GRIMALDI'S CANDIES TOUR

by Robin

Our homeschool group has been organizing small field trips to the candy shop. I absolutely loved it the minute I walked in the door and smelled sugar in the air. First thing, we all had to wear hats. With my wild & crazy hair, I figured it was best to braid it all and tuck it into a ball cap. I do not want anybody getting a chocolate with 2 ft+ of hair in it. LOL.



Here are the warming vats.


The product they were making today were the chocolate-covered citrus rinds. We were explained the process, which I found fascinating. Nothing goes to waste. Unused parts of the fruit go to the local zoo for the animals to eat.





Who wouldn't want an industrial-size kitchen with large mixers? Renee, I thought of your family when in here. WOW, it was super organized.



These are the big bins filled with the ingredients they were using that day/week. I don't know why this makes me happy. Maybe I'm a baker at heart.




Instead of measuring things out in cups, it is measured in pounds. I love this old Toledo scale.






Here was another favorite - HUGE copper kettle. It catches your eye first amongst everything else in the room.


I'm trying to figure out how in the world I could put something like this in my non-industrial size kitchen. Very clever.


After the tour, there is the gift shop where you can buy all sorts of goodies. Who wouldn't want a chocolate shuttle?


Yum!!



This is their biggest seller.... and don't think one of them didn't come home with me!



Here is what I loved most of ALL the things I heard there. 100% of the profits go to Viera Water Network, which is a missionary project to 'bring clean water for life and living water for eternal life.' I did not know that when we got there, but it welled up my eyes to see the greater vision. VWN is in several countries right now. Coincidentally, they partner with another missions group that I have partnered with in Zambia. What a small world!!!!

If you're interested in supporting http://www.vierawaternetwork.com/ , please feel free to use this link.

If you're interested in ordering Grimaldi Candies, http://www.grimaldicandies.com/, for yourself or as a gift for the holidays, please use this other link. They ship anywhere. Their chocolate is very, very smooth - not waxy at all.

Happy Weekend everyone!! Enjoy a piece of chocolate.
Robin

DRIP IRRIGATION

by Robin

Today, the boys and I started installing the new drip irrigation system. I can already tell you, "I LOVE IT!!"



I knew I would before I found a kit at my local superstore. A friend of mine has been working on drip irrigation systems to take over to Mali (Africa). Mali is one of the poorest countries around the world and they get very little rainfall there. It was the Rayner's brainstorm that lead me down this path. Please feel free to watch Andy's video on drip irrigation in Mali & Canada. While you're at it, if God leads your heart this way, feel free to donate to his project. They are headed back to Mali at the end of the month.



They've been teasing me with pictures through the months on how their beans were growing faster, healthier and producing more beans with less water (40L drip irrigation vs 450L traditional watering). Here are some statistics on Andy's garden: 90% less water, 30% boost in production, 300% boost in the growing year AND less weeding!! I am hoping to do the same with my garden.

While Florida gets a lot of rain in the summer, we get very dry in the spring months until those rains hit. This is going to be such a blessing to me and my seedlings. I will keep you updated as the months pass.

Happy Gardening!
Robin

Going Steady

by Robin

Jack and I have been together for over 19 years. Our anniversary is coming up soon. We fell hard and fast for each other and couldn't wait to be married. However, one thing we wished we always had was a chance to meet in our youth. It's not that we aren't thankful that God's will put us together when we did meet. I guess it is more of a longing to have been with each other from the very beginning. We would have loved to skip the heartache of divorce and/or broken relationships.

However, God is the God of second chances. We did meet, albeit later. We did fall in love. We did struggle to make marriage work for better or worse, in health and sickness and so forth. We had beautiful babies together. We came all this way and God is still blessing.

The other night, Jack's Mom came to dinner and on her finger was Jack's graduation ring. At some point, he gave it to her. I imagine that it was when he went into the Army and couldn't keep certain momentos with him. Jack thought it had been lost over the years. He always talked fondly of how he struggled to purchase this ring and how much it meant to him. NOW, it was back in his possession.

He no sooner took it off his Mom's finger and then he put it on my finger. He asked me to go "Steady" and I said, "Yes!" How sweet. No other girl ever got to wear his ring. Just me. I cannot express how much that meant to Jack, and me. I know that seems silly but it did mean a lot.

Thank you LORD for such a blessing in a simple, yet mysterious way.



God bless,
Robin

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Halloween style

by Robin

WHEN YOU CAN'T FISH.....

.....smoke something!!!!

by Robin

We walked through 1" deep water, gale-force winds, and driving rain to get into the church house this morning. Good thing we were prepared with sandals instead of heels (me, not the boys). Great message on God's grace being sufficient for you (2 Cor 12:9)!

Then, we hurried home between rain clouds, changed clothes and fired up the coals.



When it is all perfectly hot, throw on the mesquite chips and watch that smoke stack billow.



Then, throw on all that meat (or tofu) to smoke.


(By the way, the coconut meat was delicious smoked!!)

Nancy and John joined us, bringing the side dishes.







I wish I could say the Tofu tasted as great as it looked. It had good flavor; however, I cannot get past tofu texture in my mouth. I feel like I'm eating something crossbred between a sponge and cheese. (This tofu was first deep-fried to remove moisture, then marinated overnight w/ teryatki sauce, then smoked for a couple hours.)

We topped everything off with a homemade apple pie. Can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it!!

Good time was had by all and nobody went home hungry. Infact, most of us needed a nap afterwards.

Have a blessed Sunday.
Robin

RIP Baby Squirrel

by Robin

Sometimes life is not fair. Sometimes baby squirrels fall out of trees when they're playing chase. I wanted so badly to rehab this little guy but he was already shutting down & in such pain from his injuries when Jack picked him up.



I cried and cried. I can only hope that he's in Squirrel Canaan - the land of nuts & honey.

Robin

MAMA N and J

by Robin

It was a welcomed surprise to find out months & months ago that Jack's Mom and J were moving here to Florida. It seemed like the day would never get here. BUT, they did finally arrive on Tuesday evening.

The first thing we did was hug their necks. The 2nd thing we did was have a fish fry with all that fresh porgy meat in the frig. Yum!!

The second night, we took them over a picnic dinner (pork tenderloin) so we could check on their new digs. I just love the area and even better, the dock and view off the main property.



I thought you may like to see the family. You'll probably be seeing a lot more of them in our pictures from here on out. Can't wait to take them offshore fishing.



Plus, the boat comes home on Sunday afternoon. We will not be able to fish this weekend due to the Nor'easterly winds & bad weather.

Have a blessed weekend.
Robin

DISTURB US, LORD.

by Sir Francis Drake

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.



Francis Drake,an adventurer and essentially a legal pirate (What else is a second son supposed to do to make a living?), wrote this prayer as he departed Portsmouth on the Golden Hind to raid Spanish gold on the west coast of South America. He ventured at least as far north as the non-Spanish parts of California, claiming it as "New Albion" - New England- and returned to his Queen (the long way - via circumnavigation) with loot worth over a half million pounds sterling, and received his Knighthood for it.

Mim's Mullet Festival

by Robin

Be sure to check out my Robin's Report for the pictures at the festival. Click here

I took video of my boys playing bluegrass with their friends at the festival.

I thought you may enjoy listening to it. Simon Peter is on the left with the guitar and Andrew is sitting down banging on a blue case for a percussion rhythm.





Happy Jiggin'
Robin

GARDEN - WINTER veggies

by Robin

Here is the start of a new garden for the winter. Of course, my onions, herbs & peppers are already established from the spring.







I put up my fencing again to deter the squirrels. I also have out snail/slug bait because they will eat several tenderlings over night.

I am also trying something new in the way of fertilizing this winter. Liquid Seaweed. It came recommended to me by the Master Gardeners at the 4H office. It will provide some of those missing micronutrients not found in other fertilizers.

Happy Gardening.
Robin

SEPTEMBER & HORSES

by Robin

I'm not even sure where to start with where our month went. Hours were spent schooling. I have one in high school. He's taking such a full load that I can barely keep up with all the grading, teaching, testing and organizing everything in the books. It's like a full-time job in itself.

Then, I have my not-so little man, who is fairly independant in his day, except for math (new concepts), Lang Arts and Greek/Latin roots. I spend a lot of my free time reading his readers to keep up with what is going into his brain.

At night, it is either yard work, chores, xbox or decent tv. I relish those hours of stillness, although they certainly aren't quiet or still for the boys. The boys are busy with chatting to Dad or amongst themselves. They wrestle, taunt, tease, joke, prank, you name it!! Boys never seem to stop moving until they're sleeping in the bed. Even while brushing & flossing, they seem to have constant physical contact. I have warned them every night for the past dozen years to quit horsing around while brushing teeth.

Speaking of horses, a few mornings of the week, we like to bike for exercise. I totally enjoy our time together. My youngest is not a morning person, but his reward is seeing horses. And then, all of us, get very happy. Here are some pictures I captured last week.

















After the carrots & pets are done, we bike another 2 miles home. It seems to go much quicker.

I have to say, it is the best way to start our day.
God bless,
Robin
PS: Garden pictures are coming soon!!

TWELVE

by Robin

We took this in the morning, the day after his birthday. We were out running errands for his manhunt party.

I like to get a picture with my boys, each year, for their birthdays. I'm not loving this pic of me, but it was all I had to work with.


Playing XBox until the heat subsides.


We also had pizzas which were so easy to make & clean-up after.


It was like the kids had never seen a popcorn machine before. Great fun.



Military cake to go with the military-manhunt theme. Marble cake w/ cookies & cream ice cream.



Daytime nerf gun fight turns to a game of hide-n-seek (AKA Manhunt) after dark.


I lit up the yard with 7 tiki torches and a couple bedroom lights left on in appropriate places to keep kids from tripping.



That was so much fun. I think we will have to host another Manhunt game in the fall when the kids won't sweat so much in their camo gear.

Blessings,
Robin

IRENE

by Robin

Be sure to check out my photos from this morning on Robin's Reports.

Robin's Reports - Irene




I took the fishermen over to see the waves.

Our prayers go out to those of you who will meet Irene head-on. She's very big & powerful.
Blessings,

Robin

SHADOWS

by Robin

The other day, I needed to clear my mind. I couldn't think of a better way to do it than walk for miles on the beach. For whatever reason, all the blood flow leaves my brain, heading to my muscles and it leaves space for God to get in my mind. (or something like that) I have great revelations when I exercise.

Anyhow, as I was happening along, step-by-step, I noticed all the beautiful footprints and tracks made in the sand. So many lives, people and purposes. God creates each one unique.



Then, I noticed my shadow. I am a very short person. I barely reach over 5' at the doctor's office. However, the sun was setting and my shadow probably 20' long. Wow, wouldn't it be nice to have a few of those extra inches to help me stand taller.

It hit me as I kept my pace, pondering shadows, earlier in my Bible study on Zechariah, in the commentary, was how God sees us verses how the world sees us. We have to keep in mind that we are who God sees us to be. We also have to be careful not to fall victim into how other's see us.

For example, I am 5' 1" and that's the exact number God sees, but depending on how I walk with Christ (the Sun-Son), other people can see me smaller, with only a 1 foot shadow, or bigger, with a 20 ft. shadow. Either way, it is a distortion of the Truth of who I am in Christ.

I think it is important to get to know people's hearts and develop good relationships with them rather than judging them for the shadows they cast.

Don't be a shadow! Be who Christ made you to be.

OLIVE TREES

by Robin

Today, I was doing my daily study in the Bible. I'm on my 5th book of the year and it is a hard one. ZECHARIAH!!!!! Zechariah was a minor prophet and he had visions!! Complicated ones!!

I was doing my best to understand the vision of the lampstands & olive trees inspite of a headache. I'm so thankful for http://www.biblegateway.com/ for all the blessed links to resources (commentary & dictionaries). I looked up the symbolism for each of the items in the chapter. I found this wonderful definition for olive trees in the Easton Bible Dictionary.

(Also, olives remind me of a friend of mine who absolutely loves black olives.)






Olive-tree is frequently mentioned in Scripture. The dove from the ark brought an olive-branch to Noah (Gen. 8:11). It is mentioned among the most notable trees of Palestine, where it was cultivated long before the time of the Hebrews (Deut. 6:11; 8:8). It is mentioned in the first Old Testament parable, that of Jotham (Judg. 9:9), and is named among the blessings of the "good land," and is at the present day the one characteristic tree of Palestine. The oldest olive-trees in the country are those which are enclosed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is referred to as an emblem of prosperity and beauty and religious privilege (Ps. 52:8; Jer. 11:16; Hos. 14:6). The two "witnesses" mentioned in Rev. 11:4 are spoken of as "two olive trees standing before the God of the earth." (Comp. Zech. 4:3, 11-14.)

The "olive-tree, wild by nature" (Rom. 11:24), is the shoot or cutting of the good olive-tree which, left ungrafted, grows up to be a "wild olive." In Rom. 11:17 Paul refers to the practice of grafting shoots of the wild olive into a "good" olive which has become unfruitful. By such a process the sap of the good olive, by pervading the branch which is "graffed in," makes it a good branch, bearing good olives. Thus the Gentiles, being a "wild olive," but now "graffed in," yield fruit, but only through the sap of the tree into which they have been graffed. This is a process "contrary to nature" (11:24).

How important it is to be grafted into the family of God, bearing good fruit in one's life.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - BIRTHDAY PICTURES

by Robin

From Monday...........I am so proud to be his Mom.

RING POPS for READING

by Robin


With some inspiration from my awesome friend, Renee and a slight family twist on it, we came up with our own specialize reading program. Book IT is wonderful and I highly recommend it. However, it stops at a certain grade level and sometimes those little pizzas aren't enough incentive for a growing young man.

So, you ask me...... what is incentive?? RING POPS!!! This child grew up with the ability to sniff out sugar in a room while he was still in diapers. He picked his own reward and I bought a case of them.


Below is a picture of his first book report of the year with his first Ring Pop. We followed our IEW (Institute of Excellence in Writing) rules and he gave me a paragraph filled with creative adverbs, strong verbs and quality adjectives.


How are you encouraging your student to read this year? I'd love to hear from you.



Blessings,

Robin

SHARK WEEK & 15 yrs old!!

by Robin

I thought I'd honor both occasions by combing them in 1 picture. Seven years ago, my birthday boy was holding a baby bonnet-hammerhead. My, how he has grown into a fine young (fisher)man.

Don't forget to watch Shark Week on Discovery!!




Birthday pictures forthcoming!!
Robin