Here is another Thanksgiving postcard...the artwork on these is so great..the main reason I love postcards so..
the boys are going to 6 Flags today with a friend. I just printed maps out for them...its a two hour drive one way..wish it wasn't so far. 6 Flags is only opened on the weekends during the winter hence they had to go today. The good thing is the park won't be crowded and its cooler weather. The lines won't be long and they can enjoy the rides more.
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I've been posting alot of free vintage embroidery patterns on the other blog so if you like them, please visit over there....I also joined a new stitchery site...which is very nice, its small and cozy.
Its called Stitchery Showcase...if you stitch, and would like to join, let me know and I will send you an invite, or you can visit the site here I am learn that Australia seems to be a popular place for embroidery..its more popular there than here or so it seems to me. This site is a place to showcase your stitchery, not promoting any business..but you can have links to your blogs and one widget to your etsy store.
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We are still in a quandary about the election...I am trying to come to grips with the idea of Obama as our president...I, one hand, I think its great that a black person can and did become President, I think it says something good about our country. I think it will help the African-American community to realize that they can do great things and can have the American dream.
On the other hand, I don't really trust him, he has said one thing and then changed his mind alot of times...like accepting public funding and then going back on it as an example. He has little experience which I find troubling. I was reading that some African-Americans think he is going to pay off their mortgages and they are getting a free ride.....there are going to be some very disappointed people!
The Republican party is in a quandary also...some of McCains staff is trying to ruin Sara Palins political career by all the half-truths and lies. They are shooting themselves in the foot. They didn't like it that she wouldn't submit to their agenda for very long..they were the ones who made a mess out of the Couric interview, wouldn't let her do interviews, etc. When she put her foot down and went her own way, they didn't like losing control. These were mainly Bush people so there ya go. The Republican party and President Bush went away from the "Contract with America". They broke the Fiscal Responsibility Act of the contract for one thing. Read it for yourself...

Saturday

I will be posting on and off until Thanksgiving some of these darling vintage Thanksgiving postcard images...you can put these onto your computer and make some nice cards to send out for the holiday...The last two Christmases I have made our own cards and have to get started soon...I don't send out many anymore, just for close family members mainly and a few friends. We will be sending out some to our regular locksmith customers also.
Today is a quiet day...its early here and Alan has two jobs...he works on Saturdays and only does emergencies on Sundays....Donny will be home sometime this morning for a few hours before his work starts at noon...then tomorrow he will be home for two days..he really appreciates being home and away from the trailer as its so small....he can hardly turn around in the shower..its a nice trailer but not really meant for full time living.
The dog rescue is getting ready to take some of their dogs over to the new Pet Co. this weekend.
I think its great that they are featuring rescued animals. If you've read my posts for any length of time, you know we lost our beloved Boots earlier this year and then adopted Bandit from a
Pet Co. She had been found as a stray. She had been there for about 6 months and was rather standoffish for a time. But is becoming affectionate as she has warmed up to us. She is really friendly and runs towards you when you come into the room or come in the front door, but would give little nips if you tried to pet her...that is ending now...I think she has realized she is in a safe place now..anyway, here is a recent photo of our new family member. Her poor tail is tweaked on the end and if you feel it, the bones are twisted...we think she may have got it caught in a door at some time..poor baby.
Our youngest took a photo of her, she is so beautiful, and a real Diva...I think we need to get her a rhinestone collar and get her groomed when we can afford it...we've just been brushing her.

Friday Musings

I did a little Thanksgiving decorating yesterday and was thinking alot about this past week with
the election and all.....
we have much to be thankful for...still have a long road ahead of us and the Lord has been guiding us all the way...I cannot imagine life without faith and answers to prayer....

I was trying to imagine what it must have been like for the early Pilgrims setting across the Atlantic to a new world and the struggles they endured the first few years. Talking about living off the grid! There are some great sites to visit along these lines. Pilgrim Hall Museum
is one, another is Plymouth Ma...its history and people
The first ancestors in my family came over a little later in 1634...from Ireland.
They had faith that God was leading them just as we do today and I do not think our country would be as great as it is without faith..but friends,
we are facing a America I do not know.......a America that is faithless, and godless....
false scientists and professors have indoctrinated several generations of college grads with revisionist history and false science....even the so-called Christian colleges are unaffected.....hence we have a growing atheistic population who on one hand, revile and belittle people of faith and on the other, are worried, stressed and unhappy. They don't even realize they are unhappy but their words betray. Others say they are Christian but twist the scriptures or delete ones they don't like to fit their lifestyles....we had a pastor about 25 years ago say in a sermon "mark my words, one day wrong will be right and right wrong"...its happened.
I can't help but believe that we are truly living in the last days.
But be of good cheer, God promises He will protect us and He will! Stand firm in your faith.

I was sent these lovely photos of the flower arrangement in Brussels, Belgium...they designed these as a oriental carpet..wow! If you click on the photo, you'll be able to read the captions.

Wednesday Pet of the Week

This is Lily...a nice little girl..a terrier mix, less than a year old....she is ready for her forever home...loves kids and uses a puppy pad so is getting housebroken...she is a smart girl too, knows how to sit already on command....
A new Pet Co. has opened here in Menifee and the Sun City K-9 Dog rescue will have dogs there every Saturday and Sunday...our new mayor visited the dog rescue and wrote a nice paragraph about his visit in our local paper...Don says they got alot more visitors and also more donations since then, thanks so much....times are tough and they are getting alot of dogs in because of foreclosures...people leave their beloved pets and leave crying..Lily is one of those..but its a safe place and they know it...unfortunately, there is a limit to the dogs they can keep..they are only licensed for 20.
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I know many have woke up this morning with mixed feelings about the election. The people have spoken and Barach Obama will be our new President...I know in his speech last night he was gracious and spoke to those who didn't vote for him asking for support. At the same time he was speaking, two neighbors down our street got in a fist fight over the results, someone called the sheriff and it was a real brawl for a few moments, sirens, police cars, flashing lights,....lots of high feelings...all quiet here today so perhaps the worst is over....
I know we all have prayed for the Lord's will and I believe that God places who He wants in power as it says in Romans 13-verse1
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."
Time will tell if President Obama will be a good leader or not..as we have nothing to go by...he will certainly be tried and his true character will be come out. I hope he will be up to the challenges facing him and make right decisions, he needs our prayers.
It also looks like Prop.8 is going to pass and our state constitution will have marriage as between a man and a woman. We are glad for that as what a slippery slope it would be otherwise.
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On a lighter note, I tried a new recipe this morning, Applesauce Muffins, and they are really good....
This recipe makes 8 large muffins or 12 regular sized ones..
3/4 c. canola oil 2 c. sugar (I used Splenda)
2 eggs 1 t. vanilla
2 c. unsweetened applesauce 4 c. flour
2 t. baking soda 1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice 1/2 t. cloves

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, put oil and sugar together and cream. Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir until mixed well. Gently fold in applesauce. In another bowl, sift together dry
ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the applesauce, sugar mixture just until moistened throughout. I added a cup of raisins and 1/2 chopped walnuts at this point. Spray your muffin pan with cooking spray and pour each cup 3/4 full. Bake 20 minutes or so.
These were really tasty and would be great split with some soft cream cheese.

Its alot cooler here now...we haven't put the furnace on yet and hope not to have to for some time...we got rain yesterday, not a lot but it feels like fall.

Just a short post today...Election Day.....please vote...and remember that our nation's symbol is the eagle and eagles need both right and left wings in order to fly....

Monday

Here is a photo of the cherry pie I made this weekend..alas, it no longer exists except in memory as it was sooooo good....I can't take too much credit for it as I just use the great sugar free cherry pie filling that Super Walmart carries and the crust recipe is one I got from Pioneer Woman..for years I struggled with pie crust and gave up many times..every recipe I got just didn't cut it..now my mom could whip out a crust in nothing flat...never used a recipe and her's always came out great...but not me... The Pioneer Woman pie crust recipe never fails so that is my standard now and there are alot more pies in the household. My men appreciate and I glow a little.
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Our cupboard is rather empty this morning so I am planning on going to our local Winco for groceries.....they have some great sales this week, 18 cents a lb for bananas, ,.98 cents for corn flakes, with coupons...,28 cents a can for Green Giant vegetables...they even have boneless skinless chicken breasts for 2.98 for 2 1/2 lbs. They come frozen in bags and you can get two so that 's where I am headed. If you are reading this and live in Southern California near a Winco, run, don't walk....
Our gas prices have really come down too which is so nice....I paid $2.57 a gallon last week and its supposed to get cheaper than that this week.
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Have you been following the family that has elected to live off the grid? here is the link again
Ecletic Culture Farm. Quite an adventure..she says the Amish in the area have bets how long they will last. We all may end up living off the grid if Obama has his way with energy...says he wants to increase the cost so we will have have to watch our electricity use..like most of us don't already. With winter coming, many families suffer as it is, sigh. With so many wanting change, change isn't always a good thing.
well, better get on the road...so until next time...

Just a note

I just wanted to add and let everyone know we are really doing well right now with our business...in fact, last week we made the most $ ever...one bank called us up and ordered 22 houses to be re keyed...evidently a builder never sold any of the houses and they went back to the bank...Alan and our youngest did them all in only 6 hours! Alot of other calls too. We got a lot of calls yesterday too and have work booked through the middle of next week at least. We are so thankful to the Lord as its been Him all the way...
Locksmithing is one of the few jobs that is recession proof. The main thing is location, location, location..if you are thinking about getting into it..please check the population in your area..figure 1 locksmith for every 40,000 in population. There are only 2 other locksmiths in our area and one has a bad reputation. So as we are getting better known, our business keeps growing.

For The Undecided

Ten Considerations Before You Vote

“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man
rules, people groan.” (Proverbs 29:2)

How are you going to vote? What is going to be the determining factor for the one you
choose to be the next president of the United States of America?
America is at the crossroads, and in the next four years our leaders will have to make some
tremendous decisions for our nation. Who is the man that you want to lead you into the future?
Who is the man that will come closest to what the Word of God says? I would like to propose to
you ten things you need to consider when you go to the polls. The president of the United States of
America is going to lead us through some perilous decisions. Pray about your decision, and be
sure you get out and vote!
1. Character—integrity, values, wisdom.
2. Voting Record—choices with respect to biblical issues.
3. Promises—following through on promises: men of their word.
4. Experience—good and solid reputation.
5. Humility—before God and man.
6. Sacrifice—doing right no matter the cost.
7. Respect—to authority, opposition, even enemies.
8. Popularity—resisting superficial popularity judgments heard in media commentaries.
9. Principles—consistency, no compromise of biblical principles.
10. Accountability—God judges our votes (choices) in this life and the next.

I am not going to take credit for this, I got this off a website, Precept Ministries International but for anyone undecided, its very good. I think its something good to keep in any election, even a city one, if we can elect good men and women who follow these guidelines, we would be in a much better place, wouldn't we? Somethings all the talk, promises and accusations get in the way of the real issues.
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Thanks, Lea for a great link and a wonderful find..a shard of pottery dating from the time of King David...many scientists seem to think David didn't even exist so this is good news..hopefully in these last days, more will be found so that no one will have an excuse. It also shows how educated people were. It was clearly written by a trained scribe.
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We watched Huckabee again last night on Fox...its one of the best Fox shows ever and we think Governor Huckabee is great..it comes on Saturday and Sunday evenings at 9 here in California.

Me and Biblical Science

I've had a avid really avid interest in biblical archeology and science from as soon as I learned to read..in high school, I really wanted to become an archeologist but my dad shot that down real fast...sigh...he said I could never make an money at it and insisted I take business classes, hence I took 4 years of typing, book keeping, etc. which are out of date now. How we were to know computers would become household items? and typewriters would become obsolete? I ended up working in retail and retail management for many years before becoming a foster parent and then at home parent. My college degree is in liberal arts, go figure.
Thankfully, the keyboard is just like the old typewriters so I can use that skill..anyway, this post is about archeology, science and not career choices. I encourage the boys to follow their dreams and find jobs that they really love.

Jezebels Seal
new discovery

I have tried to keep up with all the new discoveries over the years and was so delighted when we got the History channel. Unfortunately, there is alot of false information being given out and other information not shared except in technical journals...much of biblical archeology is hidden from the main stream.
I found a great website though, I wanted to share with you if you are interested in science and archeology...its called Evidence for God from Science They always give the latest finds, especially interesting are Old Testament finds as popular thinking says the stories in the Old Testament are myths..(far from the truth by the way.) The above seal is Queen Jezebels, what makes this find exciting is that this is the very first evidence that she actually existed. Its always like popular science to say, because something has yet to be discovered, that its a myth...they said that about Troy until Heinrich Schliemann discovered it...they said that about Jericho until it was discovered(with the walls fallen down flat inward and burned just like the Bible says). Archaeology is
always pushing time back and revealing that the old writers knew what they were talking about.
Every city that the Old Testament speaks about, when the scientists go to the location, they find ruins and signs of life. Many have yet to be excavated.
This site also has many other interesting links, including one called Answers for Atheists which is very good as it deals directly through pure science..pure science and the Bible get along quite well...truth is truth.
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We had a nice Halloween evening, and our big bag of candy was all given out...we had just enough with what Don put in...he added two smaller bags so it worked out fine. I usually end up buying too much anyway and eating it which I certainly don't need to do. We had about 50 children and teens who came, the little ones looked so cute in their costumes. One little boy stood out in my mind, he was being carried by his mom, about 3 years old, he had on a pirate costume , his mouth dripping with a sucker he had and a big grin on his little face., he smiled with this goofy sticky smile while wishing us a Happy Halloween, how cute is that?