The Needle in a Haystack

Trust

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You." (Isaiah 26:3, NKJV)

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE

... now for the big announcement.... for the last 20 years C & I have read every Mother Earth News, Backwoods Home,& Countryside Mag developing in our minds the perfect cabin.... we have discussed plans, bounced ideas off each other.... it has never been the right time to do anything.... first there was seminary, then 3 boys in college.... plus my husband ( a me too I guess) strongly believe in living as debt free as possible....but after much prayer... and seeking the Lord for sometime....
work on the new home stead will begin this week!  Yesterday we signed on the dotted line for 6 and a half acres of the prettiest land you have ever seen ( if you like the country)... we even have our own little stream running through it ( my first thought actually was snakes but it was so pretty I shelved that worry for another day)  It's only a 1/4 mile from our place here at End of the Road.  We have 5 acres of land here and at this point have decided to keep End of the Road too, using the land and woods to help sustain some of the things we work for at the cabin.  The new place is very woody so End of the road will be perfect for our garden(s)....plus it also has our retirement trees..hickory & black walnut...

...many of the things like the passive solar energy  including house placement, large eaves & solar panels are the ones implemented   at  theNC Solar Energy Home   

...we'll be setting up a blog of the progress in the next week or so.. and trying to come up with a name for the new place.... We thought about REALLY the End of the Road ~smile~

...I'm off to MIL's to try and figure out an edgery doo.... thankful she is a it more mechanical then I am...

...have a fine day...all day long!

Jan 28

...just ever so often my normal self catches a glitch... I love all things girlie, sweet, pretty, fragile.... BUT just once and awhile a hiccup of the absurd stumbles in...

...........take Gorey for instance, I think he is great... I had the book Gashlycrumb Tinies  when I was young and never tired of having my dad reading it to me!  The picture above is of Susan, who died of "fits".. my dad always looked on those fits as being sort of a temper tantrum.... "your going to die of fits"....he would say...

....I have always had a fascination for the gruesome vent of some children's literature during Victorian times... stories and fairy tales meant to teach children a lesson... and the illustrations are wonderful! 

.... I ALWAYS celebrated James Whitcomb Riley's birthday with my children... his favorite cookies were snickerdoodles.  We would make a double batch and settle in with our cookies and give a reading of my very favorite Riley poem
Little Orphant Annie

NSCRIBED WITH ALL FAITH AND AFFECTION

To all the little children: -- The happy ones; and sad ones;
The sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones;
The good ones -- Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely bad ones.

Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!


SNICKERDOODLES

• 1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-2/3 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar mixed with 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a large bowl mash together the margarine and sugar. Add the egg and beat until everything is creamy. Add the baking powder, salt and flour. Stir it up until you have a nice thick dough. In a cereal bowl, combine the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Now comes the fun part; let the kids help. Make sure everyone's hands are clean and then shape the dough into balls the size of a walnut, or an egg yolk. Roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place the coated balls on an oiled cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a smooth cup or glass, press the dough down to flatten the cookies slightly. Bake them at 400° for 10 minutes. If your oven runs hot, turn it down to 375°.

....now I'm off to bed..tomorrow is a big day.... I'll pass on some very very exciting news for the household ( and no I'm not pregnant)

...............remember... the goblins will get ya if you DON"T WATCH OUT!!!

Jan 27

....now that Herman is gone, Mizz Honee is the oldest cat in the pride....she stays outside mostly but when she IS in, her favorite past time is either sitting on my lap or watching me wash dishes .  She is fascinated by the running water and stray soap bubble...not in the playful sort of way... just in the interested sort of way.  As calm as she is in the house, she is the number one outside keeper away of mice, moles, voles and anything that slithers.  Kindly she often brings pieces and parts of her catches to the back steps to share.

... Chris and I took a wonderful walk in the woods this morning. We jumped a creek and fought off a few brambles as there were no actual paths to follow til we hit the logging road... it was awesome.  The air was crisp and cool yet sunny and perfect for time together soaking in God's creation!

...Yesterday was one of those rare days when none of us had anywhere to be.  A perfect day to snuggle in for the night with pizza, soda, M&M's and a movie.  Ahhh....the stress just rolls away...

... I ordered a book today..by Edith Schaeffer called L'Abri ,the retreat/community/seminary Edith and her husband Frank founded in 1955.  L'Abri is still going strong despite the death of Frank in 1984.  That hopefully will be one of my February reads.

..I read one non fiction and at least one theological book per month along with my fluff reading.( of course my Bible)  The Schaeffer's will give me many months of reading from the look of their book list...

..Yesterday's noon meal was a souvenir. A few years back Chris and I drove from  Oxford to  LA and back .  It was a wonderful experience.  Since we really aren't "things" sort of folks... we rely on pictures , opportunities, & other things to remember our trip by.  One such thing was a recipe idea we picked up at a restaurant in  Jackson TN.
Simply~
homemade hamburger patty with salt & pepper seasoning
caramelized onions
colby jack cheese
mayo
on rye

...DELICIOUS... I washed this down with a tea/ pineapple juice concoction ...we always are able to talk about our trip when I serve this meal!

... A few weeks ago I promised our family donut recipe... my brother Eric  is compiling a family cook book and has been chomping at the bit for me to pass it on to him... I thought I would share it for everyone.:

Wilson Family Donuts ( and it does become a family affair)
2 5/8 cup flour
1/2t salt
3t baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1T butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/16 of cinnamon ( htis can be upped a bit to an eighth or fourth)
( we usually double or triple this recipe)

Mix salt, sugar, butter egg until fluffy
Then add flour, baking powder, milk & cinnamon
You can use a donut cutter if you have one... our family used a drinking glass and the lid to an oil jug to cut out the whole.. I use a biscuit cutter and an oil lid..its a tradition thing...

..Deep fry at 375 degrees turning half way through to brown both sides... the wholes are very fun to eat.too so make sure you fry them up....drain on paper towels or brownpaper bags . These can be rolled in sugar, glazed in chocolate or vanilla ..but our family eats them straight up with coffee, tea or milk.

.....I have to mentioned Chris's blog post on various issues going on in our area now.  I think he spells things out very well.  While your there you might want to read his thoughts on Mark... hopefully htis will be out in book form by the fall or early winter.

..on the hook... working on an afghan that will be a gift and an embroidery project .  I am anxious to have this one done so I can start on Wee Wonderfuls new pattern coming out in February.I'm also toying with the idea of ordering Amy @Angry Chicken 's new paper cut out patterns.  I've never done this sort of thing before but looks absolutely fun!

...off to put a london broil on to cook , peel a few potatoes & make a onion butter sauce...makes you drool a bit huh?

...Until tomorrow...have a fine day.... all day long!

This weeks CVS deals

...I thought I would post my CVS and other deals today since I won't be doing any more store runs before the sales week is up..add to this 6 big bags of M&M's and you'll have the total load from CVS.  This was made in 3 visits which I planned around being out anyway.

Deal 1 was for 4 Mennen Speedstick 24/7 for men..@ 3.99 each.  Total with tax was 16.00 and change... I used a 3 off 15 coupon and 11.50 in ecbs making the total out of pocket around a dollar.... I recived 15.96 in ecb's at the bottom of my reciept for the deal

Visit #2  paper towels, 5 Dawn detergents 2 Tides and 4 SoyJoy bars...
total was 25.50 plus tax... I used a 4/20.00 coupon  a dollar off  the soyjoy, the 15.96 from the previous day , a 3.00 ecb and one for 1.50  I paid .08 out of pocket and recieved at the bottom of my reciept 5.00 for the tide, paper towels & Dawn & another 4.00 ecb's for the soy joy.

Visit #3  I bought 6 bags of Valentine M&M's ( do you know they make bags of all green ones now???) they were B1G1F I used the ECB's from visit number two and owed 1.57 PLUs the reciept printed out 9.00 ECB's ( 3.00 for each two bags of M's you buy) for my next visit

so total out of pocket for 3 visits was 2.65 with 9.00 to spend at my next visit.


I didn't take a picture of my Food Lion deals... I probably will make another run there  Crystal @ Money Saving Mom has a link to a 2.00 off Breyers ice cream coupon from Food Lion and they have it on sale for 2.90 a half gallon so that means your out of pocket will only be some where around .90 cents a carton...our Food Lion had Red Baron Pizza on sale for 1.99 regular  5.69 also but the limit was 2 so I'll work these deals together.
  What I DID get free were two Purina Carvers treats for the dogs... up to 3.29 value and I had two Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate coupons for 2.00 off and Food Lion has them 2 for 5.00 so it was 1.00 out of pocket for 2 boxes... not bad!

..This Saturday Crystal should be hosting the Super Savings Sat. . Its alot of fun to see how folks used their coupons..

.. Until then... have a fine day... all day long!

Pole Sitting

I bet you thought pole sitting  went out in the Roaring 20's.... Little Holmes tries it out every chance she gets.  Here she is perched on the clothes line pole posing for the camera...  she is such her own cat! 

.. Today was a Chapel Hill day... an hour plus drive this a.m. on I-85 during morning rush hour... I nursed a chai  on the way when ever I felt bold enough to take two hands off the wheel... Chris drives almost the same route ( getting off in Durham) every morning with a large cup of coffee in his hand... nerves of steel that man... I tell ya!

.. I dropped Christopher off for his research study project at cranio facial.. He " graduated" today after being in the study for 3 years.  They monitor facial expressions and muscles of cleft teens .  He was asked to participate in another 2 year study in Baltimore  5 trips.. all expenses paid AND he gets 1200.  We're thinking what a great way for the family to see a section of the country we haven't been able to explore yet. 

While he spent 4 hours in the study... I went shopping... my Love gave me a Khols gc for Christmas and today was the first time I had to use it.  It was so much fun buying exactly what I wanted.  I did do a bit of bargain shopping  but allowed myself one thing I just wanted.   After Kohls it was to Michael's to look at yarns... I had a coupon so I picked up a shadowbox frame ( not a deep one) to place a few calling cards and antique Valentines from my great grandmother.  I got the idea from Mom in Law... she gave us a beautiful collage of old Christmas tags and postcards that is hanging in the living room... I love it!

... tonight for dinner chicken wraps are on the menu... I had coupons for the wraps... and the chicken breast were B1G1 ...so.. warm the wrap.. grill and slice the chicken breast... rollup in the wrap with romaine lettuce and either ranch or honey mustard dressing... carrots sticks to go on the side...

.. I managed to finish up Balcony People today.. still reading Lavender Lies and Hidden Arts.... finally picked up the yarn to finish the afghan I have been working on.

..The mail person brought me my Afghans to Treasure   I had ordered a couple of weeks ago from amazon used books... I think I paid less then 5.00 with postage.  I can't wait to sit down with it and try a few projects.

...I have a new snack food favorite Honey Bunches of Oats with Chocolate Clusters   If you click on the link you can print out a 2.00 off coupon for the stuff.. I printed two and stopped by Food Lion tonight .  They had them 2/5.00  so I ended up paying 1.00 for two boxes.  The coupon is good through Jan 29th... I don't even put milk on it... straight up!  No fats!

..I LOVED Kelli's post today on Hot Chocolate ...I'm going to try a couple ideas ( do you see a theme here????)

...AND if you go to CVS  M&M's   are B1G1 for 3.00 and something... AND you get the monthly deal of 3.00 in ECB's for the month of Jan when you buy two... so that means you pay 3.49 for two bags and get 3.00 back... I plan on rolling over a 3.00 ECB tomorrow which means I'll pay the .49 cents out of pocket for two bags .

...on a sad note... I normally don't get in the least ruffled by Hollywood news, but The Patriot is one of our family's favorite movies.  We taught each of our boys Revolutionary War history using the movie as a starting point.   There were many days of drills in the back yard with carved guns from sticks and tri corner hats with Goodwill found coats made to look like clothes from the 1700's.  We even celebrated by going to see a re-enactment of the Battle of Cowpens  that the movie is based  on.  I was sad to learn of Heath Ledger's death... He was a great actor and made the film come alive.

.... Life is a bit fragile isn't it? 

........But for those who trust in the Lord, there is no fear!
... so, have a fine day....all day long!

Jan 22

...this has to be one of my new favorite pictures of Josh.... the child can't cling any tighter I don't think.... this was taken on a mission that Josh was on...  There is another picture that goes with it  but I'll share that picture another day ( maybe) this is how I like to think of my child...   and how about those brilliant white teeth!!  All natural folks... no white strips involved...I think he should be doing Orbitz commercials or something!
.. He called at 5:00 this morning our time... he is safely in Qatar for a few days R&R... he and some guys he met up with started their day .......... with a facial and eye brow wax!  They had appts for a massage this afternoon... ( you can take the soldier out of metro...but you can't take the metro out of the soldier)... he said they spent sometime just laying in the grass... a sight they hadn't seen in awhile and had a nice meal.

..... I DID end up doing CVS deals yesterday between DRs. appt and running the boys to b-ball practice. I have another run today and will post the whole loot in one pst later this week.

... I had an email asking what I do with all the free stuff... good question... Granted our family at this point can't use a gazillion things of toothpaste or deodorant... but the Durham Rescue Mission  can.  They are very very welcome there.

...Late start on the day today..... I hope all of you have a fine day... all day long!

Up Early

We so enjoyed the snow Sat. and Sun!  It was cold enough last night that it still hasn't melted and I am just in awe of the beauty God surrounds me with here at The End of the Road.  Like many churches in southern VA and the border counties of NC our home group was canceled so it was a great day for making a pot of soup and catching up on things.  Our church buddies hardly got a dusting of snow to the south and they were a bit hard pressed to understand our winter weather... the age of transportation! Back in the day folks went to neighborhood churches ... today some folks travel  great distances to fellowship and attend services.... us included.... the topic has been one that comes into my mind from time to time...

Bro. Black was up and at them earlier then I was this morning and I enjoyed a cup of tea reading his thoughts and words this morning...

      1       Thessalonians 4:11-12

      

      Make       it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working       with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not       Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend       on others.

I needed to hear it.... it also provided me time to pray for Becky as she is in Ethiopia

......now why was that verse so important today?  Let me tell you, the two neighbor's dogs that came on our back steps and killed the cat..... they are back home... animal control deemed the dogs not vicious... just hungry so the woman is ordered to pay us a 50.00 fine for our cat  and she gets her dogs back if she promises to keep them fed..    Of course we will not accept the money from the woman... she hasn't the money to give... but what few neighbors we have are not Christians... and today all eyes will be on us to see how we conduct ourselves in this situation... Grace and Mercy.... Grace and Mercy.... only God can supply the anti -flesh dose we need to look with compassion.

....I have three books going now...Lavender Lies ,The Hidden Art of Homemaking, and Balcony People... I'll have plenty of time to read today... Dr's appt in the a.m. and its my turn to pull basketball practice duty this afternoon.  Plenty of reading on the horizon...

... If you haven't read Balcony People, I encourage you to do so...the main theme of the book is  we are encouragers or evaluators....  you know evaluators... those with critical spirits waiting to put you down at every call... and encouragers... those who lift you up and push you forward... My prayer for today is to be an encourager and not an evaluator... 

..I stumbled across a blog, 4 Reluctant Entertainers, that has been a great encouragement to me... she hosts a group called " Balcony Girls" ... a group of young ladies she mentors and encourages... putting words to actions folks...

...not  much on the hook these days.  My friend Jerri came up with a very cute headband pattern that I'm going to give a try this week.  I do have the sewing machine on the ready for a couple of quickie sewing projects.

... Josh sent a couple of pictures that the military allowed him to release of a mission he was on...I am not totally ready to share those yet... right now he  is off his FOB  and not a bit happy about it... he worries about his " men"  he has 14  guys under him ... I look at their faces and think how young they are ....

.... ..I pray everyone has a fine day..... all day long!

.

Remembering Herman~~~

  December 1990- Jan 2008 

... after living a very full life of sleeping on top of the dryer and occasionally coming out to eat and sun himself on the back step, Herman was brutally massacred by  2 neighborhood pit bulls that broke off their chains...  Herman didn't have a chance... the pit bulls were taken into custody by local animal control and Herman's remains were presented to us ....in a trash bag... Christopher tended to the burial ... when asked if he was up to playing his basketball game, Christopher sighed and said..." Yes, Herman would have wanted it that way..."

.........

A bit of catch up

.. No pictures this post... My ISp and my computer both went crashing this week ( we have satellite internet) so I have been out of the loop so to speak for a couple of days.

Wednesday our Food Lion had their grand reopening since their remodel.  The savings were great and coupled with my coupons I was able to get out of there for about a 1/3 of what I normally spend.  Today I'll go back and stock up on things that were on sale that we use all the time.  Chris is a Diet Pepsi drinker and they have 2 liters for .79 cents each...

CVS deals this week were not so great, but still good.  My friend Jerri and I had a good laugh over how full circle our lives have become playing the CVS game and pouring over her latest copy of Mary Jane's Farm Magazine. 
This week at CVS I got:
4 Glade sprays
1 Edge Shaving Cream
2 pks Nature Valley Granola Bars
Girlie products
Hair Color ( I confess)
ECB's earned  9.50  OOP: 4.25
There are new coupons  out and Crystal @ Money Saving Mom has them posted.. she will probably have a post on CVS deals too later today so you can see how others play the game.

..Thursday was "suppose" to be a snow event.  We just had rain and wind...enough to batten down the hatches and snuggle in all day.  I made a batch of Amish White Bread  trying Patty @ Morning Ramble's  recipe.  Delicious! ..Breakfast this morning will be sliced bread with butter toasted under the broiler with a bit of honey, a gift from our friends Jimmy and Shelley and their bees... makes me want to end the psot right here and whip up breakfast... I also made up a HUGE batch of Amish Peanut Butter Cookies from The Best of Cookies  by Pellman... Yep, you read the price right.... 1.95.  My friend Sarena bought this book for me about 15 years ago and I use it constantly!  I highly recommend you for go a Starbucks and order one.  ..
...and what rainy/ windy night would be complete without a crockpot full of chili?   My mother snuck in veggies to her chili by making the base with V-8 juice.  I do the same thing and I tell you, it hits the spot! Shredded cheese and raw onions over top... who cares if its raining!

.... I managed to read 2 books over the last few days ( see what happens when I don't have all your wonderful blogs to read????) I finished up  "Love Lies Bleeding" and Chile Death  both by Susan Wittig Albert , yep , she's a typepad blogger too!  I'll start on Lavender Lies later on today if I have time... ( basketball game tonight)  If you HAVE read the China Bayles mysteries before, you can go to China's  website for recipes and newsletters.
....Major spring cleaning in the male child's room!  That's one elephant that needs to be eaten one bite at a time!  Goodness that room has the potential to scare me! 

... tomorrow is suppose to be another snow event.  We have basketball int he morning and possibly home group in the evening if things blow over.  The road from the Cail's to our house is a bit hilly and back roads-ish.. not some place you want to be on late at night in a snow/ice storm.  That happened to me once  a few years back and it took 5 hours of prayers and petitions before I pulled in the drive way.  ( It was only 20 miles!!!)

....Keep warm and safe.... and have a fine day...all day long!