JoAnne's Family Traditions

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Location: Western, New York, United States

I spend most of my free time gardening, reading garden magazines, photographing the garden or baking (mostly sweets, which list chocolate as the main ingredient). I play the guitar and sing in a contemporary choir of which I have been a member for 26 years.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

We all have our flaws

The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember...

Noah was a drunk - Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer - Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly - Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem - Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer - Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young - David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal - Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God - Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt - Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying - Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was - The Samaritan woman who was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small - Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer..AND - Lazarus was dead

We all have our flaws but remember, they are God given :)!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Rain Water


Well, if you haven't heard. . . our latest challenge. . . no water! That's right Mother Natures refusal to send any tears our way has run the well dry. So much for spare time during recovery! Our days are now spent saving our milk jugs and refilling them at friends or the town garage along with packing up our shower supplies and heading to same friends to shower. Did you know that two gallons of water weighs 15 lbs.? Yeah, and we have a 10 lb. weight limit. Can you imagine how many trips that takes to lug those things around when you can only lift one at a time? Good Grief!!!
Well, someone got the bright idea to have water hauled in to fill the well. Say what??? It is just going to run off says I. . . but what do I know? We got 1,000 gallons delivered on Tuesday night and it was gone in the morning. Couldn't even get a shower out of it...1,000 gallons! They say that was only a half a load. So yesterday they brought 2,000 gallons more. Wow, we got to flush all the toilets naturally, I got to wash the dishes and Matt just barely got a military shower this morning.

Yesterday while I was out and about I stopped at the Super Walmart to buy a large garbage can to use for a rain barrel since the weather man says rain for the next two days. Where are the good. . .quality rubber 30+trash cans? Good Grief! I wasn't about to drive all over creation looking for the trash can I wanted. So I bought a cheepy for 7.97. Brought it home, adjusted the gutter so it would drain into the can. Guess where the water was this morning? I can tell you it wasn't in the well!!! So I got my work out lining up all our 5 gallon buckets on the porch. Found a small bucket (about 2 gallons), that is the little blue one and unloaded the water from the overflowing rain barrel :). It took about 15 trips with the blue bucket to fill 6 tubs on the porch where we could easily access them for toilet flushing. I took turns carrying with the right arm then the left and if you turn your arm with the palm forward you use different muscles than if you carry it with your palm back. You can also lift them up and down, bending at the elbow while you're walking or hold the bucket out in front of you (I didn't do that...to hard). I found this a little heavier than the 3 lb. weights I got the go ahead to use. :). Well, that was my work out for the day. No exactly my work out plan but I figured I'd make the best of the situation. I will gladly do it again for the opportunity to flush many more toilets. Ahhh, the pleasures of life. Gives you a new respect for the pioneers huh? We will have to fill the blue bucket and carry it in to flush toilets. There is a rain dance in my future. It was going to be yesterday however, I think the "Rain God" feared our dance and poured rain upon us to spared himself such a scene :). I hate to break it to him but it will take more than two days of rain to fill all the dry wells so he better keep it coming or else..... :)

I am now going to go bake some chocolate chip cookies that I have been wanting to make and after that I am going to EAT THEM :-)))

We must have gotten a little more rain since the rain barrel has more water in it. Guess I need to transfer it before it overflows again and all that water is wasted. I still have 5 gallon buckets to fill. Water is so precious...among other things. You don't realize it until you must do without. Pay attention to all those things that you take for granted and remember . . . Always be Thankful for what you have there are so many more with much less.

My next challenge will be to get Dave to use the rain water to flush the toilets rather than the precious little tap water we do get every couple of hours when we flip the water pump breaker.

Monday, September 24, 2007

What Matters?

If you have a few minutes please check out this site. It was sent to me by a friend. It is beautiful, worth the time and makes you think about what is really important.

http://susie1114.com/LiveALife.html

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Visit to MacKenzie-Childs










Finally, here are the pictures from the Mac Kenzie-Childs Catelogue. Please be sure to click on the pictures if only to see some of these items close up and check some of the prices. WOW! And look at that, they are even advertising on my blog. Check out their site for more information.

Went to Mac Kenzie-Childs on Saturday, on Cayuga Lake with my cousin and sister. How very interesting this place is and yeowzers expensive! There is an old farm house that has been renovated. All the rooms are painted in the MacKinzie-Childs style...busy! Some of the rooms are just too much. There is one that I really liked. The others were quite interesting and imaginative. Impressive though they were, I don't think I could live in them. The gardens were beautiful. For some reason I didn't think to bring my camera so I don't have pictures of the gardens but my cousin did grab a catalogue for me so I took some pictures from their catalogue. I have been trying for 3 days to post them but for some reason, blogger is not uploading pictures. Wait till you some of these things. They have a style all their own. Stay tuned for pic's soon.....I hope!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Plant Identification


I have had this picture for a while and am just getting around to posting it. This is a picture of the flower that forms on the plant I posted on 7/16/07. You'll have to go back to 7/16 if you want to see the original posting since I couldn't seem to locate the original picture to upload into this post. This is from my friend Mary who gave me the original cutting that I rooted. However, she doesn't know the name of it. Any takers? Remember, click on the picture to enlarge so you can see a clearer picture of the flowers.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Two Sites to check out

Dave has two new sites, please feel free to take a look.


http://renalrecipientnetwork.blogspot.com/


www.kleemail.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 06, 2007

An Interview with God

If you have a minute or two check this out. Call it your prayer time or reflection time. Either way, it's worth a visit.

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/

Be Thankful!

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings, Thank you, Lord, that I can hear. There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible, Thank you, Lord, that I can see. Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising Thank you, Lord, that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned, tempers are short, and my children are so loud. Thank you, Lord, for my family. There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the picture in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced. Thank you, Lord, for the food we have. There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job often is monotonous, Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work. There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and wish my circumstances were not so modest. Thank you, Lord, for life.


It is when you are lacking that you most appreciate all those things you take for granted. Even though you are constantly thankful you never really know what it's like to be without until you are. Experience is the best teacher. Our gift is LIFE. Appreciate every moment!

How do we accept this gift?

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Passing the time

Since I have restricted activities I am doing a bit of reading. My Aunt brought me this book "Tea with Terrorists." I hesitated reading it due to its size (600+ pages) and weight...hard cover (I do have a weight limit!) :). The book is so blasted heavy I had to get 3 weeks into recovery before I could pick it up. The first few pages were so boring I kept falling asleep. Yeah, it took me 2 days to get through the first 4 pages :). When I got into the military, covert operations, interest picked up. When I got to failure of the operation, crucifixion of our military men...in detail, I wondered what my 80 year old aunt was thinking, giving me this book to read while recovering from surgery. Good Lord, give me back my "Secret Life of Bee's" book: sweet honey cakes, black Mary, rock walls, and people named the months of the year, not to mention tidbits on the life of bees. Well, they say you can't put a good book down. It must be true cuz I have been stuck to the book like glue. Didn't do my dusting today...yup, that was the only work on my list for today. Didn't do it though, had to find out if our men were rescued and whether or not they were going to seek revenge. Well, I did do some of my reading out in the garden. Had my camera close by too. This pic is about 3 feet away from this hummer. Someone once told me that there are hummers that don't hum. Has anyone ever heard of such a rediculous thing??? :)