Brunhilda-Polly

My daughter GirlofGod is multi-talented. She has taught herself to do balloon animals, card tricks and other illusions and is mastering face-painting. She plans to sew herself a clown costume to wear when she performs. She did this work of art on Polly the other day. I think she has a great eye for color and a steady hand! I'll enjoy seeing how far she takes this interest in entertaining!

Baptized!

We went to Avila Beach yesterday with our church for a picnic and baptism. My daughter Polly was among those making a public profession of her saving belief in Jesus Christ.

What a special day it was!

Blueberry RICH!

A friend of mine who lives in Oregon sent us SIX pounds of blueberries! What a gift! I have visions of muffins, pancakes, pancake syrup, jam, breads, fruit salad, all speckled with blue. What will tomorrow bring? Who knows. I'll take some pictures and share the results, whatever they may be. I'm starting my search at this site. If you have any suggestion, recipes or hints, let me know!

Impromptu Nature Study

I found a drowned insect in our pool skimmer and brought it in so the kids could see it. I think it's a Bush Katydid. I don't recall ever seeing one alive before. I didn't even know that they lived around here! It's marvelous how wonderfully camouflaged their wings are. How could that be chance? They are clearly designed by a Designer!

Busy Food Day

We made lots of food with the Crew this afternoon! Poppa cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, as is Sunday tradition. Later, for Sunday Night Dessert we made homemade doughnuts. Yummy! We've not made them before, but I bet they make an appearance now and again.

I also wrapped up yesterday's strawberry fruit leathers. They dehydrated all night and we perfectly done today. They were supposed to be a treat for the first day of school, but school has unexpectedly been delayed a week. Oh, well. They'll be a treat for a plain old Monday instead.

We also got six quarts of green beans canned. I just LOVE home canned green beans in winter! The Lambies had them topped, tailed and stringed in record time. Many hands make light work!

We finished the day with a swim and an episode of "Pawn Stars". It was a good day!

Mixed Fruit Jam

Today I was blessed with a large amount of bruised-up peaches, nectarines and plums. I spent some time trimming off the ugly spots and ended up with a dozen pints of mixed fruit jam. I even have more to do tomorrow. I think I will freeze the trimmed fruit chunks for smoothie making.



There are only eleven jars cooling on the towel because one pint went into the fridge uncanned to enjoy this week. Don't hesitate to accept ugly fruit, my Thrifty Canning Friends. You can make a lot of good from it!

Green Beans!

I got to go to my friend's house and pick green beans today. I ended up with a full gallon bucket! We had some with dinner, and I hope to get more at the farmer's market Saturday. I need to get some canned. They are our absolute favorite summer veggie. Here's one of the recipes I like to make with them. We haven't had it in a long time, though, since it has tomatoes in it. If you can eat tomatoes, you should try this...tonight. It's that good.



Sizzling Green Beans



1 pound green beans, topped, tailed and snapped

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp EACH thyme and oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese



Boil beans in water for 5 minutes, then plunge into ice water. Heat olive oil in skillet and add peppers. Cook one minute. Remove pepper flakes. Add garlic tomato and seasonings, except cheese. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add beans and heat through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Six Flags Magic Mountain

We made our very first visit to Six Flags today. We had such fun. However, I need to remember to bring a camera and not rely on my iPhone for pictures. Sadly, the battery ran out much too early. Overall impressions from my point of view.....X2 was not worth the wait, Ninja is not to be missed, Colossus is best ridden as many times as possible. Here's a first person POV of Colossus and one of Ninja for you to enjoy. I can't wait to go back!

Haircuts

Many of the Lambies got haircuts or trims today. Missy loves when I cut her hair short. She tells me she feels pretty and light when it's cut. I agree that it's pretty, but I will miss being able to French braid until it grows out!

By The Content of Their Character

This is from this week's Ol' Remus' Woodpile Report. It's a very good thought.

"As Remus told you in Woodpile Report 8, nobody really judges a person solely by the color of their skin, at least nobody he'd wanna know. Martin King was right when he said we should judge people by the content of their character.

So let's do some judging.

We form entirely reasonable opinions by observing ordinary things about other people. For instance, are they considerate, courteous and pleasant or are they obnoxious, confrontational and crude? Do they dress to an acceptable standard, or wear offensive costumes? Are they thought well of, or are they habitual troublemakers?

Are they dependable and honest, or untrustworthy and criminal? Are they reasonably intelligent and inquisitive, or ignorant and incurious but deviously clever? Are they sociable and cooperative, or consumed with self interest? Do they speak intelligibly, or use gang slang? Can they disagree without insults, threats or violence?

Are their kids well behaved, or foul-mouthed junior street thugs? Do they value education, or are schools just their free day care? Are they self-reliant, or does the world owe them a living? Do they take personal responsibility, or is somebody else always to blame? Do they give others the benefit of the doubt, or do they see others as cunning victimizers?

Are they truthful about their personal history, or is it a pastiche of self-serving fantasy? Do they plan for the future, or lunge at short-term payoffs? Do they earn respect, or demand it? Do they believe race is irrelevant, or do they use race to extort preferences?

King had it right, judging people by the content of their character is reasonable and just. We should do more of it."