Making Butter

"He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate."
Genesis 18:8

A Christmas gift from my husband this past Christmas was a butter churn, it was one of my request:)

 My family has a great love for "real butter". Here is how I do it:

 1. I buy heavy cream, organic, when available, one pint.

2. Pour it into the churn.

3.  Crank the handle....(it is best to have help, a.k.a. children or grand children), 15 min. more or less,

can seem like a long time of cranking a handle.

4. Drain off the buttermilk and place the butter in a bowl of ice water,  drain and do it again. The butter is soft, now is the time to add salt if desired.

As you know I like gardening, making jams, jellies, canning and making Kombucha...see my older posts for more details.

PS I did make a video of this process, but could not upload it, I will try again another time:)

Strong Woman by Fr. Wade Menezes

I really like this and thought I could share it with you, I hope you like it too~

JMJ~Tina

This is taken from:Fathers of Mercy + Blog + Culture + A Strong Woman vs. A Woman of Strength

A Strong Woman vs. A Woman of Strength

by Fr. Wade Menezes on January 4, 2017

A Strong Woman vs. A Woman of Strength

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face . . . but a woman of strength is adorned with the beauty of God’s grace working in her life.

A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything . . . but a woman of strength exhibits the virtues of courage and fortitude in the midst of her very trials and fears.

A strong woman won’t let anyone get the best of her . . . but a woman of strength is other-centered and so gives the very best of herself – indeed, all she’s got – to everyone.

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids those same in the future . . . but a woman of strength realizes that life’s mistakes can also be unexpected blessings from God and so capitalizes on them and learns from them.

A strong woman works out everyday to keep her body in shape . . . but a woman of strength prays daily and builds solid relationships to keep her soul in shape.

A strong woman believes that she is strong enough for life’s journey . . . but a woman of strength has the faith to know that it is through life’s journey – with all of its ups and downs – that she will become strong and fully live her vocation whether single, married, or as a consecrated religious, in the midst of the modern world.

Here is the link:


http://fathersofmercy.com/culture/strong-woman-woman-of-strength-virtue-grace-courage-fortitude-confidence-trials-fears-other-centered-daily-prayer-lifes-mistakes-solid-relationships-lifes-journey-vocation/

Second week of Advent

Im·mac·u·late Con·cep·tion

noun

1. the doctrine that God preserved the Virgin Mary from the taint of original sin from the moment she was conceived; it was defined as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church in 1854.

   • the feast commemorating the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

Lectio Divina For Advent

Lectio divina is a form of meditation rooted in liturgical celebration that dates back to early monastic communities. It was a method practiced by monks in their daily encounter with Scripture, both as they prepared for the Eucharist and as they prayed the Liturgy of the Hours. 

The Latin phrase "lectio divina" may be translated as "divine reading."  As one reads and invites the Word to become a transforming lens that brings the events of daily living into focus, one can come to live more deeply and find the presence of God more readily in the events of each day. The method of lectio divina follows four steps:

• lectio (reading)
• meditatio (meditation)
• contemplatio (contemplation)
• and oratio (prayer).

These are great Christmas adverts....enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRn2S7iPNU

http://www.clipartkid.com/images/239/clipart-catholic-google-search-catholic-traditional-pinterest-SqqlLQ-clipart.jpg

Father Peter Stamm of Needham MA

A GREAT Homily by a very young Priest on the Catholic T.V. Network broadcast of the Mass today!

It is one I will listen to more than once.

http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass/saint-andrew

http://www.clipartkid.com/images/239/clipart-catholic-google-search-catholic-traditional-pinterest-SqqlLQ-clipart.jpg

The Advent link now works....yea! The first Sunday of Advent

Happy New Year everyone!
May God Bless you now and throughout this new liturgical year.

http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b927174dbe854683d4b527f98&id=cf918d1ebf&e=689bfe8852

Super moon photos...again in Dec.?

 Moon over Maine

A couple of days ago we had a "super moon"

A "supermoon" occurs when the moon becomes full on the same day as its perigee, the point in the moon's orbit when it is closest to Earth.

The term is borrowed from the pseudoscience of astrology but has been adopted by popular culture and astronomers. Supermoons generally appear to be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons.

A month after the mega-supermoon, another supermoon will rise on December 14.

It too will be a sight to behold, but it'll also limit our opportunity to see something just as beautiful -- a Geminid meteor shower.

The Geminid meteor shower, an annual event, got its name because the meteors look like they're coming from the constellation of Gemini.

But the supermoon's brighter light will drastically reduce the number of meteors you'll be able to see.

NASA says we'll be lucky if we see a dozen meteors in an hour at the shower's peak, when normally the shower lights up the night sky with more than 100 meteors per hour.

CNN's Doug Criss and Holly Yan contributed to this story.