Gathering Graces 4/4/2018

*After our morning walk, I had my coffee, and got ready to head up town to get my hair cut and colored.  Now that I have my new spring cut and color, I want some of that spring sunshine to go with it!!  Come on sun!!!

*Paul has been very busy outside working on all kinds of projects.  Here are some photos of what he has been working on this week.

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More backyard space

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Bark covered posts

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Making a bigger patio space

*I found a recipe for cheese and broccoli soup that I made for dinner.  I used some homemade turkey broth I made a few weeks ago.  It gave it a very rich, deep flavor.  I added not only broccoli but some cauliflower to the soup as well.  It was really delicious.  But when it has whipping cream, cream cheese and cheddar cheese, who can it help but be delicious!  As I was preparing dinner, I got a call from Zoe who was going to the store to pick up some items to prepare dinner for her roommates.  So we visited as I cooked dinner, and she shopped for groceries. 

*After dinner I headed over to pick up Betty and Christy, and we went to our P.E.O. meeting at Teresa’s house.  It was a lovely meeting, and we had a visitor, Phyllis Howard, one of our state officers, who joined us at our meeting.  I will be going to Worley tomorrow to meet with her and some other P.E.O. ladies from the area to check out the Coeur d’Alene Casino as the venue for Phyllis’ P.E.O. state convention in 2021. 

Gathering Graces 4/3/2018

*It was a day of staying home and working on “office” type things.  I got a few things checked off my list, which was really nice.

*Taxes are done!  That has been hanging over my head for a while.

*Some letters I needed to write and send are done.

*My P.E.O. Chapter sells geraniums each spring as a fund-raiser.  All the money for my orders has been received, and I organized the order, and it is ready to submit at our meeting tomorrow night.

*One of the things Christy acquired from Mom was her roll-top desk.  They will be doing some home renovations soon, and the desk will not fit in their home with their new renovations.  So she asked me a few weeks ago if I wanted the desk.  I said YES!!  I am excited to have this desk, because I need a “personal business” desk.  I have my large flat desk in my office, but it is more of a “creativity” desk, for writing and spreading out projects on.  I need a desk with cubbies and drawers.  Then when I receive bills or receipts, they will have a certain cubby.  My checkbook will have a special place.  My bill paying notebook will have a special place.  Because my system right now isn’t working.  I feel like each month, when it is time to pay the bills, I am wondering, “where is my checkbook?”, “where is my notebook”, “why can’t I find the City of Kellogg bill?”  I hope this will remedy some of these problems.  Plus, when you have a roll-top desk, you can close the top, and not see all the papers until it is time to do personal business the next month, or when needed.  (I think I am putting a lot of faith in the magic of this roll-top desk!!)

*Throughout the day, I have watched Paul and his progress on the backyard projects.  Yesterday he worked on increasing our patio area behind the house by adding one more set of pavers.  I love sitting outside on the patio, and he is getting is all ready to we can enjoy that space once the weather starts getting a little nicer!!

*Today was my wonderful father-in-law Burt’s birthday.  He is 81 years young!!  He posts inspirational messages every day on Facebook, which I love reading.  I will be traveling down to Boise next week, and look forward to spending some time with my in-laws!!

*I found a great recipe for salmon patties that I made for dinner tonight.  Yum! Yum!

Gathering Graces 4/2/2018

*The morning began with coffee at The Bean with sister Christy and our friend April Muhs.  (I have three close friends named April.  She is April #3).  We went through a variety of subjects including the local library, blogging, and how we organize things in our homes.  I use tote bags.  Christy uses three ring binders.  April uses clip boards.  We decided whatever works, go for it!!

*Brother Bill came in around 9:30 a.m. to have Christy and I sign some papers regarding the closing of Mom’s estate.  Once Mom’s tax refund check comes in, all things should be ready to close out.

*From about 10 to 4 p.m. I was in creative heaven.  Rachael Clark-Krusemark, the KHS art teacher, let me know she was holding open studio in her art room today, and I could come up and do some ceramics, since I had a half a slab of clay left from last year, when I tried my hand at throwing pottery.  I didn’t enjoy throwing pottery as much as building pottery, so I came with some ideas, and ended up creating six tea mugs with no handles and a tray for them go sit on.  Each mug has a different design, but are connected by raised dots on each of them.  I used some doilies and lace that I brought, and that Rachael had in her room, to create the patterns on the mugs and the tray.  Here is what they look like while they are still wet.  Monday after school I will go up, clean them up a bit, and then they will dry and get fired.  Once they are fired, then I will chooses different glazes to paint them with.  I am very excited for this project to be done.  I may get some more clay and create some more pieces before the end of the year!!

*When I returned home, I received a text from Bill saying Adrienne was engaged to her boyfriend Josh.  This was great news, and it was very exciting that they announced it when Debbie was there in New York visiting Adrienne and her son Jack. 

*During the evening I spend time trying to correct some flaws in the shawl I am knitting.  It is very frustrating, because I am still finding things wrong.  But I will prevail!

*Paul wanted to watch an action-adventure film, so we found the remake of The Magnificent Seven online and watched it.  Well, Paul watched it.  I kind of listened while grappling with my yarn project.  But I did pay attention at the end when they had the big showdown.

Gathering Graces 4/1/2018

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*Hear the bells ringing, They're singing that you can be born again, Hear the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone, Said He has risen, just as He said Quickly now, go tell his disciples, That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah, He's risen, hallelujah, He's risen, hallelujah, Hallelujah!!!

*We had a wonderful Easter service this morning at church, and I always enjoy when I get to play my flute for the service.  Paul shared a bit in the service about all the truly wondrous things that happened surrounding Jesus death, burial and resurrection.  And these accounts don’t just come from the Bible.  They are documented in many ancient texts.  Jesus died on a cross.  People came alive and left their tombs and walked around.  The curtain in the Jewish temple was torn in two, and worship in the temple was never the same.  After Jesus rose, he was seen by many witnesses.  His death changed the course of the world, and changed the course of  all our lives by giving us a way to have a personal relationship with the God who created all things.  Sometimes that thought is too much for me to comprehend.  Sometimes that kind of LOVE is too much for me to comprehend.  But I don’t need to comprehend it to embrace it, and make it all a part of my life.

*The afternoon was spent relaxing and preparing the Easter meal for family dinner tonight for Paul, Christy, Everett and Bill.  I prepared a roasted chicken slathered in butter, herbs, garlic and lemon, deviled eggs, made with my own homemade mayonnaise, salad and asparagus.  It was delicious!!

*Bill, Christy and talked some about their upcoming remodel jobs that will be happening on their homes this month.  And we also talked about getting Mom’s estate finalized and closed out.

*I am not sure how I did it, but I really messed up on my knitting project, and had to spend some time this evening taking off a couple of rows of stitches, which I did, and now it is back on track. 

*On March 1 I started eating a different way.  I am following Dr. Don Colbert’s The Keto Zone Diet.  I have been amazed at the results.  I feel great, and this has been the easiest adaptation to a different way of eating than I have ever done.  I have not had any processed food, sugar, or any kind of grain for a month.  But the great thing is, I haven’t wanted any of those foods either.   I feel really good, and I bought some new jeans on Saturday, and went down a size. Our meals consist mostly of high quality meat, vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts and a variety of good fats.  Paul and I are loving it!!

Gathering Graces 3/31/2018

*The day began with an early morning conversation with April M Lee in Italy.  Well, early for me, around dinnertime for her.  It was wonderful visiting about our week, and how things were going.  She wondered how my presentation on Italy went, and it was fun sharing with her all the details.

*Paul continued working on his project out in the yard, and got it completed by the time I was done talking with April on the phone.  We now officially have a larger backyard area.

*Since it was the last day of the month, we only had today to get our third “Twelve Dates of Christmas” accomplished.  We drove to Coeur d’Alene.  Our first mission was to pick up some medicine for Christy’s cat Junebug in Hayden.  After a little detour, and Christy getting us back on track to finding the correct pharmacy, that errand was completed.

*Movie time was on our agenda next.  We drove to Riverstone Cinemas and watched the movie I Can Only Imagine, the story of Bart Millard, of the band Mercy Me.  Bart wrote the song I Can Only Imagine.  The movie tells the story of  how he grew up with an abusive father, and how circumstances in his life brought him to the point where he wrote this very well-known and popular song.  It was a very touching story.

*My two pairs of jeans were worn out, so I needed a couple of new pairs.  We drove to the Silver Lake Mall, and went to Penneys.  I found two pairs of jeans, Paul found two pairs of pants, and we got them all on a really good deal.  (We saved $106 buy four pairs of pants..LOL!!)  Then we walked over to the new big shoe store in the mall and I was hoping to find some sandals, but there wasn’t anything I liked.  But Paul did find some shoes.  So all in all, it was a very successful shopping trip.

*It was a beautiful day in Coeur d’Alene, so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go down to Coeur d’Alene Lake and walk around for a while.  We parked by the Coeur d’Alene Resort, and walked around the boardwalk that surrounds the resort and the marina.  It was pretty quiet down on the water, and very peaceful.

*Our final “date” destination was Red Lobster for dinner.  Paul’s parents had given us a gift card for Christmas, and we were finally able to use it.  The meal was perfect.  We both ordered fresh Maine lobster, where they take it out of the tank, steam it, clean it, then bring it to your table.  Our server cracked it for us, and then we dug in.  We also had a Caprese salad, and I had broccoli and asparagus, and Paul had green beans and asparagus.  It was a really good meal.  Well worth it!!

*When we arrived home, I decided to watch another episode of Midsomer Murders and do some knitting.  It was a nice relaxing end to a wonderful day spend together.