autumn door basket

it's time for an autumnal look on the front door...

one basket from a yard sale that was intended for another use but never got there.

several clumps of greenery's from GW.

some burlap, a few small bed springs,

jute string that was tied around some mags from a yard sale tied into a simple bow -

hung up with burlap tied with a simple knot...

and hung on the door.

oooh-la!

funny thing about this door stuff...

i was never keen on this except for christmas,

until i entered the blog world -

now i'm kinda hooked!

but i like 'em simple and without a lot of fanfare...

seems to fit our entrance better.
and, of course, the fun of seeing how it can be done with as little pennies as possible!
to use someone elses junk and turning it into my pleasure...
yes, indeed!

...blessedness!

ox



linking up to Beyond The Picket Fence party


http://southernhospitalityblog.com/its-fall-yall-autumn-link-parties/fall_link_party_rhoda/


I was featured!

tea party recipes

this lemon curd is delicious, creamy and takes a bit more time.

but i think it's worth it!

Lemon Curd

beat with an electric mixer for two minutes:

1 c sugar

6 T softened butter

slowly add:

three eggs

beat one minute

mix in:

2/3 c fresh lemon juice

mixture will look curdled but will smooth out as it cooks.

cook over low heat until it looks smooth.

increase heat to medium and cook,

stirring constantly, approx. fifteen minutes, to 170 degrees.

DO NOT LET BOIL.

(oranges and limes can replace lemon)

***************

Devonshire Cream

1 c. heavy whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese

sugar to taste

whip cream til thickened

cream cream cheese and add to beaten cream

add sugar to taste

(sour cream can replace cream)

****************

 Fruit Dip

1 c whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese

sugar to taste

whip cream, cream the cream cheese, mix together

add:

1/4- 1/3 c jelly of choice and mix well

simple and dlicious!

ENJOY!

...blessedness!

ox

week end musings

our local fire company in the town of Gap celebrated their 100th year of community service

and a housing ceremony of a new piece of equipment.

it was an exciting day for the firemen in this family! 

(l-r - Lin, hubs, Loren)

the fire company's first piece of equipment in front of the newest one.

we've come a long way from a horse drawn equipment!

                                      hubs is a traffic control police and looks great in his uniform!



**********************

The local Counseling Center of Gap had family day on saturday.

 i took granddaughter S with me.

she chose to make a scare crow,

a first for her and me!

S stuffing straw...

and the completed scare crow.

interesting morning!

*************************

From the pulpit

There are 24,000 different languages in the world -

one day believers of every tongue will sing this Song of Redemption...

And they sung a new song, saying,

Thou art worthy to take the the book,

and to open the seals thereof:

for thou wast slain,

and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred,

and tongue,

 and people,

and nation;

and hast made us unto our God kings and priests:

and we shall reign on the earth.

Revelation 5:9,10

...blessedness!

ox

picture of the week

The Harvest

                                                                  Lancaster County, PA

...blessedness!

ox

sis-ta week

what a wonderful week!

seven days and nights!
two sisters, Lil from IN, Marie from Ohio,
spent the week here.

because of the death of an elderly uncle

we had a few extra days to laugh, shop (mostly window), eat,

watch movies, play games and lose hours of sleep! :)

yes, it was wonderful!
(l-r - Rhoda, Lil, myself, Marie)

a freshly-cooked omelet at our first brunch together...yummy!

we spent one night at a B&B.

enjoying our breakfast together.

we finished the week at friendly's where three neices joined us.

************************

 our time together is bittersweet.

one year ago, sis-ta Lil had major heart surgery.

due to a smaller-than-average valve,

 it was a stop-gap, not a cure.

her daughter Lynda and son Lane, who live two hours away,

joined us for a day and night.

Lil enjoying grandma time with him.

sis-ta Marie is under chriopractic care due to hip issues.

she became the 'bag lady.' :)

indeed, it was a wonderful time!

...blessedness!

ox

picture of the week

Delicate Beauty

Fleur Gardens

...blessedness!

ox

tea party drink recipe

this drink is chockful of de-lish-ous-ness and many, many memories of my 'mother's drink.' i wish i could remember when she first started making it - i don't - but it very quickly became a family favorite. mom would make it in a concentrated form and freeze it and we could usually count on her to serve 'her drink.' we also served it as an appetizer drink at our youngest daughter's wedding. Vern requested a drink for the tea and i thought of this one, though i hadn't made it for a l-o-n-g time.

an important ingredient for this drink is the tea plant itself. when i was a youngster, we called it meadow tea as it grew wild in meadows and along side of roads and creeks (i'm REALLY walking down memory lane now!). meadow tea is a narrow-leaved-purplish-stemmed plant that is invasive (as any tea plant is) and there  are peppermint, spearmint and fuzzy-leaved teas. this is the fuzzy-leaved tea, though any tea works for this drink.

Lemon & Orange Iced Tea

1 c. fresh mint tea leaves, packed

1½ c. cold water 

blend this and pour through a strainer,

using the liquid (it will be very green)

Add:

1- 1½ cup sugar

1 (12 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate

1 (6 oz) frozen orange concentrate

add enough water and ice to make one gallon drink

(if used as a concentrate, add three parts water to one part concentrate)

*note from my mother:

this is a very refreshing drink!

...blessedness!

ox

linking to
KISS

doing a tea for twenty three

several months ago Vern, who is married to my cousin, asked if i would do a tea at our house for her mother, Hannah, who is celebrating her eightieth birthday this month. i've been processing this idea in my head for a while and figured this is as good as any time to dabble my feet in the 'hosting-teas-at-my-house' waters. today was the day! for a bit, it felt like going from...safe-ankle-deep-waters to...i'm-sinking-in-these-waters, but it quickly passed and i truly enjoyed it! i asked DIL M to make the sandwiches and scones to save me time but more importantly, to benefit from her creativity. i love setting up the table and doing fun foods but it all takes lots of time! i prepared most of the food the day before, leaving as little last minute things as i could.

Vern, helping with last minute details.

Hannah...isn't she beautiful?

she's in the middle of a brave fight against a recurrence of cancer.

 the day was perfect so i could set tables up on the back deck.

twenty three guests and it looks like the table goes on forever!

four generations!

enjoying a good sister-fest!

Vern was the meal hostess, freeing me up to introduce the foods and staying caught up with kitchen duties, an arrangement that worked well. and the food was yummy!

this drink came from my mother who got it from a friend and is de-lish!*

a wonderful, simple salad from a friend that got raves.

refreshing fruit with an option to eat with a dip.*

these blueberry and poppy scones made by DIL M were wonderful!

devonshire cream, blueberry jam and lemon curd* served with the scones.

cucumber on rye, chicken salad on wheat and asparagus wrapped in prosciutto

made by DIL M - sooo tasty!

lemon squares, tart cups filled with real cream, cream cheese, a little sugar

and topped with a blueberry and chocolate cookies with peanut butter filling.

and this little cutie-pootie pie was the youngest guest there -

her first tea party at her great-grandma's 80th birthday party...

how cool is that?!

*****************************

i was left with wall-to-wall dishes and a MOUNTAIN of warm, wonderful memories! i feel honored Vern was willing to 'chance' me for this birthday-party-tea. will this lead to hosting more tea parties at our home?
 i hope so! :) 

(* indicates recipe will be posted.)

...blessedness!

ox



the tree is gone!

In a recent post I posted about the weeping peach tree...last week hubs cut! it! down! He made quick work of it and he and I soon had it cleaned up...glory! No more rotten fruit to mow over or attract the wasps or pits to rake out of the grass, thyme or walkway. Here's the Before...

cutting it up...

and the After.

This is what's here for now...I'll be doing some tweaking with it. The wooden column will get a post of its own...its got a story! It looked a little nekid at first without the tree and the neighbors can see when I walk outside looking kinda like 'Mrs. Harris went to Paris' but they're not at home much so it's no biggy and I shur luv the tree gone! Be sure to notice the candle inside the light on top of the column...a post coming up for that in the near future on my other blog!

...happy gardening!

ox