I painted this for my mom today for her birthday coming up soon.
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As I was painting the yellow lines under the clouds reflecting the light from the sun, I started to cry. I felt God telling me He would always bring light into the dark places. When I finished the painting, I went to Biblegateway and looked for verses on light and one of my favorite caught my eye:Isaiah 42:16-
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
Amen!
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Here it is again with the Softglow effect from GIMP.
Christmas seemed to go by so fast this year.
Here is a look at my Christmas cook book collection for those of us who would like it to be Christmas all year. Or Valentine’s Day. I could live in a heart shaped world.
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Recipe from the Christmas Foods book to the bottom right of the group photo.
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Let’s take a closer look at this one.
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This is not only a cook book, but a craft book as well. You could go, buy this, decorate your house with the suggested items which all have patterns and supply lists, then cook fab foods for your family, friends and guests. Remember ribbon crafts? How cute are these little houses?
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When my book sells and is then turned into a movie (complete with my walk on scene) I’ll stay home all day making ribbon house villages and baking. yeah, right.
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I’m thinking about trying these today. They are cheese tarts filled with marmalade. I think though, they may taste better with some sort of apple chutney instead of marmalade but since marmalade is all I have on hand, we’ll go with it for now.
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Pictures and recipes taken from: The book of Christmas Food, and The Spirit of Christmas from Leisure Arts.
God was so showing off every morning on our honeymoon. Every sunrise took my breath away.
I thought I’d share this with you while I go take more cook book photos to post. I woke up this morning, dreaming about Cabo and baby sea turtles.
So, after many weeks of being unable to come to home group, our friends made it tonight. Woohoo! I kind of feel sorry for Mr. Music, the husband of my friend, The intercessor, because he is the only extrovert in the room. The three of us are happy to sit there and listen to him which is good for him. He’s one of the few men I know who actually has 20,000 words to use everyday. Really, I’m not kidding. He’s not as bad as the visitor we had in November who, I-kid-you-not, talked for oh between 12-16 hours straight one day. I finally just got up and went to bed and left my husband to deal with him. I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to jam knitting needles into my ears.
I won’t lie to you. It has been extremely difficult for me to open up my house to others but, it has also been rewarding. Today was the easiest home group day I’ve had since Tech Hubby and I began last year in September. Yes, it’s taken that long for me to relax and we, so far, are only hosting one other couple besides us, and they are our friends. We love them dearly and I’m thankful God has given us just them for now so I can acclimate.
The only down side to the night was how gassy I got after dinner. You know how on t.v. when an actress gets pregnant but they’ll hide her tummy with a pillow if they don’t write the pregnancy in to the story? Well, the pillow-in-front-of-the-tummy trick works well for hiding the fact that while you’re sitting on the sofa reading the bible and talking with your friends about God, your pants are undone so that the incredibly painful bloating won’t press against your jeans and cut you in half.
Tomorrow, I continue cook book week.
There might be a give away on Friday if you leave a comment on any post -for this week only.
Mmm, chocolate. I love chocolate more than any other person in my family except perhaps for my dad. See previous post on his Candy Drawer. I even have chocolate tea with rose buds mixed in, from Harney and Sons. It tastes so good.
Here is my small, but loved, collection of chocolate cook books.
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This one is my favorite.
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It taught me that chocolate didn’t have to be constrained to just being a dessert. It could be a meal, all on its own. Now, I have chocolate sandwiches too!
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Went over to sister’s house yesterday to vent and lament. She was waiting in her vehicle in her driveway for me. We had to go pick up ‘The Boy’ from school and time was waning. I get out of my car and get into hers and we’re off.
When we returned, these were behind the fence of her back yard.
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Living in Colorado, I’m used to seeing wild things, just not so many all in one place. The mountain lion that lives in her area must be somewhere else right now. Maybe. Usually, we don’t see this many deer if a predator is around. I tried to get the wee beasty (Rocket-see previous posts) to notice them. All she noticed was a bunny in the yard which she chased back under the shed.
Ah, my small, but dearly loved collection of tea cook books. These aren’t merely a cook book with a chapter on tea as the Bead and Breakfast Cook Book or the William Sonoma cook book. These are fully devoted to tea, and the yummy food that goes with it.
I tried to like coffee, I really did. It smells good freshly ground. It smells good freshly brewed, however, unlike tea, which not only smells good but tastes good, coffee doesn’t taste all that grate which maybe why all those extra calories need to be added in the form of caramel, whipped cream and chocolate in order to make it palatable. Also, coffee has a nasty effect on me. Right after I drink it, I am over come by severe stomach cramps and diarrhea. So, yeah, why would I drink it? Now yes, some folks do look trendy holding their paper travel cups, but why be a copy cat? If your in a restaurant be the one with the mini teapot on the table filled with steeping tea. Granted, most restaurants in America don’t know how to serve tea and they seem a tad afraid to give boiling hot water to their patrons for fear of lawsuit, but come on people, does that mean we must give up such a wonderful beverage while in public or only enjoy it at a tea room? In order to get the supply, you must make the demand.
Coffe, coffee is for rushing around. You get it ‘to go’. ‘May I have that ‘to go’, please? Sure, you can put tea in a travel mug and go, or a thermos and go on a picnic, maybe take the camera and get something good for the blog, but typically, tea is a sit down and relax, indulge a bit, sort of thing. Tea is a moment to yourself or a visit with friends. Even the brewing of it involves a bit of ceremony. So, sit down, put your feet up, grab a cuppa and lets look at tea cook books.
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What makes a good cook book? For me, it’s not only great recipes…
From the Afternoon Tea cook book.
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But also artistic photography, or illustrations.
Illustration by Sandy Lynam Clough from the book; ‘If Teacups Could Talk’, by Emilie Barnes. This tea book/cook book taught me how to make scones and Mock Devonshire cream and was a big inspiration to me on getting going with being a hostess in my home.
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Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some tea and cook books waiting for me to enjoy.
Happy sipping!
My sister asks me this and it’s usually followed by a comment on how I must have too much free time on my hands. Well, it’s not as if I am desperately bored or something (ok, once and a while sure). There’s a difference, though, between having a list of things to do; laundry, clean the kitchen, watch the paint peel, and having a creative outlet. I went to college to be a photo journalist. That dream quickly died when I learn the inside workings of the media machine and decided I wanted to die with a clear conscience. Case in point; our local news station was covering a liquor store robbery where an elderly man had shot and killed the robber. The report, and I kid you not, went something like this: ‘the local police have declined to release the name of the store owner for his personal safety, but I have it here.’ Then he proceeded to read it, on the news, so the robbers little thug friends could go after the man. Well, the reporter didn’t read his name with that goal in mind, but, like, HELLO?! A blind man could see where that might lead. Get a clue.
So in my pursuit of a creative outlet, I blog. I invite ladies over for tea. I write (with the goal of being publish). I have time to enjoy life. Yes, it is a solitary existence. Yes, there are times when there is not much to do but watch the paint dry. I am also the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life. I have low stress and I’m not exposed to cooties in the workplace. I think that’s a fair trade off, personally.
La Tea Dah over at Gracious Hospitality has been featuring some of her cook books lately. I love cook books. This has actually surprised my family because when I was single, I didn’t cook beyond opening a can of something and heating it up in the microwave. I also lived on Totino’s Pizza (nasty) and rotisserie chicken.
When I married Tech Hubby three years ago, I was given some cook books as gifts. The classic and always popular, Betty Crocker cook book, among others, but my favorite was a gift from my cousin Julie. It is The Bed and Breakfast Cook Book, by Martha W. Murphy (C) 1991, and I love it! It not only features recipes, but also interesting stories about the B&Bs and lovely photographs. (btw, my mom’s Betty Crocker CB advertised, “New with Colored Photographs” as a marketing ploy back in the day.
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Here are my cook books on the shelf in my dining room. I have several in the themes of Christmas, Tea and Chocolate. You can see where I pointed them out.
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Here’s the cover. The book has recipes from, beverages, to grits and sausage casserole. La Tea Dah is so good having vegan and gluten free cook books, while mine all center around butter, sugar and flour, mostly, with of course some tea thrown into wash it all down.
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Having ladies over and need something quick and tasty? Try a tea bread recipe.
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Need to plan an Afternoon Tea? It’s in here. Several pages of tasty sandwiches and quick breads.
Tomorrow, for Tea Tuesday, I’ll take you browsing through one of my tea books. Wednesday, will be chocolate cook book day. yes, entire cook books dedicated to the most perfect food in the world!
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It’s Sunday. Time to go to church. I don’t particularly enjoy going to church. There, I said it. I’m a bit agoraphobic. Going out in public is difficult for me, hence the discomfort of going to church. I’ve never, ever, sprung out of bed feeling elated about going anywhere unless it’s on vacation.
When I get to church, there, waiting for me, is what I not so affectionately call, ‘The Gauntlet’ which is the door greeters waiting to shake your hand or hug you. Ack! I don’t know where that hand has been! Did you cough into it? Pick your nose? And now, you want to touch me with it? Oh yeah, germaphobe too. So, of course, people think I’m stand offish. Gee, why would THAT happen? THEN as if the gauntlet wasn’t enough torture, in the middle of worship, we have to turn around and greet each other. Maybe, instead of my little purse sized hand sanitizer, I should carry the big refill bottle I have in my linen closet. I’ll just cradle it in my arms as I walk in dispensing it like holy water. Bless you my child, take a squirt and rub it into your hands. Amen.
Mercy me, but I do. Instead of salt shakers, here are some salt wells. Little tiny silver sponos were used to scoop out the salt and sprinkle it onto your food.
My car got a hold of some bad gas. No, not the kind from eating my garlic chicken soup thank you very much. I went to the same place I always go but for some reason, after I fueled up, my car started ‘lagging’ as my dad calls it. I call it a major freak out on my part. If my car fails, how will I ever get to the library? It is, after all, my second home. How will I get tot he thrift store or the antique mall? I think I need bunny therapy. Bunny what? You might ask. Bunny therapy. It seems to work for Rocket.
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Mmm, bunny, bunny, bunny. So good to nibble.
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My mom and dad are very diligent about getting physicals every year. Part of those physicals includes having their blood work done to test for high cholesterol and triglycerides, etc. Things I never do because I just don’t care. Mom’s numbers were way high last time. Dad’s were very low. They were better than good, they were fantastic. Mom, eats very little red meat and eats mainly veggies, fish and chicken. She was especially upset that she eats so well and her numbers were high and dad, well this is dad’s candy drawer. Yes, he has an entire drawer just for candy AND when they buy groceries, he has his flavor of ice cream and mom has hers.
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So, being the good daughter that I am, I helped myself to some of his candy stash so that he wouldn’t have to eat it all by himself. I’m such a good daughter.
Sorry for being gone the last few days. The company that used to house our server flaked out and we didn’t have a server provider for almost four days. I have nick named them,’ The Pot Smoking Monkeys’. I don’t know if they actually smoke pot but they certainly run their business as if they do. We have changed co-los and now I’m back up.
It snowed all day yesterday. I felt like I was living inside a snow globe. We ended up with a light, fluffy snow like the kind you can buy in bags at the hobby stores to use for decoration. I’m heading over to my sister’s house to belly dance. I’ll take more pictures while I’m gone.
By the way. Nephew loved cotillion (I knew he would) he’ll probably deny it when I ask him how it went (I knew that too). Most of his football team was there, and a little girl from his class he’s been in love with since the first time they laid eyes on each other in pre-K (she loves him too).
If kids can have snow days, why can’t I?
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So this, a dried cherry almond scone (home made) and some old movies are what I’m going to do on my snow day.
p.s. The Nephew starts coltillion tonight. ah,ha,ha, ha!
View from inside the house looking up and out the kitchen skylight.
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Snowy bench in neighbor’s back yard.
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Little birds looking for food. I had to take down the suet feeder because the woodpeckers were hogging it and trying to eat our house too.
I’m so over the snow and it’s only January. God help me.
Remember that song? “I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes?” Three of the blogs I visit have recently had posts about love so I thought I’d share a bit too, especially since one in particular is dealing with age issues and there is 10 years between me and Tech Hubby.
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Tech Hubby and I started dating in July of 2003. In November of that same year, I was downsized from my job. One thing I discovered is that life can go on without working for a large corporation and it even gets better when you’re not stressed out all the time working for evil people, but that is another story for later.
Christmas was coming and I had been to the mall looking for presents for my family and for Tech Boyfriend. I passed by the candle shop and saw this nativity in the window. I stopped, and stared. It’s a Blue Sky Nativity. It was out of the price range my family and I had set for presents and I didn’t even dare to hint to Tech Boyfriend that I loved and had to have it since we had just started dating, it seemed too extravagant a gift for a new relationship and I knew if I said anything, he would have bought it for me. I told no one of my desire for this thing, except, God. He new I loved it, but again, NO ONE else knew, not even my family.
Christmas comes along and Tech Boyfriend and I meet at his house the exchange presents. We sit next to his fiber optic Christmas tree and open our presents. I open his present to me, and yes, IT is in there. The Nativity. I stare at it. Tears roll down my face. I knew there was only one way he could have known. I look at him. “How did you know?” He looks at me, “What do you mean?”
“How did you now I wanted this?”
“I didn’t. I was walking through the mall and I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to show me what you might want for Christmas and He showed me this and I knew it was for you.”
Not only was I crying about the gift, but also, more so, about the message behind it. Through out our dating experience, I kept getting little messages and hints from Above, that this was The One. He was mine. My gift. My match made in Heaven. It freaked me out!
The day he proposed to me, my birthday, (almost a year to the day from when we had met and at the same restaurant as our first date). I knew he was going to propose but I kept telling myself he wasn’t. I was 36 years old (going on 37), had I really, finally found love? It seemed too good to be true. I didn’t want to believe it, in case someone jumped out saying, ‘April Fool’s’ and I had to pretend all along that of course I had known it was make believe. It wasn’t make believe. I was really proposed to and I was going to get married! The night before my wedding, I kept wondering how far I could get on a tank of gas. What? You ask. Well, yes, I had never been married before, what was I getting myself into? My mom was desperately ill. The hotel where we got married was to have supplied people to help us decorate, no one showed up to help. My ushers kept seating people while we were having our pictures taken (before hand so my make up didn’t run from crying with joy which was prudent). The photographers were taking their own sweet time with everything (we had to be done with the gazebo at a certain time) and they hadn’t brought extra lighting, it gets dark fast in the winter here, extra lighting would have been good.
So, I walked down the isle at last in a pair of white socks with pink bows on the ankles I had borrowed from my mom (I had broken my toe on the vacuum just days before and nothing cute would go over my foot). Even though we had just taken our pictures together, when I saw my soon-to-be-husband standing there, it all sank in and suddenly, it felt right. There really was no one else in the world for me. He was The One. My One. I burst into tears of joy. I couldn’t stop crying. I was so happy and incredulous. I was getting married. Me. To a wonderful man who loved me and who was also crying. Good thing we took those pictures early. By the time the minister said, “you may now kiss your bride,” we were a mess!
Later, up in the honeymoon suite, Tech Boyfriend, now Tech Hubby had a surprise for me, chocolate covered strawberries. No one had them this time of year, so he bought the strawberries from the grocery store (but told me he had had them shipped in special, lol and I beleived him!) and took them to The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and had them dipped. Well, he sent his daughter so he could go and pick up his tux, but still, I had chocolate covered strawberries on my wedding night, at Christmas time in Colorado.
So, I’m married, going on my fourth year, to a man 10 years older than me who rides a motorcycle and flies a PPG.
Last night, it was cold. It’s been cold here for days now.
Me to Tech Hubby- don’t you want to go to bed now so it’s nice and warm for me when I get in?
T.H. Don’t you wish!
Me-sighing and rounding up the LED candles we use as night lights (Tech Hubby!) I go into the bathroom to fill up the humidifier and I hear him getting into bed. I come out of the bathroom, and there he is, on my side, warming it up.
Me-Squeal! (of delight)
T.H. Big smile on his face. I squeeze into the space between him and the edge of the bed, cradling myself into the crook of his arm . Ahhh, he is SO warm. I lay there, my head on his chest, my arm across him, and I cry. Quiet tears of joy. All those years of warming up my bed by myself. All those years of no one to snuggle. I know he must be burning up by now. The man is a human furnace. He doesn’t complain. He lets me absorb all the heat I want. This must be how cats feel when they sleep in a sun beam. I’m warm, I’m happy, I’m married. Purrrrrrrr.
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Let’s get out of here! 12/04/2004
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It’s cold here. Very cold. I’ve been staying indoors quite a bit lately to stay warm. Feeling sorry for the little birds who, for some odd reason, have not migrated to warmer climates, I put up a suet bird feeder which I had to take down today after it had only been up for a week. The big woodpeckers have been hogging it and pecking our house. I think they think our house would make a good home for them since it is so close to s food source. Well, let’s hope that removing the food source will make them go away.
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I will make a doily, for my daughter’s hope chest.
No scraps or second hand items, for her it’s always my best.
My love will fix the door knobs,
while Jr. practices his flash cards.
We’re snug here together, in all kinds of weather,
I love how we’ve feathered our nest.
Okay here we go. My first photo naming contest.
This is a photo of Girl Rocket. Yeah, but I’m not the one who named her. My nephew did, she’s his dog. When Rocket was a wobbly puppy falling down every 3rd step, C.A.N. saw her potential and new some day she would run fast, hence, the name Rocket but then realizing she is a girl and Rocket was a bit manly sounding, he added Girl to it and now she is Girl Rocket at the vet, and Brat Face to us. Really. I’ve never met a more bossy dog. Rocket, loves her squeaky toy. She will go insane trying to get it back if you take it, and, as you can see in this picture, she loves to make it squeak, inside her mouth (it amplifies the sound-trust me). Squea-SQUEA-squea-squeak.
So, give this photo a name and win the prize. An Aurora personal size teapot with filter and a baggie of chai tea. Yes, a baggie. I have a huge container of chai tea which will be the source of your baggie of tea.
One entry per person and please, titles only, not long captions. Thanks!
CONTEST ENDS TONIGHT AT 9:00 PM MOUNTAIN TIME
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“Your artistic expression tends to show up in flamboyant bursts. When you are feeling creative, it consumes your every thought and action. But just as quickly as the muse shows up, it leaves you and you are back to your relatively normal self.”
See the candelabras on either side of the stone fountain? This photograph was taken three years ago when the restaurant first opened.
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Same candelabras 3 years later wearing skirts made from melted wax. I hardly recognized them at first. I thought the candles were resting on stone pillars.
I always thought I’d marry a man with black hair and green eyes. So how did I end up with Mr. Brown Eyes? What do his brown eyes remind me of do you think?
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A little closer.
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Puppy eyes. He has puppy eyes, and they get him whatever he wants including a ’skillet’ breakfast of hash browns, eggs, bacon and leeks with cheese when I’d rather be blogging. Yeah, I’m a sucker for those eyes and these…
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“My, what strong powerful forearms you have,” she said.
“All the better to hold you close with my dear,” he replied reaching for her.
Has your table sat empty for a while?
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Has it been a while since the last time some one has sat down with you, in your home, at your table, for a bit to eat and some good conversation?
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Or poured their heart out to you over a nice cup of tea?
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You could build a fire in your fireplace and use bundles of dried flowers as kindling.
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You could dress up in hats and costumes and take pictures of each other for a memento of the occasion and either place the single photo in a frame for a favor for your guests to take home, or make several copies of each photo and create a collage for each person.
It’s winter. Why not while away the day in the company of your friends? Find a day, make some time, not excuses. Use the good china, the good linens and make it special.
Can you see it? Just there in her hand in the lower left corner. The daisy. The fortuneteller of love. He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me! Perhaps her name is Eva?
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I finished writing my book. working on it is not done. I’m carefully reading it, looking for things spell check doesn’t find and correct and rewording parts that need more work and making sure it all came out the way it was supposed to. When all that is done and the pages are labeled properly and the query letter has been sent, the waiting begins and hopefully, God willing, a new chapter in my life will begin as a published author!
Ok so GIMP is getting less scary and less annoying. I no longer invent my own swear language when working with it so I decided to play more and show you the out come. Let me know what you think. Really. Less lurking, more commenting. Thanks!
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A. Photograph is of two vintage champagne glasses and wine bottle sitting on mirrored tray. Lighting turned out great. I had no control over that though I wish I could take the credit. I have tweaked the brightness and contrast and sharpened it up which, thankfully, it didn’t need too much of that done.
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B. The effect is called Softglow and it is my new favorite. To achieve this effect, Glow Radius, Brightness and Sharpness are all adjusted to the desired levels.
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Here is an ocean view that has been treated with the Softglow effect.
YEOWZA!
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C. Here again are the champagne glasses with the Softglow and Old Photo effects.
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D. All that plus in lavender. Very girly.
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E. And this, my friends, is how a Predator ™, as in Alien Vs. Predator ™, would see the whole thing. That’s just a little something extra for you no charge.
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Valentin’s Day comes early to the blogosphere as the matchmaking adventure continues at Tongue in Cheek. Birds do it, bees do it, let’s fall in love!
Does this bring back memories of when you and your loved one met and fell in love? Was it love at first sight, or a slow burn that left you limp and giddy once you realized why it was that you seemed to never get enough of him? Were your friends patient listening to endless tales of your adventures. ‘He’s all she talks about!’ ‘We never see you anymore!’
Deeply submerged like a marshmallow in hot chocolate and there you remained for months, perhaps years, perhaps still!
When my husband and I wed, I felt a peace come over me while we said our vows. A sense of security and safety. I knew I would always be protected and loved by him. The bible calls it a covering. I am under the covering of my husband and it’s where I always want to be.
Corey Amaro over at Tongue in Cheek, is playing match maker. Why not go over and take a peek at how things are progressing? It’s very French, very romantic.
Look into my eyes you silly human and bring me tea and toast and be snappy about it!
My sister’s papillion.
I was going to go to Patsy’s yesterday, purchase some goodies, bring them home and photograph them for you and place them on my blog for you to enjoy. Funny how sometimes things just don’t workout the way we plan. Through a series of ridiculous events, I got stuck on the side of an icy, snow packed steep hill for an hour! Tech Hubby (my hero!) had to come and dig me out then push me up the hill in his 4×4 Jeep. So the confection photos will have to wait but I leave you with images of a common sight in our city; deeroids as Tech Hubby calls them.
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Do you see what I see? Yeah! Let’s get closer. Okay!
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Wow! It really IS greener!
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The time, the temperature, and a faux fire. What more do you need on a cold winter’s day? Oh, a cup of tea.
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On Jan. 4th I had posted a picture of a box to see if you could guess what was inside.
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Today the answer is revealed
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NAPKINS! How cute are they?
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Some folks have photoshop, I have GIMP. It’s a Linux thing. I know so much about Linux that my husband had to correct me on the spelling,’It’s not spelled Lennox, it’s spelled Linux.’ The reason why I was misspelling it, as some of you may know, is because Lennox makes fine china to drool for and is the only exposure to the spelling or pronunciation of the word Lennox/Linux I had had until I met Tech Hubby.
So, before I can even upload a photo onto my blog, I have to ’squish’ it down a bit so that it doesn’t take a year and a half for my page to come up when you visit. First, I click on the scale image option and reduce it to 640×480 pixels down from, 2048×1536. Then I hit shift + to make it big enough to see what I’m going to do to it next.
The original photo was taken in a building with bad lighting. Honestly I’ve see better lighting in barns on cloudy days. I then brighten it a bit by cranking the Brightness and Contrast to 20 each. If, at that time, the picture looks a bit fuzzy and I don’t want it to look fuzzy, I increase the Sharpness to 50 or so depending on the look I’m trying to achieve.
Finally, I add my copyright and save the photo but then, as I’m saving it, I reduce the quality from 95% to 70% again, the goal is to decrease the time it takes for the pictures to load so that my readers don’t get distracted and lose interest before the page has loaded.
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Voila! Final product.
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Is she standing on a wind swept cliff awaiting the return of her captain, gazing longingly out to sea?
Or perhaps she’s looking for her servant who is late in bringing the tea tray. Really, how long must one wait for tea time around here? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a picture of how my backyard looked yesterday.
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This is what the wind blew in last night while we were sleeping.
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29th February 2008 24 hour Tea or Coffee break 2008
A pack of 80 tea bags costs £1.79, yet an Indian tea farmer earns only 15p . The 24 Hour Tea and Coffee Break is held during Fair Trade Fortnight and highlights the plight of poor farmers throughout the world.
You can also ask your server at your restaurant or your grocery store for ETP teas or fair trade teas and coffees. These come from tea and coffee estates that are monitored for the care of the workers and good prices for the farmers.
This picture taken from All Things Bright and Beautiful per this statement of permission. This is the color of pink from my dream
Please feel free to use any material from my posts. If you would kindly mention the original source where appropriate and link back to “All Things Bright and Beautiful” , I would really appreciate it.
Thank you!
I had a dream last night that I was touring a house that was for sale at the end of our street. Everything about it was what I would have wanted;bright and airy, built in hutches, wall length/height windows with filmy sheer curtain, and antiques and elegant furniture galore. There was one problem though. Everything was either solid pink or accented in pink. I love the color pink, but this was a garish pink. The walls were pink with white trim, the hutch was pink with white trim, the tables were white inlaid with pink scroll work. The best thing that was pink? The dinning room table was set in pink jasper ware. I wanted to scoop it all up and run out the door.
In the end, our friends in the dream who were showing us the house ended up buying it.
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Blue jasper ware. Two glasses and a vase way in back, or maybe it’s the vessel for whatever is to be poured into the glasses.
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If you see anything you’d like me to obtain for you in these pictures from the Antique Mall, please let me know and we will work something out.
In some places along the foothills, the wind was measured at 120 miles an hour which is a force 2 hurricane. Make sure your small animals and children are inside.
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Usually a fan speaks for the lady who holds it in her hands. Subtle signals tell a gentleman all sorts of things; ‘kiss me!’, ‘go away’, ‘we are being watched’, this fan can do that but it also tells another story. Can you use your imagination and fill in the dialogs?
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What are they saying? What are they watching? Is he about to be skewered?
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Whom is she with? Is that her husband? Her lover? With whom is this man fencing?
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Ah, of course.
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Carol, from Paris Breakfasts, has been a very bad influence on me. Completely addicted to her blog and loving her daring tales of taking photographs of things she really isn’t supposed to, “Don’t worry so much about supposed to.” Judy Denche’s character from Chocolat. I decided to take some daring photos myself. One tends to become brave when they are desperate for content for their blog.
My target? The Antique Mall just down the road from my house. I love this place. I’ve purchased a silver teapot from them-
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and antique greeting cards with poems about whiskers.
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Yesterday though, I found many goodies at the A.M. I wish I could buy them all. There was one thing in particular I might go back and get, but they are so cute, I don’t know if I could ever use them. Can you guess what’s inside the box?
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Bitsy Doodle is 14. She has cataracts.
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She held 7 puppies in her tummy 12 years ago. She’s had 8 mastectomies.
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She doesn’t like to hold still for photos when you’re supposed to be giving her attention. Can you see that tiny white spot on the tip of her nose? She wore off the coloring on the tip of her nose from, ‘grubbing’. She loves to root around my mom’s yard, I’m sorry to say, digging up and eating worms. Ew. Bitsy is a piece of business, as my mom would say. When you’re done sleeping, according to Bitsy’s clock, she will happily provide a wake up service and bark at you mercilessly until you get out of bed. Feeling stressed? In need of animal therapy? Bitsy will bark at you until you get the hint that you should touch her, then scoot just out of reach at the last minute. Isn’t this fun? When she was little, she, then her puppies when they came along, loved to play tug-o-war with my hair.
Ah, to have puppies hanging off my hair again, sigh, the good ol’ days.
Glass swan, hand blown.
Some times, we feel we need to be this; the finished product before we may come to the Lord for salvation. We see those around us who seem to have it together and we think, ‘I’m not like that so I’ll wait until I am before I accept the Lord or go to church.’ My friends, that’s like saying you’ll wait until you’re healed before you’ll go to see the doctor. That’s backwards. Besides, those swan looking people really don’t have as together as you might think, they just look good gliding around on the surface of the water, but underneath it all, they are paddling like mad trying to keep afloat.
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This man has collected ‘empties’ beer, wine and hard liquor bottles from restaurants and from the beaches of Cabo San Lucas, MX. He is breaking them down into smaller pieces. He is shattering them.
This is how we are, and this is how we can/should come to the Lord; broken, full or icky sticky stuff we never think could come off of us.
We ask ourselves, ‘but how can the Lord get ride of all that stuff? How can He make me clean again?
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Once the glass has been broken, it is placed in the super heated furnace wher eit melts and the paper labels burn off. Now that it is melted, it is ready to be used by the Master craftsman.
Into the furnace we go where all our labels are melted off;adulterer, murderer, thief, harlot, liar, glutton. It all burns away and we melt under His love. We no longer even look as we did before. We are not the same, but we are not yet done. What will we become and how will we get there?
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Like the glass, we are stretched and pulled out side of where we were, into a new shape that will not hold what was inside of us before. We are a new creation. When the Master Craftsman is done with us, we will not recognize ourselves.
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So, are you ready? Ready to go into the furnace? Ready to become a new creation in Christ?
If so, pray this prayer:
- “Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
