She's home!

Anna got home from her missions trip to Southeast Asia around 1:30 am last Sunday morning. I stayed up until 2:30 talking with her...but the rest of our family stayed up until 5:30. We were useless the next day! We've spent the week hearing all her fascinating stories. What a wonderful experience. So glad to have you back, Anna. The first thing we noticed about her were her ribs...she'd lost a lot of weight that wasn't extra!

This morning, Allen, Anna, and I went driving through amish country to buy our chicken/turkey feed at Stoltzfus' Feed mill. I never get tired of the country life!

Allen did his weekly beehive inspections and is very pleased.

This week Allen had his first voice lesson with Audrey. So far Audrey has worked her magic on our oldest four daughters...so our whole family is excited about this! We love Audrey and her love for the Lord. As I am typing this, I can hear Allen practicing in the music room below. Sounds good!

Two years ago, I bought this stoneware pitcher for 75 cents at the thrift shop. The main reason I bought it is because it had a sticker on the bottom that read East Texas Pottery. I also love stoneware and spongeware, so it came home with me.

Last week I went to a different thrift shop...and found this matching chip and dip dish for $2! I had to buy it since it matched...and was cheap. The chip and dip dish is unique in size...kind of small...so I'm trying to decide what to serve in it. The dip bowl is glued to the chip bowl. So far I'm thinking shrimp and cocktail sauce. What do you think? I was also thinking M&Ms in the large part and peanuts in the small part.

This week I made chili rellenos...something I haven't made in years. I used california and poblano peppers (very mild) and goat colby cheese. I put the cheese in the seeded peppers; then I whipped 4 duck egg whites, then folded in 1/4 cup of flour. I think I also folded in a few tablespoons of ricemilk. When I dipped the peppers into the whites mixture, the batter was thick and clung to the peppers. I then deep fried the peppers for about 3 minutes each. Delicious! Everyone loved them.

Ruthie sewed this pillow for Ellen, our friend in GA. The fabrics are all reds...my camera distorted the colors. Ruthie had fun sewing this on her treadle machine.

We had a few days respite from the 90+ heat. It was wonderful to work outside again and enjoy our porch. Today begins another week of intense heat. We've spent the week catching up on Anna while she had to wash everything by hand...all her cosmetics, souvenirs, etc. Travelling to a 3rd world country sure requires a lot of caution.

Many blessings ~ Kathie