A few nights ago Michael and I watched a movie I really enjoyed, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, which my friend Kay recommended to us. In the film, the main character mentions her favorite movie as Brief Encounter, so I also put that in our Netflix queue and we watched it last night. The latter movie was made in 1945 and was the story of two married people who happen to meet in a train station, strike up a friendship, and then begin to meet every Thursday thereafter, and “fall in love.” Michael is very sensitive to movies like this, and has a hard time restraining himself from bursting out in intermittent snide comments directed right at the people in the film. “Yeah, you’re not in love, you’re in lust.” “This won’t last.” “The trap is being set.” “What about your wife and kids, buddy?” “Look, they’re walking straight into the snare” and so on. Since the film is almost 70 years old, it’s discreet compared to what is offered today, but I always get a silent kick out of Michael’s reactions to things like this. Because if he were dealing with the actual people instead of the ones portrayed on the screen, he would be merciful, gentle, and patient. He would speak the truth and say very direct things like, “You need to cut this off and return to your wife today,” but he would do so in humility that would make the truth easier to bear.

The wind howled all night and when I got up this morning at 5:30 the outside thermometer read seven below zero. Even when we turn our thermostat down at night and the house cools down, we stay warm because we have two little stove-pipe-shaped dogs who dive under the covers, then come out an hour later panting, all night long. Under the covers and out, under the covers and out. I feel like I’m Edith and Millie’s personal valet during the dark hours. “Oh I’m so sorry, am I not giving you enough room dear? Here, let me move over to the side where I’m almost falling off the bed so you can have more space to stretch out! Oh pardon! I’m sorry I didn’t notice you staring at me in the dark! Let me turn over and lift the covers up so you can tunnel down by our feet to keep yourself warm! I’ll get back to sleep, no worries!” It’s called Indentured Schnauzitude.

I have been craving my mother’s beef and cheese enchiladas lately, so that is what I’m making for dinner tonight. Many of the recipes online call for flour tortillas, but a true enchilada is made from corn tortillas and that’s what I’ll be using. Chopped green chiles, finely diced purple onion, ground cumin, two kinds of grated cheese, enchilada sauce…all baked until the cheese bubbles and served with a generous sprinkling of chopped, fresh cilantro. Yum. What are you having for dinner tonight?

Sunday was my granddaughter Clara’s birthday and as I’ve been doing with my grandbabies these past couple of years, I gave her a list of things to choose from for her gift. She could choose three, and she called to tell me that she wants to 1. spend the night at Grandpa and Grandma’s house, 2. go out to dinner at Old Country Buffet, and 3. pick out a gift at Barnes and Noble. I look forward to her coming over this afternoon because we always have such a nice time together.

I have a book I’d like to give away this week. It’s called The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, and you can read a little about it here. It’s a beautifully written book I can’t compare to anything else I’ve ever read, but it would not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you’re squeamish about things like animal trapping. You can win this book if you have never left a comment on my blog before, and you leave one today. 🙂  Your email and personal information is never published and you don’t even have to share your name. A random drawing from those who are leaving a comment for the first time will be held on Thursday and the winner announced then.

I hope you’re staying warm if you live where it’s cold, I hope you’re staying cool if you live where it’s hot, and I hope no matter what’s going on in your life these days, you can find many things to thank God for.

He is with us, and that is His promise.

You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
Psalm 18:28  NIV

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:4-5  ESV

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12  NIV

Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”
John 8:12   The Message

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I’ve reached the 3ooos in my gratitude journal and I can’t ever imagine not keeping one for the rest of my life. It has grown to be a help, a delight, a refocuser, a praise inspirer, a hope builder, and a regular part of most mornings.

I write down tiny things and huge things; they are all gifts from God to me. I have thanked Him for Millie’s silky ear poking up from the nest of pillows she’s sunk herself into, for the slight taste of honey in my tea, for the coppery color of Mrs. Nisky’s eyelashes, for a funny text from a loved one afar, for the absence of icicles on our roof, for a card or letter in the mail from a beloved friend, for my children all living nearby.

I have thanked Him for being the glue of our 31 year marriage, the light and hope for our family, for salvation, for new mercies every morning, for His Word and how it speaks and transforms, for how the sun rises after a dark night, for the love and faithfulness of my Savior Jesus. I have thanked Him again and again for being the kind of Father who just keeps on working with me, and with my family. And most of you probably already know this, but He’s the kind of Father who will keep on working with you too.

If you’re reading this and that seems a little too far-fetched for you to believe, might you just quietly whisper, “Jesus, if you’re real, and if you love me and want to work with me, will you let me know somehow?”
He will do it.

For all He has done, for all He is doing, for all He will do, I thank Him today.

I’m finally taking a few minutes to say hello to my dear (eleven) readers, update you about things around here, and share something from Scripture that spoke tenderly to my heart today.

We had a beautiful blizzard on Sunday. I say beautiful because we never lost power, and we were able to be safely tucked away in our warm home while the snow fell heavily for hours and piled up so high outside that the Schnauzers didn’t want to go potty. The drifts are above their backs, and they would prefer that this not be the case. I know that after Nemo hit, many in the East didn’t have the luxury of heat and water, so I don’t take that for granted. If you’re reading this and you were affected by that storm, I hope things are warm for you again and getting a little bit back to normal.

I finished this book a few days ago and as my sister-in-law Christy told me, it was a beautifully written work that was like nothing I’ve ever read. I purchased a copy for a friend, but she opted out when I told her how much animal trapping was in the book (because it’s set in 1920s Alaska), and I completely understood.

Michael and I visited Alaska in 1999 and were awe-struck by its raw beauty. He would have moved there I think, because it’s remote and breathtaking and one can live a fairly solitary life, but at this point in our journey a move to Alaska is not going to happen.

I have been half-contemplating other locations where we might retire, though. As much as we love Minnesota, the winters are getting eons long and the summers are growing hotter by the year. I think Asheville, North Carolina would be perfect for us, because it’s pretty, it’s not the hottest place on earth, and the winters are mild compared to northeastern Minnesota. Then visions of my daughters and grandchildren fill my mind and I realize I can’t leave them. I think they need me, for some reason, which is probably prideful thinking. Like I think I’m indispensable or something. Ha. And I also enjoy and am so grateful for the work I do here, so eventually thoughts of moving vanish like the steam that rises from my teacup that sits at my elbow just now.

I also finished this book a couple of days ago.  Are you familiar with The Big Mama Blog? I enjoy Melanie’s humor and (perhaps oddly) the timing and meter of the words in her writing. She can take the most mundane topics and bring her readers to hysterical laughter on almost every page. If you know any young moms who need a bit of encouragement and a few chuckles mixed in with the inevitable tears that accompany child-rearing, this would make a good gift. As a matter of fact, I think it would make a great baby shower gift, because the book is really about how motherhood changes your life, changes you.

And how did Lent sneak up on me this year? It seems like I just took my iPad out of my underwear drawer a couple of months ago when I gave it up for last year’s Lenten season.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not Catholic or Episcopalian (or Methodist or Presbyterian or Baptist or Quaker or Lutheran or Apostolic or EV Free or Church of Christ or Nazarene, so what the heck am I, then?! — perhaps I’m a Bapticostal or a Presbypalian) so observing Lent was never part of my growing up years. (Although I did grow up in a beloved SoCal Baptist church, so I guess I have some denominational roots after all.)

But I long to learn more about observing some of these traditions, because anything that ropes me in, sets me down and helps me focus on the Lord instead of on myself is a good thing. One year for Lent I gave up reading any kind of books. Last year I gave up my iPad. These were things that seemed costly to me, which is what I think the practice should be — not because God wants me to pay this huge price, but because I want to deny myself for a change, and take some more time than I usually do to be with Him, and not live so indulgently. I will probably never say I’m going to give up chocolate or cheese or wheat, because I want to actually succeed at my Lenten observances, not fail on Day One.

I’ve decided this year that I will give up my own morning agenda for Lent, which means I’m going to have a time of prayer and Bible reading every single morning after our gals have breakfast and head off to work. I usually do fit in these quiet times during the week more often than not and am always so blessed and strengthened by them, but “fit in” is the telling phrase here, isn’t it? I am not happy that I’m “fitting in” my time with the Lord when He really is my source of everything.

I realize some who are reading might see right away that I’m a novice at this, so you can pray for me if you would. 

I like to have a dated, daily Lenten devotional at this time too, so I bought this one after reading someone’s recommendation.

Have you ever read anything by Walter Wangerin? I highly recommend him. The Book of the Dun Cow was stunning and unforgettable, and his Paul: A Novel was brilliant.

Do you observe Lent? If so, how? And do you have any favorite Lenten readings or books? I’d love to know, if you’d be so kind to share about them by leaving a comment below.

And right now I’m also reading a book by Jim Wight, who is the son of Alf Wight, the Yorkshire veterinarian who wrote the incredibly successful and much loved All Creatures Great and Small series under the pseudonym James Herriot.

Michael still loves for me to pick up a Herriot book and one of the chapters out loud to him. He especially enjoys and remembers the chapter about James’s near-fatal incident with an angry, massive bull’s first experience with A. I. (Artificial Insemination); I know without a shadow of a doubt that I could read that chapter to Michael right now and he would laugh so hard the couch would shake. 🙂

And this brings me to some daydreaming I’ve been doing lately, even though I’ve never been much of a daydreamer. Most people who know me might say I’m practical, fairly decisive and live in the present, for the most part. But truth be told, I’m longing for Scotland. Michael and I have only visited one time, yet we loved it so much we vowed we’d return if ever we could. I’ve been thinking about how wonderful it would be to visit Scotland again, which felt like my true home. If Asheville, North Carolina didn’t work out, we could crate up Edith and Mildred and go north to the Scottish Highlands to spend the rest of our earthly lives in a place like this.

Can’t you just picture Michael and me living in this cottage on Canna Island in Scotland? It’s the perfect name for our locale, because I’ve been saying for years now, “I canna do this anymore…I canna tackle one more pile of paperwork…I canna cook another meal….I just canna!”

Of course if we lived on Canna Island I guess eating would still be part of the life plan, and I would be willing to compromise and think about fixing some food now and then if I just didn’t have to look at the Paperwork Alps anymore.

But I digress, and it sounds like I’m getting whiny, which I’m not.

And while I’m talking about dreaming of another place, Yorkshire has been there in the clouds of my musings too. We loved Yorkshire. We stayed at this place when we visited there, and we wandered through York and Thirsk, drove the country roads in our rented Vauxhall Vectra, and wished we could have stayed longer than three days. There was so much to see and experience but we had reservations to see Les Miserables in London, and had to move on. If we ever return to England, we would like to see the York Minster again, but for an actual service or two instead of just a tour (which was wonderful enough!).

Now, should I dare share another daydream? I’ve been thinking about painting our kitchen cabinets. I haven’t decided if I will yet, because I said I was going to live with what we have and make no further changes in this new house. Well. I would sort of like to paint the bottom cabinets dark green, and the upper cabinets a creamy, warmish white.

If you can’t remember what our modern, cherry cabinets look like, here’s a link to a post I published when we first moved into this house seven months ago. The post was about painting our lime green fireplace (we painted it dark red) but you can see the cabinets in some of the photos if you’re interested. You may be able to see they have an orange-ish hue to them. And we have black granite counters and stainless appliances, which are also very modern looking, a stretch for someone drawn to traditional everything.

So I went looking online to see if I could find any photos of kitchens with black counter tops, green lower cabinets, and creamy white upper cabinets. I like this kitchen below, and am trying to envision how this combination might look in our space. The colors would certainly be fine with the other jewel tones in the house, I’m just not sure about the cabinets themselves.

Even if I decided to embark on this project, it wouldn’t be for a long while, so for now I’m just daydreaming a bit. 🙂

Lastly, I wanted to share something I read from the book of Ephesians this morning. In Community Bible Study we just finished our 18 week study in the gospel of Mark and are now beginning our 12 weeks in Ephesians. As I sat in my plaid comfy chair and gazed occasionally out on Lake Superior and the ice that has formed on its surface, I pondered these verses from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and to us:

“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”   (The Message Bible)

I don’t know about any of you, but I needed reminding today that Christ’s love for me has extravagant dimensions. I needed the heartening news that God will infuse me with a glorious inner strength. And that He invites me to experience the breadth, length, depths and heights of His love for me. And his love for you is the same — beyond measuring, never failing, always faithful, and forever with your best in His mind!

Lord Jesus, I confess that I can be very self-focused and tunnel-visioned. Sometimes when it seems like I’m waiting forever or in vain for your answers to my deepest prayers, I feel like I lose strength. And I think sometimes I actually forget about your love for me. Thank you for this gift from your Word today, and how you always turn my face and my eyes and my heart back to you. Thank you that I don’t have to measure up, but that you reach down. I praise you Lord, that I don’t have to fix myself or put my pieces back together, and that you do that, day by day, as I walk with you. And Lord, I lift up to you every person reading these words. Plant his/her feet firmly on your love, help him/her open the door and invite you in, whether it’s the first time ever, the millionth time, or just the first time in a long time. Teach us what it means to truly follow you. Help us all to experience your great love.  Amen!

May your week be blessed, dear family and friends…..thank you again for stopping by,

When you have come to the edge
Of all light that you know
And are about to drop off into the darkness
Of the unknown,
Faith is knowing
One of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on or
You will be taught to fly

–Patrick Overton

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My friend Helen in Switzerland had a giveaway on her blog recently, and I was one of the winners. I was thrilled when she emailed to tell me a little something was on its way to Minnesota, and it arrived yesterday.

Helen is one of the most creative, efficient, cheerful people I know but haven’t met. The quilting and knitting projects she completes in just one month would be my lifetime list. She was born in England, met her Swiss husband in the States, and lives in a beautiful part of Switzerland (are there any ugly parts of Switzerland?) with her family.

Here’s the quilted mug rug she made for me:

I shall place my hot cup of tea on this lovely mini-quilt and remember always that Helen made it.

Next, and totally unexpected, she sent this:

Have any of you ever sampled Swiss Hüppen? They’re the thinnest, most delicate wafers rolled around different flavored creams, and Michael and I think Switzerland might be worth visiting just for these. 🙂  His favorite was the Gianduja (hazelnut and chocolate) and mine was the Mocca.

Quirky Mildred is always uneasy with new items in the house. Here she is, purposely not looking at the mug rug, which she suspects might hurt her in some way.

I think you should take a look at the beautiful things Helen creates on her blog, here.

But please try not to think about how when she offers the occasional gifts on her blog, they’re beautiful, handmade, delicious and unique, and how when I offer a gift on my blog it’s a can of bread with a label that says B&M. Try not to compare the two, okay?

Thank you again Helen!

Now I’m off to make a cup of tea, and I’ll enjoy my new mug rug and a Swiss treat to go along with it.

I thought it was fun to read about so many of your breakfast habits, and your opinions on breakfast! Thank you to all who commented.

As promised, one person will receive a can of B&M Brown Bread, and that person is……(drumroll)….Ginny!

Ginny, I will get your can of bread to you very soon, and I hope you’ll report back here to let everyone know what you thought of it, okay?

Have a great week everyone,

Another bitterly cold morning here, way below zero. But things are going to warm up and we may get snow tomorrow, which always lifts my spirit. Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday, and my husband, son-in-law, grandson and some beloved former neighbors will be coming over to watch. If I had a bucket list, “Watch a Super Bowl” would not even make it to the top 300 on my list. But I will make this for their snack and then retire with the Schnauzers to our bedroom so I can read, do my CBS lesson, and perhaps play a game or two of Words With Friends.*Happy contented sigh.*

My friend Kay in Cornwall told me about Susan Branch’s blog several months ago, and I visit there often. I was familiar with Susan Branch’s cookbooks and beautiful watercolor calendars, but had never thought to look if she has a blog. If you haven’t visited, you might like it. It’s like taking a mini-vacation each time you read one of her posts. She’s from Southern California (like me) and lives in a beautiful old home on Martha’s Vineyard (unlike me–boo). I love the beauty and the whimsy she creates on her blog. So when I read this post of Susan’s, I was intrigued. She wrote about what a wonderful treat B & M canned bread is. B & M canned bread? I’d never heard of it, and I wasn’t sure it sounded like much of a treat to me, on more than one level. Canned is so 1950s, right?

But because of the way she raved, I decided to see if I could find any B & M canned bread, and of course since I don’t live in New England, I couldn’t find it in our grocery stores. So I bought some on amazon. I had to buy a case of twelve, but that was okay, because I could use a few for us and give a few away. Well, I think this bread is yummy. You can taste the molasses and the rye, and when Susan says to toast it until the edges are very crispy, she’s right. If you ever try some I would recommend you toast it slowly until it’s slightly crunchy on the edges. It takes longer than you would think.

I like a lot of different things for breakfast but here’s what I’ve been having at least once a week ever since our case of B & M canned brown bread was delivered:

A thin slice of the rich and chewy bread, thoroughly but slowly toasted…

With just a bit of butter melted on it while it’s hot…

And a small dollop of creamy peanut butter spread on top. And I add a juicy orange and some raw almonds. And a steaming cup of tea. Wonderful!

Today will be a paperwork day for me. I hope to have enough self-control (that’s iffy) to work on just paperwork for four hours today. Then I will fix dinner, make Pico de Gallo and let those delicious fresh flavors marinate overnight for tomorrow’s Super Bowl recipe, and maybe fold some laundry. Michael and I were planning to watch Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont tonight, but when our Netflix copy arrived in the mail yesterday, it was broken. Another one will arrive on Monday, they say.

How is your weekend going?

What are you doing for Super Bowl Sunday?

May you have God’s peace and hope today….(and if you leave a comment with your first name, what area of the world you live in, and what your favorite breakfast item is, you’ll be entered in a drawing here on the blog and could win a can of B & M Brown Bread! Winner will be announced on Tuesday afternoon.)

I’m so glad you stopped by….

I love how music attaches itself in our brains and never lets go. When we can’t find our keys, remember where that important paper was filed, or recall a person’s name, a song from our past can be heard and every lyric is instantly there. At least that’s the way it is for me.

Below you’ll find a song I played at least 437 times on my car stereo when I was about 22-23 years old. My marriage had suddenly ended and I found myself in straits I hadn’t foreseen. The Lord was faithful to me and to my two little girls and our needs were met, but I remember sort of putting one foot in front of the other during that season, and hoping the emotional hard times would soon ease.

So this old song sung by Jennifer Warnes spoke to my heart back then, and I used to drive my green VW Rabbit on the crowded Southern California freeway system, early to work in the morning and then home again in the evening, singing along with everything in me. When I heard this song today for the first time in years, every single word came back, almost like I’d written it myself. It was really composed by Stephen Foster, and I’m sure the hard times he was talking about were so much worse than anything I’ve ever experienced. But I do believe that this song could be the plaintive anthem of so many hurting people.

You can click here and it will open a new window so you can play it. Then you can just come back to this window to read the lyrics if you like, as the song plays.

Hard Times by Stephen Foster

Let us pause in life’s pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all share sorrow with the poor;
There’s a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh hard times come again no more.

Chorus:
Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.

While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh hard times come again no more.

Chorus

There’s a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o’er:
Though her voice would be merry, ’tis sighing all the day,
Oh hard times come again no more.

Chorus

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Have a good weekend everyone…

1. After a few days of more reasonable temperatures (near the freezing point), we are supposed to go into the deep freeze tomorrow. Michael and I were talking about it in the dark this morning before we got out of bed, and we both said, “This might be the last of it.” Everyone in Northeastern Minnesota knows what that phrase means — it means since we’re almost to February, these next below-zero dips might be the last ones we’ll see like this until next year. Reason to rejoice!

2. We just learned that our state has foisted another huge paperwork task on all the family foster care providers. What they are requiring of us is almost unbelievable to me. And the friendly phrase, “failure to submit this review by May 31 will result in not being able to receive payment.” I truly wish I could hire a paperwork specialist to come into my home for a few hours a week and do the paperwork for me. It never seems to end.

3. We are just finishing up the book of Mark in Community Bible Study, and will start Ephesians next. We recently learned what our 30-week study will be for 2013-14 and I’m looking forward to it very much: Daniel, Job and I and II Peter.

4. I have been introduced to Norwex products and am trying them out in my home. So far I’m impressed. Anyone out there use them?

5. I picked up a book at the library yesterday that my sister-in-law Christy recommended to me. She said it was the most beautiful book she’d ever read, and since she’s a prolific reader, that’s saying a lot. Have any of you ever read The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey?

6. Edith and Mildred know what the word squirt means now. My friend Diane suggested that we might try squirting them with a little stream of water when they bark so shrilly at passersby, so even though I was pretty sure this wouldn’t deter them, I gave it a try. Well, it works. One squirt stops the Schnauzer shrieking instantly and they slink into the living room to escape. Diane also told me that she needs only to call the word, “Squirt!” out to her dogs from another room, and they stop barking. This would never work with our dogs, I thought. But it does. I can holler “Quiet! Knock it off! No!” and they just keep on happily yipping and wagging their tails at the squirrels, joggers, postman. If I hear them start up and I yell ominously from my office, “Squirt!”, they stop.

7. I love this game on my iPad.

8. Here’s a picture of Michael and Sara at Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, taken a couple of months ago.

9. We’re having chili for dinner tonight. And salad.

10. My friend Denel told me that for our 2nd Annual Lupi-Soo Reunion this fall, she’s thinking of choosing some place in the Pacific Northwest. I can’t wait.

How about you? What are a couple of your Thursday things?

“Marriage is sacrifice, commitment and work. But anything worth anything, always is.”

Julia Shalom Jordan

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