White As Snow...

 "Purge me with hyssop, 
And I shall be clean: 
Wash me,
And I shall be whiter than snow..."
Psalm 51:7 

 

 

White as snow, white as snow
Though my sins were as scarlet...
 

Lord, I know, Lord, I know
That I'm clean and forgiven...

Through the power of Your blood
Through the wonder of Your love...
 

Through faith in You
I know that I can be...
 

 

White as snow...

I found myself humming
this amazing song
as we cleaned up from
yet another snowstorm...

The third one in
the last three Sundays...

As we shoveled in the stillness
and the beauty of it all...

I am, once again,
so very thankful

for His matchless grace
 and endless mercy...

"Come now, and let us reason together, 

Saith the LORD: 

Though your sins be as scarlet,

 They shall be as white as snow..."

Isaiah 1:18

A Quiet Day On The Farm???

I was really expecting Friday
to be a quiet day at home...

Really!

A bit of baking...

A bit of sewing...

A little cleaning...

Quiet.

Til the mail came...

My husband had received a notice...
A $50 fine
for not paying a toll in Massachusetts.

But, you see,
we hadn't been to MA
on that day...
And actually had never
been to that part of MA!

So, I looked for a phone number
on the paper...
No luck.
It took me quite some time
online to find the right number...

While I was on the phone
explaining all this to a very nice lady
I heard blood-curdling screams
coming from our backyard...

There were chicken feathers everywhere!

Josh  and Sam flew to the back door.
There was a young lady,
almost in tears,
holding a very guilty looking dog
with a whole mouthful of chicken feathers!

How could so many feathers come from 1 hen?

"I'm so sorry," she cried.
"I'll pay for your chicken!"

Meanwhile, the lady on the phone
is asking me if everything is alright...
I had to explain to her that a dog
just ate one of our chickens...

(A little melodramatic on my part...
but I hoped she'd feel sorry for
me and help me out with this
crazy fine!)

Ten minutes,
and an entire conversation about
our little farm in the woods later,
she informed me that the fine
was a mistake...

The license plate number
and make of car
was incorrect...

She would take care of it
immediately and send
us a confirmation letter.

She was only missing some neck and tail feathers!

Now it was time to check
out the damage in the hen house.

Our backyard was plastered
in red feathers!

The phone rang
while we were trying to
find the injured (or dead) bird...

It was mom...
My brother, Gary,
had come for a visit
and was right down the
road at her house!

Gary and Slug had brought my dad 8 "new" chairs to refinish and recane...

I was so excited
but then quickly realized
that I should probably stay away
since I still had a bit of a head cold.

After discovering that
all was fairly well
in the hen house...

I decided to make a
brief visit to my parents...
 standing way across the
kitchen while we chatted!

Of course, no visit is complete without a game of dominoes!

Gary was having a fabulous day...
Praise God!
And told me to come down
to Massachusetts to visit him
as soon as I was huggable again!

So much for my "quiet" day...

But, you know Ladies,
I believe the Lord was reminding me
that He is the one in control of my days...
Not me.

And that although each day
comes with many struggles and blessings...

His Grace is sufficient
to sustain me through it all...

Even with all the excitement... the "ladies" still came through!

 "Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails..."
Proverbs 19:21

No "Knead" To Fret!

I just love baking bread!

 

The warm fresh smell

of bread right from the oven...

Goes so good with homemade stew on a snowy evening!

Says "home" to me!

I even like kneading!

While working those arm muscles...

I also find it a wonderful time

to pray for my loved ones...

But sometimes...

There just isn't time for all that...

For those "busy" days...
 I have found the most wonderful

honey oat "no knead" bread recipe!

So, for all you ladies,

who fret about "kneading"

Here's one for you!

This recipe came from "Tasty Kitchen"...

The ingredients are... 

1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast

 1-¾ cup Warm Water

 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats, Divided

1/3 cup honey 

3 Tablespoons Canola Oil

 2-½ teaspoons Salt 

5 cups Flour 

1 whole Egg Beaten 

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water...

I like mine to be about 105 degrees...

let set about 10 minutes

until frothy...

Mix the following in your large bowl...

3/4 cup oats,

honey,

oil and salt,

and the yeast/water...

Stir in enough flour

to form a soft dough.

Coat your bowl with

non-stick spray.

Place the dough in the bowl...

turn it over so that it gets 

completely coated...

Above the warming oven is the perfect spot!

Cover it with a plastic bag

and a towel

and let rise in a warm place

for about an hour...

Punch the dough down

and shape into two loaves

or 1 loaf and some rolls!

Let rise for about 20 minutes...

Brush the tops with the beaten egg

and the remaining 1/4 cup oats...

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven

for about 35-40 minutes...

Take it out and enjoy!

Why is it, dear ladies...

That we seem to fret

over things that we "knead" not...

My nana used to say that
it's just the "mama" in us...

But how often we find ourselves
worrying about...

Our children...

Our husbands...

Our homes...

But, sweet ladies,

God's Word tell us

that this is not something we

should be doing...

In fact, the Bible calls

it a sin...

For worrying accomplishes nothing...

It is a waste of our precious time...

It puts our focus in the wrong direction...

And it's just not healthy for us...

Above all,
it keeps us from trusting God... 

Instead...
We "knead" to keep our eyes,
our minds,
and our hearts,
on our precious Lord...

For He truly is
"The Bread of Life"...

"Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in everything by prayer 

and supplication with thanksgiving

 let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God,

which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and 

your minds in Christ Jesus."

Phil 4: 6-7 

They're Using That "B" Word Again!

*editor's note...I posted this yesterday...
but I guess we really are a bit
"behind the times" here in Maine!"  

Yes, you guessed it!

BLIZZARD!!!

Wasn't it just last weekend

we went through this???

Actually,

the forecasters are having a

difficult time predicting this one...

Some say we are expecting a foot...

Others just a few inches...

But I guess the wind will be 

the big factor tomorrow...

Anyways,

I have a different "B" word today...

BAGS!!!

Recently, I received

two super cute bags

in the mail...

Courtesy of the 

SewMamaSew Giveaway!

The first one was from

Breanna at Breanna's Knit Bits

She made me this adorable bag...

pink with strawberries!

This just makes me think of spring!

Just perfect for cosmetics 

and toiletries...

The second bag

came all the way from Bulgaria!

This adorable peach pleated bag

was made by Violeta

from the blog, Hello, Violeta!

I think this will make the perfect

little summertime clutch!

Thank you so much, ladies!

I've been working on some

little keychain bags today...

So simple...

And a great way to use up

some of those quilt scraps!

Of course,
always put a shiny new
penny inside...
For best wishes!

Of course,
my very favorite "B" word
today and everyday...

BLESSED!

But He said, 
"On the contrary, 
blessed are those who hear 
the word of God, and observe it."
Luke 11:28

Love Never Forgets...

And neither did I!

My nose just wasn't

 cooperating yesterday...

After opening the second 

new box of tissues

I decided that my blog post

would just have to wait 

another day...

So,

Happy Valentines Day, Ladies!

Lately, in the evenings,

keeping warm by the fire...

I've been working on

some "heart" projects...

One of my older sons

had a special gift for 

his sweetheart...

And asked if I could

make a little cloth bag

to put it in...

I made it out of 

some vintage material

in my "stash"...

I couldn't resist little hearts on the drawstring!

My youngest son

has a sweet little friend

who absolutely loves

elephants!

Recently, I made her

two little felt elephants...

One is a key chain...

The other...

A hair clip.

He asked if I could make

her a blue stuffed elephant

for Valentines Day...

Naturally, out came

the vintage "stash" again!

The beautiful flowers in

the background were from

my special "sweetie!"

God has blessed me abundantly..

For this I am so very thankful...

They say that 

"elephants never forget..."

May we be like the elephants

and never forget those 

whom we love so dearly...

 

"May you never forget,

What is worth remembering...

Nor ever remember

What is best forgotten..."

~An old Irish saying

We Are "Plumb" Tuckered Out!!!

An incredible 48 hours...

The biggest storm my sons
had ever seen in their lives...

Early in the storm...one of our cars was buried!

Amazingly, we did not lose power...

But my parents did lose water
because of frozen pipes...

Sometimes it was just easier to walk through the woods!

We had to hike down to their home
through huge drifts to help out
because our road was not plowed...

My husband kept checking to see if I was still there!

 Later, we discovered
that our neighbor who usually
plows our road had
gotten his truck stuck in
an eight foot drift overnight
while trying to keep ahead of the storm...

We had to dig our way into the house...

My husband discovered that
the high winds had broken a window
in my parent's basement...
Thus allowing cold air and snow
to come in and freeze the pipes...

Fixing the broken window...

After thawing out the lines...
He then discovered that one of the
pipes had cracked...

Covering with a tarp to keep out the draft...

Late in the afternoon,
He had them up and running again...
He's becoming quite the "plumber!"

Digging out the door to the generator...

 It wasn't until late Sunday afternoon
that they were able to get a state
truck in here to take care of some
of the enormous drifts...

A little space for the "ladies!"

As I said earlier...
An amazing weekend...
We are so thankful
for this week's sun and
temperatures in the 40s!

It's so good to see the sun!

"Truly the light is sweet,
And it is pleasant for the eyes
 to behold the sun..."
Ecclesiastes 11:7 

The "triangle" on the right is the tip of a 12 foot pine tree!