October Chain "Linky" CLIMB & Big Announcement!!

My Big & Wonderful news this month is that I have a CLIMBING partner!!!   

 Angel from Sew Crafty Angel  has graciously agreed to be a CLIMB Host along with me! (Please checkout her fantastic blog! - She is so much fun!) What does that mean? you might ask. - That means when you link up to the CLIMB your blog will be on both of our blogs right from the beginning of the month & now both Angel & Angie will promote your blog on our own social media sites (twitter, pinterest, google+ etc)!! Also, if you co-host - your free ad will be on both of our sidebars!! We will be CLIMBing to even higher heights!!     <a href="http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/p/chain-linky-climb.html" rel="”nofollow”" target="_blank"><img alt="God’s Growing Garden" src="http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o501/AngieOuelletteTower/Sponsors/Climb200_zps6c2cafff.jpg" /></a>    

So you see - Networking really does work!!!

 

In August - Angie "tweeted" every blog that had signed up by her sister's birthday and then in September Angie "pinned" 1 post for every blog that had signed up by the 19th.  
Sometime in October is Angie's Wedding Anniversary -  On that special day Angie & Angel will promote each blog that  has linked to the CLIMB on google+  - that means your blog will be promoted on 2 different google+ accounts.
So link up early!!  & ENJOY!!

Remember - Now if you co-host you will receive a free Weekly Ad and your blog button will appear on both Angie's blog & Angel's blog!!

(The Ad will run live a few weeks after you have co-hosted)

 

Sign up to receive emails about the CLIMB

 

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Please checkout this month's wonderful Sponsor!!

"Trees for Sale Online" is a beautiful online Plant Nursery! They sell trees (evergreens & fruit trees), shrubs, berry bushes, perennials, ground cover plants & much more!

(Please click on the ad above)

Wisdom is Rewarding & Mocking is Destructive

“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults:  whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.  Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;  rebuke the wise and they will love you.  Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;  teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.  If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;  if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."  Proverbs 9: 7 - 12

Meaning of “Mock” : to criticize and laugh at (someone or something) for being bad, worthless, or unimportant  Mirriam-Webster

Sometimes, sarcasm & teasing can be funny & lighthearted.  However, If the person that you are “teasing” isn’t laughing with you, then what you are actually doing is  Mocking & Insulting.

Meaning of “Rebuke”  : to speak in an angry and critical way to (someone), reprove, reproach, scold, give a talking-to.  Mirriam-Webster & Thesaurus

Both rebuking & mocking is destructive and causes the other person to be defensive.  There are better ways to correct – “holding someone accountable” will cause the other person to grow and improve.

Nothing good comes from mocking – it’s destructive both to the Mocker & the One being mocked.  The one being mocked will obviously be hurt by the Mocker’s words.  The Mocker might feel guilt or shame - sometimes without even realizing it.  The Mocker is the one that suffers the most because there is no growth.  If nothing else, the constant negativity from mocking will wear down the mocker.

Meaning of “Wisdom” : knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life       : the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand         : knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment.

Wisdom on the other hand is beneficial to everyone -  both to the person who is wise & to those around him/her.  Wisdom makes a person grow and become a better person.

Are you striving to be wise or a mocker?

Saving Seeds - BEANS

 

Saving Seeds - BEANS

Talk about money saving tips - you could potentially only have to buy bean seeds 1 time and then, if you save your seeds, you could have bean plants for life!! 

Beans are the easiest vegetable seed to save for next year's garden.  Firstly, you need to make sure that your bean plant is an Heirloom NOT a Hybrid.
Click HERE to view the difference between Hybrid & Heirloom seeds.

Step 1 - Allow a few beans per plant to grow until they become brown and dry (see picture above) - the outer shell will become hard and tough.

Step 2 - Crack open each dried bean pod and you will see the seeds lined up ready to be removed (see picture below).

Step 3 - Remove the seeds from each pod and store in a cool dry place until next year. (I store my seeds in a paper lunch bag and place in my basement.  IMPORTANT - my basement is nice & dry - if you have a damp basement do NOT store seeds there).

ENJOY!! 

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Linked to:
HomeAcre Hop

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Please checkout this month's wonderful Sponsor!!
 

Lisa from "Feathers in the Woods"
This blog is so helpful & interesting!!  I'm quoting the blog motto:  "Homesteading, gardening, easy recipes, freebies, frugality, backyard chickens, working outside the home, photography, pets and so much more! Written by a farm mom in western Pennsylvania."  Please checkout her fantastic blog!
 

 

(Please click on the ad above)

Garden Preserved Pear Cobbler

Garden Preserved Pear Cobbler

I call this recipe "garden preserved" because I used some of my frozen pears (I will have to do a post on freezing pears for winter desserts at a later time).  However, this recipe is just as delicious if you use fresh pears.

Printable Recipe

Pear Bottom

6 cups sliced pears (I used frozen pears already peeled & sliced) (if using fresh - washed, peeled and cored)

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

juice from 1 lemon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons quick (instant) tapioca

Prepare the pears as listed above.  Mix all ingredients together in a large saucepan/pot.  Bring to a boil over medium heat - stirring all the time (just bring to a boil & then turn off the heat/ or remove from heat).  Pour into an oven safe deep dish (spray or butter the dish first) and now make the biscuits below.

Cinnamon Biscuits

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt (only if you are using unsalted butter)

Whip Cream for the top

Stir the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder & salt in a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon until combined.  Cut the butter into this dry mixture (I use a pastry cutter but a large fork will work also).  Now stir in the milk.  With large spoons - drop about 8 spoonful scoops of dough on top of the hot pear mixture from the previous step - there should be enough dough for 8 biscuits (see picture above) (I made my biscuits larger & only had enough dough for 7 biscuits).  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until desired color & doneness is achieved (see picture below).

Allow to cool or eat warm - Scoop 1 biscuit & 1 spoonful of pear filling per serving & top with whipped cream or Vanilla Ice Cream & ENJOY!!

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Linked to:
Mix It Up Monday
Good Tastes Tuesday
All My Bloggy Friends
Tasty Tuesday
Creative Wednesdays
Thursday Favorite Things
Domesblissity
Freedom Friday


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Please checkout this month's wonderful Sponsor!!

Lisa from "Feathers in the Woods"
This blog is so helpful & interesting!!  I'm quoting the blog motto:  "Homesteading, gardening, easy recipes, freebies, frugality, backyard chickens, working outside the home, photography, pets and so much more! Written by a farm mom in western Pennsylvania."  Please checkout her fantastic blog!

 

(Please click on the ad above)

A September Giveaway is so much Fun!

 

A September Giveaway is so much Fun!!

I'm so excited to be part of this super fun Giveaway!! 
 
One lucky winner will receive a monthly ad space on 7 different blogs!!!
& $30 PayPal Cash!!!!

Many ways to enter below! - ENJOY!!

 

ONE WINNER | OPEN WORLDWIDE Must have a PayPal account and must have a blog or shop open to sponsorship.   Winner receives:   $30 PayPal Cash and 30 days First Confessions Ad Space - Janine's Confessions of a Mommyaholic   30 days Medium Ad Space - Cuddlebug Cuties    30 days Paradise Cabana Club Ad Space - A Peek into My Paradise   30 days Monthly Ad Space - Gods Growing Garden    30 days The Big One Ad Space - Dawn's Disaster    30 days Medium Ad Space - Sew Crafty Angel    30 days Large Ad Space - My Full Time Fit Life    

Please see the official rules of all sweepstakes and/or giveaways here

a Rafflecopter giveaway


 

 

 

Link up to this TERRIFIC Blog Hop - "Tuesdays with a Twist" - I'm Co-hosting!!

I am so excited to be co-hosting this TERRIFIC blog hop called "Tuesdays with a Twist"!!

Firstly, I wanted to share with you what's been happening in "God's Growing Garden" last week.

I shared with you pictures of two different sunflower varieties that I grew in my garden this year: 
Starburst Blaze Sunflower
Italian White Sunflower

If you like coffee then you'll love my recipe for "Coffee Crème Brulee - Easy Stovetop Method" 

And 2 days ago the Sunday Bible study :
Friendship with the World = God's Enemy


Last night I shared with you the Monthly Ad Spaces that are still available for the month of October - only $10!!!!

Now, please link up & ENJOY this cool hop!
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Good Morning and welcome to another fantastic party!

 

  <a href="http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a627/greenmary_smith/ad9dc0c5-5f80-4ed7-a18c-c6e9fb42d156_zpsde41d9bb.jpg"/></a>  

 

Are you ready to party?

 

We're your co-hosts: 

 

Mary @ Back to the Basics and

Joyce @ It's Your Life!

Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Mindie @ The (mis)Adventures of a Born Again Farm Girl

AND please welcome Angie @ God's Growing Garden

Each co-host will be sharing her own picks for Features. This gives everyone a better chance of being featured. Be sure to check all of our blogs to see if you were featured!

 
My Features this Week are:

1. "Autumn Mixed Media" by Vintage Creations

2.  "Buttons & Burlap Pumpkin" by Clover House

3.  "Banana Oatmeal Cookies" by Three Sisters & Us

 

If you've been featured we'd love for you to grab a button.

  <a href="http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a627/greenmary_smith/FeaturedMorningglory_zps96ec9fee.jpg"/></a>

We all love comments!  we try to comment on each and every link. 

Please hop around and show some love!

The party starts every Tuesday at 7am EST and will continue until Friday at 11:59pm.  Feel free to stop back any time and "like" your favorites.  Please visit other blogs if you have a moment. 

Share older posts as well as new ones.  No limit on links!

*Pictures should be your own* 

By linking up you give us permission to use these photos

 (with proper link backs) in our features. 

 

And now for the party! 

 

 

 

 

Ad Spaces Available in October 2013

 

Are you fishing for something different? 
Then you've come to the right place!
 
The "B" in "B.A.S.S" stands for "Buy"
The "A" stands for "Advertise"
The first "S" stands for "Support" &
The second "S" stands for "Swap"

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Today we are going to concentrate on "A" for "Advertise" - I wanted to let you know  about the monthly ad spaces that are still available on God's Growing Garden for the month of October 2013:


 Why should you advertise with me on God's Growing Garden?
Checkout my Advertise page to see how intensively I will promote your blog (click HERE to view) & it's only $10 USD!!!!

- Here are my Follower stats:

GFC (Google Friends Connect) - 840
Bloglovin - 626
Twitter - 1,497
Pinterest - 976
Google+ - 536
Facebook - 149
Linky Followers - 45
Networked Blog - 34

That's a grand total of 4,703 followers in some form or another.

As of yesterday (September 23rd, 2013) I had 16,826 views in 1 month.


October 2013 available Monthly Ad Spaces (ONLY $10 each):


Starting October 7th, 2013 and going for 4 weeks until November 3rd, 2013

SOLD
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Starting October 14th, 2013 and going for 4 weeks until November 10th, 2013

SOLD
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Starting October 21st, 2013 and going for 4 weeks until November 17th, 2013

SOLD

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Starting October 28th, 2013 and going for 4 weeks until November 24th, 2013

RESERVED

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THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

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"Italian White" - Sunflowers

 

The "Italian White" Sunflower

This Sunflower is the brightest of bright! - When the sun catches it just right the petals really do look white.  It is a delicate sunflower and it is loved by all ants (see the picture below near the end where 1 sunflower is covered in ants).

 

ENJOY the following pictures!
 

All photos were taken by me (Angie Ouellette-Tower) and the sunflowers were all grown in my garden.

© (2013)

Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower


Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower


Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower


Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower


Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower


Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower


Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower

Sunflowers from 2013:

Giant Gray Stripe Sunflower - Part 1

Giant Gray Stripe Sunflower - Part 2

Giant Gray Stripe Sunflower - Part 3

Soraya Sunflower

Starburst Blaze Sunflowers

 

Sunflowers from 2012:

Mammoth Sunflowers

VanGogh Sunflowers

Floristan Sunflowers

Cherry Rose Sunflowers

Monet's Palette Mixture Sunflowers

Sunflowers from 2011:

Sunflowers, Black Velvet Queen

Sunflowers, Autumn Beauty

Sunflowers, Royal Flush

Copyright, Permissions & Disclaimer

 

 

Linked to:
Raising Imperfection


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Please checkout this month's wonderful Sponsor!!
 

Lisa from "Feathers in the Woods"
This blog is so helpful & interesting!!  I'm quoting the blog motto:  "Homesteading, gardening, easy recipes, freebies, frugality, backyard chickens, working outside the home, photography, pets and so much more! Written by a farm mom in western Pennsylvania."  Please checkout her fantastic blog!
 

 

(Please click on the ad above) 

 

Friendship with the World = God's Enemy

 

"What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?  You want something but don't get it, You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us tends toward envy but he gives us more grace?  That is why Scripture says:  'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' 

Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you."  James 4:1-8  

 

Aren't these verses so relevant to today??  Fights and quarrels are going on everywhere around us - whether it's a political argument or a family feud that might last years!  Even reality TV shows that focus on people who can't get along.  We can all relate in some way to the wisdom that James shares with us today.  "The desires that battle within us" will be a lifetime struggle - even to the most experienced of Christians.  That "good against evil" is always going back and forth within us.  Fights and quarrels are always about selfishness in some way.

"You do not have because you do not ask God" is a sentence that has often been taken out of context.  Many people believe that if you are "Godly" or "Religious" you should be able to ask for almost anything and get it.  That way of thinking is so twisted.  Our requests can only be God glorifying - we can never pray for selfish reasons.  I'm not saying that it's selfish if, for example, you are praying for the strife in your marriage to be resolved - that's not selfish because a healthy marriage glorifies God.  Our motives are the key to our requests. 

There are 3 possibilities if you pray for something for years and years with no answer -
1.  God is teaching you something (like patience) through your asking
2.  Your motives are wrong
Always check your motives before you ask God for something.
3.  The answer might be "no" but you are not able to accept that as an answer.

James uses some harsh words - "friendship with the world is hatred toward God". This is black and white - there is no gray area here.  Now this doesn't mean that we are not to love the people in the world - I'm sure you've heard the saying: "Jesus loves the sinner but hates the sin."  "Friendship with the world" means that you are acting like the world and taking those customs as your own.  When you become like the world you are hating God.

Definition of "Submit" - "to yield or surrender oneself to the will or authority of another.  To stop trying to fight or resist something.  Succumb, give in to, bow to, defer to." Merriam-Webster & Free Dictionary

Being humble and submitting to God is the only way to avoid being friends with the world.  Remember - it is impossible to be humble and selfish at the same time.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  "Resist the devil and he will flee" - You know that we are Christian Soldiers fighting a spiritual battle - if you ever feel oppressed or under fire from Satan - all you have to do is say out loud:  "In Jesus name I rebuke you Satan"         or      "I plead the blood of Christ"-  You will feel that oppression go and that weight lift off your shoulders.

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Introducing Week#4 Co-host(s) for the September Chain "Linky" CLIMB

 

<a href="http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/p/chain-linky-climb.html" target="_blank"><img alt="God’s Growing Garden" src="http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o501/AngieOuelletteTower/Climb200_zpse69443c4.jpg" /></a>

Please welcome The September Chain "Linky" CLIMB week#4 co-host:  Dolly from "Dolly Creates"
(Click on the blog button below)

 


Dolly has such a creative blog!  It is full of original ideas on sewing, crocheting, knitting and many other craft tips.  There are scrumptious recipes and every Thursday a fun blog hop!  Please visit her lovely blog - I know that you'll enjoy your visit!

To join in on this month's Chain "Linky" CLIMB (a month long blog hop) - please click HERE

 

Also, we are looking for more co-hosts - you will receive a FREE weekly ad on godsgrowinggarden.com just for co-hosting!!!!
  

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