TO ALL MY WONDERFUL BLOGGER FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS, “MERRY CHRISTMAS” FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS!
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The Gift of Listening But you must really listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response, no second guessing. Just listen! The Gift of Affection Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses and pats on the back. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for your family and close friends. The Gift of Laughter Clip and share cartoons and funny stories. Your gift will say “I love to laugh with you”. The Gift of A Written Note It can be a simple “Thanks for the help” note or a full sonnet. A brief handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life. The Gift of A Compliment A simple and sincere, “You look great in red”, “You did a super job”, or “That was wonderful” can make someone’s day. The Gift of A Favor Every day, go out of your way to do something kind. The Gift of Solitude There are times when you want nothing more than to be left alone. Be sensitive to that same need in others and give the gift of solitude when it seems needed. The Gift of A Cheerful Disposition The easiest way to feel good is to offer a kind word to someone. Really, just a cheery “Hello” or “How are you” can go a long way. Emily
I found this list of interesting philosophy facts in a Farmer’s Almanac. I thought you might enjoy reading them and perhaps gain some new perspective!. 1. Continue to be yourself, for in the end this is what people will remember you as. 2. Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled. 3. It doesn’t take a very big person to carry a grudge. 4. Every path has a few puddles. 5. Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance. 6. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. 7. Good character, like good soup, is usually homemade. 8. Overnight success comes only after many days of hard work. 9. If you can’t be content with what you have, be thankful for what you have escaped. 10. If you’re going to climb, you’ve got to grab the branches, not the blossoms. 11. May your troubles in the coming New Year be as short lived as your resolutions. 12. Kind words are short to speak, but their echoes are endless. 13. To be happy, don’t add to your possessions but subtract from your desires. 14. Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you. 15. We need more people raising beans and fewer people spilling them. 16. People who believe what goes down must come up are sometimes called farmers. 17. Remember—life has more questions than answers. Emily
You got up late because somehow your alarm got turned off, Johnny can’t find his shoes, Betty is upset because she forgot to do her math homework, hubby is grumpy because he won’t have time for breakfast (and he’s really hungry this morning!) and you just want to crawl back under the covers and go back to sleep until tomorrow! Instead, you rush around like a mad-woman locating the missing shoes, reminding daughter that she has study hall before math class so she can do her homework then, and popping blueberry muffins, (thank goodness you made extra last week and froze some!), into the microwave. Hubby is extremely grateful for the yummy muffins and heads out the door with a smile on his face. It’s only a few minutes later when he rushes back in the house, grabs the house phone (his cell phone is dead!) and calls a co-worker to ask for a ride to work; his truck won’t start! But the co-worker has already left his house and he forgot to take his cell phone with him! It looks like you will be taking hubby to work this morning! Now you are grabbing the phone, trying to contact the office to let them know you will be late (again)! Can it get any worse? OH, YES! The school bus just went flying by!! Now guess who gets to take the kids to school after dropping hubby off at work? You take one last look around as you head out the door. What a mess!!! A sink full of dirty dishes, blueberry muffin crumbs on the kitchen table and floor, clothes scattered everywhere, junk mail and unpaid bills littering the dining room table, a light left on in the family room, nothing planned for tonight’s dinner, etc., etc., etc. Right then and there you decide, this is never going to happen again! No more rushing around like a mad-woman, no more being late! You are going to get organized, make up a chart of everyone’s responsibilities and assign chores to each family member, plan meals ahead and cook in abundance on the weekends and freeze extras, prepare shoes and clothing the night before so all is ready in the morning, etc., etc., etc. You’ve got it all under control! You awake with a start! The alarm somehow got turned off! You are late! Johnny can’t find his shoes…………….!!!!! Emily
We all face difficult times in our lives, whether we are rich or poor. The circumstances may be different but we each suffer just the same. Sickness and disease, loss of jobs and financial income, floods, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, death of a loved one; these are just a few of the difficulties we face. We know these things are going to happen at some point in our lives, we just don’t know what or when. My question to you is; When difficulties come your way, how do you handle them? Do you adopt the attitude that all is hopeless, there is no use trying so I’m just going to give up. Or do you begin to look at all the blessings you do have and focus your energies on the positives in your life; family that loves you, a roof over your head, food on the table (even if it got there from using food stamps), clothes on your back, and a country that tries to take care of it’s poor and hurting population. Our system might not be the best but how many people do you know that have been helped through difficult situations by this same system? Even in the tough times in my own life, financial difficulties, sickness and the death of my son, there have always been positive blessings to count. My children never went hungry, they had a warm safe place to sleep, clothes to wear and love for each other! Medical care was always available when they were sick, sometimes paid for by the government, but available none the less. When my son had his accident and was taken from me, I was grateful that he did not suffer or lay in a coma for months only to be taken anyway. I am not saying that I did not suffer the pain of loss; he was my son and of course I suffered, just as many other loving parents have done over the years. The point I am trying to make is this; look for the positive in every situation. Focus your time and energy on being thankful for all the many good things in your life, and we all have them! Change the things that you are capable of changing. Be willing to make some sacrifices if necessary, learn to live on less and not get caught up in materialistic living. Focus on what you do have and not on what you don’t have. Take a pen and a piece of paper and begin to list the many good and positive things in your life. When you are finished, I am sure you will begin to realize just how truly blessed you really are! Then put your list on the refrigerator or somewhere easily seen. Read it often and remind yourself of what is really important in your life. You will be amazed by how much better you will feel and how much more positive your outlook on life will be! Encourage your children and other family members to compile a list of their own blessings and remind them that you love them and will always be there for them no matter what the situation may be. Find someone who is in a difficult situation and see what you can do to help them. Involve other family members and friends in your endeavor and watch what a difference you can make in someone else’s life. One person can do a little but a lot of people working together can change the world!! We live in a wonderful country, full of promise and possibilites. There is no country on earth where I would rather live than in the United States of America! This is truly a great blessing we should all be thankful for! Today is the first day of the rest of your life! How will you choose to live it? Emily
You may be thinking “Oh well, you have the weekend off to rest up”. Not so! That’s when I have to compile my shopping list for ingredients I will need to make more yummies. Then, of course I have to do the shopping, come home and put it all away, do more cooking, take more photos, wash more dishes, etc., etc. And in between all that, I am creating new recipes, updating my old recipes and planning what I will cook the following day. I don’t even have time to get sick!! But I sure am having a lot of fun even with all the hard work. The hardest thing for me to do is keep all the dirty pots, pans and cooking utensils cleaned up! Even with my dishwasher going I still have to wash some by hand (I can’t stand a sink full of dirty dishes), not that I’m criticizing any of you who don’t have a problem with dirty dishes in the sink!! Jason says I’m getting better at my photography attempts. I didn’t know there was so much involved in taking good photographs! Maybe that’s why I’ve had so many blank pictures in the past! I do seem to be getting the hang of it though and having such good teachers (Jason & Christy) sure has helped. If you have a free minute sometime, it would be great to receive a comment from you expressing your opinion. I love hearing from all my visitors! Well, it looks like my day just got busier. I now have a Facebook account! It is so much fun looking up people and making new friends. Sometimes I lose track of the time until my husband reminds me that I really need to spend a little time with him! Guess I’d better watch the clock, I wouldn’t want to end up in divorce court over a Facebook account!! Better yet, I think I’ll sign him up for an account and then I’ll have to remind him of the time! Well, it’s back to the kitchen to dirty up some more dishes. Then I’ll have to take more photographs, but not until I clean up all those dirty dishes! Is this fun or what? Emily  Light Box I am happy to say I now have photos!! Not a lot yet but more are coming every day. If you don’t see your favorite recipe yet, please be patient. Remember, I have to cook each and every recipe “again” in order to get a photo. This is going to take some time. My family is quite excited about it since they get to eat everything I cook! I must give credit where credit is due. If not for Jason and Christy I would not be doing photos. They have shown me how to do “everything”. We had a really fun time over the weekend cooking and taking photos. I think the most fun part was eating all the delicious food (yes, it was delicious, even if I did cook it). Jason bought me a really great camera and a tripod to put it on so I wouldn’t mess up the picture by moving the camera around too much. Not that he thinks I’m getting old and shaky but because I am nervous about taking pictures. At least I hope that’s the real reason! Christy made me a “light box”. I had never heard of them before but since she is studying photography I figured I’d best listen to her advice. She takes some awesome pictures. I”ll be happy if the ones I take are just “good” ones! Anyway, I am having a lot of fun learning all this new “technology”. I hope you will keep coming to visit me and that you will enjoy all the pictures and maybe even try some of my recipes. I’m sure you will find something you will like!! Emily I had a rather upsetting start to my day this morning. While enjoying my first cup of coffee, I glanced out my kitchen window and saw a I first started bird feeding when my son Jason, his wife Christy and my granddaughter Portia gave me several different feeders and lots of seeds and suet for Mother’s Day last year. They even provided a color coded book detailing all the different birds common to the area where I live. It was so exciting and enjoyable to watch the various birds that came to feed. I was really having fun! Then one morning after we had an ice storm followed by a couple inches of snow, the starlings discovered my feeder! They didn’t just eat; they devoured every single morsel, leaving nothing for the cardinals, woodpeckers or other pretty birds that would normally come to feed. Needless to say, I was extremely upset. I even threatened to buy a pellet rifle and shoot them all!! I wouldn’t really; that was just anger talking. Besides, Jason, Christy and Portia are such nature enthusiasts, they would probably disown me for harming any of God’s creatures no matter how annoying they are! Well, now I can’t get rid of the annoying starlings. The woodpeckers have all but disappeared. An occasional cardinal or other small bird will come to grab what they can from the ground under my feeder before the starlings chase them away. My bird feeding experience has lost it’s sparkle! I really miss all the pretty birds and am looking for a solution to this problem. Jason has given me some suggestions to try and I am going to get started implementing them ASAP. I sure hope they work. If any of you readers have any helpful suggestions for getting rid of these annoying birds, I would greatly appreciate it if you would share them with me. I do so much want my pretty birds back! Emily |
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When we think of Christmas, we generally begin to ponder the question “What gift can I get them for Christmas?” Sometimes, the greatest gifts we can give are the ones not bought but freely given! I received the following in an email from 
Have you ever had “one of those days“? You know what I mean by one of those days! You wake up in the morning with a million things to get done, some of them really important things, and before you even have your first sip of coffee or whatever you start the day with, EVERYTHING starts going wrong!
With all the bad news on the T.V., the radio, in newspapers and coming from the mouths of almost everyone you come in contact with, it is easy to get caught up in the negative happenings all around us. Now, I am not sitting around with my head in the sand, so to speak. I know things are not at their best and there are a lot of hurting people out there. For all I know I could be one of them soon!
That one little word sure does describe my life these days! Up every morning before 5 a.m., cooking before my kids arrive at 7 a.m., taking photos of all my recipes, caring for my little ones, cooking some more when the kids are napping, taking more photos, taking the kids outside to play, fixing their lunch, etc., etc. I sometimes don’t know if I’m coming or going!
horde of starlings (I call them black birds), swarming all over my bird feeder! Now, I don’t mind if they eat some seeds and suet too. After all, they get hungry just like everything else does. But do they have to eat it ALL and share nothing with their fellow birds? And to add insult to injury, they fight and squabble until they drive away all the beautiful birds I have so patiently worked to attract to my feeder; cardinals, finches and various woodpeckers, to name a few.