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

Thanks...

What I'm Thankful For

(Revised Version of "What I Live For" [and unfortunately the author is unknown])

I'm thankful for those who love me

Whose hearts are kind and true

For the Heaven that smiled above me

And awaits my spirit too

For all human ties that bind me

For the task my God's assigned me

For the bright hopes left behind me

And the good that I can do.

I'm thankful for those who suffered for my sake

I wish to emulate their glory

And follow in their wake

Bard, patriots, martyrs, sages

The nobles of all ages
Whose deeds crown history's pages

And times great volume make.

I'm thankful for that season

That gifted minds foretold

When man shall live by reason

And not alone by gold

When man to man united

And every wrong then righted

The whole world shall be lighted

As Eden was of old.

I am Thankful!

For chocolate. Why, I don't know, but females need chocolate. A running joke in our home is "when all else fails, give the girls chocolate!" That or flowers - we have a huge garden in our front yard and back (both of which have died off or gone into "hibernation" due to the cold *sniffle*), as well as about a dozen plants filling our dining room to the point beyond coziness. However the pink, purple and white blooms of our geraniums, and a plant whose name is unknown to us, and the delicate leaves of parsley are contagiously happy compared to the drab pre-winter weather we are experiencing.

Yes, I am very thankful for chocolate - with nuts - and the intoxicating fragrance and bright pink petaled flowers that grace our dining room.

Falling Leaves.. and Cluttered Homes...

Gently, quietly they fall down,

Leaves silently resting upon the ground.

Similar to my home inside -

Where clutter is all pushed aside -

To make way for the decorations that lay

Everywhere on Thanksgiving day.

~ By: Me

This fall I helped a friend run her campaign during election season (unfortunately she did not win:(. She would look out at the breathtaking scene of golden leaves descending to the ground, would sigh and exclaim "nature is so beautiful with the golden leaves carpeting the ground - it reminds me of all the papers that are scattered all over my houses floor... It's sporadic, unorganized - so beautiful outside. My house however looks like a tornado ran through it!!"

Today I'm especially thankful for my mother, who - despite the clutter, and persevering through homeschooling all of us kiddos - is planning a magnificent thanksgiving feast and uses her incredible artistic skills to decorate (or at the very least finds inspiration with which to base decor on and has me apply it;).

The Marriage of the Frogge and the Mouse

A Pilgrim Song

"It was the frog in the well, humble dum humble dum;

And the merry mouse in the mill, tweedle tweedle twino.

The frog would a wooing ride, humble dum humble dum;

Sword and buckler by his side, tweedle tweedle twino.

When he was upon his high horse set, humble dum humble dum;

His boots they shone as black as soot, tweedle tweedle twino.

When she came to the merry millpin, humble dum humble dum;

Lady Mouse been you within? Tweedle tweedle twino.

Hast thous any mind of me? Humble dum humble dum;

I have e'ne great mind of thee, tweedle tweedle twino.

Who shall this marriage make? HUmble dum humble dum;

Our Lord which is the rat, tweedle tweedle twino.

What shall we have to our supper? Humble dum humble dum;

Three beans in a pound of butter, tweedle tweedle twino.

When super they were at, humble dum humble dum;

The frog, the mouse, and even the rat, tweedle tweedle twino.

Ten came in Gib out cat, humble dum humble dum;

And catched the mouse even by the back, tweedle tweedle twino.

Then did they separate, humble dum humble dum;

And the frog lept on the floor so flat, tweedle tweedle twino.

Then came Dick our drake, humble dum humble dum;

And drew the frog to the lake, tweedle tweedle twino.

The rat ran up the wall, humble dum humble dum;

A goodly company, the devil go with all, tweedle tweedle twino."

Okay so perhaps this doesn't bring in the "warm fuzzies" as we prepare for Thanks Giving. I think the rat should have been killed too - I'm sure some animal needed a Thanksgiving feast and would have been willing to settle for rat :) But it's a good reminder that the pilgrims had a lot of hardships - rats carried diseas, lice, ate your food (and other things).

Thanks Giving Prayer

Five Kernels of Corn

By Hezekiah Butterworth

"Twas the year of the famine in Plymouth of old,

The ice and the snow from the thatched roods had rolled;

And the woodpeckers tapped in the clocks of the trees;

And the bough on the slopes to the south winds lay bare,

and dreaming of summer, the buds swelled in the air.

The pale Pilgrims welcomed each reddening morn;

There were left but for rations Five Kernels of Corn.

Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!

But to Bradford a feast were Five Kernels of Corn!

"Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!

Ye people, be glad for Five Kernels of Corn!"

So Bradford cried out on bleak Burial Hill,

And the thin women stood on their doors, white and still.

"Lo, the harbor of Plymouth rolls bright in the Spring,

The maples grow red, and the wood robins sing,

The west wind is blowing, and fading the snow,

And the pleasant pines sing, and arbutuses blow.

Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!

To each one be given Five Kernels of Corn!"

O Bradford of Austerfield hast on thy way,

The west winds are blowing e'er Provincetown Bay,

The white avens bloom, but the pine dones are chill,

And new graves have furrowed Precisioners' Hill!

"Give thanks, all ye people. the warm skies have come,

The hilltops are sunny, and green grows the hold,

And the trumpets of winds, and the white March is gone,

Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!

Ye have for Thanksgiving Five Kernels of Corn!

The raven's gift eat and be humble and pray,

A new light is breaking and Truth leads your way;

One taper a thousand shall kindle; rejoice

That to you has been given the wilderness voice!"

O Bradford of Austerfield, daring the wave,

And safe through the sounding blasts leading the brave,

Of deeds such as thine was the free nation born,

And the festal world sings the "Five Kernels of Corn."

Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!

The nation gives thanks for Five Kernels of Corn!"

Some pictures of life on Vermillion Road - our home - during the month of November.

Metaphorically Speaking

I have heard, well I have been told, that I generally speak in a more Hebraic structure using many metaphors and similes when expressing or explaining something, or simply talking in general.

Due to curiosity I have looked up the word "Metaphor" just to see what the actual meaning is.

Metaphor,
A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another different thing by being spoken of as if it were that other; implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another (e.g., screaming headlines, "all the world's a stage"): distinguished from simile.