GOOD MORNING MONDAYS #6

November 23, 2014 darling downs 24 Comments

Welcome again to Good Morning Mondays. I am so enjoying all the posts you link up and feel that I have my own personal library to read all week. I have laughed and cried this week and this is good.

I really don’t know what I have done this week, it has been a bit topsy turvy, with being out a bit, which I really don’t enjoy. I must admit I am a home body and really like just staying at home and doing my thing just here.

We have been attending a bible study every couple weeks on the book of Revelation and it has been very interesting, we have all (the whole family) been enjoying it. It’s amazing how you can study Gods word and new insights just pop out at you. It really is the living Word of God.

Seems that Thanksgiving is coming, and although we don’t celebrate it here in Australia, I think it is a wonderful celebration. We should remember to be thankful at all times though for all the things that God has given us. I have enjoyed reading all about thanksgiving on your blogs.

We have had quite an easy weekend, and it has been restful, hopefully give us the get up and go we need for the coming week. I am trying to finish a quilt for a friend and I am nearly there (finally).

God has reminded me this week about cherishing our children and moderating our language and attitude regarding them. I want to remind us all to be loving but firm with our children. Lets remember that they are a gift from God.

Have a great week everyone and I would love to hear how you celebrate Thanksgiving and what special recipes you share with your family.

Now on to the link party.

Congratulations to our top four posts this week, they were…,

My personal favourite was…

Erika really shared her heart and admitted to an addiction, tough stuff but good stuff, it really spoke to my heart, so thank you Erika.

So let’s get the link up started, please link up any posts that relate to God and christian living – especially encouraging or challenging posts, also recipes, crafts, gardening or homesteading as you call it in America and just plain old country living here in Australia.

May your week be full of God’s blessings.

An InLinkz Link-up

Diaries of the Heart

ARE YOU A SHEEP

November 23, 2014 darling downs 10 Comments

We have been doing sheep work this afternoon, work as in rounding them up and getting them in from the paddock to the yards, drafting off the lambs to get ready to sell them tomorrow.

Our sheep follow my husband, he is their shepherd, and they know that he looks after them. When we had a bigger farm and larger amounts of sheep you had to spend hours getting them in. Now that we have a smaller amount they just follow my husband. He walks out to them in the paddock and then calls to them and they come. Quite amazing really!!

John 10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

People say that sheep are stupid but I don’t think they are any more stupid than us regarding our shepherd.

Now as I say, the sheep follow my husband, but there are always those couple that decide they know best and don’t want to submit to my husbands authority over them.

This sounds so familiar, it reminds me of us people with regards to our own Good Shepherd Jesus.

He comes out and calls to us and we follow, most of the time, but there is always that part of us that thinks we know better and just don’t want to submit to his authority and headship in our lives.

We want to be just like the sheep and go our own way and do our own thing. The grass always looks greener where they aren’t supposed to be, just like it is with us. If it gets too hard with Jesus leading us we just take back the reigns and go on our own, and where does this get us – in strife.

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray;we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Let us remember who our Good Shepherd is, Jesus is always there for us, we know His voice and we should follow him with our whole heart.

This post is linked up here…

Fellowship Fridays

Diaries of the Heart

DON’T LIVE LIFE WITH REGRETS

November 23, 2014 darling downs 10 Comments

When I was growing up my father had hearing aids in both ears. He couldn’t hear very well at all. Sometimes as a child and teenager I would get frustrated and unsympathic towards him and what he was going through, all I could think of was “do I have to repeat myself again”.

It wasn’t until I left home and moved a couple of states away that I realised what he was going through. When I would come home to visit I noticed that most everyone he came across – especially people in stores or banks wouldn’t speak to him directly or loud enough for him to hear. I remember feeling so saddened that I hadn’t treated him very well myself and that he was diminished because of it.

He must have felt so frustrated and isolated because of his hearing. I know that he didn’t enjoy getting together with people in groups because he just couldn’t hear them. He would actually turn off the hearing aid when he was amongst others to stop the noise that they caused.

I must admit that sometimes I have regrets concerning my parents and the things that I did to them. They did their best and knew only what their parents had taught them about being parents.

My brother and I were adopted as babies so my parents took in children that weren’t their own, they cared for us as though we were theirs and they did their best by us. We never felt hunger or thirst or cold we were well cared for.

But whether you are adopted or not or have a father with hearing problems there are always things we do or say as children and teenagers that we regret. We don’t mean to be the way we are but unfortunately immaturity usually gets in the road of our good intentions.

Now my parents have both passed away and I sometimes think I would love to say this and that to them to maybe heal some wounds on both sides. But they knew that I loved them and I know that they loved me and I know that God heals all wounds whether here on earth or in heaven.

So now I continue to live, learning by my own mistakes and teaching our children in the way they should go. I want our children to have an open line with us, I want us all to discuss our issues and things that happen so that none of us are left with regrets.

I have already apologised to our No 1 son for putting him in daycare when he was only little. I have apologised to God also for not having my family in the place they should have been.

This sometimes comes back to me and I know that this is only satan because God has forgiven me, so I no longer live in the regret of this decision.

Live your life with no regrets, if you can, go back and reconcile with loved ones, if you can’t, sort them out with God, because He forgives us and loves us.

This post is linked up here…

Fellowship Fridays

Diaries of the Heart

SOMETIMES AND ALWAYS

November 20, 2014 darling downs 23 Comments

Sometimes….

I get so frustrated;

I get so mad;

I get so impatient;

I get so task orientated;

I forget that repetition helps learning;

I forget that consistency guides;

I forget that these children are only ours whilst on earth, a gift from God;

I forget to turn to the Lord during all of the above…

Lord ALWAYS…

help me be patient;

help me to forget the task and remember the child;

help me to be generously repetitious with words and actions;

help me to be consistent;

help me to always remember the gift of our children – given by You;

help me to always remember to turn to You and seek Your face daily.

help me always to love above everything else.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Vegetable Planting Diary

VEGETABLE PLANTING PART 3

November 19, 2014 darling downs 4 Comments

It is so exciting to see our vegetables growing (it’s the small things that make us happy).

The children and I went out this morning and mulched some of the tomatoes with hay and I took some more photos whilst I was out there. We have three more rows to mulch and will finish them on the weekend.

Here are the potatoes, there are five rows of them and they are all coming up now, reds and whites.

Mrs Abella of Sunny Patch Cottage and my daughter at Clay Clan Cultivates told me about the planting system called the 3 sisters. It’s a corn, bean and squash/pumpkin mix, the beans climb the corn, the vines grow at the bottom and the corn goes up. All 3 require plenty of water so they all get watered at once. When the corn is done the beans use it as a natural pole to climb up and the corn provides a place marker to find the middle of the vines trailing out from the bottom.

Here is a picture (above) of the corn in rows and the ones below show the pumpkins coming up amongst the corn. I think the corn has grown at least an inch in the last week. We have had some rain this past week and now it is warming up – just great growing weather.

My husband is going to plant another patch of corn, using the full system mentioned to me by Mrs Abella and my daughter. He is going to plant corn, beans and pumpkins. I will keep you updated on how this goes.

That’s all for now but more to come next week.

Once again, what’s happening in your vegetable patch in your neck of the woods??

Blessings to you all.

Down on the Farm Diary, Livestock Diary

DOWN ON THE FARM CATTLE UPDATE

November 17, 2014 darling downs 13 Comments

I thought I’d update you with some photos of our cattle.

Here is my husband with George our Scottish Highland bull. He has been with us a few years now and has fathered quite a few calves.

Here is Mildred our Scottish Highland cow with her calf from last year. She seems to only have bull calves. We ate her last one and he was delicious. She had another bull calf about a month ago. The Scottish Highland calves are just so cute, they look like a teddy bear.

The kids name all the calves and cows but I’m not up to date with them all yet.

Here is George again, he is just a magnificant animal. He is very tame, although I don’t quite trust him. My husband and our oldest son (19) get quite close to him and he has never caused any problems.

Here’s a close up of George Junior.

This is the next one we will butcher, his mother was a Friesian/Jersey cow and George is his father. He will be butchered before Christmas.

It may sound callous to talk about eating them, but we have cattle to supply us with our own meat, we have chickens to supply us with eggs, all the animals are here for a reason – even the cats have to catch mice. This is the way it is here and our children understand that. We usually butcher them ourselves now, and a friend comes and helps us cut them up and make sausages etc.

Hope your farm/homestead is going well also.

Blessings.

Kitchen Diary

CHERRY RIPE ROCKY ROAD

November 17, 2014 darling downs 3 Comments

This just the greatest, easiest recipe there is. It takes no time to make and the kids can help as well.

Ingredients:

2 x bags marshmallows
2 x 375 grams choc melts
220 grams copha
3 large cherry ripe bars

Method:

Line a baking dish with greaseproof paper. Get one child to cut marshmallows in half and place in a bowl. Chop up the cherry ripe bars and mix with the marshmallows.

Melt the chocolate and copha in a saucepan, and pour over the marshmallows and mix. Pour into tin and leave to cool. Place in the fridge until set. Cut into fingers and serve.

ENJOY!!

PS: A cherry ripe is a chocolate bar with cherries and chocolate. You could use any chocolate bar you like in the recipe, and most of the time I don’t add any, you could also add glace cherries too.

PPS: Copha is vegetable shortening.

GOOD MORNING MONDAYS LINK PARTY

GOOD MORNING MONDAYS #5

November 16, 2014 darling downs 29 Comments

Welcome to Good Morning Mondays #5. I hope you have had a good week, full of God’s love.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our friend Mr H. I can report that our prayers were answered and he is doing very well. By all reports the operation was a success and he came through it with flying colours. His wife even told us that he was so much better after the operation this time than the last. He came home today which is great and will spend the next few weeks recuperating at home. So Praise and thanks to God for His care of our friend.

This past week I have been doing a lot of thinking about respecting and honouring my husband. It is such an important thing for us to do. I just want to encourage all of you to remember your words with regards to our husbands.

It is my husbands birthday in a couple of weeks, but I couldn’t resist giving him his birthday present yesterday. It’s a Lego Technic Crane Truck, which I have been paying off for nearly 5 months. It was a pleasure to give it to him, especially when he had no idea it was coming. It was great to see him and No 2 son building it together during a wet afternoon yesterday.

Thank you to everyone who linked up this past week. I try and read all your posts and comment, sometimes I get caught up so I apologise to anyone I didn’t get to. I am looking forward to seeing what you have for us this week.

Our top three posts from last week were…

May your week be full of God’s blessings.

An InLinkz Link-up

Diaries of the Heart

THE GREATEST GIFT…

November 16, 2014 darling downs 20 Comments

I have just written out my “Before Christmas To Do List”. Hmm under 6 weeks to go and it is quite long.

There are the basic things like:

Clean and tidy up the linen press;
Clean the windows;
Do some deep cleaning;
Christmas baking;
Make Christmas cards.

Then there are the bigger things that I would love to have done by then such as:

Make curtains for bedrooms;
Finish a couple of quilts;

and the most important thing is to make Christmas gifts but I won’t tell you what exactly in case my daughter reads this!!!!

I really think this will keep me busy, what with the general other day to day activities, such as washing, cooking and schooling.

Now I can forgo the deep cleaning (who looks behind cupboards when they visit anyway) and I can leave the curtains until the New Year, but the Christmas gifts are quite important. But though they may be good gifts they will never compare to the greatest gift, which is good and perfect.

James 1:16-17 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Nothing I do or make will ever compare to the good and perfect gift that comes from God.

The lead up to Christmas can be so full on and busy, what with all we have to do and cook and make and Christmas get togethers with friends we tend to forget what it is all about.

It isn’t about all that stuff, it is about preparing ourselves and our hearts for Jesus. We always say we don’t just remember Jesus’ birth at Christmas, that we should remember it all year long, and we endeavour to do so. Teaching the children about Him and all He has done and will do for us, but the Christmas period is especially poignant and allows us that one special day when we focus on the birth of Christ.

So during the lead up to Christmas we can still strive to fit everything in and I will still try to make all the gifts good and perfect (although they will always fall short) . I want to work hard to get everything on my list done, but I don’t want to forget the real reason that we celebrate Christmas.

I want each gift that I have made, make the person receiving it feel special, to feel loved, just as I feel loved with the gift of Jesus that God gave to me and the gift of eternal life.

NOW THAT IS THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL

This post is shared here…

Thought Provoking Thursday

Fellowship Friday

Kitchen Diary

FRIDAY NIGHT PIZZA RECIPE

November 16, 2014 darling downs 8 Comments

This is our Friday Night Pizza recipe, (although we had it on Sunday night this week) but it is probably great any night of the week.

BASE

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp dried yeast
pinch of castor sugar
4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes or until foamy.

water, yeast and sugar ready to go into flour

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre, add the yeast mixture and the oil. Mix together with a fork until combined. Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl.

Brush a bowl lightly with oil. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in the oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with cling wrap and set aside in a warm, draught free place to rise for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.

dough in bowl waiting to rise — Dough in bowl waiting to rise

Once the dough is risen turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out to fit into pizza tin.

I then put BBQ sauce and tomato sauce on the base and spread around and then I pre-baked the pizza base for about 5 minutes.

Place toppings of choice on top and cover with cheese. Bake in moderate oven for 20 – 30 minutes or until base is cooked.

TONIGHTS TOPPINGS:

Onion
Bacon
Mushrooms
Roast Beef (leftover)
Olives
Mozzarella Cheese

I fried up the onion, bacon, beef and mushrooms in a frypan until soft and hot. Place on top of pre-cooked pizza base and add cheese.

ENJOY!!

PS: Often I use my own feta cheese on top, but I splurged and bought a packet of mozzarella. Ham and pineapple pizzas are my husbands favourite so this is what we usually have.

PPS: When we buy pizzas we usually need two family sized one to feed our family of five. When I make pizza, one does the lot of us.

Darling Downs Diaries

Monthly Archives: November 2014

GOOD MORNING MONDAYS #6

ARE YOU A SHEEP

DON’T LIVE LIFE WITH REGRETS

SOMETIMES AND ALWAYS

VEGETABLE PLANTING PART 3

DOWN ON THE FARM CATTLE UPDATE

CHERRY RIPE ROCKY ROAD

GOOD MORNING MONDAYS #5

THE GREATEST GIFT…

FRIDAY NIGHT PIZZA RECIPE

what's happening on Darling Downs