Memories of Christmas

We had a quiet Christmas here at the resort.  My parents, ages eighty-eight and eighty-six drove up and arrived early in the afternoon of Christmas Eve.  There is a new bakery in my little hometown, and they came bearing yummy apple fritters for an immediate treat, and almond scones for Christmas morning breakfast.  We boiled a kettle and sat down for the fritters and tea.  Oh the deliciousness!  

We visited over the afternoon, some secret Santa work transpired, and Dan's friend Dennis stopped by to say hello to Mom and Dad.  Dad worked with Dennis in the '80's and has known him longer than Dan has.  We cooked up a pot of meat, potatoes and carrots with gravy and enjoyed dinner with salad and lemon pie.  

Ann, Eric and the boys came by to see Great Papa and Gigi, visit, and exchange gifts about 7:30, and we got several pictures of the littlest man with the great grandparents.

Here's Gigi and Daniel:    

And Great Papa and Daniel:

We enjoyed a leisurely morning of presents and scones (highly recommend!), and then Mom and Dad treated us to a lovely dinner at the Broiler.  Dan, Dad, and I chose the turkey dinner and pumpkin pie, while Mom chose the ham dinner and pecan pie.  Mom and I also had an incredibly delicious spinach salad for the first course, while the guys had shrimp bisque.  It was fabulous to leave the dishes behind and drive away.  After a little more visiting, Mom and Dad loaded up their Jeep and headed back home.  

Monday night, Dan and I packed up our Explorer with presents and drove over to Ann and Eric's for pizza and Christmas with them.  Such a fun evening we had!  I got an aebelskiver pan and cookbook (I'll post more another time), Dan got tools, the boys got toys, Ann got a new springform pan and a Willow Tree figurine, and Eric got an air compressor.  Happiness abounded! 

Here are some photos to document the evening:

Serious present opening:

Bashful Keaton:

Brothers:

Cameron with a completed Lego robot:

Another Christmas has come and gone, but the memories are tucked away, and we have Jesus with us every day!

The Rest of the Story

I know you're all wondering if I have recovered from my relentless stream (or so it seemed to me) of illness just before Christmas.  I am relieved to say that I have. However, I'm steering clear of salsa and other spicy foods for a while yet.  

It does appear it was the water, or something in it, that caused many of us to get sick last Monday night.  The details are sketchy, but the evidence seems to point that way.  The good news is that by the time my tummy was feeling better my cold seemed to have run its course.  

Dan, bless his heart, held down the fort and even made a trip to the woods to cut our tree.  He came home saying it was the best he could do, but I think it's one of the most gorgeous trees we've ever had!  While it's not as full as he would have liked, its shape is perfect!  I just love looking at it.  Here he is putting on the lights (take note of the chair):

And the finished product:

While he was putting on the lights, the wrapped presents were stacked around the fireplace to await their placing under the tree.  

When Dan was done with the lights and the garland, I began hanging the ornaments and then went to the kitchen to start some cookies.  I heard him yelp that the tree was tipping so I hurried back to the living room to help.  Remember that chair?  I had scooted it toward the opening to the hall while I was decorating and as I moved in to help Dan, I took a step back, caught my foot in the legs of the chair and tumbled backwards into the pile of presents, smashing several of them.  I will draw the curtain on the scene that followed.  We were able to salvage the presents with new wrapping, and, as they say, the show went on.  At least I didn't throw up and the gouge on my arm and the bruise on my backside are healing.  

Speaking of Unplanned Events...

Does getting the stomach flu count?  Monday night I started feeling strange, and finally thought maybe I was feeling like, well, you know.  And then I did.  Now, I rarely get the stomach flu, so this was totally unexpected. Ugh.

Yesterday I was finally feeling like joining the living and so I called Ann.  Turns out she and Keaton both came down with it the same night.  And so did others.  We think it was the lemons or limes that were in the water at an event at church Sunday night.

Ah well, we're all recovering and it's still several days until Christmas.

An Unexpected Date

Dan and I were both finally feeling pretty good yesterday, so he invited me to dinner.  I'm a smart girl--I said yes! We bundled up and drove downtown to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  We ordered chicken fajitas to share (hey, we've both been sick, those germs have already been shared) and enjoyed every last bite. They were extra delicious.  

As we left, we were "discussing" where we'd parked when we were suddenly surrounded by laughing people.  It was old friends and former neighbors John and Cyndi, their son Andrew, and another person we knew.  They'd been trying to get our attention and finally just moved in and stopped us.  

After a few hugs and more laughing, they mentioned they were going across the street to a showing of It's A Wonderful Life and asked if we'd like to join them.  Why, yes, we would!  While we were eating we'd noticed the marquee on the one of our town's historic theaters had it listed for a special weekend showing, and had mentioned that maybe we should go Saturday night, but then remembered we had a party to attend at five.  Problem solved!  (Don't ask why didn't think of going last night on our own.  We just had that discussion and decided the answer was, well, we don't know.  Maybe we thought it was too late to go?)

As we approached the theater, we were surprised and delighted to note they had carolers singing, and singing beautifully!  How fun!  Inside, which has been beautifully restored, we were offered free hot chocolate and popcorn in the foyer.  Better and better!  We all settled in and throughly enjoyed this wonderful, classic movie.  Each of us had seen it a number of times, but all of us were too young to have seen it on the "big screen" when it first came out.  What a wonderful, totally unplanned Christmas treat!   

Cough, Cough...

Yes, we here at the Resort have fallen prey to the dreaded cold, or 'flu.  Dan has had it for well over a week, and Friday I came down with it.  Buy stock in Kleenex!!

Hope to be back tomorrow, feeling better and with some pictures...or something.  Ahh choo!!  Sniff, sniff...

A Christmas of Yesteryear

Christmas of 1955 has been mentioned here (and here) before, but evidently it was a well photographed Christmas because I have more photos and another story to tell.  

In addition to the dolls I got, I also got a little baking set, complete with pans and cake mixes.  These were meant to be baked in a regular oven; there was no Easy Bake Oven in those days (in fact, I just googled it and apparently it made its debut in 1963).  

A day or so after Christmas, I made my first cake and had my picture taken with it.  You can tell that I am quite happy with the results.  

My brother was just three at the time and asked to have his picture taken with it as well.  Please note that in the following picture, he is not looking at the photographer. Please note, too, where the fingers of his left hand are.  

Yes, my little brother was looking to see where I was, and his little hand was preparing to lift that cake from the plate so that he could have a little bite of it.  And yes, he did get a bite.  Poor Bruder Bear, he has taken much grief for this over the years--apparently I was was not too thrilled with his getting the first bite of my first cake.  If I could do it all over again, I'd definitely share it with him!  

A couple of notes on the pictures:  That darling checked dress I'm wearing?  It was red and white and just one of the many lovely Christmas dresses my mom made me over the years.    

If you look closely at my brother's right leg (you can click on the picture and make it a little bigger), you'll see what looks like some type of string around his leg.  It's the tie down to the toy gun and holster he got that Christmas and always wore after that.  :-)  Ahh, the '50's and the era of Davy Crocket and all those cowboy shows on TV. "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear..."  -- The Lone Ranger

November, Where Did You Go?

Just yesterday, or so it seems, I did the post for Veterans Day, and now tomorrow starts December.  I must confess (probably not for the first time) that September through December is my favorite time of the year.  There is such a beauty in the months and excitement in the holidays.  Poor January.  

Anyhoo (I just love that non-word), I had an unexpected few hours this morning due to a last minute cancellation of Bible study and so I've spent them devising my plans for our Christmas card.  I haven't made our cards for a few years because I didn't think of it in the summer and I was too tired and/or busy to do it by the time they should be sent.  Since it's still November, I feel I'm waaaay ahead of myself here and I'm feeling pretty good about it.  I hope to go into production this afternoon. There will be no pictures today because some of you will be receiving our card.  :-)

This morning I read this thought-provoking quote from Ann Voskamp: "Whenever Christmas begins to burden, it's a sign that I've taken on something of the world and not of Christ.  Any weight in Christmas has to be of this world."  Excellent words to remember.  

May your December be filled with joy as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and share His love.

Sewing Room Update

No, Moby's not home.  This is his cousin, Stitchy, on loan from the shop while Dr. Sam continues to treat poor Moby.  However, it is wonderful to be able to stitch again with all the bells and whistles!  Jumbo hoop project coming up!  

The OESD Christmas collections Bernina offers each fall are wonderful again this year, but my favorite of all the designs is the lace box.  It's beautiful.  

I think I'll attach a ribbon to the center and hang it from the tree.  Hmmm, or maybe I'll set it on one the of glass shelves in the niche by the fireplace.  Decisions...  Here's what the pieces look like before "some assembly required."  

These were all made on my old Brother ULT and it did a wonderful job, but with Stitchy's arrival, my sewing mojo is back! 

I haven't started decorating for Christmas yet.  The days are sunny and cold, with no more snow, so it seems a shame to hurry fall out the door.  Winter will soon enough be upon us, but I'm truly enjoying these stunning last autumn days.  Thanksgiving seems to be getting the bum's rush lately, so I've decided to make it my mission to extend it to its rightful prominence this year.   

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving dear friends and family!  May your day be filled with special times, good food, and most of all, thankfulness to God who has so richly blessed us all. 

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; 

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

I Ch 16:34

Bread Day

I got up this morning and decided to start a loaf of bread in the bread machine.  Oops!  The little mixing lever was frozen again.  Hmm, amazingly (I'm not a morning person), I decided I could just as easily mix up a batch in the Kitchenaid.  So I did!

I do love my bread machine, but I'd forgotten how much fun it is to "make it myself".  There I was, barefooted in my checked flannel nightshirt, happily dumping and mixing.  I used my Polish Bread recipe, the one I use to make rolls, and added several cups of King Arthur White Whole Wheat, which gave the dough a lovely caramel color.

One of the neatest finds I've stumbled onto lately is my dough rising bucket.  I originally got it for mixing and storing the artisan bread in five minutes a day dough, but one day I grabbed it to let my roll dough rise.  I'm telling you, there's something magical about this bucket.  I think the lid helps the rising dough generate some heat of its own, and even on a cold, dark day like today my dough will rise fairly quickly.  In the past, especially if there's whole wheat in it, it could take up to four hours for my dough to double in our cool house.  Not any more!

I ordered it from King Arthur Flour and would definitely recommend it.  If you don't already get their catalog, I'll recommend it, too.  It's wonderful and when a new one arrives, I love to sit down with a new cup of something hot and enjoy myself for a while.

And here's a picture of today's final product:

Mmmm....

P.S.  Dan was able to fix the bread machine again.

Thanks Dad and Dan

I'm blessed to be the daughter and wife of veterans.  My dad was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division during WWII, jumped at D Day, and was wounded at Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge) and during the invasion of Holland.  I'm so thankful he survived to come home, marry Mom, and have Bruder Bear and me.  The picture below, taken "somewhere in Europe", is cropped from a larger group photo and is not the best.  Dad is the one standing.

My sweetie, Dan, served at Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam, from December 1968 to December 1969,  While he wasn't on the front lines, he dodged rocket attacks and stood guard duty many long and lonely nights while working on airplanes by day.  I'm thankful he came home, found me, and made all my dreams come true.

Thinking of all those who have served over our country's history.  We are blessed beyond belief.  Give your veterans a hug or a call and say thank you.

A Finish!

Waaayy back last summer I mentioned I was working on a project for the shop that was out of my comfort zone. Then Moby decided to have his nervous breakdown and I confess, I lost my sewing mojo.  After weeks and weeks of hoping Moby would recover, I finally decided it was time to get on with my sewing life and get some projects finished.

Enter that shop project.  Last week I valiantly revved up my gumption and got with the program.  It's a Christmas table topper using Nancy Halvorson's Jingle All the Way fabric collection.  They're bright and non-traditional colors.  The blocks are made of disappearing nine patches using 5" squares.  The pattern called for charm squares, but I used nine fat quarters and cut them into 5" squares.  It's 50" square, which is big.

I think my favorite part is the red binding, which is a plaid cut on the bias.  I'm actually pleased with how the whole thing turned out; it's not my style, but it's very cute.

Here's a closer version on my table:

It's a little big for the table without it's big "have everyone over top" on it, but you get a better view of the fabrics and colors.  I'll take it over to the shop later today or tomorrow so it can go on display, and hopefully help sell some fabric!

Snow! And Cake!

We had our first snowflakes of the season today. For a while the ground was sprinkled with white, but then it disappeared even though the snow continued to fall as the temperatures rose. Why is it that sometimes it will snow at 36 degrees, even up to 40, and rain at 30? Well, I'm no scientist so that question will remain unanswered. For now, anyway.

This was the view to the southeast just a few minutes ago:

I've resisted playing any Christmas music today, but it's coming!

And the cake part of today's title? We're having a ladies soup and bread night at church this evening and I made an old recipe entitled Dutch Apple Cake to have as dessert. I got the recipe from Goldie Adams, a neighbor of my family's when I was in high school. I haven't made it in years, but I had some apples that needed using, and it's a cozy recipe for a cozy day.

Here's the recipe:

Dutch Apple Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp orange rind (optional--or used dried)
• 1 cup canned milk
• 2 cups chopped apple
• 1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Instructions:

Mix sugars and shortening well.  Add eggs.  Mix dry ingredients and add to sugar mixture, alternating a third at a time with the milk.  Fold in apples and nuts (if using). Spread in a greased 9x13 pan, sprinkle the top with sugar, and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350.  

This is good both warm and cold, topped with whipped topping or not.  It's also nice as a coffee type cake in the morning!

Hope your day has been warm and cozy.  It's beginning to look a lot like...

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Pumpkin Day!

The last day of October is here, Pumpkin Day!  When I was teaching school, we always called it that, and our party a Pumpkin Party, to alleviate any problems with people who didn't celebrate Halloween.  I still like to call it that.  I love pumpkins!!

So what's new here at the resort?  Well, Dan's downstairs doing some plumbing in preparation for a new water softener system.  He hates plumbing; it's always fraught with peril--so many places for leaks.  And how long can we go with the water turned off?  I'm praying it goes well.  We really need a new system, so it has to be done.  He's also going to put a reverse osmosis faucet in the kitchen which will give us good drinking water.  I'm so blessed to have such a handy hubby!

We made a trip to Costco Friday and a new little toy for me came home with us.  I've had a TV in the kitchen for years, and even though it was a small one, it took up loads of space on the counter, space I could have used in other ways.  I spotted a small flat screen for a very reasonable price and Dan tossed one in our cart.  I can't believe how it opened up the kitchen!!

 
Now there's space beside the sink, which is oh so fabulous!    It's taken me a couple of days to get used the blackness of it (the other TV was white and kind of disappeared) and seeing the cords (who says I don't have OCD??), but I'm thinking it's okay.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining and it's a gorgeous day. There's a carpet of gold leaves covering the backyard, Buddy is laying in the sunshine on the living room floor, and I'm heading down to do some stitching.  Happy Pumpkin Day!

A Project for Embroidery Club

First, let me say I'm feeling much better.  I seem to have kept the germs at bay and I'm very happy about that. I've learned to spend lots of time sleeping whenever I feel like I'm getting a cold, and it seems to work.  That and drinking tea by the cupsful gallon.  I even took Daniel for a nice long walk in his stroller this afternoon and we had a delightful time.

But on to the title of this post.  As most of my readers know, I teach an embroidery club at our little quilt shop every month.  There are two sessions on the appointed day, and we have a great group of ladies at each one. Some months I have a project all planned out, and other months I have absolutely no idea what we will do. Thankfully, something will usually come to me albeit at the eleventh hour!  We met last week for October, and miraculously by Saturday night, I had a plan for next month!!  I got to work on it and I'm pleased with my project.  There are a couple things I will change when I write the directions, but the bones are all there.

What, you ask, did I come up with?  A cute little Christmas card holder!

I'm kinda in love with it.  :-)

A Little Bit of the Sniffles

A little germ seems to be trying to invade my body but I'm valiantly fighting it off.  It sneaked in yesterday morning and I was hopeful it would be gone after a good night's rest, but it wasn't.  So, I've spent today drinking Gypsy Cold Care Tea and snoozing.  As of now, I'm feeling almost normal, so I'm thinking I have won!

When I was teaching, there was never a convenient time to be sick, and we were encouraged to call in the night before when it was much easier to locate a sub.  But what if I was feeling better in the morning?  And there was so much to do to get ready for a sub...  Often I decided I could be my own sub; even if I wasn't feeling great, I could probably do as well or better than someone who didn't know my class.  Which is why I had so many sick days left over to convert into my health coverage in retirement.

I'm going to brew myself another cup of tea and put our sheets in the dryer.  I thought perhaps clean sheets tonight would also help.  Be gone, germs!!

My Favorite Tree

Just ouside our bedroom window, at the front corner of the house, is a box elder tree, a cousin of the maples.  It has an interesting shape and tends to sprawl around that corner.  It's pretty in the summer, but in the fall . . . oh, my!!  So gorgeous.  Every time I walk into our bedroom this time of year, it stuns me as I see it in all its glory through the window.  It's like a fire.  This picture doesn't do it justice:

Here it a better shot of its actual color taken from the front porch:

Usually the leaves fall quickly after they turn, but his year we've been very fortunate; they've stayed on for weeks now and I'm loving it.

We have another box elder on the other side of the house in the back corner, but it's never been the stunner this one is although I love how it shelters our deck in the summer and makes me feel as if I'm in a tree house.

May all your trees be clothed in fall splendor as we work our way toward winter. Grab a cup of something and enjoy the view!

Life

The fall days are really settling in.  Cold, misty mornings followed by sunny, cool afternoons filled with falling leaves and shadows.  Though this season is one of endings, it is so beautiful, it seems more alive than spring or even summer.

It's also a season for coziness:  warm coffee or tea in the morning, big pots of soup or stew in the evenings.  All those foods that seem too heavy or too much work in the summer.  No surprise that fall is my favorite time to cook.  And bake.

Fall is also the time when I really want to get back into my sewing room and create.  This part of fall hasn't gone so well this year.  Poor Moby came home again last week, but apparently he was released from the hospital too soon and seems to be having adjustment issues. Tension problems.  Yes, those words were used as puns, but also as truth.  I cannot get the tension adjusted!!  Dr. Sam will make another house call tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I've broken out my trusty ten-year-old Brother ULT and done some stitching.  It worked like a champ, for which I was thankful.  (I was starting to have tension issues!!)

I was again reminded of how insignificant an ailing sewing machine is when a lovely lady, a real sweetie who comes to the embroidery classes I teach, emailed me today to say she couldn't come this Thursday night.  She broke her ankle and fractured her knee last week, might be facing surgery, and can't drive.  Her only real word of complaint was "dang!"  Reality check. And here's praying Carolyn heals swiftly.

The following photo is one I borrowed from Ann.  Daniel is growing!  He's crawling, pulling himself up, and forcing his brothers to put their things out of reach!  He's become the little marauder, although one with a huge grin.

With complete impartiality, I can tell you he was absolutely adorable (I saw him in person that day) in that tiny Seahawk's jersey and blue jeans.  The white t-shirt under the jersey was just the right touch. 

Viva la fall! And football!  And cozy days!  

The Weekend

Happy Monday! We had a busy and wonderful weekend with Bruder Bear and family. It was Homecoming at our local institution of higher learning, and John and Karen drove up on Friday to spend some time with son JR, a junior, and daughter Kirsten, who drove in for a visit. Reservations had been made at the Resort, which meant we got to enjoy everyone!

Saturday morning found us downtown with Ann, Eric and the boys watching the Homecoming parade. Cameron and Keaton had brought along gallon zippy bags which were soon bulging with candy. Every float, campaigning politician, and group tossed candy as they passed by and our boys were quick to gather it in. I even scooped up a caramel. Yum! The grownups clapped to the fight song, swayed to the bands (or maybe that was just me), and took turns holding a sleeping Daniel. It was a fun time.

From there, Ann and family headed off to an out-of-town soccer game and the rest of us wandered down to the Farmer's Market. Karen scored boxes of apples and peaches and a loaf of artisan bread. We were offered samples of both fruits and they were delicious. I think I'll see if they have more next weekend as I've been longing for some peach pie. And apple crisp.

BB and family went off to the football game in the afternoon, but Dan and I declined the invitation to go along. I thought some rolls sounded good and mixed up a batch to go along with our dinner of ham and au gratin potatoes. The gang rolled back in about six-thirty, accompanied by JR's friend, Jill, and Kirsten's friend, Tim. We enjoyed an evening of visiting and a raucous game of spoons.

Following Sunday morning breakfast, a trip to a local sporting goods/hardware/kitchen store, and lunch, everyone piled into their respective vehicles and headed off for a day of driving, or in JR's case, a day of studying at the library. We pointed out to him that all of us had lived through our days of drudgery and were still alive, but that's small comfort to him right now, I'm sure.  And thus ended another wonderful family weekend.  Thanks, guys!

For Sunday breakfast, I mixed up a batch of blueberry muffins and scrambled some eggs with ham. I hadn't made the muffins in a while and I had forgotten how yummy they are. Here's the recipe:

Sweet Blueberry Muffins

Batter:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup oil

3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Crumbs:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

6 Tbs butter
Dash of cinnamon

To prepare batter, combine eggs, milk and oil in measuring cup.  In separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir wet ingredients into dry until just moistened.  Fold in blueberries.  Spoon batter into 24 greased muffin cups (I used my jumbo muffin pans and made twelve).

To prepare crumbs, crumble all ingredients together (I end up using my fingers) and sprinkle over each cup of batter.  I pressed the crumbs down lightly before baking.

Bake at 400 (jumbo 425) for 20-30 minutes.  (The time difference depends on muffin size and whether or not your blue berries are frozen.)

This recipe could easily be halved for a smaller batch. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Ann!

On a beautiful fall day "somewhere in the '70's", we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter Ann. What a joy she has been! She's a wonderful daughter, a much-loved wife, and a fabulous mom.

Happy birthday, Ann!

Sewing Machine Woes

Today has been a rainy, dark, and cozy day. Fall. I love it. And it's a good thing, because the rest of this day has been crazy!

I took my beloved Bernina 830, Moby Stitch, in for its yearly checkup, or as my friend CJ calls it, its spa treatment. I dropped it off before we went to Bruder Bear's, and yes, that was the middle of August. Poor Sam, the tech, encountered difficulties installing new updates Bernina recommended. Long story short, I finally got it back yesterday. Last night, I set it up and started to stitch. Uh oh. The touch keys wouldn't work. Finally, I discovered that if I touched them way up on the top, they would. Strange. And disconcerting. I left several messages on Sam's cell and continued to tinker with Moby with varying success.

This afternoon I decided to give it another try. More problems, bobbin thread showing, which I remedied by filling bobbins with the same thread as the top. It stitched beautifully that way, but then more problems! It has an automatic threader but the button for it ceased to work. Arrgghh!!

Sam called to say he'd talked to Bernina today and they'd told him how to reset the screen. He came for a house call tonight. Alas, poor Moby seems to have had a nervous breakdown and wouldn't even let Sam into the machine setup. He thinks one of those big ribbon-like sets of wires that plug in must have come loose, so he'll come back tomorrow with all his anti-static mats and equipment and break into Moby and hopefully be able to fix it all. I'm hoping Moby doesn't need a complete brain transplant (motherboard). Oh the joys of computerized machinery. So wonderful when it works, so frustrating when it doesn't.

I keep telling myself it's just a machine that's sick, not someone I love. And it's true. In the scheme of things, this is just a little annoyance and will eventually be resolved.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of a little wall quilt I made last fall and forgot about until I found it last week.

End of September

How amazing that September ends today. I remember hearing that the older you get, the faster time goes, and it certainly seems to be true.

Fall is here. I was doing some reading this morning and in my peripheral vision I could see dappled shadows around the room as sunlight filtered through the aspen trees just outside the window. I loved it! This afternoon there is much smoke all around; farmers must be burning their fields. The smoke, combined with the shadows and the slowly turning leaves brings a feeling of comfort and security. Time to finish up chores and start planning for the coming winter.

Dan has been busy getting wood, splitting, and stacking it. Some of it has been rather damp, so he's spread it out over the lower yard where the sun can dry it. So much work for something that will be gone--in a puff of smoke! This wood will certainly have warmed him several times over before it vanishes in our stove.

Meanwhile, Buddy the cat has spent the day curled up in the recliner. This time of year the nights are perfect for prowling and then he spends the day recovering from his hunting expeditions. The mice are few in our neighborhood any more.

Buddy came to us one weekend more than eight years ago. We have no idea where he came from, but for days when I came home from school, there he would be in the corner of the porch. Finally, knowing full well what we were doing, we fed him. He's been a part of the family ever since. Living as we do just out of town, we occasionally had mice, but no more! Even the neighbors have remarked on it. He's done his job well, so I guess he deserves his days in the chair.

Take a cue from Buddy and spend an hour now and then this fall in a lovely little nap. You'll feel better for it!

My Honey

I often mention that Dan is out of town working. For a "retired" person, he's on the move quite often. So here's the deal. Following his official retirement, he started receiving calls asking for his expertise and it was just what he needed. After a few months, he decided to create his own consulting business and he was off and running. (I got to contribute by designing his letterhead and business cards. Things of beauty, I must say!)

So what does he do? Well, he's the contract Forest Pathologist for the Idaho Department of Lands, which means he presents workshops on tree diseases in different locations throughout the year, conducts field days where participants see said diseases in their actual environs, and is available for consultation when IDL foresters have questions about specific problems. He is also occasionally called upon by private companies for similar work. It's been fun for him; he says they're asking him to do the things he enjoyed the most when he worked full time.

Another aspect of his sharing has been a tie-in with the Idaho Forest Products Commission. This began when he was working full time, and has continued. They conduct two big tours a year: one for teachers in June, and one they call Miracle at Work Forest Tour for business and political leaders in September.

This year, pictures and comments by Dan have made it into print; a forestry extension field day was featured in the Coeur d'Alene paper, and the Miracle tour in The Capital Press, a west coast agricultural publication.

We were able to capture this picture from the Capital Press's website:

He says he's now waiting for a call from Letterman.

UPDATE: For those interested, click here for a link to the article in the Coeur d'Alene paper: Cd'A article

Happy Fall, Y'all

I'm a sucker for seasonal treats. And I justify them by calling it "decorating."

Cookbooks...

... are one of my favorite reading pleasures. Over the years, I've added quite a few to the several I had when we got married. There are some I've made many meals from, and others I've only read but never "used" in the sense of actually cooking a recipe from them. They're inspirations, I guess you could say. I often take a cookbook to bed to read before falling asleep. Anyone else do that?

Suffice it to say, over the years my collection has grown. When we were first married, I used part of a shelf over the daybed that was our sofa in our 8x35' trailer. In our next homes, they sat in a corner on the counter. Fast forward a few years and I had them on a small bookcase Dan made, which worked perfectly for a short time. All of a sudden, I had too many to fit, and I was forced to decide which stayed in the kitchen and which were shuffled to bookcases in the basement. Not a really good solution.

Last year, in the fall, I told Dan that the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a new bookcase for my cookbooks. He agreed to make one and we measured and plotted. I had very specific instructions. He got a small start before Christmas, but then other things intervened. He was able to get back to it this summer, and today was its grand entrance!!

Note the red bow on the top!!

Here's how it looks inside:

Room to spare!! The little drawer at the top left? It's for bills! Now when they come in, we can just pop them in there, and find them. All in one place, mixed in with nothing else! Yay!

This blurry picture is what I used to have (I didn't realize it was blurry and of course it's empty now, and gone, so...):

I keep going in the kitchen and looking at my wonderful new bookcase. I love it so much! The door inserts are beadboard, the knobs and hinges are pewter, and the whole thing is painted the same color as the beadboard in the breakfast nook. The shelf heights are made to fit my books.

Here's the final look:

I'm pretty certain there are more cookbooks lurking in the basement and when I find them, they'll get to come up to join the others in their new home!

September

Fall is in the air and today could not have been a more perfect day. The high was only in the low seventies and it's been invigorating! We went to Costco this morning with Ann and Daniel and even the valley was comfortable.

Dan is off to a meeting tonight and I was excited to change out our Americana decorations for fall ones. Labor Day is still to come, but...it's September! It just feel right.

I'm working at the shop tomorrow, so it should be a fun day. I've done a little more sewing and have almost finished redoing the guest room downstairs. I like how it's looking. My 830 has been in the shop for three weeks and I've been missing it, but I do have other machines and so I finally got them out and did some pillows earlier this week. I'm so blessed--these other machines (I used two) are such great machines, too.

I'll be back soon with some pictures...of something! Maybe the guest room or just some pictures of fall decorations.

Happy Labor Day!

A Little Trip to Bruder Bear's

Did you miss me??  It was time for a little get-a-way. Dan had to be in McCall to give a talk last Tuesday morning, so we took advantage of that to plan a visit to Bruder Bear's.  We drove to McCall Monday, and following Dan's talk, we headed out for southern Idaho.

John and Karen were both working Wednesday and Thursday, so we had a chance to sit around and enjoy the incredible views from their deck.  Their house is right on the Snake River and the water is wide there due to slackwater from a downstream dam.

Some kind of gorgeous, huh?

John took Friday off and he and Dan began to work on a new dock. Their house is on the bluff side of the river, so they have stairs which zigzag down, somewhat like the stairs on a lookout; so instead of a beach, they use a dock as a sort of deck between the hill and the actual boat dock. The guys purchased the lumber and brought it around in John's boat. The poles for the supports were already in place and working from the boat, they began to attach the 2x8's to form the framework.

Here you'll see John in the boat and Dan in the lower center as they move in the planks:

They were forced to discontinue the plan to use the boat as there were so many other boats on the water that the waves kept John's boat in continual motion, which didn't work too well. Plan B: work in the water.

By eight o'clock Sunday evening, they were done. The frame is ready for its Trex decking. Here's Dan rolling up the tubing from the compressor to the nail gun. You can see the framework behind (the other half is behind the Russian olive tree on the right). I know it looks like it's sticking up in the air, but it's actually me who was up in the air--on the stairs--getting everything in view. The guys were well pleased with their work.

So, you ask, what were Karen and I up to as the guys slaved away? Well, so glad you asked. On Thursday evening, as Karen was fixing dinner, I brought up the subject of the wallpaper on her soffits. Both of her daughters had been "encouraging" her to get rid of it but so far, she hadn't. I sort of lifted an edge and said that it looked like it would be easy to take off. Karen came over, gave it a bigger yank, and we were off. Turned out there was another border underneath, but with a little work and a few hours of time, we got it all off. There was white paint underneath, and with a little touch-up, they'll be good as new.

Saturday, in addition to the dock work, a party was on the schedule. A local reception for the daughter of some friends was on the agenda so Karen spent the morning baking three delectable desserts, and John spent the afternoon deep frying eight, yup, eight, turkeys. We all had a good time at the party, which was held outdoors at the home of the bride's parents, in spite of a couple of rain showers and a beautiful lightning show. Oh, and the father of the bride did a bad slice job on two of his fingers as he carved a turkey. He refused to go for stitches until the next day and wore a lovely gauze mitten the rest of the evening.

As usual, we had a fantastic time at the Bruder Resort and loved every moment. The visit, the fun, the work, and food were all perfect. Thanks, Bruder Bear! XXOO

A Long Time Ago...

on a very hot day, I was born sixty-two years ago today! How the years have flown!!  The hospital in our little town in the canyon had no air conditioning and my poor mom endured not only labor, but 100+ heat getting me into this world.

I've had a lovely day, lazing about and enjoying my air conditioned house and chatting with family on the phone. Dan was going to take me out to dinner, but tacos sounded good and so I made us some.  They were just right.

Here's a picture of me not long after this day all those years ago:

I really was little once!  :-)