I know I need to post something, but confess to a distinct lack of inspiration.  There are topics I would like to blog about at some point, but today.....definitely not the day.  Yesterday and today have been one of those times when life goes awry and there is nothing you can do about it; one of those times that are so hard you don't know how you can deal with it.  There is little detail I can talk about here, unfortunately.  Its hard and frustrating and sad and heart-breaking all in one.  The one thing that really keeps me going is knowing that God is a God of miracles---and believe me I'm prayin' for one!  I know that God is in charge and nothing takes Him by surprise.  I know He has a plan, and whatever that plan, it is the best one. I know that if He wants something to happen He has the power to make it happen no matter how dismal or difficult things look from my perspective.  I know all of these things and they are so easy to say.  But my heart still hurts like crazy.  However.  In the midst of all this hardness I have felt that somehow everything will be ok.  I can't see the path and I don't know how I'll walk it, but maybe this is what is required of me so that I will learn to trust completely.  I read today that when God seems silent just remember that the teacher is quiet during the test.  I feel scared and overwhelmed on one hand because I like to see where I'm going, like to see ahead of time how things will work out.  But on the other hand, I do want to learn to trust in a God who is faithful and true and loving as well as being all-powerful and all-knowing.   The Amplified Bible says: "the steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step]."  (Psalm 37:23)  I love that!  God doesn't just sit on His high throne and orchestrate the world from a lofty perspective.  No.  He gets right down in the trenches and busies Himself with my every step!  How can I not choose to trust a God like that?  So. Yes, my heart hurts and the path seems very hard.  But I know too that He has been down this road already, and He knows all of its curves and hills and tunnels.  Somehow He will get me through.

New Colors!

I was lucky enough to only have to work one day after vacation before I got a day off (I know! ain't it great?!), so today I did some of the dyeing that I have been "dying" to do!  =)  There has been clamor on Facebook for Apple Green and Scarlet (Denim too, but that will have to be another day).  So Apple Green and Scarlet it was.  I do love dyeing these towels!  You start out with sparkling white and end up with one gorgeous color or another.  I do mine in a big tub, stirring them round with a wooden spoon--rather like a witch with her brew.......lol  Anyway, both colors turned out lovely.  "Apple" Green seems more like chartreuse or a leaf green than apple, but it still is a beautiful color.  See?

Then there is Scarlet.  This one is more true to its name (in my opinon anyway!)  A gorgeous, brilliant red!  Unfortunately it is very difficult for me to get reds to turn out like they really are with my camera (or maybe its the operator! lol).  But here's a photo--such as it is--for your viewing pleasure.

I love rinsing them out in the sunlight, and have wished multiple times that I had a clothesline to hang them on in order to take pictures.  To see these brilliant towels all hanging in a row......ooh wouldn't that just be the spice of life?  =)

Have I made you want to dye things yet?  Well, that's ok, you can just come and buy them from my Etsy shop when it opens.  I think I found a name--unless someone else has already stolen used it.  Nope, I'm not going to tell you yet until I can find out if its available.......Yes, I'm naughty like that!

Now I really must go mow the lawn....

Back to the land of the living, I mean internet!  I decided I needed to post today since I have done no posts for a week.  All it takes is getting used to not posting and poof! there goes the blog.  Someone comes by in 2014 and there have been no posts since August 2012 and everything is dusty with spiderwebs. lol  I have been there done that and am trying not to do it again. 

My week away was lovely.  Much food-eating and visiting with family and old friends, some of whom I haven't seen in quite a while---like my cousin Gina who I haven't seen since her 4th child was a baby.  She now has 6.....  The first part of the week was Alumni Reunion, spending time with friends from school.  Because the school was so small we don't have "Class" reunions.  We have an all-encompassing School reunion.  I like it that way, actually.  In this case it means I get to know people that went to school with my parents, people I've heard about all my life.  We had our usual hotdog roast (a very long-standing tradition there), the time filled with laughter and old stories.  At other times there were games and singing and many conversations and Much picture-taking.  And of course there was the food.... We had 3 meals a day whether we needed them or not, plus snacks in between.  Its a good thing this happens only once in a few years and then for only 2 days!  This year was smaller than others, but only the number.  The enjoyment factor was large.

The rest of the week was spent with family, specifically my mother's side of the family.  My grandparents were visiting Mom and Dad, so some of the cousins and aunts and uncles came to visit too.  It was so fun to be together with cousins (like Gina) who I have not seen in a very long time.  We spent time wandering down memory lane and enjoying the present as well.  There was baby-holding, child playing, gabbing, laughing and again, much eating!  (After a week of this eating thing, you see why I had to come home! lol)  Very special.

It was a full week, made even more wonderful by the fact that we were spending time in Upstate NY--in the Adirondacks--where the air is clear and smells lovely, and you are surrounded by mountains and trees.  No matter where I live or where I travel, this place will always be "Home" to me.  Its beautiful.  If you ever get the chance to go there (The Adirondacks), do it.  You will not be disappointed.

It was lovely to go away, to see friends and family, to be in the mountains.  But it was also good to come home to my quiet Carolina Cottage in the country.  =)

Going to be offline for a few days.  This should be interesting.  Can I survive?  lol  I hope I don't go into withdrawl!  Seriously, I'm sure it will be good for me to be without the time expense of the internet for a while.  But I will miss the convenience and 'connection' of it (pun intended) for sure! Ya'll don't have too much fun without me!  =)

Food Review--and a wee small miracle

The other day I tried something new.  I picked up a bag of Voila! from Birds Eye.  Its one of those dinner-in-a-bag things and its in the freezer section at the grocery (or Walmart in my case!).   The flavor I tried was Cheddar Chicken Potato.  I ate it by itself, but you could easily have served it with pasta or rice on the side, or maybe even mashed potatoes.  Sometimes those pre-bagged things are over-spiced for my taste, but this one was just right.   And I thought it relatively inexpensive--as those type foods go.  There are 2 other flavors--at least so far.  I can't remember exactly, but there was another chicken one and then one with shrimp.  I wouldn't want it all the time, but it does make a nice quick meal when I'm in a hurry---or lazy......=)

On a completely other topic, I was reminded yesterday that God does care about the very littlest things in our lives.  I was at Michael's and I went there specifically to get some Martha Stewart acrylic paint and fabric medium.  I got the paint, but when I looked for the fabric medium there was none to be found.  I Knew I had seen some there a week or two ago (and began to Very much regret that I had not bought it then)!  I had rushed to Michael's trying to get this errand done and still have time to meet some friends for supper before prayer service and there I was, stuck with no fabric medium to be seen.  It was disheartening because I had made plans to use it and the paint to stencil on towels on my days off.    So in the midst of my frustration I was talking to God like I always do, and decided to get right down on the floor (no not prostrate or anything! lol---the products were on the bottom shelf) hoping desperately that there was some of this stuff in the back.  I took bottles out and peered into the depths of the shelves as best I could and didn't find any.......sigh.....But I kept looking, hoping, and suddenly there it was!  One lone bottle on its side behind other bottles of something else!  It was a little sad looking--a bit of its liquid had spilled out and run down the side at some point, but I didn't care.  It was fabric medium and it was going home with me!  =)  It really made my day.  On top of that, I still had time to go eat with my friends before church.  We had a great time too.  =) I am thankful that God is there to help us--even with the little things.

Food!

Today I did something I rarely do:  came home from work and actually cooked dinner.  And by cooked, I do not mean something from a mix or heated in the microwave.  For once I actually put pans on the stove and cooked! on a weeknight! after working all day--and having to work tomorrow!  I am so proud of myself!  I really wish I would do this more often.  There are so many recipes I want to cook, crafts I want to make, cards I want to stamp, etc,etc.  But its hard to fit all those things in on my 2 days off in the week, let alone when some of that time is spent cleaning, doing laundry and mowing!  Sometimes I feel stressed about how to fit more into my days.  I get up at 4am.  Those of you who know me well know that 4am is NOT my best time of day.  Never has been, never will be.  I am way better at it than I used to be, for which I am thankful, but it doesn't seem to matter how much sleep I get--5 hours or 8--when that alarm goes off at 4 I am NOT ready.  But this is the job I have for now and it pays the bills and is close to home, so I try to be grateful.  So there is this constant stress of getting up early that nags at me when I'm trying to do other things.  The nerve! lol  If I go to bed early to try to get enough sleep there is little time after work to do much of anything before I have to hit the rack---stressful.  But if I stay up later and get some things done (either work or play things), then I feel even worse than usual when the alarm goes off and have to think about running around at work---again, stressful.  So its stress any way you look at it.  Grr!  I wish I could find the balance between the stress.  Have a bit more time for doing things and yet still get enough sleep.  Not sure how to do it though.  Sometimes I wish I didn't have so many interests and hobbies!  Then I wouldn't have the stress of when to fit them in! lol  Not really though.  I am glad that I find all these creative things interesting.  They keep me out of trouble....=)  Anyway.....by now you're thinking  "I thought she said this was a post about food".  lol  It is.  Sort of.  Food---and miscellaneous ramblings that the food created.  =)

What I made for dinner was............

Can you see the steam off the beans?  As I mentioned before, no glam photography on this blog!  Just keepin' it real here. lol  In case you can't tell, its chicken fried steak--minus the gravy.  I didn't want to take the time and didn't really need the calories tonight, so I just did the steaks.  And lest you wonder why I have Two on my plate, I'll tell you that the meat I bought was very thin.  (Do I sound defensive? lol) Probably not really the thing for this, but its what I got.  Ate it (them) too!  =)  This is the first time I have ever made chicken fried steak and I think the first time I had ever eaten it as well.  It was pretty good, though the meat, as I mentioned, was a little too thin, and the seasonings in the breading were not quite as distinct as I would like.  But all in all pretty good for a first try.  On a weeknight.  With not much time.  =)  Thanks to Pioneer Woman for the recipe--and the inspiration.  I've been watching past episodes of her cooking show that I downloaded from iTunes, and I want to make pretty much Everything she shows! As if I needed any more recipes! lol

So now I'm off to bed with my belly full so I can drag myself  hop out of bed when the alarm goes off.  Nighty-night!

Towels Again

I finally got some of my towels stenciled---and 2 new colors dyed!  It's been a productive weekend.  =)  Here are the stenciled ones:

I like them all, though I am very partial to the gray one.  Something about gray and red together looks so classy and this leaf design so old-fashioned.  I love it.  I feel like they all turned out very well, though, for my first attempts at the stenciling (stenciling on towels, I mean.  I have done a lot of stenciling of various things in my time!).  Its fun to do too, except that my back gets very tired from bending over the table and my left index finger is sore and going numb from pressing down the stencil.  =) I tape the stencil down, but still press it with my finger while I paint.  What I need to do for the back is find a way to raise my table.  I could probably find something at Lowe's.  As for the finger issue, I think it will just have to get toughened in---I hope!

Now for the new colors.  My friends on Facebook voted for Purple and Teal to be the next ones, so here they are:

They are both nice colors, though definitely not my favorites.  I'm still stuck on the gray! lol  Though I really like the orange ones too.  Anyway, this evening I stenciled on one each of the new colors.  Those pictures will have to be later, since they are in the drying phase.  I know, I know!  I'm teasing again.  Actually I'm just helping to grow your patience......=) 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!