Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! I hope that your week is going well so far.
Today I'm sharing a few of our Halloween decorations. I really don't like Halloween very much...I usually just stick with candy corn and mums!
I haven't decorated for autumn per se because we have had the most beautiful summer and early fall. The summer was fairly mild here in Central Alabama, and the we've had lots of rain which is making our early autumn spectacular!
I've put out a few of my favorite pumpkin paintings.
I have mini pumpkins in several rooms. These are in the kitchen in a muffin baker.
Mr. Sketchy Reader bought the cauldron for me a couple of years ago for Christmas. He thought it was Courtly Check, and had no idea it's a Halloween piece, LOL!
Our dining room table
Breakfast room table
I love football mums. They remind me of homecoming when I was in high school!
Cinderella's carriage at midnight
I prefer things like this for Halloween because they are less scary!
I am thinking about decorating for Christmas early this year, shortly after Halloween and not taking the Thanksgiving down from the attic. I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year! Plus, if I get all the decor and shopping done early, I can really enjoy the Advent Season.
Do you decorate for Halloween?
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! Today I'm sharing my review of The Outlook for Earthlings by Joan Frank.
About The Outlook for Earthlings
- Paperback: 237 pages
- Publisher: Regal House Publishing (October 2, 2020)
About Joan Frank
Joan Frank is the author of ten books: eight of literary fiction and two essay collections. Her recent books are WHERE YOU'RE ALL GOING: FOUR NOVELLAS and TRY TO GET LOST: ESSAYS ON TRAVEL AND PLACE. A MacDowell Fellow and recipient of many honors and awards, Joan also reviews literary fiction and nonfiction for the Washington Post. Find out more about Joan at her website.My Review:
The Outlook for Earthlings depicts the lifelong friendship of Melanie and Scarlet. Both are reared in Northern California, and are daughters of the sixties. They meet on the school bus, but couldn't be in any of the same classes as Scarlet is a year ahead of Melanie. Both of their fathers teach at the local community college, yet the families do not socialize. Both girls come from dysfunctional families, especially Melanie. This is where the similarities end: Melanie is a rules follower and seems to fall in love easily and deeply, whereas Scarlet is a bit of a hippie and dates lots of young men she doesn't seem to like for very long.
Both women take different paths in life: Melanie marries, has a daughter, and just can't seem to finish her English dissertation for her doctorate; Scarlet travels the world as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune. About twenty years after high school, the two women reconnect and become close, yet both are very judgmental about the other's choices. I admit that I'm annoyed at Melanie because she compromises her happiness to marry a narcissist. As middle aged women, both seemed to veer in directions I would not have guessed.
There is really nothing outstanding or compelling about this story or the characters. Yet Joan Frank's prose is so beautiful. Her writing style is very descriptive, and I wonder if maybe she's also a visual artist because she paints scenes so clearly and concisely. Below is an example during a scene when Melanie has asked an unthinkable favor from Scarlet, and Scarlet must decide what to do:
Scarlet stared at the camellias, rose-pink turning caramel. The two colors could have been cake icing, Easter candy. Her hands fisted into her middle. Here, then, the final loneliness of adulthood. No one alive anymore to be indignant for you. No mommy or daddy, no brilliant psychiatrist, not all the collective wisdom on earth to protect, protest, make it better. But compared with what Mel faced~this was blueberry pancakes.
This book is not chick lit: It is definitely literary. It is a short read, and if you enjoy reading about the complicated friendships between women, then you will appreciate this novel. The lesson I learned from this book: Love your friends, and don't be so quick to judge them. No one is perfect, and pettiness is a waste of time and energy.
Meet Georgie, my grand-dog. Georgie is an English Cream Golden Retriever.
Georgie recently visited us at Lake Martin, Alabama.
Georgie is very busy. He loves to run upstairs and downstairs. He likes to jump on everything, and he loves to steal shoes and run. Did I mention that Georgie likes to run?
Georgie likes to run.
Georgie is a blur, so it is difficult to get a good photo. Clearly I need an action lens!
Because Goldens love the water, we thought we'd take him on the boat.
Georgie loves the boat! He loves the water.
Georgie loves Lake Martin!
Finlay likes to play with Georgie.
Both like to play on the mat.
Georgie is a sweet addition to the family.
Georgie is a good dog!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Saturday, My Lovelies!
Do you like iron skillet cookies? They are popular here in the South. Today I'm sharing Cookie Fix's skillet cookies with you! Cookie Fix is a cookie store in Homewood, Alabama. They sell freshy baked cookies and frozen cookie dough to feed your cookie craving anytime! When our daughter comes home to visit, she always wants to go there.
At the shop, they sell little Lodge iron skillets in two sizes: 5" and 3.5". The 5" skillet is for sharing and caring, and the 3.5" skillet is for the individual, which is the one I went with not because I don't like to share, but because it's almost the cold and flu season.
Around 2T cookie dough in a 3.5" skillet
You could make your own cookie dough and freeze it in 2T-sized balls and use it whenever. The Lodge tiny skillets are available from several resources online.
Cookie Fix Skillets
(For the 5" iron skillet)
- Use 2 dough balls.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until slightly golden
- Let cool 5-10 minutes
- Top with your favorite ice cream and sauce.
(For the 3.5" skillet)
- Use 1 dough ball
- Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until slightly golden
- Continue as directed above for 5" skillet
Cook's Note: My oven is very slow so it took about 12 minutes, but check after 8 minutes.
Also, the skillets were still extremely hot after cooling for 5 minutes. Be mindful of little fingers!
Have you ever had skillet cookies? How do you like them? The best way is with chocolate ice cream and caramel sauce. We had them with plain vanilla ice cream and chocolate sprinkles (see top photo).
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
As I type this, President Trump is on his way to Walter Reed Hospital for COVID-19 treatment. If you are a praying person, please pray for our President, First Lady, and First Family.
Some of you all might not be aware of my other blog, but we've been praying for our country, especially 2 Chronicles 7:14:
"If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Happy Literary Friday! Today I'm sharing a very helpful Christian memoir: Breathe Again by Stacy Henagan. Please read the excerpt at the bottom of the post.
What Do You Do When It Seems God Hasn’t Come Through for You?
When the miracle-working God whom Pastor Stacy Henagan loved and served did not answer the prayers on behalf of her terminally ill one-year-old daughter as expected, she was left crushed with grief and struggling to understand.
- How could a loving God allow this to happen?
- What do you do when it seems God has let you down?
- Is God trustworthy?
Rather than choosing to remain in overwhelming pain and doubt, Stacy emerged with a much greater belief that God is good and trustworthy, even when we don’t think His plans make sense.
Connect with Stacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
My Review:
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has suffered loss or disappointment (haven't we all!), and, as a result, feel as if God has abandoned or forsaken them. Stacy Henagan suffered the loss of her daughter, Haven, when Haven was only a year old. I can't even imagine such pain or grief. How can a person, even a person of faith rebound? Stacy explains how to return to faith and joy even after life has broken your heart.
Although each chapter in the book is helpful and inspiring, the chapter on "Dealing With Disappointment" toward the end of the book is by far the most helpful because it's a reminder of how we are often disappointed when we've prayed our hearts out and done everything in our power, yet the outcome wasn't what we'd hoped for: Our circumstances remained the same. Prayer doesn't always change our circumstances how we want it to, but it will change us if we give God the opportunity to work in our lives. The interesting point Stacy makes in this chapter is our reaction to disappointment: We become disappointed in God, then we feel shame because a Christian shouldn't feel this way; then we're fearful because of God's wrath; then we make the mistake to think we're the only Christians on the planet who've felt this way; and then the most dangerous of all: denial. Stacy gives good tips on how to deal with disappointment before it shifts into bitterness. This heart state of bitterness is dangerous to Christians because it can allow for the enemy's lies about God to take root and grow.
My favorite quote from the book is this one:
"I have learned from experience that it takes more mental and emotional energy to stay in a place of defeat than it does to trust Jesus."
This is an important lesson for us all, especially in these uncertain, stressful times. This book would be a great addition to your home library and your church's library.
Excerpt from Breathe Again
From Page 24
Inhaling Trust, Exhaling Fear
In Psalm 23 King David made the most stunning confession about how to trust God when fear is standing in the way:
Lord, even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for you already have! You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way. Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear. I’ll never be lonely, for you are near. You become my delicious feast even when my enemies dare to fight. You anoint me with the fragrance of your Holy Spirit; you give me all I can drink of you until my heart overflows. So why would I fear the future? For your goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life. Then afterward, when my life is through, I’ll return to your glorious presence to be forever with you!
We know from Scripture that David experienced more evil than most of us would know in three lifetimes. He buried several children, was betrayed by his spiritual father and sold out by his own son, faced the constant threat of murder, and was rejected by those he thought loved him. That is a lot for one man to handle. If there had been professional counseling in his day, his bill would have been astronomical. Yet even as he described walking through a dark and dangerous valley, he also told evil, “I will not fear you.” Remarkable.
I don’t believe for one minute that David frolicked through his dark valley making dandelion necklaces without a care in the world. He would have had to be superhuman to respond to pain without fear, and we know from reading of his mistakes that he was a real person with human tendencies just like the rest of us. I think he simply chose to keep walking through the valley and believe in God’s faithfulness, even with the feeling of fear nipping at his heels.
That’s not to say David was double-minded. I’m not sure where we got the idea that fear and trust won’t ever coexist. In fact, I think this is where many of us get off track. We stop in the valley, waiting for fear to leave before we continue. But if we’re waiting for the confidence to take the next step unafraid, we might as well pour concrete around our feet, because there are times when we must walk forward even in fear.
Isn’t this the ultimate act of trust? When I took my leap of faith to trust God with Haven’s illness, I was shaking in my shoes. But to me, that was trust. It was saying yes to God in the face of fear. And I would learn that the feeling of courage met me after I jumped, when I realized God was going to catch me.
David had a revelation while dining at God’s table: his greatest pain couldn’t destroy him if God was with him, even though it sure felt like it would at times. And no matter what frightening shadows the valley cast, David knew God’s presence was close, leading him on the path to victory. Our lives hold this same truth.
Why was David so confident that God was with him? Because God’s goodness and mercy had been in pursuit of him every moment of every hour of every day of his life. For courage to move forward, David looked to his past and remembered what the Lord had done for him.
Maybe that’s a helpful practice for all of us who are learning to trust. I try to make it a habit to live in the present. But is it possible that we spend too little time remembering God’s goodness in our past?
That’s what I did that night in Haven’s hospital room. In the hush of the late evening hour, I practiced inhaling trust and exhaling fear by shifting my focus to God’s faithfulness in my yesterdays. I brought to mind the time He had spared my life in a car accident when I was fifteen. The way His tender touch felt in my heart during intimate times of worship. The miraculous way He had provided our home, which is a crazy story I’d love to tell you sometime. I recalled His past goodness until hope seeped its way into my fear for the future. I’m not saying that all the fear disappeared, but hope forced it to loosen its grip.
The sooner we practice trust, the sooner we walk in peace. I had no idea how things would end for us, but I had experienced enough of Jesus to know that He had proven Himself trustworthy.
{Taken from Breathe Again by Stacy Henagan Copyright ©2020 by Emanate Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson.}
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Happy Literary Friday, My Lovelies! My reading slump is finally over. Yay for me! I decided to check-out Eleanor Oliphant is Com...
