"His branches shall spread, and His beauty shall be as the olive tree, and His smell as Lebanon." Hosea 14:6
"SEEK MY FACE, and you will find fulfillment of your deepest longings. My world is filled with beautiful things; they are meant to be pointers to Me, reminders of My abiding Presence. The earth still declares My Glory to those who have eyes that see and ears that hear." (Jesus Calling...June 6th. Sarah Young)
Have you looked outside today? It is radiantly beautiful! Upon reentering the Beale Bungalow after spending some time in my yard and doing a little gardening I sat down and read the above. What a lovely affirmation of God's Love. He actually spoke to me through His Word, the words of another and my plants. How cool is that?
This past weekend, an old friend taught me something about the word "awesome". She said it is used too readily in today's age. There is only One who is Awesome and that is God, Our Heavenly Father and Creator of all beauty. This morning proved that to me over and over again.
This morning as I soaked in all the beautiful and healthy creations around my little patch of earth; I suddenly became even more amazed at the steadfastness and true concern my God has for me.
From my growing garden,
To my sleeping and definitely growing son.
I am sitting here at my computer desk with the windows wide open listening to the birds, smelling the fresh air watching the gentle breeze flow through my dill plants and I say my friend was right. Awesome is a word ONLY for God! :)
Well, what is going on here at 29? The cucumbers are climbing the homemade covered wagon trellis.
My borage plant is truly growing tall and is beginning to bloom. I actually wish that my front garden had this little beauty, but maybe I can save some seed and I will have some borage out front. (Did you know borage seed oil is good for arthritis?)
Squashes are coming in. Thank heaven for bees. Ya can't have one without the other!!
My hydrangea cannot seem to make up its mind. Acid or alkaline.
One of my favorite flowers in the entire universe is blooming! I have had Coneflowers before, but they all died. It seems that this one is going to survive!!! This makes my very happy!
See, isn't my little part of the world filled with beauty? :)
Change of subject. I am finding that I cannot deep clean my laundry room without deep cleaning my kitchen. These two rooms are my major work areas (as they are for all homemakers), but things are going to be rearranged between the two rooms, therefore, after convention, I am going to have to deep clean my kitchen along with my laundry area. Sigh...
I am color coordinating the two rooms and so I will be going to fabric stores next week to get material and a color palette. I do have some ideas of what I want...finding them will require some leg work. So, now my work has doubled. Oh well, I need to move around anyway. Plus, it will be nice to have two rooms done at the same time.
Today is going to making lists! (And you know how I love lists!) What kind of lists? I am so glad you asked. Grocery list, menu list, school book list, school supply list, a budget list and a new cleaning list. If I take one day and plan--then I will feel like I am in control. HAHAHAHA!!!! No, actually these lists just keep my thoughts straight. I have learned to write my lists in pencil...even the best plans change.
Yet, another change of subject. I must say that I really enjoyed last evening at the Deborah group. I think my problem with this group is that I am such a Calvinist. The women that attend this group are charismatic and I am not. Even last night when my friend said it was okay pray being filled with the Holy Spirit in any way that was ours, I felt comfortable. Then another older lady, at the end of the meeting was praying that all would be filled with the Spirit and have the manifestation of speaking in tongues. Now, I was the ONLY one there last evening that did not speak in tongues, so who was this prayer directed towards? Thank heaven for Marianne who said it was time to go....
Do I belong in this group? Do I want to even go when my beliefs are so very different? Is there somewhere that I can worship and be with ladies of like mind and faith without feeling the pressure of being different and singled out? I think I am going to talk with husband on this one and do what he says. I did enjoy it last night. I know that the women are sincere, but I am not where they are in their theology and doctrine. Is it good? Is is right? Is it where God wants me? Hmm.....
Sharon
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day
is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For
in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them
is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath
day, and hallowed it.
I firmly believe the Sabbath is Saturday and if I went to a church that kept the sabbath on Saturday-I would, too. My church is a LORD's Day church....Sunday is the day of rest. Therefore, I try to rest on Sunday. Holy Hours are what I call my naps on this day. I am resting(usually to the sound of NASCAR in the next room).
This week has been good. I got to see a friend that moved to Tennessee while having coffee with two of my best friends. Then running into another friend who is a joy to be around even though she said she was mad. I honestly couldn't tell she was upset...that was a convicting lesson in it's self.
There was time spent helping a dear friend getting her house ready for her son's graduation home celebration. All five of us with our children, together, working as one. It was a God thing! This brought to my mind all the Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter books I have read. You know, the Amish or Mennonite books that tell lovely stories about how the women regularly come together to prepare a home for meeting days or some other celebration? I do believe I even stated that "I feel churchy." This is what women of God do...help one another.
Schooling lessons were of course done and with success! My son's reading is improving, even if he doesn't see it or feel like decoding all those words. Math is going slowly. Word problems...this is an area that needs working. It isn't because he cannot to the math. No, not at all. The words. My son has such a difficult time putting words with actual meanings. This, too, needs work. None of this is a surprise to my God and King. He will do a mighty work in His son's brain....
Yesterday, my son did not want to do any work. I teased him and said, "Son, don't you know the Beale's do not play...they work." He just looked at me with a quizzical expression and said "Huh?" Then I chuckled, because the verse at the beginning of this post popped into my head. It is Exodus 20:9, " Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:". Then I told him, that God and his parents would allow play time and rest...after the work was done.
Of course, my son is divinely obedient most of the time and yesterday was no exception. God and his parents DID allow play time, fun and rest...after his chores were done. He was able to play with his neighborhood friends all evening and came home starving and tired. There was no problem getting him to go to bed last night. He, too, learned a Biblical lesson about work and rest.
Yes, yesterday was day of work for the Beale's here at the Beale Bungalow. There was much to be done and each member of our family has their set of chores to complete in order for our lifestyle to function smoothly.
The guys take care of the all the yard work. I would love to mow, but allas, my carpel tunnel surgical scars just will not allow me. I would end up with pain and tingling in my hands if I did this extremely important chore. I usually take care of the gardens, composting and worm bins. Those chores do not seem to irritate the ol' tunnel syndrome.
My chores are much nicer. They are done inside...with air conditioning! :) Even though I am in the middle of dejunking my laundry room...the rest of the house still needs to be kept clean and in some resemblance of order. So, housecleaning was done...with joy, I might add. (I am beginning to like cleaning again...sigh...what a wonderful relief!)
It is such a blessing to enjoy ridding my home of unwanted dirt and grime. I know that in a short while the dirt and grime will show up yet again, quite uninvited, but this is what God is having me do at present. Yesterday, I mopped with His words in my heart and singing His praise on my lips. It was a great day. I think the results looked pretty good, too.
My little bungalow also smelled delicious during all the cleaning and whatnot. I used the first of my zucchini harvest to make some "Heavenly Zucchini Bread". That is the name of one of my favorite recipes. My guys would walk in and sniff the air and compliment me with the exaggerated mimicking of starvation, as if all the overacting would speed up the baking time. Funny... they were!
It did taste yummy!! And I must admit, after all the kimchi making and fermenting...the baking of the zucchini bread with it's sweet aroma was a refreshing and welcomed change. Even though I love both of the aromas...my guys lilt in their voices was noticeable. How can two or three words sound so differently. It went from.."Ugh..Mom's making kimchi." (with an expression that would make one think they have just smelled someone's forgotten dirty gym socks) to "Oh man! Mom's making zucchini bread and she put chocolate chips in mine!!!". (With the expression one would expect upon entering a world famous bakery.) They are different aromas, but each is pleasing in their own way...well, at least I think so...
Today...Well, I will be keeping a day of rest Holy. Church, paising and praying with friends and fellow believers. Then..celebrating, which is good anytime and especially on the Lord's day! This is made even better with families and friends that love the Lord and wish to recognize the accomplishments of a young man that God and his parents, are getting ready to launch out into the world to grow, mature and do what God Himself has planned for him to do. :)
Yes..."This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it"- all the while "Remembering the Sabbath, keeping it Holy" No work--It has been done. Now, God is allowing us time to play and rest all in His Name and for His Glory. Life is good!
Sharon
It has been so rainy today. Another tropical storm, Beryl, is making his/her presence known. As usual, my garden is enjoying it ....
I was planning on working outside this morning, but Beryl was an unexpected guest. I really should watch the news a bit more, especially this time of year.
I ended up cleaning house and doing laundry. Along with the schooling and other chores. It was a semi-nice day. It is nice to have clean floors and a nice clean bathroom though. :)
I spent most of my day making one of my favorite Korean side dishes....Kimchi. Kimchi is fermented vegetables that is usually on every table and at every meal in Korea. There are as many recipes for kimchi as there are Koreans. I, myself, have taken two kimchi sauce recipes...combined them and added carrots and Korean radishes and called it mine. If I have American-ized this dish up too much...I am sorry, but I do love it! It is really good on a hamburger....yum!!!
I will post a tutorial on how to make it when it is ready for the refrigerator. I don't want to miss any of the steps that I use. I think it is neat that many Koreans actually have a Kimchi Refrigerator for their kimchi. It is rather smelly and can smell up the cleanest refrigerator.
It goes from this...
To this...
The total time from the first picture to the second picture take about five hours. It is soooo worth it...to me. (4 hours is spent just soaking the veggies in a brine solution. It is not constant work the whole time...)
Lacto-fermentation is the process that makes kimchi...kimchi or sauerkraut...sauerkraut. The women of old had crocks of full of pickles, beets, onions and garlic in their storerooms or cellars using this process. The Koreans had cabbages, radishes and other veggies in their stored away crocks. These dishes are full of healthy bacteria called lactobacilli. This bacteria is not only great for your bowel by encouraging healthy flora growth, but is an excellent source of enzymes, vitamins and anti carcinogenic substances. It has a healthy AND delicious result I must say.
Change of subject....
There are days when my emotions are pretty much in check and then something will happen and my emotions become no longer in check. This happened to me today. It is very hard to let go of the past hurts when the present is just a repeat of the past. Oh, the names are different, but the hurt is the same. When my episode occurred-all the past pain came flooding in like a cresting river intermingling with a tributary of today's pain causing a flood of tears for a short while. Sigh...
I do pray for the gift of forgiveness for those that caused the pain of my past, but it never fails to return when that wounded area of my heart is hit. I can explain this by comparing it to the wound that Frodo received from the Witch-king on Weathertop. No matter how much I pray...this wound never completely heals.
Someday, I know that the Lord will prepare me a table in the presence of mine enemies and I will feast--they (meaning the demons that keep pricking this sensitive portion of my heart) will not. There must be a way to totally release all this past pain. Forgiveness...prayer...loving kindness... Hmmm..
I used to be pretty good at hiding my feelings, but here lately that "gift" has left me, or maybe my guys know me better than I think they do. My son was especially concerned...and my husband brought me "some color" in the form of flowers. Smiling...at the moment.
Well, enough processing my hurts--- it is time to start my supper. Today's menu---broiled marinated pork loin chops, roasted rosemary potatoes and garlic sauteed greenbeans.
Sharon
This weekend has been nothing like I envisioned. Sigh...
It did have its high points though. I went to my friend's son's graduation. He looked very dignified up on that platform in his black graduation cap and gown. He was homeschooled all his life and this was not only his graduation, but my friend's, too. It was a lovely ceremony.
We had nice cookout with another dear friend and her family. It was delicious! Good friends, good foods and good conversations...a lovely afternoon.
I did not get the chance to work on my laundry room this weekend. I am supposed to be dejunking, but I feel as though I am just junking up my home. I am still trying to talk my husband into making me some shelves in there....I saw him measuring so I believe he is going to make them (just not in my timing).
How do you like my compost bin potatoes? They are volunteers, of course, but they grew well! My neighbor kind of tickled my funny bone when he asked me if we were going to eat them. "Yes, they are actually healthier than anything you buy in the stores." He had his face all in a wrinkled expression showing his "not quite understanding how organic gardening works" stance. His response, "Whatever...."
The dirt all around the potatoes was pure worm castings with a little decomposing grass mixed in. It was absolutely beautiful. I am going to compost my garden with it this week. My garden is growing and I will have some squash and zucchini in a few days...
Well, that is all about my weekend. Do please take a few minutes today and thank our Heavenly Father for our country and those who have died protecting it.
Sharon
My neighbor and I are having some trees cut down in our yards. They are having 6 or 7 trees cut down whilst we are having only one.....one..lonely...ugly...sap dropping...Blue Heron attracking pine tree.
When this company said they were going to start at 8:00 a.m. They meant it.
One, lonely, ugly, sap dropping and Blue Heron attracking pine tree gone. We are going to have one very hot summer here without our neighbors trees. The good thing is..now I can plant my fruit trees and have bees in the backyard. There will be enough sun!
Schooling was kind of half done today. Watching the modern lumberjacks take down huge trees was much more interesting than Developmental Math and Explode the Code. That is what HOMEschooling is all about...taking advantage of our world around us. Master Beale enjoyed his day.
My garden will benefit from the tree cutting, too. My cucumbers are beginning their assent up the "covered wagon" trellis.
I cannot wait to see the trellis all full of green vines with yummy cucumbers hangingdown. Pickling time is almost here.
I have never grown flax. This is just an experiment for me, but they do have a lovely bloom, do they not? This was not here yesterday...another gift for me! Thank you Abba!
I am still working in my laundry room. I cannot believe how much stuff I had jammed in this room. I am thinking about having a few shelves built in and removing the gray plastic cabinet that is presently being used for cleaners and such. I think shelves would allow more storage room for some of my electric appliances and canning goods. I will talk with my husband about it this evening. :) Sounds like a wonderful homeschooling project for he and my son. Let's see....math, woodworking, tool safety and productivity away from the computer and the Wii. Oh...this is working for me....
Well, I am going back to the laundry room.....
Sharon
I think the sun is kind of shy today. It will peak it's warming yellow face out when the lingering clouds of Tropical Storm Alberto allows. We had rain last night, so everything is damp to wet. I know the states with the forest fires would like some of our wet stuff. I am praying they get some.
I have been working on my laundry room this afternoon. I am taking a break so I can actually breathe! I cannot believe how I have let housecleaning get away from me. Actually, it didn't go anywhere....I am the one who ran away from it! Or slept away from it...oh well, everything is on the right track now. (I am thinking of going out and buying me a rose for continued inspiration.) ;)
You know it is time to can again when all you have are these on your canning shelves.....
That is it! One jar of Italian sauce, one jar of whole tomatoes, two jars of basil tomatoes and two cans of sweet pickle relish. Not much to last the winter, I'd say. I have 20 pints of freshly canned strawberry jam that I did a couple of weeks ago, but they don't count yet! I think I am going to go and get a few more strawberries next week and freeze for smoothies and such.
Schooling with my son went fairly well today. He is having trouble with word problems. Thinking words through does not come easily to my young man, but we will keep plugging along. His reading is doing a bit better. I do believe it is because I have severely limited his computer gaming time. He is out of doors more getting good exercise and vitamin D. We are going to continue to school throughout the summer. He needs it and I like being able to take a guilt free day off if I or he gets a notion to do so. :)
This evening we are going to our church's community garden. We have put in a Back to Eden garden.
This picture is from the dvd..you can actually watch the whole film on youtube.com. Anyway, this evening we will be harvesting and planting. There is virtually no watering and no weeds!
You first lay down newspaper, four sheets thick, where ever you want your garden...make sure it gets a lot of sun. Then put down some good aged organic compost...about 6 inches thick. The third and final step is to put down some wood chips that has been chipped with their green foliage still present. This layer should be about 4 inches thick. There you have it.
All you have to do is pull the wood chips back--plant your seeds or seedlings--water initially. If you planted seeds...don't cover until seedlings are up, otherwise, cover and let God do His Work. I believe the key is good organic aged compost and the wood chips. The chips absorb water when it rains...prevents over watering. Then when the garden is dry...it releases the water into the compost. It is like gardening in the woods with all the leaves, fallen limbs and such .... decomposing and feeding everything around.
BLT's tonight after tending the community garden.
Those are the plans. :)
Sharon
Yesterday, after a wonderfully sunny morning...this is what rolled in. Accompanying those water heavy storm clouds was what I am going to call Heaven's Bass Drums. The rolling thunder sounded so ominously majestic that I had to stop, listen and then take a picture or two. I was so thankful that I watered my garden very lightly just in case the weather forecasters were correct. :)
So, how did I fill up my wetted afternoon?
I made some lavender scented castille soap! This was my first successful batch so I was quite excited! I do believe my mistakes have been with the temperatures. When the recipe says 110 degrees....it means exactly 11o degrees! Anywho, I was so very pleased that I called my friend, Marianne, my mom and my brother! So silly, but I have had soap to come out looking more like cow patties than the nice creamy yellow tray that you see before you. I can't wait to make some more...This is a skill that I would like to perfect and have some fun with. :) :)
Now, I said that I would explain my dejunking, deep cleaning and painting strategy today. I must preface my explanation with yet another explanation. As I have said previously....I have been in a depression. I won't go into the details--God is still working in and through the reasons for my downward spiral and I am choosing to let Him do what He wants and I am do what He has ordained me to do. With that said...as I am coming out of this dark painful season I realized how little work I had actually been doing. I was always tired, so I think I thought I was busy all the time. Schooling got done, along with laundry, grocery shopping and cooking, but that was about it.
I remember reading a little story to my daughter years ago about a little girl who took a single rose to an old lady who lived nearby. Her house was shabby, dirty and dark. She said she just wanted to be a friend to the old woman and to start the friendship the little girl brought her a rose.
Now, the old woman needed a nice clean vase to put the rose in...so she washed a vase and put it on her table. But she noticed that the table cloth was dirty and stained, so she washed, dried and ironed the cloth, placed it on the table under her clean vase with her new friend's gift standing proudly.
Then the old woman noticed that no one could see her new friend's gift because the window was dirty and grimy..of course, you know what happens. The old woman cleans this window and then the other windows...then the house and the yard. All because of a little girl's gift.
This is kind of what I am going through, but I have no rose to get me started. Everywhere I look I see all the reasons for cleaning this room or that room first. I honestly can not make up my mind where to start....sad, I know, but I did say I was coming out of my depression, so my mind is still in a befuddled state.
When I was talking to God about this dilemma my husband came in with some breakfast biscuits and that is when suddenly this idea came to me. (I know God had something to with this...) Anyway, I listed all the rooms in my home and put them in the Bojangles' bag. I would pray and pull out a room name and start there. After a short bungle...my loving husband thought the bag was trash and threw it away...then he replaced it, so I could function again. :)
There ya have it!! My cleaning program in a bag! So, what room will I start with?
Can you see it? I need to rewrite the other rooms a bit darker, but I am to start in the Laundry Room! Easy Peasy! I will update each room upon completion. I am actually excited to get started and get everything as it should be!
God had some sweet little surpises for me this morning in my gardens.
I can already taste the zucchini bread, fried squash and pickles!
God also allowed me to notice something I have never seen before...
A Lightening Bug during the day! Apparently this little guy likes Yarrow!
Well, I am off to the laundry room!
Sharon
