Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Georgian Bay Islands National Park

As someone who has grown up and lived most of my life in Michigan, I have always been curious about the Canadian "side" of Lake Heron. It looked very interesting with so many islands and I always wondered what it was like. Well, today I am very happy to share with you a little I have learned about part of it - the Georgian Bay Islands National Park.

Summer Book Review - A Family of Her Own for Candy

I often review books for children from a number of publishers and always enjoy the books which tell a great story and have colorful illustrations. If the books also find a way to involve the children in the story, then the book is likely to get a high review from me. So, when I write stories for children, I work to be sure all these things are covered in my stories and my Candy the Kitten . . . and Me books definitely do these things! Today I want to share with you one of the books in this series - A Family of Her Own for Candy.

Today is NOT Lemon Bar Day, But Let's Enjoy Them Anyway!

  

Today is NOT National Lemon Bar day (it is in October), but lemon bars are so tasty and a great treat to make for the ones we love, so today I'm sharing a recipe for lemon bars with you and some fun lemon bar and lemon facts. I really do enjoy lemon bars - the butter cookie bottom and soft, tart lemon topping . . . it is absolutely a wonderful treat! Let's start though with some fun information - did you know . . .

crafting with grandma - Jesus Loves Me I Spy Bottles

 

Summer is basically here, so if you are looking for a special craft/gift idea you could use to involve your grandchildren in making to celebrate how special and loved they are to you and to Jesus, consider making Jesus Loves Me I Spy Bottles! I found a link on  Pinterest for making I Spy Bottles, and thought you could make them unique and special for Summer by doing the following things -

Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Fundy National Park

 

If you enjoy rugged coastlines, waterfalls, mountain biking, and kayaking, then Fundy National Park in Canada is a place you are likely to want to visit - and revisit over and over again! I may not be interested in the biking and kayaking, but I would absolutely love to see the beauty I'm learning about which makes up Fundy National Park!

Coffee Ice Cream - Make Some Today!

There are people in my family who enjoy coffee. There are also people who enjoy ice cream. It is highly possible these are the same people! So, when I received an ice cream maker for my birthday, I thought I'd look for a coffee ice cream recipe . . . today I'm happy to share the recipe I found with you.

"There are a LOT of 'Fives' in How Old You are, Grandma."

Eleven years ago, on this day, my then six year old grandson told me . . . "There are a LOT of 'fives' in how old you are, grandma. Not that I'm saying you are old!!!" Apparently they were working on counting by fives at school.   Remembering this put a huge smile on my face today, so I had to share it with you!

Today is National Blueberry Cheesecake Day

  

Since today is National Blueberry Cheesecake Day, it is a great time to try a new dessert for get-togethers and if the dessert is a tasty no-bake recipe it could not possibly be more perfect! I was browsing on Pinterest and found a recipe for Raspberry Lemonade Cheese Cake Pie, but thought it could easily be switched to Blueberry Lemonade and had to share it with you!

You'll find the recipe at this link - I'd make the following substitutions . . .

Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Forillon National Park

Today I want to let you know about the first National Park in Quebec, Forillon National Park. While this park was preceded by the removal of 225 families through expropriation, on February 14, 2011, the House of Commons adopted a motion which issued an official apology to the people whose properties were expropriated to create Forillon Park. I am saddened by the behavior of the firm which forced the First Nations people out of their land, but am encouraged by how the Canadian government told the truth about what happened and took responsibility for it.

Yes! illustrate my own Books ARE for You & the Children You Love

       

Summer Vacation will be upon us soon, so if you are looking for something fun you could give the children you love to work on together on a rainy Summer day or as a gift, consider getting some of the books from the illustrate my own series along with crayons, markers, and/or colored pencils. All of them are fun books which will uniquely engage the children you love in ways they have never engaged before with the accounts of Bible heroes. As they (and you) illustrate their books, they will think about what is happening, the things the Bible people said and did, and how God showed His love and grace to the Bible people . . . which will help the children you love better understand how God shows His love and grace to them as well! 

crafting with grandma - Crocheted Purse!

I like purses and I enjoy crocheting, so from time to time I decide to crochet myself a new purse! I have a number of purses, but since I crochet them - often from yarn I have left over from other projects - this is something I do to "treat" myself!

I thought I'd share with you one more of these purses today. I browsed on Pinterest looking for ideas. I knew I wanted to make a purse with a "quilt-like" look and ended up making a log cabin square, pinwheel square and patchwork square! I crocheted a simple lining and used one square for the front of the purse, another for the back and then the third for the flap. I'm very happy with the finished purse!

crafting with grandma - Footprint Robins!

Okay, if you have been reading grandma's cookie jar for very long you know I love hand and foot print crafts for little ones! Not only are they fun and cute to make, but they give me a moment in time to save so I can remember a day when my sweet little ones were small! Well, the other day when I was browsing on Pinterest I found a craft for making footprint robins! Talk about adorable!!! And, since the robins have returned, well, what could be better than making footprint robins!!!!

Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Elk Island National Park

Growing up in the US I learned how massive herds of Bison used to roam out West, but then people killed them - even shooting them from trains, and in so doing they nearly killed them all. . Once numbering in the tens of millions, the population was reduced to just a few hundred wild animals in the United States by the late 1880s. A VERY sad and shameful time in the history of the US for sure, which shockingly is not only part of our history, but is something the current occupant of the white house and his administration are actively working to do again as they try to displace hundreds of bison from federal lands, citing a reinterpretation of grazing law. I hope someone stops them.

Knowing the history of the US with Bison and the current attempts to harm them, it made me so happy to read about Elk Island National Park in Canada - where they are doing the opposite - trying to protect Bison!

grandma's cookbook - Orange Butter Cookies!

When it comes to cookies my family tends to favor the "classics" . . .  chocolate chip-peanut-butter-oatmeal, plain chocolate chip or plain peanut-butter cookies. But every once in a while I like to try something different and this recipe, which I found on  Pinterest, is certainly one I'd like to try! After all, what could be more "yummie" sounding than orange butter cookies?!!!!