It's the last day of October, my word, how did we get here so fast?

The morning started cold and wet and stayed that way all day long.  It was just the most perfect Autumn Day, yet.

The past two days have been all about crafting, in one way or another.  I've pulled out my Ubuntu CAL and made sure to work diligently on it, until I was completely caught up.  Which I'm proud to say, I am!!!

It is all ready for tomorrow's Part 8 to come out.  It is definitely a labor of love, and really so are all my crochet blankets, especially these intricate ones I've made the past 2 or 3 years.

Good morning friends, and a very happy Monday to you all :)

I hope you had a fantastic weekend and I wanted to quickly wish you all a wonderful, blessed week ahead.

Let's get right into our HHM, seeing as I'm a little late putting it up this week.   

It's been a bit of a scorcher today.  82 degrees.

After two weeks of cooler temperatures, I was a bit surprised with today's warmth and as much as I've complained about wanting cooler temperatures, I will tell you that I used today's heat to my full advantage.

There's nothing better than clothes drying in the warm sun, and it felt good to not have to turn on the dryer for at least one more day :)

That pumpkin up there is the only pumpkin we picked up this year, to carve.

I went to let Marley out last night and was in awe of the moon.  It was not quite yet full but it was so big, and bright, a yellow glow to it, that I had to run back in and grab the camera.

No matter how many moon photos I have taken over the years, I never get enough, there is something so fascinating and magical about the night sky, that has always drawn me to it.

Hey everyone, come on in and let me show you real quick, how to make a wonderful Winter Tea Syrup, that will surely help when the colds and flus start coming around this season.

The first time I shared this with you all, was back in 2012, and I've been making it every year since, matter of face I make it around this time of the year, and it sits in my fridge for a couple months, all through the winter season actually.

The way to replenish it, is to keep adding fresh lemon and ginger, and let it sit and do it's thing, in the refrigerator.

Since Sue and Jean both asked me yesterday how to make the syrup, I thought I would come in and show you all again :)

I hobbled on out of bed and dragged myself into the kitchen this morning.  It was dark, it was raining, it was cold and I did not feel like being up doing anything.  Some mornings, I feel like I can't quite gather my thoughts, like my mind is still fast asleep while I'm having to make coffee and prepare my husband's lunch.

This morning, the rain was already coming down and it's continued all day long, never letting up, not even for a second.

The leaves have yet to turn color.  I spend a lot of time looking out the window, from all areas of the house, just trying to catch that first glimpse that makes the bold statement that Fall is definitely here.

The calendar states it's fall, the earlier setting sun and the dark cool mornings all tell us that this is it, but the trees seem to be taking their time making that announcement.  It's almost as if they're holding on to summer and warm days, for as long as they possibly can.

But I'm feeling impatient, especially when there's days like today and yesterday, where it's blue skies and 70 degrees outside.  It just doesn't feel right.

Hardcover: 368 Pages
Publisher: Atria Books (October 9, 2018)

A sweeping family saga and love story that offers a vivid and unique portrayal of life in war-torn 1941 Bucharest and life behind the Iron Curtain during the Soviet Union occupation—perfect for fans of Lilac Girls and Sarah’s Key.

On a freezing night in January 1941, a little Jewish girl is found on the steps of an apartment building in Bucharest. With Romania recently allied with the Nazis, the Jewish population is in grave danger, undergoing increasingly violent persecution. The girl is placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted by a wealthy childless couple who name her Natalia. As she assimilates into her new life, she all but forgets the parents who were forced to leave her behind. They are even further from her mind when Romania falls under Soviet occupation.

Good morning everyone :)

It has just gone 8:15am here and I finally dragged myself out of my warm comfy bed.  No, I wasn't sleeping, I was up at 6am as usual to get hubby off to work and then I climbed back in bed (it is colllddddd), and watched some Youtube.   Took everything to convince myself that I must get up, get dressed and start my day.

So, here I am, and ready for another week ahead, but first let's see what is happening around our households, shall we? 

We've been waking up to frost on the grass, and that's usually how I know....like REALLY know that the cool temperatures are here to stay.

There's something about the cool fall mornings that is magical, I think it's the light and the way the sun shines so golden on everything around.   I sometimes take my coffee and drink it out front, just listening to the birds, to the day coming alive and watching the golden sunshine spreading over the fields.


So yesterday was a busy one for me.  I've given up thinking that weekends are just for resting, because that never happens.  As a homemaker and a mom in general, there is no such thing as being off the clock or off work, it's never ending and a 24/7 on call kind of life.

You could take that as me complaining, but I'll tell you that it's actually a life I absolutely adore and wouldn't want to change for anything in this world.  Yes there are moments where I think "boy it would be nice to not have to worry about feeding everyone, I could just sit around and someone would call out DINNER when the food is on the table".

I think as moms, we've all had that thought at one point or another.

The past two days have been nothing but rain.  The raindrops non stop pitter pattering on the roof, the sun constantly hidden behind the clouds and the temperatures remaining quite low.

It may sound dreary, but you all know how much I enjoy this kind of weather and since we are in Fall anyway, I think it's exactly what a Fall day should look like :)

Paperback: 225 pages
Publisher: Red Hen Press (November 7, 2017)

When Anne Edelstein was forty-two, her mother, a capable swimmer in good health, drowned while snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. Caring for two small children of her own, Anne suddenly found herself grieving not only for her emotionally distant mother but also for her beloved younger brother Danny, who had killed himself violently over a decade before. She finds herself wrestling not only with the past and her family’s legacy of mental illness, but also with the emotional well-being of her children. Part memoir and part meditation on joy and grief, the book will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled to come to terms with their parents, their siblings, their children, and their place in the world.

Hi everyone :)

Feels like a few days since I did an actual proper chatty post, of course I've had the Happy Homemaker Monday, book reviews etc., but haven't really talked to you.

Folks, the weather had changed here, the temperatures have dropped dramatically and we have had to turn on our little heaters, not the house heater but the small ones, just to take off the edge.

Thank you all who entered the giveaway for a copy of Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners :)

I used Random.org to pick a winner and here is the result:



Comment #4 is from Erin

Congratulations Erin, I'll be contacting you shortly.

Hardcover: 432 Pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (October 2, 2018)

In a most improbable friendship, she found love. In a world where women were silenced, she found her voice.

From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.

Good morning friends, welcome to another Happy Homemaker Monday :)

I would give you three guesses as to how I'm feeling, but I'm pretty sure you can all guess in ONE try.  Tired!!!!

You are a winner, and you, and you in the back there.  Hahah

As usual I didn't get very good sleep last night, so I'm feeling it this morning, and it doesn't help that it is absolutely freezing today.

Anyway, let's get cracking with our HHM and see what is going on in our households

Ever feel like a sermon was made for you specifically?  Like when the Pastor was getting ready to work on his message, God popped into his mind and said "this one is for Sandra, she NEEDS to hear this week".

I swear there are days that I feel just like that.

As I always do, every Sunday morning, I begin my day with coffee, my bible, my notebook and Pastor Furtick's live sermon.

Today's sermon wasn't by Pastor Furtick, but by Pastor Jonathan Josephs, and it was so good too.  The message today?  Changing our minds, renewing our minds and how to change the way we think to align our thoughts with the Lords'.

I know I've mentioned it before and invited you all, but if you feel led, every Sunday morning, afternoon and night, the Elevation Church broadcasts live on Youtube so that everyone around the world can join in and listen to the word.

Well, another super dark and rainy day.  Both hubby and I were surprised at just how cold it felt this morning, we both had on sweat pants and long sleeves and sweaters.  It was that much of a temperature change from the usual hot weather around here.

40 degrees, rainy, dark, cloudy and gloomy and everything that makes me happy.  Kinda weird saying that isn't it, like how many people admit they like gloomy days? 

Usually people will say "it's a beautiful day", when referring to blue skies and hot weather. 

I'm the opposite, I see rain and dark days that only illuminate with candles and I get the warmest and happiest of feelings. 

Mass Market Paperback: 496 Pages
Publisher: HQN; Original edition (October 1, 2018)

It’s Christmas in Gold Valley, and this wounded widower is about to get another shot at love…

Grant Dodge didn’t expect to find a woman sleeping in an abandoned cabin on his family ranch. Or to find her so intriguing. Unlike every other woman in town, McKenna Tate doesn’t know Grant’s a widower. There’s no pity in the looks she gives him. McKenna wants him, and Grant has forgotten what it’s like to feel like a man. A no-strings fling for Christmas might be the kind of holiday cheer Grant needs…

With only a suitcase to her name, McKenna came to Gold Valley to confront her birth father. She didn’t plan to work at the Dodge ranch or fall for the gorgeous cowboy who keeps his heart roped off. But there’s no denying the way their broken pieces fit together. Hope brought her to Gold Valley—but will it be the gift that could finally heal Grant, and McKenna’s own wounded heart?

Also includes a bonus Gold Valley novella, Snowed in with the Cowboy!

I always tell myself that this day and that day, I'm going to do nothing, just relax and not get off the couch.

And then that day comes around, and no matter how awful I'm feeling, I get up and get moving, because that's just how I am.  Or maybe that's how us women are?  I mean, I can only speak for myself, but this seems to be the norm, feeling guilty for taking some downtime.

Anyway, I had every intention of doing nothing, but guess what?  I didn't Hahahah

Hardcover: 464 Pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (October 9, 2018)

Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.

The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry–the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.

Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims.

With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust–who in her life is false or true, brass or gold–and what is meant to be treasured.

It was one of those days where I was so busy with house cleaning and cooking, that I didn't even get a single photo taken, of anything, other than the chicken I was making......and well, that's not exactly what I wanted to show on today's post.

But I guess there will be days like these, where the need to get things done, far surpasses the need to snap pics while I'm doing it. 

I gave the bathroom a good clean, and as always when I am scrubbing bath tubs, I end up with a sore shoulder and back.  Par for the course.

 
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Park Row; Original edition (October 16, 2018)

A formidable matriarch learns the hard way that no family is perfect in this witty, sparkling debut novel

Dearest loved ones, far and near—evergreen tidings from the Baumgartners!
Violet Baumgartner has opened her annual holiday letter the same way for the past three decades. And this year she’s going to throw her husband, Ed, a truly perfect retirement party, one worthy of memorializing in her upcoming letter. But the event becomes a disaster when, in front of two hundred guests, Violet learns her daughter Cerise has been keeping a shocking secret from her, shattering Violet’s carefully constructed world.

In an epic battle of wills, Violet goes to increasing lengths to wrest back control of her family, infuriating Cerise and snaring their family and friends in a very un-Midwestern, un-Baumgartner gyre of dramatics. And there will be no explaining away the consequences in this year’s Baumgartner holiday letter…

Full of humor, emotion and surprises at every turn, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners brings to life a remarkable cast of quirky, deeply human characters who must learn to adapt to the unconventional, or else risk losing one another. This is the story of a family falling to pieces—and the unexpected way they put it all back together.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

One minute you are living life as it is, comfortable, normal, familiar, then in just a split second, it changes.

I was thinking about this very thing, the fact that something heartbreaking happens, something that hurts so deeply that you feel like there is no way you can get past it.  You question how people can continue like nothing happened, wanting them to understand the pain you are in, but the truth of the matter is that life does go on.

The world doesn't stop spinning and things remain the same.  The house looks the same, the routines stay the same, you still need to cook and clean, do laundry, go to work, go to school and so on.

Good morning friends.

It is a cloudy and cold, rainy day here in North Texas.  The house is still fast asleep, my husband is off work today so he is getting some much needed extra sleep.  He is very much struggling with the loss of Bella, obviously more deeply than the rest of us are and that is understandable.  Just hurts to see him this way.

We always look to our husbands as the strong guys, the ones in charge, the ones who can get through anything, and when we see them down, emotional, vulnerable, it's quite hard to deal with it.  I'm letting him grieve however he needs to, sometimes offering advice or help, but for the most part, I'm supporting him without being overbearing, and that is exactly what he needs at the moment.

The house feels so empty without Bella, especially when we walk through the office, which was her special place to be.  But, such is the cycle of life and we have to push through and continue on with one foot in front of the other.

Thank you all for the comments, they mean the world.  I know for some people out there, it's just a dog, but for dog lovers such as us, it's a member of the family.

Anyway, let's move on and see what is happening in our Happy Homemaker Monday's.

Thank you to all who entered the giveaway for a chance at winning a copy of Lydia Kang's Impossible Girl :)

I used Random.org to pick the winner, and the result was:


Comment #5 - Danielle

Congratulations Danielle, I've contacted you through email, please respond within 48 hours :)

I wish I had the words right now to say how much my heart is hurting.  But I don't, and I don't want to even try to express it here because I believe that, when you love a pet as much as we love ours, you understand all too well the pain of losing them.

Twelve hours we watched her slowly fading away, there was nothing more that could be done for our Bella and we chose to let her go peacefully, at home, surrounded by her family.

It was excruciating at times and even though we knew it was coming, and we had prepared ourselves for it, the moment it happened, our hearts shattered.

Oh friends, my heart is so sore.

Our dear Bella is not doing well, and we are watching her fade away right before our eyes.  I find myself going between wanting it all to just end so that she can be pain free and at peace, or wanting her to stay with us longer.

It's excruciatingly heartbreaking witnessing a pet go through this.

Feels like the past two days we've received blow after blow.  At times like these human nature wants you to yell out and blame or question God, but if there's one thing I have learned is that, it is never the solution, and so instead of questioning or flailing my arms in despair, I thank God even in these dark moments.

We are going from minute to minute, hour to hour, just pushing through, just making it.

I'm sorry if I don't have anything else to share with you, or a long post about my day, my heart is just not in it.

I'll keep you all updated though, and I'm sure by tomorrow or Monday I'll be back to normal blogging.

Have a blessed night!!!

Bit of a hard day with a few things going on.

First and foremost I would like to ask you all for prayers for my mother in law Pat, she has been fighting breast cancer for so long, and is faced with yet another hurdle.

Secondly, our Bella hasn't been doing well and we fear she may not make it the next few days.  It's always so hard watching a pet slipping away.

I will be back tomorrow with hopefully a better post for you all, but for the moment, we are just struggling with a few things and holding onto the Lord's hand quite tightly.

I thought I would start my post a little differently than usual today, by actually showing you a little clip of the view out my kitchen window.

When I sit and do dishes, I almost always have my window wide open, so that I cansit and listen to the birds and look out at the trees and the alpacas across the road.  I'm often in awe of God's creation, the colors, the thought that went into every single thing, whether animal or plant.

It's absolutely incredible!!!

My mornings tend to start in the same fashion, well at least the past few months.  I get up at 6am, make Curt's coffee and lunch, and then see him off to work.

Marley and I will then head back to the bedroom and climb back into bed.  I don't sleep, I just pop on the telly and catch up on some Youtube vlogs for about an hour or so.

But just that hour of quiet, the house still fast asleep, the sun just starting to rise and the day slowly coming to live, does wonders for my soul.  It really helps set the pace for the rest of the day.

Hi everyone, welcome back to my blog :)

First I want to congratulate myself for actually sticking to and blogging, for the whole month of September.  I didn't think that I would be able to do it, if I'm to be honest with you.  I've tried before to get back into blogging and it didn't work, and I think it didn't work because it wasn't meant to and I wasn't in the right frame of mind....so to speak.

I'm so happy and proud of myself for not falling off the wagon though :)

And since I've been daily blogging, it has made me fall in love with my blog all over again, which means, I don't want to stop blogging or go long periods of time again without posting.  I'm sure I'll be able to stick with it, but just in case I don't, I have given myself another goal and that is to do a Blogtober through every day this month.

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (September 18, 2018)
Publication Date: September 18, 2018

Two hearts. Twice as vulnerable.

Manhattan, 1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless immigrant, Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for the eager public.

Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts—a legend among grave robbers and anatomists—sought after as an endangered prize.

Now, as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora to die a natural death.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes and Noble

Good morning everyone, and Happy October!!!

Yes, October, can you believe it?

I'm switching up the Happy Homemaker Monday button to a more Fall like one, feel free to use in your own posts this month.

I woke up with a headache after a night of no sleep....again.  But, what can you do, it seems to be a common occurrence as I've gotten older.

Anyway, let's get right on to our post for today, I have a TON on my to do list and not sure if I have the energy to get through it, but I'm certainly going to try.