Ho-hum, hum-drum!

Anyway, at small group the other day, someone asked us to share our current (or all-time, I guess) favorite worship song.  K and I chose the same one, without any pre-meeting collaboration, mind you!  We both love It Is Well, lyrics by Horatio Gates Spafford and music by P.P. Bliss.  K knew the story behind it, and shared it with me.  Now, I’m sharing it with you!

It’s a bit of a long read, but worthwhile; check it out here.  They had so much and lost so much, and this was their response!

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

When I popped the first piece into my mouth, here’s where my mind flew:

That acreage doesn’t belong to my family anymore; I haven’t stepped foot on it for almost four years.

Yet, today, I was there.

However. . . if you live anywhere near my house, you’re throwing virtual rocks at me right now for mentioning life that doesn’t revolve around dashing from one air-conditioned space to the next.

This recipe is for you, my friends!  You, too, can eat soup in the month of September!  You, too, can enjoy the satisfying sensation of slurping that last spoonful, of mopping up the last little bits of deliciousness with homemade bread.

You’re welcome.  And I’m sorry for not posting this at the beginning of the summer.  It’s been a staple in our house for months.

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can tomato sauce – 8 oz., I think
• 1 can (tomato sauce size) water
• 1 can diced tomatoes & green chilis (I use mild Rotel – 10 oz., I think)
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 1/3 C apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Chill* & enjoy!**

* This soup is best when really cold, so let it chill for at least an hour.  The flavors are significantly more intense the longer it sits, as well – if it’s too mild for you right away, make it a day ahead.

**If you happen to have one of these furry little eating machines, make sure to lock them in their kennel before attempting to photograph your food.  The open-faced sandwich featured above lost its appeal shortly after this was taken.  She certainly looks pleased with herself, doesn’t she?

The other day I got to watch my Grampa give his great-grandkids a lesson in milking cows:

Ok, so we were at a zoo, not on a farm, and the cow was a sculpture with a rubber udder, not a much-beloved Holstein named Bessie.  They “milked” it and filled the bucket with approximately 1/256th of a cup of water before getting distracted by a camel that was close by.

Kids these days!  Can’t concentrate on any one thing.  I blame TV.  And video games.  And the internet.  Get off my lawn!  *shaky fist*

This was at Easter-time; Mom ran upstairs and snapped a picture over the loft guard rail.  My sweet brother looks so enthusiastic, no?

Last but not least, wishing the happy couple happy birthdays!  ‘Twas a fun party hosted by the brunette in the back.  She made an ice cream cake.  It had three layers.  Yum.  Terry, Carolyn – we missed you!  Also, we played Scrabble.  I won.  Oh, yeah!

Well, that’s about it for now.  Just wanted to say hi, really!  Hope everyone has had a wonderful summer, ‘n’ all that jazz.  With autumn comes a time of business for our household (and hopefully cooler temperatures!). . . let the games begin!

The only thing missing (besides, of course, my extended family) was a small town parade, preferably of the Dutch Festival variety.  Dinner & Pizookies was a wonderful way to spend the evening too, though.  A table full of friends – what a blessed woman I am!

So. . . I went for dessert.  Is anyone surprised?  Since our oven is out of commission at the moment (the gas lines have a slight leak, so we have to get that fixed), I had to go with something non-baked.  I probably would have anyway, since baking for two is a dangerous game to play.  I’ve already reaped those “rewards” and am now trying to reverse the effects!

Anyway, here’s what I decided to bring.  It’s delicious, light and summery.  It’s also ridiculously easy to make!

Once I get around to starting a garden, I definitely plan to include mint (that’s what the little green bits are).  I’ve heard that mint is, well, weed-like in its tenacity, so was thinking about putting it in one of these:

photo from amazon.com

Has anyone tried this before?  I may also try to do an herb garden in one like this one from You Grow Girl.  It seems less intimidating than starting an entire garden.  Or maybe I just need to jump right on in. . . we shall see!  Fall gardens are easier, right?  . . . right?

Anyway, here’s the recipe:  Marinated Strawberries with Mango Sorbet.  It says you can substitute the mango sorbet for lime sherbet, but I wouldn’t.  I’ve tried it, and the flavors are so much more bold and delightful with the mango.  I couldn’t find sorbet this time around, and had to resort to ice cream.  It was delicious, though slightly less healthy. 

What are your favorite summer dessert recipes?

(Sorry, Pat – accidentally cut you off!)

It’s pretty much become a family tradition to have a mini-reunion after each wedding.  Usually, we all meet up at a timeshare nearby, but this time around K’s grandparents rented a beach house.  It was so wonderful!  Bright and cheery, with plenty of space to sleep everyone (which is saying something – K has a biiiiig family!).

As lovely as the house was, we spent most of the weekend on the beach – walking in the sand, examining jellyfish that’d washed ashore the night before, witnessing shells disappear beneath the sand as their occupants fled from hungry seagulls, and, of course, playing in the water.  Surprisingly for the location, the waves were almost big – which made for some wonderful body surfing!

Since said body surfing is so much fun, I (among others) lost track of time and made the rookie mistake of not re-applying sunscreen.  If you know me, you know how fair-skinned I am.

Ouch.

But, a few years ago someone told me about a magical substance that would cure all my sunburn woes.  This, my friends, is the sweet elixir which has changed my life:

No, I’m not messing with you.  Yes, I’m being serious.  Vinegar – the same thing you use in gazpacho and/or to clean your kitchen floor.  This is some versatile stuff!

Ok, here’s the process:

• Step 1:  Gather some rags, vinegar and a tub/bucket.  Try to avoid wincing.
• Step 2:  Pour a bit of vinegar into the tub, then saturate the rags.
• Step 3:  Squeeze out the excess moisture – not all of it, though – just enough to keep the rags from dripping.  You want them to still be a bit heavy with moisture.
• Step 4:  Lay the rags across the sunburned area.
• Step 5:  Wait.  I usually stay that way for 15 minutes, minimum – more like 30.  I’ve been known to remain for an hour, if the burn is a really bad one.
• Step 6:  Remove the rags and take a cool shower/rinse off the vinegar.
• Step 7:  Go to bed.  Marvel the next morning at how much less red you look!

Note:  This works best if you start the first day of your sunburn.  If you wait a few days, it doesn’t seem to help.  I’ll typically do it for two days, and then the burn is gone completely.  It takes the pain away, and sometimes even prevents peeling.

As far as I know, it does absolutely nothing to prevent skin cancer though, so don’t use it as a replacement for sunscreen!

I wish I could remember who enlightened me and improved my quality of summertime life so drastically, but. . . I cannot.  So, thank you, nameless friend/family member!  You will forever be thought of with fondness and gratitude.

But, the kitchen is 95% complete!  The only thing missing now is one shelving system – between the bedroom & laundry room doors for my pretty dishes.  K said he’d make it for me, which I’m really excited about!  Now to finish up the design. . .

I neglected to take any “before” pictures, but here’s an “in-progress” shot, courtesy of my Mom.  This way, you can at least see the original finishes.

I was going to make a bullet-point list of what we did, but when I started it, I realized we basically did the prep. work and then painted the room – walls, cabinets, shelves and ceiling.   Otherwise, we didn’t change anything.  No walls or doors moved an inch!

The ceilings are fairly low, so I wanted to choose a color that would expand the space, rather than contract it.  The red floor made me shy away from any greens or blue (Christmas or Independence Day, anyone?), which meant I landed squarely on yellow.  It’s a buttery yellow, most of the time.  Sunlight softens it, and fluorescent light brightens it.  The cabinetry is a chocolate-brown – much lighter than I’d imagined, but I’m quite happy with the effect! The trim color, which will be consistent throughout the house, is a pearly white.  One of our friends has dubbed this the Banana Pudding room.  Considering my affinity for desserts, I that it’s quite appropriate.

I just can’t seem to get the hang of photographing interiors. . . the lighting and I haven’t come to an understanding as yet.  So, please forgive the quality of these pictures. . .here’s the “finished” product!

Ok, before you look at the cabinets – I have to mention this.  Take note of the hinges -  see how they’re a nice, metallic color?  That’s yet another detail I have to thank K for.  They’d been painted to match the cabinets during the previous remodel/installation.  Unfortunately, we hadn’t really planned on having teal accents in the cabinetry, so. . . K spent quite some time soaking each and every hinge in boiling vinegar-water, then scraping the paint off.  It was a painstaking – and much appreciated – process!

This is a gift from my grandma-in-law, and one of my favorite details in the room.  It’s a towel holder, which she found at an Amish furniture store in the area.  Its design is so simple and functional!  Y’all know how much I love practical gifts.   There’s a marble inside that holds the towel in place; all you have to do to get it out is lift and pull.  If you try to pull it downward, the marble holds it tight.

I owe the pantry design to Dad & Mom, and it’s functionality to K.  The box drawers came from Dad & Mom, and I love them!  I especially love that it practically forces me to plan meals ahead of time, since I have to pull the drawers out just to see what we have in stock.  I still manage to wing it sometimes, though.

Anyway, our initial plan was to put felt on the bottom of each box, to help it glide in and out of the shelved position, but the shelves are actually two separate pieces of wood.  When I’d slide the boxes in, the felt kept catching on the front edge of the back wood piece, and bunching up.  Enter my sweet husband!  He installed dry erase board on each shelf – spanning all the way from front to back.  Now the boxes glide like a dream, felt or no felt.  So wonderful!

And then there’s this shelf.  Oh, I love this shelf!  K made it for me, using the wood from one of the old barns on the yard. It’s so wonderful!  The finishing touch will be four hooks evenly spaced along the front board.  Those were K’s idea – a place to hang my cooking aprons and dishwashing gloves.  So smart, my husband!

Now, on to the living room. . .

reading this book:

Photo from Amazon.com

listening to the sounds of my sweet husband enjoying his project.

Restful  – and challenging – Sunday afternoon.

Remember this beautiful woman?

Loved the church and the getaway car!

I didn’t get nearly as many photos at this next wedding. . . I knew too many of the guests!  What a wonderful day it was, though.  If you want to see more, look here.  Sarah caught some really great moments!

The newlyweds were able to catch one last dance while we all waited to send them off.  Yes, I finally left them alone after snapping this shot. 

This is the last wedding I’ll be showing you today. . . and I took very very few photos.  I managed to forget to bring my camera to the ceremony site, and just couldn’t get the hang of the lighting inside the reception.  Oh, well – they did get married, despite my lack of photographic evidence.

Believe it or not, this is the clearest picture I have of the couple:

I managed to snap a non-blurry picture of the sweet bride at the bouquet toss, but nothing of the groom!  I suppose you’ll have to use your imagination/memory to fill him in.

They were all beautiful weddings, and each couple was excited to start living life side-by-side. It was wonderful to celebrate with them and share in their joy.

Three down, many more to go!