{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ November 17, 2013

It's time for {phfr} again! After my dismal photographic efforts the past couple weeks, I made sure to take more pictures this week.

{Pretty}

What you see before you are some of my birthday presents.  The canning jars are from my dearly beloved.  (Yes, he knew just what I wanted!)  One is gallon sized and holds coconut flour.  The others (there are six of them! :) ) are half-gallon and hold a variety of items~ popcorn, oats, brown sugar, and other essentials.

The butter dish is from Elizabeth, Justin, and Arane.  I love its round shape!  They bought it when we were visiting last summer and sent it home with Dave, unbeknownst to me.  He safely and secretly squirreled it away until it was the proper time.  Isn't it pretty?

I neglected to take pictures of the beautiful shawl Hannah knitted for me.  Maybe next week?

{Happy}

I was happy to find a low-carb banana bread recipe at Elana's Pantry.  Though we aren't paleo, I try to keep things fairly low-carb for Dave, who gets migraines otherwise.  I had a couple bananas that were beyond just eating as they were, so I went in search of a recipe in which I could use almond or coconut flour.  This recipe is moist and not too sweet.  I only had two bananas (the recipe calls for three), so I used two extra tablespoons of honey. It came out great!  Hannah liked it too, so this recipe is a keeper.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The last of the turnips (a low-carb alternative to potatoes)~

These were the last things in the garden, and they had to come out because we were forecast to get some of this:

{Real}

Yep!  The first snow of the year, even before all the leaves had fallen.  It wasn't much and it didn't last long, but it sure was pretty while it lasted.  And now today, we have high winds and temperatures in the low 70's . . . That's life in the Midwest. :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ November 10, 2013

Linking up with Leila again this week for {pretty, happy, funny, real} . . .

{Pretty}

I forgot to show you this.  I put this together last spring using Cottage Thoughts free printables. I just printed it, trimmed it, and cemented it to scrapbook paper I already had. I already had the frames too, and I painted them with leftover black paint.  This favorite verse from a favorite hymn is a daily reminder to live in God's grace.

I used scrapbook paper because the printables are not a standard size and
needed mats to fit my frames, but I didn't want to spend money on mats.

These are hanging in our windowless hallway.  It's so hard to take a decent picture of them!  (Obviously, I failed.)  The walls are really not bright yellow.

For your edification, here is Fernando Ortega singing "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing."

{Happy}

Dave did some work with the compost pile not long ago.  It's hard to believe that anything is ever really happening in a compost pile, but when he dug below recent layers there was all this lovely dirt, full of worms, which he has been working into some of our garden beds.

 {Funny}

I dug sweet potatoes last week.  Goodness, do they ever taste good!  Some of them are puny and scrawny, but there have been some whoppers too, like this one:

The quarter is for scale.

This is the record-holder for the year. Someone said it looked like a chubby critter with an eye and a nose!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ November 3, 2013

I know it is pretty pathetic that I can't seem to post regularly except for {phfr}.  It weren't for Leila and her intrepid band of daughters, this blog would probably be completely dead.  As it is, it is merely on long-term life support.  So for my family members and the two or three faithful friends who are still reading, here goes. :)

{Pretty}

It had been so long since I'd sewn anything that when I found myself with a spare hour last night, I hied myself directly to the sewing room and shut the door.  I'm not a very accomplished seamstress, but I do enjoy it.  It was so good to cut into fabric and hear the whir of the sewing machine again.  Since I didn't have much time, I opted to make a couple potholders with fabric I bought a year ago.  These can be whipped out in practically no time following instructions from Kelly, who appears to be no longer blogging.  A few years ago she put out four issues of a perfectly delightful digital quarterly magazine for young girls called Seasonal Delights.  The instructions were in the first issue.  I printed all the magazines, thankfully, since I don't think they are available online anymore. These hotpads were the first things I made and launched my slow and un-illustrious career as a seamstress. But I needed some new ones and last night was the perfect time to make a couple.

Aren't they pretty?

{Happy}

I know, I know, more jars of stuff I've canned.  Ho hum.  This time it's homemade vegetable/beef soup.  We were out, and it  makes me happy to have jars of homemade soup on the shelf for lunches or for supper on busy days.  And the little popping sounds the lids make when they are sealing properly are very cheerful!

I'll just show one picture of my jars because, well, let's face it~ once you've seen one, you've
 seen 'em all.  I did add vinegar to the water, but I got water marks anyway . . .

{Real}

A few weeks ago we got the last of the fall raspberries.  I'm always so struck by the beauty of the red berries in my blue-and-white bowl, especially in the sunshine.  So I stuck my bowl on top of a stack of books near a window to take pictures.  In the pile of otherwise erudite books is the first from the dreaded Left Behind series.  Dave is reading it because it's being made into a movie and he wants to be prepared for parishioners who have seen it or want to make a church field trip to see it.  The Lutheran view of the end times is not what is found in Left Behind, hence the need for advanced prep.  Otherwise, the picture is quite pretty, don't you think?

Too pretty not to post!

Thanks for stopping by!