Christmas Tree And Other Decorations

I've been intending to share my Christmas decorations and tree with y'all for days now. I kept forgetting. I've had these up since the day after Thanksgiving. (My bad.)

We live way out in the country on a single lane dirt road with over 4 acres that are cleared. The home, that we had built in 1993, is a good 350 feet or so off the road with lots of mature trees and undergrowth between us passersby. I've had to remember to focus on where I want to decorate so as not to over spend since we're about the only ones that get to enjoy the display. I quit doing lights when I was so sick all those years. Now I'm out of the habit and too lazy. I do keep most all my decorations from year to year but come next Holiday season, I get the hankerin' to go shopping and get more! (I'm such a sucker for atmosphere.) My tactic now is to wait until after the season is over and then get them greatly discounted. Yeah, I know, most everyone does that. [smile]

Even though it's just the two of us that can see it, I start at the front door, front porch and windows facing the road.

Then I move down to the gate. Because of all the fallen leaves, I had to mow a little first to clear the area. There are two planters there for seasonal artificial flowers. I try to always decorate them with colors that are festive for that season (you know: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). I also hang windchimes and other nice, gentle things. I told you, I'm a sucker for atmosphere.

As in years past, I positioned plastic candy canes along the driveway. Oh, and my Hubby made the little green birdhouse with painted pictures on it. I know y'all can't see it in the photo but it's so lovely. He creates the nicest wood projects. That man is so gifted. He really spoils me.

 

Then I decorated the planter on the other side of the gate, the gate itself and the side gate for good measure. (I know, I need to repaint the side gate. It's really showing it's age ... like me! ha ha) 

Not many get to see it but at least the mailman can enjoy the festive decorations and I can too when I tramp out there to get the mail.

Now, I can move back into the house and finish up there.

 

And now, without any further ado [clearing throat] the pièce de résistance! The Christmas tree. I call it my abbreviated version this year because of the Jack Russell Terrorists (Jack and Sam). They're 5 months old and at a chewing stage. Could you see all those lovely handmade decorations dangling at eye level?!! OH NO!! So, I just used the top of the artificial on the coffee table. Pretty cool, huh? There's more than one way to skin a cat ... opps, I should say, a Jack Russell? [lol]

O christmas tree
O christmas tree, o christmas tree,
With faithful leaves unchanging;
O christmas tree, o christmas tree,
With faithful leaves unchanging;
Not only green in summer's heat,
But also winter's snow and sleet,
O christmas tree, o christmas tree,
With faithful leave unchanging.
O christmas tree, o christmas tree,
Of all the trees most lovely;
O christmas tree, o christmas tree,
Of all the trees most lovely;
Each year, you bring to me delight
Gleaming in the christmas night.
O christmas tree, o christmas tree,
Of all the trees most lovely.
Not only green in summer's heat,
But also winter's snow and sleet,
O christmas tree, o christmas tree,
With faithful leave unchanging.

~ Ride Safe ~

Sparky

You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me Blue Shield #ObamaCare

Anyone else losing their health care? Even if not yet, it's comin'. Obama's goal is for everyone in America to lose health care insurance, and then be completely dependent on his false god of Government.



Obama is pure, unadulterated evil. I feel so sad every time his mug is on TV (which is way too often for that much hot air). I can find no redeeming value about this man. And the people who voted for him are useful fools or equally evil with their own hate filled agenda. If a person so much as criticizes him, they get audited by his strong arm thugs the I.R.S. If people protest when he's near, they get arrested. All these actions are illegal and immoral. I guess even I take a chance by pointing out the self-appointed emperor has no clothes.

He's definitely a legend in his own mind. Actually, he is a Legion in a minefield but he doesn't know it. And that Legion will be the one's that carry him straight to eternal damnation if he doesn't get saved. I keep praying that he'll give his heart to Jesus Christ but, apparently, just as the Pharaoh of old when Moses wanted to lead the Israelites out of bondage to freedom, Obama keeps hardening his heart too. [read Exodus for the whole story] His goal is to add more bondage to our lives. I just hope we won't have 40 years of wandering in the desert after this vile America hater is gone. We have enough desert to wander through now with the likes of 'Helicopter Ben' Bernanke keeping the interest rates low and inflation high. (Planned and deliberate by the wealthy Left like George Soros, by the way.) All of which punishes savers and the elderly. The next scheduled Fed chief, Janet Yellen, is reported to be even more of an economy wrecker! She's of the mind that there's not enough inflation. [Forbes Magazine]

Lord save us!

Right now I have to figure out how to make our meager earnings go yet another 30 days. I keep running out of days before I run out of money.

~ Ride Safe ~

Sparky

Two Minutes With The Bible ~ Encouragement to A Weary Soldier

Encouragement to A Weary Soldier

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Berean Bible Society
Printer Friendly Version

During his ministry at Corinth, the strain of battle began telling on the Apostle Paul. He found himself haunted by fear and depression. Later he wrote of it.

“I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (ICor. 2:3).

It must not be supposed that fearlessness was characteristic of a nature so sensitive as Paul’s. On the contrary, he was often afraid. His, by the grace of God, was rather the courage that went on braving dangers in spite of his fears.

After having left the synagogue at Corinth, the strain of meeting, week after week, right next door, with all the embarrassing situations inevitably involved, may well have caused some of his followers, and possible himself, to question the wisdom and propriety of the step he had taken, adding to his mental depression (though this step, moving into the home of Justus, next door, was most appropriate under the circumstances). But the Lord was to endorse the act again in an unmistakable way.

It would appear from several passages in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (especially II Thessalonians 3:1,2), that this letter was written while Paul was becoming apprehensive about the work at Corinth and that it was after this that the Lord appeared to him in a vision to encourage him.

Let the reader try to place himself in Paul’s position while reading Verses 9,10 of Acts 18 so as to appreciate its force more fully:

“Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, BE NOT AFRAID,–BUT SPEAK,–AND HOLD NOT THY PEACE:–FOR I AM WITH THEE,–AND NO MAN SHALL SET ON THEE TO HURT THEE;–FOR I HAVE MUCH PEOPLE IN THIS CITY.”

Ah, tomorrow he could begin the work anew, assured in advance of the outcome! Whether he “continued” in Corinth (Verse 11) a year and six months longer or all together is perhaps impossible to ascertain, but we know that his ministry there was exceedingly fruitful.

---

To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

 

It's Been A Hard Day's Night And I've Been Working Like A Dog

The day after Thanksgiving, we stayed busy. It was bloody cold for this part of the world, but still started on the chores.

First, I decorated the house inside and out. Put the tree up. Yeah, it's a small one this year. I used only the top part of the artificial. I'm concerned about putting something with pretty dangles on the floor with our new Jack Russell brothers will be just too much temptation.

Oh, and all the dogs "helped". [ha ha] As soon as I crank up The Mule, Lucy gets excited because she knows "Mommy is doing something outside! Oh boy!"

Jack and Sam, The "Jack Russell Terrorists". They certainly put the fear in all our squirrels now!  Get 'em boys!

Lucy "helped" too. She's my moral support.

Also made time to start [emphasis on start] burning the yard debris. Now that the trees are so huge I'm going to be picking up leaves for awhile. [sigh] I keep repeating, "I love my trees", "I love my trees" ...

Oh, and I also got all the Christmas cards with a newsletter ready for mailing on Monday. How cool is that? [smile]

Hope your day was productive and fun too.

~ Ride Safe ~

Sparky

Funny Friday ~ The Five Surgeons

Five surgeons from big cities are discussing who makes the best patients to operate on.

The first surgeon, from New York, says, 'I like to see accountants on my operating table because when you open them up, everything inside is numbered.'
The second, from Chicago, responds, 'Yeah, but you should try electricians! Everything inside them is color coded.'
The third surgeon, from Dallas, says, 'No, I really think librarians are the best, everything inside them is in alphabetical order.'
The fourth surgeon, from Los Angeles chimes in: 'You know, I like construction workers. Those guys always understand when you have a few parts left over.'
But the fifth surgeon, from Washington, DC shut them all up when he observed: 'You're all wrong. Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There's no guts, no heart, no balls, no brains, and no spine. Plus, the head and the butt are interchangeable.

~ Ride Safe ~

Sparky

 

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

~ Ride Safe ~

Sparky

Pre Thanksgiving Day Preparations

I absolutely love Thanksgiving Day! It’s hands down my favorite holiday of the year. For me it’s all about family and friends. None of this silly exchanging of gifts. It’s all about just getting together, feeling thankful and building happy memories.

According to the Holy Scriptures, thankfulness pleases God. I liken our praises and thankfulness unto a sweet smelling aroma on the altar of sacrifice to Him. He has given us so much. It is always a fitting time to openingly express our thanks for all the multiple blessings we have through the year. And like all of my readers, I have lots to be thankful for this year too. I’ve been exceedingly blessed this year. First of all, we all have been blessed with a loving Lord and Saviour who by His grace has granted all who believe eternal salvation through His shed blood. Money can’t buy that kind of security! And the most important thing we can do as believers, is share this knowledge of eternal love with those that are perishing. To be someone who is openingly thankful, thoughtful, and kind helps show how much He cares about us all.

Also, my health is much improved over the previous four years. I am thankful to have a safe, comfortable, secure home, a husband that adores me, and access to some of the best food on this planet. We may be poor but we’ve been eating good doggone it! I never was interested in food preparation but retirement changed all that. Hubby is teaching me how to cook like he does. I’m really getting into the planning and cooking of meals, thoroughly enjoying myself along the way.

Since it’s just us tomorrow, we’ve down-sized the turkey day menu. It will still be the traditional Butterball with Cornbread Dressing and the green beans. But instead of a “regular” salad I decided to fix Cucumber Salad. And because of our low-carb diet, I’ve opted for cooked, mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. We’ve been doing a lot of experimenting using vegetables in place of  other foods. I recently was sent a recipe for Kale baked just like sliced potatoes to make chips. Can’t wait to try it!

Here’s the menu that’s planned for tomorrow:

Butterball turkey stuffed with cooked Cornbread Stovetop Dressing (our one “bad“ carb). Save the drippings for the gravy.

Green beans thoroughly cooked with garlic, basil and coconut oil. They taste as good as if they where boiled in sugar!

Cauliflower:
    Two heads, chopped fine, thoroughly cooked until soft.
    Mash and serve just like potatoes. No bad carbs and even
    tastes better than the “real” thing!

Cucumber Salad:
    4 cucumbers, thinly sliced        ½ cup water
    1 cup white vinegar                 1 tablespoon dried dill
    1 small white onion, thinly sliced

    Toss together the cucumbers and onion in a large bowl.
    Combine the vinegar, water and Splenda in a saucepan
    Over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Pour over the
    Cucumber and onions. Stir in dill, cover, and refrigerate
    until cold. Serve next day.

Cranberry sauce: chilled.

Pumpkin Pie:
    1 prepared pie crust                 2 tbsp. Corn Starch
                                                 ½ tsp. Cinnamon
    Filling                                     1 ½ tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
    1 can Pumpkin Puree                 1/8 tsp. salt
    ¾ cup Splenda granular             2 eggs
    1/3 cup Half & Half                   1 egg white
    3 tbsp. Heavy Cream                 1 tbsp. Vanilla
    1 tsp. Sugar-Free Maple Syrup    REAL Whipped Cream!

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
    Blend pumpkin puree, Splenda, corn starch, spices
    and salt in a medium bowl. Blend well. In separate bowl,
    mix together remaining ingredients. Stir well. Add to pumpkin
    mixture and stir well.
    Pour pumpkin filling into pie crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes
    or until set in the center and the crust is golden brown.
    Serve warm or chilled with real whipped cream. YUM!


                               Happy Thanksgiving Y‘all!


Psalm 107:1 (NIV) -”Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV) – “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 4:2 (NIV) – “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Colossians 3:15 (NIV) – “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Psalm 69:30 (NIV) –“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”


                                      ~ Ride Safe ~
                                            Sparky