Rapunzel Nightshade

   This is one of our last bell peppers for the season. Wow, have we been blessed with a prolific garden.  Every item we planted has provided us with far more than we dreamt.  God is like that - giving us more than we can imagine, if only we allow Him to...  (Take the seed, plant it in good soil, water it with The Word, keep it away from rocky areas, weeds, and varmints....)
     Moshe and I will miss the fresh vegetables. But, once cool weather sets in,  we'll crave soups and stews and hot casseroles.  Then  we will be reminded of our wonderful harvest and rewarded for the many hours of canning, freezing, and drying fruits and vegetables.  We are looking forward to homemade spaghetti sauce, using our own marinara sauce, canned tomatoes, frozen zuchinni, dried onions and garlic - even our own dried hot pepper, basil, and oregano.
     We are blessed, blessed, blessed!
     As you can see from this picture  this little bell pepper didn't form exactly right. Somehow it "folded itself upon itself". It also was much smaller than all the other peppers.  If I were a little runt of a deformed pepper,  someone might not want me, might discard me as useless, imperfect,  not good enough.  I might feel really bad about myself...  But, wait...
   
                                                                          Flip me over...
                                                                     

   

Add a couple of cloves for eyes...

And some shredded carrot for hair... and, I become Rapunzel Nightshade - the happiest bell pepper in town. 

I know... sometimes I'm just goofy... Bet it made you smile, though!

Shalom y'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".

A Ladie's Luncheon/An Appointment with God

Okay, the last photo I posted was another shot from Moshe's birthday party. I think it's soooo funny how people look (dressed up) while having very serious conversations. This photo is of Moshe talking politics with our friends Parker and Barb.

Speaking of Barb... Yesterday I went to a ladie's luncheon in her honor. There were about twenty ladies there, all, of course, bearing large quantites of wonderful food. For once, I did not overeat, probably because I was so busy talking, AND because I've recently been experiencing symptoms of ?gallstones, ?diverticulosis, or ???

Anyhow, what a great time we had! I met some of Barb's relatives, and we really hit it off. One person, in particular, was a "God Appointment". We were meant to meet. We have lots and lots in common, plus, we look as if we should be sisters. We exchanged phone numbers, etc., and I look forward to conversing more with Valerie in the future. (As she said, we really ARE sisters in the eyes of God.)

Today is Father's Day, and I am blessed to still have both my parents. They are both 85 years old, active, and in good health. Isn't that great?

Today is also Sunday. Although we celebrate the Sabbath (which is Saturday) by relaxing and not doing any ordinary work, commerce, etc., we attend church services on Sunday because there are no Saturday services up here in the mountains. We are Messianic, which means that although we have Jewish heritage, we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah. We still practice the Jewish customs and Feast Days, but also believe in Christianity. As my new friend, Val, said yesterday, "It's like being double-dipped in God's grace."

Shalom, y'all!!!