Homemade Applesauce

Apples are plentiful now. Fall apples are crisp, plump and kissed in color by our wonderful sun and coolish evenings. Our favorite are the Honey Crisp variety. One of the reasons we love them is that they create that wonderful and juicy crunch sound when you bite into them. And they maintain their freshness a good amount of time. An added benefit is  they do not turn brownish when cut, so if you find that you cannot make your way through one, like me,  you can put it in a container in the fridge and they are almost just as fresh when you go back to finish up.

Today we are making homemade applesauce. We actually like the sauce slightly chunky. So we do not cook the apples too much. We add Lemon juice, cinnamon and honey. Maybe a little light brown sugar. Can’t wait to taste. And we have enough apples that we will make an apple crisp with granola over the weekend.

We love the recipes of our wonderful fall season. Bounty in real wonderful fibrous fruit. YUM!

Faithfulness

 

1 John 5: 14-15

God is always by your side and listening to your prayers

“And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for.”

Prayer

Jesus I give you thanks this morning for your faithfulness. You are always upholding my life. I wish to be faithful to you. I want to honor you by giving you an offering of my gardening work today. I have a lovely assignment for a last years client. She is a kind and sweet soul. May I do good work for her, and while I am there, may I share your wonderful promise…….faithfulness. She has a very hard and stressful employment situation. Relocating and helping to settle the people of Afghanistan. I ask for her safety and that good health is with her while she is entrenched in this humanitarian relocation effort. Please be with her in faithfulness.

I thank you for your every present faithfulness in my life. Thank you for good health, stamina to complete my work, and for bringing me the work I enjoy. You are so faithful to me. I find my gardening missions a great blessing. I wish to always honor you, as you are faithful to always provide this work for me. I know you are always by my side. Hear my humble and faithful prayer this morning. Amen

We’re Back – on Preston Road (Revised 9/30)

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This is a last years video.

We completed work for our client, but as you can see, the bed is sparsely populated and definitely needs our touch. So our client called last week and this morning we visited the garden center to select new plants. We will do our regular clean up and also plant new selections. Our client gave us a generous budget and we purchased plants we think will do well in a very shaded garden bed. We purchased a new blue Hydrangea called Endless Summer and two evergreens and some ferns and a nice selection of  Coral Bells. And we are adding a ground cover for fill in between plants. It’s called Ajuga. 

Before we left this morning to head to the nursery we stopped and took a video of how it currently looks. Definitely, they need our fall spruce up.

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Tomorrow we will begin the work and will post a final video once we finish.

It’s our pleasure as this is a lovely client and she needs our help. Looking forward to it. We think we will be working a full day. Weather suggest some rain, but it’s all good.

”Contessa”

REVISED today 9/29

We have completed our work for our client today. We finished up with a total ofvfive hours today. It’s looking very good. Our lovely client will come home this evening to our final contribution. We are pretty confidant she is going to be pleased. As a courtesy for such great work, we are going to water daily through October 4th, gratis!  New plantings require a boost. We are pleased to provide this little extra. And we have convinced her to have us come once a week in Oct and Nov to keep things tidy

This was a fun project in that we were able to make all the plant selections and execute as we wished. A dream job honestly. Little supervision and a “carte blanche”  to do our thing. Our pleasure.

”Contessa”

FINAL VIDEO

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Outdoor Yoga Class – Update

Our Yoga Class on Saturdays outdoors got off to a very slow start. We had only one follower. We think it’s because we did not give folks enough of an advance “heads up.”  Only one announcement was sent out. Now that the Newsletter is being distributed electronically it may have been overlooked. You know – our fast paced lives. We glance at print but do we really take the time to read.

So we have decided to advertise it every month from now until spring as an upcoming SPRING CLASS offering. We still plan to teach it at the triangle open grassy area on Preston/Valley Drive. These days most folks prefer an outdoor setting and the plot at this location is ideal. As we better formulate a way to get the word out, we will keep you posted “here” on our blog with updates. Please do stay tuned!

Thanks so much,

“Contessa/Penny”

703-548-1882

9/24 Site Visit/Free Consult, and Back Yard Clean Up at 1400 Block of Martha Custis (REVISED 9/25)

Visiting and FREE first time consult on Mt Eagle to check out a shady front yard bed. Customer is requesting recommendation, selection and planting of two larger bushes for the area near her stairway near the front. She  is removing low lying plants, combining all her Lenten Roses (4)  and we will add the new bushes. We will select appropriate bushes at Merrifield during our Sunday visit. Hopefully we can find flowering perennial good sized  bushes. Our job is to recommend and then she will decide. Our seniors in PFF still want to maintain their areas but they need help, so it’s our pleasure to recommend and do the planting.

A single shot and Video of her area. 

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Our homeowners garden beds are tidy but rather spread out and smallish. Her goal is to “fill in.”  We will take care of her. It’s all good.

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At 9:30 am we were back at our Martha Custis location from last week. This time the back yard. We became so absorbed in proceeding with this project we neglected to take our “before” video. So in the morning we will go by and video what we’ve done so far. As it turns out, we may be on this project slightly longer –  as our resident realizes that getting the beds and patio in order is just one phase. We need to level the beds, select suitable plants, abate the soil and finish tidying. She is garden savvy so will help with plant selection. The project is to bring it to a place for robust spring planting. It is a very shaded patio so we will be challenged to find suitable “shade loving bushy perennials that are tidy and low maintenance. Merrifield has such a vast selection of plants to choose from we are certain we can find great plants. And we will be treating the slate pavers with a weed treatment to get it to a place where repeat weeding is minimal.  A great project and very cordial client and yet again very good work. We love it, and our fabulous weather is such a wonderful contributor to this project.

Posting current video with progress so far, tomorrow……stay tuned!

“Contessa”

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Friday Morning Devotional

United Methodists believe in making a reality of their faith in community — actions speak louder than words. The three simple rules are: “Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.” Some beliefs we share with other Christians are: the Trinity (God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and Jesus’ birth, His death and Resurrection into Heaven

I am a Methodist. I am a believer. I am a lover of my God and Savior Jesus Christ, and all His creation. If you need help, I am here to help you. If you want prayer I will pray for you and with you. I wish to do you no harm. I wish to do good for all, and I wish to stay in love with my God and share His divine love with YOU. .

In the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen.

French Lentil Soup – prepared today

We have prepared and posted this soup recipe prior  it’s so delicious we are posting it again today. It’s hearty, pretty and so delicious.  Our slightly cooler temps warrant a big pot of soup  Grab some crusty bread and ENJOY!

“French Lentils Soup”

Meat – 4 oz Bacon (you can substitute with sautéed portobello mushrooms for a meat free version)

Produce
2 Bay leaves
2 Carrots, medium
1/2 Celeriac, medium
1 cup French le puy lentils
2 cloves Garlic
1 Leek, large
1/4 cup Parsley, fresh
2 tsp Thyme, fresh
1 Yellow onion, medium

Canned Goods
6 cups Chicken broth, quality – we prefer home prepared broth

Baking & Spices
1/4 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp Salt

Oils & Vinegars
1 tbsp Red wine vinegar

In a stock pot cook the bacon (or mushrooms) over medium-high heat until done. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent and golden, 7-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the celeriac, leek and carrots and cook for another 4-5 minutes or until beginning to soften. Add the lentils and cook for another minute or two. Add all remaining ingredients except for the parsley and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Finally stir in parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

NUTRITION

Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 1448mg | Potassium: 825mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 3900IU | Vitamin C: 31.3mg | Calcium: 83mg | to taste.

.NOTE:   Le Puy lentils are small,  with a slate-green color and blue marbling. They have a very slight flavor and are preferred among many cooks because, unlike their brown lentil cousins that turn mushy after a while, Le Puy lentils  hold their shape during cooking.

Angel of God

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Dear Angel, ever at my side,

how lovely you must be,

to watch over me from your home in heaven,

to guard a child like me.

When I’m far away from home or may be hard at play,

I know you will protect me from harm along my way.

Your beautiful and shining face, I see not, though you are near;

the sweetness of your lovely voice, I cannot really hear.

When I pray you are praying too, your prayer is just for me.

But when I sleep, you never do, you’re watching over me.

Amen.

Glory…….

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LUKE 2:9……..an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were filled with great fear.  (ESV)

We know rain is coming…..thus our overly cloudy sunrise this morning. But it is one of the prettiest times of each new day. It is a brief sunrise. iIt moves so quickly reminding us of Gods glorious creation and all that we have to look forward to each day. It is our most favorite time of the morning. So quiet, so peaceful, so wondrous and it represents new opportunity and another day given in His kingdom. You have to capture it quickly  because in about 15 minutes iit is away…..A new day. We Honor the Glory-of-God.

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Today we have several catch-up projects, meaning stopping at five different client sites to check on weed/undergrowth, water, new plant growth, check on projects assigned to PFF  through Buildium, and a quick stop to a new client to talk about a couple new perennial bushes for their front step area. Their wish is to balance the bed along with with two well established and healthy Nandina bushes. We are calling it a “catch-up day.”

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Praise our Lord above in all His  glory. Praise His Holy Name. Praise and thank him for all his many blessings and enjoy the nourishment of rain coming in soon  All provided for our nourishment and His greater glory.

 

In Tune With God……..

September 21

“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” -Ephesians 3:20

LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL

Martin Luther commented on a professor of his who would follow the same routine every day. He would enter the classroom, hang up his coat, then proceed to take off his hat and bow before every single student in the classroom. Finally, Luther had enough courage to ask him, “What are you doing? Why do you bow before each of us?” And the professor replied, “I bow before you in honor of what you might become, if you get your life in tune with God.” Wow! What might you become, what might I become, if our lives were consistently in tune with God – set apart, knowing Him, confident, mature, allowing His power to work exceeding abundantly in us? Prayer Dear Father, what might I become? You know me and all the hairs on my head. You breath life into me every day. I hope to honor you with my small life. You are my creator and my redeemer. I give you my life, that you might be ever present in me and in all that I do every day. My whole desire is to follow you and your ways, and to trust you completely. I will obey your every request of  me and my hope is to live out…..exceedingly abundantly and in tune with You my Father God. Amen