30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 30 - Quiet Moments on a Foggy Tallgrass Morn

When I left for work this morning it was quite foggy. As I drove, I discovered that it was much foggier in some areas than it was in others. 

As I  pulled into the parking lot at work I marveled at the beauty of the prairie landscape. 

The whole tallgrass world seemed to be draped in a thick cloak of mist and shadow and everything was so incredibly still. 

A little later in the morning I had to go out on the prairie to collect some stems of tall grass to start drying for an upcoming project. It wasn't nearly as foggy as it had been earlier, but wispy clouds of moisture still hung thick over the prairie landscape.

As I made my way around the loop behind the nature center I spied this tunnel in the grasses. 

As I was considering what kind of creature might have made it, I was startled when I heard the gentle flapping of large wings as a norther harrier hawk lifted itself from the ground to my immediate left. It couldn't have been more than eight to ten feet away from me when I saw it. We, evidently, had startled each other and, in the process, I did not think to get a picture of it. I  am sharing this one taken by Ron Dudley.

Photo Credit

I am quite thankful for quiet moments like this, and I am especially thankful for the peace and solitude afforded by a foggy morn out on the tallgrass prairie.

This post concludes my 30 Days of Thanksgiving series. Thank you for joining me in it! 💗

Until next time,

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 29 - The Winter Stock-up

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Days 27 and 28 - The Lord's Confidence and Grocery Shopping With A Friend

DEAR CHRISTMAS MOTHERS by Connie Hultquist - A Book Review and Giveaway

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 29 - The Winter Stock-up

Today I am thankful for the winter stock-up. 

Each November we try to lay in a nice supply of basic goods that will carry us through the winter without having to make any more trips to town than are necessary. For us, the nearest grocery store is 20 miles away, which makes each trip to town a minimum of 40 miles round-trip. 

This basic supply of goods includes meat (ground turkey, chicken, salmon, bison, and whole turkeys...on the way home from Kansas City on Friday we got four of them on mark-down for 40 cents a pound 😲), canned goods (chili beans, black beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tuna, green beans, peas, and fruit), dry beans and peas (navy, kidney, pinto, red beans and split peas), whole wheat pasta, home-canned jellies and jams, baking supplies (flour, crystallized cane sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, olive oil, butter, etc.), canned and dry milk, and grains (whole oats, cracked wheat, barley, and brown rice).  

With the above ingredients I can throw together complete and nutritious meals, not only for John and I on a daily basis, but for company (expected and unexpected), as well, and I have all the supplies on-hand for holiday baking.

We will still make a trip to town once or twice a month for fresh items (milk, bread, eggs, cheese, etc) or, more likely, stop at a store coming or going on some other errand, but, in case of bad weather and we can't make it, no worries. There's plenty on-hand to carry us through.

"She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her 

food from afar..." (Proverbs 31:14)

"She is not afraid of the snow for her household..." 

(Proverbs 31:21)

Until next time,

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Days 27 and 28 - The Lord's Confidence and Grocery Shopping With A Friend

DEAR CHRISTMAS MOTHERS by Connie Hultquist - A Book Review and Giveaway

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 26 - Heat, Light, and Comfort

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Days 27 and 28 - The Lord's Confidence and Grocery Shopping With A Friend

I got busy yesterday afternoon and evening and never did make it back here to post Day 27 of my 30 Days of Thanksgiving post, so, today, I am posting the entries for Days 27 and 28 together in one post. I hope you don't mind. 😉

Day 27 - Last night I presented my final Wild Cats of Missouri program at work (there have been five of them...two homeschool, two library, and this one...an evening program geared more toward adults). Not only was I thankful for a good turn out and for the interest that was shown by those that attended, but, after I got home, I realized that, for the first time, I had presented a program to a room full of adults (most of my programs are geared toward children, which there were only two of at last night's program, and, normally, the thought of presenting a program to a room full of adults scares the daylights out of me), but I hadn't worried or fretted about it AT ALL...I wasn't nervous...I didn't have to go over and over what I was going to do or say beforehand. I just went in there and did it! In fact, I came up with a really silly idea right in the middle of the program, went with it, and it worked! THAT was amazing! Praise God for the peace and confidence to just walk in there and do what I did without thinking and fretting about it. For that I am truly thankful! 🐈

Day 28 - And today I am thankful for the opportunity to take a friend grocery shopping. Her name is Pat and she's more than a friend, really. She's become a second mother to me. 

I've know Pat since I was 10-years-old. She and her husband, Micky, were our next-door neighbors as I was growing up at Grain Valley. Pat and Micky were childless and didn't have family, so they became an extension of our own family. Every morning Mick could be found sitting at our table drinking coffee with my dad and Pat and Mom were always doing something together. Pat and Micky even went on family outings and vacations with us sometimes. 

Right before my parents moved to southwest Missouri, Mick passed away. When we moved a year later Pat came with us. She's lived across the street from my parent's place (which is our place now) ever since, so, today, she is still my next-door-neighbor! (Thank You, God!) 💗

Mom's death in 2005 was really hard on Pat. Mom was her best friend. Mom's death was hard on me, too. Pat picked up the slack and became a mother-figure in my life. When my dad died in 2016 it went from bad to worse. I'm so thankful that Pat and I were there for each other then, and I'm even more thankful that we're still there for each other today.

Pat is 85 years old and getting quite frail, yet she's still a go-getter! She can't do everything that she'd like to do (or do them the way she used to anyway), but she's not one to sit around and just give up. Oh, no! She's determined as she can be to keep up and moving as long as she possibly can! 

We go places and do things (not like we used to, of course), but she stays as active as she can and still enjoys our outings, even if it's just going out for lunch, to do the grocery shopping (she pushes the cart while I do the shopping), to her annual doctor's appointment (yes, annual...once a year), or to get ice cream (she loves getting ice cream)! 😄 Whatever we're doing we make the best of it and have a great time doing it!

Speaking, of which, it's almost time to go grocery shopping and I'm not even dressed yet! I better be going! I am thankful, though, for Pat (and for Micky), for the friendship they have shared with our family since I was a child, and for the additional time that the Lord has blessed us with since my parents have passed. Like I said, Pat is more than a friend...she has become a second mother to me and I love her with all my heart. 💗

Until next time,

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

DEAR CHRISTMAS MOTHERS by Connie Hultquist - A Book Review and Giveaway

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 26 - Heat, Light, and Comfort

Happy Homemaker Monday - November 26, 2018

DEAR CHRISTMAS MOTHERS by Connie Hultquist - A Book Review and Giveaway

Dear Christmas Mothers by Mrs.Connie Hultquist

I just finished reading Dear Christmas Mothers by Mrs. Connie Hultquist and, I must say, I greatly enjoyed it! The book is only 115 pages long, but it is jam-packed with encouragement and holiday cheer on every page.

Mrs. Hultquist started writing letters to homemakers back in 1996. These were handwritten newsletters that were an encouragement to many. Dear Christmas Mothers, is a collection of 17 letters that were written to mothers in the early 2000's that are centered on Thanksgiving and Christmas. A small recipe section is included in the back.

Mrs. Hultquist's writings promised to inspire the reader to have a peaceful, old-fashioned Christmas, but, for me, it did so much more! Not only did I find inspiration, but, on every page, I found godly wisdom, truth, common sense, and plain, good, old-fashioned advice!

Not only that, but, as I read, sweet memories from the years of raising my own brood came flooding back. So many of the things that Mrs. Hultquist did to make Christmas special for her children were very reminiscent of things that my mother did with, and for, me, that I, in turn, I did with, and for, my own children. 

Dear Christmas Mothers is a very sweet book that truly blessed me! The best part is, one of my readers will be getting a copy of Dear Christmas Mothers of their own to enjoy this holiday season, as well! 

That's right! The publisher of the book, Mrs. Sharon White of The Legacy of Home Press, is offering a free copy of Dear Christmas Mothers to one of my dear readers. All you have to do to enter the drawing is leave a comment in the POST A COMMENT section below telling me something about Christmas...perhaps a special memory or your favorite holiday tradition. One random winner will be selected on Tuesday, December 4th. Then, Mrs. White will mail a copy of the book out directly. 

Best wishes to all! 

Until next time...

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 26 - Heat, Light, and Comfort

Happy Homemaker Monday - November 26, 2018

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 25 - My Maids

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 26 - Heat, Light, and Comfort

As colder temperatures and winter weather moves into the area I am thankful for the warmth and comfort that comes from our propane wall unit and for electricity to run our infrared heater (when needed) and with which to cook our food...warm soups and stews, freshly baked bread from the oven, and hot tea in the mornings. I am thankful, too, for light. Light by which to read in the evening, the twinkling Christmas lights that decorate our home, and the warm glow of candlelight on chilly winter evenings. All of these things add to our warmth and comfort as we ride out the winter here in the Midwest.

Christmas Lights

Until next time,

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

Happy Homemaker Monday - November 26, 2018

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 25 - My Maids

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 24 - God-Inspired Ideas and Creativity

Here's a special offer from Sue Hooley for Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME readers and a great buy for those who are shopping for Christmas gifts!

$3.00 off one Planner. Regular 14.99. Only 11.99 with 

coupon code NOV18300

$10.00 off three Planners. Planners are already discounted 

with the purchase of 3- $14.49. With the coupon the planners 
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Happy Homemaker Monday - November 26, 2018

Good morning, Sweet Ladies! 💗

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? We sure did! Had a great time at our daughter and son-in-law's in Kansas City and, now, here we are, in the midst of the last Monday of November! Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas is coming right up! It doesn't seem possible...does it?

I had worked ahead on this post some yesterday, because I was supposed to be leaving early to meet up with friends to do a little history exploring this morning, but things changed at the last minute when one of my friends got word that she was going to have to work today, plus the weather turned bad on us (not so much here, but where we were heading), so it looks I'll have some extra time to work on things around the house today. My friends and I rescheduled our plans and, hopefully, next time, things will work out. If not, we'll reschedule again! 😊

I'm going to get right on into this week's post. Won't you join me?

Today I am joining Sandra and the other ladies over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday. Please be sure to go over and check them out! 💗

Right now I am...

... finishing up breakfast and enjoying a nice cup of hot tea as I finish this post and prepare for the day ahead. 

Am thinking...

... about our family Christmas (it is coming up in less than two weeks). John and I did most of shopping for it on our way home from Kansas City on Friday, but I have an ever growing list of things that still need to be done before I can say we're done. Will probably work on some of that today. 😊

On the breakfast plate...

... THM Sweatpants Oatmeal with blueberries and a cup of Twining's Irish Breakfast tea

The weather...

... Cold! 😰 Right now it's 22 degrees with a windchill of 11. Yesterday morning when I got up it was sunny and 57 degrees. Then, the clouds rolled in and the temperature started dropping. By mid-afternoon temperatures were in the 30's and we were experiencing rain that quickly turned over to snow. We only got about a half-inch or so here, but to our north they were under blizzard conditions and they really got dumped on. In fact, a friend of mine posted a picture of a ruler stuck in the snow in her backyard and it was measuring 14-inches...and this came down in just a matter of a few hours! 😲 For us, it's supposed to be cold today with highs in the mid-30's, then back up into the 40's and 50's for the rest of the week, so not bad. 😊

On my reading pile...

... Am still reading Introduction to Home Economics - Gentle Instruction to Find Joy in Christian Homemaking by Mrs. Sharon White and The Great Buffalo Hunt by Wayne Gard.

Introduction to Home Economics by Mrs. Sharon White

The Great Buffalo Hunt by Wayne Gard

And, as promised, tomorrow I will be posting a review and announcing a giveaway for this book, Dear Christmas Mothers by Connie Hultquist!

I will be doing a review of this book and hosting a giveaway for
it TOMORROW, so be watching for your chance to enter!

On the menu this week...

I cooked down the turkey carcass from the turkey that I roasted last Sunday and have lots of good bone broth in the deep-freeze, so plan on making a variety of good soups this week!

Monday - grilled salmon, baked sweet potatoes, and fried cabbage
Tuesday - turkey barley soup (half-recipe) and homemade French bread (freezer)
Wednesday - ham and beans with cornbread (freezer)
Thursday - Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup (half-recipe) and homemade French bread (freezer)
Friday - turkey burgers and oven fries
Saturday - supper out (on the road)
Sunday - turkey chowder and refrigerator rolls

On my 'to-do' list...

- Monday - Plan the week ahead, do my weekly "home blessing", do laundry
- Tuesday - Present 'Big Cats of Missouri' in an evening program at work
- Wednesday - Take a friend grocery shopping
- Thursday - Make roll dough ahead for Sunday
- Friday - Work
- Saturday - Work Christmas on the Farm @ Watkins Woolen Mill State Park and Historic Site
- Sunday - Church (with fellowship dinner following)

In the craft basket...

... Put up another 17 pints of pumpkin butter this week and, while at dd's for Thanksgiving, made a few more fairy jars. 

Pumpkin Butter

Fairy Jars

While we're on crafting, I want to share the links to two articles that came out this past week that feature a couple of artsy friends and both of them connect back to where I work at Prairie State Park. 

The first one is Cyndi Cogbill, owner of Pawpaw Patch Productions. I've known Cyndi for going on 25-years now. She was the naturalist at Prairie State Park when we first came to southwest Missouri, and she is the one that conducted the homeschool classes when some of my own children (the younger ones) were growing up. Much of their education in natural science and Native American history came under Cyndi's tutelage and she is the reason that our youngest girl decided, early on, that she wanted to work for Missouri State Parks (she is the one that works at Watkins Woolen Mill near Lawson, Missouri). What a privilege it is to follow in Cyndi's footsteps and continue on with her legacy for a whole new generation of homeschoolers today. It truly is an honor, but, let me tell you, it's big footsteps to fill! 

Click HERE to read the article about Cyndi that came out in yesterday's Joplin Globe.

Artist Uses Creations to Educate Public

The second friend is Abigail Miller. I've known Abby and her family since she was a little girl. Her mama and I met through the homeschool programs that Cyndi conducted at Prairie State Park and I have, literally, watched Abby grow up. Today she is married and is mother to two beautiful children of her own. It is a blessing to know her. 

Here is a blog post that features Abby and her spinning at Prairie Jubilee...

Abigail Miller Spinning Wool at Prairie Jubilee 2018

I'm super proud of both these special ladies and the extraordinary talents that they each possess! 💗

Looking forward to this week...

... Being done with wild cat programs (this makes the fifth one this month) and working Christmas on the Farm @ Watkins Woolen Mill.

Something interesting I watched this week...

Giant wind-generators on a wind-farm located along I-36 between Cameron, Missouri and St. Joseph, Missouri. These things are HUGE!!!

From the camera...

Talk about crafting! How about making a little bobbin lace?
Isn't it lovely? And truly amazing! Beautiful!
Photo taken at the Patee House Museum - St. Joseph, Missouri

Scripture passage...

Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead, and I'll see you next week! Blessings!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

Here's a special offer from Sue Hooley for Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME readers and a great buy for those who are shopping for Christmas gifts!

$3.00 off one Planner. Regular 14.99. Only 11.99 with 

coupon code NOV18300

$10.00 off three Planners. Planners are already discounted 

with the purchase of 3- $14.49. With the coupon the planners 
are ONLY $11.16 each. Use coupon code: NOV181000   

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 25 - My Maids

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 24 - God-Inspired Ideas and Creativity

Happy Homemaker Monday - November 19, 2018

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 25 - My Maids

Today I'm thankful for, what I refer to as, "my maids" (a.k.a. modern day appliances and conveniences that we take for granted every day). 

I often think, especially on days when I'm super busy and have several things going on at once, about how many people (or hours) it would take to do the jobs that my machines are doing for me.

My laundress (the washer) and her crew (the dryer) are taking care of the laundry, while the baker (the bread machine) kneads the dough that I will later shape into French loaves and bake in the oven (that didn't need a single stick of wood to be cut and kindled in order to heat it).

The refrigerator and freezer keeps things cold without the effort of having to tote things back and forth to a spring, or to cut blocks of ice from a frozen pond in winter, and stacking and insulating them in thick sawdust in some ice-house somewhere, in hopes of having ice in summer. Everything is kept nice and cold (or frozen) by simply keeping the machine plugged in and setting the temperature where we want it.

Then there's the microwave, the hot-air popcorn popper, the toaster, the food processor (oh! the food processor! how much work has that machine saved me over the years???? 😲), the blender, and the list goes on and on.

All of these modern day conveniences are things we use every day, but seldom think much about...at least not most of the time anyway...but, do we realize that all of the things that these machines do for us are things that our grandmothers and grandfathers...great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers...had to, either do by-hand themselves, depend on someone else to do for them (if they could afford it), or do without? Do we realize just how hard people had to work, up until the last few decades, just to live?

On one hand, yes, these things are definitely blessings for which I am so very thankful! On the other hand, though, I suddenly realize that these things may very well be part of what is wrong with our world today...especially here in the United States where we are blessed and spoiled beyond measure. Perhaps our modern day appliances and conveniences  have left us without enough work turning us into a nation that lives to be entertained. 😕 It's sure something to think about! 

Until next time,

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 24 - God-Inspired Ideas and Creativity

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 23 - Angelic Protection

Happy Homemaker Monday - November 19, 2018

Here's a special offer from Sue Hooley for Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME readers and a great buy for those who are shopping for Christmas gifts!

$3.00 off one Planner. Regular 14.99. Only 11.99 with 

coupon code NOV18300

$10.00 off three Planners. Planners are already discounted 

with the purchase of 3- $14.49. With the coupon the planners 
are ONLY $11.16 each. Use coupon code: NOV181000  

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 24 - God-Inspired Ideas and Creativity

Today I'm thankful for God-inspired ideas and creativity. Thoughts and ideas that come from Him and to fruition for our good and His glory!

What God-inspired ideas are speaking to your heart right now?

Until next time,

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 23 - Angelic Protection

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 22 - Sweet Thanksgiving Memories

Happy Homemaker Monday - November 19, 2018

Here's a special offer from Sue Hooley for Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME readers and a great buy for those who are shopping for Christmas gifts!

$3.00 off one Planner. Regular 14.99. Only 11.99 with 

coupon code NOV18300

$10.00 off three Planners. Planners are already discounted 

with the purchase of 3- $14.49. With the coupon the planners 
are ONLY $11.16 each. Use coupon code: NOV181000