Hayden and Brooklyn

Family Picture

They are WAY TOO cute!!!

The new girls, my great-nieces, born last spring into our family

Devon

Brooklyn

Katie's Song

Yaaaay!!!! Katie now has one of her original songs posted at Garage Band.
Check it out at http://www.garageband.com/ and type in the artist name Caeti in the top right-hand search bar. It's a great little happy tune.

Hello dear Readers,

Yet again God has moved in our life in an awesome, mighty way. A crisis which seemed insurmountable back in October has "worked together for good" (Romans 8:28) as God graciously poured out His blessings and provisions and brought peace in the midst of our storm (Psalm 3:3, .Psalm 29:11, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6-7)

All is well. Our daughter has come home and is doing great. We have been able to remodel our home to provide a suite for her in our basement. We have been awarded the funds required for hiring the staff to care for her complex needs. The only thing better I could ask for her is that the Lord would bring total healing, and I have no doubt that He will in His time. (Ecclesiastes 3)

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer enjoying time with family and friends and surrounded by the perfect peace and love which only comes from above. Thank you for your many prayers which did indeed move mountains.

Joy

http://www.biblesociety.ca/free_scriptures/escriptures/ecclesiastes3/ecclesiastes3.html

Temporarily down

Sorry everyone, due to a crisis with our daughter I am temporarily unable to post, however, as soon as the water calms I'll be back....my sincere thanks for hanging in there.
Blessings,
Joy

Katie and her children's group at camp

Soap making day

Shredded soap from the base I made last week. Looks like grated cheese.

Into the mold and set aside to cool.

First batch cut and trimmed.

Second batch prior to trimming.

At last, after a busy summer I have finally managed to get some soap made. It is always a rewarding experience for me and I am forever fascinated at the way oil and water, which we all have learned simply do not mix, come together to produce a hard, cleansing, bar of bubbly soap.

Today's efforts yielded 12 bars, each weighing around 4 ounces, and because there were 3 separate batches I have three different scents. The first one is tangerine & spice and smells like Christmas! The second batch is one of my all time favourites - rose with a touch of baby powder, and the third is cranberry orange spice which is truly spicy and absolutely mouthwatering.

I have been invited to place some soap bars in our local art gallery so I will be testing these ones out over the next few days on various family members and if I get a thumbs up some of them just might make their way into town. I love to experiment and do my own thing so I am always playing around with the formulas and getting different results which may not go over well if I had steady customers wanting a consistent supply. But the art gallery would allow me the freedom to produce something unique each time meaning it would remain an adventure rather that become a mundane job.

Another new baby in the family! Finally getting these pictures up of little Danae - firstborn daughter of my nephew Andrew and his girl Kat.

This artist makes his music available free for downloading. What a great ministry!

http://www.seandietrich.com/All%20I%20Need%20is%20Jesus.mp3

Sobering Words

"Isn't it staggering when you think that one sermon on the day of Pentecost produced 3000 Christian people? And we had some cities yesterday where 3000 sermons were preached and nobody was saved. And it doesn't even faze us. The church used to be a lightning bolt, now it's a cruise ship. We are not marching to Zion - we are sailing there with ease. In the apostolic church it says they were all amazed - And now in our churches everybody wants to be amused. The church began in the upper room with a bunch of men agonizing, and it's ending in the supper room with a bunch of people organizing. We mistake rattle for revival, and commotion for creation, and action for unction. Look, I think this is a critical hour in history, the most critical hour in history; the Middle East is ready to blow up... the prestige of this nation we love has gone down ... As someone said, "We live in a theater of the absurd...When did you last tiptoe out of the sanctuary when you dare not say a word? The church has to rediscover two things. One, the majesty and the Holiness of God, and the other, the sinfulness of sin."

-Leonard Ravenhill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Ravenhill

http://www.ravenhill.org/

Totally pointless but very cute...

This is the cake our 14 year old granddaughter baked for her own birthday. It was SO delicious with a creamy layer of pudding in the middle and all topped off with fresh strawberries dipped in silky white chocolate.

Where did summer go?

My sister and I with our cousin, Carole

August 20th. How can it be? It seems that all summer long we have been waiting for summer to come and so far it's been a never-ending game of hide and seek. I feel sorry for those who booked their camping holidays expecting warm, dry weather and sunny days for lounging on the beach, and instead encountered rain, and hail, and wind.

For us it has been a summer for doing the jobs which have piled up on us during our busyness of life. We began with the rebuilding of our back sundeck and though it seemed to take forever it is now to the stage where we can use it again. We still have to put down the permanent decking material and stain all the wood, and next spring we will replace the temporary overhead cover with plastic roof panels but for now it is protected so Kelly will be able to BBQ without donning his gumboots and umbrella!

Earlier this month I enjoyed a lovely break with a visit to my sister's home. She is such a wonderful hostess and she spoiled me rotten with delicious meals, lunch and dinner out, going to the movies and strolling through the open air market. We also had a chance to visit with my very special cousin who's home is in the extended care section of the hospital and with several other family members. My sister's hubby is a great guy - easy to please and so gracious in allowing us girls to come and go as we pleased and sit up late watching movies and talking. He never complained even when he had to eat his meals in solitude (that's it! he probably liked the peace and quiet when we were out). Our 3 days went all too quickly.

Once home our attention turned to painting the house. Kelly had tried to get it all finished while I was away as a surprise for me but sadly the weather did not cooperate for him so together we went at it full force as soon as it was dry enough. What he did get done in between rain showers while I was away was all the high up ladder and roof top work and knowing that he was home alone hanging off the roof make me feel extremely uneasy. Had he fallen and injured himself no one would have known and he could very well have spent the day or night lying in a heap on the ground. So as much as I've grumbled about the weather, I recognize that God is in control and I am thankful for the rain which prevented him from doing more than he did.

With the completion of our wood splitting for the year we are both utterly exhausted. We rented a splitter and worked like mad for 2 days straight - through sun and rain. It's done now, all the wood in our stockpile is split and piled to finish drying, ready for the winter months ahead. We are achy, sore and tired but it's a very good feeling to have it done.

A few more areas of the house need a second coat of stain and the flashing and gutters still need paint but for the most part the critical stuff is behind us now. This week , weather permitting, we should be able to get the fence stained and then take a breather.

It has been a very intense yet rewarding summer and though I am usually somewhat reluctant to let go of the season I am now beginning to look forward to the beauty and quiet crispness which autumn brings.

Here are some tiny fleece baby shoes made to look like the old fashioned 'Mary Janes'. In this picture I had just completed the embroidery on the toes using what is called a Boullion Stitch. It's my first attempt at making roses which I needed to learn because I could not find the appliques I had in mind.


Except for the buttons, the shoes are now finished. I was supposed to glue rick-rack around the top but opted instead to trim them with thread to match the fleece. I'm pleased with the result and am now on the look out for some real wool felt to make another pair. I could make my own felt but I'm still a novice in the art and my handmade felt would be too thick to sew up. Maybe I'll try the thrift stores for an old garment I can cut up.

Making Yogurt

We have been enjoying the taste and quality of homemade yogurt for a while now but I must confess I was getting a bit weary of the process.

Yogurt can be made successfully with canning jars and a heating pad. However, our heating pad shuts off automatically so I had to remember to constantly check on it. Several times I got busy outside and when I came indoors found it was off. The yogurt was always good but I was getting stressed out over having to keep such a close watch on it. So, after 25+ years I have taken the plunge and bought another yogurt maker.

What freedom! What liberation! I am no longer a slave to automatic shutoff. This little gadget simply plugs in and keeps on going until I choose to turn it off (what power!) whether it be 3 hours, or 6, or even 10. The yogurt is still tasty, and the 7 little jars make a total of 42 ounces. I only wish the jars were bigger. They hold 6 ounces each but you'd never think so as they look like over sized baby food jars. I kind of liked using 2 - 16 ounce canning jars, it made me feel like I had more product (I know, it's just psychological), but also two big jars was a lot less fiddly than 7 little.

Ah well, I guess there are trade-offs in having convenience and I think I can live with this one.

Happy August and bon appetite,

Joy