I get so frustrated with Homeschool Blogger. I don’t get it why so many times I get stuck in uploading photos, no space to upload photos, or just slow response in the server. So many others have beautiful blogs here and seem to have all kinds of gismos which I would think would take up space, but it’s not that I haven’t tried; I’ve spent hours working on this blog, to no avail. I’ve enjoyed my time here , and still visit the front porch and read and glean from many here, but it’s time I moved my act over here. Come visit, won’t you?
So what do you use to clean your dishes? A brush or a dish cloth? I’ll bet you use what your mother or grandmother used. My mom used a brush, so I’ve always used a brush. But I have a dear neighbor who used dish cloths, and I find when I’m at her home for dinner I enjoy using her dish cloths when I help with the dishes. Yes, you get your hands wet, but there something nice about that soapy dish cloth and the way it cleans the surface of whatever you’re washing.
Last year I participated in a kitchen towel swap with a group from this homeschool friendly site over at The Homeschooler’s Swap. I received towels from my friend, Renna who blogs in Finding My Knitch She also sent two beautiful dish cloths she’d knitted in red and cream yarn. I finally broke down and used the red one this summer. I just hated to give something so beautiful the dirty task of washing my yucky dishes, but took the plunge, and have enjoyed using the dish cloth. It washes up nicely, too. Perhaps I’ll break out the cream colored one this fall.
Now my friend Julie at HomeintheMitten is having a dish cloth giveaway on her blog, and I’m eyeing them to decide which one I want to try and win. They’re all lovely, and hand-crocheted. Hmmmm….. I like the cool tones as they remind me of the beach. Go check them out and see if you can win. While you’re there at her etsy site look at her intricate temari balls. This is an art form I’m not familiar with, but one of those I’d love to sit with Julie over a cup of coffee to learn beside her.
My friend, Renna over at Finding My Knitch is a faithful blogger and I always enjoy reading what she has to say. She’s participating in the Recipe Box Swap, and I decided to join her. No, Renna doesn’t grow pineapple, nor does she have a cow. Go read her recipe entry and you’ll see what I mean.
The first Thursday of the month is set aside for the Recipe Box Swap. Randi, at i have to say… hosts this each month and posts a Mr.Linky for bloggers who wish to participate in sharing their favorite recipes. This month’s theme is "Garden Fresh".
When I think of "Garden Fresh" I think of tomatoes. I’ve heard the advice of not planting tomatoes every few years to let your garden rest and restore, but I have a very had time doing this. This year I let a portion of my garden rest, and planted tomatoes in other areas of my yard, on my deck, and I couldn’t bring myself to pull the volunteer tomatoes which sprouted up in the beds. The tomatoes I have growing this year are the heirlooom variety, "Brandywine," plum tomatoes, Campari, and then the unidentified volunteers.
When I have an abundance of tomatoes I make TOMATO WHEELS.
Dana’s Slow-Roasted Tomato Wheels
Three or four medium to large tomatoes, washed and sliced in half horizontally
Sea Salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Place tomato wheels cut side up in a cast iron skillet or heavy baking sheet
sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with EVOO
Bake 3 hours.
Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese with pasta, or top off a nice crusty slice of toasted bread. wtih one of these wheels. Make sure you slather on the syrupy goodness in the pan.
Enjoy, but don’t let anyone see you lick your plate.
The above photo was taken at our church last Saturday when 3200 parents and young adults, sorry I loathe the term t-ager, see I can’t even type it without shivers going up my back, attended the "Do Hard Things" conference. The young men who started this ReBELution are Brett and Alex Harris, the younger twin brothers of my pastor. Here they are:
All they did was begin writing a blog and thinking about what it means to REBEL against low expectations of young adults. This led to the conference we attended with our daugther. What an exciting place to be worshipping with all those folks who are jazzed about hearing the gospel in light of this man-made season of a young adults life. Did you know that the term "teenager" (there I said it) was first mentioned in 1941 in Reader’s Digest Magazine? I was very interested in hearing about how before that time there were only two categories of ages/stages and that was CHILDREN and ADULTS. And by the time the children were 13 they were doing adult things in their lives and in the world, so therefore became adults.
Ha! That’s how it work! When kids begin doing adult like tasks and thinking they BECOME adults. Now, I’m not advocating 13 year olds be given rights of adults in this modern age. But think about it, even Christians have bought into the worldy thinking of this "wanderlust" age of pre-adult playtime. That’s what it is when young adults find themselves, or um, I think they’re still looking for themselves, when they "play" around with taking classes, working part-time, graduating with no plans of employment, and sometimes find themselves back at mom and dads because they just aren’t ready to face what it really means to be an adult.
We’re so blessed to have young adults like Alex and Brett who are thinking about HARD things and are brave enough to not only talk about them on a blog but get out on the road and encourage others to DO HARD THINGS, and begin rebeling against low expectations. I wish I’d heard this message as a young adult, before wasting my wanderlust years, but I can be encouraged even now as a 49 year old.
I recommend their book, Do Hard Things which is available on Amazon, or their blog.
Their parents Gregg and Sono Harris whom I’ve heard speak many times, should also be commended for doing hard things in raising their family to impact the kingdom of God. Thanks!
BTW, Gregg Harris preached at our church Sunday on "Don’t Waste Your Kids" You can listen online here:
Who knows why this is fuzzy? I linked it from my Picassa web albums. Hmmmm……. I don’t get it. Any clues fellow bloggers?
Oh well, here’s our "Top Dog" Maggie enjoying her ice cream. She twelve and a half years old and has more lumps than a bowl of oatmeal. Maggie and Shadow are great friends, but she’s the Queen. Shadow grooms her, lets her be first in the door, out the door, etc. We bought Maggie from a breeder when she was eight weeks old. She’s been a great addition to the family.
Seven or eight years ago our neighbors found Shadow straying in their backyard. They’re not "dog" people so they brought her to us. We kept her in our fenced yard, fed her, and put up signs everywhere to find her owners. She had no collar or tags and the vet confirmed there was not a chip with her info. By the end of two or three weeks of dead ends we were mutually in love and knew Maggie had a newly adopted sister.
Danaover40