A Meek Perspective

My Favorite 25: The Blogs I Read

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Blogs are now popping up everywhere. Links are on Facebook, Twitter, websites, newspapers, and even magazines. Blogs for me have replaced magazines. The words written by you inspire me, change me, teach me and encourage me.

I love reading blogs! In fact, I love reading these blogs much more than I love writing one! Writing a blog is something that I constantly struggle with: How much of my personal life should I disclose, why am I doing this, does anyone read what I write, what is my purpose here? Sometimes I just wonder.... But reading blogs is pure pleasure.

I normally pack my lunch and eat at my desk in my office. My entertainment during this time is reading My Favorite 25 blogs. Well...actually 26. My favorite blog of all time...hands down...is The Pioneer Woman. The only problem with her blog is I can't program her link into my Google Reader. So, I have set up a folder in my Google Reader with these 25 blogs. When I log into Google Reader, My Favorite 25 are current - updated but with the blogs I have yet to read still waiting for me. After I read the current blogs, they disappear so I always know what I have read and what is left to catch up on. My Favorite 25 list does change from time to time. Sometimes I find a blog isn't fitting into my interests and when I find another blog I enjoy more, I will replace it. I try to keep this list to 25 because 25 seems to be a good amount of reading material for my lunch break. Not everyone posts daily which works well for the time allotted for my lunch.

I find I am drawn to several categories of blogs. My Favorite 25 fall under five different categories: Decorating, Housekeeping, Health, Organization, and Inspiration. Some blogs deal with just one of these while others cover several categories at once.

I will be introducing you to these 25 blogs through my eyes during the next several week. As some of you know, I am an accountant and tax season is just now beginning. I will be much busier than usual and to have my blog planned out for the next couple of months should help me get posts out more timely instead of taking up to four months off. I sent emails to each of the writers of My Favorite 25 and asked several questions to make these post more personal for you. Many replied and I will be sharing those answers with you.

I'll leave you with a picture from our Alabama Snow last winter in January 2011. This is a view from the back field of our farm looking toward the back of the house and barn. You can just see a little bit of the partially frozen pond between the house and field. The sheep were being "sissies" that day and staying warm and dry in the barn. How I would love to have some snow this year! Not likely...it was 63 degrees today!

Enjoy winter!

Judy :)

Road Trip: Lobelville, TN

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

...and Linden and Parsons, TN and Cypress Inn, AL.

My husband has been under the weather for the past couple of months, so I was thrilled when he announced he was ready for a little road trip. He had his taste buds set on molasses and the best molasses are made by the Amish. I had just purchased a new camera and was itching to try it out, so we headed for Lobelville, TN and the little Amish settlement there on the morning of New Years Eve. From Alabama, Lobelville is just past Linden so Linden was our first stop. We were searching for coffee and found a little cafe open in The Commodore Hotel on their main street.

About a month ago, we saw a Groupon ad for The Commodore Hotel so we did know a little about it. After the gentleman poured our coffee, we complimented him on how nice the hotel was looking. He asked us if we would like tour and we happily agreed. (Of course, I had left my camera in the truck!) He showed us the bedrooms upstairs and explained some of the history of the old hotel. It has about eight bedrooms that have all been recently restored. The Commodore would be a nice weekend retreat.

With coffee in hand, we set out for Lobelville and turned off on a side road with signs pointing toward molasses. We saw all of the usual sights when you enter an Amish community: horse drawn wagons, children in their blue shirts, dark trousers, suspenders, blue dresses and aprons. The men with their long beards, and the women with their hair bonnets. I would love to have taken some pictures of them, especially the horses and wagons, but did not have a chance without invading their privacy. Maybe another time. I did take the following pictures of their farms and homesteads. Notice the absence of electrical lines. I love seeing smoke coming from their chimneys.

We found our molasses and also purchased some blackberry and raspberry jam. (Just to let you know... homemade buttermilk biscuits were made to try out our new purchases after we got home and it was all delicious!)

On the way back, we drove through Parsons, TN so we could drive across the new bridge over the Tennessee River to Clifton, TN. When our son was a baby, we used to attend church in Clifton, TN. Right before we moved to Georgia this bridge was projected to be built. So, the bridge was actually "new" to us, but is now about 15 years old! The drive from Clifton to Parsons was made so much easier and the bridge affords a nice view.

We ended up on the Natchez Trace on our way home, so I asked my husband to drive past this old country store at Cypress Inn, AL. This store is about 5 miles from our house and I had always wanted to photograph it. The day was beautiful with blue skies and sunshine and I was pleased with the outcome.

When we arrived home, we needed to check a new lamb who was born right before we left on our road trip that morning.

As you can see, the new lamb and mom were doing just fine!

Judy :)

It's A New Year

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Reflecting on 2011 and making plans for 2012.

Judy :)

Our 2011 Christmas Letter - Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays2011 from the Meek Family

Greetingsto our dear friends and family,

2011was another busy year with new phases, BIG changes and transition.

Ourfamily survived Joseph’s case of senioritis and we all enjoyed his achievementas he graduated from Mars Hill Bible School in May. We were glad to have several family memberscome be a part of his graduation. Hissenior year of high school was a busy one with the same cast of characters Soccer, ShowChoir and Chorus. His class also made aspring break trip to New York, NY. He hada very busy social calendar this past summer. He spent many nights with friends; we think to prepare us for beingempty nesters. He began his first year of studies at Harding University inSearcy, Arkansas. We wish him well as hestarts his college experience and pursuing future dreams.

Judyhas increased her work to full-time for Leigh, King & Associates. College expenses are now a reality so we hopeto survive physically and financially the next 3/12 years. Hint…Joseph we wantyou to graduate on time! She continuesto enjoy part-time searching for antiques. In addition to Facebook, Judy has entered her second year as a blogger. You now can catch up on our family, farm, andnews at http://ameekperspective.blogspot.com. Judy finally convinced Charlie to spend alittle time on our farm instead of traipsing over AL, NE MS and TN shearingcritters so we planted a small garden this year. While the planting was later than desired ourefforts yielded a pleasant harvest of radishes, corn, okra, tomatoes, fieldpeas, and lima beans. The rabbits enjoyed the green beans so next year we willhave to add a fence to curtail their appetite.

Well…thepossible budget cuts that we always mentioned to our close friends each year,as concerns, became a reality this year. Congress cut the RC&D Program on April 15^th for which Charliehad served since Sept of 1996. So withonly a 24 hour notice the run with RC&D was over and Charlie had to workother programs. The Agency offered earlyretirement due to the cuts and Charlie felt it was time to say goodbye to USDAand try something else. August 31 washis last day and he turned the page to new dreams. In July Charlie celebrated 30 years withSCS/NRCS so it was a good run. Postretirement Charlie is VERY thankful that he is able to work part-time for the NorthwestAL RC&D Council. 2011 continued his6th year of service as the minister of the Hawk Pride church of Christ in ColbertCounty; it is Charlie’s desire to assist this congregation and community in anexpanded capacity. The work at HawkPride has been a JOY with new additions and restorations in 2011. Hawk Pridehas a Facebook page so please visit them via social media to see how the workis doing. As Charlie has struggled with some nagging health issues (Epstein BarrVirus and two oral surgery events,) the brethren at Hawk Pride have gone theextra mile in helping us in our time of need including driving Charlie to doctorappointments, house cleaning, feeding the sheep, delivering loads of hay forthe sheep not to mention encouragement and prayers. At the time of this letter Charlie isrecovering from oral surgery and some side effects of the medications he wastaking for the surgery. The shearing side-businesscontinued in 2011 (5^th year) facing the similar dilemma ofscheduling appointments for too many clients (sheep, llamas and alpacas) anddriving lots of miles. Thanks to havingthe assistance of another shearer (Bret, that we mentioned last year) the mileswere less than past years and production has been more efficient with twopeople shearing on most sites.

Wewish everyone a safe and happy holiday season! May God Bless each and everyone!

MerryChristmas,

Charlie,Judy and Joseph Meek

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Judy :)

Christmas Decorations 2011

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas decorations this year were much more simple. I pulled out very few decorations and filled in with greenery from our farm. The feel is more open and less cluttered.

I simply added a ribbon to the front door wreath this year. The ribbon is just woven in and around the branches...very simple yet effective.

Pine branches were added to the mantel with small antique ornaments in a crystal dish with the nutcrackers.

We added a "Noel" banner this year made of red ticking, burlap and ribbon. You can purchase one like this at my cousin, Diane's Etsy Shop.

We filled our dough bowl with pine cones from a tree that fell on the back of our farm. A simple branch of pine with a little tuft tucked in the pinecones was all that was needed for a great dining room centerpiece. The jar with greenery is filled with our trimmings left over after decorating. This makes the pine and cedar handy for including with gift wrap tied with twine.

I thought the tree needed more garland than just our cranberry beads. This year I added rope as a second garland. It suits our lifestyle and keeps our tree more casual.

This is a closeup of the rope and beads.

Enjoy your Christmas Eve to the fullest!

Judy :)

Christmas With Nature

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday afternoon, my husband and I had chance to walk to the back of our small farm to cut greenery for decorating our home for the holidays. I find myself more and more wanting to simplify not only Christmas, but also my entire life...maybe this comes with approaching a half century in age. Last year I wrote about Holding Off Christmas and after reading my post again, we have pretty much stuck to the same Christmas schedule this year.

Low Fog - Early December 2011 Morning

I wanted tobring more of nature into our decorations this year. We used to purchasea "real" Christmas tree every year and the smell was so wonderful. It soon became so much easier to have an artificial tree but I reallymissed that pine scent. We walked to the back of our property and clippedboughs of cedar, pine, and privet berries. The smell was wonderful andthe greenery in our home looks very festive.

We had some sweet help on our walk from our Craiglist Kitties.

See our kitten, Percy, playing under the pine boughs?

I will post a few pictures of our decorations later in the week when I am home during the daylight to take pictures.

Have a good week as you finish your last minute Christmas details.

Judy :)

Coconut Cake

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Tracey, who blogs at Notes From A Cottage Industry -- one of my favorite 25 blogs, had a recipe for My easy-peasy-tastes-like-scratch version of Coconut cake. I love coconut cake. Tracey's blog post was published around the time I was already considering the Real Food Pledge so I decided to make this recipe from scratch...so you can call this recipe the "Not So Easy-Peasy But Tastes Better Than Scratch Coconut Cake." :)

Actually, my mother-in-law made the absolutely most wonderful Coconut Cake from scratch even down to the grating of the real coconut and using the fresh coconut milk to moisten the cake after it was baked. My mouth begins watering just thinking about it. I have the recipe for it and plan to someday try to bake one just like hers. But until then, this recipe is really. really. good.

I decided to use the White Cake recipe my mother-in-law used in her "real" coconut cake.

First, toast about 2 1/2 to 3 cups of coconut in the oven. Tracey suggests 425 degrees for 5 minutes, then stir, and let toast for another 5 minutes. This worked perfectly.

White Cake:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup shortening (I have been substituting Coconut Oil {which is a solid} and it works great with no Trans Fatty Acids.)
1 cup milk
3 eggs whites (or 2 whole eggs - which is what I usually use)
1 tsp of vanilla
1 Tbsp coconut flavoring

Combine ingredients in the order listed. I divided the batter into three 9" pans (or you can do two 8" pans and cut into four layers as Tracey did). I prepare my pans with cooking spray and then cut out parchment circles to fit my pans...cakes never stick to pans when parchment paper is used. Bake at 350 degree for 25 - 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes and remove to wire racks for cooling.

While the cake is baking, prepare your coconut filling.

The coconut filling is from The New Pillsbury Family Cookbook I received as a wedding gift in 1987 -- not so "new" any more.

Coconut Filling:

1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut flavoring
3/4 cup of toasted coconut

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in milk, blending until smooth. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Blend a small amount of hot mixture with 1 beaten egg. Return the mixture to saucepan, mixing well. Cook just until the mixture starts to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, coconut flavoring and toasted coconut. Allow to cool.

I used Tracey's Coconut Buttercream Frosting but made a smaller amount since I only made 3 layers:

3/4 bag of confectioners sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 Tbsp coconut flavoring
Milk to thin to desired consistency

Beat all ingredients together adding milk to desired consistency. For this recipe, I prefer the frosting a little thinner than most frostings on cakes.

Assemble the coconut cake:

Place one cake layer on a decorative plate. Pipe a fat bead of frosting all around the cake (great idea Tracey!) and fill the inside area with half of the coconut filling. Sprinkle toasted coconut over filling. Top with the next cake layer and do the same using the remaining coconut filling. Top with final cake layer and frost with the remaining buttercream. Sprinkle with remaining toasted coconut. Just as Tracey states, you do not need to frost the sides because the cake is already just gorgeous.

This cake is a wonderfully moist coconut cake. I love the creamy texture of the coconut filling with the cake and buttercream frosting. Add a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk and you have the perfect dessert for any holiday or birthday.

Enjoy! I did.

Judy :)

Disclaimer: Although this recipe is made from scratch, it is not a "diet" recipe!

And The Winner Is....

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

Ruffles and Relics who said,

"I usually put my tree up Thanksgiving evening when all the kiddos are home.. "

I will be sending the winner an email. You can visit the Ruffles and Relics blog here.

Thank you to everyone for participating in the giveaway. I truly appreciate each and everyone of you who stops by occasionally to read what our family has been up to.

Thank you also to White Flower Farmhouse for all of their help organizing and setting

up this giveaway. Lori and Lisa, you are the best!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Judy :)

Giveaway: White Flower Farmhouse

2011-12-04T19:26:00.001-06:00

**This Giveaway Is Now Closed.**

Because this blog has finally past its 10,000th page view and because I love everyone of you for stopping by here from time to time, I am having a giveaway! AND I am excited to be able to offer you a gift from White Flower Farmhouse, one of my favorite internet stores.

White Flower Farmhouse is owned by Lori who also blogs at Frugal Farmhouse Design. She certainly has a gift for turning everyday items into wonderful decorative pieces. She finds vintage and salvaged items and resells them at White Flower Farmhouse. It is like having your own personal shopper at estate sales and antique malls! I, personally, have purchased a dough bowl and antique Christmas ornaments from her shop and absolutely love them. The dough bowls sits on my dining room table all year round with a constantly changing assortment of items inside to be displayed. The Christmas ornaments remind me so much of the ornaments we had on our tree when I was a little girl...just beautiful!

Lori even makes her packaging beautiful! Her prices are fair and her inventory is gorgeous. Her store also sells farmhouse tables and other items created from salvaged barn wood. I just wish I lived closer to New York where I could pick up one of those farmhouse tables. Lori's sister, Lisa, ably assists her with the store and the White Flower Farmhouse Blog. Lisa has been a joy for me to work with while planning this giveaway for you! Be sure to visit both of these blogs. They are two of My Favorite 25 Blogs listed on the side. Enjoy the following photos from her store:

www.whiteflowerfarmhouse.com

Today I am giving away this vintage simple style pitcher. It is silver plated and made by Keystone Wear E.P.N.S.

www.whiteflowerfarmhouse.com

Lori was even kind enough to photograph the pitcher all ready for the festivities!

www.whiteflowerfarmhouse.com

You have two chances to enter the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment below telling me when you put up your Christmas Tree or when you plan to put up your Christmas Tree. I haven't put mine up yet!

2. For a second chance, if you want to be notified of updates, follow me here on this blog (see the side) or follow A Meek Perspective on Facebook and then come back here and leave me a comment letting me know you did. If you already follow, just leave me a comment stating that you do.

**Be sure (if you leave an anonymous comment) that I know how to get in touch with you! Thanks!**

Sorry, I can only ship this gift to addresses in the United States. The giveaway will stay open through 6:00 pm Thursday night. I will post the winner here on the blog sometime on Friday. Be sure and check back on Friday...especially if your comment does not open to an email address. I really want the winner to be able to "win"!

Good luck!

Judy :)

Craigslist Kitties

2011-12-03T20:17:00.001-06:00

We have been without a barn cat since August when our barn cat, CC mysteriously died. She was a wonderful mouser...keeping our barn and basement clear of all types of "varmints". She was always on the lookout. In the three months we have been without her, my husband began noticing a huge increase in our mice population.

He began looking on Craigslist for free cats or kittens in our area. He found an ad posted by a family who lived on a farm but was selling out and moving to town. They had a cat and 5 kittens that needed a home. The ad stated that she was a great mouser but they couldn't vouch for the dad -- he was a "no count" wanderer.

Three or four weeks later we decided to contact this family. We went out on a Saturday to see how many "mousers" they might have left. We found a mama cat and two kittens waiting for us on their front porch. We definitely wanted the mama cat since she was an "experienced" mouser, but wasn't really interested in the kittens. We petted the mama cat and she was very friendly and sweet...then we made a mistake. We reached in the kennel and picked up the two kittens - one gray and the other yellow. They were both so soft and sweet and warm...there is nothing like sweet kittens. The family mentioned their daughter had become attached to the little gray kitten, so before we knew it, we were headed to the truck with both the mama cat and the orange kitten.

These cats have been so much fun. They are very attached to each other and are happiest curled up together. The mama cat was already named Lou Lou. I tend to all her "Mama Lou" (sounds like a dorm mother's name, doesn't it?). The yellow kitten did not have a name yet. Our son, Joseph, was in from college for Thanksgiving that week. He decided that since it had "red hair" then it needed to be named one of the Weasley boys' names from Harry Potter. He landed on Percy and so our yellow kitten is now Percy. Percy is extremely playful and plays with the rugs, string, empty boxes, his mama's tail...anything that catches his eye. Percy is a little more fearful of the world on the farm than his mother is. We have had to rescue him from climbing trees twice. Hopefully as his size increases his bravery will too.

Percy likes to keep me company outside the kitchen window while I'm washing dishes. How sweet is that?

Judy :)

How Blessed We Are

2011-11-27T11:37:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day spent with family.

Our table had fewer chairs pulled up to it (only 7 of us Meeks this year), but it was a calm peaceful day

filled with family chat and nature.

We took a drive to what we refer to as "The Wall" - an Indian memorial

to a great-grandmother who walked back home from the Trail of Tears. Her great grandson built this wall in her honor to represent her walk.

The wall is amazing just with the sheer amount of man power it took this one man

to build this wall with no mortar. The wall measures 1.3 miles in length.

Many blessings of the day: camaraderie of cooking together in a small kitchen,

the sharing of food with loved ones,

a clean kitchen at the end of the day thanks to a new brother-in-law,

warm weather to take a walk, health to enjoy a walk,

beautiful fall scenery at a wall built by a dedicated man,

time spent with a college son during the entire day,

leftovers, pumpkin pie, laughter.

Hope your day was just as blessed.

Judy :)

Before & After: From Window to Coat Rack

2011-10-15T14:05:00.000-05:00

Tutorial to follow soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Judy :)

Quiche Lorraine

2011-10-07T08:26:00.000-05:00

This recipe for quiche dates back to my childhood. I remember first having quiche probably when I was around 10 years old. My brother, Jon, brought this recipe home when he was in high school. His French class was cooking french dishes. He was assigned quiche and needed to prepare it and bring it to school. I don't remember if he actually made it (probably did...he is a wonderful cook today) or if mom did. I do remember mom fixed it a few times after the French class project. I love it!

When we were married, I went through Mom's recipes and copied my favorites. This is one of them. I am a great lover of breakfast dishes especially eggs, bacon and cheese so this is a perfect dish for my appetite. It is wonderful for breakfast, lunch or supper...a real crowd pleaser.

Quiche Lorraine

9 inch pie crust

6 slices bacon

1 onion, chopped

1 cup grated cheese

4 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

dash of pepper

dash of nutmeg

Bake pie crust for 5 minutes. Chop bacon and fry until crisp. Remove from skillet. In fat, saute onion. Spread onion, crumbled bacon, and grated cheese in pie shell. In bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add milk, cream, and seasonings. Pour in pie shell. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 35 minutes until firm.

Serves: 8

I will often fry my bacon and onion, shred my cheese, and place in uncooked pie shell in the refrigerator the night before. In the morning, remove the pie shell and let it come to room temperature while you prepare the eggs, milk, cream and seasonings. Bake per the directions above.

Be sure to use the heavy cream and don't skimp with milk or half and half. The cream adds to the silky texture of this quiche which is why it is so outstanding! I also use Vermont White Sharp Cheddar Cheese. You get a great cheddar flavor without any fake yellow coloring. I shred the cheese by hand so it is extra creamy, too.

Tip: There is a wonderful pie tutorial on The Pioneer Woman's website. Check it out if you have ever had trouble making pie crusts or wanted to learn. I plan to try this soon.

Blessings!

Judy :)

This is one of the most requested recipes I bring to work when we celebrate birthdays with breakfast. The last birthday we celebrated my boss, Tim, decided we should cut the quiche into four servings for the four of us employees. Filled us up perfectly...hence his comment below that we figured out it only serves 4. :)

Fall Lamb Season 2011

2011-10-06T08:14:00.000-05:00

Our first fall lambs were born yesterday morning...twins!

I stood at my kitchen window

quickly eating my baked oatmeal

while I watched the first lamb being nuzzled by its mom,

standing up, and taking his first shaky steps.

A great way to start the morning!

He had quite the cocky attitude by the afternoon!

Blessings!

Judy :)

Baked Oatmeal

2011-10-02T12:38:00.001-05:00

I found this recipe at Karen Ehman's blog probably about a year ago but had never tried it. In her article, she said it was her daughter's favorite breakfast growing up and it made a wonderful Sunday breakfast to eat on the go. The word "go" was what drew me to this recipe besides the fact that we really do eat a lot of oatmeal. Oatmeal is one of those "good for you" foods.

Last weekend, Joseph and a friend came home from college. I fixed this at the last minute on Saturday night to be ready for breakfast on Sunday morning. The finished recipe reminded me somewhat of Quaker Oatmeal To Go. You remember those square oatmeal bars that are softer and thicker than a cookie. Quaker advertised them as a bowl of oatmeal you can eat on the go. This is much better. They can be eaten on their own, or with milk or yogurt poured over them. I enjoy having them on hand during the week for a quick breakfast before leaving for work. I have made this recipe two more times this week just because it is healthy, fast, not too sweet, and just plain delicious.

The night before, combine the following in a large glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

3 cups old fashioned oats (not quick oats)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 cups regular buttermilk (I have also used a Silk Milk product -- any of them would be fine.)

In the morning, let mixture stand at room temperature for five minutes. Add:

2 beaten eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 to 1 cup optional add-ins: chopped, peeled apples; raisins; nuts; chopped, peeled peaches; chopped bananas; chunky old-fashioned peanut butter...whatever your heart desires!

Spread in greased 9 by 9 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cut into squares. Eat as is or top with milk, cream, or yogurt. Serves 8.

The picture above shows the baked oatmeal I made for breakfast this morning. I added dark chocolate chips (remember dark chocolate is healthy in moderation), pecans, and a little bit of vanilla. Another great add-in I made this week was blueberries and walnuts. I have cut this recipe in half each time I have made it and it has come out just fine. As you can see above, a half recipe bakes well in a small cast iron skillet. You can also melt your butter for the top step in the skillet and then the skillet is already greased for your baking in the morning. When I made the recipe last night, I only had half of the amount of brown sugar so I finished it with a little bit of honey...equally delicious!

I will leave you with a picture of our dachshund, Gibson. He was on the back porch begging for a treat from my husband while I was taking pictures. Couldn't resist the picture opportunity!

Enjoy!

Judy :)

Linking with Simply...This. That & The Other's "Sweet Treat Saturday".

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Before & After: Upper Kitchen Cabinet

2011-09-07T09:05:00.001-05:00

Someday I need to do a post on the purchase of our house, but as a short story our house was a total wreck when we purchased it. We literally had to rip out all of the flooring down to the subfloor, remove the air conditioning/heating vents, apply Kilz to all surfaces and replace all of the flooring, ac/heat unit and vents, and paint everything. The house was an undeniable wreck, BUT we got a wonderful price on it and around 14 acres of land...our small dream farm. We made the house livable and was able to move in within two months of the closing.

We have now been here for seven year and with the announcement of my husband retiring, we have decided to stay. Wow! The word "stay" has really made my creative juices flow! Since we married, we have always moved after about 5 years in a location as my husband was promoted through the levels of USDA. It is an amazing feeling for me (a preacher's daughter who moved all throughout her childhood) to be able to say we are home "for good". Since we are "staying", I now feel free to make this house more of "our" house with "our" style and tastes...not just a house that will resale.

Once Charlie announced his retirement, the first project I decided on was our upper kitchen cabinet. Below is a picture from our house inspection of what the kitchen area once looked like:

The upper kitchen cabinet stretched out over the bar and really blocked a lot of light from the dining room area (where I am standing while taking the picture). I have looked at the wood backing over the years trying to decide on a way to fix the problem. I thought of adding glass cabinet doors. If glass cabinet doors were added to the front and the back the light would flow through from the dining room to the kitchen. The only problem was the cabinet doors would have to be constructed and a new framework for the glass doors would have to be installed on the back of the cabinet...expensive! I decided to just remove the doors and the back of the cabinet to have an open shelf. One that could be used from either the dining room side or the kitchen side.

About a month before I started on this project, I removed the cabinet doors from the kitchen side to live with that for a while and see how I liked it. I really did like it. This is how it looked then:

The backing of the cabinet was nailed to the frame and one vertical board in the center of the back. After talking to my dad and my brother, we determined that the support of the cabinet was from the ceiling, so taking the backing off of the cabinet wouldn't create a support issue. I talked my friend, Sharon, into tackling this project with me. Sharon owns rental houses and does all of her own carpentry, plumbing and electrical work herself. She is quite the jack of all trades!

We started early on a Saturday morning and removed the back of the cabinet. This is what it looked like at that point:

I didn't particularly like the extra vertical supports where the cabinet doors connected on the front of the cabinet. I knew I wanted to keep the single vertical piece on the back, so we decided to remove the cabinet door supports from the front and center one of them equal with the vertical piece on the back. Removing those pieces of wood was tough! They were not only nailed in, but also had wooden pegs connected into the framing. Sharon's father had a saw that resembled an electric bread knife to cut through the nails and pegs so we could remove those boards. Sharon went to get the saw and brought the saw and her father back with her. Her father is 85 years old and had been a carpenter his whole life. He sat on that stool in the kitchen and talked us through the rest of the project. A wealth of information!

After we had the center board on the front secured, we drove back to Sharon's father's house and took the original backing of the cabinet to cut trim pieces so the back would match the front. Once we had those trim pieces attached to the cabinet, the cabinet was finished to the point of painting. We finished around noon on the same day and had only spent a couple of dollars for some finishing nails. A fast and thrifty project!

Painting this cabinet opened up another whole project...painting all of the kitchen cabinets. This is something that I have wanted to do, but knew it would be time consuming. I chose to use Benjamin Moore Paint for a couple of reasons. First, I knew it was a high quality paint and I wanted this paint to last for a long time. Second, Benjamin Moore carries a low VOC line of paint. My husband is very sensitive to odors and I knew the low VOC paint would be easier on him. I chose Simply White as my paint color. I have liked this white so well, I will probably use it all over my house for my trim work when I do repaint the house...another project!

I painted the upper cabinet the next weekend. I sanded (by hand), used a primer and two coats of Simply White semi-gloss. Oops, sorry for the mess! This was taken this weekend (Labor Day weekend) when I decided to tackle painting the lower portion of the cabinets.

I purchased an electric sander to save some sanding time. I love, love, love the electric sander! I sped through sanding the drawers and cabinet doors in about 3 minutes and sanded the lower backing and framework in about 7 minutes. What a time saver! I used a 180 grit sandpaper. I didn't want to sand the cabinet down too much--just prepare the surface so the primer would adhere. It worked perfectly. I am changing my drawer pulls and cabinet handles to a brushed nickel color instead of brass. I used a pricier drawer pull and am looking at a more simple cabinet handle for the cabinet doors ( all 24 of them!). I only have seven drawers so I splurged a little more on them. Below is the finished product:

And yes, except for the top shelf of dishes, I use those dishes everyday. The dishes are not just for looks. I wanted this to be a practical addition. I will slowly work my way around the kitchen painting the rest of the cabinets as I have free weekends. What projects have you been working on?

Enjoy your week!

Judy :)

Retired at 50

2011-08-30T10:24:00.001-05:00

My husband is retiring tomorrow and he is only 50 years old. Our current government has done away with his position in the Department of Agriculture. Sure, this is not quite what we had planned for our future, but some great things are coming out of this change: we have retirement, we have health insurance, and we have a whole new adventure to explore. Below is my husband's goodbye letter to his friends and coworkers. I'm very proud of his outlook and very thankful for the way God has blessed our family and cared for our needs.

Charlie Meek signingoff from NRCS!

Effective August 31, I will be retiring from NRCS. When I started my career as a student traineein Cookeville, TN in May of 1981, I never dreamed such a wide array of opportunitiesand blessings would come my way. I’mgrateful to have worked in three different states (TN, GA, AL) and to have beena part of the conservation effort in numerous ways, especially serving theRC&D Program since 1996 for which I felt at home.

As much as I have loved the positive aspects of working for SCS/NRCS,for some time I have felt a strong pull in my heart to serve God in a greatercapacity and spend more time on our small farm experiencing what I view as real life, such as smelling freshmowed hay stored in the barn or walking out to the barn in the wee hours of themorning and hearing a lamb bleating to its mom and saying hello world. Thus theearly retirement option sure seems to be a good fit so I’m going to jump andpursue some dreams. Short term plansinclude additional involvement in ministry and service to others, expanding oursmall farm enterprise especially marketing lamb, and last but not least, I hopeto continue to support the Northwest Alabama RC&D Council which I have beengiven the privilege to serve since February 2004.

Stepping out the door I find myself with a lack of words toadequately thank family (especially my wife and son), co-workers within theNRCS family and NRCS partners (for which many became special friends) for yourunwavering support. You have made anamazing difference in my life and I can never thank you enough! I’m confident those 30 years of support andfriendship will be precious memories that will last till the Breathmaker callsme home.

If you wish to check in with our family and track some ofour doings, you can follow my wife’s blog at http://ameekperspective.blogspot.com/. Also feel free to contact me viae-mail at meekcj2@gmail.com.

In His grip,

Charlie Meek Tuscumbia, AL

I think we will be seeing more of husband looking like this:

AND this:

Lamb, anyone?

Blessings!

Judy :)

Linking up with Grace Imparted at Imparting Grace.

Imparting Grace by Richella Parham

2011-07-18T12:47:00.001-05:00

Visit Imparting Grace today to read about other writers' experiences with "grace". Imparting Grace is written by a friend from college. She is one of the top 25 blogs I enjoy reading. (See the side column for the other 24!). I have added my article entitled Grace Through A Kidney Transplant to her link party. If you haven't read it, click over and read it then visit Imparting Grace's link party. You will certainly enjoy some lovely reading.

Judy :)

10 Days Finished: Real Food Pledge

2011-07-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

I lost 6 pounds! I really wasn't expecting to lose that much weight in the past 10 days. My husband kept asking me during these 10 days when I was going to weigh (he weighs himself EVERYDAY). I told him not until the 10 days were up. I thought I might loose 2-3 pounds, but nope...6 pounds came off.

Will I continue? Mostly, yes. I feel this is definitely a better way to eat. The extra fiber has really helped me to not be hungry between meals -- less snacking! Only using honey and maple syrup has absolutely reduced my sugar consumption because if I want something sweet, I have to cook it. I will be using mayonnaise in salads, etc. I just can't justify making my own mayonnaise with raw eggs. I will probably not be so picky when I am eating away from home, though we did have a covered dish at church today and I tried to stick with vegetables and meat. I did have a small piece of coconut cream pie and it tasted soooo good. Don't know if that was because I hadn't had real sugar in several days or what.

My husband's college roommate, who is a doctor, closed his Christmas card last year with the admonition to eat only the foods that look like they might have come from a farm. I guess that is my new goal as far as diet. The Real Food Pledge just helped me get started. If you decide to try this, please let me know. I'd love to follow your progress.

Judy :)

Note - Here are the websites I discovered over the past 10 days dealing with Real Food:

100 Days of Real Food

Nourished Kitchen

Day 9: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-14T21:02:00.001-05:00

One more day to go! This has been a GREAT experience!

This evening, I am including another recipe. I was glancing through some blogs at lunch and came up with this pasta meal as a combination of several recipes. This was made up as I went and is a keeper. It takes about 30 minutes to cook.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Pasta

Chicken Breasts

Olive Oil

Onion

Garlic

Grape or Cherry Tomatoes

Pesto

No amounts are given because I just made it up as I went. You can make this for a large group or just for two, as I did.

Bake your chicken breasts in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. I drizzle my chicken with olive oil and season with lemon pepper.

Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. Remember you only have one chance to salt pasta and be sure to add enough. I cooked brown rice pasta tonight for my husband's preference. Whole wheat pasta or regular pasta would be fine, too.

In a skillet, heat about 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and turning translucent. Add grape or cherry tomatoes that have been cut in half. I used a large handful for just the two of us. Cover and allow the tomato skins to begin to burst. Now add some pasta water (I began with about 1/2 cup) and pesto. Stir and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Feel free to add more pasta water as needed to adjust thickness.

Remove chicken from the oven and slice on the diagonal. Add sliced chicken to the pasta sauce and coat. When the pasta is al dente, add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat the pasta. Add pasta water if sauce seems too thick. Serve with parmesan cheese.

We have a house guest this weekend. Meet Coby! He is a Shih Tzu puppy. He belongs to a coworker and we have the privilege of spending the weekend with this ball of fuzz. Our dachshund has adjusted to the house guest as well as can be expected. At this very moment, my dachshund is in my lap and Coby is asleep at my feet. How can a woman be any more loved than that?

Hope you enjoy the recipe and I'll post again on Saturday to close out this series with my thoughts on my diet, health, and real food.

Judy :)

Day 7 & 8: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-13T21:33:00.003-05:00

I didn't really have anything to report yesterday because I ate food prepared earlier in this challenge. Today, being Wednesday, made our supper a "fix whatever you want evening". I fixed my usual oatmeal around 8:00 pm this evening, but was "hankering" for some biscuits, too. I have always made homemade biscuits with self-rising flour, shortening, and buttermilk. Tonight I found a recipe for whole wheat biscuits and they ended up being a pretty good substitute. This recipe came from Nourished Kitchen. She explains whole wheat flour dough made with buttermilk and allowed to soak from 2 hours to overnight make a more tender biscuit. I made my dough out of 1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup cold butter, and 1/2 cup buttermilk after I came home from work and let it soak until about 8:00 (3 hours). Then I kneaded in 1/2 tsp soda and 1/2 tsp salt (you can definitely use less salt), cut my biscuits and baked at 450 degrees until lightly browned on top. These biscuit were much better than other whole wheat biscuits I have tried before. Definitely a recipe to continue playing with. I also used some Simply Fruit Jam with my biscuits.

Eat healthy!

Judy :)

Day 6: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Today's real food was wonderful. Look below for a couple of recipes!

I left a crock pot of dried black beans to be cooked while I was at work. My husband was nice enough to turn them on for me a couple of hours before I got home. This could have been a great night to have a vegetarian meal, but I have a teenage son who thinks all meals need meat so I decided to add a little bit of meat to the beans. I shredded a chicken breast after I got home and added it to the beans with a little bit of seasoned salt. I served the black beans with brown rice, yellow squash (fresh from the garden), corn bread, and guacamole. The brown rice was quick cooking brown rice out of my pantry. I need to do some research on quick cooking brown rice to see if it has the same nutritional value as regular brown rice. The quick cooking brown rice is more tender. I used 100% Stone Ground White Cornmeal in the corn bread without adding any additional flour. I really can't tell a difference in the texture or taste compared to adding a little flour to stone ground cornmeal or using a corn meal mix. The bread rises normally. I had some avocados that needed to be used so I thought some guacamole would be nice with the beans...and it was! Wal-Mart's Great Value brand of salsa is all natural -- no unknown ingredients or you can easily make your own.

Here are the recipes for the Corn Bread and Guacamole:

Corn Bread (Southern)

2 Cups 100% Stone Ground Cornmeal (I use Hodgson Mill)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Cups buttermilk
2 eggs, unbeaten
1/3 cup oil

Pour oil into your cast iron skillet (medium to large size) and place in oven. Turn oven to bake at 425 degrees.

Combine cornmeal, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add buttermilk and eggs. Stir to combine. Once your oven is warm to 425 degrees remove your skillet and pour the hot oil in your batter. Stir and pour batter into your iron skillet--enjoy the sizzle! Place in oven and bake for 25 - 35 minutes until lightly brown on top.

This recipe is easily cut in half and then baked in a 6-8 inch cast iron skillet. Perfect for two!

Guacamole

1 avocado
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp salsa
1 Tbsp sour cream

Mash avocado with garlic. Add lime juice, salsa, and sour cream. Best if prepared at least an hour before serving. The sour cream adds a nice creaminess to the guacamole. Cover with saran wrap touching the surface of guacamole to store.

Judy :)

Day 5: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-10T20:58:00.003-05:00

Today is our anniversary. My husband and I have been married for 24 years! He has been a wonderful, kind, caring, compassionate man and if I could choose again, I would definitely choose him. All that aside...we always celebrate our anniversary by eating out at a restaurant. We got to talking about where we wanted to eat and I told him we needed to eat somewhere with "Real Food".

We knew Italian and Mexican was out of the question because of the pasta and tortillas. We talked about Cracker Barrel and Red Lobster. I love Cracker Barrel -- especially their biscuits, but nope they are made with white flour. I thought about eating their vegetables, but I am sure they are loaded with bacon grease or lard. We discussed Red Lobster. I love Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits (again white flour) but they do have baked seafood, steamed vegetables, and baked potatoes. We decided to eat at Red Lobster. As soon as the waiter came to the table and got our drink order (water), he said he would be right out with some biscuits. My husband, the sweetheart that he is, said, "No, we don't want any biscuits tonight." The waiter kind of raised his eyebrow and looked at me and after cringing inwardly I told him, "No, we'd better not..." That was tough. I think the toughest thing so far to turn down. I had their oven broiled flounder with a baked potato (sour cream & butter on the side) and salad (with oil and vinegar). I was pleasantly filled when we left -- not overly stuffed as I usually am when I leave a restaurant. I remember reading somewhere that the Japanese eat to 80% full and then stop. I would say I was 80% full. And that was good!

I'll leave you tonight with a picture of Charlie & me taken 2009.

Judy :)

Day 4: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

Vacation Bible School is not for someone taking a Real Food Pledge. The menu was hotdogs (more ingredients than I want to read or pronounce), white buns (not whole wheat), cookies & brownies (sugar), potato chips (fried) and soft drinks (sugar). I drank bottled water and waited until I got home to have a couple of pieces of cold pizza left over from last night. Now, let me make this clear -- after this 10 days of Real Food, I do not plan to turn my nose up at food put before me when I am out in public. I think it is always good manners to enjoy the food and fellowship when you are with others. I do HOPE that after these initial 10 days I will be more conscientious of what I eat and purchase for my family. I am enjoying the low sugar aspect of this plan. When you can only eat honey or maple syrup, it really cuts out what sweets you eat. You either have to make it from scratch or do without. The same with some bread products. We'll see how the rest of my 6 days go.

My husband chose his spelt pizza for supper tonight so I fixed myself breakfast...my favorite food! I had grits with scrambled eggs on top and a little shredded white cheddar cheese. Breakfast bowls are so good and so much more nutritious if you make them yourself.

I'll leave you tonight with a shot of our cat, CC, hiding under the okra plants in our garden. Looking forward to the okra!

Judy :)

Day 3: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-08T19:48:00.001-05:00

For breakfast I tried out that whole wheat banana bread I made last night. It was a bit dry, but I toasted it with some butter (real butter) and it was pretty good. I'll be working on that recipe. I enjoyed my coffee sweetened with real maple syrup and half & half creamer this morning. I am actually enjoying it a little less sweet than I have in the past. Maybe no sugar is changing my taste buds. Lunch was vegetables leftover from last night. Supper was that wonderful pizza above.

I made one crust with spelt flour and one with whole wheat flour. The spelt crust actually turned out the better of the two. The spelt crust is shown in the picture above. The spelt flour rose nicely and looked better once the pizza was done. I had done some research on spelt and learned a tip. When working with spelt, you don't want to work the bread too much. Spelt has quite a bit of protein and will get tough if it is kneaded. I only stirred the dough until it was together and then put it in the refrigerator to rise. I took the dough out and made my crust without any kneading. The whole wheat crust was much stiffer than what I thought it should be. I have made whole wheat pizza crust before and it has turned out well. Maybe I measured something wrong...I just don't know. I'll try my recipe the next time.

The toppings I used tonight were pesto, artichoke hearts, yellow squash (uncooked), sweet onion, tomato, goat cheese, baked chicken thinly sliced (from last night), and white cheddar cheese. It really turned out nice. You can view the pizza recipe I used here. We had enough of both pizzas left to cover several lunches or suppers in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow we have a one day vacation bible school at church. It may be challenging to find something under the "real food" category for lunch. I'll let you know!

Judy :)

Day 2: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-07T21:18:00.000-05:00

I would really love some french vanilla coffee creamer about right now! I believe I may be going through a sugar withdrawal, but that would probably be a good thing. I have done well the past couple of days with my diet. I have eaten a lot of vegetables and whole grains. The whole wheat bread from Whole Foods has been wonderful. The only problem is we don't have a Whole Foods Market close to us. I purchased the bread at the market in Nashville. I will be trying to make some whole wheat bread in my bread machine this weekend. My brother makes his own bread and I plan on trying his recipe.

One of my learning experiences so far has been with the 5 ingredient rule. Twice I have found products with 5 ingredients, no unknown ingredients, low in sodium (one of the things I watch for)...seems like something I could eat. Once I begin eating and thinking how wonderful it is that I have found something with real ingredients, I realize it has sugar in it instead of honey or maple syrup or it is made with rice flour and is obviously white rice flour-not brown rice flour. This happened with a Kashi granola bar which I had for a snack today and some rice crackers with my supper last night. I ate them anyway and decided I would do better tomorrow :).

This experience has taught me that in order to know what is in your foods, you need to make them yourself. I did make some whole wheat banana bread this evening for something a little sweet as a snack. It is made with whole wheat flour and honey. I also made some spelt and whole wheat pizza dough for supper tomorrow night. It is in the refrigerator as I type and hopefully rising for a good pizza crust tomorrow night. We had some friends give us some homemade pesto and I baked extra chicken tonight to go on top of the pizza. Looking forward to that! My husband has been cutting gluten out of his diet so I am experimenting with spelt for him.

"Tomorrow is another day!"

Judy :)

Day 1: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

2011-07-06T12:25:00.000-05:00

Today I begin the 10 Days of Real Food Pledge. You can read about one family's 100 days of real food on their blog here. After 100 days, they made this part of their everyday life. I intend to blog daily during these 10 days and share my discoveries with you. I am already thinking I will be real thankful that it is summertime and the garden is beginning to give us some produce!

I began to think about additives and preservatives in our food a couple months ago. I noticed a loaf of bread in our pantry that had been there for at least a month. When I checked it to see if it was still good, I was surprised that it was! There was no mold or bad smell to the bread and it was still soft. Is that natural? How can bread last for a month without some sort of spoilage? Homemade bread doesn't last even a week...how can manufactured bread last longer. What preservatives had been added to the bread? Can that be healthy? I started questioning the list of 20+ ingredients on the bread wrapper. A couple of weeks ago, I ran across the 100 Days website and verified several of my fears.

I decided after July 4th (I had to enjoy my celebration, didn't I?) I would take the 10 day pledge. Basically, the 10 day pledge consists of these items:

What you can eat:

Whole foods straight from nature
Fruits and vegetables
Dairy products like milk, cheese, unsweetened yogurt and eggs
100% whole wheat and whole grains
Seafood - wild caught
Locally raised meats (good thing our family raises our own!)
Beverages: water, milk, all natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee and tea
Dried fruit, nuts, seeds, popcorn
Sweeteners: Honey, Maple Syrup, and fruit juice concentrates

What you cannot eat:

No refined grains - white flour (must contain Whole Wheat)
No refined sweeteners - sugar, corn syrup, cane sugar, or artificial sweeteners
Nothing out of a bag or box with more than 5 recognizable ingredients
No deep fried foods
No fast foods

The hardest habit for me to break is my flavored french vanilla coffee creamer. I already knew that it added mega calories to my coffee, but it is definitely not on the list - more than 5 ingredients and many unrecognizable. The serving listed on the label is only 1 tablespoon. One tablespoon is definitely not enough! I use at least a 1/4 of a cup which is three tablespoons -- the fat and calories really add up. AND I usually have more than one cup! I am learning to tolerate my coffee with maple syrup and half & half...a little healthier option.

I read this challenge a couple of weeks ago and have been more aware of reading labels. Did you realize that there are very few items with just 5 or less ingredients that you can actually recognize? I will definitely be making more homemade items in the next 10 days instead of purchasing prepackaged groceries.

I began this morning with oatmeal sweetened with maple syrup and chai tea sweetened with honey. I added some organic whole milk to the tea -- a habit I picked up visiting my brother in Scotland. For lunch today, I have a slice of whole wheat bread from Whole Foods, white cheddar cheese (no colorings or preservatives), and 1/2 of a chicken breast thinly sliced that I baked last night. Tonight (Wednesday night) we have church at 6:00 pm, so supper at our house is usually anything you can put together for yourself from the pantry and refrigerator. I'll have to think on that one. So far so good.

Stay tuned for Day 2.

Judy :)

July 4, 2011: Repost - Sour Cream Potato Salad

2011-07-04T10:44:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July! Potato Salad goes hand in hand with 4th of July celebrations. We are meeting with some friends from church for our annual 4th of July celebration and I am taking my Sour Cream Potato Salad. I thought I would repost this recipe for you. I posted this for the first time just a year ago and it has been my second most viewed blog post. This recipe is probably one my most requested recipes from friends and family, too. Enjoy the recipe (again) and I wish for you an exciting but relaxing holiday!

Sour Cream Potato Salad

Unpeeled or peeled red potatoes, cut in bite size pieces and boiled, about 8 - 9 medium potatoes

6 slices of bacon, diced, and fried crisp

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh dill or dill weed, to taste

1 Tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3-4 green onions

Cook the potatoes and fry the bacon crisp. Combine dill or dill weed, vinegar, sour cream and mayonnaise until smooth and creamy. Add dressing and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese to cooled potatoes. Slice green onions and their stems. Sprinkle extra 1/2 cup on cheddar cheese on top of potato mixture, then sprinkle green onion and crisp bacon pieces.

I am not a huge raw onion fan. I love the taste that an onion leaves behind, but just don't like the bite. Leaving the onions on top of the salad allows the onion lovers to get as much as onion as they want and allows folks like me to dig deeper to leave the onions behind.

Judy :)

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

2011-05-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

In my head, I have composed at least a hundred letters to my son to give to him on graduation day. I have preached, I have warned, I have pleaded, I have cried and I have shown my love in those head compositions. They never made it onto paper. Dr. Seuss must have known parents as well as he knew children. Oh, The Places You'll Go expresses my thoughts and sentiments exactly.

I have been waiting 15 years to give this book to Joseph. Humor me as you read the words to the book with pictures from many friends that ended up on my Facebook page during this last year of High School.

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.

About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."

With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,

you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any

you'll want to go down.

In that case, of course,

you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there

in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen

and frequently do

to people as brainy

and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,

don't worry. Don't stew.

Just go right along.

You'll start happening too.

OH!

THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.

You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don' t

Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so

but, sadly, it's true

and Hang-ups

can happen to you.

You can get all hung up

in a prickle-ly perch.

And your gang will fly on.

You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch

with an unpleasant bump.

And the chances are, then,

that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,

you're not in for much fun.

Un-slumping yourself

is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.

Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.

A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!

Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...

or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?

Or go around back and sneak in from behind?

Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,

for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

or waiting around for a Yes or a No

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite

or waiting for wind to fly a kite

or waiting around for Friday night

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants

or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

NO!

That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape

all that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,

once more you'll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.

And the magical things you can do with that ball

will make you the winning-est winner of all.

Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,

with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.

Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times

you'll play lonely games too.

Games you can't win

'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!

Whether you like it or not,

Alone will be something

you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance

you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.

There are some, down the road between hither and yon,

that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go

though the weather be foul

On you will go

though your enemies prowl

On you will go

though the Hakken-Kraks howl

Onward up many

a frightening creek,

though your arms may get sore

and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike

and I know you'll hike far

and face up to your problems

whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,

as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's

a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...

be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

Congratulations to the Graduates of the Class of 2011! Best of luck with many prayers!

Have a good week!

Judy :)

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to our moms. The world wouldn't be near as comfortable without them.

Judy :)

Alabama Tornadoes

2011-04-29T21:58:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, April 27, North Alabama was hit by numerous tornadoes. The death toll this morning was 204 and still climbing. Remarkably, our little corner of Northwest Alabama did not get touched by the most deadly weather. We seem to be the only area in North Alabama with electricity, gas, and open stores. I heard today that the three Wal-Marts in our area were the only ones open in North Alabama. The lines at the gas stations were long yesterday, but today everything seemed to be smoothing out.

We had heavy rain, strong winds, a few trees down in the roads nearby, an overflowed pond, a flooded barn yard and garden (not yet planted!), and for all of these things we are thankful considering the devastation around us.

The pictures below come from the Phil Campbell, Alabama area. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Only a few buildings were left in the small town of Phil Campbell. Amazingly, one of them was the community center which is now set up as the distribution center (with no electricity). The concrete pad you see was one of six chicken houses - no chickens to be found.

Many churches in our area are making numerous trips into the tornado area to deliver supplies. Please feel free to contact me at the email address on the right and I will be glad to get you in touch with a reputable organization if you want to help with the efforts.

Have a nice weekend!

Judy :)

Lamb Season 2011

2011-03-26T21:25:00.002-05:00

And what a lamb season it was!

We began this lambing season with a single lamb...then a set of quadruplets...followed by a set of triplets...and another single lamb. Nine lambs within 48 hours!!! Of course this all happened on a weekend when my husband was home alone. He dealt with it all fine and kept me and our son up to date with texts and pictures -- how wonderful cell phones are!

Please pardon these first pictures. They are truly the "first" pictures sent by cell phone to me in Gatlinburg.

These are the quadruplets. The mother of these lambs had been literally down on us for two weeks before giving birth. We were expecting a set of twins -- large twins. The ewe was so large she couldn't get up and walk any more. My husband would go out twice a day and help her stand up and she would walk a few steps toward the barn. She ended up being unable to stand by herself for a total of eight days before the lambs were born. The vet thought she was suffering with toxemia and wanted to wait as long as possible before doing a C-Section so the lambs would have the best chance of survival. Imagine Charlie's surprise when he came home in the afternoon to check on her and she had delivered four lambs and already had three of them cleaned up! No vet help needed! One of these lambs did not make it. The mother ended up being too sick to care for the three left so a friend's daughter took two of the quadruplets and one of the triplets born the next day to bottle feed and raise. Charlie is still bottle feeding the one quadruplet left (Lucy). The mother has survived and is up walking on her own and taking care of Lucy except for a couple of bottles a day.

The triples came next. As I mentioned above, Charlie let one of them go to be bottle fed and raised by a friend. The mother has taken care of the other two just fine.

This cutie was our next delivery. Most of our herd are Dorset which are always solid white. We had a white Gulf Coast ram given to us a couple of summers ago. His son who was 1/2 Gulf Coast and 1/2 Dorset was the father of this lamb. Somewhere in their background is definitely some black spots...such a different look for our herd. You'll see other pictures of her below as she has grown.

We had another set of triplets a couple of weeks later. The mother of these triplets has totally raised all three of her triplets on her own.

These last two pictures tickled me as I was taking them. These are two of the lambs left from the first set of triplets. The first lamb was lying down and looked to be falling asleep so I kept my camera on her hoping to catching her asleep in just a few seconds. The second lamb came up and I thought maybe she would lie down with her sister and I would get a cute shot of both of them, but noooooo...she wanted her sister to get up and play. She continued to prod her until the other lamb got up and went off with her. Watching lambs play, run, jump, twist, chase, and play "king of the hill" is definitely my favorite part of raising sheep. Such a joy!

Judy :)

Just A Work Break

2011-03-14T08:06:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to post a real quick note to let you know that I have not quit blogging. This is just a small pause.

Tax season is going fast and furious and has been since I last posted (when it snowed!). At home, we have just finished lambing season. I took a slew of pictures this weekend and hope to get them posted soon.

Please stay tuned!

Judy :)

Alabama Snow

2011-01-10T09:57:00.002-06:00

Snow in Alabama is a rarity. We may have a dusting or an inch or two occasionally, but a real snow hardly ever happens. The weather channel began predicting a snow for us late last week for last night. We even talked about it at work on Thursday and Friday, but no one really thought we would get the amount of snow forecasted.

My childhood was spent in West Virginia. Sometimes we wouldn't even know it was snowing until we heard the snow plow go up the road. West Virginia was also well equipped with salt, sand and cinders for the roads. I remember my dad putting chains on our tires. He even had snow tires for the car with spikes. Snow didn't slow us down much -- but ice did.

This area of the nation is just not equipped for snow. Alabama doesn't have snow plows or cinders. They save the salt and sand for bridges and overpasses or spots known to be really slick. Alabama closes their schools and businesses for the "threat" of snow. My son's school was already closed by 2:30 yesterday afternoon -- it didn't start snowing until 9:00 pm. Sometimes the school systems will close early and the snow will totally miss us. I know it sounds silly to those of you who live with the snow, but in truth it really is a good idea for this part of the country. Driving in snow is definitely not the norm for people around here so the highways become dangerous with inexperienced drivers. Truthfully, I really enjoy the blessing of a day given to stay home, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the snow, drink hot cocoa, read a good book, and enjoy family time.

Enjoy our photos of the snow in Northwest Alabama:

Enjoy your day!

Judy :)

The Master's Wall by Sandi Rog and Other Books

2011-01-09T13:01:00.000-06:00

I have been keeping a list of books I am currently reading on the side of the blog. Last night, I finished Out To Canaan by Jan Karon.

This was the fourth book in her Mitford Years series. I have read all of the books in this series and enjoyed them so much I decided to read them again. Jan Karon is a wonderful author. The reader stays entertained through out the whole book because of her humor and wit. She has created this wonderful town, Mitford, in the mountains of North Carolina and placed a vast array of characters to live in this town. Some are funny, some are pitiful, some you dislike, and some you want to take home with you. There is a priest, an author, town bums, a newspaper editor, a hair stylist, a grocer, a contractor, a couple of orphans, and many other characters to keep the story moving. Her story is based around an Episcopal priest in his early 60's who is a bachelor. In the first book, his life totally changes when he takes in a boy and a dog. His church hires a housekeeper for him and a lovely lady moves next door. The result is a wonderfully entertaining story that continues for nine books. Ms. Karon has now started The Father Tim Novels. She has just released the second book in this series and I look forward to reading it soon. I believe the reason why I enjoy these books so much is because they are relaxing. There are plenty of laughs and tears, but there are no leud sex scenes, no cursing, and no fearful moments. The books have wonderful feel good moments.

I will continue with this series as soon as I read my next book: The Master's Wall by Sandi Rog.

My aunt mailed me a copy of this book. My aunt is working to publish her first book and had met Mrs. Rog at some authors' workshops. This is Sandi Rog's first book and the sales have been wonderful. The Master's Wall was just released the first part of November so it is fairly new on the market. Sandi is a Christian and is a member of the Church of Christ. Here is the paragraph on the back of the book to whet your appetite:

After watching Roman soldiers drag his parents away to their death, David, a young Hebrew, is sold and enslaved to serve at a villa outside of Rome. As David trains to become a skilled fighter, he works hard to please his master and hopes to earn his freedom. However, an opportunity to escape tempts him with its whispering call. Freedom beckons, but invisible chains hold him captive to the master's granddaughter, an innocent girl with a fiery spirit. David vows to protect Alethea from his master, the murderous patriarch, and contrives a daring plan -- sacrifice his own life to save hers.

I am especially looking forward to the biblical history in the book. I will let you know how I liked it when I finish. You can purchase this book on Amazon.com.

A couple of other books you will see listed on the side are:

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

and

Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

Crazy Love by Francis Chan is being used by our small group session after church on Sunday Night. We are reading a chapter every two weeks and then meeting together to discuss it. Mr. Chan is excellent at making his reader really consider how their love for God is manifested in their everyday life. I'll write more about this book also when I finish it. His chapter on lukewarm Christianity was very thought provoking. You can read more about this book at http://crazylovebook.com/.

I just received my copy of Made To Crave by Lysa TerKeurst in the mail on Friday. I'm not sure I know enough about this book yet to be able to aptly describe it. It deals with loosing weight, but that is not the main focus of the book. The focus of the book (I think) is to transfer your bodily cravings into spiritual cravings. I do want to lose a few pounds and thought this book would help me reconsider some cravings while I am working on those few pounds. She also has some web casts beginning Monday, January 10 to go along with her book. I look forward to viewing those as I read the book. This book is purely for my personal development. You can read more about her book at http://madetocrave.org/.

Just to let you know, Sandi Rog the author of The Master's Wall found out just after the book went on sale that she has A-Cell Lymphoma. Keep her in your prayers.

Judy :)

New Year's Dreams: Day Two

2011-01-08T12:45:00.000-06:00

Alright. The first thing you need to do is to go to the Grocery Shrink's Blog and read her entry on Relationships. You can click here.

Did you read it?

Good! Now continue.

Day Two: Relationships

I have been dreaming about this goal for the past couple of days. I find that I have been waiting on others to make friends with me instead of taking the initiative to keep up the friendships I already have or create new friendships with people I want to get to know better. Every month, I want to have people in our home for a meal, relaxation, games, and great conversation and laughter. I miss the fellowship with other Christians and friends. I feel our family needs much more interaction with other people instead of the relying on ourselves. One of my hang ups has been the “my house is never clean enough” excuse. Let me just say that I am dreaming about that one, too!

I dream of developing a closer relationship with our son who is getting ready to attend college in the fall. We seem to have fallen into the teenage relationship of parents being on a need to know basis. I want to ensure a trusting and close relationship as he leaves home. I’m still thinking and praying on this one to find the way to connect.

I want to continue the time my husband and I spend together. I feel we do a pretty good job of taking time for each other. We travel together, search for antiques together, ride to work together (more and more often with the gas prices!), worship together, do some farm work and house work together. We don’t like to spend a lot of money to be together – we enjoy being at home! I would like to do more hiking and physical activity together in the New Year, but I am sure that will be a goal in a later category.

The picture above is of me and my friend, Kerrie. I met Kerrie when I was eight years old. She was probably 15 years old at the time…a long time ago when my family lived in West Virginia. She was always so sweet to take an interest in me. I remember before she left for college, she took me out to eat and gave me a necklace. Not very many teenage girls would have taken the time to do that with a 10 year old! We have kept in touch over the years mainly through Christmas cards. Imagine my surprise when I saw her at a speech recently! I probably had not seen her in at least 15 years. She only lives 2 ½ hours from where we live. We hope to try to get together sometime this spring or summer. I really want to keep in touch with people who matter to me. Kerrie has always mattered to me – she was closest person I had to a big sister!

Enjoy your weekend!

Judy :)

New Year's Dreams: Day One

2011-01-07T17:51:00.000-06:00

Doesn't New Year's "dreams" sound much better than New Year's Resolutions? I have resolved many times to do many things around the New Year, but very few of them have actually ever happened. I decided this year I would begin to list my "dreams" for the New Year.

I was reading the Grocery Shrink's Blog around the first of the year and read her resolutions. She broke them down into 5 different categories: Spiritual, Relationships, Physical, Professional, and Financial. These categories were great to direct me to think through many resolutions I hadn't even considered before.

Go to the Grocery Shrink's first blog on Spiritual Resolutions. You can click here. Now, really....go do it!

Are you back?

Here are my "dreams" on Day 1's Spiritual Thoughts:

Grace by Eric Enstrom

It is my dream to continue my scriptural study and make it daily. I have been working on reading through the Bible in chronological order since May 26, 2003! I know...I'm so embarrassed...7 years!!! This year I want to finish my reading. In 2010, I had been trying to get up earlier in the morning to do this, but have been extremely inconsistent and have not taken the time to read at night if I did not finish in the morning. I also think it is important for our children (or others) to see us reading the Bible if we expect them to follow in our example. I intend to read more in the evening out in the open where my family will know what I am doing.

I dream of keeping a prayer list or journal. My personal prayer time usually takes place on my drive to work in the mornings. (I have a 25 minute drive!) I also say short prayers during the day when thoughts of people in need come to my mind. This works great for me and I will continue to do this. This journal would be a great in helping to remember those in need of extra prayers and reflecting how God answers prayers.

I like to keep scriptures to memorize and ponder on the refrigerator or over the sink. I plan to do this on a more regular basis. I have done this before and love the understanding that comes from reading and thinking on one scripture or passage day after day.

I also dream of adding another post to the blog entitled Sundays Revisited. Don't you love it when you read a scripture that you have read may times before, but this time something new jumps out at you that you had never noticed or understood before. I have experienced that the past two Sundays and I am looking forward to sharing those scriptures with you.

Pray that my "dreams" come true!

I look forward to sharing my dreams concerning relationships tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Judy :)

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T12:52:00.001-06:00

Photo from www.freephotos.se

Happy New Year! It seems fitting that this is my 50th post and the end of 2010. I wanted to leave you with a thought for the end of the year. This thought was the closing lines in a Christmas letter we received this year. The author is a good friend and primary care physician:

See that you eat stuff that looks like it came from a farm, not a factory.

Realize that your muscles will adapt to whatever you ask them to do.

Don’t let a bad habit become your routine.

Make a good habit a routine.

Enjoy your family & friends as often as you can!

My hope and prayer is that you will find health, love, and peace in the New Year!

Judy :)

Our 2010 Christmas Letter - Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T19:58:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays 2010 from the Meek Family

Greetings to our dear friends and family,

It is our desire to continue our tradition and share a letter during the holiday season to provide updates for our family.

2010 was another busy year with some newness: a new puppy, a blog, a shearing apprentice, an age milestone for Charlie, and a senior in High School.

Joseph began his senior year this fall. He is still involved in many of the same things: chorus, Show Choir, soccer, and the church youth group. His summer seemed too short even though he found a little time for fishing and swimming. He rescued a puppy during a rain storm in May and she (Norah) has found some extra room we all had in our heart. Joseph attended Harding University’s Honor Symposium for two weeks in July. He enjoyed his time away from home and met a lot of great friends he continues to keep in touch with. After the Show Choir performance this fall, he was chosen as one of 20 to represent the Show Choir in a DVD to be submitted to the Today Show for a Show Choir Showdown. Mars Hill Show Choir was selected in the top 4, but didn’t receive enough votes to win the contest. It was such an honor to be in the top 4 and was really nice to extend the Show Choir season for a few more weeks. This fall he has stayed busy with his classes, conditioning for soccer, and gave two devotionals for the High School chorus on their trip to Harding and on retreat. As of today he is planning to attend Hardin University next fall after graduation.

Judy has increased her work to nearly full-time for Leigh, King & Associates. We never knew how expensive the senior year of high school was… and college on the way, too! She is also enjoying a new past-time searching for antiques. In addition to Facebook, Judy became a blogger in 2010. You now can catch up on our family, farm, and news at http://ameekperspective.blogspot.com.

In 2010, Charlie continued his service with NRCS (29 years). Hard to believe we have been in Alabama over 6 years assisting the Northwest AL Resource Conservation & Development Council. Charlie entered his fifth year of service as the minister of the Hawk Pride church of Christ in Colbert County. The work at Hawk Pride has been a joy with new additions and restorations. The shearing side-business continued in 2010 (4^th year) facing the same dilemma of scheduling appointments for too many clients (sheep, llamas and alpacas) and driving too many miles. Thus Charlie was glad to welcome a shearing apprentice named Bret Wolfe in 2010. Bret is a fast learner and we look forward to working with him again next year. As for an age milestone, Charlie captured the big 50 this year.

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season! May God Bless each and everyone!

Merry Christmas,

Charlie, Judy and Joseph Meek

meekcj2@gmail.com

Joseph's Last First Day - Beginning of the Senior Year

Show Choir 2010 – Seize The Day

A great photo to advertise our farm by Jennifer Photography

"Fleece on earth, Good wool to ewe!”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope it is the best for all of you!

Judy :)

A Few Christmas Decorations

2010-12-22T15:42:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to let you know that I'm not holding off Christmas any longer! I had set December 10 as the date I put up the tree this year and later came to find out that December 10 was the day my grandmother always put up her Christmas tree. Maybe I inherited my wait for Christmas from her!

I purchased some antique ornaments this year from White Flower Farmhouse. The photos I took didn't do the lovely ornaments justice, but below are a couple of them. These ornaments reminded me of the ones on my parents' tree when I was a little girl. In the assortment of ornaments, I also received several of the old fashioned ornaments that are colorful with the concave silver centers. My photos of them did not turn out at all!

This ornament is one of my favorites. One of our friends brought this Santa back from Germany on one of her trips.

I had time for one Christmas Craft. I made this wreath out of a package of glass ornaments purchased at CVS after Christmas a few years ago. The wreath has been around for several years and the ornaments were only $3!

I may add a bow next year, but have enjoyed the simplicity this year.

Christmas excitement is beginning to stir around our house. We look forward to the next few days to be around family and our traditions.

Looking forward to Christmas,

Judy :)

Holding Off Christmas

2010-11-26T20:15:00.000-06:00

Before December appears and all of our fall decorations are replaced with Christmas evergreen, I want to savor the last few days of November and enjoy the colors of autumn.

When I looked out our kitchen window this morning, the little bit of orange leaves left on our oak tree looked so wonderful framing our barn. Soon the leaves will be gone and we will be looking out at the color of gray until the green buds appear again in the spring.

Our Thanksgiving table was also decorated in a fall theme this year with sunflowers, eucalyptus, wheat, and other natural grasses. The fall colors will remain until after the first of December when Christmas decorations will gradually make their way into our home.

Christmas used to really excite me as a child. I don't get so excited anymore...I know some lost excitement could be my age, but sometimes I think maybe it is because Christmas starts so much earlier in the year (like around Halloween!). By the time December 25 finally arrives, the excitement of the lights, the smells and the stories have all lost their wonder. AND by December 26, I am ready to celebrate Britain's Boxing Day to get our house back to normal.

This year, I am going to enjoy our fall decorations as long as possible. On the first of December, I will replace our front door wreath with our Christmas wreath. Then around December 10 I'll start getting out our Christmas decorations and put up the Christmas Tree. Maybe this way I can make the Christmas excitement last for a little while this year without feeling the yearly burn out.

What do you do to make the excitement of Christmas last until December 25?

Have a great weekend!

Judy :)

Before & After: The Front Door

2010-11-18T18:19:00.000-06:00

When we purchased our house, it had been “well” used. Bluntly, it was filthy and needed a total make over. We did a quick makeover of walls and flooring then moved into it as soon as we could. Over the past six years (after moving in), we have slowly been fixing other little things as we can. One of my recent “do-overs” was the front door. We have a really nice front door with the side window lights. I think the previous owners intended to paint the door after their dogs had ruined the finish as they scratched to get inside. The front door looked like it had been lightly sanded at several places. These are the before pictures of the front door:

Everywhere we drove this past summer, I looked at front doors. I noticed the colors of the doors and if the side lights were painted the same or in contrast. My favorite front doors were painted black with white side lights. The contrast really made the front doors pop. I liked black, but I remembered traveling in Charleston, South Carolina when I was in college and loving the color of their front doors. At first glance, they looked black, but after looking closer, you noticed the color was really a green that was so dark it was almost black. I started looking for that color and found what I thought might be a good substitute at Lowe’s. The color is called Nocturnal Green and is made by Valspar.

When I began painting the front door, the paint looked to have a more bluish tinge to it. My son thinks it looks black, but I can definitely see a blue tinge and not a green tinge. When I hold the paint sample up to the door (which looks green when held away from the door), the paint exactly matches the sample. Go figure?! Maybe the bluish tinge is the reflection of the gray concrete on the porch floor. I do like the way the door looks, so I am going to keep the color….just not totally what I was after.

Here is the way the door looks now (and decorated for fall):

The gold “Welcome” is a vinyl transfer from “Leen the Graphics Queen”. Check out her website. She has all kinds of sayings and scriptures to add to your walls, doors, or crafts. They are reasonably priced and are easy to apply.

What new projects have you finished this fall?

Enjoy your weekend!

Judy :)

Road Trip: Louisville, KY

2010-11-16T14:30:00.000-06:00

I believe my husband and I are making this a yearly trip. A trip that I love! My husband is always interested in attending the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville each year. This show has the largest amount of sheep, cattle, horses, mules, or whatever livestock you want to see. We try to hit it each year on the weekend of the sheep show. We both enjoy staying at the 1840 Tucker House Bed & Breakfast. The house is filled with antiques and the breakfast is (pardon the expression)...to die for.

Our first stop this year was at the exposition center. We spent all of our time in the sheep barn. This is a shot from last year showing just how many sheep this barn holds.

This is the one picture I took this year of the sheep. This ewe was so peacefully, chewing her cud and totally ignoring all of the chaos going on around her. Doesn't she look totally oblivious and happy?

After spending some time in the sheep barn, we took off to do some antiquing. We hit the Derby City Antique Mall and spent a couple of hours. This mall has around 170 vendors with three floors of antiques. I ended up purchasing a small drop leaf table for our living room.

Then we headed to the Tucker House. I love, love, love this bed & breakfast. The rooms are so comfortable. Every need is met from the usual toiletries to a keeping room where you can get bottled water, snacks, dvd's or videos, and coffee. Extra pillows, blankets, and robes are in the bedroom closet. And you are welcomed by the owner's, Steve and Devona, Sophie, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, and Tucker, the cat. This is a picture of Tucker House from last fall. We didn't have a good shot of it this year because of more parked vehicles.

The bedroom we have chosen the last two years is the Courting Chamber. It has beautiful pictures hung in the room of couples courting. We especially like the bathroom with this bedroom. Look at that sink! I would love to have one just like it some day!

This is the living room and all of it's wonderful period antiques.

The Dining Room:

The entry hall with staircase:

The outside front door entry is even inviting. I love the bench and the antique sled which is hidden right behind that column...and of course, Tucker!

Before we left, I snuck across the hall and took a picture of one of the other bedrooms that was empty. This room holds a small bed for a child, too!

Please take a look at the Tucker House and if you are in the Louisville area, check it out. From our experience, you definitely won't be disappointed.

Oh, by the way, for breakfast we had grilled grapefruit with bananas, baked eggs with cream and two cheeses, bacon, german sausage, and pumpkin pancakes. Mmmm, so good! This is the kitchen where all of the magic happens:

Enjoy your week!

Judy :)

Remember Our Veterans

2010-11-11T07:43:00.000-06:00

Take A Moment To Thank A Veteran When you see someone in a uniform,
Someone who serves us all,
Doing military duty,
Answering their country’s call, Take a moment to thank them
For protecting what you hold dear;
Tell them you are proud of them;
Make it very clear. Just tap them on the shoulder,
Give a smile, and say,
"Thanks for what you’re doing
To keep us safe in the USA!" By Joanna Fuchs
Think today on the meaning of veterans day and the service of our soldiers past and present...and then thank them.

Enjoy your celebration!

Judy :)

Road Trip: Searcy & Heber Springs, Arkansas

2010-11-10T07:35:00.000-06:00

We went on a short road trip to Arkansas this past weekend. Our son is interested in attending Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. Last weekend was their Homecoming so it was a great opportunity for him to visit the campus and stay with a couple of graduates from his high school. My husband and I stopped at Harding University long enough to enjoy a performance of an acapella group called the "Good News Singers". They performed outside the auditorium. Beautiful voices, but there was definitely the bite of cool fall temperatures in the air. It was cold enough that I didn't want to take my hands out of my pockets to snap pictures. This is the only shot I took that shows part of the campus while we were visiting Harding:

My husband and I left Joseph at the dorm with his friends and headed to Heber Springs to a Bed & Breakfast.

I normally love to stay at Bed & Breakfasts, but we were both disappointed in this one, so I didn't take any pictures. (We are going to a fabulous Bed & Breakfast in Louisville, Kentucky this coming weekend and I will take tons of pictures to show you. It is gorgeous!)

We had a nice leisurely Saturday and did a lot of things that the two of us enjoy. We shopped Heber Spring's Main Street and looked in several antique stores, had chai lattes at a coffee shop, and enjoyed talking with a cashier at a "Life Is Good" store. She told us of a really good Flea Market store about 7 miles up the road. We drove there and had a great time reminiscing as we browsed the booths. You start feeling really old when you see objects from your childhood displayed in an antique shop! We came home with a few "antiques" we just couldn't pass up. Aromatique is headquartered in Heber Springs, so we visited their outlet and purchased their Creme Caramel room spray. It has a warm baked vanilla scent. I seem to be drawn to fragrances that smell like food!

In the afternoon, we decided to hike Sugar Loaf Mountain. Sugar Loaf Mountain is more of a large hill than a mountain, but on the very top of it was a huge rock structure. The only way to get to the very top of the mountain would be to have climbing gear. It took us about 20 minutes and several stops to catch our breath before we made it to the place where the rock formation started. We then climbed as far as we safely could on the rocks. Climbing on the rocks was the most fun I have had in a long time! We did see some men attempting to climb to the top with ropes. The climb was well worth it...the view was spectacular!

A view of Sugar Loaf Mountain from the bottom.

On our way to the top, you can see the rock structure through the trees.

The view from our first stop after we started climbing the rock.

The rocks above us. (They were leaning, not me!)

As a visual perspective, my husband beside the rocks.

A crack in the rocks just large enough to squeeze through, but no way to get to the top.

This is the view from the other side. This was as far as we could go.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day to ourselves. Joseph had a great time at Harding visiting with his friends. We pick him up in time for church on Sunday morning and then headed back to Alabama. Joseph has decided to go to college at Harding.

This is how he told me he had decided on Harding: On Friday after we arrived at Harding, Joseph and I were in their Bookstore looking for a sweatshirt to purchase since it was so cool outside. The sweatshirt he chose was a Nike sweatshirt and was more than I normally pay for sweatshirts. He asked if I would consider paying that much for a sweatshirt. I told him there was no way I would pay that much for a sweatshirt for a University he might not even attend. He looked at me and said, "I thought you knew this is where I want to go to college!" Needless to say, I bought the sweatshirt. We are pleased with his decision to attend this Christian University and are looking forward to exploring more of this area in the next few years.

Enjoy your week!

Judy :)

Grace through a Kidney Transplant

2010-10-30T13:42:00.010-05:00

Emily at Chatting At The Sky in her October 28 post wrote:

"If there is only one thing you take away from this series, let it be this:

grace is getting something I don’t deserve. That’s it.

Because Someone came and lived a perfect life so I don’t have to.

Someone came so I could walk around free even though I’m guilty.

I’m Jean Valjean with a bag full of stolen silver,

and then The Bishop gives me the candlesticks, too.

Someone took a risk on me, and he didn’t wait until I appreciated or understood it.

His name is Jesus. His name is Grace."

Through the perfect grace of Jesus, we too can offer grace.

A friend of mine, Nancy, offered a wonderful gift of grace to me a few years ago.

My kidneys reached the point of End Stage Renal Disease the beginning of 2006. My brother had been tested and was willing to give me one of his kidneys, but his blood pressure remained higher than the level Vanderbilt would accept as a donor of a kidney. He tried dieting, exercising, and even natural herbs to bring his blood pressure down to their acceptable range with no luck.

Nancy had told me in passing earlier in the year that she would be tested if my brother did not work out. One night after church she came to me and asked if Jon was going to be able to donate his kidney. I told her "no". We had just found out he wasn't. She said she was ready to be tested.

She immediately scheduled an appointment at Vanderbilt, was tested, was a match, and was approved. On Tuesday, August 1, 2006, the doctors at Vanderbilt transplanted one of her good kidneys into my body. By the time I woke up from surgery, my kidney levels were back in the normal range for the first time in 24 years.

Me and Nancy in June before the transplant.

Nancy and I had only known each other for a little over a year. She and her husband had moved to Florence about a year after my husband and I had moved here. We had them over for supper one night and she learned I had a kidney disease. She asked if there was anything she could do to help me. I jokingly told her she could give me a kidney. Surprisingly, she replied, "I can do that!". What a wonderful person. About a year after the transplant, Nancy and her husband moved back to where she was raised. She so quickly came into our life and then went back out of our life. (Providence? That's a topic for another discussion!)

Nancy showed us such a lesson in grace. Even though she did not have any ties to me or my family, even though she was far from her family, even though she knew she would experience pain and uncomfortable procedures, she graciously offered me a part of her body to make me feel whole again without expecting anything in return.

I do not know if even yet, I fully appreciate the sacrifice she gave to me. Each day, I feel I gain a little more knowledge of her grace and it teaches me such a needed lesson! Because of her sacrifice, I live today a normal life. I enjoy my life as a wife and a mother. I am able to exercise, work full-time, teach classes at church, travel, and to accomplish anything I want to strive for. I am able to give Grace to others...to pass it on!

Can you think of some gift of Grace you can give to other people? I'm sure Grace has been given to you in many ways. Don't keep it bottled up inside you. Pass it on!

Judy :)

Linking up to:

June 18, 2011

October 30, 2010

Fall In Alabama

2010-10-28T21:15:00.004-05:00

One of the sights I look forward to enjoying at the beginning of fall is the maturing of the cotton fields in our area. I grew up in West Virginia and don't ever remember seeing cotton being raised. This has been a new experience for me. In some ways, at first glance, when I see a field of cotton, it reminds me of a partial snow on the ground in the winter time. Snow has always made my heart skip a beat in excitement, so the first glance of cotton grabs my heart, too.

This year cotton was grown directly across the road from us behind our neighbors' houses. I drove home from work one afternoon late in September and noticed the field across the road was in full "bloom". Once the cotton opens into the bolls (pronounced "boles"), it is usually harvested as soon as possible. The bolls become pretty messy if they are rained on and the fiber gets too wet as I'm sure you can imagine. I knew I needed to hurry up and get some photos before I came home one afternoon and all of the cotton was gone.

After supper, I called our neighbor across the road and rushed into her back yard to snap these pictures:

Look in the background. Doesn't it look like scattered snow?

A closer view.

A close up of a boll cotton.

Looking down the length of the field.

On my way back across the road, the sunset was brilliant. A great welcome to fall!

Hope you have a wonderful fall weekend!

Judy :)

PS Thanks to all who voted for my son's Show Choir group. The Show Choir group from Boynton Beach, Florida were the winners. The whole week was one full of excitement for our whole town. Certainly a memory our kids will remember. Show Choir pics are coming up soon!

Vote, Vote, Vote!!!

2010-10-21T19:38:00.000-05:00

The Show Choir my son is a part of made it to the top four on the Today Show. If you read this in time, we would truly appreciate your vote. Please go to www.klgandhoda.com and vote for Celebration Show Choir, Mars Hill Bible School in Florence, Alabama. These kids would so appreciate it!

Judy :)

Mars Hill Bible School Show Choir Entry

2010-10-19T08:50:00.000-05:00

I have not written a post about Mars Hill Bible School Show Choir yet. They performed the weekend of September 10....the beginning of my 6 week break from posting on the blog. This is a group of students that began practicing in mid July for a weekend performance in September. These kids work hard and sacrifice a lot of other activities to be a part of this production. The directors of the show do an absolutely awesome job of working with our children and bringing out the best of them while forming it into an entertaining and professional production.

The Today Show is having a competition this year called the Show Choir Showdown. I assume the popularity of the television show Glee has prompted this interest in Show Choir. Ten couples in our Show Choir was selected to perform for a taping of one of the songs from this year's performance to be sent into the Today Show for their competition. Above is their entry. Our son is part of the couple on the left on the front row.

Thursday, the top four entries will be announced and then it will be open to voting. Stay tuned for Thursday and hopefully I will be back on the blog to encourage everyone to Vote, Vote, Vote!!! Mars Hill is a small school so we will need all of the votes we can get. The winners will be flown to New York to perform on the show!

Stay tuned!

Judy :)

I'm Back!

2010-10-15T15:50:00.000-05:00

Well....two to three weeks turned into six! I'm so sorry.

This has been a busy six weeks. We have rushed through three nights of show choir with two nights of friends and family visiting. We have had senior casual pictures, family pictures, and couple pictures taken. I have repainted the front door. And I learned the old-fashioned way of making apple butter. Yum! All of these plus daily life and increasing my hours at work have kept me busy.

I'll be posting soon on all of the above plus more.

Keep reading. I'm anxious to be back at the keyboard.

Have a great weekend! BTW, it's senior play weekend here. Joseph doesn't have a large part, but we're looking forward to seeing the play, The Mouse That Roared. I think I remember seeing the movie years ago. Maybe Peter Sellers (aka The Pink Panther) was in it?

Judy :)

Taking A Break

2010-08-23T17:30:00.000-05:00

Time is passing so quickly and I am getting so far behind! I will be taking 2 or 3 weeks break from blogging. Housekeeping, Senioritis, Show Choir, and Work is keeping me too busy to share right now. But, I will be back. Soon!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Joseph during his formal photo session for his Senior Portrait. Love the tux jacket, tie and shorts, don't you?

Weekly Thought #5

2010-08-15T15:58:00.004-05:00

A really companionable and indispensable dog is
an accident of nature.

You can't get it by breeding for it
and you can't buy it with money.

It just happens along. -- E. B. White

For the dog lovers....

Have a great week!

Judy :)

Linked to Notes from A Cottage Industry.

The Last First Day & Update

2010-08-12T18:31:00.001-05:00

Note: Okay, everyone. Life has just happened and I have fallen off the Optimum Health wagon. Between getting ready for school to start and being one person short at work, I haven't had time to even cook supper no less eat healthy and exercise. I do hope to get back on Week 3 starting on Sunday, so don't give up on me yet.

August 9, 2010 The Last First Day of School

Quickly approaching for my husband and me is the eventual leap from the nest by our son, Joseph. Joseph began his senior year of high school on Monday. I find that my tears are coming at the most unexpected times. They catch me quite off guard. A few weeks ago we received the yearly packet from the school with the usual letter, school calendar, optional insurance policy...you know all of the junk you receive at the first of the year. I was looking through the packet and looked at the dates and vacations on the calendar and even looked to see what date graduation would be. Seeing the date of graduation didn't bother me. What bothered me was picking up the elementary letter for the kindergarten and K-4 parents to read from the elementary principal. It was a straight forward letter about visiting the school and meeting their child's new teacher. My mind went back to visiting Joseph's kindergarten classroom and teacher before he started kindergarten. Charlie and I both went together for this and I remember sitting in those little chairs with my knees almost up to my chin. I remember the teacher talking to us about their different routines. The one statement she made that sticks out in my mind the most from that day was "If you don't believe everything your child tells you about me, I promise not to believe every story your child tells me about you!" That is when the tears got me. Where did the years go? It seems only yesterday that we were those new parents sitting in those little seats. How can 12 years have passed so quickly?

I did really well the morning of the first day of school for this year. Really never had an inkling that this should be a particular tearful time for me. After reading Facebook entries that day, I felt really proud of myself for not being so emotional that morning. When I got home from work, Joseph had left me a pile of forms to sign and papers to read. When I started going through them, I read this page sent home by his English teacher:

Her Last, First Day

The day has come. I once prayed, begged, pleaded and even found myself wishing away sleepless nights, the terrible twos, broken rules and teenage rebellion. I now stand dumbfounded, mystified and frankly quite panicked realizing that magically and with tremendous regret, my wish has finally been granted. Today is her last, first day of school.

Although she often argued that I never listened, I heard every word. She claimed that I was old fashioned and didn't have a clue. But I defined the "Bible belt" and went by all the rules. She questioned my intelligence and was annoyed at my forgetfuflness and often reminded me that she was "grown". As her mother, I gave birth to this brilliance, remembered what I wanted to forget and understood that no matter what she said, Aubrey was always my baby.

What she will never know but one day come to appreciate, were my late nights after silly fights, my old clothes, her new shoes. My empty wallet, her fancy purse. My yard sale finds, her name brands at the time. Her last minute needs, just-because wants and everything in between. I hope she will be thankful for her first tears, all of my fears and wondering if I ever got it right So with hesitation my chapter must end so that her book can now begin. It is difficult, almost debilitating for me to address the inevitable.

So today I encourage every mother to hug a little tighter, bake another batch, read another page and play one last time. Freezing the frames to memories is not in vain as today will soon be yesterday, and tomorrow will merely be the last, lasting first for eternity.
M Elaine Shiray

Tuscumbia

from the Times Daily, August 11, 2009

I cried. Everything this mother wrote about was totally our relationship. Of course, we have to substitute Polo Shirts for fancy purses, but the rest fit us to a T. I have forewarned Joseph of my many tears that are yet to come for this year. I told him that I would cry at Show Choir, his last Chorus performance, his last Soccer Game, graduation, and any other time my eyes felt like releasing their emotion. He said, "Yeah, I know". Then I told him that I loved him and he said again, "Yeah, I know."

Linked with Chatting At The Sky.

Adoption Day - 17 years

2010-08-03T15:47:00.001-05:00

Seventeen years ago today, my husband and I went to Agape in Nashville with my mother-in-law and niece to bring home a small 4 lb 15 oz baby boy. One of the best days of our life.

We had been through all of the home studies and required adoption courses. We thought we were ready! Little did we know what "real" parenting was. And little did we know that 17 years later we would still be learning as much as he is through this journey. What a joy Joseph has been to our lives! No regrets! I would live those 17 years all over to have him as our son again.

Happy Adoption Day, Joseph! All of our love.

Mom :)

Linked to Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting At The Sky.

8 Weeks to Optimum Health - Week 3

2010-08-02T16:43:00.001-05:00

The "Rules" for Week 3:

Look into buying organic produce because of unhealthy residues of agrichemicals being found on grocery store produce. Especially be careful of peaches, strawberries, apples, nectarines, pears, cherries, red raspberries, imported grapes, spinach, celery, white potatoes and bell peppers. The least contaminated vegetables are asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, kiwis, mangoes, onions, papayas, pineapples, and peas. Wash everything and peel what you can.
Be aware of electromagnetic fields. Stop using electric blankets because of their close proximity to your body. Make sure your clock radio is at least one foot away from your bed. Buy a pair of sunglasses that block 99 percent of UV rays.
Eat an extra serving of fruits and vegetables with at least one meal this week. Eat fish twice this week. Replace at least one serving of meat with a soy food of your choice.
Add 400-800 IU of natural vitamin E and 200 micrograms of selenium to your supplements this week. Take these with your lunch or largest meal of the day.
Walk for 20 minutes this week. Begin some simple stretching to improve flexibility.
Try a new breathing exercise this week. Lie on your back (may want to do this while falling asleep). Close your eyes, let your arms rest alongside your body. Focus attention on your breath without influencing it. Imagine the universe is pushing breath into you as you inhale and withdrawing it from you as you exhale. Let your breath reach every part of your body even to your fingers and toes. Do this for 10 cycles.
Make a list of friends who make you happy, alive, and optimistic. Spend time with one of those this week.
Begin reading an inspirational book.
Abstain from news for one day this week, again.
Optional - buy more flowers, find out how to grow food even if just in containers on your porch.

Have a good week!

Judy :)

Week 2 Finished - 8 Weeks to Optimum Health

2010-08-02T16:06:00.000-05:00

Here is how week 2 panned out:

Check your water. Contact your water company for contaminates or have it sent off to be tested. Do not drink chlorinated water. Drink filtered water or bottled water only. We get a report yearly about our water and it is okay. I don't like the taste of chlorinated water so we have been filtering our drinking water for years. Would love to have a home system, but they are expensive.
Eat salmon once this week and broccoli twice this week. Choose wholegrain breads or cereals. Try something made with soy. Try to substitute green tea for coffee. I finally found the Wild Alaskan Salmon at Sam's this week. It came marinated (I prefer plain because of sodium). I scraped a good part of the marinate off when I prepared it and it was wonderful...very moist. Broccoli was eaten twice this week. Once as just a side dish and once with tofu in a stir fry. The tofu stir fry did not turn out well. I used a recipe I had made in the past. It called for a non-stick skillet and I found a non-stick skillet is absolutely necessary to prepare tofu in this way. I don't have one anymore and will wait to try that again when I do. Wholegrain breads were not a problem. I had been to the Whole Foods Market the week before and had purchased several of their loaves. They are so good! I do normally have green tea every morning. I am not a coffee drinker.
Add mixed carotenes to your supplements of Vitamins C & D3. Take 10,000 to 15,000 IU of beta-carotene with related compounds such as alpha-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. The mixture must contain lycopene to give the full benefits. Still waiting for a talk with my doctor on this one.
Walk - 15 minutes. Add some hills, if possible. I walked 4 times this week instead of the recommended 5. We are having 100 degree temps so I am still walking on the elliptical. 15 minutes is really tough for me...I know, I'm out of shape! The elliptical is like walking in deep sand, so I feel it is a harder workout than just walking for 15 minutes.
Visit a park. Try a one day news fast - don't watch, listen, or read any news for a period of 24 hours. Continue with the breath observation for 5 minutes each day. For 1 minute, practice beginning your breath cycle with exhalation and ending with inhalation -- concentrate on this while you do the exercise. I did not have time to visit a park this week though I did visit a friend's farm with my husband to load hay. Don't know if that would count! I am not a big news person...generally it makes me nervous. I don't read the paper unless a particular story is pointed out to me and the only news I watch is the weather, so a news fast was easy. I absolutely love the breath observations, but tend to forget to do them until bedtime and then I fall asleep!
Pay attention to mental imagery. What has strong emotional impact? How can you adopt them for healing visualization? Still thinking on this one!

Rules for Week 3 will be up soon. Getting a little tougher!

Judy :)

Weekly Thought #4

2010-07-30T12:03:00.003-05:00

Shearing, Dickson, TN - George Meek, May 2009

It is not about your life. It is about how effective you live your life.

---Focus on the Family Radio Broadcast

July 29, 2010

Have a great weekend!

Judy :)

08/08/10 Linked with Notes From A Cottage Industry.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-07-28T12:47:00.002-05:00

I tried this new recipe last night and really loved it. I found this recipe at a website called 101 Cookbooks. You can find this recipe here. Since I am working on the 8 Weeks to Optimum Health by Dr. Andrew Weil, I was excited to find a cookie recipe with whole grains. This has rolled oats, whole wheat flour, and wheat brain. (For any of you who liked my Nutritious Oatmeal Bran Muffins, you could use the oat bran in this recipe in exchange for the wheat bran.)

I only made a couple of changes to the recipe. Instead of using dark brown sugar or Muscovado sugar, I used Turbinado sugar. It was getting old and clumpy and needed to be used. This may have changed the texture a little bit. I have found Turbinado sugar tends to do that when I cook with it. Also for the 10 oz of semi-sweet chocolate bar, I used less than 1/2 of a 11.5 oz bag each of Milk Chocolate Chips and Dark Chocolate Chips. I was out of semi-sweet or I would have used 10 oz of them and I didn't have any chocolate bars.

The cookies turned out crunchy, chewy and would make great cookies to sandwich ice cream between. They were scrumptious and even approved by my 17 year old!

Pop on over to 101 Cookbooks and check out her website. I believe she is a vegetarian and all of her recipes look delicious. In this part of the country, the problem sometimes is finding the ingredients. Have a great Wednesday!

Judy :)

07/30/10 Note: Linked to The Inspired Room. These cookies have "inspired" me because you can eat healthy even when you are having a treat! Hope everyone enjoys these.

8 Weeks To Optimum Health - Week 2

2010-07-25T20:32:00.001-05:00

Here are the "rules" for Week 2:

Check your water. Contact your water company for contaminates or have it sent off to be tested. Do not drink chlorinated water. Drink filtered water or bottled water only.
Eat salmon once this week and broccoli twice this week. Choose wholegrain breads or cereals. Try something made with soy. Try to substitute green tea for coffee.
Add mixed carotenes to your supplements of Vitamins C & D3. Take 10,000 to 15,000 IU of beta-carotene with related compounds such as alpha-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. The mixture must contain lycopene to give the full benefits.
Walk - 15 minutes. Add some hills, if possible.
Visit a park. Try a one day news fast - don't watch, listen, or read any news for a period of 24 hours. Continue with the breath observation for 5 minutes each day. For 1 minute, practice beginning your breath cycle with exhalation and ending with inhalation -- concentrate on this while you do the exercise.
Pay attention to mental imagery. What has strong emotional impact? How can you adopt them for healing visualization?

In order to be honest with you all, I have done week one several times, but never made it to week 2. Now starts the new ground. I plan to look for the Wild Alaskan salmon again this week, and make something with tofu. I have a wonderful cookbook for a vegetarian restaurant in Athens, GA called The Grit. They had wonderful food and used tofu in several of their dishes. The rest I'll figure out as I go along.

Have a great and healthy week!

Judy :)

Week 1 Done! - 8 Weeks to Optimum Health

2010-07-25T13:03:00.000-05:00

Here is a run down of week one and how I did:

Throw out Partially Hydrogenated Oils & Transfatty Acids. Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I didn’t have any TFA’s except Crisco. I only use Crisco for biscuits and only fix them about twice a month, so I decided that would be my splurge. I love my buttermilk biscuits. Mmmmm. Throw out artificial sweeteners. I made this decision years ago. There are no artificial sweeteners in my house. Did you know that there have been no claims to have lost weight by drinking diet drinks? Throw out anything with artificial coloring. I decided I would do this as I went and haven’t run across any yet.
Eat broccoli twice this week. Done! Eat salmon once this week. One of our grocery stores used to carry frozen Wild Alaska Salmon and I couldn’t find it! I will keep looking. I did buy Eggland’s Best Eggs which are high in Omega 3’s. I use these in everything I bake or cook. Eggs are my go to meal whenever I don’t feel like cooking. I love them. This will have to do until I can check other stores for their salmon supply.
Supplements: Vitamin C, 200 mg and Vitamin D3, 1000 IU per day. I’m still putting this off until I can give my doctor a list all at once. I do take Vitamin C when I have a cold coming on and have been prescribed Vitamin D when it has been low, so I’m sure it is okay. My doctor watches my levels on Vitamin D and Calcium.
Exercise - Walk 10 minutes/day - 5 days this week. I almost succeeded in this one. I exercised 10 minutes on the Elliptical 3 days this week, and walked about ½ hour outside on our 13.5 acres. The radiator cap popped off the tractor when my son was bush hogging the property this week. We walked to the back of the property and back looking for it…a literal needle in a haystack. EBay should be delivering a new one tomorrow! I’ll do better this next week and get the total 5 days in.
Mental/Spiritual - make a list of illnesses or injuries you recovered from in the past 2 years. Made the mental list. About a year ago, I was in the hospital for a virus that attacked my transplanted kidney. My body is still healing and fighting this virus. It is not totally out of my system yet, but the count is down from millions to about 1400. Maybe these eight weeks will knock the rest of it out! Practice breath observation for 5 minutes everyday. This was wonderful when I remembered to do it! I found it is difficult to only concentrate on breath for 5 minutes…my mind tended to drift, but toward the end of the week I was much better at it. I found I have to set my alarm before I begin or I worry too much on the time. The time actually flies and when the five minutes is up I felt like I had a mini-nap. Such a relaxing time in the day! AND buy some flowers. Flowers were purchased and enjoyed. It is so nice to see blooms in the house.

I will post sometime later today the next week’s to do list.

So far a pretty great success!

Queen Bee Designs by Amanda

2010-07-19T17:25:00.004-05:00

I love this necklace! There doesn't seem to be many necklaces or rings for mother's with only one child. You see the mother's rings made up of each child's birthstone, but that doesn't work well for one child. There are many necklaces also made up with each child's birthstone set with a stick figure boy or girl to represent each child that you have. These just don't work for us one child moms.

Queen Bee Designs solved this for me. I saw her advertisements on several blogs that I read so I clicked over to see what she had to offer. She has many different necklaces already designed or you can design your own. I based my necklace on her "Three's A Charm" necklace. Amanda is super easy to work with. I came up with my own words and even added the fresh water pearl.

The medallions and chain are sterling silver and your purchase comes packaged in a box with a ribbon ready to give as a gift.

Check out her blogsite at queenbeedesignsbyamanda.blogspot.com.

Judy :)

8 Weeks to Optimum Health - Beginning

2010-07-18T19:26:00.002-05:00

This is a wonderful book if you are interested in health and nutrition and applying it to your life. The book is written by Dr. Andrew Weil. I first saw Dr. Weil in an interview on a television show. He caught my attention in the way he looked at the whole body when diagnosing a condition. This book went on the market several years ago. We purchased it and I read it. I put some of the thoughts of the book into our lifestyle, but did not try the whole program. I guess now that I am reaching age 45, I am more interested in working and changing my lifestyle to keep my health.

Week One is starting for me today. Here are the items I am supposed to concentrate on for the first week of this program:

Throw out Partially Hydrogenated Oils & Transfatty Acids. Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil. (This is not much of a problem now since the USDA began regulating the use of these oils. Dr. Weil was about 10 years ahead of them!) Throw out artificial sweeteners. (No problem. I won't touch them.) Throw out anything with artificial coloring. (I'll have to read labels.) Fat intake should = 30% of calories. Example: 2000 calories/day = 600 from fat (70 grams). Keep saturated fats as low as possible.
Eat broccoli twice this week. Broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetables. You can peel the fibrous stems of broccoli and they taste pretty good too. Eat salmon once this week. Salmon is high is omega 3's. Be careful of the source of your Salmon. Wild Alaskan Salmon is recommended.
Supplements: Vitamin C, 200 mg and Vitamin D3, 1000 IU per day. (I'll have to check with my Doctor on this.)
Exercise - Walk 10 minutes/day - 5 days this week.
Mental/Spiritual - make a list of illnesses or injuries you recovered from in the past 2 years. This exercise helps you realize the healing capacity of your body. Practice breath observation for 5 minutes everyday - sit comfortably with your back straight, lightly close your eyes, and simply inhale and exhale concentrating on your breath and the points at which one phase changes into the other. AND buy some flowers. Flowers show the beauty of nature and delight your senses. (I think I ~~like~~ LOVE this one!)

Dr. Weil, of course, discusses each of these in detail in his book.

My purpose for beginning this program is to:

Lose a little weight. In the past 6 - 7 months, I have gained a little and my clothing is getting tight. I'd rather lose weight than buy new clothing. Definitely!
Get on an exercise program. That has definitely been lacking. After tax season, I used my bonus to buy a nice elliptical trainer. It's time to put that into use before my husband and son get on to me!
It will do my husband and me a world of good to get our diet back under control.

I'll let you know how my first week goes next week and let you know what the second week looks like.

Healthy living!

Judy :)

It's A Salad Party

2010-07-16T12:43:00.002-05:00

Traci at Beneath My Heart is having a Salad Party.

Since I just posted my Sour Cream Potato Salad a few days ago, I am going to add that post to her Salad Party. If you are interested in some new salads, head that direction by clicking on the link above. There are some yummy salads already listed. Enjoy!

~Judy :)

Weekly Thought - Week 3

2010-07-07T19:58:00.000-05:00

This week's weekly thought comes once again from listening to American Family Radio (AFR) on my way to work. If I hear something and it appears again and again in my thoughts, then I feel that it must be good enough to get down on paper.

In Luke 9:59-62, Jesus asked some men to follow him and they had excuses. One said he must go tell his parents good-bye. One said he needed to go bury his father first. Jesus told the men that they did not need to look back, but needed to move forward for the kingdom of God. This passage was never resolved in my brain. While it must have been an honor to be asked to follow Jesus, it seemed harsh to have to leave everything behind to do so.

The speaker on AFR gave an example of moving to a new town and finding a congregation to worship with. We seem to look for churches that meet our needs. Do they have members in our age group? Do they have children? Are they large enough? Do we like the preacher? Is the location convenient? Do they have Wednesday night meals? Instead we need to look for a church that will help us to meet God's needs. Can we participate in mission work? Can we work in a jail ministry? Can we teach bible classes? Does the youth group participate in service to the community? Can we actively do work for God?

Looking back over our many moves, it seems we chose the congregations we worshipped with by what they could do for us not what we could do for God. We have been very blessed with the congregations we attended and were able to do much work for Him. We have been involved with visitation groups, benevolence work, meeting newcomers to the community, teaching bible classes, working with Vacation Bible Schools, and much more. But what works might we have missed and could have finished, if that was our emphasis from the beginning?

Back to the scripture above, maybe Jesus didn't want someone following him to see which of their needs could be met by him. Jesus wanted them to follow him so they would be able to meet God's needs and wholly devote their life to God's work. We need to leave our needs behind and concentrate on meeting the needs of God to further His kingdom.

There was a song we sang when I was a little girl that fits this thought well. I couldn't find the song in any of our church song books, but I did find it in a poem on the internet:

Christ has no hands but our hands, to do his work today.

He has no feet but our feet, to lead men in his way.

He has no lips but our lips, to tell men how he died;

He has no self but ourselves, to bring men to his side.

What if our hands are busy, with other work than his?

What if our feet are straying where sin’s allurement is?

What if our lips are saying the things his lips would scorn?

How can we hope to help him, and hasten his return?

Unknown

Think about it. :)

July 4th Recipe - Sour Cream Potato Salad

2010-07-05T08:34:00.003-05:00

This potato salad recipe has become my ultimate favorite potato salad. My sister-in-law, Leta, saw a recipe similar to this one prepared on a cooking channel. She made it for a family gathering out of her head and I have further adapted it for our tastes. My recipe leans more toward a baked potato theme. Hope you enjoy it!

Sour Cream Potato Salad

Unpeeled or peeled red potatoes, cut in bite size pieces and boiled, about 8 - 9 medium potatoes

6 slices of bacon, diced, and fried crisp

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh dill or dill weed, to taste

1 Tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3-4 green onions

Hope you enjoy the salad. It is delicious!

Note: July 16 - I am adding this post to a Salad Party at Beneath My Heart. Click on over there and enjoy some new salad recipes!

~Judy :)

Diane's Etsy Store

2010-07-02T12:23:00.006-05:00

My cousin, Diane, has always been very talented. She excels at sewing, crocheting, drawing, painting, photography, and scrapbooking to name just a few. Diane's mother and my mother are sisters and are both talented in their own right with many of the same skills. I didn't receive a full dose of those genes. I can sew curtains and pillows - things that take a straight line. I am learning more about photography (I think a better camera might help along those lines!). I can draw a little. But I can do nothing to the professional craft level that my mom, aunt and cousin have reached.

Recently, Diane opened an Etsy shop to offer a variety of her items such as stationery, necklaces, birth announcements, christmas stockings, digital scrapbook papers, and much more to the public. You can check out her Etsy Store here.

When I saw her Everyday Tote Bag-Purse, it was exactly what I needed. I teach a class of 3rd and 4th graders on Wednesday night and needed a sturdy bag to hold a bunch of "stuff": my bible, binder, flashcards, folders, overheads, markers, candy, and many other things that vary from week to week. After talking with Diane about her tote AND finding out I could pick out my own material, I was ready to order. I picked out my material at Wal-Mart (not much variety here, but we are getting a JoAnn Fabrics soon...can't wait!). I chose a dog print for the outside, a black check for the inside, a black duck cloth for the bottom and straps, and some black stringy cording as decoration to go around the top. I was a little concerned about how the different thicknesses of materials would work, but she made it all come together beautifully and it is very sturdy.

Here is the final product:

And, it even gets better. On the inside, she has a zipper pocket which is great for my flash cards:

And a pocket for my markers, pencils and pens:

This bag is both functional and beautiful. I can definitely see this used as a purse and might consider one for that purpose too if I wasn't so completely in love with my Ameribag. I'll have to do a post on that sometime, too! :) Please do check out her Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/diturpin. My next purchase may be her stationery...gorgeous! Or maybe the Christmas Tree Stockings...hmmmm.

Have an enjoyable Independence Day weekend and be safe!

Note: I just noticed that there is a pocket on the outside too!

Weekly Thought - Week 2

2010-06-30T13:50:00.003-05:00

I read this sentence on a friend's blog this week:

"People are much more important than flowers and gardens. But sometimes you have to have the flowers and gardens so you can deal with the people."

These two sentences really made me stop and think for a few minutes...actually much longer than a few minutes. I kept coming back to these two sentences several times in the past couple of days and dwelling on the importance of people and the importance of quiet time.

People are so very important and part of our service as followers of Christ is to do for others as he did when he was on earth, but not only for the people we know and like, but also for those we pass on the street who are total strangers and maybe not even be someone we would choose to spend our time with. On the other hand, time off to ourself is of equal importance. Time to garden, or read, or just sit quietly and "be". These times help us to collect ourselves, think on matters (such as this quote), and be ready again to be out in the world with people and to serve again and even serve them in a greater capacity.

Now for the rest of the story...this quote was made from the mouth of man who is the father of 21 children. I think he may know about those gardening times being important in his life. My husband and I met the Smotherman's when we lived in Savannah, Tennessee almost 20 years ago. At that point they only had four children and was still quite an inspiration to us. You can read more about their family and their christian example here.

Have a good day!

:)

I Won!

2010-06-22T20:43:00.008-05:00

I read several different blogs daily and sometimes these blogs have give-a-ways. I have signed up for many give-a-ways in the past few months and my name or blog never shows up as a winner. I just don't seem to be the lucky one. Yesterday, I looked through my dashboard to see the new blogposts and saw "Winner. A Meek Perspective." Yes! About time!

The blog that sponsored the give-a-way is My Pink Life by Aimee Weaver.

I first read about her blog on The Lettered Cottage blog. Layla had done a post and link on Aimee's nursery that had been totally decorated from scratch by Aimee and her husband. What stood out to me in the pictures of the nursery was the lettering on the walls which read "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me". This is one of my favorite songs from church and it was such a lovely sentiment for a baby's room. This baby's room gave me lots of great ideas for painting a quote on our master bedroom wall. I left a comment asking how she did the lettering and she was gracious enough to respond to my question and many others on her blog the next day. You can see the blog on the baby's room here.

Lisa Pearson must have been impressed with the nursery, too, because she created a baby gift package from the nursery's theme for Aimee's blog. Check out her gift creation here. It is such a thoughtful gift. Now, you may say, "But Judy, your son is fixin' to turn 17!". (By the way, "fixin'" is a commonly used southern term for "getting ready to". It is just fun to say!) I know. But won't it make a wonderful gift for the next baby to be born at church!

Please check out Aimee and Lisa's blogs. You will find many wonderful decorating and just plain "living" ideas. These are wonderful blogs and I look forward to exploring Lisa's blog further.

Thank you Aimee and Lisa!

Weekly Thought - Week 1

2010-06-21T18:05:00.005-05:00

Bridge over Forth, Scotland 2008

During my drive to work in the mornings, I listen to American Family Radio. I usually catch the tale end of Focus on the Family and then the beginning of the Matt Friedeman Show. The beginning of Mr. Friedeman's show each day is usually a devotional or thought. He has used the following quote a couple of times since I have been listening to him and he used it again this morning:

"Whatever you are filled to the brim with will eventually spill out.

What will spill out of you today if you are bumped?"

Then during lunch today I was reading a blog and the author wanted the reader to comment on what makes a person have a positive attitude. Is it exercise, a book, a person? This was my response after spending the morning dwelling on the above thought:

I believe my positive attitudes come from my faith in God, studying the Bible,

and surrounding myself with positive people.

I heard a quote this morning which said

“Whatever you are filled to the brim with will eventually spill out.

What will spill out if you are bumped?”

If you fill yourself with negative influences, whether it is people, television, books, thoughts or whatever

and dwell on these things, negative attitudes will “spill” out.

Dwell on the positive and positive results will follow.

My husband often calls me "Miss Positive". I tend to find everything in life is more bearable if you can look to the ultimate outcome in the future. I am a kidney transplant recipient. During the years of being sick, my ultimate outcome was having the transplant and living a normal life again. The transplant did happen for me and my life is wonderful and normal thanks to my donor and friend. Yes, ask my husband, parents, and family...I did have some pretty tough times, but I was able each time to bring my thoughts around to the ultimate outcome and goal. The positive thoughts kept me going and obviously my husband continues to see that trait in me.

So the above question is one we should all answer. What will spill out of you if you are bumped? Will you be positive or negative? Will you be kind or angry? Will you be encouraging or discouraging? Will you help or hurt? The outcome will be so much more positive if your input into your mind is positive material.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9, ESV

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T21:43:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day to my father-in-law (Edgar), my dad (Joe), my husband (Charlie), all of my brothers (Ed, Jon, & Brian), and my brother-in-law (George--not pictured) and all of the other great dad's out there. What an honor it has been to have been a part of your lives. You guys are the best!

:) Judy

Everlasting Rolls by Sister Schubert

2010-06-16T13:32:00.007-05:00

This is the roll recipe that Sister Schubert was taught to bake when she was 12 years old. This is also the recipe that the Sister Schubert's Homemade Rolls in the freezer section of the grocery store were based on. I tried this recipe this weekend and the rolls turned out great.

Everlasting Rolls
Parker House-Style Rolls

1 package active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water (105 degrees F to 115 degrees F)

5 cups sifted all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup shortening, melted (cooled to 105 degrees F to 115 degrees F)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Combine yeast and warm water in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.

Combine 4 cups sifted flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in yeast mixture and shortening. Add eggs and remaining 1 cup sifted flour; stir vigorously until well blended. (Dough will be soft and sticky.) Brush or lightly rub dough with some of the melted butter. Cover loosely with a damp tea towel; let rise in a warm place (85 degrees F), free from drafts, for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Grease four (8-inch) round foil cake pans; set aside.

Sift 3/4 cup flour in a thick layer evenly over work surface; turn dough out onto floured surface. (Dough will be soft.) Sift 1/2 cup flour evenly over dough. Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness; brush off excess flour.

Cut out dough using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Pull each round into an oval, approximately 2 1/ inches long. Dip one side of oval into melted butter. Fold oval in half with buttered side facing out (Floured side will form the famous Parker House pocket.)

For each pan, place the fold of 10 rolls against side of prepared pan, pressing center fronts of rolls together gently to seal. Place 5 rolls in inner circle, and 1 roll in center, for a total of 16 rolls per pan. Cover loosely with a damp tea towel, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake rolls, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield: 64 rolls

Whole Wheat Variation:

Substitute 2 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups all-purpose flour for the 5 cups all-purpose flour listed above. Instead of plain melted butter for dipping the rolls, use 1/2 cup melted butter mixed with 2 tablespoons honey. Bake as directed for Everlasting Rolls.

If you are baking rolls for your freezer, allow the pan to completely cool on wire racks, then slide each pan into a large zipper bag and freeze. Do not stack pans until completely frozen. To reheat, allow rolls to thaw completely and heat at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Sister says:

These are my favorite rolls, and they are yours to bake and enjoy. The secret to the light-as-a-feather texture of these rolls: Don't knead the dough!

Baking yeast bread is not time consuming, but the rising times require your attention. Plan to be at home for a span of 4 hours. The recipe makes 4 pans: one for dinner, two for the freezer and one to share with a friend who will be amazed at your skill in the kitchen!

Where's the best place in your home for the dough to rise? It's your laundry room. Wash a load of towels and put them into the dryer. Cover the top of the dryer with a clean towel and place your dough on top. Be sure to cover the dough loosely with a damp tea towel. Turn on the dryer and close the laundry room door. The heat and humidity create a good environment for yeast activation and your laundry will serve two purposes.

Relax and enjoy the heavenly aroma of freshly baked yeast rolls!

When I baked this weekend, I bake the Whole Wheat Variation. I especially loved the butter/honey combination to dip the rolls in. I may continue to use this with all of my rolls. It wasn't too sweet, but it gave the rolls that extra "oomph". I do like my rolls a little sweeter than these and would probably add a little extra sugar the next time I make them, but that is just me. I'm a sweet roll kind of gal! I either didn't roll my rolls to 1/2 inch thick or my biscuit cutter is larger than 2 inches because I only got 37 rolls out of the recipe. I did really like the laundry room idea to raise the dough and that worked fine for me. I only have a laundry "closet" and with the doors closed it did stay toasty enough to raise the dough even when I washed other clothes and not a load of towels.

I hope you enjoy these. This recipe came out of the Sister Schubert Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters, Recipes for Success, Cooking & Living cookbook. Your can purchase this cookbook at this link.

Sister Schubert...And A Recipe!

2010-06-14T12:14:00.007-05:00

My friend, Kathy, and I went to Spring Park Farmer's Market in Tuscumbia, Alabama this week to see a demonstration by Sister Schubert of the Sister Schubert's Homemade Rolls fame. We arrived at Spring Park and I told her that I should have brought my camera. She had hers and volunteered to take pictures, so we have a guest photographer for this post. The pictures turned out wonderful!

Sister Schubert bakes those fabulous rolls you find in the freezer section of the grocery store that taste like homemade...they don't have that manufactured bread taste. If I don't make my own rolls, her rolls are always the ones I pick if I'm fixing a meal for guests.

Sister Schubert was very impressive. Her grandmother taught her how to bake her Everlasting Rolls when she was 12 years old. She began making them for family gatherings. She catered for a while and her customers loved her rolls. The church she attended hosted a frozen food fair and the secretary took order for deliveries during the holidays. She received an order for 80 pans of rolls that Christmas. The next year there were 200 orders and the next year the secretary stopped the orders at 300 pans of rolls. She went around to the local grocery stores inTroy, AL to try to sell her rolls to the public and handed out samples. The orders started coming in and kept coming. She soon converted her sun porch into a bakery in 1991, then they moved to a warehouse in 1992. In 1994 she built her first facility with 25,000 square feet. By 1998, she had expanded to 80,000 square feet. In 2000 after much prayer and talk, they sold their stock to another corporation. She was concerned and wanted to be assured that the quality of her rolls and the name brand would not be changed. The corporation hired her and her husand to stay on and run the company. So, she is still running the company without the headaches of the boardroom. Her title is now Founder and Vice President of Product Development and Manufacturing. Sister remains happy in the kitchen creating new products for her rolls. Her rolls can be purchased all across the US today.

She demonstrated her Lemon-Blueberry Trifle and everyone present got a sample. It was delicious! Of course, for me, anything with real whipped cream is the best! The recipe will appear at the end of the post.

I believe her main reason to be in Tuscumbia was to sell her new cookbook. She had a book signing at Cold Water Books earlier in the day. She also sold her book and signed copies at Spring Park. The cookbook is called Sister Schubert: Cast Your Break Upon The Waters, Recipes for Success, Cooking & Living. All proceeds from the book go to the Barnes Family Foundation which is a charitable organization that helps food banks and area shelters in their efforts to feed the hungry. The cookbook contains recipes for all types of food including main dishes, sides and veggies, breakfast dishes, rolls, breads, desserts, and holiday favorites. You can purchase a cookbook at Sister Schubert's website. I purchased one and the recipes look fabulous. I can't wait to try out some of them!

Lemon-Blueberry Trifle

2 pints blueberries, washed and sorted

2 pints strawberries, washed, hulled and cut into bite-sized pieces

Juice of 1 lemon plus 1 tablespoon of grated lemon rind

2/3 cup sugar, divided

1 quart heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 (11 oz) jar lemon curd

1 pan Sister Schubert's Blueberry Rolls, prepared per package directions

Combine berries in a large bowl; sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind and cornstarch. Using a large saucepan over medium heat, simmer berry mixture until berries begin to soften and release juice, approximately 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Using large bowl of mixer on high speed, whip cream with 1/3 cup sugar and almond extract until soft peaks form. Do not overbeat. Using a small bowl, combine a tablespoon of lemon curd with 2 tablespoons of whipped cream, stirring until well combined. Add remaining lemon curd and combine with whipped cream. Beat on high speed until somewhat stiffer peaks form and lemon curd is well combined.

Remove Blueberry Rolls from pan and cut into 1-inch pieces.

To Assemble:
Spoon a layer of whipped cream filling into a large glass trifle bowl. Add a layer of Blueberry Rolls. Add a layer of berries with juice. Continue layering until you have used all of the roll pieces and berries with juice. Finish with a layer of filling. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: 1 large trifle

Sister says:
My family loves this creamy rich dessert. You may use a china bowl, but then you'll miss the gorgeous colors of the berries with the soft white filling and dark purple Blueberry Rolls. You will bring a little taste of summer to your table any time you serve it!

It was a wonderful evening to share with a friend. I'll do another post soon on Spring Park's Farmers Market...one of my favorite farmers markets. I'll also post the Sister Schubert's recipe for Everlasting Rolls this week. So stay tuned.

Have a great week!

P. S. Thank you, Kathy, for going with me and taking pictures!