Our Garden Update

Our garden has simply come alive with growth since I last wrote about it. This year has been really easy growing which I think is partly due to the drought we are in. The lack of rain this year has kept away mold, disease and bugs which is great. Dry growing seasons here usually mean we'll have a good garden.

Our tomatoe plants, as last year, are putting on a show and growing like crazy all over the place. We try to stake them up but they have not stayed put and have turned into a spreading tangled mass of branches, leaves and loads of green tomatoes. About a dozen tomatoes have just turned red this week. (I ate the first of the year after I was finished taking these photos.:))

Our three yellow squash plants are coming along as well and have about three or four squashes growing on them.

We have problems with our peppers though. There must have been some labeling confusion at the nursery because not only was one of our serrano plants not a serrano but a mirasol chile, it looks like one of our "poblano" pepper plants is actually a serrano or a jalapeno. Makes it interesting doesn't it?!
The mariachi pepper plant is growing really well and has about five or so peppers on it. We have never tried mariachi peppers before so I am anxious to see how they taste. They are supposed to be mild.

 

Yellow squash

Mirasol chile

Mariachi Peppers

Serranos?? Jalapenos??

Our 6 cherry tomatoes. To give some perspective this area is about 10'x10'.  I've lost my epazote plant somewhere in the middle of there...and the basil plants, parsley and hyssop are struggling to keep their own ground.

Cherry tomatoes

Hyssop

Concord grapes

Plumbago

Fatima Al-Mutairi

[photo credit: weheartit]

The following is a poem written by a Saudi women who, shortly after her salvation from Islam to Christianity, was murdered by her brother. The Muslim world desperately needs our prayers. There is no peace where Satan holds the hearts of so many and where Christ is continually persecuted. They hate the Truth that will set them free!

Christ's church will continue to grow in Muslim countries and they will hear and believe just as Fatima did. 

Shortly before her death she took comfort in “He is my light, and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). 

Arabic and English don't translate very smoothly so it is a bit rough in some areas nevertheless I think it is a beautiful piece.

"And We For the Sake of Christ Bear All Things

A poem written by Fatima Al-Mutairi before her martyrdom

May the Lord Jesus guide you, Oh Muslims
رب يسوع يهديكم يا مسلمين
And enlighten your hearts that you might love others
و ينور قلوبكم و تحبّون الاخـريـن
The forum does not revile the Master of the prophets (Christ)

الملتقى ما يشتم بسيد المرسلين
It is for the display of truth, and for you it was revealed
هو لإضهار الحقيقة و عشانكم تبين
This is the truth which you do not know
هذى الحقيقة اللي أنتم عنها غايبين
What we profess are the words of the Master of the prophets
و ما نقوله هو من كلام سيد المرسلين
We do not worship the cross, and we are not possessed
و احنا ما نعبد الصـليب و لانا ابمجانين
We worship the Lord Jesus, the Light of the worlds
احنا نعبد الرب يسوع نور العالمين
We left Mohammed, and we do not follow in his path
محمد تركناه و بدربه محنا سالكين
We followed Jesus Christ, the Clear Truth
و اتبعنا يسوع المسيح الحق المبين
Truly, we love our homeland, and we are not traitors
و بصـراحه حنا نحب ديرتنا و محنا خاينين
We take pride that we are Saudi citizens
و نفتخر انّّّّ حنا مواطنين سعوديين
How could we betray our homeland, our dear people?
كيف نخون وطنّا و أهلنا الغالين؟؟
How could we, when for death---for Saudi Arabia--- we stand ready?
كيف و احنا للموت للسعودية مستعدين؟؟
The homeland of my grandfathers, their glories, and odes---for it I am writing
ديرة أجدادي و أمجادي و للقصيد لها كاتبين
And we say, “We are proud, proud, proud to be Saudis”
و نقول فخر فخر فخر احنا سعوديين
We chose our way, the way of the rightly guided
احنا اخترنا طريقنا طريق المهتدين
And every man is free to choose any religion
و كل إنسان حر لإختار أي دين
Be content to leave us to ourselves to be believers in Jesus
تكفون اتركونا بحالنا و بيسوع مؤمنين
Let us live in grace before our time comes
خلونا نتهنى في حياتنا قبل ساعتنا تحين
There are tears on my cheek, and Oh! the heart is sad
دمعتي فوق خدي اااه و القلب حزين
To those who become Christians, how you are so cruel!
على حال المتنصـرين يا كيف أنتم قاسين
And the Messiah says, “Blessed are the Persecuted”
و المسيح يقول طوبى لكم المضطهدين
And we for the sake of Christ all things bear
و حنا عشان المسيح لكل شي متحملين
What is it to you that we are infidels?
وش لك وش عليكم إحنا كافرين
You do not enter our graves, as if with us buried
منتم ابداخلين قبورنا و معنا مدفونين
Enough---your swords do not concern me, not evil nor disgrace
خلاص ما تهمني سيوفكم و لا شين
Your threats do not trouble me, and we are not afraid
و لا يهمني تهديدكم و ما حنا خايفين
And by God, I am unto death a Christian---Verily
والله انا للموت مسيحية و يا عين
I cry for what passed by, of a sad life
أبكي على ما فات من عمر حزين
I was far from the Lord Jesus for many years
كنت بعيده عن الرب يسوع عدة سنين
Oh History record! and bear witness, Oh Witnesses!
و سجل يا تأريخ و اشهدوا يا شاهدين
We are Christians--- in the path of Christ we tread
احنا مسيحيين بدرب المسيح ماشين
Take from me this word, and note it well
و خذها مني معلومه و احفظها زين
You see, Jesus is my Lord, and He is the Best of protectors
ترى يسوع ربي هو احفظ الحافظين
I advise you to pity yourself, to clap your hands in mourning
أنصحك ترثي حالك و تصفق بكفين
See your look of ugly hatred
و تشوف شكلك من الحقد كيف هو يشين
Man is brother to man, Oh learned ones!
الإنسان أخو إنسان يا متعلمين
Where is the humanity, the love, and where are you?
وين الإنسانيه و المحبه و أنتم وين
As to my last words, I pray to the Lord of the worlds
و اخر كلامي أصلي لرب العالمين
Jesus the Messiah, the Light of Clear Guidance
يسوع المسيح نور الهدايه المبين
That He change notions, and set the scales of justice aright
يغير المفاهيم و يعدل الموازين
And that He spread Love among you, Oh Muslims 

و ينــــشرالمحبه بينكم يا مسلميــــــــــــــــــــــــن

Hexagon Afghan

Mom, Catherine and I were wanting to give a gift to a friend for her birthday but were at a loss to know what to give until we thought of this. We thought it would be neat to give something that was made by all three of us and this was the perfect thing. We each made our own hexagons, we each helped weave in the ends, and I sewed it all together.

We have made multicolored afghans before but never have done anything like this so it was a little new to us but it was great fun!

 

I really like the hexagon shape, it so much more interesting than the normal square.

We had a hard time figuring out what colors to combine. We finally came out with these 10.

This was my spot for a couple days. Tea, morning sunshine, happy birds in the tree above me and a pile of yarn- love it!

 

Had to take a break in the shade.:)

The next day we had finished all of the hexagons so I spent most of that evening and following morning sewing the pieces together. We had a total of 48 hexagons which made a pretty nice size throw/lap blanket.
Sewing it all together was a breeze, except for when I found two pentagons instead of hexagons (my fault)! So I manipulated another side out of them as I sewed them together.

Finished!!

 

Homemade Toothpaste

This is an inexpensive yet effective alternative to the pricier fluoride-free toothpaste you buy in the store.

 I found this recipe one day while perusing through an old soap-making book I had gotten from the library.
We have also tried a recipe that called for coconut oil but that was a little bit too oily and had a tendency to separate more than the glycerin does. 

Homemade Toothpaste

• 8 Tbsp. Baking soda
• 3-4 Tbsp.  Vegetable glycerin  (you can usually get this at the health food store for about $5.00)
• 20-30 drops ( 3/4 tsp.)  of peppermint essential oil  *added to taste.
• 1/8-1/4 tsp stevia powder

1. Stir together the glycerin and baking soda until it forms a cohesive paste.
2. Add the peppermint a little at a time until you're satisfied with the taste.
3. Add stevia to taste.
4. Store in a small plastic container or glass jar. -see below for details on storage-

This recipe makes about a 1/2 cup of toothpaste. You can find separate little plastic containers (shown in the photo above) so not everyone is dipping their toothbrush into the same jar. ;) I found these containers (aprox. 2 oz.) with lids at the dollar store in a ten pack for under $2.00.

Every now and then you may have to stir it to keep the glycerin and baking soda from separating.

You could experiment with different essential oils, so far I have only tried peppermint but I think it would be interesting to see what others you could use.

Doughnuts...

I pulled out an old and tattered Taste of Home magazine and made these delicious bites for a snack. It has been maybe two or three years since we last made our own doughnuts so I thought it was about time to make a batch again.

I made the dough; let it sit for a bit to rise; Catherine and Mom cut out the doughnuts; and I fried them.
Catherine finished them off with icing and/or cinnamon sugar.