Reading and Writing

It is sometimes hard to do everything our good intentions tell us we should do. I have, again, been absent here. We had a very full July, with company and car shows to name a few things. Oh, and I should not forget VBS.
Since August 21, I have been involved in a reading project. Our church has undertaken to read the Bible, in 90 days. It is a special program, with daily portions set out on a reminder card. Sometimes I am successful, and other times, I am very much behind. There seems to be at least two purposes in doing this. The first is just to make sure that we have read the whole Bible. I have been in Sunday School and church for many years, and I was a student at a Christian College. I have taken numerous Bible classes, but I will confess that I am finding things I do not recall every reading. God is making it fresh to me. I believe the second purpose in our church undertaking this goal is for unity in our branch of the body of believers. Over the last few years we have had issues that have really rocked the boat. If we, as a body, are on the same page in the Word of God, it seems there should be healing and direction for us. Okay, so that is the reading part of my reading and writing.
Now, about writing. . . I dabble here, and there, and have done freelance work for an agent in a foreign country. He always had all the work I could handle, and then some, but some of the writing did not ride well with my conscience. I had found a US based freelance brokerage about two years ago. Maybe longer. I had taken the test to be allowed to write, and had been scored, but never had written anything. I had even recommended others to write there, and they had done well, but I was stubborn and had not written. That has changed. I am in serious need of income, and do not seem to be able to find a job. I find that it is an enjoyable place to take assignments, and I am learning new things and getting paid. My only issue is that there is not always enough work that I choose to do at my approved writing level. I still feel blessed to be able to be at home and to lay aside the worry issue about money.

Stubborn, and stiffnecked. That is what God called the Israelites many times. At first, I did not want to read the Bible in 90 days, and I rebelled , and almost missed a blessing. There is no reason that I cannot, or should not do this. Stubborn, and stiffnecked . . . even when I should have been doing something for my own good, like writing. I have missed at least two years of income from this site, and from other sites where I have started, but not continued with my writing. You would think I am old enough to know better, and to do better with my life.

Are you searching for something?

I admit that most of the things I do, I earn something for it. That includes searching the web. I belong to a site called Swagbucks. My strategy is to redeem my points for $5 Amazon gift cards. I earn points by searching, mostly. I also answer a daily poll, and look at the no obligation special offers. I attempt surveys and sometimes I even play games. There are shopping coupons on the website that you can print. When they are redeemed, you get points. Actually, the points are called Swagbucks. I redeem at least twice a month. Here is a link if you would like to look around.
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/gardengerty

I am off to bed early. I am doing a reset in a grocery store. It is only a day's work, but it pays well. I found it on narms.com You can set up a profile on narms, and find jobs in retail such as merchandising and mystery shopping.
I love the internet and all of its potential. Hope to see you in some of the places I visit.

Summer is here.

It is Memorial Day Weekend, and we have warm weather today. Many are at the lakes or at barbecues. My garden is telling me it is thirsty.
I seem to be constantly online, trying to make a few cents. My first tier of extended unemployment benefits have been used up. There is nothing to apply for that I am qualified for.

Memories, and memorials . . . we remember and thank our service men and women through the years. We also remember people killed in huge catastrophes, both man made and natural, like the Murrah Building and the Twin Towers. People killed in hurricanes and the most recent tornado that demolished Joplin, Mo. Whoever you are remembering, or memorializing today, may your heart be blessed.

Summer plans for me? My husband and I will go to at least one huge car show, as vendors for DWG. That will be in July, Know something funny? I just recruited his first distributor under him, from one of my online discussion groups. I told him she was a wise woman and much ahead of her time in modern methods.

I have a friend getting married, and I will make her a cake and help with the reception. That is also in July. My daughter and grand daughters will spend a week with us in July, too. Yay!!None of my July activities interfere with VBS, so I will help there.

What will I do in June? From the looks of things I will be picking cherries. Lots of them. I would love to go to Minnesota, but that is a bit up in the air. Hubby is doing a temporary job inspecting fields. He is working for a crop improvement organization, just before harvest. If that is done before my daughter goes to the lake with her in laws, I may get to go to Minnesota in June. If not, we will go in August. June will be spent trying to establish myself with more real online earnings. I hope to find a data entry job, or a call center job if I cannot find data entry.

I hope that summer sees me more faithfully blogging and also supporting my friends in their blogs and other endeavors. I also hope it finds me enjoying lakes, and gardens, and creative products and family . I wish you a wonderful summertime.
Heather

A book you should read

Heaven is for Real--A friend from Sunday School loaned me this book, and I loved it.

It is a little boy's astounding story of his trip to Heaven and back. As told by his father, his earthly father.

Colton experienced a life threatening illness, and while in a hospital, receiving care, he went to heaven. His story comes out piece by piece, in little snippets at the fast food joint, and many other places over many years. His father has written the story down as this book. Colton told his story in the way any little child would, in his words, and with complete honesty. He described people he had never met in this life, and knew things that his parents had never told him. This is a story of hope and healing.

Todd Burpo is a Wesleyan Minister in Nebraska, and each story he is given by Colton, he matches with scripture. I liked that. This book was an easy read, and a great encouragement.

Many others have enjoyed this book as well, it was on the New York Times Best Seller List. It is well written and enriched by a time line of events and an arrangement of family photos. Colton and his dad often played a game about "Is it right?" about depictions of Heaven and of Jesus. The only artist that Colton ever said had it right was another child, who had said she had been to Heaven as well. An image of that picture and some details are also included in this book.

Publisher is Thomas Nelson ISBN978-0-8499-4615-8 price$16.99

I posted a version of this review on Gather last week.

The more things change . . .

The plans for April have changed. We were going to go to Las Vegas for a business meeting, for two days. Well, each of the cars we tentatively planned to take have had issues. We rode home from Salina, Ks. in a tow truck yesterday. Because we had the car towed to our house instead of to the dealership, the insurance would not pay the whole bill. We knew that. It was actually the suggestion of the insurance office, though, because she knew that the dealership would take quite a while and charge us several hundred dollars, we still would need to get home, and chances are, Bob can fix the car right in our driveway for much less.
As a result of this extra expense, and MY insecurity about taking our cars that far, we have decided not to go. The price of gas is still going up, and we have decided we could take three fun trips for about the same amount, without going into debt. We were going to have three expensive nights in a hotel there and gasoline, and food, and two or three nights on the road.
I have been going to the YMCA for a little over two weeks, and I have purchased one of the "shaker weights" and some Danskin brand shape up shoes. I am beginning to see results. I have lost about five pounds of the weight I gained around Christmas. The shoes . . . well I do not know if they make me look more toned, but they make me feel like I have incredible posture. So they are a good deal as far as I am concerned. My arms are toning, I cannot say absolutely that it is the shaker weight, it could be the water walking. Overall, I am pleased.
Spring is here. I planted peas on St. Patrick's day. I have blooming daffodils and crocus. My tomato seeds have come up.
I am looking at more online writing, or a job. I will write here again, soon.

Heather

Wichita Garden Show

I have on occasion attended this show for about twenty five years. I have a blue spruce tree in my front yard that was a seedling given to one of my children the first time I went with a friend. It is taller than a house now, I think. It is amazing how a concrete coliseum can be converted into spring gardens in just a few days.
This year the theme was movies and various exhibitors did themed gardens to go along with them. We saw Mr. Myagi's patio from Karate Kid, and a garden from UP, and The Secret Garden. Jurassic Park and Avatar had gardens and walk through areas as well. Kansas State Extension wants us to get into the gardening Hobbit, and they had a Hobbit home and raised garden. See the round green door in my photo?
Our senses were filled with the sounds of water and the smells of soil and flowers. Our eyes were delighted with greenery and beautiful colors. It was a spring vacation in one day.
Like everything else, this show has become expensive, and also very commercial. Exhibitors do not just want to show you their wares, they want to sell them to you, today, right now!
I have a lot of pictures and many business cards to sort through. I have websites I would love to visit. Meanwhile, we are expecting rain, freezing rain and possibly snow in the next day or two, then warm weather by Friday.
In an act of hope I sprinkled grass seed on bare spots in my yard and got peat pellets to put tomato seeds in.
I am looking forward to Spring.

Have a wonderful week.

That's Where You'll Find Me

Okay, I am from Kansas, the Land of Oz, or as the promotional material says, The Land of Ahhhs. I am also a citizen of the world, a traveler on the Web. I posted in a previous entry that I am a member of MyLot. Another place I call home is Gather.com http://gardengerty.gather.com/
I post as Heather E. Gather is a worth while site to join, because you make friends, learn new things, and also, you can earn points, that translate into gift cards.

Remember the muffins from a previous post? Here is the recipe:
The person who posted it to Gather gives credit to hillbillyhousewife.com

Oatmeal Muffins to eat when you are broke.

1 cup dry oatmeal
1 cup sour milk, buttermilk or yogurt (you can use powdered buttermilk)
1 medium egg
1/2 C white or brown sugar
1/3 C oil
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp. each salt and baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a large bowl combine the oatmeal and buttermilk or sour milk or yogurt
Let it set awhile so that the oatmeal soaks up some of the liquid.
Add the egg, sugar and oil, beat really well with a wire whisk.
Stir in flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, but do not over stir. It should only take 20-30 strokes to mix all the dry patches in.
Spoon the batter into a dozen well oiled standard muffin cups and bake at 4oo for about twenty minutes. Best served hot.

Like I said, I tweaked it a little. I stir in flax seed meal and wheat germ, a tablespoon or so of each. I also add a good handful of dried fruit, and chopped nuts. If the batter is too thick I stir in a tablespoon full of milk as well. This makes 30 or so mini muffins.
I usually use yogurt for the liquid--Vanilla or fruit flavored.

These make great little bites for breakfast or snack, and they are just sweet enough to take care of cravings.

I hope I made you want to bake.

Tomorrow, I may go spend part of the day with a friend.

Have fun,
Heather

It is Wednesday

Normally, I would have gone to choir practice, but I have a cold. I keep sneezing and I did not feel that was something I wanted to share with the rest of the choir. We had run some out of town errands today, and then I have stayed home this evening.
Bob sent in the registration fee for the Kustom Kemps Show. It will be July 29, 30, and 31 in Salina, Kansas at Kenwood Park. These custom hot rods are awesome. I guess there is a television show that features some of the customization work. I will have to ask Bob what it is. This event is nice family oriented fun.
There are a lot of places you might find me online, when I am not here. Google the name Garden Gerty and you may find me.
My first real experience online, other than e mail was with a discussion site called MyLot, I have been there almost five years. www.myLot.com?ref=GardenGerty. This is a wonderful site because it is truly international. We discuss lots of things and it is not just random, social stuff and it is not paid to post. We do get paid for our participation, though.
I will feature some other sites as the days go by. Hope to see you around.

Upcoming Events

It has been ages since I have been part of a garage or yard sale. That is in part because I do not have a garage. That is not going to stand in my way this year. My friend Marsha told me about a Monster Garage Sale that takes place at the Kansas State Fair Grounds twice every year. She and I and another friend from Gather are planning on having booths there. That will be March 12, in Hutchinson, Kansas. I hope to get rid of lots of "treasures".

The last weekend of March Bob and I will be heading off to Las Vegas. He is a representative for Dri WashnGuard, and they have their annual meeting there in Las Vegas as that is where the home office is. We will be staying at the Golden Nugget Hotel. Neither of us are gamblers so the spare time will not be spent in the casinos. Meetings are April 1 and 2.

Our daughter will visit here from Minnesota early in July. She will bring the grand girls, her hubby is accompanying teens on a missions trip

The only other firm date we have is for Kustom Kemps Car Show in Salina, Ks. This is one of the largest car shows in North America, almost 1600 entries last year. We go as vendors for DWG.

In between times, we hope to go to Oklahoma, and Minnesota to see family and friends. Let me know where you are, I may wave as we go by.

Heather

Drive and Dine Content

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Osage Beach, Missouri

I cannot believe that we made our Missouri trip almost a month ago. On our way out of Kansas, we stopped at the Topeka, Kansas, Denny's. Denny's is a reliable chain with a 50's diner feel, and lots of good food 24/7. Fresh coffee as well.
I posted a bit about the Chestnut Roast, including a recipe for Butternut Squash Soup. We also bought chili from a vendor at the Chestnut Roast. I will post a recipe for that later. The fresh air was invigorating, and we learned a lot about raising trees of all kinds while we were there. We left the Columbia, Mo. area headed for Osage Beach, Mo. around 2:00 pm.
We had two purposes in visiting Osage Beach, a resort town on the Lake of the Ozarks. I had some old memories to revisit, and Bob and I were going to visit a church plant from our denomination in the town.
The Lake of the Ozarks is a wonderful recreational lake, with resorts settled around it, as well as an outlet mall, and more rustic accommodations such as camping areas. Of course there is golf, fishing, boating, casual and fine dining and other evening entertainment. We booked a motel room, at fall rates, and proceeded to look for food. We did not have to go far.
Our supper that evening was at The City Grill and Blue Room. There is a Sports Bar Lounge, but we ate in the dining area. The lighting is subdued, and conducive to good conversation. The waitstaff was beginning to light the lanterns on the individual tables and other diners filtered in. Some were regulars, you could tell, like the lady who came alone and brought her book. She was greeted as an acquaintance by the waitress. A large party came in and was seated all together, with no hint of the host being flustered. We received good attention and looked through a menu that went from salad and soup, pasta and steak, burgers and fries to other great sandwiches
Bob, my wonderful driving and dining companion ordered a South Philly Steak Sandwich and Cajun Fries. It consisted of sliced roast beef, not shaved, but thicher slices, topped with roasted peppers and onions and pepperjack cheese. This was served on a sourdough bun with Au Jus on the side. The Cajun Fries had a nice spicy kick as well. They are available as a side with any sandwich. My sandwich was called The Bistro. It was a one half pound burger that was topped with carmelized mushrooms and onions. The sandwich was garnished with Bleu Cheese Crumbles, Bacon and spread with horseradish sauce all on a foccacia bun. I chose to have a fruit cup of seasonal fresh fruit instead of fries.
Each of the sandwiches were less than nine dollars, and did I mention, they had the best coffee I have had in years? It was wonderful, and I would go back there even just for the coffee any time.
The City Grill
5384 West Hway 54
Osage Beach, Mo, 65065
573-302-0848

The menu says every Thursday is German Night from 4:30-900 pm. We will plan our trip accordingly the next time we go to Missouri.
This was a two day trip, and we are finishing day one.

Friday, November 6, 2009

University of Missouri Chestnut Roast

The weekend of October 17 we had a great getaway. The University of Missouri division of Agroforestry hosts an event they call the Chestnut Roast. It focuses on reintroducing chestnuts to the United States, and also features other crops as well. There is usually a guest chef who prepares recipes using chestnuts and this year was no exception. Our favorite so far is the Butternut Squash and Chestnut soup.

Steam or roast chestnuts, peel one cup full.
Saute one small yellow onion in large sauce pan, using 2Tbsp. Olive oil.
Add one pound cubed butternut squash, and 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger or 1/8 tsp ground ginger. Brown squash only slightly.
Add 4 cups broth or stock, vegetable or chicken is best. Cook until squash is fully cooked. If starting with raw squash, about 20 minutes.
Add chestnuts.
Puree soup to desired consistency, either in batches in a conventional blender or using a submersible (stick) blender.
Return to pan or put in crock pot. If too thick thin with more broth.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with one T each chopped pecans, and blue cheese crumbles. Bacon bits are nice on top as well.

Makes six servings.

I will point out that this is a thick, rich, slightly sweet soup. It is gluten free, dairy free, and if made with vegetable broth it is vegetarian.

Order chestnuts online for the freshest ones. When we get them at the grocers they are not as fresh and more expensive.

www.Chestnutcharlie.com

Charlie is a favorite Kansas Chestnut grower.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Java John's

Sometimes you do not have to drive far to find something great to eat, or drink. In my hometown, McPherson, Kansas, we have several unique places to find food. Today we stopped for coffee at Java John's on Main Street. Java John's is an internet hot spot and a favorite place for local business people to take their breaks and visit with friends. There are comfortable couches, current magazines and coffee brewed from beans fresh roasted on a daily basis. If you do not care for coffee there are other beverages, both hot and cold. I had a spiced chai, and my companion, my husband had a french vanilla hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. We munched on milk chocolate coated espresso beans. Bob was skeptical of this tasty treat at first, but I quickly won him over.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Dinner Bell at Eagleville, Missouri

On a trip this year from Kansas to Minnesota, we stopped in at the Dinner Bell . It is less than ten miles from the Iowa State Line on I35, exit 106. Dine All Night.
I had a Belgian waffle that was shaped like an eight petalled flower. My husband had homemade hash. The restaurant was quiet and sleepy, it was before 6 a.m. A small truck stop cafe. The counter featured jars of jam for sale, and bars of homemade soap. Our bill came to $16.04, you can be sure we had plenty of coffee and eggs along with our waffles and hash. Sausage for me as well. This is one we would definitely visit again.

Drive and Dine

Before we were computer literate, before we knew that we could share in a blog, we thought it would be really neat to be able to share some of the restaurants we found as we drove around the country, visiting family and friends. We thought about publishing a book, but never found the time. Ten years later, I am finally starting to blog about the beautiful drives we have taken, and the wonderful places we have stopped to eat along the way. Sadly, some of the places we have been no longer exist, and the posts will just contain memories of those places.

Once upon a time

Once upon a time, about fifteen months ago, I started a blog. On looking back, the focus was much too narrow. It was called "Drive and Dine" and my husband and I were going to cover all the neat places we ate, whenever we took a trip, plus the nice places we visited as well.

With the cost of gas, and the cost of sometimes questionable road food, this has not been a stellar endeavor. Especially with being out of work.

Considering the amount of food I am preparing at home, I thought of changing the blog to be "In Heather's Kitchen", but again, that is a narrow idea. I am much more than what I cook and eat.

I like to do crafts, and cook, and grow things, and travel, and be online, and so on, so forth. So that brings me to another title.

I am going to wake up that old blog, give it a new name, and pictures, and I am going to call it . . . . Heather's Hobbies.

I hope you are all having a great President's Day. One of the foods often featured for this holiday is cherries. In Heather's Kitchen today are oatmeal muffins with pecans and dried cherries.

I obtained this recipe from a friend on Gather, who got it from a blog called Hillbilly Housewife. I have, of course, tweaked it.

The muffins are almost ready to come out of the oven. It is time for lunch.

Have a great day, and I will be getting that new blog up and running.

Heather