MEMORIAL DAY

 Hello, friends!  Hope you had a great Memorial Day yesterday.  And I hope you remembered what Memorial Day actually is.  Not the start to summer.  Not National Barbecue Day.  It's to honor all of our fallen soldiers over the years.

I started off the day with the annual parade that goes through my neighborhood.  I took lots of pictures and a video that I will put up on my YouTube channel this weekend.  (I have been putting up videos every Saturday lately and found that this works best for me.  I would love to do more than one a week, but it is too hard right now to get that much together.)  In the meantime, here are the still shots I took.

This is Joe standing outside of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Society building that is across the street from our house.  Joe is the chaplain there.

I finally got the flower pot by the front door finished.  It has three American flags and a Marine Corp and a Navy flag.  Joe was in the Marines and I worked for the Navy for four years.

I also got the flag on the front door.

The Police and Fire Fife and Drum Corp began the parade with a salute to the veterans.

Then came Joe's group, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Society.  Joe chose not to march with them this year.

They gave a gun salute.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars was there.

Every year they sponsor a Miss Poppy contest.  Here is this year's winner.

We had eight string bands there too.  I'm pretty sure this was the Polish American band.

It was hot!  I was sitting in the sun and had to go back to the house to get some sunscreen.  My legs were getting red!

More marchers.  It was a long and beautiful parade.

It was so hot!!!  Some of the veterans went and got tents and set them up so we could sit in the shade.  It was very much appreciated.

I saw a fellow YouTuber there.  This is the Philly Captain.  I subscribe to his channel.  He shows all kinds of things happening around Philly.  Not all of them good.  I got to talk to him and told him I would give him a shout out.

Here is the Avalon String Band.

And the Civil War Reenactors.

Another string band but I don't remember which one this was.

A couple of the guys in Joe's group.

It was such a good parade.  And afterwards the veterans gave us sandwiches for lunch.  I had a tuna and cheese sandwich and a chocolate chip cookie.

Later in the afternoon there was a memorial service for those who could not come home.

I was going to make dinner, but it was so hot.  We had three sandwiches left over so we had that with some potato salad that I had made.

Another good Memorial Day.  It was full of honor, memories and fun.  Now on to June!

Until later...

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE

 

Hello, friends!  Hope all is well with you.  Welcome to another week.  And the end of May.  Another month that has just flown by.  The weather here has been warm bordering on hot.  We really must get the air conditioner in downstairs.  We have one working in the bedroom.  It is supposed to be horrible on Monday and then get cool again.  Go figure.

We are not going away this weekend.  We thought about it, but the traffic and the crowds made us decide to stay home.  That and the cost of gas.  But we will be watching the parade that goes through our neighborhood and the veterans group across the street where Joe is chaplain is going to have a picnic which we are invited to.

Well, let me give you the story for today.

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

One day, Jesus told a story to teach people to use their gifts.

A man was going on a long journey.  He called his servants and asked them to take care of his things while he was gone.  He gave the first servant five talents of money.  He gave the second man two talents.  He gave the third man one talent.  Each servant was given something precious.

The first servant with five talents used his money and got five more.  The second servant used his two talents and made two more.  The third servant dug a hole and hid his one talent.  He was afraid of losing it.

When the master returned, he was very happy with the first two servants.  He gave them even more things.  But he was angry with the third man because he was lazy and did nothing.  The third servant left with nothing.

Think about the gifts that God has given to each of us.  We may not be able to sing, draw or play a musical instrument.  But maybe our gift is listening to someone who is lonely.  Or praying with someone who is hurting.  We should not compare ourselves with others, but use the gifts that God has given to us.  Each of us has a gift.

Sometimes we want to keep God's gifts for ourselves.  But when we share what God has given to us, He gives us even more.

One gift that God has given to us is the Bible.  One way to keep that gift safe is to hide it in our hearts.  But we should not keep it hidden, but share it with others.  God's word is a priceless treasure we should want to share.

God has given each of us a talent (a gift).  We should never look down on the gifts God has given to us.

So share your gift this weekend and I will see you very soon.

Until later...

Kathy

A GRADUATION PARTY

 

Hello, friends!  Happy Tuesday to you.  How is everything going?  It has been very hot here.  Up around 97*F (36*C) although it felt more like 102*F (39*C).  High humidity too so it was very uncomfortable this weekend.

In spite of that Joe and I headed to his nephew's house after church to attend a party for his great-nephew who had just graduated from high school.  I was reluctant to go because I don't feel all that well.  And most of the time I just sat in one chair.  But I ended up having a really nice time.  There were some new people who had married into the family that I got to meet and some of Joe's nephews and nieces that I hadn't seen in a long time that I had a chance to talk to.  Unfortunately, his sister had to work.  It would have been nice if she had been able to show up.

The food was catered, and it was so good!  They had trays of chips with pico de gallo and guacamole.  There was another tray with different kinds of crackers and melba toast.  Next to that was a tray with about six different kinds of cheese and some pepperoni and sausages along with a pile of strawberries.  And every kind of soda and beer you could want.  I took a water, some chips and pico and some crackers and lunchmeat.  I shouldn't have eaten so much because when they put out the main courses I was already half full.

The dining room table was full of hoagies, meatballs, rolls, and lemon chicken.  Also a platter of melons cut into cubes.  Joe had a hoagie and I took the chicken, watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew.  I also took some strawberries which were so sweet and beautiful.

One of the people I met was Joe's nephew's new wife.  They have the cutest little baby girl named Julie.  She was a doll and so good.  She smiled through the entire day and never cried once.

I didn't take any pictures because sometimes you just have to enjoy life and not worry about documenting it.

The teens that were there changed their clothes and went out to the pool to swim.  Oh to be young (and thin) again.  You could hear them talking, laughing and splashing around.  I know they were having a ball.

We were about to leave when they cut the cake.  I really wanted to try it because it was from a bakery that a friend of mine swears by.  Well, she was right.  I have never tasted a cake like that before.  It was so good.  And I can't even describe it to you.  It wasn't too sweet, but not dry either.  It had a flavor I have never tasted before.  If it wasn't so far away in New Jersey, I would be buying all my cakes from them.

The GPS took me home a way that I was sure was wrong.  But it ended up being so quick and easy.

So how was your weekend?  I hope you didn't have such high heat where you are.

I am teaching this morning, so I need to get off of here and get going.  I think we can finish up the book of Hebrews today.  I will be back soon.

Until later...

Kathy

JOE'S BIRTHDAY

 Hello, friends!  Hope all is well with you.  Yesterday was Joe's birthday.  He keeps going around saying he is an old man.  I take offense to that since I am older than he is.  Old man indeed!  I'm the one who is old.  And I proved it by starting the day going to see my cardiologist.

I've been having bad palpitations for a couple of weeks and even ended up in the Emergency Room so I needed to get checked out.  Although everything looked good, I was given a heart monitor to wear for two weeks.  Two weeks!  Well, he said as long as I can stand it, but try for the entire time.  Hopefully it will show something that he can treat.  If not, the tests go on and I don't want any of what comes next.

That was not a nice way to start the day (although I love my doctor) so the rest of the day had to be better.  And it was.

I came home and promptly fell asleep.  I wanted to be baking, but I was so tired.  (I seem to be tired all the time these days.)  When I woke up, I just had time to get ready to go out.  We went to Cracker Barrel with our friend, Carole, for an early dinner.

Although we left at 2:30 p.m. there was a lot of traffic and it took us about an hour to get there.  It was pretty empty and we got seated right away. 

Our waiter, Troy, was so good and attentive.  Carole and I both got the Friday Fish special.  There were four nice pieces of battered cod.  I got mashed potatoes and broccoli.  Carole got a baked sweet potato and fried apples.

Joe got chicken fried steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes and green beans.  He also got a root beer which he said was great.  We rarely get root beer in this house.  In fact, not much soda at all.

Joe had gotten two gift cards for his birthday, so he looked around the store but didn't see anything he was interested in.  Maybe next time.

There was a lot of traffic coming home too.  It took an hour and a half to get here.  I was still hoping to get the cake baked, but I had only an hour before we had to leave for Bible Study.  I tried.  I really did my best.  I even made it into cupcakes to make it bake faster.  But there just wasn't enough time.  So after we picked up our friend, Donna, we stopped at Shoprite and Joe ran in and bought a wonderful apple cake.  It was so delicious and everyone loved it.  I told them I would bring the cupcakes to church on Sunday for our coffee time so they won't be wasted.  Joe did eat one tonight and said it was wonderful.  I tasted one too and they did turn out good.

So another year has passed.  Time just seems to fly by.  Hope you all had as good a day as we did.

Until later...

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE

 Good morning, friends!  Happy Sunday!  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.  I am looking forward to going to church today.  We are having a guest from the Gideons this morning.  What a great group they are.  Joe and I firmly believe that everyone should have access to God's Word.  Since we have been married Joe has given away more than 500 Bibles and New Testaments.

And that brings us to today's Bible story, The Parable of the Mustard Seed.

Jesus told the people a parable about a mustard seed.  He wanted to teach His followers what the kingdom of God was like.

One day a farmer went to plant some seeds in his field.  When he looked at the mustard seed, it was very small.  It didn't look important.  The farmer planted it with care.  He dug a hole, covered the seed with soil and gave it some water.

Slowly the little seed grew into a small plant.  Each day the farmer watered the plant and the sun shone on it.  The plant grew bigger and bigger until it grew so big that the birds made nests and lived in the tree.

The mustard seed reminds us that the smallest things we do in the Kingdom of God can grow into something bigger than we could ever imagine.

Many things in life that start small become large.  Think of some things that start small and become large.  For example, seeds are small but become large plants.  Babies are small but become large people.  Eggs are small but become large birds.

Imagine an uninflated balloon.  It looks small and unimportant.  But put some air in it and it becomes large.  If we ignored this small piece of rubber, we could never enjoy the balloon.

Jesus lived in a world vastly different than the one we live in.  When He first began to preach the gospel, he didn't have television or internet.  He couldn't catch an airplane to fly around the world.  But He spoke to one person who spoke to another person who spoke to yet another person and the good news of God's kingdom spread.

Think of wetting a sponge and laying it on a paper towel.  The towel will draw the water from the sponge and spread until the entire towel is wet.

God can use the smallest thing (like the mustard seed) to spread His word.  What small thing can you do which can change the world?

I hope you have a great day and I will be back soon.

Kathy

MAKING BREAD PUDDING

 Hello, friends!  Hope you are having a wonderful Saturday.  When I worked I looked forward to the weekends.  But working for the library I used to have to work Saturdays and some Sundays so weekends were whenever I got a day off!

I have been cleaning out the refrigerator this week.  What a lot of stuff gets shoved in there.  And I found doubles of several things.  I really must get on top of things more often.  I finished the door and the shelves.  Just have the vegetable drawers, meat drawer and freezer to finish.  Then I want to go through all the stuff (magnets, etc.) on the outside and scrub that down.  Things get dirty so quickly.

One thing I found was a lot of ends of loaves of bread.  Quite a few bags in fact.  Joe has a habit of saving the ends hoping I will make bread pudding.  Some of them had been in there a long time and I couldn't use them.  But a lot of them were usable.  So I made Joe his bread pudding for dinner tonight.  I thought I would show you how I made it.

I started by setting the oven for 375*F.  That's 190*C.

I used a 9" x 9" pyrex dish and put in two eggs.  I beat them up and then added 1 cup of sugar. 

I have been using 3/4 cup of sugar the last few times I made this, but forgot and added the entire cup.  It was a little too sweet for me, but Joe loved it.

Next I added about 1 tablespoon of vanilla.  I love this Amish made vanilla that I got in Lancaster County.  It is so much stronger and makes everything taste so good.

I mixed the vanilla in and then added about a quart of milk.

I mixed it all together and began adding the bread.

I was able to get four slices in each layer and got three layers of bread soaked through with the pudding mixture.

I sprinkled the top with cinnamon and put it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Here's what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

We had it for dessert and it was so good!

The recipe comes from my great-grandmother.  I think she must have gotten it from her grandmother because I just saw a recipe from 1820 that is identical to this except they added raisins to the pudding.  It must be a very old recipe.  Sometimes the oldies really are the goodies.

Here is the recipe taken from my mother's cookbook.

More cleaning and decluttering to do today.  I am working hard to get this house cleaned up.  And the grass cut.  But that will be for Sunday since we are to have rain today.

See you all later.

Kathy