Autumn Sunshine

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air."- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Feast Of Tabernacles/Sukkot

This is the temporary dwelling (sukkah)spoken of in Levitcus 23, we built Wednesday afternoon. It looks much better in real life Really it does.............

My, My this has been a wonderful, busy few days. You see, it is the Feast of Tabernacles spoken of in Leviticus 23. I believe in Jesus for my salvation and I try to follow all the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelations. This includes keeping God's Feast Days such as Passover as well as not eating things the Scriptures say not to eat. I keep the Sabbath on the seventh day (Saturday.) I believe very much in grace and I try hard to be kind and to love my neighbor as myself. I live this way because it is the way that I believe God said to live. After all, this is the way Jesus lived when He walked this earth. I am ashamed to say that I fail God in some way every day. This is usually something to do with my mouth. I am thankful for Grace and Mercy and for a God that is patient as He teaches me.

This week end we were able to rejoin our former Congregation. It has been 3 long years and we are grateful to God. You see, this is the season of our joy. This is the season that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We do lots of Davidic Praise and worship dancing during this time. The word Feast, when used in leviticus 23 means, in part, dancing in a circle. I love to dance before the Lord. This is my passion. Except for a brief couple of months when I was teaching a dance class to a few people and we were meeting with them for Bible Study , praise and worship, I have done very little dancing over the past 3 years. This has been due to the lack of a congregation as well as injuries. I spent Friday afternoon trying to restore my confidence that I was still able to dance. I danced for hours then went to dance practice and danced some more. We danced during praise and worship time, had Bible Study then we danced a couple of more hours after the service. The next day we all met at the park for fellowship, Bible study, more dancing and mikveh(Baptism for some in the river). That night, I went back to dance practice then danced during praise and worship. I cannot tell you how happy I am. This is truly the season of our joy.

The picture above is a sukkah or (temporary dwelling). My sister and I built it in the backyard. It is very temporary but it serves the purpose and we enjoyed many happy hours in it since Wednesday night. Today it rained and it appears that we will rebuild it soon.

We believe in the whole Bible. We believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, walked this earth performing miracles and teaching us how to live, died on the cross, rose on the third day and now sits at the right hand of the Father. We just carry out our worship and obedience a little differently than others. We are not judgemental of how others choose to worship or carry out their own obedience. All believers are brothers and sisters and we love all of them as such. I believe in and lay claim to a very personal , close relationship with God. I give all the honor and praise and glory to God for that. I am grateful that He allows such sweet fellowship with Him.

I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to be part of a godly, likeminded congregation once again. I am grateful and humbled at my Fathers blessing and favor on me.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Meat Pies

This is a recipe I made up er developed..... many years ago. I have changed it over the years to be more healthy and it tends to be a little different every time I make it depending on what I have on hand. I do know how to write a recipe in a more accepted format. However, I just wrote this one in plain language. Instructions for my gluten free version and vegetarian version are at the bottom.

I hope you enjoy and God bless you all.

Meat Pies

For two pies!
brown 1 1/2 lbs hamburger meat after seasoning with salt,pepper, soul seasoning and sage.

make crust

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 Tablespoons baking powder
1 tsp salt
buttermilk to mix it thin

Begin by placing a layer of the crust mixture in the bottom of 9 inch casserole or glass pie dish,saving half for the top. (tonight instead of making two pies I made one large one in a large square glass dish.)
Place meat mixture in a large bowl, add green beans, corn,carrots, sweet peas(about 2 1/2 cups each either fresh cooked, canned or frozen.(thaw first if frozen) drain if canned. Add more salt,pepper, soul seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and a couple tablespoons minced dried onion.(or one fresh sauteed onion) Add 1 cup of milk and about 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. Mix well.
Pour the meat and veggie mixture over the bottom crust. Add a layer of leftover mashed potatos. (if you have them)Pour other half of crust mix on top. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let sit for 5 minutes. Then serve with brown rice and garlic toast.


Tonight I made this gluten free by substituting almond meal and adding an extra tablespoon of baking powder.. If you use almond meal cut the milk down to 1/2 cup in the vegetable mixture.


I also made a vegetarian version of this for my daughter. I put a layer of lentils on the bottom, then prepared it using the gluten free adaptations. Before adding the top crust I added another layer of lentils.

My Sweet Spot

The lizard featured in the above photo is not the one that crawled on me. I don't think I could have abided that. The other was a different kind and size and it was still difficult to sit there while he traveled on my arm and leg. :) If you would like to see the picture in greater detail, click on it and it will enlarge to full size.

This morning as is my custom, I went out to my prayer spot. My herb garden is there. I have grown increasingly fond of this special place in my back yard. It is the place I spend time with my Father. It is "our place". My husband joins me there when he can and that is special too.

I have other friends visit from time to time. There are the hummingbirds, cardinals, bluebirds, lizards, rabbits and squirrels. Occasionally we see a fox, deer or turkey. This morning a squirrel drank from my little homemade frog pond not six feet from me and a little newborn uh newly hatched lizard crawled all over me. I watched his tiny sides contract and expand as he breathed. He changed colors as he reached my leg. His little head was smaller than my pinky nail....much smaller as his little body was about an inch long. Neither the squirrel nor the lizard were afraid. I assume it is because I am there for hours every morning and everything is so peaceful. This is a sweet spot in my life. It is a place to relax, get centered and focus not only on speaking to God, but listening to Him. I chase the shade around on Saturdays because I get to be out there all day. I love the sun but do limit myself somewhat!

I encourage you to create a special place to be with God in the beauty of His creation. It does not have to be fancy. Just a chair as close to the woods as possible will do nicely. It would be good to plant some fragrant, beautiful flowers or herbs nearby and step by step ,work towards creating your sweet spot.

May the Lord draw you to spend alone time with Him. Tis so sweet!

HomeMade Laundry Powder

I made liquid laundry soap for about a year. One day I was very busy and ran out. I decided to modify my recipe and see what happened. I have been using it this way for quite some time now and I am very pleased. I have two variations. Both of these work. Sometimes I may not have a specific ingredient on hand, that is why I have two variations.


1 bar fels naptha soap grated
2 cups washing soda
2 cups baking soda
4 cups borax.

Put in a large plastic container and shake. I use a plastic gallon jug that I recycled after using all the mayonaise. Use two tablespoons per load

Here is the second recipe

1 bar ivory soap grated
2 cups baking soda
2 cups borax

Mix together and use 2 tablespoons per load

Sometimes I add a few drops of essential oil like lavendar.



Making my own laundry detergent has not only saved me plenty of money, it has also given me the satisfaction of doing it myself. I feel great that my family and my septic tank are not being filled with harmful chemicals.

Be blessed and thankful today!

Garden Surprise!

Today I walked out to my Victory Garden to see how much work would be involved in cleaning it up for the winter. I usually pull all the plants , remove tomato cages etc. I want to get a load of manure on it and put a heavy layer of wheat straw on it. That would get it ready for Spring planting. I thought everything was finished making.

Well..... I was able to harvest several armenian cucumbers with more little ones to be ready soon. They also have blooms.
And.....I harvested okra! The plants just sat there all this time and now.....they started producing.....for the first time this year. I was really disappointed in my garden this year. I am not sure why it suddenly began to produce but PRAISE THE LORD!!!

I even got a few cherry tomatos.

God is so good!

I am Back

This afternoon, I laid down on the grass and took this picture. I can't believe I actually have time to do this. WHOOHOO!

Good afternoon,

It has certainly been a while since I blogged here. I have done my best to keep up with all of your blogs. It is such a treat for me. We finally got my daughter and her husband moved in at the farm. While I still expect my life to be busy, as we ready ourselves for the new baby and I still keep up with babysitting my neice along with all my other responsibilities, I feel that a great deal of the pressure is off for the moment.

I wish I could recount for you all the ways our mighty God has moved on our behalf over the past few months. He cares for even the smallest detail of my life. I can't understand why, for I am so unworthy and so undeserving of His Love and attention, yes even favor.

I pray that He will continue to draw me closer to Him and that He will use this blog for His honor and glory. AMEN

Give Away and Mama Hen's Blog

http://mrsmamahen.blogspot.com/2010/09/because-we-are-in-alaska.html

This is the link to Mama Hen. She is having a marvelous giveaway. Click on over and check her out!