Jehovah Nissi

Mike and Judy had been discipling Christian and me for only a few weeks when Christian came home from a meeting with Mike to tell me some news. The home next to Mike’s, in Sulphur Springs, was vacant, had been for some time, and Mike thought it would be the perfect place from which to minister to the neighbors. As soon as Christian told me this, we started dreaming of how we could help. Have dinners for the neighbors. Hold Bible studies and back yard Bible clubs for the kids. Maybe they would need “house parents” and we could move into it.  We would have extra rooms so maybe we could adopt a child or foster.  I wanted a huge dining room table with room for 10 or 12 people, like the Waltons. And I really wanted a prayer closet.

The day finally came when we were to go look at the house. Full of anticipation and imagination we met Mike and Judy at their house.  We met with the owner and did the walk-thru. We were… disappointed is a nice way to put it. There was no room for a 10 person dining table, there was no prayer closet and to be honest, our dreams were much larger than this house.  We told the owner what we wanted to do with the house and how much we could afford. We all went home to await his answer. Two weeks later, he called and told us there was no way he could rent us this home for the price we told him.  We were disappointed but at the same time, we wondered where God might be leading us. We had a feeling He was still leading us to live in Sulphur Springs.

Later that week, for some reason, Christian started looking at homes for sale in Sulphur Springs. Buying a house hadn’t even been on the radar for us. We found one that we really liked and the pictures showed that it would be the perfect place to minster from. We also noticed this little disclaimer along with the description of the house; This is a neighborhood stabilization program home, buyer may be eligible for a 100% forgivable loan up to $40,000. To qualify, buyer must not be current homeowner, must be below median income for area and live in home for 15 years.

Check, check and check. We should qualify.

We found a house that would work perfectly to minister to the neighbors. We LOVED it. Huge kitchen and wide open common areas that would seat tons of people. The listing agent showed us the home and answered our questions about NSP. He also gave us the number to call and start the process. We called as soon as we got home.

Let me stop here and tell you a little bit about the NSP. Sulphur Springs is what some may consider “ghetto”. It is true that some of the homes have been neglected or even abandoned. There is a lot of government subsidized housing in the area and that usually means a higher crime rate and people moving in and out of homes like they change their shoes. Both are true for Sulphur Springs. The NSP goes into these neighborhoods and buys homes that have been abandoned and/or foreclosed on, completely guts and remodels these homes and sells them to folks who qualify for the program. They help you out with a very large down payment and as long as you live in and own the house for 15 years, the loan is forgiven completely. The aim is to stop the constant moving of families in and out of the neighborhood and provide lower income families a way to buy a home of their own.

We met with the NSP representative about a week later, turned in all our paperwork and were told that we would hear back with the amount that we qualified for. In the mean-time, she gave us a list of all the NSP properties in Sulphur Springs. That afternoon, we began to drive around Sulphur Springs and look at each of these properties.

We came across some that would work, but not quite perfect. There was one that wasn’t finished and there was one that wouldn’t work at all.  And we saw one that made Christian’s jaw drop-literally. We pulled up in front of this absolutely gorgeous two-story home. Christian got out and went around back to snoop a little. He came back to the car and told me I had to go look in this window. He said “when I looked in the window my heart started beating fast.”

This home was perfect. It was open, had lots of room. According to the website it had 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths and plenty of seating. I could have my “Walton’s” dining room table and the house was listed at $80,000. We went home and called the listing agent and we walked thru the house the very next day.

On the way to the house the next morning we prayed. “Father, you know why we want to buy a house. Please guide us with Your wisdom. Give us the strength to walk away, if this is not the home You want for us.”

The house was even more amazing than the website. The kitchen was huge, big enough to cook for dozens of people. Upstairs had not three but four bedrooms (we could have a prayer closet), two of the bedrooms had walk in closets. A master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom was definitely a surprise. 

We went home and prayed and thought and prayed some more and talked about it and prayed some more. We didn’t know if God wanted us to have it, but we were pretty certain He wasn’t saying no. We emailed the agent and entered into contract on the home. This was a huge leap of faith because we hadn’t heard from the city on how much we were getting and we hadn’t even been in contact with banks to apply for loans.

We signed the contract and then went home to start contacting banks. At that time Christian had three part-time jobs, all of which he had for less than two years. No bank would talk to us. They wanted us to either have a full-time job or have been at the part-time job(s) for at least two years. We did some investigating and found out that we needed to use a small community bank or credit union. There was one credit union on the list of banks that the city works with in this program. This happened to be the credit union we are members of and we knew that it was extremely difficult to get a loan with them. They were our only option. Christian called and they said they thought they could work with us. We filled out all the paperwork, sent in our proof of income and then waited. And we waited. And we waited some more.

We would drive by the house at different times of day to see the neighborhood at different times and we would pull into the driveway just to look at the house. One day I stopped in the driveway and it just felt like I was home. It felt natural, comfortable.

We waited for about three weeks. In the mean-time, we were told by the city that we qualified for the whole $40,000 and Christian was offered a full-time position with one of his jobs. The day came when we finally got word. And the word was no. We were denied our loan. The reason was that we had no debt. It seems that all of our hard work getting out of debt just came back to bite us.

I was disappointed and mad. I was disappointed because I really liked that house. I was starting to see myself living in it. I was mad because I couldn’t understand why our lack of debt was the reason we didn’t get the loan. We are responsible with our money. We pay our bills on time. The bank didn’t even contact our landlord to see if we paid rent on time.

A few hours went by and my anger was subsiding. The next morning Christian went to work and I set myself to figuring out how to make ourselves more comfortable in our tiny apartment, content to wait on God to give us a house.

Around noon Christian called me to say that the bank was going to reconsider our application. Wait a minute. Did he just say what I think he said? What I had to do was write a letter to the bank explaining that Christian had been offered a full-time position, I had to explain a few dings on my credit report and I didn’t think it would hurt to send a copy of our budget. I hit ‘send’ and started praying.  This was a Wednesday, they told us we would know by the end of Thursday. I personally think God wanted to see if we would pitch a fit if we were told no.

T

hat night was a long night, to say the least. Noon came, no word. Three o’clock, nothing. Christian went to work around four that night and I called him at five, silence. He called me around 6 and asked me, “Are you prepared to praise God and thank Him no matter what the answer is?” I took a deep breath and prayed “God I pray this answer is true.” And I told my husband Yes. I honestly didn’t know what to expect.

“We were approved for the loan.” Oh, thank You God. I think I might have actually fainted at the news.

A few days later we had come down from the high; our next step was the inspection which went well. We had to find homeowners insurance, move our closing date back a few weeks and a few other things had to be done. It came to the point that we had done everything that we could possibly do. We were waiting on the city to tell the bank exactly how much they were going to give. I have to say that this made me extremely nervous. The bank had approved us at $40,000 so we were just praying that either the city gave us all that we qualified for or the bank was willing to lend us as much as we needed to buy this house. I know this all may sound silly to the normal reader. Forty thousand dollars doesn’t sound like much in the terms of a mortgage, however it is quite a lot when the borrower only makes about $23,000 a year.

We had put money into the inspection and the appraisal and still had no idea whether we were going to get this house. We had no idea exactly how much the city was going to give us so we had no idea how much our mortgage payment was going to be and we had no idea how much money we would have to bring to the closing. We knew we would have to bring at least $800.  Our second closing date of November 3^rd was quickly approaching and still no answers. Everyone was waiting on the city to finish paperwork. So much waiting!!! So many unanswered questions!! So much trusting in God’s timing!! Do we start packing now or is the city going to let us down? We decided to take a leap of faith and pack a few boxes.

Our new closing date was November, eleventh. 11-11-11, pretty cool, huh? It would have been except that November 11^th is Veterans Day and both the bank and city would be closed. Everyone agreed that November 10^th would be the day.  We received our truth in lending from the bank and found out that the city would fund us the entire $40,000 and our closing costs would be $4,000 that we rolled into our mortgage. We would have to borrow $44,000 and our monthly payment, including taxes and insurance would only be $419. That is $150 less than our rent payment. Finally!! We have some answers. Closing was in three days, on November 10^th, at noon. They would call us that morning to tell us where to go for closing and who to make the cashier’s check to.

Christian had a meeting at church on the morning of closing so I did the final walk-thru on my own and then I met Christian at the church. He came out of the meeting at 11:00. He had not received the call yet. More waiting, more unknowns. We went to McDonalds to wait for a phone call. We finally got a call saying the city had to fix something or another with our loan. I honestly don’t remember what it was, I only remember hearing more waiting.

Around 1:30 that afternoon we got the call saying everything was ready, bring a cashier’s check for $800 to this address. We were finally closing on our house after 3 months of questions and heartbreak and sleepless nights. But that’s not the end. We still had a complication at the closing, so we were held up another 30 minutes. More waiting.

With all the papers signed and the check handed over after 3 months of not having answers, three months of trusting God, we were finally homeowners. Time to celebrate and by celebrate I mean stop by the house for five minutes to pray and thank God for it before Christian had to go to work. I went home to get started packing. Christian had the next day off and we wanted to get into that home as soon as possible.

We had decided that we really wanted to give the house a name to make sure we remembered that God had given us the house. We love how in the Old Testament God told His people to build an alter to remember God doing something amazing. We decided to do the same thing so we started researching Hebrew words or names for gift or given. 

Christian found a website on the names of God and found Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is my Banner. We liked this. Banner is the flag that goes out before the army, the reminder of what we are fighting for. We thought this was perfect. A reminder that we are in a spiritual war and God is who we are fighting for. We are His foot-soldiers and He gave us this house as a fort from which to fight. The fort does not belong to the soldiers, it belongs to the ruler of the nation the soldiers fight for (God). The fort can be taken over by the enemy (Satan), if the soldiers are not on watch. And the Commander of the Army can order soldiers to vacate the fort, if they aren’t following orders. It also conveys that God is our provider. The commanding nation provides everything needed in battle for her soldiers.

Home Made Fish Sticks

Ok, I know it's been forever since I've written. A couple of you have told me you missed my blogs. I don't write every day or even every week simply because I want this blog to really mean something, I don't want to write just to entertain. I want you to learn something when I write, whether it's a recipe, a cleaning tip or what God has spoken to me during quiet time. I hope you understand when I don't add anything for several weeks.

Now, with that being said here is something I leaned today.

I absolutely LOVE the cardboard that comes in bags or boxes labeled "Fish sticks". They are convenient and tasty (if you slather them in tartar sauce), however, not healthy at all. On the other hand, fish is very good for you, but I can only eat so much of the real stuff. I don't like it baked or broiled (ick), but I do like it deep fried in oil, hey I'm Southern. Deep fried in oil tho, is not much better for you than the cardboard, so I did some exploring and found the following recipe on Tasteofhome.com submitted by Jennifer Rowland in NY.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning (I didn't have any of this tonight)
• 3/4 pound cod fillets, cut into 1-inch strips (I used Tilapia)
• Butter-flavored cooking spray

Directions

• Place flour and egg in separate shallow bowls. In another shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs and seasonings. Dip fish in the flour, then egg, then roll in the crumb mixture.
• Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spritz fish sticks with butter-flavored spray. Bake at 400° for 5-6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.  Yield: 2 servings.        (Thank you Jennifer for sharing)

I made a simple tartar sauce from mayo and dill relish.

IT WAS AMAZING!!!! A recipe I am going to keep in my back pocket for a long time. I only took one bite before I decided to tell you about it. I couldn't stop eating, it was so good.

I am hoping to have a few pieces left over after Christian eats to experiment with freezing it. I pray that works so we can have  real fish sticks as a convenience food.

Here they are. Sorry I don't have any fresh lemon
or parsley to garnish, but hey this is a place to be
real. They are on a dessert plate so that gives you an
idea about how big they are.

Good luck everyone. I will update when I try some sticks that have been frozen. I would very much like to hear your stories and if you have any ideas to make it better.

"Then Jesus took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them and broke them into pieces and distributed the food to the crowd." Matt 15:36                                                                            


Happy eating! 
Cathy


*****UPDATE***** I tried the frozen fish sticks tonight. They were pretty good, a little dry but that may have been because I cooked them a little long. Also, I didn't feel like mixing mayo and relish for tartar sauce so I used just a little Ken's Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing. It may not be for everyone but I liked it.

Crumbs

This is something I wrote several years ago.


Crumbs
All too often, Christians go to church out of duty-or guilt
All too often, Christians know when to sit or stand
All too often, Christians know which words to repeat and when to repeat them
All too often, they don’t know why thy do it- or even what it means
All too often, Christians aren’t even Christians at all.

All too often, Christians are fed crumbs- 
just enough to satisfy them until the Next “church day”
All too often, Christians don’t know they are starving.
All too often, Christians don’t know there is a feast available
And if they do they don’t know where to find it.

Oh God! I’m tired of starving, tired of crumbs, tired of just getting by. 
God, give me depth, give me Your feast, fill me up today,
But make me hungry tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, 
never quench my hunger for You.
I’m tired of religion-give me a relationship.
I’m tired of empty-give me full.
I’m tired of shallow-give me deep.
I’m tired of meaningless words and babble-make my words joyful unto You.
I’m tired of tired- give me strength.
Father, I want Your feast-I’m tired of crumbs.

The things I wish I knew

You always hear people say things like, “if I knew then what I knew now.”  Well I was thinking back to when I was in high school and wondering what I know now that I didn’t know then. Here are some things I wish I knew in high school.

I wish I knew that I didn’t have to be like everyone else. I tried so hard to be like the popular kids that I didn’t have time to get to know me. I didn’t know anything about myself in high school, but I did know what I thought everyone else wanted of me. I have found out that to be cool is to be you. God made you to be you, not the popular kid. You cannot be like everyone else. The world would be awfully boring if we were all alike. Take some time and learn about yourself, ask God what He made you to be like and go with that. God knows you better than anyone and the Creator knows what His creation is meant to do.

I wish I knew that people don’t think about you as much as you think they do. I used to walk around the halls of Plant City High with this thought in my head, “what is so and so thinking about this Wal-Mart shirt that I have on?” “He just looked at me funny, do I have something in my nose?” When thinking back, he looked past me to his buddy at the end of the hall. Other kids aren’t thinking about you! They are too busy wondering about their Wal-Mart clothes and possible buggers hanging out of their own noses.  Care about what God thinks, that’s all that matters anyway. My life would have been much less stressful in high school had I realized this then. By the way, there is nothing wrong with wearing thrift store or Wal-Mart clothes.  Who is going to know anyway? Think about it, if they know you bought something at a thrift store or Wal-Mart then they must have been in those stores too, right? It is more important to use God’s money wisely than it is to impress people; which leads to my next point.

I wish I knew that you don’t have to impress your true friends. Do you want a really true, be there til the end thru thick and thin friend? Find someone that you don’t have to impress. Your true friends will like you for who you are.  I had several people in high school that I would have considered best friends. I’m going to use two of them as examples. One, “Jenny”, never really seemed to be happy with who I was. we listened to her music, watched her movies, ate her food. She didn’t seem to like who I was without her influence, it seemed she was trying to make me a “mini-Jenny”. She and I do not speak any more. We run into each other every now and then but since high school we’ve never had a real conversation and it’s rather awkward when we do run into each other. Jenny was not a real friend.  “Sandy” was another friend.  Sandy genuinely liked who I was. She did try to change me, but only when she saw I was doing something harmful to myself or unBiblical. She came to me in love and corrected, never made fun of me. Sandy and I are still friends. We lost contact with each other for many years. Last year we were able to meet up again and it was like no time had passed. We were able to connect like we did in high school. Sandy is a true friend. If they don’t like you for who you are, they are not worth it. Find your “Sandy” and make sure that person will NOT LET YOU DESTROY YOURSELF. Make sure he or she is a true God-lover and will correct you in Biblical love. The same goes for a boyfriend or girlfriend, don’t let them talk you into doing something that you are uncomfortable with.

I wish I knew that all parents are weird. It’s true, they are. Nick will think it when he’s a teenager. We don’t do it on purpose, we don’t try to make lives miserable, I promise. When it comes to your parents, just remember the above thoughts; you don’t have to impress your true friends and people aren’t thinking about you as much as you think. Everyone has parents. Everyone thinks at some time or another that their parents are weirdos.  You’ll age and your parent(s) will become some of your best friends.

I wish I knew that just because you aren’t invited everywhere, that doesn’t mean they don’t like you. There was a group of girls in my youth group that I desperately wanted to be accepted by. They were thin and pretty and smart and athletic and knew so much about God and the Bible. They would come to church on Sunday and talk about what they did on Friday or Saturday night together and I would be crushed. I was never invited to hang out with them so I thought they didn’t like me.  Fast forward to today. There are women at my church that I genuinely love but I don’t see them socially. Just because I don’t invite them out to lunch, or to coffee doesn’t mean I don’t like them. We are all designed differently, to get along with different people.  Those girls in my youth group, I never see now, we all live everywhere. I am friends with them on Facebook and I know that I can email them with a problem or prayer request and they’ll be there for me. They know they always have my ear if they need it, the same goes for the women at my church. There is one addendum to this, and it is equally important. There may be someone you know in school or your youth group that may not have any friends. Maybe he or she always sits alone. You may not click with this person, it doesn’t mean you don’t like them. Make an effort to ask them to go with you to lunch after church. Maybe your group of friends can sit at her table during lunch. And don’t worry about what your friends think, if they are true “Sandy friends”, they will go along with it. It doesn’t have to be everyday or ask her every time you go out, just once in a while. You never know what it could mean to someone.

Well, those are all the thoughts I have for now. You may think I’m a nerd. Well, go ahead and think it. I am telling you this in love. I am telling you this to hopefully keep you from the worry and stress and tears that I went thru. You have my ear, if you need it. You are in my prayers.

Cathy

Samuel 16:7 “For the Lord does not see things the way man sees them. People look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Blessings and Money

I am realizing that it has once again been quite a while since I have written. Where does the time go? It hasn't felt like that long. With that said, I'm not really sure what I have to write about today. I think I'll tell you about how God spoke to me last night.

For the last 3 years or so my husband and I have struggled with employment and money. I don't think we are misusing the money God entrusts us with. We have no debt, we tithe and we've taken Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University... it's just that God doesn't give us much money to deal with. He's always given us enough to pay the bills. He doesn't give us much to go out to eat with and Christmas is more lean in our home than in most homes but we have always been able to pay our bills and we have always had filling meals on the table. Most months our bank account can only be described by the fishes and loaves story in the Bible.

Last night we discussed the finances and once again found ourselves paying what needed to be paid with only a few dollars left over and no money to repair our truck that has been sitting without a battery and with squealy brakes for the last few weeks. We thought for sure we would have the extra money to get this done with our last check. And Christian was telling me that his work was going to slow down with the summer.

I feel like we work our tails off and still have to deal with this. Frustrated I just looked up and said, "God, what do we have to do?" Almost immediately a verse popped into my head, "trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." It hit me that in our (the world's) understanding we need to know that we are going to pay our bills every month, we need to know how much money we are going to make every  month. God's ways are not our own. God knows how we are going to eat and keep the lights on.

Sometimes I wonder what we are doing wrong. We are properly using the things God gives us so shouldn't He give us more? That's what is in the Bible. The servant who was given money and invested it was praised and given more. The servant who hid the money afraid of doing wrong with it lost it.  Maybe the Bible isn't referring to money in that story, more likely they are referring to the gifts and talents God has given us. I mean, Jesus did EVERYTHING right, literally, yet He had no money, no home, no assets of any kind. Neither did Paul. So being blessed financially isn't linked to having faith. I guess alot of people associate being blessed with finances. I guess that is a product of this world.

When I stop to think about being blessed, no we don't have a lot of money but we have amazing things. My marriage to Christian should not be as awesome as it is. There are so many factors that should be contributing to a stressful marriage, only one being a very tight budget. We don't fight.  I have been in contact with several severely handicapped twins whose sibling passed away before birth. My son very well could not be healthy. We have been blessed with a landlord that takes care of us even tho we live in the middle of a section 8 neighborhood. We have been blessed with the knowledge to get ourselves out of debt. Funny, now that I think about it, we had money to pay our debts when we had them, you'd think that we'd have a little wiggle room now, but we still only have enough to get by. I could go on about our blessings.

Still, I wonder why God blesses some people with finances and not others. Why does God give some people health and others are always sick? Why do some married couples never fight and others are married 3 and 4 times? All these people are just as faithful as the other. Maybe this is something I'll look into and write about. Maybe I won't even find an answer, I heard somewhere that if we understood even a little of what God knows it would blow our minds, literally. I like that. I don't want to worship a being I completely understand, what would be the point? But maybe He might choose to give me some insight on this, we'll see.

Love you, brothers and sisters,
Cathy

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Your thoughts are always welcome!

Whispers and Tug of War.

This is something I wrote about two years ago. I wrote it in two parts and I am publishing both parts in this blog entry.


Whispers Part I
Satan always seems to attack you when you are growing spiritually. He starts out whispering little lies into your ear. For most women, the lies are something like this.

"Your husband isn't attracted to you anymore. How could he be, you are not a good mom or housekeeper. You aren't sexy and you could stand to loose 20 pounds." She thinks to herself I could loose a few pounds and Satan grins as he takes his first foothold in your spiritual life.

The lies continue and they just get more and more personal and painful. And, each time you think you need improvement in those areas, the father of lies gains more and more.

The thing is- I know what is going on and I bite any way. I know I am being lied to. But I chose believe it. I can feel Satan hovering over my shoulder. He's saying "I know you told God you were going to purge over eating or drinking or (fill in the blank for yourself) but you work hard and no one appreciates it; so just treat yourself this time." And, if you don’t realize what is going on, your spiritual growth spurt ends and Satan wins. However, at this lie, I am done crying and thru with self pity. I noticed the way Christian looked at me an hour ago-and it was the same as our wedding day. Get behind me Satan; you are not going to win this one.

My prayer for you is strength and wisdom. James 1: 5-7 says “If you need wisdom ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But, when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave on the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord"

So believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. He will not, He CANNOT lie to you. Just ask Him for the Wisdom to discern His beautiful Truth from the ugly lies that Satan is so eager to whisper in your ear.




Tug of War, Part II


It feels like the lies keep coming. This time they aren't whispers, this scares me. Sometimes it feels like everything, including God is working against us. The lies this time include things like..."Why are you even serving this God? What has He done for you?" I feel like Job and everything around me is telling me to forget God and go on with my life. Sometimes I wonder if Christianity is real or if we, Christians, are as delusional as we think Muslims or Buddhists are.

Like I said, these are not whispers like before. Not some subtle attempt to win my loyalty. These are the desperate cries of a being in his last ditch effort to forever win my soul. So you must pose the question, how does one defeat the master of deceit?

A friend once told me that you know you are growing spiritually when you feel Satan trying to steal you back. She said that Satan tries so hard to win your life, if he senses you are growing in God he (Satan) will do everything in his power to gain your loyalty. So, you need to worry if you do NOT feel like the rope in a massive spiritual tug of war between God and Satan, that’s when you should worry.

Let me put it this way-live your life in a way that will always make the evil one worry that he is losing your allegiance. Give him something to worry about. If Satan is not worried about your soul then you should be.


Your sister in Christ, 
Cathy

Toiletries out of your pantry

Ok, I know the title is a little odd but did you know you could make face wash from some things you have in your refrigerator and pantry? This is really good for two reasons. One, it's much cheaper and two, have you ever read the ingredients list on your face wash? Do you really want all of that junk on your face? Have you ever run out of face wash or toothpaste and forget to buy more?  Read on then.

My face wash:
I don't remember the last time I bought face wash, moisturizer or a scrub.
I have oily skin so I mix equal parts of yogurt and lemon juice, stir until it gets smooth again and apply to my face with a cotton ball or a couple squares of toilet paper. I don't leave it on long, usually enough time to take the yogurt mix back to the fridge. I just wipe it off gently with warm water. The lemon kills the bacteria and the yogurt moisturizes (no need to buy moisturizer). The lemon is also helping the red acne scars on my face fade. I don't mix much, usually enough for two or three face washings and I keep it in the fridge.

I do not buy eye make up remover. I gently and carefully wipe olive oil on my eye lids and lashes and wipe it off with a cotton ball. You don't have to make sure to get all of the oil off because it will act as a moisturizer on your eyes and NO, olive oil won't clog your skin. If you've ever read the book of Esther in the Bible, you'll see that the women bathed in oil and had oil treatments. Considering they were in an area that grew olives the way we grow oranges in Florida, I'm willing to bet it was olive oil.

While we are on the subject of olive oil lets talk about my facial scrub. Pour just a tiny bit of olive oil on your hands and rub it onto your face and down your neck. Then, with oil still on your hands, dip your hands into sugar and rub the sugar all over your face. Make sure every area of your face has been rubbed about 30 seconds. Please be careful around your eyes. Also since this is food, I will wash the face yuck off my hands and rub some sugar on my lips to ex-foliate them. Carefully wipe most of the sugar off your face and rinse the rest off in the shower. I take a shower right after this because I almost always get some sugar in my hair.

Toothpaste:
In a pinch you can mix baking soda and peroxide together to make a paste. Honestly, this is what most whitening toothpastes are made of any way, they just add mint and sugar to make it taste good.

Shampoo and conditioner:
When you run out of shampoo, or gone to take a shower only to find out your child has pumped all of your shampoo into the bath tub so he can have a bubble bath you don't have to skip the hair wash. Mix a teaspoon or so of baking soda and mix with some water (1/2 a cup or so) and rub that into your hair, then rinse.
For conditioner use about a half a cup of vinegar and half a cup of water, pour onto your hair and then rinse well. I usually do the conditioner rinse about once a week any way because it takes out all of the product and residue left over by shampoo or conditioner.

Shaving product:
You can use olive oil to shave your legs. I've done it a couple of times it makes your legs feel fantastic! If you want to use it all the time, I would add some tea tree oil for antiseptic reasons.

Body Moisturizer:
Once again, olive oil. After your shower just put it on. If you do it when you are a little wet, it doesn't feel as "oily".  I don't do this very often either, when I really want to feel like a princess.

@@@@@ If you are allergic to ANY of the ingrediants, please don't do this. AKA, I'm not responsible for allergic reactions.@@@@@

Even tho Esther did not want to be in that palace, I have to think that she felt amazing after bathing in olive oil. I hope you feel like the princess you are too.

** Esther is the story of a common Jewish woman who was chosen to become a queen against her will. While she was queen, her husband decided to kill all Jews (he didn't know Esther was Jewish) and Esther stepped up, put her own life on the line save her people. Her story can be found in the Bible, the book of Esther.**

Cathy

"If you keep quiet at such a time as this, deliverance and  relief for the Jews will come from somewhere else, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows, perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this."

The prayers of a child.

Something really cool happened the last night while I was putting Nick to bed.

Every night since the day he was born we have said night time prayers with our son. Just a simple little prayer:
"Thank You for today, Thank You for letting me play. Help me get a good night sleep so I can play tomorrow."
Short, sweet, to the point and NOT "Now I lay me down to sleep..." I really don't like that prayer.

But over the last few months, now that he's three, we have been letting him say his own prayers. He does a pretty good job for a three-year-old. He doesn't really thank God for the day any more usually things that are on his mind. His bear, his bath, we saw the space shuttle go up on Monday so lately he thanks God for the space ship and always, always "thank You for Mrs. Julie" his Sunday School teacher. After all this is done, with out fail he will say "and thank You God for good night sleep so I can play tomorrow."

I've never corrected him before and I've never thought much about what he was saying. He's done this for a few months now and it only struck me last night.  As I was opening my mouth to correct him it was as if the Spirit came on me to tell me to shut up.

How many times do we ask God to do something and still have a faint shadow of doubt that it will happen? More than we would like to admit, I'm sure. Last night it felt to me as if my son was so sure that God was going to give him a good night sleep that he was already thanking God for it.  How cool is that?

How many times do we ask God for something with such confidence that we thank Him as we ask him?

OK, I know that God is not going to answer every prayer, I know that not every prayer is Biblically sound. I would not expect God to say yes to a prayer that says, "God, I really want that (insert sports car here) cause I know I will get the girls, Thank You."  Some prayers that may seem good and Holy may not be answered with a yes. David wanted to build a temple for God (good and holy). God said no. Maybe, just maybe, someone will hear about God because you were in a car accident or your car broke down on that road trip you prayed for travelling mercies on. (Blame Francis Chan "Crazy Love" for that one.)

I would feel confident, however, praying like this, "God, thank You that tomorrow You will help me be more like You and show Your love to my neighbors. Thank You that tomorrow You will show me how to manage Your money in a way that is pleasing to You. Thank You that tomorrow You will help me be a more Godly mother, wife, in-law, daughter."

James 1:6-7 says "But when you ask Him be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waiver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave on the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect anything from the Lord."  Ok, it DOES refer to asking for wisdom (James 1:5), but I think that asking for help being a better steward of the things (money, home, family, neighbors) counts as asking for wisdom.

Nick probably doesn't realize what he is praying, he probably doesn't realize he is misquoting the prayer he has heard every night of his life. Regardless, it spoke to me, made me think and maybe it will make you think.

** This is an after thought, the post was published 20 minutes ago. Was this what Paul meant when he wrote "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God." Phil 4:6**

Blessings
Cathy

"I will hide Your word in my heart so that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119:11

My Apologies...

Hi readers- the few that are left after my hiatus. I do apologize for the long stint of silence, I promise I haven't abandoned you. I have had zero energy over the past two weeks. I think it has to do with the fact that after I quit my job I just threw myself into catching up on all the housework that didn't get done while I was working. I feel like I haven't stopped moving from my last day of work until two weeks ago.

I have to be honest, it does feel good to only do the necessary. Well I did go thru Nick's toys and clothes last week, the only NOT necessary thing that has gotten done. But I have thoroughly enjoyed being lazy for a while.

Next week tho, I have to get it in gear and DO things, maybe that's when I'll start my herb garden. I want to grow mint, rosemary, basil and oregano. Christian is Italian so there will be no herb garden on our property that does not include that staple Italian herb. =)

I'm also starting to miss the country. I grew up on a small farm with lots of room to run around, lots of sun and a lot of privacy. We've lived in the country for about 18 months now and it's the longest I have lived away from my childhood playground. My back yard gets some sun but not nearly as much as I would like, especially for line drying clothes. I would like to grow tomatoes and peppers as well but the same question arises, where is there enough sun? It's also hard to remember to have the blinds down or curtains pulled before I changes clothes. Oh the things you take for granted...

Any way, just some ramblings for today, I am going to be better about writing on  a schedule and posting regularly.

Cathy
"I (GOD) am with you and will keep watch over you where ever you go." Genesis 28:15

Home made leather cleaner

For several years Christian and I lived with family and much of our stuff was in storage, this included Christian’s golf bag.  When we moved to our current apartment we noticed that the bag looked mildewy and dry. To be completely honest, it looked disgusting.  So we did what any normal people would do. We stuck it in a closet and tried to pretend it wasn’t there.

It worked too, well that was until Christian and a friend of his decided to go golfing a few weeks ago. We pulled the long forgotten golf bag out of the corner of the closet and quickly decided that it was not fit to take golfing.

I knew that vinegar would clean mildew off leather. I also knew it would dry out leather. So I did some research on how to clean leather and found this super simple recipe.

1 part vinegar and 3 parts olive oil.  It couldn’t be easier. All you do is dip a rag into the mixture wring it out so it’s not dripping and wipe down whatever you are cleaning. Use a clean rag to wipe off the excess oil.

I don’t remember what blog I found this recipe on (sorry to that author) however, that person said they use it to clean their leather couch. I am sure you could use it to clean jackets, car seats.

It was amazing the difference it made in Christian’s golf bag! It looks brand new now. I did have to wipe it down twice because it was so dry. The leather licked up the oil in no time. I hope you don’t have anything in your house as gross as the golf bag, but if you do, you now have the knowledge to make it look brand new again.

So I hope I didn’t embarrass Christian too badly. If I go missing in the next few days, you’ll know why.  =)  As always, your comments and suggestions on improvements are always welcome. 

Happy polishing!

Cathy

"Then they (older women) can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:4-5

Instant Oatmeal Packs (update)

This was posted as a Facebook note several weeks ago, I thought I would share it on the blog.

Nick LOOOVES oatmeal, he'll eat two packets a day. But have you bought a box of Quaker instant oatmeal lately? It's usually $3-$4 for a box of 10 (which might last us a week).  I try to buy it on sale but we have a tiny apartment and I can't buy enough and store it for the two to three months it takes for the sale cycle to repeat itself.

That being said, I was doing some research on freezable foods and came across this recipe on www.moneysavingmom.com. It is for make your own instant oatmeal packs. I found it today so I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but we are coming to the end of our current, and last, box of Quaker so I thought I would give it a try.

If you decide to try it, let me know what you or your kids think.

Oatmeal Packets Recipe

1 large canister quick oats

1 large canister rolled oats

1/8 cup cinnamon

2 cups flax seed, ground (optional)

1 box of snack-sized zip-top baggies

Mix rolled oats, quick oats and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Take 2 cups of mixture and grind it in a blender or food processor until it becomes powder-like.

Set up an assembly line with a small bowl of the ground flax seed, a small bowl of the ground oat mixture and the large bowl of oats. Take a baggie and put in 1/8 cup flax seed, 1/8 cup ground oats and ¾ cup oat mixture. Seal the baggie.

Repeat until you’ve successfully filled all your baggies.

To prepare, add ½ to ¾ cup boiling water and stir. Top with dried fruit, nuts or sweetener of your choice.

If you add in the ground flax seed, you’ll want to store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer and use within 1-2 months to prevent the flax seed from going rancid.

Since this was posted on Facebook I have used several of the packets. Nick absolutely loves them. I did not put the flax in it. I do have to add a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar to make it taste good. I didn't add sugar at first and I tasted it-Seriously gross. Nick also likes to add raisins to his oatmeal. This recipe makes about twice as much as one packet of store bought oatmeal so he normally eats only one packet as opposed to his 2-3 store bought packs.

I really like this too. I have always loved instant oatmeal and I would eat real oatmeal but I never really liked the texture. This recipe has the taste of real oatmeal but the texture of instant packets. Win Win!

Let me know if you like this or not and let me know if you have any ideas on how to improve this/things to add to it.

Happy breakfasting!!

Cathy

The Fairy Tale Wedding

I woke up really early this morning to watch a wedding. After several hours and an insane amount of Coffee, I still can't believe I actually dragged my tail out of bed at 4AM to watch T.V.

I saw how beautiful all the clothes and hats were and I couldn't get enough of the grandeur and majesty of the ornate Westminster Abbey. I kept looking at the carvings in the walls and columns the arches and oh, that organ.

Like most of you I caught my breath when Catherine stepped out of the car and we saw the entire dress for the first time. I giggled a little when Harry turned around for a peak and said something to his brother and the look on Williams face when he saw his princess bride for the first time.

All the while thinking 'Kate is living every little girls dream.' We all want to be a princess don't we? We dream, as little girls, of our Prince Charming riding in on a white horse, rescuing us from danger and carrying us off to a palace and living happily ever after.

It wasn't until the coffee kicked in that I started to realize, ladies, that we ARE princesses. We, Christians, are daughters (and sons) of God. We are JOINT heirs with Jesus.

"And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory." Romans 8:7

We get to have the fairy tale wedding:

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear." For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people." Revelation 19:7-8

We are that bride, Christians! Ok, we aren't going to literally be married to Jesus. Marriage is the most intimate human relationship we can have. I have a feeling that our relationship with God is going to be even more intimate than the most happily ever after marriage we can imagine. And if you thought Kate Middleton's dress was divine, just wait until you see what you get to wear when Christ takes His bride. Our clothing will be our righteousness, how much we love and believe God. Righteousness is NOT about how hard you work for God--it's about how hard you love God.

"Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war." Revelation 19:11

Our prince Charming on a white horse comes for us ready to fight for us, rescue us "wages a righteous war". Ladies, our earthly Prince Charming may be amazing- mine is- but our Heavenly, eternal Prince will blow our minds. He will never argue with you or cheat on you or complain about an ill cooked meal. I'm pretty sure He will never leave His dirty clothes all over the house either. He loves us like no other, cherishes us like we've never been cherished before. Ladies, He adores you even now, no matter what is going on in your life, please know that.

Men reading this, it goes for you too!! I know it sounds mushy, but if you are a Christian, the Prince is coming for you too. He will fight for you as hard as He will fight for me. He cherishes you just as much as He does the ladies.

I can't wait for the day of our real life, last for eternity (literally) Fairy Tale Wedding.

Princesses, I love you all.

Cathy

As always, your comments, questions or corrections are welcomed just be polite. =)

Bible verses are from the New Living Translation.

Adventures in Bread Baking

You've seen the posts on Facebook. You've seen the picture of the final product. Here is the entire story and the recipe.

A while ago my sister sent me a very easy bread recipe. I held onto it and held onto it. Last week I decided it was time to try it.

When I tried it on Friday it was very gooey and runny. The dough was more like a thick brownie dough. The bread didn't rise in the oven at all and it was flat, dense and almost like it didn't cook all the way through. I'm pretty sure that I didn't use enough flour. The ingredient list calls for 4 cups of flour, however, the 'what to do' list says to add 2 cups and then knead in a half a cup more. I followed the steps and since I was a bread baking virgin I didn't know to add more. Now I know. I remember my friend, Leila, saying her grandmother never really had a recipe. She said that different weather needs different amounts of flour. Unfortunately, I didn't remember this until after I made the first batch of bread.

Now, without further ado, the recipe.

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp white sugar1tsp salt
2 tsp veg oil
4 cups bread flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar into water -- let set till creamy about 10 min. Add salt and veg oil and 2 cups flour (I mix all of this in my kitchen aid with the bread hook) Turn onto a floured surface and knead in more flour 1/2cup. Knead for about 10 minutes (again I use my KA) place in an oiled bowl cover with dampened dish towel let rise for 1 hour.

After an hour form into 16 rolls or two loaves and let rise another 30 min.

Bake at 400 for 20 min or until golden.

And now, all of the mistakes I made the first time.

The first batch I mixed with my stand mixer and the second I did totally by hand. I don't know if using the mixer was a mistake or not, I really did enjoy kneading it by hand.

The first time I added the water to the yeast and sugar and the yeast

became really clumpy. The second time I sprinkled the yeast and sugar onto the water.

When I mixed the oil and flour into the yeast the first time I used the prescribed 2 cups. The second time I added flour little-by-little until it looked more like bread dough.

The second time I made the bread I kneaded it by hand adding flour until the dough was no longer sticky. I did some research on kneading bread. Stretch the bread away from you and then fold it toward the center. Turn the bread a quarter turn clockwise and repeat. I would add flour when my hands were sticking to the bread. I would just sprinkle a little flour over the top and sometimes rub it on my hands.

I think that might be it. I don't remember anything else I did (I admit I'm really tired right now so I hope I didn't forget anything).

This is the good bread, it's so pretty.

This is the first bread I made (ignore the mess in the background). You can see that it didn't rise at all in the oven. I wish I had taken a picture of it cut.

I would LOVE to try more recipes, please send me some. I would also like to hear any tips or advice concerning bread baking you may have. Please leave them in the comments box because we are here to help each other out and encourage each other, just remember to be polite and respectful. =)

Happy Baking and God bless you and your family,

Cathy

Then the older women can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,

to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:4-5

Considering the Cross

I’ve spent this week trying to feel what the followers of Jesus may have felt during that first Holy week. I came to the conclusion that they had no clue what was going to happen. Ok, getting to that conclusion didn’t take very long because even Jesus’ closest friends really didn’t know what was going to happen to Him until it was happening. I did feel nervous throughout the week though. I wonder if Jesus was nervous during that week or if He didn’t get nervous until Thursday, the day He was arrested.

This morning (Friday) I wondered how the Believers felt waking up to the news that their leader had been arrested. I think they would have felt shock and disbelief because Jesus was so upstanding and had never broken the law. You never expect a religious leader to be arrested. Were the Believers afraid, embarrassed, maybe ashamed?

I think they may have been afraid for the future of this new group who followed the teachings of Jesus. Did they wonder if a new teacher would step up and continue to lead them? Did they think that the group would dissipate now that the Leader was gone? Maybe they were even afraid for their own lives; would they themselves be beaten and killed?

I’m sure some of them were embarrassed. I know, like today, many of them endured the ridicule of family and friends. How many people teased their loved ones while Jesus was suffering? I can almost hear it.

“This ‘God’ of yours, this Holy Messiah, Savior, how can He save you when He can’t even save Himself?”

Just thinking this brings me to tears. How many of them agreed with their family members? How many of them broke the heart of the God who was suffering just for them?

How many followers had been Jewish? I wonder how many of them spent the Sabbath (the next day, Saturday) pleading with God for forgiveness thinking they had sinned by following this Jesus. How many felt ashamed that they had forsaken hundreds of years of family tradition and religion to follow a man who claimed to be God and now that man was dying a criminal’s death?

Did some have hope? Jesus said over and over again “the Temple would be rebuilt in three days.” Most people thought He was talking about a building but did some of them understand He was talking about Himself? I like to think someone out there got it. Would you have understood, would you have had hope?

I am not a pastor. I’ve had no formal education in theology. I just think that maybe this is how I might have felt had I been there on the very dark Friday so many years ago.

I have felt ‘heavy’ all week and especially today. I was on Facebook around 5PM this afternoon and saw that a friend wrote “It is finished.” Those were Jesus’ last words as a mortal. I nearly broke into tears. I was reminded today that Jesus was in control the entire time; He Himself commended His spirit to God.

I can only imagine the joy that was felt on that Sunday morning when Jesus’ tomb was empty and Jesus Himself appeared to Mary and later the disciples. As word spread all of the despair and shame faded like frozen breath dissipates in the winter. In an instant a new Hope sprung to life, all the fears are quenched; all the doubts are put to rest.

Can you imagine what was going on in the hearts of people; the rejoicing going on in the homes of Believers?

“My Savior has indeed saved Himself and He has saved me as well!”

The best part is He has not only saved those who were with Him so many years ago, He has saved everyone who believes in Him. All you have to do is believe that Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose again. Jesus is your Savior and as a pastor friend always put it “wants to be the boss of your life.” This doesn’t mean He is going to tell you what to eat and when to go to bed. It just means that you will love Him with all your heart, read the Bible (it really is relevant to life today); pray to seek God’s will for you.

**If you want to read the story of Jesus in its entirety, you can find it in the Bible. Look for the books of Matthew Mark Luke or John (they are all in that order near the back). If you have any questions concerning the life or death of Jesus, please email me cathy.nicolette@gmail.com or if you are comfortable enough, leave it in the comment box.**

As always comments/corrections are welcome, just be polite.

Have A Blessed Resurrection Day

Cathy

My Brand New Solar Powered Clothes Dryer (AKA clothes line)

I’ve been using my clothesline for week now and I absolutely LOVE it! I love the way my clothes smell and feel when they come off the line and I have yet had to iron anything. It does take longer than it used too as I am trying to figure out a system to take things out of the washer in an order so like items can be hung up together.

My line is rather makeshift and there’s not much room on it, only enough room for a not too big load. I kind of want the umbrella kind so I can hang two or more loads on it. I am very anxious to see our next TECO bill. All of my research has told me that line drying will save between 5% and 10%, however, our dryer is extremely old (read NOT ENERGY EFFICIENT) and it takes and hour and half to dry ONE load of clothes.

In doing research for proper clothesline hanging here is what I have learned.

Soap is what makes your clothes feel stiff after line-drying. I have also learned that most people use way too much soap when washing clothes. You could probably get away with using only half of what the manufacturer says to use. This will save you money as well.

You must use a fabric softener. I use distilled white vinegar. I fill up the Downey ball that I used for fabric softener before I discovered the miracle that is vinegar. I know that vinegar takes out soap residue. I found this information on Wikipedia about fabric softener. “Fabric softeners work by coating the surface of the cloth fibers with a thin layer of chemicals; these chemicals have lubricant properties and are electrically conductive, thus making the fibers feel smoother and preventing buildup of static electricity. Other functions are improvements of iron glide during ironing, increased resistance to stains, and reduction of wrinkling and pilling.”

Do you really want chemicals to “coat the surface” of your clothes? I don’t and vinegar is cheaper.

When I take the clothes out of the washer I shake them out and make them “snap”. This helps to shake out the wrinkles. I do this inside because I am afraid to drop the clean clothes in the dirt outside. I try to take the clothes out of the washer in the order I want to hang them up. I try to hang all like clothes together—shirts with shirts, towels with towels and so forth. This makes the line look prettier and it makes it easier to put them away.

Now to actually hanging the clothes. You will want to wipe the entire length of the line with a wet rag before hanging out your wash. There’s no point in hanging clean clothes on a dirty line.

The main rule I learned in research is if you wear it on top, then hang from the bottom. If you wear it on bottom, hang from the top. Shirts are hung upside down with an inch or two over hang. I was letting them hang from the hem until I read that could tear a hem and stretch the clothes. Jeans are hung from the waist with an inch or so overhang. I hang ALL dark clothes inside out to help prevent fading and pants are hung buttoned and zipped to keep the butt from getting a fade triangle. Nothing says designer like a light colored triangle on your rear =).

I hang underwear from the waist, mine and the boys. I understand that some of you may not want to hang out your “delicate” items. I do. I have privacy fence on all three sides of my

back yard and my line is not visible from the road. If you don’t have that luxury, you can hang your delicates on the middle of three lines surrounded by not so private articles of clothing. Socks I hang by the toe with the match clipped either with the same pin or right next to it.

Towels I hang longways with several inches hung over. Sheets I fold in half and hang with a few inches overhang. Fitted sheets I do the best I can =) Dress shirts are likely the easiest thing to hang. I button them up on a hanger and put the hanger on the line secured with a clothespin.

Never leave your pins on the line when there are no clothes. This looks sloppy and will make your pins weather and midew. I have made a pin bag out of one of the boy’s old shirts. I made it out of a t-shirt that I cut down the front two thirds of the way and sewed up the bottom to make a bag. I slipped in a metal hangar and stitched the shoulders a little so the hangar won’t slip out of the shirt.

I hang the entire bag on the line when I’m putting out clothes.

Here is a fun poem I found when doing research on clotheslines. I have no idea who may have written it.

Poem

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"
And towels upon the line;

You'd see the "company table cloths"
With intricate designs.
The line announced a baby's birth
From folks who lived inside -
As brand new infant clothes were hung,
So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed,
You'd know how much they'd grown!

It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare!

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy and gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way . . ..

But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is any body's guess

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!

Ok, I know that one who has been hanging out clothes for only a week is not really one from whom to take advice. These ideas are not my own (except for the pin bag, which I found online after I made mine). I am enjoying being outside early in the morning hearing the birds chirp and getting a bit of fresh air before my day really begins and when the clothes come off the line they really do smell wonderful. Give it a try. I spent less than 10$ on my line and pins and was lucky enough to have a tree and fence to attach my line to.

If you decide to try it, I want to see your line, send me a picture. And, as always, ideas to make this better are always welcome.

Happy washing,

Cathy.