My Turn / Your Turn

This weekend Danella and I are going to be cycling over 100km in two days. Sound like a lot? It is. Sound like not much? It is a lot. Danella wrote about it here in her post With the Wind. (It was originally going to be last weekend, but then we moved it forward 7 days because I had another committment that weekend.)

Today we are packing our panniers (the bags that go on the bike to hold all our stuff). It is an interesting job, especially since we've never done it before. This will be the first time we have ever gone on a bike trip before.

Excerpt from my diary entry yesterday:

"I am looking forward to the bike trip with a little trepidation. If the weather is amazing and we get awesome tailwinds the whole time, I'll love it. If the weather is not so amazing and we get stuck with strong headwinds, I just hope I'll still love it!"

It will be an interesting new challenge. :) It's often fun to do something you've never done before.

I challenge you, while we are away, to do something you've never done before. It is up to you what that is. It could be learning something new on the computer, it could be writing and presenting your testimony to a friend, maybe it's just that you want to try a flavour of chocolate you've never tried. Whatever it is, jump out of your comfort zone. Do something different. Something you wouldn't have done unless I challenged you to.

I wouldn't be doing this bike trip of my own choosing - I'm doing it for an award (Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award) and I have to do this trip for it. Since I'm doing something I wouldn't normally do, why don't you pick something and do it?

I'd love to know what it is you're doing. Make sure you comment and let me know how it goes. :)

Meanwhile, keep safe, happy and enjoy the weekend!

~Bonnie

An Earnest Request

Just a quick petition - I know all you lovely readers are very kind, so I was wondering if you would mind helping my sister Abbie out. She has entered a horsey photo into a competition to win an awesome prize, but the competition is such that only the photo with the most votes will win. Sooo... can you please vote for her???

Go here to vote. (https://social.clarkemckenzie.co.nz/items/i-luv-you)

We're not sure if you are able to vote if you don't have a facebook account. If you can't, don't worry, we would love it if you asked your friends who have facebook accounts to vote instead. Or as well. :)

A big thank you from Abbie!

My 26 Thankfulnesses (4)

How are you all doing? I am not posting very regularly at present... sorry... please excuse me. I have a lot on my plate at the moment, including schoolwork, lots of hours working (the managers have lots of people away at the moment so need me more often than usual) and trying to keep up with day-to-day activities. So that's why I am posting somewhat erratically!

Before I continue my 26 Thankfulnesses post, make sure you have read numbers one, two and three.

R
Radishes. They taste like nothing else! They are also so fresh and red and white and cute. :)
Roses. :)
Rainbows - not only are they beautiful, when we see them we are reminded of God's promises.
Relationships. With God, with others, with yourself.
Ribbons
Rest. Sometimes it is nice to rest in Jesus. It is always nice to rest in Jesus.
Really cute little siblings and doggies!

S
Supremely Sensational Sunsets.

Public Domain

Songs to worship and glorify God
Sandwiches. Yummy. Especially with tomato and cucumber and butter and lots of pepper and salt.
Schoolwork, to enhance our brains.
Seahorses. They are so fascinating.
Soup. :)
Scissors to cut things with.


T
Teddy bears, I am not ashamed to say that I own one. He's really cute. His name is Theodore but I call him Teddy for short.
Telephones. They certainly make life easier!
Thank yous. Just the ability to tell someone "thanks" is awesome.
Turtles. So cute!

Public Domain

Teenagers. It's an awesome time of life.
Templates for various things.
Thick bars of chocolate. :)


U
Umbrellas that save you from getting wet.
Unity. Unity between friends and families is a wonderful thing. When I am a leader on a camp I always pray hard for unity between all the leaders. It's awesome!
Unicorns. Did you know that the narwhal is a whale that looks like a unicorn?


V
Vehicles to drive us places. (The photo is of our car.)

Vacuum cleaners. While it is a chore to vacuum, it is a lot easier to do that than take up the carpets and wash them every so often like the people in the olden days had to do!
The Vibrancy of colours. God has made a wonderful world for us to live in.
Visitors to have fun with!
Vanilla flavouring and vanilla icecream.



Farewell until I post again!
Bonnie

My 26 Thankfulnesses (3)

I'm back from camp now (*cue applause*) and here is the third of the 26 Thankfulnesses posts!

L
Laughter. I have heard it said that a day without laughter is a day wasted!
Legs to take us places. They are actually quite helpful things.
Love. From others, from me, from God!
Lavender. Doesn't it have such a lovely smell?

www.lavenderconnection.com

Loaves of bread. Mmmm.
Lydia. She is such a beautiful girl and a wonderful sister.
Libraries... full of books!


M
Mummy!
Massage. Daddy massages my neck and shoulders when they are stiff and sore and boy, it feels wonderful.
Meadows full of flowers. I was looking for a photo of this for you, but I couldn't decide which one to use because they are all so nice! So here are all of them for you, here. I think my favourite one is this one.

www.mrwallpaper.com

Mud! Although it's nice to be clean and neat, sometimes it's fun to chuck mud around and have a mudfight! It's so enjoyable. :)



N
Names. I am glad I have a name. I'm sure you are too! They can be helpful things at times.
Notebooks to write in. I write in my diary as much as I can, and I have filled several books. I think everyone should keep a diary/journal of some sort.

yesinavargas.com

Nothing. At times it is nice to just sit and think about nothing.
Noodles!! They go nicely with bolognaise on top!


O
Oranges. How do people live who don't like fruit?
Organization. I love to be organized. (The photo is an example of the wrong way of thinking about it... !)

lifehack.org

Orchards full of fruit. Mmm.
Onions to spice up dishes.
Omelets. (How come all these O's seem to be food oriented?)



P
People! I love being around people.
Painting and paintbrushes and palletes. There, that's a nice lot of P words, isn't that?
Presents. Packages and parcels are so exciting.

wpcg.ca

Peace.
Potatoes. Especially fried potatoes.
Peacocks and peaches and photographs and paddocks and picnics and pictures and pie and prayer and playing tunes on various instruments and pluralization and praise and poppies and poetry and pleasure and pineapple and pirouettes and pepper and perfume and parsley and patterns and parks and papaya and platters (especially of chocolate biscuits)... where do I start? Where do I end?



Q
Quince. It is surprising how many people have not tasted quince before! Stewed quince is surprisingly delicious.
Quartets and quintets.

newmusicbox.org

Questions in quizzes.
Quiet. It's very refreshing, particularly when you notice the noise a lot after coming home from camp!



And I will be back soon with part 4 in the series. Until then, keep safe, have fun and may the Lord bless you greatly.

My 26 Thankfulnesses (2)

This is one of those annoying "Part 1 of" posts. In this case, it is part 2 of 5.

I titled it My 26 Thankfulnesses. Why? Well, you'll see. How? You'll see that too, hopefully!

Partly because I missed GreaThings, and partly because it's a neat thing to do, I'm going through the alphabet and thanking God for at least one thing beginning with each letter. (You're probably thinking that at X I'm gong to be thanking God for x-rays, but just wait and see!)

If you want to see part one, it's the post directly before this one. :) In that one I did A, B, C, D and E.


F
Friends

Firemen to fight our fires for us
Fledgeling birds, like baby budgies. So cute!
Flowers, in particular fuchsias
Polar Fleece sweatshirts to wear when it is cold (Fleece is the F, not the P for Polar!)
Flying foxes... rushing through the air... a feeling so awesome.



G
First and most important, God!
Giant icecreams... mmmm.
Goldfish. They are such a beautiful colour.

Gobbledygook. Sometimes it's fun to talk nonsense!
Grandparents... what wonderful people.

H
Hugs. Big ones.
Happiness!

Hair, because otherwise everyone would be bald. :)
Harp music, the tinkling of angels.
Hazel. It's such a pretty colour. There's so much depth in it.


I 
Intelligence, that God has given us.
Icecream, I know I said this before, but there's absolutely nothing like biting into it. A great chunk. Delicious. Mmm.

Imagination! I don't know how people live without an imagination!
Infants to cuddle. A special new life.
Ivy. I know lots of people regard it as a pest but I love it.

J
Jesus.... my King... my Lord... my God... my Saviour.
Jelly! It's just so... wobbly.

A Journal to write in.
Johnny and Jacob
Jandals, or flipflops as some people say.
Joy. There's not point being sad all the time when you can be joyful!

K
A kaleidoscope. Have you every looked through one of these before?

Keys to unlock doors. I love turning keys.
Kittens that are really cute! And even ones that aren't really cute.
Kites to fly. There's something so free about a kite, wheeling it's way up there in the sky. It looks like so much fun!


And I'll be back soon... back from camp, back with another Thankfulnesses post!

Picture credits: Icecream photo: www.fanpop.com / Friends photo: revandy.org / Goldfish photo: www.redorbit.com / Happiness photo: www.fastcompany.com / Jelly photo: clipart / Kaleidoscope photo: www.fimfiction.net 

My 26 Thankfulnesses

This is going to be one of those annoying "Part 1 of" posts. In this case, it is part 1 of 5.

I titled it My 26 Thankfulnesses. Why? Well, you'll see. How? You'll see that too, hopefully!

Partly because I missed GreaThings, and partly because it's a neat thing to do, I'm going through the alphabet and thanking God for at least one thing beginning with each letter. (You're probably thinking that at X I'm gong to be thanking God for x-rays, but just wait and see!)

Being in mind that this is a Part 1 of 5 post, and bearing in mind that I am currently away and this is a scheduled post, why don't you comment heaps, tell me how awesome the idea is, and give me a wonderful surprise for when I get back??? (Just an idea!)


A.
Apples to crunch. Particularly granny smith apples. So yummy!

Alphabet. I wouldn't be writing this without the use of the alphabet.

Abbie, my sister. What a blessing family is.
Art. Drawing, painting and music generally fit under this label! I thank the Lord for all of them.
Animals to cuddle :) Especially cute ones :)


B
Blessings. My blog is Bonnie's Blessings, you know! I'm thankful for each and every one of them.
Ben, my brother. What a blessing family is.
Babies. Babies!! Ours is due in 4 weeks!! Can't wait!
Ballet. Although I do not still take ballet, I enjoy dancing and stretching (yes, I do enjoy stretching) and pretending I am a ballerina. You may think me weird. I love it.
Bicycles to ride. They are certainly faster than walking.

C
Chocolate... where would I be without chocolate....

Caleb, my brother. What a blessing family is.
Clocks to mark time. Clocks were a timely invention.
Cameras!
Concrete to hold things up. Otherwise things would fall down.

D
Danella, my sister. What a blessing family is.
Dad, my Dad. Nobody else's Dad. Father. Daddy.
Dictionaries to tell you words. I find them very helpful, particularly in Scrabble!

Dolphins - they are so smooth! I love dolphins. When we were in Australia I got to touch one. Awesome experience!
Ducks, just because we need two 'D' animals. :) And ducks are cute. :)
Daylight to light up the day. If it was nighttime all the time it could get annoying pretty quick!



E
Earth itself. Life could not exist on any other planet.

Eggs to bake and eat. Yum, yum :)
Elaboration. I love to elaborate.
Echoes. Don't you just find echoes so fascinating?
Eternity to spend with Jesus!


And I'll be back (well, I won't be, but the post will) in two days time with another 5 (or 6 maybe) thankfulnesses. Just think how much I'm enjoying camp at the moment!! :P Have a great camp-less day. :)

I am Currently Away

This is just a random post.

1. I am away at camp at the moment. Don't you wish you were there too????

2. When someone says *Headdesk* I usually roll my eyes because honestly, I don't believe anyone actually does it. Do you actually do it?


(Sit there watching it for a while. It seriously gets on your nerves.)

3. This is brilliant. It's 101 ideas to use for blog posts when you get stuck.

4. Some cute babies...

5. Mum is only 4 weeks away from her due date!! Sooo cannot wait to hold our new precious baby!! Life is such a blessing.... so excited!

5 Things I Have Learnt

Before I begin with the niggy-gritty of this post, I'm going to say randomly that I can smell lemon-meringue pie cooking. My sisters are awesome cooks. It smells reeeaaaly good! I'm going to do a Sayna trick and say "Don't you wish you could have some?" But I won't be mean and post pictures of our empty plates. Maybe.

By the time you read this, I will be on camp (hopefully)! I'm leaving the day you read this and I will be away for a week or so. But don't worry. The first thing I have learnt this past year is how to schedule a post.

So I'm going to schedule posts for when I am away. And do not fear, blog readers. I shall return.

While I'm gone, don't be afraid to....



But enough of that. This post is about 5 things I have learnt this past year that have been really helpful to me. And I'm also going to put down 5 things I want to learn this year.

I've already told you the first thing I learnt. That was scheduling posts, remember?

2. The Remove Formatting button. Seriously, this button has saved my life. It's brilliant! If you don't know how to use it, no kidding, learn.

3. How to post pictures. This may seem like a no-brainer, but when I first started blogging I really did not know my way around at all! It actually took me a while before I figured it out. Awful, I know, but there's the truth.

4. Never take readers for granted. One post I may have 10 comments and a host of views, and the next post there is like, 12 views and not a single comment. A lot of my posts are like that. Up one day, down another! It was surprising to me when I first began blogging, but then I realised that there are certain types of posts people like reading and if I don't post something that people like reading, they will not read it and won't comment. I'm sorry if that seems obvious, but that was one thing that really surprised me!

5. How to make links show up in a new tab, rather than in the same tab. I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain it any better than this! I was trying to find out, then I found a website that told me. I'm so happy I learnt how. I love it like this. If you want to find out for your blog, go here.



Now onto the 5 goals for 2014.

 1. I want to learn how to make a button with a grab box underneath for my sidebar. This is something I have tried lots and struggled with! I hope I can do it this year.

2. I want to have at least 5 guest posters this year. Last year I think I had a grand total of 2. (And if you are reading this and you think you would like to, please contact me right now!!!)

3. I want to learn how to get a Google+ Followers list because currently it says it is private and I can't make it work! Danella  is having this problem too.

4. I want to schedule a whole lot more posts. Why should you be without reading material when I am away, when I have a perfectly good way of still giving it to you?

5. I want to permanently post practically perfectly awesome posts periodically. Easier said than done.


What have you learnt in 2013? What do you hope to learn in 2014?
Adieu for a week or so!

Two beautiful songs

I just know you will love Stuart Townend's song The Lord's My Shepherd. If you have never heard this song then you will enjoy it greatly! If you have heard it before, you will enjoy it even more. :) It's such a beautiful song. :)




You may also greatly enjoy this hymn. It's one of my favourite ones, Before the Throne of God Above.




Blessings!
Bonnie

Delectable Delicacies

On Saturday we got a whole pile of tomatoes that were in urgent need of being made into sauce! So what do you think we did? Yup. We sourced (sauced) a recipe for sauce (we'll actually, we got it off Grandma who makes the most amazing tomato sauce you ever did taste in your whole life). And Danella spent an afternoon slaving over a hot stove making bottles of tomato sauce!

I thought you probably are in one of two camps right now.

1. Those who do not have a tomato sauce recipe and wish to have one
2. Those who have a tomato sauce recipe and wish to get another one

So.

I have below Grandma's delectable tomato sauce recipe, specially tailored to suit those in both of the camps. So everyone is happy!!


Tomato Sauce - Grandma's recipe

8lb ripe tomatoes
4 oz salt (common salt, not iodized)
1 pint vinegar
2 lb white sugar
4 large onions
1 packet (25 g) pickling spice

Cut up tomatoes. Tie spices in a little muslin bag or hanky. Put all ingredients in a pot or pan and boil for 3 hours, stirring frequently. When it is done cooking, take spices out and put sauce through a mouli. After you have done that, bottle the sauce. Put the lids on when the sauces are cold.


This sauce is seriously wonderful. Why would anyone want to buy it when they can have the fun of making something that tastes a million (no exaggerating, I promise) times better?

Use it for eating on fish, sausages, meat (cold meat and tomato sauce is a match made in heaven), fritters, quiche... the list is endless!

It's My Blogoversary!

I'm not sure if Blogoversary is a word... oh well. It is now.

Anyway... It's my blog's birthday today!!!

Bonnie's Blessings is officially....


1 year old today!!


*starts singing Happy Birthday To Me*


Here's something fun and a bit silly to celebrate. It's the Minions from Despicable Me starring in a Happy Birthday special!






This is a celebration!! Join the birthday party by commenting below!

Belated Christmas Post

I'm sorry that this post is so late. After all, Christmas was last year!! 

Here are a selection of photos from our Christmas Day. I think that all of them were taken by Danella. :)

Lydia's Christmas outfit

Who gave Jacob that lollipop that he made such a mess with?? 

Christmas tea with lots of cousins... lots of fun was had by all.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year as well. :)

The Results - part 3

*DRUMROLL*

The results of the first Quiz - what you have all been waiting for!

First. The answers.

Photo 1

Bonnie and Danella

Photo 2

Ben

Photo 3

Sophie

Photo 4

Johnny

Photo 5

Lydia

Photo 6

Caleb

And now. The entrants and their results, in order of who commented first.

Jason L: 5 correct

Sayna: 2 correct

Heidi: 5 correct

Matthew S: 3 correct

matthewmischewski: All 6 correct - well done!

Philip Sampson: 3 correct

Danella: All 6 correct - well done!

Adding to these results the results from the previous two Quiz Times, we have... *drumroll*.... the overall score tally!

Jason L: 9 correct

Sayna: 3 correct

Heidi: 5 correct

Matthew S: 3 correct

matthewmischewski: 6 correct 

Philip Sampson: 3 correct

Danella: 7 correct

Sophie: 6 correct

Which leaves us with an overall winner....................

*even bigger drumroll*

Jason L

Congratulations!

And also congratulations to everyone else who entered! What did you think about the quiz? Should I do something else like it some other time? I'd be interested to hear what you think!

The Results - part 2

Continuing on backwards, here we have the results for the Quiz Time section two. This was probably the most difficult of all the quizzes, for in this one I gave you different quotes said by various members of our family. Your task was to ascertain who said what.

Below I have the different quotes, followed in brackets by the name of the person who said it.

Oh - and before I forget, I'd better say that most of these quotes were said at a very young age. The two that I said, for example (yes, I said two of them) were said many years ago!!

Here we go.


Item 1: "We eat Easter Eggs to make Jesus happy."

(Johnny)

Item 2: "I told Daddy that I had a sore tummy and he said it was because I had too many cream puffs. He has a heartless heart."

(Me)

Item 3: (After being told that he needed to go outside and get some fresh air) "I'm full of fresh air. I can't have any more. I've got no more room."
(Johnny)

Item 4: "I get on my bed with the raspberry flop." (This person meant the Fosbury flop, high jumping technique!)
(Ben)

Item 5: "Do you know how I know that? Because I knew it, that's why."
(Johnny)

Item 6: "(insert certain friend's name) is nice. She's the same age as me but older."

(Me)

So here we have the results. 

Danella: 1 correct

Sayna: 1 correct

matthewmischewski: A good try

Are you surprised as to who said what?? :) Watch out for the results part 3, which is the overall score tally!

Oh, and -

Happy New Year!!!