Friday Evening Outing

This last Friday evening if you happened to chance by our house, you would have found it deserted.  Three of  it's occupants were off to the movies ("The Hobbit" at the Henry Ford Imax Theater!! It was a belated birthday present for Charity),  so the remaining 3 (yes our family is officially shrunk to 6) decided to head off on an adventure of their own!

The first stop was Colette's Antique shop.  Mom, Faith and I were soon lost in wonder at the magnitude of the place!  It was ENORMOUS!! 

Each booth had it's own flavor (and prices ;P )

One of our finds (a look-at-find only) was a ledger from the 1920's!  Filled with page after page of handwritten records.  The prices of produce back then.....!

I was one of the happiest creatures on earth, when Faith found two darling Beatrix Potter dishes!!  They came home with us where they belong!

After drooling down one aisle (it took us over a half and hour to simply peruse one single side of the store!!) we realized it was time to go, so we collected our items, purchased them and left.

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 Our second destination was a friends church, where there was going to be an orchestral band playing.

 The band (which was made up of everything but strings) was phenomenal and played a delightful variety of classical and seasonal pieces and melodies.

 The percussion section had to be our favorites, and from our seats we could view it quite well.  One particular man playing the snare drum, as well as countless other percussion instruments, was absolutely a blast to watch!! He was so in to his music!!

 There was quite a large clarinet section as well as oboe, flutes etc.

So while half of us watched a movie, and the other half traipsed about town, all had a fabulous time!

~Chs

Inspiration

{I thought I would share some of my favorite frost pictures, from the past months, along with some hard hitting, reassuring, and deep thinking quotes.}

"The deepest longing of the human heart and the deepest meaning of heaven and earth are summed up in this:  the glory of God." ~John Piper

"Away you intruding cares, Jesus draws me, and I run after Him." ~C. H. Spurgeon

"Oh grant me to tremble before the Lion of Judah, and humble ourselves under His fierce holiness." ~John Piper

"Be much in prayer, be much in the word of God.  Kill the lusts that have driven your Lord from you: be careful to watch over the future of uprising sin." ~C. H. Spurgeon

"Run forward until you reach the uttermost degree of knowledge that a person can attain concerning our Beloved." ~C. H. Spurgeon

"Let us show the world that we are happy and a blessed people... God is with us." ~C. H. Spurgeon

November is Gone

 November is gone. It disappeared when I wasn't looking; slipped away like all other of its 10 counterparts, and now December is upon us.  Practically half way gone!!  So I do realize that it has been awhile since the calendar flipped to this last month, but I still wanted to share a quick review of the last bit of November with you all.

November 14th we gathered to celebrate the life of my Grandpa, George Learned.

The service was truly wonderful and glorifying to our Savior, after which we headed over to the cemetery before gathering at the church for a fellowship meal.

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That same week some of us were thrown into ecstasies by the downfall of snow!! I took some time in all the craziness to wander out back and take some snow pics.  This one has to be my all time favorite.  I continue to marvel at the endless variety in God's creation, especially snowflakes, and I am thrilled when I can capture them on camera.

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Thanksgiving came before we really had time to breathe, and we were happy to gather at Aunt Carmen's house with all of the family.

Everything was decorated just so, and conversation was lively, activity bustling, and fellowship delightful!

The food was overwhelming as usual, and everyone was overstuffed by the time we were through.

One very special part of this particular thanksgiving celebration was a tape that my Great Aunt Myrt brought.  A tape that was recorded in 1950, before my Grandparents had left for Africa.  It was of my Grandpa singing solos with Aunt Myrt in the Harrison living room.  The recording was stunningly clear, and it was wonderful to be able to hear Grandpa's voice which was startlingly full and deep for a 23 year old!

The afternoon was finished off with pie, though most of us could fit but a sliver and we all left homeward, satisfied with the food and fellowship of yet another Thanksgiving gathering.

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One of our last indoor projects of November was rearranging our girls room.  Since Grace is married and moved out, we no longer have use for four beds, so we made the decision to saw of the loft, and simply have a bunk-bed and a single.

It was a bit more difficult than we had expected, but with the combined geniuses of Dad, Josiah and Faith, and a bit of engineering everything was finished by mid-afternoon.

There was so much new empty space on the wall where the loft was, that I was able to pull out this adorable picture that was a gift from Mr. Reiche.  It just perfectly accented our too pink walls :)

Now back to December.

~Chs

Spiced Nuts

{So I meant to post this recipe before Thanksgiving, but I had some issues with blogger, and by the time I sorted it out, well as you can see, it is past Thanksgiving.  Hopefully some of you might enjoy making these still; they are delicious!)

Every year before Thanksgiving I find myself in the kitchen making up a recipe (or two or three) of these crunchy, sweet yet spicy nuts.  I thought I would share this family favorite with you all, and who knows maybe it will become a favorite of yours too!

{1} 

Preheat the oven to 300.  

Then grease 2 large edged cookie sheets with shortening or butter (who am I kidding, use butter!!)

{2}

 In a medium bowl measure in a cup of sugar. (the swirly design is optional, but rather fun :)

{3}

Now add 4TB of Cinnamon (also know as a 1/4 cup...) and a 1/4 tsp of Nutmeg. (alright, so the recipe calls for a 1/4 tsp, but as you can see in the picture I splurged with a scant 1 tsp) Set aside.

{4}

Separate 2 eggs putting the whites into a small/medium bowl, and the yolks into a dish to save and use in some other recipe.  Lightly beat the egg whites with a fork.

{5}

 Measure 1 cup of Pecans and 1 cup of Almonds into a large bowl. (I have never tried any other nuts, but feel free to experiment if you so desire)

{6}

Now stir a few nuts into the egg whites, then using a slotted spoon lift them out and dump then into your sugar/spice mixture.  Mix around until the nuts are coated, then scoop them out and place them onto your greased pan.  Repeat until all the nuts are coated and on the pans.

{7}

Bake the spiced nuts for 20 minutes.  

(don't panic if you happen to forget about them and they stay in for..say.. 30-40 mins. while I don't recommend it, because of the low temp. they will dry out rather then burn.  And yes I am speaking from experience :)

Allow the nuts to cool and then serve in a pretty glass dish.

ENJOY!!!

~Chs

The Garden Tunnel

How would you like it if you could go out to your garden on a snowy, winter afternoon and pick some fresh lettuce for your supper?  Well, you can!  And very easily too!  No need for constructing a detailed cold frame or expensive greenhouse.  With some wire, plastic and string, you can build a simple garden tunnel to keep those cool weather loving crops thriving all winter long.  

Here is some happy little Cos lettuce in my tunnel.  This was after a few below-freezing nights, including one that got down to 15º!  I have found that the Cos (romaine), and Bib or Butter-crunch varieties are better for winter gardens.   The leaf lettuce like Black-seed Simpson, seem to get a bit frozen when the temperature dips really low.  

So here is how I built my Garden Tunnel:  

First you need to acquire some heavy duty wire.  I got a roll of "9 gauge" at the hardware store.  That is a good gauge.  You definitely don't want it any smaller, but bigger would be great too.  It has to be soft enough for you to curve it into shape, but not too soft.  Make sense? :-)

I have raised beds, about 2 1/2 feet wide, so I cut my hoops 5' long.  That makes a nice height for things like lettuce and baby beets or smaller chard.  If you were just growing lettuce and spinach, you could make your hoops shorter.  Push each end of the wire into the ground to form a hoop.   

Now take some heavy string or baling twine and tie it to the center each hoop making it taut.  This will keep the plastic from sagging in between hoops.  

The plastic I got was a 10' x 25' 3.5 mil clear painters cover in the hardware store and cut it in half legth-wise so I had enough to cover two 20' tunnels.

Cut your plastic the length and width of your tunnel with extra for the ends.  

Now at every other hoop, tie a length of twine to a garden staple (or piece of wire or old hanger bent into a "U" shape) and push it into the ground right beside the hoop.  Pull the twine across and tunnel and tying it to another garden staple push that into the ground next to the hoop on that side.  It should be just tight enough to keep the plastic taut.   (hopefully you can understand what I mean by the pictures)

Make sure the ends are tied together securely.  I use a "U" shaped wire pressed into the earth to hold it down.

Now you can slide up the plastic to give your plants some air on mild days and the strings keep it in place.

I cover my tunnel with old blankets if the temp is going to fall below freezing.  

So there you have it!  A simple, inexpensive garden season extender!  

Unless you are covering already existing plants in the garden, I would recommend starting your lettuce and other plants inside and then hardening them off in an unheated garage or enclosed porch for a few days before moving them into the tunnel.  While they do like the cooler temps to grow in, the soil might be too cold for them to actually germinate.  Same things if you want to add new plants during the winter.  Just start them in a milk carton or some such thing under lights.  They will get the best start that way.  

Faith Ann