Common Ground Coffee House #114

[Friend of God]

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Today was the last day of school for the Gkids. They had a half day today which mostly considered of all the students being outside in organized activities [by grade level] for a field day. The Gkids all did well on their report cards so everybody is happy. The kids because they're out for the summer, and us because they did well in their grades.

The kids got home and disappeared like a covey of quail at the sound of a gunshot. Right now they're dispersed all over the neighborhood.

Wow, Spinach it seems like you never have a dull day.

We've got our garden in and the squash is already starting to come up. We've been blessed by quite a bit of rain so the garden work has been pretty easy.

We're all still fighting allergies and keeping the makers of Claritin in profits.

Have to go to Walmart tonight and stimulate their economy so they can make payroll this week.

Decided to make Oven-Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Greenbean Casserole, and Cherry Upside-Down Cake for dessert tonight. it's one of the Gkids favorite meals and they requested it for tonight to celebrate being out of school.

Other than that not too much going on up here in "God's Country."

 

[annsni]

Things are winding down here from school. Robby (8) had a baseball game and he pitched an inning. He pitched out one batter which was good but he walked 2 more. But he's learning and he's a much better player than last year!

As most everyone else has had, we've had tons of rain. More rain is due tomorrow...and the next day...and the next day. Glad we have the sailboat just in case! LOL

Have a good night all! I think I'll head to bed in a bit. I'm beat from my "crazy busy day!" (not!). LOL

 

[bywayside]

Good morning from Ohio looks like a decent day little overcast but alright.
Going out to work in my garden what there is of it,just did not take off.
O well it was my first time trying to plant a garden so live a learn next year will be better.

enjoy:sleep: a hot mug of Joe and get going....

 

[Spinach]

Crazy, crazy life I lead!

The cherries have been harvested and put up. I did 60some lbs of cherries. Most of them were used to make pie fillings, jams, and jellies. Some were used to make fruit leather and dried cherries. I learned that I pretty well stink at making fruit leather. Who knew?!

Plums are coming in now and I'm not ready for them. Ready or not...

Dh is coming in late from a baptism----50 or so people were baptized today. PTL!

Better try to wind down for the night.

Oh, I now have a blog. If anyone is interested in reading it, just send me a PM.

Help yourselves to the beans and rice on the stove---and if you're really brave, there is fruit leather in the fridge.

 

[Gina B]

Hi everyone! :flower:

 

[sag38]

Hello back!!!!!

 

[annsni]

Spinach - That's wonderful about all of the baptisms! Praise God!!

Well, today was a pretty productive day for me. Started out with me running to church early since a woman was running the computer/projector who was not overly familiar with the new system (we just switched to Macs and ProPresenter 2 weeks ago) so I wanted to be sure she was all set. DH is usually there and he knows the program better than I do but he was leading worship at another church - and the only other person who knows it is away speaking at a retreat. So just to be safe.....

I then came home and started cleaning. My house has been a mess with organizing, cleaning, etc. and today was finally warm enough and dry enough to do "wet" cleaning (cleaning bathrooms really well and mopping floors) so I got that done. Of course, the entire week has "chance of thunderstorms" listed for the afternoon which means that it will be humid and not floor mopping weather. I'm also trying to get laundry kept up with since we're going on vacation on Saturday and I hate coming home to extra laundry that was left here. Fortunately, this is just our one week trip so I don't have to be as careful with clothing.

If you all want to see our boat and some pics from our last few years' trips, you can go to my blog at http://lifeonthesound.blogspot.com/2009/06/rain-and-vacation-planning-very-pic.html to check it out. The pics ended up pretty big so you'll have to click on them to see them fully - sorry about that! But you can see the 42 foot sailboat that we call "home" on our vacations.

 

[Spinach]

I've been busy and tired! Plum and peach season are upon us. Sigh. I was so not ready for plums and peaches! I just barely got past the cherries. They'll taste fabulous come winter, though.

Tomorrow we'll attend a July 4th picnic. Our kids can't wait! I'm making deviled eggs, brownies, and I'm bringing authentic Coca-Cola.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

 

[annsni]

Hopping on to say "bye" just before we head out for vacation - if we ever get it all together to leave! I had planned to have this full week to prepare but instead I was called into church every-single-day to work the computer for the youth and now I'm just about 14 hours from when we're supposed to leave and NO one is packed, the house is still a mess, I have atleast 4 loads of laundry to do and I need to do the food shopping for the perishables! Oh - and sleep would be kind of nice too.

On top of that, I found out today a dear friend in church was diagnosed with leukemia - and it's bad. Really bad. So bad that she went into the doctor this morning - and just had her first chemo treament this afternoon. I haven't gotten the absolute prognosis but they figure she'll be in the hospital for atleast 4 weeks. I pray she gets to come home after that.

Oh, stress. I know once we pull away from the dock, things will be OK but until then, I'm so stressed. Well, I'll do what I can do - that's all I can do.

Have a wonderful week all! We'll be back next Saturday night so I won't be back here until after church on Sunday, I'm sure.

 

[menageriekeeper]

Wow! Has it really been a month since I have posted? Probably so and what a month it has been!

VBS took the second week in June. I thought that then I would get a chance to rest but late on teh evening of the 17th, Cade (my son's best friend that I call my "second son" cause he is here so often) was at him mom's house when he got the not so bright idea to set fire to a small pile of yard trash. His mom had told him to wait until she got out there to supervise, but being 14 he decided he was man enough for the job. Only problem: he used gas as a lighter and lit it with a cigarette lighter. He spent the next 10 days at the burn center of our local Children's hospital with 1st and very deep 2nd degree burns to his arms, legs and face. He was burned almost everywhere that his shirt and shorts hadn't covered. The docs were nearly certain that he would require skin grafts but PTL that wasn't the case and he has healed amazingly well since then.

By the time we got him back home, it was time for our mini vacation to DC. By the time we got back from that, T's sis had decided to make a quick visit home! LOL Never a dull moment at the menagerie! All that is just the major points of the month. There are to many minor things that went on to even begin to tell!

I see Ann is headed off for her vacation. I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer.

July brings its own set of events as summer honors work must be done for the 3 high school students that I will have next year (Cass, Chris and Cade). And Jenna will begin her first year homeschooling this month as well. (if we do school in July we can take off most of the time between Thanksgiving and New Years) I'm not even going to hazzard a guess about how much time I will have. Seems like just when I think life is slowing down, it speeds up faster than it was already going!

 

[Friend of God]

Good Afternoon Everybody,

WOW! Cuz and Ann. Compared to you guys I realize just how boring and mundane my life really is. Good to hear from both of you again.

Not much going on around here. We had about 25 friends and family over for the Fourth of July weekend. We all enjoyed cookouts, bonfires, a parade, fireworks, and lots of food on the grill.

Brenda had a dizzy spell and ended up crashing through our bedroom door. She banged up her right foot pretty good, nothing broken but it'll be plenty sore for awhile.

Jacob [our oldest G'son] has gone to live with his Dad for the summer, and if he likes it [he seems to so far] will live with his Dad during the school year too. This will mean going to a new school in the fall, but that might not be a bad thing, after all.

My Mother-in-Law took a tumble and spend several hours in the Emergency Room. We thought she might have broken her hip but a CT scan showed nothing broken but quite a bit of Arthritis in the hip. We had to spend about three weeks staying with her at her house while she had a Nurse come in as well as Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. She is now living alone again and back to moving well [as long as she uses her walker that is]. She now has a LIFELINE transceiver to wear so she can get help if she needs it, they'll call us first or my former Daughter-in-Law across the street or if we're not available they'll call 911.

Other than that not much has been going on around here.

 

[annsni]

Hey everyone! Checking in from vaca (we finally have wifi). All is going well although the thunderstorms last night made for a sleepless night for me. We had that bad storm in the middle of the night a few years ago where we broke from our anchor as did many others and it was so scary so now whenever there are thunderstorms, I get nervous. But we're in a nice marina for tonight and will go have dinner with the ILs at their place. Afterwards we'll come here to the boat to relax with some friends of theirs who also have a boat. Of COURSE we're having guests the night after storms-and everything had gotten wet. But the sun is warmly shining and we were able to get most everything dry....except my bed. I hope to get that dry as the day continues.

If I can't get back on, I'll see you all Sunday! God bless!

 

[Spinach]

Plum/apple jelly is now in the waterbath canner!

 

[Gina B]

Good evening people! How is everyone here? I've been able to pop in once in a while, but nothing too much. Hopefully I'll have a bit more time now!

I'm getting settled in a new state with my new hubby and additional children. His church is a little different than the types I'm used to, even though it's still a Baptist one and still IFB. It's huge, and more strict. I'm trying to be good. Really...I am. :saint: :smilewinkgrin:

The new job hunt has begun. The one I want hasn't called me back, but I'm going for a different one on Monday. It isn't what I want, but will do for a job to have while I'm looking for what I do want.

It's a lot to have going on at once, but I'm blessed with a guy who seems to have quite a bit more patience than I deserve as I try to get out of the habit of doing things myself and my own way.

We move into our new place Monday, and then things will be more normal and settled. Whoohoo!

God has blessed me richly. :godisgood:

 

[Jim1999]

Good to hear from you, Gina, and God Bless you in your new union. Boy, mpre kids. That's like instant coffee, innit! Put them all together, stir a little, add some love and thee you have it.

You deserve it. Kindest regars to your husband.

Cheers, and bless,

Jim:thumbsup:

 

[rdwhite]

Mesquite Bean Coffee

Well I have been off board for a very long time. I was fed up and disgusted with some of the attitudes. So I will come back on board in the less serious areas of this ship.

Speaking of coffee, I thought I would share an experience. We have an abundance of Mesquite Trees in our area and a little research determined they are very beneficial. My wife is making syrup and flour from the beans of the tree.

I roasted and ground up some beans and made a very nice coffee.

Daniel

 

[Gina B]

I've not heard of a mesquite tree! What are they? We have an unknown tree in our backyard and being new to the area, I'm trying to learn what type of stuff grows out here! We're next to Texas, so I'm assuming we have similar plant life. I'm very much for finding stuff out there we can use for free, without poisoning us because of my ignorance! :thumbs:

 

[Spinach]

At last count I had around 50 quarts of jelly, 20 quarts of jam, and 8 quarts of cherry pie filling (I had more of that, but it goes pretty fast around here). I'm moving on to pickles now and thrilled to do so. I'm ready to be done with jelly! Until the grapes and quince are ready, that is.

Brownies on the table, brethren. Enjoy!

 

[rdwhite]

I've not heard of a mesquite tree! What are they? We have an unknown tree in our backyard and being new to the area, I'm trying to learn what type of stuff grows out here! We're next to Texas, so I'm assuming we have similar plant life. I'm very much for finding stuff out there we can use for free, without poisoning us because of my ignorance! :thumbs:

Mesquite is probably most well known for smoking meats when used as a firewood, it gives a very unique flavor. I don't have any pictures, but you could probably google image search mesquite tree and get a variety of examples.

www.desertusa.com offers many resources and ideas.

But definitely make sure plants are not poisonous before using them. We have several poisonous plants in our area, like purple nightshade.

We have also put up 25 gallons of frozen squash, 62 quarts of pickles, 10 gallons of frozen zucchini from our garden. We are working with okra now.

 

[Barnabas H.]

I'm getting settled in a new state with my new hubby and additional children.

Wow, Gina! Did I hear it right? You've got married? When did this happen? When did you move to Texas (from the deep freeze, Alaska, to the oven, Texas....). By the way, congratulations!!!!!! And best wishes to you both for a long, long, long, time! May the good Lord bless your union forever. In Christ, Barnabas :type: