A few Household Hints and tips

~Place a apple in the potato bag to help keep the potatoes from budding.

~A easy mess free way to mix meat loaf, use a potato masher.

~If your brown sugar is hardened, put in a slice of bread it will soften it back up.

~To prevent red tomato stains in plastic mixing bowls first spray the bowl with nonstick cooking spray.

~You can substitute half applesauce for the vegetable oil in your baking recipes.

~Accidentally over-salt a dish? Drop a peeled potato into it while it is still cooking, it will help absorb excess salt.

~To get yeast dough to rise faster turn the oven on just long enough to warm it up, then place the bowl of rising dough in the oven.

A Morning Walk= Random Photos

A few day's ago I took a morning walk around our property. We have recently been making trails though the back woods so I enjoyed walking on them. It was a beautiful morning with many different birds filling the air with lovely song. I took along our camera and was able to capture a few photos along the way. :)

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:30

Red berries covering a tree in our yard.

Beautiful colored leaves.

Florida Pines.

This cactus grows by our greenhouse,

the fruit is edible.

Fallen oak leaves and acorns.

The Victor: Jesus Christ

The Victor: Jesus Christ

His be the Victor's name,
Who fought the fight alone!
Triumphant saints no honor claim-
His conquest was their own.

By weakness and defeat
He won the meed and crown;
Trod all our foes beneath His feet
By being trodden down.

Bless, bless the Conqueror slain-
Slain in His victory.
He lived; He died: he lives again,
For thee, His Church, for thee.

-Author Unknown

Uber Amazing Blog Award

Thank you so very much Stepheny for giving this award to me!!! :)

I now pass on the award to:


Mrs. Wilwerding from: eHomebody
Lydia from: Pearls Gleanings
Sarah from: As Lilies Sewing
Sara from: Simply Sanctified
A Heart 4 My Home
Anna from Ever, Only all for Thee


The Rules for this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate Blogs that you think are super.
3. Let them know that you have given them this Uber Amazing Blog Award by commenting on their blog.
4. Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

Delicious Vegetable-Sausage Soup

We have made this soup many times and everyone loves it. :) It is very simple to put together and the ingredients are pretty basic, which is a A+ with me! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Vegetable-Sausage Soup

3 cups beef broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can stewed tomatoes, cut up
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon parsley
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced zucchini or yellow summer squash
1 1/2 cups uncooked rotini

In a large saucepan combine the beef broth, un-drained cut stewed tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, basil and parsley.

In skillet, cook the Italian sausage until no longer pink. Drain off fat.

Cook the sliced carrots, garlic and onion in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover bottom of pan. Cook until carrots are tender. Do not drain.

Cook rotini or Macaroni, until tender, drain. Also cook the summer squash or zucchini. Add everything to the beef broth mixture.

Heat soup through. Serve hot. Enjoy!!! :)

Bug Parade

Every Winter, (usually in December) we have a flower bush in our yard that blooms. Several days ago while enjoying the lovely white flowers, I was struck by the many insects that there were buzzing around. :) I attempted to capture a few photos but because our camera is relatively new, (the camera I used to use gave out a few months back) some of the photos turned out a little blurry since I have not figured out all of the settings yet. But I had fun anyway, and here are the results.

A yellow jacket and honey bee.

A black and white wasp.

I found this bug to be interesting, apparently it preys upon the bees, wasps etc. that come to the flowers. Here it is eating a honey bee.

Yet another wasp.

A black, brown and yellow striped wasp.

Two flowers, two bees. :)

THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD

This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
He shines in all that's fair;
in the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world.
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

A Perfect Blend of Friendship Award

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

I was so honored to receive this award from A Heart 4 My Home Thank you so very very much! :) Well, I'm supposed to answer a few questions before I pass on the award.....:)

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood?

Yes, I've grown up with my best friends, my family. [smile] Outside my family I do have some friends that I have had since I was really young. :)

2. What do you value most about your friends?

Their love, honesty, patience, understanding, & thoughtfulness.

3. Are your friends your sounding boards?

Umm, sometimes, but not often.

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends?

Writing them, either through snail mail or emails, playing games, talking..etc.

And now passing this award on to three friends:

Lydia from: Pearls Gleanings
Sarah from: As Lilies Sewing
Ruth Ann, I know you don't have a blog but I wanted to give this award to you anyway. :)

I could pass this award to many more, but I'm only supposed to give it to five people. :( I have been so happy to meet many new friends through blogging, Thank you for the friendship you have shown me! May the Lord bless you all!

Day by Day

Grand Canyon, stock photo.

Day by Day

Charge not thyself with the weight of a year,
Child of the Master, faithful and dear:
Choose not the cross for the coming week,
For that is more than He bids thee seek.

Bend not thine arms for tomorrow's load;
Thou mayest leave that to they gracious God.
"Daily," only He saith to thee,
"Take up thy cross and follow Me."

-Author Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving!

"Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?"

~Psalm 106:1-2

African Violets

Of all the many different kinds of house plants that there are to be had, I think that the African Violet is definitely my favorite. :) I recently bought a new plant, and was delighted that it has kept blooming after it's initial blooms from when I first bought it.

When I was younger, I had several violet plants but though they always seemed healthy enough, I never could get them to bloom very often, if any. So with this new plant I decided to look up more about the African Violets to find out what I had done wrong in the past. I’ve found a lot of great information from a book called “African Violets & Flowering Houseplants”, Published by Ortho Books. And after following some of the instructions, I have been successful as I mentioned above to keep the new plant blooming. :)

Leaf cuttings in water. I still need to cut the stems.

A Leaf cutting started in soil.
(Used yogurt cups make great starting containers.)

Some Information on How to Start New African Violet Plants:

To start new African violet plant from a leaf cutting, cut off a mature leaf from the middle of the plant. African Violets can be rooted in either water or soil. If you rooting the plant in water, first shorten the stem until it is between 1/2 and 1 inch in length, place the stem in a small jar and filled with water up to the base of the leaf. Plant in soil when the roots reach a little less then an inch long.

To root in soil set the stem in as shallow as possible on an angle (about 1/2 inch deep.) Cover with a clear plastic bag for the first week or so. The little plantlets grow at the base of the leaf and are ready to divide and pot in two or more months.

When the new plants are about 1 to 2 inches high, remove them from the pot. The mother leaf can be thrown away. Make sure that each plantlet gets it’s own pot and also that they are separated when small, otherwise the new plant will not grow well.