Time for Soup

  Love this time of year!   Okay, I confess the warm weather here in Iowa this fall has been spectacular but I am ready for cooler weather because along with cooler weather comes CROCKPOTS.   Love crockpots because you get to mix a hodge podge of ingredients early in the morning and let the awesome smells and flavors simmer all day long.   One of my favorite recipes is this one for white chicken chili.  Okay, it may not be the most healthy but you can substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream and use carrots instead of the corn!  I'm all about substitutes.

http://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/bowl-o-white/
   And speaking of simmering.....I was told along time ago that our relationship with God was sort of like a crockpot.   You can try microwaving your relationship and your time with God but it's nothing like what happens when you put something in a crockpot and slowcook it.   I gave my life to Christ when I was 19 years old and it's been a long, beautiful journey.  I've been simmering for a long time--and God willing, have lots of years left to "stew".   God's not done with me yet!   Need to run - time with God started at 5 a.m. this morning and now my crockpot is calling me to make soup for this cold rainy Iowa day.   Maybe I'll try this recipe today.    Looks yummy!  http://www.laaloosh.com/2009/02/18/weight-watchers-bacon-and-potato-chowder-crock-pot-recipe/

THE FLEETING DAYS OF FALL

  Do you ever get totally lost in something?  You know, there is something that so captures your heart or your attention that you get totally lost in it?   That's kind of how I feel about fall in Iowa.  I get SO LOST in the beauty of fall weather and in the thought that in just a few short weeks all the leaves are going to be gone and they'll be replaced by snow that I have a tendency to sometimes be unproductive.   I want to be outdoors relishing in those last warm days.   I want to be out just sitting in my back yard.  The hard part is that I am self-employed, and I need to work for a living and I can't spend every daylight hour outdoors. 

FALL TREES NEAR MY HOME 

  Today I set about getting my "to do" list done and if I get it done then I can head outdoors for just a bit.   I'm going to take some more pictures of trees like these. 

PUMPKIN MUFFINS

Then I'm going to reward myself for finishing my list by making a batch of my favorite fall muffins--the recipe for this fabulous Pumpkin Muffins is http://blog.entertainingbythebay.com/2011/10/27/halloween-treats---baking-with-candy.aspx  I made them for a retreat this past weekend and everyone was asking for the recipe. 

   After all this I'm going to spend some time writing on my deck because I need a little creative outlet this afternoon, and these fall afternoons beckon me to sit on my deck and enjoy my backyard just a bit. 
  It's amazing how much we can procrastinate on our list.  A friend this weekend told me she sometimes gets so paralyzed with all the things she needs to do that she doesn't even begin.  I find that with a lot of women.  Pretty soon they're spending all their time on Facebook, in chat rooms, reading blogs, and poking around in Pinterest that an entire day is gone before they ever really were productive.   So this is how I reward myself.  Tackle the "to do" list and then reward myself with the other things I "want" to do.  You might try it.  Get your list done today and then go out and enjoy this gorgeous day; or bake a batch of this yummy muffins and treat your family tonight!

Celebrating mom/grandma

  Behind every great woman is a wonderful mom.......at least that's what I think.  How I respect my mom.  She taught me lots of things in life--how to cook, how to sew (not always very patiently!!), how to flower garden, how to be kind and respectful to people, how to serve others.  And as we all know sometimes it takes a lot of years before we truly appreciate all they did and continue to do for us.
   We got to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday this past weekend.  We laughed as families do when you start reminiscing, and we enjoyed time together that is much too rare given we don't live in the same town.   My sister-in-law Karla suggested we start doing "Christmas in September" so that we can have a good crew here and not stress everyone out so much in December.  We're all pretty excited about it, and it just took one brave soul to suggest it.  
  So very blessed to have a wonderful family.  I'm looking forward to lots more "Christmases in September" - besides, after you eat all day long you can go take a very long walk in September. That doesn't work so well in December in Iowa!

GIVE IT AWAY

GIVING AWAY LOVE
  I'm heading to northern Iowa today to talk to a womens group.  Several churches coming together to share together, and I get to speak and share a little worship.
  When I was trying to figure out what to share to this group of primarily "older" women what God's Spirit whispered to me was that I needed to teach about how we make a difference--young & old alike.   The cool thing is that I got to see that first hand last weekend when we celebrated the birthday of my dear friend and a neighbor we lived next door to for 17 years.  Marcie was an amazing neighbor and still is.  Every year she plants this unbelievable garden.   Now mind you, she lives by herself; she is 80 years old (although she doesn't like you to know that); and she's been planting a garden for years.   Oh and yes, I forgot to mention that she just quit working as a full-time legal secretary after 50 years!   The garden planting happened even while she was working full-time. 
   All of us who lived near to her reaped the harvest of her beautiful produce by receiving jars of canned goods: beets, beans, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, pickles and more.   She gave it away - she always had an abundance and always shared it so willingly with all of us as well as other friends and family.  She gave away her love by sharing her garden produce with us.  She made a difference in my life and in the life of our family all those years we lived by her.  She was more than a neighbor!
  So as I was finalizing my talk I thought "you know, why is it that people want to make a difference?  What is it that gives Christ followers that desire?" And I came to the conclusion that it's what Marcie does.  She gives away LOVE through her garden produce. 
  And isn't that what Christ did for us?   He gave away his love to us!  I love that.   John 15:13 says "greater love hath no man than he who would lay down his life for his friends."  Giving it away.
  I want to be like Marcie.  Unfortunately, I am not a huge gardener so I'll never be able to give away the kind of produce that she does.  But I can give away love - and I can give it away freely out of gratefulness for what Christ did for me.   I pray I can give away my love today by sharing with these ladies. 

All the Broken People

So many broken, hurting people.  That's not a revelation.  My heart hurt this weekend hearing of lost lives in tornadoes around the Midwest.  My heart hurt as I prayed with many, many women at a retreat I spoke at.  Heavy hearts.  Wounded hearts.  Women living with so much pain.  Sometimes I feel so helpless wondering what in the world I can do.  But I remember God is Able and to cast my cares to Him because He loves them much more than I ever can.   So I pray, and I pray, and I pray.   ROMANS 8:26 says "we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words."  That's how I'm praying today.

How do my Wildflowers Grow

  When you have a beautiful garden it's hard to stay indoors.  You want to spend most of your time in the garden because things change from morning to night.   This time of year the strawberries ripen hours after you've just picked.  Of course, if you're like my 3 year-old grandson he eats them like candy as fast as I can pick them.  They are SO yummy. I absolutely love spending time out there.  Flower gardening yes - vegetable gardening not so much. 





An unknown wildflower



  The emerging wildflowers are so much fun.    I'm hoping I'll get to know all their names; that will take some work no doubt.   I love walking among the flowers seeing what's bloomed since my last stroll.  Yesterday the goldfinch, red-winged blackbirds and even a couple of ducks were enjoying the garden as much as I was.

   Two new pieces of "yardwork" done by Wiemann Remodeling.  One is a bridge that is allowing us to get across our small creek to our makeshift firepit.   Anyone who has a large backyard knows that you have to take things in stages.   This year's larger investment was steps from the deck to the backyard and a small bridge.  Having steps sure has made composting much easier since I can go down right from the kitchen; and the small bridge wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be at under $300.  Of course, I don't have to pay for labor which helps!!

The red yarrow is in full bloom, as is the moonbeam coreopsis.  The fish in the pond are growing which of course is SO exciting because this is the first year for them. Now I know why my grandmother spent so much time in the garden. I call it "gardening with God". Every time I'm in my garden I experience God through His beautiful creation. What a gift to be able to say with a grateful heart "thank you God."

My evolving backyard oasis



The wildflower garden emerging



   In the spring I have a REALLY hard time focusing on work.   The beautiful thing is that my office overlooks our backyard and so until about 3 pm when the sun gets too hot in the western sky that I have to pull my blinds, I can revel in the backyard that is continuing to evolve over the past three years.  



Our pond



   Every morning after heading to the gym I put on my sunscreen  (still in love with my Beauticontrol Cell Block C AM sun protection because I absolutely hate wrinkles and skin cancer). www.beautipage.com/beautifulskinandspas.  Then I head out to the garden for a couple of hours, waiting to see if anything looks different from the day before.  This is the first year of our wildflower garden.  I spread some seeds last fall; and then more seeds the first week of May.   We'll see how it progresses.  The creekbed is nearly finished.  We still need a couple more loads of larger rocks to finish the waterfall and for the pond basin.  It's been a hard project with lots of heavy labor because we've done all the work ourselves, but so rewarding!!!  

   Our goal is to have perennials but also part of this backyard be native wildflowers and grasses so that we don't have to spend a ton of time with mowing and upkeep.  We want it to attract birds and were SO excited to see our first goldfinch this morning--3 of them sitting on the feeder eating.  What fun! 

   This weekend is Memorial Day; I'm sure I'll we'll be exhausted but it's a good exhaustion.  I can't wait to see what new things have budded if it ever stops raining!