Winter's Edge Home

The Many Faces of Winter

2012-01-28T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is what a typical winter, daytime sky looks like.

Here's what winter looked like Thursday afternoon.

Here's what it looked like Friday morning.

Friday afternoon for a brief moment.

And finally the rarest of all.

Chocolate Chip cookies (almond flour)

2012-01-27T23:27:00.001-05:00

Here's the link where I found this recipe.

Here's the recipe.
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tbs coconut oil
1/3 cup sucanat or rapadura
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
*Optional: 1/2 cup crispy walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter, oil, and sucanat. Add vanilla and egg. Mix well. Add baking soda and salt. Slowly add the almond flour 1/2 cup at a time. Blend well. Drop by tbs onto greased baking sheet. Bake 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool a few minutes then transfer to cooling rack. Makes 2 dozen.

These cookies are yummy! They are better cooled rather than warm from the oven and they have a slightly soggy feel, so they are better baked fore the longer time.

*Crispy walnuts basic instructions. Combine 4 cups walnut halves, 2 tsp salt and water to cover. Let sit on your counter for 7 hours or overnight. Drain. Place in an 150 degree oven for 24 hours. Then they are ready.

"Nuts are an extremely nutritious food if properly prepared. Once again, the habits of traditional peoples should serve as a guide. They understood instinctively that nuts are best soaked or partially sprouted before eaten. This is because nuts contain numerous enzyme inhibitors that can put a real strain on the digestive mechanism if consumed in excess. Nuts are easier to digest, and their nutrients more readily available, if they are fist soaked in salt water overnight, then dried in a warm oven." Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, 2001, page 512.

I wish I said that!

2012-01-17T11:17:00.001-05:00

Over the last few years I have come to appreciate Voddie Baucham. I have read a couple of his books and heard him speak. One of his recent blog posts is about a political candidate who I also appreciate. Here's is that post.

I'll copy it here, but you'll need to go to his site to see the references.

Why Ron Paul?

Since posting a passing comment on my Facebook fan page about Ron Paul, I have been inundated with questions and concerns about my support of the Texas Congressman in the current Republican Primary race. In one of my many political posts (frequently, I post videos, news articles, etc., in an effort to show the importance and influence of worldview), I simply stated that I voted for Dr. Paul in the last election, and planned to vote for him again.

The result was hundreds of comments; more than any other post I’ve ever submitted. Most of the comments were positive. However, several were extremely negative. Some vowed never to follow, or support my ministry any further, while others simply communicated their dismay. Still others, like today's questioner, just asked honest questions. As a result, I’ve decided to explain my position, and this seemed like the best place to do it.

Let me say ahead of time that I do not believe that politics will save America. Nor do I believe there are any perfect candidates. There never have been, and there never will be. Moreover, it is not my goal to answer every objection to the Paul candidacy as I know that there are those who, for various reasons, will not be persuaded, and more importantly, that’s not my job. My goal here is to offer insight in to my own reasoning as I wade through another political season and make a personal choice.

I. Ron Paul is a Christian Conservative

While I am not looking for a “Pastor-in-Chief,” it is important to me that the man for whom I cast my vote be a Christian, if at all possible. And though I recognize that there is not always a clear Christian choice (i.e., the 2008 election), I agree with Chief Justice John Jay who wrote, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."[1] For indeed, “Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governour of the Universe.”[2] John Witherspoon concurs: “Those, therefore, who pay no regard to religion and sobriety in the persons whom they send to [public office] are guilty of the greatest absurdity and will soon pay dear for their folly.”[3] I think we are seeing this on display right now.[4]

My desire is not to see a president who will usurp the authority, responsibilities, or privileges of the Church. However, I do not wish to see those things hindered either. I also want to know that the foundational ideology motivating a man’s decisions is biblical. I know it will not always mirror my own, but I trust God’s word, and appreciate those who look to it for aid in making decisions. To that end, I support Dr. Paul because he is not just a conservative, but a Christian Conservative.

Dr. Paul does not beat his Christian faith like a drum in his public/political life. Unfortunately, that is off-putting for the “Christian Right”. However, in a world full of ‘posturing’ in an effort to win over evangelicals, I find Paul’s public demeanor refreshing. And it is not as though he is a ‘closet Christian,’ either. “I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and I endeavor every day to follow Him in all I do and in every position I advocate,” wrote Paul on his Web site.[5] I have also had the privilege of talking with both him, and one of his five children about his faith and how it influences his policy positions.

Nevertheless, the more important aspect is the fact that this Southern Baptist (raised Lutheran) is a regular church attender. What would motivate a man to attend church, but not beat a drum about it in an effort to win over evangelicals in an age when political figures play at Christianity (while living totally contradictory lives, and holding heterodox beliefs) in order to assuage the fears of the Christian Right? Having met and talked to Dr. Paul, I would say it is authenticity, and humility more than anything else. He wants “to avoid any appearance of exploiting [his faith] for political gain.”[6]

II. Ron Paul is a Constitutional Conservative

Not only is Ron Paul a Christian Conservative; he is also a Constitutional Conservative. He holds himself accountable to the Constitution of the United States, even when it means he has to vote against legislation that may be otherwise beneficial. This has cost him on numerous occasions as people use the “Ron Paul voted against so-and-so” tactic to paint a caricature of him and play “gotcha” politics.

This is actually an important quality in a President. I don’t want a man in the White House making decisions based on what “feels” right. I’m not looking for a conscientious King; I want a Chief Executive. I want a man whose decisions are predictable because of a long track record of constitutional conservatism. I may not always agree with a man like that, but I will always know why he did what he did, and I can live with that. Especially in several crucial areas facing our Republic, like money, war, States’ Rights, and foreign policy, for example.

Constitutional Money

I support Ron Paul because he has a constitutional view of money. He is the only candidate consistently to confront the Federal Reserve Bank (which is not federal, has no reserves, and is not a bank), and address the issue of fiat currency (a.k.a. unjust weights and measures; Lev 19:36; Prov 16:11), which debases the dollar, manipulates business cycles, creates inflation, and always benefits the rich at the expense of the poor and disenfranchised. And he talks about the issue in just those terms.

Congressman Paul is also the only candidate who has a budget that will cut a TRILLION DOLLARS in spending in year one.[7] He is the only candidate who has committed to defund and eliminate expensive, unconstitutional agencies. This is crucial for a country headed for an economic cliff. Our debt is larger than our GDP and we simply must address it NOW (Luke 14:28)! This is arguably the most important issue we face, and while others want to tinker with the status quo, Dr. Paul wants to do the hard thing; the right thing; the biblical thing; the constitutional thing.

Constitutional War

I support Ron Paul because he is a military veteran (yup... he refuses to beat that drum too, which is why you may not have known that little tidbit). And though I do not believe it is necessary for a man to have served in the military for him to serve as President, the fact that Congressman Paul knows and hates war lends credibility to his desire and commitment to ending the wars and bringing our troops home. Moreover, he has a constitutional understanding of war (only Congress can send us to war), and a Christian commitment to historic Just War Theory (rooted in the Sixth Commandment... HIS WORDS).[8] He, unlike other candidates, can be counted on not to commit to acts of war without congressional authority (i.e., unilaterally deciding to bomb a sovereign nation if they advance their weapons technology in a region several thousand miles away from the U.S., under the watchful eye of a nation with over 300 nukes who can stop them in a heartbeat... but I digress).

There is a reason Dr. Paul has received more support from members of the military than all other candidates (Republican and Democrat) COMBINED! The top three employers of Ron Paul’s donors are the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, respectively. Dr. Paul will not use our military to hunt down and overthrow heads of state without Congressional authority (i.e., Libya), kill American citizens without warrant,[9] detain citizens indefinitely without benefit of a trial,[10] or chase warlords in central Africa.[11] When it comes to war, Dr. Paul understands that, “Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.” (Proverbs 26:17)

Constitutional States’ Rights

I support Ron Paul because he not only understands, but believes in the Tenth Amendment. I know many Christians have been scared off by the “Ron Paul wants to legalize drugs, gay marriage, and abortion” rhetoric. However, looking beyond the rhetoric reveals Paul’s true constitutional conservatism (and biblical understanding of jurisdiction). He has personal convictions, but those will not be allowed to steer him away from his constitutional oath. The presidency, and the Federal Government have limits.

The President is not “Pastor in Chief.” It is not the President’s job (or the job of the Federal Government) to set such policies. The “War on Drugs,” for example, has been a monumental, unconstitutional, fiscal failure (to the tune of more than $3 BILLION)![12] The Federal Government must be held within the confines of its enumerated powers. This is important for Christians because we will not always have people in the White House with whom we agree (in fact, politicians will always let us down). What happens when we send a man to the White House with the express purpose of “changing the moral standards” of America in our favor, then, down the line we have a president who uses the same un-cheked powers to promote moral standards with which we disagree? How’s that workin’ for ya’?

But what about the moral issues to which we, as Christians, must speak? First, we must speak to them at the local level. I have no right to look to Washington, D.C. for remedies when I am not preaching on Mars Hill at every opportunity. The Roe v. Wade, for example, started in Texas; not D.C.. Furthermore, there is not a single institution more prolific in the spread of moral decay than the government education system, and Ron Paul is the only man who plans to get the federal government out of that business by ending the (unconstitutional) Department of Education IMMEDIATELY (Luke 6:40).

Beyond that, if there are issues we wish to address on a federal level, we have a federal remedy, and it is not the election of a President; it is the amendment process. This is less favorable to those who do not wish to do the hard work of changing hearts and minds in the marketplace of ideas. However, the alternative is a quasi-monarchy (or oligarchy) that changes with the wind, and a view of the presidency that is both unbiblical and unconstitutional.

Constitutional Foreign Policy

I support Ron Paul because he has a constitutional view of foreign policy. Ironically, our foreign policy has been so unconstitutional for so long that many people recoil at the idea of getting it back in line. Moreover, the semantic game Paul’s opponents play (using “isolationism” as opposed to “non-intervention” to define his position) doesn’t help. For most Christians, this is where they believe I’ve left the reservation. They may not say, “We have to be the world’s police force,” but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Do you know his position on Israel?” “Surely you can’t support a man who doesn’t support Israel!”

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Ron Paul does support Israel. It is our current foreign policy that does not support Israel! However, there is a deeper issue here. There is a sort of misplaced Dispensationalism that governs people’s sentimental attitude toward Israel. Let me state clearly that I do not believe the Bible demands that the U.S. support Israel. I do, however, believe that it is wise to do so for geopolitical reasons. To do so for theological reasons, I believe, is actually misguided, and quite dangerous. Nevertheless, Israel is our only true ally in the Middle East, and that is important.

But there’s a more important question: “What does it mean to “support” Israel?” Does it mean that Israel remains God’s “Chosen People,” and we must stand with them in anticipation of the coming Armageddon? Is the President to act as “Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces” and “Supreme Defender of Israel”? Or are we simply to make sure the foreign aid dollars don’t stop flowing? Here are a few things I took into to consideration in evaluating Congressman Paul’s foreign policy.

Israel is the most powerful nation in the Middle East... BY A LONG SHOT! In fact, Israel could potentially defeat all the other military powers in the Middle East simultaneously if they had to.
We not only give money to Israel; we give money to their enemies as well. That is not supporting Israel! That is using money to buy influence in a region thousands of miles away from us in the name of oil, when we happen to have the largest repository of oil on planet earth right here in the US, but refuse to go and get it (in the name of Earth-worshipping environmentalism)!
Israel is a sovereign nation, and we have no right to treat her like a child. Our foreign aid has been a tool used to influence Israel’s domestic policy for far too long. If we are their friends, we should allow them to exercise their sovereignty without our interference, and certainly without our condemnation. Who do we think we are? No, I disagree with my Christian brothers and sisters who think a country who supports Israel’s enemies, interferes with Israel’s domestic policy, condemn’s Israel in efforts to keep ties with oil-rich countries in the region, and helps to destabilize and radicalize one of Israel’s historic foes lurking on her southern boarder is engaging in a foreign policy that supports Israel.

III. Ron Paul is a Consistent Conservative

Finally, I support Dr. Paul because he has been a consistent conservative. He has been married to the same woman for more than fifty years; delivered over 4,000 babies as an OB; never performed a single abortion; has never voted for an unbalanced budget, a tax increase, or a bailout; forecasted the economic debacle long before it happened;[13] and gave back $140,000 last year through his office to pay down the national debt (100,000 in 2010). This man is so principled that he refuses to claim his congressional pension!

Ron Paul is the real deal. He is not perfect. He needs a savior just like you and I do (as noted by his trust in Christ as his redeemer). But when it’s all said and done, he is a man with whom I agree in principle. I know where he’s coming from, and it’s not based on his “personal story,” or his sense of what’s going to get him elected. It’s the same thing he’s been running on (and governing from) for over three decades; the Constitution of the United States (viewed through the lens of a basic biblical world and life view). And I’m glad to support a man like that.

"Therapeutic Praise"

2012-01-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

The weekend devotional in January's Tabletalk Magazine is entitled "Therapeutic Praise." David Murray wrote an excellent article about the value of singing the Psalms. He starts off saying, "Despite hundreds of new Christian songs being composed each year, the ancient Psalms are experiencing something of a revival." He goes on to give five reasons all dealing with our emotions, thus the title of the article.

First, the Psalms are God's word and at the same time, express our emotions as humans. "The Psalms strike an inspired balance of doxology and theology; they combine the objective with the subjective in perfect proportions."

His second and third reasons deal with those emotions. "...[T]he Psalms richly express the full range of human emotions: grief and joy, doubt and confidence, loneliness and fellowship, despair and hope, fear and courage, defeat and victory, complaint and praise." In addition to the full range of emotions the Psalms also portray honesty of emotion. He says, "Although the strong expressions of stark reality can initially jar our refined ears, we are soon relieved to find kindred spirits who helpfully express what we often think, feel, and experience in our messy daily lives."

Fourth, the Psalms allow us to deal with painful emotions. "The Psalms not only permit us to 'vent' our emotions but also call for transformation. We are not left to wallow in our feelings but are shown how to move from fear to courage, from sorrow to joy, from anger to peace, and from despair to hope."

Fifth, the Psalms encourage us to be sympathetic to others who are experiencing emotions different from our own. "The Psalms call me to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice, even if I feel the exact opposite." Romans 12:15 says exactly that. As the body of Christ we bear each others burdens.

His last line, "The Psalms turn me inside out." That makes me smile.

Do Familial Curses Still Exist?

2012-01-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

The following is a brief article by R.C. Sproul Jr. Just read it!

God tells us in Exodus 20 that He will visit “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,” (verse 5). That might settle the issue, but then God also told us this, “In those days they shall say no more: ‘ The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’” (Jeremiah 31:29). Does this mean that there was, in the old covenant, familial curses, and that in the new they no longer exist? I think not.

I would suggest instead that what was still is, and what is not, never was. God’s promise in Exodus 20 is not that He will send fresh judgment against one generation for the sins of another generation. God does not have beside His throne a box full of thunderbolts that He hurls down on sinners. Much less does He hurl down thunderbolts against someone’s great grandchildren. The consequences of our sin are much more organic than that, as are the results of our obedience.

Suppose that I suffered from covetousness. God is unlikely to, if I am outside the kingdom, send me boils to punish me. Neither is He likely, if I am inside the kingdom, to send me boils to coax me toward repentance. What He is far more likely to do, in either case, is afflict me with collection calls, repo men, crippling interest rates and foreclosure. Now suppose my sons grew up in this covetous household. Is it not more likely that they will learn covetousness from me? Will they not likely see the afflictions as normal life? They certainly are not likely to receive an inheritance that could bless them. They would, in this sense, live with the consequences of my sin, for multiple generations. My iniquity would be visited on them.

That said, if they in turn live covetous lives, will they be able to blame either God or me for the collections calls, repo men, etc? Of course not. They are still responsible to be financially responsible. They are in like manner free to live in gratitude, and to end the cycle.

Those who promote the notion of “familial curses” are correct to note that our sins are not hermetically sealed, affecting only the sinner. (Remember that multiple “innocent” families lost husbands and fathers at Ai because of Achan’s sin at Jericho (Joshua 7:4).) God does indeed deal with us corporately, not just in the family but in churches, communities and nations. Those who think there is some sort of mystical cure, beyond repentance, are, I fear, mistaken.

In the end, if we are suffering and wondering why, the last answer we should come to is, “It is my ancestor’s fault.” On the other hand, when we are tempted to sin, we ought never to lose sight that the consequences certainly can outlive us, and afflict those we love. Thus I pray often that God would spare my children from the fruit of my sins. In either case the answer is to repent and to give thanks. We all enjoy so much more than we are due. And even suffering, for the believer, is blessing. We are to count it all joy.

(Emphasis added.)

Handmade Gift from a Friend

2012-01-06T19:13:00.000-05:00

Way back a year ago a few of us decided to participate in a "Handmade Pay-it_forward" thing. Here's the gift I received from my friend Margaret.

The Girls ready for Christmas

2012-01-05T19:08:00.000-05:00

The above seven are mine. Amy dressed ALL the dolls for Christmas. We think we have 35 18-inch dolls. Here's the annual Christmas group shot.

Believe it or not, these dolls all have names. Starting in the back row from left to right (continuing down the stairs from left to right):

Addy, Sierra, Kit, Felicity, Elizabeth, Jess

Hannah, Hayden, Heather, Josie, Kirsten, Star, Laylie

Emily, Molly, Rebecca, Kaya, Joan, Julie, Victoria

Violet, Josefina, Abigail Noel, Josefina, Samantha, Kathleen, Eilis

Etta, Cecile, Nicki, Elizabeth Bennett (from Pride & Prejudice), Anna, Adria, Chrissa, Solana

Lia holding Kristina, Polly, Esther, Rejoice holding Rebecca.

There you have it.

How's Your Cholesterol?

2012-01-04T17:40:00.000-05:00

This is an email that came in my email today.

It's about as casual and common a question as, "How's it going?" And because cholesterol is made out to be the dirty culprit responsible for high rates of heart disease, many stay on top of their cholesterol levels and try desperately to keep them below whatever the doctors are touting as the "now", new dangerous level.

Men of all ages can't even watch a TV hockey game without being prodded to: "Ask your doctor if Lipitor is right for you." Well, don't bother asking. The answer is "No!" Plain and simple.

Lipitor's website begins with the words, "If you have high cholesterol, you may not even know it."(1) Well, that's true. If indeed high cholesterol was the cause of heart disease, the reminder and warning might be appreciated, but what the mainstream media doesn't tell us is this:

---- Cholesterol is not a proven cause of heart disease.

Or this:

---- Diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol do not equate to heart disease or high cholesterol levels.

And this:

---- There is very little cholesterol or saturated fat in the arterial plaque that clogs.

How 'bout this?

---- Rates of heart failure have doubled since the advent of statin drugs. (2)

The truth is, cholesterol-lowering drugs (not cholesterol) cause more harm to the heart than elevated cholesterol levels.

Conversely, statins are know for the following:

---- They inhibit the production of coenzyme, Q10, which the muscles, including the heart need to function.

---- are know to cause heart failure.

---- are a depressant.

---- rob the mind of its cognitive ability.

---- have been shown to cause cancer.

Cholesterol is not the culprit it's made out to be. In fact, it is a wonderful thing.

Let me repeat: Cholesterol truly is a wonderful thing and necessary to many areas of the body, including the heart.

Did you know that cholesterol is: (3)

---- Made by almost every cell in the body?

---- A waterproofing mechanism that helps build cell walls, allowing the cellular function to proceed without impediment?

---- A powerful antioxidant, which helps protect against cancer?

---- A building block for hormones - particularly those that address stress, and regulate mineral metabolism, blood sugars, and sex hormones?

---- Necessary for brain function as well as the central nervous system?

---- Like an anti-depressant, only the real thing? It helps the body make use of serotonin; the chemical that helps make us feel mentally well.

So, if you're trying to catch cholesterol, you're going after the wrong perpetrator!

But wait a minute. What about the "good" vs. "bad" cholesterol debate? Maybe we shouldn't be up in arms against all cholesterol, but only the "bad" cholesterol?

Yes, this, too, is an ill-waged war.

The only thing "bad" about the "bad cholesterol," LDL (low-density-lipoprotein) is that it carries homocysteine along with the necessary cholesterol, from the liver to the other areas of the body.

Homocysteine is an amino acid that we rarely hear about within the cholesterol debate.

Too much homocysteine can damage the arteries and the heart.

Instead of lowering cholesterol levels, endeavor to lower homocysteine levels, which run rampant when our body doesn't have enough vitamin B6, B12, and Folic Acid.

Unfortunately, this is all too often the case, since the body is ultimately depleted of these vitamins thanks to processed foods. B6, B12, and folic acid are destroyed by technological advances, which are appealingly called "refined" and "processed." Think: white refined sugars, white flours, canning and heating processes, etc.

Let the case against cholesterol come to a close. It is a beautiful and necessary substance needed for healthy minds and bodies. As are saturated fats and cholesterol rich foods. What we don't need is a statin drug to cover up symptoms that don't necessarily point to disease in the first place.

So if you really want to arm yourself against heart disease and truly want to stop worrying about cholesterol levels, try these easy, safe, & delicious ideas:

---- Stock your refrigerator with free-range eggs and raw milk.

---- Don't be afraid of fat-soluble vitamins A and D and the butter and lard from which they are deliciously and naturally delivered.

---- Enjoy gourmet, nutrient dense foods such as coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and liver and organ meats from free range animals.

---- Find a friend who hunts, and stock your freezer with venison and bones for making genuine hearth-healthy bone stocks for your soups.

---- Eschew canned, processed fruits and vegetables as well as pasteurized dairy, especially ultra-pasteurized. Replace these with homemade or cottage industry provided sources.

---- Eat vegetables, but not in lieu of fatty meats and whole fat dairy products which are packed with homocysteine regulating vitamins: B6, B12, and Folic Acid. More importantly, include crispy, fermented vegetables.

It's really rather easy. Just eat like an old time farmer, OR like a European immigrant, OR like a connoisseur seated at the finest restaurant in Paris, Rome, or Munich.

Then enjoy your meals knowing that your heart will love it. In fact, it might just have a love affair with genuine food.

References:

(1) www.lipitor.com(2) www.westonaprice.org(3) www.westonaprice.org

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and may not be construed as medical advice. The reader is encouraged to make independent inquires and to seek the advice of a licensed healthcare provider.

Ornaments

2012-01-03T17:28:00.000-05:00

Here are the close-ups of the ornaments from the Nativity Tree.

This one is from my childhood. I think I made it in third grade, but it could have been second grade.

These clothes pin ornaments are also from my childhood, but I don't remember who made them. My mom might know. Hint, hint. :)

This guy makes me smile. He's a modern stuffed snowman, one of several that sit around during the Christmas season.

Suppression

2011-12-19T12:40:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest blog post from my doctor.

Suppression

Posted December 18, 2011 by Dr. Karin in Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

There is a time and a place for suppression. If a patient is having an asthma attack, the use of steroids or other medications is sometimes needed! Also, short-term suppression of acute or chronic problems is less likely to be harmful in the long run. One example would be using combination homeopathic remedies or decongestants to treat a cold or flu (though the total length and severity of an acute illness is reduced when an individualized remedy is used instead). If, however, the a combination homeopathic remedy (or other medication) is chronically used to treat a chronic, recurrent problem, then there would be suppression over time. This is why I generally discourage the long-term use of homeopathic ‘sleep aids’, ‘allergy aids’, and so on. You shouldn’t have to use it for weeks or months. A rational basis of medicine will consider suppression as a link to ‘different’ diseases developing over a lifetime.

Suppression is a subject poorly understood (and infrequently considered) in conventional medicine as well as in integrative/alternative medicine. Consider one general rule: no matter what kind of treatment we undertake (homeopathy, herbs, supplements, regular drugs, surgery, etc.), there are two possibilities for the outcome.

We can either move disease toward cure, or toward deeper seated disease (suppression). Any therapy has the potential to suppress diseases…even homeopathy! How can we know exactly how we are affecting disease when we treat it? How can we know whether we are suppressing or curing disease?

In homeopathic practice, there are ‘rules’ for doctors when tracking patients’ symptoms. Hering’s Law describes in general terms how, in healing, disease should move from deeper to more superficial expressions:

The 5 Directions of Cure:

1. From organs of more importance, to organs of lesser importance

(for example, asthma improving, but the patient may still have a chronic sinus problem)

2. From above, downward

(for example, chronic eczema should clear up on the head first, later on the legs)

3. From inside, to the outside

(for example, ulceration of the gut improving, but acne getting worse)

4. From center, to periphery

(for example, someone with rheumatoid arthritis should notice their spine and hip pain improving, then later the hands…not the other way around)

5. In the chronological reverse order of disease development

The suppression of disease generally occurs in the opposite directions as those listed by Hering. This whole scheme is complicated by many factors, especially multiple layers of suppression over years’ time.

A simplistic spectrum, showing how superficial (or how deep) any particular disease or symptom is, might look something like this :

:) <—-skin/sinuses<——>digestion/gut<——>musculoskeletal issues<——->heart/lung/organ<——>endocrine/hormonal issues<——->neurologic symptoms/cancers—-> :(

(more superficial diseases are on the left, leading deeper and deeper as you ‘read’ to the right).

For example, a patient who presents with hypertension as the primary complaint, may relate a history which includes many years of ‘treating’ painful joints with some kind of over-the-counter medication such as ibuprofen. From the conventional point of view, these two ‘diseases’ have nothing to do with one another. From the homeopath’s perspective, they are directly related…the suppression of the ‘disease’ in the joints, led to a deeper manifestation of disease tendency over time.

In the detailed medical history of a patient, a typical story of suppression might go something like this:

Patient X had a normal birth, no complications (the mother had an uneventful pregnancy). In infancy she had some eczema. This was treated with topical cortisone (steroid) creams, and ‘cured’. As a toddler, she had recurrent ear infections. These were treated with multiple rounds of antibiotics. She ‘outgrew’ this tendency. When she was 5 she developed asthma, which was treated with inhaled steroids and bronchodilators. She also ‘outgrew’ her asthma by the time she was a teenager, but by then she had menstrual cramps, irregular periods, and headaches. These were treated with various medications over the years. In adulthood, she deals with chronic insomnia, migraines, anxiety, hypothyroidism, and hypertension. And on and on and on, until we eventually are dealing with diabetes, heart disease, neurological disorders, cancer.

Now for the good news :)

Cure generally proceeds in a reverse order as the suppression of disease. While not every person is curable (our inherited tendencies, habits, past treatments, & so on will always influence an outcome), homeopathy is profoundly able to tap into the body’s inherent wisdom to help it help itself.

Here is an example of how a case might proceed toward cure:

Patient Y presents with the complaints of chronic depression, fatigue, sleep disturbances, joint and back pains, irritable bowel syndrome, and irregular periods with debilitating hot flashes. After taking a thorough history, a constitutional remedy is prescribed. After one month, her hot flashes have reduced in intensity and frequency, the back pain has improved (other joint pains have not), her mood has lifted, and she is often sleeping deeper and able to remember dreams. Her energy is beginning to improve. Her response to the remedy indicates, for a number of reasons, why we are on the right track.

First, she is having a global response. Multiple areas she had complained of are getting better at once. This is the mark of the body’s own mechanisms of healing kicking in. Second, she is improving in such a way that the 5 Directions of Cure are not being violated. (If, instead of the response indicated above, she had reported that her hot flashes were not better, sleep and fatigue were about the same, but joint pains and bowel function were greatly improved, then I would know I had prescribed an incorrect, suppressive remedy.)

Third, mood, energy, and sleep are deep-seated indicators of overall vitality and state of health. They must be among the first symptoms to improve.

After being on the remedy longer, this patient should experience improvement in all the areas she had complained of.

Vaccination and Suppression

A 1996 study in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that tetanus vaccine disables the immune system in HIV patients. Tetanus vaccination produced a drop in immune T cells, a classic marker of immune deficiency, in 10 of 13 patients, with a rise in viral replication.

Results of the Christchurch Health and Development Study in New Zealand, published in 1997 in Epidemiology, point to higher rates of asthma and allergy episodes among vaccinated children.

A study using the Mumps-Measles-Rubella (MMR) vaccine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, researchers investigated the association between childhood asthma and live-virus vaccines, concluding that “universal childhood vaccination using live viral strains may be contributory to the rise in IgE [antibody]-mediated disorders.”

In 1994, a committee of investigators at the Institutes of Medicine directly associated vaccines with the rising occurrence of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, that attack and destroy the myelin sheaths (insulating and conducting apparatus) of nerves.

A study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal in 1996 revealed that an epidemic of diabetes followed a massive campaign to vaccinate children against hepatitis B. The study showed a 60% increase in childhood insulin-dependent diabetes, an autoimmune disease, occurring in the years following the 1989—1991 vaccination program of children aged 6 to 16.

Other studies have shown that widespread use of the Haemophilus meningitis vaccine has resulted in diabetes epidemics. Diabetes has also been frequently observed as a consequence of the mumps vaccine: Three European studies reported 22 cases of diabetes that began within 30 days of mumps vaccination.

While vaccination programs have undoubtedly decreased the incidence of childhood diseases, have we created a higher incidence of more chronic-deep seated diseases as a result? Have we simply shifted the burden of disease to later life? Unfortunately most parents are not presented with a choice regarding vaccinating their children. Nor are they presented with the possible harm that may be done by vaccination. Homeopaths world-wide, through established methods of detailed history-taking and long-term follow up of disease progression (or regression), have observed a relationship between vaccination and the onset of many chronic diseases. This is a very unpopular area for research, but clinical observation gives empiric evidence (seeing what happens when one treats a patient for vaccine-related disease) in support of this theory. It isn’t always possible to discover through patient history whether a disease state is vaccination-induced, but treating with a remedy from a group called nosodes (in this case, made from the innoculations themselves) can clear an otherwise muddy case.

A tangential comment:

I have often contemplated why homeopathy is still so poorly accepted, when quantum physics can explain it. Granted, advances in surgery have been massively beneficial, but scientifically, why have modern medicine’s methods not advanced beyond the age of Newton? I know that medical students, well-intentioned though they may be, are offered little alternative to the pharmaceutical fare during their medical educations. Doctors have learned the lessons of Big Pharma, plausibly the earth’s most powerful industry, and are often complicit in the generation of its massive profits through implementation of unquestioned vaccination regimens, and later by the uninhibited use of pharmaceutical drugs (many people are on 5-15+ drugs daily). The implications of the theory of suppression are staggering, in terms of disease progression. Yet I can understand the doctor who refuses to seriously contemplate the possibility of having ‘done harm‘ through the accepted practices of today. Perhaps this is why homeopathy, an effective method of treatment which is both safe and cheap, will unlikely be a serious threat to the established machine of modern medicine in my lifetime.

Nativity Tree

2011-12-16T23:04:00.001-05:00

I'm calling this the Nativity Tree.

With the exception of the star the ornaments came from here.

Amy was so kind to put the lights on for me.

I'll try to get shots of the individual ornaments and post those.

2011-12-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

The pond has a thin layer of ice. Winter is on the way.

Quilt block of the week 2011

2011-12-12T22:17:00.000-05:00

In September I started another quilt-block-of-the-week at the quilt shop. I missed most of the sessions this year due to one thing or another. But I finished all the blocks and now need to put them together.

Here's the red set of blocks.

Here's the blue set.

This is the only green one I had done when I took the pictures.

Here are all the blocks with the first set of sashing around them.

The next step is to pick the fabric for sashing, outer border and binding. I need to find something to pull it all together.

2011-12-06T15:30:00.001-05:00

If you visit Marie Madeline's blog you'll see that they are tying quilts I sent! The fourth and fifth pictures show mine. :) Click here.

Doll coats for sale

2011-12-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Encouragement from R.C. Sproul Jr.

2011-12-04T12:55:00.000-05:00

PRAYING LIKE CRAZY

The Kingdom Notes: Praying Like Crazyby R.C. Sproul Jr. on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 8:35am

A crazy person is one who has a break from reality. Those of us who have not embraced postmodernism understand that reality is something outside ourselves that exists, how it exists, quite apart from our agreement or understanding of it. If we think a tail is a leg, a dog still only has four legs. What we think has nothing to do with it.

Which is why I suspect that we are all as crazy as a spectacularly crazy thing. So much of our pathos, so much of our pain, so much of what we seek to escape isn’t about what is, but what we think is. Because we don’t believe in “the” reality, “our ““reality” becomes a place of sorrow and fear.

Imagine if you would, what would happen to your sorrows and fears if God Himself, the maker of heaven and earth, the Father of our Lord, the sovereign One, were to come to you, wrap you in His almighty arms and say to you, “I love you with a perfect love, exactly as I love My Son. I will never stop loving you, no matter what. I am completely, utterly for you. I promise, on My own life, that I will do you good every day of your life. And because I control all things, that means My good is all you will ever experience from this time forward.” What if the Holy Spirit were to say to you, “I am with you wherever you go. I will purify your heart, and fill you with my courage.” Suppose Jesus were to cup your chin in His scar stained hand, look you in the eye and say, “You are My beloved, and I will never forsake you.” Now, would you ever be afraid that He was displeased with you? Would you ever fear the world? Your own flesh? The devil?

Would you, if this had ever happened, ever be dissatisfied? Would you ever lose sleep? Would you ever be short with others? Would envy ever find a toe-hold in you? The truth, the objective, 2+2=4 truth, the “Squirrels have bushy tails” truth is that this is precisely what has happened. These are precisely the present day promises of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only problem is that I’m just crazy enough not to believe these promises.

Which is why I pray. I do not ask that God would do more for me, save that He would help me grasp all that He has already done. I do not ask Him that He would allow me to see the future, but that He would allow me to believe the present. I don’t ask to be made super spiritual. I don’t ask to be a pillar of piety. I don’t ask become an icon of integrity. I only want to be sane, to submit to the blessed reality in which I already live. I only want to believe the One who is the Truth, whose Truth promises to set me free. Pray with, and for me.

RCJR

Autumn Leaf

2011-12-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

There were more of these outlines all over the driveway last week, but I didn't have time to get pictures before they were gone.

First Snow

2011-12-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

It snowed just a bit on Wednesday morning.

A Winter-Ready Squirrel

2011-12-01T21:16:00.000-05:00

I have never seen a squirrel that was so big. He wasn't as big as a ground hog, but from a distance he looked similar.

This one is a little blurry, but it shows him closer.

The Buck That Came to Visit

2011-11-30T21:09:00.001-05:00

Amy got some pretty good shots of the buck that showed up recently.

The Auction

2011-11-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

We never go to auctions. I'm not sure I've really ever been to one. UNTIL Saturday.

I noticed that a nearby garden center was having an auction of of trees, bushes, perennials, etc. I mentioned it to hubby on Friday night, so he went over there to check it out. After a while I started getting texts about what he was getting, like 12 elvira grapevines for $2 or something like that. One text said I should bring the checkbook in about an hour. So I got ready and went to join him. Well a few hours later we had all this.

For less than $200 we got hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of vegetation. There were people there who bought a whole lot more than we did. It was pretty amazing to watch. Everyone was having a great time, that's for sure.

We brought home dogwoods, foxglove, ajuga (my dad may appreciate that), holly, coneflower, bee balm, a couple evergreen type trees and a few perennials that I don't remember what they're called. Trees that would normally sell for over $100 went for around $20. What a great way to get plants! I heard one lady say that for a dollar if it grows it grows, if not so be it.

Now the hard part begins, we have to find places for all of it and get it all in the ground. I was informed that I'd be helping with that. :) I should add that since my first writing of this post we have planted the foxgloves, coneflowers and some false daisies. We also looked over the yard and decided where to put the dogwoods, the taller trees and the ajuga. Thinking through the rest.Oh and as I was going through the cards they gave us for each auction item we won, I discovered one that didn't look familiar. So I went back to the garden center to see if they still had it. Sure enough we now have NINE more bushes! But they were originally $24 each and we got NINE of them for $18 so it was worth checking.

The Burning Bush

2011-10-31T22:43:00.000-04:00

One of my favorites of God's creation.

Third annual Mother/Daughter outing Part 2

2011-10-30T22:39:00.000-04:00

After the Fabric Shack we drove up the road to The Secret Garden. This old truck was the first thing to greet us. We probably could have stuffed all our purchased into the back.

We even sent this picture to hubby to see if we could bring the girl home. But he said, "NO.":(

These lawn ornaments caught our eye.

Even though hubby said no to the truck he did say yes to the table.

We had to remove most of our stuff from the back of the van to get it in there, but we did it!

There were more treasures to be found inside.

Another trip is in the books. We're already looking forward to next year.

Third annual Mother/Daughter outing Part 1

2011-10-29T22:22:00.000-04:00

It's really amazing that we actually got this trip done. There was seemingly one set-back after another. I think several of us were sick up to a day or two before, there was a literal detour on our way to pick up our friends, and some other unmentionables almost kept us from going. But we, finally, did get on our way even if it was several hours later than we'd hoped.

The first day we stopped at a larger Joann fabric store and took advantage of coupons. We had a very leisurely supper at Cracker Barrel then on to the city where the hotel awaited us.

The next day was pretty much filled with this place. Fabric shack has been a must for each trip. It's eye candy and a soothing-for-the-soul type of place. Well, there is also the frustration of not being able to buy everything or at least everything we like. It's pretty hard to make fabric decisions when you have to narrow down hundreds of choices to only a few. Somehow we manage.

Antibiotic use

2011-10-17T15:43:00.001-04:00

I really need to come up with a plan to blog regularly. :) For today I'm posting an article that came in my email this morning. It's written by Joette Calabrese. There's not a link for the article, but her website is here.

Postpone that Illness - Take Antibiotics

So often, moms call me when their children are sick with fevers and colds. Sometimes they call after the illness has progressed over a few days; the mom is at her wit's end with worry and frustration! At this point, homeopathy and natural medicine are a last ditch effort.

Meanwhile, over-the-counter-meds, Tylenol and the like have been employed, as well as a visit to the doctor. This is the typical scenario. The parent is hoping for direction from the doctor, but most often, an antibiotic is prescribed.

Antibiotic, antibiotic, antibiotic.

The parent buckles under the pressure and resorts to the drug. In short order, the fever reduces and the child recovers. Or does he?

"My child is sick again."

"Yes, of course," I think to myself.

Now, don't get the wrong impression. I recognize that it takes time to find comfort in not using a pill for every ill. This mentality has been ingrained in all of us and we must reprogram ourselves in order to undo this archaic thinking.

The new fever is, in fact, not new at all. It's the very same one which wasn't allowed to complete its course because antibiotics and the like had been used. Here it is again. After it was attacked with conventional "treatment" only a month previous, it's brewed in the system and mutated and rearranged itself.

Unfortunately, parents can be drawn to the idea that conventional medicine, hence antibiotics, can help, when in reality they only delay a full recovery. And worse yet, they cause a new long term illness. By using antibiotics, the disease will simply be rescheduled for a later date.

Mark it on your calendar ...its coming again.

If this were a financial analogy, we'd go to the bank to find our savings account emptied after making a poor investment on junk bonds.

The broker ought to be fired!

So, fire the antibiotics and the entire periphery!

Unfortunately, the child may have to start all over again with the same illness unless it is finally put to rest by simply getting over it naturally. This means, the illness should not be treated with drugs, but rather, the old fashioned way or via homeopathy, botanicals and the like.

My parents, the children of Italian immigrants with large families, were assigned to their beds when they were sick as kids. They were made to sweat it out with a good dose of garlic, chicken soup and sleep.

When they recovered, it was a true, deep recovery that allowed their body to understand the immunity it had just fashioned. Both of my parents, now in their eighties, have neither hay fever nor allergies.

I, on the other hand grew up in the 50's and 60's when antibiotics were considered state of the art. So when I got strep throat, croup, ear infections, bronchitis and the like, I was not able to recuperate fully. In fact, one might say that the reason for all of the mentioned illnesses is an expressed result of the antibiotics that were administered for the first infection.

Many of my contemporaries and I were plagued with one infection after another. When my tonsils were removed at the tender age of three, instead of tonsillitis, I was then plagued with bronchitis. The pathology simply traveled to a more important organ. Same pathology; different locale.

This is what I see day after day in my work as a homeopathic consultant/educator. The use of antibiotics is one of the travesties of childhood today. These medicines usually cause plenty of chronic illness along the way: gastro intestinal issues, irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, GERD, Crohns, and interestingly, hay fever, later in life.

Yes, homeopaths of old knew well, that whenever a young person's infectious illness (which presented with a fever), was mismanaged by suppressing that same illness, chronic hay fever would be his middle-life suffering. Meanwhile, modern medicine's take on hay fever is that it is inherited.

This, of course, has never been proven.

Remember my parents? Well, after being allowed to just endure infectious childhood diseases without interference, they have had full adulthoods without hay fever, mono, Gerd, etc.

And me?

Well, I suffered from hay fever nearly my entire adult life. It is only now in my late 50's, after homeopathic treatment, that the hay fever has been brought to the point of minimal disruption in my life.

It has taken me this long to rid myself of these allergies because I had a history of repeated medications for every infectious illness that came my way.

That is, until twenty five years ago, when I found the world of natural health and homeopathy.

So, the next time you or your little one gets a cold or other simple infectious disease, celebrate the opportunity to protect yourselves from chronic illness later in life, and simply sweat it out...the way it was done for centuries.

Know that each illness you overcome without the use of medicine of commerce is strengthening the immune system against hay fever and the next infection.

Your body will understand what it's supposed to do... provide immunity and a healthy future.

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and may not be construed as medical advice. The reader is encouraged to make independent inquires and to seek the advice of a licensed healthcare provider.

Heron

2011-09-28T20:55:00.002-04:00

Came home to this fellow yesterday. :)

I believe he likes the fish in our pond.

2011-09-26T20:23:00.000-04:00

Once again I've been busy sewing, but that's good. :)The latest "Handmade-Pay if Forward" gift went to Jane a friend from Z'ville days.

The project before that or maybe simultaneously was the pillowcase dresses for Liberia. Those went to another friend from Z'ville days. (None of us live there anymore.)

BTW, I've heard it said that everybody has some connection with Zanesville, Ohio. Wonder if it's true. I pretty much didn't like living there. There were some great things about it, but they all had to do with the people, not the place. Having said that, I did like our neighborhood, which really only consisted of the 10 houses or so on our street. Enough about that.I've also had a couple orders for coats and since Christmas shopping is upon us I need to keep up with that.

More quilts

2011-09-07T11:21:00.001-04:00

I posted about quilts for Joplin here. Here are a few more I sent.This one is a long twin.The rest are baby quilt tops that I had in a stash.Next up more pillowcase dresses, this time they go to Liberia.

Reversible gift

2011-08-20T21:27:00.000-04:00

Look what I got from Christine!

Chad was my handy helper here!

Christine made me a reversible table runner. One side is for summer and one side is for the Christmas season. I love it! Both sides have such fun fabrics! Thank you very much!

Featured

2011-08-06T12:02:00.000-04:00

Karen featured my Etsy shop on her blog.

The shop is pretty full and more coats will be added over the next couple days.

Thanks to Amy for the first three pics and all the listing help. :)

The real story behind all the farm raids

2011-08-04T15:14:00.000-04:00

THE RAWESOME FOODS RAID

WHY IT REALLY TOOK PLACE

AUGUST 4, 2011. Most of you know by now that multiple agencies of the federal government raided Rawesome Foods yesterday in Venice, California. FDA, CDC, Dept. of Agriculture—along with LA County Sheriffs. Armed sheriffs.

The whole story, and vital updates, can be found at www.naturalnews.com

According to reports, the terms of the warrant were ignored and, instead of taking samples of raw milk and cheese for lab analysis, the entire inventory of Rawesome was taken or destroyed.

This is all about a government attack against selling raw unpasteurized milk. The conflict has been going on for at least 60 years.

Three people were arrested and taken to jail in the raid. Their bail is high, much higher than you would expect.

All records and computers of Rawesome were also seized.

This raid is about several things–

The federal government crackdown on food and their need to control it, which is part of an overall strategy to stamp out the small grower and the small farmer, so that all food in this country is produced by mega-agra corporations, and is genetically modified.

The clout of the dairy industry and its lobbyists.

And, because Rawesome is not an ordinary retail outlet, but a PRIVATE buyer’s club, whose members agree to operate outside the federal government’s rules and regulations on food safety, the club poses a distinct threat to the government octopus—and not just in the food sector.

ANY private association of citizens which, by virtue of its internal agreements, honors CONTRACT above LICENSE, has found its way back to the original intent of the Republic.

And as far as the government is concerned, that must not be allowed to stand.

You see, if you and I sign a contract which permits us to deal with each other in our own chosen way, with no reference to government, we are DECENTRALIZING. This is the point.

Government, on the other hand, wants to control and issue licenses giving conditional rights to us, for every activity under the sun.

You and I, for instance, can agree to “practice medicine” with each other. We can a sign a contract to that effect. By that contract, you can treat my lower back with a medicine you invent—a medicine the FDA has not certified (licensed). We have found a way around the regulators and the lawmakers. And we are responsible. There will be no law suits and no complaints, no matter what the outcome.

And that way is at the heart of what the Republic IS. Or was, until the feds decided, long ago, that control was the objective of society.

Were hundreds of thousands of private “clubs” to spring up in the US, along many lines, the decentralization of power and the taking back of individual responsibility would direct a lethal effect against federal power.

This is why Rawesome was raided in such an overwhelming and unconscionable way yesterday.

The government doesn’t want you or I to be responsible for our own choices and decisions. They know what lies ahead on that road. The dawning of a new day, in which the tonnage of regulations designed to ensnare us in the web is irrelevant, is itself a lie, is seen as an illusion and nothing more.

We would be able, along many fronts, to opt out of the system.

Private contracts assume and breed self-responsibility.

The system of government-issued licenses breeds dependence.

Government and their media allies WANT YOU TO THINK THAT THE VERY IDEA OF PRIVATE CITIZENS MAKING THEIR OWN CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH EACH OTHER—OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF GOVERNMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS—IS ABSURD, DANGEROUS, AND A SIGN OF LOATHSOME PRIDE.

And you know what? They’re succeeding.

The millions of little dependent androids they’re creating are all too willing to meddle, snitch, and obey “the boss.”

But the truth is, if the members of the Rawesome Buyer’s Club want to purchase and drink raw milk, and don’t care to consult or knuckle under to federal rules on the subject, that is their private right. They don’t want government “protection.” They have their own point of view. If other people want to buy pasteurized milk with growth hormones, fine. Rawesome is doing something else.

The government sees this as a threat that could undermine its drooling need for control.

Right now, the raid on Rawesome is taking place under the auspices of the FDA, CDC, and the US Dept. of Agriculture. I hope you understand these three agencies are part of the Executive Branch of the federal government. And that means the White House. And that means the president. For any of you who may think Barack Obama is the incarnation of The Second Coming, I suggest you take a step back. Decide whether your newfound religious conviction exonerates the president who, whether he knew about the raid before it happened, or only knows about it now, has the power to let it stand or make it go away. In this case, YES WE CAN means “yes, we can put a boot on your head and cancel your freedom to eat the food of your choice—even though we have that little showcase organic garden on the lawn of the White House.”

Under Obama, the power and range and influence of genetically modified food is accelerating. That is what HIS new day looks like. How do you like it?

Take a moment, and separate whatever opinion you may have about the Rawesome buyer’s club members, and their practices—separate that from their RIGHT to form their own association with their own objectives. Decide about that bigger picture. Because what you decide and what action you take based on it have a lot to do with what the future is going to look like.

JON RAPPOPORT
www.nomorefakenews.com
qjrconsultng@gmail.com

Dream On Finale

2011-07-29T16:42:00.001-04:00

ETA: Here's a link to Christine's finished quilt.

It's finally finished! Read the reason for this quilt here.

Here's the binding.

I chose the fabric for the back to match the pattern on the front.

The back is two pieces which I put together matching the diamond shapes. The flowers don't match, but the angles do. Also in this picture, the tension problems are noticeable.

This one shows one block.

I got the idea to do this particular quilt from here. The whole thing was a stretch for me. I much prefer to sew rectangles rather than triangles, but I wanted to do something different for this quilt.

I did the quilting myself on the long-arm machine at the quilt shop. It was only the third quilt I've ever done on it and by far the largest. It's approximately 83.5x70.5.

Overall, I'm happy with the results. Mostly, I'm happy it's done!

Latest quilt

2011-07-27T19:19:00.001-04:00

This latest quilt is sort of special. All the fabric came from Marie Madeline Studio for the purpose of helping the tornado victims in Joplin, MO. They live near there and posted about their project to make quilts for those who need them. They asked for volunteers, so I said I would help. They only asked for quilt tops because they have volunteers to do the quilting. Here's the first one. The second one has yet to be imagined let alone sewn.

I put two borders on it to make it queen size. I really like the black and red combination.

Wisconsin trip

2011-07-26T18:00:00.002-04:00

I have to admit that I did not take my camera out of the bag even once. Fortunately, Amy got a few pictures, but not enough to tell what all we did.

This first pic was taken before we hit the Chicago traffic on a Friday afternoon. The GPS actually had us get off the interstate and routed us through town at one point. We have decided that the next time we go to or through Chicago we won't do it on Friday.

As I said in the previous post our main purpose for going to WI was to go to the American Girl sale. That was successful and fun. However, that's not all we did. We also went to New Glarus, a small town that has a Swiss feel to it. Well, it did, at one point. Now it looks as if the economy has taken its toll there. We did have an excellent lunch at a local restaurant and visited a few shops. We especially liked the antique shop.

We took in the Mustard Museum in Middleton. In the museum section of the place they have on display mustard from every where in the world. I saw one from Ukraine even. There's a section for each state. Ohio had quite a few shelves worth; Nebraska had half a shelf. I guess not much mustard comes from there.

On another day we had dinner and a great evening of visiting with some friends dh knew from college. We have maintained contact all these years and enjoy seeing them when we can.

Our way home included an actual stop in Chicago. We had lunch at the American Girl Place and then spent entirely too much money shopping.

We also went to the top of the John Hancock building. The view is spectacular.

On our way to see another friend we went by this store. It's the All Saints Co. All those sewing machines up the side of the building were intriguing. I didn't much care for the clothing inside the store, but the fixtures were made from old machines used to manufacture clothing.

An outlet mall was another stop on the way home. That was also very successful. ;-) So I guess you could say this trip was a shopping, visiting vacation. We had a nice time, but it's always nice to be home.

Two more dolls

2011-07-25T18:08:00.000-04:00

We recently returned from vacation. This year we went to the Madison, WI area specifically for going to American Girl's benefit sale for Madison Children's Museum. I probably should not tell how many dolls we came home with! However, we did buy some as gifts, we finished our historical collection and I got these two dolls who need names.

Amy gave me the idea to have the one on the right be Hawaiian. Perhaps both of them could be. I prefer slightly out-side the box names. Got any suggestions?

New doll

2011-07-21T20:01:00.000-04:00

Back in May I won an ebay auction for "American Girl Doll of Today Pleasant Co." The description read:

"This doll is in the 2009 catalog, #P1-F880 Light skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes. In the 2011 catalog it has the same doll except with brown eyes. She is in good condition, no marks, scratches chewed fingers or toes, strings a long, sleep eyes work fine, and her limbs are still pretty tight. She is 18 inches tall, head limbs are vinyl the body is cloth jointed at arms and legs, she can stand along. The outfit is Pleasant Co. Buyer pays s&h for a 3 pound package with Priority Mail. Thanks for stopping by."

I won the doll for a great price for an AG doll. I've been watching ebay for quite a while to see what dolls sell for. A trashed doll will sell for around $50 on average depending on the doll. As a side note, if seller starts a listing too high no one will bid. But if a seller starts the bidding lower, bids will often surpass a high starting point.

When the doll arrived she had a strong perfume odor, which to me said it was there to cover up the cigarette smell. On further smelling, I could smell the cigarette odor.

Meanwhile, Amy's Josefina's leg fell off, so we then needed to send two dolls to Dr. Robin. She's a lady we know from various AG message boards. She does an excellent job of repairing ailing dolls. She restrings them, deodorizes them, conditions their hair and maybe other things. It usually takes several weeks to deodorize a doll, so the dolls arrived home early last week.

I have absolutely no desire to be critical of Dr. Robin's work, but my doll still smells like cigarette smoke when I hold her up close. The perfume smell is gone and, generally, she smells good, but not completely.

This doll was originally intended as a gift, but since she still smells a little I don't feel comfortable giving her away. So now I am "stuck" with a new doll. However, after she arrived home from the Doctor Amy said something in passing about her that really didn't register in my mind until yesterday. I was putting clothes on her or rather trying to put clothes on her when I found out that most of the dresses I tried were too small. I mentioned this to Amy who again said that's because she's pre-Mattel. Wow! I ended up with a Pleasant Company doll! Those dolls are fatter than the Mattel dolls, thus the reason most clothes don't fit her.

Introducing Eilis Maureen

Her name is Irish because of her dark hair and blue eyes. The first name is pronounced isle-esh.

Snickerdoodles

2011-07-12T11:59:00.003-04:00

I had never heard of snickerdoodles until I was in junior high. Then a sharing-type friend brought them in her lunch one day. They were homemade by her mother and totally yummy. Since I liked them so much I found a recipe and learned to make them myself.

Since being on the candida diet I have not had any kind of cookie for well over four years. Over the last several months I've been adding things back into my diet to see how it would go. I blogged about the brownies here. I have made that recipe several times and I think I've got it to where I like it best. I added 1+ tsp of liquid stevia which tones down the strong chocolate flavor. In addition to the brownies, I've also added fruit, mostly berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries).

I admit I just added homemade ice cream and dessert from various restaurants. ;-) Learning as I go, I decided I must be very, very picky about eating desserts. For example, Amy & I went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner recently and after dinner we shared Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cheesecake. "Shared" meaning she had about three bites and I had the rest. It was that night I made my dessert decision. Eating the rest of the cheesecake was excessive and after the first few bites I could have stopped and been very happy. But no, I had to finish it and by the time it was gone it was no longer good. While nothing overly bad happened, I was more full than necessary and slightly uncomfortable. So in order for me to have dessert it has to be something I know I'll love, if not I don't order any.

On to the snickerdoodles. I came across a recipe that uses almond flour instead of wheat flour. Here's the recipe.

Almond Flour Snickerdoodles
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ cup arrowroot powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
5 tbsp butter, melted
½ cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon, until well blended. Add wet ingredients to the dry, using a fork to blend until thoroughly combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for a half-hour (or up to 24-hours).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough, one tablespoon at a time, and roll into a ball using your hands. Place dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and gently flatten them slightly using the palm of your hand. Then, lightly sprinkle tops with additional ground cinnamon.
Bake for 8-9 minutes, until lightly golden around edges. Allow to cool on baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes about three dozen cookies.

These cookies were good enough that I ate all of them in a few days (yes, apparently I have food issues). They are not as sweet as ones with sugar, but a very good substitute.

Now, here's to being self-disciplined about these "new" foods.

My new dress

2011-07-11T10:08:00.000-04:00

Well, it's not that new anymore since I made it a little while ago, but here it is.
I used the Prairie Girl pattern by Favorite Things.

I had to alter the arm hole to be smaller and now it's almost too small. It's still wearable, but it could be better. I also made the dickey two inches taller to be modest and I sewed it in instead of snapping it in.

I've also made two dresses for Amy that are almost finished. And I really need to finish the Dream On quilt, but that requires a trip to the quilt shop and there has been no time to do that.

Travels and happenings

2011-07-01T20:14:00.000-04:00

Amy & I took off for Pennsylvania Thursday the 23rd. We were both feeling sickly, especially Amy, but we went anyway. Our first stop was to see these wonderful people. We met N last year and this year we added Rebecca to our list of friends. I'm oh so glad we did!

Meeting people we've known via the blogging world has been amazing. Who would have thought!
By the way, I like to show off Amy's guitar-playing.

Next stop was to see The Gothard Sisters. They were in Manheim, PA for the Celtic Fling at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. The fair was a two-day thing.

Having never been to anything like this before I have to say it was certainly interesting. There were people dressed for it.

There was lots of beer, but not a lot of drunkeness. There was lots of loud music and some that was not so loud.

The family group Irish Blessing shared the stage with the Gothards.

Both nights all the bands got together for a Ceilidh (pronounced like Kaylee). The bag pipes started it off.

After the evening was over we went to dinner with the Gothard family at a 24 hour diner. two nights in a row we had dinner just before midnight. While we had a great time we were ready for sleep. So it was nice to be home come Monday evening.

I'm still here

2011-06-16T20:20:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple pics to look at until I have more to blog about.

I wanted to try my hand at growing my annuals from seed. The pansies are the only ones to bloom so far.

Chippy just loves to hide sunflower seeds in our potted plants. I usually have to go out and "weed" every so often. He sure is cute even if he is annoying.

Tea Party for the girls

2011-06-09T20:00:00.004-04:00

I decided to schedule a Tea Party for Monday. We didn't really know when the children's parents were returning to this country, so I took a risk. As it turned out they were home by Sunday night. But we decided to go ahead with the Tea Party anyway. We invited several girls from church and their American Girl dolls. Kristina was really looking forward to it and she dressed one of our dolls for the occasion.

Of course, one of the brothers got in the picture. :)

It was a pretty short affair, but I think they all had fun.

After the guests left we loaded ourselves in the van and drove the children back to their parents.

If you've been reading this and the last blog post and don't know what I'm talking about with these extra children, please see the sidebar for info about Katya.

What I did last week

2011-06-08T23:37:00.000-04:00

Saturday, the 28th we picked up the three extras. :)

Sunday after church they enjoyed the pond.

Monday: Memorial Day parade

Bubbles in the evening.

Tuesday: Great Lakes Science Center

And a trip to the quilt shop and Trader Joes.

Wednesday Amy had to babysit, so we didn't do quite as much. That was the day that the new dryer came, but they didn't install it so I had to wait to catch up on laundry until after dh came home from work. Even then, I had to wait until Thursday because of a few bumps in the installation. Then on Thursday the washing machine gave me an error code saying that the water supply was blocked. Thankfully, dh came home at lunch to fix it. :)

Thursday after Amy's voice lesson, we spent some time clothes shopping for Katya and Charity. We found several cute things for Katya.

Some friends of ours from church own some land with a pond. So we went there on Friday.

I've only highlighted what we did. We were pretty busy. I felt like all I did was concentrate on "parenting" four kids, which was fine. God was certainly, gracious in giving me all I needed to do that.

Chad:

A couple of my favorite Chad sayings: "I don't go to bed until the bottom of the night." "I can't go to bed until it's all the way dark."
He would also make statements about food especially if we were having something he'd not ever heard of before. In that case, "I'll just have carrots." Or "I'm not hungry." Yeah, right!

At one point, we had a little lesson on "stealing." Amy left her gum out, so he decided he'd just take a piece, but I saw him do it, so I instructed him that he needed to ask Amy for it otherwise he'd be stealing. It happened again with some candy, so I reminded him about what we'd talked about. He then would say something like, "Oops, sorry."

My eating no-nos for the week
--a frozen watermelon fruit bar because the steamship tour was incredibly hot! --Aladdins' triple chocolate mousse cake on date night; a treat for a hard week. It was one of the best date nights we've had in a long time (dinner, shopping for camp chairs, taking in the end of the first band concert of the season in the square).
--Two s'mores on Sunday afternoon. The children were going home the next day, so we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows for a special treat.
And now back to normal.

Sail Away!

2011-05-24T13:35:00.003-04:00

I found this fabric a couple years ago at the Fabric Shack. We were on our first Mother/Daughter trip with our friends. I saw it and thought it would go well with one of our bedrooms that has a sailing/lighthouse theme. The previous owners painted the walls to look like a sea complete with little sail boats, lighthouses and clouds. So I bought what I thought would be enough fabric (later I went back and got a little more). I made my own pattern, which is not original, but at the time I didn't know that. I drew it on graph paper and had dh help me with the math to know exactly how much fabric I would need (thus the reason I went to get more, for borders, mostly).

A couple weeks ago I started cutting and sewing. Then I laid them all out on the floor and actually made no changes (shocking). I finished sewing all the blocks and rows together a week ago; all I need to do is put the borders on. After that I'll have another quilt top that needs to be quilted. :) I've got a stack!

Our red squirrel

2011-05-23T13:33:00.001-04:00

It's so much fun to watch this squirrel crawl all over this bird feeder.

My blueberry bushes

2011-05-22T13:04:00.003-04:00

The first two pictures are the new blueberry bushes.

This one just might make it.

The next two pictures are the two original blueberry bushes.

This poor thing looked pretty dead after winter. All the tiny twigs were broken off and I couldn't tell if it would make it. Then on Thursday I want out and looked at it only to discover the smallest of new growth. After dh got done mowing, I wanted to show him, but he got a rather sheepish look on his face and said something might have happened to it. Yeah, like his weed-whacker accidentally chopped the whole thing off!

Then Friday while on our date he saw blueberry bushes at Lowes!

Assuming this one lives, it's got a better start that the others since it's bigger.

Lily of the Valley

2011-05-21T12:57:00.001-04:00

Taken in between raindrops.

Fungi grows

2011-05-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

I've never seen the second one before. And a preliminary online search turns up nothing.

Recent flooding

2011-05-19T21:29:00.000-04:00

We have had so much rain lately! Anytime it rains and rains there is flooding. We've not been in danger having water reach the house, but the roads have occasionally looked like this:

The pond is totally full, which is good because it was at least a foot down.

The forecast is for rain all next week also. Thankfully, dh was able to get the lawn mowed this afternoon. The garden is currently growing on the deck. It had been in the kitchen until today. I haven't been able to set the plants out to get them acclimated as much as they need. We won't be able to plant seeds directly to the garden until it dries out some.

Table topper

2011-05-17T22:41:00.001-04:00

This is a gift for a friend. I quilted this one on my machine. The small size is so much easier to quilt than a larger quilt!

Happy Birthday, Christine!

Out with the old, in with the new

2011-05-16T22:22:00.000-04:00

The second to last time it wasn't raining I heard a pop and suddenly there was no more lawn tractor sound. Eventually, I went out to see what was up. I found out that the lawn tractor wasn't working at all. DH took something apart then pretty much pronounce it dead. After he push-mowed the portion he had left, he cleaned up then got online to find himself a new lawn tractor. One does not go without a lawn tractor in spring. Here's what he found.

That thing is most difficult to drive. I was really good at going in circles. Even hubby said he almost drove it into the pond. He did not do that, however and finally got the hang of it. Now we need another dry day so he can do it again. It's been raining and raining and raining.

Quilting-Second longarm quilt

2011-05-14T22:00:00.001-04:00

Here's my second attempt at longarm quilting.

I'm surprised by how thin the green Kona backing is! I'm hoping it will wash well.

Quilting-First longarm quilt

2011-05-13T23:43:00.000-04:00

I've been busy finishing up quilts and starting new ones this week.

All the parts to this quilt were provided by the quilt shop for the longarm quilting class.

Googling Ourselves to Death

2011-05-03T23:07:00.000-04:00

I find many of the things mentioned here true about myself. I hardly ever take time to put very many thoughts together anymore. :( There are many snippets and fragments of ideas running around in my head. I find it a chore to put them together into a blog post. This article presents a challenge. Will I work on it or not?

Googling Ourselves to Death

by Jason Stellman

I distinctly remember the period after I first began to embrace Reformed theology while a pastor with Calvary Chapel in Europe. The Bible had come alive to me as a result of having discovered that “the gospel” was not just the “Roman Road” down which we take unbelievers in order to get them to “pray the prayer” and accept Jesus into their hearts, but it was so much more. The gospel as I came to realize, refers not just to our evangelistic tactics and formulae, but to all of the doctrines of grace that shape our lives as Christians: election, regeneration, saving faith, justification, sanctification, and glorification. In a word, I was overwhelmed with the new insights I was gaining. For this reason I would sit and study God’s Word for hours without interruption, often pursuing a biblical or doctrinal question as far as I possibly could, and exploring it as deeply as I possibly could, until I was satisfied that I understood the matter satisfactorily.

But now? Now, things have changed.

I still have the same love for God’s Word as I always have (and I hope it’s even greater than it used to be), but what has changed is the ability to study it without distractions. The reason for this, I think, has to do with the all-pervasive role that the Internet has come to play in our lives as Americans. We are constantly connected and thus susceptible to incessant email notifications, Facebook friend-requests, and inane texts and tweets. If I may wax somewhat self-incriminating, after finishing my last paragraph and beginning this one, I took a break to check the score of the Lakers game (they’re losing). My point is that the context in which one can sustain a single uninterrupted thought is much rarer and harder to create than it was only ten years ago.

In his book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains, Nicholas Carr argues that the way we often evaluate the effects of the Internet is by considering its content, but ignoring its nature as a medium. It is the way that information is being relayed and processed that stands to harm us more greatly than the information itself. Carr quotes Wired’s Clive Thompson, “The perfect recall of [Google’s] silicon memory can be an enormous boon to thinking,” and then writes:

The boons are real. But they come at a price. Media aren’t just channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in a sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.

As Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan have argued in times past, the message is important, but so is the medium, and the medium of the Internet and other forms of modern technology may indeed make things quicker and easier (and in case you were wondering, yes, I did a Google search to find Carr’s quote above rather than type it in by hand from the book sitting here on my desk), but at what cost to our brains, our minds, our study habits?

There’s something unique about Christian disciplines — and especially the study of Scripture — that renders them altogether distinct from other pursuits. And what’s more, those things that tend toward growth in the faith, whether public means of grace or private devotions, can even be immune from the supposed aid and ease that technology may offer in other arenas. For example, a graduate student may truly benefit from being able to access mountains of information at the click of a mouse, but I am not convinced that the minister will equally benefit from the same. Unlike in other fields, the pastor who labors over the Greek or Hebrew text of Scripture, or the theologian who forces himself to dig deeply into the writings of some saint or early father, actually undergoes an inward and spiritual change as a result of these disciplined pursuits, and the depth of that change may very well be related to just how painstaking his research really was.

In a word, there are just no shortcuts to true piety. The more we attempt to achieve our spiritual goals quickly and painlessly by circumventing the old ways trod by those who have gone before us — such as time spent in prayer and in study of God’s Word — the more shallow our spiritual lives will become. As inconvenient and time-consuming as our spiritual disciplines may be when pursued without the aids of modern technology, we can rest assured that the effort will be more than worthwhile.

It is easy to lament the ill-effects of texting and tweeting upon punctuation, spelling, and the English language as a whole, but have we stopped to consider that such grammatical shortcuts and shortcomings may end up serving as a metaphor for twentyfirst century Christian piety? What may be bad for the secular goose is much worse for the sacred gander, and lazily abbreviated text-messaging can become a steppingstone for a lazy and abbreviated prayer life.

From Ligonier Ministries and R.C. Sproul. © Tabletalk magazine. Website: www.ligonier.org/tabletalk. Email: tabletalk@ligonier.org. Toll free: 1-800-435-4343.

Second Sneak Peek--Dream On

2011-04-29T22:00:00.003-04:00

Here's one last peek at the Dream On quilt before it becomes a quilt top. I finally got all the blocks finished and trimmed. I actually started sewing them together this afternoon. First, I laid them out on the floor to get the design I wanted. I only made one change by rearranging three blocks to get a better flow.

I took the first part of the long-arm quilting class on Wednesday. I'll go next week for the second part which will be actually quilting my own quilt. Remember that bright pink, orange and black one I posted about a little while back? I know I won't remember everything I learned, but I hope next week will help. I plan to take more notes then. After that session I can go in on Fridays and quilt charity quilts for free. Otherwise, I'll rent the machine when I want to work on my own quilts. I like the idea of practicing on the ones for charity. My first attempt on Wednesday went relatively well for my first time. So, quilting for charity will still look ok. I do not like the idea of giving second best.

Spring Aprons for sale

2011-04-28T22:00:00.004-04:00

After seeing this post I went on a fabric hunt at all the Joann Fabric stores I was even remotely closed to. I finally found it at the one farthest away. Then later I discovered it at the one nearest, oh well. I knew this fabric line would make cute aprons for the dolls. These are both for sale in the shop.

A little more spring

2011-04-27T22:33:00.001-04:00

Brownies

2011-04-24T20:56:00.001-04:00

I did a search for almond flour brownies and found this recipe.

Here's my version:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 tsp mint flavoring
2 tbs arrowroot powder
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and 8-inch round pan; set aside. Combine the butter and cocoa. Add honey, eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. Combine flour, arrowroot, baking powder and salt. Add to wet ingredients, mix well. Spread in pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Because I didn't use sugar and I halved the honey they were pretty strong tasting. I used mint flavor because I love mint brownies. Dh said they were too minty, but I like them that way. I think if I do this again I'll add a little liquid stevia to it to add some more sweetness without adding any more honey. I'm really not supposed to have the honey but I've been trying to venture out beyond my candida diet to see what happens. So far, I don't have an answer to that. Overall, I'd say the brownies were a success, but need a little tweaking.

Coats for sale

2011-04-21T22:04:00.000-04:00

The sun came out today! It's supposed to go back behind the rain clouds tomorrow, so today was the day to finish these coats, take pictures and list them.

They're both in the shop.

Still busy

2011-04-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

I seems like I ought to have something to blog about. I've been busy enough not to get much sewing done. Although I'm working on the Dream On project little by little. My to-do stacks are shrinking and my completed block stock is getting taller. No more pictures yet, however.

I've also got a couple more doll coats cut out and started. I've found some more cute fabrics to use. Surprise, surprise!

Once it quits being so cloudy and rainy I'll try to get some pictures to post.

My time will start to free up some next week. Amy's starting a babysitting job. She'll be gone for three afternoons. I am excited for her, but I'm also realizing that she's growing up. Which makes me a bit sad. The first afternoon she's gone I'll be taking a long-arm quilting class. That should help me through that day.

Crocus

2011-04-13T22:41:00.000-04:00

Last fall my wonderful hubby found some bags of crocus on clearance. He brought them home and planted them "just about freezing his hands off," he says. He thinks there about a hundred of them.

Then one day several weeks ago Amy came in from outside telling me to come look.

This was a total surprise for me! They both kept it a secret all winter long!

Katya's fundraiser

2011-04-12T10:34:00.000-04:00

Amy & I took a little trip to Z'ville on Friday to help with Katya's fundraiser. There were close to 80 items donated for a silent auction; there was a spaghetti dinner; there was music.

I think the donations were close to $3000. There's still time to donate. Katya's blog link is in the sidebar. Just click to go there. A couple donation buttons are on that blog.

The family has a travel date now. They leave around the 14th of May and have their appointment on May 17 in Katya's country. Prayer is also appreciated.

Been busy!

2011-04-07T23:24:00.000-04:00

Last week was a flurry of activity to get ready to go to the homeschool convention in Cincinnati. Amy & I left on Thursday morning and made it to the hotel only to go around the block a couple times waiting for the unloading area to open up. Finally, I just got in line on the street, just barely out of the intersection. Fortunately, we did have time to get checked in and get to our first session in plenty of time. We spent the rest of Thursday afternoon and evening hearing speakers in addition to checking out vendor hall.

Friday and Saturday were more of the same.

Here we are waiting for the Tim Hawkins' show to start. Not the greatest picture since we didn't take the real camera. Amy's iphone does ok, however.

On Saturday night we saw the Dugger Family. They sang a song as a family, then the kids performed with their instruments, mostly violins and lastly Jim Bob & Michelle gave an overview of their lives, a testimony to God's faithfulness and provision in their lives.

The seating was first come-first served, so we chose to sit on the side looking at the stage from that angle. We had a pretty good view of the back of the screen. And the Duggers came out of the door that was right next to our seats. Not a huge deal, but fun nonetheless.

Sunday we drove to Indiana to visit my sister and her family. We spent the afternoon with them and got to see everyone. We met the newest member, Andi, my nephew's wife.

Here's my niece.

Sunday evening after church we played Spades and had a great time. It was very nice to see everyone!

Monday we were scheduled to go home, however Amy & the weather changed those plans. Amy woke up very hot and had difficulty breathing. It was bad enough that we even talked about going to the hospital, but her breathing returned to normal after prayer and a little time. She still wasn't well enough to travel and spent the day in bed sleeping off and on. I spent the day watching the weather news which was not good. If Amy had not been sick we would have driven ALL DAY LONG in the storm. The line of strong storms was along the exact route we would have taken. It lasted the whole day.

While at the convention Amy bought the Dugger's book 20 and Counting. I started looking at it Saturday night. Since she was sick I was able to finish it on Monday. So we spent an extra day in the hotel room with Amy recovering and me relaxing. It could have been worse. (Although Amy might disagree.)

Tuesday we started for home. Amy felt almost normal, just a little tired. We managed to go to the IKEA store in Cincinnati, the Fabric Shack and an outlet mall that didn't have what I wanted.

We spent Wednesday getting school done and settling back in. Oh and my dryer broke again! However, I was mostly done with the laundry before it quit. DH and I took a couple wet loads to the laundromat after supper.

Today I got some much needed sewing done, got school done and ran errands. Tomorrow we're off again to Z'ville to participate in a Saturday fundraiser for Katya. I will certainly be glad for Sunday's day of worship & rest to get here. :)

Dream On sneak peek

2011-03-28T13:57:00.000-04:00

I, finally, got everything cut out for the Dream On quilt. Now to sewing blocks.

Whimsical Forest Apron

2011-03-26T14:00:00.001-04:00

I really like this picture of Etta. She looks so sweet in this apron. It's in the shop.

Foto Friday-Unfinished Business

2011-03-25T23:07:00.000-04:00

It seems that it's normal for quilters to have WIPs or UFOs. For those of you who do not know these acronyms, WIP is Work in Progress and UFO is Unfinished Object. I guess I'm right there with other quilters because I've got a stack of UFOs.

This picture doesn't really show the whole stack. There are more underneath. In reality I think there are only four (soon to be five) UFOs.

My WIP is this one.

These are the blocks to a postage stamp quilt. Since taking the picture I sewed all the blocks into rows and half of the rows are sewn together. Then it will get added to the UFO pile. Then I'll get deeper into the mystery quilt.

Meanwhile, let's see what everyone else came up with for "Unfinished Business" over at Renaissance.

Gold Finch

2011-03-24T20:00:00.001-04:00

Spring has sprung

2011-03-23T20:00:00.001-04:00

The geese have returned. There's still ice on the pond in this picture. It's long gone now.

Chippy has also returned looking for food he must have buried or thought he buried. I assume he knows.

Amy went picture taking

2011-03-22T22:29:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorites.

Julie's snow adventure.

If you look carefully at the above picture, you'll see sled marks. Apparently, Julie really did go sledding.

I do believe Julie had fun in the snow.

Etta gets a turn

2011-03-20T22:32:00.000-04:00

Etta got a turn to model a couple aprons that are for sale in the shop.

GREEN Foto Friday

2011-03-19T11:27:00.001-04:00

The week's challenge was GREEN.

Here's how the snapdragons are coming along.

The tomatoes, peppers and other flowers are all coming up nicely. It's fun to see them growing.

Go to Renaissance to see what everyone else came up with for GREEN.

Something new for the dolls

2011-03-16T21:39:00.000-04:00

Julie was the one to witness the change.

Several weeks ago I saw a post with pictures on AG Fans Board of a doll storage set up. The items were from IKEA. So a couple Saturdays ago we took a little trip to Pittsburgh to the IKEA store.

We bought two wardrobe frames and several shelves. Each frame is about 93 inches tall, 39 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Each shelf can be placed where it's needed.

Before they could be built we had to wait for the new carpet to be installed. A week after our trip we were putting the units together. Let's just say that was a character building event.

Here they are in a semi-finished state.

We're going to put a shorter, smaller frame between the two large ones. It will be for storage of doll clothes. We'll put in a couple tension rods for hanging things and a basket for shoes.

And now hubby is feeling better, the dolls and their things are in one place (well mostly).

Foto Friday & Selling news

2011-03-11T12:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday someone bought nine items from my shop! This person from Canada who signed up for Etsy at the beginning of February already has a feedback of over 650! So someone on one of the AG message boards figured that if she spent just $10 per item that's over $6500!! Who knows what she's doing, but speculation abounds. :) I'm happy to have the money, but now I'm in a sewing frenzy (or I will be).

On to Foto Friday. This week's challenge was "CAPTIONED." I really had a hard time getting my mind around that. But here are a couple options.

My other option was sort of taken out of my hands by that lady who bought most of my shop! I was going to put in a plug for helping to bring Katya home. (You may go here to see about her.) And I was thinking to use something similar to these pictures in this post. So instead of having five coats to caption I pretty much only have one! (A portion of the sales go to help with the adoption expenses.)

If you want to help bring Katya home go to her blog and donate to Reece's Rainbow by clicking on that donate button. Or you can get to my shop by clicking on it in my side bar. Granted, there's not much in there now, but that will change as soon as I get back to sewing.

Go over to Rebecca's blog to see about Foto Friday.

Dream On

2011-03-09T12:33:00.000-05:00

Last September I read this blog post over at Twin Fibers. Twins embarked on a quilt challenge. They each had the same fat quarter bundle to work with. As twins they wanted to see how similar or different their quilts would be.

Since my friend, Christine had recently moved to a state far away from here and I really missed her (still do) I thought it might be something we could do together. We discussed it in October while I visited her. Due to the holiday and other projects in place we decided to put off beginning our quilts until, well, this week. We have about two months to complete our quilts. If life gets in the way, so be it. We finish when we finish, but the goal is around the beginning of May.

I did remember to take pictures of my fabric before I cut it and I hope to get shots of each stage along the way.

We each have a Dream On layer cake (42 ten-inch squares).

I also bought white for my blocks as well as fabric for binding and backing.

Stay tuned for the end result and maybe a sneak peak here and there.

Polka Dots for Katya

2011-03-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

I listed this coat today. One coat sold today also! :)

For those who feel sorry for the other dolls, Adria was selected to model this one. As for Kit, she makes a great model because her hair is short. If a doll has longer hair the back of the coat doesn't show quite as well. Long hair could be put up in an up-do, but I get lazy.

Head over to the shop and pick out a coat for Easter or St. Patrick's Day. Let's see, birthdays, the first day of spring, just because--other reasons to buy a coat.

New in the shop

2011-03-07T12:07:00.000-05:00

If you know anyone who likes dolls, especially 18 inch dolls, direct them to my Etsy shop. A portion of the sales goes to help our friends adopt Katya. Click on her button in the sidebar for more information.

To get to my shop click here.

Foto Friday (on Saturday)

2011-03-05T22:59:00.000-05:00

It's now Saturday night and I should go to bed, but I want to share my Foto Friday pictures. This week's these was EDIBLE. Here's what will be EDIBLE, Lord willing.

Last Sunday afternoon we planted our tomato and pepper seeds along with some poppies and snapdragons. By yesterday the poppies were coming up as was a roma tomato. :)

My favorite of these two pictures is the one that clearly shows the Hillbilly Tomato stake. What a name!

For The Love of Family -- Homeopathy

2011-03-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

I got this article in my email today. The author gives a few examples from her life where she used homeopathy to help her family heal. Click on the title below to go to the newsletter. In the newsletter, right after the article there's a yummy sounding recipe for peanut butter cups. You might want to check it out. :)

For the Love of Family -- Homeopathy!

Recently I was asked in a blog for some personal examples that demonstrate the power of homeopathy…here is an excerpt from that blog, that again reconfirms my commitment to this profound yet gentle science.

Well, I'll tell you an incident that occurred only last weekend to my husband who is a professional ski instructor. He took a nasty spill, rolled and landed (hard) on the back of his neck. When he finally came to, there was a crowd of concerned skiers and the ski patrol gathered around him. I'm still not sure how he got home, nor is he, but he was clearly dazed, confused and shaken up quite a bit.

Now, since we live on a ski hill in New York, and my family spends every snowy hour they can on the slopes, I've made certain they each have a bottle of Arnica Montana in their ski parkas. This time, however, Arnica was not the best choice because of the fact that he was dazed and wobbly, so the pain was not as important as his state of mind.

I gave him Nat sulph 1M and within half an hour, he grew a smile on his face that indicated the transformation. "Thank you", he said. "My mind was fuzzy and I felt fragile and confused." There are so many incidents in my life in which Homeopathy has given my family and me the kind of power all families ought to have available.

Our son had fear of a big exam that was forthcoming a few weeks ago but was calmed by Gelsemium taken every 4 hours. He aced the exam, but more importantly, he was not uneasy the morning of the exam. Also a few months ago, my father had a suspicious lump appear only to have Lycopodium resolve it within 2 days.

But the most profound story is the one about my Aunt Mary. Unfortunately, this one is not bestowed with a happy ending. Aunt Mary was my Godmother with whom I was very close. We spoke on the phone weekly. Years ago I had given her a Homeopathy kit so she could call me should she needed my help. Well, one night she slipped and sprained her ankle. Normally, she would have called me to get a remedy, but this time, she just went to the doctor without phoning because she knew I had a busy week that week. I would've indeed recommended she have her ankle looked at to be certain it wasn't a break and then a Homeopathic remedy for the pain, swelling and quick healing.

Instead, on the way home, my uncle stopped at a drug store to get Darvon, following the doctor's instructions. That night, she took the Darvon and within 6 hours, she died in her bed. The "cause of death" was cardiac arrest, however, no one in my aunt's very large family had ever had heart issues and only weeks prior, and she had been given a "clean bill of health" from the very doctor who prescribed Darvon. Down to my toes, I knew it was the Darvon, so did my mother and my uncle. When I reviewed the dangers of the drug on line, it was logical that the drug had caused her death. Now 2 years later, class action suits are sprouting everywhere against the manufacturer. The FDA has finally banned Darvon and Darvocet. Just for the record, it's been prescribed since 1957. The reason it was taken off the market? It causes cardiac abnormalities and arrest in people who don't have a history of heart disease, even in recommended doses. How many unsuspecting folks have been poisoned by this drug in the last 40 years with the cause of death appearing to be something else?

This kind of loss is always difficult. But the salt that stung the wound deeper is that first; my aunt trusted the doctor to give her something that was safe. Second; that the very remedy that would've offered her quick and more importantly, a harmless method of healing was only 20 feet away in her medicine closet…… in her Homeopathy kit!

This is the kind of story that I hear on a regular basis from clients and students all over the U.S. As mothers and others, we need to protect our families and the only way to do so is to arm ourselves with knowledge: Homeopathic and nutritional knowledge. Well, there's also the protection we gain from holding to our faiths and scrutinizing what is taught in the schools. But it means diligence.

I entreat all mothers to not be a "good little patient". Be the one who questions every decision a doctor suggests and knowing your alternative options. This is not a time for compliancy. Be a fierce lioness when it comes to your family. Be a mighty mom…read, study, educate yourself. Then get to the job at hand…of being the most protective person in your children's lives. And when they're set well, take care of your parents, your aunts and uncles, your friends, pets, and so on. I can't think of a responsibility more important than this one.

Bringing Katya home giveaway

2011-02-28T01:00:00.002-05:00

Go to these blogs to see how you can help with adoption expenses for Katya.

The Bringing Katya home blog is here.

There's a giveaway for this quilt here.

Robins in winter

2011-02-27T20:46:00.000-05:00

A good many years ago, a naturalist told us that robins flock together in the winter and that they migrate only regionally, so it may be that the Kentucky robins come to Ohio for the winter? Also seeing a robin in February doesn't necessarily mean that spring is coming. Last Sunday I saw a lone robin and thought about the naturalist's information. This last week was particularly wintry. Then on Thursday I saw the flock. I counted twelve or thirteen of them in the tree out front.

I really like that this picture came out well. Often using digital zoom makes a picture grainy. This one even looks good on the big computer screen.

How many do you see this tree?

I love watching birds in winter!

Mr. Squirrel day two

2011-02-26T13:00:00.001-05:00

Mr. Squirrel was very nervous looking the first time we saw him. The next day, not so.
He must have seen me because he was totally still for a while.

Then he relaxed and enjoyed his meal.

Foto Friday--Hands

2011-02-25T10:38:00.001-05:00

This week's photo challenge was "HANDS". Besides fabric, we've got an abundance of dolls in our family. In fact, we have way more dolls than people. As I gave the challenge some thought I knew that the dolls would play a part somehow. I had an idea based on a picture my daughter took. Her picture is here.

So I started with something similar. It was ok, but not exactly great.

I then moved the six dolls to the stairs, opened the front door for good light and took the shots from the side. I took quite a few and narrowed them down to these. They've each got a slightly different focus and I rearranged the girls for the last one. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so you get them all.

Visit Rebecca to see other photos.

Valentine creativity

2011-02-24T20:00:00.002-05:00

Here's a peek at what Amy captured for Valentine's Day (it was actually five days after Valentine's Day that she set this up, but who's counting?)

Go to her blog to see more. By the way, she used my Emily and Anna in her shots. :)

He's back

2011-02-23T20:00:00.002-05:00

Although "he" might be a "she".

He was all over the place and a short amount of time. He seemed pretty skittish. Amy was able to get some pretty pictures, don't you think?

Winter Revisited

2011-02-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

The morning after:

It took DH and hour and a half to get home from work yesterday afternoon and the same to get there this morning. God kept him safe and not stuck in his car for five hours like some others had to endure. He left work at 3:15. Normally, he would have left closer to 6:00. If he'd done that he could have been stuck like all the others. We are grateful.

"Loud" quilt top

2011-02-21T21:48:00.000-05:00

One of the gifts I received for my birthday was a gift card to the local quilt shop. My plan is to take long-arm quilting lessons. I hope to eventually be able to rent the machine to do the quilting myself. When I asked about details of the class, I was told that I'll be quilting on one of their charity quilts at first, then once I can do that I should bring my own quilt tops to keep practicing on. It's best not to start with ones I just love and they should be about crib-size. So I dug through my stash give away pile and found some fat quarters that I only paid 50 cents for and a couple coordinating larger pieces. I then searched the internet and found a very simple pattern. Here's what I came up with.

I have to say I love it! But I'll still use it for practicing my quilting. The colors are very bold, but go together so well!

I started on a postage stamp quilt on Friday. It's slow going, sewing jelly roll strips together. I'm following the quilt-along over at p.s. I Quilt. The quilt-along itself ended a few weeks ago, so I'm using it more as a tutorial.

I sold two more coats this morning leaving only three (besides Christmas ones) in the shop, so I cut out four more today.

Birthday Cake!

2011-02-20T21:28:00.000-05:00

Amy said I needed a cake and I think she suggested coconut flour, although I don't remember who's idea that was. At any rate, I did an internet search for coconut flour cake. The first one that came up was from The Nourished Kitchen which is a site I've been to before. There's good information about real food on this site.

The original recipe for the Coconut Cake may be found here. For my cake we made changes (of course) like not using frosting and substituting chocolate extract for the coconut flavor and orange flavor. We also cut the recipe in half to just one 8 inch layer instead of two. Amy did all the work of making it after I made those changes.

Here's our recipe:

Coconut Flour Cake
6 eggs
1 c. coconut milk
1/3 c. honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp chocolate extract
1 c. coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

1. Beat eggs, coconut milk, honey & flavorings until smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients, beat until smooth.
3. Grease 8 inch round cake pan. (We used our stoneware pan.)
4. Pour batter into pan.
5. Bake and 350 degrees about 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool completely.

There are ingredients in the cake I shouldn't have, like coconut milk and honey, but I ate it anyway and tolerated it pretty well. I limited myself to a smallish piece each day until it was gone. As for the rest of the family liking it, Amy had only one bite and refused any more. DH said it resembled souffle, sort of. My brother-in-law, who had a piece the second day, said it was different. I, on the other hand, enjoyed every bite. I guess that's what happens when one doesn't eat sweet things at all for over four years.

If you want to think I'm 462 years old, that's fine, but Amy decided there needed to be candles and this is what she came up with. I wonder how many mathematical possibilities there are in those numbers. If you want to guess at my age it wouldn't be too hard to figure out. :)

Valentine Swap

2011-02-19T17:07:00.000-05:00

I received the AGFMB Valentine Swap items this week. Emily is modeling the dress, socks, belt and shoes that make up the outfit. There were also chocolates and a card.

Foto Friday--Valentine

2011-02-18T12:32:00.001-05:00

This week's Foto Friday is VALENTINE. I had a couple ideas (non-fabric related).

Before my family ate up all the goodies I got a couple macro shots of the Valentine candy.

There's a little bench on our deck with hearts on it. If I took the picture today it would be totally different because the snow is all gone due to 60 degree temps we've had lately.

Grain-free biscuits

2011-02-17T23:10:00.000-05:00

I get emails from Food Renegade and in one email from a couple weeks ago there was a recipe for grain-free biscuits.

Here's the recipe then you'll get my addition. ;-) The link to the original is here. If you go there you'll notice it's a recipe for breakfast sandwiches.

Grain-Free Biscuits

Yield: 4

The Players

* 1 cup almond flour

* 4 egg whites

* 1/3 cup grass-fed butter

* 1 t baking powder

* 1/2 t salt

The How-To

For The Grain-Free Biscuits:

In a mixer (or with a fork) combine the butter and almond flour until you have little broken up, pea-sized bits of butter distributed into the flour. Add the egg whites, salt, and baking powder. Mix to combine. Scoop the batter into 4 even portions and place onto a greased or silicone-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, until slightly golden.

I made it pretty much as the recipe said the first time; the only thing I did differently was to add a little more almond flour at the end. They were good, but I didn't "LOVE" them. Almond flour doesn't make a smooth textured product. The next two times I made it I added some coconut flour (instead of extra almond flour) at the end because the batter seemed a little too wet from the egg whites. This addition also improved the texture, so that now I can say that I "LOVE" them. ;-)

So I'm excited to have a bread option. I still need to not overdo which would be tempting.

Warming with Betty for Sweet Charity

2011-02-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago someone started a "Handmade--Pay It Forward" on Facebook. The first five people to comment on a post would get a handmade item from whomever posted. The people commenting would then repost and do the same for five more people. (For some reason, I had trouble getting five people to comment, so I reposted and got the last few people for which to make something.) One of the comments was from our friend Charity (she's been Amy's friend since they were little), saying that she'd participate except that she would be too busy making things to sell to raise money for Katya's adoption and for her own violin lessons. I told her I'd include her anyway. Charity has been working hard to help her mother with all sorts of things especially the cooking and sewing. (I'm sure there's more I don't know about.)

My goal is to make each person something and give it to her for her birthday. That will spread it out over this year. (That was the other part--we each have this year to complete the "Pay It Forward".) Charity's birthday is this week.

On Friday I posted a sneak peek of a quilt.

Here's the finished quilt. I did all the work myself, including the quilting which I particularly hate doing. Because quilting is something I don't do very often I don't feel like I'm very good at it and it's just plain hard to do on a regular sewing machine. OK enough whining.

Charity received the quilt today and she said she loves it! So I'm happy.

Oh and I named the quilt "Warming with Betty" because the fabric line is called Hello Betty and last week I needed a "warming" post for photo Friday, so I put the two together. Someday when I see the quilt again I need to put a label on the back with the quilt's name, my name and the year.

Making Sense of It

2011-02-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

This article appeared in the latest issue of No Greater Joy magazine. Michael Pearl addresses some of the questions I've had about why liberals/progressives think the way they do.

Making Sense of It

Article by Michael Pearl, February 2011

The average American knows our country is being driven to extinction, and its demise is not far away. We cannot make sense of the decisions politicians make. “Stupid” comes to mind, but stupid is without pattern or purpose.

We see men and women who are highly intelligent and very well informed in political sciences, economics, business, and in history making decisions that are contrary to the best interests of the country and of the poor they claim to represent. And then there is the anti-Christian bias in the media, the courts, Hollywood, and in the pubic schools and the universities. Why? What is so threatening about the Bible and those who believe it?

The Constitution is held in as much contempt as the Bible. What is so menacing about a document that guarantees individual liberty of conscience and action, free speech, free association, and ownership and management of one’s property? The way the politicians are legislating and the courts are ruling, you would think faith and the founding Fathers are the most sinister evils to ever stand in the way of positive genetic mutations.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; That put darkness for light, and light for darkness; That put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter”! (Isaiah 5:20)

For many years I observed the political theatre and wondered at the motivation of the American left. Lately I have come to understand that progressives are motivated by a conviction of their own righteousness. They attack Christianity and the Constitution of the United States because they stand in the way of their universal utopia. They want to save us from ourselves and our delusions. They think they are more enlightened than the rest of us and believe their understanding requires them to take charge of the helm, even if they have to kill the captain and throw some of the crew overboard.

Human salvation is thought to be in the collective. They seek the redemption and restitution of mankind in a way that assures our survival as a race. It is the Tower of Babel all over again. The kingdom builders get into politics, education, entertainment, rewriting history, and especially into the news media because that is where people are molded to a worldview that will cause them to be willing participants, or at least passive supporters, in the New World Order.

The utopitarians are trying to establish what God has already promised to institute, a kingdom of peace and happiness in a paradise where all share in the bounty of a renewed earth. They too want that kingdom, but since there is no god to determine man’s destiny, it is up to them to institute this kingdom. They abort babies to prevent increased population from placing further stress on an already overtaxed planet. They must purge society of any religion that looks to the sweet by and by, for it prevents men from getting serious about the here and now. They are anti-American because the United States supports a divided world where American exceptionalism prevents us from entering into commune with the have-nots of the third world. They must save every butterfly and lizard nearing extinction because they don’t have a God that will create more.

If they had ten commandments they would read something like this:

1. Thou shalt have no gods above thy fellow man.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any absolutes that cannot be ignored for the sake of the common good.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of any religion in vain, for they are all created equal.

4. Observe the holy days of all religions with equal fervor.

5. Honor the state as your father and nature as your mother, that your days may be long upon mother earth.

6. Thou shalt not kill, even in self defense.

7. Thou shalt not call consensual sex adultery or sodomy.

8. Thou shalt not steal from the poor by accumulating to thyself wealth more than thy neighbor.

9. Thou shalt not bear witness against thy government.

10. Thou shalt not covet the power that belongs to the elite.

The progressive/socialist has an anthropological world view that parallels theological doctrine. They believe in the fall of man and in depravity. Man, in oneness with mother nature, living in blissful harmony in a communal paradise of unbounded sexual license and village simplicity, fell into a selfish world of materialism and consumption, damaging mother earth.

In their confused anthropology, man is both evil and good. He is good as long as he is true to himself, following his own light and living his personal truth, not being judged by any outward standard. He is evil in that he is selfish and judgmental and therefore destructive to the collective good.

They believe in temptation. Man is tempted by the lure of independent action. He is tempted to judge his own actions and the actions of others on grounds of a supposed absolute good existing outside of human nature and independent of the material world.

To the progressives original sin is inherited by children from their parents who teach religion as a pie in the sky, sweet by and by, do it or be damned doctrine, inflicting crippling guilt.

They believe in salvation. Their new birth is forgiving oneself and acquiescing to one’s passions as normal, rejecting guilt as a foreign, dark force intruding upon their otherwise liberated souls.

They believe heaven and hell are here and now. Heaven is the new world order—the socialist’s New Jerusalem, the utopia, where there will be no more war, or pollution, or bigotry, or hunger.

Hell is fossil fuels belching out deadly gasses upon fragile Mother Nature, pollution caused by capitalism. False doctrine is unbending religion that segments people. Demons are rich business owners and judgmental religious bigots.

Liberal Socialists/Utopitarians are crusaders for salvation. To understand these kingdom builders you must recognize that they are motivated by what they consider righteousness. They think the masses, especially the political right, are evil or, at the very least, out of touch and need to be pushed into the right path. You are self-destructive and they want to commit you for your own good, thus saving mother earth, the only eternal life the human race will ever know. Surely the survival of this planet is more important than the luxury of liberty. They know that if you are not with them you are against them, and they are willing to sacrifice the few to save the many.

To make sense of the present hour:

Why are our politicians, supported by the news media and Hollywood, seemingly trying to break our country economically? It is obvious that they are deliberately legislating so as to bring about high energy and food prices. With the certain increase in population and the limited resources on this planet, they want to create a worldwide commune where population is kept in check and resources are equally shared.

But they also know that this “sharing” will never come about through legislation. It will take a revolution where shortage is the enemy, not politicians. They need crises, so they are creating the biggest crisis this world has ever known. Why? Because the creation of a new world order necessitates destroying the old one. They know we must fall and suffer before we will be willing to rise in a world with less liberty and more expensive goods and services. No one will accept legislation that results in a 75 percent cut in wages and a great reduction in his consumption of goods and services unless he first loses everything and lives in abject poverty for a while; then he will be grateful to a government that puts him in a three hour food line and allows him to live in a two room apartment that has electricity for five hours every day. During times of stress and deprivation he will gladly receive a mark upon his hand or his forehead by which he can buy food for his family.

My final word:

Don’t look to politicians to save you. Jesus will bring in the kingdom, and he will be the king of kings and the lord of lords, bringing in everlasting righteousness. Until then, pray for those in authority so we can live a quiet and peaceful life until God tires of men trying to take the kingdom by force. That is his job and he will do it soon enough.

Warming with Betty

2011-02-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

This week's photo challenge was "warming". That Rebecca is a sly one, knowing very well just how warm it is in these parts. ;-)

In keeping with the fabric theme from last week...

It's a sneak peak at a quilt I finished today for a sweet young lady. (I'll post the whole thing soon.) It should soon be keeping her WARM.

Homeopathy

2011-02-11T11:47:00.000-05:00

This article came in my email today. While it's not the best article on the subject it does make some good points and explains homeopathy. Click on the article title to go to the original source.

You can't overdose on homeopathic remedies; Why won't homeopathy skeptics drink their own medicine?

(NaturalNews) It's really quite hilarious to see this unfold: Homeopathy skeptics and vicious Big Pharma attack dogs are running around the globe in ludicrous demonstrations where they consume huge doses of homeopathic remedies in public and then claim that because they don't die of an "overdose," these medicines therefore don't work.

Notice that they never consume their own medicines in large doses? Chemotherapy? Statin drugs? Blood thinners? They wouldn't dare drink those. In fact, today I'm challenging the homeopathic skeptics and other medical fundamentalists to a "drink-a-thon" test to see which medicines will kill you faster. But we'll get to that in a minute...

First, let's get to the understanding of why the idea that you could "overdose" on homeopathic remedies is ridiculous to begin with.

It requires an elevated worldview

Teaching the so-called "skeptics" about how homeopathic medicine really works is a bit like trying to convince flat Earthers that the planet is really spherical. These skeptics, you see, approach homeopathy as if it were a drug (because that's all they really know). And in their world, all drugs are dangerous if you overdose on them, which makes sense from their point of view because they're educated solely in dangerous, synthetically-derived chemicals that are incompatible with the human body.

So it may be understandable at some level that since this is all the medical fundamentalists (skeptics) know, they have probably not attained the level of sophistication required to understand the far more advanced mechanisms of homeopathy. It's a bit like trying to teach a five-year-old child how to play Mozart. And while that may have worked if your child was Mozart, it probably doesn't work for anyone else.

Homeopathy isn't a drug

Homeopathy, you see, isn't a drug. It's not a chemical. So you can drink all you want and you won't overdose on it. That's not a defect in homeopathy -- it's a remarkable advantage! It means that while 200,000+ Americans are killed each year by toxic pharmaceutical drugs, no one is harmed by homeopathy. Not even those who are desperately trying to be harmed by it!

It seems these skeptics really want everything to be more dangerous because the world of toxicity is so much more familiar to them. What these not-so-amazing skeptics would like to see, it seems, is more people dropping dead from dangerous side effects. Then they would believe homeopathy was real.

That's the way ignorant convention medicine operates today: You know the drugs are kicking in when you start getting worse. Toxicity and conventional medicine go hand in hand.

But homeopathy isn't a chemical. It's a resonance. A vibration, or a harmony. It's the restructuring of water to resonate with the particular energy of a plant or substance. We can get into the physics of it in a subsequent article, but for now it's easy to recognize that even from a conventional physics point of view, liquid water has tremendous energy, and it's constantly in motion, not just at the molecular level but also at the level of its subatomic particles and so-called "orbiting electrons" which aren't even orbiting in the first place. Electrons are vibrations and not physical objects.

But, oh yeah, I forgot. The skeptics don't know that yet. That won't be taught that in university physics classes until probably 2020, at which point most of them will probably be dead from taking pharmaceuticals to treat their own diseases. For now, they've all convinced themselves that electrons are -- get this -- tiny "particles" flying around atomic nuclei and tremendous speeds which just happen to stay in their little orbits like little perpetual motion machines (which they say are impossible), until all of a sudden, these electron "particles" inexplicably leap to a higher or lower orbit without occupying the space in-between those orbits at any moment. Yep, magic teleporting particles! That's the "scientific" explanation of these folks. No wonder so many of them are magicians: Believing their explanations requires that you believe in particle magic!

But getting back to water and vibrations, which isn't magic but rather vibrational physics, you can't overdose on a harmony. If you have one violin playing a note in your room, and you add ten more violins -- or a hundred more -- it's all still the same harmony (with all its complex higher frequencies, too). There's no toxicity to it.

Homeopathy works much the same way: You can drink a few drops or a few gallons. It's the same harmony being introduced into your body's living cells, regardless of the quantity. And drinking a few gallons of it will only make you urinate a whole lot, which I suppose the skeptics have been doing a lot these days, staring down into the toilet bowl with their pants unzipped, declaring, "I was right! I can't overdose on it!" Talk about expensive urine, eh?

It's hilarious, in fact, that those who would try to disparage homeopathy would even think that attempting to "overdose" on it proves anything at all. What it really shows is that they utterly lack any understanding of the underlying theories of how homeopathy works -- theories that Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier -- the discovered of the AIDS virus -- now publicly supports, by the way. (http://www.naturalnews.com/031210_L...)

Bent on their own destruction

What really drives the skeptics crazy is that no matter how hard they try, they just can't seem to kill themselves. To be so out of touch with the beautiful, loving and holographic nature of the universe around us is to retreat to a self-loathing worldview that can only be resolved through self destruction. These skeptics just want to kill themselves... and they wouldn't mind taking a few of you along with them, too. Hence their promotion of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy and water fluoridation.

These public demonstrations of chugging what they call "drugs" can only be called psychopathic "public suicide attempts" -- and they can't even get that right, either. (They're drinking the wrong stuff...)

I would suggest they try a few fluid ounces of their own medicines if they want to achieve the overdoses they're looking for. A few ounces of chemotherapy would do the trick nicely. Let me know if one of them tries that, and we'll carry the news: "Skeptic dies after drinking his own medicine. Story at eleven..."

In fact, if these skeptics are looking to kill themselves, they need look no further than the tens of thousands of toxic drugs, vaccines, chemotherapy agents, radiation procedures and barbaric surgical procedures that they claim will heal you! Yep, the stuff they say is good for you is the stuff they won't drink.

And therein lies my challenge...

Why I'm challenging skeptics to drink a gallon of chemotherapy

I am hereby challenging the skeptics to a public drink-a-thon, each drinking the medicines we advocate. I'll meet them in a public place, and we'll each drink the medicines we believe in the most.

I'll bring a gallon of homeopathic remedies and healing raw juices, and the medical fundamentalists and their supporters (the more, the merrier) can each bring a gallon of the liquid forms of chemotherapy, blood pressure medications, coumadin, or statin drugs. We'll chug them in public and see who's left standing. The results get posted on YouTube for the whole world to see. We'll title the video, "SKEPTICS COMMIT MASS SUICIDE BY DRINKING PHARMACEUTICALS AS IF THEY WERE KOOL-AID." Jonestown, anyone?

Do you have any doubt which of us will be left standing? Sure, I may need to pee a whole lot, but the restrooms won't be crowded, because all the skeptics won't be needing them anymore.

That outcome, my friends, would be sad, but newsworthy. More importantly, it would prove an important point: Medicine should be safe for people to consume, not so deadly that you drop dead after consuming it, which is what often happens with pharmaceuticals.

But, alas, my challenge will certainly never be accepted. None of the magicians, skeptics of medical fundamentalists will be publicly chugging chemotherapy any time soon, nor any other large doses of liquid pharmaceuticals. Why? Because they know how toxic those chemicals are.

Do you notice the irony here? The only medicines they're willing to consume in large doses in public are homeopathic remedies! They won't dare consume large quantities of the medicines they all say YOU should be taking! (The pharma drugs.)

And therein rests the truth in all this: Even the skeptics know that homeopathy is inherently safer than their own medicines.

No wonder they keep attacking it: If people found out about safe medicine, where would all of Big Pharma's repeat business come from? After all, the best thing about chemotherapy (from Big Pharma's point of view) is that it creates repeat business from liver damage, kidney damage and brain damage.

All these pharmaceutical poisons are so damaging to the human body -- and brain -- that these is probably one of the main reasons why the skeptics who take all these drugs are incapable of understanding high-vibration advanced medicine. A vaccine shot every year does wonders for lowering the IQ and killing off the creative thinking portions of the brain, after all.

So if you're looking for safe medicine, definitely take a look at homeopathic remedies. They so safe that even the critics can't overdose on them... but you have to admit the attempt makes for great entertainment.

A pattern for Addy

2011-02-10T21:01:00.000-05:00

When we were on our mother/daughter trip with friends last summer I bought some Civil War-style fabric. I really wanted to make something for Addy. My friend suggested a certain style, but I didn't have a pattern (need a pattern) like that. A few weeks ago I found what I was looking for. Primrose Lane had just what I was looking for.

I also have other fabric remnants that would work for this dress. Surprise, surprise.

The project is not on a list of "to dos" yet, but someday.

The completed pile

2011-02-09T21:23:00.000-05:00

One thing(s) on the list for the week was to sew the pile of cut-out doll clothes.

This one was in progress already, so it was done first. The fabric came from samples the quilt shop owner gave me. It's a vinyl coated cotton. The samples aren't big enough to get all the pieces on one so Amy came up with this arrangement. :)

This dress was next and I'm calling it Simply Summer. It's a little too big, but not noticeable in the pic. I added the rick-rack because it needed something. The rick-rack came from here. I cannot stand the polyester rick-rack that's sold these days, so I did a search for cotton rick-rack. Discovering that it's still made was thrilling!

The pleated skirt and cropped jacket are both Liberty Jane patterns (made before). I had the blouse already. The skirt fabric was stretchy, a fact I didn't know when I bought it. I supposed I should have checked, but I managed to sew it with little issues, other than I had to be careful not to stretch it while sewing.

The last thing I made from the pile was this little dress. Eventually it will have a cropped jacket and capris to go with it.

I also sewed the quilt binding on a quilt I'm working on for a special young lady. Pictures to come. I started working on a doll outfit for my niece who's got a birthday next week. All that, and it's only Wed. I have had a couple evenings to work this week, so that gave me extra time.

I'm still getting better. My ear is beginning to open up. I can hear a little out of it now. I'm still congested on that right side, but not as often. I hope I'm on the mend, but I've thought that before. Prayers are still appreciated.

Valentine coat

2011-02-08T21:38:00.000-05:00

I listed this cutey yesterday on Etsy and my sister snatched it up. Thank you! :)

MuMu sew-along

2011-02-07T23:16:00.000-05:00

AG Fans Message Board just did a MuMu sew-along in honor of Kanani the AG 2011 doll of year (or whatever they call it). Kanani is from Hawaii. I found fabric in my stash (no problem there) to use. It was a fat quarter so I used a coordinating pink for the bodice lining and a brown for the ruffle.

Since Kanani isn't a member of our family, Jess (a past doll of the year) got to be my model.

No-Reply Bloggers

2011-02-06T18:10:00.000-05:00

The following I'm snatching from here. I have my blog set up to send comment notification to my email. I'd like to just hit reply to respond, but most other Blogger people must not have an email address associated with their blogs. So here's a little lesson about it.

1. Suzie leaves a comment on Jodi's blog asking a question.

2. Jodi has all her comments sent directly to her email.

3. Jodi checks her email and reads Suzie's question. Jodi clicks reply. Shazam! Up pops Suzie's name but instead of her email address, it say's NO-REPLY. Argh!

4. Suzie doesn't have an Email associated with her blog. So no one can reply to any of the comments or questions that she leaves. Boo Hoo.

You may not even know that you are a NO-REPLY blogger. No worries.

Follow these instructions to see if you are a NO-REPLY blogger:

Sign in to Blogger and bring up your Dashboard or Profile Page. Click on EDIT PROFILE.
See the third box down (SHOW MY EMAIL ADDRESS) there should be a check mark in it.
and
Scroll down; see the section titled IDENTITY. See the box labeled EMAIL ADDRESS. Your Email address should be in that box.

If there is no email in that box or if you don't have the Show My Email Address box checked. You are a NO-REPLY blogger.

#1 ARGUMENT often heard from NO-REPLY bloggers:
I DON'T want my personal email out there for the whole world to see....

Good News! You don't have to. You can set up a "generic" email address to be associated with your blog. (You just need to remember to check it often) (especially if you leave a comment or ask a question on another blog).

Lots o' Dots for sale

2011-02-05T12:36:00.001-05:00

ETA: It sold within hours of listing! :)

Here's the newest coat up for sale in my shop.

Rainbows in Winter

2011-02-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

It's Foto Friday!

When the photo challenge is "Rainbows" in February one must be a little creative. There's usually not an abundance of sun this month, nor rain for that matter.

But in this house there's never a shortage of fabric in any color.