One Thing is Needful - Don Fortner


I love this sermon

Don Fortner knows what it's all about...
or rather...
who it is all about



May the Lord bless you with His grace.

Saturday Beach Postcard


Where sand and sea meet beautifully


May your day or night meet with God's grace.

As Time Goes By


Every time my husband says...
"where does the time go?"
I say...
"into the past"

every moment the Lord gives us...
is a little piece of time that slips into the past...
and never more to be seen

and so, when I get up in the morning and walk the homestead...
this is how I must think...
because the Lord alone knows how much time on this earth age...
He has given to every creature that is born into time


some creatures are given a wee moment of time


others just a bit more


but, as grass that begins to wither as soon as it comes up from the ground...
so we all go by that way

in the meantime...
I will enjoy whatever amount of time the Lord gives me on this earth...
and watch my chickens...


enjoy their little antics



dry the coffee beans as we harvest them from the trees...


pick the fruit which the Lord is gracious to grow for our nutrition...


and in this case...
we have quite a few guavas to eat



along with some french cashew fruit...
both pretty as pictures and even better to taste



and with whatever more time God gives...
I will work in my kitchen...


multi-tasking at bottling raw honey from our hives...
shelling dry beans for storage



steeping sorrel calyxes for our daily juice...



and sweetening it with some of this wonderful honey the bees worked so hard to make


and by noon, there will be plenty of eggs ready to pick up...
because my hens have told me so


For we are but of yesterday,
and know nothing,
because our days upon the earth are a shadow...
Job 8:9

Man that is born of a woman is of a few days,
and full of trouble.
He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down:
he fleeth also as a shadow,
and continueth not.

Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months are with Thee,
Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass...
Job 14:1,2,5

So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Psalm 90:12

May your day or night find time in the Lord.

Recovering the Gospel (part 2)



Last week, I posted a powerful message link

this video link is to the second part of Pastor Don Fortner's message on...

if you saw the first one and God spoke to your heart...
please do listen to this second part also

if you didn't see the first part, it is...

I hope that you do


Saturday Beach Postcard


Where pelicans wait for the fishermen to go out fishing


May your day or night get caught in the safety net of God's grace.

Coal Pot Cooking

We tumbled a couple of large trees that were giving the cocoa orchard...
too much shade for it's own good

with all the wood we now have, we have coal to last us for quite a while

so, even though my set up has much to be desired, as yet...
in the meantime...


I set up the coal pot...
put the coals in it and set it on fire...
not the whole world, just the coals in the coal pot

the bottom part of the coal pot catches the ashes...
as you can see in the photo below
these ashes will go into the garden as compost


I had some of our home grown chicken marinating in curry sauce, sea salt, onions and garlic

the dutch oven was put on the hot coals...
some coconut oil put in and then the chicken
once the chicken sauteed a few minutes...
2 cups of water was added and cooked for about 20 minutes

as you can see by the photo below, that is real chicken...
as the meat really looks before cooking
homegrown, range-free chicken has a stronger, richer taste...
and as long as the chicken is not older than 7 months...
is tender and doesn't take long to cook


once the chicken has cooked to it's 20 minutes time...
diced tomatoes and carrots are added with about 1/2 cup tomato sauce...
another cup of water...
and left to simmer for another 20 minutes till the liquid has thickened down considerably


what I need for my set up is a table and a grill to set on top of the coal pot...
that will come along in the near future...
then perhaps, I can show you a better post on using the coal pot and dutch oven

for now...


I'm glad my chickies know better than to get close to this hot cooker


once the chicken was finished...
I tried my hand at making cornbread

well...I learned something

if you want a very burnt bottomed cornbread...
just set the pot directly on the coals


since we don't really care for well burnt cornbread (it just doesn't taste so good)...
I let the chickens have it


they happily picked off the good parts


even being good enough to share it with the doves
well, I think the doves actually went more for the cooked brown rice


since I had no grill for the coal pot...
the oven grill had the temporary privilege of crowning the top...
so the pots of food could all have a ball having a hot, hot, hot party under the sun


I kept the chicken warmed along in a smaller pot with some cauliflower...
some basmati and wild rice with cauliflower leaves...
and the second batch of cornbread that turned out quite alright with the grill on top


May your day or night find warmth in the grace of my Lord and God.

Recovering the Gospel (part 1)


Last week I posted that my next post would be on cooking with my dutch oven...
and I will do that this week

but with this post I wanted to give you a link to a most important message...
from Pastor Don Fortner

(you can click on the link below for the video)

in this video he gives a powerful and true sermon on the gospel of Jesus Christ...
and what it is not

Pastor Don is a brother in Christ and my favorite preacher of this day...
who ranks up there with such preachers as Arthur W. Pink and Charles H. Spurgeon

please do give this sermon your ears for just a short time...
it is so well worth hearing...
and it may be that the Lord will enlighten and spiritually bless those who do

click...

Saturday Beach Postcard


Where sea waves gently roll coconuts up on the beach for future trees


May your day or night gently travel in God's grace.


Two Things...


It finally happened...
my electric slow cooker decided to retire for good...
and, kicked the bucket

fine with me...
'cause I was looking for a good excuse to get a dutch oven


now, I realize the dutch oven pot is not quite the same as the slow cooker
but, it does what I want as far as...
off-the-grid cooking

we've been working slowly towards less usage of the grid
not because it's the "thing" to do...
(nothing wrong with being on-grid)

nor because it's more "spiritual"...
(nothing to do with worshiping the Lord)

nor because we are trying to be more "green"...
(no use trying to save a dying world; God will take care of that)

nor because we are trying to leave less "footprints"...
(although we do try to be good stewards)

no, no...not those things at all


it's because electricity rates are getting higher than the clouds...
and a slow cooker uses electricity many hours of the day...
and for the very reason...
I just simply...
like cooking on a "campfire"
it's fun and it's frugal, moneywise

so, my husband bought me a Lodge dutch oven...
got us a coalpot (seen below)...
and we have our own coals from wood chopped off our homestead
so, in my next post, I'd like to show you how I cook with them



meanwhile...
the pullets are now laying...
the hens have laid off of brooding for now...


even Penny...
the hen who seems hatched to forever love brooding...
and who finally went back to laying her wee creamy white eggs


it is a pleasure, indeed...
to have more eggs than we can use on Pilgrim's Farm...
and have enough to sell to a few egg loving clients


It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 7:5-6

May your day or night find joy in the grace of the Lord.

Saturday Beach Postcard


Where we take a morning rest from farm chores


May your day or night find rest in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Friday, It Is


Once again...
we are picking guavas

so are the birds

which means...
if we are to get any of them...
we need to pick them faster than those fine-feathered creatures of the skies



the cabbages planted a couple of months ago are coming along nicely


maybe it's me...
but, they sure do make a pretty picture...
especially in the kitchen



and really...
there is just something about seeing the tops of trees with their green leaves...


and peering through them to the blue sky



and coming back down from the tree tops...
lots of coconuts deck the palm trees with emerald jewels...
young, green coconuts


and these jewels carry delicious, sweet nectar...


that is just right on a warm, sunny day...
high in potassium, electrolytes, and very hydrating...
which are great combinations when working hard outdoors

I offered a wee bit to the neighbor dog, with the name of, Friday...
who stuck out her tongue with a "yeck"
she prefers "a piece of cheese, please"
she's feeding puppies these days and I always oblige her with a cheese treat


after the nectar, comes the "pudding"...
or as most people call it, "jelly"
which lines the inside nut shell of the coconut


soft and sweet; easy to scoop up with a spoon


it tastes just like...
coconut; a little sweet and mildly nutty

coconut water nuts, we call them



and still, the zinnias near the garden keep coming
bloom on! zinnia blossoms...


May your day or night bloom in the grace of the Lord.