a restless evil

"I'm not boasting mind you, but everyone was so impressed ..."

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

"Well, you know what I heard ..."

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue.  It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

"Just look at Miss Goody - Good ..."

Brothers, do not slander one another.  Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it.  When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.  There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy.  But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?

Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word. 

I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.

I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law.

Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.

Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.

I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands. 

I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.

I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.

James 3:5-7

James 4:11-12

Psalm119:161-168

Joining Spiritual Sundays

Blessings, Debbie

a royal breakfast

In our home today (as in so many others) my hopeless romantic set her alarm for 2:45 am.  We found a table on-line that helped us figure out that the royal wedding would begin 8 hours earlier on the west coast than it's scheduled time in England.  Wrong.  She just caught the end of the wedding, but still enjoyed watching everything that follows.

    

When I got up at 6:30 Erin was setting a lovely breakfast table in honor of the Royals.  Thinking about our St. Patrick's day green, shamrock pancakes she decided to make royal blue hearts.  She followed me to the griddle and I tried not to look too nervous.  When she told me that she had had to use almost the whole bottle of food coloring to get the batter blue (the egg yolks wanted to make green) I had to tell her they were probably not safe to eat... :(

Being the gracious princess that she is, she frogged the pancakes and I showed her a recipe I had seen on Julie's blog.  She's in there right now and things are smelling GOOD!!  Oh I do love this royal wedding day...

Joining Leila and Rosie's {pretty, happy, funny, real}

Blessings, Debbie 

whirlwind week~part 3

conditions had definitely worsened for the drive home

So, after 3 wild days in the valley visiting oldest daughter and son-in-law, we drove back home.  We pulled in at 7:00 pm Thursday night.  Monte, Hillary and Erin followed us over the pass the next day and were here with Bailey bird and all their paraphernalia Friday at 1:00 pm!  (Keep in mind that I had just recovered from a 5 day stint with the stomach flu 2 days before leaving for their place).  I tried not to stress over the fact that laundry was exploding from both of the hampers and food was a distant memory to the empty 'fridge.

ready...wait, not ye...okay, GO

It's so much fun having little ones again.  Thanks  bro' for giving us that gift.

We enjoyed a family rich Easter at my parents home.  Lots of eating, game playing (Funglish, Apples to Apples, Rummy..) crafting for the girls, basketball for the boys, and of course the hunting of the eggs!

togetherness?   Yes. ;)

Monte and Hillary stayed later than they probably should have.  It's always hard to say good-bye.  They headed back over the mountain at about 7:00 pm and we got their safe arrival call close to 11:00.

we still have the tulips...

Crazy, busy, fun time that left us with more memories to cherish and relationships kept strong.  I love my kids!!  Anybody know what I mean?  It's a crazy love...



Blessings, Debbie

knit clucks and Tasha's garden

These little knit squares will soon be mini knit chickens.  I made several of them to give to family this Easter but I didn't get a picture.  These little clucks are easy and fun to make.  I'll provide my loose instructions next week with photos of the finished project.  I'm reading (again) Tasha Tudor's Garden.  I've read this several times a year for many years now.  The pictures and text are beautiful and inspiring...

From Tasha Tudor's Garden by Tovah Martin

Pictures by Richard W. Brown

   Perhaps Tasha doesn't mind being marooned in early April.  But by the end of the month, she has just about lost her patience with the mud, the drizzle, and the grayness outdoors.  "Well, you know what Mark Twain said," she will grumble with a frayed edge to her voice.  "New England has nine months of winter and three months of bad sledding."  Then she'll pull on her wellies, button up several layers of wool sweaters, pin a shawl on top of it all, and march outside to peek under the mulch and clear the pine boughs away from her sprouting spring bulbs.

* This book can be purchased through Amazon by clicking the (Tasha Tudor's Garden) button on my        

   sidebar.

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along

Blessings,  Debbie

                                                                                                                                             

the love nest

some of Hilly's knits greeted us

I call it the love nest not just because of the obvious, but because it is perched at tree top height on the third floor of their complex.

a little fuzzy, but I was glad to get at least one picture with the working man

The kids are doing well in a cute little apartment that they signed a one year lease on one month before their July wedding.  The lease is up the end of May so they are shopping around for something a little bit roomier.

  

Bailey's visiting friend..

Monte is an airline mechanic.  Hillary is a part-time nanny.  Right now they are working on building credit for when they are ready to purchase a home.  First they want to make sure that Hillsboro is where they want to be planted.  Monte really likes his job but there is a little something on the burner that could take them to Washington.  So they lease.

helping sis with some Easter craft preparation (she brought this with her to offer the ladies something to design
while at grandma's Easter day)

we painted mini birdhouses

As long as they live within driving distance I won't complain too loudly.  Of course with gas prices still rising I just may complain after all!

we blew eggs, painted and decopauged them

Hillsboro is lovely.  For being so close to Portland, it is still surrounded by farmland and has a very separate feel.  

we stopped at a tulip farm nearby and chose a couple dozen to bring home

I didn't take my camera when we went shopping and out to lunch. Fortunately,there was plenty to do in the city where they live.  Unfortunately if you want to go anywhere outside of the city it requires the dreaded big city freeway driving. She's getting used to it, I don't think I ever will...

Blessings,  Debbie

3 1/2 hours of worth it

After a whirlwind 3 day visit to the valley, and a whirlwind visit from our valley kids (they came back this direction the day after we left. to be here for Easter) it's hard to believe that the past week actually happened.  Have you ever felt that way?  We packed so much into such a short time that I think I'm planning a three part series here.  I'm calling today's post:  3 1/2 hours (that's drive time) of  worth it.

Because although I HATE big city freeway driving, it was definitely worth it!


Blessings,  Debbie

I can do all things...

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.  

Ecclesiastes 9:10a

Joining Spiritual Sundays

Blessings, Debbie

Shh...

(whispering)

I'm writing tonight because in the morning the girls and I are headed to the valley to visit Hillary and Monte. I'll be gone for 3 days and will come back without Erin.  She will stay and spend some sister time with her big sis while Monte is putting in some overtime.  Then they will all come home for Easter!  And if that's not enough excitement to keep me up tonight...

Admittedly a poor first photo.  But it's all I could get.  Larry didn't get home with the

hennies until after I had begun serving dinner for our Monday night prayer group.

Erin ran out with the camera to get at least one picture of Mr. hopeful

giving the  girls the grand tour... and a subtle hint!

Shhh... the chickens are asleep in the hen-house!!  Finally.
See you in 3 days...

Blessings,  Debbie

and then there was light...

Today I am thankful for the light at the end of the tunnel.

     ...the light that shines in the eyes of my friends.
     ...the light that is offered through the help of my children.
     ...the light that is reflected back to me from the eyes of my husband.
     ...the Light Of The World who gives me hope and life.

the light at the end of the tunnel...


I had a rough week battling a stomach flu.  I still don't feel quite normal, but with so much light around me it's hard to admit to any darkness!  Once again, I am thankful.


Joining Ann at a holy experience
Blessings,  Debbie

chicken curry and a murder...

When Hillary was home she used to make Chicken Curry for the family.  It was kind of her specialty. Still is actually.  We were introduced to this meal five years ago.  When we had our second Japanese foreign exchange student, it was a requirement that the students make a meal for their host family while here.

Shuka, our first, made this wonderful cabbage, pork, crepe sort of thing...  I wish I had that recipe too!  Nao was a bit less skilled in the kitchen and we all giggled when she pulled out this curry package and her mother's carefully detailed instructions.  But, it was delicious.  Imagine our surprise when a couple of years later we discovered that you could get the exact curry mix here at our rural grocery store!

Although that mix is wonderful tasting, I began to be a bit nervous about the ingredients when it became a regular on our menu.  I just wasn't sure how natural it was and I'm really not a pre-packaged kind of gal.  So we began surfing for a scratch curry recipe.  We still don't like anything quite as well as we did the first, but it's still a favorite.

don't worry

I'm sure Audrey deserved it...

Yesterday, on our way home from sewing, Erin asked if we could stop at the grocery store and get the ingredients for a curry dinner.  I usually don't like to just stop like that.  I end up paying more than I'm comfortable with.  But, there was a worthwhile trade off here.  Hmm,  "my 15 year old wants to make dinner. I won't have to cook, and she takes over sissy's place as curry chef in the P. household".  Definitely worth the few extra dollars!

Once again we tried something new.  Still not our favorite, but still yum!

So, if anyone has a curry recipe that they love, please share.  Not that we're picky or anything. ;)


Blessings, Debbie