Oct30

Gimme Candy!

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I had some fun finishing up some 4″ x 4″ collage cards and ATCs this evening. I love this little guy and knew he was good for a Halloween piece.
Friday the 13th 4" x 4 Collage card
Brian’s dad gave me an old 1992 rip off desk calendar and I have been having fun doing collages with it like the above bird background.
The Black Widow Collage Coaster
I bring home coasters from restaurants and ‘The Black Widow’ was the first collage I made. I was trying to make her greenish, but she still looks pale. I will probably put a ribbon for hanging her up.

Today was a rather tense day. Brian hadn’t talked to his day since late yesterday afternoon. We found the phone number of an old ‘original’ neighbor, but she was at work. The next thing we had to do was call the police. They sent a patrol car and he was fine, but his phones weren’t working. All day we tried to call, so 8 pm tonight, Brian went over. He looked at the cell, took the battery out and put it back in and it started working. This seems to happen all the time lately.

PHOTO HUNT-Broken

Broken Heart ATC

(made this ATC back in 2008)
I have a sticker book of the works of Michelangelo and this is Jeremiah who was the prophet with the ‘broken heart’. Thank goodness for google as that info made my card what it is!

Oct30

Belgium Waffles-yum

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I finally located my Belgium waffle maker after it was missing for many years. I almost ditched it for a new one, but cleaned it up and started using it again. I had a whole grain mix that just called for adding liquids which was fine, but nothing compares to a plump ‘real’ Belgium waffle:

You just don’t want to do this:

Which I did on the fourth one! What a mess. I forget that the tablespoon of baking powder will really make them rise and overflow. Plus I didn’ t want to make a fifth one!

Here’s the recipe from the Food Network site:

Belgium Waffles
2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
Nonstick vegetable spray for coating waffle iron
Confectioners' sugar
Fresh berries
Whipped cream, recipe follows
Ice cream, optional

If you don't have Buttermilk in the house, here's what you can do:
Milk (just under one cup)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice-let sit 5 minutes

Here's my doll Olivia with a new mask on:



And the remnants of the much talked about snow:

And the remnants of the much talked about snow:
Oct29

October Snow

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Snow in October is rare in these parts…I think the last time was 1979! Here are a few shots I just took outside. It’s about 33 degrees out and most of the leaves are still on the trees!

Snow is putting out the fire of the burning bush!

Walnut tree across the street

Snow also cooling the fire of the hot pepper still left on the vine.

Oct27

Halloween is just around the bend

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I ‘do’ Halloween decorating just for us as we’ve never had trick or treaters here which is a bit sad. I do love ‘nice’ Halloween decor such as owls, pumpkins and witches. The owl shown is a new purchase this year and I looped the cross stitch I did around his neck.
Girl statuary with glow of lights
I found the little girl up in the emporium in York, PA.
Halloween tree in a blue vase
One of the legs broke off of this little tree, so I kind of stuck it in this cobalt blue vase. I should hide the broken part, but it does not neat with the blue.
Pumpkins!
Cute little pumpkins. The ‘smiling’ one in the middle changes colors.
Halloween Barbies
I only have a few Halloween Barbies, but really like these gals.
Happy Halloween! Give all treats, no tricks if you can.

Me stuff-I had a tooth fixed today and looked like ‘The Scream’ painting for a few hours as my lip was pretty swollen from the injection. After it went down, I saw a big mark on the inside where the dentist must have gotten me with an instrument or something.  I’m still having sinus issues as was the dentist! Wow, we must need a hard freeze!

Baking and cooking-Yesterday I broke an egg on the stove top when I went to put it in a pot of water, so I mixed together Trader Joe’s gingerbread-yum! Had an egg sandwich today with one of the last tomatoes from the garden-that’s pretty darn good to still have a tomato when it’s almost November.  I made turkey chili for dinner which was pretty good.

Oct26

Helpful Hint

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I don’t have a ‘decent’ blog post, but I do have a helpful hint. I am again suffering off and on with sinus issues (not sure if it’s the heat going on again or the flu shot), but I found this idea on the web and it seems to help-no medicine needed!
-For mild congestion, lay two fingers (middle and index) flat across one cheek (pointing up toward your eye). Close the nostril on the opposite side and then blow. While blowing, roll your fingers toward your nose like you’re squeezing a tube of tooth paste. This will help move the deep congestion toward the nasal passage where it can be blown out.

Oct24

One quarter of a century…

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This of course implies to my only child and son Sean who turns 25 today! We were able to spend the day together on Sunday, the three of us, or ‘The Mod Squad’ as Brian sometimes refers to us when we are doing a bit of mall walking. He decided to drive us up an hour to Lancaster to ‘The Park City Mall’, one I was to years ago. Brian didn’t remember going, but maybe we did. I definitely remember going with my mom and family and getting a t-shirt made, the kind of place where they press the design on for you. Anyway, it was a bit crowded and reminded us of other malls closer to us. He did buy himself some jeans and a watch. He picked up and thumbed through a book about neat places to visit and I made Bri go back and get it for him. And we got him the Phillies division championship shirt.
We were going to hit ‘The Olive Garden’, but it was really crowded, so we went to a smorgasbord place and he liked that. I was a bit stuffed and felt blah, but some Chamomile and mint tea helped me when I got home.

Sean's cheesecake birthday cake
Happy Birthday Sean!

Sean's portrait for his 25th birthday
Birthday Portrait
Sean and Brian
Newer Son/Dad shot
Sean's 25th with the 1986 copy of Life
My only photo of the lovely Lancaster scenery from Sunday-taken out of the car (and edited)
Lancaster landscape
And finally, I wanted a photo of me in my ‘owl hat’. Animal hats are really popular right now!
Hootie Dianne

Dianne's owl hat
Update-I purchased my own domain name, but it isn’t working yet….I’ll let you know. It was about a $1.46 a month on wordpress…not bad at all!

Oct19

A little autumn decor

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This is a cellphone upload, so it could be a little better. These are most of the gourds I grew-two were different with the little green stripes around the bottom, so they are in the other room. I wanted the ‘looking glass’ spray paint and Sean couldn’t locate it at Walmart-this is ‘plain’ silver. I then got some gold too. These are in a light yellow gold in the family room.

Speaking of that room, I worked all day in there to the beat of James Taylor and Carole King’s ‘Troubadour’ concert and a little Bonnie Raitt. Cosmo was not amused as I don’t play my CDs that often, and he stayed out of the room. It’s the next biggest room 15′ x 20′ (it was the garage) and I’m not finished. Seemed I had a lot of paper sorting and dusting. Found sewing I need to do-just turn up the cuffs on jackets, turn up slacks (a life long issue) and make a dress shorter.
Nothing from any of the applications yet. I’m really hoping American Greetings gets back to me as I would like to get my foot in the door that way (stocking cards). Crossing fingers.