An Autumn Outing

We started out the day with breakfast at a diner next to Lake Webster. My husband, my sister-in-law, and I next went to a Friends of the Library book sale. Found 18 books for the retirement village library. S-I-L was happy, too, because she found a book she has been looking for (to replace a copy she loaned out and never got back).
Then we went north a short drive to Shock Lake.



The foliage isn’t quite at peak color yet in this location. Can you see the frog? There was another one but it was too far to photograph.
We finished the outing at Pisgah Marsh boardwalk.
Mostly sassafras and sumac in fall color. Saw geese, swans, sandhill cranes, and a blue heron. It was a pleasantly warm day. We had a good time.

More Lamb Talk

Last Tuesday when I went to choir rehearsal, I discovered one of the first songs we will sing in chapel is Like a Lamb Who Needs the Shepherd by Ralph Carmichael.

Where He leads me I must follow, Without Him I’d lose my way.
I will see a bright tomorrow if I follow Him today.
Like a lamb who needs the shepherd, At His side I’ll always stay.
Through the night His strength I’ll borrow, Then I’ll see another day.

Life is like a winding pathway, Who can tell what lies ahead?
Will it lead to shady pastures, or to wilderness instead?
Like a lamb who needs the shepherd, when into the night I go,
Help me find the path that’s narrow, While I travel here below.

Though you walk through darkest valleys and the sky is cold and gray,
Though you climb the steepest mountains He will never let you stray.
Like a lamb who needs the shepherd, By your side He’ll always stay.
‘Til the end of life’s long journey He will lead you all the way.

Hungry?

I baked some zucchini bread yesterday. I did freeze some grated zukes for a future baking. Take advantage of their availability and bake a loaf today. Here is a recipe a neighbor gave me more than 25 years ago which I still really like.
Zucchini Bread
Cream together 3 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 cup vegetable oil. Add 2 tsp. of vanilla.
Add to the creamed mixture, 2 cups grated zucchini (grated unpeeled)
Mix together 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. baking soda. (I add about 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon because a cafeteria in Dallas, TX had cinnamon in their zucchini muffins and I liked that touch.) Stir into liquid mixture.
Add 1 cup chopped walnuts. Pour into prepared pan(s).
Bake in pre-heated 325 degree oven for 1 hour or until bread comes away from sides of pan and inserted toothpick comes out clean. (I use a silicone baking pan and spray with Pam to get loaf to come out without sticking.) Cool about 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from pan. Makes 2 smaller loaves or 1 large loaf depending on pan size. Freezes well.

Two blog sites that have recipe suggestions that I am currently visiting on a regular basis are La Table de Nana and Rattlebridge Farm which is a collecting spot for links to other recipe blogs. I haven’t tried any of the recipes, but I did save a few to try later.

Autumn Approaches

We are entering my favorite time of year, the first half of autumn. The only thing I dislike in these first weeks of the season is  the ragweed pollen which puts me in a hay fever tizzy. I put out some new decorations inside my condo and bought some mums for the porch.

      

I have some Holly Hobby calendar pictures I put in frames in my sunroom. I changed to fallish ones. The middle of the trio is pictured below and says

“Home sweet home is sweeter still

When days take on an autumn chill”.

The condo behind us is vacant now. The occupants moved over to an apartment in the congregant living section because of health issues. The tree beside that condo has red “berries” now. I don’t know what this tree is. A crabapple? At first, I thought it was an ash, but the pictures of ash on the internet show fuller clusters of a more-orange berry. Anybody know what the tree is?

This is a busy week with choir and literary club starting up again. Hope you enjoy the new season, too.

Close to His Heart

This is one of my favorite verses. When I am sick or struggling with issues, I remind myself that if I let Him, He will carry me in His arms. I don’t have to bear the pain and burdens alone. I tend to get stressed when I wander off into the land of “what ifs”. I need to stay next to Him so He can scoop me up when I need help.

Today I went to the dentist to have my temporary crown removed and the permanent one fitted and put in place. It should have been fairly routine, but somehow one of the tools pinched my bottom lip. Half of my lip is twice the size of the other half, has a bruised place, and if I don’t distract myself I realize how much it hurts. At lunch, I found it awkward to drink out of a glass with such a fat lip. Not a traumatic situation, but I don’t mind a few reassuring and loving pats on the head by the Shepherd.

Who’s Watching?

With each subsequent post, I learn something new about blogging: inserting photos, establishing links, using the Dashboard to edit or correct existing posts, etc. Two days ago, I explored the statistics section of the Dashboard on Blogspot.
I had thought few people were viewing my posts, but I was wrong. You can click on “Audience” and see in which countries those who looked at your blog are situated. Most in the United States for mine, quite a few in France where I have a known follower, but then there were all of those from Russia, China, and at the beginning (you can look at stats for the day, week, month, or from start) Malaysia, Latvia, Indonesia. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize what the purpose of those unsuspected readers is. I had debated about using my name in the public profile. Now I am glad I didn’t. I have had a few viewers from UK, Denmark, and Germany, and perhaps they are also “mining” for personal information to exploit; but when your second-most viewership is in Russia, it reminds you that blogging has its risks.
Using the Dashboard, you can also see how people arrived at your blog by using search terms. That has been an encouragement. Though there haven’t been a lot of word/term searches, the most oft-read post is the Pricklies and Smoothies; I think because of the Telikin as there have been many searches about it. The one that surprised me and I find most gratifying was the search for “glass basket with initials DB”. Somebody had their questions about Indiana Glass Company and Tiara baskets answered thru my post. That rewards the “librarian” and researcher in me. I went back and added “labels” to more of my posts in response to the fact that people do reach my blog when looking for information.
Thank you to my friends and family who come to From a Beggar’s Bowl out of love and caring. As to those other readers, I now know you are out there.