Glory Be!

Glory Be!  What a beautiful day!  May God's love shine on all of us and may we forever strive to know Him better.

Be Prepared

Be prepared.  We've all heard this before.  It is even the Boy Scout motto!  How many of us can say we are truly prepared for even a short-term emergency?  I was reading and shocked how much water a family of four would need to survive even a short term 72 hour emergency!  2 gallons per day, per person.  That is a lot of water.  That is already 24 gallons for just 3 days for 4 people.  And that is a pretty minimal amount considering the average person in the US currently uses about 140 gallons of water per day. 

I found a great website called Emergency Essentials at http://www.beprepared.com/ .  I'd recommend taking a look and will put additional information on this blog to help.  I'm currently searching for a more local means of purchasing food storage items here in Colorado.  The good part is that the above website does have some shipping discounts when you are buying large quantities.  Be prepared!

Silence, Not Solitude

"Silence, not solitude."  I read that somewhere and it stuck with me.  What a wonderful thing to strive for!  Our suburban lives are definitely not silent.  Granted, I don't believe anything is truly silent unless you perhaps seal yourself in a bubble, which I am not recommending here.  When I considered the idea of silence, it seems to me it would be turning off the electrical background noises and listening to the natural sounds around us - wind blowing through the trees, birds calling, the sound of footfalls in the snow.

I turned the radio off in my car today for my drive this morning.  As I dropped my daughter at school I could clearly hear her conversation and she commented about the sounds the tires made as I drove over the snow.  I thought, "This is what I'm missing!"  My drive into work was also different.  I tires plowed through the wet slushy snow.  I could hear the heater since it was quite cold this morning.  But these sounds became soothing as they were so repetitive.  I felt I was paying way more attention to my driving and had so much time to just think it was nearly scary!

In light of this experiment, I've determined the radio is inconsequential to my life.  I do not need to hear the songs on the radio, if I need music I can happily sing or hum a tune of my own inclination.  I definitely won't miss the advertisements or news.

Green Pasture vs. Suburban Sidewalks

Happy New Year!

Well, for a while now it has been on my heart to leave the rat race of suburban life and go live on a farm.  You know, be subsistent, grow and raise our own food, be one with the land!  The Amish way of life always hits me as so pure and content.  I realize that their culture also has some very strict religious aspects, and I'm not saying I understand 100% or would like to join up.  But the idea of agrarian life seems pretty great. 

Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As I sat and pondered my farm wishes today.  I started to wonder how farmers feel.  Are they happy where they are?  Do they wish they could live where I am instead?  Do they wonder what our days are like here in suburbia?  I have been reading and reading about farm life.  There are some great sources for this stuff that explain some details to fill the head of silly people like myself...books by Helen and Scott Nearing and Gene Logsdon have been my latest finds.  A search for "farm life" on Amazon finds 8,261 book hits.  A search for "suburban life" on Amazon finds 582 book hits.  I realize this must have required some odd chronicaling on the part of the authors.  Granted this is information I want to know... How much wood do you burn a day?  Do you use electricity?  What are the foods you like to cook?  How much snow did you get last December?  All the day to day details an anthropologist would long for.  Anyway, I've decided to try to chronicle our suburban life.  I'm not sure that anyone will find it interesting, but then the farmers who write about their lives may be thinking the exact same thing!  From time to time I'll post a selection here...don't need to disclose EVERYTHING :).  I do still like to craft and I do still like to dream about one day being on a farm with livestock and crops and a cozy stove to warm our home, but for now I aim to be content with what I have.  I am blessed with a wonderful and loving family and the backdrop for family must be of minimal importance, though I'm sure you'll see that I believe it has an effect on the family!

Fabric Expressions - First Visit!

I had my first visit to Fabric Expressions last Saturday.  Though I've been working on my daughters quilt for quite awhile, this was the first actual dedicated quilt store I had been in for years.  I believe I had browsed a few in Estes Park ages ago.  Anyway, this little store is tucked into a two-story mini-mall, and it actually appears small from the outside, but once you enter those doors.  Wow!  I was blown away by the colors and multitudes of fabrics.  I tell you brothers and sisters, there is a reason this fabric costs more than your average fabric store finds.  These fabrics are thick!  They feel like they could surely stand the tests of time!  I was also in luck because they were having a sale on certain bolts for $5/yard.  I bought some great reds that I think I'll use as backing fabrics for my Chimneys and Cornerstones quilt.

Red yardage from Fabric Expressions

I also picked up additional information about this year's Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop.  My Mom is going to go with me and I'm so excited as they had a special fabric made for this year...I'm sure I'll buy some and be sure to post here.

I still have a few weeks to wait though for the Shop Hop!  I know I can make it!

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. ~Psalm 23

We watched "The Book of Eli" last night for the second time and again the force of Psalm 23 struck me.  These words are poetic and a profound sincerity of faith.  I intend to commit them to memory because it is difficult sometimes in our society to remember that all we need is in the LORD and his WORD.  "I shall not want".

I also found a wonderful website devoted to Psalm 23 that gives additional commentaries and hymns.

Cake Mix Doctor #3

Well, on to the third cake from the Cake Mix Doctor books.  This was a chocolate mint.  And you can guess from the picture, the mint was peppermint schnapps.  This was ok, but since the family are not huge icing fans, I left that off, and apparently that was where most of the minty flavor was :(.  It was still a delicious chocolate cake though!  I bake all these bundt cakes for 40 minutes at 350 degrees and they come out nearly perfect every time.  I'm a big proponent of flouring your cake pans too.  For the chocolate cakes I use cocoa to dust the pan versus flour so that the top doesn't turn white on me.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake