Autumn find at Goodwill

Do you see this little Village ?

I popped into Goodwill when I was out yesterday.

They were originally bought at Rite-Aid.

I just think this is so cute... not sure how I will

arrange it ultimately. I think there are lots of possibilities.

Just had to share....I love a bargain, ...

~~deby

so delicious

Doesn't this just look "Autumn'y?"
This is my daughter, Missy's recipe.
YES...it is a repost....it is that time of the year
You know you saw this recipe somewhere...
so here ya go :
DINNER IN A PUMPKIN
1 med. size pumpkin, topped and cleaned out
1 onion chopped and sautéed w/ground beef1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
3 Cups Cooked rice (white or brown)
1 can mushrooms or 1 c. fresh mushrooms (optional)
2 can cream of mushroom soup
Salt and pepper to taste (I also add pumpkin pie spice)

Combine ingredients and put in pumpkin.
Put top on pumpkin.
Place pumpkin on cookie sheet in oven preheated to 375 degrees.
Bake for 1 ½ to 2 hours. (you can tell it is done with pumpkin scrapes easily out of the pumpkin)

Serve dinner in pumpkin.
Scrape pumpkin out and serve on top of rice mixture with brown sugar.
Do not open pumpkin while baking or
it will expand and top will not fit on pumpkin again

~*~*~*~

I hope Missy makes this again this year,

hint, hint !!!

~~deby

cold nor hot

"OUCH" I desire to be "HOT"
~~deby

I am sorry--MORE added

This week we have had "Prayer Revival" at my church. It started during our Sunday School hour. So we have been preached too and exhorted for 7 separate times on the subject of "PRAYER". The Evangelist was Bro. Benny Beckum.

Last night I was so convicted in my heart that I have not prayed when I have told people that I would pray for them. I can't count the times I have read a blog and said"I will pray for you" and did not. I did not take it seriously enough. Sometimes I may have forgotten, other times, I just did not pray. You may have been one of these persons. You may be a friend, family or a stranger. It does not make a difference. I took this most precious, priviledge and command from God "flippantly".

Dear readers, I apologize to you for not praying for you when I said I would. I am sorry that I did not follow through with your request. I am sorry that I said something and then did not do it. My heart is heavy this morning when I think of all the times I could have done this and the missed opportunities to uphold you and yours in prayer. Please forgive me.

In the future I plan to blog with a notebook. I want to keep track of requests and answers. There is so much to this "praying mandate". I have to take this seriously, God does.

This apology is truly heartfelt. It was a struggle this morning to even sit down and type, yet, I knew the Lord spoke to me about it last night.

Love you all,

Deby

1 Timothy 2:1-3 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

***I debated on approving the comments. I did not want this to seem like I was calling attention to myself. The reason I approved them is there are many of us in this situation and ideas were given that I thought were beneficial for all to see. Thank you for your kind words and your forgiveness.

Pumpkin craft--I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind.........

I am posting this again.

I plan to make more this year for a few neighbors.

This is so easy to make--
so easy to personalize with embellishment or colors.
You need:
* Dryer vent hose (white plastic)
* Glue Gun
* acrylic paint
* sponge brush
* leaves etc...
~*~*~*~*~
Cut the dryer vent hose---easy to figure out
bend to a circle...where the ends will meet.
THEN CAREFULLY
(kids shouldn't help with this part)
hot glue the ends together.
Let the glue dry
Paint with sponge brush.
For the STEM
I used a brown piece of paper bag
crumbled and folded.
~*~*~*~
The year I made these...
I made dozens....and gave them away
Cheap and truly easy !!!
~~deby
Think some cute
"cottagey look" would be easy to achieve...
maybe a pale pink paint....glitter.....
oh my....what you could do

"getting it"

I am thankful that more and more Doctors are "getting it"...some maybe just "baby steps". I won't take the meds he mentions because of all the side effects. I have had trouble with meds and being super sensitive to them. It is nice having a doctor go public, for those of us who have been made to feel "less than human" or have been somewhat traumatized by the "unkind words" of a "knowing" physician.
~~deby

A bit real

This week a blog friend, wrote and told me she had fibromyalgia. Normally, I would just feel so bad for that person(s) and try to encourage them. This time, I started crying while looking at my laptop. I was thinking, "Please Lord, not another one". I know the battle it is. It is not a death sentence, but it is a up-hill struggle ALMOST everyday. I try not to dwell on it, or even blog on it. Today I will only because, there will be people with "Chronic diseases" come in your life. Be gentle with them....it is a lonely walk. Why, because...truly in my case, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is oh so weak". I say "no" to most things. I do everything in spurts. I can walk into a store and browse for minutes compared to what I used to do...I most often will leave my husband to wait in line or finish as I just need to get to the car, I hurt so bad. My sleep is horrible...most people with fibro have this symptom.

I get asked most often about meds. Well, it seems like everything has it's side effects, right now the side effects seem to make everything worse. I tend to "bite the bullet". I can't get tough, or "man up"...and let me tell you IF anyone I know had this just for a few hours, they would finally "get it". I am not bitter--that passed long ago. I just miss the "old me". I think those I love, miss the old Deby. So today, I write a bit more about this struggle, just in case you or someone you know gets stricken with this. I know it could be WORSE. I CLING to:

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

I share this quote from Rochelle's Learning to Trust Blog:
“In [Fibromyalgia], there is a generalized disturbance of how pain is processed. As the central nervous system becomes more sensitized, pain becomes more intense in response to any given stimulus, and this pain does not diminish as quickly as it does in a healthy individual. Eventually, the pain remains long after the stimulus or cause has ended. The FM patient feels amplified pain, and also may experience sensations of pain in response to normally nonpainful stimuli such as noise, touch, and light. The cognitive dysfunction that may also accompany FM can massively disrupt the patient’s lifestyle. You keep losing things, and you begin to think that one of them is your mind. The world has become a game where the rules change daily, and nobody tells you what they are. You can easily become overwhelmed.”
~ From the Foreword, Mari Skelly, Women Living with Fibromyalgia, ©2002

Yes,it could be worse. There are some that read my blog, that have "worse". This is not for them. It is for my friend who was just diagnosed and for me, sometimes I just need to be a bit real.
~~deby

Christmas Carols ?

Seen yesterday at my local Costco.

When I think about it..Christmas is just around the corner.
........I want to enjoy Autumn first though...
I have been giving some thought on starting a shopping list.
Looking for some little things....
no FaLaLaLaLa...yet for me.
but before you know it,
my TREE will be up...and the Carols will be playing.
Truth is, I start the Christmas Carols pretty early.
Do any of you?
~~deby

**Before** pic

My niece, Jenna took this. This is my little girl, Chloe. Jenna took many pictures for me (not fond of the camera these days).....yes...she took some **Before** pictures for me. Now if you have been reading my blog, you didn't really think I would show, the OTHERS, did you ?
For right now this is the best I can do. Chloe doesn't really care to pose for pictures, her ears seem to always go back for some reason...maybe someday I can show more BUT not right now...I am sure MANY of you understand.
~~deby
yes, I am growing out my hair color, it is time

have you ever?

This is across the Sound in a area some of my family lives.

My son in love, Mark took this picture of the

"Ferry at Sunset"

Have you ever gone on a ferry ? I really do enjoy it.

We have seen so many beautiful sights, it is a leisurely thing to do.

In our neck of the woods, MANY people do this everyday to get back and forth to work.

I don't think they see this as a *getaway*

If you ever can, I recommend this form of transportation.

Take a cuppa your favorite, be it tea or coffee...then....

RELAX...and enjoy the beauty God, not mother nature has created.

~~deby

I included this image of the Ferry close-up....just in case you have never been in our area

this is "Ruff"

I have to do this. Reality is "ruff".....so I am re-joining Weight Watchers today. I am doing it with my husbands blessing. I will try hard to stick to whole foods and keep trying to eat as much organic as we can afford. I have many scriptures the Lord has been giving me the past weeks in regards to this area of my life....it's time to get serious, seriously.

~~deby

My grandma's leaves

These were my grandmothers. They are templates. I think she drew them by hand and it appears they were done on a old manilla folder or something. She kept them in this little box ? Do any of you even remember Perry Como? I used to have a whole bunch of the leaves she made with these. She would trace them on construction paper and cut and color them with crayons and then hang them up. I was able to use them many years in my home and windows. The veins in the leaves are cut thinly with something like a exacto knife..I am not sure. It was a slit to be able to draw the veins on her leaves. My grandmother was very crafty and a great seamstress and gardener. I didn't grow up around her. I flew out twice as a married adult and got to spend some time with her. She is in Heaven now and I look forward to the reunion one day.

As much as I love Autumn, I "know" nothing will compare with Heaven and I know for sure I am going. I hope you do too.

~~deby

I want you to know

I am going to have to do something I don't really want to do. I am removing my "Followers" widget on my blog. I am sorry if this offends anyone. There are some followers on my blog, that I don't want any link back to their blogs. I don't approve AT ALL, and even wonder why they would come here ? I can tell by their blogs that we are not all like-minded on anything ? I hope you will all understand, the other option would to go private, invitation only. Just thought you should know..
~~deby
and btw...the previous picture and this one is from AUTUMN a couple of years ago. I haven't taken current pictures yet. I just like these ! I have not decorated yet this year. My husband will get the box out of storage soon. He has been working so much....it will happen. I just love this time of year.

practicing on you

You can tell the season is changing--especially in blogland. It seems like so many of us just love this time of year. Many live in areas where there isn't a real distinct change, yet create it themselves in their homes. I haven't pulled out my touches yet, but plan to soon.

Autumn is a beautiful time of year, here. I know some call it Fall, to include myself. I was just thinking this morning, I "LOVE" the way the word, "Autumn" sounds. I am going to use it more than the other. I will have to work at it....."Autumn, Autumn, Autumn" ...I am practicing on you,my blog friends. (smile)

~~deby

My shopping "tip"

Tomorrow at my JoAnne's, McCall's patterns are going on SALE for $1.99 each.
They do this with the other brands as well, from time to time.
When I get there, often there are not enough catalogs to browse through.
Soooo...I have started to go on-line ahead of time and browse the catalog on my computer instead of trying to make decisions at the store. Here is the link to McCall's just in case there is something you might be needing. Grab your pen and a piece of paper to write down the numbers and Voila', just take them in a pick them up......My problem is, I sometimes FORGET where I put "that paper" ???? ..... anyone else do that ?
~~deby