"WILD"

Since I do not have nor plan to have a Facebook page, I will share my pictures and such that's "facebookish" here on my blog.

A couple of weekends ago, The Son-In-Law, The Girl, and The Grandbaby invited us to go on a Saturday morning trip to the zoo.  As a child (and we know that was a LONG time ago), I would get to the zoo a few times and then as a children's youth leader I have escorted a couple of groups of children in the past but it's been several years.  I found the zoo had changed little.  Face it, animals look the same for the most part.  I discovered this trip, though, that I see it differently when looking through a Gramma's eyes.   I did take my good camera so I could share my memories with you.

The first zoo attraction has always been the flamingos.

When The Poppa thinks The Grandbaby wants to feed them and he has no change for the feed machine, he goes to get some change.  He proved his "Poppaship" by coming back with a whole roll of quarters.  Wow.

The Grandbaby was dressed in her "wild" zoo finest of attires.

There were kangaroos....

....unusually red haired apes....

and other interesting monkeys of all ages.

Birds......

turtles....big turtles....

animals we couldn't identify.......

And animals with which we were familiar.

Every giraffe is called Sophie Speckles around here.  The Poppa named The Grandbaby's squeeze Sophie giraffe "Sophie Speckles" so now all giraffes are named that.

The Grandbaby loved the lions....the "roary" lions as she says.......Roar!

And she especially loved the elephants.  The Poppa taught her how to raise her hand and make elephant sounds many months ago.  She practices the technique often.

It seems like the favorite "aminal" of this trip was the panda bears.  

The Grandbaby and The Poppa enjoyed seeing the fish so much they just made a seat to watch.

Cookies and Cream Dippin' Dots.  Enough said.

"Here Gramma, you can wear my sticker for a while."

No zoo trip is complete without smiles and poses...

Look how much this girl looks like her dadadada....

...and how much she loves her mamama.

The Perfect Son-In-Law and The Perfect Mother-in-Law support the orange and blue.  War Eagle!

Learning fence antics....

The merry-go-round....no "aminals" please...

Yes, a wild day of fun, smiles, and joy!

SALTY?

A few weeks ago I received a summons in the mail to report for jury duty in my county.  A week ago I made my way to my county's courthouse to honorably "serve".  It had been forty years since I had this honor and with my feeble mind as it is, I had very little remembrance of the experience.

I won't bore you with details of my time in this service.  I will share a bit, though.  A buddy from my church also was summoned for this experience.  We began the week with him and me sitting in the back of course, listening to the orientation and instruction.  I was early for a change that first day and was able to view other co-jury summoned folks as they arrived.  That's an advantage to sitting in the back.  There was one female person who got my attention as she was dressed kind of a cute quirky and very happily speaking to folks as she made her way to the front.   The Church Buddy was called to join a panel to be questioned so he made his way to the front.  The Friendly Person was also called and made her way to the front.  I sat and crocheted and waited.

After an hour or so, the ones waiting were dismissed for lunch.  When I arrived back, The Church Buddy was there.  The courts had decided to call another panel to question for the same case before making their decision.  Yep, my name was in that one.  After that long questioning was done and the panel of 12 and an alternate were chosen, The Church Buddy, Me, and The Friendly Person were part of the jury.  At that point, I officially met The Friendly Person.

The Friendly Person was the happiest person I think I have ever met.  It only took a sentence or two for one to realize that she loves Jesus.  (His name comes right up in her conversations.)  And, more than that, she wants to be sure everyone else loves Jesus, too.  She was cute and slightly younger than The Church Buddy who is decently younger than me, just so you can get the picture.  Some folks would genuinely respond to her, others would do eye rolls and look bored.  Either way, she was not affected in her obvious love for Jesus.

The next morning as we reported back, she had realized The Church Buddy and I were friends.  Three of four of us women had the opportunity before the case began for the day to go to the jury assembly room for coffee.  Long story, are you surprised?  Me of many words....

By now, the Friendly Person has witnessed already to practically everyone there.  As we are walking to get our coffee, she asks me, "What kind of need can we pray for you?"  Well duh.  Even though taken aback I immediately suggested healing for my gut.   I mean--I have a long list of needs and I feared we didn't have a lot of time.   Another girl came up for coffee, too, and her hand was held and The Friendly Person said, "We are going to pray.  What can we pray for you?"    At that point, I asked The Friendly Person what her prayer need was.  Imagine my conviction when she said, "I just want to be the very best witness for my Jesus that I can."  Shouldn't we all want that?  Well, the three of us stood there with hands and hearts joined in that empty courtroom jury assembly room and she prayed for my gut, for the Lord to prepare a husband for the other girl, and for her own witness.  Before ending the prayer, she directed me to finish it up and I prayed for wisdom as we all needed that.

At the lunch break, the Church Friend, The Friendly Person, and I decided to have lunch together.  As we made our way to the city's famous hoagie shop, The Friendly Person began to practice a song she was to sing later in the week,  "His Eye is on The Sparrow".  She sang it all the way down the sidewalks.  Loudly.  Smiling as she met folks, singing beautifully all the way.  At the hoagie shop, she made a young worker smile and be encouraged and she saw a family she had witnessed to at the local hospital.  Their smiles said it all--and she didn't even really know them.   The Church Buddy and I witnessed "making a difference" in action.

Before the panel began deliberations, she also asked if anyone would be offended if we had prayer before we began.  If they were offended, they didn't voice it.  The Church Friend and I prayed three times that day in an organized prayer.   And guess what?  No one objected.  Imagine.  No.  One.  Objected.

So when The Pastor preached his sermon last Sunday titled "The Salty Christian", I was again reminded of The Friendly Person and how she wanted so badly for everyone to love Jesus.  I know Jesus smiles when she witnesses.  And The Church Friend and I do, too, as she touched our lives tremendously and gave us a renewed sense of purpose to share Jesus.  Granted everyone doesn't have the same kind of knack in sharing Him as she does, but we all have some ability to share Him in our own various ways.

I want to do it more.

As The Pastor's sermon scripture from Sunday says:

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?  it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."  Matthew 5:13 

When I think on it, the Lord was sending me a message for sure last week with The Friendly Person and the Sunday sermon.

I'm considering.....you do the same.

UH....

...when you have your coffee cup in the left hand, pick up the coffee pot with your right, and start to pour.....what a way to start a day!   What does one do?  Do the same thing over using coffee and "serve the Lord with gladness!"

YET

It's a small three letter word that can change a life.  Yet.  Mr. Webster defines "yet" one way as "nevertheless" and "one more time".  Yet is a small word but can pack a punch and change a life and an attitude.

My morning devotion brought this word to mind this morning with one of the scripture references being one of my very favorites in the whole Bible.  Well, you my faithful blog readers, might argue that I say that a lot about various scriptures and you would be correct.  I have a world of favorite Bible passages!  I hold them very dear to my heart.  This one is one I only discovered a short time back from a book in the Bible I would NEVER read before, mainly because I couldn't pronounce the name or find the book easily in the Old Testament and couldn't figure the book had anything that would benefit me.  Boy was I wrong!  Here is what the scripture says:

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."   Habakkuk 3:17, 18

This passage in verse 17 reminds me that as I heard a woman say many years ago, "Everybody's got a problem."  Ain't that the truth?  Some issues might not be a problem to me but might to you.  And maybe your problems to me might seem little compared to others, and vice versa.  Either way, no matter what the problem or issue one can be facing, YET....nevertheless....one more time and always, we can rejoice in the Lord.

There could be financial problems, physical sickness, loss of a loved one, loss of a home, fear for those we love, uncertainty in important decisions, and just plain uncertainty of what life will hold.  In spite of problems and uncertainties, YET we can rejoice in the Lord.

I will drop in here a couple more of the three letter words in that verse....joy for one.  No matter what life dishes out, we can still have joy in our hearts and in our salvation and in our GOD (important three letter word).  Always remember, for joy it's Jesus first, Others second, Yourself third.  And never ever forget the Lord GOD as He has proven himself over and over and over, even when He didn't have to.

Yet will I trust HIM.  Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord.  Consider.......

CHEESECAKE

Before you think this is becoming a cooking blog, I will assure you it is not.  I have a different post swimming around in my mind even now that has nothing to do with cooking but it involves finding a certain picture so for now, I decided to share this recipe.

Through my many years of cooking--did I say MANY years of cooking?--every cheesecake I have ever made has fallen in the middle.  Every. Single.  One.  So you can imagine my joy when one didn't fall.  It merited a post of it's own on my blog and a recipe to share.

PECAN PRALINE CHEESECAKE

1.5 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 stock butter or margarine, melted
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 t. cinnamon (this is optional...I never use as I can't stand smell or taste of cinnamon)
4 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup chopped pecans
3 T. all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted margarine, granulated sugar and cinnamon.  Press mixture into bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan.  Set aside.  Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until fluffy.  Stir in brown sugar, nuts, and flour, stirring just to combine (do not use mixer for this step).  Pour filling into crust, smoothing flat with spatula.  Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool well and then refrigerate.  Loosen side as cools and remove side before refrigerating.

Happy cooking!

COLE SLAW

I was meandering through my vast array of pictures on my computer as I tried to free up some space. I found pictures I had taken for a future blog post.  Since I went to the trouble of taking them and keeping them, I figured there's no better time than now to share.

I will say, humbly, that I have been complimented often on the delicious cole slaw I can sometimes make.  It's really not an art, however, there are a few tricks that I was taught my mother-in-law.  I will say that she liked to cook much more than I do so when she talked cooking, I did try to listen.

The first thing to remember is that cole slaw is only as good as the cabbage used to make it.  I find the greener the cabbage, the crunchier and better the cole slaw.  These cabbage heads that are mostly whitish make a less desirable product.  If the cabbage is white, don't waste you money or your time.  I chop with the blade of my food processor, not the grating mechanism.

Secondly, mix in the mayonnaise with a fork.  That allows all the little pieces to coat well through the fork tines.  A spoon doesn't give the same result.

Thirdly, my MIL always said to NEVER put salt in a cole slaw as it makes it rank.  So I never do.  She said so.  People can salt it when they eat it or skip the salt.  If the salt is skipped, one can have more mayonnaise.  :)  And speaking of mayonnaise, my mayonnaise of choice is either Hellman's or Blue Plate.  Somehow, Hellman's or Blue Plate mayonnaise just go good with the cabbage.  I wouldn't even attempt to use a low fat mayo in cole slaw.  Unless one has a major health issue involving mayonnaise, I wouldn't even consider it.

Here's how I do it....starting with the basics (I had Hellman's mayonnaise this particular day):

After the cabbage is chopped, add the black pepper to your taste and stir well (with fork).  The Husband enjoys food with his black pepper so I add a bunch.  The peppered, chopped cabbage looks like this:

This is the bowl of cabbage before adding the HELLMAN'S or BLUE PLATE mayonnaise.  I don't have a clue how much I add, just that I add a tablespoon at a time, then mix with the fork until I have added enough. You will know if it's enough according to your taste buds.

After mayonnaise adding and fork-stirring well, the finished cole slaw looks like this:

Granted it's not a fancy dish and does look better to the eyes if one cleans up the sides of the bowl better than I did.  As some say, though, the looks don't affect the taste and taste is what matters!

And now you know....happy cole slaw eating!

MMM

Magical Morning Moments.....there's something to be said for those times.  This morning was one for The Poppa and me, The Gramma.  Yes, it's Friday but we are babysitting while The Girl is at her office.  It's a rare time that both of us are home to babysit together.

These special moments happened after a breakfast of biscuits, gravy, eggs, and bacon.  Yes, The Grandbaby loves the biscuit, gravy and eggs.  It's my signature breakfast when she visits.  I am happy that The Nana who lives in another state has the signature breakfast of French Toast which The Grandbaby also loves.   So see, God knows what He's doing when he allows us talents of different scrumptious foods.

After breakfast, the three of us began a walk to the mailbox to take outgoing mail.  It was on this route on the driveway that our shadows were discovered.  We had taken stops to see numerous ants and their crawling ability, then there were the shadows.  Ahhh....delights for sure.

"Look Poppa, I can lift my leg."

"Hey The Grandbaby, can you wave at your shadow?" (Of course she can, she even waves at the figures on food boxes.  She waves at EVERYTHING.)  😁  And The Gramma's shadow holding her camera is very true to life, isn't it?

"Look, Poppa can make an animal with his hand shadow!"

And during all these shadow fun times, The Gramma sees The Poppa, The Grandbaby, and herself and is saying many thanks in her heart that she is having such moments as these.  Ahhh....

After the shadow playing was done, there was a walk to see and smell the flowers.

The sparkly shoes are her new ones on sale on Zulily.com and were cheap.  Oh, and did I say that they are "squeakers"?  They squeak when she walks.  Three S's--Stylish, Sparkly, and Squeakers--who could ask for more?  Needless to say, she wears them every day, especially at home so those in charge can hear where she is.  She's become quite the little fast walker.

Yes, The Poppa smiles in most pictures now.  What can I say?

When the outdoor fun was over, The Grandbaby was tired so The Gramma (aka "the nap whisperer") did some Dr. Seuss reading to her and then transferred her to The Poppa and there they happily remain for now.

Blessings of MMM's and so much more!

IT SPOKE VOLUMES....

I have two devotion books I use along with my Bible for daily devotions.  Guess one can't have too many.  One of my favorites is one I use every year along with the new yearly one.  I imagine I will continue using it on and on as one tends to draw different wisdoms from different parts at different times.  This one really spoke to me and I thought that since folks share such on Facebook, surely I can share such on my personal blog.

There's so much I love about this.  I won't divulge a lesson from it for you.  I will just let you read on your own.  Enjoy!

Consider.........

CATCHY PHRASE

So true.....

"Your talk talks and your walk talks but your walk talks more than your talk talks."

Consider....