Rainy Days

Our little construction project has been wrapped up in plastic going on five days. :) Along with the rain, we recieved a nice little cold of sorts. So Friday I spent most of the day in bed. Sleeping. Reading. Crocheting. Sipping on hot tea. Tony & I usually always do everything together, but that evening he went to a Bible study and I stayed at home to rest. Saturday we had plans to go minister at the abortion clinic and the St. Patricks Day parade in Raleigh. But the parade was postponed due to the rain and we didn't think it would help with the healing process to stand in the cold wet weather outside the abortion clinic. So we just spent time together here at the house. :) Sunday we went to church and then had a wondeful mexican lunch with some friends. Yum!! That evening we visited at my parents house and enjoyed very tasty carrot cake made by mom!! Yesterday, Mom, Brittany, and I ventured to Wilson and ate lunch together at the Carolina Cheese Company and then looked around Marshalls. It was a fun little girls day out (thanks to Brittany's planning)!

A quote by Mark Driscoll that rang true in our ears this weekend:

The problem with both syncretism and sectarianism is that they

deny the clear teaching of the Scriptures that the power of God

unleashed through the gospel of Jesus Christ can transform anyone.

Sectarians do not live by the necessary faith in the gospel and therefore

believe that evil hearts and sinful actions and worldly social structures

are more powerful than God, unable to be redeemed, and therefore are

a waste of our energies because they are destined to be meat on God's

grill anyway, so why bother? Likewise, syncretists do not live by the

necessary faith in the gospel and therefore believe that the hearts of people

aren't that bad, their actions aren't that sinful, and since people are doing

the best they can, we can't expect any sort of radical transformation,

and so we should simply bless them with a sentimental love.

Dandelion Jelly

View of our clover patch!! Nice and green it is! :)

The shed is coming along nicely.
Tony's scedule the past couple days has been
work. dinner. build. school.

sprinkled with just a little bit of sleep.
Lord willing he'll be able to catch up on some much
needed sleep over the forcasted rainy weekend.


And pretty dandelions enjoying the sunshine.

I've been reading through a book titled "Good Old Days in the Kitchen"
I found it at Ollies for $2.99! Reading the back cover brought a smile
to my face so in the cart it went. Back in the Good Old Days life revolved
around the kitchen table - not the television. There we brought the fresh
vegetables from the garden for cleaning and canning. There we folded hands
and gave thanks for the good things the Lord had provided. There we shared
bread and time with one another. This look back into the kitchens of yesteryear
is sure to warm you just like the old wood cookstove. I have very much liked
reading about the "kitchens of yesteryear" and find myself wanting my kitchen
to resemble theirs in certain ways. There is much to learn from generations past.


"She never let one green tomato go to waste... she appeared to find her task [of feeding
her family frugally] challenging and satisfying... our mother was a willing baker and a very accomplished maker of pies and cake ... big golden oak table... a demanding monster
of a garden in which we all labored according to our ages and capabilities... "

There are recipes scattered throughout these stories - green tomato pie, pecan sandies,
grandma's ketchup, prepared horseradish, five-egg sponge cake, and even dandelion
jelly. Yep. Those little yellow flowers that are blooming right now and usually sprayed
with some sort of weed killer were used for food in kitchens past.

*Dandelion Jelly*

Pick one quart of fresh dandelion blossoms. Quickly rinse blossoms with cool water to remove any insects. Snip off green collars. Combine cleaned blossoms in a saucepan with 2 quarts cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool. Strain liquid, pressing petals with fingers to extract juice. Measure 3 cups dandelion liquid into a saucepan; add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 package Sure Jell. Bring to a boil. Add 5.5 cups sugar, stirring well. Boil for 2.5 minutes, stirring well. Put in jars and seal.

Excited about dirt and other things

Our bradford pear trees are blooming beautifully and I am l.o.v.i.n.g. this spring-like weather we've had the past few days. I do not think it is here to stay yet, but it has been nice. Saturday morning we made our way to Goldsboro to return plywood to Lowes and pick up some starter pots for our seeds. We were also very excited to get a truckload of nice rich soil! Never thought we'd be so excited about dirt. Ha! Tony & his dad started on the shed, while I shoveled the dirt into our garden box and started our sweet pepper seeds. The guys were able to complete the floor of the shed early afternoon. Most of the day was spent outdoors in the wonderful sunshine ... thence Tony & I both received some pink highlights on our white skin. ;) After a nice big salad we made our way back to Lowes to pick up more wood. It took a looong time to weed through all the warped pieces of wood, but we were finally able to get what we needed. Praise God! Then homeward bound we were after a quick stop at the grocery store to get ingredients for homemade pimento cheese with Irish soda bread - dinner. It was a late night, but it felt sooo very good to lay in bed!! Oh yes, and spring our clocks up an hour.

After a few hours of sleep our alarm started going off, noting it was time to get up and get ready for church. :) It takes us a good hour to get to church from our house - plenty of time to talk and sing with my sweet husband and/or listen to a sermon. Sweet moments of togetherness. A song that continually came to mind while listening to this weeks sermon was "Behold the Lamb of God" by Andrew Peterson - if you turn your volume up you can hear it playing in the background.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away our sin.
Behold the Lamb of God the life and light of man.
Behold the Lamb of God who died and rose again.
Behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away our sin.

I was able to get a good start on a girly baby blanket; there it is pictured below and you can see the tote bag I sewed with Tony's mom. It makes for a great traveling bag. Oh how I like being crafty!!

Yesterday afternoon we went to Tony's parents house to celebrate Wes' 21st birthday. Theres a picture of two of our cute neices and a nephew below. :)

We came home and sat on our porch enjoying the nice Sunday afternoon breeze. Tony read. I crocheted. Then my parents stopped by for a visit. They brought us two yummy bagels that dad had made the day before. Very tasty!! Then we just sat and chatted about various things. :)

Wonderful weekend!!
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!

Because Biblical religion is a total faith,

and our God a total and sovereign Lord,

we must claim every area of life and thought for Christ,

and the area of education is a central one,

and, next to the family, most basic to the life of man.

--RJ Rushdoony

Thai for Dinner

A couple weeks ago a friend treated me to lunch at a local Thai restaurant. I ordered a dish that consisted of rice with pineapple, cashews, tomatoes, onions, celery, raisins, scrambled egg, and other veggies. It was really tasty! So today I decided to recreate it here at the house. Yum!!