Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Meanwhile, Down At Hobbit Cottage ...

See the source image


"... she can laugh at the days to come."   ---From Proverbs 31

******


Most mornings I carry a yellow Fiestaware mug of hot chocolate upstairs here to my computer and watch Tessie at Youtube.

(If you hate Youtube, you're not doing it right.) ツ

Tessie gives us tours through her acre of PA;  we step down rows of her huge green garden, then up to the deck after we visit her chickens. Then inside her 1963 mobile home, Tessie whips up dinner in the crockpot if it isn't already simmering over a fire outside.

Tessie's bedroom-sized pantry makes my prepper-loving heart beat harder. Wow, all those beautiful jars of food she's canned within her hutches!

And more. Tessie shares so much more: life lessons, homemaking knowledge, wisdom.

And you know? These past what-the-heck? months, she's kept me balanced. God's used her inspiration to stop me from permanently camping out in a 2020 spiritual battlefield, 24/7, fighting the good fight of faith amongst all the crazies out there.

Now, what's wrong with that? The 24/7 part. Face it, God's way too wise to wreck our health with a wildly-out-of-balance purpose/gift/calling. People do that to themselves: God does not.

So with a thankful nod to Tessie, here's a tad of what's kept me joyfully balanced since March when many of us were shooed inside our houses lest covid-19 find us and make us sick. Or afraid.

Yet there's been no fear here at Hobbit Cottage, nor will there be. Mostly, I'm having the time of my life.

But then, I've always lived upon the opposite track. Always.


******


An early photo of my farm garden.




Some cucumbers were born there so I'm hoping to use them for Aunt April's Refrigerator Pickles. (My friend, Connie's, Aunt April, not mine. heh.)  I'll include the recipe, below.

Of course I still feed the birds. Sometimes they sit on our porch railing and stare inside the house, willing me to remember to feed them. (Kinda eerie.)


Lots of salad-making this year. 



Now, my own little hutch of canned foods, though in the basement, always makes me smile and feel fine about the days ahead. Oh, and it's fuller now. (Forgive the darkness which is our basement.)





Oh, and weekly I check my itemized stock-up list to see if I'm short on anything for our 6-month supply.


When we all 'got sent to our rooms', that was my birthday week and guess how I spent my birthday money? On more stock-up groceries. Alas. So finally last week I bought something for myself: two original Nancy Drew books. They're awesome.  ツ

Here are a couple I bought later (long story).




Oh, and did you know that when the first 34 Nancy Drew books were edited more PC in the 60's, they also removed 5 chapters from each? What the--? Can you imagine your own favorite book having 5 chapters taken away? Gracious. 

I own perhaps 9 originals with all 25 chapters and prefer each non-PC, old-fashioned one over the updated rest. Deal with it. 😉


Oh, and I'm still shining 'this little light of mine'. heh.



And I'll end with this: Color me grateful for God's warnings, instructions and love. He brings me much joy in the midst of battle.



"Put on the full armor of God..... fight the good fight of faith."  --- Ephesians 6:11, 1 Timothy 6:12



******


Here's a favorite Tessie video.

Here's another.

And in this one, Tessie speaks of her life story. She also speaks to the importance of learning skills and living prepared for the future.

There are many more!

See the source image



******


Aunt April's Refrigerator Pickles:


Place in 1/2 gallon jar:


6 cups sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onion

Mix cold and pour over cucumbers:

1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Let stand in refrigerator 3 days. 



Oh! And again, if you want to leave a comment, but can't for whatever reason(s), you can always email me at the address near the top of my blog: GladOne4@yahoo.com

******


"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

7 comments:

Betsy said...

Those refrigerator pickles are very similar to the ones I make only I add celery seed to mine.
I stocked up big time on canned food too and now I have to figure out where I'm going to put it all. We are now living in our trailer since we sold, (we should close next week,) our house this month. We plan on staying here in our tiny home until retirement which will hopefully be late next year. There isn't a lot of room for storage of anything here. We do have a storage unit where it all resides for the moment, but it will need to be moved inside before the brutal winter temperatures hit.
Whatever we decide, I won't get rid of the food. I'll stack the boxes on the sofa first!
Take care my friend.
Blessings,
Betsy

Homestead Tessie said...

Your Words brought me to tears today , It was a somewhat rough one , But your words Ministered to me and I thank you!

BJS said...

Amen amen amen!

Pam said...

There ARE many wonderful people out there, like Tessie, and so much good in our world. Sometimes we have to look a bit harder, but there's much to be grateful for.

Lisa in Texas = ) said...

I love Tessie - Thank you so much for introducing me to her!!!
Lisa :O)

Debra said...

Hey Betsy! That's awesome that you're in your new home already and how wonderful to always feel like you're camping! Well, I'm imagining it like that, anyway. :) And oh good! I'm glad to hear you're keeping the food. Maybe I'll again share some of my silly places where I keep things in our own tiny house. :)

Tessie--as I said in my email to you, thank-you so very much! It totally made my week just knowing you read my post.

BJS--sounds like we're on the same page about this! :)

Pam--so true! I could write another whole post about the good things which have come out of this time for Tom and myself. Perhaps I'll do that soon. I do want to write about ramping up our gratitude and just how powerful that really is.

Lisa--so happy you're also enjoying Tessie and her videos! As you said over at your blog, her videos are so calming and don't we all need that these days?! :)

Thanks so much, Everyone! Blessings, Debra

Terra said...

For some reason most of your photos are not showing up in your post, but no one else mentioned it, so it must be me! Or a temporary glitch. Tessie sounds worth checking out. Be well, my friend.