Craft for today's Gospel (Fisher of Men) and we have a little secret

Today's Gospel was Jesus calling the disciples to come follow Him and He would make them fisher of men! 

We began the morning with a prayer to St Michael 

St. Michael the Archangel, 
defend us in battle. 
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. 
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 
and do thou, 
O Prince of the heavenly hosts, 
by the power of God, 
thrust into hell Satan, 
and all the evil spirits, 
who prowl about the world 
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. .

We read the Gospel as a preview to mass. 

Matthew 4:12-23

12Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; 13and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali, 14that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15"The land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles -- 16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." 17From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. 23And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people. 

We reviewed a map to see where they would be fishing. 

Now the craft.

I found a neat idea over at Art Camp  and expanded the idea just a tiny bit.  You know I am always saving cardboard tubes, I add some googly eyes and the red was just a scrap of a red envelope saved from Christmas.  

I tried making one before class to see how long it would take to make and dry.  Using acrylic paints, they dry very fast.  The metallic paint created something fun. 

I packed up my art bag and headed for the church hall. 

They loved the craft and I think they turned out well. 

We discussed what it meant to be "fisher of men".   Bringing others out of the water (baptism perhaps?)  and to follow Jesus.  So we decided we would spread the Word our way. 

We printed up images and put them on small bags of Gold Fish crackers  and left for snacks after mass. 

This really got them sparked and they requested we do something for the senior center in our little town in the future.  Wow. 

Back to the homestead.... We have been keeping a little secret.  It has been three years since Dude's back surgery.  He got the go-ahead from him his doctor to start riding a horse again about a year or more ago.   Dude has found a horse and been riding and taking care of her at a stable in the foothills. The prior owner paid the stables through the end of next week and trail rides. She told Dude he could keep them until we bring her home Feb. 1st. He goes twice a week and on the weekend to ride and just be with her.  She is only 8 years old and her name is Daisy. 

peace 

Day learning more about my spinning wheel and quinoa salad

Once again Norman and I had to get the chores done quickly and our walk in early. Molly greeted us first. 

It may not look it but it was chilly and the day didn't get past 44*.

Norman didn't mind and just wanted to get out into the open field. 

I had an early class at the Fleece Factory of the Rockies.  This is the year I want to spin wool, really get in to it and do it right. My friend who begun to teach me had move to Missouri.  I have bags of lambs wool and alpaca that were just sitting there.  My spinning wheel is now 3 years old and needs some action. 

The class was Romancing the Wheel with Laurette. 

She taught us about so many wheels. 

And how to service them, what to look for when buying a used wheel, and we begun to use them today. 

Here is my wheel. It was such a fun class and students were engaged.  We didn't want to leave!

Dinner tonight was chicken and quinoa salad. I made a huge batch of quinoa at the beginning of the week. 

Added onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, goat cheese, parsley, and olives to the quinoa along with salt, pepper, olive oil (I  used less than a tablespoon) and a squeeze of a whole lemon. 

Mixed it all up. 

I loved it. Dude liked it and said if we add ham it would be perfect!  *smile*

peace

What's in the dehydrator, sprouts, sewing day and more

We got up early this morning.  We cleaned and exercised.  The goal was to sew as much as I could today. 

I did stop to dry limes. I love limes. Again I had half a bag left from the holidays and I didn't want them to go bad. 

I put them in the dehydrator at 135* and they will dry all day - 10-14 hours.  I want them to be crisp and dry, no moisture. 

I will leave some as whole slices and the rest grind it up. 

Uses?  Soups, drinks, in rice and grains, salads and marinade.

The sprouts are beginning to show. I swapped the muslin out for cheesecloth since it wasn't allowing the water to drain. 

Time to sew. Remember, this year we are being very frugal in our gift-giving and making all the gifts that we can.  I can't show it to you yet (being a birthday present and all) but here are some of the players.

I did have a constant "helper". 

She was so proud of her assistance.

We will use this fabric, she says.

and this pen. 

Norman ignored her. 

Listened to while working:

It is so good. She is such a descriptive writer that you feel you are right there with them!

okay, here is a wee peek of what I was working on....all fabric.

I will work more on it tomorrow.  It took me a bit to get started as I had it all backwards this morning and had to begin again... just after I got done cussing myself out. 

Our first break was out with the hens. Dude surprised me with already putting the grain in the containers.

So, Norman and I went for  our second walk. 

But we ended up chasing a hawk away. 

It eye-balled us from the top of a pole for a good while. 

But the damage was done, a Guinea was already killed. I was very thankful it was only one. 

The hawk only left when I let the lambs out to be with the hens. 

The whole hawk incident scared one of the little girls so bad she dropped an egg. 

Prudence was happy to protect the girls because she know it is really Molly that does all the protecting. 

Pantry time!

Using the canned pizza sauce. 

Pizza for lunch!  Used a canned pizza dough, baked 400* for 8 minutes.  Added our canned pizza sauce, leftover peppers and onions from fajita night, added all the leftover cheeses from the holidays... a bit of swiss, colby, cheddar and mozzarella. I love green olives and add them to only one side and baked for 10 more minutes. It was a comforting cheesy love biscuit !

I need to get dinner started.  Burger night wrapped in lettuce with all the fixings served with peas and a big salad. 

Tonight I will finish this:

peace