Welcome!


Welcome! I am glad you are here. Join me with a cup of your favorite beverage and see what is going on in my life and what is on my mind. I would love to have you join my site and you can do that on the left side where it says 'followers'. And please leave a comment! Thanks for visiting.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

TIME FOR A CHANGE

I just finished revamping the Recipes page. Now you should be able to find recipes much easier. Check it out!

I will be working on the other pages soon.

OLD FAITHFUL



I think I need to name this baby Old Faithful. He has served me very well over the last 14 years. This is a 2000 Pontiac Montana.

The other day I drove in the garage and happened to look at the odometer and it said 99,900 miles. I have driven him a few more miles since then, so I have less than 100 miles to see it roll over to 100,000! I have never kept a car for that many years or miles, as I had husbands that thought we needed to trade every few years.

I think he has aged well, don't you? Still as handsome as ever with very few dings.

Some of you may wonder why I, as a single (and aging) woman, would want to drive a minivan. I love to drive it! It is much easier for me to get into rather than 'fall' into a lower car. I also sit up higher so I can see the road better. I like the sliding doors, which means I don't need a lot of side clearance in order to open those, like I need for the front. And the back end works so well for hauling groceries or any larger items. I can easily put my garbage cans in the back to take to the curb every week. I doubt they would fit in the small trunks cars have today. I have also hauled lots of tree branches and garden refuse to the city tree dump, as well as many other various things.

Once in awhile I even fill it with people! It does seat 7 fairly well, but I usually have the back row of seats folded up so the cargo area is larger. And with two sliding doors, the people can get in and out very well.

I do hope Old Faithful will stay with me as long as I am able to drive as I hate to think of having to buy something else.

Keeping fingers and toes crossed!

Monday, September 29, 2014

FRUGAL LIVING

I seem to be spending a lot of money lately, just on basic needs. But I needed to order yarn and pattern for my annual afghan that I donate to the church for fundraising. You can see those I made in other years elsewhere on this blog.

I need to get started on it soon so that I have plenty of time to get it finished by February when the auction will be held. I do have money set aside for this, but when I checked my Paypal account, I found I had more than enough there to pay for the things I ordered. The money in the Paypal account comes from survey rewards that I had cashed in and had sent to Paypal.

My order came to $84 (gasp!) but I had $95 in the account. So all the yarn I bought for the afghan, plus two other projects, is free to me. I call that very frugal living! I am sorry, but you won't get to see what I am working on until after the auction.

All the surveys I do are online and just takes a little time. If I did them  more regularly I would have even more money saved up, so I think I need to get busy again.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Thursday, September 25, 2014

MORE APPLE CRISP


Did I mention apple crisp is my favorite apple dessert?

Here is another good recipe you may want to try a little later in the year, when the fresh cranberries are available. This one is really good, too.

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CRANBERRY-APPLE CRISP

3 cups peeled, chopped, cooking apples
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup regular rolled oats, uncooked
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently. Place apple mixture in a greased 8-inch square baking dish. Combine oats, brown sugar and salt; stir well. Cut in butter. Sprinkle oat mixture over fruit mixture. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

NOTE:
May be doubled for a 9x13-inch dish.

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I have always melted the butter or margarine before adding to the brown sugar/oatmeal mix. It just seems easier to me.

Again, this needs a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but whipped cream will do as well. Use whichever you prefer.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

CLUTTER

Old catalogs are clutter.


I decluttered 15 of these today!

SEPTEMBER - APPLE TIME!



It is apple picking time, and time for apple pies, applesauce, apple butter, apple crisp, apple cake . . . . . .


What is your favorite apple variety? Mine is Honeycrisp. If you haven't tried them yet, you don't know what you are missing! They are so juicy, crisp and sweet for eating fresh. I can't stand a mealy apple but they are great for cooking.

What is your favorite apple dessert?  My all-time favorite is apple crisp.

We were discussing apple crisp recipes in one of my groups recently and they asked for my favorite recipe. Here it is ~


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APPLE CRISP

8 cups peeled apples, sliced
1/2 cup raisins (I prefer mine without)
1/2 cup walnuts
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup flour

TOPPING:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup quick oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup margarine

EXTRA:
1 jar Smucker's caramel topping

Mix all ingredients for dessert (apples, nuts, sugar, cinnamon, flour). Place in 9x13" pan. Mix all ingredients for topping. Sprinkle over apples. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm. Drizzle with caramel topping. Add scoop of ice cream.

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If your apples are sweet to begin with, you may want to cut back a little on the sugar that is mixed with the apples. Use 1 cup instead.

Apple crisp DEMANDS caramel topping and vanilla ice cream!!

It reheats really well in the microwave. Just put one serving in a dish, reheat until warm, add the caramel and ice cream and enjoy.

A funny story. My husband was going to get me a dish of apple crisp and I told him I wanted it warmed up in the microwave, so he puts the ice cream on top and THEN microwaves it. :o) So I ate apple crisp with warm cream. That was okay, but it is much better warm with cold, frozen ice cream.

Enjoy!


Monday, September 22, 2014

CATCHING UP

When I checked my posts I noticed it was just a month ago when I announced I would be absent for awhile. How time flies. I have been thinking of ideas for posts but that is as far as my mind would let me do. All it has been wanting to do is play games on the computer - you know, those mindless things. What I play is more a game of skill so I don't have to think while playing. I can even chat on the phone while playing because I can focus on the conversation and not think about the game.

The family emergency I noted earlier is still not resolved, but it is not quite the emergency it was. There is progress, and the end is in sight. Just praying it all turns out well. I can't say any more about it for privacy reasons. I can at least say the family feels a bit calmer now.

I have been reading a lot of books on my Kindle this summer. I only download the free books. Some have been very good, and a couple were questionable, but I had to finish them and see if I could figure out what they were all about. I like mostly mystery and romance, preferably both in the same story. They have been short reads, but I also love those really thick books that are so good I can't put them down. And when I come to the end I do not want it to end! I want more. I guess that indicates an excellent writer, doesn't it? I do immerse myself into the story as if I am part of it. One thing that I have found with some of the Kindle books is that there doesn't seem to be much proofreading done. One was really bad as words were misplaced or even missing. Otherwise it was a good story. Maybe I should have had a job as a proof reader with a publishing company? But, you will find errors in my writing as well. It is so much easier to proof someone else's writing because I know what I had written and don't see the errors - until after it is published. Then they really glare out at me!

Awhile back I was telling you about my decluttering. Obviously I did not get very far with that! It got put on hold with everything else happening around here, not to mention my body and mind taking vacations for awhile. Last week I had a better week and was able to get some much needed things done. And that was in spite of the fact that I couldn't sleep at night. I maybe got a total of 3 or 4 hours of sleep per night. I would be wide awake at 3 am and up and watching TV until finally getting sleepy enough to go back to bed around 6 am. One morning I was up until 9 am! Slept for a couple of hours and then was up for the day. I am sure it will remain a mystery why this is happening since I have not changed the amount of caffeine consumed or any other changes. The lack of sleep will catch up with me eventually.

I hope I am back in the groove now and able to more posting here. Talk to you later.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

LAST BITS OF SUMMER

I took these pictures earlier this summer, thinking I would get them posted much sooner, but you know how life can get in the way sometimes.

This first pictures is a little beautification in an otherwise rather ugly spot between the bowling alley on the right, and a little building that was once a plumber's shop. I had seen something similar either on Pinterest or Hometalk, and whoever did this must have seen the same thing. It is nice to see some of these ideas actually in use in my own neighborhood. I think it brightens up this otherwise drab area, don't you?



If you drive around my town during the summer, you might see these little mini flower gardens here and there at street intersections. Where the sidewalks intersect provides these little pie shaped areas that just beg for some dressing up.


I took this pictures during the time a pair of young ladies were painting all the fire hydrants. Doesn't he look sharp? It reminds me of a little guard, standing at attention, dressed in his finest uniform.