A little design I stitched about 5 yrs ago. It’s now in the middle of a grape vine wreath. I think it’s a Blue Whale design.
Nov1
Nov1
And a few more…
We’re all under the same Halloween moon…
After I got home I asked for a full shot in front of the decorated window. I have a kitty attached to my skirt. Do you like my socks?
My mom and her only granddaughter Tori.
Oct31
Was a happy Halloweenie
I guess there are lots of people uploading their Halloween shots tonight as I’ve tried several times without success. I had a few more photos to share, but two seems to be the limit. That’s Sean and his Coz Kenny with the monster head that he and his dad made together. His dad Ken is really clever!
And here is Glamour Witch Tori and her witchy auntie with the teased hair. I had to get in the act. We matched up well! It was fun, but hardly anyone came to their house while I house sat. Bummer. Ken really loves Halloween.
Oct30
Buy a truck-get a shotgun!
What’s that all about you may ask? Well, it’s an ad that Brian got for the local paper that made the news (that’s his job anyway)! Brian said that NBC 10 news reporter Deana Durante was in his office today to get a copy of the ad which he gave to her. What happened was that a resident thinks it’s unappropriate, especially with the Nickel Mine Amish shootings of less than a month ago (only 15 miles away). People who read the paper live in a very rural area and hunt. I am all for gun control! It’s kind of a weird promotion. Why not give them a gift card for dinner or something that won’t kill anyone?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got outside late in the afternoon to dig up the roses. Sean said he would help, but he went to the gym instead. The ground was soft, but digging up the 5 roses was hard. My 19 yr old Queen Elizabeth rose had a long tap root and I had to cut into that. I also dug up about 15 gladiolus, but chopped into two of them, so I have 13 now. I need to put them in a better spot next year or at least keep them supported so they don’t fall over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I made caramel apples-so easy, but mine are too sticky! I may have kept them in the microwave too long. We’ll eat them anyway. I was thinking about making brittle like Giada DeLorentis made on her show-with dried apricots, toasted almonds and chocolate chips. Does that sound good or what?
Oct29
Ms Fix-it
Honestly, what would these guys do without me? The phone was dead and the internet was down-so something with the computer modem had a problem (I think it was weather or daylight savings related). We tried the standby button on the front of the modem and it didn’t do anything. I got the idea to open up the Outlook Express email account and it went right to ‘desktop doctor’ and said ‘no internet connection’-no kidding. It then told us to reset the button on the back of the modem and wait 2 minutes. Bingo! The light on the front of the modem for the phone was lit again, but not the online light. So it said to restart the computer. Still no online connection. I was all set to call Comcast and then I decided to try the standby button again-and it worked. *Bowing*.
I slept like a charm last night and am pretty much my old self today. After some bad take-outs, I promised the guys a spaghetti and meatball dinner tonight (they had the choice of pot roast too). So in a few hours, I’ll whip that up for them.
The wind is wicked today. Brian is out cutting the grass. I wanted so much for him to get an attachment for the new mower to pick up the leaves. He stalls all the time. Look how long I longed for my kitchen (19.5 yrs for new readers). I told him I can’t handle all the raking in the springtime because he misses so many places just using the mower to clean up with. He does rake, but he could rake more.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get the roses moved. I can’t wait to see my niece and nephew on Tuesday for Halloween. : )
BTW-my mammogram was fine. I think I need to call about the ultrasound.
Could you keep my friend Warren in your prayers please? He had a mini-stroke last week and just wrote to his pals about it. Said his right side was numb and it was hard to read things. It’s hard to know what to say, but I told him I was pulling for him.
Oct29
A little cross stitch piece
I finished this as part of a neighborhood round robin a few days ago (sorry for the blurry photo). I really think it’s cute as can ‘bee’, especially the little beekeep. I added the swarm of bees in the shape of a ‘P’ for the name of the owner’s son. This is for a nice lady in The Netherlands. My own piece is in New Hampshire right now. It gets to travel more than I do! : ) This is by ‘The Prairie Schooler’- ‘ G’ is for Garden.
Oct28
Wet leaves
Wow it poured this morning! Wet leaves everywhere! I walked around to get some fresh air and got wet feet and came back in again.
I am feeling somewhat better. My tummy only spasmed when I sneezed, so I must have really pulled that muscle there. What a great time to have that when I have stuff to put away and roses to move. I may enlist Sean to do that on Monday. There’s only about 5 roses as it is. I am hoping the new location will make them bloom again. I love roses but they don’t love where we live.
About 5 am I heard a ‘beep’ ‘beep’ ‘beep’ somewhere in the house. I couldn’t place it. Finally at 8:15 I could stand it no more (it was beeping every few minutes). I went down the basement and stood there-nope, not down there. Here it was a weather clock in the dining room window set on alarm…and no one said they touched it! Spooky-definitely Halloween is around the corner!
Have a great weekend!
Oct27
Apple cake recipe
To get my mind off things, I found the apple cake recipe I promised Zoey. It’s from The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast cookbook by Kitty and Lucian Maynard. This is an excellent cookbook and an Inn that use to be in this area (I think it’s not there anymore) is in the cookbook.
Apple Cake
with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
3-4 peeled diced apples (3 cups)
* * * *
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light cream or half and half
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dark rum (or to taste)
In mixing bowl add the sugar slowly to the softened butter and beat well until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time. Combine the dry ingredients and add gradually to the creamed muxture. Add the nuts and apples. Bake in a greased tube pan in a 350 degree oven for 60 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. After 15 minutes invert onto a rack to cool.
Heat the sugar and cream over low heat until well-dissolved. Add the butter and run. Serve hot over the cake.
Serves 12.
Oct27
Moving along…
I didn’t have the greatest day-tummy distress. If I’m not better on Monday I am going to call the GI doctor. I don’t know if I have a muscle pull or stomach contractions from like gastro problems, but have you even had your tummy move by itself? I have a huge scar on my tummy from having my gallbladder out many years ago and it’s happening a bit below that near my navel. I had the same darn thing in February when I was cleaning out the kitchen-thinking lifting and stress. I went to my family doctor and she didn’t help me at all-said I had diverticulosis and prescribed antibiotics that didn’t agree with me. Yesterday I lifted a lot of heavy bags of canned goods for my mom. I don’t know if it’s a combo of things, but it’s scary to me and is still doing it. It probably is a bad stomach muscle pull that I aggravated-but I feel like I am in the movie ‘Alien’. If you’ve had it or know what the heck my distress may be, I’d love to hear from you. I don’t feel sick, but I didn’t eat a lot today.
Oct26
All that driving…
I guess it’s not that bad-chipmunk cheeks and all (like 4 yrs ago) : ) Mom took the 30 mile drive with me ( that I talked about on Monday) and it seemed faster as she talked the entire time! In fact I had 2.5 days of non-stop chatter. Poor lil thing is by herself too much, I guess. We went to a Dollar General store and mom went crazy in there. She was buying canned goods left and right. I bought a few things and almost put them back when I saw a dead cockroach on the floor. We then went to the Acme supermarket nearer to home and she bought more (I bought some, but we were sharing a cart and she used more of the space then me). She went home at 4:45 and got herself in work traffic for an hour. I told her she should come back for a little while, but she had to get the food home.
It was nice to have her here for a change of pace for both of us. Did I tell you she bought an inflatable bed for her to sleep on now? We have a guest room, but Bri usually ends up in there with all his snoring. He needs to work on that again… I saw that they have throat spray now for snorers. He says I snore too, but he’s been really bad for over 10 yrs.
Collages & Creative Goodness 