ellie's chat

Why My Fingernails Look So Dirty

11:08, Wednesday, July 16, 2008 .. Posted in Unwinding from the Daily Grind .. 0 comments .. Link

Let's see. . . On Sunday afternoon I picked two gallons of black raspberries and made jelly on Monday morning before I went to work. I squeezed the jelly bag quite a bit getting the juice all over my hands (and under my fingernails).

On Monday I bought a flat of strawberries and made jam on Tuesday morning before I went to work. I top the strawberries with my fingers - I don't use any fancy gadget - thus getting my fingernails stained some more.

Today I went in search of cherries to pick. I found a u-pick orchard just as they were closing for the day. (I set off on an adventure not knowing where I was going - a lot like Abraham of old!

) I found a truck by the side of the road selling cherries quite cheaply, so I bought a bunch and will be canning cherries and making jam in the morning before I go to work. I probably will stain my hands some more. . .

While I was out on my adventure I saw the bottle house in Kaleva, Michigan. I had never heard of it before, so it helped to make my adventure that much more interesting. I didn't have my camera with me so I have stolen a picture of it from Julie Quinn's gallery. I hope she doesn't mind my stealing her Kaleva Bottle House picture. There are several more pictures of the house on her websight: http://www.pbase.com/qjul73/bottlehouse
The front of the house below the front windows says 'Happy' on one side of the front door and 'Home' on the other. All designed in bottles.

Yesterday an internet friend called me while I was at work. How cool is that? I have never talked to or met anyone I know from on line before.

A Visit from the Littlest Peanut

11:51, Sunday, October 21, 2007 .. Posted in Unwinding from the Daily Grind .. 0 comments .. Link

Sunday, October 21, 2007
Cameron had fun today electrocuting yellow jackets. We have an exocutioner's wand that my hubby got for Christmas last year. We also helped a lady move this morning. It really took most of the day.
We were blessed with a visit from my oldest son this afternoon. We enjoyed the warm fall weather by taking a walk through the woods to the lake to the see the new house that has been built on the other side.
On the way back the baby fell asleep in my arms. He's such a cute little peanut!

We went to Pizza Hut for supper. After that we stopped for a few minutes by my daughter's house to deliver Cameron and for a quick hello. We got back pretty late, but it was a really nice day!
Hope yours was too.

Catching Up After a Busy Weekend

05:30, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 .. Posted in Unwinding from the Daily Grind .. 0 comments .. Link

This past weekend was very busy and about wore me out. I don't know how my brother from Florida can stand it. He is 10 years older than me, but can stay up all night playing games and then get up early to go out for breakfast.

We had our Annual Alumni Weekend this past weekend. I am on the Alumni Board so I was one of the ones to work behind the scenes to make sure that all runs smoothly.

My brother from Florida flew up for his fortieth class reunion. He and I were both in honor classes this year. When anyone from away comes to visit, all the local family gets together at my mom's to spend time visiting. We left Saturday night at around midnight. I asked my mom the next day when everyone left and she was able to go to bed. She said that they played Boggle until about 2:00 a.m., when she fell asleep writing her words! So they all went to bed! What a goofy family I have. But we really love each other and the Lord, so I guess that is all that really counts in this life!

I got to see lots of old classmates and learn a little about them. We gossipped about the ones that were not there - well, not really, just filling each other in on what they were doing, etc. But it sure felt like gossipping when we got to Calvin. He had lost 30 pounds to come to our last honor class reunion five years ago and felt so good about himself that he joined a rock band, stopped going to church and moved to a nudist colony. Now how would you feel? Is that gossipping or what?

Really the weekend was wonderful. And I am catching up on my sleep little by little.

If It Keeps Gettin' Better 'n Better, Oh Lord, I Don't Know What I'm Gonna Do!

11:32, Tuesday, October 9, 2007 .. Posted in Unwinding from the Daily Grind .. 0 comments .. Link

My youngest son is in college - again.
He went for two years to a community college right out of high school and was ready to transfer to a university when he got a job offer that would look great on any resume. So he took a year off and worked for room and board and a stipend at a boarding school for a year. The pay was bad the experience was great and now he is off to school again.
He has talked to many people and his experience at the high school he worked at last year has helped him make up his mind what, exactly, he finally wants to go to school for.
He does not work. He drives three hours each way to school two days a week. He spends a lot of time studying and taking tests on the internet for his classes. He jogs a lot to help keep his mind clear and when he can squeeze them in he likes to spend time with his friends - they play a lot of cards, swimming, basketball, etc. He produces a 'radio' talk show on sports - basically football - which he emails to all of his friends around the world who are on his fantasy football league. (I am trying to get him to post it as a link on his My Space page and to email to more than just his buddies that are in his fantasy league.)
Anyway, his only income is donating plasma twice a week. It pays for his cell phone and gas to get to school. He rides his bike around here when he wants to go anywhere - or bums a ride from a friend. His income is very limited. (We have the highest unemployment rate in the country.) There are not any real jobs to be had.
So-o-o-o-o, imagine how thrilled he and we were to day to get a letter from the college saying that he has recieved a scholarship for this fall and winter!
There is no way that we could have paid cash for his tuition - my husband is retired and he never saved anything, even though I tried to get him to. We live paycheck to paycheck and had put his tuition on our credit card without a thought as to how we were going to get it paid off before the next semester would have to go on the credit card too. Now we know exactly how it will get paid.
We serve an awesome God who loves and takes care of each of us so well.

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

03:45, Monday, October 8, 2007 .. Posted in Unwinding from the Daily Grind .. 0 comments .. Link

I told you yesterday that we had a church picnic and ended up singing old songs together. What I did not tell you is that the song lyrics had been altered in the second verses.
You need a little back ground here. . .
Our church teaches that God is very interested in our health: 3 John 1:2, 1 Corinthians 3:17, etc. . .
So we teach that we will have the best health if we follow the biblical principles of health. We do not advocate the eating of unclean meats as described in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. We do not tell people that they must be vegetarian, but we do teach that we believe it is the best lifestyle. (See Genesis 2)
Some of us, for health reasons are practicing vegan lifestyles. So when we get together we have all kinds of people who eat all kinds of ways - those that eat clean meats (usually along with a basic vegetarian diet), and those who are vegetarians (including eggs and dairy products), and those who eat only plant foods. Our potlucks are always vegetarian with vegan foods available. We love each other and get along great, even though we tease each other occasionally.

Now, back to my story. . .

One of the altered songs was She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
The first verse is normal.
The second is: We'll have a potluck luncheon when she comes. . .
The third: We'll all eat tofu pudding when she comes. . .
Fourth: We'll have lots of three-bean salad when she comes. . .
Fifth: We'll all pretend to be vegans when she comes. . .

There was lots of laughter, but my question was, "Who are we trying to impress? Who is this SHE?"

Today at work, my boss added another verse. I think it is great. He swore me to secrecy. . . so if you know my boss, don't tell him that I told. I have to tell it to you because I love it and I believe it is truth.

Sixth verse: We'll be chewing cheese and chicken till He comes
We'll be chewing cheese and chicken till He comes
Oh, our waists, they will thicken and our bodies, they will sicken
But we'll keep chewing cheese and chicken till He comes

Have a great day!

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