated Christmas tree that perfectly frames our dining room window, I can't help but think about the Edwardian and Victorian era's.

Perhaps my obsession with the Victorian and Edwardian era is due to the fact that these people perfected over the top Christmas decor. After viewing some pictures of elegant ornament covered trees, I can't help but drool over the incredibly beautiful dresses that the woman of those eras wore on a day-to-day basis.

Movies, like Anne of Green Gables, strengthen my obsessed, infatuated research on the customs, fashion, lifestyle and culture during the late eighteen through early nineteen hundreds.

During that time there was a certain, well-rounded, and perfected sense of femininity. Something, perhaps, our own modern and "trendy" culture has lost.

Many times I have read articles of young woman who deeply desire to re-establish their sense of feminine clothing and life-style. This, though, can occasionally become more of a legalistic babble than passionate desire to re-enhance ones own feminine persona. Many articles on modesty have been written by people who honestly believe one is a whore if the hem-line on their skirt goes above the knee. Bravo! Bravo! I respect these people - they are speaking out at a world where mini-skirts and cleavage is "the new black." But is modesty truly legalism?

One must decide for themselves (if they are Christian, then with consistent prayer) what is modest and what is not.

For example, I own a very respectable, proper business suit with a short skirt. The skirt, when I'm sitting, lays comfortably just above the knee. This, I have been told, is "totally immodest." Is it so? Perhaps for some.

The point is not to become legalistic, mean, or rude to each other about "what is modest and what is not."

Questions like:

How can I dress in such a way that shows I am one to be respected, and not just a sexual object? How can I help my brothers in the Jesus to keep focused on Him? And, how does my attire and how I dress affect the way that people view me in life (which goes back to the first question, which leads to dressing as an ambassador for Christ).

Anyhow, this is basically the way my own thought process functions. Random, global, but thoroughly thought out :)

Traumas of X-mas

My biggest fear during Christmas as a child, I think proves my obsessive-compulsive, negative approach to life.

The week after Thanksgiving dad would always make sure the entire house was covered in lights - from top to bottom, sometimes inside but always out.

Being the "macho male I can take on anything" adrenalin junky that he is, dad would frequently "ask" us kids (in that parental "You are going to do this NOW and have FUN while doing it!!" type of way) to go up on the roof and help him put up all the lights.

Now, when I was younger I was afraid of heights (I would cry if dad left me alone while hiking up foot hills) and always think of the absolute worse possible scenario (I don't have nightmares at night. My imagination creates nightmares for me during the day). So year after year I would climb up to the top of the ladder that we would use to get onto the roof, and step onto our solidly built back porch. And year after year, as I stepped onto our intestinaly fortified back porch my mind would start racing:

"The porch isn't stable!! Prairie winds will take a hold of the porch, and since it's too weak for my support the wooden support beams right below my feet will snap in two and we'll all plummet to the earth and DIE!!!"

Yes, I was a dramatic child.

What's worse, my sadistic father would go out onto the attic roof on a cold, winter night saying "don't tell, mom, cause she'll get worried." (what a think to tell a dooms-day er thirteen year old daughter)

Of course, being the worse-possible-scenario-creator that I am I would think

"Great! Dad's gonna slip and die and I'll have to go tell mom that I was watching everything that happened, and mom will have to go to work instead of homeschooling us and then my older SISTER will home school us, and we frequently get into arguments, but it won't matter 'cause mom will ground me from eternity and I'll have nothing but school to do and be to starved for some sort of brain stimulation and socialization so that my older sister and I will become more than best friends but also enmeshed, just as grandma is worried about, and then I'll never leave home 'cause then I'll help home school and we'll all end up old poor maids in the middle of no-where!"

And all of this pain and agony JUST because we HAD to have Christmas lights on every single empty space on the outside of our house during Christmas!!

It didn't matter anyway because the stupid lights will all die in a year because they were probably imported from Japan who used slaves to make them, who didn't know anything about mechanics and are beaten and starved so the outcome of this slave labor is crapily built Christmas lights that die in less than a year but HAVE to be put onto every square inch of roof-top by obsessive compulsive adrenalin addicted fathers who have nothing better to do than scare their poor pre-teen daughters with their macho-ness by climbing onto attic overhangs JUST to hang up DUMB LIGHTS!!!!

Two years later I told my mom about the attic-roof top situation. Dad hasn't hung lights up there since.

And to think, this is all instigated by the "Spirit of Christmas"...

More like "The Goblin of Christmas," but "Whatever".

I just want to thank all my friends and loved ones for the educational emails over the past year.

Because of your warning I live in a zip-lock plastic bag with clean oxygen piped in after passing through 18 filters which are replaced each hour.

Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I can’t use the remote in a hotel room because I don’t know what the last person was doing while flipping through the channels.

I can’t sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I can’t enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking your nose.

Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can’t touch any woman’s purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St.Theresa’s novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won’t crawl in my back seat when I’m pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put ‘Under God’ on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can’t boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face… disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don’t support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neima n-Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can’t use anyone’s toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my bum.

And thanks to your great advice, I can’t ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a rapist waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large intestinaly sick ostrich will land on your head at 5:00 P.M. this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex-mother-in-law’s second husband’s cousin’s beautician.

Have a wonderful day, anyway!

Winter Photos

Winter wonderland in the Prarie

Autumn decorations in snow

Meister Man sliding!!

A cool shot of our live Christmas tree embedding a bright red ornament and twinkle lights peering out from behind the branches.

"Look to the Sky!"

The big blob is the moon, and the smaller blob is Mars, I believe. Luna, Mars, Venus.

The moon, Venus - the godess of love and beauty, and Mars - the god of war, saluting one another as they reach near their closest point of greeting on Monday night, around 6:40 pm (Centeral Standard time).

Unfortunitaly I missed their closest point to city lights. After I took these pictures we drove into town, and then clouds began to move in so any more star gazing (in this case planet gazing) was pointless. Their closest meeting point was around 7pm CST.

Scream in the Darkness

Miss Piggy this fall. She would watch out for the other three kittens. If one was behind the rest of the group, on a walk, she would sit down calling and waiting for them.

Mother hen hang'n on the saddle on our porch.

Baby Piggy. Cream - this litters mother - would change their hiding spot every other week. After they were about two weeks old we couldn't find them for a while. When I found the kittens (nestled under our thirties washing "machine" that decorates our yard) Miss Piggy (shown above) hissed at me. Even as a kitten she had a personality!

A skin crawling, air peeling scream pierced my ears. My eyes popped open, and then I realized a woman's scream had scared startled me so much that I jumped out of my old, yet cosy, bed. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

A woman's scream? In the middle of the night, on the prairie, the Sunday after Thanksgiving? Who would be out at this time of night?

After convincing myself it was "nothing" my eyes finally managed to close, and I dozed off. Morning greeted me with a chill, the sun with bright rays giving off no heat. My decision was made - time for some investigation regarding last nights scream.

Upon completing a talk with dad about the other night, realization finally, slowly, took a firm hold on me, and again the hairs on my neck rose as I thought about the blood-curdling "woman's" scream that had awakened me the night before.

A bob cat.. here!

My beautiful kitten, Miss Piggy, went missing Thanksgiving day. Her predator was what caused m entirety to tingle - a large, wild, screaming cat, threatening anyone outside, alone, at night, in our backyard.

This scream took my back to the book "Little House the Big Woods" when paw heard a "woman scream" and the panther leaped onto his horse. This scream in the darkness will forever make my skin crawl, and I will never be seen outside, after dusk, alone, again.

So Excited!

Yesterday we were cleaning everything for Thanksgiving. I got so excited about the coming holidays that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to decorate our (now) clean dining room table with Christmas adornments!

Any Ideas?

I recieved this vase as a birthday present this last Summer. It's absolutely beautiful! A piece of art all on it's own! Filled with lillies, peonies and ladies mantel leaves, it looked aboslutely gorgeous throughout the Summer.Sadly, Summer is over and there are no more elegant fluers to fill this glass bowl with. Although I would hate to put it away over the winter my creative skills can only take me so far and I'm stumped as to what should fill this piece of beauty.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what kind of festive plants... festive anything... to fill this vase with?

Thankful for Hands

As we approach thanksgiving in our home we also begin preparations for Christmas - cleaning and gifts for others, ideas for food and decorating.

One of the things I am enjoying the most - as we prepare for Christmas - has been fixing a doll I bought over the Summer while I was traveling around the country. The doll was hand made out of spools with a large wooden bead for the head.

The dress that the doll came in was a simple green cloth that once served as a sleave to a shirt, I think, and now serves very well as a bussel under the red dress (which, as you can see I didn't iron before applying to the doll). Although my skills don't exeed anything beyond amature, I do envision this doll to look something along the lines of an elegant lady from the royal French courts before the French Revolution.

I'm not sure what to think about the Cruella Devil black-on-white-conflicted doo, but I suppose it will have to do for now. Perhaps it can be exchanged for jet black curles underneath an elegant hat.

Hands are a wonderful thing. They give and create. If that isn't what this whole Season is about, I don't know what is.

Night Sky

November 24th, 2008.

As I was emptying the table cloth of it's crumby contents two bright planets caught my eye. I cannot tell you which two planets they are, however I am somewhat astronaumically saavy enough to tell you that the eclipse was incredible!

I wish to find out when they will reach the closest to one another.

How breathtaking!

Isaiah 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZVgHKqw3-A

An extremely touching song - I love the song, the picture Isaiah paints in your mind.

And some thoughts on this song/ picture in the Bible.

A few other verses in the Bible like this is Exodus 33:7-23 (http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Exd&c=33&v=7&t=NKJV#7 - NKJV)

As Yhwh stated "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."

If you remember within the tabernacle is the "Holy of Holy's" where the Ark of the Covenant rested. Carved into the Ark of the Covenant was the Mercy Seat, where Yhwh rested. On either side of the Mercy seat stood two Cherubim who. The cherubim "shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be twoards the mercy seat." (Exodus 25:20)

This followes Isaiah 6 "with two (wings) he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew." (http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Isa&c=6&v=1&t=NKJV#top - Isaiah 6 NKJV)

Isaiah is referring to Seraphim (plural), not Cherubim (also plural). However, I would like to make the observation that God tells Moses "now human can see my face" otherwise "they would die."

Exodus also states that Moses "The Lord spoke to Moses face to face" (Ex. 33:11). My hypothosis is that Moses did not die because the Cherubim on either side of the Mercy seat - facing the Mercy seat - wings extended - his the place where the Lord's Face was at. In a sense, a vail. A vail of a very holy, pure, perfect kind - created by the wings of Cherubim (and ultimately God himself since he created even these holy beings).

Just a passing thought based on todays Bible reading from Exodus 33 :-)

(Picture taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://freegroups.net/ministry_files/mirrors/ichthys.com/tabernacle-temple.gif&imgrefurl=http://freegroups.net/ministry_files/mirrors/ichthys.com/Tribulation_Part_2B.htm&usg=__kMaC5dse3wBRqc9t0a3cVKZ-gBI=&h=443&w=511&sz=9&hl=en&start=13&sig2=AEg2zD6igjVPPeqnMVDG3g&um=1&tbnid=BRWnLEele6OfPM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=131&ei=OyEmSb_yGp3aNL31qDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPicture,%2Btabernacle%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX)

Perfect Thanksgiving Cake!!

Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake

Combine:

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Melt:

2 sticks (1 c.) butter
4 heaping Tbs. cocoa

1 c. boiling water

Allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Pour over flour mixture and stir lightely to cool.

In a seperate bowl mix:

Pour 1/2 c. buttermilk

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir buttermilk mixture into battery-chocolate mix. pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350* for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking make the...

Icing!!

Chop 1/2 c. pecans finely

Melt 13/4 sticks butter in saucepan

Add 4 heaping Tbs. cocoa. Stir to combine and remove from heat then add:

6 Tbs milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 lbs minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Mix well until smooth.

Add pecans and stir. Pour over the warm cake in pan.

OR...

(Don't add the pecane yet) Carefully slice the fresh-out-of-the-oven cake and serve on dainty dessert plates. Be sure to drizzle some of the pecan-free icing and sprinkle the chopped nuts on top to create a delicious, dainty looking dessert for guests on Thanksgiving.

Enjoy!!

:)

Apples and Fall Decor

Apple Cake

2 eggs

1/2 C. milk

5 T. butter

1 C. sugar

1 1/2 C. white flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 apples, sliced

cinnomon & sugar

Combine eggs, milk and butter. Mix sugar, flour and baking powder together. Combine dry and wet ingredients together. Pour into a cake pan and arrange the apple slices on top of cake batter then sprinkle with cinnomon and sugar. Bake at 350* degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

Serve warm and enjoy :)

Apple Butter

5 lbs. apples - peeled, cored and choped

2 c. sugar

2 tsp. cinnomon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

Cook together for 9-11 hours, or until the mixture is thick and creamy.

Makes a delicious 64 servings