Four Virginia Reels

Eight Rules of Life:

1. You must make peace with your past so it won’t disturb your future.

2. What other people think of you is none of your business.

3. The only person in charge of your happiness is you.

4. Don’t compare your life to others. Comparison is the thief of joy.

5. Time heals almost everything. Give it time.

6. Stop thinking so much. It’s alright not to have all the answers.
7. No amount of guilt can change the past. No amount of worry can change the future.

8. Smile. You don’t own all the problems of the world.

Four More Winds

Reverse Advent Calendar

Each day add an item to a box.

On Christmas Eve, donate the box to a food bank.

December 1 – cereal

December 2 – peanut butter

December 3 – stuffing mix

December 4 – boxed potatoes

December 5 – mac and cheese

December 6 – canned fruit

December 7 – canned tomatoes

December 8 – canned tuna

December 9 – dessert mix

December 10 – bottled applesauce

December 11 – canned sweet potatoes

December 12 – cranberry sauce

December 13 – beans

December 14 - crackers

December 15 - rice

December 16 - oatmeal

December 17 - pasta

December 18 – spaghetti sauce

December 19 – chicken noodle soup

December 20 – tomato soup

December 21 – canned corn

December 22 – canned peas

December 23 – jam or jelly

December 24  - canned green beans

-          From Passionate Penny Pincher

Virginia Reel

Harold and Tina Ehrenberg were expecting company over Thanksgiving in their Mandeville, Louisiana home. They were cleaning the house to get ready when they ran across a lottery ticket they’d bought months ago. The drawing was June 6, and theirs was the only winning ticket. After taxes, the Ehrenbergs took home a little more than a million dollars. They intend to put the entire amount toward their retirement. “We don't have any plans to buy anything crazy or go on any big trips,” Tina explains. “The most fun,” Harold adds, “is going to be depositing that check.” The Ehrenbergs are very lucky they found their ticket when they did. If they’d waited just two more weeks, it would have been completely worthless. Moral of the story: The best time to clean up is right now. You never know what you might find.

X Quartet

We didn’t have many Thanksgiving leftovers this year. But we do have just enough turkey for a double batch of soup, which we could serve next Sunday with fresh rolls. Until then, it's safely tucked in the freezer. 

Creamy Turkey Gnocchi Soup

3/4 cup butter

Pinch of red pepper flakes

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 large onion, chopped

3 big carrots, chopped

3 ribs of celery, sliced

1/3 cup flour

5 cups chicken or turkey stock

1 pound potato gnocchi

1 cup cream

3 cups turkey meat, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups spinach, chopped

Melt butter over low heat. Add pepper flakes, garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Saute at least 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle flour over veg; stir. Blend in stock and bring to a boil. Add gnocchi and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in cream, turkey, nutmeg and spinach. Continue cooking until spinach wilts. Serve hot, topped with grated Parmesan.

Thirty-Six Sawtooth Stars

“When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day, no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us? As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done. You might pray and ponder, asking the question: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life?” – President Henry B. Eyring

Christmas Winds

In 1939 Irving Berlin was sorting through a stack of songs he’d written for the musical that would eventually become Holiday Inn. He came across “White Christmas” and had second thoughts. Was it too depressing for a holiday song? He sang it to Bing Crosby (Can you picture singing ANYTHING to Bing Crosby?) who at first didn’t see anything special about it. But Bing told Berlin not to toss the song. Audiences took a while to warm up to “White Christmas,” too. When Holiday Inn debuted, “Be Careful, It’s My Heart” was by far the biggest hit. I suspect it’s not a coincidence that the popularity of “White Christmas” blossomed during World War II, when so many soldiers were serving overseas and longing for Christmases at home, “just like the ones I used to know.” Today the song Irving Berlin almost threw away is still the best-selling single of all time.

Fig Tree Wyoming Valley

I wish I could tell you who wrote this little poem. I’ve seen it attributed to Russell H. Conwell, to Karen McLendon-Laumann, to Rajarshi Chakraborty (No, I’m not kidding) and to Spike Milligan. Whoever penned it, it seemed to me to be worth passing on:

Smiling is infectious, you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner and someone saw my grin.

When he smiled I realised I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth.

A single smile, just like mine could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected.

Let's start an epidemic quick, and get the world infected!

 - Source Obscure

Turkey Platter

The turkey shot out of the oven and rocketed into the air.

It knocked every plate off the table and partly demolished a chair.

It ricocheted into a corner and burst with a deafening boom,

Then splattered all over the kitchen, completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and windows. It totally coated the floor.

There was turkey attached to the ceiling, where there’d never been turkey before.

It blanketed every appliance. It smeared every saucer and bowl.

There wasn’t a way I could stop it. That turkey was out of control.

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure, and thought with chagrin as I mopped,

That I’d never again stuff a turkey with popcorn that hadn’t been popped.

-          Jack Prelutzky

Feed Sack Furrows Quilt

Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup

1 1/2 pound red potatoes cut into large cubes

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen cut green beans (not French cut)

1 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1 quart beef broth

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Add all ingredients to slow cooker in order listed. Cover and cook on low six hours, or high for three. If you don’t have Italian seasoning mix, you can make your own by blending equal parts of dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary and  sage. I’ve made several variations of this recipe – even thrown a handful of uncooked barley or brown rice. If you have a little stew beef or ground beef on hand, you can brown it in a skillet before adding it to the pot. But then, of course, you’d have vegetable beef soup.

Wyoming Valley

Thanksgiving’s two days away, and it kicks off a whole season of dinner parties. Over the next few weeks you’ll likely be dining at least once or twice with family or friends. There’s lots of advice on how to host these events, but not much about being a good guest. So here goes:

RSVP early. It’s impossible to plan unless you know how many to plan for. For the same reason, don’t bring last-minute, unexpected guests without clearing it with the host.

If you want to bring a dish, ask first to avoid duplicating something on the menu, and bring serving utensils.

If you haven’t been asked to bring anything and you don’t like to show up empty-handed, bring a beverage or better yet, flowers.

Come on time.

Ignore your phone.

Keep the conversation light. This isn’t time to discuss politics or your most recent surgery.

Remember to thank the host. Even better, offer to help with the dishes.

Twenty-five Sawtooth Stars

“Do our sheep know we are watching over them with love and we will take action to help? In Matthew 25 we read: ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?’ Brothers and sisters, the key word is saw. The righteous saw those in need because they were watching and noticing. We too can be a watchful eye to aid and comfort, to celebrate and even dream. As we act, we can be assured of the promise in Matthew: ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me.’” – Bonnie H. Cordon

Four-Patch Fox and Goose

November 7 I shared my personal autumn bucket list: the things I like to do this time of year, just for fun. Here’s a far more serious list: stuff that SHOULD be done each year before the snow flies.

Trim large tree limbs that might hit the house in high winds.

Tighten loose deck screws.

Clean and store patio furniture.

Clean dryer vent and rain gutters.

Change smoke detector batteries.

Sweep and mop under all major appliances.

Vacuum fridge/freezer coils.

Flush your hot water heater.

Replace furnace filter; vacuum heat vents and cold air returns.

Replace tub caulking and clean grout.

Update medicine cabinet (cold and flu season is coming).

Flip mattresses.

Swap lightweight summer bed linens for warmer sheets and blankets.

Clean ceiling fans and switch them to winter mode.

The carpet is your house’s biggest air filter; have it shampooed or steam cleaned.

Sixteen Sawtooth Stars

We visited the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point Monday. We love the dinosaur skeletons, but there’s lots more to see. In one of the last few rooms on our tour there’s a life-size elephant bird painted on a wall. He was the world’s largest bird, like an ostrich on steroids: ten feet tall and heavy as a horse. He lived on the island of Madagascar until about a thousand years ago. I hadn’t paid much attention to him before. He is, after all just a painting on a wall. But this year, the elephant bird was in the news. Twice. In April, someone rediscovered an intact elephant bird egg that had been forgotten in a cabinet in the Buffalo Museum of Science. And earlier this month some scientists at UT-Austin studying elephant bird skulls decided the elephant bird must have been nocturnal and was very likely blind. Like a kiwi bird, only much, much bigger. Cool.

Nine Feed Sack Cabins

Italy has the lowest birth rate in Europe, and it’s still falling. It’s not a coincidence that Italy’s economy is also in decline. In order to address both issues, they’re proposing a radical idea: free farmland for growing families. If the plan is implemented, Italian parents who have a third child between 2019 and 2021 would be given plots of state-owned farmland to run for 20 years. They’ll also offer interest-free loans to build homes nearby. I was skeptical when I first heard about the land-for-babies scheme. After all, governments can’t give anyone anything unless they take it from someone else. But Italy actually has half a million hectares of fertile agricultural land that isn’t currently being farmed. So I guess the only drawback would be if no Italian couples dream of becoming farmers. Before you pack your bags, you should know: the offer would only be available to families who’ve lived in Italy ten years or more.

Nine Sawtooth Stars

We’d bought several very large Honey Crisp apples last week, right before our veg box arrived with as many good-sized Fujis. I was suddenly reminded of Robert Frost’s After Apple-Picking: “I am overtired of the great harvest I myself desired.” We could never have eaten them all by ourselves, and they’re not varieties that make good applesauce. Instead they became dessert for Sunday dinner:

Apple Crisp

10 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F. Place apples in 9x13” pan. Mix white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all. Combine oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble over apple mixture. Bake 45 minutes. Serves 12.

Fifteen LeMoyne Stars

Keep your words soft and sweet in case you have to eat them.

Read books that would make you look good if you died in the middle.

Drive carefully. Cars aren’t the only thing that can be recalled by their Maker.

If you lend someone $20 and never see them again, it was probably worth it.

It’s possible your purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time. You won't have a leg to stand on.

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Get up and dance.

When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

Some mistakes are too much fun to make once.

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

You can learn a lot from crayons. They’re all are different colors, but they live in the same box.

Four Sawtooth Stars

“Unless you are in the service of your fellow being, you are not in the service of your God. Mormon expressed this thought, which was recorded by his son Moroni, when he said:, ‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.’ I am persuaded that only this charity, this pure love of Christ, this love plus sacrifice, which is exemplified in the work that goes on in our temples, can save this nation and the world, for that matter when the Lord comes. The Lord was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if Abraham could find just ten good men, which he could not do. I presume I could not have a more important hope for you and me than that we may be filled with this charity, this pure love of Christ, to serve our fellow man.” – Hartman Rector, Jr.

Four Feed Sack Cabins

In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky, the larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead; short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe! To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high! If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields. - John McCrae (1872-1918)

Sawtooth Star

At eleven o'clock in the morning on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 an armistice was signed between Germany and the Allies of World War I at Compiègne, France, signaling the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I. The armistice was essentially three-month cease-fire; the war didn’t actually come to an end until the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In Great Britain Armistice Day is celebrated with poppies to commemorate the lives lost in World War I and subsequent wars. Tiny artificial poppies start showing up on lapels the last Friday in October and disappear after sunset November 11. In the US November 11 is called Veteran’s Day, a day to honor the service of veterans both living and dead. We reserve Memorial Day – Decoration Day – to remember those killed in action.

Four Winds Times Four

At 7:15 the morning of October 28, New Zealand fisherman Gus Hutt was on the beach checking his lines. He saw what looked like a large doll with a porcelain face floating in the surf, and he reached out and grabbed its arm. When the “doll” let out a little squeak, Gus nearly lost his grip. Eighteen-month-old Malachi Reeve had been staying with his family at a campground on Matata Beach. While his parents slept in, Malachi unzipped the tent and headed straight for the water. He’d floated about 50 feet before he was fished out. “If I hadn’t been there or if I’d just been a minute later I wouldn’t have seen him,” said Gus. Little Malachi was taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out, then his parents brought him to visit his rescuer. “He was wriggling, trying to get down to have a look at everything. He was just a lovely, cheeky little fella.”

Feed Sack Log Cabin

Autumn began – in the northern hemisphere at least – Saturday, September 22. It ends Friday, December 21. That puts today about as close as you can get to the middle of the season. Have you done half the things you meant to do before winter sets in? Have you gone apple picking or tasted real apple cider? (Apple juice does NOT count.) Did you share a scary movie or a corn maze with family and friends? Did you carve a pumpkin and roast the seeds? Have you gone on a hayride or a fall foliage road trip? Have you baked an apple pie or a loaf of pumpkin bread? Did you plant a few daffodils or crocuses or hyacinths or tulips for next spring? Have you bottled a batch of applesauce or stewed tomatoes or grape jelly or pear jam? If there’s a lot left on your autumn bucket list, get moving. Winter will be here before you know it.

Four Winds

This month the Quilt Etc. Block-of-the-month class discussed Corrie Ten Boom’s book The Hiding Place. I read this well over a decade ago for a neighborhood book club, but it’s well worth re-reading. Here are a few of my favorite Corrie Ten Boom quotes:

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.

Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.

Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.

Twirligigs

“The Savior is our Good Samaritan, sent to heal the brokenhearted. He comes to us when others pass us by. With compassion, He places His healing balm on our wounds and binds them up. He carries us. He cares for us. He bids us, ‘Come unto me.’ Jesus suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind that he might take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish;

Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.

Here bring your wounded hearts; here tell your anguish.

Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

At a time of enormous suffering, the Lord told the Prophet Joseph, ‘All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.’ How can painful wounds be for our good? In the crucible of earthly trials, patiently move forward, and the Savior’s healing power will bring you light, understanding, peace, and hope.” – Elder Neil L. Andersen

Court House Steps

Last week we were browsing through Sur la Table at Fashion Place Mall, trying to console ourselves over the absence of our favorite Vietnamese fusion spot, Lua-O. (We’ve heard rumors it will reopen downtown sometime next year, but that doesn’t help NOW.) John offered to buy me a jar of lemon curd, but I declined. It was sweet of him, but homemade is so cheap and easy, and tastes SO much better.

Fresh Lemon Curd

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon peel

1 cup lemon juice (5 large lemons)

3 tablespoons firm butter

3 large eggs, slightly beaten

In saucepan mix sugar, peel and juice with wire whisk. Stir in butter and eggs. Cook over medium heat about 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats back of spoon (do not boil). Immediately pour into clean half-pint containers. Store covered in refrigerator up to 2 months.

Four Steps to Glory

October Books has been a fixture in Southampton (a port city on England’s southern coast) for four decades. The not-for-profit collective has a loyal clientele but struggled to keep up with rent increases. They asked for and received donations and loans to help them buy an empty bank building about 100 yards away. But then they were faced with the daunting task of moving all their merchandise. They were hoping to see 75 volunteers to help lug boxes of books from one stockroom to the other. But well over 200 showed up; enough to form a human chain in front of 54 businesses along High Street. Thousands of books were passed along to their new home in just a few hours. Curious passersby even got in on the act. And after all the books had been sorted, several volunteers stayed to help paint the new shelves. October Books is scheduled to reopen tomorrow.

Four Patchwork Pinwheels

In 1847 an English immigrant name Oliver Chase invented a lozenge cutting machine that he used to create coin-shaped hard candies. The candies were eventually named “Necco Wafers,” an acronym for the New England Candy Company. Neccos came in eight flavors: orange, lemon, lime, clove, wintergreen, licorice, cinnamon and chocolate. Union soldiers carried the wafers into battle during the Civil War. They were also included in WWII rations and in care packages for prisoners of war. But Neccos have fallen out of favor. The company changed hands several times. Attempts at improving the recipe didn’t improved sales. Round Hill Investments (the company that rescued Twinkies) announced in May they’d given up on Neccos, and in July the country's longest running candy factory ceased operations. You probably didn’t get Necco wafers in your trick-or-treat bag last night, and you probably don’t care. But I’ll bet you’d notice next February if Valentine’s Day came around and conversation hearts didn’t.