Happy Homemaker Monday

 

Hosted by  Sandra!

Lately, we have been   trying to get some new plantings  in the ground.  I purchased a beautiful mandevilla   and  Lynn installed a trellis for it,  and   when we returned from church Sunday,  it was already broken down.  Footprints on the ledge  beside our garage where I have a raised flower bed,  proved  a deer or something had traipsed through there while we were gone!!!😡😟😭  We have been trying to  keep the bird feeders going to bring song birds to our yard. but the squirrels   have been  invading  the feeders..    The deer  nibble  the blooms off of our roses and lilies,  we  just can't seem to get ahead. I plan  to purchase a couple of  deterrent  gadgets in the garden   to  scare off the deer and squirrels;  it is sold by amazon and emits a high tone that is supposed to scare them off.   If anyone else has a good idea  I am all ears!!

♥ ♥ Weather ♥♥

I think  we had better enjoy this  cooler weather while we can.. I keep hearing  that this super El Nino will bring  hot   miserable summer!!!   WAH!!

Monday -showers, 75/57

Tuesday - partly cloudy, 79/62

Wednesday - cloudy,  82/60

Thursday -sunny, 84/65

Friday -  sunny, 87/62

Saturday- rain, 84/64

♥♥ As I look outside my window ♥♥ 

It is pretty dreary and  rain is in the forecast!!

♥♥ Right now I am ♥♥ 

I am contemplating  how to spruce up the sunroom.  It is the first room  one sees as they enter our home. and it looks  so wintery..  I am tired of the dark colors and  the sad  decor.. I have plans,  but convincing hubs has been a chore!!!  So I must take it just a tiny step at a time. and hope he  gets with the program!!!

♥♥ Thinking and pondering ♥♥  

Our family is  visiting the last week of June for 4 days and I am hoping to make 4 days seem more like  7.  I miss them so much.  I want everything to be  as great as possible!!

♥♥How am I feeling ♥♥ 

Aside from seasonal allergies I am doing quite well!!!

♥♥ On the breakfast plate ♥

I had my fruited yogurt and  coffee.  Yay, for me.  I  have started enjoying my coffee with no sweetener!!  I  do not like  any artificial sweeteners!

♥♥ On the dinner plate ♥♥

Grilled chicken salad!

♥♥ What I'm wearing ♥♥ 

My  loden green tee  with  light lime  calypso top over  tied in front.   and white   capris!

 ♥♥ On my reading pile ♥♥

Chapters from  Dueteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah,  Revelation

♥♥On my TV this week ♥♥ 

Youtube channels,  for example , Location, Location, Location,  Escape to the Country,   and The Food Network, and HGTV, old seasons of Father KNows Best..  I am a sucker for the old shows!!!Also, hubs and I enjoy watching the old Dick Van Dyke program before bedtime! This never changes  because  usually there is nothing on the  regular channels that interests me!I will watch Endeavor which starts again this Sunday!

♥♥ Looking around the house ♥♥

There is a lot to be done in the sunroom  if I am going to  spring and summer it up!  WHOA!  A big job!  

♥♥A Favorite Vlog ♥♥

 

The Daily Connoisseur  is  a  lovely  vlog to get inspired!

 ♥♥ To Do List ♥ ♥

• 
  
• Do my exercises
•  work upstairs  and in the sun room
• visit my sweet little cousin. 
• daily Bible reading
• luncheon with my 6 Sisters
• 
  
• ♥ ♥♥ From the  camera ♥ ♥
• 
  
  
  Over the weekend I threw open the sashes and     enjoyed the sunlight coming into the den..  it was great fun to watch the birds at the feeder!!!
  
  
  
  I, also, love how the trailing petunias  are  beginning to spill over their  containers!!!
  
  

Devotional

Summer Mindset

Thoughts on Colossians 3:2

Article by 

John Piper

Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

Jesus Christ is refreshing. Flight from him into Christless leisure makes the soul parched. At first it may feel like freedom and fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the Word. But then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit. 

Don’t let summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute. If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don’t fall in love with the mailman. That’s what summer is: God’s messenger with a sun-soaked, tree-green, flower-blooming, lake-glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning for us in the age to come—“things which the eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Don’t fall in love with the video preview, and find yourself unable to love the coming reality. 

Jesus Christ is the refreshing center of summer. He is pre-eminent in all things (Colossians 1:18), including vacations and picnics and softball and long walks and cookouts. He invites us this summer: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). This is serious summer refreshment. 

Do we want it? That is the question. Christ gives himself to us in proportion to how much we want his refreshment. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). One of the reasons for having Evening Renewal Gatherings every other Sunday evening is to say to the Lord corporately: we want all your refreshment. We really want it. 

Peter’s word to us about this is: “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Repentance is not just turning away from sin, but also turning toward the Lord with hearts open and expectant and submissive. 

What sort of summer mindset is this? It is the mindset of Colossians 3:1-2, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” 

In the summer the earth is very much with us. And it is God’s earth! But it is all prelude to the real drama of heaven. It is a foretaste of the real banquet. It is a video preview to the reality of what the eternal summer will be like when “The city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23). So you see: the summer sun is a mere pointer to the sun that will be. The glory of God. Summer is for seeing and showing that. Will we have eyes to see? Do you want to have eyes to see? Lord, let us see the light beyond the light. Seek that this summer. 

Seeking more, because I have been found,

John Piper

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing    Hosted by Bev!

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves

Stolen from SwapBot

*Have you tried anything new this year?

Yes, I have joined in with  the online  art group, Sketchbook Skool!  I love it so much.  I have almost finished my first sketchbook.  Soon I will begin a Nature Journal in my next  book!

*What would you do if you don’t have wifi for a week?

I would read. I have  about 4 books awaiting me.

*Do you like summer, why or why not?As a teacher, I loved summer.  I enjoyed time off at home.  But I despise the heat and humidity of summer.  I spend most of the day in air conditioning now!

*What’s one restaurant that you like in your city? what food do they sell?Well, I have two..  Szechuan  is our favorite Chinese place,  and Pueblo Chico Grill is our  yummiest Mexican ~

*Do you prefer digital book or real paper book?Absolutely, a real book for me.  I have to hold a real book to enjoy  reading!

*What’s one thing that you are interested to buy, but it’s a bit expensive, so you haven’t bought yet? Well, I would love to get a home generator, but doubt we ever will! More realistically, gosh, I can't even think of anything.. we really don't need much else... I would love to buy  some new makeup  but what I  would like to have   is  pretty  pricey so I don't even mention it to  hubs!!!

*What tea brands do you like?I only doing iced tea   while eating out these days,   so I am not brewing my tea,  but I do love Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng..  in a jug from  the grocer! Yum!

  I do love hot teas,, and I mostly love Traditional English Breakfast tea!

*What’s one food that you can binge eating a lot? Well, I shouldn't but if I were still doing it I could binge  on buttered popcorn,  or   Mexican corn chips with cheese.. so bad!!!

*Write one random thing that happened to you this month.I mail ordered a lovely pair of sandals    that  I think were misrepresented.  They are supposedly from a reputable brand,  but the soles are so slick I'm afraid to wear them.   Bummer!!  When will I learn!

*How many long-term penpals do you have right now? (people who pen pal with you for more than 3 years)I only ever had 1 penpal,  in high school through y Spanish class. I  got  a young man in Brazil.  He was so nice.  He sent me a package of all kinds of things    from Brazil.  I think he must have been rich.  I was overwhelmed and got rather  scared.. I  fixated on what was I going to do.  I couldn't afford to reciprocate.   I  was too dumb to send it back and really did not want any of  it., So I never wrote him back except for that first letter I wrote   to him before he wrote to me with  the gifts. I have felt guilty about it for so long!   I know I gave him a very distasteful opinion of  Americans!  

😢😟😖

*If you own a small food trailer, what food do you want to sell?  I think it would be a quiche truck.. Well, I make  great quiches and have the recipes  memorized!

*What’s one handmade gift that you received and really liked ?Our daughter made some pottery in high school and gave us for Christmas.  We treasure it. Oh, my grandmother knit me a tam  when I was in college and I treasure it as well.  It still looks brand new,  yet I wear it every winter on cold brisk days!!

*What’s your ideal Saturday like?Quiet, with nothing much on our list to do.  It has been my day of rest and I haven't changed even after 20 years of retirement!

*What things do you like to buy on Etsy?I have bought vintage china pieces that match my collections! I love blue transfer ware!

*What kind asian food do you like? Garlic Chicken,  General's Chicken.   I love Thai  food, Pad Thai.  I  do not go for sushi.  Yuck! 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9 hosted by Samantha

Thursday, June 8, 2023

Big Spender

Welcome to Saturday: 9. 

Saturday 9: Big Spender (1966)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.


1) In this song, Peggy Lee invites a gentleman to join her for fun, laughs, and a good time. What will you be doing for fun this weekend?Maybe doing a friend's yard sale on Saturday, and  church and hopefully the Mexican restaurant after on Sunday!!

2) Peggy was blessed with perfect pitch. It's estimated that just 1 in 10,000 has this gift. Tell us about something that comes naturally to you.   Art comes pretty easy for me.  I love to draw, and create things! I, also, have some  ability  for  home interiors!

3) Peggy was an influential performer whose fans included singers as diverse as Carly Simon, Petula Clark, and Joni Mitchell. Bette Midler even did a Peggy Lee tribute album. What songstress do you listen to most often? At this stage of life I rarely listen to  songs with singing.  I prefer  instrumental,  but I do love Laura Story   in this song!

4) Paul McCartney was also a big Peggy Lee fan. In the 1970s he was invited to meet her in her London home. He arrived with a carefully chosen hostess gift: a bottle of champagne and an original song ("Let's Love") which she recorded and he produced. Have you more recently given or received a gift?   IN our church we have had two important weddings  the daughter and then the son of the pastor.  So yes, we  gave wedding gifts to the two couples!  Both gifts were rather utilitarian,.. One was  set of pyrex bowl with lids and the other was a set of cookware!  Not very glamorous but useful for a young couple with nothing!

5) Cy Coleman wrote the music to "Big Spender." Unlike Peggy Lee, who never took a music lesson, Coleman was classically trained and studied composition, conducting, and orchestration at New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts and at the New York College of Music. If you could take classes in anything that interested you, what would you choose to learn more about? I would love to learn more about water color painting,.   I usually pick things up quickly.  I took oil painting after I retired and I have several of my  pieces framed around the house.  But watercolors   are a different  thing entirely. I try to pick up what I can online, but lessons would be beneficial!

6) Coleman met lyricist Dorothy Fields by chance, at a party. Though Fields was more than 20 years his senior, they hit it off immediately and he invited her to work with him. Their collaboration resulted in two Broadway shows including Sweet Charity, which featured "Big Spender." Think about the person you spent the most time with last week. Were they older, younger or about the same age as you?  Well, without a doubt that would be hubby, Lynn! He is a year older than I!

7) In 1966, when disc jockeys were playing this record, consumers were discovering garage door openers. These transistorized devices weren't cheap. Typically about $150 in 1966, that would be more than $1,000 in today's dollars. These days garage door openers are far more affordable and common. Can you think of something that was a luxury item when you were a kid that today you take for granted?

All I can think of  is  the stand mixer.  Oh, how I wanted one.. especially after  taking home ec, and using all the latest gadgets.,  but mom had grown up on the farm and   new fangled ideas were lost on her. Then once I was married I couldn't afford one  for years! I finally got one after I retired, yet again.  (Life for me began at retirement it seems!)Well, I  was planning on spending quality time in the kitchen     while our daughter was still at home.  Now I do take it for granted,  but still love using it!!!

8) 1966 found Jacqueline Susann atop the best seller list with her steamy novel, Valley of the Dolls. Though it was savaged by critics, countless Americans enjoyed the book. Do you have a similar guilty pleasure? Is there a book, movie, TV show or song you enjoy, even though you know it has little artistic merit?
Well, lately I am loving the older  sitcoms.  I mean really old, like Father Knows Best and Dick Van Dyke.  I love watching them on Youtube  at bedtime!


9) Random question: When at a Mexican restaurant, what's your go-to order?  It used to be  Arroz con Pollo, but now  with WW, I must watch my points so  I love  the grilled chicken quesadilla without cheese.  I smear  some salsa on it  for flavor and then I order a tossed salad with slices of guacamole on it!    Very tasty!

Friday Fave Five

Welcome to FFF!  Hosted by Susanne!

This is  the season of so many  wonderful  things happening..  only only in nature  but  well, everywhere.  I know I have many praises!!

Time seems to be flying by... Goodness I joined Weight Watchers three  weeks ago and I am so hopeful that  tomorrow when I return to  class that I will get my second  5 pound  off  charm, because I am pretty sure  I will have lost 10 pounds by tomorrow!

I really am enjoying Weight Watchers this time around.  Well, I joined way back in the 80's    when I was in my 30's, ...but now we have computers that  keep track of everything.   Recipes are easily stored,  and  it is  actually  fun to track  your daily  menus  by  the number of points eaten  and  it makes   things much easier!!  I am thankful to my friend Gerri for suggesting  that we  do this,  I know it will have a great impact on my life and health!

Yard work has really given me a great reason to get outside more, especially during this cooler weather!!!  We  purchased some new plantings this season... 2 limelight hydrangeas, 

 a mandevilla, 

a meadow rue shrub

I am getting excited to see them  take root and  bring beauty and life to our  yard!!!  Praise God for His fabulous Creation!

With  my  regained interest in getting things done round the house I was actually able over several days to  take the guest room apart.,  work through  winter/ summer clothing,  purge  2 and 1/2 trash bags of clothing,  and  am ready now to  redecorate   in anticipation of  our  daughter's family  visit the last week of June!  I am  so thankful that will be us  for those days.   I pray all will be good and  their travels will be safe and they arrive happy and well!

As they live in New England,  this photo of our family was taken  at the Boston- VT basketball game last  December. 

 Music is very important to our family.  Daughter and her hubby  met  learning to play the violin and now they play in their    Park Street Church orchestra in Boston.   Thankfully,  now the girls are taking music..   and I am  so delighted to be able to  see and hear them  perform!

Candy on Tuesday 4

Candy!
Hosted by Annie!


Another Tuesday has arrived bringing you another Tuesday 4 kept in memory of Toni Taddeo. Let's discuss sweets.. candy, cakes, pies, pastries, all manner of confections.

1. What are your favorite candies?I  really like Maple Nut Chews, and anything chocolate!

2. What kind of pie, cake and pastry tempts you the most? I would    pay just about any amount for  one more slice of my grandma's  caramel cake!

3. How often do you have dessert? Or how often do you bake goodies?I only  consider baking  when our kids are visiting.   Lynn, nor I, should be  eating too many sweets!  But  we do bake at Christmas!

4. Your choice for dessert today: You know Annie, you are killing me!!!!  I an on my second week of weight watchers!

New York Cheesecake
Tiramisu
Cannolis
Chocolate Mud Pie
Creme Brulee
Hot Apple Pie with Ice Cream
Churros con Chocolate
Big Brownie with hot fudge sauce, ice cream and whipped cream.

Which one are you picking from this menu?

Well, I  have to choose from  these two.. I would love the same Creme Brûlée  I enjoyed at Ruth's Chris

or the  Cannolis  from Mike's Bakery in Boston!!

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

 

Hosted by  Sandra!

The weather lately has been fluctuating quite a bit!  Hot one day, cold the next. Today is starting out cold and turning hot this afternoon!😳

♥ ♥ Weather ♥♥

Monday -partly cloudy, 81/53

Tuesday - partly cloudy, 84/62

Wednesday - cloudy,  74/54

Thursday -partly cloudy, 76/52

Friday -  cloudy, 78/54

Saturday- rain, 82/63

♥♥ As I look outside my window ♥♥ 

It is still rather dark, of course, it is quite early.  I was up around 5 , it is now something to 6. I am beginning to hear cars passing by.m

♥♥ Right now I am ♥♥ 

I am working on this post sitting in the living room in my reading chair, with my feet propped up on the hassock.I am so comfy, I feel like I may have a bit of a doze in my near future!

♥♥ Thinking and pondering ♥♥  

It is now  mid afternoon and I  am rather pooped.  Ive  worked for over an hour in the  bedroom .. (guest room)  putting winter clothes away.   purging 2 bags full of  clothing that is now too large for me. And  trying to put things away in an organized  fashion;   At my age and infirmity,  which is slowly improving an hour is about all I can  expend at a time.  Since our family is coming  late June  for 4 days,  the clock is ticking for me to  get this in good order and have time to  do a bit of redecorating!

♥♥How am I feeling ♥♥ 

With my  new diet,    I am finding   that  pushing myself   doing  harder jobs  is  not a picnic..  I came downstairs to work on this  sort of famished,  so I am eating a cucumber!....  very slowly to make it last!

♥♥ On the breakfast plate ♥

My usual fruited yogurt with a dash of walnut crumbles on top  and a cup of  coffee!  On WW  that is 10  of my  34 daily points!

♥♥ On the dinner plate ♥♥

I am making a  low count veggie   tomato sauce  to eat over  a small  serving of pasta and a tossed salad. Thankfully,  veggies  are mostly pointless depending on how they're   cooked or dressed!

♥♥ What I'm wearing ♥♥ 

A pair of tan shorts and a red tee!

 ♥♥ On my reading pile ♥♥

Chapters from  Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah  Revelation

♥♥On my TV this week ♥♥ 

Youtube channels,  for example , Location, Location, Location,  Escape to the Country,   and The Food Network, and HGTV, old seasons of Father KNows Best..  I am a sucker for the old shows!!!Also, hubs and I enjoy watching the old Dick Van Dyke program before bedtime! This never changes  because  usually there is nothing on the  regular channels that interests me!

♥♥ Looking around the house ♥♥

I finally got the Easter decor packed away and have  decorated the lower level with  lovely early summer  dressing in blues and    a bit of hot pink and yellows!  in the   flowers here and there! I am so pleased to have gotten this far along!

♥♥A Favorite Vlog ♥♥

  I am loving   learning how to do loose  water color techniques. and this is a favorite!

Sorry, not really a vlog  but this is jsut so grand!!!

 ♥♥ To Do List ♥ ♥

• hope to plant  my limelight hydrangea  this week.
• Do my exercises
•  work upstairs
• visit my sweet little cousin. 
• daily Bible reading
• Prayer group
• 
  
• ♥ ♥♥ From the  camera ♥ ♥
• Some bits and pieces of my blue decor!

Devotional

Sunday Stealing

Hosted by Bev!

Stolen from League of Extraordinary penpals

1. What are your plans for June

    a.  3 medical appointments

    b.   2 lunch dates with various groups

    c.   3 days of in-depth Bible Study

    d.  1  very special  morning  coffee get together with  a team of prayer warriors  I                  

          used to meet  regularly with,  followed by a  wonderful prayer session

    e. 4 glorious days  with our daughter's family as they  come here to visit both

          sets of us parents   

2. Your mid year resolutions or goals  Now that I am  an official member of WW I do hope to have lost   about  20 pounds by mid July! In two weeks I'd lost 8 pounds so far. 

3. Are you good at taking care of plants I  want to be,  but can be forgetful.  I need to do some watering  today!

4. What makes you feel nourished?  When I am caught up on my BIble daily reading.  I am couple days behind as I sit here.

5. Which animals do you see most in your area.. that one is easy  and a bane of my life.  we have  a zillion  chipmunks..  digging holes  everywhere.  I used to love them,  but now they' re a nuisance.  And we have herds of deer  travel through  our yard in the evenings eating everything in sight. They decimated my roses  and   I am extremely upset over them. I called our city  to see what  they' re going to do about them...  they said, "Nothing!"Last year they ate the all of the  veg  we planted.

6. Books on your summer reading list  I do not have any ... I do have a couple books I hope to read....  but not a list!

7. Projects you want to tackle this summer ...I  have the ongoing  project of decluttering.  I have  a bag full of old winter clothes after I changed out my seasonal  clothing.  I could always  clear out a few old books and magazines  I know I will never read.  And downstairs   we have a bit of decluttering to do once again.  We do some every summer!  I have a dream of painting the sunroom. When we moved here I loved the cherry panelling.  But now it is so dark and  just not in style anymore,   so I  want to paint it a bright  off white and  also paint the hutch a lovely color,  like  a  soft teal.   But I haven't convinced hubs yet!

8. Do you have weddings, graduations, summer celebrations.  I do not attend our family reunion anymore. It just isn't fun now that now of my aunts are there!

9. Which summer snacks are you excited to enjoy again

Well, I made a  wonderful  watermelon, strawberry  cherry, blueberry salad last week for a dinner I went to,  and we are still munching on the left over fruits.  We bought too much, actually,  SO that would be my favorite summer treat!

10. How much time do you like to take for vacations. Well, even when we did Ireland and Scotland it was for 2 weeks.  so I  think that is  surely long enough!  Now if I was vacationing with my family  I could go one and on. I miss them so much!!

11. How much has changed since last summer?

Gotten a year older and  I  don't like to say,  but  a bit more  infirm.  but I have to work on it every day!

12. Something that would be out of character for you...Hard to say, I can be quite a character at times!

13. What do you miss about winter?Nothing really... one season  runs into another at this age.  Each day is much the same.

14. Your favorite free / cost effective ways to have fun.  Not exactly free,  supplies involved,  but they do last a long time..I'd have to say art.. I love to do art.. and am looking forward to starting my nature journal  soon!

15. Who do you trust most to house & pet sit  Ive never  had  anyone to sit for anyone but our daughter decades ago.  I don't think it will ever come up.   All of the folks whom I really trust now    are  in the same shape Im in.    But if it were a short term thing. I know I could trust  Gerri and David, along with Dottie and Bill!