The Thursday Ladies Luncheon ~

 Another Thursday Ladies Bible study and luncheon left me feeling so blessed. The Thursday Ladies get together the third Thursday of the month to share lunch, fellowship, Bible study, and prayer.

 The table is set simply. After our lunch we need space on the table to open our Bibles and study notes. The flowers for this month's table setting are bedding plants . I wrapped white tissue paper around the pots, secured the paper with blue ribbon and voila! After the luncheon I planted the flowers in my flowerbeds. How simple is that ?

 Moms and Grandmas are encouraged to bring their children to the study too. Studying the Bible is a good family endeavor after all.

 This month lunch was generously provided by the ladies who attend. Delicious chicken salad stuffed croissants ( thanks Karen), green salad and big red strawberries, ( thanks Marlene & Marj).

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man ( or woman)may be adequate, equipped for every good work."   I Timothy 3:16,17

Spot on New Year's Celebration 2009 !

~The centerpiece for our new year celebration. Yes, I know it looks like Christmas, but really, this is a new year's celebration Hubby has been planning and thinking about for awhile. Hubby LOVES to cook, and share his cooking with others. The centerpiece is composed of cake platters full of the goodies accumulated during the holidays. Really tasty goodies!~Hubby is doing the last minute things to prepare for the evening. He has planned a wine tasting with games and lots of food for dear friends and family.He has uncorked some very, very good wines collected on our travels and will share them .

~The game is a blind taste testing. Hubby also talks about the wines and how to score them. ~We also set aside a special lactose- free platter for our daughter who suffers terribly if there is even a whiff of dairy in the food. And all those years with us, her parents..why dairy is a staple of life, right ? Butter, cheeses, whipping cream.....even most margarines have some dairy in them. So our daughter gets Nucoa to spread on her dairy free food. ~Here are most of the evenings celebrants. The children are wandering in and out of the dining room and perching on our laps when the mood strikes. We are so thankful for the friends and family we are blessed with. These friends ( and others coming over Friday night ) have known us and put up with us for many years now. Our daughter and her husband , are family AND friends, or our friends are friends AND family! ~My husband loves so very much to share his food and wines with others. You would have to see him studying recipes, cook books, magazines and watching the Food Network, all the while making lists for some event he has planned. He is just so happy when he is bustling around the kitchen , cooking, stirring, roasting, basting.....well, anything related to food preparation for people he cares about. So as we head into a new year, I am thankful for a husband who cooks well, family and friends to share the food with, and the abundance of food we have . ~As we grow just a little older ( but not too old yet) we value even more our friends and family. Our grandchildren are quickly growing up, many of the older relatives and friends have passed on to eternity. Some were literally here today and gone tomorrow, and some just disappeared from our lives because busy-ness, distance, and other priorities parted us. We really try to remember time goes by so very quickly and special people need to know we regard them as special. So here is hoping 2009 allows us this privilege!

"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships." Abraham Lincoln

I have decided to add a list of blessings at the end of my posts, an idea I got from Sandra Bennett at Thistle Cove Farm. Blessings : family, friends, good food, great fellowship, a new year

Fine (fun) Dining on Cedar Pond

~~~We had a spot of fun pond side this weekend. Hubby prepared a meal that was so delicious , I think it will be awhile before any dining out can even come close to what we ate ! Hubby has outdone himself and several fancy restaraunts ! ~~~First I must comment on the wine...oh, the wine ! This is a bottle of wine we bought in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Hubby did not tell me how much he paid for this wine, but I did not complain because we were in the area to buy some sheep for ME ! Let me just say, Hubby told me how much he paid for the bottle of wine AFTER dinner....and the bottle (before consumption) was worth far more than he paid for it.~~~Here is one of the sheep we bought on the trip. I stayed in the car with the crate of 2 lambs while Hubby checked out Winter's Hill vinyards' wines. It was a hot day and I needed to make sure the lambs were O.K. They were just fine and below is a picture of one of the lambs , now grown. I have to say, she is a fine ewe from Bide-A-Wee Jacob Sheep ! ~~~Here Hubby is cooking dinner for us at pond side..dear friends were here. Dear friends who we have dinner with every other week. Dear friends who we have known for many years and whose friendship is encouraging and together we have prayed for each other and shared together, and been there for each other ! (thank-you David and Kathleen)

~~~"Friendship, the wine of life, should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed;", James Boswell

~~~ While Hubby cooked we enjoyed the view of the pond. The ducks are so entertaining. I always laugh when they go bottoms up in the pond. ~~~

~~~Hubby patiently waits for me to take his picture with the meal he prepared for all of us, with love(below). My only regret is that this meal was served on plastic plates. Had I known how amazingly delicious this meal was going to be I would not have allowed Hubby to be so considerate of me by making sure there were few dishes to wash. ~~~Here Hubby shows his plate of venison medallions on orzo, with green beans and carrots from our garden. The venison is deer Hubby hunted and harvested on his annual hunting trip with our youngest son. Hubby also does his own meat cutting. The venison was soooooooo...good! Prior to the main course of venison, he served us a spinach salad with bacon and cranberries in it and his own vinegarette dressing. And the wine, what can I say..... well worth whatever he paid for it. There is no way for me to adequately describe the taste of this very, very fine 2002 vintage Pinot Noir from Winter's Hill vineyard. Everything Hubby prepared just seemed to come together as a perfect and memorable dinner for me. Fine wine and food and fellowship! Thank-you Hubby! ~~~After dinner we sat around the fire pit, which we lit as it started to get dark. We had a wonderful time around the campfire. I don't ever want to take for granted these special times with my husband, our friends, good food and wine..and all of the many, many blessings we have!

~~~Thank-you Lord for all you have given us, the good and the bad. Help me to remember you are in control and you know what is best for us. Thank-you Lord for the blessings of friendship, humor, and the ability to appreciate your many gifts. Thank-you for your Son and Your gifts abundant! ~~~