Choosing Joy…

Posted on December 4, 2009 by heidiannie

Larnelle Harris had a song some years ago entitled , “I Choose Joy”.

It had a really cute video that went with it, where he goes through his day, is hijacked, forced to run from the police and ends up in a car wreck and manages to smile (and sing) through this whole ordeal!

My life hasn’t been that bad- but sometimes I feel like I’m being hijacked and forced to go and do things I don’t want to- and I very rarely smile or sing my way through the episode. Mostly I grumble, sometimes I shout ( and not for joy, either). But I’ve decided I’m GOING to CHOOSE Joy even if it kills me.

Today I took some pictures of small joys in my day.

Like farm fresh brown eggs….

Christmas beverage napkins…..

An orange Rex Begonia given me by a friend….

An orange mirrored ball that hangs on my deck

and reflects the sunshine into my kitchen…….

Wind chimes that sound like tinkling water…..

And my sister who came over for toast, marmalade and tea!

This is where I was last year.

Posted on December 3, 2009 by heidiannie

This is where I was last month.

And this is where I am now.

Is is just me – or does it look progressively darker and stormier?

I am not a holiday person. I celebrate, but somehow feel really out of sync with the world around me. My thoughts are dark and gloomy when elsewhere people are singing songs of joy.

I have a cold and am drippy and miserable.

And today, when I went for a blood test, I looked down and saw a black sock and a blue sock on my feet- and it didn’t even bother me.

Pray for me. I’m not feeling like myself.

Moonstruck in December

Posted on December 1, 2009 by heidiannie

moonstruck definition

moon·struck (mo̵̅o̅n′struk′)

adjective

affected mentally in some way, supposedly by the influence of the moon; specif.,

crazed; lunatic; insane
romantically dreamy
dazed or distracted

Also moonstricken moon′·strick′en (-strik′ən)

It’s out there-big and beautiful reflecting down upon us. On nights like this I watch for moonshadows and walk as silently as possible.

Not because I’m a 1.crazed lunatic;insane, but because I have a 2. romantically dreamy sort of personality, and am easily 3. dazed and distracted.

It really is beautiful tonight.

At around 4:30 the moon was getting ready for it’s starring role in tonight’s production- and in fact , I got several pictures of the dress rehearsal.

It really is distracting isn’t it?

I wish I was a better photographer.

Because this moon is fabulous.

And I am ~~moonstruck.~~

Moonstricken.

Happy Birthday, Frank!

Posted on December 1, 2009 by heidiannie

This has been a rough year. We have been swamped with many different issues with which we needed to deal. And business has not been good for anybody. Frank has lost several of his sisters in the last couple of years. But last week his oldest full sister died and it has bothering him nonstop.

So, when his sister, Elizabeth, and her husband Bob asked us out to dinner for his birthday, he was pleased.

I’ve given up on Birthday celebrations for Frank. He always acts disgruntled and unhappy afterwards. I had a big party for him several years ago and he just didn’t enjoy it- so I quit trying.

But tonight he was happy. It is hard when you are the youngest of 12 siblings and don’t keep in close touch. I am thankful that Elizabeth reached out to him.

Sisters are really good that way.

Weekend Highlights…

Posted on November 29, 2009 by heidiannie

I love my family.

Even when we disagree, it is fun.

There is a wry sense of humor and wit that underlies the “discussions” that culminate from our different points of view and understanding.

And there are so many areas that we are in perfect agreement that we can skip the other without too much of a fuss.

Anyway-here are some picture highlights from the past week that I wanted to share. I hope you all had a wonderful family time- or a least a memorable time with friends and loved ones for the holiday.

My handsome sons collaborated on the Chincoteague Oysters we had for lunch on Thanksgiving day. Luke brought the oysters and cleaned and prepared them.

At the last moment, I discovered we had no horseradish in the house, so Jordan was dispatched to pick up some essential items at the grocery store.

To my surprise, he brought back a root of horseradish and laid it on the table next to my plate. Both Willow and I looked at it for a moment before it dawned on us what he had placed on the table.

What a wonderful treat! I had never used fresh horseradish before- but I will never use anything else ever again! I peeled it and cut it into chunks an put it into the food processor and ground it up. DO NOT BREATHE DEEPLY whilst doing this. Your sinuses may never recover from this experience.

Then I added white balsalmic vinegar to the ground horseradish and we put 1/4 tsp on each oyster ( and a healthy squeeze of lemon juice) before slurping them down. They were delicious. AND I now have a jar of freshly ground horseradish to play with in my fridge. Anyone have recipes that include horseradish to share?

And then Friday morning we had snow. And a photo shoot at Donzell’s Garden Center.

It was a great time spent with our children, I’m sorry Frank had to leave – but he had a chance to visit with his relatives and to pay respect to his older sister at her funeral. This is the first time he’s been back to Canada in 10 years, so it was good that he went.

Tomorrow is his birthday- then on to Christmas in Chincoteague this year.

Time is fleeting, it is best spent with those we love doing things that bring us closer together and honor our Lord in the doing.

That is my goal for the rest of this year.

Thankfulness NEVER ends

Posted on November 28, 2009 by heidiannie

Thanksgiving in America is a holiday.

People think of family and food.

They count their simple blessings.

And some call it “Turkey Day”.

The giving of thanks and the habit of thankfulness, however, is a choice and a privilege that is given us by our bountiful God, the giver of all good things.

I am full of thanks that God honors and chooses relationship with people.

With His people.

With me.

To be a part of the family of God, through the brotherhood of saints, bequeathed to us through Jesus Christ our Lord is a gift beyond all measure.

And so thanksgiving is not over.

Ever.

Speaking of family and gifts- I just wanted to share a picture of the youngest member of our family and mention that he is definitely in the category of the gifted.

Guess who likes to shovel off the driveway?

Or should I say, sweep off the snow?

Happy Thanksgiving from the Fodor’s

Posted on November 26, 2009 by heidiannie

Wishing you a blessed Holiday season.

Random pictures and recipes

Posted on November 26, 2009 by heidiannie

Probably too late for this year- although I think you could do a batch of the brandied cranberries today and not miss a beat. And it is SO worth making a batch of these.

Brandy,cranberries, orange peel, sugar, and I added a dollop of orange marmalade. These are seriously good- even if you don’t like cranberries- seriously good.

Brandied Cranberries Recipe

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) bag of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar (or substitute Splenda for half of the sugar)
1/2 cup brandy
2 TBS finely chopped orange zest
2 heaping TBS orange marmalade

Method

1 Preheat oven to 325°F. Sort through cranberries and discard any that are soft or decayed.

2 Mix cranberries, sugar, brandy, and orange zest in a 8 or 9-inch baking dish. Bake uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Makes 2 cups. Chill up to one week.

They bake in the oven- stir occasionally!

And this is the end result-

Take a closer look.

I just ate one berry- and it is “oh my goodness” good.

The bread stuffing is made out of honey whole wheat bread, cornmeal bread, and half a loaf of rustic white bread. This is the best stuffing I’ve ever made. The bread made all of the difference.

Random comment about parsley……………………………

The French cooks use only the leaves and short stems of parley in their dishes.

The Italian chefs use the entire stem, chopping it fine and going for a more robust flavor.

I’m Slovak with Germanic influences- I used mostly the leaves, but I picked through the stems for the more delicate ones and chopped them up as well. Because 2 bunches was just barely enough for the huge bowl of bread crumbs.

I used my own herbs rather than poultry seasoning, as well.

I dried the sage earlier.

Then I picked off the hard stems and rubbed it until it was pliable and broke up easily. I put twice this much in the bowl.

And then added celery and onions sauteed in butter.

And fried sausage and crushed nuts- and you have stuffing.

Stir it all together and put it in a bag in the refrigerator to mingle the flavor.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope your day is filled with happiness and joy and good eats!

What if it is the first straw?

Posted on November 24, 2009 by heidiannie

I had a great time last week with Cynthia andAlly and Aiden first in Smithville, then in Marshallville. Biut out best time was at the Post House with Aiden for lunch.

Allyson calls me a feeder. I DO like to see little boys eat heartily- and so I share my meal to supplement theirs when necessary (and allowed.) So I shared my cup of chili with Aiden who loved it as a dip for his grilled cheese sandwich. But most of all I loved his straw handling skills.