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Sunday Video~Francesca Battistelli

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Nice Casual Table Setting & Turkey Post Roast

I am doing one of those double post thingys.  Very nice since these two are so close together. :-)

Thanks you Susan with Between Naps on the Porch for hosting TableScape Thursday every week.

And thanks to Gollum with Designs by Gollum for hosting Foodie Friday every Friday!  

Please click on these links to to go these ladies blogs and see all the wonderful tables and food.  A site to behold indeed!  Many many ideas as well.  Now for my post. ;-)

I wanted some plain dishes that I could use and mix and match as needed. And I need a 6 piece place setting. I found that set at... Big Lots! Actually that was 5 months ago. I found them onsale, 30+ piece set on sale for $19.99. At that price, I could use them once and donate them! It came with a serving platter and a large serving bowl, 6 of each: coffee cups, dinner plates, salad/luncheon plates, soup bowl and ....

Cereal Bowl. Yep, 6 (one was broken) honk'in big cereal bowls! 3 heaping cups of cheerios in the bowl! Can you say "Portions?" LOL!

I kept two of the bowls and I use them for serving bowls. :D they are a perfect size!

I love the creamy colour and how it stacks so well on the table.

                     I can mix and match anything with it. I love my fall napkins with the dishes.

 

The turkey plate looks great! The dinner plate almost looks like a charger.

Speaking of turkey....

Foodie Friday's menu is:

Turkey Post Roast
Kale
I started out with a 4lb boneless turkey breast. Any brand or size will do. If you have one of those really large crock pots, you can do a whole turkey.

As usual, I rarely measure anything. Just pour or shake until it looks right.

Or until my nose starts burning...  I did use about 1/2 c of white cooking wine, 2 T of olive oil.

I chopped up some potatoes and carrots to cook with the turkey. You can add onion and celery, mushrooms, what ever your family will normally eat with a pot roast.

Put it all in a crock pot and let it cook all day.

Kale:
Wash kale very well and chop. Place in pot with a tad of salt, 3 cut winter onion, pepper, minced garlic, ham if you have it on hand.

Bring to a boil and turn heat down to a simmer. Cook until tender then add a tad of olive oil.

UMMMMMM UMMMMM !  this stuff is good!

Tender and juicy! Just plate it up and watch it disappear.

My family loves turkey cooked this way and I never throw any of it out.  We often have leftovers for 2-3 meals.  The turkey will also make wonderful sandwiches, if you have enough left over.  It is very good!!! And anything that my family will eat, will make me happy to cook.  You can put this in the crock for the day and supper ready that night!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to go by Susan's blog Between Naps on the Porch to see more tablescapes or to participate in Table scape Thursday.

Then go by Gollums bog Designs By Gollum to see for food and recipes!  Thank you ladies for hosting!.

Blue Monday & Bringing Justice to Bella!

Good afternoon! Welcome to my Blue Monday Post. Thank you Sally for Hosting Blue Monday ever week. It has been a while since I have participated, but I have been collecting photos.... ;-)

I am going to have a double post type thing today.  I hope you enjoy it! 

Many of you have seen my chalk board before.  I love it!  Planning on making some for Christmas presents this year.  Isn't that teacup pretty?  $1.47 cents at The Foundry Thrift Store.  Yep!  Johnson Brothers.  White bone china made in England.  I thought only Manuel found bargains like that.  I guess going to her blog has rubbed off on me. ;-) They only had one set, but I thought it would be perfect for holding my chalk and sponges I use for my chalk board!  Kewl huh!  I will photograph and talk about the lamp on another post.  The coffee cup, I have several of.  I think I paid $ for them some where, like our favorite place... the $$$$ tree?  I don't remember.  I have so many blue coffee cups from the $$$ tree.  LOL my favorite place to buy them. 

November is a time that we are thankful for so many blessings that God has given us.  I am thankful for the wonderful Christian husband that God has given me.  The blessing of a beautiful and sweet daughter who knows and loves the Lord. 

November is also a month that churches are coming together and putting an emphasis on the orphans in our country and our world and  an emphasis on adoption.  Orphan Sunday was November 8th.  There was a live event that was tele/webcast  all over the country and to other parts of the world and what a blessing it was!  If you did not get an opportunity to see it, either at your local church or online, I will post a link at the end of this post.  You will be able to view it at your leisure.  

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come for you.  John 14:18
Did you know that in this country alone, there are over 140,000 children in the foster system?  Most need homes and need them soon.  What would happen if the churches stood up and did what God commanded us to do and care for the fatherless?  This number would be...zero.  Worldwide, the number of orphans run into the millions!  What a testimony it would be for the Christians to step forward and not just support these children, but give them a family, a home.  A Godly Christian home and a loving family...

Many feel lead to answer the call that God has put on their hearts.  Adoption is expensive.  Whether through children's services, domestic or foreign, it is very costly.  Often times a family who does a foreign adoption will plan on one child and come home with multiples. Because of this expense, many couples are coming up with creative ways to pay for adoptions in order to not go into debt or add on additional debt.  You might say, "but what  about the 'tax credit'?"  It is nominal compared to the overall expense. 

I want to introduce to you one such family, the Wilbanks. (Don't you think a little girl would look precious between these 2 boys?!?  I do!)

You can read more about their testimony of God's calling here on their blog Bringing Justice to Orphans .  They are in the process of adopting a baby girl from India.  Her name is Bella. They are using their blog as one source of raising money toward Bella's adoption expenses and have opened a Just Love Coffee store on their blog!  $5 from of every bag of coffee purchased from the Wilbanks' Coffee Store goes into a fund to help in offsetting Bella's adoption expenses.  I know most of y'all love good coffee.  (I read about your coffee drinking on your blogs all the time! :-D) And let me tell you, Brittnie would not be selling it if it was not good!  B/c like me, she is picky about her coffee.  Feel free to post a link to their Wilbanks' Coffee Store  on your side bar, just as I have done. 
I also told you I would post a link for Orphan Sunday Webcast.  Fix yourself a cuppa, sit back and enjoy!

Don't forget to go by our wonderful Hostess' blog, Smiling Sally, and check out the other Blue Monday Posts that are linked there.  You may even want to participate!

Sunday Video

A beautiful ballad by Steven Curtis Chapman.  He sang this at the Cry of the Orphan Concert.  A true testimony to his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Enjoy.

Chic Day!

Have y'all missed me! I have missed you! Very much. Looking forward to blogging more in the future. :-)

Today I am participating in Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan of "Between Naps on the Porch". Thank you Susan for hosting! After reading my post, stop by her blog to see more Tablescape posts. Many beautiful ideas there!

Wed the 11th, being Veterans Day (Veterans and those currently serving in our armed forces, thank you so much for your service to our country.) school was out. DD and I had a long awaited "Chick Day" planned. We were going to watch Sense and Sensibility (the PBS one with Hugh Grant...), but somehow we watched Spiderwick. I guess you could make that a "Chick Flick" if you use your imagination hard enough. LOL! Then we went on a bike ride. That was fun and we had the perfect weather for it.

Now our "Chick Days" always involve going to a Tea Room. DD and I just love Miss Rosemarie's Tea Room in Hoover, Alabama.

And I thought, "I will get photos of the Table Scapes as well, and I will participate in Susan's Tablescape Thursday!"

Miss Rosemarie's tables are always beautiful! Lovely china, some matching, some not.

She has shelves of teapots, tea cups, teas (many her own blends),  cookbooks and other wares for sale all about the tearoom.

DD is hungry! Looking forward to FOOD!

Most of the tables are antiques or vintage.
She has a layer of glass over all of them to protect the finish.

Each table also has a Mint Julip cup with roses. Very pretty.

The tea of the day is Orange Spice! Only served this time of year. It is wonderful!

DD got a tall glass of Sweet Iced Blackrasberry Tea. It is so good!

DD ordered Roast Beef with Tomato Basil Soup.

I ordered quiche, crab crapes, salad and a cup of mushroom soup. YUM!

I love Miss Rosemarie's soups. And I love how it is served in this lovely tea cup!

No more pictures mom!!! (She cleaned her plate and bowl!)

I had a Walnut Maple Scone for dessert,
but it jumped into my tummy before I could take a photo! ;-)

I just love all these tea sets.

Don't forget to stop by Susan's blog, Between Naps on the Porch, to see more table scape posts or to participate yourself!

And if you are ever in the Hoover/Birmingham Alabama area, go by Miss Rosemarie's tea room. You will not be disappointed.

A kewl thing I forgot to mention about Miss Rosemarie's Tea Room is, if you are wearing dark clothes you get a black linen napkin. If you are wearing light colored clothes you get a white linen napkin. Reason? Lint that the napkin leaves behind. :-) Rosemarie, who usually wears dark slacks or skirt, told me once that she always hated going into a restaurant, place a white linen napkin on her lap and have the lint on her clothes the rest of the day. And the black napkins do the same thing to lighter clothing. So she keeps plenty of both. Great idea!

Over the Rainbow Bridge

My DD's little Budgie hen, Candie, (right) passed away earlier today. She leaves behind her husband of 4 years, "Tweety" (left) and one son, Elvis. (Yellow Harliquin on the sidebar.)

She started showing signs of congestive heart failure in late July. 2-3 weeks ago, had some sort of stroke that crippled her on the right side. Tweety cared for her by helping her move around the cage, get to the water and by feeding her. We attached the nesting box to the cage as it kept her from having to perch. She stayed in there most of the time as Tweety would get her food and water when she needed it.

It was a very sweet love story to watch.

With the help of a friend, DD buried her later this afternoon. Rest in peace little one.