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 same 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 to me during the long appointment (with a sweet resident, to be fair). 

I showed Tom that list and 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 minds 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 all of 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 know 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?

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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 heave 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

News Around Hobbit Cottage

"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds."   --- Psalm 9:1

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Perhaps my celebration of feeling much better is going on too long, but that's my excuse for not being here. Oh, how wonderful to feel good again!

Anyway. 

Does anyone remember the adorable white hanging little cabinet from out at our farm kitchen?

(The small one on the right.)

For nearly 15 years I've regretted leaving it hanging on that plaid wall. I've missed that thing! Yet not badly enough to buy a new/used one. Hmm.

Well, guess what? Though I said nothing about it to her, Naomi gave me an identical one last month. Oh my! Instantly I replaced our little wonky metal spice rack with that one. It's perfect and what a treat, even, to open the door to retrieve spice bottles.

I'd gladly show you a photo, except I can't figure out how to connect my old (old!) camera to this newish laptop and I keep forgetting to ask Tom for help. At least I found my camera. Lost for months, it was exactly where it was supposed to be. Argh.

Anyway, trust me, I'm so grateful for that sweet cabinet.

Something else? Today, from Amazon, I'll be receiving a perfect small ottoman for in front of our red couch. All these months, I've kept my vitamin bottles on the top and lower portion of my stained glass side table--

Now, on my droopy days, I felt grateful for something easy to reach, but oh dear. Last week, I became sick of the way it looked with cluttered pill bottles covering it (most in a clear plastic lazy Susan thing, another gift from Naomi). So I went online, perused a hundred tiny footstools/ottomans (no room here for a coffee table), and chose this one with gift card moola:

Seriously, I'm counting the hours till it arrives. How lovely to just throw (and hide) the vitamin bottles in there, instead!

Has anyone else been super-enjoying gardening this season/year? Every morning, around 6:00 a.m. I'm out there planting seeds, watering plants, spray-painting patio chairs, trimming things, feeding the birds, transplanting seedlings from small pots into larger ones, etc. Usually I'm up at 4:00 a.m. drinking cocoa and watching Homestead Tessie because my head keeps planning how best to garden that morning with the fewest steps.  シ

And so it goes each day. With enormous gratitude.

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Oh, and as I wrote at Facebook:

It's Tree Day! We're finally having the 2 huge sycamore trees (yes, I always think of Zaccheus. heh) trimmed back from hanging over our roof and sidewalk. Also, the backyard cranberry tree will be pruned, another thing needed for years.

We try to do one large home task yearly, but last year I was so tired and didn't want to think about it. Hooray for healing, for progress and tree safety!

Oh, and I would add photos, but this is a newish computer and I'd not set it to upload photos yet. At least I did find my camera's card and charger after many months! Where? Right where they were supposed to be. Eegads.

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The ottoman arrived and it's perfect! It holds all my many vitamin bottles and even my back brace, tablet, comb, lip balm, books, a small box of kleenex, ponytail elastics and a spiked ball to run under my feet. Don't you love it when a plan comes together? シ

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Oh what special Youtube videos I've found!

Whispers in the Garden Many of his videos are from the yards included in the yearly Buffalo garden walk. What inspiration, indeed!

I'm not even a fan of lavender decor, but I certainly love what she did with it here.

As others commented, I came for the camper, but stayed for the adorable dog. heh.

Oh wow. The most perfect 'she shed' on the planet.

Oy! This goes against everything I've said about decluttering, but I totally would've decorated like this in my 30's and 40's. (Minimalists, please don't watch. You may have a heart attack. Ha!)

I'd never before heard of these metal British after-the-war houses! Tom and I found this fascinating.

---and here are two of those British houses from the inside. When first married, we could easily have lived happily in one. Maybe even now. Well, maybe. heh.

More terrific videos next time.....

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And a special thanks to Angela for letting me know you'd watched A Marriage Made in Heaven. So happy you enjoyed it and thanks for mentioning it to me!

Also to the person who watched Grimm on my recommendation (ages ago)---a special thanks to you, also, and again, I'm thrilled you liked it.

And to the person who bought the Mary C. Jane books--oh goody! I'm glad you did and I hope you've enjoyed them as I have.

Thanks, Everyone! I love knowing I've added something good to your life.

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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

If You Can, Do It Now

(The Reno, NV train station. One of my very favorite photos.)

"You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out."   --- Deuteronomy 28:6

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Still here!

Mainly I've simply been celebrating feeling soo much better. You know, having little gratitude parties on the red couch while watching Youtube videos and, lately, reading old Mary Jane's Farm magazines. Oh, and gardening. Lots of morning sit-down-gardening for just minutes, but hey, it adds up.

And also? I'm again counting my blessings for, years ago, not procrastinating what the Holy Spirit nudged me to do. Why? Because these past 7 months I pretty much desired to do nothing but lay around and heal.

And although during those months the house was, er, a mess, at least I could lay on the red couch (or on a hospital table-like bed) and rejoice that I'd done tasks (or traveled) over the past years because Honey, no way could I do any of it now. 

Plus, I had those memories to pleasantly mull over while I could only lounge around.

Examples?

Tom and I bought that tiny farm and lived our farming dreams right on the cusp before we could no longer handle it. Often, I recalled my favorite farm memories while recuperating from internal radiation surgeries when I could only lay on my back in recovery.

There were our camping trips, motel stays and later? The train travel across the country--4 times. Could we do all that now? Most likely, uh, no. Our train season, as the farm one, is over.

Yet how good to finally accept that seasons in our lives are a thing. They come and go and aren't meant to cling to in sadness when the gate of lovely seasons slams shut. Instead, they're to be treasured with hope that new seasons, though very different, will be just as lovely.

Years ago, I put together a quasi capsule wardrobe. During these months I could barely dress myself, but at least my clothes looked decent. ツ I hardly considered what I wore, but it came together because I'd planned it all out during my normal years.

The garden beds I put in and all the perennials I planted. The bills we put on our credit cards/bank so they'd be paid that way. The decorating of my home over the past 14 years. The decluttering of 10 things weekly (beginning in 2019). My book collection (tho' oddly, I read only 1 book in 4 months!). The arranging of having groceries delivered from Aldi each week.

On and on it goes. All those things the Holy Spirit said, "Do it now," probably adding, "while you still can." But that last part is hard to listen to, right? We want to believe we'll be strong and healthy forever.

Anyway, just some notes for you today, things I've considered many hours. And really, color me so grateful that God alerted me ahead of time, even though I didn't have a clue how it would all piece together during these difficult months of my life.

He is so good.

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And as I wrote at Facebook:

So yesterday was the first time this year that I walked down to the Salv. Army drop-off. I made it back home ok, but just barely. heh.

Anyway, one hour later, Tom and I were sitting here and we heard (and felt) a big boom! We ran to the windows and saw that Neighbor Sue's elm tree had lost a HUGE branch, probably with a 30-inch circumference at the tree's connection. It had tons of smaller branches shooting off of it.

Fortunately it didn't hit her house, but it fell across the sidewalk and street, and even brought down a couple wires from the pole, (one connected to our house, an old phone line).

Wow, only an hour before I'd walked that sidewalk and would've been killed had the tree fallen on me. Color both Tom and myself thankful for God's protection and listening to the Holy Spirit rather than procrastinating my walk just one more hour.

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Some of my perennials:

Mint

Snow in summer

Peonies

Oregano

Clematis

Sun drops

Catnip

Forget me nots (tho' not a true perennial, it acts like one)

Chives

A climbing rose

Daylilies, 2 kinds

Strawberries

Sweet woodruff and another ground cover whose name I can't recall.

And white sweet alyssum

Oh, and a very special thanks to each of you who commented after my last post. As usual, it's taking me forever to get over there and thank you! All the time, I read all your comments and appreciate each one.

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More movies we've enjoyed lately. 

Savannah  (can't believe we just now saw this Jim Caviezel film. It is a sad one, ok, but then it's a true story so what are ya gonna do?)  ツ

Mrs. Lowry and Son  (another true story, some difficult moments, but still inspiring)

The Rendevous  (we were surprised this had basically no 'language'!)

The Way to the Heart

Little Loopers

The Boys in the Boat

Crooked Arrows

The Perfect Game

Did anyone watch any of the movies I recommended last time?

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God's timing? Perfect. Always.

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