Spring-y-ness

I am really looking forward to spring! No, our redbuds aren't out yet...this is an old picture. :) But I just LOVE the gradual coming of spring, as there get to be more and more warmish days and breezes become balmy. Got into the 60s just barely today, and we had a lovely warm rainshower this morning. I was out at the orchard today (organizing boxes, cleaning drawers, and making peach preserves) and as I sat in the car eating lunch (soooo nice and quiet) it was fun just to look at the apple and peach trees, still bare, and know that before long they'd be full of blooms! Also fun to watch were some pesky sparrows who have made their home under the eaves of the orchard porch. I call them pesky because I've often had to clean up after them...but they're really kinda fun (apart from said problem) and have very cheery songs. I'm so glad God decided to invent seasons. We'd get so bored of the same weather all the time, I think. :) And I'm glad I live in a place where the seasons are so distinct and different! But early spring has always been a favorite, as all things seem to come alive, fresh and new. There's just something about the smell of fresh baby leaves coming out, daffodils, and wet dirt that just gives me "thrills" (as Anne of Green Gables would say). :) We still might (ummm...will) get another round of snow or ice before winter gives up, but today was just a little taste of spring, and it made my heart happy. :)

Seeing through His eyes...

"Because from our limited human viewpoint we sometimes cannot see that our place of appointment makes sense, we struggle against it. In the apparent mistakes of life, the way to peace is not found in struggling against circumstances, nor by trying to escape. It is found in accepting all that comes as the "good and acceptable and perfect will of God," chosen by an all-wise God as best suited for attaining His goals."

--R. Arthur Mathews

(take from Born for Battle: 31 Studies on Spiritual Warfare)

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About R. Arthur Mathews:

(also taken from Born for Battle)

"A child of CIM missionaries, Arthur Mathews spent his childhood in China and grew to manhood as a farm hand in Australia. While Melbourne Bible Institute gave him his formal training , the Lord trained him through a continuing study of his Word and through a lifetime of experiences and testings. This training was going on, for instance, during his years as a missionary in China's interior, his service in the Indian Army during World War II, through four years of house arrest with his wife and baby in Communist China, his many years as a leader in the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, and through his last battle, the suffering and wasting of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He died in July, 1978, at sixty-six."

Prayer

"One might estimate the weight of the world, tell the size of the celestial city, count the stars of heaven, measure the speed of lightning, and tell the time of the rising and the setting of the sun--but you cannot estimate prayer-power. Prayer is as vast as God because He is behind it. Prayer is as mighty as God because He has committed Himself to answer it."

--Leonard Ravenhill

(picture courtesy of Sam van der Hoeven)

Cookies and Sprinkles

We never did get to making sugar cookies at Christmas time...but the lovely thing about sugar cookies is they're adaptable to whatever holiday happens to be closest. :) So without further ado, here are some pictures my mother took of the Valentine's cookie day.

On the sheet, ready for the oven.

We make big batches whenever we make cookies. But sugar cookies are worth making LOTS. And they're a bit more work, so why not just do a bunch while you're at it?

Cookie decorating is seeeerious business! Frosting must be smooth perfection. Every sprinkle painstakingly placed.

I think they were actually hoping for a few odd ones..."Oops! This one's a misfit! Guess I'll just have to eat it!" For example, someone "accidentally" used green sprinkles. She said it was an accident...she "didn't see what color it was before she used it"...hmmmm. I have my suspicions.

I love sugar cookies. So pretty! Not to mention really delicious!

Dessert

Just thought I'd make everybody's mouths water over this Turtle Cheesecake. Caramel. Chocolate. Creamy-ness. This particular cheesecake has been non-existent for a couple weeks now, but I just thought I'd post it, so I could drool over it again. Unfortunately, I've discovered how easy cheesecakes really are. And my siblings have discovered that they like this dessert. Why unfortunately? I think you can answer that. Hellooooo treadmill!

God's will

"Thou wouldst not have me accept Thy will because I must, but because I may. Thou wouldst have me take it, not with resignation, but with joy; not with the absence of a murmur, but with a song of praise."

--Dr. George Matheson

(a blind man)

Applesauce!

Earlier this year Tyler and I made a bushel of apples into...spicy applesauce! Suncrisp apples from the Orchard. Good stuff! I think the bushel turned into about 32 cups of sauce. Most of it is safely in the freezer waiting to accompany future meals. :) Wonderful wonderful apples. But we're about out of orchard apples now, and will have to revert to store bought. *sigh* But they sure were good while they lasted!!

Some final pictures...

Here are a few more ice storm pictures. These are ones that Sam took and is letting me post. :) It has been fun seeing pictures of the same icy-covered trees, taken by other family members. Everyone captures something just a little different!

Zoom in on this first one, and you can see it's still snowing!! Minus the playground, I think it looks like Narnia. :)

Bluuuuue sky at last!!

Sky-blue pink sunset!

Look at the trees hanging over our powerlines....

Bluejays are very mean, self-centered and loud birds. But I just LOVE how they look when it's cold and they're all fluffed up!! This is my favorite picture, Sam!!

Problems...

What then are we to do about our problems? We must learn to live with them until such time as God delivers us from them...we must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly.

A. W. Tozer

Cozy fires to be...

Thank goodness for a woodstove and plenty of good, dry wood that Daddy and the boys stocked up last year! And this recent ice storm will provide us with plenty more for next winter...

Nothing more delightful than to sit in front of a cozy fire with a cup of tea and a good book.

More grilling

First of all, we have our electricity back again! For the present. But with the ice now gone (it got up in the 50s today!) we're a bit more sure of it's staying. :) Hooray! But I had to post the lunch that Mom and I made yesterday. I never knew you could do such things on the grill! It's true indeed that necessity is the mother of invention!!

Cuban bread is a favorite recipe in this household. It makes 2 loaves, and we usually finish up both in one sitting! I added some oregano and a dash of garlic salt to this batch. Mmm mmm.

Knead for 5 minutes, rest it for 5 minutes, then bake! Does it get easier?!?

Except that this time there was no oven to bake it in, and so...we put the pan of water on the bottom rack of the grill, and set the bread on the rack above. The steam makes for a lovely chewy crust...and in this case, also kept the bottom of the bread from burning! That was my problem with those brownies...now I want to try them again with a pan of water underneath. :)

While the Cuban bread was baking, Mom started a pot of chicken noodle soup. WOW did it smell good! Especially when the carrots and onions were sauteing.

Mmmmmmm.

Ahhh...the Cuban bread is done! Took about 45 minutes on medium low grill heat, but was baked just as if I'd done it in the oven. :) Cool.

And there you have it. Yet another delicious grilled meal. And I thought the grill was only for burgers and hotdogs! Very thankful to have the oven back, but wouldn't mind more grilling experiments in the future...