A Summer Hodgepodge

1. Summertime is a season of reunions, weddings, and other family celebrations and gatherings...are any of the above on your calendar in the next two months?

Last summer we had two weddings to go to. This summer we have none. Well, we were invited to one, but it was in Kansas the weekend after we were there for our daughter-in-law's graduation, so we opted to not go. 

Hubby and I are joining my side of the family at my sister's beach house in North Carolina. I think almost everyone will be there (parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, great-nieces). Only my kids won't be there. (Oh well. Those girls of mine are busy with learning to be a pharmacist and a doctor.) 

2. June is National Iced Tea Month...are you an iced tea drinker? If so, how do you like yours (sweet, flavored, etc)? 

Good grief, I constantly drink Iced Tea! And not just in June... all year round.  I like black tea and no sweetener. Sometimes I like a little Earl Grey or Blackberry Sage. And decaf is better for me and my heart. When I was thinking about how much I drink Iced Tea, I decided that I am just like Uncle Si -- minus the beard and the jug of tea. I just get it from the fridge with plenty of ice, thank-you-very-much.

3. When were you last nervous?  Looking back, was the 'event' actually nerve-worthy?

I was nervous last week when an old friend came by for an hour or so. We seldom get company here, I forget how to be a hostess. (This was the first person besides the two of us and a plumber to be in this house since the day after Christmas. I cannot express how much I dislike that.) The visit turned out okay. I still feel like I am very rusty when it comes to being a hostess.

4. The bristle toothbrush was invented in China on June 26, 1498...not sure how that date was pinned down so precisely but, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being sick to your stomach and 1 being not at all, how nervous do you feel when you're headed to the dentist?  Do you see your dentist twice a year?

I'm usually not nervous when I see the dentist, so I'd say I'm at a 1. I don't have a history of a lot of dental work. Having said that, I was nervous when I had to get a crown done a couple of years ago. The plan is to see the dentist twice a year. We've kind of slacked on that here because we don't really like the guy we've gone to so we try to spread out the visits longer, if that makes any sense. 

5. What's making news in your town this week?

I have little to no idea. I don't read the local newspaper. Hubby takes it to work in the morning and tosses it there. The paper isn't very good and doesn't have a lot of local news, because in a small town there is only so much news to report. The one thing I would be interested in knowing about is when road construction on our road will be done, but if history is an indicator the paper won't be accurate about that anyway. Our road is the only road into the main part of town from this neighborhood. Our road goes between two lakes and the construction has been on a bridge over a channel between the lakes. So now to get to town we have to go into the country about 4 or 5 miles out of our way. Not a real big deal, but it will be nice when the drive to the ice cream place is only 3/4 of a mile rather than 4 1/2 miles. There are important things in life, you know. Grin.

6. Curtains, drapes, blinds...your window treatment of choice? Are there any bare windows in your house? Is that by choice or because you haven't gotten around to covering them? 

All the windows in this house have something on them except the kitchen window over the sink. I prefer that window to be bare. The rest have either matchstick blinds, wooden blinds or cordless shades. All the windows (except the kitchen) have some kind of fabric treatment. Some I bought, some I made. I really like the window treatments in this house. I am happy that NO windows have vertical blinds. I have had those in my previous two houses in the US and I am do not like them at all! (I never wanted to spend to money to replace them.)

7. Summertime is officially here (in the Northern hemisphere anyway)...what one song is a must-have on your summer playlist?

Monday night Hubby and I went out for supper together at one of the two decent restaurants in town. The playlist that night was 70s rock. We knew every single song that played the whole time we were there -- everything from Carole King to Chicago to Electric Light Orchestra to Elton John to Fleetwood Mac to Kansas. So I think a song from any of those would be great! (I know, I know -- I didn't choose just one. Sorry.)

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  

This is one of my favorite photos that Hubby took when we were on our cruise in March. This was off an island in the Bahamas. Just look at that water....

Saturday

Hubby and I went on a mini-road trip on Saturday to celebrate our engagement anniversary.

(This was a quite mini road trip compared to one we are planning for this summer.)

(That one will be about 3,000 miles.)

(This one was 200 miles.)

Anyway...back to Saturday...

Our destination was Lanesboro. A small river town that has tons of Bed & Breakfast Inns, some cute shops and a bike trail along a river. There are pretty bluffs along the river.

While we did poke around in a few shops (Hubby found me a really cure pair of earrings) and drove around the small town and had a very yummy lunch, we spent most of our time on the back roads in the area. For a measly $26 we rented a CD from one of the shops and followed its directions for a back roads tour of Amish country.

The CD directed along the roads with use of the car's odometer. We learned about the Amish people and made 9 different stops at 9 different Amish farms. These places had little shops of their own where the families sold honey, sorghum, small furniture, quilts, produce, baskets, eggs. It was so fun to look around at the goods at each place. One place had very beautiful child-size chairs and tables. The man there had also made some little barns for children to play with. The detail was so fun to look at. We wished we had some little ones to buy one of those barns for. ;) (Someday.) We did come away with a jar of honey and a jar of sorghum along with some homemade candy and a cherry turnover.

It was a pretty humid day, but being able to hop in and out of the air-conditioned car made it more bearable.
The trip was very interesting and fun to do together. I don't have any photos because we were told that the Amish find cameras offensive.

Thanks to Yelp, we had supper at a very good barbecue restaurant in Austin, MN, home of SPAM. (Seriously, Austin is where SPAM is made.) (Thankfully the restaurant was in no way associated with SPAM, although there was some on the menu.)

Whose Idea?

I mentioned a few posts ago about my dad giving us some horseradish from his garden. As I was peeling it and getting it ready for the food processor, I wondered who the first person was that though just need to figure out what to do with it at it would be a good idea to eat this ugly looking thing:

Maybe it's just me, but there are a lot of foods I have thought that of: coconuts, durian, lobster....

Dad warned me about the potency of the horseradish. Boy oh boy was he right!!!!  I had to step into the other room a couple of times as I was transfering it from the food processor to a jar.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it... 

June 21

Thirty years ago today I said DEFINITELY when the guy I was dating, the guy who was my best friend, asked me to marry him.

Best decision ever.

Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
Song of Solomon 8:7

The Old Redemption Story

Yesterday I was out and about running through a long list of errands. Lately, my drive time is increased because of road construction in town. The one road I can take into town (we live on the edge of town) is closed for a while, so I have to drive out into the country and round about to get into town. Kind of a pain, but I'm thankful it's not winter with snowy roads to deal with. And for an added bonus, there is more time to listen to music!

I don't know about others, but when I come across a song that is really speaking to me, I listen to it over and over and over and sometimes over again.

Yesterday's song was Victory in Jesus. An old hymn.

I got to thinking how I feel like an utter failure in so many areas of my life. I feel like my life is pretty fruitless right now. But there is one thing I can claim victory in. I have victory in Jesus because of His death on the cross.

O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him,
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood

Jesus sought me. He bought me through dying on the cross for me. He loved me before I even knew Him.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,"
And somehow Jesus came and brought
To me the victory.

I know when I ask Him to heal my broken spirit, He will heal me and bring me the victory.

I think my most favoritest verse is:

I heard about a mansion

He has built for me in glory.

And I heard about the streets of gold

Beyond the crystal sea;

About the angels singing,

And the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I'll sing up there

The song of victory. 


!

(This is the version I had on repeat yesterday)

A Little Weekend Recap on a Tuesday

Friday Hubby came home from work a little early to mow the yard.

Riveting news, huh?

It's been raining so much around here he has to grab the chance when he can.

After he was cleaned up we jumped in the car and headed to spend the weekend in Iowa with our parents.

Hubby's parents are starting the process of getting their house ready to sell so they can move into a senior living apartment. Hubby wanted to help his dad with some jobs around the house and yard.

On Saturday while Hubby was hard at work, I ran off to have lunch with a friend from high school days. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook I knew she lived in a nearby town, so we were able to connect after many years. I know I saw her at our 20th high school reunion, but that was 14 years ago. It was very enjoyable to sit and talk and even more encouraging to know that we are both Christians. Truth be told, I was relieved that we were able to talk for more than two hours. I was nervous that it would be awkward to talk through a lunch now that we are in our 50s not teenagers any more.

Saturday evening we headed over to my sister-in-law's house for supper. A bonus was being able to see our sweet niece! She's in between her second and third year of college and we don't see her often enough.

Sunday morning we drove to where my parents live. I made arrangements with my mom to meet then at their church and surprise my dad for Father's Day. It was a success. Dad was surprised. :) He stopped short with his mouth hanging open when he saw us. (He was a bit curious that morning when my mom cleaned up a few things around the house. He wondered what had gotten in to her. Grin.)

We enjoyed a yummy lunch of grilled steaks, potatoes, salad and chocolate covered strawberries. That afternoon my sweet, serving husband helped out my dad with a bunch of yard work. Mom and I had fun just sitting in their sun room and talking.

The simply lovely day was topped off with my dad making an ice cream run and bringing home the best chocolate/brownie ice cream I have ever had. I'm glad the leftovers stayed at their house!

It was very enjoyable to spend Father's Day weekend with our parents. A plus for us was coming home with home-grown rhubarb, asparagus and horse radish. The rhubarb is cleaned and shopped up and in the freezer, the asparagus is on the menu for tonight and I still need to figure out what to do with the horse radish. Dad told me how to peel it, and prepare it. I just need to get to it.

Oh, and I got the biggest hug ever from my dad as we were saying our good-byes. :)

The Twin Quilts

A few months ago my sister asked me if I would make a couple of quilt for her. She was wanting something bright and fun for a room her grandkids will stay in when they visit.

I went online to look for some fabric line ideas and ended up sending her probably a dozen different ideas. I think I overwhelmed her a bit (grin), but there are soooo many pretty fabrics out there! I kept looking and kept saying, "Ooo! I like this one!" then "Ooo! Maybe this one!" and "Oh! I can't leave this one out!"

Anyway... we finally decided on the fabric line and the pattern for the quilts and I got to work.

The final results:::

 I used different fabrics for the borders and the backs. I also decided the bindings needed to be a scrappy look with many of the fabrics that are in the quilts.

I like how they turned out and I hope my sister does too when she sees them!