Sand Lake

Ok - party at Sand Lake! What should I bring? Ma's molasses cookies of course!

I just baked these for the first time. Fran, Ma's great granddaughter, gave me the recipe to use in the series I am working on - the Four Season Series.

When I was little I used to love watching a woman I cherished in her 90's make these cookies. I could barely wait for them to come out of the oven and cool enough to eat. That is how I feel right now!

I am taking my first bite - oh my goodness - not too sweet - just right - the jelly on top is essential. (Fran said to use grape jelly. ) The cloves and cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg are in perfect proportions!

I just went back in time.


Molasses Cookies
1 Cup Crisco
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Molasses
1 tsp Soda
2 tsp Ginger
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cloves
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Salt
6 Cups Flour
1 Cup Buttermilk

Cream Crisco and sugar, add molasses.  Sift flour 3 cups of flour with other dry ingredients.  Alternate dry ingredients with buttermilk.  Add the remaining flour and mix just until all ingredients are mixed.  Divide into equal parts.  Roll 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out with three inch cookie cutter.  Place on greased cookie sheet with a standard measuring spoon press a dent in center of each cookie (use back of spoon).  Place 1/4 tsp raspberry or strawberry (Fran says to use grape!) in dent.  Sprinkle cookies with sugar.  Bake 9 minutes at 375 degrees.  Do not overbake. 

 

Another Church Sign

Cars are not the only thing recalled by their maker!

Herons and Egrets and Bitterns, Oh My

Last night we drove through the Shiawassee Auto Tour.  It was so fabulous we went back early this morning.  We saw so many birds.  Three hundred egrets, maybe more.  A flock of Bitterns.  Night Herons.  Great Blue Herons.  A Blue Bunting.  Sandhill Cranes.  An immature Eagle. And one we couldn't identify.  It was bigger than the immature Eagle.  We were too far away even with the new binoculars to be able to figure out what it was.  And of course a turtle!

We had a wonderful time.  I took a ton of pictures.  Here are a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janet's Birthday

Just a short story about my best friend in Heaven on her birthday.

One year Janet Lepeak and I went to see our friend Barb who lives in Tawas. It happened to be Janet's birthday. Back then Pat and I lived in Sanford.  On our way home from Tawas we stopped in West Branch for the sidewalk sales.

The next year I told Pat the sales were so good that we should go. That afternoon I called Janet to tell her happy birthday and to say I was disappointed because West Branch had their sidewalk sales a week earlier.

Janet laughed and said "Yeah, I had my birthday last week, too!"

Never could remember birthdays! Miss you Janet!

Fran came into town yesterday - I offered to make lunch, but when I left a message on her phone that said, "Do you like broccoli in your quiche?" She called back and said, "No, I do not like broccoli and I do not like quiche, we can go to Tony's!"

Ah - the usual response from anyone that grew up in Saginaw and moved away - they want a steak sandwich from Tony's!

It was delicious!!!

Then we went to the cemetery to find her Dad's parents grave.  She couldn't find it and the cemetery office gave her a sheet with a listing of everyone close by so if she found one of those names she would know she was getting close.  Guess who was on the bottom of the page?  Florence and James Shea!

So we found them - I was upset to see Grandma's gravestone very uneven from all the rain I would guess.  I will have to check with the office to see if they can fix it.

Then we went to the Veteran's Memorial at Hoyt Park.  We were not happy to see that most of the bricks that Fran and her family have purchased are no longer readable.  The black has washed away.  She is going to contact them!

Then we drove past Hoyt Street - the people living in her house are painting it YELLOW!  No more green.  But as consolation the yellow is as bright as the green!

Then past Tony's empty lot, Martha Street Market and through Ojibway on our way back home.

Good trip - ME

Coincidence?

Walked into church, saw Jean, Sue and Gary - talked with them about the picnic for Worship Committee today - Coincidence?  I think not.

Sat in our regular seats - Barb asked if we had fun in New Jersey - Coincidence?  I think not.

Grace came to get a hug - said everything is going great - asked to sit with us at the dinner on Friday - Coincidence?  I think not.

JoAnn stopped to ask if I would help with VBS crafts - Coincidence?  I think not

After church Amy asked if Ayva and Javier wanted to go to VBS - Coincidence?  I think not

It began as a sad day at church knowing Bill and Amy are looking for a new church - they told us on Thursday they weren't coming back.  To have all these people stop and talk and ask for us to be more involved is simply NOT a coincidence.  Thank you God for guiding people to us when we needed it!

Back in the USA!

I know you are going to laugh, but I love coming home! I hate being in Canada. When we crossed the Blue Water Bridge I was so happy!

We drove all through Canada and stopped at Don Pablo in Flint for dinner. We could barely walk into the restaurant our legs were so cramped!

The waiter made a mistake on Pat's order and he got stuffed pepper - it was HOT! He loved it and I had fun watching him turn red, his eyes water and blowing his nose!

We'll be home in a little bit. It was a good trip, but always happy to get home.

Dinner at Otsego Lake

Not your Mama's Otsego Lake in Michigan! We are in the Catskills. We are having dinner at the Blue Mingo Grill in Cooperstown! We even had a short summer storm with thunder - we both love the sound of rain on the roof!

Yup that would mean the Baseball Hall of Fame this afternoon. We had a good time. I even got teary eyed at the Hank Aaron display!

Karina's Does it in Style

It looked dark all morning then cleared a bit. We all went to the stadium and it started to sprinkle. It began to lightening and we were told to go back to our cars.  It poured while we waited. The sun came out. We went back in the stadium. It rained a bit more. The sun came out. A few speeches and then Karina's graduated!

What a way to go! On our way home there was a beautiful rainbow.

I just want to say how much we enjoyed being with the Hinz family. What a joy to be with them!

Kelly is the it again!

Sparkling Shamrock

Oh Yum

Equal parts of

Orange juice
Blue pucker

1/2 equal part of vodka

Fill rest with 7up

Chocolate World!

We stopped at Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania. We went to the chocolate tasting - interesting even if meant for 8 year olds! Then we went to the history of chocolate ride. Interesting even if meant for 4 year olds! Then we went to make our own chocolate bars. I enjoyed that! Little kids were bored in this one.

We designed the covers for our boxes. One says Bertie's the other Heaven Scent. We had to wear aprons and hair caps. We chose the kind of chocolate and added ingredients on a computer screen. Then we watched our own bar go down a conveyer.  When we got to the area where the candy bars are boxed the machine malfunctioned. They had to send several empty ones through to get it to work. I asked if I could have a couple of the empty boxes! So we saved the aprons and caps and when we get home Javier and Ayva will be able to make their own candy bars!

On to Karina's shindig!

Liz and Joe

We went to Grand Rapids yesterday to see Liz and Joe. They just moved into the cutest apartment. An older apartment building with lots of wood trim, large rooms and a beautiful porch.

We walked for a few blocks going from sale to sale. It was fun to see them talking to all their neighbors. Joe had to stop at one and show us the owner's cat that would come to you when you whistle "Strangers in the Night!"

Then we went to the Winchester to eat lunch. We sat on the patio and talked. It was such a nice couple of hours.

Home again!

We had such a great time camping with the Wards and the Galms! Even though a bit chilly we had sunshine each day. A little rain yesterday but the tree on our lot kept us dry.

We took turns cooking - we eat very well!

Happy to be home. The trailer is emptied, Pat is in the shower and I get one next!

Ready, set, almost go!

Grocery shopping done

Chili made and frozen in crockpot plastic cooking bag right in the crockpot

Cookies made

Bacon cooked

Kitchen stuff in container to go out

List of freezer and refrigerate last minute stuff to put in

Pat finished fixing Jim and Jan's lights and putting the new hitch on

Took Jan out to drive her van pulling the trailer for her first time - he said she did great

He is on top of our trailer putting one more coat of paint on the patch

Can't wait!

250th Inside the Actors Studio

James Lipton is my favorite interviewer. I just watched the special 250th episode of Inside the Actors Studio. It was filled with great clips of great interviews. If you see a listing of a rerun make sure you see it!

First Draft of New Series Done!

I have been working for days on the first book of the Season Series.  It is called "Summer."  It is a fun book about two families.  The Maxum's move in next door to the Castor's.  They are large families in today's world.  The Maxum's have five children and the Castor's have six.  When I was growing up in a five child family ours was considered medium sized.  Today, a four child family is considered large.

The very first draft is done.  Now it will take months of work to polish it into a book.  Before I do that I will write the drafts of the other three books.  I love working on four at a time.  I will think of an idea in the fourth book and then go back into the other three to add substance to lead to that fourth book storyline.

I am still waiting for the cover pictures of the second series.  I think I will send an email today to see where she is in the process!  I can't wait to get that series on Amazon.

Weather Forecast

Oh my goodness - just two days ago the weather forecast for camping was all rainy days!  Today it shows all sunny days.  So in two days it will say rain, in four days it will say sun - perfect!  We are going to have beautiful sunny days!

Rainy Zoo Field Trip!

Papa and Nana went to the zoo with Javier's class (and 2 other Carrollton classes and Beaverton and Bay City school buses were there too!

We were worried about the rain ruining the day, but most of the day turned out okay. We had three kids in our group, Javier, David and Darion. They were all good kids. We made it to the wolves, eagles, bobcat, donkeys, crows, macaws, a ride on the train, jumping in the fossil find, alligator, giant rabbit, alpaca, chickens, serval, monkeys, kangaroos, penguins, and then on to the carousel. However, just because you get on a zebra that doesn't stop the thunder and lightening!

We couldn't go to see the pythons so we will go back soon with Javier and Ayva!

We gave Javier his lunch to take back to school. Even with the rain we had a fun day!

Memorial Weekend Picnic

We had a family picnic at the Tridge this afternoon. The ground was very wet from all the rain this past week. But we still had fun.

It is fun to watch her how much Ayva loves Sheala and how much Javier looks up to Robbie.  Sheala and Robbie are such good role models. Ayva and Javie are so well behaved. It is a pleasure to have a family day.

I told Pat that we are very blessed to be able to  enjoy a day with our family.

Spending the Day with Ayva!

We had so much fun! She brought her swimsuit so she could go in the whirlpool. We made bubbles with Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. She had a blast.

Then she had crackers and chocolate chips in her Frankenstein bowl. And we made fruit cobbler for lunch.

We played Connect Four, Guess Who and spy.

Robbie and Papa were working on the trailer. When Caroline got here we had taco bowls and cobbler for lunch.

Then Caroline gave me a mani-pedi and they went home.

Sheala called to say she has a second interview Tuesday!

I think I am the happiest Nana anywhere!

Ayva Graduated from Preschool!

Such a big day! Ayva Graduated from Preschool! Then she picked IHOP for breakfast.

Princess Doctor Ayva

Click here for easy, easy, easy instructions.

Literally this took 20 minutes. I bought tulle at the St. Pete's rummage sale for $1!

After Ayva put the tutu on she proceeded to check out her Grandpa with her penlight aimed into his eyes. She told him the blood was shaky in his eyes!

It was a fun little tutu.

Javier put on a goul costume but had it off so fast I didn't get a picture!

Pentecost

 

Pentecost meets inspiration from Chihuly! The first time I saw the purple glass tubes we were in Rhode Island - when I turned the corner and saw all the purple I started crying. It was Lent.

When we went to Arizona and I saw the red ones I thought - Pentecost.

And then 18 years later when I saw the plastic florescent light covers at a hardware store going out of business sale I just knew it could work.

Then we went to the restore in Ann Arbor and found the glass globes to use as stands.

A trip to the dollar store and two rolls of red cellophane later we had the beginnings of the Pentecost display.

I love this one - it is simple and thought provoking. It screams Pentecost to me. Thank you God for guiding inspiration in my life.

 

Galaxy

My Galaxy is not working! It won't take my password - and yes I DO KNOW MY PASSWORD - the keyboard looks strange so I think maybe a virus. Anyway - won't be on Words with Friends, won't be on Bakery Story - going to Verizon today. May have to get a new tablet!!!! We'll see.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Sad little leftover pork chops sitting in the frig. So I decided to make bbq pork sandwiches. Alas no bbq sauce! I am all into those herb and tomato paste squeeze tubes right now.

So I made my own - pretty yummy too!

1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 TBS honey
2 squeezes each garlic, italian herbs, tomato paste
1 tsp smoked paprika
Couple shakes of cayenne pepper and Mrs. Dash.

Put the sliced pork in the pot and cooked on simmer for 1/2 hour. Put on 1 point pitas and shredded 1/2 ounce colby.

Estate Sale

We went to an estate sale yesterday and there was so much crammed into every nook and cranny we decided to go back today when some of it was gone. Great stuff - lots of treasures. I can't wait to see what is still there at half price. And it was a Forester estate sale so that means the prices were good even on the first day - but half off - what a deal. I keep telling myself I don't need a sculpture of Mary and baby Jesus but it just isn't registering - if it is still there for $20 today I will just have to buy it! I'll post after the we come back and let you know what I got!

You should be proud of me - NOTHING!

We saw a beautiful pheasant by the side of the road - he ran really fast to his mate and made her run into the high grass. We didn't mean to bother them - but he was really gorgeous in the light of the setting sun.