Alice Adella Reynolds

Our family gathered together this morning to remember and say goodbye to my mother-in-law. For the past 12 years she has lived in a mobile home on our property. I am so glad I had this time with her. I really came to know her and understand her. She didn't have the most picturesque life, in fact, it was quite the opposite. The last 12 years has probably been the most stress free and peaceful for her.

As I thought of her, I remembered what an animal lover she was and how she nursed back to health one of our beloved cats. She was a very hard worker, responsible, diligent and industrious. I've never seen anyone who could stretch a dollar as far as she could. She had a very meager income but she was a very generous giver. I saw God's enduring love for her as she battled cancer and suffered none of the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. He dealt with her gently and was very merciful to her.

I have many memories of her that I will always cherish. I am going to miss her. I look out our bedroom window at night now and I can no longer see the T.V. light coming from her bedroom window and when I get up in the morning no longer is the light shining through the window that sits by her chair in the living room. No more afternoon chats or running over to borrow a cup of this or that so I don't have to run to the store at the last minute. It's sad to look at her home and know that she is not there.

She has lived her life and I have entrusted her to the loving kindness of God.

LOVE

TRUE LOVE BEGINS WHEN NOTHING IS LOOKED FOR IN RETURN.
ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY


I still remember the first time God showed me that I had not loved my children unconditionally. I could hardly bring myself to even say that I had loved them conditionally. It was very hard to face that truth. I'm very thankful I was able to admit it and then to learn about love. His kind of love. After raising four children, the best advice I can give a new mother is learn what it means to love unconditionally.

I have always found it interesting as I have thought about 1Corinthians 13:1-3, that we can speak with the tongues of men and angles, have all knowledge and know all mysteries, have all faith, give all our possessions away and even give our bodies up to be burned and have not love.

Think on that one awhile!

Gardening Is Landscape Painting

I am redesigning my herb garden. My herb garden is very close to my kitchen and my veggie garden is quite a distance from our home. So I decided to put all my different lettuces in my herb garden so I wouldn't have to walk so far to get lettuce. In the middle of my herb garden I have a large pedestal with an angel sitting on it. I decided to measure from the middle of the pedestal and come out 4 feet and make a circle around the pedestal and then divided the circle into four sections for four different types of lettuce. I am planting a Red Romaine, a strawberry cabbage lettuce the official name is Sanguine Ameliore, arugula, and an Allstar Gourmet lettuce mix.

I am getting hungry thinking about those wonderful tomatoes and this great lettuce. I can't wait!

Continued Journey of My Seedlings

When the seeds germinate they start out with two leaves. These are the feeder leaves for the plant. Next will appear the leaves for the tomato plant and you will recognize the tomato leaf. You will have one set of tomato leaves and then another set will appear. When the second set appears pinch off the last set and it will cause the little plant to start to bush out. Some of my seedlings have their second set of leaves and I pinched them off and I plan to start transplanting them into a 2 inch pot. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to start doing this. I will need to buy a really top notch potting soil. Metro Mix is a great one to get and you can usually find it at your local nursery. I will also need rooting hormone for the transplants. I will dip the end of each transplant into the rooting hormone and blow off the excess before planting it into my 2 inch pot.

The picture of my seedlings looks a little war torn. I set them out in the sun and tried to protect them somewhat from the wind. I walked outside a couple of hours later and my two cats were sitting on top of the seed tray having a very relaxing nap. I went ballistic! My cats took one look at me and took off trying to find a place to hide. After all the tender loving care I have been giving my seedlings I couldn't believe that happened. I did loose some of them but that's ok, I will still have plenty. I have pictured my little darlings for you. Clarence is the big white cat, very lovable and very male and Susie is his girlfriend....very sweet and playful.

My Little Seeds Journey

I am getting around to posting this way after the fact. My seeds started to germinate 5 days after they were planted. They were not all germinating so I called my friend Ann, who is a expert at this and she told me to turn up the temperature on the heating pad. So I went from low to medium on the heating pad and the rest of the seeds started to germinate. It looks like I am not going to be getting them into the ground as soon as I wanted too but I will have tomatoes just a little later than I had planned. She had also told me to put an oscillating fan on the plants when they get up about an inch and I had forgot to do that. The movement of the wind strengthens the plant. I finally remembered that so the fan has been on now a little over a week.

Easy Strawberry Pie

If you are around my age and remember Kip's Big Boy Restaurant this strawberry pie is reminiscent of what they used to serve. Their hamburgers were great and so was their strawberry pie. When I found this recipe I was very happy. :) It's a pie I make quite often during spring and early summer. When I serve the pie I put a big dollop of whipped cream on each slice. I have been buying ReddiWip in a pinch but there is nothing like real whipping cream.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup strawberry gelatin ( that is about 1/2 of a small box of Jello)
4 cups fresh strawberries , halved
1 baked 9 inch pastry shell
sweetened whip cream or cool whip

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened. Stir in strawberry gelatin until dissolved. Remove from heat and chill about 2 hours.
Arrange strawberries in pastry shell and pour gelatin mixture over strawberries. Cover with saran wrap and chill 2 hours.
I have a bigger than 9 inch pie plate so I double this recipe.

Sunday Lemon Pie

This would be a wonderful dessert for Easter dinner. I have made this recipe for a long time and it is always a hit.

1 (3 1/2 ounce) Lemon jello pie filling
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon butter
3 egg whites
2 envelopes Dream Whip
1-9 inch bake pie shell, cooled

Combine Jello pie filling mix, gelatin, sugar, 1/4 cup water and lemon juice in sauce pan. Blend in egg yolks and add remaining water. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to full boil. Remove from heat, add lemon rind and butter. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually fold in hot pie filling. Cover surface with wax paper, chill. Prepare Dream Whip as directed on package. Blend one cup of Dream Whip into chilled pie filling and pour into pie shell. Chill for 3 hours. Garnish with remainder of whipped topping and lemon slices.