Just this morning

..... I was thinking about you, dear friend.

As I sat outside, enjoying the early morning breeze and taking in the beauty of the day.

So I laid out a place setting, just for you.

  I'd love to share some fellowship time with you.

I love to sit on the back porch and listen to the water flowing in the pond........

and from the fountain.

So this morning, I invite you to share with me this little bit of beauty

 ...... and enjoy the God who is sovereign over all.

 Make it Pretty Monday

Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Table Top Tuesday

A Return to Loveliness

Tea Cup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Silent Sunday

Washington D.C.

Inward Trembling

My soul, do you feel this holy trembling at the sins of others? For if you do not, you lack inward holiness.  David's cheeks were wet with rivers of waters because of prevailing unholiness.  Jeremiah desired eyes  like fountains that he might lament the iniquities of Israel, and Lot was deeply troubled by the conduct of the men of Sodom.  Those upon whom the mark was set in Ezekiel's vision were those who sighed and cried for the sins of Jerusalem.  Gracious souls cannot help but be grieved to see what pains men take to go to hell.  They know the evil of sin experimentally and they are alarmed to see others flying like moths into its blaze.

Sin makes the righteous shudder because it violates a holy law that it is in every man's highest interest to keep; it pulls down the pillars of the nation.  Sin in others horrifies a believer because it makes  him think of the baseness of his own heart.  When he sees a transgressor he is reminded of his own frailty and vulnerability:

"He fell today, and I may fall tomorrow."

Sin to a believer is horrible because it crucified the Savior, he sees in every iniquity the nails and spear.  How troubling it should be when the Christian learns to tolerate rather than shrink from it in disgust.

Each of us must examine his heart.  It is an awful thing to insult God to His face.  The good God deserves better treatment, the great God claims it, the just God will have it or repay His adversary to his face.  An awakened heart trembles at the audacity of sin and stands alarmed at the contemplation of its punishment.  How monstrous a thing is rebellion! How dreadful a doom is prepared for the ungodly! My soul, never laugh at sin's fooleries, lest you begin to smile at sin itself. It is your enemy, and your Lord's enemy.  Learn to detest it and to distance yourself from it, for only then can you give evidence of the possession of holiness, without which no one can see the Lord.

C. H. Spurgeon
(Morning and Evening)

Spiritual Sundays

Eggs, anyone?

A couple of weeks ago I happened to tune into Martha Stewart's New Cooking show.  She was demonstrating every which way to make eggs.  I have to say it was a very enlightening lesson.  Martha explains so many of the details so thoroughly.  She is a pleasure to listen to.

So what did I do?  I went to the kitchen that afternoon and made one of her recipes.

I did not have fingerling potatoes, but I used the baking potatoes that I had on hand it cooked up beautifully.

I did not have a pan that I could put into the oven so I transferred the egg mixture into a pie dish.

It was very tasty, and a nice change for supper.

Frittata with Potatoes
Filling-
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 lb small fingerling potatoes, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 basil leaves, chopped

Eggs -
12 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

 Topping -
3 oz fresh goat cheese, cut into 6 pieces (any kind of mild white cheese can be substituted)
2 oz Parmigiano or Asiago cheese, finely grated (1/2 cup)

Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a 10" nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Cook onion until soft and transparent, stirring occasionally.  Remove onions and add remaining olive oil plus 2 Tablespoons butter.  Add potatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Saute until golden brown, about 4 minutes.  Return onions to skillet in an even layer.  Add seasoning.

Use a whisk to lightly beat eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in cream, and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

Pour egg mixture into skillet.  Cook, pushing eggs from edges to center of pan, until eggs are almost set, 2 to 3 minutes.

Drop dollops of cheese on top of frittata, distributing evenly and pressing down into eggs with spatula.   Sprinkle with Parmiagiano cheese.  Broil until frittata is set on top and has puffed slightly and cheese is melted.

Slice into six wedges and serve hot.

Martha Stewart's Cooking School - Eggs episode

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If Teacups..........

........ could talk, what would they say.

Have you ever wondered what teacups would say if they could talk?  Would they tell you about their travels from.....

England

France

perhaps Germany or Japan

Would they tell you if they served tea to a Lady, a Duchess or maybe even a Queen?

Would your teapot tell you the secrets of it's past.  In the book If Teacups Could Talk by Emilie Barnes, she states -

For hundreds of years, "Come for tea" has been another way of saying, "Come, let's share a little bit of our lives together." Quietly and gently, this inviting phrase calls us out of ourselves and into special relationships with others

I have collected tea cups for many years now.  Some are new, some of old, some are just plain used.  Some were gifts.  And a few were inherited from a special friend who passed away.  

There are special memories with each teacup.  Memories of good times, and some painful times.  And yet, it isn't the teacup, or the tea that makes the time spent special.  It's what happens when you sit down and share your heart as you  pour a cup of tea, coffee, or lemonade.

If teacups could talk, I think what they would say is-

"Come and share a pot of tea,

My home is warm and my friendship's free."

Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

A Return to Loveliness

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

If tomorrow starts without me

If tomorrow starts without me, And I'm not there to see,

If the sun should rise and find your eyes all filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry the way you did today,

While thinking of the many things, We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me, As much as I love you,

And each time that you think of me, I know you'll miss me too;
But when tomorrow starts without me, Please try to understand,

That an angel came and called my name, And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready, In heaven far above,

And that I'd have to leave behind;
All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away, A tear fell from my eye for all my life,

I'd always thought, I didn't want to die. I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,

It seemed almost impossible, That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays, The good ones and the bad,

I thought of all that we shared, And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday, Just even for a while,

I'd say good-bye and kiss you and maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized, That this could never be,

For emptiness and memories, would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things, I might miss come tomorrow,

I thought of you, and when I did, My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through heaven's gates, I felt so much at home.

When God looked down and smiled at me, From His great golden throne, He said,
"This is eternity, And all I've promised you."

Today your life on earth is past, but here life starts anew.

I promise no tomorrow, But today will always last,

and since each day's the same way, There's no longing for the past.

You have been so faithful, So trusting and so true.

Though there were times you did some things, 

You knew you shouldn't do.

But you have been forgiven, and now at last you're free.

So won't you come and take my hand, and share my life with me?

So when tomorrow starts without me, don't think we're far apart,

For every time you think of me, I'm right here, in your heart.

Spiritual Sundays

Fall Harvest Cake

Fall Harvest Cake 

1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tsp cinnamon, 2 Tsp baking soda, 1/2 Tsp salt, 1/4 Tsp nutmeg, 1/4 Tsp ginger, 1 cup oil, 1/2 Tsp vanilla, 4 eggs, 16 oz pumpkin, 2 cups flour, 1 large peeled and chopped apple, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:  
1.  Mix together sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, spices, oil, vanilla and eggs
2.  Add pumpkin and stir well
3.  Sitr in flour - 1/2 cup at a time
4. Stir in apple and nuts

Pour into a well greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake 60 minutes at 350 degrees - let cool till only slightly warm

 I found this wonderful recipe on Bernideen's Tea Time Blog.  It is such a good cake for Fall.  The batter looks a bit runny, but when baked, it turned out perfectly.  You can top with confectioners sugar.

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Fall into Fall