Blog hop anouncement, so important

It's just that time of year, the wind whips the leaves- the temperature drops and I check the weather button on my computer for the temps at night to see if there will be frost on the pumpkins.

Along with all that's looming large is the one gigantic holiday that kicks off the even more gigantic holiday...the one with the nativity scene...

and along with the former comes thoughts of... pie... pie... pie.

I think it is a REQUIREMENT to think thoughts of pie, its a law enforced by the IRS or something.

Been looking for the perfect pie to serve this year. Something non traditional- non the usual- and I have not found it yet. Any ideas? Drop me a note in the comments section I am open to suggestions.

But look instead what I found as an alternative for the usual candied yams...

This will definitely be on the menu. Click on over, the recipe is here .
It is a huge beautiful foodie blog...just right for a blustery fall eve.

I'm still on the lookout for

YpieY

YpieY

YpieY

Join us for a Veteran's Day Bloghop .... and honor those who serve our great nation! Our goal for this hop is to have 100 bloggers sharing about their support of our deployed heroes, especially through the cardmaking craft they love so much! Read the details below, and sign up to join us!
http://www.owhhomefrontblog.org/

Just for inspiration, this is pure genius:

There's a lovely bit of blustery night outside my window, makes me dream of a fluffy warm bed.

If you hear the whistling wind cup your ears
If you hear the whistling wind cup your ears
If you hear it in the trees
Making music with the leaves
If you hear the whistling wind cup your ears

If you feel the blustery wind whirl around
If you feel the blustery wind whirl around
If you feel it lift your hair
Like a kite up in the air
If you feel the blustery wind whirl around

I like the noisy wind
I like the noisy wind
It roars and mutters
And shakes and shutters
I like the noisy wind

I like the noisy wind
I like the noisy wind
It flaps the flag
And rustles my bag
I like the noisy wind

Look outside now, can you say
What the weather is today?
Is there sunshine, is there rain?
Is wind blowing down the lane?
Look outside now, can you say
What the weather is today?

Look outside now, can you say
What the weather is today?
Are there snowflakes falling down?
Are there big clouds floating around?
Look outside now, can you say
What the weather is today?

The wind is blowing all
All around, all around
The wind is blowing all
All around the town

Cushy Comphy Bedsets: http://www.blackforestdecor.com/rusticbedding.html

Like swirling shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe...

Glittering Metropolis of Stars

Like swirling, shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe, this image captures an instantaneous glimpse of many hundreds of thousands of stars moving about in the globular cluster M13, one of the brightest and best-known globular clusters in the northern sky. This glittering metropolis of stars is easily found in the winter sky in the constellation Hercules and can even be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

M13 is home to over 100,000 stars and located at a distance of 25,000 light-years. These stars are packed so closely together in a ball, approximately 150 light-years across, that they will spend their entire lives whirling around in the cluster.

Near the core of this cluster, the density of stars is about a hundred times greater than the density in the neighborhood of our sun. These stars are so crowded that they can, at times, slam into each other and even form a new star, called a "blue straggler." The brightest reddish stars in the cluster are ancient red giants. These aging stars have expanded to many times their original diameters and cooled. The blue-white stars are the hottest in the cluster.

Globular clusters have some of the oldest stars in the universe, which likely formed before our Milky Way, so they are older than nearly all other stars in our galaxy. Studying globular clusters, therefore, tells us about the history of our galaxy.

This image is a composite of archival Hubble data taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Observations from four separate science proposals taken in November 1999, April 2000, August 2005, and April 2006 were used. The image includes broadband filters that isolate light from the blue, visible, and infrared portions of the spectrum.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: C. Bailyn (Yale University), W. Lewin (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), A. Sarajedini (University of Florida), and W. van Altena (Yale University)
http://www.umslradio.com/station/node/1820

Stars
by Sherri Anderson
I look to the sky at night and admire the beauty of the stars.
I stand in awe of their brilliance;
They are as shining and constant
as they have been since the beginning of time.
They light the heavens and fill our hearts with wonder.
When one burns out, another takes its place;for they are eternal.
Wherever you are, they guide you from their home high above the earth.
At times, they seem close enough to touch, as they transport your dreams far away.
Their magic compels us to offer up wishes for their consideration.
They make us realize that even when the sky is the darkest,
a tiny beacon of light still shines through.

They are God's reminder to us that some things really do go on forever.


http://www.russianpaintings.net/picture.vphp?id=16871&author=1273

I am not of the Catholic faith but the Catholic faith is a wealth of inspiration for me. I love how the feasts have taken very worldly, evil, non Godly celebrations and turned them into tools to worship and focus on God.

From: http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2009/11/into-the-land-of-the-living
The second day of November is a busy one for parish priests. On that day, we celebrate three Masses for the dead. These liturgies follow directly on the previous day’s joyous celebration of the saints in glory. The living—those souls who are truly living because they have entered heaven, the Land of the Living

On the feast of All Souls, the Church tells us, “Remember!” In that act of remembering, we also must prepare for our own departure from this world, at a time of God’s choosing. Death is familiar to us, and we must not hide from it nor push it from our thoughts. Rather, we must turn to the one who conquered death by his own death.

Remember heaven. The Land of the Living.

Happy Day After!

I just love the day after most major holidays. I can't tell you why. Probably because I get to look forward to the next round of decorating. I am a decorating nut. So today I will take down my Halloween decoration and ... put up Thanksgiving decorations. muahhaahaaa.. oh sorry, we're over it, I'll say "lol".

We had a milestone at my house this year... a grandchild spent the night... the whole night! This will be the beginning of a lot of fun for grandma and grandpa, that's for sure.

But I ran across this wonderful article from Mars Hill Church that I wanted to share.
http://theresurgence.com/luther-nails-bad-religion

The painting pictured above is of Martin Luther. That is one serious dude. I have to admit that in my whole life I have not been taught much about this important person and his role in church history. It just so happens that along with celebrating Halloween, All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day there is a more important event that occurred on October 31, back in 1517.

Reformation Day.

Sounds like a good title for a spaghetti western, two men in a face off with tumble weeds and wooden sidewalks and horses tied to hitching posts in the background. That twangy music plays and you wonder just who is going to bite the dust. Literally.

Well this day back in 1517 was a real face off.

"In 1516–17, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Roman Catholic theology stated that faith alone, whether fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify man; and that only such faith as is active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata) can justify man. The benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money to the church."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_Day

"Sell indulgences" Just like those ancient Celts, trying to protect and buy an afterlife for the dearly departed.

Into history steps Martin Luther taking issue with the whole practice.

"Luther objected to a saying -As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory 'into heaven' springs-. He insisted that, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_Day

He presented his argument as was the custom at Wittenberg university to advertise a disputation by posting theses on the door of All Saints' Church, also known as Castle Church.

Martin Luther essentially said, "Free Grace". The document he nailed to that church door is called "the 95 thesis" http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html and it is an awesome read. Quite meaty. So meaty in fact it sparked the Protestant Movement.

........................................

Y So welcome November,

a month holding a day we mark to be thankful. Y

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.