Prayer Request: This Was NOT on My Fall Bucket List!

Hi Y'all!

 Some of you are familiar with my bucket lists that I write each season. I even wrote one during the summer that I was taking chemotherapy for breast cancer and radiation therapy the following winter. The lists are never completed, but they give me some tangible reminders to enjoy the season. Let me tell you, this was NOT on my Fall Bucket List

 For the last two years, I've had surgery in October. Two years ago it was a bilateral mastectomy. That means both sides. Last year, there was surgery for revision on my right side. The cancer had been on the left. Surprise surprise, I am having surgery again.
 Tomorrow morning, at 5:30 a.m. central time, I go to the hospital. Surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m.
The surgeon is going to replace the implant in my right breast. It needs to be done, but boy is this close to the holidays! ~smile~

 I'm writing to you with prayer requests.

• I am praying for my surgeon, Dr. H., that he will feel well, be skillful, and at his best tomorrow morning as he and his staff perform surgery. 
• I am praying for salvation and blessing for everyone involved. 
• I am also praying that there will be no germs or anything that will cause me to get an infection.
• Obviously, I'm also praying that I will heal quickly and completely with minimal pain.

 I plan to ask the surgeon if I can pray for him before surgery, and I plan to splash the love of Jesus over everyone that I can. ~smile~

 Many of you have been with me since before my cancer diagnosis. I thank you so very much for staying with me through all of this. As you might guess, I will not be on the computer for a few days or maybe even a few weeks. All depends on how I feel and how soon I am off the pain medicines. ~smile~ 

 So, thank you all for your continued prayers. You all have been a rock of support to me in this cancer and post-cancer path. I thank God for you all and for each day I wake and live.

God bless you all!

Watch my Harvest Lane Cottage Facebook page. I'll probably post there before I post here, because it's quicker. I invite you to like my page.

Hugs,

Laura Lane

Trusting My Jesus 

Through It All

P.S. I've had requests for my address. I am happy to send it to you directly if you email me. I don't feel comfortable putting it directly on the blog. Thanks for understanding.
laura@harvestlanecottage.com 

P.P.S. If you wish to donate, you can donate with PayPal using lauraofharvestlane@gmail.com.

https://www.facebook.com/HarvestLaneCottage

The End of the Magi by Patrick Carr Five Stars!

When I saw the name Patrick W. Carr, I knew that I wanted to read this book. He is that kind of writer. I find his writing riveting. I don't read his stories from the outside, I read them from the inside. I feel immersed in the action. My husband came home and saw me reading this one afternoon. He said I was addicted to it. ~smile~

Like every book that I've read of Patrick Carr, this book just drew me into the story from the first page. I jokingly told my husband one day that I was going to Persia for awhile. ~smile~ I just immersed myself in his writing.

The beginning was shocking. I want to tell you, but it's a spoiler. Myrad escapes and the story of his journey to find the strange star that is bright and immovable in the western night sky is long, hard, and very dangerous. The landscape is unsafe, it's filled with a number of powerful and dangerous persons whom Myrad must determine whether to trust them or not. Are they friends, foes, or someone in between being swept along in this nightmarish but amazingly hopeful journey.

Although this book is written from the perspective of a young magi acolyte who is following the Star, it is not a fluffy Christmas book. It is an adventure book that I think would be enjoyed by men or women.

I highly recommend this book. Patrick Carr is one of the best writers that I've read in the last few years.

Genre: Historical Biblical Fiction
From the Publisher:
Fleeing for his life after his adoptive father is put to death by a ruthless Parthian queen, Myrad, a young magi acolyte, escapes the city. There he begins an epic journey filled with peril, close escapes, and dangerous battles. Over everything shines the dream of a star that Myrad can't forget and the promise that the world will never be the same.
★★★★★   It was amazing!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I use the Goodreads star system.

★               Did not like it

★★            It was okay

★★★         Liked it

★★★★      Really liked it

★★★★★   It was amazing

The Must Have Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies for Every Baker's Recipe Box

I've been baking cookies since I was ten or eleven years old. Before that, I was up on a chair helping my mom stir and mix and lick the beaters. We didn't worry about raw cookie dough in those days. ~smile~ I was in charge of making sugar cookies as soon as I learned how. I remember staying up late one night making eleven dozen sugar cookies for my mom to take to work the next morning for her birthday treats. It was my gift to her. I couldn't have been more than ten or eleven at the time. 

Later, in my teen years, I began making chocolate chip cookies. I don't remember where the recipe came from. The only copy I had was in my own handwriting. I made the cookies often. The family liked them slightly underdone, and they would eat them right off the cookie sheet before they finished cooling. I only had two brothers, my mom, and my step-dad, but they loved cookies! 

I've changed the recipe a little over the years. I'm now using butter instead of Parkay margarine. I also find that I like the Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips best. Back in the olden days, I used Tollhouse or Bakers. You can use your favorite chips. I have made them with and without pecans. I've even made them without the chocolate chips. I substitute coconut and pecans. It's a nice basic recipe to play with. Any way I make them, my family loves them. But even more than the cookies, they like the dough. ~smile~ There's only one rule—you must use butter!

Laura Lane's Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream the following together in a large bowl:

1 cup salted butter, softened 

1 cup white sugar

1 cup C & H dark brown sugar

Add:

2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat until fluffy.

In another bowl, combine:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Add dry to wet ingredients and mix just until combined.*

Add:

12 oz Ghiradelli, Hershey's, or Toll House chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans optional

I use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to make uniform cookies twelve to a cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes depending on whether you like them soft or crispy.

Now put some on a plate and enjoy with some tea or milk while you think about who you want to bless with a few!

Blessings to you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

Thankful to Be Wife and Momma at Home
for my Husband and my Adult Children

A Chatty Little Hello From the Cottage ~ October 25, 2019

Hi everyone! Just popping in to say hello.

If you read my last post, you know that my husband found a computer for me. It's a Dell Optiplex 3020. That doesn't mean anything to me either. ~smile~ What I do know is that it's much smaller than my last desktop. It seems to be working great, too. I want to thank Penny Holland, Mr. and Mrs. David Entinger Helen Threlfo for their donations. Your generosity helped me purchase a very nice reconditioned computer. That fits my thrifty lifestyle. 

Lately, I've been cozying up the cottage for the cold weather that will soon be here. It's been raining all day, and it's been in the forties. Next week there's a chance of snow! Just imagine. That's really early for Southern Missouri. That means I need to stock up on cocoa and soup fixin's!

I've made chili and a beef and cabbage soup this week. My husband has requested garlic cheese potato soup for tomorrow night. We've got good friends coming for a soup supper. My friend, Joyce, from Morris Patch of Heaven Homestead and her family are coming. Joyce is bringing minestrone. I invite you to go see her latest video, and tell her I sent you.

Well, I hope you're enjoying your Fall. I'm trying to do as many things on my Fall Bucket List as possible over the next couple of weeks. Why the rush? I found out this week that I'm going to have surgery again. I need to have my implant replaced. November 11th is the date.  I'm not sure what recovery will be like this time. So, that means I need to pack in all the fall fun and Thanksgiving planning that I can between now and then.

Well enough for now. I hope you have a terrific weekend.
Laura

A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #147

Welcome to Harvest Lane Cottage.

I invite you to enjoy a cuppa and browse through hundreds of posts on faith, family, thrifty homemaking and encouragement. 

Hello Dear Reader,

 Fall has finally arrived to stay. We have trees turning color all around town. It's so exciting to watch the trees on my street to see what color they will be. We have only two trees in our yard. One is a Teacup Magnolia. It's a kind of tulip tree with deep pink flowers. The other is an extraordinarily large pine tree that towers over the neighborhood. It has had abundant pine cones this year. I think the only colors we will see will be on the neighbors' trees. Well, here's how we've been thrifty lately.

• I cut my own bangs. There's not much hair there yet. I've been putting collagen in some of my drinks to help.

• I'm still knitting socks for my husband's birthday. They will be his main birthday gift. Honey, if you read this, forget! 

• Shopped at Aldi.

• I answered several surveys with Swagbucks. I am saving up for Christmas.

• I listed a book in My Ebay.

• I began making Christmas gifts.

• My husband needed a housewarming gift for a client. A couple of hand knit dishcloths and a bottle of dish soap in a pretty bag with tissue did the trick.

• I went to my surgeon to discuss a problem with my implant. While there, he asked about the brace on my wrist. It turns out that he's also a hand surgeon! He examined it, and gave me a steroid injection. Talk about more for your money! I was so touched that he cared enough to take care of all of me. ~smile~ I need another revision surgery. Now we have to see if the insurance company will pay.

• My husband was able to find a used computer for me. Many thanks to the dear people who generously gave to me to help me purchase it. You truly blessed me! May God bless you, too!

  Thank you for visiting, I value your comments and opinions. I've made lots of friends here that have been so encouraging and kind. God bless you all!

Laura.
Redefining Laura

♥♥♥♥♥

If you wish to donate,

you may use this PayPal link. 

Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

Thank you so much!

I've lost over 30 pounds so far with Trim Healthy Mama.

You might be wondering about the Amazon links I include. I'm trying to make a little money to pay for Christmas and for special ingredients and supplements to help rebuild my health with my Trim Healthy eating. 

It would help me greatly if you'd stop here and use my link at the top of my sidebar when you purchase something at Amazon. The earnings are a very small percentage, but every bit helps. It doesn't cost you anything extra to use my link. Thank you so much!

Laura