ruby red.

my computer has lately been playing tricks on me.

something about "start-up disc too full" keeps halting my various computing efforts.

[ahem, safari, iphoto, garageband, skype, itunes, in that order, repeat.]

basically, my dinosaur [ok, it really isn't that bad. it's still cute. but it is pretty old] is too full.

poor little dinosaur wishes it was a boa constrictor these days.

so until i remedy that problem, with my awesomely anti-technology skillz, i can't edit pictures.

buuuuut i'll post these in the raw.

that sounds kind of mountain-manly, now doesn't it?

 step one: pick a lot of rhubarb. like two and a half grocery bags full. [yes, sir! yes, sir! three bags full!]

 step two: wash 'em up real good. [a la montaña again]

 step three: chop chop. with a biiiiiiiiiiiiig knife. and a cutting board. of course.

 step four: admire those beautiful hues!

 step five: i'll give you a hint. "yeeeeeees, we have no ba-nah-nahs; we have no ba-nah-nahs to-day!"

[well, this actually begins happening before step one.] 

continue watching Sabrina whilst enabling the rhubarb to fulfill its manifold destiny 

[ha ha, that was a pun. did anybody catch that?], such as:

-6 small loaves of rhubarb bread [in which i substituted four various ingredients! the family says they still like it, phew!]

-one double batch of rhubarb sauce [we go through this like it's ice cream, except more juicy]

-one batch of strawberry rhubarb jam [as pictured in the background of photo three]

-a probably short-lived future in the deep-freeze before it is made into cobbler or crunch or jam or slush.

rhubarb just brings out the vocab in a girl.

step six: if you need a crunchy snack whilst chopping [raw rhubarb is pretty tart, folks], try these!

[sorry for the low light, blame the dino]

homemade corn tortilla chips:

chop a stack of corn tortillas into eighths.

arrange onto baking sheets.

spray lightly with that wonderfully clever cooking oil-in-a-spray-can.

sprinkle with spices of your choosing [i used cholula seasoning, mrs dash extra spicy, and a little salt].

bake at 375 for 8 minutes or until they have attained your personally preferred crispiness.

miam miam!

sick again, though nothing serious.

came across this favourite Streams in the Desert quote again this morning. each time i read it, it gains reality and actuality. i wrote it down nearly three years ago, and am strengthened in hope each time i read it, no matter how bleak my current circumstance! 

when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

Those who are broken in wealth, and broken in self-will, and broken in their ambitions, and broken in their beautiful ideals, and broken in worldly reputation, and broken in their affections, and broken ofttimes in health; those who are despised and seem utterly forlorn and helpless, the Holy Ghost is seizing upon, and using for God's glory.

you can read the rest of this devotion here; it's well worth your while.

may bells.

graceful as a ballerina's outstretched arm.

easy fave.

i am absolutely in love with this tiny house.

God will be your answer.

"In Mark 8, the Pharisees ask Jesus for a "sign from heaven" (verse 11).  How did He respond?  He "sighed deeply in His spirit" (verse 12).  After all, what other sign did they need?  Did they not realize that He, Himself, was their sign from heaven?  Did they not see God working through Him?

So often, we get our priorities mixed up.  We search for answers to our questions, and solutions to our problems, but we get frustrated, impatient, and even angry when we don't understand.  Maybe you've prayed the same prayer for years, and still have no sign of an answer.  Or maybe you have a difficult decision to make, and you have no sign of a solution from God.  

The Lord doesn't desire that we seek signs -- He desires that we seek Him. 

It grieves the Lord when we seek His power, His help, His signs -- but not Him.

You see, if we seek the Lord only because we have a problem, we will stop seeking Him once our problem is solved.  
But if we seek the Lord because we love Him, our relationship with Him will run deep -- 
we will seek Him in good times and bad, whether we know His will or not.

Today, may I encourage you to stop seeking signs from God, and start seeking God, Himself.  He not only has answers for you; He will be your answer! He won't just give you power; He will be your power! Let's not be like the Pharisees, who pained the Lord by seeking His power, but never seeking Him.   "Trust in the Lord with all your heart... and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6)." 

- Mike MacIntosh

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"...the men and women He is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom He has done everything." 

-Oswald Chambers, in today's portion from My Utmost for His Highest

yard sale.

last week i cleaned my closet with a purpose. my mother and i decided we would have a garage sale, and set the date for today.
yesterday after work i spent the entire afternoon and into the evening sorting and pricing
clothes and bags and shoes and doo-dads [for lack of a better term].
we woke up at 6 this morning to make the coffee, eat our oatmeal, and start setting up in the front yard. we had our plan of attack: which things should go on this or that table, and how it would all be arranged. it was even mapped out.
things started out a little slow, but gradually people came and spent a dollar or two.
bigger things started to sell, and all the while a very fine mist came and went with the whim of the clouds.
we monitored the weather forecast pretty closely, and talked with shoppers about what they had heard. it was destined to be risky, but we stayed open and got thoroughly damp. ["six inches deep in mud!" ok, i exaggerate.]
finally, after a longer lull, the darkening clouds threatened to shut us down, and a final mad dash of people giddily buying things for dress-up and camp and kitchen and cabin picked over a good portion of the remaining items. we waited a few more minutes for a she-friend of the giddilys to come check out my dress array [anyone around my size need really nice dressy dresses from europe? anyone, anyone?], but the weather must have discouraged her. with a crack of thunder and the mist turning into raindrops we put up our hoods and began to run with armfuls of things- to the car! to the house! all in here! quick! hurry!
we're back inside now. it's dismally dark and the screens are clouded with raindrops. a brightly colored radar screen warns us to stay indoors for a while.
after we get cleaned up and dried off, we shall make a nice pot of tea, and count our earnings to see if today was worth it.
the odds are it was.
x

ps. immediately after writing this post, i was summoned to run outside and help reroute the torrents of water pouring off of our roof. our basement flooded terribly last spring, due to record snowfall and loads of rain, and it flooded a bit the other night again. the reason? our beautiful new cedar shake roof is in place, but the roofers wrecked our vintage rain gutters and put them on wrong. so now we have a several-gallons-per-second rainfall coming into the window wells outside our basement. no good. well, we filled the hole with buckets [which instantly filled] and deflected the rain above that with boards and buckets. we shall see how much mopping our cellar requires. it was kind of fun getting totally soaked whilst playing house-rescuer though!

childhood time bomb.

yesterday i cleaned out my closet, hardcore.

i unearthed things which have not seen the light of day since i put them there fourteen years ago.

[does it ever slightly bother you that you can have memories that are, you know, over 20 years old? ahh!]

my closet is narrow, dark and cavernous.

the clothes all hang in the front and there are shelves in the back.

the top shelf? that's where i found the treasures.

here is a slight glimpse of who i was about 18 years ago.

industriously crafty, making lesson plans, and creating things from tiny scraps.

i present to you my Clothespin Easter Story Set.

here are all the characters. notice everyone is made twice, with a sad and a happy face.  

Jesus is in blue, of course. and that's Mary, his mother. they are happy.

 Peter is in yellow. but oh no, he is sad!

 these little guys' names, according to my index card of notes, are Mark and Debbie, respectively.

i am not typically [ok, not ever] a "lol"er. but if i were, at this point i would insert a "lol". 

because i really did. i loled.

and this is Jesus on the cross. he is sad because His Father has forsaken Him, and because He is being crucified for all the sins of the world.

[but i know He's happy inside because He's doing God's will, and because He knows how the story will end!]

 to the left is Jesus in His burial cloths, and to the right- He Is Risen Indeed! and happy!

finding these little pins, which would mean nothing to anyone else, meant so much to me!

God's been doing a good work in me my entire life and here's a tiny bit of proof.

PS if anyone needs easter props next year..

and one last gem of the day... 

which also pretty much depicts my childhood!