Giveaway- NuMe's Curl Jam set in black

There's a giveaway at Legacy of a Writer! Enter to win a  NuMe's Curl Jam set in black!

Here's Katie's link!
http://katie-mccurdy.blogspot.com/2014/03/hairstyling-with-nume-curls.html

From Arizona Territorial Cookbook- Weight Loss

This was too funny not to share!

How to Reduce One's Weight

"A woman weighing 200 pounds called on a physician for advice. He gave her the following instructions:
1. For breakfast eat a piece of beef or mutton as large as your hand, with a slice of white bread twice as large. For dinner the same amount of meat, or if preferred, fish or poultry, with the same amount of farinaceous or vegetable food in the form of bread or potato. For supper nothing.
2. Drink only when greatly annoyed with thirst; than a mouthful of lemonade without sugar.
3. Take three times a week some form of bath in which there shall be immense perspiration. The Turkish bath is best. You must work, either in walking or some other way, several hours a day.
4. You must rise early in the morning and retire late at night. Much sleep fattens people.
5. The terrible corset you have on, which compresses the center of the body, making you look a good deal fatter than you really are, must be taken off, and you must have a corset which any dressmaker can fit to you-- a corset for the lower part of the abdomen-- which will raise this great mass and support you.

She followed the advice for six months, and trained herself down to 152 pounds."
~From the Scrapbook of Nellie von Gerichten Smith

Fat All My Life, and How I Got Rid of It

"First captivating plumpness begins to steal upon a woman in her twenties. Plumpness is followed by- oh, horrors!- fatness and shortness of breath, and heart flutters. Then, alas, comes the chin that is double and the comical lumbering waddle of the overfat. Fine sarcasm to tell such a  woman to exercise. Why not counsel flying? She is as able to do the one as the other. It's another keen cut to suggest dieting. When ladies are just so fat they haven't an ounce of will power or energy to spare for extras- just living is hard enough work for them.
What then? Are these unfortunates condemned to be fat for life? No, believe it or not; a simple home recipe easy to get at a drug store will take that fat off and keep it off. Listen!

1/2 ounce of Marmola
1/2 ounce of Fluid Extract Cascara Aromatic
3 1/2 ounces Syrup Simplex
mixed at home and taken in teaspoonful doses after meals and at bedtime will take off sa much as a pound a day in some cases. Get the Marmola in the sealed packages- you are sure it is fresh that way- take the mixture a month, and you'll see. The fat seems to drop off and leave nice, smooth, firm flesh, while the health and complexion improve wonderfully."
~From an untitled advertisement, circa 1880s in the Journal of Nellie von Gerichten Smith

Castle Keepers Begins

On September 5, 2013, excitement reigned supreme as Grace, Melody, Mindy and me prepared to take a journey to the north... Flagstaff, to be exact. Sewing machines, fabric and notions were placed in the living room as we awaited the arrival of the vehicle that would take us to our destination; the Wallace's suburban. At just the right time, they arrived and all of our sewing goods were loaded up and we were on our merry way. Over an hour later we arrived at the Page residence where our adventures would begin.

Our hostesses, Sister Christina and Hannah Page, welcomed us in and we set up our machines on their dining room table. Amidst cheery voices and laughter, we were taught the proper way to make aprons for ourselves and learned new ideas for future aprons.

 At noon we had a delicious luncheon of sandwiches, fruit salad and chips with iced tea or water as our choices for drink.

At least half an hour was spent in eating, chatting and relaxing before we commenced to sew once again.

The finished aprons

All too soon it was time to leave and we packed our sewing things away and bid adieu to our fine hostesses. Our ride home was just as happy as our ride there and we arrived in high spirits. It was a truly wonderful day!

Jesus Took the Wheel

         On April 15, 2013, I was driving up to the highway from the Wallaces on their dirt road a little faster than usual. I started to feel like the back of the van was pulling and I tried to slow down but it was too late. I went  up over a bump to the side and up into the bushes. I removed my hands from the wheel, thinking of the song "Jesus Take the Wheel" even as I screamed once. Then the van rolled, landing upright, and I looked around me. There were parts everywhere and I could see that there would be no saving the van. I called Brother Russell, who at first thought I was joking, and then sat still waiting for him to come. I could not get out because I had landed in the bushes and the driver's side door was trapped. The passenger's side door was stuck too because of the damage.

       A vehicle pulled past me then stopped when they realized what had occurred and a woman came to ask if I was okay. When I confirmed I was, my mind was whirling and all I could think was, "My dad is going to be so mad." It was silly but I was thinking of the damage and that my mom would now have no vehicle to do errands with. The woman reassured me saying, "I don't think your parents will care so much for the vehicle. They will just be happy you're alive." Then she told me that, 15 years before, her own daughter rolled a vehicle and did not survive. 

      Brother Russell and his family arrived and helped me out of the van. Sister Elisabeth took me to the suburban while we waited for my dad to come, who Brother Russell had called. Only a few minutes later Brother Ted (my pastor) and my dad arrived. My dad was not upset with me and held me while I sobbed my fear out before passing me to my brother where I sobbed some more. The men worked together and, borrowing some of the neighbors' things (with permission, of course), they loaded the van on a trailer. At last I thanked my rescuers and my dad took me home. 

I lived for months with the constant reliving of the accident, often waking up in the middle of the night wanting to scream and scream, but I asked Brother Ted and others to pray for me and I no longer have that problem. Yes, I still have a bit of nervousness going down that road but I know the Lord will help me with that too. I know that He has something planned for my life and that's why I survived that wreck so I will keep believing.  

The following pictures were taken after we got home.

 Notice that there was no damage to the driver's side from the door onward

 The windshield

From inside, sitting in the driver's seat

...Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me once more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel...

Knights of Arrethtrae- Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor

This book, the 5th in the Knights of Arrethtrae series, is my favorite and has encouraged me immensely.

Sir Quinlan begins the story going by his nickname, Twitch, because of a tick in his cheek that sets off whenever he is nervous about something. He struggles with self-confidence and self-pity and feels that everyone else is better than him and he can never aspire to anything greater. But events that unfold bring him to a place that Quinlan must begin claiming who he is. With the help of a Silent Warrior, Taras, he begins to better his skills at arms and his self-confidence builds. Eventually he is tested and tried until he becomes the leader of the elite group of knights, The Swords of Valor, to fight against the growing evil in Arrethtrae.

Here is my favorite quote..."When you believe the truth about who you are in the Prince, you will be that which you want to become. You cannot add anything to that which the Prince made perfect. All you can do is believe Him who made it so." ~Taras 

If they were to make a movie of this book, that would be awesome, especially if they kept to the storyline of the book without adding any Hollywood junk... 

I think Wes Brown would make an awesome Quinlan...



And I think Winona Ryder  would make a great Lilam...

Lily Rose

As I am writing the last few words of my story and the characters slowly fade from sight, I feel the presence of a new character standing in my room. I write the last word and put the story aside, revealing an empty page. I look up. There stands a young lady, her curls gracefully touching her shoulders, and her delicate white hand reaches out to me as if in silent plea. Her sky blue eyes glisten in the light with unshed tears and I nod in understanding, taking note of her age and appearance on the page before me.
       Once more I stare at the lovely girl. An unfelt breeze ruffles her blue chiffon dress and I see dust blowing lightly over her small white shoes. The Dust Bowl Days, I think, and she nods as she tosses me a pure white lily and a crimson rose. She points to herself and I write her name. Lily Rose.
       Scenes of tragedy and triumph flash before my eyes as the life of this amazing girl unfolds. As everything begins fading away, in desperation Lily calls out to me with a beautiful voice, "Write my story, Lydia..."

I will, Lily Rose. I will.

Robert the Bruce (To Douglas in Dying)

'MY life is done, yet all remains,

The breath has gone, the image not,

The furious shapes once forged in heat

Live on though now no longer hot.

'Steadily the shining swords

In order rise, in order fall,

In order on the beaten field

The faithful trumpets call.

'The women weeping for the dead

Are not sad now but dutiful,

The dead men stiffening in their place

Proclaim the ancient rule.

'Great Wallace's body hewn in four,

So altered, stays as it must be.

O Douglas do not leave me now,

For past your head I see

'My dagger sheathed in Comyn's heart

And nothing there to praise or blame,

Nothing but order which must be

Itself and still the same.

'But that Christ hung upon the Cross,

Comyn would rot until time's end

And bury my sin in boundless dust,

For there is no amend.

'In order; yet in order run

All things by unreturning ways,

If Christ live not, nothing is there

For sorrow or for praise.'

So the king spoke to Douglas onceA little while before his death,

Having outfaced three English kings

And kept a people's faith. 

Edwin Muir