Making applesauce with Sammy.

Windows…… Can you see that I helped. I held his hand the whole time ;) !! Rick just loves that kind of stuff when he is working. I am glad to say that the windows are done and beautiful. Pictures to come later. I am so thankful for a husband with so many talents. What a guy!

The Day Before

I would really love to be uploading more pictures onto this blog, but that will have to wait until Friday, one of my OFFICIAL days off that I take each year.  There is another one, but I can’t remember when it is, I think may be January first, yes, that is the other official day off that I take….    Obviously I am due for one!

It is the day before Thanksgiving when we will have 24 here for dinner and more by the end of the evening as our single guys will come here for desserts.    I was planning to eat dinner around 1-2 on Thanksgiving but then realized that there was a Packer game to contend with.  Don’t you think these game organizers could ask a woman when the best time for a game would be on a national day of feasting??  WHO puts a game at 12:00????     There is no way I would want to have everything ready for a feast let alone be eating it by 11:00.  That is TOO early in the day and we do not eat the Thanksgiving meal in front of the game…. no way!    I bravely suggested to Rick and the girls that we could eat at 1:00, that they could miss a little of the game and be done eating in time to watch the second half.   Let’s just say that there were no words needed to express their opinion on that idea, the looks were enough.

SO…..  we will have folks over to watch the second half of the game and when the game is over we can then start our Thanksgiving meal.   It will be fine.  Packer games do bring out a fun time, well, that would be IF they win  :)

I am not ready!   I have been without a washing machine for one week.  I have been staining and varnishing the new windows in our living room.  On Monday when I took a look at the living room I decided that since everything was off the windows that I may as well paint the living room while we are at it.  I don’t know, call me the denial queen….. others have   .   So my sweet husband went back to the hardware store with my color swatch ( I had been to the hardware store 2 hours before but did not realize at the time that I was going to be inspired to paint!)  and came home with two gallons of paint, commenting that he hoped it was the right color in a dubious tone.   I, still in denial mode, plowed ahead with my plans and after finishing the staining went into paint mode.  I started on the biggest wall and after a few rolls of paint started to feel a sickening dubious feeling come over me as well.  My color, Maple Leaf, was looking more like lemon souffle and I was worried.   My sweet daughters bravely commented on how the color could work, it might not be so bad, maybe a second coat will correct the problem……..  yikes!   I knew that two trips to town was one over our allowance so I was not going to be going in to get a different paint.  I decided to NOT doubt myself with the color, to trust the sweet man who mixed the paint and pray blessings on him while I painted.   By the time we were on the second wall it was starting to look the color I had chosen, a light golden wheat.  By the third wall I was thrilled and everyone (except Rick who was being Switzerland) agreed that the color was perfect!   I finished the second coat at 8:00 Monday night.

I was really on a roll yesterday until Rick told me that my second coat of polyurethane could not be put on for 48 hours.   I thought he had said 4-8 hours and had envisioned putting the second coat on last evening, putting trim on today and then hanging curtains up and rearranging the living room to have it just perfect for company.    ENUNCIATION is everything!!!!    Now I am envisioning having the trim on but no curtains.  It is a good thing that this will not matter to our dear friends.  Someday (coming soon) we will have a house with siding all the same color and lights on the porch and a few other things finished.  We will not know how to act!

So today is cleaning….   all the corners that are a mess from focusing on the window work.  Getting the school-room ready for Matthew, dealing with some laundry as it is beginning to pile up and getting the kitchen and menu up and ready for the morning.  What fun……..  Rick is going to put the trim on around the windows.  It is raining outside and I have a bad feeling that some cutting will need to be done IN the house.  I guess I will do the dusting last!

On Friday I will put the last coat of poly on and maybe later that night hang the curtains.   I will also add photos to this blog as we watch Little Women, a Thanksgiving tradition.

So much to be thankful for…

Blessed, even in the chaos!

Joyce

Rick’s father made Kristi a hope-chest for her 19th birthday. It is beautiful and such a treasure and future heirloom. What a precious gift!

This picture is because of the plant… I have not had a plant in our home for over 15 years. We are surrounded by trees and have a large overhang on our roof eliminating lots of sunshine. I have killed many plants in the past, but, when I saw this on sale at our local store I thought I would give it a try. Somewhere I have a crocheted plant hanger that I am SURE I have not thrown away as it is total hippy which I love! If the plant lives another 3 weeks I will really search and find it. So far so good and it looks pretty and amazes me!! :)

This is our finished bathroom from the summer saga of not having a bathroom for weeks. It turned out beautifully and the girls have enjoyed it very much.

This is our fall tradition of waxing leaves to use as decorations. They turn out so pretty and last for a long time. It does mess up one candle holder as you can see, but we use it over and over again. We use melted bees-wax which has a delightful smell as it melts.

This is breakfast at our house, food tea or coffee, Bibles out, filling our hearts with truth, journals for notes, recipe for supper out and a stalk of oregano to discuss that the plant parts can be used for. I forgot the ever present chore list! Always a little chaos, always learning. Love it!

Simple Sunday meal. Tomatoes and beans from the garden, some fresh cheese and roast.

My new weapon in cleaning. I hope this vacuum works for a long time. THe one I bought in June died last week. I had spent a little extra on it and was furious when it quit. Didn’t it know that we have a wedding this month and a vacuum is a necessity? It has been replaced. So far so good and $150 off the sale price. So much power and has a little dirty/clean light that tells you when the area is clean. I have yet to see the clean light!

In our house, only Rick and I can write on walls! 52 15/16 and 27 3/16 is code for (he thinks I rock his world too!)!!! Those numbers are also the reason he and I don’t work together too well, I have the tendency to round up……… :)

Note to my man, written on bathroom wall to encourage him. It’s hard for a perfectionist to work in an old and crooked house, and also to be married to a free-spirited kind of girl! :)

It’s a miracle. I have not been able to grow radishes in years, and I mean years. This year they are growing in abundance, if only my family would understand my accomplishment!!! :)

The bathroom is coming along and it is looking good!

Another miracle; un-burnt garlic toast for supper. Wait a minute, that’s not a miracle, that is just Kristi cooking instead of me!!!

On Monday we had four children that we were watching, here are two of them. Sammy, our big kindergarten boy who started school yesterday. Annie and Gracie, who is so funny and cute. What a fun and VERY busy day!

Lady’s Lillies. Lady is always so generous to offer me her flowers after she leaves from their summer visit. Her lillies are the most fragrant I have ever smelled. Their scent is a nutmeg spice only more than that, hard to describe, but oh so beautiful.

Looks like we must be having a wedding around here!

Past Week

I am hiding in my bedroom at the moment.  THat is not a bad thing, it is just that there are a bunch of teens and young adults in our living room and my husband in praying with a friend in our back area, so, that leaves me with the bedroom or a freezing schoolroom .  I chose warmth.

Yes, last week we did have church (see last post).  It went very well for the first time of my being completely in charge of the service.  God is so good.  Our church is going through a change in many ways and the music is one of the changes.  I believe and have had enough folks confirm to me that this is a good thing and God is wanting things different.  So,  I am asking Him for guidance.  This is new territory for me.  The deacons met with me after the service last Sunday to pray for me and to express their support.   This is a great adventure!  Whoever says the Christian life is boring has not told God they are willing to serve.  He will use anyone wiling and take you on the ride of your life!  

What a week.  After fighting an on again-off again cold for two weeks, I started to really feel bad and under my husband’s orders I went to the doctor.  Sinus infection.  I have meds which are slowly starting to work.

School went very well this week despite my being under the weather.  THe girls where troopers as always and took care of me and meals and the house.  I am a blessed woman to have such support.

My Dad has taken a hard hit with an infection this week.  We are all concerned.  It is hard to be so far away.  It is hard to see my Dad suffering.  He is my hero with his spirit of faith.  I know when he cannot come to the phone, that he is not well, as was the case this past week.  We are trying to figure out how to go see him and what timing is the best.  My sister Laurel is there and is checking out how things are and helping our Mom get some rest.   It is always so good to petition God on behalf of someone we love. it is good to hear the precious prayers of my children for their grandpa.  Life is precious.

Yesterday Rick and went to Sturgeon Bay so he could have an eye check-up.  He has the most beautiful blue eyes and I want to keep them healthy.  They have to treat his eyes with drops and he can’t drive afterward so I get to drive him home which is a big deal!  He is a total Gills Rock Man and they all claim that their longevity in life is due to NOT letting their wives drive them anywhere!!!   HA HA HA   It is always an interesting trip when I drive, to say the least.

We woke this morning to Mandy being home, which is always evident by her stuff all over the house!  SHe is a riot.  We were having coffee this morning when our youngest came in and said that Mandy invaded her double bed instead of the couch.  THat is SO sweet.  

After pancakes for breakfast, I headed to a laundry job that I had to do at the local laundromat.  I caught up on some letter writing that I needed to do.  I returned home later than expected, who knew it would take over and hour to dry a down comforter?  The girls were all leaving as I returned, heading out to town for coffee and visiting friends with Mandy.  Rick and I cleaned up and headed down to a wedding reception back in Sturgeon Bay.  WE had do much fun seeing friends whom we have not seen in years, catching up and sharing the latest family news.  What a great time.

I spent some time with Melly this afternoon, working on her poetry.  She gave a late birthday gift to Mandy this morning which was a framed poem she had written for Mandy.  She also wrote a poem for Matthew and framed it for his birthday gift.  I will get them posted tomorrow after the party.  She is quite gifted with her poetry and loves to create with words.  She is not the only poet in our family but is the youngest to just sit down and put thought together.

I started supper, hamburgers on the stove, and then started singing with my girls around the piano.  I thought I had put the burner on low but then we all started to choke from smoke inhalation, just kidding, it was not quite THAT bad!  WE opened a few windows and got the fans going and in about   20  maybe 10 minutes the smoke cleared!  We did eat and then went back to the piano to teach Rick the bass part for our song.  It will be the first time in awhile that Rick will be singing with his girls!

I baked a cake for Matthew’s birthday which we are celebrating after church with friends.  Being born on St. Patricks Day, we celebrate with a traditional corn beef dinner.  He requested carrot cake for dessert.

Well, Rick just came in as his friend has left and the teens are not anywhere near done with their fun time.  I will go remind them that half of them need to be sound check at 9:15 in the morning, that won’t phase them in the least.

Good week,  

Blessed

Joyce

When it is -15 degrees in the North Woods, we get together and play games.

The cousins grinding wheat for bread.

Worth Waiting for……….

I have been wanting a metal table and chair set for years.  I am one who enjoys eating outdoors and although we have a large plastic table and chair set, with a hole in the middle, I still wanted a smaller set for when it is just a few of us eating.  I shopped all spring and was stunned by the asking price for wicker sets and even some plastic sets.  While shopping at a used store that I frequent when south, I saw just what I wanted, a green metal table and chairs with pretty scroll work and comfy seats.  Price – $85.  That was three weeks ago and I had not been paid for any of my cleaning jobs and…….. I was afraid to be extravagant.  So…….. I applied my Crown Financial wisdom from their latest book and decided to wait and pray.  Last week as I was heading south to Green Bay taking some youth to youth group we drove by the store and the set was still out there!  I really got excited because I felt it was an OK from God to go get the set.  My only issue left was my sweet Ricky who does NOT enjoy eating outside and I knew it would be a tough sell.  I pulled him aside and asked him if I could ask him about something and he gave his standard response, “no.”  I laughed and told him about the set and how I had waited and saw it was still for sale.  He figured that it was probably junk and that was the reason that it had not sold, but he said that I could take his truck to Sturgeon Bay and look at it, but since I was heading south I offered to deliver fish for him.  Annie and I hit the road with 60 pounds of fish balancing between us in the front seat and 100 pound in the bed of the truck.  We actually made each stop and did as we were told as far as the bills and collection plastic tubs…….. it was actually fun!  As we got farther south I was a little concerned that we would drive all the way down the peninsula and it would be gone….. but decided to have faith that this was a gift and answer to prayer.  It was THERE!  Annie and I tested it out and found one chair that needed some welding but not anything necessary for use.  SOLD!  We loaded it up in the truck with excitement.  

We headed over to get groceries as when in Sturgeon Bay I never pass up the chance to save money at the large grocery stores.  I also went and filled Rick’s truck with gas that is 25 cents cheaper than up north.  We headed home with a full truck, talking all the way as I rarely get one on one time with each of my girls.  it was sweet.

Due to rain, it was Sunday before we got to use the set.  We girls ate outside and Rick sat inside!  He wanted to watch NASCAR anyway.  I grilled pork chops with a side of vegetables and a salad.  Dessert was a few strawberries with some vanilla yogurt on top.  It was delightful to enjoy the breeze and talk with our girls.  I have always noticed that they are so more talkative when we eat outside.  Someday I hope to have a deck outside our patio doors, but I know THAT will be worth waiting for as well!

Call me Blessed!

Joyce