Here's to 2011!

As 2010 winds down I think of all the blessings we were showered with this past year. We've had new additions in the form of furry friends, Ray's job is still intact and we've enjoyed many warm and fuzzy moments that make life worth living.

Have you made any resolutions yet? Mine are to improve myself in every way I can and get more involved in my nations politics. We have a lot of work to do in unraveling the communism that has destroyed our republic. I'm hoping to see many prosecutions in the coming months and years too. Usurpers know who they are and they go to the highest level of our government. I pray there are people in power honest enough to make that happen. Those will be the men and women history looks kindly on. They will be our present day heroes.

I've enjoyed reading your blogs and look forward to reading more of your lives in the coming months. You've been such good friends and I thank God for each and every one of you.

May 2011 be a year full of prosperity, love and joy for you and yours.

Happy New Year!

Something Old and Something New

The Christmas season is winding down. The tree and ornaments are put away for another year and the house is getting back to normal. The turkey leftovers are long gone, yet the cats still roam into the kitchen with hopes that another pinch of turkey may come their way. Cats are always hopeful for one thing or another.

Someone dropped off another surprise last week. I'm up and down all hours of the night and morning and always check on the cats on the deck. It was around 4:00am the Sunday before Christmas when I spotted "Holly" sitting next to "Boo Boo" in his box. "Holly couldn't have been over 4 weeks old if she was a day. After a short chase around the deck in my nightgown in 12 degree weather, I managed to catch and cradle her in my arms. She's been my constant companion ever since. "Holly" has to be the biggest and best surprise we've received this Christmas.


Holly

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And Mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys -- and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump -- a right jolly old elf;

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."


by Clement Clarke Moore

Christmas is Coming!

The snow has been on the ground for several days now. I remember dad saying that when a snow lingers, it's waiting for the next one. He right too. There's a whopper of a snow storm expected this coming Christmas weekend. Thankfully, Ray and I have no plans for traveling.

I'm going to bake a turkey with all the trimmings for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Also have plans for baking Ray's favorite, Toll House Cookies and some homemade fudge.

I've recorded all the Christmas specials to watch this week too. One of my favorites is "The Bells of St. Marys", starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.


I also have a copy of the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol" starring Reginald Owen.


In my opinion, he's the best Scrooge to ever play the part. We always watch that on on Christmas Eve.

I've been making toys for the cats and getting all the washing and cleaning out of the way.

Ray's on vacation this week and has been a big help.

Your Christmas Card

Here's your Christmas Card.

Merry Christmas!

Testing Recipes

I'm always in search of new recipes to try on Ray, and during the holidays, the rest of the family too. Today, I've created my own cookies using a basic sugar cookie recipe. These will be added to the cookie tray for our family Christmas party this year.

Below are chocolate-dipped almond cookies and chocolate-dipped raspberry cookies.


The pink cookies were made by switching the vanilla ingredient for raspberry extract and adding six drops of red food coloring to the cookie dough.

The white cookies have almond extract in them instead of the vanilla.

They're easy to make too. Here's the recipes...

Chocolate-Dipped Raspberry and Almond Cookies

1/2 c. (1 stick) softened butter
3/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp. raspberry extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine the butter and sugar in a big bowl and mix until creamy. Add the egg, six drops of red food coloring and raspberry extract; mix again.
In another bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together. Gradually add the flour mixture to the bowl containing the butter mixture and mix until smooth.
Form the dough into a roll on wax paper and roll the dough into the paper sheet. Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet with cooking spray, wipe with oil, or line with parchment paper. (I prefer parchment paper.)

Slice 1/4 inch slices of dough off the roll and place on the cookie sheet.

Leave 1 1/2 to 2-inches between each cookie.
Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Almond Cookie Variation: Use the same recipe as above but use almond extract instead of raspberry and leave out the red food coloring.


CHOCOLATE DIP FOR COOKIES

1 c. semisweet chocolate morsels
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. milk

Melt chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly to blend in butter and milk. Set over pan of hot water and do not allow it to cool.
Dip baked cookies halfway into mixture. Set on wire rack or parchment paper until chocolate sets.
Do not store dipped cookies in high humidity or heat.

And He Shall Reign

Many thanks to Robin at Robin's Roost for posting this video.

I was having a hard time getting into the Christmas Spirit until I saw this. I now feel blessed with the hope that there are people who are going to stand up for religious freedom in the world.

Merry Christmas!

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Wow, this is the last day of November in the year 2010. One month to go before another year has marked it's passing.

As I was going through the boxes stored in the closet for Christmas decorations, I ran across some old photos granny had saved though the years.

This vintage Christmas picture was discovered in my great grandmother Ophelia's scrapbook.

I'm not sure how old that one is but these were taken in the 1960's:

This is my brother Michael and Me.


This one is my brother Michael, me and my brother Mark.


I remember the snowy walks to school in December, the school Christmas programs and me singing Christmas carols in the chorus. I remember the school Christmas parties and the exchanging of gifts under our class tree. One year we crafted Christmas trees by folding pages of old Reader's Digests, painting them green and shaking glitter over them. They looked so pretty!

Back then Christmas wasn't offensive to anyone. It was a time of excitement, goodwill and love. It brought out the best in all of us and most of all, it brought hope.

The Holidays Are Here!

I got a jump on my Thanksgiving cooking today.

The turkey is baked and the dressing is too.


Time to get the pumpkin pie into the oven and later the sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Mmmmm....

Ray is off work until monday. We plan to stay close to home and keep warm.

Rag Quilt

After fighting a few painful days, (they happen when the weather changes), I finally finished the first of several planned rag quilts.

This one is a country patchwork of calicos and ginghams.






I'm working on a matching pillow to go with it.
Looks like a lot of people are making rag quilts for sale now so I've decided to give this one as a gift. I can't share who it is in case they may be reading this blog, but I have a feeling they're going to be surprised.

Results

Just got a call from the dog warden. He asked me if I'd noticed the dogs were gone. I told him I'd given up and focused on other things. He told me he did take two of them but one remains with the neighbors inside. It seems one of the children begged to keep it and promised it would stay in the house. If it went outside, it would be on a leash. I'm happy with that as long as they keep their word.
At last we can have some peace. I know the cats will be happy too.

What I Owe My Pastor

We owe a lot to them.
Such as…

• Respect. I owe my pastor respect as the ambassador of
God sent to teach me a better way of living.

• Affection. I owe my pastor affection, that he/she may
be strengthened by the knowledge that the members of
the church he is trying to serve are knit with him in the
bonds of holy love and unity.

• Trust. I owe my pastor trust, that he/she may be free
to serve the church unhampered by criticism and faultfinding.

• Prayer. I owe it to my pastor to pray for him/her each
day that God may bless him/her and make his/her service
a blessing to everyone with whom he/she comes in
contact.

• Protection. I owe to my pastor the protection of kindly
silence by refraining from repeating the slander or
unkind gossip that would burden him/her and prevent
him/her from doing his/her best work.

• Time. I owe my pastor enough of my time to help him/
her in his/her work, when and where he/she needs me.

• Encouragement. I owe my pastor encouragement
when vexations and annoyances make his/her work difficult,
or when he/she feels that his/her work is not
progressing as it should.

• Appreciation. I owe my pastor a kindly word of appreciation
when his/her sermons are especially helpful to me.

• Attention. I owe my pastor the courtesy of attention
when I go to church that he/she may not be annoyed
and troubled by seeing from my careless, inattentive actions
that he/she is not holding my interest.

• Love. I owe it to my pastor to overlook any trivial flaw
or personal peculiarity that is merely a mannerism of
speech or action and in no way hinders his/her work.

• Gratitude. I owe it to my pastor to remember gratefully
the many times he/she has helped me to bear some trial,
and the precious outpouring of his/her sympathy that
strengthened and helped me when some loved one entered the valley of the shadow.

I found this online in an old church news letter and thought about the wisdom found within it.


Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Hmmm....

Well, it looks like it's going to take a supoena to get the neighbor to do the right thing. So after the holidays, and once the new county attorney is in place, I'll be meeting with him along with our county judge executive. The dog warden drove by today, but the dogs were in hiding it seemed. Once he was out of sight, back into my yard they came chewing on some more garbage.
I love animals and hate the thought of any being destroyed, but the owner refuses to keep them up and out of mischief. I'm afraid it's only going to be a matter of time before someone is bitten, but I've done all I can do for now.

We called a fence contractor and was given an estimate of $5600 to chain link fence our property. Who has that kind of money in this economy? So it seems every solution is met with an obstacle of some sort.

It's time to get focused on other fun things like Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping.

I've been working on a pretty rag quilt in pretty ginghams and calicos. I've got it half finished. I plan to put it on Etsy for sale. I opened a shop there the other day and once I have a few things for sale, I'll post a link so you can see what I've made.

Dangerous Dogs

We have a neighbor who doesn't care what it means to be a good one. He owns a pack of three dogs that have become, not only a nusiance, but a danger to others. We called the police saturday morning when they threatened our neighbor across the street. The dispatcher said he'd see if he had an officer available, but no one ever came. I did get some pics of what he went through.




In the last pic he was picking up gravel to defend himself.

He was across the street from the neighbor who owns the dogs and yelled for the owner to call off his dogs, but the neighbor never came out.

On November 2, 2010, the dogs threatened a woman with a small child walking down the street. You can't see the child with her as she's being hidden by the bushes.

Again the owner never did a thing.

On November 1, 2010, they threatened another neighbor walking down the road.



Again the neighbor did nothing to help that man.

They carry their owner's garbage to our yard and littler it daily.


Again the neighbor does nothing about that either.
I know now why we have so many laws. The ignorant need to be made to be good neighbors.

A Short Outing

I managed to get out of the house for a few minutes on saturday. The annual craft show was up at the elementary school. There were about 20 booths full of primitive crafts as well as others. I found a picture I simply had to have. It's by folk artist Billy Jacobs, called "Grandma's House".

It looked just like the "old home place". That's what my grandfather called his parent's farm. He bought it after his mother died and we used to have family reunions and Easter egg hunts there.

The huge oak with the tire swing was just about in the same spot too. "Pappaw" used to push me in that swing for, what seemed like, hours. When you're five years old everything looks a lot bigger and time seems to move a lot slower too.

I remember one instance when pappaw was hitching up a huge, white work horse to a wagon. That horse looked as big as that two-story farm house. I was half scared out of my wits at first sight of that horse. I remember running around to the back of the house and into the kitchen where granny was making sandwiches. She gave me a big hug and told me I had nothing to worry about. Turns out she was right.

My dad and uncles on both sides of the family had gathered to help pappaw cut tobacco that year. I begged to get a ride on the wagon as they chopped and placed those huge leaves in the back. I got to ride one row before I was lifted off and was told to go help granny.

As I look at that painting, the memories keep flooding back. Now you can understand why it means so much. :)

I Did My Part Today

We just got back home from the poll where we did our civic duty and voted. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary and there were only a few people in line ahead of us.
I'm hoping for a conservative majority taking back the Senate and House today. We have too many communists that have taken over the Democratic Party and hopefully, the Republicans will have learned by now that Americans are conservative by nature and historically vindictive if we feel ignored and talked down to. Change is coming and this time it's going to be change that works. If it isn't, we'll fix that the next time around.
There's a lot wrong with the country and both parties are at fault. We've let them run over us, mock us and ignore us. We've let them pander to their power base and run us into bankruptcy. We've had enough.

Tag Questions

Grandma answered these questions in her blog, so I thought it would be fun to answer them too.

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Neighbors who burn trash, allow their dogs to drag trash into my yard and chase my cats, and who allow garbage and junk to gather all over their lawn like they live in a landfill.


2. Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?

I sleep with my sheets tucked out. I like to slip my feet out from under the covers sometimes.

3. Do you think it's OK for guys to wear pink?

Most men I know wouldn’t dare. As for me, I don’t mind.


4. Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some?

It wouldn’t be hidden for long if I shared where I put it.


5. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

Yes, and some are good until 2015. Not sure how that happened.

6. What is your song of the week?

“Danny Boy” has been in my head all week. I heard it in a movie and it hasn’t gone away yet.

7. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?

One day last week. I mailed some recipes to my sister with a note. She refuses to buy a computer.

8. What country would you like to visit?

I’d like to go to Prince Edward Island in Canada. I’d like to visit the home of my favorite author, Lucy Maude Montgomery.

Love that Scent!

I had bought a bag of yellow delicious apples awhile back. They have all had time to ripen and so I decided today that I best do something with them before they spoil. Apple butter in the crock pot sounded like a quick and easy solution. Here's my recipe for it:

CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER

7 apples
1 1/2 cups sugar (You can use 1 cup or less if you don't like it as sweet.)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup water or fresh apple cider

Fill crock pot with peeled, cored and sliced apples. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until evenly mixed. Cover and cook on low setting overnight or until the butter is of a thick, spreadable consistency. (4 hours on the HI setting works well too.)
If the apple butter has too much liquid, remove lid and cook on high until thickened. Stir often as butter thickens to prevent scorching.
Store in refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. Freeze for longer storage.
To can the apple butter, pack into hot jars leaving 1/4-inch headspace and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

This recipe makes just a little over a pint.

The house will smell awesome during that cooking time too.

Family and Fun

My sister and her family went to the zoo and a local park over the weekend. She took some pics of Hunter with his mother Megan along with a few others.

Hunter and his mom, Megan.




Hunter with his grandparents.

I spent the day cutting out blocks and batting for the next rag quilt. I hope to start sewing it tomorrow.

These cold fronts keep coming and each morning I'm so stiff, I walk like Frankenstein. I guess this is a good time of year for it.
Hunter is going to be Dracula for Halloween this year. I can't wait to get pics of him in that costume. lol

Chilly Mornings

The mornings have been chilly with autumn now in full swing.


We've yet to have that first killing frost, but the temps have dropped dangerously close.




We weren't able to find homes for Penny's kittens. One disappeared but the two red tabby males and the tortoise shell female is still here. We've named the red males "Boo Boo" and "Sammy". "Molly" seemed to fit the little female for some reason.

Boo Boo has bonded with me now and it's as though he was never afraid of people at all.


Sammy is still a little nervous but lets me pet him. Molly, on the other hand, is still terrified. I found out yesterday that a neighbor's child has been chasing her. I've put a stop to that so hopefully, she too will now calm down and trust me eventually.

I've made them a nice warm bed on the deck with blankets inside a large cage and with sheets and blankets covering it to keep the wind out. They all crawl inside at night and cuddle until morning. They will be fine there on those cold winter nights.

I've been pouring over my cookbooks to find some welcoming comfort foods to surprise Ray with after a long day at work. I want his home to be warm and inviting like my mother made ours.

I can remember as a child coming home from school to a warm house with misty windows.


I could smell her chili simmering on the stove from the other end of the house and could hardly wait until dinner time.

I've found recipes for chicken pot pies, chicken and dumplings and tempting beef stews too. It's going to be a tasty fall and winter. :)

Autumn in Hitchins

Here are a few pics I managed to take this morning.

Finished the Candle Mat

Finally finished the candle mat today.

I was going to hand quilt it but couldn't find my frame so I used the sewing machine instead. I don't think it's too bad for a first try at English Paper Piecing.

Been Busy

I've been working on a new project, and I must say, I'm rather pleased with it so far. It's a candle mat hand-worked with English Paper pieces. English Paper piecing is a traditional quilting method dating back to at least 1813.
My great-grandmother, Ophelia, left my grandmother a beautiful quilt she had made using that method. I believe the pattern was called "grandmother's flower garden. Each hexagon was the same size and pieced perfectly together. I just knew I could never come close to anything as beautiful as her quilt. That method requires loads of patience, but the results are stunning. I've got the top together and made a pattern for the rest of it, now all that's left is cutting the batting, the back and quilting it. I'll post a pic when it's finished.

Last night, around 9:00pm, I checked on the cats out on the deck before getting ready for bed. I found it odd that they were all sitting on the railing and looking up toward the woods. Then, I saw what they were watching.
I grabbed my camera so you could see them too.



It was funny watching both curious creatures checking out one another.



We watched them for a good half hour before they wandered back into the forest.

They Don't Speak for the Rest of Us

Watch us kick these communists to the curb on Nov. 2, 2010.

Autumn Whimsy

As I lined the last of the butternut squash on the window sill, they looked as though they needed an extra bit of whimsy to top them off.

It's amazing what a Sharpie can do. lol

With Halloween approaching, I searched boxes in closets for a few saved decorations and found the cat and crow.


After the decorating was done, I found "Mister" on the sewing table picking out some homespun cottons for his next blanket.

Apple Muffins

Tweaked a recipe I found the other day and came up with another family favorite, apple muffins. Ray loves apples and with them on sale right now, well...let's just say he's one happy fella. ;)

Here's the easy recipe...

Apple Muffins



1 egg
¾ c. milk
1 shredded apple
½ c. oil
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. quick cooking oats
1/3 c. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon

Whisk egg in a bowl; stir in remaining ingredients just until moistened. Mixture will be lumpy. Fill 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm, topped with butter. Makes one dozen.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Looks like the cooler weather has finally arrived and with it the rain and falling leaves. The fog was heavy this morning. The weather forecaster was calling for an early start to work because of visibility issues. We may see our first frost this coming weekend.

Fall also brings us gorgeous colors - reds, oranges, yellows, purples and golds. What a great opportunity to use nature's color palette to make a beautiful quilt. The new fall magazines have some great patterns using the colors for leaves, flowers and pumpkins. I'm ready to try another rag quilt in some earthy shades of woven plaids I bought the other day.

Many thanks to Judy over at Mennonite Girls Cook for her Caramel Apple Cake Recipe. I got two loaves out of the recipe and shared one with Ray's dad. He liked it as much as we did.

Agenda 21

I'd like to know who gave these men the power to run the entire world?
They're the cause of all this financial mess with their global ambitions.

Happy Birthday Hunter!

Today my grand-nephew, Hunter, turns two years old.
Here he is with my sister Tracy.
This was taken earlier this summer.


This one was taken last weekend.

He's riding his birthday present from grandma and grandpa.
He sure is growing fast.

Chilling Out

There's a cold front moving in this weekend. They're predicting a few showers along with it. It must be true as the spider on the porch has spun a line from her web up under the porch roof and out of the weather. Of course she's also managed to create a nice egg sac which she has undoubtedly filled to the brim. I've been afraid of spiders since I was a child, but I must admit, I've become fascinated by this one. She's a marvel to watch as she spins and climbs around in her web. She's certainly helped cut down on the gnat population, and for that, I'm grateful.

I had Ray pick up some golden delicious apples on his way home yesterday. I'm going to prepare an apple upside down cake for dessert tonight.

APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

1 stick butter
1 egg
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 1/2 cups apple (more or less)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine 1 cup sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. (If more flavor is desired, sprinkle sugar with a drop of vanilla and a pinch of ginger before mixing.)

Peel, core, and very coarsely chop 1 1/2 cups of apples. Prepare enough chopped apple to cover the bottom of the pan you'll be using and have a layer of apples 1-2 inches thick.

In a loaf pan or deep cake pan, bake the apples in a preheated 325F oven until soft. Remove from oven. Sprinkle the apples with the sugar and cinnamon mixture to coat well.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 egg, 1/3 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon almond extract (vanilla may be substituted).

Pour batter over apples and return pan to a preheated 350F oven. Bake until cake tests done.

Is This America's Future?

'Islamization' of Paris a Warning to the West



I hope not.

Hints of Fall

Fall is in the air here in Hitchins.

The mums are starting to bloom...


And the Maximillian Sunflowers...


The spiders continue to spin their webs too.


That garden spider hasn't been there very long. It's made a home under the eave on the front porch. I've been watching it from the front window and plan to make a large copy of it for a Halloween decoration. They had a huge spider at Kmart the other day for $60. I think it's eyes glowed red. Not sure what else it did, but for $60, it should dance too. lol