Seven Sisters Treasures #47

“Proverbs tells us that a virtuous woman ‘works with her hands with delight’ and ‘does not eat the bread of idleness’. A Godly woman is one who sees her life as a mission of service.   What others view as a burden, she views as a blessing and opportunity.”

~Christina Russell

 

Mary Jane’s Outpost

We love all of Mary Jane Butters’ books, and recently discovered her newest one 😀  Please know that  some evolutionary thinking and feminism comes through in the book, however, it didn’t stop us from gleaning the good stuff and enjoying it 😀

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNpTnW9IGEY[/youtube]

17 and Baking – Patriotic Cake

This is so neat!  A disclaimer though…at the end of the video when they’re done talking about the cake, they are looking ahead to a Twilight look alike contest.  We don’t know about you, but we do not like that movie, or even seeing the pictures!!! *shudder, shudder* 😀

 

 

 

Bread & Butter Pickles

 We’ve been making quite a few of these recently 😀 Yummy!

32 (5″) pickling cucumbers (3 lbs.)

 They should be on the small, skinny side, or however big you like your pickles to be on your sandwiches! 

Salt

Ice

1 quart apple cider vinegar

4 c. sugar

2 T. pickling spice

1 t. celery seed

1 t. ground turmeric

1 t. black pepper

4 onions, sliced

   Wash cucumbers; discard ends and slice cucumbers as thin as possible ( 1/8″ approx.).  Layer 1 layer of cucumbers, 3/4 tsp. salt, cucumbers, salt, cucubers, etc, in a crock, ceramic bowl, or metal stock pot until almost full, leaving enough room for ice on top.  Put ice on top and chill in the fridge for 3 hours, adding ice if needed.  Drain well.  Boil vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, celery seed, turmeric, and pepper for 10 minutes.  Strain the brine to get the pickling spice out.  Put cucumbers and onions in a pot and pour the brine over the top.  Stir and let come to a rolling boil.  Put in pint jars, leaving a 1/4″ headspace.  Water bath for 10 minutes once the water starts boiling.  Makes 7 pints.

 

 

 

Our latest Treasures at our Etsy shop

 

 

The cake Susannah copied from the above video, made for Cassia’s birthday as a surprise!

 

 

 

 

Drug-test spiders weave their way home

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor

A SPIDER’S skill at spinning its web is so obviously affected when it is under the influence of drugs that Nasa scientists believe the creature could help them to test the effects of chemicals.

Different drugs alter the architecture of the web spun by a house spider in various ways, according to research reported today in New Scientist.

Spiders on marijuana are too laid back to finish the job, while those dosed with the sedative chloral hydrate drop off before they can lay down more than a few silky filaments. On an “upper”, such as the amphetamine benzedrine, the spider demonstrates great gusto but not much planning, leaving large holes in the structure. Caffeine jitters turn webs into a haphazard affair.

 

The deformity in the web is related to the toxicity and dose of the chemical. Using a computer program, a Nasa team at the Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama has analysed the alterations in the webs and thinks it will be possible to quantify these effects to measure toxicity.

The spider could then offer an eight-legged alternative to testing on mammals. The team has found that one of the most telling measures of toxicity is a decrease in the numbers of completed sides in the cells within a web. The greater the toxicity, the more sides that the spider fails to complete.

 

 

Spaghetti Pie

 

A while ago, Mommy found this blog post, on the “Spaghetti Pie” blog.  It is a neat story that is encouraging to those of us who are waiting for God’s perfect timing 😀

 

Noah was playing with his Little Tikes workshop, “cutting” some “wood” on the toy saw.  Susannah asked him if he was cutting his wood; Noah replied [with a cute little laugh!], “No, I’m cutting my toy.”

A little people’s way of saying ‘interesting’:  “inchstirsting”

Noah:  “When you say “shake hands” to Fred, he like, puts his hand out!”

Jessica: “Does he have hands?!”

Noah: “Ya, like, to crawl.”

            “He has four and we have two!”

 

One night Isaiah brought some flowers to the kitchen and told Leah to put them in ” a stand thing” –he wanted them put into a vase 😀

Note: The Seven Sisters Treasures is a weekly post where we share some of our favorite things.  Hope you enjoy!  ~the Farmgirls

 

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