McCAIN/PALIN - Right On!!!!

Sarah Palin

Boy McCain has done us right on this one!!!!!! Mickey & I were totally blown away with her speech yesterday in Ohio when McCain introduced her, and HER FAMILY!!! It was all we could do to not run around the room shouting Hallelujah!!

This is an answer to much prayer and this is going to be one interesting election and the remaining 67 days of this campaign are going to be very exciting.

Let the "talking heads" talk and put down and nay-say all they want ...... we are on our way to taking this country back to the values it was founded on. Christian, married for 20 years, proud of her WORKING husband, mother of 5 even one with Downs Syndrome, anti-abortion, pro-gun, ready to stand up for right, meeting the "good-old boys" head on, and on-on. I loved it that she told congress "You keep your bridge to no-where.....when we want a bridge we'll build it!"

I was already supporting McCain and definitely anti Obama but I will really do all I can to promote the ticket of

McCain/Palin

What are your thoughts?

SHOW & TELL #24 - Cooking with Honey

It's Show & Tell Friday again. Time to drop over to Kelli's blog and enter your show & tell on Mr. Linky and then visit the various blogs to see all the interesting things shown to show.

I posted here about Honey extraction and showed these lovely jars of fresh honey. When Mickey first began this new venture of becoming a bee keeper I told him I would have nothing to do with the bees & hives, but that once we had honey I would learn about cooking with it. True to my word, here are my first honey cookies.

Here is a closer look and the recipe.

Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup flour (I used 1/2 white & 1/2 whole wheat)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/4 cut walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup sweetened coconut, flaked

1/2 cup raisins (I used golden raisins)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 Tablespoons boiling water

1/2 cup butter

3 Tablespoons HONEY

Preheat over to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the first 6 ingredients

In a separate bowl stir together baking soda and boiling water. Set aside.

In a saucepan melt butter with honey over low heat. Remove pan from heat and mix in the baking soda mixture.

Pour into dry mixture, stirring until well blended. Form the batter into 1-inch balls and arrange on a baking sheet. Press the balls into disks about 1 1/2 to 2-inches in diameter.

Bake in middle of oven until edges are golden, about 12-14 minutes.

Yield: 30 cookies (approximately).

They turned out very rich and very delicious!!!!!

Original recipe from Golden Blossom Honey

EDITORIAL - THE POWER OF WORDS

I assume most all of us watched Hillary Clinton give her speach last night at the Democratic Convention in Denver. It was a really good speech and it sure seemed to rally the delegates and others in attendance. I have already declared who I will vote for this year and it is .

This post, however, is not about the election, but about THE POWER OF WORDS.

As I was thinking and praying about this this morning I thought ....why don't we, as Christians, take a good lesson from Hillary Clinton. Why don't we sound the clarion call for unity of The Body of Christ. Why aren't we shouting to The Body of Christ, and subsequently to the world, "Put aside your denominational differences and arguments, band together and fight united FOR God and AGAINST evil."! Quit fighting each other and permitting the enemy to win, at least the temporary battles. We know God wins in the end, because we've read the final chapter!!

There was a good and faithful Christian who closed down her blog recently because she had been duped by another blogger (I'm not familiar with this and don't know who she was making reference to) into believing the blogger was suffering from a terminal illness and then had found out it was a hoax to get money. She was so disallusioned that she threw in the towel and quit. My position is that situations like this should make us all the MORE determined to get our good, honest , true faith and committment in Our Lord and Savior out into blogland. Don't just abandon it to let the evil ones take over and push us out. Use THE POWER OF OUR WORDS for good and for God in blogland, our families, our neighborhood, our community, our nation and our world.

The following is a Percentage source from the CIA: The World Fact Book (2007)

When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions (Paris - car burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats (Amsterdam - Mohammed cartoons). (I have more of these percentage facts that I will share on another post)

It is time for Christians to stand up and boldly use THE POWER OF OUR WORDS to get the truth out FOR our God & Savior Jesus Christ and AGAINST any and all evil in this world: abortion, pornography, child abuse, drugs, human trafficking, genicide, and on and on.

I for ONE am determined to Fight this good fight of faith and to run this race that has been set before me.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

OOOPS!!!! - Draw another

As most of you know, I had a drawing for the book THE SHACK to celebrate my 400th post. Mickey drew out the winning # on Saturday here and it was Michelle in South Africa.

Michelle contacted me and said she'd already read the book so it was decided that we would just draw another name from the 29 others who had wanted to participate. We still had the little basket with all the numbers so I had Mickey draw out another name.

It is MICHELLE!!!! But this is Michelle of Ozark Sew N Sew. Can you believe that?!!! That two Michelle names would be drawn? So Michelle if you will contact me by e-mail with your mailing address THE SHACK will soon be in the mail to you.

MY "HONEY" & HONEY EXTRACTION

As many of you know, Mickey, became a Bee Keeper in May of this year. Go here to read about his getting & setting up his hives.

He has been blessed on this journey by Ronnie an experienced bee keeper. After Mickey got his hive all set up he was having trouble locating bees. Then he found out that two gentlemen in our church were experienced bee keepers. Mickey was able to buy his first bees from Ronnie and Ronnie has been mentoring him along this process. The other gentlemen, John, has also been a great help and is a member of the board of the local Bee Association.



Ronnie was ready to extract honey from some of his hives so Friday Mickey went with him to help and learn. They pulled 38 frames from 4 of Ronnie's hives. They brought them to Mickey's little barn for overnight because they were both exhausted.

This is Mickey after pulling all the frames on this hot summer day and finally home & relaxing with his cup of coffee.

Saturday morning we worked at the Church in our Angel Food Ministry. After lunch he went to pick up Ronnie and the fun began!!!

Here are Mickey & Ronnie with the stainless steel extractor. It will hold two frames of honey at a time. Mickey is working the crank. It works by centrifugal force. They put the 2 frames in one direction and crank until no more honey is coming out the spigot, then they turn the frames in the other direction and begin cranking again. You can barely see it in my picture but the spout at the bottom is where the honey comes out into the container they are using. Ronnie's job is decapping the comb. Decapping is cutting the top off the cells where the bee's have stored the honey in the honey comb and capped it off with a thin layer of wax.

This extractor belongs to our friend John who is graciously letting both Ronnie and Mickey borrow it to use for this big job. These babies cost from $400 up so if it weren't for a wonderful Christian friend Mickey & I would be doing it "the old fashioned way", whatever THAT is!!.

This is the tray where the decapping is done. The frame is set on the crossbar and the knife you see is slide up the frame from bottom to top cutting the caps. Then the frame is turned around and the other side is decapped. This is done before the frames are placed into the stainless extractor. What you see accumulating here is the honey comb caps which can be cleaned and made into wax products.

A closed look at the cuttings of honey comb and the knife.

Ronnie ended up with two 5 gallon pails of unstrained honey. He also filled up one of my ice cream buckets (I told you I use these for everything!) for Mickey's helping him with this big job.

This is our portion of the honey after our first straining through a sieve.

This is the honey after the second straining. We used a new woman's ankle hose for this straining!!!! A tip we got from the bee club meetings.

Here I am pouring the strained honey into the various little jars I have been saving since Mickey got his hives.

Here's my tired extractor cranking honey extractor "honey" with all his jars of this wonderful fresh honey.

A close-up of the lovely honey.



Savoring a piece of toast with butter and FRESH honey with his coffee AND resting his tired feet and body.

Oh, one part I almost forgot.......after doing all the extracting Mickey decided he wanted to check his hives and see how close they were to being ready. He was not bit one time during all of the processing of Ronnie's honey, but when he took off the top of his hive to look his bee's swarmed him and he was bitten 8, yes EIGHT, times before he could get away. They cannot figure out why. Maybe they didn't like him bringing in those OTHER bees!!!!


The extractor after Mickey had cleaned it all up. Ready to go back into the barn and wait for our honey to be ready. Should be soon.

"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

Proverbs 16:24

This has nothing to do with honey but wanted to show you 3 pears and okra we were blessed with. Actually we were given 4 times this amount of okra but we are not big okra eaters so we shared amounts like this with three of our neighbors. There was also a yellow squash but we ate it before I got the picture taken :o)

THE WINNER IS????

Thanks so much to the 37 of you that left me comments on my 400th post and the give away of THE SHACK to celebrate. Out of the 37 comments 30 of you wanted to be in the drawing.

I know many of you use some fancy, blog stuff that selects the winning number for you but since I don't know how to do that Mickey & I once again did it the old fashioned way. I wrote down all the 30 names on a note pad with the numbers 1 through 30. Then we made little slips of paper with the 30 numbers on them and put them in our little basket and Mickey got to mix them all up and then draw the winner.

The winning # was 13 and that was Michelle of .Franzenfam. Michelle is my sweet, young missionary wife and mother of 3 serving in South Africa. She is also a blog friend that I got to meet when she and her husband were in Tulsa last year. Please e-mail me your address Michelle and THE SHACK will soon be on it's way to you.

Wish I had 30 of them to send you each a copy :o(

FAMILY FUN STUFF

First Dave, although we haven't seen it yet!!!, and then Benny have recently bought motorcycles. Last Sunday Benny "rode" over to show us the used Har*ley David*son he bought. Mickey is checking it out :o)
Very nice....of course that is par for Benny.


A better view of the Har*ley, Benny & Jacque. Look at the happy look on those faces. Look at ALL that chome. I don't know which is shining the brightest.

Away they go!!! YES, they got the helmet lecture from Mom & Dad!!!!!


Since attending Bible School in June we have been getting Aric every Wednesday to attend church with us. He is in the Royal Rangers program. A youth program for young boys in our Assembly of God similar to Bo*y Scou*ts where they earn badges, etc. except all the lessons are Biblical. Mickey has been going into the class with Aric the past 2 weeks so that we will understand the program completely and be able to help him on the home front. We ordered parts of his uniform a week ago but it hadn't come in by this week..

Once school started we asked his dad, Marc, if we could continue by picking him up at school every Wednesday and having him spend the night with us. Then I drive him into Tulsa on Thursday morning in time to be at school by 7:40. We pick him up at 2:35 and then go to Mc*Don*alds for apple pie and he plays on the R*Gym equipment while Granddad & I have a cup of senior coffee, with out pie's of course!!!

Here is Granddad talking to him early Thursday morning about getting up and out of bed.

They were having so much fun "playing" that I had to get a picture. It is such a joy for us to have this special time with our one & only grandson, and youngest grandchild.

**************************

STILL not a word from VA on the tests Mickey had on the 15th in Oklahoma City. We thought surely by Friday, one week, we would hear something but have not.

We are standing with "No news is good news" but it is very flustrating, especially for Mickey. We are so very moved and touched with all the prayers going up in his behalf and the inquiries and concern you wonderful blog friends have shown us.

It is still amazing to me how God has used this little Penless blog to bless our lives in so many ways.

Prayer, and standing with each other is what it is all about!!

The Bible is clear in

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" Romans 12:15

SHOW & TELL #23 - Small hobnail pitcher & glasses

I haven't been as faithful in participating in Show & Tell lately...life seems to be really crowding us lately!! It truly is one of my favorite things in blogland so I hope you go over to Kelli's and participate along with the many others.

My Show & Tell for today is this little pale green hobnail pitcher and glasses set. The pitcher is only 4" tall and the glasses 2".

This is special to me because it was given to me by my real-life & blog-life friend, Kahri. Actually I had gone over to help Kahri clean her house one day and this was an item in her daughters room that they were going to throw away. I could just not bear the thought of throwing such a precious set away and asked if I could take it home with me!!!! It lives on my kitchen window sill with some plants and I treasure it.

The picture is terrible but I've placed a quarter by it to show the smallness of the set.

*************************************

For those of you who have been asking, and wondering, about Mickey's heart tests he had last Friday we have not heard one word yet. As soon as we hear anything I will let you all know. Thanks for all your interest & inquiries. That means a lot to us :o)

EDITORIAL

I have purposely stayed away from blogging my political views and opinions, although I clearly have who I support in the upcoming Presidential Election on my side bar for all to see. Prior to the primary we had supported Huckabee.

I just want to comment on two programs that have been shown lately. The hour long each Rick Warren Forum of Obama & McCain last Friday night and the McCain - Obama Revealed programs aired last night on CNN. Since we have church on Wednesday nights we taped the broadcasts and viewed them this morning.

Regardless of who you support, or why, I just hope everyone is availing themselves to these types of programs which are truly giving us a broad view of the two candidates.

My first election to vote in after turning 21 was the 1960 election of Kennedy vs Nixon. I have voted in every election since, which is a total of 13 Presidential elections.

Never before, in all these many years, have we been privileged to get a "real" look at the 2 men running for this great office. Nor have we ever had, so easily at our fingertips, so much information about the candidates. In past years we have had to depend on Political Advertising by the candidates and "sound bites" the press chose to pick up and highlight.

I know CNN has a very liberal bent, but we are not able to get Fox News on our D*is*h network without paying extra for it, which we don't do. I am grateful to CNN for airing these informative shows about these two men, their background, where they have come from, their good points and their faults. I have felt like the coverage was fair. I feel these shows and the Rick Warren Form have given all of us the information we need to confirm our decision, help us make a decision if we were undecided, or even perhaps change our minds.

I would love to hear your opinions about the shows and if you agree that we have never before had the information needed to make an intelligent decision as we have this election.

November 4, 2008 a most important date-------VOTE!!!!!!

A LOVELY BLESSING & THREE AWARDS

Our good neighbor, and friend, Wayne, brought us not one, but three, Rose of Sharon cuttings. Here Mickey is holding up the two smaller pink blossom ones.
This is the large white bloosom one after Mickey got it planted.

I have recently been blessed with three awards that I am just now getting around to acknowledging.

This is the first time this has ever happened to me, but I cannot remember who gave me this Beacon Of Hope Award. I feel so ashamed and terrible about that. Please forgive me for my forgetfulness but thank you so very much for blessing me with this award. It especially meant a lot to receive it because of the name, Beacon Of Hope. If you read this blog and remember it was YOU please leave me a comment so I can acknowledge you properly.

This Brillante Weblog award came from my sweet friend, and fellow prayer warrior, Michelle, of Ozarks Sew N Sews. I received this award August 9th. Every time I see the name of her blog, Ozarks Sew N Sew, I marvel at the appropriate and oh so cute name!!! Thank you so much Michelle. You are always an encourager to me and your sweetness is a true blessing to many of us in blogland.

This sweet I Heart Your Blog was received yesterday from Melinda, The Nest Egg. Thank you so very much Melinda. This one especially meant a lot to me because Melinda is a fairly new reader of Penless. Melinda can teach ALL of us a lot about couponing so be sure and visit her blog.

MEME - 6 Random Things About Me

I have been tagged by Tiffany of Southern Sass to do the 6 Random Things About Me ..meme.

Here are the rulz of the game...1. Link to the person who ‘tagged’ you!2. Post the rules on your blog!3. List 6 random facts about yourself!4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post!5. Let each person know they have been tagged by commenting on their blog!6. Let the tagger know the entry is posted on your blog!

I have posted so many things about myself it is going to be hard to find 6 more random things about me but I'll try.

1. When I was growing up in Santa Fe, NM it was about 85% hispanic. I was surrounded by the Spanish language and had every opportunity to learn and even took a class in school and yet never learned to speak Spanish. Mickey & I took a Spanish class at the Church we attended in 2003 and I really studied and worked at it but could not retain it. This is one of the regrets of my life.

2. I am one who takes very little medicine and therefore the slightest bit makes me talk really silly. When my first child was born I had a very long labor, over 30 hours, and by the time she finally came I was completely "out" from the gas they gave me. Consequently in rolling me from the delivery table, to the cart, to the bed I was sort of tangled in the sheets. Upon coming to in my room one of the first things I said was, "I feel like a mummy not a mommy!" Remember, I am just 12 days shy of being 17 years old!!!

3. I have lived in 4 states NM, CA, CO, OK and have been blessed to travel in all 50 states. The order of living in these 4 states has been: NM, CA, NM, CA, CO, OK, NM, OK.

4. Oklahoma has a very large Indian population and is home to the 7 civilized tribes. When we first moved here in 1964 the schools would have the children fill out a report whether they had any Indian blood in them. For about 3 years straight our young daughters, who were 9 & 8 when we moved here, would come home saying, "Are you SURE we don't have any Indian blood in us?". They felt slighted that they didn't.

5. I have never been concerned about growing older. I am sure this is because of having such a wonderful, energetic father who was 52 years old when I was born. I think growing older is an honor and something that should be done gracefully and without shame or regret. I think our society has been sold a bill of goods, mostly by the advertising industry, that aging is something to be dreaded or denied. I try to disspell this notion every chance I get. Like here!!!!! Even the Bible says " "The hoary (gray) head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." Proverbs 16:31

6. I have worshiped and been active in 9 different "denominations" over my lifetime: Disciples of Chirst, Southern Baptist, Independant Baptist, Bible Church, Vineyard Fellowship, 3 Non-denominational- Oasis of Love, Church on the way, Our Finest Hour and now attend Assembly of God. I am thankful God has seen fit to do this in my life because it has given me a picture of the True Church which is made up of believers of ALL because it has nothing to do with the church we attend, or the denomination, but our relationship with the Head of the Church, Our Savior and Lord, Jesus.

Here are my 6 choices to participate: Leeanne, Bob, Groovy, Bev, Lisa, Sue. Please leave me a comment and let me know when and if you participate.

HOW CAN IT POSSIBLY BE

MY 400th POST !!

How, oh how, could it possibly be that this is my 400th post.....but it is.

When I began this blog 562 days ago, on January 31, 2007 I never would have dreamed of the blessing it would be in my life.

You have become dear friends.

You inspire me in so very many ways.

You have given me a tiny little taste of the wonder of The Body of Christ

and what a joy Heaven will be.

I've been blessed to personally meet 3 of you in real live so far:

Soholiah, Michelle & Annie

I hope God blesses me with meeting more of you.

If not here on Earth, I know I will "know" you when I see many of you in Heaven!

I wrote about this wonderful book here.

I am an avid reader and this book touched me more than anything I've read in a long, long time.

To celebrate my 400th post I am giving away a copy of it.

Leave a comment and I will draw the winning name Saturday, August 23rd.

If you've been blessed & already read this book sign up for the drawing anyway and pass it on as a blessing to someone else.

***********************

We are on our way to Oklahoma City and the VA Hospital today for 2 tests on Mickey. At 1 o'clock he is having an electrocardiogram and at 2 a breathing test. Please keep us in your prayers. We KNOW who holds us in the palm of His hand!

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Seeing my sheets freshly washed, in my home made laundry soap, hanging on my new clothesline in my backyard is a thing of beauty to me!!!

Remember, last time when I showed the spilled bucket and the clothespins all over the grass because the clothespin did not hold the bucket on the line? Well my sweet, and always thinking of a solution,

husband bought and attached a latch hook onto the handle. It holds firm and slides along the line and works perfectly.

Another thing of beauty to me is these new items I just purchased for my healthier cooking projects. 3 new teflon skillets of various sizes. I only had one large stainless steel skillet. Red Toasted Bell Peppers, Curry Powder, Spiced Apple Butter, Molasses, Red Wine Vinegar & White Cooking Wine. What fun.

Large quanity of cleaning supplies: Cidar Vinegar, Baking Sode & White Vinegar. Not really a think of beauty but very useful & frugal.

Life is fun!!!!