Tooting My Own Horn!

Okay - - - so it’s a woodwind recorder rather than something from the brass family.  But it’s mine and it makes music.

Years ago I played clarinet beginning in fifth grade through the first year of college.  Thinking I might never need it again, I sold it.  However, when God has put the desire to make music in your heart, it is hard to quench.

I tried to learn piano since we had an old used piano for our girls when they took lessons.  The only problem is when you have only known Treble Clef all your life, it is difficult to make your mind (and hands) play Treble and Bass simultaneously. 

Singing in church choirs was great until 20 years ago when I got nodules on my vocal chords.  Yes, those are caused by talking too much and generally with tension or stress.  Yes, there was a reason for all that but that’s a story for another day.  The good news was  (per doctor's orders) healing was accomplished by me NOT talking for six weeks - - but to this day, I can only sing one octave and SOMEtimes I stay on pitch! 

Missing being able to “make a joyful noise” led me to purchase this with Christmas money.  I know the fingering for five notes and can play through the first book.  I still have to get my embouchure correct to prevent squawking but I am enjoying it.  Once I am proficient, it will be replaced with one made of wood.   Just don’t ask the cats or my family what they think of my present abilities.  

  - - - and an update on the weather, etc.  The main roads are clear.  The subdivision is horrendous.  However, we can get out if we are careful.  My husband returned to work today but I don’t go back until tomorrow.  People are working on clearing the church parking lot today.  Here is a picture of it during the Christmas snow storm.

Therefore I will play music before the Lord.  2 Samuel 6:21a

My Hero

The above picture is how it looked about 8:30 this morning.  My husband is the person in the next two pictures.

 

Watching the forecast and knowing that whatever is on the roads tonight will freeze solid for a couple more days gave my husband reason to get out around noon and further clear our tire tracks.

We don't  worry about getting out of the subdivision because you let off the gas, never hit the brake, and pray no one is coming out of the side streets.  By the time you reach the bottom, you have climbed another small incline and it's fairly easy to stop.  However, coming back up the hill is next to impossible without four-wheel drive.

Remember yesterday.

 

Here is today after my Hero cleared the snow from behind it and got it backed into the driveway.  All his outside work only took 45 minutes.  He was rewarded with a delicious, hot lunch.

 

And to the top left of the picture, you can get the view of new and old colors of paint on the house.  

Meanwhile inside the hacienda, it was time to relax and view the snow from a warmer environment. 

 

KK definitely needed a nap after racing through the house like a wild thing who needed to use up some energy.  Part of her fun was stalking Ginger Ale.  You can tell he was really upset!

We are relaxing and enjoying the rest of the day because tomorrow we all have to be at work early!

This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in.  Matthew 7:8 The Message

Sweating With the Oldies

If you have watched the news or follow blogs of others in our area, they are talking about the SNOW we received last night . . . about 8 inches.  The reason it is big news is because it does not often snow in our area and if it does, then it rarely sticks around over half a day.

 

Also, it is rare for us to get snow twice in a month's time.   I did have to get tickled at our youngest cat.  She decided to go outside and walked around the perimeter on the deck.  (This deck has not been painted yet.  It will be a darker green.)

Notice her looking at the stairs.  She is contemplating her descent - - but is obviously not happy over the precipitation.

Once she decided to jump on the top step, she was not happy the snow came up to her stomach so she decided to jump off the step to escape.  But each step had the same amount of snow!  Let's just say the rest of her day was spent inside, curled up, sleeping!  She did attempt a couple more moments outside hoping that the snow had disappeared.

However, the only way the snow disappeared was with shovels!!!!!

 

This may not look too impressive but this driveway and area in front of the garage can hold 6 cars - - and it is clear - - thanks to my husband, daughter, and me.  Also, another neighbor helped us shovel "the hill".  There are three of us neighbors who have to climb the hill to get to our houses.  Unless you have four wheel drive, no amount of speed will get you home unless that road has been cleared.  Generally the road department does not make it over here since they have enough going on with the main roads.

So even though the temperature was freezing all day, we stayed quite toasty with our  outdoor workout routine.   (And did any of you ever own or work out to the Richard Simmons' videos?)

You will have to work hard and sweat . . . Genesis 3:19a

Friends

 

It is a new year and I have reunited with some former friends.  I have missed them so much that I offered them money for us to get together again.  In the last three weeks, we have seen each other SIX times!  We meet for exercise and have the best conversations.  Even if I didn’t feel the physical need to visit with them, they would still be great fun to hang out with.  So how many have guessed I am back in physical therapy?!!

 There is some mild arthritis in my hands but my main problem is a trigger finger  probably caused by a lateral band injury.  It has been swollen and at times painful.  However, I know I recognized some relief this past week when my attitude went from, “Give me a knife so I can remove this finger,” to “The exercises and finger splint are returning mobility and have decreased my pain.”  My plan is to avoid another cortisone injection - - because they don’t cure - - just alleviate symptoms for a while.  Also, I would like to avoid surgery.  Only time will tell.  All that to say, I highly recommend Phyllis at Ocoee Physical Therapy.

 And the pictures did have something to do with some other friends.  Three of my girlfriends and I went to lunch at Ocoee Dam Deli.   If you visit the link, please enlarge the last page on the bottom right.  It tells about the owners and their philosophies.

The décor is rustic.  Here are the supports for one of the tables.

Yes, it's part of a tree.   Here is the top of another.  

 It comes up through the center of a large square table.  The boards for the table attach to these tree branches.

 The animals pictured above decorate the stage area where musicians perform on Friday night.  Videos of white water rafting play on a TV.  And the sandwiches - - - - are DELICIOUS!!!!  Each one is named for a dam somewhere in the USA.   The name of state where the dam is located follows the name of the sandwich.  We had a wonderful time together.

He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit.  Genesis 2:9a

New Year's Day

It has been the traditional New Year’s Day at our house.  The tournament of Roses Parade was being broadcast while I cooked our traditional Southern Dinner.  I cooked black-eyed peas for my husband but since I grew up in upstate NY, they don’t appeal to my palate. 

  My plate has Great Northern Beans cooked a bit like Baked Beans.  Folklore has many explanations for eating these.  The one that was told to me by my mother-in-law was eating them on the first day of the year brings prosperity for the rest of the year.  The black-eyed peas represent coins so the more you eat, the more coins you’ll accumulate. 

Reason then expanded to include cooked greens with the meal to represent paper money.  

 

  Many people cook collards but since I don't like them, we have boiled cabbage.   My husband likes them but he's not doing the cooking.  However, he does like cabbage, too.

 

This year we put a new slant on an old tradition for cooking the cabbage.

I made Chicken & Apple Stew from the Slow Cooker Recipe book from Prevention.com.   Their recipe website is pretty neat because on many of the recipes, you can change the amount of servings you want to prepare and it will automatically change the measurement of the ingredients.  How cool is that?!!

It was going to take a while to find this exact link so basically here it is.

In a 4 qt crockpot, layer

1 lb boneless chicken  (they use dark, I used white)

1 lb carrots (sliced)

2 cups shredded green cabbage

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced

1 onion, chopped

Mix these liquids & spices together & pour over above ingredients.

1 can (14.5) oz chicken broth

1/2 cup apple cider

1 Tbsp finely chopped sage (or 1 tsp dried)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Cook on low 6 hours or on high 3 hours.

If you want, you can thicken some of the liquid into gravy in a separate saucepan when the stew is done.

I want to make it again.  It was okay - - but I forgot the chicken broth (DUH to me) and it would have upped the flavor to very, very good!!!  The preparation is extremely easy - - - for those who can read and double-check!

You crown the year with your good blessings,  and you leave abundance in your wake.   

^{Psalms 65:11}

(This is from the NET Bible.  I found it on Beth Moore's Blog.)

New Year

 

Tomorrow  we will begin a new year with this calendar in our kitchen.  Of all the different ones we have used over the years, this seems to be our favorite.  The "sayings" and pictures are generally quite cute and contain some wisdom - - sometimes.

Another calendar I use is for Bible Reading.  I read through the entire Bible last year using this plan.  And rather than reading  the printed pages each day, I used this DVD a majority of the time.

 

I blogged about it earlier this year.  The DVD plays when I work in the kitchen or when I am on the elliptical doing my morning aerobics.   You can read and listen at the same time - - - plus hear the pronunciation of those difficult Old Testament names!

This year my plan is to read the Bible chronologically - - - in the order the events occurred and not as they are listed in our Table of Contents.  You can find that plan at this website - - - even read  it online.  You will find a great variety of plans there.  As I told our library workers, it doesn't matter if you read the Bible in its entirety.  What is important is a daily discipline of being in The Word.

Of all the books I read during the year and tell you about, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about the most important Book in my life. . . . and as geeky as it sounds, I am excited to begin reading from the beginning again tomorrow!

And with that said, it is time to walk outside for a few minutes because the SUN is SHINING and it's about 59 degrees!!!!!

Lord, your word is everlasting; it continues forever in heaven.  Psalms 119:89

Caw Caw Caw

That is what I heard in our backyard yesterday morning.  It was LOUD because there were between 10 and 20 crows in the trees.  I went out to see what was going on - - - because we generally never have crows in our back yard.  They flew away when I opened the door but came back when I went inside.

So I got my camera and had difficulty getting good shots because I was shooting into the light.  Trying to find a better angle by running around the backyard would have been pointless because if I tried, then the bevy of boisterous birds would be gone.  I finally saw what they were hollering about.

 

 

Whoooooooo

can say Beautiful?!!  Don't you love it when God shows you something extraordinary on an ordinary day?

And speaking of beautiful, look at what my daughter made for me for Christmas.

 

If you want to see one more set of snow pictures, please visit her blog.  She has pictures of the Blue Ridge Mountains and they are picture postcard pretty.

The owl will nest there and lay eggs, she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings. . . Isaiah 34:15a