Old Dog -- New Trick

When I was young--real young, I was far to busy playing with trucks in the dirt.  As I grew older, I was far to busy keeping up with the local hired farm hands in pitching hale bales.  There were a lot more things that kept me busy as I got older, not just boys, who mostly ignored me anyway.  There were plenty of chores around the farm and garden that needed to be done.  I simply didn't have any interest in hand work, needle work or sewing of any kind.

Fast forward to "much older and a bit wiser".  I love old quilts!  I enjoy hand quilting.  And, I sure wish that I would have sat down with either or both of my grandmothers to learn some stitching.  Grandma Hoovler was an amazing seamstress.  She made a great many dresses for my sisters and me.  Each unique and splendid in craftmanship.

Grandma Blair was a quiltmaker and she loved to embroider.  She made tea towels, pillow slips, as she called them, and samplers.  Whenever we visited, there was never a time she wasn't busy stitching something.  I'll always remember her old, round purple cookie tin.  That tin held mysterious things like her needles, threads and thimbles.  It was always quickly put away when we arrived so that there were no accidents.  Among the many "if only-ies" I have in my life one of them would be to sit with my grandmothers and learn a few things about stitching and life.

This winter I'm making the two older granddaughters each little quilts for their dolls.  Ada's doll quilt will match her baby quilt.  I had some leftover patches and figured it was easy to just make a small one.  Hopefully, she will like that they are matching quilts.  Roslyn's is another matter.   Is it bizarre to agonize over a doll quilt??  There were many minutes spent browsing quilt books trying to find patch I could make without it being so difficult or overly involved that it would take forever.  I kept telling myself, "It's just a doll quilt!".

I settled on a single patch that is a copy from an old quilt that my sister bought me.  She called it a "rescue quilt".  That just means that she rescued it from being ignored and unsold at the Quilt Auction.  I love it.  I only wish I knew the name of the patch.  The fabrics were chosen from my stash that I've gathered over the years.  It went together rather well...not perfectly, but, it is me that is sewing it.   After all, it is a doll quilt.  The center looked too plain and I just couldn't think of what to do to dress it up a bit.  Then the idea of a center initial came to me.  Well, anyone could embroider one letter.  It's a "R"!  How hard can an "R" be?  Checked around online and found an "R".  Not a plain one, but not too frilly or fancy one.  I should be able to do this.  Right?  Here is what I came up with.  It is a little doll quilt sewn with love.  Caution:  This is my first attempt.  Those of you who know what you are doing, there is a reason that the photo was taken from this distance--it looks better the farther away you are.   You can laugh, but just don't tell me you laughed.  It is a doll quilt :-)

I must admit that, while I struggled with getting the hang of even the simplest of stitches, I was sad when it was completed.  There is no consistency in my stitches--some are real short and then the others are kinda long.  It doesn't look too bad, as long as you don't look very closely.  

I'm working on the binding for Ada's quilt, so you'll get to see it when it is all done.

We sang this hymn on Sunday.  It is one of my favorites and I haven't sung it in a long time.  These are a few of the lines:

Be Still My Soul

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to your God to order and provide;

In every change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul; your best, your heavenly, Friend;

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; your God does undertake

To guide the future as he has the past.

Your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

These two stanzas resonated with me as if it was the first time I had read them.  Such truth, hope and reassurance sung to a beautiful, haunting melody.   Good words to remember.

Stay warm!

Just Picked

A new first!  Picking fresh greens from the garden--in December!!  How wonderful!  I planted collards and kale to have a fall harvest and it has been a delightful success.

The day before Christmas is when these bunches were picked.  There was a huge winter storm coming the day after Christmas and I wanted to make sure the last of the kale was picked before it was buried under snow and I couldn't get to it or, worse yet, couldn't find it.

The collards were getting a bit weary of being frosted on a regular basis so the were all picked.  Yes, all.  I spend a couple of days getting them into the freezer.  There was quite a harvest.

The kale was left in the garden to use as we wanted.  When the kids were here from Minnesota, I cooked a batch for them.  My son-in-law was impressed with the flavor.  The cold and snow seem to give kale a very nice taste; not bitter or harsh.

It is wonderful to have garden successes.  Especially ones that last until Christmas!

Diet Update:

It is hard to admit that the diet for my MS has not yielded the results that I had hoped.  There has been slight improvement, but not in the major ways that I had hoped.  The diet continues (well, I did cheat over Christmas...a few--just a few cookies and some ham--wonderful, delicious ham) and there are other areas to explore.  I like goat cheese.  Yep, I really like it.

Blessed Lord Jesus,
     No human mind could have invented the gospel.  Acting in eternal grace, you are both its messenger and its message, coming to earth as a tiny child, giving yourself over to insult, injury, poverty and death, so that we might be ransomed, redeemed, and freed from sin.  We bless you, Eternal Father, for ordaining this way of salvation.  We thank you, Lamb of God, for opening this way, and we praise you, Holy Spirit, for applying this great salvation to our hearts.
     Lord, forgive us for our obsession with our own righteousness. WE spend many hours thinking about how we are doing spiritually, agonizing over our failures and glorying in our successes.  We spend very little time thinking about your righteousness, and about the truth that even on our very best days, our goodness is tainted with our sin and still looks like filthy rags to you.  It is hard for us to accept that in our strongest moments, we cannot escape our great need for your obedience to cover ours and take its place.  Open our eyes to see our own fascination with our reputations and the many ways in which we use our strengths to belittle others.
     Forgive us for delighting so much in our own gifts and our own obedience, and for trusting in the good things that we are able to do.  Forgive us for our endless desire to steal your glory and take credit for your good work in us, and for insisting that others see our glory and fall down in worship before us.  Forgive us for using the strengths you have given us as weapons against others, to cover our inferiority and make ourselves feel superior to them.  Forgive us for wallowing in our failures, rehearsing them over and over again, and defining ourselves by them.  Lord, have mercy on us!  Thank you for loving us too much to give us what we crave, and for humbling us and choosing to leave us weak so that we could learn to love the strength and goodness of Christ in our place.
     Holy Spirit, show us the bankruptcy and brokenness of even our very best works.  Help us to see the sinful motives we often have for our best acts, like Bible study, prayer, fasting, and service of others.  Teach us instead to delight in all of the spiritual treasure you have lavished on us so richly in Christ; the wealth of his righteousness, given to us; the riches of his grace and kindness poured out on us; the glorious inheritance he has earned for us by his perfect obedience and death.  Remind us often of who we are in Christ as we walk through a world of temptation which dazzles and beckons us, and navigate the sinfulness of our own self exalting hearts.  Draw our minds to the cross often to marvel at your purposeful and determined love for poor beggars like us, who continue to have nothing to give to you but our sin.  There let your transforming love do its powerful work of pulling our eyes away from ourselves to rest on Christ, to see him, to ponder him and to rest and dance in the hilarious nature of his unshakable love for us.  

  ~Adapted from the Valley of Vision by B. Duguid

Merry Christmas 2012

Wishing each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Remembering why we celebrate:

The Glory of Christmas

Fondly,
Linda

Loving Flax Crackers-Adventures in Going Gluten-Free

I never really thought that I would be discussing baking and food on this blog.  While the garden and the produce that is gathered from it are a big topic here, not the preparation of food.

At the advice of a friend and after doing some research on the subject, I have put myself under the care of a nutritionist.  This doctor has me on a diet that is supposed to help with my MS symptoms.  It has been a couple of months now that I have been gluten-free, dairy- free, corn-free and, basically, sugar-free.

This new diet has presented all sorts of challenges.  First, I love bread--fresh bread, especially.  My fresh bread.  The one that comes with the fragrance that only a loaf of bread fresh from the oven can deliver.  The one that comes with the delight of the first slice of slightly warm bread covered with a generous lather of cool butter that hints at melting into the curves and grooves of the bread.  If not butter, homemade jam--apricot jam. Fresh bread fills the entire house with a feeling of love.  But now pizza crust, muffins, cornbread, pies--they are off limits.  Can you tell it has been a rough couple of months??  I'm in mourning.

Just this past week, I've been permitted to add millet, sorghum and oat flours to my diet.  All of these grains are gluten-free.  These along with buckwheat are my new bread and baking flours.  I was able to find these flours at the best price on Amazon.  The fancier Whole Foods and Trader Joes type stores are a bit of a drive and I'm not at all sure that these prices can be beat.  It's great to have all this delivered to the door.

I am a bit anxious to try some bread.  All the gluten-free sites I checked warn that this bread will not be what one is used to in the line of bread.  I'll have to prepare myself.

When my mother-in-law died last year, we were thankful to have her Vita-Mix passed down to us.  It sat in the basement for months, but it has been moved to a place of honor on the kitchen counter.  I've been able to grind oats into oat flour, buckwheat groats into buckwheat flour and garbanzo beans into bean flour.  Some things that I've made have not been horrid.  The apple crisp has been good.  The buckwheat pancakes need a different recipe...flat in every way.

While I wait to experiment with new flours, I have tried my hand at crackers.  Since I am allowed seeds, I stumbled on a recipe for Flax Crackers.  I was able to grind up some flax seeds and some sunflower seeds and then use some other seeds to make these delightful crackers.

These little goodies have helped to keep me sane.  They are wonderful with hummus.  (Not so much with peanut butter.)  Good with goat cheese - yes, that's the dairy-free alternative (that takes a bit of getting used to, but it's good--different, but good.  They have a wonderful, savory flavor and appear to have additive properties.  (Yes, that is vintage Tupperware!)

If you are interested, the recipe with detailed instructions and pictures are on this site:  Scratch Love.  You'll find she has other gluten-free recipes to explore.

Each person has challenges they are called to meet.  My hope is that this new diet will help in many ways to get my health a bit more on track.  It is going to take time, I'm told, so we'll see where this road takes me.

Blessings!

Ahhh, Books

I'm becoming increasingly aware that I could become a compulsive book buyer.  Here are my latest purchases.

The top book  is one that I've been working on for the past few months.  With the garden and grass, I've been neglecting the poor thing.  It is a great read.  Those Puritans had some great, spot-on insights.

The delightful bookmark was purchased at the Somerset Historical Society's Mountain Craft Days that we attended in September.  It is tatted with little beads.  We watched the woman make them for quite awhile.  It is an art I might consider trying.  Tatting is such simple, beautiful needlework.

Last fall, I was in a study that looked at John Newton's letters.  This man was amazing.  He, too, had great insights into the heart of men and could explain his deep thoughts in such a witty way.

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer was recommended as a "must-have" for the home library.  No doubt, most of Packer's books would fall into that category.

I enjoy Michael Horton on the White Horse Inn.  His writing style makes the complex easier to understand.  this is my second book purchase by Horton.  The first was an inspiring, thought provoking read.

We'll have to see about Disability and the Gospel.  I read a few pages and I'm not sure it is what I had in mind.  A few pages, though, can't tell the whole story.  It may be awhile before I get back to it, though.

When new books arrive, it is like Christmas.  I love the smooth cover and the newness of the pages.  It is a bit hard for me to crack open a new book and crease the first page.  Since these are paperbacks, the newness fades quickly.  While the book is digested, pages read and reread, bookmarks inserted, margins written in, the contents become a friend.  One with which I can argue, agree, smile or cry.  One that comforts, challenges, enlightens, frustrates.  If I could only figure out how to read and quilt.  To be able to do two of my favorite things at once, would certainly make my winter recreations an even greater delight.

GLORIOUS JEHOVAH, MY COVENANT GOD,
All thy promises in Christ Jesus are yea and amen,
   and all shall be fulfilled.
Thou hast spoken them, and they shall be done,
   commanded, and they shall come to pass.
Yet I have often doubted them,
   have lived at times as if there were no God.
Lord, forgive me that death in life,
   when I have found something apart from thee,
   when I have been content with ephemeral things.
But through thy grace I have repented;
Thou has given me to read my pardon in the wounds of Jesus,
   and my soul doth trust in him, my God incarnate,
   the ground of my life, the spring of my hope.
Teach me to be resigned to thy will,
   to delight in thy law,
   to have no will but thine,
   to believe that everything thou doest is for my good.
Help me to leave my concerns in thy hands,
   for thou hast power over evil,
   and bringest from it an infinite progression of good,
   until thy purposes are fulfilled.
Bless me with Abraham's faith
   that staggers not at promises through unbelief.
May I not instruct thee in my troubles,
   but glorify thee in my trials;
Grant me a distinct advance in the divine life;
   May I reach a higher platform,
   leave the mists of doubt and fear in the valley,
   and climb to hill-tops of eternal security in Christ
      by simply believing he cannot lie,
      or turn from his purpose.
Give me the confidence I ought to have in him
   who is worthy to be praised, and who is blessed for
      evermore.
--Divine Promises from The Valley of Vision

If you wish to purchase The Valley of Vision,  you may try here at Amazon.  Or, here at Banner of Truth

Fall Garden

It is a beautiful fall day.  It's warm--mid 70's--the sun is shining, but the clouds are beginning to appear.  There is a cold front coming in tonight.

Knowing that we are to get into the 40's over the weekend, I figured I better see what I could gather from the garden that the cold is likely to kill.

Here's what I managed to salvage.  A few tomatoes, some peppers, a bit of lettuce and the parsley.  The parsley may very well manage to last awhile in the garden, but I need it for dinner this evening.

There are a few other veggie plants in the garden that have been thriving in the cooler weather that has been with us since September.  This is our first year for kale and other greens.

So far they look great.  From what I understand, these greens should only improve in flavor with the cold weather.

It was an interesting garden year.  Some things did well and other, well, no so much.  The sweet potato crop was another disaster.  Our onions seemed to rot quickly after they were dug.  The beans did well, as usual, the corn was good, except for what the bugger of a coon ate.  The garlic was smaller, but the crop was plentiful.  As always, these are things that are not in my control and it yet it proves, again, that God is faithful to provide what we need.

P.S.  It seems I was delayed in getting this posted.  I was having company for dinner and did not get my Puritan Prayer added until now.  Suffice it to say, the chilly weather arrived today, although it turned out to be a lovely, sunny day.

I continue to slowly work my way through Jeremiah Burroughs's The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.  Here is a portion of Contentment from The Valley of Vision.

HEAVENLY FATHER,
If I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty,
   make my heart prize thy love, know it, be constrained by it,
   though I be denied all blessings.
It is thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants,
   for by these trials I see my sins,
   and desire severance from them.
Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations,
   if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,
   and be delivered from it with gratitude to thee,
   acknowledging this as the highest testimony of thy love....
Teach me to believe that if ever I would have any sin subdued
   I must not only labour to overcome it,
   but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it,
   and he must become to me more than vile lust had been;
   that his sweetness, power, life may be there....
When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me by showing me
   that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch,
     but in Christ I am reconciled and live;
   that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest,
     but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace;
that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good,
     but in Christ I have ability to do all things.