Happy 250th Birthday, America!

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Psalm 33:12

Unsung Heroes, Part II, Single Parents – Both Fathers and Mothers

Women who chose life.

Fathers who stepped up to raise the children when their mother died, left or ran off in selfish pursuits. Men who lose in the courts but stay in their children’s lives as much as they possibly can. Who don’t abandon their first children for a new family.

Mothers who are forced by life’s circumstances to be both father and mother, and provider and nurturer. Who come home tired and still have time for their children. Who make sure their children have as normal a childhood as possible. Who choose their children over their boss.

Both men and women who are careful, very careful, about choosing new mates while their kids are still at home. Who prioritize the safety of their precious children above their own loneliness.

To these honorable men and women – I salute you.

GOD BLESS YOU!

Unsung Heroes, Part I; Good Parents

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Parents who try, really try to lovingly raise their children. Who give them boundaries and encourage them to be good citizens, to look out for the little guy, and the bullied kid or the new kid and the kid who sits alone in the lunchroom and the one chosen last. Raising a kid who’s kind to the teacher when others are giving him or her a bad time. Teaching respect for the elderly and the handicapped. Being kind to animals.

Parents who show up for school concerts, games, open house, programs, plays, VBS commencement.

Parents who do the best they can to give their children as good a childhood as they can. Ones who know that just because they can’t afford to take the family to the theme park or on a cruise doesn’t mean that they can’t build good memories together.

Parents who make their children’s birthdays special, even if they can’t take their school class to a ready-made party venue. Who show their sons and daughters to do what they can with what they have. Fathers and mothers who spend time with the family instead of pampering and indulging themselves. Who include even the little ones when they play games or go on vacation. Ones who realize that children are young for only a very short time and they make the most of it.

Parents who put the welfare of their family above their own weaknesses. I knew a man who had a problem with alcohol, but stopped drinking when his first child was born because money was tight and he knew the value of family. Both of his own parents had died when he was a young teenager, and for the rest of his life, family was vitally important to him. So he gave up drinking because he didn’t want to deprive his children. That’s a tough and honorable man.

Fathers who play ball with their kids, or make them feel special by taking them with them to do errands. Who teach them skills.

Mothers who put their careers on hold so their child doesn’t come home from school to an empty house or go to a day care center. Who are willing to do without a new car or a nice house so that their child feels important. Who make their home feel like a home instead of a lay-out for a magazine.

Parents who teach their children morals and to love God.

And parents who, despite their best efforts, have children who stray. Who continue to love and pray for their children despite all the criticism and scorn and condemnation they get from others who consider themselves better, because their kids didn’t wander astray, and don’t understand the concept of Free Will.

THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU

January 1, 2025

Happy New Year!

Therefore if any man be in Christ,
   he is a new creature:
        Old things are passed away;
             behold, all things are become new.

               II Corinthians 5:17

December 12, 2024 Inexpensive Gift to Make

These wrapped hangers are some I made for us, but I think they’d make a good gift. Not an impressive WOW gift; just a good one. Bundle 6 or 12 together and maybe add a little lavender sachet to hang from the post. If someone’s expecting a new high tech gadget, they won’t be impressed with clothes hangers, but I think they’d make a nice gift for someone who has everything or doesn’t want more things they’ll have to dust or find a place for.

Everyone uses hangers.

The current trend is for wide openings on women’s blouses and dresses and mine simply won’t stay on the hangers, whether they be plastic, wire or wooden. My husband likes the plastic hangers from the store that have some kind of faux felt adhered to them, but I don’t care for them. For some reason, the yarn wrapped ones grip the clothes, but also slide off when pulled. The commercial ones tend to break. At least they have with me.

I had a large spool of cotton yarn (made in the U.S.A.) I’d bought at Walmart a few years ago. Using that, I unwound a few yards at a time to make into a ball, tied it around the top of the hanger leaving about 4″ for a tail, then just wrapped it around and around, keeping it fairly tight. This is a simple project, but one tip I’ve learned is that if the wrapping is too loose, it will continue to loosen over time and it makes a mess. And synthetic yarn seemed to stretch more than the cotton.

The photos above show both wire and plastic ones that I’ve done.

It’s a little tedious, but I work on them when we’re watching a video. I’ve not timed how long it takes to do one, but I’m guessing it takes about a 1/2 hour.

Before wrapping, I usually take a pair of heavy duty scissors and cut off the plastic tabs sticking out. Those tabs don’t get used at our house, so they’re just in the way. But if you use them, just wrap up to the edge, then go around them.

After wrapping the hanger completely and meeting back up at the top next to where I started, I tied a knot with the ending tail back with the starting tail, and then into a bow.

There are different ways of starting and finishing it off. I’ve experimented with tying, using hot glue, etc. Not sure, but I think tying will last the longest.

The top could be decorated with a ribbon bow, a fabric flower glued on or anything else that’s decorative.

We still have a couple of hangers I wrapped when we first married, so they’re over 50 years old now and we’ve used them all these years.

December 10, 2024 Altered Box

This isn’t Christmas themed, except as a gift. Something we bought (I can’t remember what it was) came in a nice, sturdy, interesting box so I didn’t want to just recycle it. At the time I was really into altered books, and I thought “why not”. So I used some Graphic 45 paper and altered it and gave it to my sister.

December 8, 2024 Peace

(Today was the second Sunday of Advent. This is the piece I read in our church service this morning, focusing on Peace.)

 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:1-14)

Around 700 years before that world changing night in Bethlehem, Isaiah prophisied about the coming of the Son of God:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The PrinceofPeace. (Isaiah 9:6)

We know what Wonderful means, and Counsellor and The Mighty God. But…Prince of Peace…What does that mean?

In worldly terms we associate Peace being a ceasefire. Certainly the cessation of gun fire is desirable, but peace is more than the absence of war.

The Hebrew word used in Isaiah 9 is Shalom, which does literally mean peace but more fully it also means completeness.

When Jesus said:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27) He literally comfirmed that there was a deeper meaning to the concept of peace than what the world means by it. The word for peacein John 13:27 means: Peace, Unity, Concord. In the end, we just have to accept that we can’t understand it with our finite, human minds, because Phillipians 4:7 tells us that the peace of God, passeth all understanding, and shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

And so, as we celebrate God’s most perfect gift to us, let us simply remember the charge that Paul gave to the Corinthians:

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. (II Corinthians 13:11)

December 6, 2024 Christmas Trees

There’s nothing like having a real Christmas tree.

When I was a little girl, we went as a family to the tree lot and picked one out together. Daddy enjoyed it as much as we did. It was always dark when we went, because first of all, it was December and it gets dark early. And we would’ve eaten supper as soon as he got home from work and then gone. I don’t even know what kind we got, but they were tall – nearly as tall as our ceiling – and big around.

We decorated with the old fashioned large bulbs; I think they were C9s. That was long before twinkle lights and plastic ornaments. Our tree was adorned with glass ornaments and icicles.

The fragrance was heavenly. When I was a teenager, my mother bought an artificial tree, or a fake tree, as I called it. It was pretty, and didn’t litter the floor with falling needles. I’ve never wanted an artificial tree and still don’t. It doesn’t matter how convenient they are, or economical or anything else. If I go to your house, I won’t say a word unless it’s to compliment you on how nice it looks. But I don’t want one.

My friend, Donna and her parents had an aluminum tree. Even though a metal tree is truly fake, I liked it, which doesn’t make sense. Her mother put blue glass ornaments on it and they had the color wheel on the floor that turned and cast different colors onto it.

The first Christmas after Joe and I married, I bought a Norfolk Island Pine because I was being all earthy (it was the 70s) and I thought it was terrible that trees were being cut down for decorating. That was before I found out that the trees had been planted just for that purpose and that forests weren’t being ravaged to satisfy our Christmas traditions.

By the time our son was born, we were back at the tree lots in December buying cut trees and continued doing that for years and years.

Around 20 years ago, we bought a few acres and moved to the countryside. Our back pasture has scrub evergreen trees growing on it. I’ve heard that they’re the bane of farmers and ranchers because they use up water, etc. but I’m actually glad to have them.

We don’t have a lot of them, but just enough to be able to cut our own Christmas tree when we need to, or just want to. I still love going and getting a cut tree, but sometimes it just makes more sense to use our own for free. It doesn’t smell as nice as the “professional” ones, but it’s kind of a nice thing to do.

The photo above is from a few years ago, and I think it’s very sweet. I can enjoy the beauty of a well-decorated tree but I’d feel uncomfortable with one in our house.

Nearly all of our ornaments are ones that our sons and grandsons made in school and I absolutely treasure them. No beautifully decorated tree could come close to the nostalgia I feel when I get those ornaments out in December and hang them on our tree.

Since our oldest son was in 2nd grade, our tree has been topped with a paper angel he made. It’s a little mangled, but I don’t care. I’d rather have it than the finest topper than can be bought.

December 5, 2024 Brownies

I didn’t know how to cook when we got married, so I was especially grateful that we were given 3 cookbooks for wedding presents. One was the traditional red gingham covered Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Another was a collection of recipes from different areas of America (this is the one that I got my cornbread recipe from). And the 3rd was the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Two from my sister and brother-in-law.

I literally wore the cover off of the last 2. The 3-ring binder BH&G is too rugged to lose it’s cover, however, it is spattered and worn and many pages have come loose. It was my go-to reference for learning lots of basic recipes.

The Cookbook for Two is one of the best cookbooks for simply having so many great recipes. My chocolate chip cookie recipe came from there, as well as the one for brownies. I just double it now. I’ve literally being baking them for over 50 years, though I’ve modified it slightly over time; for instance, substituting vegetable oil for shortening or butter.

(You might’ve noticed that the photo above has a pat of butter melting on top of the baked brownies. I don’t know when I began doing that or why, but we like it that way. Some cooks ice their brownies, which is nice, but a little too sweet for me. Others sift powdered sugar over the top, which is also nice, but we like a thin layer of butter. Something about the saltiness with the sweet. Nothing about that seemed unusual to me until one time our younger son called on the phone and asked me about it. His wife – who is an excellent cook – had never heard of it, which surprised him, so he wanted to know why I did it. I don’t know. I just do. It’s possible that it came from my husband because he said that his maternal grandmother liked butter on top of a fresh cake, instead of icing.)

Here is my adapted version:

BROWNIES

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.

GREASE 9″x13″ baking pan.

CREAM together until smooth:

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. vegetable oil (or you can use butter or shortening)

ADD in and MIX together:

1 t. real vanillla

SIFT in:

1/2 c. cocoa (not hot chocolate mix)

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt (scant)

MIX together (but don’t over-mix. Batter should look smooth and shiny and thick.)

FOLD in:

1 c. chopped nuts (I use pecans or walnuts)

SPREAD into greased baking pan.

BAKE:

30 -35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes clean.

Let cool and cut into squares.

December 4, 2024 Vintage Christmas Playlist

Click on the image above to access about 2 hours of vintage Christmas music on Rumble.com.

Youtube has some great content, but it also has some horriffic,intrusive junk. I’m trying to separate myself from it and use Rumble more.