A Rare This and That Post

1.) Forgot to mention last time that July 25th marked my 22nd blogiversary. Can you believe that? Even I can't, but there you go.  シ And a special thanks to those of you who've hung in there with me for many of those years. What an encouragement you are!

2.) So after 47 years I'd grown weary of cooking. Hey, go figuring just two meals per day, even, and the number comes out to 34,310(!)

But then being all gluten intolerant now, I realized if I want tasty foods (and not go into debt paying someone else to cook them like with a meal delivery subscription), then I'd better change my attitude.

So I did what I've often told you to: Instead of praying the verse, "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation," I tweak it to (in this case), "Restore unto me the joy of cooking."

Truly, it works every time. I'm back to enjoying cooking and even watching others create meals at Youtube. Just substitute a few ingredients and voila! Tasty gluten free meals for cheap.

Whew.

3.) Back in 2016 when God (I felt) nudged me to declutter 10 items per week, I also sensed He wanted me to release 300 of my books. Three-hundred?! Yes.

Well, initially I said, "That's impossible!" (Hey, I love books and my 35 year+ collection of them.) But you know? I wanted to obey God, for He knows best.

So I approached this slowly, lugged just a few books at a time down to the Salvation Army drop-off and Little Free Library, kept track of how many I released and by now? I've given away 564 books. Wow.

(Probably 30 are ones Tom let go of, but still, 534 is something big. For me, anyway.)

Truly, just doing small things each day/week/month always adds up over Time. What matters is starting and continuing and staying inspired to do the right thing.

4.) Can you believe that, at the end of August, Tom and I will have lived at Hobbit Cottage for 15 years? (I hope my longtime readers didn't faint at that.)  シ

Another one of those "I can barely believe it" things. For many reasons our living here has been good for us, one of which is that these 860 square feet keep us reigned-in from collecting too much junk stuff.

I try to remind myself that that's a good thing.

5.) Since 2024 I've meant to tell you that I bought some just-like-I-imagined garden plant labels/signs. These 2 years later I still love using them in my gardens:

I found them at Amazon here.

6.) Speaking of shopping online, I love to listen to vintage mall/supermarket music when I do so. Brings old-fashioned-ness to a modern-day activity.

Here are a couple favorite videos to shop by:

Mall Memories of the 60's and 70's

Retro Supermarket Shopping Music

There are tons to choose from on Youtube.

7.) Oh, and there are many retro crockpot meal videos, also, but this one was special, for he includes the notes his grandmother penned beside each recipe. I hope you'll check this one out for yourself, especially if you need cooking inspiration like I have:

Grandma's Lost Cookbook

8.)  Before moving back upstairs (see my last post) I'd envisioned making my row of bookshelves feel more town-library-ish, especially since I no longer visit our local library due to all the books I either buy online (only occasionally, ok? heh) or read online free at Open Library (who carries the books my city library discarded decades ago).

Anyway! What finally got me to attempt that bookshelf challenge is when I watched Darling Desi create a Blockbuster Video store area in her bedroom . What a cute idea! 

I que'd (sp) it up to that specific part here. (Well, I'm crossing my fingers that it worked.)

That was the inspiration I needed! I tweaked my bookshelves up here a bit and I'm happy with them. To me they've got more of a city library feeling.

(I would show you a photo, but I've still not connected my camera to this newish laptop. Besides, I think you'd need my own imagination to see what I see now. heh.) 

But whatever, it's been fun making a change.

9.)  

He is! Even now. Even any day inside our hearts if we invite Him to do so.

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A couple bonus videos for you:

I'd never seen this side of the Clutterbug gal! A delightful video, indeed.

And this must be the most beautiful small yard garden that I've ever seen online. No, really. (Wait for it.... wait till her friend takes you to the backyard.)  ツ

Oh! And nearly forgot to mention this:

The Chosen Run Wild With Bear Grylls. What a terrific idea!

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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

 *** 

 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

Where She Moved Back Upstairs (And Other Stories)

So I haven't told you I moved downstairs and slept on our couch for 8 months. (Eight whole months?!) 

Yes, it began the day after spending 3 nights at the hospital in November. None of us trusted me on those 12 stairs up to my room(s) at night, so after a couple trips up there for clothes, my laptop, etc., I camped downstairs. Later in February, you may remember, I had to literally crawl up the 3 (kinda 4) stairs from the backdoor to the kitchen, so I felt grateful for 'my new room'.

Well, go couch camping and you make a large adjustment. I missed my privacy and got that living in a store display window feeling. Install a stair climbing chair, instead? We felt too overwhelmed already.

Besides, I'd just think about upstairs and couldn't shake the feeling of 'bad juju'. Up there is where I could have, well, bled to death had I stayed and just tried praying or brushing it off. So honestly, I wasn't antsy to move back.

But anyway!

Last week I realized the time had come to return to Debra's World upstairs (long story). I shook-off the bad juju thing, prayed up there, then moved back.

And here I happily am. Life up here feels lovely again.

And too, I saw on a Youtube video that if a person still easily can, it's best to do stairs for as long as you're able. It's one of those 'use it or lose it' things. Stop climbing stairs and you'll stop being able to climb them. For me, it's too soon for that, and besides, I'm fine on them now. I feel at least 95% back to my good ol' self.

Moving on ...

For 45 or more years I reused those twist ties that come (came?) on packages of bread. Kept them in a little clear jar. But now it seems they use only those square tiny plastic things that break and are beyond annoying. 

So this felt ultra-weird, but I actually bought some (200?) small twist ties! I think they were from Walmart. 

Elmer, the times, they are a changin'.  シ

And one last thing: Do you ever watch the Recollection Road videos on Youtube? Mostly he shows us videos of the way Life was while we of a certain age were young. 

Now, I love those vintage style videos, but oh my, the hopelessness in the comment section afterward! All those whines of how those times are gone forever, we'll never get them back and how these present days are garbage in comparison. Blah, blah, blah.

Come on, People.

Life has always been only as good as we make it. Lots of those things on Recollection Road are still doable today. The picnics. The mall shopping. The family reunions. The sweet Christmas gatherings, potlucks, music from any decade and church-going. Dressing-up to go downtown, sitting on porches, visiting vintage car shows or concerts in the park, etc.

Always, Times have been hard in one way or another, but it's been people who have pulled themselves together and made the best of them. Done what they could to have fun and create memorable times for their children to recall in their old age.

And there comes a time where we in our own difficult days, can choose to concentrate upon what's going right, rather than what's changed and gone wrong. Where we can create wonderful moments, ourselves, to remember forever.

It was a choice back in The Good Old Days and remains a choice in these times, as well.

During couch camping days, I'd kept some of my clothes on a hutch shelf in Tom's office, but once they were back upstairs, I placed unopened spices there (in a box I spray painted blue) along with larger bottles of spice and salt. I love the way they look on that glass shelf behind a glass door! Truly it's the small things.

Also, I so enjoy buying garden seeds from sellers on Ebay. Usually they're very inexpensive (like $1.35 to $2.50 ish) with no shipping charge or minimum purchase required. Plus, it's cool knowing I'm planting seeds from regular folks' gardens.

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Movies We've Enjoyed Lately: 

The Sheep Detectives (absolutely loved this)

Meet The Robinsons (adorable. How did we miss this one?)

A Great Awakening (much better than I'd thought. I'm usually not a fan of period pieces, tho,' if they're based on true stories, I tend to like them.)

Harold and the Purple Crayon (truly enjoyed the humor of this.)

The Unbreakable Boy (another Zachary Levi film, one based on a true story. We so enjoyed it, tho' a few moments were tough to watch.)

Tender Mercies (what took us so long for this one, too?)

Hellfighters (with John Wayne. A second watch for us.)

Tom Wopat's 3 County Line movies. (more second watches. The 3rd one was a bit dark.)

Fountain of Youth (a new film with a vintage feel to it.)

Hail Mary (took me around an hour to get into this(!), but Tom liked it from the beginning.)

*****

I recommend watching movies and videos which make us feel grateful for the Life God gave us.

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

High Prices, Health Woes and What Do They Have to Do With Heaven?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."   --- Proverbs 3:5

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Still here!

So the prices of groceries, right? Wow. Yet this is one more of those 'hopefully we prepared ahead' things.

You know where, during the good ol' days, we had tons of opportunities to collect (and put to use) terrific recipes made with inexpensive ingredients.

Which reminds me of 47 years ago (and ever since, really) when I loved my 1970's (or earlier) cookbooks because of their oh-so-cheap recipes. I mean, hey, even way back then groceries seemed high(!) especially in our tiny mountain town where we paid extra due to location.

Seriously, I mostly enjoyed those early years of opening the fridge door, spying very little, but knowing that, with a few cupboard items, I could still whip together a pleasant meal for Tom when he arrived home from work.

Those types of challenges! I thrived on them. They were my idea of old-fashioned fun, especially while tweaking recipes from vintage-scented 1940's cookbooks.

Fast forward to 2026 and some of my favorite Youtube videos? They're the ones showing wives cooking meals with those same ingredients and that identical sense of both fun and challenge enjoyment.

Now we'll come back to that, but first, the 'health woes' in my title.

Sheesh. Last month I saw my GP doctor and she sent home papers with me (as usual) which I didn't look at till weeks later (also usual. heh.) Man, she'd listed ailments she believes I have (after consulting various test results from my Buffalo doc's), some she didn't even mention during the long appointment (with a sweet resident, to be fair). 

Showing Tom that list, I was all huffing-puffing upset, saying, "How dare they speak those things over me! Well, I rebuke that list in Jesus' name."

Yeah, around here I do stuff like that.  シ

But even so, I've been checking out Youtube videos (mostly from Dr. Eric Berg), ones with recommendations of natural fixes like vitamins and food, etc. And I take medical notes in a cute little binder I bought where I keep the pages in alphabetical order and also include gardening tips and To Do lists. Hey, it's my book. heh.

So what's my point? And what does this all have to do with Heaven? I'm thinking that when we reach Heaven, it will matter how we faced challenges. All of them.

Did we worry every time a problem came along? 

Did we fret that God would let us starve, what with all these high grocery prices? Did we doubt His creativity and provision?

With bad health reports, did our mind instantly go to the D word (death)? Did we lay awake at night worrying about these chaotic, where's-this-all-going 2026 days?

Or did we keep our mind at rest? At peace. At a high level of trust in God's having everything under control and that what's left is to discover just how He wishes we'd behave and grow and plan and practice --

-- and remain joyful in the journey. And what I believe remains for us is to remember this: in Heaven it will matter. All of our trusting and believing (and behaving in godly ways) will matter more than we realize down here.

Besides, it will remain our own personal history for, like, eternity and wouldn't it be wonderful for 'we truly trusted God' to be stamped all over that history book?

*****

I Woke Up In 1956 And Fell In Love With The Past  What a delightful video! And as for me, I don't care that it's AI, in fact, I often tell Tom, "If something beautiful is AI, then it's still a beautiful thing."  No, really. I say and think that often.

Wow, this woman decorated her mobile home so beautifully, that I couldn't even finish watching due to envy creeping in. (Does anyone else ever have to click away because of that? Tell me I'm not the only one.)

I loved this kinder, gentler way of decluttering!

Anyone interested in selling paper items on Ebay? I enjoyed her stories of how she found things and the prices she sold them for.

What a lovely traditionally-decorated (at least to me) tiny house.

And who I believe most consistently shows inexpensive, healthier-type recipes with a spirit of fun? Julia Pacheco .

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Last year the only seeds I planted were cherry tomatoes, but this year I made up for it by planting:

Blue sage

Purple coneflower

Basil

Jalapenos

Cosmos

Zinnias

Marigolds

Lettuce

... and cherry tomatoes, of course.  ツ

 

I feel so grateful to garden this year, especially after all those doctor appointments earlier. Of course, I've done lots of my famous 'sit-down-gardening', but it really helps. Just a half hour or so each morning and I'm able to, well, mostly able to, keep up with everything out there.

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Oh, and I bought the cutest ice cube tray from Aldi. I'd not had one for years because I'd tired of trays falling from the ice compartment top of our fridge all over the floor. This one is silicone, has nine cube spaces and a lid. It's perfect! Just what I pictured in my mind.

It's rather like this, below, but is red and has nine cube thingies.  I'm the only one who uses it, so it works out fine.

And one last thing....Yes! We had a couple days of heavy smoke from the Canadian fires. Orange air the first day! Then a cooler day, a little bit overcast from smoke, and now today is cool and gorgeous.

Lesson? Give God time to work things out.

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The Lord, He is good. Bless His holy name forever.

--And--

how wonderful when we can have blessed assurance that all will be well in Time.

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15