Thankful Thursday - Heritage

I was thrilled when my cousin mailed me our family tree for my paternal grandmother then even more thrilled when another cousin sent me a family tree for my maternal grandmother. As I read about my  great grand parents coming to this country from Ireland during the potato famine I felt a connection and closer some how.
I was encouraged that although they struggled for survival, here I am, evidence that they made it.

Whatever your heritage, it has a place in your history and in your make up. It is awesome as you consider how the tapestry was woven and you were created. Ethnicity is beautiful, just like the many different types of flowers, each unique and gorgeous in its own right.

Today is St. Patrick's Day. We celebrate this day in honor of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. We were granted the privilege of wearing jeans to work today, as long as we wore green t-shirts. In honor of the day I picked up this pretty rosary with glistening green pearls and an intricately carved cross for just $.99. I am a christian, not a catholic, but it is beautiful and I felt blessed to have found it.

Today I was not scheduled to be to work until 9:30 a.m. and because our office opens at 7:00 a.m. I had to drive around the parking lot twice to find a parking space. I entered a different door than normal because of the space I selected and its proximity to the building entrance. Had I parked as I usually do I would have entered the front door and I would have never passed this delightful florist who was standing just inside the side door handing out green carnations in honor of the holiday.

If you are not yet convinced of the "luck of the Irish smiling on me today, I received a certificate of recognition for two quality scores yesterday, but today I topped out a score by exceeding the score and was given the honorary trophy for the day. Our supervisors decorated the floor with glittering foil shamrocks and brought in goodies for us to enjoy on our break. Then to top this off our supervisors let us all go home early today, yes all of us!

What ever your heritage is, embrace it. It is a part of you and without it there would be no you. May the luck of the Irish be with you. :-) God bless!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

I've been on the search for photo editing tools and came across this one to make greeting cards. I created this post card and saved it to my desk top but I could not download it to blogger. It was in the wrong format, so then I took a picture of it on my computer screen with my camera. I downloaded the picture of the post card to blogger to tell you Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Unfortunately I lost the top of my exclamation point when I shot the photo. I hope you will forgive me, and have a fantastic St. Patty's day!

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Treasure Hunting

I went treasure hunting again. I love to find something for little or no money even if there is a challenge to making it useful. It is fun to recycle, reuse, and reclaim something that has been either donated or discarded. I found this interesting planter for very little money. Someone has either broke or cut the ropes from it. I bought a roll of jute twine and headed over to my friend Jeannie's home to share my treasure with her.


We cut nine pieces of rope all the same size. We used arm length, but the length is totally up to you. It depends on how low you would like your planter to hang. Arms length made quite a long rope hanger for our planter. We then tied the end of three strings and placed them in her husband's tool box and closed it tight and began braiding. You can tie it to a chair, drawer handle, or place it on a clip board. Braiding your rope will give it added strength.








She then wrapped tape around the end so we could thread it through our holes. We did not knot it because she told me about a loop knot her father had taught her.

She took a new piece of twine, about 12 inches worth, and looped both the taped end and the other end of the braid forming a loop out of the braid. She let a good portion of the twine, about two inches, hang from the end. Holding the taped end she wrapped tightly several times, about the length of her fingertip to her knuckle. Once she had done that she tucked the remaining twine end through the loop and yanked the (hanging) end bringing it tight. Once she made sure it was secure she snipped the ends. I did the same thing at the top end once I got the planter home after looping the ends through a circle to use to hang the planter. Then as I surveyed my plants, I saw that my jade plant had dropped a couple of leaves and they were rooting already. Perfect!

You don't have to use a ceramic pot to make a hanging planter. You can reuse many things you may have around your home, but all this creative work made me think of the work our heavenly father does through us.

When we salvage something we call it resourcefulness, recycling, or frugality. When God salvages us, it is with love.

It is my prayer that I will be like soft clay and He will be able to mold me and make me into what He has in mind.  He created you and I with a purpose in mind. It is reassuring to me that I mean so much to Him. He paid for me with a price. I treasure my trinkets, but He treasures me more, and He treasures you just as much.  God bless!

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Easy Baked Chicken Parmesan

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Welcome, Pam to Triond

 Pam, pictured with her lovely new grand daughter.

Pam, a friend of mine who writes at ehow, Bukisa, examiner, and now Triond has recently published this recipe. She told me that it was absolutely delicious and her picture did not do it justice.She kindly joined Triond at my recommendation. I joined examiner at hers. Yes, I was accepted, but after finding out they refused to pay her the promised fee, I resigned. She and I both sent emails, which we received responses to with hasty apologies advising she would not get paid. It made me uneasy, and when we spend as much time as we do writing, we should not have to be concerned with whether our publisher is being honest with us or not. If they cheated her, they may cheat me and everyone I in turn recommend.

I wanted to share her healthy recipe with you. If you click on the word recipe  it will take you right there. Please leave her a comment so she will know you were there.

She uses healthy olive oil and spaghetti sauce among her ingredients. She also sprinkles on fennel. Spaghetti sauce is loaded with healthy spices already and then adding Fennel just makes it that much healthier. Fennel is beneficial in treating (The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke, Ph.D):

• asthma
• irregular periods
• angina
• body odor
• breastfeeding problems (helps increase milk output)
• heart burn
• high blood pressure
• women's inhibited sexual desire

I love using tomatoes and tomato sauces in my cooking. It is an added way to get more vegetables in the diet and just 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce contains 12 % of our daily recommended amount of fiber. Tomatoes, as we know are packed with antioxidants, vitamin C and lycopene. Lycopene is a close relative to beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. The healthy tomato assists us in the fight against cancer and improves our resistance to other diseases.

Thanks for your visit. Eat well and stay well. 

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