Show and Tell Friday (on Saturday)

I know, I am a day behind, but I just have to catch up! Kelli hosted this fun meme yesterday. Please visit her site for more show and tell pix. She suggested looking forward to fall and since the first Tech game was today I thought I'd add a couple of previous gameday fotos in the mix- looking forward to autumn!!

Favorite Familly Foto

This foto has extremely sentimental memories for us all. I wasn't there, but back in 2004 when our sil graduated with his bachelors his family took Amanda with them on their oriental tour. Amazingly, they spent a week or so in Korean for Amanda's sake and took her to the island on which she was born, Jindo. I can only imagine what her thoughts were as she stuck her toe in the Yellow Sea.

My Husband Rocks

Ok, I am a day late, but Lynn still rocks it so I have to post this week!
All I had to do was say, " Lynn, honey whatever are we going to do about losing all these trees this summer?Can't we check out the nurseries this weekend?" And the next thing you know he was loading them up on a cart and hauling them over to the checkout!

What a sweetheart? But not only that! He knew I was yearning to get back up here on the computer to blog some today so he just came traipsing up the stairs with a delicious cottage cheese, fresh fruit salad to munch on! He is definitely a keeper! He rocks my world!!!

Been Away from the Computer for a While

Wednesday the rains came, remnants of Fay. This picture was taken coming home from church that night.

Thursday morning was such a wonderful day enjoying the lazy rain. We got about 4 inches of slow drizzly rain.

It was totally refreshing! I could have had a few more days of it, but the Lord knows best! Do I dare share what I did Thursday morning? What we women endure for the sake of beauty! I debated whether to put this on Pink Saturday, but decided not to! HaaHaa! HeeHee!

Then I went over to visit with mom and dad and found him out tickering with his bird houses. Here he is sanding one he's promised Amanda-



By the lunchtime I was looking really cute with my new hair, so I decided to surprise my sweetie by stopping in at the office. He was busily cramming for a test that afternoon for the project management training he'd done that week.

So I spent the afternoon at the nurseries checking out trees to replace around our yard. I found a beautiful White King Hawthorn and a luscious deep read Crepe Myrtle there. This morning we found some 2 red maples and another white Myrtle. I know what we'll be doing Monday!

1000 Gifts, and Thankful Thursday

Today I have so much to be thankful for, I am combining these two posts. For more thankful posts check in over at Sting My Heart.
178. the wonderful rainy weather
179. the cool, crisp temperatures
180. the Wednesday morning Bible Study group of ladies, their loving spirit, unity, and desire to serve the body
181. God's provision to us through our finances, our home, our jobs
182. our health and the sustenance of it- especially the great report we eceived this week
183. the job offer that came this week for our sil that keeps them on this coast
184. the progress amanda is making on her lab work at university
185. opportunities that are sent to me to serve- divine appointments
186. my appointment I have today and the opportunity to get my hair done
187. the witness my mother is to a young woman of our acquaintance who is having so many troubles including breast cancer, divorce, court battles, etc
188. Dottie and her family are such sweet, dear friends at church- a real blessing
189. Pastor Chip's sweet spirit and desire to move the body into mobilization and ministry
190. our Wednesday night's at church
191. our church's leadership
192. the smell of a fresh brewed cup of coffee
193. Lynn has survived these last three days of training
194. Lynn's renewed attitude toward church membership and service
195. the prospect and provision of being able to replant and relandscape the yard following this rainy respite
196. the joy of new beginnings in so areas of life
197. the science of music and how it touches my soul
198. each new day and each new mercy
199. the joy of anticipation of Darlene's visit
200. the three day weekend and the possibilities
201. the developing friendship with my cousin Jane
202. the therapies provided by my podiatrist are working
203. answered prayer
God, I thank you for these and so many more blessings. Your hand is on my life and your special gifts to me bless me beyond measure. I praise your Holy name!

Word Filled Wednesday

Amy of the 160 Acre Woods hosts this meme each Wednesday to share God’s word!
Today I have this scripture to share:



The refreshing "shade at your right hand"...so comforting, so enveloping. I can really appreciate this verse all the more this summer because our once shady lawn has been ravaged by consecutive droughts we've been experiencing and the loss of 5 trees over the past few months has left us bereft of the cooling shade that once protected our home from the burning heat. The shade used to envelop our home in its protective grasp, providing a cool haven from the searing sun. Now the effects of that sun has damaged the landscape almost beyond recognition.

One lone tree stand sentinel beside the house, evidence of its struggle to live is seen through its vanishing canopy. It just recently was given a death sentence by our arborist. Drought sucks the life out of living things just as evil and sucks the life out of the spirit of man. The world and the flesh seeks to draw man away from doing good and to seek after his own way which will lead farther and farther from God, his Maker. Therefore, cling to God, cling to his Word. Stay beneath His sheltering arms, the shade of His presence which protects us from the wiles of the enemy.

I was surfing around on some blogs and found this at Deanna's Cooking blog. I just wanted to share it here as well. The message is so powerful!

Tempt My Tummy, Tuesday

Lisa, over at Blessed with Grace is hosting this blog carnival today. I got motivated yesterday to bake up something special for today. Saturday, my husband and I enjoyed roaming through the city market and brought home a peck of Georgia belle peaches.
I looked in my new cookbook, The Book Lover's Cookbook, by Shaunda Kennedy Wenger and Janet Kay Jensen and found this wonderful recipe inspired by James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl, for the Great Heavens - Peach and Cranberry Crisp. The only problem was it called for fresh cranberries and mine are dried, so I used blueberries instead!

4 peaches, skins, pits, removed, sliced
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c all purpose flour, divided
11/2 c cranberries
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 t. butter
[1/3 c brown sugar 1/4 c quick cooking oats] for this I substituted 2 packets of brown sugar/ cinnamon instant oatmeal
1. Combine the peaches 1/2c. sugar and 1/4 c flour in a medium bowl. Toss to coat and set aside.

2. Place the cranberries, orange juice, and 1/2 c sugar in a medium pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in cornstarch. Add cranberry mixture to the peaches and stir to combine..
Pour peach cranberry filling into a 9 inch pie pan.
3. Combine butter, brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 c oats, in a bowl and mix with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly, then sprinkle over the dessert.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Dear husband loved it!!!

Top 100 Books to Read

Top 100 Books Meme
I received this Book Meme from Barbara who found it at Sara's of Much Ado About Something. The BBC began broadcasting this through 'The Big Read' in 2003. The National Endownment for the Arts in America estimates that the average adult has only read 6 of the books from this current list. As did Sara, and Barbara, I thought it would be fun to see how many I have read. If you want to take on this challenge, let me know and I will come and look at your scores.
1. ** those you have read **
2. Italicize those you intend to read
3. [Bracket] those you have viewed via movie, TV or theatre
1 **Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen **
2 [The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien]
3 **Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte **
4 [Harry Potter series - JK Rowling]
5 **To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee **
6 **The Bible **
7** Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte **
8 **Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell**
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10[Great Expectations - Charles Dickens]
11 [Little Women - Louisa M Alcott]
12 [Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy]
13[ Catch 22 - Joseph Heller]
14 [Complete Works of Shakespeare]
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 [The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien]
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 **Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell **
22 [The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald]
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24** War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy **
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 [Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh]
27 **Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky **
28 **Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck **
29 [Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll]
30 **The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame **
31 [Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy]
32 **David Copperfield - Charles Dickens **
33 [Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis]
34 [Emma - Jane Austen]
35 [Persuasion - Jane Austen]
36 **The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis **
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 [Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres]
39 [Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden ]
40 **Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne **
41 **Animal Farm - George Orwell **
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 **Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy**
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 **Lord of the Flies - William Golding **
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 [Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen]
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57** A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens**
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 [Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck]
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 [Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas]
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 [Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding]
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 [Moby Dick - Herman Melville]
71 **Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens **
72 Dracula - Bram Stoke
73 **The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett**
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 **Ulysses - James Joyce**
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 [A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens]
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 [The Color Purple - Alice Walker]
84 [The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro]
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 **Charlotte’s Web - EB White **
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 [Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 **Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad**
92** The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery**
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 **Watership Down - Richard Adams**
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 [The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas]
98 **Hamlet - William Shakespeare **
99 **Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl **
100 [Les Miserables - Victor Hugo]

Score:
read: 28
plan to read: 11
have seen in production:28
Interesting! Thank goodness for advanced English literature class! I pray there isnt going to be a test!I need to get to reading!!

Autumn in the Air and Arriving in the Home

There is a bit of autumn in the air. For August, the temps have been pleasant now for a few weeks. Not nearly the sweltering days I remember from other Augusts, but we still are experiencing a terrible drought. I am meeting with an arborist this week in an attempt to save the maple tree by our back door. It would wound me deeply to lose that tree. They're predicting the remnant of Fay to bring us rain this week. I'd love it to rain for a week.
Aside from the weather though, autumn has made its appearance here at home. I've been drying some flowers left over from some summer arangements and have put together a semi fall arrangement to meet me when I come in the back door.

The muted colors speak to me of the muted shades of violet and mossy green the mountains around here exhibit in the early, early fall.
I always associate September with Johnny Appleseed, -the elementary school teacher in me just can't give it up! My dining room table is a tribute to September !
The autumn fairy sprinkled fall around the living room today, also.
. Lest the neighbors fear that I am really rushing ahead of the calendar, I'll save the outside tumble into autumn for next week!

Best Shot, Monday

Tracey is hosting Best Shot, Monday. You will want to check in at her site to participate or see other fun fotos!

The Li'l Chef

This photo is very prophetic! Amanda at age two demonstrated her keen desire to create new menus and concoct savory dishes. Her desire hasnt changed in 21 years. She still aspires to be a chef with that same focused voracity that she exhibits in this photo!

The Simple Woman Daybook

For Today

Outside my Window... the morning sun has barely risen and there is a rosy glow o'er the horizon

I am thinking... I would love to meet some friends for coffee today!
I am thankful .... to be alive this morning. My life in the Lord, with the family, in our home, is so very blessed in every way!
From the kitchen... foods from God's summer bounty will be prepared. We are still enjoying our favorite corn on the cob, along with the wonderful kale we got at the market. we are getting some tomatoes for salads, and there is enough of the fresh bakery french bread for supper.I'm thinking of finding a special way to prepare my georgia belle peaches for dessert!
I am creating... I'm in a pensive mood today so its a great day for writing- eprhaps I'll journal or do some faithwriting today.
I am wearing... my jeans, and my yellow embroidered tee.
I am reading ... Consuming Fire by Kathleen Morgan- I'm savoring every word!
I am hoping... that the rain they are predicting- remnants of Kay- will actually materialize. we are desparate for rain here. We cannot afford to lose any more trees!
Plans for the rest of the week ... I have an appointment this week to get my hair foiled. It has been some months since I had it done and it is I might say a tad overdue.

I am hearing... the strains of Adagios for Strings, so amazingly moving!It fairly takes my breath away!!

Around the house... today I need to continue do laundry. We had allowed it to go too long last week. Still have a pile to do. and the ironing!
One of my favorite things.... certainly not ironing.... but I do love to see all my clothes hung crisply on their racks hanging in an organized closet. My closet was so jumbled and so overstuffed for so long I forgot waht organization looked like.
A Picture I thought I'd share today...

This is my sunroom where I do my bird watching. It has been so dry and harsh outside the birds are suffering. I have been keeping the birdbath full of water and a suet feeder hanging on my birdhouse. I'm sure the birds will enjoy the weather changes that are predicted!

Dreams of Eilean Donan

1000 Gifts

I am so thankful for these and many more blessing:
169. times spent with Amanda and Joshua along with my parents
170. safe traveling mercies out and about this week
171. that my dad is feeling better and is regaining his interests in doing small projects about the house and in his crafting. He is making birdhouses again- at 89!
172. that Mother has such a deep desire to stay active and productive in the community and church in her condition(arthritis)
173. Lynn and I were actually able to sleep in this morning -a real rarity-we slept til 9
174. our morning jaunt to the city market where we bought a basket of Georgia Belle peaches and freah baked french bread!YuM!!
175. that Lynn and I went to Ukrops for the first time - and Lynn really liked it. We bought some delicious freshly cooked jumbo shrimp! Great bargain!
176. the rest of our day was relaxing and just a pleasant day doing nothing much, indeed--lovely
177. got to go to the ballgame on a most beautiful evening and watch the fireworks

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Tonight was the next to the last Avalanche homegame of the season. And next year it will be a whole new team in conjunction with the Boston Red Sox. It was such a beautiful afternoon and we heard they were shooting off fireworks so we jumped in the SUV and headed on over to the stadium. There were over 6,000 in attendance which is something for this team. They were playing the Frederick Keys and had beat them soundly last night. Everyone's favorite mascot, Mugsy was up to his usual antics!


We enjoyed the ever advancing evening as the sky gradually lost its brightness and melted into various hues of violet and umber.

The game was pretty exciting, tied 2-2 until the 6th inning when the other team had an amazing inning with 7 runs. We just couldnt do anything right after that!
And then it was time for the fireworks. There was a grand finale, and some really great blasts and beautiful displays, but my camera just wouldnt catch them! It was a fun evening, though!