Confectioners Bliss

At work we are going through a conversion and needless to say there is a lot of tension and stress in the air.

The mother of one of the ladies I work with knew things were getting stressful and decided to cook up a batch of peanut butter fudge for us.  I believe she is of the society who knows "stressed spelled backwards is desserts".  The fudge was delicious and it did make that moment in time, when you savor the rich peanut butter taste, less stressful.

Here's the recipe.

Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cup milk

2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter (your choice of chunky or smooth)

1 stick of butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the sugar, milk and peanut butter together in a pan and cook to the soft ball stage and remove from heat.  Then add the stick of butter and vanilla.

Mix with an electric mixer until it loses its shine and starts to thicken up.  As soon as it starts thickening up, pour out onto a buttered plate or pan.  Let it cool down completely and then cut into pieces.

It's the little things that happen, to let you forget if only for a moment that it's really not that bad, that make all the difference.  The peanut butter fudge didn't take the stress away, but it sure did make it taste a little sweeter.

Thanks to the kind lady who took time our of her daily schedule to bring us a moment of confectioners bliss.

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GOOD NEWS

The last blog, or the one before it, I mentioned a medical test that came back abnormal.  I went back to the doctor, a biopsy was sent off, but the good news is it came back benign. 

Thanks to everyone who kept me in prayer.  I believe it is the power of prayers being answered for my good test result.

Until next time...

Hugs,

Sonia



like sparkling crystals

Yesterday afternoon I laid down for a nap.  As I closed my eyes I could see the sunlight from the window through my eyelids.  I decided to try to relax and knew that I would soon fall asleep and the light would fade.
Just at the point of dropping off to sleep, the room got dark and the fan stopped running.  A storm blew in and we lost electricity.  I knew without the "white" noise of the fan, I would not be able to sleep.  So I got up and went to the living room.

My husband and I opened a couple of windows across from each other to let air flow through the house. Then I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes.  I began to listen to the sound of the falling rain.  Hearing rain fall and the sound of thunder rolling in the distance has always been soothing to me.

 There's something melodic about it and it speaks to my soul.  It's music from the Almighty Creator.

Even the birds were singing their praises as the rain fell.

 The wind blew and the small wind chime I have hanging out front sang out until the wind tangled it up.

After the rain stopped I went out took pictures of some of the plants.  In the sunlight the raindrops looked like sparking crystals on the plants.  My pictures didn't capture the sparkle but I think they turned out pretty anyway.

It turned out to be a pretty afternoon.  It has been so muggy of late and the rain cooled the day down.

I stepped out in the early evening hours and took this picture of the moon.  

I know a few young ladies who are very close to or past their due dates and I've heard the old wives tale about a full moon putting a woman into labor.  I know at this point each one is ready to have her precious baby.  

I looked back and saw that my son was born during a new moon phase and my daughter was born in during the last quarter phase.  So as to the old wives tale, I say if the baby is ready to be born during a full moon phase then he/she will be.   I got to thinking about old wives tales and realized they have been around for a very long time.  The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:7 "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness."

So I will pray for these young ladies and their babies to have a safe delivery in their due time.  If you know a young lady who is ready to deliver, please lift her and her baby up in prayer.

Here's wishing you a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Sonia

Remember these?

I saw these throw backs at a flea market on my lunch break today.  :)

Always there...

There are times when I need to spend a few hours alone... Just me and God.  Today was one of those days.  When I have that kind of day, if I'm staying home, I wait until everyone leaves the house.  I remove all distractions, books, projects, phone, t.v., radio - anything that might distract me from my quiet time with God.   This time alone is more than my daily time I spend, this time is for deeper communication, healing and restoring of spirit.

This past Thursday I found out a test, that was run at my previous doctor's appointment, came back abnormal and I am scheduled to go back this week for a talk with my doctor and have another examination.  You can imagine, the worst scenario goes through your mind when you receive a call like that and it did.  I prayed and asked God to give me peace and He has.  I have been able to sleep with out it weighing on my mind, but deep down it was still there. So, I knew I had to do something today... spend some time alone with my Heavenly Father.

In times like these I am often drawn to the book of Psalms. Today's scriptures that helped me and answered some questions, were as follows.

Psalm 33: 18-22  Who can help me?

Psalm 138:7-8  Who is there when I walk through troubled times?

Then I came upon scriptures that have helped me in the past.

Psalm 116:1-2 Who hears me when I cry?

Psalm 118:24 Who is in control of the day?

Psalm 103:1-4 lest I forget all His benefits.

At the end of my time alone with the Lord, I am ready to face what ever comes my way this week.

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Remember in my last blog I mentioned a magnetic board I was making out of an old baking pan?  Well here it is finished and hanging up in my sewing room.

This week there were some new blooms in the flower pots.

Moss Rose

Angle Wing Begonia loaded down

Coleus bloomed - didn't know they would.

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Some of our dishcloths need replaced, so I crocheted a couple last night.   I plan to do a few more.  

I like the smaller one the best and plan to make more of that size.  The way the smaller one is crocheted gives it ridges to help with the cleaning.

So through times of trial, times of productivity and times of enjoying the beauty of God creations remember HE is always there, you are never alone. 

Have a great week!

Hugs, 

Sonia

Finally done...

I'm happy to report I'm finally done with setting up my sewing/craft room.

This room use to be my son's bedroom. He left a couple of tables and a dresser behind.  He has moved out and what to do with an empty room?

I've been needing a sewing/craft room, thus his room became just that.

I couldn't quite make it completely all my room, so there are some remnants of Josh's stuff (stuff he left behind) in the room.  I'm very proud of him and am glad he is on his own journey of life, but I miss him and having some of his old stuff in the room just feels right.  Now understand he did not leave very much of his personal belonging behind, but I did find a few things. So as you enter the room, there is a small wall dedicated to him. :)

As you go on in, this is what you see.

The white cabinet holds the fabric and batting.

The dresser holds all yarns and the blue bin tower next to the dresser holds miscellaneous items needed, like chenille pipe cleaners, freezer paper, interfacing, oil for the sewing machines, etc.

Then as you pan to the right you will find my sewing/cutting table. The cutting portion of the table lifts up out of the way and locks to the wall when not needed.  The closet holds my ironing board, my serger, tote bags, totes of felt and holiday decorations and bags.

Pan back to the left of the white cabinet and dresser and you find my craft area.  This is where I will do writing, scrap booking, bead work or crafts other than sewing and quilting.  All of my patterns and books are here as well.  On the top shelf the two book ends for the writing books are football cups Josh donated, that are weighted down.  They work good as book ends.  :)

Over the years I have somehow collected bird houses.  Not sure how that got started but they go perfect in this corner.  I won the large wall hanging  in a drawing last year.  The neat thing is, the log cabin type bird houses have shelves and drawers.  So I am storing scented waxes for my candle warmer in the tall one.

I have realized during the process of setting the room up and doing some sewing in the past two weeks that the dark green carpet is going to be a chore to keep clean with all the threads, fabric and such.  So in the future, when I can afford it, I plan to replace the carpet with a hard surface, so that clean up will be easier.  For now though, it will work just fine... I will just have to vacuum more frequently.  :)

In the picture of the craft area, you will notice a white pan on the table.  It is an old cake pan I am recycling into a magnetic board to post ideas and such.  Today David helped me by sanding the pan and drilling holes into it for a ribbon I will use to hang it by.  Then we took turns spray painting it white.  It was one of those things... I would put a coat of paint on it then get busy and forget about it and he would go out and put a coat of paint on it.  In a day or two, I will finish decorating it and share it with you.  

It was nice to put the finishing touches on the room today, now I can get busy with what I enjoy doing.  My hobbies.

Here's wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Hugs, 

Sonia

Just catching up...

Hi, thought I'd write to catch you up on what's been going on.

Tonight, is the closing night of my vacation.  I sadly bid it adieu, as I prepare to go back to work tomorrow.

I have been able to accomplish quite a bit this past week and hope to have pictures to show you of the work I've done towards a sewing room.

I was able to catch up on sewing/quilting too and am happy to report I accomplished quite a bit on the Log Cabin quilt I have been working on.

Here's a pic to remind you what it looks like. It was laid out to be sewn into 7 sections.  I sewed all the sections and am happy to say I now have all the sections sewn together into one complete piece and am ready to add borders and finish the back.  Remember this is a "quilt as you go" quilt.

I also made curtains this week.  I made them for under $10.00.

How?

By using twin flat sheets.

I made measurements of the windows I needed to cover.  I used the top border of the sheets as the hems for the curtains.  I then took the bottom of the sheets and folded them 19" over the sheet.  Then marked 3" from the fold and sewed across the width of the sheet, this made a hem to above the curtain pocket.  Then I measure 4" from the sewn seam and sewed across the width of the sheet.  This created the pocket for the curtain rod to go through.  The remaining 12" of the sheet created the valance.  It is a very easy way to make curtains and on a budget too.  :)

Another thing I had time to do this week, was bead work.  Now understand I'm new at beading but I decided to make a bracelet as a gift for someone.   Here is how it turned out.

Then to round the week off nicely, I enjoyed the love and laughter of family.  The best part of my entire week though was talking to my son on the phone.  He is doing well, getting settled in at his new home, and sounds good.

That's it for now. Here's wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Hugs,
Sonia

Milestone

It was a cool morning, but had a sticky feel in the air, so I knew today was going to be a humid day.

It was also a milestone in a parent's life for me and David and for our son.  Joshua moved out today.  He moved out in a big way, like around 350 miles away, kind of way.  I know that many parents have survived this particular milestone but until you experience it, it truly doesn't hit home.  As I talked to my son and helped him get some last minute items boxed up, this morning, I told him it was probably the first time in my 29 years of "work life" that I woke up without an alarm and was ready for work with plenty of time, and I mean plenty of time to spare.  We chuckled about it and he told me I was just "antsy" because of the day, and he was right.

I'm excited for him and am very proud of the young man he has become.  I know that he will do well and am trusting God to watch over him, since I can't anymore.  

So it began around 6:00 a.m.  He and a friend of his who helped him move drove away with their cars loaded down and packed to the seams.

6 hours and 52 minutes later I received a text saying he made it safely and was moved in.

The worst part for me is in the moments where I am alone with my thoughts, like at work.  I know you are probably thinking "at work?", but when you have job that is rather mundane, it is easy for your mind to dwell on others things as you accomplish your work.  So when the sadness over my son moving out would try to creep in I made a conscious effort to stop, take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and try to think of something else.  That doesn't mean my eyes stayed dry all day; I would be lying if I told you they did.  I had some tears of worry and sadness at first, then some tears of relief and joy when I knew he was safe.  I was able to hold it together for the most part and want to thank my family and friends who prayed for Joshua's safety while traveling and who prayed for me to be able to cope with it today.  I honestly believe the power of those prayers helped me get through the day.

I mentioned at the top of this blog the stickiness in the air this morning... well I got a taste of the fruits of that humidity on my lunch break today.  A storm moved in.  It wasn't too bad when I left for lunch, but it got heavier and darker as my lunch hour progressed.  I stayed out in my car for most of my lunch and as I sat there it got to where it was raining so hard I couldn't see out my car windows and my car was being buffeted by the wind.  When it let up a little, I grabbed my handbag and my umbrella and made a mad dash to the office.  Needless to say with the wind blowing and rain coming down like it was, my umbrella didn't help much.  I was soggy when I got in and the gray hairs I have been blessed with were having a dance party on my head.

I have next week off and I'm very ready for it.  I'm hope to get some sewing done.

Well, that's if for now.  Hope all is going well for you and yours.

Hugs, 

Sonia