Fruitful Words

The weather is warm and the ceiling fan helps move the air around the house. Since the fan blades are dirty, it also moves dust around the house. So today, I’ll clean it in 3 easy steps.

1. Gather supplies: drop cloth, ladder/stool, spray cleaner, feather duster, and the secret weapon - a sock. You might need two, if the fan is very dirty.
2. Spread drop cloth under fan. Set stool/ladder on top of cloth, under the fan. Get on ladder.
3. Dust fan blades. Put sock on dominant hand.
4. Spray fan blades. (Sometimes I uses vinegar, if I don’t have any regular cleaning sprays.) Wipe off with socked hand. Repeat until done.
5. Pick up drop cloth. Shake outside. Put away all your supplies.

This cleaning project is great for using up odd socks. And I always seem to have odd socks. Even though they go into the dryer as a pair, they come out as singles. Go here to read a poem about missing socks I wrote one distraught day.

Go here to read other Works-For-Me-Wednesday posts.

Related Posts Works-For-ME Wednesday:

Cleaning

• Whiteboard Cleaner That’s Non-Toxic
• 3 Whiteboard Cleaning Tips

Edited to Add These Tips from Commenters:

• Crystal uses a vacuum attachment, “that weird little round brush,”  to clean her fan and return air ducts.
• Melissa puts a pillow case over the entire blade so that all the yuckys fall inside the case and nothing on the ground.
• Christine uses a microfiber cloth and spray she bought at the same time she bought the fan.

I’ve done 3 new things from my 51 Things To-do-List:

1. I learned to do one new thing on my blog. You might have noticed: PICTURES! My sista showed me stockxpert - the leading free stock photo site. It is quick to sign up for a free account. Nice choices. Easy to use. And if I can use it, anyone can.
   
2. I read my second just for fun book: The Secret of the Old Clock - the first of the Nancy Drew mystery series. I read all these books as a child. My niece, Es, is reading these now and lent me her copy. It was a fun read - good junk food is the category I’d place it in. I’ll give a recap later.
3. Because of extra money coming in, I’ve been able to tithe extra. I put the money towards the Building fund and the Missions fund. Of course it was tempting to keep it all for my needs. But I’ve been trying to practice what Pastor Mike has been teaching us in his last series on “God’s Remedy for Financial Worries.”

Hmmm. Maybe the extra money was a quiz from God to see what it is I’ve been learning. Keep reading for what I’ve been learning from Pastor Mike.

• Keep your priorities straight. Desire what God desires. God’s will be done in heaven and earth.
• Continue to be generous. Don’t let fear affect my heart. Don’t let fear stop me from helping those around me.
• Make God’s kingdom & righteousness my first ambition.
  
• Take one day at a time. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes,” Matthew 6:34. The Message

Go here for information on how to contact the church office and get your OWN copy of this sermon series.

What quizzes have been coming your way? How are your goals coming along? What new things have you learned? Do share here in the comments or at your blog.

Sista said I could show her pictures from our hot air balloon flight in Napa, CA. If you haven’t read about the trip yet, go here. You’ll read about my 11 observations.

Aren’t we up so high? 1000 feet was our highest flight. Amazingly my son saw a deer from up there. The white tail gave him away. He also spotted a rabbit!

Can you believe that we flew over this gorgeous country? Initially there was a bit of fog - which flowed along underneath us.

What a huge shadow. We are coming in for our landing . . . . and for our champagne breakfast. There were lots of food choices so that even my daughter was able to get filled up.

This trip doesn’t compare to the one taken by the Professor in The 21 Balloons book. But I am quite content with the lack of adventure. Plus, how cool to make the memories with my kiddos and sista. How fun to be able to cross off something from my 51 Things To-Do list.

It’s Menu Plan Monday again. I went shopping last night so I am all ready to make up some food this morning. I’ll make up a batch of the following foods for the freezer: Burritos, Quiche, Irish Soda muffins.

1. Burritos (refried beans, salsa, browned ground beef, crushed pineapple, shredded cheese), Jello with yogurt.
2. BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, steamed corn/pea mixture.
3. Hamburger with Gorgonzola cheese (came with a $1.00 off coupon so each quarter pounder was $0.50 each. There are two in the pack). Corn on the cob - first ears of the season and mixed green salad.
4. Stir fry noodles with chicken (leftover from BBQ), carrots, cabbage, and mushrooms.
5. Ham quiche made with hash browns, liquefied corn and carrots, mushrooms, onions and cheese. Irish Soda Muffins.
6. Leftovers.
7. Leftovers.

Click here to see the menus of other Monday Menu Planners.

One of the reasons I like to participate in Menu Plan Monday is so I’ll save money by not eating out or pigging out on convenience foods. Mary at Owlhaven (mom to 10 kids) has had an interesting frugal cookin’ carnival, a 3 day smack down: cook cheap, cook yummy. 15 blogger/cookers participated by shopping for and preparing their cheapest menus for 3 days. I gleaned some good ideas and recipes from these women. Click here to see Mary’s post.

Recently Mary was on a telephone interview (while at a soccer game) with CNN about frugal tips. Click here to read the 3 things she didn’t get to mention.

In a nutshell they are . . . .

1. Clarify your own big picture. She asks, “Why are you living so frugally?” I want to pay off my student loans, help my kids and tithe more. I’d also like to visit friends in England. Mary says that having this big picture in mind will help me avoid the “poor me” syndrome when I decide to say “no” to that Tuesday staff lunch or beautiful plant.
2. Tally your actual food expenses. This includes eating out. I can’t reduce the amount I spend if i don’t know the amount I spend. Do this for a month.
3. Chop at your 10 list. After determining where the money is spent, look at the top 10 in terms of cost. Reduce the use or buy it cheaper. Mary has more to say on this and #1 and #2, so be sure to go to this post to read it in full.

I’ve never heard anyone mention #1 and #3. Between the tips from the cookin’ carnival and this list of 3, I’m hoping I can reduce my food spending 10%-20%.

Do you think that’s possible? I’m not sure cuz I’m not sure how much I spend on food per month.

What are your frugal menus? Shopping tips? Menu for the week?

Jesus might say one of the following:

1. The Father and I are One.
2. Greatness? Humble servant, always obedient.
3. I always do the Father’s will.
4. My life, for yours, for eternity.

Saint Augustine could be quoted as saying:

1. Desire what I know God desires.

The Westminster Larger Catechism says:

1. Glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Somethings I say:

1. Don’t let fear make your decisions.
2. Walk with your eyes forward. Ouch! (I added the ouch to make it 6 words.)
3. Do not make decisions at night.

Wondering what I’m doing? The other day, Theresa from Stitches of Grace sent me this meme. I keep thinking about it. Even in my dreams.

I’ve written 2 other posts about it. One is what others say is their 6 word philosophy. The other one is my reply.

Writing my reply has given me perspective on life. Upon further contemplation, I think I have a ways to go. I’m still so self-centered. In reality my life does not always match up to my philosophy: Joyful Hope, Patient Affliction, Faithful Prayer.

I don’t want to be a complainer with hope. I don’t want to be bitter about my afflictions. I don’t want to be feckless in prayer. It is EASY to do the don’ts.

I want to live an uncommon life of being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

Father God, fill me with Your Spirit’s joy, patience and faithfulness. Help me to remember that life on Earth is an ongoing task that is sometimes hard, therefore, requiring hope and prayer. Give me Your power to live life in obedience and to live life well. Amen.

I’ve been reading the answers people have been leaving to this meme. It’s causing me to think some more; AND the opportunity to investigate blogs outside my norm.

Since I’m the curious sort, I investigated to see how far back this meme goes. Looks like about 11 generations. Heidi (who lives in the Netherlands) is the first person mentioned. Heidi has 2 blogs and I wasn’t able to find the original post. Her blogs are as follows: Celebrate the Seasons, Needle Necessities. She is also part of a group blog titled Creative Home Life.

1. Heidi from the Netherlands tagged Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses. Rhondi’s answer is . . . Laughed, cried, worked, played, loved, prayed. Rhondi tagged Deb of Posted From Home.
2. Deb’s six words are: Live Life With a grateful heart. Deb of Posted From Home tagged Tara from Days Missed on a Hammock.
3. Tara’s philosophy is . . . Make Lemonade Out of Life’s Lemons. Tara from Days Missed on a Hammock tagged Oliver Rain.
4. Oliver Rain’s answer is . . . Everything Works Out in the End. Oliver Rain tagged My Cakies.
5. My Cakies lives by the following philosophy . . . Enjoy God & Make Him Known. (Side note Look here for a beautiful felt crown for a princess. Can you tell I’m a princess at heart?) My Cakies tagged Jenny at Babyfingers.
6. Jenny’s answer is . . . Exit your comfort zone everyday. Jenny from Babyfingers tagged Julie at the Knotted Apron Strings.
7. Julie’s contribution is “Do the Math . . . Count Your Blessings.” Julie at Knotted Apron Strings tagged Theresa from Knitting Non Pareil.
8. Theresa’s answer is . . . Learn to love who you are. Theresa from Knitting NonPareil tagged Theresa from Stitches of Grace.
9. Theresa’s 6 words philosophy is . . . . Seek first the kingdom of God. Theresa from Stitches of Grace tagged me. My answer is Joyful Hope. Patient Affliction. Faithful Prayer. So far none of those I’ve tagged have responded.
10. Theresa also tagged Amy from Journaling Back to Joy. Her 3 people have answered. Teresa, The Virginia Queen Bee’s Answer: When I am weak, then I am strong. Perri’s, My Life in Bits & Pieces wrote: God’s in control, I’m at peace. Michelle at Happy Mom 777 also said: Seek first the Kingdom of God.

This was fun researching. So many wonderful projects, photos, thoughts and recipes to look at. Have a looksee and tell me what struck your eye. Either on the blogs or about the 6 word summaries.

Also let me know if we can go back further than Heidi. Thanks.

Coming up with my Philosophy of Life took some thinking. What is my philosophy of life? What truths do I follow consciously or unconsciously?

And it took 12 tries:

1. God loves me. Live like it.
2. First things first. Forget the rest.
3. Weary but still hanging in there.
4. Live life on purpose every day.
5. Forgetting is easy, forgiving is hard. (At 50, forgetting is a natural talent.)
6. Friends are treasures. Tell them often.
7. Loving God. Loving others. Loving myself.
8. Life is hard. Deal with it.
9. I love being mom, auntie, sister.
10. Breathe. Eat. Read. Walk. Think. Talk.
11. Forgive often. Pray always. Love now.
12. Joyful Hope, Patient Affliction, Faithful Prayer.

I choose #12 as my 6 word philosophy of life.

It comes from Romans 12:12: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. This has been my on-again, off-again verse for the year for many years. It gives me proper perspective on how to handle life. It also reminds me that life here on earth is short, has a purpose, and is preparation for a greater forever destiny - Heaven. Most importantly it reminds me that Someone (God) is in control, has the answers and power and wants to share both with those who ask and obey.

This meme was brought to you by . . . . Theresa from Stitches of Grace . She tagged 3 people (me, Lynette and Amy) for this meme.

Memes have rules. Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. Done.
2. Post the rules. Done.
3. Share a 6 word philosophy of life. Done.
4. Tag 3 other people. I’ll tag 6 because in RSVPing there is usually a 50% chance of a No: Lori, Doodah, RunningShoes, Jenny, Alanna, Can’t Backspace. It would be awesome if either Catlady or Duker left their 6 word philosophy in the comment section.

Be warned. This is not as easy as it looks. Be sure to let me know if you do participate.

Lemons have many uses: as food, cleaning agents, crafts, and beauty aids. With the barrage of lemons still coming from friend’s trees, do you need more ideas? Here are some of the ideas I’ve come up with for my lemon stash.

1. Age Spots Lightened. Dab lemon juice on the age/liver spots or freckles. After 15 minutes rinse.
2. Clock Powered With A Lemon. Family Fun has the coolest doable projects. Click here for the link to make this clock.
3. Constipation Relief. Put 2-4 tablespoons of lemon juice in 1 cup warm water. Sweeten to taste with honey. Drink this before breakfast.
4. Dog barking training. Train your dog to stop barking by squirting lemon juice in the dog’s mouth every time he barks. Say, “quiet” while squirting the juice.
5. Fingernails whitened and strengthened. Soak those flimsy, yellowed nails in 1 cup warm water with ½ lemon for 10 minutes. Then dip them in a mixture of equal parts vinegar and warm water. Rinse. Repeat as needed.
6. Furniture Polish. Mix together the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of water. Pour a small amount on the furniture and buff until shiny. To make a bigger batch mix together 1 cup of olive oil with 1/2 cup lemon juice. Pour this into a spray bottle. Use up within the month.
7. Insect Deterrent. Put lemon juice into a spray bottle. Squirt lemon juice on windowsills and into any cracks where the ants are lining up. Place lemon peels outside the doors. Roaches and fleas also hate lemons. Mix together the juice and rinds of 4 lemons with 1/2 gallon warm water. Use this to wash your floors.
8. Invisible ink. Dip a Q-tip into lemon juice and write a short note on a piece of paper. Let it dry. When you are ready to read your secret message, hold the paper near a hot light bulb. The lemon juice message will turn brown.
9. Lemon detox. I did this for a week and found it very helpful. I lost a few pounds. But the main benefits were a clearer mind, less allergy symptoms and more regular elimination. Click here to read one site’s information. I did this while consulting with a doctor.
10. Lip Balm – Lemon Flavored. Gather the following ingredients: 4 oz. extra virgin olive oil, 3 oz. beeswax, ½ vitamin E capsule, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Melt the oil and the beeswax in the microwave or double boiler. Add the ½ vitamin E capsule and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Pour into appropriate containers. Let sit for 48 hours until firm to touch. Go here for precautions and other lip balm recipes.
11. Pomander. This is a fun activity for kids to make. You have to push in a lot of cloves, so I suggest that you take a metal skewer and make little holes for the cloves. This is like pre-drilling holes for a screw. This seems to take a long time, so plan on doing this at several sessions instead of all at one time. Go here for the complete instructions.
12. Simmering Potpourri. In a small pan half-filled with water put in the following: 1 sliced lemon, 1 sliced orange, 1/2 cup cloves, and 3 cinnamon sticks. Bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the water is barely simmering. Enjoy the smell.
13. Wart Removal. Dab lemon juice directly on the wart with a Q-tip or cotton ball. Repeat for several days. If the wart is not gone, dab for several more days.

I hope to make up a few lemon food recipes this next week.

What have you done with lemons lately?

Lemon Tree, the song by Peter, Paul and Mary says,

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.

(Click here for the YouTube rendition of Lemon Tree.)

Not true! The fruit of the poor lemon can be eaten and used. Tomorrow I’ll share 13 ways to use a lemon.

But Today I’ll share 6 ways you can store the lemons for future use.

1. Put lemons in a jar in the refrigerator. Make sure the jar has a tight-fitting lid to prevent loss of moisture. They’ll keep for many weeks this way. (I couldn’t find out how many weeks.)
2. Put the lemons in a plastic bag and put into the refrigerator. Sources say they’ll keep up to six weeks this way.
3. Keep the lemons on the counter. They’ll keep juicy at most two weeks. The humidity and temperature will determine its length of freshness.
4. Squeeze the lemons. Put the juice in ice trays. Once frozen, put the lemon cubes in a freezer bag.
5. Make candied lemon peel. Put this into a sealed jar in the refrigerator. It will keep up to 6 months.
6. Make preserved lemons. The lemons are marinated at least 3 weeks in their juice and salt. Preserved lemons are used in many Moroccan and Middle Eastern dishes.

Do you have another way that you store your lemons? Do tell!

For more Works-For-Me Wednesday Tips, click here. At last count there were 257 tips.

11 observations while in my 5oth birthday present - a hot air balloon ride on Saturday, April 19, 2008, Napa Valley, CA.

1. I’m terrified of heights. When walking across the highest suspension bridge in the world located in Canon City, Colorado . . . . atop an aqua duct in France . . . . while navigating the catwalk in many castles in England, I was sacred white and legless. BUT NOT in a hot air balloon at 1000 feet. My son was sure I’d claw gouges into his arm from fear.
2. Obey the signs. Except when following the instructions are not in our best interest. There was a HUGE Land Here sign carved into a grassy field. It was tempting to land there. But the pilot wasn’t able to navigate the air currents just right so that we could land safely. He assessed the situation and decided to make a new plan. We liked that better because we got to fly 20-30 minutes longer.
3. Unseen air currents do the unexpected. So it was necessary for the pilot to carefully watch how the balloons in front and behind him were flying. He also asked for help from those on the ground. Our pilot was surrounded with help before, behind, and underneath. And of course in the basket with us was a simple instrument panel.
   
4. My glasses stayed on my face. For some reason I thought my glasses would have this urge to leap off my face. Never happened.
5. It was noisier in the balloon than I thought. The release of the gas made for a noisy, heated time. The taller people were advised to wear a hat in order to protect their head from the heat.
6. It was colder than I expected. The guide told us to NOT over-dress because the heat from the balloon would be sufficient. At the last minute I decided to grab my gloves and winter jacket. Good move - I used both as it was still nippy even with the heat descending upon our heads.
7. Our pilot was a pro. Evidently Bob is one of the best pilots around. In the winter, Bob flies air balloons in Switzerland. A lot of those trips are 2-3 hours and come with food and wine to consume during the ride. We had our champagne breakfast after the ride. I was glad of this - that way my sista could join us.
8. The time zoomed by. We were in the air for 1 hr 20 minutes and flew 7 miles. The mileage was a personal record for Bob. It didn’t seem like I was standing for that long of a time.
9. Trouble in, trouble out. I am not the most elegant, graceful or limber of people. I had to have a huge push from behind in order to get over the side of the basket. The side came to the top of my ribcage. I wasn’t too embarrassed - I am getting used to it by now.
10. Doing something new is a bonding experience. This flight and the rest of the day (thanks to my daughter’s ideas) will rank as one of the best birthday presents. Now whenever I see/hear/think about a hot air balloon, I will always think about that day. There will not be any competing memories.
11. Hurray for my 51 Things List. I’ve wanted to go on a hot air balloon for awhile, but I don’t always remember what I want to do. This list is a great way to remember and then to decide which things in life I’ll do during this year I turned 50. This list includes Habits and Events.

I am very grateful to my sista, son and daughter for their respective parts in making this day so special. It was WORTH the wait.

Have you ever been in a hot air balloon? Tell us about your experience.