Monday, January 28, 2008

A Day with the Beavers

Just as the frying pan was nicely hissing Peter and Mr. Beaver came in with the fish which Mr. Beaver had already opened with his knife and cleaned out in the open air. You can think how good the new-caught fish smelled while they were frying and how the hungry children longed for them to be done and how very much hungrier still they had become before Mrs Beaver said, "Now we're nearly ready." Susan drained the potatoes and then put them all back in the empty pot to dry on the side of the range while Lucy was helping Mrs. Beaver to dish up the trout, so that in a very few minutes everyone was drawing up stools (it was all three-legged stools in the Beaver's house except for Mrs. Beaver's own special rocking chair beside the fire) and preparing to enjoy themselves. There was a jug of creamy milk for the children (Mr. Beaver stuck to beer) and a great big lump of deep yellow butter in the middle of the table from which everyone took as much as he wanted to go with his potatoes and all the children thought- and I agree with them- that there's nothing to beat good freshwater fish if you eat it when it has been alive half an hour ago and has come out of the pan half a minute ago. And when they had finished the fish Mrs. Beaver brought unexpectedly out of the oven a great and glorious sticky marmalade roll, steaming hot, and at the same time moved the kettle on to the fire, so that when they had finished the marmalade roll the tea was made and ready to be poured out. And when each person had got his (or her) cup of tea, each person shoved back his (or her) stool so as to be able to lean against the wall and gave a long sigh of contentment.

-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis, pg. 70-71

Caramel-Pecan Sticky Buns

Caramel-Pecan Sticky Buns











































(Pictures were taken by my beloved daddy. )

Saturday, January 26, 2008

'round the house




~>Saturday morning cleaning music.








~>Hopefully some that I get around to making today.












~>And another thing I will
hopefully get around to making...















~> hehe...allright...This is a pin that I hit with my sewing machine yesterday while sewing my blanket....the needle is fine...I just thought the pin looked pretty funny!












~> Part of my blanket...it's almost done!









~> Gorgeous isn't it? Our cabinets with the freshly painted walls...Love it!









~> A stack of wonderful children's books. My favorite book is on the top!











~>practice makes perfect.









~> The beginning of my corn plant...hopefully...















~> Beauties















~>And more beauties...
It is in prayer, dear Father,
That we thank You for the people in our life
who cause us to need Your grace so.
We acknowledge that
Your patience,
Your kindness, and
Your goodness enables us to do nothing
harmful, to truly care, and to act out Your
love toward others.

In our pain...our tears...our suffering...
we looking to You, O heart of love.
May we refuse to act or react until we have
again looked at our Savior's action and seen
His patience...His kindness...His goodness.
May we grow in these graces.
In Jesus' name, who came not to be ministered
to but to minister to others...
even to the point of giving His life as
a ransom. Amen.

Elizabeth George, A Woman's Walk with God, pg. 142-143

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

feeling a bit blue


The beginnings of a humongous blanket.......

Chocolate Angel Food Cake



Chocolate Angel Food Cake

I made this cake for my brother's birthday and it tasted soo good! Plus, it's really easy. The decorations aren't in the recipe, I made those up, but everything else is in the recipe. This is the frosting recipe that I used: Rich 'n' Fluffy Chocolate Frosting.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Oops!

On yesterday's post (Hairstyle Fun) I had a link to a a website that had hairstyles. It is a link to hairstyles but for a link to the site that had the directions for the one that I attempted to do yesterday is this one. Regency Hairstyle Tutorial.
They are both fun I just thought I would correct were I got the instructions for my hairstyle in the picture. :) Thanks!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Hairstyle Fun

I found a site that has different hairstyles you can do, like the old fashioned ones, and it shows you how to do them! :) In Timely Fashion is were I found them. Look it up. It's really fun!
I attempted to do one of them here. It obviously didn't work so well. But hopefully I will get better at it. :)

cozy!

This weekend (Thurs.- Sun.) my sister and I went up to a dear friends house. It was such a cozy relaxing time. We got to sleep by her fire at night! Cozy! :) I love the fire! We got to watch several girly movies(Persuasion-'97 & '07, Jane Eyre, etc.) staying up very late watching them. :) It was so very cold outside so the fire was a wonderful addition. We got to eat s'mores on Saturday night by her fire! :) It was great! It was like in the negatives and we were eating s'mores! I love it! It was so fun to spend time with her and her children. Thanks P! :)




<--R eating his s'more


<--- mhmm... me roasting my marshmallow. If you can see we had to use an oven mitt so we could roast our marshmallows because it was sooo hott!!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

"I will help thee, saith the Lord." - Isaiah xli. 14.

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each of us: "I will help thee." "It is but a small thing for Me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with My blood. What! not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside My glory and became a man for thee; I gave My life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. 'Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. 'Help thee?' Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency. 'I will help thee.' "


-C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, pg. 32 (Jan. 16)

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Ruffled Skirt Pattern

I finally sat down and took the time to type and print my pattern out. Knowing that if I didn't I would eventually forget what I did. So here it is! I had a lot of fun making this. and now I can just whip out my handy dandy pattern pieces and cut away! :)

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

A Whoop About Hoops

For when a smitten wretch has seen
Among the lost in crinoline,
The one his heart holds dearer,
Oh! what a chill to ardent passion,
To feel that through this hollow fashion
He never can be nearer!

That instead of timidity drawing near,
And pouring into her thrilling ear
The flood of his soul's devotion,
He must stand and bellow in thunder tones,
Across half an acre of skirts and bones,
As if hailing a ship on the ocean.


This poem is from an 1857 issue of Harper's Weekly.It's from a book called The Wonderful World of Ladies Fashion(1850-1920) Edited by Joseph Schroeder,Jr.

I found this at Robert's Thoughts

Another Layered Skirt





~I just
absolutely love this fabric!
















~I made my own little pattern pieces out of tissue paper. (Like the ones that you use for gift wrapping...not the ones you blow your nose with. :) Just thought I'd clarify that.) :)




















~This string reminds me of the string in the book The Tale of Despereaux .
A gorgeous red color.
















~The finished project!


Monday, January 7, 2008

George Whitefield's Proposal to Elizabeth

My dad quoted this at the dinner table last night and I thought... Wow! How different a proposal from today! :)


The letter for Elizabeth reads as follows:

April 4, 1740

Be not surprised at the contents of this: - The letter sent to your honoured father and mother will acquaint you with the reasons.
Do you think you could undergo the fatigues, that must necessarily attend being joined to one, who is every day liable to be called out to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ? Can you bear to leave your father and kindred's house, and to trust Him, (who feedeth the young ravens that call upon Him) for your own and children's support, supposing it should please Him to bless you with any? Can you undertake to help a husband in the charge of a family, consisting perhaps of a hundred persons? Can you bear the inclemencies of the air both as to cold and heat in a foreign climate? Can you, when you have a husband, be as though you had none, and willingly part with him, even for a long season, when his Lord and Master shall call him forth to preach the Gospel, and command him to leave you behind?
If after seeking to God for direction, and searching your heart, you can say, 'I can do all those things through Christ strengthening me,' what if you and I were joined together in the Lord, and you came with me at my return from England, to be a help meet for me in the management of the orphan-house? I have great reason to believe it is the divine will that should alter my condition, and have often thought that you was the person appointed for me. I shall still wait on God for direction, and heartily entreat Him, that if this motion be not of Him, it may come to nought.
I write thus plainly, because, I trust, I write not from any other principles but the love of God. - I shall make it my business to call on the Lord Jesus, and would advise you to consult both Him and your friends - For in order to attain a blessing we should call both the Lord Jesus and His disciples to the marriage- I much like the manner of Issac's marrying with Rebekah, and think no marriage can succeed well unless both parties concerned are like-minded with Tobias and his wife - I think I can call the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, to witness that I desire 'to take you my sister to wife, not for lust, but uprightly;' and therefore I hope He will mercifully ordain, if it be His blessed will we should be joined together, that we may walk as Zachary and Elizabeth did, in all the ordinances of the Lord blameless.
I make no great profession to you, because I believe you think me sincere. The passionate expressions which carnal courtiers use, I think, ought to be avoided by those that would marry in the Lord. I can only promise by the help of God, 'to keep my matrimonial vow, and to do what I can towards helping you forward in the great work of your salvation'. If you think marriage will be in any way prejudicial to your better part, be so kind as to send me a denial. I would not be a snare to you for the world. You need not be afraid of speaking your mind. I trust, I love you only for God, and desire to be joined with you only by His command and for His sake. With fear and much trembling I write, and shall patiently tarry the Lord's leisure, till He is pleased to incline you, dear Miss--, to send an answer to,

Your affectionate brother, friend and servant in Christ,
G. W.

She wrote a reply and so did her parents, and Whitefield waited nearly four months before these letters reached him. Of their contents we know nothing, except what may be gleaned from Whitefield's few remarks about them. In writing to William Seward he said:


I find from Blendon letters that Miss E-- D-- is in a seeking state only. Surely that will not do. I would have one that is full of faith and the Holy Ghost. Just now I have been weeping and much carried out in prayer before the Lord. My poor family gives me more concern than everything else put together. I want a gracious woman that is dead to everything but Jesus... I wait upon the Lord every moment... and He assures me He will not permit me to fall by the hands of a woman... looking back upon the workings of my heart in this affair, I am more and more convinced it is of God, and therefore know that He will order things for me as will best promote His own glory. So that my dear Lord's honour does not suffer, I care not what trouble in the flesh I under go.

Despite these statements, the letter that Whitfield received may not have contained an outright rejection.

-George Whitefield, Arnold Dallimore, p.p 471-474

Blue Willow

Aren't they beautiful!! :) I just absolutely love them!!!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Ruffled Skirt

I just finished making this skirt this afternoon. I am so pleased with how it turned out!! I made it like another skirt that I have that I bought, so it was really easy to just follow what they did. I even got to make my own pattern pieces out of tissue paper. I love the polka dots!! :) Plus, its the perfect length! Yay for polka dots and ruffles!

Blueberries

Blueberries with sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mmmm... Yummy!