It's a Beautiful Day

This morning's view outside our back door...

Just a relaxing morning, enjoying my coffee....have lots to do today, but for now, peace and tranquility :)

Hope you have a blessed day as well.

Christmas in California

It was time to take a break, from the cold, from the snow....although it's been a mild winter so far this season, but California seemed like a great get away.....

.....but it seemed we had brought the snow with us!!! Ha!

 A few photos taken December 24, 2016....Christmas Eve in California:

This was taken on route to my brother's home from my daughter's home going through the Cajon Pass. It had just snowed the previous evening. It was weird seeing the desert flora together with the white stuff.

We did get to spend some time at the beach...

 

Brr the water was chilly!

The birds didn't seem to mind it....

When we got back home the temperature was definitely colder,  I caught a cold while in California....I'm almost recovered, still coughing and sneezing, but not as much :) I wore my flip flops most of our trip, but I put them away when we got back....

Winter Scenes

Sharing a few photos I captured today...

 Perfect Christmas trees!

Snow-capped  thistles

 This is where I'm taking these photos...

that's our house is at the top of the road

This little weed just looked so sweet decorated with snow...

I had to get into knee-deep snow to get this shot :)

Hope your day is richly blessed!!!

💝

New Friends....and a New Recipe!

A few days ago I was out and about because I had several errands to run. I had passed by this way several times before and have always wanted to capture the horses on photo, but never had the time. This day I had decided to make the time. As I drove up, these guys (or are they gals?) seemed quite curious to meet me.

 

They let me pet their noses and scratch behind their ears. They were quite sweet!

 This was a neighboring farm,

 I liked the silhouetted appearance of this shot

so I just wanted to throw this one on as well...

 

A parting photo.....until we see each other again!!! 

Our visit ended much too soon...

...and now for this recipe....a confession: This was my first attempt at banana bread

I looked online to find a recipe, and found two that seemed good. I combined things from both and came up with this one:

My Banana Bread Recipe 

In a medium sized bowl combine these dry ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl combine the wet ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

The original recipes called for 1/2 cup butter, but I decided to cut back and use a bit of olive oil instead...trying to be "heart healthy"...

So at this point cream the butter/oil with the sugar. Once it is nicely mixed together, add:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream these into the butter mixture.

In a separate bowl, mush together 

3 bananas and add 

applesauce to make 2 cups

then add to this banana mix(if desired)

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup cooked quinoa 

Add this banana mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well blended. 

Now all the wet ingredients are all mixed together. Add your dry ingredients that you reserved at the beginning into this larger bowl of wet ingredients, and fold it together until the dry ingredients are combined but don't stir it too much. It is ok if it remains a bit lumpy, do not over stir!!! Just stir until the ingredients are barely combined, maybe about 7 or 8 turns.

Have your loaf pan buttered and floured and pour the banana batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar over the top of the batter. I like the dark brown sugar best.

Place the loaf pan into the center of the oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees. Bake for 65 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

  

Redirecting....

I am resolving to do a couple of things differently in regards to these two blogs of mine and keep with the original intention of them more consistently (I hope, lol) and make this blog about day to day life and recipes, photos that I take (unless there is a scriptural connection) and keep my Bible Treasures and Pearls blog strictly on the topic of anything scriptural such as things regarding the church and poetry and music and Christian books and authors, sermons etc, as well as any musings that I have on Bible passages.

The summer went by much too quickly, but it was wonderful. My DH and I were able to enjoy it even though it flew by us so fast. One of the highlights was our trip to Florida. I will share with you one photo that leaves me with that feeling of the nostalgia of the trip.

My next blog post I will share a recipe creation of mine. Here's a hint: It was DELICIOUS!

Daytona Beach, Florida

Perversion, Pride, Gardening and other odds and ends

First words in the Bible that spoke out to me

loud and clear

when I was first saved in 1988

 

When I was first born of the Spirit of God, I came out of all kinds of deep darkness, witchcraft, perversions, and horrible things too horrible to go into detail. Suffice it to say God was very merciful and the fact that I am saved is a miracle beyond any "rational explanations".

It is so sad for me to see the idiotic things that are going on that are even worse and out in the open much moreso than in the 1980's when I was first saved. For people to be prideful about sin is sad, not funny. I grieve over it. Pride is the sin that got the devil cast out of heaven, and homosexual acts are called an abomination in the Bible. How could anyone think the combination of pride (I personally believe this is at the top of the list of worst sins) and an abominable act directly in God's face is something "good"? I pray for loved ones that are supportive or caught up in all of this mess, saying that it is loving....it is anything but loving, it truly grieves my spirit.

There are stages in which a sin takes a deeper and deeper hold of an individual.

 First, it is "naughty" with a smile and a wink, and still with feelings of "I know I shouldn't be doing this but I like it so much" together with the possible embarrassment if caught in the act, or unmasked or "outed".

Next the person gets a little bolder, takes it to a few close friends to gain their "moral support" (funny term to use for immoral behaviour, but yeah, oh well). The person caught in this sin trap is still unsure about it so he or she needs to get lots of encouragement to keep going in their sin and not allow their conscience to bother them about it.

As the person gets bolder, now he or she can even lash out at those who would say anything regarding sin being sin in regards to perverse sexual acts. Now it is "good" to turn the tables on those who speak up about the current moral decline, and to even attack them physically. They do not realize the demonic element to what is giving them their "courRAGE" with emphasis on RAGE.

Psalm 2:1-3 

 Why do the heathen rage, 

and the people imagine a vain thing?   

The kings of the earth set themselves,

 and the rulers take counsel together, 

against the LORD, 

and against his anointed, 

saying, 

 Let us break their bands asunder,

 and cast away their cords from us. 

Praying for those caught in sin, even those who are deeply caught, even as I was, and also as the Apostle Paul was. God is a God that can save even to the uttermost....but there is a point of no return, we do not know where that point is, but the Lord does, so let's not mess around with all kinds of false things thinking we have lots of time to turn away from them, ask the Lord now to heal you and strengthen you to the proper ways, His true ways, and battle against the demons that want to take you to hell with them. God will supply you the weapons for your battles....the main one is patience to wait on the Lord to fight and to give victory in that final battle that is to come, the one He can prepare you for now if you do not delay in responding to His tugging at your heart. It does not require a special invocation or prayer with certain words or a particular kind of water baptism to make that miracle happen in your life. It only requires a sincere heartfelt yearning for His saving grace, His redeeming power, His intervention, and that true sincerity is also a gift from Him, but ask Him and seek Him for these things, and He will provide everything that is needed.

Ok, now that I got that bit off my chest, lol, 

I have been extremely busy with gardening. The lawn cutting, the weed pulling, the compost making, the bug trapping....sheesh!!! But I must admit, I love the fruit of my labors.

 Calaliliy...

 seen from the other side...the bugs got to it! Ugh!

 
My favorite calalily is the purple one...so far
the bugs haven't attacked it yet




Ok, well, I have to get back to weeding
and bug trapping, so much to do, so little time!

A Thought About Biblical Contradictions

 this morning 4 degrees Celsius (brr) and quite breezy

From time to time I will read a post about Biblical contradictions, sometimes from the atheist's view and sometimes explanations of seeming contradictions from a Christian perspective.

Today is a gloriously sunny day, much like last Easter (resurrection) Sunday was, except the day before yesterday it was warm and sunny and today it is quite chilly. It had me thinking about the seeming contradiction in it. One person describing today might talk about the beautiful sunshine, birds singing, etc, and another might describe it as very bone chilling cold, the need for extra warm clothing, etc....and on the surface at a quick glance the descriptions might seem to be opposing and contradictory, and yet they are not, the two depictions actually give added information and support each other in describing the real facts of the matter.

So next time you see a seeming contradiction in the Bible, look a little deeper, and you may find that little nugget of something special, that breathes a fresh and new life into the narrative.

Mine is admittedly an oversimplification of this topic. To get an indepth study into Biblical (perceived) contradictions, please visit this website:
 http://www.debate.org.uk/debate-topics/apologetic/contrads/

How Does My Garden Grow...

The weather is beginning to warm up....but the wind has been terrible!!!

Yesterday I repotted a couple of plants...

 

 this picture was taken May 2015

I got this peace plant last year....yesterday I divided it into two plants, it was getting extremely root bound, I should have taken pictures of the befores and during separation, I'll do that next time :)

 

 here is #1

 and #2, I put this one into the original pot

I learned this week

that when the peace lily's flowers are green

it is getting too much fertilizer,

the last 3 flowers have been green...

but there's hope

this new bud is looking the normal white color

I've been planting seeds, and putting them outside in the sun as the weather permits, getting them acclimated to being outside. Soon it will be time to plant my seedlings and cuttings outside! I can hardly wait!

This reminds me of the joy the new things the Lord has planned for us will bring. He is preparing a place for us!

A Mild Winter

So far winter here in the north has been mild and quite wonderful...last night we had a little snow, however the roads are still clear current temperature is slightly below 0 Celsius (28 F anything in the plus area is still great!!!)

(earlier this week...most of winter has looked like this so far...)

....and this morning:

we got about an inch of snow...

Well, I've got lots to do, so, gotta go, I hope the weather is wonderful where you are as well.

Be well and enjoy all good things that come from above:

James 1:17 (KJV)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

White as Snow

A few days ago I walked  to the center of our town (our town is very small so it was only about 3 blocks down the road).

Walking along I saw a couple boys playing in the snow. They had been building a snowman but got sidetracked, or tired...

Yesterday's stroll by this spot revealed their finished product

The leaves add a nice touch :)

When the snow first fell last week it was a beautiful white blanket that made everything look so clean and pure. It reminded me of the verse in Isaiah:

Isaiah 1:18 (KJV) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 But after only a few days the leaves and dirt ruin the beautiful white.

In my discussions with legalists the discussion always turns to ourselves needing to keep ourselves white through our works and our repentance. I agree that we need to repent of our sinful missteps, but is it our work of repenting that cleanses us, or is it Jesus? The Bible tells me that repentance is a gift:

2Ti 2:24-26  (KJV) And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;   And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Our walk in a sinful world makes our feet dirty in our walking...Jesus said to Peter that He had to wash only his feet after the rest of him had already been washed clean.

 John 13:10a (KJV)  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean

When I was a Seventh day Adventist we observed the ceremony of foot washing. It was to remind us that we serve each other, but it became a legalistic ritual that lost it's meaning in the doing and often there were those members who would remain home on the day they knew the ritual was to be performed. Now when I look back on that, it is a perfect object lesson for me to understand that serving the Lord and serving each other has nothing to do with performing righteous acts to make ourselves to look holy and pious to our fellow believers. What service we do is not to reveal our goodness and righteousness, it IS to reveal God's goodness and righteousness.

Why do we keep turning these things back toward ourselves, to serve our own vanity? That is the question, isn't it?

Fruit

Today I needed to walk down into town (2 blocks) and decided to walk a bit further...it's a gorgeous day! The sun is out, and there is just enough breeze, not too hot, not too cold, just right!

On the way I decided to see if someone was home, for a nice surprise visit)... I saw....

...an apple tree full of apples!...

...many apples had already fallen to the ground! :(

How can I refuse such a generous offer???

...and they are so delicious too!

I picked them from the tree, not from the ground....I hate waste but not enough to chance picking up bad fruit.

The apple situation got me thinking about Eve in the garden of Eden, and I know, I know, it probably wasn't an apple...(how many other traditions are probably all wrong?)...still...I pondered, the tree, the forbidden fruit, the snake, the beautiful garden, what a tragic loss....and yet, the Lord in His goodness provided a means of recovering what was lost....!!! Yet so many would rather have their forbidden fruit of seeing it their own way, rotten fruit, what a waste!

Genesis 3:8-14 (KJV) And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.   

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him,

 Where art thou?   

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.   

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 

 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  

 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? 

And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.   

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, 

Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life...

 They both knew they had done wrong, their guilt caused them to hide from the Lord, and then pass on their guilt to their companions when confronted with it. We still do the same today, even blaming the Lord for our guilt, saying like Paul said we would: "Why did you make us this way, it isn't our fault because you, God, made us to be this way". 

Romans 9:20 (KJV) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

 And yet the Lord doesn't argue the point with us, though clearly we are wrong. 

Whether it was an apple, or a banana, or an apricot, is not the point...we often look at things in such a manner that we miss the entire lesson that is there for us. No matter what excuses we may come up with to excuse our sin, it is still sin, and there are consequences, and God by His grace and mercy will save some (many?) forgiving sin by His blood shed on a cross, a most cruel punishment, so that we might live forever with Him.

Recent Trip Out West

One of the reasons I haven't blogged much lately is because we have had the fortune this year of doing quite a bit of traveling and sight-seeing. One of our recent trips has been to Alberta, Canada. There was so much to see and do! We must have exclaimed "wow!" more than a hundred times each, it was truly spectacular. How anyone can see such awesomeness in God's creation and doubt that there is a very wonderful Creator is truly beyond me.

Today I'll blog a little about the Columbia Ice Fields. This was one of the bigger highlights of that trip. My husband had been planning this trip for more than 6 months, it is something he has been wanting to do for a long time so he wanted to make every second count.

The Columbia Ice Field is located in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest ice field in the North American continent.

We took the "Ice Field Parkway" to get to this, our first destination in our trip out west.

These photos do not do the actual real-life experience of the drive justice...

..but they give you a glimpse of the incredible splendour of what we saw

This chalet style building housed the ticket counters for our icy adventure

as well as two cafeterias (one of them an all-you-can-eat buffet)

washrooms and a gift shop (of course)

and a room where you could watch a video that told all about this ice field

This was our view of the glacier from the parking lot of the "chalet".

From the tour we learned it has diminished by quite a lot from the time it was first discovered

From the above image you can see how much it has receded

in the recent past, and that goes for the depth as well as the length of it 

Our guide explained that the ice reached way up and connected some

of the surrounding mountains halfway up to their peaks 

when it was first discovered in the 1800's.

He showed us an old photograph which was taken at that time.

This is me on the glacier next to our ice field bus. It was gigantic!

The guide explained that the Canadian company which made these buses

made only 23 of them, 22 are used by Brewster

which is the company which provided us this tour. 

The 23rd bus was used by the U.S. for an expedition to Antarctica.
These vehicles reach a maximum speed of a whopping
12 mph!!!! :)
and each tire costs $5,000

I have many other photos that were taken with my camera (these were taken with my cellphone)

however I haven't uploaded them onto my computer yet...so this is all you get, for now...

The ice of the glacier is incredibly thick, several hundred meters thick, 

and contain deep cracks that are covered with snow.

Our guide cautioned us to remain within the marked areas to be safe

because if someone happened to fall into one of these crevasses

 they might not be able to recover him or her. 

Of course we played it safe, but there were a couple adventurous (or stupid?)

people that went beyond the marked areas, however we all made it back to the bus safely.

 It felt much colder on the glacier than it did by the "chalet" building. It must have been

at least 20 degrees colder and the wind blew incessantly.

The guide told us these katabatic winds blow continually over the glacier. 

We also did the skywalk while we were there.

I only took two photos of this with my cellphone:

We had to take another bus to this location. 

This is what the walk looks like upon entering it.

They gave us this hand held device that explained what they wanted to tell about this walk

however I mostly looked at the magnificent landscape

and read a few of the  signs that were mounted along the walk.

link

This is the picture of it that Brewster has on it's website (link provided above)

So, I hope you enjoyed this portion of the incredible journey that we were able to experience on our excursion out west. I hope it inspires you to save your pennies and see this for yourself. You won't be disappointed!

I'll post more highlights of our trip as time allows me. In the meantime, here are some links if you'd like to learn more about this beautiful natural wonder:

http://www.earthsciencescanada.com/geovista/PDFs_en/vistas8_agci.pdf

 http://www.britannica.com/place/Columbia-Icefield

 http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/explore-interets/glacier-athabasca.aspx