Encouragement for today
Verse of the day: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me, ye might have peace. In this world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have over come the world." -Jesus via John 16:33 KJV This is one of my favorite passages from the Lord. He doesn't fill you with false hope or sugarcoat it. He tells you like it is. In this world you are going to have troubles. But then He, in the same sentence, same breath, reminds you quickly to be encouraged and reminds you of what He has already done.
I am over 60 yrs old and this verse has traveled with me, my whole life and has seen be through some of the worse crap the enemy has tried to toss my way and it makes me smile every single time I read it.
I hope it brings a smile to you today!
Another Irish Mouse Story
Walter’s Christmas Cookie
by KL Tice (c) 2023
Walter Mc Mouse was excited for Christmas. It was his most favorite time of year. The scent of fresh cut pine, newly baked cookies and hot chocolate were some of the things he loved most.
This year he wanted to make a cookie of his very own. A ‘mouse size’ cookie. But where was he going to get the stuff to make one? Can you make only one cookie instead of a huge batch? He would have to try and see.
He fluffed up his mousy fur and wrapped his tiny scarf around his neck and out the door he went. It was cold but his fur kept him warm for the most part. That and he could run really fast and that kept him warm too.
He jumped and slid in the snow and giggled the whole way into town. Walter was a quest to find things to make his cookie. The first place he went that had a door open was a pub. It was called O’ Bog Tree Inn.
He didn’t know why they called it an inn. They never had over night guests in years. He scampered in and ran over the fireplace to get warm. There was an old man sitting close by that saw him. Walter froze in his place hoping the old man would not see him but see him he did.
“We hello there wee one! Come out of the cold too did ye?” His voice was as wore as he looked.
Walter just decided to go with it. He squeaked as if answering him. The O’ man did not understand mouse talk but it didn’t stop him any.
“Ya don’t say? Tell ya what, if you can sing for me I’ll give you a drop of my soup.” He bent down a little closer and whispered to Walter, “Its not that great a soup but the bar keep said that I’ve had enough draft for one night so this is all I get. But you sing and I’ll share”
Walter stood up on the table and gave it his best song. He chirped and giggled and sang an old mousy song and ended with a slight bow.
The O’ man laughed. “Not bad for a Mouse!” and with that he dripped a bit of soup broth near Walter and he drank it up.
“You got a lil’ friend over there Sean? Hay look ya all, Sean’s got his self a Mouse of a friend!” Another customer from the other side of the bar yelled. Seconds later the barkeep came forward from the backroom, What’s all this blabber about a mouse in my inn?”
Sean covered Walter under his hand. “Nothin’ to worry about Barkeep! Vic is seeing things again. Too much whiskey. His eyes be see’n the leprechauns!” Everyone in the bar laughed.
While they were laughing Sean opened his hand and whispered, “Run home little one!” And Walter smiled and twitched his whiskers at his new friend and made a mad dash for the door. Walter slid out the door before anyone could see him.
Old Sean was right, that broth was not very good but it warmed him up. He walked down the street slipping and hopping over the snow. Where was he going to find some flour or dough?
Then there it was before him. The town bakery. He hopped upon the window ledge to see in the window. Christmas cakes and cookies as far as the eye could see. But there in the back corner was old Boris the cat. He flipped his tail up and down as he slept.
Walter sighed. That was that, he guessed. He walked around the back of the shop to see if there was any thing that might of tracked out into the snowing back door. Walter walked up to the door frame.
He could smell the sweetness that was inside through the cracks of the old door frame. Seconds later he heard this very loud “MEOW!” from the other side of the door. It was right next to where Walter was standing and it startled him so much that he rolled over across the doorway. He wanted know part of that cat so he ran.
He ran all the way back home to his little hole in the wall. Poor Walter. Nasty soup broth and getting yelled at by Boris was not what he had in mind.
Walter went to pull of his scarf but it caught and tugged a bit before it came free. There, in the fold of his scarf was one tiny bit of fresh cookie dough. It must had stuck there when he rolled across the doorway at the bakery.
He very carefully pulled it free from his scarf, making sure it didn’t have any fuss on it. Patting it all over he flattened it out and put it on the heater pipe that ran through his hole in the wall house.
It was a very small piece of dough so it baked into a tiny cookie very quickly. He took a couple of sprinkles and pushed them into the dough just before it was done cooking. He used his bit of tin tab from an old tuna can to lift it off the heater pipe and set it on his little table.
The next morning, Christmas morning, Walter sat near his little tree and ate his cookie. It was his very own Christmas cookie! A Christmas cookie miracle!
The 12 Questions of Fruitcake
The Twelve Questions of Fruitcake
What is the expire date of a fruitcake?
Has anyone ever really eaten a fruitcake?
Who made the very first fruitcake?
Why did they make it?
Isn’t fruit cake just mincemeat without the meat?
If it’s a mincemeat without meat why isn’t it called mincefruit?
Why does the fruit in a fruitcake all taste like the same kind of fruit?
How many people can you re-gift a fruitcake too before it becomes inedible?
How can you tell if a fruitcake goes bad?
If fruitcake always has nuts in it, shouldn’t be called a Fruit and Nut Cake?
Did you know that the oldest Fruitcake that is still in existence was made by US President Rutherford Hayes in 1878?
Do you think it would still be safe to eat?
just for fun
A House for a Mouse
KL Tice (c) 2023
read for fun or read to your child
Fields and forests are great places to live if your a mouse. Unless of course it's raining. It rains often an Ireland. So, Walter Mc Mouse needed to find a home.
Walter went into the village to look for a new house. The village had a wonderful collection of shops that lined the street. He was sure to find a place here somewhere.
After all a mouse only needs a very small place to live. A few crumbs to eat now and then. Oh and one more thing... A place to have a wee bit of fun.
Walter could hardly wait to find such a place. The first place he tried was a shoe store. Every shop has a smell of its own- shoes shops smell of leather and shoe polish.
Walter slipped inside and began looking around. Miles of shoe boxes, as far as the eye could see. Each box could have made a wonderful house to live it. A pair of woman's open-toed, high heels, on display, made a wonderful sliding board! And when he jumped up & down inside the kid's shoes some of them would light-up with flashing colored lights!
That made Walter giggle. Ever hear a mouse giggle? It's a wee-tiny bit of a sound!
Anyway, this store was fun and one of the big fuzzy house slippers looked like it would make for a nice soft bed but the place had one thing missing...Food!
Time to try next door- if nothing else he would keep the shoe store on his list of "maybes."
Next was a flower shop. It smelled like spring-time even in the dead of winter. Some of the flowers were good enough to eat but in the back room there were scaring looking tools like floral knifes and wire cutters and wires. And no place to sleep. Time to move on.
The Bakery. M...m! Now, this place had promise! Oh my! This was looking more like mousy heaven! There were warm oven mittens for sleeping in, yummy crumbs and food as far as the eye could see and turntables for icing cakes to spin around on and other fun looking stuff! Oh, this had to be his new home!
Cakes and cookies as far as the eye could see! Brownies and.... Oh yes, His most favorite... Cheese Cake! How could he have been so blessed as to find such a wonderful place to live!
But, I'm sorry to say, as with most things in life, such joys are short lived. For just as he was about to take a nibble, a large cat walked into the room.
The cat took one look at Walter and the chase was on! Around the floor and up the table leg went Walter. Onto the work table where pastries were just being finished for next morning’s deliveries. Walter ran across a large tray of freshly iced Brownies. His little paws made small little tracks across across the top as he was running so fast and he was so small. The cat on the other hand. His paws sunk through the chocolate brownies and icing squished up between his toes forcing him to stop now and then and shake the mess from his foot!
Oh, it gets better! Walter realizing that his enemy had finding trouble with gooey sticky stuff, he headed right for the pecan pies! He quickly popped a sticky nut into his mouth, smiled a sweet smile at the cat and the chase continued!
The cat ran and pounced on a pie just as Walter hopped off. His front paws sunk right to the bottom of the pie and began to slide out from under him. "Me... ow! He cried as he almost slid off the table. Walter had already ran down the table leg and jumped on a display table in the front of the bakery.
Walter paused for a moment to watch the cat trying to free his paws from the pan. The cat had nuts and crust all over himself.He hit a flour bag and a jar full of cookie sprinkles. A colorful cloud puffed into the air. Sprinkles rained down all over the cat.
Walter giggled so hard, which only increased the speed and comedy of the cat. Walter ran up a tiny staircase that just happened to be set into a huge white wedding cake. The cake was sitting in the front window of the store. The most beautiful and expensive looking cake in the store!
It was a covered in piped roses. It had four very large layer and one small layer at the very top. A real work of art. Walter ran up the stairs to the top layer just as the cat freed himself from the pie pan.
Shaking his paw off, he knocked a whole box of glazed doughnuts onto the floor.
But, it did slow him down any. The cat sized up the cake and decided to make the jump. Walter quickly slid down the other side of the cake onto the floor just as the cat made his move.
One large messy cat took a flying leap onto the wedding cake.The once show room perfect wedding cake was now exploding all over the showroom window.
Icing roses and fondant drapes, pretty white doves all flying in the air as the orange cat totally smashed the cake with a single thud. Walter jumped into a doughnut as the top layer came towards him. It knocked into the side of his doughnut and sent it and Walter flying across the floor. It slid right out the back door just as the morning baker opened it.
Walter was in luck, the baker had not seen him. He was too busy looking at the nightmare in the front room. "BORIS!!! You Mangy Cat!!!" yelled the baker.
Walter ran quickly across the alley on the main street sidewalk. And who should he run right into but Father Murphy. He ran right into his big black boot. He hit so hard it knocked the air right out of him.
Feeling the bump into his shoe, Father looked down to see poor Walter just laying there. Father reach down and picked him up. The warmth of his hand helped Walter to awaken.
"You poor lil' un! And what a sticky little mess you are! Let me guess... Boris was being less then generous to a poor hungry, beggar of a mouse?"
Walter, still feeling a bit stunned just smiled a little, twitched his whiskers for a moment. The warmth of Father's hands and his loving voice made him relax so much he curled up into Father's palms, with a very sweet and rather sticky smile.
Father sighed, "Well now, I s'pose... every parish needs a Church Mouse!" He slid Walter into his coat pocket. "I just hope Sister Mary Bridget doesn't find out or will both be in for it, to be sure!"
Walter was over joyed to be finally going home. Sometimes you look for a place to fit in and sometimes a place finds you!