Girls' Day Out

(left to right: Christina, me, and Lisa...picture taken this morning!)

I don't remember exactly what was being said when this picture was taken, but I can promise you...it was funny. Harvest women make me laugh so, so much.

If estrogen is your thing...if decadent French toast is your thing...or virgin Mimosas...or rich quiche or various fruits or girl talk or lots of laughter or cute babies or scratching the creative itch...if ANY of that is your thing, then Harvest is your church and we are your women.

I drove home today, feeling very poignant. I reflected on the whole morning (well into the afternoon) spent with lotsa girlfriends, of all ages - my own mother included. It had been so long, between grandson being born, our son's basketball, our other Marine son and his various weekend leaves home....between all that, and sickness, and other family celebrations, it felt like a mighty long time since I'd hung out with all the girls.

As I made my way home, I reflected on the fact - the pure fact - that most women don't have what I have. Many women long for a group of girlfriends with whom they can let their hair down, be real, laugh or cry till it hurts, or just sit and smile and knit.

(I tend to be a stoic...so I am the "smile and knit" type...with the occasional very loud laugh.)

Some women only experience this sort of female support system on television or in the movies - they think it can't exist in real life.

I'm the first to tell you that my gender can be mean, petty, petulant, competitive, dramatic, and bitter. But a safe community of women exists, I know because I am part of one. These women are W.E.L.L. (Women Equipped to Love and Lead) and their WELLness will bless and comfort and deeply impact your life and your day.

My home-girls. I love them. They are SO worth all the stickin' and the stayin' and the buildin' and the plantin'.

Star Gazing

He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. (Psalm 147:4)

I'm star gazing tonight...a decades-old, but recently neglected hobby of mine . I located several constellations and planets, as I sat on my back deck - some are my old favorites, others were much more obscure to me. Google Sky rocks.

Absolutely breathtaking beauty, seen in my own backyard. The same stars that any country person, or palace or mansion dweller might see...the same stars are all mine, too. I don't need the rural address or the large income to be smitten by Canis Minor, Polaris, the moon, Saturn, and Orion's belt...and that is just a few of the sparkley sights I've seen tonight. I know all about light pollution, ambient light in the city, blah blah blah.

All I can tell you is...I'm seeing stars.

Beautiful stars. From my back yard. Proverbs says wisdom is "before" him (or her) who has understanding. Meaning: it is accessible...always right in front of you, IF you are wise. I promise you, the stars are mysterious and miraculous when gazed upon, no matter where you live.

You don't have to move to the country, own an expensive telescope, or view stars from a fancy "verandah".

You can enjoy them laying on a blanket, on the grass, in your back yard, wherever you are. Ask me how I know.

The wisdom of God is on display....right before your eyes....accessible....free.

Care to join me?

Try Google Sky Map, if you have a smart phone.

Or, type in your zip code here.

And now, even as I type, Tim and I are propped up on pillows in our room, watching IMAX Hubble on our television. So....I really like you....but....I'll see you later.

I'm just sayin'.

A Wordless Thursday (Almost)

Sweet, sweet, sweet. A precious benediction to a busy day spent out and about, a long meeting with a young friend, antique shopping (not buying...just shopping), and babysitting the grandson.

...And I'm officially a crackhead when it comes to the FX camera app on my phone. Addicted to it. Didn't pay a thing to get it. Free app. Life is good.

Underlined Bits -Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick

(I get so many lovely comments about the above image. It is a necklace you can buy ~and oh, how I want one! ~ from Lisa Leonard Designs...)

Some underlined bits (more underlined bits) from the incredible book "Give Them Grace", but first a tiny bit of setting the stage for you...

These bits are about where the Holy Spirit through Paul said, "Bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord..."

"Of the Lord", meaning: the nurture and admonition of Jesus Christ. Paul couldn't have meant anything or anyone else. And trust me, it was a radical statement! Now, for the underlined bits:

"The Jews knew what the discipline and instruction of the rabbis looked like. The Greeks understood the dicipline and instruction of the philosophers. But the discipline and instruction of the Lord? Of JESUS? What was that?

To help you get a better handle on what this "of the Lord" parenting entails, let's imagine for a moment that Paul had penned this phrase instead: Parents, "bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the law." How would those three words, "Of the law" change the focus and method of your parenting?

...Or would they?"

"He was telling them to tether every aspect of their parenting to the gospel message.

Because the Bible is not primarily a manual on childrearing, but a proclamation of the good news..."

"Distinctly Christian parenting must be accomplished in the environment of the good news about Jesus Christ, or it is not Christian parenting. It may work for a while, it may make your life manageable, and God may use it, but it is not "of the Lord"..."

Recipe for Chicken Leg Quarters - Inexpensive, Can Feed a Crowd

Whenever I post about inexpensive (but delicious) recipes, I always get great response. The women in my church, all of them great cooks, are searching for ways to economize, and I promised them as many e-mails and blog posts as I could do on the subject.

Chicken leg quarters are the most inexpensive protein you can buy, other than probably eggs. My project this week was to create a recipe that utilized them, and actually tastes good...

...mission accomplished.

Here are your ingredients:

chicken leg quarters (it was only Tim and I for dinner tonight, that is why you see just three pieces...)

red potatoes

six ounces cream cheese

(I ended up with plenty left over)

fresh rosemary

fresh chives (all the herbs came from my garden - further savings)

Italian dressing

coarse salt

fresh cracked pepper

red pepper flakes (feel free to omit this, if you don't want the kick in the pants. We like our pants kicked.)

chop your herbs...


combine herbs, salt (a couple pinches), pepper (about 60 "grinds" with the grinder), cream cheese, and a teaspoon red pepper flakes


separate the skin from the meat, creating a little "pouch"...then gross out from handling a dead bird...note that your hands look exactly like your mother's...try not to think about how gooey this job is...


stuff the pouch with cream cheese mixture, use your fingers (gah) to moosh and spread it around...

brush Italian dressing (about 2 TB) on the skin, then salt generously with coarse salt...

toss your quartered potatoes with 3 TB Italian dressing, salt, pepper, and any chopped herbs you have left...

...toss the chicken on top...bake at 400 degrees for at least an hour and 20 minutes, maybe an hour and a half, or until...

...a thermometer reads 180, when inserted in the thigh...

plate these birdies and taters up and eat!

The leg quarters were .59 cents a pound, the potatoes were $2.50 for a 3 lb. bag.

A very, very inexpensive, but truly good meal. Tim gave it two thumbs up.

Poetry Monday - John Donne

Wilt thou love God as He thee? then digest,

My soul, this wholesome meditation,

How God the Spirit, by angels waited on,

In heaven, doth make His temple in thy breast.

The Father, having begot a Son most blest,

And still begetting, (for He ne'r be gone)

Hath deigned to choose thee by adoption,

Coheir to His glory, and sabbath's endless rest.

And as a robbed man, which by search doth find,

His stolen stuff sold, must lose or buy it again:

The Son of glory came down, and was slain,

Us whom He had made, and Satan stole, to unbind.

T'was much, that man was made like God before,

But that God should be made like man, much more!

Father, part of His double interest

Unto Thy kingdom, Thy Son gives to me,

His joinure in the knotty Trinity

He keeps, and gives to me His death's conquest.

This lamb, whose death, with life the world has blessed,

Was from the world's beginning slain, and He

Hath made two Wills, which with the Legacy

of His and Thy kingdom, do Thy sons invest.

Yet such are Thy laws, that men argue yet

Whether a man those statutes can fulfill;

None doth; but all-healing grace and spirit

Revive again what law and letter kill.

Thy law's abridgement, and Thy last command

Is all love; Oh let this last will stand!

"Pink Saturday"

Well, I'm teaching myself digital SLR photography, and I'm taking you with me, if you'll be so kind. I'm focusing on....(no pun intended)...composition and aperture, here at first.

But to do that, I have to have an "assignment", a designated subject, something to give me a jumping off point. I've decided to use color as that jumping off point, and today I chose pink.

I chose pink on purpose because it is a difficult color. There isn't a whole lot of it in my world. Blue or orange or green would have been a far simpler subject-choice.

I am amazed at how absolutely fun this self-designated "assignment" was...how I viewed my ordinary Saturday through an entirely different and unusual "lens" (again, no pun intended)and how satisfying it was to search out a pink perspective.

Today, I simply shot at pink, wherever I saw it, wherever it "lived", without styling the pictures too much, and in some cases without styling the pictures at all. This is pink, as I found it, as I went about my day.

Turns out, this color has created a delightful diary of my summer Saturday...



Isaac's girlfriend Emily got a new kitty yesterday. She brought it by this morning for us to admire. See the pink nose? Emily's pink shirt?

This shot needs no explanation...

...nor does this one...

...or this one.



I don't have a lot of pink makeup, but I do have some...and this Sephora blush is my all time favorite. Highly, highly recommended.

A bit of pink in a Gap skirt...

Hanging just above my side of the bed...

a bit of ribbon...


...and thread...



...and pink thread, and pink bookmarks...



...and a pink book...



...and another pink book - one that happens to be one of my all time favorite "home and hearth" books.

one of the colored pencils is pink...



...the quilt that my grandson plays on has lots of faded pink - I seriously love this quilt - it looks so vintage, even though it isn't. The "shoot your own feet" shot is one that is so, so overdone, but I can't help but always love this perspective when I see it. Feet can and do tell such a story.


Some pink in the necklace I wore today...


And that was my morning. In the afternoon, Hannah and I loaded up the grandson and went to an outdoor art show, where Jonathan and Sarah
were set up, doing some "show and sell".

Aunt Sarah, standing guard over her sleeping nephew. If you look in the plate glass window, you can see me snapping the photo, in my be-flip-flopped feet.


Jonathan and Sarah - no pink in their art exhibit, but at least you have context for what comes next...


a mixed-media pink cupcake...

I want this T-shirt...


...hand made pink...

...and more hand made pink...

And now, the I-Ching of Pink...the Pinnacle of Pink...Quintessential Pink...

A very pink flamingo planter. For sale. Sixty-five dollars, and this beauty would have been yours.

Us girls got hot and bored, so we loaded up the baby, and left Jonathan and his father in law (who also happens to be my husband, the girls' father, and the grandson's grandfather, but I digress) to "man" the booth - again, no pun intended.

We went to a cute store, right around the corner from where we were, an indoor shop called "The Southern Market".

This is the kind of pink every girl needs!

Last, but not least, the final shot of the day was the most precious pink in this whole, wide, pink-containing world:

...the pink cheeks of auntie and nephew, each adoring the other.

Oh yeah. The money shot.

Tickles me...pink.