Gone with the Wind

           Last night we watched the first part of Gone

With  the Wind.  What a wonderful movie, even for

a self-appointed critic such as myself, who involuntarily notices loopholes in the storyline. The grandeur, the costumes, and Rhett's dry humor are great. Scarlettt's self-deception and denial are reminders to keep one's own reality in check. And, it's a reminder, as well, of how precious things are that we tend to take for granted... food and other provisions, freedom, the comfortable easy-going lifestyle of the mountains. Just as Scarlett and the others had to adjust to change, I fear we will also have to.  I pray our American way of life is not gone with the wind...

the Birthday Party

          Yesterday we had our good friends Pat & Teresa over to celebrate their birthdays. Pat's big day is  today, and Teresa's will be Thursday. The photo below is of myself  (with eyes closed and mouth open, of course!), Pat, and Teresa, sitting on the screened-in porch with the birthday cake I made for them. Moshe isn't in the picture, 'cause he was the photograper... The four of us spent the day at the beach, had a picnic lunch there; then, came home and visited some more. I made tomato pie, a  tossed salad, and fresh corn on the cob for supper. We also had Moshe's homemade bread and several little bowls with treasures such as homemade cashew butter , apple butter, and pickles in them. (Do you get the idea that we sorta' like food? Especially homemade food?)

                           Well, anyway, here is the recipe for my tomato pie:             

                                                       TOMATO PIE

                                        2 Pie Crusts, baked per package directions

                                        2 pounds Ripe Tomatoes

                                        1 teaspoon Black Pepper

                                        1/2 teaspoon Salt

                                        2 Cups Sweet Onion, chopped 

                                        6 Tablespoons fresh chopped Basil

                                        1 Cup Mayonnaise

                                        3 Cups grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

          Peel tomatoes, remove seeds, and slice 1/2 inch thick.  Dry slices on paper towels. Divide ingredients between the 2 pre-baked pie shells. Layer tomatoes, then onions; sprinle with salt and pepper; then, layer with the chopped basil.

         Mix cheese and mayonnaise; then, spread on top, covering completely.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Allow to "rest" for 15 minutes before slicing.

                                                                 Shalom, Y'all!     Twyla         

mountain life

     Mountain life is different.  Different than anywhere else.  I've often said that it's like a step back in time.  Qualities such as honesty and integrity are the rule, not the exception. Where else but in out little community could the people down the road have a little vegetable stand, selling their excess garden produce - with a jar to put the money in?!? Purely on the honor system.  Where else could we buy hundreds of dollars worth of hay from a complete stranger and be told, " I'm busy today, so, when you get all your hay delivered, just count up how much you owe me and leave a check in that ol' pickup over yonder."?

          These aren't isolated events; they are commonplace.  There is a spirit here; a spirit of love and peace and kindness. This is the evidence of the existence of the One True God. I don't know why His Spirit is so strong here, but I'm glad to be here and to be a part of it.
          The simple life is the better life.  I love my kitchen gadgets and my air conditioning.  But, if the day comes when I have to give them up, I'll be glad to be "roughing it" in the mountains - the land of the free and the home of the brave.
                                                 Shalom,   Twyla
      

Friday - The Eve of Shabbat

as paraphrased from the Website, OU.org


          Friday is Yom HaShishi - The Sixth "Day"   Saturday is Shabbat, or Sabbath.  Human beings need a transition  between holy and worldly. When one speaks of the Holy Shabbat, that transition is provided by Erev Shabbat, Shabbat  Eve. What occurred on the first Erev Shabbat? Let us look at the Bible, where that event is described.
     "…And Hashem said, 'Let us make Man in our image and in our form, and let them rule over the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky, and over the cattle and over all creatures that are above the earth, and over all things that creep upon the earth.' And the L-rd created Man in His image; He created him in the image of G-d; male and female did He create them…"
     "…And G-d saw all that He had done, and behold it was very good; and it was evening and it was morning; the Sixth "Day."
     Paraphrasing Rabbi Kaplan : "…Shabbat must also be a do-it-yourself project. In order to really feel the Sabbath, you cannot wait for it to come to you. You must get into it. Every person must make his own Shabbat. You must prepare yourself and get into the mood. Only then will you be able to feel its true significance. True understanding only comes from doing and feeling. In a way, Shabbat is like (being in) love. You can talk about love for the rest of your life, but if you have never experienced it, you will never understand it. Once you have been in love though, no further discussion is necessary."
     Sabbath is a bond of love between people and Adonai.
    And so I am setting up the Shabbat table, and looking forward to  lighting the candles, reading scriptures, saying blessings, partaking of the grape juice and the challah bread - all in preparation for tomorrow - the Sabbath, a day of rest and pleasure.

                                                    My watercolor, " Aaronic Blessing"

                                                      Shabbat Shalom!          Twyla

Shades of Autumn on an August Morning

     Yesterday evening it was cooler than it's been all Summer, so we turned off the air and opened the windows...  Results:  This morning the house is 60 degrees. It feels refreshing.  And, makes me think of the seasons to come.  Autumn is my favorite time of year.  Sweater weather.  The trees recalling  & reliving God's glorious color schemes.  Roasting marshmallows around the firepit. Planning for Fall... and Winter..
     Feast of Tabernacles is less than a month away.  We will decorate our "Sukkah", and celebrate the arrival of the Only True King - Yeshua Ha' Meshiach - Jesus, the Messiah.  Known as Sukkot, Feast of Tabernacles, and Feast of Booths, this is one of the 7 Feast Days pronounced by Adonai - the LORD God.  There are both Jewish and Christian scholars who believe that the Feast of Tabernacles is when Jesus  was born; i.e., "He was 'tabernacled' among us."  There is persuasive evidence in both the New and Old Testaments that the birth of Christ was during the Feast of Tabernacles.  Historical records,  weather patterns, even the records of astronomers support this idea.
           What a beautiful story the Holy Scriptures tell if one is willing to "study to show thyself approved..."  Many clues are given in the Scriptures, but one must first have the knowledge of Jewish customs to understand the depth of the New Testament message.
            More about the Feast Days on another day.             Shalom, y'all,     Twyla            

CassPurr

          Wow.  A year ago today I signed the papers on the mountain property.  Immediately after, I went to the Humane Society, formally adopted CassPurr, and we headed to our new home.  It has been an adventure ever since.
          I met CassPurr about three months before the adoption.  The day I first saw him, I was still reeling from the death of my dear Annie, who had been my companion for 12 years.  My daughter, Melody, and I entered the thrift store, not thinking about the fact that there would be animals there.  At first I didn't want to look at them, thinking it would pain my heart too much.  But, Melody coaxed me to meet "this big, beautiful white cat."  CassPurr was so charming!  He had me at "Hello"...

       Like so many animals adopted from the Humane Society, CassPurr had a sad past.  He had been owned by a young couple who, when she became pregnant, gave him to the Humane Society.  In ignorance, they thought he would harm the baby.  CassPurr stayed at the Humane Society    for several   months, living in a cage, getting out only at night to exercise in the back room of the thrift store.  The ladies at the Humane Society kept him longer than the usual time, hoping he would find a home and not be euthanised.

     I visited "Cassie" several times over the months while I waited for the closing date on the property. On my last visit before the closing, my Mom came with me.  We visited CassPurr, of course.  I told the employees I'd be back in a week or so to get him.  As we started to drive out of the parking lot, Mom said, "I have a feeling you should go ahead and pay for his adoption now."  I listened to my Mom's instinct, turned around, went back in the store, and adopted him with the understanding that I would pick him up on the date of the house closing.

     After I had CassPurr securely at our new home, the ladies at the Humane Society told me that CassPurr was scheduled to be euthanised the day I paid for his adoption and filled out the adoption papers. Had I waited until the house closing, he would have been gone. There are no coincidences in life. None.

                                                                                              Shalom,     Twyla

                                                           The Road Not Taken



                                           Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
                                           And sorry I could not travel both,
                                           And be one traveler, long I stood
                                           And looked down one as far as I could
                                           To where it bent in the undergrowth.

                                           Then took the other, as just as fair,
                                           And having perhaps the better claim
                                           Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
                                           Though as for that the passing there
                                           Had worn them really about the same,

                                           And both that morning equally lay
                                           In leaves no step had trodden black.
                                           Oh, I marked the first for another day!
                                           Yet knowing how way leads on to way
                                            I doubted if I should ever come back.

                                            I shall be telling this with a sigh
                                           Somewhere ages and ages hence:
                                           Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
                                            I took the one less traveled by,
                                           And that has made all the difference.

                                                                               Robert Frost

Old Barns and What You Find in Them

     Moshe and I love old barns.  We take pictures of them all the time.  One day we drove around for the sole purpose of photographing  barns in various states of disrepair.  There are many, many such barns up here in the North Georgia mountains.  I find them very beautiful, and, like everything else in my life, I have a tendency to name them.  This one is "Cinderella's Castle".

    

      Old buildings have such stories to tell . Surely they have seen good times and bad.  Surely they have known good people and bad.  Ahhh, if only they could speak...

        

     What all would this picture say?  What IS all this stuff? Why was it delegated to the barn?  Why wasn't it thrown away? Did someone think they would use it again someday?    Save it for parts?   Did it belong to "Grandma" or "Aunt Sally" and, somehow, it would be sacriligious to throw it away? Or, was the barn owner just lazy, and put the items in the barn, like Scarlett O'Hara, "I'll think about that tomorrow"?

(My vote goes for the latter... human nature being what it is.)

     I love old barns.  Part of me wishes we had one on our property.  But, like I said,  human nature being what it is, our barn would quickly be full of stuff.  And, someday, someone would see its contents and wonder, "What WERE they thinking???"

                                     Shalom y'all,     Twyla

    

Organic Eggs vs Storebought

This  is from a  CNN news story I read last night on the Internet:


A law firm specializing in food poisoning cases has filed a suit related to the tainted eggs

The CDC estimates hundreds of Americans have been rendered ill by contaminated eggs

Iowa's Wright County Egg has recalled 380 million eggs due to salmonella concerns

The U.S. egg industry produced about 6.5 billion eggs in April

The Egg Safety Center has a complete list of recalled eggs, their expiration dates, and brands.

(CNN) -- Hundreds of Americans have likely become ill from tainted eggs, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration, which investigates food contamination, said the CDC received reports of approximately 200 salmonella cases every week during late June and early July. Normally, the CDC has received an average of some 50 reports of salmonella illness each week for the past five years. Many states have also reported increases of this pattern since May 2010, the FDA said.

A few of our organic eggs.

    

  












 WOW! I'm so glad we have our 11 hens  - we get between 8 and 13 eggs per day... Nice, pretty, brown, organic SAFE eggs.  Thanks to "Pretty Face", "Runt",  "Miss Congeniality", "Big Mouth", et al. Various shades of brown, various sizes... invariably delicious and healthy. All praise be to God.

Applesauce Magic

       Today we went apple-picking. Free apples, just pick 'em yourself. It only took us a few minutes to fill the two boxes we brought in the Jeep. I'm guessing we picked 100 or so apples.

      Now, that would be a daunting
chore if it weren't for my handy kitchen gadgets! I remember making applesauce about 30 years ago, and it was an all-day process... peeling, coring, slicing, cooking, pushing everything through a special  sieve, then, finally, canning it all. But, today I made applesauce "like Granda used to make", only much more speedily. Moshe and I worked together on getting the apples ready to cook; Moshe manned our newest gadget - the Apple Peeler-Corer-Slicer. Then, I chopped them a bit more, and discarded any brown spots. We processed 40 apples within 15 minutes!

After cooking them, I removed about 1/3 of them and mashed them with an old-fashioned potato masher.  The remaining 2/3's were quickly blended in the blender. I combined it all, stirred
it up, and started the canning process.

    
       Here is the result of our labor. Eight quarts of
wonderful applesauce, ready to be stored away and opened on some snowy day.
      
     My Recipe for Old-TImey Applesauce:
                                      (makes 8 Quarts)
40 Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
  6 Cups Water
  2 Cups Sugar
  2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

     Combine all ingredients in LARGE pot; bring to boil, then, simmer for 20 minutes. For chunky applesauce, remove approximately one-third of the apples and chop them coarsely; set aside.  Blend the remaining apple mixture (in batches) with a blender or food processor until smooth; combine both mixtures and stir.  Have your hot canning jars, tops, and rings ready; also, have your water boiling for a canning bath.
(***Optional: Place a few pieces of orange and a few whole cloves in each jar as you fill it with applesauce.)
Place into canning bath for 20 minutes. Remove, and listen for the wonderful "ping" of the jars sealing!  Music to  the ears of a country cook!

Pencil Art

It is not often that I receive an email as impressive as this one. Somebody was really creative both with their art and their words. Hope you will enjoy!

A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS JUST BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE BOX :

1.) EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK

2.) YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE. 3.) WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU.

4.) IN LIFE, YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS, WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER.

5.) TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU.

We all need to be constantly sharpened. This parable may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and abilities. Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to accomplish. Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always remember that the most important part of who you are, is what's inside of you.

Shalom to all, Twyla

Is this near La-La Land?

My Hubby got my account to come back up, so I'm posting again... I'm good at a few things, but, computer is not one of them. If something isn't working, I'm at a complete loss.

We went down the mountain this past Sunday for a family birthday celebration. My oldest brother, his son, and my son-in-law all have birthdays in August, so we had a combo birthday party. Great fun, and way too much food!
"Going down the mountain" requires planning when you have animals and plants depending on you. The chickens must be fed and watered, eggs gathered, crops harvested, and everything secured against predators. We have bears, deer, rabbits, and mountain lions, all desiring to eat our chickens or our garden. So far, we've been extremely blessed and have only lost a couple tomatoes and a few ears of corn. No animal casualties. Praise Adonai.

So, we went down the mountain, ate way too much. laughed alot, talked alot, and headed back up the mountain to get home before dark. We always carry at least one camera with us, so we stopped to take a few pictures along the way. This photo is of an actual business about an hour's drive from home. I laugh every time I drive by. My first trip up the mountain, when I was looking for a house to buy, I was with my friend Pat. When we saw this sign, we laughed 'til we cried. Hope y'all can appreciate this little store being "smack dab in the middle of nowhere".

Back In The Saddle

This is actually Twyla's happy hubby. I needed to figure out how to get Twyla back into her blog and get her to posting again. I'm going to try to motivate her to post more often. Check back in the near future to see what she has to share.

Shalom, Moshe