“The RoseBouquet”

Do you ever cook a large quantity of something so that you can have a break from cooking for a few days? I believe there is a word for this, and I’ve heard of a book that advocates doing intensive cooking for a day or two and then freezing 30 meals so you just have to heat and eat the rest of the month.

Well, I’m not THAT organized. But I have discovered the convenience of cooking up a crockpot of soup or a stew and then doling it out into Tupperware or other plastic containers, in about meal-sized portions, and putting them in the fridge or freezer to give me some “quick meals” or lunches for a few days. If I get tired of these meals I can always insert a different menu for a day or two, or just put the portions in the freezer and happen upon them one day when hunting for a quick meal.

Doing a big pot or crock full meal takes a bit of fore-thought, but is not hard to do. Normally I try to come up with some idea in this direction on the weekend, but I was away a lot this past weekend, so last night while I was trying to toss together a quick supper, i also chopped half an onion and tossed it in the crockpot. I rinsed some beans and lentils and dropped them into the crock too. I checked the freezer and found one package of hamburger meat. As it defrosted in the frying pan with some water to steam, I scraped off chunks of the meat to go into the crock. The last part I left in the pan to form supper with some macaroni, and a can of mushroom soup, and some frozen peas. Meantime, in those moments of waiting for supper, I put a can of tomato soup into the crock and some salt and some dried summer savory.

I took a peek and figured it just needed some more water, so I poured some tap water into the empty mushroom and tomato soup cans and rinsed that water into the crock. Then I put the lid on, made sure the crock was turned on, and forgot about it for the rest of the evening, while I had supper, did dishes, and went to the computer for my evening’s work.

Well, somewhere after 10 pm the wonderful smell tempted me to go check the crockpot and taste my “whatever stew.” Yum!! I turned it off, and when I was about to go to bed, it was cooled down enough so I could spoon it into my containers. I get four generous meals out of that, plus what I had left over from my skillet supper. I can always add variations (rice, pastas, more water for soup, or other spices) as I warm them up, but I’ve done most of my cooking for this week. Into next week as well, if I spread them out.

Is that clever as you, or what?

Last week I saw something that bothered me about how the left navigational column looked on my Aloe-Vera-and-Handy-Herbs.com site, so I took time to remove that green background image and add my new self-photo on all the pages. Now that site has a new, improved look.

I’m working on a short series of helpful basics about emails on the BouquetofEnterprises.biz site, but they are not quite ready. Maybe next week.

I attended the Harvest Fest missions conference on Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I made some new friends and found some impressive things going on through the mission reps who had booths there. WTM had one too, but Joe and Penny were staffing it, so I roamed around meeting people and making friends between sessions. If you are on my missionary prayer letter list you’ll be seeing that soon, for yesterday I drafted that letter, and reviewed the things that impacted me.

I got home at 5:45 on Sunday afternoon, and by 6 was on my way to the evening service at my church. I had thought I might stay home and claim I was too tired, but in the morning it was announced that a Rick Aupperle was going to be sharing about a new ministry starting up close to our Saskatchewan, North Dakota border, near Wood Mountain, SK. I decided that since I love missionary stories and projects, I would go hear him. I’m so glad I did.

He shared about how he and his wife, and another pastor couple are setting up a special working ranch on land that a business man gave them, where they will take in children at risk. they are calling it Broken Arrow Ranch. When I saw all the exciting provisions and miracles God has done for them, and what they intend to do there with, I was very impressed. You can find much more detail and photos at SolidRockMinistries.ca

I have to confess that I felt a little overwhelmed at all the needy missions, and my willing heart felt stretched this way and that. By turns I was amazed at all the good going on right now, that I had not heard of, then challenged to believe God will provide for the burdens He lays before us. I cannot divide myself into any more pieces, but I felt encouraged to develop a certain dream I’ve had for the last couple of years. I hope to make room for it this summer - at last to do some serious research as to its feasibility.

It’s funny, isn’t it, that we can usually make time for the things we think are important? I’ve just proved that to myself. I wanted to be at the missions conference, but hated to skip my basement renovations work, so I’ve tried to make up for it by spending just 30-40 minutes down there after supper different days during the week. I can see progress, albeit not as much as I’ve done in recent Saturdays. By snitching this time from my kitchen and gardening hour I will be free this Saturday for another NEW project. Maybe I can tell you about it next week.

Then you will want this Special cookbook from ZooLoots Chocolates! It has 100 Chocolate coated recipes. Believe me, they are not all about coating things with chocolate, but you’ll be surprised how many things can be made with a chocolate flavouring.

Even rice tastes great when cooked with chocolate and cinnamon!

I made several new contacts on the weekend, but I want to especially bless Betty Quist. I think she became a true friend and even a distant relative over Saturday and Sunday.

Betty and her husband Art are AWANA missionaries for this area in Canada. They go to churches that are interested in starting up these weekly clubs for kids and train and help them. They also run a summer camp for AWANA Clubbers. I had met them before, but at the Harvest Fest missions conference, we got to eat a meal at the same table.

I spent nine years working in AWANA Clubs at the Neuanlage Grace church while I lived with my parents, and I was a Secretary and Director over the Girls Clubs, and did a lot of behind the scenes things for the Commander, so we kept finding more and more we have in common.

Betty told me about growing up in a large Mennonite family up at LaCrete, Alberta (way north-west of us here), and how she left home to make her own way, and became a Christian.

Naturally, we got talking about relatives and I went home convinced that we might be related. When I got home I took time to look some names up on my computer database, and and sure enough, we have some ancestors in common. I printed out some information for her, and gave it to her on Sunday afternoon.

Some of the others may just remain at acquaintance stage, but I think Betty and I moved on to the next stage already. AWANA.ca/missionaries/quist.htm

My winter undies and extras are washed and put away. Spring is definitely here now. The snow seems to be all gone at last, and the grass is springing upright, and turning green. Ah, just what we’ve been waiting for - warmer temperatures too! Yesterday I even shed my spring jacket and scarf.

This morning it is more overcast, but is suppose to be quite overcast. I found my walk to the office didn’t take so long today, but then I think I had my head down and was hurrying because of the spell of raindrops. I have taken to carrying my camera in my pocket and when the weather is warm and comfortable I tend to saunter more slowly, watching for good scenes to capture with the camera.

Oh, I can hardly wait until the lilacs and flowerbeds are in full bloom! Especially those tulips in my front yard. So far no sign of them, but the snow and old ice patches are gone. I’ll check for something green poking up when I get home at 5:30.

In fact, it is this coming of spring and eyeing my garden and flowerbeds that has put some pressure on me to get my basement renovations finished or to a place where I can let the rest be until later. You see, I knew when this season came I would be itching to be out digging and turning over the soil.

I did get a major patch of ceramic tiles laid on Saturday afternoon, but expect to be away at a missions conference this next weekend, so I’m afraid I may not get the grouting finished as planned. Once I have that done I can set up another large shelf unit, and finish sorting and stashing ‘my stuff,” including some clutter from the office on the main floor.

Have I told you how big my shelf units are? They average 5 - 7 feet long, and are from floor to ceiling, with four shelves made of planks and large boards or folding doors. I’ve got three lined up against the south and west walls and they are full. One more intended for the east wall, and then hopefully the center of the room will be clear so I can get my old back door downstairs and turn it into a craft and sewing table.

All this work has put me into a re-decorating mindset so that I can see many more projects to do. I doubt I’ll get them all done this summer. Pray that I’ll be wise in my priorities!

Well, hallelujah, I do have some friends who responded to my appeal for feedback on this matter of changing what I put in the Ruthe’s Roses section of this blog/ezine. I’ll report on those below, but just to remind you, or in case you missed it last week, I was saying how I need to use my time more wisely for my web businesses, and instead of spending two mornings on an article for the RoseBouquet, I was thinking of three options.

One was to drop that section altogether.

The second was to provide links to any new web pages I’ve created in the past week. Some of those are articles. (Although I often mention them in this What’s New section, if I think they will be of interest to this readership).

The third option was to use it to toss bouquets or compliments to friends (my roses) who have been especially dear to me in the last while. Not intending to embarrass them, but just to bring some focus back to how I treasure my friendships.

This will also make it easier to read the RoseBouquet because it won’t take so long to skim through it. An advantage, right?

The responses I got from the friends have confirmed in my mind that the third option, with an occasional use of the second one, is the way to go. I feel relieved and pleased, and affirmed.

A few months down the road, I’m hoping to show you that the investment of time will turn out to be a huge advantage, not just for me, but also for you.

As for what else is new, we Western Tract Missionaries had been pushing hard to prepare our sample Scripture Signs for the fund raiser, Music/Dessert night which we had this last Friday. It went over quite well, but now the work load will increase some more. I’m deliberately saying that I want to hold back, interesting as it is, and only do the work I really need to do, or this thing will overwhelm me. Others will have to take up more of the work. However, next week I MUST get those signs/posters up on the WTM website because I’ve already given out the URL in the Reflections which I just finished setting up for printing. You’ll hear more about it next week.

Oh, how sweet to have a friend who’d drop everything and come when you need her. Ruthe, the heroine of this novel, dashes away from her own grad when her friend Muriel calls. Don’t you wish you had a loyal, caring friend like that? Buy and READ Ruthe’s Secret Roses! e-Book edition Softcover edition.

Robin from South Africa was the first with a response, and so encouraging! He wrote;

“Yes its Robin from Sunny South Africa here. So glad that Spring is started to arrive properly for you. We’re approaching my beloved winter in Natal - warm sunny days with low humidity and cool fresh nights. Wonderful.

I think you do an amazing job with your ezine and if its too much to keep going then I think a combination of 2 or 3 as appropriate would be fine. And if you’re super busy one week then option 1 is quite understandable. Don’t sweat it and focus your energy and time where its needed most. Your Roses will understand ”

Aw-w-w- thanks, Robin! Just what I needed to hear!

Joanne from London, Ontario, where I used to live was right there too, with an immediate comment left on the blog. She said;

“I think you should drop the Ruthes Roses section and maybe drop bouquets to your friends, but what ever you choose I am sure it will make for an interesting read.”

I like that kind of confidence in me, Joanne. Thanks.

My Sister-in-Christ, Kathy O, offered this thought;

“I think the 3rd idea is a good one, or you could just drop the ezine altogether & just keep in touch with your friends, because I know you are busier now then you were before, my friend. I hope this helps with your decision, Ruth. Let me know what you decide, okay? Talk to you soon.”
YSIC,
Kathy

Well, I’ve explained again, that dropping the RoseBouquet altogether is NOT an option in my mind. If anyone knew how many friends I actually have, they would see that it would be impossible to correspond with each one individually and tell them all that is going on in my life. There would be NO time left to work or run a business, or ever do anything but write emails and letters to friends all my waking hours. I do understand that if I were giving all my friends quality time, that should be the way to do it, but - I’m afraid I’m way past that point, and have to share what’s on my heart in a group mailing like this RoseBouquet.

Whenever I hear from an individual friend I like to snatch a moment or two to reply to them. I do like the personal touch, but I have to sprinkle it in with other things like shaking salt on my food.

Next I heard from Tess, out west in Washington State. She used the feedback form on the site to contact me;

“I would be sorry to see you drop Ruthe’s Roses. I have enjoyed reading about your various experiences and exploits. Also about your family. When you mention your various religious obligations, it reminds me of what I am neglecting and should be getting in touch with. My interest would lag if if choose the two other options and I’m afraid I would not be so eager to read every word. I enjoy any pictures you care to add and look forward to those. I miss all those little mentions of your Dad and what he did, He was a remarkable and self sufficient person. You take after him. I would urge you to rethink dropping the blog…” Tess

Well, I am so touched at these kind words, Tess! Especially that I take after my Dad. Thank you.

I’m NOT dropping the blog, you’ll all be happy to know. But I am going to use this particular section, which I call Ruthe’s Roses, to do short mentions or wee profiles of various friends. It will depend on whom I’m interacting with in the last few days. Or who is most on my mind. I will also make a point of giving links to articles that I have written in the last while for any one of my now FIVE sites.

Yes, the way to grow a web business is to keep adding good content in the form of informational pages or articles that focus on productive keywords. The more I learn this skill the more I realize that this is what is going to make me money on my websites. I only have three mornings a week to work on the main three web businesses, and I really try hard to get a whole article or web page done for each one, on Monday, Thursday and Friday. (The other two have to wait and see if I have any strength left after my day of hard physical work at home on Saturday night). So… when all goes well, and I have not had to sacrifice time for clients, or ministries, then I should be able to produce about four articles a week. That should really up my AdSense income!

Oh yes, one more friend gave feedback. Helen came by my office personally yesterday to tell me how much she loves the RoseBouquet and that the Good Friday story had just made her weep. She likes the idea of featuring friends, and making it shorter, but like the friends above, she has no problem reading my long articles and stories either.

Oh my! How touching to have such great loyal friends! Thanks, Helen!

[And just look! I've got this issue all written in just over an hour!]

Spring arrived fully over the Easter weekend. The snows are gone (except for a small clump here or there in the bushes) and the weather is warm enough to be out and about in summer clothes. I wore my boots yesterday yet, because I wasn’t sure about all the puddles along the way that were there on Thursday, but they are gone. Hallelujah!

As my friend Kathy and I were saying this morning on the phone, we may not like our winter, but it sure helps us appreciate spring!

So how did you spend Easter weekend?

I set Good Friday aside to be a day of prayer, but took time out to go to church for 10:30 in the morning. I had a surprise invitation out to lunch right after that, which was lovely. Then I went back home to pray about a certain issue to which I need answers. I think I got the answer too.

Saturday I tackled my basement re-organization in earnest. The shelf unit I had built the previous Saturday was leaning over so dangerously that I cleared it off, cleared off another one, and moved it to that place, laid on some boards, and loaded it up. Dusting off those boxes of archived letters and files and stuff, and then lugging them over to the new shelves was rather exhausting. But I was bound and determined to get the center of the room cleared. I cleared off the last 7 or 8 foot shelf unit, and dismantled it.

Ah-ha. Now I had the center of the basement room cleared and I swept and vacuumed there, so that area is ready for tiling this next Saturday. I can see I won’t get the whole basement completed as I had hoped, by the end of April, but the worst of it is just about done.

My May Saturdays are for finishing a book for a family reunion, then the rest of the summer will be for yardwork and some cleaning and fixing up on the main floor.

Oh, but I did rest on Sunday! Really, I did!

There was a breakfast at church, where I made friends with two more couples, and the Easter service was great. My turkey had defrosted all day Saturday, and so when I got home at noon, I got it into the oven and had a bit of soup.

I intended to write a prayer letter, but I felt a need for a wee lie-down and did. Lo, I didn’t wake until 4 pm, which was when I wanted to cook the potatoes and veggies and make the pumpkin pie. At 5:30 I packed up a good meal and took it to my brother Tom’s, where we enjoyed two servings of everything, and watched a Gaither DVD.

When I got the dishes done at home I was rested enough to tackle a backlog of emails.

Have I exhausted you with my very physically intense Saturday? Rest assured the rest of each week is quite tame by comparison, sitting in front of the computer.

We have been extra busy at the WTM office, preparing our new digital posters with Bible verses, but they are off at a professional printer’s now. I’m just trying to get all the paperwork and signup cards ready for our membership drive on Friday at the Fund-raiser.

Because of my Friday prayer sessions, I’m also trying to be more focused and stick tighter to my business schedule so that my web businesses can move forward as they should, for later on they will likely have to go to a back burner for a new project.

Here’s one area where I would appreciate some feedback from you. This RoseBouquet is not really a profit-making venture. It is something I do to keep in touch with a lot of friends on a regular basis. But writing the article is a time-gulper. I’m wondering if it would be reasonable to drop it? Or just to provide links to any other web pages (articles) written in the last while?

You see, writing that article was to keep me in shape as a writer, (now I try to write a new web page for each web business every week), but if I leave Ruthe’s Roses to do on the fly on Tuesday mornings, it isn’t the best quality. If I take time to start it on Monday mornings, I lose two mornings a week that I could be using to develop my web business sites further.

I’m also wondering if the article (which sometimes gets quite long) makes this blog/ezine too long for you to comfortably read it, so you find yourself putting it off, and not reading it? I know I have done that with some ezines that I knew would take up quite a bit of reading time. In that case, for sure I should reduce the size of this weekly RoseBouquet.

Originally, I used the spot to profile my friends, for you know that the roses in my Bouquet are really the friends I have, right? Then it became a place for an inspirational article.

Maybe - instead of dropping it altogether, I could use that spot for tossing a brief bouquet (compliment) to a friend who has been especially kind or good to me in the previous week. That need not embarrass them with all kinds of details about their lives. Just a way to publically recognize that they are special to me.

See, now we have 3 options;
1. drop the Ruthe’s Roses section altogether.
2. instead provide links to interesting new web pages I’ve written.
3. instead toss bouquets to friends.

Why not hit reply (if you get the ezine edition), delete the whole RoseBouquet ezine, except for the three lines above and tell me which you would prefer, and why? Good. I’ll watch for this straw vote to help me decide.

Incidentally, did you know that over the Easter weekend I have rolled into another year of publishing? Up at the top where you see — #318 vol.9 - April 14, 2009, you’ll notice that instead of vol. 8, it now says vol.9. That means I am now in the 9th year of publishing this as an ezine. (For the blog it is a few years less).

One more thing. Yesterday I was going to try a short story for the Story Game, and found that I could come up with the ingredients for a story without the game cards. I’ll spell out how I did this, and share the story today. Maybe it will help you to write an original story too.