Free Bible Study Software

I did a bit of comparing and also tried several Bible study software suites.  This one's the best AND free. 

http://www.e-sword.net/

There's a mobile version for Pocket PC and it works GREAT.  I had free Olive Tree for mobile too, but ended up uninstalling it.  This just works better, and is really easy to navigate. 

String quilt done

I just folded over a bias strip and zigzagged through all the layers.  Only one short section came out lopsided enough to merit picking it out and straightening it.  And it's done!  Well, hey, it's that or lay there on the shelf for another few weeks!  

Dave gets this one and he loves it! 

Word for the day: WAIN

I read in Spurgeon this morning:
"The firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest. As soon as the Israelite had plucked the first handful of ripe ears, he looked forward with glad anticipation to the time when the wain should creak beneath the sheaves."

I've read of wainscoting and figured from the context that it was something on a wall, but hadn't ever looked it up, and hadn't ever heard of a "wain" before...


WAIN


a large and heavy vehicle for farm use : WAGON, CART *a hay wain on a meadow*


WAINSCOT
from Middle Dutch wagenschot, probably from wagen cart + schot shot, crossbar, wooden partition; akin to Old English shot


Britain: a fine grade of oak imported for woodwork
(1): a wooden lining of an interior wall usually paneled
(2): a lining of an interior wall irrespective of material *a tile wainscot*
c: the lower three or four feet of an interior wall when finished differently from the remainder of the wall (as with wood panels, tile, or marble slabs)


WAINSCOT
transitive verb


to line (as a wall) with or as if with boards or paneling
*wainscoted with looking glass*

So that's the proper term for the walls in the dinette of the house I grew up.  The lower half was paneling with wood patterns, and the upper half was wallpaper.

Cool.

Duct tape can't fix that

Nope! 
There is never a reason to say "Duct tape can't fix that!" 

I had to fish the two halves of the shattered pencil sharpener container out of the garbage to fix them.  One of my kids obviously lacked duct-tape imagination  :-) 

My box of scraps

I love my box of scraps. These are the strips too narrow to be cut into any of the collections of squares I've got going on.
I can't explain why I love this box so much.  I just do.  It's so frugal.  It's so nothing-into-something.

When I have five minutes to myself, I pull out that box and add a couple of strings to the latest block, then put it away. When I'm stressed out, sometimes I think about the box of scraps in there waiting for me, and just thinking about it makes me feel better! 

Maybe when I'm an old lady with nothing else to do, I'll make some of those magnificent, organized masterwork quilts.  For now, it's just so soothing to sew a seam here and there without needing to match up anything into any pattern. 

Here's that latest string quilt top, now layered and tied and just needs to be bound. 

There's the 4" squares.  I cut them out of the scraps first, then use the rest for the strings.  This is the style of quilt that I like the appearance of best-- just squares at random.  It looks so homelike and welcoming.  There's no thought to this except to make sure no two pieces of the same fabric end up right next to each other, and I can handle that level of stress  :-) 

Snappy bracelets

Kids brought home some cheap white vinyl-covered snap bracelets.  They were supposed to decorate them with glue or pens or whatnot.  Andrea suggested covering hers with fabric and stood watching while I did it.  (That's the pink leopard pattern, and it was first which explains why it's the dirtiest one by now   :-) 
The boys have come up with a whole pile of the things!  That's my new assignment.

Made a potholder today

Thought I was just fiddling around with my fabric for a few minutes, and turned out a masterpiece. Yes, I really will use it in the kitchen to hold hot pots!  I don't need a hanging tag because I throw them all in a drawer. 

The purple and black fabric underneath is my lap.  I lerve purple and black and white together.  The lady who gave me this fabric knew that  :-) 

I love those $1 / set annuals

And so, this is fifty cents worth of fluffy, right here :-)

Blackberries! Soon, very soon.

Here are the blackberries on the fence getting ripe, working on being ready in time to become my 40th birthday pie.  I go out there every couple days and watch their progress. 

Edit, a couple hours later-- the ones in town behind the store are RIPE!!!!  Some need to ripen more, but some were delicious  ;-)
Need to bring a container next time. 

Blogging

A couple funnies...

I know, but that's partly what I like about it.  Many years ago, the one family member I would consistently write letters to was the one who didn't ever write back.  I don't know what he thought of my letters or if he was even reading them.  If he didn't answer, then I never had to see any proof that he had either misunderstood or brushed aside anything that I had said.  Strange?  I suppose so.

I just found *yet another* Myers-Briggs test online, which I especially liked because it has an "in between" option for each question.

http://kisa.ca/personality/

It has me as INTP.  I often score as an INTJ because of my big fat opinions, yet I'm about as casual with schedules as its gets.  Now that I'm almost forty I can get myself to appointments on the right day and time at least 80% of the time, but I still vastly prefer a day with all options open, and to-do lists without deadlines.

They say the J/P preference is the hardest to hide, because J's can't keep their opinions to themselves and P's are always late.  What if I have opinions and am late?  For now I think I'm just gonna be an INTP with opinions.  Oh yes, this IS important.  Don't know if it's important to anybody else  :-)

Reason I mention this, is an INTP profile I read recently,  http://www.intp.org/intprofile.html

Here's the pertinent quotes-- the first two paragraphs just for self-indulgent understanding and the third one explains why I like my blog so much  :-)  

In a group situation, INTPs are sensitive to whether they believe they will be listened to or not. If a dominant (strongly extraverted and loud) person is present, the INTP will withdraw and sulk, believing the dominant person to be a brute. If an INTP speaks, he must be listened to, for he believes his spoken opinions to be important. If not, he withdraws (at least in spirit)... Hence, INTPs make very poor leaders, for they depend too much on the attitudes of others.

INTPs tend to jump to intuitive conclusions, can be fatalistic and have little perseverence. On the other hand, they can make very good assistants to leaders, provided they and the leader are of one mind... Indeed, INTPs are often glad when someone else takes over the lead, again providing the leader is of the same mind.

The only area in which an INTP will carry out his own ideas to completion is in his personal interest world, where other people are not involved. For this reason, INTPs are fascinated by computer technology as well as the Internet which gives him a voice that he would not otherwise have. Many of the most dedicated Computer Freaks are INTPs. Ultimately, INTPs tend to trust machines more than they trust people...

Next funny, courtesy of Sister! 

Facebook

FACE it!  Everybody's on Facebook. And I love it for a certain purpose.  Everybody I know is on it, siblings, cousins, more cousins and long-lost half-brothers-in-law along with dozens of real life acquaintances and some total strangers.  It's not a blog, it's not set up to be one. It's for keeping everybody up to date with birthdays and graduations and baby pictures.  It's for checking in every now and then, to feel reassured about having a few people in life who actually care what happens to me.

I have just three particular friends that I would like to be friends with on Facebook, so they don't miss out on my exciting status updates like, "Yay!  Pizza for dinner!" but they won't join, all for similar concerns. I've nagged enough and don't want to be too obnoxious :-)
So I'll just post this here and leave it for them to see. 

Concern #1--what if I join Facebook and continually encounter someone on there whom I don't want to be reminded of?
That's easy.  When someone tries to friend you ("friend" is a verb now, thanks to Facebook, which means "to add each other to our friends list") there's links for Accept, Ignore or Block.  If you block someone, they will go on your blocked list and you'll never have to see another squeak out of them.  The only way you'd see their name again is if you and they are both on another person's friends list.  In that case, just don't friend anybody who also knows that person--but it shouldn't stop you from joining Facebook in order to keep up with me!  

Concern #2-- if I join Facebook, other people who know me might share information about me that I don't want shared.
Well, yes, that's true.  But if you don't join Facebook, they can still talk about you behind your back.
You see, there's Privacy settings!  You can set yourself up as more or less invisible, even choosing not to allow others to find you when they search for your name.  Then you'll only be able to connect with friends whom you go looking for and add yourself.

Concern #3-- Facebook isn't to be trusted with my private information.
Right.  So don't give them any.  They only require your first and last name, birthdate and email address.  If someone looks in the phone book they'll get more information than that about you.  If they look at your driver's license they'll get more information than that about you.  You're supposed to put your real information, it's de rigueur, so to speak, to use your real first and last name on Facebook like everybody else, but there's people on my friends list who obviously haven't.  The only thing that absolutely has to be accurate is your email address. 

You've heard that people can tag you in embarrassing photos?  But there's a privacy setting to not allow them.

And after all, you can join Facebook and not SAY one single thing!  You can just join MY friends list, and then lurk and listen, and if I post something you like, say "Yay!" in the comments box, and nothing more.


Okay, there.  Done nagging.
See?  Here's what PRIVACY SETTINGS look like.  






Oh, those last few things, I've never entered anything in the boxes  :-)