It's A Dog's Life

I seem to be mellowing in my old age.
I never used to let Jada sleep on the bed.
Lately I have relaxed the rules a bit. . .

And she is bound and determined to take full advantage of it!
Nowadays, if I can't find Jada anywhere, I check out our bed and . . .
 Ta da!!!
Once again hanging out in the comfyist spot in the house!
Oh to be a dog. . .

Secret Sisters

I mentioned my secret sister in a previous post and my cousin Chandra wondered what exactly that was. (She wasn't the only one!)

It was organized by one of the ladies in our church. She put a questionnaire in every one's mailbox which we had to fill out and return if we were interested in participating.
The questionnaire asked things like who we were, if we were married and to whom , our age, hobbies, favorite things (like bible verses, holidays or seasons, desserts etc.), things we like to collect, if we had allergies or real dislikes, and whether we had any special prayer requests.

She took them all and then everyone was given someone else's questionnaire and that person was then your secret sister.

The idea is to do something thoughtful for her at least once a month until our reveal party in mid December.

Not only do I have a secret sister to do fun things for, someone also has me as a secret sister. Last month I was given the most unusual gladiola flower. I had never seen those colours on a gladiola before and I just loved it.

This month I received a beautiful stained glass piece and was told (in a card) that her artist friend had made it and it made her think of me! Isn't that nice?

I love handcrafted things and it looks lovely in my side window!

I had always wanted to put some type of stained glass in this window.

It gives me a warm, cozy feeling to know someone is thinking about me.

Getting Used To 'Retirement'

Since I no longer drive the school bus or work outside the home I am now 'retired.'
I have been trying to figure out just what that means in practical terms.
Do I  spend my days reading and eating chocolate?
Wash load after load of laundry everyday? Iron sheets and jeans?
Keep tabs on who's doing what on the soaps?

Retirement  means a drop in income and a change in buying habits.
It means finding things to do that are inexpensive or. . . better yet, free.

It's odd how easy it was to get used to running out to pick something up to eat because I was just to busy to cook dinner, but not at all easy to get used to planning for dinner everyday so I won't run out to pick something up. Yet if I do go the easy route now, I find myself disappointed in the food and annoyed that I spent money I didn't have to!

I have spent 18 years earning money and now that I'm not, I have the uncomfortable feeling that I am not contributing properly anymore.

Mind you, Henry and the boys are thrilled that I am home full time.
Jesse informed me that I seem to be developing a sense of humour.
Morgan appreciates the fact that if he comes home for lunch, I will make it for him.
Henry's enjoying my more relaxed, happy attitude so much that he doesn't even want me starting up a little home business. (more on that another day!)

The thing is, is that the rules have changed. . .  ( I stole that profound thought from someone dear to me. . . thanks hey!)

So I have a question for all of you. . .

If you were given the opportunity to do something you loved, but on the teeynist, tinyest budget, while still taking good care of your home and family. . . (also on the teenyist, tinyest budget!)

What would you do and how would you go about doing it?

Feel free to go into great detail!

I have been thinking a lot lately about Jamie Oliver ,  Adele , and others who are so obviously using their God given talents to the utmost. ( Regardless of whether or not they acknowledge that it came from Him.)

We are all charged to use the talents God has given us, and what I wonder as a wife and mother, (and a somewhat perfectionist, overachiever) is how that fits with family life.

How do we go about figuring out how to best use our talents to God's glory here in the 'real' world with so many things competing for our time and attention?

Let's start a conversation and let me know what you think or how you've made things work in your lives.

In the mean time here are some of the things I've been up to in the last few weeks. . .



Fall in the front garden




Dressing up the front entry for a new season




Canning peaches by myself for the first time



They are delicious!

Of course I always love to play with bread!

Adding cheese makes anything better. . .

At least in Jada's opinion!

One batch of dough made cinnamon buns, butter pan buns, hamburger buns and  . . .

Ham and cheese buns. Yum!!

Blog Worthy Activity

So I spent a good part of last week reading.
Wednesday I read two of Francine Rivers' newest books. 'Her Mother's Hope' and 'Her Daughter's Dream.' I started in the morning , read all day, stopping only when Henry dropped by for lunch and made like I had been busy all day, threw something together for supper and finished the second book at 3:30 in the morning.
You would think I had learned from that, but no, I read nearly as much the next day!
By Friday night I realized that I had better not even open a book until after dinner or there would be no blog worthy activity happening around here at all!
Saturday was fun with lots of baking and a family get together  at a park with a lake and a dog park.
Of course that meant we took Jada along and Henry wanted to let her run free while I wanted her leashed until she listened to me. I took her to the dog park area, took off her leash  and watched her bolt over to the truck looking for Henry. Then she spotted one the of many hot dogs scattered around the park (bait for the crayfish in the pond) and any kind of control was a lost cause. Which brought on an argument in front of Henry's  dad when he (Henry, not his dad) insisted she should be off leash anyway. I strongly suggested that was a terrible idea..
The end result was him taking her for a walk instead of me and letting her off leash as soon as they were out of sight! (As I told his dad he would!)
Ah well, once she got to stay next to Henry she quieted down a whole lot.
I did have some fun with a bouquet from the garden for my sister-in-law Dorothy's birthday

Dorothy's gift and handmade card

Very pretty ribbon and a handmade label

 as well as something neat for my secret sister.

Cherry cheesecake

Shhhhh! Don"t tell her it was me!

(don't worry she doesn't read this blog so I won't be giving anything away! Just make sure you don't give it away!)
This week has me canning peaches, making strawberry jam and going for a drive in my bus with the lady who is replacing me.
Friday I get to do something fun as well, but that is going to have to stay secret for a while.
Should the unthinkable happen and the blog goes silent, you will know that the responsible woman in me lost out ot the avid reader. . .
If that happens I give you all permission to hassle me without mercy . . .

Not All Flower Gardens Require Weeding

Jada and I are still searching out new places to take our daily walk.
This morning I had to go the the grocery store and decided to hit my favorite IGA on 142 st. They have an excellent bakery and the butcher shop is wonderful as well. There is almost always a butcher available to talk to and they are happy to cut something custom for you which makes going a little out of my way to get there totally worth while.
So to be efficient (something new I'm trying. . .) I took Jada with me and we kept a close eye out for a likely walking spot.
We found a great one in  the Mckinnon Ravine. You get at in in an odd way but it was a lovely walk that led us right to the river's edge which thrilled Jada no end and she jumped in before I had time to stop her! (of course Henry and I had just given her a bath!)
The neatest part of the walk though, was all the wild flowers we saw.
You just have to love a flower garden that doesn't need weeding!

Another adventure on an unknown path!

I love rose hips and often use them when decorating for fall or Christmas.

For some reason my camera kept registering these flowers as a mountain scene, so they are a little out of focus.

One of my favorites, these little flowers are pale purple. I think they are a type of wild aster.

These flowers are so pretty but I have no idea what they might be.

From the look (and smell) of the leaves theses flowers are likely in the crysanthumum family. Oddly, what looks like the center of a flower, is the actual flower. Kind of cool. . .

These flowers were white and likely asters as well.

All in all, a lovely start to my day!

Sleepovers

These are the kinds of things that go on in this house When Jada has a sleepover with her friend Diesel. . .

What???

Sorry mom, there's no room left!

Inspiration

Jada and  I have been going for long walks in a historic neighbourhood that runs along the river. It only takes five minutes to drive there and is full of  'scope for the imagination' as Anne (of Green Gables) would say.
It's peaceful, and beautiful homes, gardens and large trees abound.
While walking Ravine Drive, we stopped to sit on a bench (well I did!) and enjoy the view.
When I got up again, I saw this plaque:

I loved this!
I went home and did my part to make life beautiful. . .

Set a pretty table

Local, pasture raised, roasted chicken with a garlic, rosemary, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper flake rub under then skin.

Add homegrown beans

Flowers from the garden, homemade applesauce and a good bottle of wine (or red brisk if, like Morgan, wine isn't your thing.)

Butter, locally made bacon for bacon bits and homemade bread on a serving plate I painted myself many (many!) years ago.

Life really is beautiful isn't it?
Of course, I could have set a pretty table and served spagetti and meatballs and it would have been just as lovely.
In the end it's about my attitude more than about what I have.
God has already given me the most precious gift there is.
The rest is just gravey. .  .