Happy New Year!

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Kitteh loves goggie

Or is he just saying, "This goggie doesn't quite smell right, must rub my kitteh scent all over him".

New Year

It's almost a New Year, do I have any resolutions?

Yes I do, but they're pretty much the same as I have every year!  But I'll list them anyway...they're mostly about getting priorities in order!

1. Always make time for prayer everyday.  I do usually manage to get some time alone in prayer every day, if I don't I feel grumpy and a bit disconnected.
2. Continue reading through the Bible chronologically.  I began this year, but wanted a bit of time in the New Testament, so I want to get back to that.
3. Read some really good books with the girls.  I love reading to my little girls, but often let time slip away in the evening so that we don't always get time before bed.
4. Get into a good cleaning/organising routine at home, without giving into failure inducing perfectionism. I've joined a group thing to inspire me:
5. I want to live the greatest commandments:
   
   

   The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12: 29-31

   
   

   Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-40

   
   Of course I am not going to perfectly live these commandments, but it's what I want to think about, and pray about. If Jesus said they were the most important and that all the law and prophets hang upon these scriptures then it certainly means I ought to spend a lot more time thinking and praying about them. What do they mean practically?  Does my life reflect this in any small way?
6. To continue our date night every other Friday...that's me and hubby I mean.  It's been a lovely time together and I hope that we can always make that time.
7. And, here's a biggie, to not feel guilty for resting! :)

Do you make New Year resolutions?  What sort of things are you thinking about for 2012?

Edit to note: I've reverted my previous post to draft, it was supposed to be a interesting 'fact' type post but it was obviously misunderstood.  I tried to rewrite it more clearly but was just getting ridiculously stressed about it.  So it's down for now.  I have no desire to write even slightly contentious posts, call me a wuss but that's not my bag dude! :)

The feast of Stephen

I hope you had a blessed Christmas this year. We did, my poor Mum was poorly but she was well enough on Christmas Day to eat some dinner and play some games.

Today is traditionally St Stephen's Day in England (I presume it is in other countries too). It is also known as Boxing Day. Boxing Day is traditionally the time to collect money in an 'alms' box for the poor or to distribute to workers in thanks for a year's hard work.

Bizarrely it is also Wren hunting day today. I've just read that it was illegal to hunt wrens everyday of the year except on the 26th December.

"The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
On St Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
We hunted him far and hunted him near
And found him under the bushes here.
Hurrah, my boys, hurrah!
Hurrah, my boys, hurrah!
Knock at the knocker and ring at the bell,
And give us a copper for singing so well."

So armed with this information, I'm off out with Boots the cat to kill some tiny birds... ;P

Not. :)

On a more serious note, I think that Boxing Day has two merits in the Christian life. It is a day to remember the poor at this time of year (in fact a reminder that we should always remember the poor) and it is also a time to remember the first martyr - Stephen.

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:59-60

'Lord, do not charge them with this sin', only someone whose whole heart was given to God and who was filled with the fruit of the Spirit could possibly, as he was being painfully stoned to death, cry out for forgiveness for his attackers. Unlike me. I feel like blaming someone if I stub my toe, so I have a long way to go. But we press on.

Here's to a wonderful New Year.

Hugs.

Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas to one and all! 

2 The people who walked in darkness 

Have seen a great light; 

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, 

Upon them a light has shined... 

6 For unto us a Child is born, 

Unto us a Son is given; 

And the government will be upon His shoulder. 

And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, 

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

7 Of the increase of His government and peace 

There will be no end, 

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, 

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice 

From that time forward, even forever. 

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 

Isaiah 9

I am Lionel Ritchie's agent

I've been blogging on this particular blog for over a year.  Blogger has since added a stats function to it's features.

In my sidebar you will see my most popular posts.  I have reached 9,389 pageviews - wow, I am now a spiritual giant in the land of Christian blogs, I am a wise sage mother giving advice to thousands...or am I just Lionel Ritchie's agent?  You see of my 9389 pageviews, 2,177 are people searching for a picture of Lionel Ritchie.

It's what I wanted to achieve when I started this blog.

Makes me chuckle every time I view my stats. :)

Like a child

I want to feel Christmas, how it used to be
With all of it's wonder falling on me
This season has felt so empty, oh for quite a while
I want to feel Christmas like a child

I want to see snowflakes fall to the ground
My brothers and sisters all gathered around
Singing "Away In A Manger" as we sit by the fire
I want to feel Christmas like a child


It's been so long now, I can't say
Just when I lost my way
But I'm going back to how it was
When this day meant everything
And we spent our time remembering
The baby Child born for us

It's all about Jesus, asleep in the straw
This infant, this King, this Saviour for all

So I don't need bells to be ringing
'Cause I'll join with angels singing
Gloria
And I can feel Christmas like a child
I want to feel Christmas like a child...

by Third Day

There is a great beauty in the belief of little children.  Truth is truth - and not some philosophical relative concept to debate.  Belief means that something is true, real, definite.   Faith is simple, unquestioning.

As Jesus taught us, we are to be as little children. 

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.  But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea...

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 18: 1-6; 10 (emphasis mine)

Oh to have such a simple, beautiful faith that my angel would always behold the face of my Father Who dwells on high!  To cling to the knowledge that we have a Saviour Who died for us and a Father Who allows us by the blood of His Son into His presence!

The beauty of God is indescribable, the love of God is unfathomable.

Garlic chicken wrapped in bacon

Last night I made some garlic chicken wrapped in bacon.  Now I don't have a specific recipe so this is just an explanation of how I made it.

You take boneless chicken thighs, unroll them and then grill on high/medium for about 5 minutes on either side (or longer if needed) until browned.  I meant to take the following picture before I started grilling - so this is a picture where they've had about 1 minute of grilling (then I remembered the photo)! Instead of 4 largish chicken thighs (which is what I would normally get) I had all these little ones! The amount of grilling needed to brown off the chicken will depend on the size of the chicken thigh.

Take a couple of garlic cloves...

...put them through a garlic press and then mix with margarine or butter.

Cut some bacon (I used smoked bacon) up into strips, enough to have one strip per chicken thigh.

Put a teaspoonful (or larger for larger chicken thighs) of the garlic butter into the middle of the chicken thigh, fold it up and then wrap the bacon around.  Some of the butter will leak out, but that's OK.

At this point you need to start warming up your oven to around 200 C.

Grill each side of the wrapped chicken until the bacon is browned - up to around 5 minutes per side. 

Once the bacon is browned all round take a fresh piece of kitchen foil and line a deep sided oven dish or tin. Put in the chicken pieces still wrapped in the bacon, pour over them the juices and melted garlic butter left from the grilling and then wrap up the foil like a parcel.

Put into the oven - now I did these for 30 minutes in the oven.  But check your chicken is thoroughly cooked through if you have larger pieces of chicken thigh.  Because it is wrapped in the foil with the butter and juices it should remain lovely and tender.

Happy Homemaker Monday

For more Happy Homemaker posts visit Sandra's Blog

The weather in my neck of the woods:

It's a wee bit chill.  The sleet and hail has been coming down on and off all day.

Here's the forecast for today (from BBC)

• Today
  After a locally icy start, it will be a cold and windy day with sunny intervals and frequent wintry showers. These will be a mixture of rain, hail, sleet and snow, the snow largely confined to higher ground.
• Tonight
  Showers feeding in off the Irish Sea, falling as sleet or snow away from coasts, and giving slight coverings in places. Occasional clearer spells allowing local frost and ice.

Max. Day 4 (°C)


Min. Mon Night 3 (°C)


Things that make me happy:

Sitting in my bedroom with a hot cup of coffee reading my Bible or praying.  I know that sounds a bit pious, but I really do enjoy it.  It's my 'me-time' with God.

Book I'm reading:

The Power of a Praying Wife
The Power of a Praying Woman

~Both by Stormie Omartian

What's on my TV today:

Not sure what I'll be watching today if anything.  It's my church group tonight.

Image from Flickr 

I am looking forward to the next episode of Living with the Amish on Channel 4 on Thursday though.  Six British teenagers go to stay with Amish families.  I loved last week's episode.  One of the girls who is a Christian was disturbed by what she saw as the inequality of Amish women and men.  She couldn't understand why the women only did domestic work whereas the men worked in the barn raising and in the workshop.  One of the Amish women, a lovely young woman, explained that she was happy.  She was happy serving just as Christ served.  And she genuinely looked happy.  As they chatted on the steps the Amish woman shared the scripture about Christ and the church and its relation to marriage.  The British girl stated that she believed that the Bible wasn't something to be taken literally because the world had changed (etc), yet she admitted she wished that she had the same faith, the same solid foundation.  At this point she broke down in tears because, she explained, she just wanted to know that  God was near and to feel His presence.  I cried too, lol, because I'm soppy.  Anyway, the Amish woman was so lovely.  She put her arm around her and said that at times like this we often look back and see that God's hand was upon us all along.

On the menu for dinner:

Pork chop risotto (one of my perennial favourites)

On my To Do List:

• Tidy house;
• Ironing;
• Work (also for those who don't know, I do 2 hours a day in the kitchen at my girls' school - yes, I'm a dinner lady!);
• Mend an old Blazer given to Squidge for her Christmas show, she's playing a reporter.
• Find an angel halo we have to lend to a friend for her daughter's Christmas show part.
• Church group tonight at our Pastor's house.

In the craft basket:

I'm rehashing a duvet given to me ages ago into a table runner and a cover for our tumble dryer.  I will be using my Nan's lovely old sewing machine.  See pictures.

The colours are just perfect for my kitchen right now.  I'll make one narrow runner for the table.  Which will leave me enough for the cover for the tumble dryer (see later picture)  and then I'm hoping the back of the duvet can be used for two curtains for two smaller windows in the kitchen.

The sewing machine is rather old, as you can see, but it is electric.

You can see the colours all together here.  I think it will go nicely when it's finished.

I don't have the largest kitchen and no utility room.  So the tumble dryer sits at the diner end of the kitchen.  I'm going to make a cover from the duvet cover.

Looking forward to this week:

Getting the kitchen/diner looking nice.  Putting pictures back up, etc.

Tips and Tricks:

Put old wallpaper, or other paper, on the top of cupboards in the kitchen, when they get mucky and greasy just chuck away.

My favourite blog post this week:

The Cross Speaks to Us by Michele at A Quiet Gracious Life.

No words needed (favourite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Poor Boots.  She slunk into the living room yesterday looking not too impressed.  Squidge had made her a collar.  She sat on the window sill sulking so after taking some pictures I took it off. Poor old moggy.

Lesson learned the past few days:

That, although it is important to pray and seek God for Church and for other people, it is OK to talk to God about your own worries and concerns.  He wants us to cast our cares upon Him.  He's our Father and wants us to come to Him as little children.

On my mind:

• Some friends who are sick.
• Christmas.
• Things to do around the house
• My hubby, who has been so busy recently.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

Psalm 62:5

Happy Monday!

Homemade countdown calendar and update on kitchen

I made a Christmas countdown calendar today.  It's stuck to our mirror in the living room. I had some blue card, which had been given me a while ago.  I LOVE the colour and the texture is great.  I created a frame effect by putting some purple paper bordered with silver paint pen and then more blue card on top. You can't tell by the photograph but it has a bit of a decoupage effect as I used sticky pads rather than glue to stick everything together.  The pudding is a clip art picture I found on the 'net.  I cut it out of brown paper and then used white paper for the white sauce, pink paper for the plate and of course red and green paper for the holly.  There is a touch of green glitter glue on the large holly and it is all finished off with the silver paint pen.

We haven't put up our Christmas decorations yet.  When do you put up yours?

~oOo~

The decorating (painting and papering) in the kitchen is finished now - yay!  I'm just waiting to be sure the paint is dry before I hang the curtains.  We had a bit of a set-back though.  We have laminate wood floors in the kitchen.  Yesterday after running the washing machine I heard a squelch noise as I walked across the floor.  Water seeped up between the laminate planks.  I called my Dad (hubs was at work) and we discovered that we've had a drip from a pipe behind the washer for a while.  Under the flooring water was everywhere.  It's warped all the planks.

I could have cried.  I'd finally got the kitchen looking nice and then the floor is ruined.  *Sigh*  I will have to put up with concrete floor now until we can sort it out.

BUT - God is with us, He cares for us.  Despite my homemaker despair, I know that I have everything in Him.  He is in control.

Lol, the fact is the flooring we had down was the remnants of flood damaged flooring from Hubs' parents' house.  They had a flood a few years ago and we got all the pieces that weren't damaged. I thought that was quite funny that those that escaped their flood were damaged by our own little flood!

22 Days 'til Christmas!

Christmas is coming,
The goose is getting fat
Please put a penny
In the old man's hat.

If you haven't got a penny,
A ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny,
Then God bless you.

Kitchen decorating

Our kitchen has desperately needed decorating for quite a while.  Time and money have prevented it.

When we first moved in, in November 2001, our house needed new roof, rewiring, new windows and doors, a boiler, central heating.  There was no kitchen fitted either.  There was a lot of work needed doing, and still does.  When we decorated the kitchen/diner and papered the walls the edges just would NOT stop curling.  We tried all kinds of glues and devices.   Well, because there was so much glue, every bit of dust and cat hair in the air stuck to it - besides the fact it looked awful because the edges wouldn't stick down.  I have put up with this state of affairs until this year.

We finally got enough money together and bought paper, paint and some new curtains for the diner end.  Because hubs is so busy with work and church we weren't sure when we would do it all, but we started the stripping of paper and the rubbing down of woodwork.

Hub's Dad took pity on us and asked us if we wanted his neighbour, who is a decorator, to come and get it all finished in time for Christmas!  What a blessing!

So it's nearly finished.  I thought I'd give you a snapshot of the wallpaper and the new curtains.  It's a bit different, but I love the colours.

Wallpaper

Close-up

Curtains - not yet hung up

I'll try to post some pictures when it's all finished.