From the kitchen of Aunt Gertie (Gertrude (MacDonald) Murphy in Antigonish, Nova Scotia) Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups flour 1-1/2 cups oatmeal 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1/3 cup milk 3/4 cup margarine 3/4 tsp soda 1/2 tsp salt Directions: Mix the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and salt. Cream the margarine until it's fluffy, and then add the brown sugar and the milk, and blend it well. Add the dry ingredients gradually and mix well. Press dough onto a cookie sheet that is sprinkled (heavily) with oatmeal. (This dry oatmeal should almost cover the entire cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes @ 350 degrees, and cut into small squares while hot. It's messy (like really messy). Tip: When you spread it on the cookie sheet, spread it very, very thin. I kind of take ... View Post
Up In the Balcony
A sweet woman I may never see again made these tulips for me. She lives in Brazil, and she was an incredible encouragement to me, even despite our communication difficulties with needing an interpreter. Our interpreter, and mutual friend Emily once shared a book with me called "Balcony People" by Joyce Landorf Heatherley. It basically talked about the great impact we can have on all of the people in our lives, everyone we encounter. We can boost them up or we can shove them down, referring to people as either balcony people, or basement people. We can ENcourage or we can DIScourage everyone we meet. I have a few very special balcony people in my life. One of several in particular who immediately comes to mind is Edna. We share books back and forth and one of our favorites is ... View Post
Mashed Potato Cake
I was trying to use up what was in the fridge. Ever do that? It just so happens that I was recently sorting through old books, and paperwork, and recipes, and pictures, and all sorts of things - and had come across this recipe. And, since I just happened to have a couple of mashed potatoes left, I thought - why not use em' up? Neighbors are returning from a mission trip to Cuba and I like to leave them a little something on their own kitchen table when they return home. So, I whipped this yummy cake up today! Ingredients: 1 cup butter, softened 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 cup cold mashed potatoes 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups flour 1/4 cup baking coca 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup milk Directions: Cream the butter and sugar until it's nice and fluffy. Add ... View Post
Kitchen Table Make-Over
A few weeks ago my kitchen table devotions blog received a complete make-over (click here for more info). So when I was visiting the Pioneer Woman's Mercantile store in Pawhuska, Oklahoma and spotted these gems, I couldn't pass them up. Doesn't it just make perfect sense to remake my kitchen table as well? (Work with me here!) And, aren't they just soooo pretty ???? I can hardly wait to have dinner on them! I waited very patiently for them to arrive. (Okay, that's a lie)........ The truth is, I frequently opened the door and peeked on the porch hoping that I had not heard the doorbell and that they were out there waiting to be opened and make their new home on my old kitchen table. Today, I was running out to the store and was at the end of my street when the Fed Ex truck ... View Post
Sunday School Gardeners
I know quite a few folks who remember their Sunday school teachers. I know one, in fact, who loved to torment his Sunday after Sunday. Years later, the moment he walked outside to give up his life to God, however, he remembered all the words he'd heard decades before that from that same Sunday school teacher, and his eyes were opened. He understood. She's gone now, so she never got to see the seeds she planted come to fruition. That man now teaches adult Sunday school. Another couple friends of mine remember their Sunday school teachers from twice as many decades ago. And....... then there's Charlene - the adorable, bubbly young lady who sat next to me in medical transcription school, invited me to church, became a family friend, and gave me the very first Bible I'd ... View Post
To Love A Nurse
Over just this past week......... The wife of my patient brought in a stack of family photos she wanted to share with me. She and her husband were married for 65 years. She wanted to share her memories with me - cried through some of the more difficult ones to recall, laughed through many others. What a privilege for me it was to just sit and listen. An elderly man who was very confused needed constant reassurance, and often the re-locating of his stuffed animal that the nursing manager gave him - a bunny rabbit he named "Hopper." A 76-year-old man, estranged from his son for the past decade, came to me and wanted to know if it was okay to be alone with my patient - his son. He needed to say he was sorry for some things. (It's never too late). Several co-workers ... View Post
What To Give Me For Christmas
This post has been floating around Facebook, and I am fairly certain my friend Pat is the one who authored it. It's been copied and personalized on many friends' pages, and I really thought it was worth keeping year round, so here's my version posted on my blog instead! Each year, my sons ask me the same question... After thinking about it, I've decided to give the real answer: What do I want for Christmas? TIME. I want to hear from you from TIME to TIME. I know you have commitments to activities and people. A random five-minute phone call in the middle of the day, or on your way home from work, or whatever would be the best TIME in my 24-hour day! Just call and say, "Hey Mum. Was just wanting to say hi. Whatcha' up to?" Just a few minutes of your TIME. I want to hear ... View Post
Who Am I ?
A long time ago I learned not to title anything until I've written the last line and punctuated the last sentence. So often I think I've figured something out, learned a lesson, come to a conclusion - only to realize near the last paragraph that in fact, I'm only journaling and processing something God waited until the last line to reveal, and it was for me - and the title it gets in the end is nothing at all what I'd had in mind at the start. Yesterday I had a "me" day. That's not selfish, as I'm sometimes prone to think. It's healthy. I can't think straight or go have fun if I know there are baskets of laundry that need washing, a floor that needs scrubbing, bills that need paying, or yes - even emails to return. It's just the way I'm wired. My son is coming home tonight from ... View Post