Beautiful Woman Month


To all my friends and readers and critics and family: If you're a woman, this is for you. Written by Audrey Hepburn and read at her funeral. It says a lot and is worth reading and thinking about! Enjoy.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness...

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone...

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed;
Never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

And your hint for this weekend?
Take a walk
Kick up the leaves
Think
Pick up a leaf
Pick up a whole bunch of them
Lie in the leaves
Thank God for life.



Quote? I love so many, it's hard to choose, but here goes with another good one:
Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile. -- William Cullen Bryant


Weekend blessings!

I've Got a Disease . . .


It's called Book Madness. (Laugh. You really thought I was serious, didn't you?)

Well, I am serious.

(This library, Celsus, was built in 135 A.D. and could house 12,000 scrolls!)

I sat in the library last night and looked. Books! Books on the shelves, books on carts. Books in hands and books on desks. Books were being talked about. Phone calls made concerning late books. books in bags and books in arms. Overloaded books and one single book. Everywhere I looked there was books!

I thought about books and how very precious they are to me. How I loved to shower my sons with books. It was never considered a waste of money to buy a book. In fact, my husband just called me (both of us traveling our own directions) and told me about a book sale in town--he'd just happened to see the sign.

So that got me to thinking about books. Here's what I came up with. (in case you haven't figured it out, I love lists!)

Fiction books
non-fiction books
adventure books
thriller books
romance books
suspense books
romantic suspense books
mystery books
cozy books
science fiction books
fantasy books
women's fiction books
historical books
period books
porno books (YUK)
picture books
kids books
travel books
advice books
craft books
school books
photography books

I'm taking a breath . . .

Career books
Bible books
Cop books
lawyer books
doctor and nurse books
psyciatric books
encyclopedias
online books
e-books
research books
map books
geneology books

And . . .

books for dummies
books for smarties
books for men
women
kids
teens
books to help me be good, lose weight, go to heaven, learn a new career, get a GED, research the past. Books to teach me how to learn a trade, file my taxes, write a book.

books to make me think, cry, laugh, get disgusted, write a letter, be encouraged or discouraged. Books that make me want to go on . . . or quit.

books I love, hate, will never read again, keep.
books that I recommend or warn about.

and someday . . . my books will be there. Waiting on someone to read, love, cry, and be encouraged. I hope.

Here's a treat for an early Saturday or Sunday breakfast. Great in the fall!

Pumpkin Waffles (or pancakes!)

Makes 4 waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin, either canned or prepared yourself (you can substitute sweet potatoes, yams, or squash
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans (optional but highly recommended)

Start heating your waffle iron. Mix together the pumpkin, butter, egg, and milk in one bowl and the flour, baking powder, spices, pecans, and salt in another bowl. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir everything just until smooth. Avoid overbeating.

When the waffle iron is hot, spray both top and bottom grids with cooking spray to keep the waffles from clinging to the iron. Add about 3/4 cup of the batter to the center of the iron. The exact amount will vary depending on the style and manufacturer of your waffle iron, so check the instructions. Close the iron and cook until done, 3-4 minutes or until the waffles stop producing steam. Serve the waffle immediately or place in a warmed oven to keep hot.

These waffles are best served hot with real maple syrup and maybe a sprinkling of more chopped nuts.

I love this quote:
Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.
-- Carol Bishop Hipps




Warm autumn blessings!

A Vagabond Song

There is something in the Autumn
that is native to my blood
Touch of manner, hint of mood,
and my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple,
and the crimson keeping time
The scarlet of the maples
can shake me like a cry

Of bugles going by
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters
Like smoke upon the hills

There is something in October
sets the gypsy blood astir,
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls
each vagabond by name.

--Bliss Carman

My favorite time of the year. What's not to love?

Here's a super easy recipe that will be pretty and tasty for your next meal!
To make this pretty Fall salad:

• press cooked spinach while warm into cups or molds and chill thoroughly in the fridge.
• Turn out while very cold
• Surmount each form with a round of hardboiled eggs
• Serve on a lettuce leaf with French or cream dressing or mayonnaise.

Quote:
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot


Blessings.