The Gift

I had hoped for and watched the potluck’s raffle basket

 full of homemade Christmas gifts

get won by someone else ~~ oh well!

I had so wanted one of the gifts inside.

Then days later at the Christmas party,

I watched several more holiday baskets go off with other friends

 ~~ containing yet again a couple of the gifts

that I had really wanted.

At the party I noticed another one of the gifts

 on someone’s neck and I exclaimed “ Oh how lucky! Isn’t it beautiful?”

I wasn’t jealous, nope. Just hopeful.

I knew exactly who had made these gifts

and I also knew how much I would have loved to have the same.

What I didn’t know though, was that I had already received the gift.

 One of my very own ~ a gift bag given to me first thing that morning.

I had tucked it away into my tote and saved my gift to savor on Christmas morn,

 because at home, we had decided not to buy for each other.

 Dental work and eyeglasses had to come first.

What fun would it have been to open those? Nope, I had saved the gift.

So when I opened the present on Christmas morn,

I was thrilled to receive the gift ~~ in a perfect color all to my very own.

A beautiful hand knit scarf from special friends who mean more to me than I can say.

Even though I had coveted one of the hand knit scarves,

And received the most perfect one for me;

I already had a special gift.

  Friendship and Love from  J & C

 Thank you, and not just for the scarf.

 

 

White Christmas

 Our Christmas plans changed

 from the low key quiet day we expected,

to a trip up the mountains.

The car was packed with extra  folding chairs,

presents for the boys

 Christmas dinner ingredients,

and tire chains.

Answering the call,

"Mom could you make Christmas dinner,  I already have the ham?"

 The expectant mom

~who was ordered to be

 on bed rest~

reclined on the couch, watching over

  three boys in the midst of wrapping paper

and

Nerf  gun  ambushes.

There was much

fun to be had,

while dinner cooked in the oven.

Ham

Cauliflower Gratin

Taste of Fall salad  (Taste of Home recipe)

Corn Pudding (Gooseberry Patch recipe)

Honey Bee rolls ( again from another Gooseberry Patch book)

It wasn't fancy, but it sure was good.

Shortly after an early afternoon dinner,

the snow flakes fell, fat and fluffy.

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Time to get back down the mountain

before we needed the tire chains.

We may get a dusting of our own snow this evening.

I'm crossing my fingers!

Oh please, Oh please!



Thank You Patriot Guard Riders

Standing For Those Who Stood For Us.

I want to give  thanks,

with deep appreciation for the men and women

who escorted our family out to the Northern California

Veterans Cemetery in Igo, CA on a cold and blustery day

Monday the 20th of December.

Your dedication to honoring our own hero, no

matter what the weather, was done with

respect, precision and an admiral dedication

to duty. 

~Thank You.~

I am sharing information from the Patriot Guard Riders on

the  tradition of the flag folding and presentation to families.

The honor guard pays meticulous attention to correctly folding the

 United States of America Flag.

The first fold of the flag is a symbol of life.

The 2nd fold is a symbol of the belief in eternal life.

.

The 3rd fold is made in honor and remembrance

 of the veterans departing the ranks

 who gave a portion of their lives

 for the defense of the country

 to attain peace throughout the world.

  

The 4th fold represents the weaker nature,

for as American citizens

trusting in God, it is to Him

we turn in times of peace as well as in times

of war for His divine guidance.

The 5th fold is a tribute to the country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur,

'Our Country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right:

but it is still our country, right or wrong.'

The 6th fold is for where people's hearts lie.  It is with their heart that

They pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

and the Republic for which it stands,

one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty

and Justice for all.

The 7th fold is a tribute to its Armed Forces, for it is through the Armed Forces that they

protect their country and their flag against all her enemies,

whether they be found within or without the boundaries of their republic.

The 8th fold is a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death,

that we might see the light of day.

The 9th fold is a tribute to womanhood, and Mothers.  For it has been

through their faith, their love, loyalty and devotion

that the character of the men and women who have made this country great has been molded.

The 10th fold is a tribute to the father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters

for the defense of their country since they were first born.

The 11th fold represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon

 and glorifies in the Hebrews eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The 12th fold represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in the Christians eyes,

God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The 13th fold, or when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost reminding them of their

nations motto, 'In God We Trust.'

After the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under General George Washington, and the Sailors and Marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones, who were followed by their comrades and shipmates in the Armed Forces of the United States, preserving for them the rights, privileges and freedoms they enjoy today.

Pink and Frosty Snowman

Well, this one is kinda sorta finished.

I need to do a bit of touch up.

Cause I was sorta kinda

multitasking ~~~  blog hopping ~~~ 

and mixing up a bit of pink and white

paint and carrying the little tin foil

cup of paint to the desk ~~~

And the foil  cup of paint slipped and

did a bit of a flip flop ~~~

right on top of the computer's keyboard.

 I haven't exactly gotten all the paint cleaned off.

It's probably going to take forever and a day.

 It also slung some paint onto the snowman's

face and  her snowflake collar.

That bit I can fix.

What I can't fix, and hadn't noticed until now ~~

This little snowman has crooked cheeks.

Oh well!

I have seven more to finish.

Wish me luck.

Have a great day.

Unfinished Projects

Perhaps I should think ahead

and start working on a bit of Easter crafts.

Hopefully  I would actually finish in time

if I started now.

I could show you unfinished aprons.

An unfinished crocheted throw.

How about the unfinished Halloween wreath,

Along with unfinished Thanksgiving place cards.

I could show you a stack of unframed

cross stitch projects from years ago.

For now though,

I'm showing you the unfinished, one and only

Christmas craft I attempted this year.

For the tutorial,

follow this link.

  http://creativebreathing.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-cant-help-myself-cute-on-me-monday.html

Elizabeth's work is absolutely wonderful.

I did finish one of the smaller snowmen,

and took it to Seniors for Show and Tell

yesterday.

  I promised to put up the link to the tutorial for a dear friend.

Here it is Bonnie.   Love ya.

I'll show the finished snowman when I get a photo taken.

Today, I'm helping prepare Christmas gift baskets

for the Senior Center Christmas party next week.

I also have ~ have ~ have to get our Christmas tree up.

It's got to be today!

Hen and Chicks Tea Towel

I finished this tea towel using Prairie Flower Farm's pattern.

Linda is so very generous with her patterns. 

I'm having a hard time taking photos of these white towels. So~~~

These  photos will have to do.  

It was a dark  and dreary wet day,

when I took them.

Oh, and the crocheted  throw that the tea towel is draped across,

was made by our friend Pricilla. 

 We purchased it at a craft bazaar that she helps with each and every year.

  It's a wonderful craft show,

that several local churches put on at the Senior Center.

This towel was stitched for a basket full of home made items to be

raffled off at our Senior Potluck dinner this Saturday.

The basket is going to be filled with hand knitted items from several of my friends.

Think scarves, hats, and dish rags.

There may or may not be a crocheted item.

A jar of pickles from Jackie.  (recipe here)

Home baked cookies, and candy from several of our board members.

I have to get busy making cookies for this basket. The collection day will be tomorrow.

Hopefully~~ there will be some of Jackie's peanut brittle included.

She makes it in the microwave.

It's every one's favorite down at the Senior Center.

It's light and airy, crunchy without being too hard.

 Yeah, easy peasy but I don't have that recipe ~~~ yet.

We're in for just a couple of bright and sunny days.

Then this weekend, the rain returns and will

stick around for most of next week.

The funeral and memorial service for Rick's Dad will be

Monday.  He will receive full military honors

at the Igo Veteran's Cemetery.    I'm not sure I'll be strong enough

to witness the gun salute and the flag offering.

I can't help shedding tears at the Memorial Day services each May.

Monday's ceremony is going to be different.

Because ~

This time it's personal. 

Meanwhile we are grateful for our family visiting

with each other a bit more.

Lately, and saying goodbye...

We've been dealing with changes in our lives. 

Changes which have taken some of our "spare" time

and spiraled it in different directions. 

  I don't get too personal on this blog, but today's post will be an exception.

There's several reasons I haven't been actively blogging as I wish to.

Some of the changes have resulted in having  more time with our grandson.

I've been playing Chutes and Ladders, doing puzzles, and reading 

to him lots and lots.  That's certainly a good thing.

 We haven't been out on the boat hardly since September.

There was an exception two weeks ago.    

It snowed on that Saturday.  You can just barely

see the flakes falling in this photo.

It had just started to stick when it stopped and turned back to rain.

The next day, Sunday we went out on the boat to a cove

just around the corner from the marina.

It had warmed up a bit from the day before and had melted off the 

low lying snow.  The warmth of the sun created a fog

coming off from the shaded cold water back in the cove. 

The lake level is hovering between 48-49 feet from the crest.

Inside the boat with it's tent canvas covers, it's nice and toasty warm with the sun shining

on the canvas.   Keep in the sun though, otherwise it's cold when the sun turns to shadows.

 

There is some sad news as well.

Rick's dad had been in the rehab/convalescence hospital for three

months.  We were all looking forward to his  getting well enough to come home.

He was released,  on December 1st. 

He asked to stop by the Senior Center for lunch on the way home.

He visited with the "regulars" there, and had a bite to eat.

On the way to his house,

he slipped away from us.

   This was from June 6, 2010 when we met at a restaurant to visit

with family and Rick's brother from Oregon.  It was the last photo I

took of him. 

It's been a tough time lately

but there has been smiles along the way as well,

with stories told,

photos shared,

memories relived,

and tears shared in private and with each other.

We will miss him so much.

Cottage Tea House White Bread, From Cottage Tea House in Burkburnett, Texas

 I've had this recipe for a long time. 

So long ago that  I have no idea where I copied it from.

I Google searched for info and came up with a recipe for

Cottage Tea House Rolls, using the same bread recipe as I use.

As far as I can tell, there's no longer a Cottage Tea House

in Burkburnett, Texas.  But this was their recipe once

upon a time.

2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons salt

1 package of yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105*F.-115*F.)

6 1/2 to 7 cups bread flour

Melted butter

Scald milk in heavy medium saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup sugar,

1/4 cup butter and salt.  Cool to lukewarm.

Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar and yeast over warm water in large bowl;

let dissolve.  Stir to blend.

Let yeast stand until foamy and proofed, about 15 minutes.

Stir milk mixture into yeast.  Add enough flour 1 cup at a time to form a soft dough.

Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, abut 10 minutes.

Grease large bowl.  Add dough, turning to coat entire surface. 

Cover with towel, and let rise in warm draft free area  until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.

Grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans or eight 4 1/2 x2 1/2-inch loaf pans.

Punch dough down.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead 2 minutes.

Shape dough into loaves.  Fit into pan.

Cover and let rise in warm draft free area until almost doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Bake until loaves are golden brown and bottoms sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes.

Brush tops with melted butter, if you want to.

There's nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread.

I will resist... 

Cauliflower Gratin,

Cauliflower Gratin: 

Or, 

how to make cauliflower which would

be  perfectly healthy  plain,

or dressed with the smallest dab of butter,

and turn it into something rich and delicious, for a simple

but special dinner.  I could skip everything else

and just eat this for dinner.

It's was that good,  and

Shhh.... it was good for breakfast too!

This recipe is from the Martha Stewart magazine,

Everyday Food.

Preheat oven to 400*F.  In a large bowl,

combine 1 large head cauliflower, cored and cut into florets.

1 cup heavy cream  ( I happened to have heavy cream, due to some

Thanksgiving plans for whipped cream on pie.  I wonder if half and half

would make a good substitute.)

1 tablespoon all purpose flour, and 3/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan.

Season with coarse salt and ground pepper and toss to combine.

Transfer mixture to a 2-quart baking dish,

cover tightly with foil, and bake 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup grated Parmesan,

and 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs.  ( I used Panko crumbs).

Sprinkle over cauliflower.  Dot with 1 tablespoon unsalted butter.

( I melted the tablespoon of butter and mixed it in the crumb/

Parmesan mixture, then sprinkled the crumbs over the top

of the cauliflower mixture.)

Do your own thing, it's OK~~ 

Bake, uncovered until topping is golden brown and cauliflower is tender

when pierced with a knife, 10 to 15 minutes.  (I did 15 minutes.)

Let cool 5 minutes before serving.  Serves 6.

Meanwhile, this morning I'm remaking the bread I want

to use for stuffing Thursday.  The two loaves I did earlier~~

Well, I cubed them up and set them in the oven to toast

and dry...

I set the timer for 15 minutes to check,

but smelled something wrong at the 10 minute mark.

My bread cubes on the top rack, had caught

fire, and the smoke permeated even the non burnt

bread cubes... It smelled rather awful... just saying.

So, it's back to the mixer...

Take care, and have a lovely week, preparing for the holiday.

OK, then, this time it was NOT my fault!

Was it just seven months ago 

that I wrecked my car

when I wasn't even driving it?

Um ~ yeah, and I wasn't even in the car either.

Now it's Rick's car.

How inconvenient.

Rats!

We were waiting to turn left out of Walmart's

parking lot, when an elderly gentleman

backed into us from his parking spot.

He was awfully sorry, and came out of his truck

saying he did see us, but  his brakes weren't working.

Um ~~ OK.

We're in contact with insurance companies now,

and we've been told it will probably be around the 30th before it

can be fixed.  Double rats.

 

I'm cooking two turkeys tomorrow for a potluck at Seniors.

The turkeys are cleaned and ready to roast tomorrow.

Today, I am simmering turkey necks and giblets with onions and

herbs from the garden for a stock to make gravy with tomorrow.

There's fresh baked  loaves of bread  just out of the oven.

 Oh, it smells so good,  just like Thanksgiving Day.

I just hope by Thursday, I don't feel like this.

This is a photo of a magazine page torn from

an Home Companion magazine that I saved.

Boy do I miss that magazine.  I love Mary Engelbreit's style.

Seasonal Snowmen Tea Towels

 I finished the set of tea towels using the  patterns from Linda's blog.

I added a few little changes here and there.

This one is "Winter Thyme" .

Thanks Linda, for the patterns.

The  patterns are available on her blog   http://prairieflowerfarm.blogspot.com/

She's using the patterns for a quilt design

that I'm looking forward to seeing. 

Take care.

Honey Do

This little honey pot is ready to be filled with honey.

First though I had to get my Costco sized jar/bottle of honey

back into a pourable state. It had crystalized.

Don't ask me why I needed such a huge jug of honey.

I didn't and I don't.

But it was such a good price and I think at the time

I was interested in a recipe for honey jelly.

Well that didn't happen.

But crystalized  honey did.

I've tried before to melt the crystals,

setting bottles in heated water,

only to have the bottle warp.

Not this time.

 I used a  plastic bag (from the newspaper wrapper)

that fit snugly around the honey bottle,

 tied the end and sent my wrapped honey through

the dishwasher cycle with a load full of dishes.

Most of the crystals melted back into their sweet goodness.

The next day,  I sent it one more time  through the dishwasher

with the  dishes using the no heat drying cycle,

and now the honey is ready to use once again.

Sweet!

 Sunday,  we switched up the two upstairs bedrooms.

What was the craft/guest room

 has now become Rick’s office/guest room.

What was our shared office space,

is now my office/craft room.

   It took us ALL day to switch contents between the rooms.

 It’s truly a luxury

to have a dedicated room and space to work on projects

whether its for crafts or sewing or using the computer.

There’s no more packing every thing up

to clear off the dining room table,

 or getting the craft/guest room, back to being child proofed for
our grandkid visitors.

 For now I just need to get this room organized. 

Hopefully soon, because I have got to get back to creating something.

 ~~~

 Anything,

 that doesn't add to the Honey Do list for Rick.

Fall Color

Some of our most colorful fall trees are these imports from China.

Pistacia chinensis

  In English: Chinese Pistache 

In  Chinese: 黄连木

Some of the city planners for Shasta Lake City,

used grant funds to create the most beautiful

interchange/exit landscapes in our area.

Nothing in nearby Redding (a much larger town)

matches the colorful landscape of this towns two exits.

Way to go SLC.

You have not noticed, that I took these photos while driving.

ahem...

OK, then.

Here's some color shots 

 taken from the parking lot of

  the Rehab hospital that

we've been visiting for the past couple

of months.

My father in law is there

recovering from gall bladder

surgery.  He's 86 now,

a WWII veteran.

He participated in the D~day

landing on the beaches of Normandy.

Day # 3,  I think.

It's sad being there ~ seeing patients

  who obviously won't be going home.

Spending the autumn years of their lives in a place

that I hope to never be.

We're thankful this season

that we do get to see him come home.

Back to his usual seat at the Senior Center.

Back to painting  Christmas villages

with his unsteady hands.

Back to his salty language

that he has no interest in curbing.

 (smile)

And back into our grateful hugs.

Welcome home soon Dad.

Election Day

I have studied my poll training manual,

inventoried our supplies, and

packed the car.

I've  gathered everything I think I may need.

I'm ready to spend the entire day Tuesday

   working

at our election polling precinct.

I hope we have a large turnout.

Keeping busy at the polls really makes our day go by faster.

Our work day starts at 5:30AM and ends

around 10:00 PM.

Please

See ya later this week.

Halloween

 This little chocolate cookie haunted house

was crafted from a kit. 

Perfect for times when you just don't have it in you

to do it from scratch.

 

 Our grandson helped his mama with this. 

Follow this tutorial for these  Halloween topiary candy jars.

Of course it's too late now for Halloween.

But what if they were crafted  with

Christmas candies,

and a bit of Christmas ribbon?

Or what if

you skipped the topiary parts

and just decorated the lids of regular

canning jars with spray paint and ribbons

to hold a Christmas treat?

Home baked cookies and candy?

Sounds like a plan.

Thanks to the Crafty Sisters blog for the great tutorial.