Mary Moment

Be blessed today!

Ginger

Rock On

Over at Simplicity, the photo challenge this week is “ a corner of your house”. 

Finding a corner without dustbunnies was a non-photo challenge, but it wasn’t hard to pick a theme.

I heart rocking chairs.

My dad used to tell me that I had rocked a million miles.

Surely rocking should count as aerobic exercise.

This rocker is my indoor spot of choice,  otherwise known as “Mama’s chair”:

Yes, it is usually full of books, and my Bible study, and cooking magazines, and sometimes the DVD remote.

In my bedroom, I have two rockers my father rebuilt.  He found them languishing at my mother’s homeplace and loved them back to usefulness.

This one is the more comfortable of the two:

Finally, my entry in the photo challenge (you thought I’d forgotten that, didn’t you?) is my beloved porch rocker.

I probably have logged a few thousand miles in this spot.

Go by and visit Faith’s fun blog over at Simplicity.  Then go put your feet up in a comfy corner of your house.

Be blessed today,

Ginger

Top Two…Summertime Refreshments

Today’s addition of TOP TWO

features cool refreshment for muggy days….and believe me, we know all about muggy here in the South.

(Cold winter = Hot summer, apparently.)

Here are our Top Two refreshing drinks for summer sipping:

1. Mitford Lemonade:  From the Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader, one of the best cookbooks I own, comes this tangy and sweet recipe for lemonade.  If all you’ve ever made is the weird yellow powder, you are in for a treat.

2 cups sugar

6 cups water

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice (7-8 lemons)

lemon slices

Prepare a simple syrup by combining sugar and 1 cup water in a small pan.  Place over high heat and boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let the sugar syrup cool.  Pour the simple syrup into a large pitcher and add the salt, lemon juice, and remaining 5 cups of sugar. Stir until combined.  Add lemon slices to the pitcher and serve over ice.

Ahh…hits the spot.

2. Best Iced Tea:  Ya’ll know we Southerners know all about iced tea. 

Most folks like it very sweet with a squirt of fresh lemon juice.

I like less sugar and lots of ice.  I’ve discovered that Earl Grey makes fabulous iced tea.  Add a few bags to your regular brand while it steeps.  I use about half and half, because I don’t want the world’s most expensive iced tea. 

So, what’s your favorite summer refreshment?  Keep it family-friendly, please!

Be blessed (and refreshed) today!

Ginger

Linking up at Tasty Tuesday, Delicious Dishes and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Today’s Top Two

One of the lovely things about Blogland is the information I’ve picked up from reading your handy lessons.

So far, I’ve discovered helpful and inspiring photo tips, shopping tricks, and craft tutorials. 

I thought it might be fun (and useful) to share a few ideas I’ve picked up and learn some more from you.

Welcome to Top Two

where I plan to share two ideas that have really helped me organize/create/dream/cook/clean/or whatever.

Today’s Topic: Laundry!

Monday always means lots of laundry at our house.

Here are my Top Two laundry hints:

1. In the bathroom closet or laundry room (the closer to the undressing location the better), have three trashcans: one white, one off-white, and one blue or some other dark color.  Train your family to sort clothing into the bins, in our case whites to bleach, light/bright no bleach and darks. (If you understood Big Red’s track record for bleaching EVERYTHING, you would get why we are so specific!)

Then just grab a trashcan and there’s your load for the day!

2.  Which brings me to Tip #2: Wash a load a day, and take it all the way through the process—wash, dry, fold, put away—before starting the next one.  We do this with fair consistency during the school year and are lax about it in the summer, but it really does work to keep the task from being overwhelming.

Your Turn

What are your top two laundry tips?

Be blessed today!

Ginger

Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Summer is in full swing around our house.

It’s HOT.

We are staying up too late watching fireflies and reading.

We are sleeping too late (which means something different for the grownups than it does for the teens)  and, after breakfast and few chores, I look around and realize half the day is gone.

Every meal features squash or fresh tomatoes or watermelon or a peach.

We eat too much ice cream and drink too much lemonade and iced Earl Grey.

The girls pour over old issues of Taste of Home and plan some decadent new dessert.

It’s not that we’ve thought of nothing profound; our Tuesday night Bible study is digging into Jesus the One and Only, and I am pondering Selwyn Hughes’s thin but rich devotional on the Armor of God.

Big Red and I solve all the world’s problems over coffee on the porch.

I’m not sure I have much earth-shaking to write about this summer.

I think I might continue to be as fluffy as whipped cream spooned over warm peach cobbler.

I will, however, pray you have some fluff,

some watermelon,

a snow cone,

rest,

margins

in each of your summer days.

Enjoy them guilt-free.

Be blessed,

Ginger

 

Late to the Party

I am not, on the whole, a tardy person.  In fact, I like to be early.   Punctuality became a challenge for me when I married a man who can’t tell time.

When Rene over at Cottage and Vine invited her readers to a fun linky party featuring our five favorite products for the summer, I planned a post for Monday.

In my head.  Not on the computer. 

Big mistake.

Sunday night. our computer went into some bizarre coma that put my husband on the phone to tech support for three hours.

Most of that time was spent spelling our street address over and over for the non-English speaking customer service rep on the other end of the line.

Anyhoo, that’s why I’m late for the party.

Here are five products that always find their way to my summer suitcases:

1. Pure Black Soap:  I have horrible dermatitis, and this stuff is da BOMB for relieving itching.  I will never use regular soap again.

2. Avalon Organics Lavender Lotion: See #1; soothing and smells delicious.

3. Himalaya Organique Hydrating Face Wash:  Someone gave me a gift set with this cleanser and the night cream.  Love it!  Smells like rosemary and makes my skin smooth and soft. Mmmm…

4. Curly Sexy Hair gel and a hair clip thingy: Because humidity happens.

  5. Mary Kay Lip Gloss:  What to do when you aren’t a makeup fan but you are too old to leave the house without it?  Use this gloss for a polished hint of color and shine.

Thanks, Rene!  Photographing my bathroom cabinet contents was fun! ;-0

Be blessed today!

Ginger

Hi

This post is just to say hello.  I haven’t dropped off the earth.

A typical fluffy post was planned for today, but major computer issues (have I mentioned that I DESPISE computers?) stole my blogging time for today.

Perhaps tomorrow!

Until then,

Be blessed!

Ginger

Party Central

To celebrate  11 years of

laughter,

encouragement,

giggles,

wit,

and thoughtfulness,

we had a party.

The DDs 1 & 2 are both excellent event planners, and together they cooked up a

Game Night

theme.

The centerpiece was a Upwards game board.

Munchies included a turkey-and-ham checkerboard,

a dice cheese ball (wish we’d had a Parcheesi board to serve it!),

veggie dart board designed and constructed by DD#1, aka Amazing Sister,

Chessman cookies,

and, last but not least, homemade cake roll! (My camera rebels in low light. Grrr!)

The evening’s entertainment: GAMES, and lots of them, like  Imagineiff, Cheese Dealer (a card game), and Twister!

If you are struggling with a fun “teen” party idea, we wholeheartedly recommend this one!  Lots of laughter and no hormonal squabbles were reported.

We love you, DD#2!

Have the Happiest of Happy Birthdays!

Love,

Mama, Daddy, and DD#1

Be blessed today,

Ginger

Photo Challenge:Rest

This week’s theme in the Simplicity photo challenge is Rest.

Here’s my entry:

Unfortunately, this spot is not particularly restful right now, since it is about 95 degrees in the shade here this week.

The temps should make me nostalgic for my home growing up, where summer meant steamy days.

It doesn’t.  It just make me feel cheated.

Why does one move farther north anyway, except to get the benefit of cooler summers?

But for now we sweat. And nap inside in the air conditioner.

Party photos tomorrow!  Be blessed!

Ginger

 

A Winner

We have a winner in the Kari Jobe giveaway!

Congratulations to

Jenni R.

at shared from way over here.

Go by and visit Jenni; she has the neatest ideas for family life.

This name was selected in a highly scientific drawing by

The Birthday Girl

(aka DD#2)

(who technically won’t be the BG until Thursday)

(photo from Wilton of a cake DD#2 would love if 263 of her closest friends were coming to our house)

(photo from Taste of Home of Mocha Cake Roll, which I will be making today!)

We are partying hard with lots of middle school girls at our house tonight.

Would someone like to have a Motrin giveaway? 

I’ll enter, promise!

:-)

Have a wonderful day!

Be blessed today!

Ginger

12:42

It is early afternoon at my house and I have THINGS. TO. DO.

So I’m writing a blog post.

I’m calling it the Next Right Thing, even if it isn’t, exactly.

Tomorrow I probably won’t post because we are having company for supper.

Several of these

are going to become cobbler.

Yumm. . . .

I wish we had scratch ‘n sniff Internet, so you could get a whiff of peaches from an orchard down the road from our house.

In other news, I want to get married again.

To the same man, of course.

But this time I want to wear these shoes.

(photo from Green Wedding Shoes)

You can see clearly that this post is more important than mopping right this minute, can’t you?

Finally, I leave you with another shot of these,

which probably makes 27,000 pictures I’ve of them so far this summer.

You have another day to enter the giveaway!

Have a blessed day, friends!

What’s  going on at your place this afternoon?

Ginger

Photo Challenge

This picture

is now an entry in the Photo Challenge at Simplicity.  All you shutterbugs check her out! :)

Looking for my giveaway?  There’s still time to enter.

Be blessed today!

Ginger

I Heart Hydrangeas and a Refreshing Giveaway

If you are patient, there is a surprise for you at the end of this long post. ;-0

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE hydrangeas?

This bush hasn’t bloomed in the years we’ve lived in this house.  Late cold snaps have robbed us of these blue beauties.

Don’t you love them?  They make me swoon.

Hydrangeas have nothing to do with today’s topic.  I just like them.

Proverbs 11:25 (New International Version)

  . . . He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Have you ever noticed that God speaks to you in themes? 

He does that to me all the time. 

Back in April, I bought Kari Jobe’s self-titled CD, and the Lord has used the lyrics of those songs to speak volumes to me.

They’ve been my theme songs over the past few months.

In honor of my 100-something-ish post (actually for no reason at all), I’d love to refresh one of you as I have been refreshed with this CD.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Click to follow and leave a comment to say HI!

2. Link this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment telling me you’ve got it there.

This giveaway will close Friday!

Be blessed today!

Ginger

In Which I Chase Butterflies

…for no other reason than to take these pictures:

‘

Have a magical Monday, friends.  Be blessed today.

Ginger

Paving the Road

(image from askville@amazon.com)

Yesterday, Big Red came home from a class he’s  taking with a personality test.

Called the Directionality Inventory,  this quiz had us choose words and pictures that described us.  Then we were assigned a color and a “road” that best described our decision-making style.

Results: A+ for accuracy. 

of course, we could have skipped to the end and found ourselves right off the bat, but what’s the fun of that?

Big Red is a Yellow (go figure), “paving the road with preparedness.”    Yellows are responsible, consistent, and loyal, and they are stressed by chaos.

I’m a Green, paving with reasoning.  Greens are competent, thorough, and objective.  They are stressed by confusion.

Oh boy, am I  are they stressed by confusion.

DD# 1 is Red, plowing ahead with excitement.  Risk takers, Reds like competition and are active, playful, enthusiastic, and creative.  External control  stresses them.

Amen to that.

DD#2 is Blue, on the path of politeness.  Relational to the core, Blues are idealistic, friendly, and insightful.  They are stressed by conflict.

With all these personalities, I have to say our resident Blue is stressed on a regular basis.

Our rainbow-hued home works somehow, by the grace of God alone.  I wonder if He looks at us and sees a Crayola box of blooms, growing together. 

Did you find yourself and your family on this list?

Be blessed this Thursday!

Ginger