Mission: almost impossible

Update - newsflash, hotflash and Flash Gordon! Woo Hoo - Lacy's comment sparked a brainstorm on Buhlaland, DH agreed that an external hard drive would be more useful than a stack of disks. SOOO - off to Office Depot we went - found what we thought was a pretty good deal on 320 Gigabyte unit - AND TA DA I have now transferred the picture files which were logging down my blogging - to the hard drive. Mission ALMOST accomplished - simply did not label everything but it is organized way better. Half done is good in filing and laundry - not at all good in cakes or cookies! Just wanted to keep it real here in Buhla-blogga-land! Love y'all - and appreciate your support in the neverending war against total disarray in Linda Sue's computer (and life? NAW!)

Soundtrack is optional - feel free to turn off the volume if you get irritated by music background for my blog post today - I personally thought it added substance to a somewhat paltry entry to the blogosphere!

My DH and his sweet mom gave me a better digital camera last winter so I make an effort to take pictures every day. My theory of taking pictures is a bit like my outlook on eating a good dessert . . . more is better thinking if I take a lot of pictures at least some are worth keeping.

All that rambling done - my computer files are about to become completely unnavigable, unsearchable and I fear at some point - inaccessible. This week I am committed to learning how to transfer all my older files to dvd's with appropriately descriptive labeling for each and every entry. Yeah right - anyhow - in going through the files I found some pictures I wanted to share. The shot of bright pink cactus blooms was taken some time ago, the cactus and planter were given to me by my Aunt Dorothy - cactus from her home at Lake Whitney. The cactus has totally outgrown the sturdy concrete container. We were given several bird baths (thanks Tom and Mary)and converted one bath into a cactus planter. One could say we are too frugal to buy a new planter but I prefer to believe we are being "green" minded - reduce,reuse and recycle y'all.

I like the way it turned out. Ok that's it folks - all this build up for three little pictures and my promise to organize files. I'll be back (said totally without an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent!) It is good in Buhlaland - especially since we got over 8 inches of rain this week!

Oh hey - I forgot to tell you the impossible part about this mission is number one trying to label literally hundreds of pictures and two - sitting still long enough to do the transfer and labeling. I'm posting about it figuring I'll be embarrassed if I don't accomplish this task!

An apocryphal story (and a recipe)

Apocryphal stories are often used to make a point when either documented, provable stories aren't available or so many exist that we make up one combining aspects of all the others - still to make a point much as a parable was designed to do. That said (and begging the pardon of the eleventy-seven thousand bloggers out there who have already used this story):


A young woman had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a very short time to live. She was getting her personal business 'in order' so she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She gave to him a list of songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit to have the funeral home use to dress her in for burial. Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman said there was one more important detail for her funeral service.
'There's one more thing and this is very important, ' the young woman continued. At the funeral home be sure they know I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.' The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. ' Odd request isn't it?' the young woman asked. 'Well, to be honest, yes,' said the Pastor.
The young woman explained. 'My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love who are in need of encouragement. She said 'in all my years of attending socials and dinners, I happily remembered when the dishes of the main course was cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part of the event because I knew that meant something special was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!' In my life I found my grandmother's story to be very true - when you keep your fork - something wonderful is coming.
So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to ask 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork, the best is yet to come.' The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this might be the last time he would see her before her death. He also knew the young woman had a better understanding of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than most people with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW something better was coming. At the funeral home, people were walking by the young woman's casket and they saw the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the Pastor heard the question, 'What's with the fork?' During his message, Pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about a fork and told them that they probably would not be able to forget about it either. He was right. The next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, the best is yet to come.



Amen - no eye has seen nor mind has conceived what the Lord has prepared for those who believe.



On this side of heaven - grab a fork - actually first bake this coffeecake - then grab a fork.


Almond Buttermilk Coffeecake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour 8 or 9-inch square baking pan (or cake pan) I use a 9 inch heart shaped pan

1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1-teaspoon cinnamon
1-teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is BEST)
½ cup (one stick) slightly softened butter
(now remove about 1/3 cup of this mixture for the topping)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1-cup buttermilk
1-teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
¾ cup sliced almonds

Stir together flour, sugar and spices. Cut in the butter. Set aside 1/3 cup of this mixture to be used later. Add buttermilk, baking soda, salt, egg and almond extract to the remaining flour mixture and blend well. Pour into prepared pan. Mix the sliced almonds with the reserved sugar mixture. Sprinkle on top of the batter.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool about 15 minutes before serving. Wonderful with fresh berries or whipped cream also.

Here on Buhlaland we have plastic forks, stainless steel forks, dinner forks, salad forks and meat forks- we are ready for all the wonderful things to come - it is GOOD.

Looking skyward

Updating the update - here is the best I can apparently do - last year I was able to find a website that had a live camera(obviously hooked to a telescope) showing the meteor shower but I haven't found that one this year - here is a bit of info http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/22jul_perseiddawn.htm and it really IS something spectactular to watch - catch a nap and then be up after midnight and the closer to dawn - the better the viewing will be
UPDATE: August 12th is the peak night for viewing the Perseids Meteor Shower for 2008 - I'll add a link to more information tomorrow-the definition of tomorrow might be a bit vague - but I'll get something up before Tuesday morning ! The meteor shower is usually long and heavy enough to be clearly visible anywhere in North America (lower 48) . Back to the original post
How cliche is this posting? I love to look at the sky - taking pictures just gives me a chance to share - (hey Paula at Fraker Farm - this blog is especially for you!) Crescent moon, pink fluffy clouds - all very pretty. Glad for beauty - this summer we are hoping for some big heavy rain clouds! What do you think about the bottom picture? on another website I asked what people thought they saw - most were variations on an angel with something else. Looking toward the sky is one of our quiet joys here on Buhlaland - it is good.

Playing Blog Tag?

Dani tagged me in her blog to respond to two questions - what is my main strength and what is my biggest weakness (I may be paraphrasing - I don't parasail but am far too free with my para of phrases).
Main strength is my faith -I've learned to be happy with much or little (paraphrasing Paul's epistle) because of my relationship with the Creator and Redeemer. Life isn't easy but one day we'll look back and think "what was I so concerned about?"
Main weakness - lawzey me - could be almost anything - I'm not an organized person at all and tend to be a little bit on the reclusive side. Of course if you saw me - you'd know it is sweets! I'm a fool for a good cookie or ice cream.
Doggone it - public confession does NOT make me feel much better - LOL - check out Dani's blog anyhow - she has some lovely things offered for sale and on Wednesdays you can oohhh and ahhhh over her pet of the week presentations.