Life zooooms by!

This book was my favorite book as a kid. I finally found it in a search on the internet. I Can't believe it is selling for $90--to $145.00.

I'll try to post more often--soon.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger's Words of Wisdom

I believe that the economic disaster our country is in right now is a kind of blessing in disguise with respect to values. Without values, life just provides us with “things,” but not necessarily with any profound meaning. Dr. Laura

Abe Lincolns timely piece...

I'm not sure if this will come out clear and readable, but I will type out the words here tomorrow if its not clear. This was written by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and it seems to fit in with the way things are today with the poor economy and hard times.

Chloe

She's a reader, a writer and a beginning poet!

Chloe's Poem

Little drops of water

dripping from the cloud

See the rainbow

See the sun

Oh! What a beautiful sight!

I love vintage things, especially vintage valentines!

I like these...

The doctor of the future will give no medicine
but will interest his patients in the care
of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause
and prevention of disease.

Thomas A. Edison


"A healthy body does not get sick"

By Nature Health Foods

The Ancient Secret

The healthier you become, the higher your energy level.

The higher your energy level, the better you feel.

The better you feel, the more you are able to use your
special talents to help everyone else... especially the people you love.

And then you discover the ancient secret:

Those who give the most, receive the most in return.

Happy Valentine Month

I love this month with hearts flowers and LOVE!!!

Out my back window--this evening!

We sure don't see much sun lately. When I saw the sun going down in the late

afternoon, I thought "I must get a picture!" The snow just glistened in the sun

and looked like frosting on a cake. The shadows are so pretty! I went for a walk

earlier with my dog. The sun felt so nice, but ooooh it was cold, only 2 degrees.

I can't believe that right now it says 13 below zero on my computer.

And its usually right on with my outdoor thermometer.

Such a delightful day!

Saturday afternoon John and I went snowshoeing with three couples. Audrey and Gary live
in the country on a beautiful piece of property. The woods are deep and there is a big gully
with a small stream running through. They built their beautiful home, and also an outdoor
sauna. They are shoveling quite a path to the sauna this year! I wish I would have taken a
picture of it on the inside and out. Tom and Shirl and mom and Archie came with us. Mom
really did well hiking at her age with snowshoes. Actually, she may be better at it than I am,
as this is only my fourth time out on mine. Mom and Archie have been hiking in the woods on
snowshoes for a couple of years now.

As we hiked down the gully, we found a perfect spot to make a fire and roast hot dogs. They
sure tasted good! On the way back the sun was going down, so we went back to the house
for pie, cakes, cookies, and popcorn. We had a good hot sauna also.

We just caught a glimpse of the sun going down.

We almost missed it, as we were too busy eating

hotdogs.

The fire's ready for the hotdogs!

Cooking hotdogs in the woods!

Audrey, mom, and Shirl, waiting for the fire to kick in.

Gary hiking on to make our trail in the woods.

My John moving down the trail.

Saturday snow scenes

These were taken in the woods near Gary and Audrey's house.
We hiked quite a ways into the woods on snowshoes. Sure was

pretty in there!

Three Pepper Steak

This is the recipe, I'm not sure if it will be clear enough to
to read. Sometimes it works to click on the picture and it
will come up large enough to see details. The little cookbook
is one of the grocery counter cookbooks that are around $3.99
Its called Chinese Favorites and has many delicous sounding
recipes that I'm sure to try. Wonton soup, egg drop soup,
cashew chicken, and chocolate macaroon rice pudding, and
golden treasure rice pudding all sound so good! Yum!!

My lovely new plate.

I love Chinese Food!!!

This is the new dish I made tonight. Its Three Pepper Steak
and is very good.

I used my new plates that I bought downstate at Home Goods for

$1.00 each. They were on Christmas clearance. Does this look too

Christmasy? I really don't think so. The red placemats are here

to stay through Valentines day. So what if they have snowflakes,

It's still winter!!

My yellow and blue kitchen.

You Are What You Think

I get a newsletter in my email daily from Jordan Rubin, a naturepathic practitioner, author of a few books, and owner of the company Garden of Life products. He often has very good advice that I like to follow, and articles I like to print out and save to pass on to others. Today we are living in such tough times that we need a little lift, and need to try some things that will get us through the rough spots. We need hope, prayer, and some positive things to help us on our daily journey. This I found worth posting for every one.

Advice for Healthy Living
You Are What You Think

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7)
What you do and say begins with what you think and believe. In the pursuit of perfect health, it's important to remember that the mind greatly influences the body and spirit. The human mind is a complex and wonderful "machine," sometimes referred to as the most powerful computer ever built. Like computers, we can process, store, and share information. And like computers, the information we put out is only as good as the data we put in: Garbage in, garbage out.
In most cases, the things we say and do begin with what we think. We can choose which information we accept and allow to become part of our way of thinking. In fact, we create many of our own problems through negative thinking, bad decision making, and poor dietary choices. By choosing positive, enriching ideas over negative, damaging ones, we significantly improve our mental health.
These choices, both positive and negative, directly influence our bodies and our spirits; a fact that reinforces the role the mental process plays in our overall health.


Jordans tip of the day:
Although it may seem counterintuitive, talking to yourself can make you more sane! But it's what's said that counts! We all try to be encouraging to our friends and family, but what do we say to ourselves? Give yourself a "Good job!" or "Way to go!" every once in a while and watch your mood brighten and your confidence grow.

Wordle

Go to www.wordle.net and create your own word page.

It's so much fun!

Leah and I out snowshoeing

Last week Leah and I went out snowshoeing in the afternoon. It sure looks like a dark day, but it really wasn't as the picture shows. We went to the end of our street to Old Colony Road and hiked into the woods. There are snowmobile trails and fresh ski and snowshoe trails. This is just on the edge of town. You feel so far away from everywhere there, but yet you could here cars, dogs and kids in the distance. Lots of animal tracks--deer and rabbits. We could see the old rock piles from the mining days in the distance. Also some beautiful pine trees and trees with red berries. I wish we could get out and do this every day.

Snowshoeing

This was a dead little white rabbit hanging from a tree.

"We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand...and melting like a snowflake. Let us use it before it is too late"-Marie Beyon Ray

My heart-felt quote for my loved ones

Prayer is so often just

words unspoken,

Whispered in tears by a heart

that is broken...

For God is already deeply aware

Of the burdens we find too

heavy to bear.

This day goes down in history...

Let us have faith that right makes might; and, let us to the end dare to do our duty. -- Abraham Lincoln

What can I say about today? So many emotions, tears, ups and downs. Its not all about this being the inauguration of Barack Obama. Yes, I watched it closely. I prayed and was impressed with his speech and like the fact that he included thanks to God and mentioned God's grace. I like his ideals being connected closely with Abraham Lincoln--one of my favorite presidents. Let us remember what Lincoln stood for--freedom and a strong sense of Christian faith in God. Lincoln was a very religous man and had deep convictions.

Its hard for me to express what I feel. All I can say is I'm not a liberal and he is. Time will tell on the issues he stands for. I just hope and pray that he sincerely turns to God for guidence. And I pray for him and our country and will watch closely at what this change brings.

So many other things made me sad today. One is my daughter's husband got laid off today. We knew it was coming--all of the cuts and no work. Living in the Detroit area and seeing one job after another disapeer. I have hope that he will find something else with his engineering background, but when and where will they have to go? What about their mortgage? Vanessa will have to leave her baby to go back to work. And Landen has had so many health issues since being born at 2 lbs. Andy has health issues also, so we need prayers.

So much bad news in one day... Too much to bear. There are a couple of things that happened that I cannot talk about here. My heart is heavy for three other family members and a friend.
Then the news that there was a shooting in our town last night not far from where I work. I drove right past the building on my way home at 11:00 last night. A 22 year old man held some people hostage in an apartment--we don't know all the details yet.

Then I heard about a girl out west who commited suicide--the funeral was today. She was 20 years old, she had two children- age one and three. We did not know her, but know some of her family members.
It really has been a long day, but I can't sleep...thoughts, worries, prayers, going through my head. I must believe that God will take care, protect, and shelter us. Trials are here to bring us closer to Him.

A Super Recipe--Surely will be a family favorite!

Vanessa made this recipe while we were downstate for Christmas. She got the recipe from our Copper Country Cookbook, that the gals from church put together. We loved it so much that I'm sure we will be making it again and again. The recipe is called Campfire Bundles, but I'd like to use another name for cooking this indoors in the winter. It is the ultimate healthy, warm, nourishing, comfort food!

Campfire Bundles

1 lg. sweet onion, sliced

1 lg. green pepper, sliced

1 lg. red pepper, sliced

1 lg. yellow pepper, sliced

4 med. carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick

6 med. carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 sm. cabbage, sliced

2 med. tomatoes, chopped

1-1 1/2 lbs. polish sausage, fully cooked,

cut into 1/2 in. pieces

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. salt

1/tsp. pepper

Place vegetables in order listed into a roasting pot.

Add sausage; dot with butter, sprinkle with

salt and pepper. Cover. Bake at 425 degrees

for 1 hour to 1 hour and 45 minutes.

If you do them on the grill, you wrap them in

heavy duty foil- three pieces doubled, cook on

grill for 30 minutes then turn and cook for 30

minutes more or till veggies are tender, on

medium heat.

I thought they were just right in the pot I cooked

them in. Almost like a thick stew. I'm sure they

would be great with zuchinni or green beans or

any vegitable or meat substition. MMMM, good!

Leah's kitty Reeses

Reeses jumped into the dryer yesterday. So I grabbed the camera quick! So Cute!

Charley

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. ~Anon.

Mom and Archies back yard

This is taken from the patio door in mom's living room. Notice the tree that Mr.
Woodpecker chewed up last winter. He hasn't come back this winter. Look at
the big mound of snow on the picnic table. Lots O frosting there!

The sun is just about setting here. Nice and clear evening!

Such a big mound out the door! Motor home and garage have been shoveled off

once so far.

Pictures from the 7th floor up!

I took these pictures at my private duty job in an apartment in Hancock. I went up to the 7th floor to get these shots.

You can see across the Portage Canal over to the Houghton side.

It was a bitter cold day last Saturday when I took these. We've got so much more

snow since then!

Leah is shoveling her car

The pretty snow on the porch rails.

We're having an Arctic freeze!

This is in our back yard. The swing is amost buried in the snow!

This is in the morning last week before Leah and I went out to shovel. It had snowed at

least 10 inches.

The big job we had to tackle to get out!