thrifty decorations...

Hubby made this wonderful wreath. I love it! It now hangs on the side of our home with a spotlight shining on it at night and we are enjoying it very much.

A year or two ago after Christmas, hubby found two large wreaths out on the curb of a church next door to where he works. He took all the greenery off them and put them away. As I was driving down the road one day I came across some utility workers cutting pine branches away from the phone lines and the road was lined with large piles of greenery that would be disposed of. I quickly ran home to get hubby and we filled up the car twice with lots of fresh pine. The men were happy to let us have all we wanted.

It's so much more fun getting things this way rather than going to the store and

just buying them. Not to mention being able to see the hand of God that much more clearly.

I wish I had blogged more this Advent, but I didn't, oh well.

One of the things I like about blogging, is that it is really like a scrapbook or journal. I have journaled for many years and it is so nice to look back and see where

I have been and what I've done. It's helped me to recall those special moments with much more clarity and when I read about the more challenging times it reminds me of lessons learned and as St. Teresa of Avila said,"all things are passing, God only is changeless"

thoughts to ponder...

I have read this before, and came across it again this morning.

Makes a lot of sense to me, what do you think?

this and that...

For those of you that know me, you know there is little I like less than having my picture taken. But I will make an exception now and then. This one is of my daughter (who hates this picture, but let me post it anyway) and I at Rockefeller Center in NYC last Saturday. It is always a good day when I get to spend some quality time with one of my children individually. We met my brothers, for coffee in the morning, they were working in Manhattan that day. We then walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral for noon Mass. We found this gentleman playing some really wonderful, loud music on some very random found objects such as a piece of sheet metal, a wire shelf, an empty 5 gallon bucket, an old vegetable bin taken from a refrigerator and a few other things. To me this seemed like such a profound metaphor for life. I too like to create things out of discarded materials - to make something out of nothing.
In a way, it reminds me of how God uses us in many different ways to bring blessing to others. He can take our nothingness and turn into something beautiful.

Here is a look at hubby's little workshop. These are a bunch of wreaths in varying stages of completion. He makes hand tied fresh wreaths. They really are lovely. He is filling orders for about 30 so far and we will participate in our parish's artisan fair in a couple of weeks.

My least favorite plant would probably be the cactus. We have two Christmas Cacti that just sit around looking ugly all year (in my opinion-hubby likes them), that is until now when they bloom in radiant color. We have this fuchsia plant and another coral one. I think there is probably another metaphor for life in this somewhere, but I think I'll spare you. I stuffed some boxwood around the edges to make it festive. A friend from church let us at her boxwood and holly bushes yesterday, and let us trim to our hearts content. I want to put together some greenery arrangements for that artisan fair.

Hope you are having a great day!

clowning around...

We had a great time trick or treating this year. Our friends came for dinner and we all headed out around the neighborhood until there bags were heavy with lots of treats. A great time was had by all.

I really enjoyed making this costume for her. The best part was using what I had on hand to do it. I had the simplicity clown pattern, the colorful dotted fabric my mom gave me years ago, the red corduroy, denim, and vintage floral all came from the stash. My mother in law made the pom poms with her yarn stash.

Total cost in materials=$0, memories=priceless!

present but not giftwrapped...

Just wanted to check in. I have been otherwise occupied lately and haven't had the chance to post. I plan on doing so more frequently, especially since things are calming down around here and the longer nights will soon be upon us.

What have I been up to you ask (or not, but I'll tell you anyway). I have been getting a crash course in homeschooling. My dd15 is officially being homeschooled as of this week. It was very much her own decision, with lots of parental input of course. We live in an area where there is an amazing amount of resources for the homeschooling family. Our very own parish has an abundance of well seasoned homeschoolers, for which I am so grateful to for the guidance and support they have given us these last few weeks.

We have several good reasons for making this somewhat bold move at this time. I won't be getting into the details here. I will say however, that we do this not because we feel she couldn't succeed in school, because she has! This is not a consolation prize because things didn't work out at school, but rather an exciting and better suited opportunity for her at this particular moment in time.

We have gotten through the first week and it has been a good one!

If you told me we would ever be doing this a few years back, I would never have believed you. Once again, God's ways prove to be strange and wonderful!

peace,
amy

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

The little one and I got together with some friends yesterday and went to local Natural History and Science Museum. The kids had a blast (not to mention the moms). They got to see and touch a turtle, a snake, a skink. They checked out lots of lots of birds, bugs, rocks and minerals as well as lots of other things.

Then we headed over to the park for a picnic. It was a great day. I wish I had taken some pictures. I brought along some soup and all the moms seemed to enjoy it.

I'm not a huge cauliflower fan, but this tastes more like mashed potatoes. I rarely follow recipes exactly, except when baking. I used a huge head of cauliflower, way more than 1 1/2 pds. and a little extra half and half, adjusted the salt and pepper and still it came out quite good. In other words , I don't think you can screw this one up.

This is from Betty Crocker

1 1/2 pds. cauliflower
2 cups water
1 large stalk of celery chopped (3/4) cup
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 T butter
2 T flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
dash nutmeg
1/2 heavy whipping cream (I use half and half)
shredded cheese

remove florets, set aside. Heat water to boiling. Add cauliflower, celery and onion. Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer about 10 minutes until tender.
Place cauliflower mixture in blender , blend until smooth.
Melt butter, stir in flour until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.
Stir in Cauliflower mixture, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Heat just to boiling. Stir in whipping cream. Heat just until hot (do not boil or soup may curdle). Serve with cheese.

Enjoy!

my prince...

This little fella showed up in our yard last week. It was love at first sight.

Don't worry mom, I didn't actually let her kiss him.

Last week was the West Lampeter Fair. What a great event that is each year. It's a real country, family oriented, fun time for everyone. This year I had 4 entries. Zucchini bread, that did not fair well. I will try that again next year, I think I over mixed. I also entered 3 items, 2 pillows and a child's apron into various sewing categories, I won 2nd place for each one. I was thrilled!

The big winner was hubby. He won 15 ribbons!
He entered a whole bunch of his produce and flowers from the garden and did quite well. I was so happy for him. As you know by now, He is quite the passionate gardener. It was lots of fun and he was pleased.

Oh where, oh where has September gone?..... Every year at this time I look back and September seems to be just a blur.

Have a fabulous Wednesday!