Tuesday 4 and More...

 

Soup and a Sandwich?

You are very welcome here at Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask you 4 questions each week in hopes of encouraging blogging and learning more about other bloggers through their answers.


Once again if you have ideas for topics leave them in comments here or on my blog.


Campbells has their beautiful factory in Camden, New Jersey.

1. What is your favorite sandwich? What kind of bread, roll.. toasted or not? Butter: salted or sweet?
I am not a huge sandwich fan, but when I do have a sandwich, lately here at home I've been using dark pumpernickel bread.  However, if I had any other kind of good bread, like something homemade, or a croissant, or a nice crusty French roll or anything a little different than the usual plain old store bought Honey Wheat bread that we use for everything else, I would gladly use that. I do like toasted bread/rolls  so the bread doesn't get soggy. I also like to toast the sandwich with the meat and cheese on it in my toaster oven and make it a hot melt sandwich occasionally.  And I do prefer real butter, and I use the salted kind. If it were  homemade butter I guess it wouldn't matter if it were salted or sweet, it would be good. Oh, my favorite sandwich? Hmmm, probably ham and swiss on the pumpernickel, because that is what I have mostly. But, if there's anything else to choose from, like a BLT, tuna salad, chicken salad, ham salad, pork loin, BBQ, hamburger, roast beef...a little variety is the "spice of life".  

Oh, and don't forget Peanut Butter!  I must go back and say that is my favorite go-to sandwich when all else fails. I sometimes eat a peanut butter and bread sandwich (no jelly) just before going to bed to help keep my tummy grumbles away. Only one piece of bread with peanut butter.  But I do love it with either apple butter or sometimes with bananas, however bananas and I aren't getting along these days so I haven't been eating them as much. They have to be just barely ripe or I can't eat them.  I also eat peanut butter with apple butter on toast for breakfast quite often...and I like it on cinnamon raisin toast in particular!


2. Do you have a favorite soup? Do you make homemade soup often? What kind? What's your favorite store bought soup?

I don't make homemade soup often enough. I love it when I do. Of course my all time favorite would be home made vegetable beef soup, with tender pieces of roast beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and a variety of whatever vegetables are available.  I also make what we call "Hobo Stew", which I've talked about many times before.  Here's a link to a post with the recipe.  I also love homemade potato soup, broccoli and cheese soup, and homemade chicken noodle soup. If we still lived in New England, my favorite soup is authentic seafood chowder, made with a variety of fresh seafood, like scallops, lobster, shrimp or haddock or whatever they use that makes it so good. You can't find that down here in the south. 

My favorite store bought soup...well probably Campbell's Tomato and Campbell's original chicken noodle soup, which I keep on hand for those days when I feel a little puny. It's the best thing to help get my tummy feeling better without overdoing it.

3. What kind of cheese should be on a grilled cheese sandwich and should it be served with tomato soup or some other flavor ?

I use American cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich, and yes, it needs to go with Campbell's Tomato soup (the creamy kind made with milk).

4. Is it a Hoagie, a Sub, a Zeppelin, a Grinder, or a Hero or maybe a Dagwood? What's on it? Oil.. vinegar, onions, peppers, mayo?

If I go to Subway or some place like that, which isn't very often, it's a "Sub", and I usually get ham and swiss or provolone cheese, and yes, a little oil/vinegar mixed with onions, green peppers, NO mayo, a little oregano. Oh, and some yellow mustard.  

Thanks for dropping by!

Thank YOU, Annie, for doing this for us each week!  Now, since this is Holy Week, here's a picture that I took in our yard that I've been wanting to share:

These are the crosses that appear at the tops of the Pine Trees every year usually just prior to Easter. This makes me think about several different places in the Bible that talk about how nature praises God:

Isaiah 55:12

“For you shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall break forth into singing before you,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

There's even a song to go along with that verse:

And in another place, when Jesus was on His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday here is what He said:

Luke 19:37-40

37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 

38 saying:“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

The very rocks would cry out if we do not praise Him! That's pretty profound...and something to think about as we progress on our journey toward the cross this week.  Are we praising Jesus for what He has done for us?

Here's some of God's Creation giving thanks and praise to their Creator this week around Still Waters Pond:

And with that I will finally bring this post to a close. It's taken me most of the day because of numerous interruptions, like removing a live lizard from inside the house, and going to the store and looking for a new dress for Easter, and finding one that I got all kinds of discounts on at Beall's Outlet, so that made me smile, and doing two loads of laundry, fixing breakfast and of course lunch, and taking a nap. Now we are heading to the library to pick up some books I ordered and return some I just finished. I am currently reading anything I can find written by Lisa Wingate. She has some good ones.

Okay, tonight is dress rehearsal for our Easter Cantata, so I need to get a move on and not be late to choir practice!  TTYL...

Hosanna! It's Palm Sunday! (Revisited)

This is a repeat of previous years' post for Palm Sunday, but the message is still the same! Hosanna to the King of kings!!

Happy Palm Sunday!

This LINK is to my usual Palm Sunday post entitled "Deliverance" that I have shared for the past eleven years.  If you wish to go back and read it again, it is interesting to see how not much has changed in the message that was shared originally 11 years ago and today.  We are still in much need of "deliverance", and Jesus Christ is still the only ONE Who can deliver us from all our foes, fears and sins. 

(Note today, March 24, 2024...this post was written back in 2021, during the "pandemic", when many of us were still not able to attend church in person.  So very thankful that we have come a long way since those terrible days of being isolated from one another. May we rejoice today in Christ our Savior and in His setting us free from the bonds of sin and death!  This Holy Week is about so much more than the Easter Bunny! Hosanna to the King of kings!)

And if you would like to join in with us as we worship the Lord in song and message, here is our church's service from Palm Sunday, 2021.



The choir is singing a song entitled
"Who Is He?"

"Who is He Who comes in triumph?
Who is He who comes to die,
Comes in peace and comes in power,
Hidden One now lifted high?
Jesus, Jesus, Lord, Messiah,
Mighty master of the grave!
See Him ride, the King of Glory!
God Himself has come to save!

See Him there in humble splendor.
Hear them shouting all around.
Joy explodes in wild procession.
Praise is now the victor's crown.
"Glory, glory in the highest!"
Like the angels hear them sing,
Dancing round the Long-awaited -
Once their hope, and now their King.

Rise and join the glad procession!
Hear them passing by again -
All the ransomed, all His children,
Marching to Jerusalem!
Look ahead! The gates of splendor!
Hear the everlasting hymn!
Open wide Your hearts in worship!
Let the King of Glory in!"

(words by Ken Bible, tune "Hymn to Joy" by Ludwig von Beethoven

Today is the beginning of what Christians know as "Holy Week", as well as those of the Jewish faith celebrate Passover. It is unusual that both of these most holy of all religious holy days fall during the same week this year. That does not always happen, but of course it did happen back in the year that Jesus was crucified and when He rose again from the grave, which is why we celebrate Easter.
Jesus was on His way to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem when he rode into the city on the back of that donkey colt on what we now know as Palm Sunday.

If you wish to listen to the message from our pastor above, he will be teaching all about this special event from the scriptures found in Luke 19:28-44

The Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:28-44

"28 And when He had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 

29 When He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, 

30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 

31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 

32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. 

33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 

34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 

35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 

37 As He was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 

38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 

39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 

42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 

43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 

44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

I hope you will be able to celebrate this special day today in some way, even if you are unable to attend church in person. We, as believers in Christ, have much to consider and rejoice about even during the difficult times of this Holy Week, because we know that Jesus lives!!

"Because He lives,

I can face tomorrow!

Because He lives,

All fear is gone.

Because I know He holds the future,

And live is worth the living just because He lives!"

Amen.

In case you missed it, Lily Grace learned about Palm Sunday HERE yesterday

 

Welcome to Our Little Wild Kingdom!

Guess who came to visit us today?

Yes, the whole Sand Hill Crane Family, with one day old George and 2 day old Abe!  

They walked them all around the island and across the narrow canal to get over to our side of the pond.

 Remarkably, the young chicks can swim at this age, and they did a great job of working their way over here, with the encouragement and protection of Mom and Dad.

They spent the whole day over here on the shore of our Still Waters Pond, learning to forage for food and also stopping now and then to just take a quick little nap when needed.

Mom and Dad were always right close by and never let the chicks get out of their sight...

Aren't they precious?

I know this is cuteness overload, but they only stay little for short time, so please bear with me!

Mama was actually feeding them little bits of whatever she was finding there in the dirt that was tasty and good...

I'm afraid the Bluebird couple was a bit frustrated today as the Cranes were right there next to their birdhouse all day, and they weren't about to try and drive them away! LOL.

Tea party anyone?

Now, in this picture below it had suddenly started to pour down rain. Mama Crane just dropped right to the ground and the chicks came running up to here immediately to find shelter:

She huddled them under her wings and they stayed that way until the storm passed over:

Daddy Crane stood by and kept watch all through the storm. I don't think he ever moved once.

This was really amazing to watch.

After the storm they picked up where they left off and started foraging for food again along the shore.

In this series of pictures, Mama Crane has actually captured a small water snake and she is literally poking it to death in her strong sharp beak.

You can see the snake below her in this picture below. It kept wiggling even though I am sure it was pretty much already dead.

Apparently it made a tasty meal for herself and her babies as there was no sign of any remains later when I went out to check after they were gone.

Soon the family was growing tired and knew they needed to get back home to their nest before nightfall.

These pictures aren't very clear because there was a kind of mist or fog coming up from the water, but the family is working their way back across the little canal and to the island and back home to their nest.

I can't actually see the chicks in these pictures, but I know they are there somewhere, working their way across with Mom and Dad and a little bit later they were safely back on the little marshy island that is their home/nest.  I know they didn't want to spend the night here on our shore, where there could be too many land predators around.

So meanwhile, some more excitement was happening today.

Earlier, before the Cranes showed up on our shore, I went outside and checked out birdhouse #2, that has been abandoned by the Bluebirds for a while. Remember...they built a nest really early and then nothing ever came of it, so I decided to look inside with my camera to see what was in there, and this is what I saw:

A nest with one lonesome egg.  Because the Bluebirds have not been back to this birdhouse for several weeks I figured it was safe to remove it, and so I did.

Here is what it looks like outside of the birdhouse. I placed it gently in the garden as a little memorial to the little baby bird that would never see daylight or fly away into the treetops.

The other thing I noticed was that the Bottlebrush bush that I planted a few months ago was finally starting to bloom:

Not too many blossoms yet, but there are many more coming along soon.

So I was thinking also that it is about time for the Hummingbirds to be returning for the summer.  I decided I'd better get some hummer food ready for the feeder, which I make by myself.  1/4 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup boiling water.  Make sure it is cool before putting outside in the feeder.  

This evening while all the excitement was going on with the Crane Family, I noticed a male Ruby Throated Hummingbird flying around the Bottlebrush bush

And so I put the feeder out right away, and here's what happened:

Hooray!!  So many fun things to watch these days!!

It's looking like it will be an interesting springtime and summer! I probably won't be getting much done. LOL.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday!

Hosanna! 

John 12:12-13

12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 

13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

The King of Israel!”

Amen, and Good night!