Whereupon I Cover Over a Bad Mistake!

Once upon a time I foolishly used a very heavy pot atop my glass top stove.


Oh, I was careful to not drop it on the glass top. Instead I dropped it on the corner of the stove, creating a chip in the white porcelain the size of a dime.


THEN! I read in a magazine (can't remember which) that I could repair that chip with a little bottle of white stuff...sorta like that little bottle of white-out we used to use at the office to cover typos. Only this stuff is for appliances. So I jotted down the info and headed for the hardware store.


The product is Appliance Epoxy Touchup by Rust-oleum. You can find it in the appliance department.


I put on a couple layers, letting the epoxy dry between coats.


The resulting repair is almost invisible. This little cover-up job was well worth the $5 I paid for the bottle.


I no longer covet Le Creuset ware. No, indeedy. I'll stick to my lighter weight pots and pans and leave the heavy-duty stuff to heavy-duty cooks.

P.S. White on white is difficult to photograph. The area is still visible to the naked eye if one looks closely. But the repaired area no longer catches my eye every time I look at the stovetop.

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Waiting....In the Waiting Room...and Contemplating The Gospel

Recently I read a post by Mike Pohlman whose 40-year-old wife is fighting stage-4 breast cancer. He writes his thoughts from the oncology waiting room, a place where cancer patients spend much time. And do much thinking.

I want to quote just one paragraph...

Mike writes this....

"If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, the cancer-clinic waiting room reminds us that our lives are a vapor; that our days are all numbered; that He gives us life and breath and all things, and, therefore, we are utterly dependent creatures; that sin is real and has a million tragic consequences; that pride is ridiculously ugly and meekness wonderfully beautiful; that we are called to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping; that people are either saved or lost; that God’s grace is real, His Son all-sufficient, and through the cross, cancer will one day be no more."

You can read all of Mike's post here.

As for me? I have stage 3-C ovarian cancer, just one stage short of metastasization (invasion of other organs), and I've spent more hours than I care to count sitting in an oncology waiting room. I'm on my third chemo regimen, having had six months off the first time, and eleven months off the second time (using a maintenance drug during that time). Now I'm trying a third cocktail, carbo/gemzar (carboplatin and gemcitibine). I'm doing well, all things considered. No major side-effects on this regimen other than low blood counts and a bit of nausea the day after treatment...and a bit of arthritis aggravated by the drugs. But I'm well. I'm doing well.

It's been two and a half years since my diagnosis. I'm grateful for this time that God has given me and I hope he gives me many more years. But the truth of the matter is, my life is utterly and completely in God's hands. Just as Mike mentioned at his post, we are dependent upon God for all things...the air we breathe, the blessings we have in this life, and the promise of the life hereafter.

Mike Pohlman is senior pastor at Immanuel Bible Church in Bellingham, Washington. In addition to his post at Ligonier Ministries, his article also appeared in Tabletalk Magazine, a daily devotional publication by Ligonier that is a great resource for your daily walk.

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Kitty Acupuncture! But It Seems So Cruel !

My daughter brought me this kitty pincushion while on a business trip to Taiwan. (I have a daughter flying around the world!!?? Whew! I'm so proud of her.)

While there she visited a little sewing shop. The owner, putting forth her best sales effort, advised her potential customer that her grandmother hand-made this little kitty. Maybe she did and maybe she didn't, but the sales pitch was good and Miss Kitty is cute whether made by Grandmother or not. So Miss Kitty boarded the plane with DD to Minneapolis and eventually ended up on my desk in Iowa.

Kitty sat on my desk for weeks before I could bear to stick in a pin. My friend, Laurie, suggested I think of it as "kitty acupuncture".

So there you are, Miss Kitty. You should have no aches or pains whatsoever. That is...if kitty acupuncture works.

(Update: My daughter advised me last night that the shop owner mentioned her grandmother's stitching AFTER she had purchased Miss Kitty and not as a sales pitch. So thank you, Taiwan Gramma!)

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There are No Pearls of Wisdom in the Pearls' Book on Child Rearing

This is one of the saddest stories I have mentioned.
In a sense, the story is finished. It is over. Seven-year-old Lydia Schatz is dead.

In February 2010 Lydia died at the hands of Christian parents who were using a disciplining method proposed by Michael and Debi Pearl of No Greater Joy Ministries, a Fundamentalist Christian organization. Their method is outlined in their controversial book, "How to Train Up a Child". (I ask you as a Christian parent...is this book in your library? Are you basing your discipline methods on this book?)

Lydia was adopted. By Christian parents who thought they were serving the Lord by adopting three orphans from Liberia. And they believe it their "Christian duty" to discipline their children. And to insure they did it right...bringing an obstinate child to submission and obedience...they used the methods taught by the Pearls.

They beat Lydia so severely over several hours time (because she did not or could not comply in correctly pronouncing a reading word) that massive destruction to tissues underlying her skin caused her kidneys to shut down. Lydia died.

A 911 call brought law enforcement to the house. Her older sister was hospitalized with severe kidney damage due to similar beatings given in the previous days.

In April 2011 Kevin Schatz and Elizabeth Schatz were sentenced for their crime. Kevin will serve at least 22 years of two life sentences for second-degree murder and torture. His wife, Elizabeth, will serve at least 13 years for voluntary manslaughter and corporal injury on a child.

I hope you will read Brad Hirschfield's column in yesterday's Washington Post entitled "Beating Children In the Name of God".

Especially his last paragraph which reads..."There is no way to bring Lydia Schatz back, or to undo the damage to her still living siblings, or any of the other children who are beaten in the name of God. We can however do everything in our power to put a stop to the practice. For the sake of these kids and for the sake of the traditions we hold dear, that is what we must do."

You can read more about Lydia's short life here.
You can read what one writer wrote about the Pearls' method of discipline here.
Or you can read my previous posts here.
You can view the Anderson Cooper video at CNN here.

My prayers tonight are for the little children. I hope yours are as well.
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Whereupon I Return Home Just In the Nick of Time!

As you can see by the photo we experienced a bit of sizeable hail today!

As I left the house to do a couple errands I noticed that the sky to the north of us was dark. Very dark. I gave it a good once-over, then decided to run my errands anyway.

Stopped at the farm supply store and bought a small table for the front deck. It had been on sale and I finally decided "I want it!"

Then to the grocery store and onward to my Mom's where I dropped off a couple things. It was starting to sprinkle.

On the way home I decided NOT to stop for that one last errand but instead hurry on home and get the car in the garage. I parked it safely inside, got out, grabbed a bag of groceries out of the back seat and heard a loud "THWACK" on the garage roof. Then another! And another! Looked out the window and saw very large hail.

Thankfully, it was rather sparse and it stopped within a minute or so. And I am thankful the car was parked safely in the garage.

I hope the farms around us did not experience damage to their crops! Hail can do devastating damage to a corn or bean field.
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Three Little Ladies Find New Homes

One of the side-effects of having cancer is that you realize it's time to down-size things in your life. So I'm lightening the load, downsizing, getting rid of "stuff".


In the past week three vintage sewing machines have left our house to take up residence elsewhere.


"Three?" you ask?


Yes, three. And I still have four left. Maybe five, but I can't remember what I did with that fifth one.


Once upon a time I had thirteen. Now I'm down to four (or is it five? Where IS that fifth machine???)


That teal green machine? That's a 1950-ish Viking Automatic 21. Beautiful zigzag stitches. Made in Sweden. Heavy, heavy, heavy. Manufactured before they began using those dratted plastic gears. Everything was metal on this baby. Made to last. This machine has an open arm making it extremely easy to stitch cuffs, hem pant legs, etc. It also has a small work surface that snaps into place when you don't need the open arm. Cool! This machine has been affectionately named "Ingrid" because of her Swedish heritage.


The black one? That's a Singer 201. I named it "Leona" after its original owner. Probably manufactured in 1940-1950. This was a gear-driven (versus belt-driven) machine that had plenty of power and speed. No zigzag, though. Just a straight-stitching machine that, if kept cleaned and oiled, will perform forever. Quilters love this machine because it will sew and sew and sew. And when you are not quilting, it will tackle hemming blue jeans with ease.


And the two-tone? That's a Singer 301A, manufactured probably in the 1960s. I could look up the serial numbers and be able to pinpoint the manufacture date a little closer, but I'm too lazy to do that. The 301 is a straight-stitch only machine. It's beauty lies in its light weight...approximately eleven pounds. AND it has a nifty, fold-down handle on top. This model came in three colors, black, taupe, and the two-tone you see here. Like the 201, it is a gear-driven machine...no belt. Plenty of power. Plenty of speed. Quilters love this machine because it is so handy to carry to quilting class.


So what do I have left in the house? A Singer 15-91 (my main machine), a Singer 403 (my only zigzag machine), a Singer 221 Featherweight (which I will probably never get rid of...it was a gift from Hubby), and a Singer 66 in an oak parlor cabinet (a gift from a quilting buddy in Ohio).


Oh, yeah, the fifth. I had two Singer 301s. I think I took that one to the thrift shop. But no matter...I know where there is a third Singer 301 just like it that wants to come live at my house.