Update on Transplant Patient

Thank you so much to those of you who prayed for my niece's fiancee, Rich, today. Both boys came through the surgery well, though Rich (kidney recipient) is still very out of it.

Mandi asked me to keep praying, as the next few days are actually more critical for Rich than was the surgery itself. I told her I had friends praying with me, and to have faith in God.

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But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.
~Isaiah 53:5 Amplified Bible

No Knead, No Excuses Bread!

Do you like homemade bread, but you don't like to knead? Or maybe, like me, you have arthritis in your hands, and it's simply too painful for you to knead. You can use a bread machine, of course, but maybe you don't have one.

If you fit into the category above, but you still want to enjoy the taste of bakery style bread, check out the No Knead video (short commercial at the beginning), which I just read about on Windansea's Dropped A Stitch blog. I have no picture to show, as I've not tried this yet myself, though I am going to right away. Windansea does have a picture on her blog, and her bread looks delicious, like something from the window of a fancy schmancy bakery!

If you try it, I'd love to know how it works for you. :-)

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A quick prayer request-My neice, Mandi, is engaged to a really neat young man by the name of Rich. Rich lost his eyesight a few years ago as a result of juvenile diabetes. His kidneys have also begun to fail.
TODAY, he is undergoing kidney transplant surgery!
Rich's very good friend is donating a kidney. Now, that is a true friend!
I don't know the particulars of the time of the operation, but if you feel inclined, please lift both Rich and his friend up before the Lord today. I'm sorry, I don't know the name of Rich's friend.
Also, Mandi was very fearful on Rich's behalf. Please pray for her to have peace as she commits Rich to God.
Thank you so very much!

*****

Jesus replied, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time).

~John 6:35 Amplified Bible

Guess What's Up

My mother and my brother have both required blood pressure meds for much of their adult lives, whereas, I have not. I've always found this fact surprising, considering they are each naturally slender people, and I am fat not. Secretly, to me, it was a small sliver of justice. They've gone through life thin, and with perfect eyesight. I've gone through life fat struggling with my weight, and Mr.Magoo eyes (I wear contacts). My biological dad died in his early 40's. I'm not sure if he had to take blood pressure medicine or not. I do know he wore glasses, though they were not of the Mr.Magoo sort.

Reality came and bit me in the keister this week. I was in Wal-Mart pharmacy the other night and decided, on a whim, to check my blood pressure. First try equalled shocking (to me) results. Second try, numbers came down only slightly. Third try, no difference. My top number put me in the stage 2 hypertension category, and my bottom number put me in stage 1 hypertension.

So much for justice!

I have not gone to the doctor. Not having medical insurance, I don't tend to go there often. The first thing I did was to quit eating Doritoes Chipotle Ranch flavored chips. I knew better, but they are just so good. All the watermelon, tomatoes, and canteloupe that I've been eating doused with salt? Screeching halt! No, I've not given up those goodies, but I did give up the salt shaker. Really, I knew better. They're so incredibly tasty, it's not like I even needed the salt to enjoy them. Another treat I've all but eliminated from my diet is roasted peanuts in the shell. We keep them on hand and snack on them nightly. I only ever eat a small handful at a time, but they are loaded in salt.

I am also cutting back on red meat. Eating it as often as we now do is a habit we've gotten into in recent years, since a wonderful little meat market opened up near our house. Again, I knew better.

I've also upped my walking. I walk two dogs a day, mine and a shut-in neighbor's. I'd recently shortened those walks due to the heat and humidity. I hate getting all sweaty and icky feeling. Now I just shower more frequently. My water bill may go up, but hopefully my blood pressure is coming down some.

I'll go back to Wal-Mart in a few days, one week after the disastrous readings. If it's still in the danger zone, I'll consider a doctor's visit. I know I need to lose weight. Not to sound cliche', but that is so much easier said than done. I am open to suggsestions of natural means of lowering my bp.

Meanwhile, I hear spending time with pets is supposed to lower your bp, so I'll spend some time cuddling this...

*****Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
~III John 1:2 NIV

Peaches'n'Cream

On this (cup of leftover homemade ice-cream)....

Do I want this?

Or this?

Or these? (have I got you ready to make a freezer run yet?)

Peach, you knew it was you all along, didn't you? Mmm...

For those who inquired about my mom's Coca Cola cake recipe, I'll get it from her and post it later this week.

For those who wanted to know if the "yellow meater" tasted like a red meat watermelon, yes and no. I thought it was a little different, and yet I'm not sure as I'd have noticed it had I been blindfolded for a taste test. Either way, it was sweet, and it was good!

We still have a little of the homemade ice-cream left. I do the same thing my dad always did, which is to scoop the leftover ice-cream into individual styrofoam coffee cups, then cover the tops with saran wrap. I stacked them side by side in a lasagna pan and put the pan in the freezer. Once they're frozen, you can remove the pan if you wish.

Forty-five seconds in the microwave at 30% power loosens the ice-cream from the cup ever so slightly, just enough so that you can scrape it out into a bowl. Or if you're concerned about nuking styrofoam, just set the cup on the counter for a few minutes, and you'll get the same effect (if you can wait that long). It tastes like it came straight from the ice-cream freezer!

As for God, His way is perfect! The word of the Lord is tested and tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him.

~Psalm 18:30

Red, White & Blue ...and YELLOW?

Mr.Studley and I went to the local farmer's market this week for fresh fruit and veggies. A friend at church gave us a bag full of huge onions from his garden. Plus, Yankee Neighbor gave us a bag full of big tomatoes from his garden. I tell you, we've been eatin' gooood in the neighborhood!

Yankee Neighbor isn't a derogatory term. I have nothing against Yankees. Some of my relatives are Yanks. I can just never remember the guy's name. His northern accent really stands out among those of us with an east Texas twang to our talk. That, and the colorful expletives he often uses to pepper his speech. Sheesh! The guy could make a sailor blush. He is a nice guy, though, and he grows a great garden every year, and often shares the bounty with our family and others in the 'hood.

The "yellow meater" watermelon above, or rather what's left of it, was one Mr.Studley picked out at the farmer's market. Since I'd never eaten yellow watermelon before, he'd suggested last week that we should get one soon. Only he didn't call it a 'yellow watermelon', he referred to it as a 'yellow meater', or truth be told, it came out sounding more like "yella meater". I've been teasing him about that, assuring him no one calls them that. Lo and behold, as we were paying for our purchases at the market, the lady taking our money asked "you do know that's a yeller meater, don't you?".

I stand corrected.

That's my son flipping burgers for our cookout last night. The weiners were to follow. I love eating food that someone else cooks. I love eating food cooked outdoors because there's so little clean up involved in the kitchen. For that matter, I love food. I love eating. My mirror mocks me with that fact each time I look it's way. Stupid mirror.

While dinner was being cooked, I called my mom to get my dad's homemade ice-cream recipe. I'm sure I could've found one to use, but I wanted it to be his. I mixed it up, then Hubs froze it in the ice-cream maker. It turned out delicious, just like my dad's. As I was eating it last night, I thought about him and how much he'd enjoy being here partaking, which made me a bit sad. Then, it was as if I saw him sitting there in Heaven, eating a huge bowl of the stuff (and not having to worry about what it was doing to his blood sugar), and he tipped his bowl to me, as if to say "cheers". He was smiling and laughing and the image of it made me cry and smile all at the same time.

I know what the meaning behind July 4th is and I don't mean to take away from that at all. For me, at this age and stage of my life, it was about memories. All day long yesterday, I found myself looking back on various July 4th activities I spent as a child. I remember many summers that our family spent at the lake. My mom and dad made it such a fun time. Mom would fry up at least three or four chickens ahead of time, which she'd bring in the cooler along with a huge bowl of her potato salad. Oh, and there was her famous Coke-A-Cola cake. My mouth is watering just thinking of it.We'd have coolers of drinks, cold watermelons, ice-cream freezers full of ice-cream, and family and friends. It all just seemed ordinary to me as a kid. I didn't have a clue how much work my folks put into making those fun times happen. I guess that's because they didn't make it look like work. It was fun. Good family fun...which I thought would go on forever.

The Recipe Box Swap~Cucumbers in Sour Cream

Time is whizzing on by. It seems like just last week was The Recipe Box Swap. If you've been reading my blog awhile, you know the drill. If you are new to my blog, here's the scoop. On the first Thursday of every month, Randi, at i have to say..., hosts The Recipe Box Swap on her blog. She puts up a Mr.Linky which everyone participating can sign, adding their own blog to the list. It's a great way to share recipes, and to see new blogs!

The theme this month is bbq'ing. We're sharing recipes of something served at a bbq.

As a young newlywed, I purchased a small spiral bound cookbook titled Miriam B. Loo's Family Favorites Cookbook. I have been preparing dishes from this book for thirty years. The cover, as well as the pages, is indicative of what a messy cook I am.

I was working at Frito Lay in Dallas at the time, in their accounts payables department. I tell you, women in offices are easy targets when you have something to sell. Someone was always bringing in some colorful brochure of goodies their kid was selling for school or Scouts. As I recall, that's how I came to purchase my little Miriam B. Loo book. It has served me well over the years. I hope you try the recipe I'm sharing!

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Cucumbers In Sour Cream

• 1 large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced


• 3/4 tsp salt


• 1/2 cup sour cream


• 1 Tbsp lemon juice


• 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped onion


• 1/4 tsp sugar


• 1/8 tsp white pepper (black will do as well)


• Minced parsley

Toss cucumbers with salt; cover and refrigerate until well chilled.

Combine sour cream, lemon juice, onion, sugar and pepper; blend well.

Reserve 1/4 cup of mixture for garnish.

Combine cucumbers with remaining sour cream mixture.

Refrigerate until well chilled or about 2 hours.

To serve: Arrage cucumber slices on bed of salad greens; top with small mound of reserved sour cream mixture and sprinkle with minced parsley.

Serves 4

The internet is a great source for finding new recipes, but there's something special about a well worn cookbook, passed down through the family. I'll likely pass this one down to my daughter someday. I can hear her now,

"Ooh, Mom. It's got gross stuff stuck on the cover! ".

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The righteous man walks in his integrity; blessed (happy, fortunate, enviable) are his children after him.

~Proverbs 20:7 Amplified Bible

Pictures of My Blessings

Notice the name on the return section of the envelope? That's right. Vicki Howell. I got a package from Miss Vicki, herself. Well, okay, I think her personal assistant may have actually mailed it, but still.

VICKI HOWELL, Y'ALL!

You non-knitters are probably wondering who on earth Vicki Howell is, but the knitters know, at least those who watch DIY do. She was the adorable redhead with the funky haircut who hosted DIY's television show, Knitty Gritty. She offered a prize of her label yarn (by SWTC) to the first 50 people who posted a link on their blog to her podcast, "Craft.Rock.Listen." Just call me speedy.

Next up is this BEAUTIFUL handspun by that awesome knitwear designer, Kristin, over at Through the Loops. She designed a pair of "fraternal" socks. If you read her blog, you know she has fraternal twins. Her children, who model much of her knitwear, are drop dead gorgeous, by the way. The socks she designed and knit were very much alike, and yet different. She sent out the call for name suggestions for the socks. I, along with four other people, suggested Apollo & Artemis. That's right, Miss Monk. I was paying attention in your senior Greek Mythology class!

Along with some of her lovely handspun, Kristen awarded to the winners (including moi') the pattern for the Apollo & Artemis socks, along with our choice of two other of her purchasable patterns (she also has great free patterns available on her blog). This yarn is soft & luscious.

Last, but definitely not least, take a gander below. Is that cute, or WHAT? I not only won a blog contest, but I made a new friend. Kat, over at Katerpillars No More, is a gem. She is one of the nicest and sweetest people I've ever met online. To see how brilliantly creative she is, one only has to see the pictures on her blog. She turns out adorable primitives. Each of her dolls has a personality that just shows in their picture.

Not only did she send me the darling garden angel, but look at the goodies she included with it! Along with the sweet card, the gardening gloves and seeds, is a cute little flower magnet. That Kat, she just blessed my socks off! Another thing that blessed my socks off was reading her awesome testimony. It will give you chills what the Lord has done in her life. Read it, you'll be blessed!

Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.

~Deuteronomy 28:6

Not Lucky, Blessed!

My stepson's oldest, posing for me last fall. A real cutie, huh?

I hope when I post about my winnings, you don't think I'm bragging. I even hope you don't think of me as lucky, per se. I'm not. I spent much of my life thinking I was an unlucky person. I never won anything. Not anything. It wasn't just in not winning contests that I felt unlucky, either.

These days I seem to be having what gamblers might term as a "winning streak". I prefer to think of my winnings as blessings. I no longer even believe in luck, or it's opposite. I have won alot of blog contests this past year. I have been greatly blessed!

As believers, I think we stay in God's favor as we walk with Him, but what I've been experiencing lately feels different. I feel like I'm in a 'season of blessing'. I don't even know if such a thing is scriptural or not, but I just 'feel' it. I'm not saying Mr.Studley and I aren't facing tough economic challenges right now (we are), but blessings seem to be coming from so many different directions these days, not just in winning blog contests.

I don't expect to always be the one winning things. I'm enjoying it while it lasts. I even teased Mr.Studley that maybe this would be a good time for us to go to Vegas. I'm kidding....I think....yes, I am. I'm kidding.


Lately I've been feeling I need to offer a contest of my own. Start paying some of it forward, you know? I'm not a wealthy woman, so offering some high dollar prize simply isn't doable for me at this time. I'm milling it over, praying about it, to come up with something I could offer that would appeal to a varied group of readers.

Well, that's enough yacking for one post. This is sort of long (brief, I'm not), so I'll show you my most recent blessings in a separate post.

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Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His heritage.

~Psalm 33:12 Amplified Bible

My Day in Court

In By Nine, Out By Ten!

I'm home from my day at court, or rather, my morning at court. Of the approximately 250 people that were summoned, my number was 220. At least half the names called out during the roll call were no-shows. I'm confused by that. Where were those 100+ people who were summoned but didn't appear? Do they not consider a summons to be a command? Are they not fearful of the consequences of not showing up when called? Or are there no consequences?

Me, I'm too much of a chicken to risk not following the rules. I don't want to chance having the jury police show up at my door. Yes, I'm a wuss. That, and I guess that deep down, I do consider it my civic duty...up to a point.

I arrived at 8:45, despite my intentions of making it there by 8:30. The summons said to be there at 9:00, but having been called last year, I knew that roughly 300 people would be called, and there is bench seating for approximately 25 people. That means less than 10% would actually get to sit. I didn't make it in time for a seat on a bench, but I did score a spot of wall space. Even that was a premium by the time I arrived. I quickly began chatting with a man and woman nearby. In the 20 or so minutes we stood there, we covered living in Mexico verses the states, the harried job of a border patrol agent (the woman's soon to be son-in-law is one), illegal immigrants (the man's Mexican wife has sisters living here illegally), what we think of the presidential candidate choices (we were all agreed in our opinions on that subject). The courtroom doors then opened, and we were instructed to go in and have a seat.

After the soft spoken, kindly looking judge explained to us what an honor and a privilige it was for us to be there (I agree), and told us the nature of the two cases for which they'd be selecting jurors today, he read the qualifications for exemption. He asked that everyone vacate the courtroom except those desiring to be excused. He would then interview each person with an excuse and determine whether it was viable or not.

I was really torn whether to go or sit there. I was already there, and I do find the whole process somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, I have a bladder problem. TMI (too much information), I know! I had a very real concern that I wouldn't be able to sit through the jury picking process, much less in a juror's seat if selected. Not only do I have to go frequently, but when I have to go, I have to go then. The thought of having to walk up there and stand between two men (not sure who they were), on my tiptoes no less, as the judge's desk was high and I am short, and explain this problem was a tad daunting. I knew if I didn't, I'd be setting myself up for possible misery. I said a prayer, asked God to let me find favor in the judge's eyes, and marched up there when the bailiff pointed at me.

Not only did the judge look kindly, he was kindly. He told me he also suffers a similar problem (he was an older man). He said that if I were a selected juror, I'd have to be prepared to sit in the box for up to 1 1/2 hours at a time, which I knew I couldn't do. He excused me. I was relieved and let down, all at the same time.

As to the knitting, I got summoned last year, too. I took my knitting then and no one ever said a word to me about it. Today, I carried my knitting around in a clear plastic pouch, aluminum double pointed needles prominently displayed. No one said a thing. I didn't have a chance to use them, but I don't think it would have been a problem. This is a small town, and things here are pretty laid back, compared to urban areas.

I have things I want to show you, but I haven't taken pictures. We're having a sunny day today (not too hot, either-yea!). My well laid plans are to take some pictures outside. The best laid plans of mice and men........

Two Oft' Dreaded Words

Where I'll be spending the day.

What I'll be taking along to pass the hours of waiting.

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

~John 7:24