Bread Of Life Activity - Giving Away Homemade Bread

Our local church had an activity tonight. We were able to get people to sign up to make loaves of bread. White, wheat, fruit, nut, or any type of bread they are comfortable making. 

People identified homes that they thought could use a visit, and compiled a lists for us to visit. They had the young women in our congregation tie on little messages from the scriptures about Christ being the "Bread of Life" and inviting them to a few different activities we will be having in the near future.

They put each persons address on a slip of paper and had each member get into teams of two and take and deliver them to people that they may know or want to get to know. 

I went with a friend to a lady I met living a few blocks away when I was delivering food for the food bank. She lives close to the friend I went with, so we had a good visit and I talked about having this woman help me with a craft project I want to make. 

The second lady we visited moved in during Covid and was interested in helping with the new service group I am working with called "Sleep in Heavenly Peace" or SHP making beds for those who don't have one in our community. See a post about that here. She is also a single mom whose kids are grown and has grandchildren. 

We talked about going to dinner sometimes and I will invite her to help with the next bed build we do. 

We had the wrong address on one house and then looked it up online and it was the wrong address online as well. After visiting with a few different people, we figured out where we were headed and it was someone that moved into my friends home after she moved. I stopped on the way home and they didn't answer so I will stop over tomorrow. 

The other house we tried, the woman had moved out and out of our area, so I took it to my neighbor who is a bit of a hermit. When I dropped it off, I guess she was gone and had someone watching her kids. I was able to leave them with a loaf and message. 

I thought it was a fun activity and way to reach out to all the neighbors who have moved in during Covid that we haven't gotten to know. So many of my friends have moved or are moving soon. I could use some new friends! I was glad to have the opportunity to meet some! 

Have a blessed day!

Recycling Plastic Containers in Your Own Way

I live in a very small town. There is no recycling in our town. At one point, they had a few dumpsters for paper recycling but they found that the gas they used cost more than they made in recycling income. 

We did have a metal recycling in town for many years until the owner had a stroke. He was such a good man and helped me in so many ways allowing me to collect metals in a dumpster and giving the income to the local drill team which my kids were in at the time. Here is a link about that back then. 

We have never had any recycling of plastics that I know of in our town. Everything ends up in a landfill. So, I started looking for places where I could recycle my plastics. I have a container for batteries to recycle, one for metals to recycle, and a larger bag for plastics that can be used for other things. 

I keep some of the better recycling plastics for the kids when they come home so they can take food home. For example, Princess One and her family were here this week and I made chicken enchiladas for them. I am gluten free and can't eat it, so I had half a casserole pan left over, so I put it in one of those plastic containers and sent it home with them sandwiched between two pounds of very frozen beef so they could take it home to eat it. 

I also have done many funeral meals volunteering at our church building and they are always looking for containers to send food home with the family. There are usually three or four different congregations meeting at each of our church buildings, so the containers go quickly. I save any plastic bottles, yogurt, ice cream, or take out containers that have good fitting lids. 

I have used the plastic containers to send home soups from the church, or gravy from the Christmas meals. This year, I used one of the containers I donated during covid to take home mashed potatoes from our Christmas dinner. I was glad there were still some containers there. We used many of the containers I took during that time and the supply was low. 

Since I live alone and have some fatty liver issues, I don't eat yogurt and my daughters that went through the large containers no longer live with me, my donations have slowed, but I do get some plastic jars in daily living from spaghetti sauces etc sometimes. I used to be able to fill a small garbage sack in a few months, but now I donate a bag a year or so now. 

Another place I have donated is the food bank. Sometimes, they get donations in large containers and can't distribute that larger amount to people, so being able to put it in smaller containers and sticking a label on it can be helpful to distribute the food. 

Another place that may be able to use them is the local seniors center. Our local senior center makes lunches several times a week and can use the containers for left overs. They are also the place that makes meals on wheel, but they have bought containers for that. 

That same senior center and a local youth center are both rented out for weddings, family reunions, and other activities. We have had our last few missionary farewell and homecomings there. It would have been very handy to have extra containers there for family to take home some of the leftovers we had at those events. 

I never throw out any containers as any and all of those places can use them for left overs. Of course, it does take some effort to drop them off every so often, but in the end, I can't tell you how many times I have used them to take food to families in need. When we have lots of left overs it is nice to be able to make sure it gets to those who can use them the most. 

I thought maybe people would think this is a lame post, but I figure if it can keep the plastics out of the earth and help others at the same time, it is worth posting about. 

Have a blessed day!

Fun Dinners and a Small Miracle

A few weeks back, I had the thought that I should take my nieces to dinner. I don't have children their ages, so I don't get to know them as well as some of my other nephews and nieces. 

I took their older sister to dinner a few years back and my youngest two girls took the twins out to dinner asking them on a "date" which was fun. 

I texted them each asking when would be a good time to go out. They worked out which day would work best for each and I was able to take one to dinner on Friday night, and one on Saturday night. We had a great
"date night" and dinner and I enjoyed getting to know them better. 

When I was picking up the second twin, I grabbed a picture with the first as I forgot to get one the night before when I took her to dinner to her favorite place. 

When I was dropping off the second after dinner, she told me her older sister had come home for the weekend. I texted asking if she wanted to go for ice cream. She told me she was out with her sister, but wasn't feeling all that well and maybe we could do it next weekend. 

I told her that was great and decided to go to Walmart and pick up some groceries. While doing my shopping, I ran into them! It was nice to visit with them. One of them commented on how often I run into them when shopping! I told them it was probably my mom directing traffic from heaven! 

We visited and then I went back to shopping and headed home. When I arrived home, I realized that my favorite silver necklace was not around my neck. I called my sister and asked if her daughter could see if I lost it at their house or near where I parked, but then I remembered playing with it at Walmart while talking to my nieces. 

I rushed back to Walmart and asked if anyone had found a necklace, and one of the workers asked me to describe it. I did, and he said he found it on the ground in the main isle. It must have come off while I was fiddling with it talking to my nieces as I had my purse over my head in a sling style, and I think the purse strap may have caused the clasp to open and cause the necklace to fall. 

I was so grateful for them turning it in and for going back when I first noticed it or others may have not known about him finding it or taken it. 

Here is a link to the post where I found and bought the necklace. I wear it all the time and you can see it in my photos with the girls. I am so grateful that I was able to find it! I am blessed!

Have a blessed day!

Visiting Gardeners and Grandchildren

My Grandchildren dropped by with their parents for a very short visit this past week. I had contacted someone about purchasing some books that were about people immigrating to the U.S. and about gardening.

 Here is a link to my original post about these books! The Author signed them and got them in the mail quickly for me and I was so excited to have them before their arrival. They arrived and they stayed for less than 24 hours. They headed out into the back yard to play and I climbed onto the hammock with the gardening book and after they played and needed a rest, they all ended up climbing into the hammock with me at some point. 

I ended up reading the "Grow" gardening book as Grand-Princess One is planning a garden this year and is really excited about it and has purchased the seeds already. 

That night before bed, I sat in the rocking chair and read two more books just before bed. They didn't want to sit still at first as they are little balls of energy, and being at my house is so exciting as they don't get to visit me often as they live so far away. However, when I started reading the books, they got interested and then came and sat on my lap and wanted to see the pictures / artwork for the books. 

The next morning was so busy that I didn't get to read the last book as they had to leave. I was happy that the kids enjoyed the books and the stories and was grateful to the author / publisher for getting them to me in time to enjoy them with the kids. 

If you have history of family coming over on boats, these books are great as you can insert your own story in at the end as the pictures open up dialog. 

The book called "Anna's Prayer" opened up a discussion about my experience as an exchange student in New Zealand and got stranded / abandoned in Auckland. I prayed for help and God sent one of the 100 people I new in the country down that street in the capital city at the exact time I needed them and they were able to allow me to stay with them and took me home to my host city after the David Bowie concert that night. Here is a link to the post about that event.

I loved that these books opened up dialog and I was able to share that story with them about how prayers are answered. 

Have a Blessed day!

An Unwanted Visitor - Lizard

I was headed out to get the mail today and noticed this little guy in my door crease. I don't use the front door often, I am not sure how long this little visitor has been in my home.

I have NEVER seen a lizard in my neighborhood. I have never seen any in my yard. I don't even know if I have ever seen any in the hills around my home.  

I couldn't believe that it must have been running around the brick to stay warm during a recent storm, but I have a metal plate hanging down on the inside of the door so I think it may have gotten wedged between the frame and that metal plate trying to stay warm. 

I think the crazy warm and then cold weather we have hand off and on and off and on could have brought it out, and then snow made it seek shelter. 

Have a blessed day! 

So Much Fun With The Grandkids

Awhile back, I found some fake mustaches at a thrift store that were new and unused for $.50. 

I knew the grand-kids would have fun with them, so I put them in the little desk by the front door where they go to get toys when they arrive at my house. 

After playing outside, doing some puzzle games, and playing with the train sets, one of them found the package of mustaches. She asked if they could put them on. 

They had so much fun putting them on. One got them on upside down which gave us all a laugh. Then, after getting some photos of them all together wearing them, they put them on their foreheads like a uni-brow. 

I love that they stopped over on their way through and am so blessed. They bring so much joy. They come running in and hug me and my heart melts! I am so grateful I get the opportunity to have grandchildren. 

Have a blessed day!

Finding Fun Books With Multicultural Messages

Many Years ago, I was visiting a church in a city quite far from my own and remember a man speaking. I can't tell you another person that spoke in all the times I visited that church over the years. I went almost weekly in the summers for years while my kids were visiting cousins on the weekends. 

I only spoke to the man two or three times over that time as I ran into him at a dance once and danced with him there. We never had any deep conversation and I had no idea what he did. A few years back, out of the blue, I felt like I should contact him and tell him about a product that I have that makes yogurt easily and for some reason he needed the information. It turns out it did help him. Here is a link to that product.

I knew someone who would probably know how to get a hold of him, so I contacted that friend who attended that church regularly. She was able to give me his number. I contacted him and told him about the product. He tried it and when I contacted him a few months later to see how it was working for him, he told me that it was helping him. 

I then didn't speak to him for years. I felt to contact him again for another reason, and in the end, I spoke with him for a few hours about health things. 

Then, a long time without speaking to him. Obviously, we aren't friends, but every so often, I have just felt like I should share something with him, and contact him. 

In taking my new thyroid medication, I was having some reactions, and one was insomnia. For three nights, I was only able to sleep for a few hours. While laying there exhausted and not being able to sleep, I accidentally clicked on his contact information and somehow all this time, I had missed a link to his company. He works for a publisher. I guess he sells books and many of them are multicultural. 

I started looking through the books offered, and there were several from an author who write books about immigrants. One of the books was very close to my ancestry with family crossing the ocean on boats and settling new communities. Both sides of my children's parents had people crossing on boats to America!

I contacted the author and asked about ordering some of the books for my grandchildren and their was a book called "grow" and I thought it would be a good book for Grand-Princess One as she was telling me recently how excited she is that her mom is going to allow her to have her own garden. 

She is so excited about planting a garden, that she drew a picture of how she wanted to lay it out and they have already purchased the seeds for her garden. 

The kids are going to visit me on their way to meetings, so I was hoping the books would arrive before they passed through. I was SO happy and excited to get the books before the kids arrive. 

It was so nice of the author, and my friend, to get my order done quickly and send them to me. I think my grandchildren are going to LOVE them! And, they are personalized as well! 

I am excited to read the books to the kids! I am feeling very blessed!  

Cute Baby Clearance at Walmart - 111 and In God We Trust

I was looking for an epoxy product at Walmart today and walked around in areas I don't always go through, and happened to find some fun clearance items. 

They had baby clothes on clearance for a dollar each. There was a three pack of onesies for $1. A bunch of pants for $1 each, and headbands for $1 each. They only had one of the onesie 3 packs which was sad, but it was so fun to get several matches of outfits for $4! 

I was at the self checkout when the lady next to me dropped change and I mentioned she dropped a quarter as well and she said she didn't care.You know how I don't like leaving money on the ground as it has God's name on it. I picked up a quarter and two pennies and then when I was walking out of the store, I found another penny.

I also wanted to share that I have been seeing 111 all over the past few days! It is on mail, packages I am mailing out, and when I picked up the girls taxes I am helping to get done, there was a 1111 on the envelope. The girls are all getting refunds, so that is also a positive! 

I am feeling very blessed lately. 

Have a blessed day!

Sleep In Heavenly Peace - Worthwhile Charity

I posted a few months back about the day I sent my resignation from the Food Bank Board, I was contacted by a friend of mine who asked if I would be on the core team for a charity they were now involved in as she knows I am into doing service. 

I though God had his hand in that situation as it was hard to walk away from the food bank after so many years. So, I looked into the new charity and thought it was what looked to be a great charity. 

A few years ago, I saw a news clip on this charity and how the couple that started it didn't want children to have to sleep on the floor, share beds, or sleep on a mattress with no beds.  

I wasn't able to attend the training meeting for new volunteers as I was at my grand-daughters baptism, so this past weekend was the first time I was able to attend a build. 

They were able to get some of the wood donated by a local wood production company that had large pieces of seconds that they allowed the group to cut up to save some money on wood. They were able to get a few men to cut up the wood before the event to save time at the build. 

I was at the log in table to get everyone logged in and sign the paperwork. They had some cute hand outs for the volunteers. After the first hour, it was boring at the front table but they had more volunteers than they had positions, so I wiped out the inside of my car while I watched to see if new volunteers came. 

I dressed cute thinking I would be away from the build. However, they had me downwind from the sanding table and started coughing and choking on the dust. The table was covered. So, after many of the volunteers left, I started sanding the boards and got dust in my eyes and all over my clothes. I was wearing suede black boots and I am sure they are probably ruined now. 

You can check out the videos on their website called SHPbeds.org. There is more information on how to get involved as well. 

They have stations set up and the set up is really smooth with how they have it organized, but I did get a bit frustrated with a few things and made some suggestions on how they could overlap the volunteers so the ones from the first session could teach the second group how to do it and not leave the leadership finishing so much at the end and have so many at the beginning that they weren't able to do much. 

I didn't think that some of the set up is the most efficient, but others explained to me that part of the process is that they want to offer people the opportunity to serve so that they will feel a connection to the beds and donated to the fund to pay for the items needed to build the beds. 

I think they may get more donations having the volunteers make the beds in the homes of the children, but I am sure they have figured out the best way to do things. I know that as we continue to get things more organized with more builds, it will run more smoothly and become a quicker process. 

We were able to make 15 bunk beds in half a day. I am grateful that I have a new charity to serve for and met quite a few new friends during the day! 

Have a blessed day!

St. Patrick's Day Pie Party

Our church has a woman's organization that has been around for 180 years this year. It is the largest women's organization in the world. It is called "Relief Society" and it was organized to provide relief for those in need. 

Every March, each church unit usually has a "birthday party" celebrating the organization. Today, we had our party, and celebrated the "pie" as well. 

I usually don't eat at these type of events as I am gluten free and don't expect them to provide anything for me as I am just one person and pie isn't something I care much about. I enjoy them, and used to make them often for holidays, but I usually just don't care enough about gluten sweets to worry about it anyway. 

My dear friend called me today and informed me that she was making me a gluten free berry pie for the event tonight. She looked up a gluten free pie and made it. I guess it was supposed to use jello to bind together the berries but she said it didn't "gel" and she worried it wouldn't be good. 

It was amazing! It was like a bowl of berries with a crispy cracker crushed over it as she said the crust fell apart. My friend that went to dinner with me before the event had some and she and I both went for seconds!  

They had a "Pie in the face" game but no one really wanted to play it, so they forced a few woman to play it. It was a nice evening and I feel blessed to have so many wonderful women in my life! 

Have a blessed day!

Throwing a Little Shade on the Problem - Sititus

I was up all night as I started taking a new herbal along with the thyroid medication as I am not seeing the greatest results yet. I also have been avoiding caffeine so I have been dragging. 

I decided to try this new herbal as I know someone with thyroid problems that said this along with the thyroid medication really helped them. There was a storm so I drank Coke to help my head, and I think the herb has natural caffeine as I was awake all night as it said take two, three times a day, away from food by 1/2 hour, so I took it before bed and think it kept me up all night.

So, I thought I would just share a bit about something fun as I am super tired. I am going to share a hint on the fun gift I shared about a few weeks back that my friend is having made for me.

I was talking to my sister about needing some glass for this gift, and I remembered that there was a suitcase of different colors of glass from my mothers estate and I wanted a green color and I remembered there were several sheets that color.

Come to find out, that my sister gave the suitcase to a neighbor when she moved homes. We tracked it down but all that was left were really small pieces. My sister then remembered she had this lampshade from our home when growing up that she thought she may get fixed at some point, but realized it really isn't her style, so she said I could see if any of the pieces from the lamp would work for my new gift. 

I talked to the artist working on my piece, and she said the lamp pieces could work, so I clipped the top flat pieces out of the lead surrounding them, and put them in a box and shipped them to her across the country.

I got a call from her today. We decided all the final elements which I will share later. It is just nice that something from my childhood will be included in the gift! I fell asleep for hours in my chair writing this, and had a million little dots for many, many pages. Sititus hit me hard tonight!

I hope you have a blessed day!

Helping My Neighbor is Paying Off

I have been trying to help my neighbor clean out her shed and fields since her husband passed away a few years ago. I helped her clean out and organize her basement awhile ago. Here is a link about that post.

Last year, I cleaned out her field a few different times and started listing her husbands yard tools for sale to help her get some money for them as they are rotting in the elements.

I was able to sell one mower, one tiller, gardening supplies and have had a tiller, mower, and lots of wood for the furniture he made still for sale. 

These items have been listed for sale for over a year and over and over I would show the cedar and aspen logs hoping to sell the entire lot of them. I had a few offers for $200 but some of those logs are $70 each so I was hoping to make more. Finally, this week, I organized someone to come and loaded them up while I was up attending the baptism of my grand-daughter. 

I was so excited to know that it was gone. She got $250 for it, but she would have been excited to just have someone clean it out for free. I told her to hold on as she could make some money for it. Since cleaning out her basement, I have made her quite a chunk of change posting things and she has given me half of what I make for her. That wasn't my intent as I have posted things for them for many years but she wanted me to make some money for all the help I have given them. 

She texted me telling me they came and picked up the wood and she wanted me to come get $125. I went to look at the shed and was so happy it is finally getting cleaned out! I need to make sure we get the lot sprayed now before the weeds take hold again as it got bad last year. I am so glad I can help her and it is nice that she is willing to share some of the proceeds with me. 

I think we can stick the rest of the items in with my next yard sale, and then it will be completely cleaned out! 

Have a blessed day!

New Testing Shows More Lung Damage

I am very excited that my new Dr. is listening to what I am saying about my symptoms and is willing to order tests that will help me figure out what is going on in my world. 

I had to get a covid test a few days ago so that I could go to the hospital and get a new Pulmonary Function test (PFT) as it has been five years since my last PFT. Here is a link to my blogging about that test. It was in March 2017. The first test was in January, 2015.

For some reason the Dr.'s I visited recently could only see one of my tests. So, when I first entered today, I asked if they could find my other tests so I could share all three with the Dr.s to show the progression of my lung damage. 

I took the test and just as I knew, I have more damage. The frustrating thing is that I am still in the "good" category with the damage. However, I nearly had to take off the testing nose plug while taking the test not feeling like I was getting enough oxygen. It is how I get when reclining for the past seven years. I have to be sitting up straight or laying flat to be able to breath. 

I have been able to tell that my lungs are more damaged as I have a hard time breathing when exerting myself. Also, I haven't been taking anything for the parasites recently because I am starting new medication for my thyroid and don't want to be taking anything else while trying out new meds. I have noticed the parasite getting worse while I haven't been able to try new things and it is frustrating to have one thing getting worse in order to try and fix something else, but if I can get my thyroid working, it would be nice so I can at least feel better in order to try and work on a cure for the parasites. 

The man that did my test had to ask another to help him try and find the test results from the other tests and after a bit of searching, they found all my old medical records in a secondary file that the Dr. would have to search as any medical records from 2013 to 2015 were on a different medical program so they stuck them in a different area in the online programs. 

It was nice of them to just print them out and I will be able to show my Dr. and hopefully I will be able to see a pulmonologist and figure out what is causing the damage in case it isn't the parasites. 

I am so happy to be getting some testing and answers and have been able to try the migraine meds the Dr. gave me to try. I am not sure they are working for me as they are only lasting 4 to 6 hours and you can only take 1 in 24 hours, but at least he has given me something to try!

Have a blessed day!

Cool Antique Miner Lantern for $3

I wasn't going to go out the other day, but I thought about running some errands and ended up going out. 

While I was out I stopped just before closing at one of the second hand stores in town. They had cleared all the outside shelves and there were only a few things on them. One was a fun looking brass lantern that I have never seen before. 

It had a label from a company in Whales U.K. I thought I would see how much it was to buy as it didn't have a price on it. They had a smaller type in the collectors case for $10 but it was a new camping type with a similar make style. 

when I turned it upside down, I found it had gas leaking out of it. I asked about the price and since it was leaking, the worker priced it at $3~ I was thrilled with that as it is vintage / antique and solid brass at the bottom so it wouldn't tip over. 

I brought it home and washed off the gas and drained it. The wick was still full of gas so I lit the wick and let it burn off. It was fun having it lit and working being so old. It said Miners lamp and my grandfather was on the mining board and had stocks in several mines, so it is fun to have a few mining things near his photo collage and mining card. 

I love thrift stores as you never know what you are going to get or find when shopping them! 

Have a blessed day!