Joys and Woes Hodgepodge

Speaking of Kentucky this photo is of the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Kentucky. We stayed there on a roadtrip to North Carolina in September of 2021.

Time for this weeks questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Jo!

1. Did you watch the Kentucky Derby this past weekend?  No

Have you ever been to a horse race? No

Ever ridden a horse? Did you enjoy it?

I just barely remember riding a horse once in my early adult years and it was intimidating.

Have you ever been to Kentucky?

Yes, in 2021 on our road trip to a wedding in North Carolina we drove through Kentucky making stops in Louisville, Shelbyville, Williamstown for The Ark Encounter and on our way out we stayed in Berea at the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel on a college campus.

Do you like Bourbon? 

The bourbon aficionado in the family is Dear and he enjoys it in all it’s forms. Straight or on the rocks or an Old Fashioned, a Black Manhattan, or with a touch of Amaretto. He is not a big fan of the mint julep.

While we were in Kentucky we did schedule one tour at the Bulleit Distillery and enjoyed it and we got the best recommendation for barbecue at the Red State Barbecue in Lexington.

2.  What’s something you wish you’d placed in a time capsule fifteen years ago? 

My very first little white flip phone that was kind of smart.

3. Are you adventurous? Elaborate. 

I am adventurous with conditions. Although I’ve managed to get around on my own in Milan, Italy, while Greg was there for business, foreign countries that are not English speaking are not in my comfort zone. When and if we are able to travel for pleasure, we will always choose the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S.A. I can comfortably travel to places I’ve never been to before in those countries.

I can be adventurous in the kitchen with trying new things.

Truth be told, the older I get the less adventurous I’m becoming.

4. Something you want to make this year? It can be a new recipe, craft, diy project, a milestone you’ve set for yourself…anything at all. 

I’d like to make more of our Russian heritage recipes and pass them along to the next generation.

5. Cinco de Mayo was also celebrated this past weekend…do you like Mexican food? If so what’s your favorite dish?

Mexican food is comfort food for me. I have lots of favorites starting with good salsa. I enjoy street tacos, burritos, chimichangas, carne asada, chile colorado, and other dishes. My favorite is whatever I’m in the mood for that day.

Have you ever been to Mexico? 

Yes. I’ve only been to Tijuana and Tecate along the border with the U.S.A. and there is a long story as to why and what we did there.

Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles we enjoyed Mexican culture and friendships. My elementary school celebrated Mexican cultural days and one of our field trips was to Olvera Street. I can also remember the smell of pinto beans being cooked on the burner in our Mexican neighbor’s kitchen.

Olvera Street, commonly known by its Spanish name Calle Olvera, is a historic pedestrian street in El Pueblo de Los Ángeles, the historic center of Los Angeles.

In California we studied the California Missions in fourth grade. The elementary school that our sons attended in Ventura, California was named after Father Junipero Serra. He is credited with being the founder of the California missions.

Margarita-yes or no?

On the rocks, no salt, please.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m slowly going through my blog posts and weeding out photos so that I can to get down below my photo limit. OYE! If that wasn’t enough, now my blogroll on my sidebar has disappeared from view.  I get a failed to load plug-ins message. This is very inconvenient and takes a lot of time to try to remedy.

Hope all is well in your corners!

 

A New Week…

…with a fresh start.

Trying something new today with the following prompts:

Sunday May 5th: We left home for our church services at the regular time. This Sunday we were having a Missionary Emphasis with a Missions Auction later in the afternoon and early evening. I baked a cheesecake for our contribution to the auction and the highest bid was over $80. Later this week we will find out the total amount our Auction fundraiser yielded.

Monday May 6th: Today will be laundry day. A good day to do indoor things since we are having rain since Sunday afternoon. I’ll be getting guestrooms ready. While I’m typing the rhythm of the falling rain is loud and clear.

New challenge: I’m responding to a prayer initiative that our Missionary speaker shared with us called PRAY938. Thirty days of prayer asking God to send gospel workers into His harvest. (Based on Matthew 9:38) The challenge includes a booklet with prompts to help you pray specifically.

Planning: Monday mornings are my time for making lists and looking over what is on the calendar for this new week. That reminds me, I forgot to sign up for the Mother/daughter Princess Pajama party on Friday evening at our church. oops. Addy is so excited for this event. I need to plan a menu for our Mother’s Day small gathering on Sunday evening.

Organizing: We are participating in a group garage sale the first weekend in June so I have been organizing and pricing items I’ve set aside for that event. I’m happy with my progress thus far.

Current Books I’m Reading: Besides my Day by Day with J.C. Ryle, I’m reading The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. I’ve learned a lot from both books but I’m missing my daily readings from Spurgeon and will add his works back into my daily regiment.

Quotable: 

From J.C. Ryle: “Conversion is an illumination, a change from darkness to light, from blindness to seeing the kingdom of God.”

From Bridges: “Remember, the grace that brought salvation to you is the same grace that teaches you. But you must respond on the basis of grace, not law. That is why you must “preach the gospel to yourself every day.”

Thankful: I’m thankful that I see our grandchildren at church on Sundays and I get a special weekly hug from them.

Thomas Aquinas: “Give us, O, Lord thankful hearts which never forget Your goodness to us. Give us, O, Lord, grateful hearts, which do not waste time complaining.”

Hope you all have a thankful week ahead!

Like A River Glorious ~ Hymn

I was introduced back in 2007 to Francis Ridley Havergal by Abigail. I was so excited to find out that she is the hymnwriter of a favorite of mine from Russian Baptist Days. Like a River Glorious is so beautiful when sung with soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices. It takes me back to the times when we sang these beautiful hymns in four part harmony.

Like a River Glorious ~ Francis Ridley Havergal (1836 – 1879)

Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase
Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the sun of love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

They Are Returning

We put out 3 hummingbird feeders this year. We are happy to see the little hummers return. They are not back in full force yet but we are happy to watch the ones that are enjoying the feeders.

Thursday morning between six an seven a.m. we were treated to a show by a group of deer running around and hopping in our backyard. I took a video that I wish I could share.

I’m adding a quote for the day here.

I am very sure that any man of common understanding may, by culture, care, attention, and labor, make himself what- ever he pleases, except a great poet.~ Lord Chesterfield

Hope the first weekend in May is filled with lots of joy for all who visit here.

Truth for Today #99

Thursday May 2nd

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Hebrews 13:20-21

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

From Vera:

”“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”“
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Leonard:

Job 40:3-5

Then Job replied to the Lord, “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”

 

Hello May Hodgepodge!

It’s the Merry Month of May and time for our first May Hodgepodge. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for the timely questions.

I’ll be using photos from my archives for many posts until I can figure out how to be able to add more media to my site. Such a revolting development.

1. Mayday! Mayday!…when was the last time (or a recent time) you literally or figuratively needed to call for help? Elaborate. 

A few months back we had to call our son to help with our water heater that wasn’t putting out any hot water. Brrr. He was a huge help scraping out a bunch of residue and helping Greg with draining the thing and installing some new parts.

2. May Day…when was the last time you danced?

At our brother and sister’s 60th birthday party at a ranch in Texas on July 29th 2023 we enjoyed some line dancing.

Do you have a lot of baskets?

I have a few baskets.

What’s something you keep in a basket?

Napkin rings. I have a lot of napkin rings, y’all. I have sets in ziplock bags. Sets of 4, sets of 6, sets of 8, sets of 10, sets of 12 and some sets over 12. Sets of 6 and under are in a basket. Sets of 8 are in a basket. Sets of 10 and over are in a basket.

What’s your favorite purple flower? 

Oh, this is a hard one. I love purple flowers. I’ll go with lavender even though we won’t see fields like these until July.

This collage is from several years ago at the Annual lavender festival held in Sequim, Washington.

3. What’s something you may do this month? 

We might be putting out our outdoor furniture soon.

4. Do you like eggplant? Quick topic changes lol? If you said yes in answer to the eggplant question how do you like yours prepared? Of the following purple foods, which one is your favorite…plums, purple carrots, purple asparagus, eggplant, acai berries, blackberries, purple cauliflower, elderberries, purple potatoes, or passion fruit? 

Not a huge fan of eggplant and I don’t think I’ve ever cooked eggplant. In my Russian culinary heritage there is a dish called Ikra that is a popular dish to spread on bread or crackers to enjoy, an eggplant caviar. My mother did make it and my sister Vera has made it. The recipe is in our family cookbook that Vera put together.

  • 1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
  • 1-2 carrots, grated
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  1. Saute onion in oil until tender.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until eggplant is soft, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
  3. If it gets too dry, add more tomato sauce.
  4. Another method is to bake the eggplant in the oven until it is soft and then peel and chop it. This will reduce the simmering time.

From the list of purple things, Blackberries are my favorite.

5. The calendar turns on Hodgepodge Day…

“Then you have to remember to be thankful; but in May one simply can’t help being thankful that they are alive, if for nothing else.”-L.M. Montgomery

Tell us one thing you’re thankful for today. 

Just one!? I’m thankful for how our Grands are growing and learning about our God who created them and loves them.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Tonight is Awana Awards night. These photos are from the last couple years. JJ graduates from Cubbies tonight and next year he’ll be a Sparky. Addy will get some awards tonight because she finished all her books and all her verses and then did some extra books and verses! She will still be a Sparky next year.

This is Addy two years ago when she was still a Cubby.

Happy May everyone!

Turkeys

Three to four turkeys have taken up residence in our yards. It’s quite a sight to see them fly in from the trees on our mountain.

I’m still working on a solution for being able to upload more images to my blog. We have company arriving today for two nights and we are hoping for some clear skies here and there so we can get out and about and show them our area and maybe get a walk in between the possible rain.

Two more days before we switch the page on our calendars. Hope all is well in your corner.

 

Blest Is the Man Who Makes the Word ~ Hymn

Blest Is the Man Who Makes the Word

Blest is the man who makes the word
Of God his con­stant guide;
There learns the path his Sav­ior trod,
Nor turns his step aside,
But shuns the broad and flow­ery way
Where vice and fol­ly love to stray.

He, like a tree whose spread­ing root
Refreshing wa­ters lave,
Whose bend­ing boughs with gold­en fruit
In rich lu­xu­ri­ance wave,
Shall firm­ly stand when storms in­vade—
No leaf shall fall, no blos­som fade.

And when, his life’s brief sum­mer o’er,
He shares the ge­ne­ral doom,
Though earth shall know his place no more,
In Hea­ven he still shall bloom;
And there, with end­less glo­ry crowned,
In fruits of right­eous­ness abound.

Words: Harriett Auber, 1829

Apple Bundt Cake

This is an easy apple cake recipe with a nice moist result.

The most time consuming part of this recipe will be preparing the apples.

Apple Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sugar
    2 eggs
    1/2 cup oil
    2 cups flour
    1 Tbsp. cinnamon
    2 teaspoons baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    4 cups diced apples (approx. 4 apples)
    1 cup chopped walnuts
    1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

  1. Beat eggs and sugar well.
  2. Stir in next 5 ingredients and mix.
  3. Add next 3 ingredients and mix well.
  4. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
  6. Let cool in pan 10 minutes before removing onto serving plate.
  7. When the cake has cooled completely dust it with powdered sugar.

I used Pam baking spray with flour for my pan and the cake came out nicely.

When the cake has cooled completely dust it with powdered sugar.

Past the Limit

As the dear Grandma Wilma would say, “What a revolting development”!

I seem to be way over the limit on the images on my blog.

Working on some solutions.

Pink Dogwoods are always a treat to see and it will appease me for a while as I fix my excess photo problem!

Have a good weekend.