Monthly Archives: April 2012

Racing Horses and Kentucky Derby illuminations

30 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in beauty, Christianity, crafts, Fun stuff for kids, horses, Keeneland, Kentucky Derby, recipes, wisdom and understanding

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“His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”  Psalm 147:10,11

Springtime in Kentucky brings thoughts of beauty, Red-buds and Dogwoods in bloom, tulips and daffodils, and the woods filled with wildflowers.  Basketball and ‘March Madness,’ take priority over all other sports and events at this time of year.  And just in case you haven’t heard, our fantastic Lexington team the Kentucky Wildcats won the NCAA Division 1 basketball championship this year, YEA WILDCATS!

When April arrives and the new foals are put out to pasture many a Kentucky heart turns to racing horses.  Lexington, Kentucky has been named the Horse Capital of the World.  Kentucky is the leader in the United States in the dollar value of its horses.  They have $1.75 billion worth of horses and other equines that are bought and sold each year.  The Kentucky Horse Park has visitors from around the globe come to the many international events that are held there every year.  In 2010 the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games were hosted by the Kentucky Horse Park.  This was the first time the games had ever been held outside of Europe.

This year, for the first time I went to Keeneland.  The Keeneland Racetrack is a  National Historic Landmark and is considered one of America’s most beautiful race tracks.  The annual horse sales at Keeneland are also world-renowned and literally attract the “crowned heads of Europe.”  I had heard for years what a beautiful place it was and I was not disappointed.  The day that we went was one of those perfect spring days with blue sky and white puffy clouds and temperature in the 70s.  If we had arrived early in the morning we could have attended the popular breakfast with the Works, a Southern style breakfast buffet that is held during the jockeys early morning workouts.

The first thing we decided to do when we arrived was to head over to the  Equestrian  Restaurant at the clubhouse and enjoy a cup of their delicious Kentucky Burgoo  out on the patio.  I was surprised that everyone at the other tables hardly seemed to taste their meal or notice what a beautiful day it was because they all had their noses buried in their racing forms.  I for one, loved every moment of the day and I especially enjoyed watching the parade of fashions that hurried past us on their way to the betting windows.

Recipe: Kentucky Burgoo                                                                                                                              I found this recipe for Kentucky Burgoo in my Bluegrass Winners Cookbook and I have made it several times with some adjustments depending on what I have on hand.  This cookbook not only has great recipes but also contains pictures and a little history about many of the famous horse farms around the Bluegrass.

  • 2 pounds beef, cubed    
  • soup bone
  • 1/2pound lamb
  • 1 frying chicken, cut up
  • 4 quarts water
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Red pepper to taste
  • 2 cups diced potatoes
  • 3 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups lima beans
  • 4 carrots diced
  • 2 green peppers, diced
  • 3 cups corn (fresh, if possible)
  • 2 cups okra, diced
  • 6 cups tomatoes
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic
  • 1 cup minced parsley

Put the beef, soup bone, lamb, chicken, water, salt, pepper, and red pepper in a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid.  Bring to a boil then simmer, covered for two hours.  Remove the chicken skin and bones and cut meat into bite-size pieces.  Return meat to pot.  Add potatoes, onions, lima beans, carrots, green peppers and corn.  Simmer two hours.  Mixture will be thick but should not stick.  Add water sparingly, if necessary.  Add okra, tomatoes, and garlic and simmer 1 1/2 hours longer.  Add parsley and remove from stove.  This soup will keep in refrigerator for a long time.  The flavor improves with standing.  Makes 10 servings.

After we finished our early lunch we wandered over to the paddock and were treated to a parade of horses that would be running in the first race.  I was amazed by the size and beauty of each horse up close.  A couple of them were so anxious to run that it took two handlers to hold them.  This was followed by getting to watch the jockeys mount their horses and head for the gate.  Following that we got caught up in the crowd hurrying to watch the first race.  We found a place at the rail and I  loved feeling the excitement and hearing the crowd roar as the horses came pounding down the final stretch nearing the finish line.  I am afraid if I were to pick a winner it would be for all the wrong reasons so it is a very good thing I don’t place my hope in a horse and gamble.

One of the fun things I did that day was to find the perfect Derby hat at one of the  beautiful shops.  However when I discovered that the cost was $70 dollars, I decided I could do just as well without it especially since I had no plans to go to the Derby this year.  Instead I decided to do a girly project with my granddaughters at the next cousin’s night and make Derby hats.

Fun Stuff for Kids 

Craft illuminations:  Kentucky Derby Hats

This was one of the most fun projects we’ve ever done and the large brim straw hats cost only $3.99 at Michael’s Crafts store.

I gathered up a bunch of assorted ribbons and lace along with a couple of bunches of artificial flowers and even some curly ribbon bows to  decorate the hats.  We hot glued and stapled the flowers, ribbons and lace on each hat and then took pictures of each winner wearing her hat and holding a bouquet of red roses. 

Recipe:  Kentucky Chocolate Pie (often called Derby Pie, or Chocolate Pecan  Pie.)  This is definitely a man pleaser, but I think you gals will love it too.  This recipe also came from my Bluegrass Winners cookbook.

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup margarine, melted 
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 11/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 unbaked 9″ pastry shell
  • 1 cup cream whipped

Combine sugar and flour; add remaining ingredients, except cream, and pour into unbaked pie shell.  Bake 325 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.  Serve with whipped cream or vanilla Ice cream.

If you go to Keeneland you may want to try the buffet in the Kentucky Room.  It sounds wonderful and if I go back next year, I am going to try it.  If I had only known sooner it would have been near the top of my list for must dos at Keeneland.  On the buffet is Carved Roast Top Round of Beef, Au Jus, Roasted Turkey, Baked Ham, Pasta Marinara, Fresh Vegetable Du Jour, Potatoes, a variety of Fresh Homemade Salads, Bakery Rolls, New York Cheesecake and Pecan Pie.  Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Kentucky Derby illuminations:                                                                            I have only been to the Kentucky Derby once many years ago but I love to watch it on T.V.  It is fun to pick a winner and I always choose the horse that has the name I like best.  My favorite thing about the Kentucky Derby race is the fact that the winner receives an armful of red roses and the horse gets a blanket of red roses.  My what a prize! 

And the prize we will receive at the end of life will be even far greater than an arm full of roses!

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:14

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Wise and Foolish illuminations

24 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in beach sunsets, beauty, Christianity, Fun stuff for kids, Hearts Filled With Joy, lakes, mountains, streams, wisdom and understanding

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“Where then does wisdom come from?

Where does understanding dwell?”  Job 28:20 

“God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.”  Job 28:23 

“But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.”  Job 32:8  ‘”Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?”  declares the LORD.’  Isaiah 66:2a 

“This is the one I esteem:  he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”  Isaiah 66:2b

“But every one who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”  Matthew 7:26

“The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  Matthew 7:27

“And he said to man, ‘The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'”  Job 28:28 

Make-Believe illuminations

16 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in beauty, Christianity, fun stuff for grandparents, Fun stuff for kids, Hearts Filled With Joy

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“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”  I Peter 3:3,4

Who Am I?  Daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, friend, child of God.  Sometimes I hardly know how to sign my name on a birthday card because I wear so many different hats.

I love this picture taken of three of my children and a friend playing dress up.. Little girls love to dress up and little brothers sometimes enjoy it too.  At least until later when they are teenagers and see the pictures.

Little girls love to dress up like a princess or a fairy.  The imagination is a wonderful thing given to us by God.  Ballet costumes are so pretty and dancing all dressed up in one is the dream of many a little girl.  I remember the very first time I danced with my father at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago with a live orchestra playing after dinner music.  I felt very grand and so grown up even though I was only in grade school.  How very special one feels when a daddy or grandfather dances with us for the very first time.

Even grown up girls love to dress up and look like someone different from who we really are most of the time.  I think every girl deserves to go out on a special date all dressed up and feeling special now and then.  I told a girl friend of mine that we should dress up in our best dresses and big hats and go out for a special Kentucky Derby luncheon this spring.  I am getting tired of wearing blue jeans and sweatshirts even though I love to be comfortable.  I see nothing wrong with dressing up as long as we remember that God is looking at our heart and as a child of God I want my appearance to be pleasing to Him.

What about you?  Have you dressed up for something special lately?  I would love to hear from you.

Hearts Filled With Joy

09 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Amazing Grace, beach sunsets, beauty, Christianity, Easter, favorite songs, Hearts Filled With Joy

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“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me. ‘”

Last night we were so blessed as we listened to “Amazing Grace” played on bag pipes as the sun went down by a man standing out in the ocean on the sandbar.  Adults as well as children all along the beach stopped what they were doing and stood still, listening until the last note was played and the sun dipped into the water and disappeared.  Then everyone began clapping many with tears in their eyes.  It was the perfect ending to a beautiful Easter Sunday.

“AMAZING GRACE”

“Amazing Grace.”  This hymn has touched people’s lives for close to 250 years, yet it is as fresh and meaningful today as the day it was first written.  We hear it everywhere…in church services, radio, movies and television.  It always evokes the deepest personal emotions.

 But, who wrote it?  And, under what circumstances?  It is truly astonishing that it was written by John Newton, a self-confessed sinner with no equal in debauchery and blasphemy.

 John’s life was cruelly changed with the loss of his loving and religious mother at age six.  His father, a famous sea captain, ignored him then left him with a substitute mother who hated him.  She put him away in a boarding school where he was mistreated and abused.

 Captain Newton took John to sea as a common sailor when John was only eleven years old.  He was forced to live with the sailors in the hold of the ship who taught him every vice known to man.  John reveled in it and quickly lost the religious qualities his mother had tried so hard to instill in him.

 His life took another turn when he was introduced into the family life of the Cattletts, dear friends of his late mother.  There he met Polly, who was destined to become the love of his life.  She was only fourteen and John had not secured any position worthy of asking for a young girl’s hand in marriage.  He was rebuffed by Polly and her parents.

 On a return trip to visit Polly, he was pressed into the British Navy and was forced to fight in naval battles.

 John’s conduct worsened.  In his journal he wrote, “I was the chief of all sinners and if I had my way, I would have taken the whole human race to hell with me!”  He deserted the ship only to be caught and returned.  He was punished severely by the whip and keelhauling.  Eventually the Captain tired of his conduct and traded him off to a slave ship on its way to Africa.  There he was enslaved by slave traders who treated him the same as their African slaves.  He remained a slave for two years until he was rescued by a friend of his father.

 On the return trip to England, which took 4 months, the ship was caught in a terrible storm and the ship was in grave danger of sinking.  John, on deck, was swept toward the sea and realizing that his life was at an end, cried out to God, “Lord save me!!”  Miraculously a huge wave knocked him back into the ship and he was saved.  The ship limped back into Ireland with John a completely changed man.

 He married Polly and became a minister.  He was asked to speak to Parliament by Prime Minister Wilberforce against slavery.  It was his influence that resulted in England outlawing slavery over a hundred years before it was outlawed in the United States.  He wrote over 300 hymns and was one of the first ministers in England to make hymn singing a part of regular worship.  His most famous was…”Amazing Grace.”

 At one of his last sermons in his old age he stated…

 “They tell me I’m getting old and perhaps I am.  But the one true thing that I know is that I’m a great sinner and God is a great Savior.”

        Amazing Grace

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T’was Grace that taught…
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear…
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares…
we have already come.
T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far…
and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me…
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be…
as long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years…
bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise…
than when we first begun.

And our hearts were filled with joy!

Glorious illuminations part II

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in adoreable puppies, beauty, Best Friend Dogs, Christianity, crafts, Easter, flower gardens, Fun stuff for kids, health, Hearts Filled With Joy, therapy dogs

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“Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”            John 11:40

You may not think caterpillars are beautiful.  Many have stripes or spots that help protect them from birds and other predators by breaking up their body’s outline.  This coloration also blends well with the plants upon which the caterpillar eats.    They crawl slowly in a wave-like motion using three pairs of true legs, and as many as five pairs of “pro-legs” which function the same as the true legs.  The true legs later develop into the legs of the adult butterfly, while the pro-legs are lost during metamorphosis.  The caterpillar’s feet are capable of wrapping around and grasping the branches and stems of the plants they like to eat.

Obviously, God’s purpose was not to make the caterpillar attractive but to protect it from danger.  But how beautiful is God’s purpose when we see his entire plan.  He chose to use a miracle to transform an ugly earth bound caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly that can fly.  What a great illustration of what happens to us when we die.  Death is not the end, but a beautiful new beginning.  We are much like the caterpillar with no beauty of our own until God transforms us by His grace giving us new life and beauty when we place our trust in Jesus who died for our sins so that we might have eternal life.

Fun stuff for Kids

Caterpillar Craft (for a younger child)

You will need

  • 5 fuzzy balls,(one color or a rainbow of colors)
  • one large fuzzy ball
  • Strip of poster board, 1,2 inch by 5 inches
  • a set of googly eyes
  • glue stick or hot glue gun(for adult use)

Fold poster board strip like an accordion and glue on small fuzzy ball with large one for the head.  Let glue set.  Glue on googly eyes.

Cocoon For Your Caterpillar

Use an ordinary bathroom toilet paper holder and wrap it with green or brown peel and stick foam.  Fold the end of it together to form the top of the cocoon and add a thin strip of cut foam to wrap your cocoon around a branch.

Butterfly Craft

You will need a large white paper coffee filter, washable markers, a wood clothes pin, pipe cleaner, spray bottle, Elmer’s white glue, googly eyes.

  • Spread newspaper or a plastic table cloth over work space.
  • Color coffee filter with markers using several different colors.
  • Fill spray bottle with water and lightly mist coffee filter so colors run together.  Let dry.
  • Put a little glue on inside of the clothespin and carefully insert coffee filter.
  • Cut a pipe cleaner in half and wrap it around the neck curling it up behind the head to form antennas.
  • Glue on googly eyes.

Easter Egg Coloring Fun

The Coming of Sunshine

Sunshine was born on Easter Sunday and it was love at first sight.  She was the sweetest puppy and never caused a bit of trouble.  It was almost like she was a gift from God because she came into my life at a time when I was feeling very blue.  Some dogs are wonderful therapy and Sunshine reflected her name and always brought me happiness.

Beauty Tip

As you appreciate the beauty of a garden of flowers, take deep life giving breaths of the flower perfumed air and gaze at the amazing beauty of a flower until it sinks deep within your spirit and soul and you reflect that beauty and the love God has poured into his wondrous creation.  You may not see the beauty when you look in the mirror, but you will be reflecting it to others in a smile or kind deed that lights up your countenance with God’s love.


 

The Easter Lily

The beautiful white flowers of the Easter Lily symbolize purity, hope, love and life which is the spiritual significance of Easter.  Lilies were found growing in the garden of Gethsemane after the Crucifixion.  They were said to have sprung up when drops of Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and distress.  At Easter time churches bank their altars with masses of Easter lilies to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of everlasting life.

Health Tip

Eternal life is not just life everlasting up in heaven, it is youth giving, revitalizing, joy producing, purpose filled life here on earth.

The Garden of Gethsemane

Just before Jesus was arrested he and His disciples went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them.  “Stay here and keep watch.”

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.  “Abba. Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.  “Simon,” he said to Peter, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?  Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”                          Mark 14:32-38

What a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus!  

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   John 3:16