These are my small Wee Forest Folk. They are so darn small and so darn cute!
For more head over to T.N. Chick’s place…
Author Archives: Ellen
Show & Tell Friday ~ Fun Christmas Table
Last year at the after Christmas sales I bought these great chair covers for half-price. Our everyday and breakfast Christmas table is casual and fun with Santa Bear place-mats from our daughter Katie’s 2nd birthday party 20 years ago.
The chair covers are Christmas hats with a little bells on the back of the covers that jingle when you move the chair.
For more Show and Tell head over to There’s No Place Like Home.
Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.
Thankful Thursday ~
I am thankful that I got my cards/Christmas letter mailed out this week.
I am thankful that Dear will be back in Washington in a week.
I am thankful that God sent His Son to earth to live among us and to make it possible for us to have peace with God.
I am thankful for being in Ephesians this month and for this powerful passage…
Ephesians 1:3-10 ~ “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in acordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”
I am thankful for this wonderful time of year when we can reflect again and again on all we have in Christ.
Blessings on all of you.
To see more Thankful Thursday posts click over to Laurel’s.
Thursday Thirteen #13 ~ Handel’s Messiah
The Messiah, Handel’s most successful and best known oratorio, was composed in the 1741 in 24 days. It was first performed at a concert given at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, on April 13th, 1742, Handel conducting in person. For more history of this first performance click here.
Here are thirteen lines from this amazing work…
1. “And the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed”
2. “For He is like a refiner’s fire”
3. “and shall call his name Emmanuel: God with us”
4. “arise, shine, for thy light is come”
5. “For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given”
6. “and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”
7. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
8. “He is the righteous Saviour and he shall speak peace unto the heathen”
9. “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, and He shall gather the Lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom”
10. “Behold the Lamb of God, behold the lamb of God, That taketh away the sins of the world.”
11. “He was despised and rejected of men: a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”
12. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory.”
13. “Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
I’ve only seen the Messiah performed twice in person. If you never have you should put it on your list of things to do. It was an amazing experience. I hope to be able to enjoy a live performance again…
For more TT click here.
Recipe Round-Up ~ Russian Tea Cookies
These “melt in your mouth”. There is no other way to express it.
Russian Tea Cookies
1 C. butter
1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups sifted flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup nuts, finely chopped
Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, flour, salt and nuts. Mix well. Form into small balls and flatten a bit. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 F 10-14 minutes. While still warm roll in powdered sugar. After cool, roll again in powdered sugar. Yields 3-4 dozen.
Some Spurgeon from Of First Importance ~
“The bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother.”
“The bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother. Thousands of big sinners have gone across that bridge, yea, tens of thousands have gone over it. I can hear their trampings now as they traverse the great arches of the bridge of salvation. They come by the thousands, by their myriads, e’er since that day when Christ first entered His glory.
They come and yet never a stone has sprung in that mighty bridge. Some have been the chief of sinners and some have come at the very last of their days but the arch has never yielded beneath their weight. I will go with them, trusting to the same support. It will bear me over as it has for them.”
– Charles Spurgeon
(Ht: Of First Importance)
A New Tradition ~ The Mystery Tree!
This year I decided to join my brother’s family in their tradition of the Mystery Tree. My SIL Kelly says it started because of their small Pastor’s salary that wouldn’t support an expensive tree. They would go to Target or Home Depot and get the biggest tree they could on their budget. They bought one that was still wrapped. No fair untying it and seeing if it’s a beauty. No walking around the tree lot for hours looking for the perfect tree. Throw it on top of the car, take it home, put it in its stand then unwrap it, stand back and enjoy the surprise! Sometimes you’ll get a Charlie Brown Tree (which some people prefer) but for the most part you get one that is great. So join me on my Mystery Tree Expedition…
Straight to Home Depot and to the garden department. Down the row of 5-6 ft. trees. I picked this one.
I really confused the Home Depot employee when I told him I was taking it just like it was. I told him I wanted to be surprised with our mystery tree and that I had faith it would be great. He sawed off a bit of the bottom for me so it would soak up water in the tree stand…
He was kind enough to put it in my car for me with a smile for the camera…
It fit in my car perfectly and home again, home again, jiggity jig…
Here it is in the house still in its mystery stage. Katie had the stand all ready when I got home. She got the honors of cutting the rope.
Voila! Mystery solved and oh what a beauty. The best part of this whole story is that the only man required for this adventure was the Home Depot guy. Ladies it is possible to get a tree from the lot to your home and up in the stand if your hubby is away on business or in the service, or if you are a single mom, etc. Maybe it’s more fun to do it together sometimes but don’t despair if you have to do it by yourself. Make it fun. Try the Mystery surprise tree method. From Home Depot to this stage it took me less than 1 hour!
I’ll let you see it again when we get the lights on and decorate it. Blesssings on all your activities this week….
Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.
Christmas Tree Treasures ~ 2007
Welcome to Christmas Tree Treasures hosted by Morning Glory at her blog Seeds From My Garden.
This angel is our Christmas tree topper that we’ve used for several years now.
We put the lights on the tree first, then come the red glass ornaments (a few dozen) When they are all placed we add all of our one of a kind that we’ve collected over the years. This was last years tree. This years is not up yet! We plan to get a shorter fatter one this year…
This was our very first ornament that was given to us as a Wedding Gift. We were married December 6, 1974.
The top three ornaments in this collage are the first ornaments for each of our children. 1979 was Josh’s , 1981 was Dan’s and 1986 was Katie’s. The second row in the middle was a very primitive baby Jesus in a 1/2 walnut shell that one of my kids made and I’m sorry to say I don’t know which one. The camel and Winnie the Pooh are from Josh’s baby stash. The little girls on the bottom right are from Dear’s mother and are a lot older than most of our other ornaments.
These are the handmade ornaments my 3 kids made that make me smile whenever I see them. Katie made the angel, Josh made the star and Dan made the reindeer below.
These photo ornaments are all from the same year. Josh with the baseball theme, Katie with the Angel theme, and Dan with the Soccer theme.
This is one of my favorite wooden ornaments.
I’m a huge Beatrix Potter fan and I was thrilled to find these Christmas ornaments. Hunca Munca and the Amiable Guinea Pig.
My heritage is Russian and these ornaments were gifts from my brother Leonard.
I added this Russian ornament to the tree last year.
My Christmas tree skirt is usually a Christmas tablecloth that I drape around the trunk of the tree.
Thank you Morning Glory for hosting Christmas Tree Treasures. To see more click here.
I’ve also linked to Katabug who is hosting Fun Monday Show me your Christmas Ornaments version.
Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.
How Cheering is the Christian’s Hope ~
How Cheering is the Christian’s Hope
How cheering is the Christian’s hope,
While toiling here below!
It buoys us up while passing through
This wilderness of woe.
It buoys us up while passing through
This wilderness of woe.
It points us to a land of rest,
Where saints with Christ will reign;
Where we shall meet the loved of earth,
And never part again.
Where we shall meet the loved of earth,
And never part again.
Fly, lingering moments, fly, O fly;
Dear Savior, quickly come!
We long to see Thee as Thou art,
And reach that blissful shore.
We long to see Thee as Thou art,
And reach that blissful shore.
(anonymous)
If you’d like to hear the tune click here.
Photo of Lake Washington taken at Log Boom Park in Kenmore
Soup-Tacular…because it’s cold, y’all
I’m joining BooMama and others in the bloggy world for Soup-Tacular. If you’d like to see more soup recipes click here and enjoy the carnival…
I found this wonderful recipe in the Better Home and Gardens Hometown Cooking February 2000 edition. I tweaked a couple things.
Mexican Corn Soup (prep: 15 min. Cooking: 10 min.)
1 – 16 ounce pkg. frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1 – Cup chicken broth (I used the whole can of chicken broth and just 1 cup of milk instead of two so I wouldn’t have a half a can of broth left.
2 – Tablespoons butter or margarine
1 – 4-1/2 ounce can diced green chili peppers
1 – clove garlic, minced
1 – Tablespoon snipped fresh oregano or l tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 – tsp. salt
1/4 – tsp. ground black pepper
2 – cups milk (I used one cup see chicken broth above)
1 – cup chopped, cooked chicken
1 – cup chopped tomatoes (I used a can of diced tomatoes w/jalapeno, med/hot)
1 – cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (4 oz.)
cilantro as garnish if you like it
[The soup is great with the full can of broth and tomatoes. I do not like half cans left over. ]
In a blender container combine half of the corn and the chicken broth. Cover; blend until nearly smooth.
In a large saucepan, combine corn puree, remaining corn, butter, chili peppers, garlic, dried oregano (if using), salt, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in milk, chicken, tomatoes, and fresh oregano (if using); heat through. remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Sprinkle with fresh parsley if desired (this is where I substitute cilantro instead)
Enjoy
If you’d like my mother’s recipe for a great pot of Russian Borsch click here.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 