Monday, June 29, 2020

Home Management Monday - June 29, 2020 (The Late Edition)

Good Evening, Dear Ones! 💗


Can you believe it? It's the last Monday in June and, just like that, we're already half way through the year. Incredible! 😲

I tried to get up early this morning to get this post out before  work, but I just couldn't make it up...so...even though it's late, I'm working on it tonight and hope to get it posted before midnight.

How was your week and weekend? Our week here whizzed by in a blur. I worked on Monday, but had the rest of the week off (other than the hike on Thursday night). 

Our family celebrated two birthdays this past week and we will be celebrating four more come July! 🎉🎂🎈

A group of 25 came out for the hike at Battle of Island Mound Thursday evening and we had a great time! What a beautiful evening it turned out to be! 

Our youngest daughter surprised us Friday night by making it to her sister's house just in time for granddaughter, Essie's, birthday party (we didn't expect to see her until the funeral on Saturday), so that made the get-together extra special! 


Granddaughter Essie

As hard as it was to say good-bye, Josh had a beautiful send-off on Saturday. It was a blessing to see what an impact his life had made on others and I am excited to see where that impact leads in the future. Please continue to remember his family in your prayers. 🙏

On Saturday, before going our separate ways, we (John and I, our oldest daughter, Amber, and her children) were introduced to Lambert's Cafe in Ozark, Missouri by our youngest daughter, Amanda. Lambert's is famous for being "the only home of the throwed roll" and we had so much fun! The children absolutely delighted in catching the throwed rolls and did a good job of doing it, too! 😆 If you ever get a chance to visit Lambert's I highly recommend it! 


Lambert's Cafe - The Only Home of the Throwed Roll
As late as it is, I guess I better get right on into this post. 😊

I awoke to...

... an early alarm, but reset it and went back to sleep. I just couldn't pull myself out of bed any earlier than I had to this morning and I've been tired all day. 

What I'm thinking...

... about the week ahead and my 'to do' list.

What I'm thankful for...

... the freedoms that we enjoy in this country. May we continue the fight to keep them. 

On the breakfast plate...

... Fat-free turkey slices, a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, and an egg on toast with hot tea


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Trumpet Vine
The weather...

... hot and muggy. It was 77 degrees when I got up this morning and the high today was around 90. It was also very windy this afternoon.


This week's menu plan...

Monday - Breakfast for supper 
Tuesday - Rachel sandwiches (like a Reuben, but made with turkey instead of beef) and oven fries
Wednesday - Taco Stuffed Avocados 
Thursday - Oven-roasted chicken, brown rice, and cheesy cauliflower
Friday - Broiled salmon, salad, and cottage cheese
Saturday - Traditional 4th of July foods including hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, watermelon, Jell-O cake, and red, white, and blue Jello-O cups
Sunday - Leftovers


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A Dragonfly
On my 'to do' list...

Monday - Work, finish this post, WLMO movie night
Tuesday - Finish up 4th of July shopping
Wednesday - Figure July budget and bills
Thursday - Work
Friday - Work; do the banking, pay Bill's, make Jell-O and Jell-O cake, attend a city-wide fireworks display
Saturday - Celebrate Independence Day with the fam
Sunday - Church 

On my reading pile...

I finished Discover Nature 'Close to Home' by Elizabeth P. Lawlor, but have a ton of field work left to do in conjunction with it. Am still working on Bible Prayer by Kenneth E. Hagin (Bible Study Course).

From the camera...



Gray-headed Coneflowers and Queen Anne's Lace
Scripture verse...



Well, that's it for this week. I pray that each and every one of you have a great week ahead! Stay close to the Lord and stay in His Word!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Thursday Things - June 25, 2020

Hello, Everyone!

I trust that your week is going well and that you've been enjoying these first few days of summer.

Things are going along okay here. I feel like we've been stuck in some sort of miserable lull. 

Fireflies in a Jar
My husband and I finally broke free of it last night, put out our tiki torches, enjoyed just sitting outside for a bit, chased lightening bugs for awhile (actually caught some too!!!), then came in, watched an episode or two of Andy Griffith, then went to bed early (compared to what we have been anyway) and got a good night's sleep. 

Today is granddaughter, Esther's, birthday #6. Here in a bit I'm going to go get her and take her to Casey's for an ICEE. 

Esther on Her Birthday Last Year
Including Papa and I in birthday celebrations are very important to that particular group of grands and, me...being me, I accidentally got dates mixed up and scheduled the hike at Battle of Island Mound on Esther's birthday. It is important enough to her that Papa and I be there, that she's put her birthday party off until tomorrow night. 

Poor little thing. I felt so bad! It won't happen again. I've set reminders to be sent to my phone a month, a week, and a day in advance from here on out. 😆

This evening, of course, is the hike at the Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site in Bates County, Missouri. I will lead visitors along the 0.6 mile Courage Trail to view and discuss wildflowers that are found along the way. I plan on leaving early and doing some shopping before and after in towns to the north of us.

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Wildflowers Last June @ Battle of Island Mound

Tomorrow is granddaughter, Hannah's, birthday and Friday is Josh's memorial service. Please continue to remember Dorothy and the rest of Josh's family in your prayers. This has been a very difficult week for all to say the least. Thanks!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Monday, June 22, 2020

Home Management Monday - June 22, 2020

Good Morning, Dear Ones! Happy First Monday of Summer! 


I pray that your week and weekend were good and that the men in your life enjoyed a nice Father's Day. 

Our week here was long. I worked a couple of extra days at work and, with Josh's death, I've spent a lot of time talking with Dorothy on the phone, praying, thinking, and trying to make sense of it all. It's been a very sad week to say the least. 😭

My husband had a nice Father's Day yesterday. He heard from all the kids and was treated to lunch at dd and sil's. We enjoyed a quiet evening at home and went for a walk.

I've got to head for work soon, so I'm going to cut this short and get right on into this week's post.

Morning Reflections in the Creek @ Prairie State Park
I awoke to...

... an early alarm, gray skies, and thoughts of the day ahead.

What I'm thinking...

... about how short life really is and how quickly things can change. Two people gone in eleven days...both young (47 and 25)...both unexpected...both tragic...both completely unnecessary. Don't take relationships for granted. Let people know they're important to you while you can because tomorrow might be too late. 😢

What I'm thankful for...

... my husband, our marriage, and the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us. We probably don't deserve any of it, but God has been overwhelmingly good to us and we thank Him for it! 💓

Queen Anne's Lace

On the breakfast plate...

... fat-free turkey slices, a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, and an egg on toast with hot tea

The weather...

... right now it's 70 degrees and cloudy and we have decent chances for storms this afternoon. The week ahead looks warm and muggy.

Add caption

This week's menu plan...

We have a lot going on this week, so I'm not too sure what we'll be doing about evening meals towards the end of the week. We have a lot of leftovers that need to be eaten up in the fridge and freezer and will be concentrating on getting rid of those throughout the week...especially at lunchtime.

Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Breakfast for supper
Wednesday - Turkey burgers and sweet potato fries
Thursday - ?
Friday - ?
Saturday - ?
Sunday - ?

Black-eyed Susan and Water Parsnip

On my 'to do' list...

Monday - Finish this post, work
Tuesday - Concentrate on kitchen work and food prep
Wednesday - Relax as much as possible and catch up on a few projects around the house
Thursday - Celebrate granddaughter, Esther's, birthday; lead evening hike at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site
Friday - Clean house, do laundry, celebrate granddaughter, Hannah's, birthday
Saturday - Say good-bye to Josh 😢
Sunday - Church 

Beetles on Spider Milkweed
On my reading pile...

Bible Prayer by Kenneth E. Hagin (Bible Study Course) and Discover Nature 'Close to Home' by Elizabeth P. Lawlor

From the camera...


Image may contain: flower, plant, grass, nature and outdoor
Prairie Wildflowers
Scripture verse...


Well, that's it for this week. I pray that each and every one of you have a great week ahead! Stay close to the Lord and stay in His Word!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Saturday, June 20, 2020

Summer Bucket List 2020

Happy First Day of Summer! 🌞🤽🌻

It's been a while since I've done a bucket list. I skipped over winter and spring for sure and don't remember if I posted an autumn list or not. At this point it really doesn't matter. I'm just going to start where I'm at and move forward from here.


"...old things are passed away, behold, 
all things are become new..." 
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Zucchini Growing in Our Garden Last Summer
Here are some things that I'm looking forward to this summer and hope to accomplish throughout the course of it.

1. Write my summer bucket list
2. Plan my summer menus (these will be posted weekly in my 'Home Management' posts)
3. Celebrate summer birthdays with the grandlittles (and, believe me, there are a BUNCH of them!) 👧🎂👦
4. Eat watermelon 🍉
5. Celebrate Independence Day with the fam 💖💙
6. Observe a full moon 🌕
7. Go to the zoo 🐧
8. Make red, white, and blue jello 💖💙
9. Make homemade ice cream 🍨
10. Catch a lightening bug 
11. Celebrate my birthday with a banana split 🍌 (it's an annual tradition)
12. Take a vacation (even if just for a few days and is somewhere close by) 🚗
13. Enjoy the Perseid meteor shower ⭐🌠🌟

Complete the following outdoor programs at work...

14. Lead a scheduled wildflower hike at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site in June
15. Lead an evening stroll at Prairie State Park in July
16. Lead an evening stroll at Prairie State Park in August

17. Go stargazing 🌟
18. Grill burgers on the grill 🍔
19. Take a night hike 🌜
20. Play in cool water on a hot day 🤽
21. Go camping ⛺
22. Visit a state park that I've never been to before
23. Enjoy fresh produce and herbs out of our own garden 🌱
24. Take a walk in the rain ☔
25. Visit a botanical garden 🌸
26. Get together with the aunts
27. Go to Wonders of Wildlife with dd 🐠
28. Enjoy a summer storm
29. Hike a new trail 🥾
30. Host a bonfire 🔥
31. Observe, sketch, or photograph at least a dozen new and interesting things found in nature 🍄🐛🐌🌻🐾🐹🐍🍁🐸🐞🐟🐢
32. Collect rocks
33. Preserve what I can of the summer bounty 🌽
34. Replace broken stepping stones in front of the house
35. Continue with efforts to go-through, use-up, clear-out, clean-up, re-purpose, recycle, and give-away what I can around here ♲
36. Organize cookbooks and recipes 🍳
37. Be alert to opportunities that lend myself available as the hands and feet of Jesus on this hurting and troubled earth
38. Take, at least, 650,000 steps 🦶
39. Walk 100 miles 👟
40. Lose 20 pounds over the season 🡇

That's what's on my summer bucket list. Now...what's on yours?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Thursday Things

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Thursday Things - June 18, 2020

It's amazing how fast things can change in just a day or two or even overnight. 

When I posted to you on Monday things were going along pretty good and the week was set. The plan was to work Monday and Tuesday, I didn't know for sure what was happening Wednesday or Thursday, Friday was going to be spent cleaning house and doing laundry, and Saturday was going to be spent enjoying the first day of summer. 

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Oriental Lilies
On Tuesday I told you how much I was enjoying the new work schedule and that my husband had figured out the situation with the electricity to the Van Gogh room.

Well, right after I posted that Tuesday post to you, we discovered that the electricity to the Van Gogh room was off again. We flipped and jiggled the breakers again and nothing changed. Yesterday we took the plates off and checked the outlets and we had electricity in there all day long; this morning it is out again. We're out of ideas, so it looks like we will have to end up having someone else take a look at it before it gets fixed.  

Tuesday went well at work, but will now be filling in for a fellow employee who is out right now, so I will be working tomorrow and Saturday again this week after all...but it's fine. It will make for a nice paycheck in the end.

Then there was yesterday. 😢

Yesterday morning I received a phone call from one of my oldest and dearest friends, Dorothy. She called to tell me that she had reason to believe that her oldest son, Josh, had been murdered during the night and she was on her way to meet with police at her ex-husband's home to find out more. Long story short...she was correct. Josh had been shot and killed in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday morning. 

Yesterday was surreal...like a bad dream that you can't wake up from. 

By birth I am an only child and I have no nieces and nephews of my own, but there are five people on this planet that have called me "Aunt Becky" since they were babies and Josh was one of them. 

Joshua
Please pray for my friend, Dorothy, and the rest of Josh's family...his father, Roy, sister, Amanda Lynn, brother, James, and for Josh's three little nephews who will miss him terribly...especially D.J. who "looks just like Uncle Josh." 

Pray for the police as they conduct their investigation into Josh's murder, that truth will be brought out and prevail, that whoever killed Josh will be found...better yet...that they would come forward and confess, and that justice will be served. 

It is a deeply troubled and hurting world in which we live, and, no matter what is being touted across our land and the world right now, all lives matter because Jesus Christ shed His blood and died on the cross for each and every one of them...that whosoever should make the choice to believe in Him would be saved. 

Pray for our nation. Pray for the world at large. Pray for peace among its people groups, because...like it or not...we're all in this together. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and there is no other way to the Father except through Him. I love you all! 

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Tuesday Tidbits - June 16, 2020

Good morning, Everyone! 🌞


I hope your week is off to a great start and that things are going well for you and yours on every front.

It's taken a little maneuvering around on my part to make it work, but I think I'm going to like this new Mondays, some Tuesdays, some Saturdays, and fill-in-where-necessary work schedule. Yesterday was great! I did administrative work in the morning, then went out on the prairie with the new boss in the afternoon in search of a certain plant...which we found...and I will be researching it more today. It was a lot of fun and one of those "I can't believe they pay me to do this" kind of days. Of course...most of my days at work are like that...so... 😄

My husband figured out the electrical issue yesterday. Turns out that it was a breaker after all. There was one unmarked breaker, which I had flipped several times, but, when he went through them, he said that he noticed that it was really stiff. He said that, after a couple of tries, he gave it an extra shove and it connected, immediately restoring the electricity in my office. I am so thankful and I'm glad that it wasn't anything serious! I do wonder what caused the breaker to flip in the first place, but dh said that it was probably a fluke and that we'll just keep an eye on it and if it happens again we'll pursue it further. 

Chicory
I spotted this pretty blue chicory along the roadside on the way to work yesterday morning and what a treat! Growing up in Jackson County, Missouri chicory was a common sight, but I've rarely seen it here in Barton County. In 26 years I think this makes...like...the third time of seeing it. During my growing up years, chicory was one of my favorite wildflowers and, during my teen years, it was the subject of many a pencil sketch in my art tablet. 

Well, I need to be going. I just wanted to take a moment or two to drop in and say hello. I hope you all are doing well and that you have a wonderful day! 

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Monday, June 15, 2020

Home Management Monday - June 15, 2020

Good Morning, Dear Ones! It's Monday! 💗


How was your week and weekend? 

The week and weekend here was kind of...blah. I worked at the park on Monday and Saturday. On Tuesday we got the car inspected and licensed for two more years and went grocery shopping. The rest of the week was spent working around the place, walking, and practicing photography with the digital camera...which I greatly enjoy! 📷


Sunflower Growing on the Back Porch
Other than that...there's just not a whole lot to say, so let's get right on into this week's post, shall we?

I awoke to...

... concerns about the electricity being out in the Van Gogh room (a.k.a. "my office"). I discovered it after getting in last night. I flipped the breakers and it made no difference, so who knows what the problem could be. We will have to deal with that after I get past today and tomorrow. Drats! And double drats! 😒 

What I'm thinking...

... about friends and family and all the sadness and civil unrest that is going on in our nation right now. An autopsy revealed that Gina's death last weekend was the result of an interaction with the medication in her nebulizer combined with underlying health conditions. Plus, we got word of the first cases of COVID-19 in our county this week. As of last night there were seven of them, and, while the symptoms in the cases we know about aren't nearly as bad as what they say they should be, please be in prayer over the individuals that have been diagnosed and their families. Thank you! 


Gina
 What I'm thankful for...

... the peace of God that surpasses all understanding even in the most difficult and trying of circumstances.

Fresh Basil 
On the breakfast plate...

... Fat-free ham slices, egg, and a Laughing Cow cheese wedge on toast, fresh fruit, and hot tea

The weather...

... We got a bit of relief from the heat mid-week last week (we were actually able to shut the AC for a couple of nights), but it doesn't look like we're going to be that fortunate this week. At the moment, it's 70 degrees and sunny and the high today (and every day this week) is supposed to top out around 90. It it weren't for the humidity it wouldn't be so bad.





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Ants on Water Parsnip in Front of the Cherry Tree
This week's menu plan...

Monday - Turkey burgers, oven fries, and fresh fruit
Tuesday -  Breakfast for supper
Wednesday - Oven-roasted chicken breasts, baked potatoes, and corn
Thursday - Baked ham, sweet potatoes, and green beans
Friday - 
Broiled salmon, baked potatoes, and oven-roasted carrots
Saturday - Tortellini, sauce, turkey meatballs, and homemade French bread
Sunday - Leftovers

On my 'to do' list...

Monday - Finish this post, figure the mid-month budget, go to the bank and post office, work
Tuesday - Work
Wednesday - ?
Thursday - ?
Friday - Clean house and do laundry
Saturday - Enjoy the first day of summer
Sunday - Church, wish my dh, sons, and son-in-law a Happy Father's Day

Lemon Balm Growing in Our Garden
On my reading pile...

Bible Prayer by Kenneth E. Hagin (Bible Study Course) and Discover Nature 'Close to Home' by Elizabeth P. Lawlor

From the camera...


Image may contain: plant, flower, outdoor and nature
Beetle on Coneflower
Scripture verse...


Pin on Bible verses

Well, that's it for this week. I pray that each and every one of you have a great week ahead! Stay close to the Lord and stay in His Word!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

P.S. - Happy First Day of Summer on Saturday and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there on Sunday!

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Oh, Deer!

Home Management Monday - June 8, 2020

Home Management Monday - June 1, 2020