Another Cold Day with a little more Ice and Snow

good morning beautiful friends.           yesterday was another bread baking day and it was a major success if I do say so myself.         I am looking forward to making more and more of this bread.         it's just about perfect for us.            the rolls are absolutley perfect.            I am so thankful to my friend Sylvia, for mentioning to me the broioche bread that she had made.          we share pictures with each other of all our treats and shennanigans that we find ourselves in when we get in the kitchen.       hahaha            so I got to searching thru all my old files and found the recipe that I shared yesterday.         I have no idea where it came from, but I tweaked it and made it my own and it worked.         and I shared it with Sylvia and she has already made some.         hahaha        and she liked it really well too.

I've had a bread machine for 16 or 17 years and I've worked with it over the years to learn what I can and can't do.         I wore my first one out 2 or 3 years ago and I'm on my second one.        well on the way to wearing it out too.       hahaha         I've done a lot of experimenting and tweaking recipes to suit our needs and tastes.        I encourage everyone to experiment and learn from those experiments.          but one thing to keep in mind is paying close attention to recipes that say  it's for "buns or rolls".          that is a dead giveaway that it should not be baked in the bread machine as is.        there is more dough than most bread machines can handle and it will rise and spill out into the bread making chamber and make a royal mess.          so always keep that in mind.        

if you do come across a roll or bun recipe that you want to bake in bread machine, at some point, well before it starts rising the last rise and baking, take out at least half of the dough ball.         I have done that before and I may do it at some point in time with this new brioche recipe.        this dough really rises, so I could take out at least half of it and still have a great sized loaf and get a few buns too.        so always be thinking out side the "box", or bread machine in this case and come up with ways to make good use of your time and machine.

I packaged up the 2 mini loaves and took them to the freezer in the garage and that's when I found out it had started sleeting again, then turned to rain and back to sleet and in the night, yup you guessed it, it started snowing again.           I'm really over it this time.        hahaha        as I sit here and type, the wind is picking up and if it keep snowing it could be worse than it has been.          it's 27* and that's as warm as it's gonna get today.  

we are getting "hous-i-tosis" from being all cooped up.           we haven't gotten any mail this week at all and I had ordered a new air fryer from amazon and come to find out, they was was delivering it by USPS and it was supposed to be here on tuesday and it's looking like it won't get delivered until next week, if then.          I'm upset at amazon and they have lost my business.         I'll not cut my nose off to spite my face, but they will be the last place on my list to order from.          

I don't want anyone putting their life on the line for delivery of any kind.         that's not it at all.           I don't like amazon not making good on their prime promises and turning our orders over to the USPS.          they don't handle the mail as well as they should these days, much less packages.          I have a great mail delivery lady, so this isn't a put down to her.         I'm just upset at amazon for ditching their promises.        I would feel a lot better if my air fryer was in the hands of amazon delivery, instead of the USPS.        ok, so I'm done with my gripe.           I guess the snow and ice is just getting to me.         hahaha

as it keeps on snowing, I still keep dreaming of spring and sowing seeds.          I'm really looking forward to it.          I just pray that I don't forget everything I want to do when the right time rolls around.

I've had a small stevia plant in the garage, nursing it along and it was doing pretty good and then we had -9 below 0 and that done the poor baby in.          they are really hard to get started, but I'm gonna order more seeds and see if I can get some going and do better with them.         I planted 5 seeds last year and 1 actually came up and lived.         so I'm hoping I can get a better sprout, growth and survival rate this year.         I had heard that they were a booger to get started and they are.       hahaha

I can't wait to get my greenstalks full of green beans.           I have 4 different varieties, all bush style and I'm looking forward to getting them started and hopefully I can get 2 crops of them this year.         I have frost covers to go over my greenstalks, so if I can get my beans going early, I can cover them with the frost covers and remove them during the day for sun and hopefully, I can get some early green beans.         right now, I'm concerned about all my garlic bulbs.           I have 4 keter raised bed garden planters and they have over 100 gralic bulbs between the 4 raised be gardens.         I do have frost covers over the beds, but I don't know if that will be enough to save them.          everyone keeps saying that garlic is hardy, so I guess I'll be finding out when the great thaw happens.         hahaha

well, I'm rambling because I'm stir crazy, or I may just be crazy in general.        hahaha          shhhhh, don't tell me what ya think, it might hurt my one "stir crazy" feeling that I have left.       hahaha

I hope you have a wonderful day.           it may be cold and icy outside, but inside it's cozy and warm and for that I am very grateful!!!          even on cold sunless days, Jesus is always shining brightly, we just have to look for Him.        He's there, in every heartbeat, every blink of the eyes, and every rise and fall of our lungs.         we have so much to be thankful for and while I did let off some steam in this post, I'm so thankful for the presence of God in my life and knowing that He alone, is in control.   

let's keep God first in all we do and say as we go thru this day.       thank you for spending time with me today.        I pray you all stay warm, full of the love God today.         warm hugs and love, patty

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!!!

good "COLD" morning y'all!!!          for living in a place that's somewhat  consixered the south, it sure is misleading these days.       hahaha           7* this morning is not your typical temp for my area.            just like it's not your typical situation for it to snow when the temp is in the teens, but........here we are.    hahaha          the weather is keep us on our toes and letting us get set in our ways as to what we think it should or should not do.         good golly, I'm ready for spring!!!!         hahaha          it will be a few days before it shows up though.          oh well, just gives me more time to plan and think about what I want to do this year in my garden.        I'm getting excited about sticking seeds in the dirt.        I hope you are too.

so, what did I do yesterday?          besides NOT getting a blog post up, sorry about that.         I done one of my favorite things, I baked bread.          I baked a batch of cornbread swirls to be exact.         I had made a couple batches of different soups and wanted bread to go with them.         I have another batch to bake today.        I also need to get my oatmeal chia breakfast jars made for me, for the next 6 mornings.        so I thought I would hop on here before I get in the kitchen, and totally forget about posting again today.        I actually thought about it last night after I went to bed, but I was snuggled down and wasn't gonna get back up.        hahaha        

so I do have a pic or two to share of what I made.            I always try to make good use of my bread machine as I will again today.             I make all my dough in it and then finish it up the traditional way.         so this is my cornbread swirls. 

I forgot to rotate the picture to get it oriented right.  sometimes my phone just does this when I'm not holding it like I should.       so I'm sorry about the orientation.           but they are all rolled up and buttered and waiting to rise a little bit.         these don't rise a whole lot, but they do rise some.        the most rise comes from baking.         they start rising pretty good in the oven.

these are our favorite cornbread rolls.          it's seems I'm ever tweaking the recipe, but it's good, really good.

my biggest problem is that I want them to be a little larger.        on the end pieces they will always be on the small side, but I wish the main ones would be alittle larger.          I need to not roll the dough so thin and I need to try for 16 rolls instead of 20.         so I'll work on that too.          hahaha

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so this is what it looked like about midday yesterday, way before it stopped snowing.         it's hard to tell, but we had about 6 inches of snow before it finally stopped.         it is beautiful, but it is also dangerous.           we haven't even been out of the house since the snow started.          this picture was taken thru the storm door that has a screen at the top, so that's why it looks so distorted.     

we are supposed to have cold weather for a few more days and this stuff will hang around for quite sometime.         just hoping we don't have to get out and hoping we don't get stir crazy before this goes away.         

so thankful to God for His watch care and protection during this snow situation.

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blessings of warmth and safety be on everyone that may be in harms way of the cold and snow.     warm hugs and love, patty 

A Cold Day

good cold morning beautiful people.         the sun is shining brightly this morning, but it's a bit deceiving, because it's COLD.          hahahaha         yes, it was 18 hot degrees when I got up this morning.         I think weather bug has got a virus or something, because we was supposed to get to 48 yesterday, but we barely broke 40 degrees.         so weather bug must sick.        if not, he needs to get his act toogether.      hahaha

today is bread making day on the homefront.         I have one batch of bread already made and rising.        all the pans that I usually fill with rolls are filled, or I would be working on my cornbread swirls.         I do have all the ingredients together, just waiting for some of my pans to be freed up.         I usually do my conrbread swirls first because they get in the oven quicker than the buns that I make.        I can't believe that I forgot that this morning and done it in the wrong sequence.          it just slows my day down.        with age and memory catching up with me these days, gosh, I just don't need to hinder myself by doing it in the wrong order.        hahaha

we'll get out sometime in a little while and get our daily walk in.         we have to put layers and layers of clothes on when it's cold like this.         but it allows us to get out earlier in the morning and then have the burst of energy that it gives to help push on into the day ahead.

I don't know what else we'll get into today.        but if it's anything exciting, I'll be sure and check in with it.           I know one thing that I want to get done this week is to get my seeds ordered for the spring gardening season.          I'm looking forward to that.         one thing I know I'll be doing in the spring is growing  lots of green beans!!!!         I never have enough.        I also grow stuff that we end up not eating.         so I'm not doing that anymore either.         if we don't readily eat it, I'm not growing it.   if it's something we take a hankering for, I'll get it at the store.        

but I look forward to the growing season and thinking about that helps  me to get past the slow and short days of winter.        Dec 21st is the shortest day of the year and then the days will start getting longer by seconds, but I'll take those seconds.

I think that's about all I have today.         I hope you know that you are loved by the Creator of this grand universe and that He wants us to be in right relationship with Him.       the only way to be in right relationship is thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.        Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father.       if you don't know Jesus, then you don't know God.         today is the day salvation.       repent of your sins, ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life and believe that He is who He said He is. 

the whole world celebrates Christmas.         but it's sad to say that most of the world doesn't even know what Christmas is about.         "Christ"mas IS about Christ.       nothing more, nothing less and nothing else.        so, if you don't know what Christmas is about, now is the time to find out.         it's about the birth of our Savior!!!!      praise His holy name!!!         thank You Father that You loved us enough to provide the ONLY way to be in right relationship with You!!!!!        and that way is Jesus Christ!!!!!

be blessed today, thank God for this awesome day ahead of us.      hugs and love, patty

More cards

Good morning y'all!   I do hope that this beautiful morning finds each and every one of y'all happy, healthy, and excited to be a part God's wonderful creation.   We have been experiencing weather of all sorts here lately.   One day it may be in the 50's, close to 60, and then the next, it may be at -3*.   One week ago right now, as a matter of fact, it was at -3.   This morning it is 32*.   32* is usually considered cold in the south, so, -3* is almost unbelievable.   Never fear, I have my camera ready at all times, for just such an occasion and I got a pic of the thermometer on the deck.  

As you can see, it was really cold last Tuesday morning.    Some of my friends are talking about having more snow than they care for, some are talking about very pleasant and mild weather, some have been in drought conditions for a while, and some of us would like to see a little more snow this year.   Wherever you may be, I pray for you to stay warm, have plenty to eat, and have an abundance of love to share with whomever may need it.

As we talk about Love, of course February is the month of Love.   Last night was card making night for the Card Making Ministry at church.    There was two of us again, but we still had a great time.   The lady that started this ministry does prep work in order for us to make the cards.   She cuts all the basic card shapes and layers, and gets together everything needed to complete each card, in order for us to complete at least 16 cards of each one.   We always make 3 different cards.   So she is busy, busy, busy for quite a while, just to make this happen once a month.   But, the people that we send cards to enjoy it.   Who doesn't like to get a hand made, with love, card?   This is the 3 cards we made last night.

The one above, we used a punch and punched the hearts out.   We used the same punch on the pennants above each heart.   We just put the cardstock in the punch enough to just barely nip up into the card stock and then it fit perfectly over the heart.   Then we had a really small punch and punched the small little polka dot hearts to put on the red hearts and then added a little bling to the center.   Hey, who doesn't like a little bling?   Then we put our sentiment on the bottom and tied a little bow to finish it off.

This little cutie was a fun one to make.   The little girl was stamped and then we used water color pencils to color her.   Of course, I made my little girl with a purple dress and socks and bow.    And if you click on the pictures and make them larger, squint just a little bit and you can see the teeny, tiny, itty, bitty half pearls that we used for buttons under her chin.  hahaha   I just love this little knock-kneed, pigeon toed cutie, with her finger up close to her chin, thinking, "Do I give my heart away, or do I keep it?"   Whatever she decides to do with it, she will know that "She is the love of God's heart and God is the love of her heart".

This last one was embossed and then we cut the center out with a die and her big shot.  I love the embossing folder we used for this one.   Then the flower is one of our favorite "go-to" flowers.   If I am not mistaken, I believe it is a Stampin Up die, not sure though.   I know we love it, whom ever the maker is.

Well, that's what we done last night.   I hope you enjoyed looking at them and maybe you can get some ideas for yourself.   I have some swaps to try to get started on today.   I hope and pray that you have something fun and crafty to do today.

As I leave you this morning, I leave you with, perhaps, one of the most beloved descriptions of Love  in all of God's Word.   This is the perfect picture of what love should look like.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13   4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We see clearly what love should look like.   Sometimes the people we love may be hard to love, but we surely must try, with the help of God, through Jesus Christ, to love one another.  I also love what Paul was speaking about in verse 11.  Sometimes, folks, we just need to grow up, act our age, and be done with childish ways and behavior.    You do what you know to do, when you learn to do better, do better.   A 20, 30, 40...year old has no business acting like they are still 8 or 10 years old.   Grow up, in your relationship with the Lord and other people.   Verse 13 tells us that of faith, hope, and love, love is the greatest of these!   And it is my friends!   The love of Jesus Christ took away my sins.   Oh, I still sin, we all do.  Do you worry?  If you do, you sin.  That's how easy it is to sin.   But, I know that I can place my worries in the nail scarred hands of my Savior.   That is Love!

That's all for now y'all.   Tell someone you love them.   Call someone Valentine today, just because you can.  More than anything else, tell someone that "If Christ is all you have, Christ is all you need!"

Have a blessed day y'all! hugs, Patty

New Project

Well, howdy doody, Y'all!   It seems like it has been forever since I updated my blog.   For that, I do apologize.   Sometimes I get busy and don't mean to neglect it, but y'all know, it just happens.   I do believe that's what we call, "life getting in the way".   And, that's totally ok.

In my neck of the woods, we have been in a deep freeze.   Kinda like being in a freezer for a couple of weeks.   On January 25th it was really cold.  How cold was it?   It was just a smidgen bit below 0*.   I jumped outta bed and ran thru the house to check the thermometer on the deck and I almost fainted.   I grabbed my coat, sandals and camera.   Have camera, will shoot! 

I have been trying to sleep and keep one eye on the thermometer.  hahaha   That is making me tired.   These temps are NOT the norm from where I come from.   The way I see it, it kinda shoots down the "global warming" theory.   My theory is this,  God is gonna do what God wants to do.  We can blame it on global warming or we can say, "Ok God, YOU are in control, and we are along for the ride."   I'm lovin' the ride!   How 'bout you?

Well, in between watching the thermometer and napping, ggg, I have been working on some projects.   I thought I would share a small project with you.   I have had a great time working on this.   I am working on a set of Victorian style ornaments.   Just doing a month at a time.   I used a cereal box and covered both sides with glitter cardstock that I run thru my 5 inch xyron and then cut them out.   I used my sizzix ornaments dies and cut the glittered ornaments with my cuttlebug.   Then I found some free Victorian style images  and cut them out with my little scissors.   Most of the time now, I will cut them with my Cameo, but if I forget and print them before I have brought the images into my software, then I will just cut them by hand.   After I get the images stuck to the both sides of my ornaments, then I will bling them up with my glitter glue, faux stickles.   Well, here they are, I hope you enjoy them.

I took some old seam binding and made some hanging loops.   I also took a sharpie marker and went all around the edges of the ornaments to hide the white edges.   I am really loving making these ornaments.  I have a couple more months of ornaments in the works.    Keep an eye open for them to show up here before long.   I actually have several projects to show you in the next few weeks.

That's about it for tonight.  But, before I leave you tonight, I would like to take the opportunity to tell you again that God loves you!   The love that God has for His creation; us, is the ultimate Valentine!   There is no greater love than the love that God has for us, through the blood of Jesus Christ!   Christianity has been described as "one beggar telling another beggar where the Bread is".   We are the beggars sharing the message of Christ with other other beggars.   Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life that we are sharing!   Do you know someone in your circle of influence that needs to know about the Bread of Life?   If you do, please share.   Remember, someone once shared the Bread of Life with you.   I can't think of a better way to share a Valentine this year, than to tell someone that God loves them.

Stay warm, y'all!   God loves y'all and so do I!  hugs, Patty