2% Butterscotch Ripple

Contest Winners!

2011-12-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

The question was: Which is my favorite Christmas song/artist from my PlayList and there were 3 entries. Just 3! And sadly not one of y'all guessed correctly. They were great guesses, but my favorite is: Elf's Lament by the Barenaked Ladies. I LOVE that song! I play it over and over! Charles on the other hand is very sick of that song!

BUT, since I LOVE to give out prizes and there were only 3 of y'all who guessed....EVERYBODY GETS A PRIZE. Ella gets a prize (she posted on FB), Janie gets a prize and Laura gets a prize! Please just email me in private with your address and I'll get something fun out to you soon. I do believe y'all will be getting a prize winning jar of jam or jelly in your prize box!

Thanks for playing!

First EVER...blog give-away!

2011-11-22T12:53:00.001-08:00

I love Christmas music! Love it VERY much. It is a huge task for me not to start playing holiday music before Thanksgiving. So, I cheated this year and started playing Christmas songs a few days early and have updated my blog with my Christmas Playlist (on the side, in green). I have LOTS of favorite songs, but only one REAL stand out that I listen to over, and over, and over and over...until Charles puts the 'ole kibosh on it! My favorite song is listed in my Playlist, sooo....

...here is the BLOG GAME/GIVE AWAY:

You'll have to do two things, first pick which song and artist you think is my favorite and second you have to read the "How to Build a Community" poster on the sidebar. Post a comment on this post stating
YOUR FIRST NAME,
THE SONG THAT YOU THINK IS MY FAVORITE and
YOUR FAVORITE DIRECTIVE FROM THE "COMMUNITY" POSTER.

The first person to guess it correctly AND have all three things in their post will be sent a HOMEMADE goody (or two) from me! Your goody will be a surprise. It might be something holiday-ish, something practical or something to eat! Never know, but it'll be GOOD!

Have fun, enjoy the music and GOOD LUCK!

I Hate My Coat!

2011-11-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

We have had a nice, warm fall. Not a lot of cool days, hardly any snow. But last night that changed. It snowed and the temperatures dropped overnight. I do not have many winters under my belt, but I have started to dread the arrival of snow and lower temperatures. Not because I am not liking winter itself, but because I HATE MY WINTER COAT!!

Back in 2004 we were planning our Christmas trip to London and Paris and being a true Floridian, I didn't own a proper winter coat. In hindsight I realize that I made two critical errors in my coat purchasing decision:

1) There are no stores in Florida that would stock the kind of coat that I needed, so I was forced to order on-line-which means that I couldn't try it on.
2) My husband's advice was the only advice that I sought out for the specific things that I needed to look for in a proper winter coat. He gave me a list of things that I "needed" in a winter coat. Things that I've never considered like "thermal lined", "sealed seams", "temperature rating" & "storm flap".

Because I always try to look for the positives, I CAN say some nice things about my coat:

1) It is nice and warm.
2) It's black, so it matches everything.

That's it. That is all I have in me to say nice about my blasted coat!!

Let me tell you about this coat and just why I hate it so...

First of all, it is water-proof. Have you ever worn water-proof clothes? They are stiff and make noise. My jacket's material sticks out in all directions, it crumples in odd spots and when I move it rubs on itself, so it makes a scrunchy sound. Yuck.

Second, it's zipper goes up VERY high. I suppose that the collar is high on purpose so that it keeps one's neck warm, but I have a short person's neck and that bloody zipper, that if it went all the way up, it would fall just about a 1/2" shy of my forehead. So, I fold the collar down and zip up to just my neck. This makes the excess collar stick straight up and pokes my cheeks. Honestly! It pokes my cheeks! Nice...

Third, it has elastic sleeves, an elastic waist and lots of "thermal" protection (padding). These three things combined, on this plus-sized gal, makes me look like the Michelin Man out and about, wearing a water-proof, black coat. I've destroyed every photo of me in that coat.

Fourth, it is a jacket and not really a coat, so it can NEVER go from throwing snowballs in the yard to a casual dinner out. In other words-It's UGLY!!!

Fifth, it was expensive. This is why I have not parted with it yet. Yet...

I am happy to say that this weekend I am going coat shopping! I am headed to Burlington Coat Factory in Horseheads and am gonna come home with a proper winter coat that I don't give the squink eye to whenever I take it from the closet. And if it happens to not be water-proof (AKA-snow proof) then I'm gonna put a rain poncho in my car and if I ever need to be 100% waterproof, then I'll slip it on over my beautiful new coat and jump into a impromptu snowball fight!

AND...some unsuspecting, plus-sized gal is going to be shopping the racks of the Goodwill in the near future and see a black, water-proof, Land's End coat on the rack and say, "Oooh! This is a nice coat! Wonder why someone got rid of it?" To her I say, "Good Luck and I hope that the zipper-in-the-cheek thing doesn't drive you too crazy!"

Remembering...

2011-09-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Today is a day we remember what happened 10 years ago. Everyone has different thoughts, feelings, remembrances of this shared experience. But last night I got to look at this event from a very different perspective. Thanks to a dish that wasn't communicating too well with it's satellite, I had limited choices on TV to watch and I picked the History channel. They were running a 9/11 special which was called "Voices from Inside the Towers". It featured recordings from people stuck in/evacuating from/headed into the towers and recollections from their loved ones. It was sad and hard to watch. But it did have a simple and ultimately uplifting message. One that reminded me of a quote from one of my all-time favorite movies, Love Actually. (It is at the beginning of the movie, in a voice-over done by the fictional British Prime Minister.)

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.

So my simple joy today on this very sad and emotional day is LOVE. Pure, complicated, unconditional, fleeting, unrequited, passionate, sweet, trusting, blazing-hot, tender, inspiring, messy...LOVE. Keep it, share it, give it away, shout it from the mountains, hold it close...treasure it until your last moment on this earth.

We are in need...

2011-08-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

Charles and I are in the final (yippee!) stages of becoming foster parents and we have a few needs. I have been trying to collect some non grown-up things for the child coming into our home in a very short while and since we do not know the exact age or sex it has been kind-of difficult. So let me explain...

-We will get either a boy or a girl between the ages of 0 to 6 years old.

-When we get "the call" it will be hours before the child will be placed in our home. Depending on where we are it could be at work, at home, at the store, deeply asleep! We just don't know.

-They will come with SOME personal items, but not nearly enough, or any of the "big" things.

-We will be first time parents. "No experience required", my fanny!

-We are planning on being foster parents for a long while, so my ultimate goal is to have an inventory of items for children in that age range. That way when we get a call, we do not have to scramble for anything.

-There is no children's consignment shops in our town. One Goodwill the next town over.

So, you see, we need some things! If you are parents, you'll know what we need much better than we do, but I'm guessing...

-Car Seat ("seats" for different ages/weights)
-Crib
-High Chair
-Eating & Drinking Stuff (not food, but the dishes, etc.)
-Toys & Games
-Books
-Clothes
-Grooming Supplies (I couldn't think of a better way to say that...)
-School Supplies (not "consumable" items)
-How-To books (for US!!, like the "What to Expect" series)

If you have stuff that you are not using anymore, would love to purge, would loan it to us until you need it again or would just like to pay-it-forward to a good cause, then we are your people! Because we need so many different items to get us set up for so many ages, we wouldn't be able to pay a ton of money for the items you have, but if you could email me privately with what you have, we can talk. Also, if you live near us and know of a good children's consignment store, please let me know of it.

The very much appreciative Pecks!

mavenjen@yahoo.com

Aah, country living!

2011-07-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Another story from the country...

Today I came home from work to discover that a few of my plants on the steps and front porch were tipped over, so I righted them and put the potting soil back in and went to get the dogs. We head back outside for a potty break, Kiwi on a leash, Ginger running free. When we get to the spot where the plants were knocked over, Kiwi goes crazy with the smell. She really wanted to just stay and sniff there for awhile. But necessities await. We are near the flag pole/planting bed you see in the below photo when, I hear the unmistakable sound of cracking underbrush. And from the sound of it, it was something large in the tree line ahead of me. In the photo below, it is to the left of the driveway. I realize that we are not alone and pick up Ginger who has yet to go potty and wait to see if it moves on or stays put. I am watching the tree line as a really big bear moves out into view and just stares at us. (Gulp.) I know I'm not supposed to turn and run and I really don't want to 'cause Ginger still needs to go potty, so I just take a few steps backwards. The bear, seeing me move, decides to turn and run (Something that I am quite happy for them to do!). Unfortunately, it runs into the road just at the end of the driveway as a car was just going by. The car misses the bear, but spooks him to turn back around and start running towards us!! My sensible back-up, baby steps turn into a full fledged turn and run maneuver. The bear is headed towards us. The car that spooked the bear sees what is happening and backs up and watches (My hope is that they wanted to lend a hand if I got into trouble!). I make it to the front porch and see that at bear has turned off and is now running parallel to the road/stream, across our front yard and back into the woods. But he is going slow, so we all got a good show of it.

Now the old terrified-of-bears me would have turned tail and gotten back into the house as soon as she had heard the cracking in the woods. Or, would have figured out that those plants were probably knocked over by a bear and not ventured out at all for the rest of the day. But, no... The new embracing-all-parts-of-country-living me knows that bears are all around us and has decided that she is not all that scared of 'em anymore. Respectful, but not scared!

Oh, and PS-the foot prints in the grass leading away from our front porch were from a bear. A really, giant bear since those footprints/impressions remained in the grass for days.

Hello Autumn Menu

2011-07-09T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I have been working hard on putting together a yummy menu for our long weekend in the Pennsylvania countryside. There is a full kitchen with all the bells and whistles on site and I am going to use that baby to make us up some tasty meals.

I always post the menu ahead of time so that in case my menu doesn't meet any of your dietary requirements or if something isn't to your liking you can make other arrangements. There is a 'fridge space in the kitchen and in the crop room, so feel free to bring something you might need. As always, there will be PLENTY of food, but if there is a snack that you MUST have to crop with, then by all means bring that along. I will have coffee service set up all day long as well as iced tea, lemonade, water and a few sodas. There will not be a TON of soda, so if there is one that you need, please bring it along. I always prepare a vegetarian (not vegan) option to every "meat" meal, so please let me know ahead of time if you are a vegetarian. All the food is prepared together, so I cannot take any special requests at mealtimes.

Whew...with all that said...here is the menu!

Thursday

Breakfast-Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Grits, Biscuits with Jen's Homemade Jams & Preserves
Lunch-Posh Cheese Sandwiches with Roasted Peppers, Mixed Green Salad with Jen's Homemade Blackberry Dressing and Mini Brownie Banana Splits
Snack-Chips & Salsa
Dinner-Olive Chicken over Linguine, Crusty French Bread and Chocolate Bread Pudding with Whipped Cream

Friday

Breakfast-Caramel Sweet Rolls, Thick, Smoked Bacon and Melon Salad
Lunch-Vegetable Quiche, Cheddar & Cauliflower Soup and Lemon Drop Cupcake
Snack-Peach Bellini Floats
Dinner-Toasted Almond Chicken, Whisky Glazed Carrots, Creamed Spinach, Parker House Rolls and Baked Apples with Jen's Homemade Cinnamon Ice Cream

Saturday

Breakfast-French Toast with Berry Butter & Maple Syrup and Sausage
Lunch-Grilled Turkey & Cheddar Panini with Chutney, Spiced Cabbage Slaw, Chips & Assorted Chocolate Truffles
Snack-Homemade Pretzels with Cheesy Mustard Dip
Dinner-Pumpkin Penne, Green Beans, Roasted Tomato Bruchetta and Peanut Butter Mousse with Whipped Cream

Sunday

Breakfast-Made-to-Order Omelets, Hash Browns and Fresh Fruit
Lunch-Grilled Goat Cheese & Tapanade Sandwiches, White Bean & Wild Mushroom Soup and Cheesecake Tartlets with Blackberries
Snack-Fruit & Cheese Plate
Dinner-Meaty Moussaka, Marinated Vegetables, Greek Salad and Baklava

Winter in Summer?

2011-07-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

When I told all my friends and family that Charles and I were moving to Pennsylvania, I had a bunch of mixed reactions. But almost every person wondered how I would make out in winter time. Being a clever Southerner I made sure that all my "up north" visits were made in the summertime and thus had avoided seeing snow up until our move up here. There was cause for their concern. Heck! Even when I was wearing my most optimistic pants I held a small dread for (gulp) snow.
There was one fellow down south that really worked hard to convince me that I would hate snow. That I might think it was nice at first, but I wouldn't get used to it, wouldn't like it and would never be able to stay up here. He pounded me with this every time I spoke to him or would relay anti-snow messages to me via his wife. It got to be downright pesky.
Now I consider myself a pretty positive and upbeat person, and for the sake of my husband and my sanity, I told myself that I was going to make the best of the big changes that were coming into our lives. So with arms (and mind) wide open I have embraced our new rural lifestyle-winter days included. In fact, I have either put up such a good show that I have convinced myself or it is more possible that I actually do LOVE it up here! I find myself telling folks ad nauseum just how much I am enjoying life as a Northerner.
I so wanted to tell my friend that for me, it wouldn't matter the season I was living in, that I would still be ME. I would still think the same, enjoy the same things, love the same, create, socialize...that I would just have to do it all in snow boots!

So, today, during this most wonderful summer season that I was looking up some summer quotes when I found this one that I would like to share with that negative dude down south...

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. -Albert Camus

Hello Muddah Sleepaway Crop 2012

2011-06-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Announcing for March 2012...

Hello Muddah Sleep Away Crop!!

Thursday, March 8th through Sunday, March 11th

Starting at 12pm on Thursday and going until 3pm on Sunday afternoon!

Your long weekend will include:

-A huge cropping room with plenty of personal space!
-Accommodations for your weekend stay!
-All meals, drinks and snacks all weekend long!
-Games and shenanigans (look for the Talent Show to return)!
-Small goodies for everyone, with a unique twist on the "goody bag"!

Cost for the long weekend:

-$220 (Scout Cabin)
-$250 (Leader Cabin)

**REGISTRATION WILL BEGIN ON SATURDAY, JULY 2ND.**

(This is a long post with LOTS and LOTS of important information in it. Most of it is exactly the same as last year, but there are a few differences. Please read it all!!)

We will be staying and cropping in Florida's beautiful O'Leno State Park in High Springs.

This park is located along the Santa Fe River and is full of natural charm. The park has a wonderful suspension bridge over the river that along with the cabins and surrounding buildings were constructed in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
We will be staying in a large cabin loop that is for our private use during our visit. Our area consists of 17 rustic cabins, one large arts & crafts building, a pavilion, two restroom facilities with showers and a very large dining hall. The dining hall has windows around the room and two very large fireplaces on either end of the hall. It also has a huge kitchen where all your meals for the weekend will magically appear from!

Speaking of food, it will be our pleasure to be cooking for you all weekend! Your weekend fee will include: lunch, dinner and late night snack on Thursday, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks on Friday and Saturday and brunch and afternoon snack on Sunday. There will be drinks available all day long. If you are not familiar with my cooking style it is good, old-fashioned "make you happy" meals. There is no diet food at crops! (Unless you pack it in yourself!) I always have a vegetarian (not vegan) option at every meal, but cannot take "special requests" at meal time! There will be a menu posted ahead of time so that you can make other arrangements if something doesn't strike your fancy or doesn't meet your special dietary requirements. If you need a bit of 'fridge space, please let me know in advance. The park does allow alcoholic beverages as long as it remains in your cabin or in our rooms. Basically, our camping area. So you can feel free to BYOB! (And specific mixers your require!)

About the cabins! Yes, I know that some of you are worried by now about that word "rustic". I would love to paint a spectacular picture of these cabins, but they ARE "rustic"! They were built in the 1930's. They do NOT have AC or heat. (This is why this trip is not in the summer time!) They DO have electric and electric plugs. The do NOT have bathrooms in the cabins. They DO have doors and windows-some are screens, but they ARE doors and windows. They have bunk beds. Most cabins sleep between 6-8 people. Depending on the number that I have sign up, I will assume that most everyone wants a bottom bunk. So unless this crop is extremely popular or you have a large group that wants to bunk together, I'm shooting for bottom bunks for all!!
About the bathrooms! Again...y'all worry too much! There are bathrooms in our cabin circle. There are two bathrooms in the crop room. If you've ever been to a state park you know what the bathrooms look like. They are concrete buildings with men on one side and women on the other. Both of the bathroom facilities have showers stalls. The showers have a row of sinks with mirrors and electric outlets. Then it has a row of private showers. They have bench seating just outside each shower stall. There IS hot water!
More about cabins and bathrooms! There are actually two types of cabins. "Scout" cabins and "Leader" cabins. There is a LOT of "scout" sleeping accommodations, but only a few "leader" beds. There are actually 3 leader cabins. Leader cabins do NOT have AC or heat either and DO have bunk beds, but they DO have their own bathrooms. I would like to offer these cabins up to those who are a) "infirmed", b) "old" or c) "sissies"! (I have just officially cracked myself up at those last comments!! Honestly! I cannot stop laughing...) But, if you feel like you would only be able to come if you had an indoor potty, then these spaces are a little more money and are on a first pay, first get basis! You can email me for room/bed configuration for you and/or your group. I will also take on a first pay, first get basis requests to be in the cabins closest to the bathroom facilities. There are four of those cabins, so once they fill I will move out from there! Unless you have something else you want to be close to!

About the weather! I have no idea what the weather will be like the beginning of March 2012! I CAN give you the last four years in weather history from that area according to Weather Underground. 2011: high 80/low 40, 2010: high 73/low 39, 2009: high 80/low 47 and 2008: high 66/low 40. Suffice it to say it will be much warmer than January! If the night time lows are too low for you to sleep without some kind of heat and since the cabins are not heated you will might need to bring nice warm bedding and/or a heater or electric blanket. Each cabin will only take one heater, so once we have cabins assigned you can talk amongst yourselves about who has a heater! (If you plug in more than one heater, you MAY blow a fuse! They draw a LOT of electric!!)

Even more about the cabins! You need to bring your own bedding and towels. Each bunk has a mattress pad (upgraded since the last time I was there!), but you will not, I repeat NOT want to use that as your only pad! I would suggest getting one of those egg crate mattress pads in a queen size. Fold it in half to make a super, thick twin size. If not all the bunks are filled in your cabin, you are free to use a pad from another bed to make yours nice and full.

About the area. I cannot tell you just how beautiful this area is. This crop will be a great chance to escape the everyday and recharge with friends, this hobby we love AND nature! There are great opportunities to just sit and be one with the beautiful Florida landscape. Hiking trails which in January were very popular, the river, canoeing or just sitting on the porch in a chair and relaxing. This location doesn't disappoint...
O'Leno State Park is about 30 minutes from Gainesville and about 5 miles from "downtown" High Springs. This is where the closest area restaurants, grocery, etc. will be located. You can come and go from the park but if you come back after dusk/the park has closed, you will need a gate entrance code to get back in. IF you should want to come to the event, but really cannot see yourself plunging into the camp adventure, you could check out hotels in the High Springs area. You will not hurt my feelings one tiny bit, but you will also still be paying the same event fee as well! But it is an option!

About the crop. After January's roaring success and with so many of y'all trying to hand me deposit checks for 2012 I figured we should go back again. And since January was a wee bit too cold, we are trying for March this year. This will still be a "budget" crop-same as last year without all the hoopla. Everybody loved Thursday, so that stays and kept the cost super low! As per the original poll, there will be no lavish goody bags and no door prizes. No give-aways and no make-n-takes provided by me. There will still be games and fun organized things to participate in at your leisure! The really unique idea on the goody bag/make-n-take notion was also a GIANT hit, so again, thanks to Dianne and Kathy who came up with this idea and to all the January croppers who astounded us all with their talent the goody bag "trade" remains. I will set a theme, pick the colors (and possibly a line from a specific company) and the album size and anyone who wants to contribute a handmade goody for each of the croppers is highly encouraged to do so. You could make a tag, a page topper and embellishment, a title...whatever! You would just have to make enough for everyone. Then we will swap and hopefully we will have enough stuff to make a killer album! More on that to follow. At the last crop, we had some "think outside of the box" people whe brought homemade cookies, hand warmers and treats.

I am also opening up the big arts & crafts room to any of our croppers who want to teach a class! If you are interested in this, just email me and I'll get you the information. So that means if we have anybody who wants to teach, we'll offer classes at an additional fee. More on that as it happens! Maybe I'll even try to talk Lance into coming back. He was such a FUN addition to our group.

If you are a direct-sale merchant (like CM, CTMH, SU, MK, PC, etc.) and want to be heard from, just email me quickly and we'll talk! There will only be one person representing a company, so contact me soon!

Just a few more tips.

-You can easily walk between your cabin and the crop room, but if you prefer, you can drive!
-This is the Florida "woods". You may encounter wildlife. Deer and raccoons are very common in that area.
-We have to respect the other campers and keep our party to a dull roar.
-If you bring extra lighting, you must bring your own extension cord.
-Hobby Lobby is on the way up from the Tampa/St. Pete area!
-More tips will come as it gets closer!

The registration form is at the bottom, so if I have convinced you that this will be an unforgettable and fun adventure or you've been waiting with baited breath since the last crop for me to announce 2012, then print out the flyer and send it in with your payment.
I take checks and money orders. There is a payment plan if you like. You can pay in full-easiest and you will be my best friend! Or pay $70 now and the rest in three installments. The fee will depend on the cabin type you get. BUT that payment is what holds your spot!! So if you want to get a leader cabin or a cabin near the potties, you must get that deposit to me ASAP. Once I receive your payment/deposit I will notify you on what cabin you got. So if you are making payments, you will know how much to send.

**READ BELOW ON NEW REGISTRATION "RULES"**
Because the Leader cabins were very popular in January, and they might be again in March, I have come up with the new way to register. This really will only pertain to you if you are hoping for a Leader or specific cabin. You will still be mailing checks or money orders (no, I didn't set up the PayPal...too many fees) I will be checking all envelopes for the CANCELLATION DATE. It must be Saturday, July 2nd or later (NOT earlier!). Once I receive all the registrations from the 2nd, then I'll start assigning cabins on a first CANCELLED, first assign basis. If by some wierdness, I get more registrations than I have Leader space, I will then put all those registrations into a LOTTERY and do a drawing to assign space. If there are more "special request" spaces leftover after the 2nd cancellation date, I'll move onto the 3rd, etc. NOW...if you are traveling in a group and want to all bunk together, AND if we must go to the LOTTERY method of cabin assigning, then EACH AND EVERY person who is in your group must have the same DATE CANCELLATION on their letters and if I pull one person from a group, they will all get the special request. So...I have a few suggestions:
-If you are traveling with a group, maybe have one person register/mail them in together.
-Take your letter to the post office on Saturday and have it hand cancelled. That way you are 100% sure it is done on the day you mail it!
-Do not, I repeat, DO NOT try to be sneaky and send your registration in early. Any letters that arrive with a cancellation date earlier than the 2nd will be moved to the END OF THE LINE!

Crop cancellations-A full refund will be given if the crop is cancelled before February 8th. If you need to cancel the crop after February 8th then no refund will be given. Crop registrations ARE transferable.

Please call, email or holler any questions you might have. (My personal email is: mavenjen@yahoo.com) I am REALLY looking forward to this adventure! We are gonna have a grand time and remember this...“Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure.” -Alfred North Whitehead

Project Life

2011-05-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

It sure has been awhile since I've posted any photos here. I guess that working 9 hours a day, 5 days a week has put a dent into my blogging time. But here are some of the latest happenings up here in beautiful Pennsylvania!

The girls at church serve up cupcakes they decorated for the "Games for UU and You" game night.
10 below! This winter sure was mean to this poor Florida girl!
This is a carriage house with above living space that is currently under construction that Charles designed.
My first visit to Starbucks in over 9 months! I am one happy camper.
Charles and I post at the little park near our house. We were exploring it with the Peace Kids. (AKA: The girls in my Sunday School class)
The first of the raised planting beds that Charles built.
The eggs in the play yard "hidden" for the toddlers.
The Peace Kids have a slumber party at Miss Jen's house and we go for a hike in the PA Grand Canyon.
The weather is turning warmer and the kids don't need their coats, so they are all lined up on the fence in the play yard one morning.
My tomato seedlings.
Ginger goes to work with Charles for a few days during one of her seizure bouts.
A little Easter home decor project I did this year.
These are the cute name markers I made for the toddler room.
It is funny to me that I'm up in PA buying Plant City strawberries. This might only be funny to people from Florida!
Serving up Blackberry Cheesecake Tartlets to the girls from Stepping Stones at our monthly training meeting.
The car all packed up for a day of scrapbooking at the library with the Blossburg Girls.
Check out the snow that is piled up on the window sill! Holy crud!!
Kiwi poses near a waterfall that we found on an impromptu hike.
The girls from Stepping Stones head to Cast & Crew to celebrate Miss Karen's birthday.
First bear sighting of 2011 is a doozy! A mama bear with four cubs spend about 3 hours in the yard playing and climbing trees and eating the last of the birdseed.
This picture shows just how close they are to our bedroom window.
This is a charming movie theatre in Blossburg that we've been going to since it's re-opening. It has it's (still operational) popcorn machine from the 30's! Love this place!
I love all the trees when they are budding in Spring.
This cracked me up...shopping for potting soil in Lowe's Garden Center while pushing my buggy through piles of snow.
Morning Star Farms brings back their wonderful veggie corn dogs!!! This made my year!
Ginger discovers the joys of an electric blanket. She spent many hours curled up on it this winter.

Today in the Toddler Room

2011-05-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Had to bring this story over to the blog 'cause there is not enough room for this one in my Facebook status...

Today, one of my favorite little friends pulled up a chair to the table while I was putting together breakfast and here is our conversation:

Him: Miss Jen? What is in those breakfast bowls?
Me: Oranges.
Him: No. What's in MY breakfast bowl?
(Now, he knows that I know that he is allergic to oranges, but still feels he should remind me about it at each meal that features oranges for the other kids!)
Me: (With a big smile on my face, 'cause I feel like being funny)
Oranges.
Him: In MY bowl?!
Me: Oranges.
Him: (Squinting his eyes at me)
Are you kiddin' with me?
Me: Yes. I surely am!
Him: (Silence)
Him: (More silence, then resting chin in hand)
I don't need you kiddin' with me right now.

Lesson learned for Miss Jen? Don't come between a boy and his breakfast!!

Hello Autumn Crafting Retreat

2011-03-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

Announcing....

Hello Autumn Crafting Retreat

Thursday, November 10
through
Sunday, November 13

At the BEAUTIFUL Linck Hill Inn located in Morris, a part of the Endless Mountain region of north-central Pennsylvania.

This crafting retreat is meant for those of us who enjoy working on our crafting projects while enjoying some good, old-fashioned fellowship with friends. These friends can be the ones that you pack in with you, or ones that you are just meeting over the weekend! This retreat isn't limited to scrapbookers-all crafters, artists or women who just want a long weekend for themselves are welcome! If you are a knitter, a paper crafter, a reader, a nature lover, an altered artist, a quilter...whatever...this is the place to be!! You will have plenty of time to rest, create, recharge, explore, mingle and EAT! All this with a picturesque backdrop of glorious fall scenery!

The Inn was built in 1900 and has been added onto and restored to it's current, beautiful glory. The mansion has 14 bedrooms on three floors, 2 dining rooms, meeting room, game room and tons of cozy sitting areas, all decorated in the Victorian-era style. The grounds boast many great spots to just sit and enjoy nature along with the options for scheduled outdoor activities. Activities like horse-drawn hay rides or horse back riding (for additional fees). The meeting room that we'll be using as the craft room is well-lit & spacious, has lots of windows for outdoor gazing, a large screen for movie watching and a sound system. Inside the game room there is a kitchenette including a microwave for late night snacks, plus a full sized pool table, ping pong table, air hockey, board games and more! Each bedroom is beautifully decorated and has it's own bathroom (either in the room or across the hallway). The rooms sleep between 2 and 6 people and have their own heat.

The retreat runs from Thursday morning until Sunday evening. Since we'll be crafting in the same location as we'll be sleeping and since we will have the entire mansion for our private use, we can come and go from the crop room at our leisure! Yep! This means 'ROUND THE CLOCK CRAFTING!

As usual, I will be cooking all the meals during the entire retreat. Breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner will be served Thursday through Sunday in the Dining Rooms. Since the mansion is located in rural Pennsylvania, there is no fast food, restaurants or convenience stores within walking distance, so you will not need to leave at all for your meals. After visiting this wonderful kitchen with it's beautiful appointments, I've decided that I have to step up the food options (from our "camp fare") and will be pulling out the culinary stops and creating some really POSH meals! I cannot wait to finalize the menu!!

There is even a coffee/beverage station located in one of the Dining Rooms! Pretty, huh?

If you feel like you need to do a day (or so) of sightseeing, there are a few options near and further out that I can suggest. I will not be organizing any "group" outings or attending any of the outings, but I am happy to suggest some spots to visit.
-New York city is about a 4 hour drive away. Benedict's Bus Service, out of Wellsboro, offers a NYC "Your Way" trip on Saturday for $68. You go and come in one day, so it's a long one!
-There are winery tours around the Finger Lakes area which is about an hour, hour and a half away from the Inn.
-Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon offers beautiful views and great hiking and is just outside of Wellsboro, about 40 minutes from the Inn.
-Corning, NY is about an hour from the Inn and has the museum, the Gaffer District for food, museums and shopping.
-Williamsport has great shopping, entertainment and food. Plus that FABULOUS ribbon store that I love and it's a little over an hour from the Inn.
-Further out is Lancaster (3 1/2 hours), DC (4-ish hours) and Buffalo/Niagara Falls (4-ish hours).
Traveling will be totally on your own. You can get together with your group and rent a car if you want to see some sights. If you are traveling "single" I can try to hook you up with other sightseers. We can discuss this more as y'all decide what you want to see/do. And, of course, if you want to do more sightseeing, you can always come in a day early or stay an extra day to see some sights.

One of the things that is NOT included in the below packages is transportation from and to the airport (Elmira, NY). There are options for getting everyone to the Inn, but I do not know how to arrange it until there are registrations and flight reservations. There is a couple of shuttles that I can organize for one or more people. There are a few rental companies that operate from the airport (Elmira, NY) that you would need to book on your own. BUT, I was going to wait and try to "bundle" y'all together so you could travel together and save some money on transportation. So, as of now...transportation is TBA!

There are 4 different "packages" to choose from depending on if you are traveling in or if you are local.

"Out of Town Package"
$325
Includes:
-Accommodations from Wednesday, November 9th through Sunday, November 13
-'Round the clock access to the Crafting Room and use of the entire mansion and grounds
-Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and drinks from Thursday morning to Sunday night.
-Goody Bag
-Games with the chance to win door prizes

"Local Package A"
$200
Includes:
-Any 2 days of accommodations between Thursday, November 10 through Sunday, November 13
-Those same 2 days of 'round the clock access to the Crafting Room and use of the entire mansion and grounds
-Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and drinks on those 2 days
-Goody Bag
-Games with the chance to win door prizes

"Local Package B"
$170
Includes:
-8am to Midnight access to the Crafting Room and use of the entire mansion and grounds (excluding bedrooms) Thursday through Sunday.
-Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and drinks from Thursday morning to Sunday night.
-Goody Bag
-Games with the chance to win door prizes

"Local Package C"
$85
Includes:
-Any 2 days of 8am to Midnight access to the Crafting Room and use of the entire mansion and grounds (excluding bedrooms)
-Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and drinks on those 2 days
-Goody Bag
-Games with the chance to win door prizes

The registration form is below, and if you click on it you will be able to print it out and mail a check to the address listed. Please circle or highlight the package you are signing up for. You can either pay the amount in full, or choose a payment plan. I honestly have NO idea how many people I can get for this event, but I DO know that there are limited slots (40 to be exact!) so if this sounds like a retreat you'd like to attend, make plans and register soon! (Just a FYI-I said that I'd be happy with 20 people coming to the Hello Muddah Crop and I got 60! So...?!)

"Out of Town"-$65 deposit due at registration. $65 due on the 1st of May, July, August and October.
"Local A"-$40 deposit due at registration. $40 due on the 1st of Many, July, August and October.
"Local B"-$40 deposit due at registration. $65 due on the 1st of May and October.
"Local C"-$40 deposit due at registration. $45 due on the 1st of October.

Cancellation Policy:
Cancel before September 10th-Full refund.
Cancel between September 11th and October 11th-Refund payments except deposit.
Cancel between October 12th and November 10th-No refund will be given.

I want my mommy...

2011-03-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

I don't say that much in my life, but last night I REALLY wanted my mom around. One of the things that my mom was really great at was taking care of sick people and last night, I was REALLY sick!
All that I could think of last night was when I was a little girl and got sick. How my mom would run her thin-fingered, always cool hand, and over my forehead to check for a fever. She would know just the spots to check before she would pull out the thermometer. She would linger a bit, stroking my hair just because that's what you do for sick kids. If I was "potty sick" like I was last night where I spent more time in the potty than resting, my mom would make sure that I was as comfortable as possible. I remember her setting up small, empty garbage cans in the bathroom and by my makeshift bed-which was on the couch near the TV. I also remember her once setting up a cot in the bathroom, so I didn't have far to go. My mom would immediately send my dad out for ginger ale and Charms lollipops. Those two things along with white toast is what I remember her serving me during these times. She would also set up a little table near the couch with water, ginger ale, ice chips and those Charms. She would tuck "Dirty Whiskers" into bed with me and ask if there were any other "friends" I needed. She would let me pick what to watch on TV, and those were the days before remote control, so she would get up and change the channel if I asked. Heaven forbid I even think of cleaning up my own mess in the bathroom. I was always ushered out, put back to bed and my mom would head back to take care of business! I remember that if I also had a fever, not only would I get the over the counter baby aspirin (the med of choice at the time), but she would set up another bed with towels and blankets, lay me on the towels and give me a sponge bath with water and alcohol which is meant to pull the fever out. This seems like such a small thing, but she had lots of extra towels over me and would only take off a towel for the spot she was bathing so that I wouldn't get chilly. After I would get sick, she would get me back to bed and come rub the muscles that she knew would be hurting after throwing up. I know that when some one was sick in the house, it was a family event. Everyone knew about it, knew what was going on. I can still hear my mom, dad and grandma talking in hushed tones in the next room, going over my temperature, how long I'd been sick, what to do, etc. Even my great Aunt A would drive over during the days to sit with me. I loved the four of us "ladies" on a sick day off from school, sitting in the family room watching their "stories" on TV. Sitting all curled up on the couch listening to the three of them talk about the love, lust, betrayal and drama just seemed like I was sitting in on something scandalous and I loved it! Once I got better, my grandma and/or mom would spend the next few days fixing all my favorite suppers! They never asked what my favorites were, they knew and got it right every time.

Boy! There is nothing like a loving and supportive family when you are feelin' poorly, but nothing AT ALL like a mommy!

Now I love my husband to pieces, but at this stuff he is just ill prepared. He asked a few times if there was anything I needed. Picked up ginger ale at CVS when I called to ask for it. BUT, it was the other stuff like turning off the heater in the room I was sleeping in, asking me WHILE I was throwing up if I had eaten dinner and letting me clean the bathroom myself that got me to wishing for those good 'ole days!

So, I'll say it again...I want my mommy!!

Hello Muddah Wrap Up!

2011-02-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

First of all...I know, I know! This post has been a long time coming. I've been meaning to share some photos with y'all and tell you all about the fun we had at the Hello Muddah Crop (2011). The popular consensus was that everyone had a ball, ate themselves silly and want to do it again next year! So, watch for announcements for Hello Muddah 2012. But in the meantime, enjoy a few photos from our camping crop!

This is a group shot of almost all of our campers. What an amazing group of ladies!

The REAL Florida. We all loved this state park and (most) of the Rangers!

The park is just so very beautiful. Lots of ladies were inspired to take amazing photos.

There were just TONS and TONS of deer wandering around camp. In fact, Dawn saw a heard of 20 and Julie almost got run over by a group of "bolting" deer.

The morning Nature Walk was popular.

A few of the cabins in our group.

Some clever gals made signs for their cabin doors.

Getting cozy in the bunks! It felt just like summer camp...only in the winter!!

The much dreaded shower. It was all open screen at the top and quite chilly first thing in the morning. Most of us smarties, waited for the afternoon for taking our showers.

This is the room where we cropped at dusk. My favorite part of any crop is just listening to all the chatting and laughter coming from the crop room. And you could really hear the fun from outside!

Miss Barbara, Julie, Deanne & Kim looking cute as ever!

BethAnne's work space filled with goodie bags and snacks.

One of the buildings built in the 1920's by the CCC-this one we used for our Talent Show.

The audience waits for the Talent Show to begin.

Dawn, Tracy & Pam, AKA "The Scrappie Chicks" showed us how to take care of a pesky man in "Goodbye Earl"!

Stacey and I lip synced to the song, You're Timeless To Me, from the Hairspray soundtrack. No! I have not gained more weight...it was TWO pillows! Thankyouverymuch!

"If You're Chilly, Then You Should've Put A Hat On It!" An original song performed by these three cuties!

Stacey and I spent a couple of days just shopping for the groceries! Here I am with the first load we took to the park.

My spice central!

Lydia serves up some Meatball Subs.

Aahhh! That Pumpkin Bisque! Bliss!

It takes a BUNCH of food to feed all these hungry women! Especially when it's mac & cheese! I made Stacey "photo bomb" the shot so I could get perspective on just how big that pan was!

Lunch al' fresco. Bueno!

Tracy samples the super yummy Sticky Banana Bread Pudding.

Lydia and her fire! It sure was a thing of beauty!

Jo warms up herself and a marshmallow by the fire!

The perfect s'more!

A group of volunteers packed the amazing goodie bags.

This is the most amazing goody bag EVER! Each camper created something different, but all done in the same color scheme/theme so that we could all have some handmade embellishments for our albums. There were also lots of godies, like custom made cookies, cocoa kits and very handy hand warmers.

Lance Anderson from Rusty Pickle poses with Miss Barbara after one of his many classes!

This is one of the cool projects that Lance brought to teach. He is such a wonderful teacher!

The cute project that Stacey taught in one of her class.

Stacey taught a VERY full knitting class. Some gals caught on rather quickly...some, like me, were cussing!

PJ's and scarves were haute cotuer at this crop!

Such sweet gals!

The suspension bridge is a popular spot for a photo opportunity.

Spring planting here I come!

2011-02-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to be planting a garden this spring. Charles and I are going to be building 2-3 raised planting beds and filling them with all kinds of heirloom veggies and herbs. I got my D. Landreth Seed catalog months ago and I've been pouring over it's quickly dog-eared pages trying to decide between all the different varieties of veggies they offer. I love this company. It is THE oldest seed house in America, it is the fifth oldest corporation still running in America and has sold seeds to every US President from George Washington to FDR. It just makes me happy buying from such a great company and since I asked for a gift certificate to DL for Valentine's Day this year, you know I placed my order right away! So, my blog pages will be filled with my new adventures in gardening and I thought I'd start y'all right along with me and share my order with you! Oh, boy! I am so excited...spring cannot get here fast enough!

Lettuce:
-Tennis Ball (for a container)
-Parris White Cos

Cauliflower:
-Violeta Italia

Parsnips:
-Sugar Hollow Crown

Carrots:
-Tonda Di Parigi (for a container)
-Belgian White
-Demi-Longue de Chantenay

Melons:
-Noir De Carmes

Watermelon:
-Golden Midget

Onions:
-Purple Bunching
-Texas Early Grano

Garlic & Shallots

Tomatoes:
-German Red Strawberry
-San Marzano
-The Mortgage Lifter
-Black Cherry

Cucumber:
-Parisian Pickling, pickling
-Lemon, pickling & slicing
-Straight Eight, slicing

Eggplant:
-Fairytale (for a container)
-Rosa Bianca

Corn:
-Golden Bantam

Peas:
-Sugar Snap Pole

Peppers:
-Sweet Chocolate Bell
-Red Hot Cherry

Squash:
-Lemon, summer (for a container)
-Ponca Butternut, winter (for a container)
-Pink Banana, winter

Beets:
-Detroit Dark Red

Broccoli:
-Calabrese

Brussel Sprouts:
-Catskill

Beans:
-Montpelier, bush

Pumpkin:
-Small Sugar

Potatoes:
-German Butterball
-Rose Finn Apple Fingerling

Herbs:
-Basil, Lemon
-Sage
-Thyme
-Oregano, Italian
-Parsley, Moss Curled
-Dill, Dukat

Now all that I need help with is deciding on exactly where to put the planting beds...

Close to the house VS away from the house?
-Will the "house noise" deter the wildlife from coming to the garden or will they come anyway and I'll just be inviting them in closer?
-Do I want it close to the house so I can make a mad dash for safety if a bear comes visiting while I'm out tending the garden?

Behind the house VS in front of the house?
-I know that I have to put up a temporary fence to deter deer, so do I want that visible from the road or hidden behind the house?
-Do I want to be able to look out my windows and SEE the garden getting eaten by wildlife?

Close to the house/water supply VS away from the house/water supply?
-If it is hot and dry like last summer, I'll need to water my garden for a few weeks. Do I want to rely on a handy hose that is attached to the house or tote water to the garden? Or hook up a series of hoses?

Up high VS down low?
-We have a real slope on one side of the house, so I don't think that I want the garden in the "run-off" area because this will be too wet. But would that matter to a raised planting bed?

Near the new fruit trees VS away from them?
-We planted two fruit trees last fall, so do I want to keep all the growing stuff together? Does it really matter?

Oh how I wish I could just call up my dad with all of these questions. Does anyone out there know or can help on any of these? I am about to go knock on my neighbor's door (the one that I drool over his/her garden) and ask them to come over and give me advice.

Wish me and my brown thumb luck!!

There IS a good moral to this story...

2011-02-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

As you may have heard on the news of late, we have been having some yucky weather up here in the north. Here in PA we didn't get the horrible inches of snow that lots of other states got, but what we did get is a terrible combination of snow then rain. If you don't know what that means here it is in a nutshell...We had a total of about 3" of snow on the ground then 6" more fell. Then we got a wintry mix of snow and rain. Then pure rain. What happens is that the rain melts some of the snow, then at night when the temps drop, that wet snow freezes and the next morning you have lovely ice. (If you couldn't tell, "lovely" was typed with TONS of sarcasm!)

So here is MY story of snow and ice.

-We've got about 6" of snow on the ground in our yard.
-We have finally got our wonderful man from Tanglewood to plow our driveway for the winter. (Until recently, there really hadn't been enough snow to have him come out.)
-The driveway looks great.
-Then the wintry mix comes and the top & bottom part of our driveway are a bit icy.
-The driveway gets plowed, so the snow is gone, but the bit of ice remains.
-I ask Charles if we shouldn't be salting those parts of the driveway. He kind of makes a non-committal remark and the ice remains.
-Now the pure rain comes and the ice from the top part of the drive way now connects to the ice at the bottom part of the driveway to form one solid sheet of ice.
-I come home from work and have to abandon my car 1/2 way up the driveway. Charles arrives home after me and spends over an half of an hour trying to drive my car over the ice and into the garage.
-The steps leading into the house have been snowed on & iced over so many times now that each step has a little mountain of ice on it. Let me tell you that just getting down the steps safely is an occasion!
-Each morning Charles gets up like a good husband and starts my car and turns it around for me so that I am headed down the drive each morning for work.
-I stop at the Agway one evening for dog food and pick up a bag of salt for the steps. I ask Charles if he'll lay the salt on the steps for me. "Sure," is my reply.
-On Friday evening Charles cannot get my car up the driveway so I mention again about salting the driveway. Again, Charles says something about it costing $30 for that much salt (heavens to Murgatroyd!) and that he was "exhausted".
-I stop calling our driveway a "driveway" and start calling it a "skidway".
-On Saturday afternoon we skid down the driveway headed to a church function knowing full well that it is supposed to rain some more that evening and we are NEVER gonna make it back up the driveway.
-We are having to hike down the side of the skidway in the snow to my car because we cannot even think about walking on the skidway!
-Monday evening the salt for the steps is still in the back of my car, my car makes it 3/4 of the way up the drive and Charles is in too bad of a mood to mess with getting my car in the garage.
-Tuesday morning I hear the buzz of a text message on my phone. It's Gail telling me that the preschool is on a 2 hour opening delay because of the snowfall last night. Charles is in a BAD mood and doesn't warm my car up or turn it around on the skidway for me. I am on my own at turning it around at the top of the skidway. (This is NOT a good thing!)
-I scrape all the snow off my car, all the while cursing someone for not salting the drive and/or putting my car in the garage on the night that it snows! I let my engine warm up and the ice on the windshield melt while I psyche myself up for the turnabout. I am not even gonna try to back it down the skidway!! Backwards skidding just seems like less fun than frontwards skidding. I back/skid down a bit, pull forward a bit, back up a bit, pull forward a bit...all this over crunching snow and slippery ice. Back up a bit, pull forward some more, having more and more trouble with skidding. Now I am 100% horizontal in the driveway and I cannot back up anymore and I cannot move forward anymore. I am stuck. Stuck in the skidway. Stuck horizontally! I am now gonna be late to work, if I make it at all! I push down hard on the gas to move forward...nothing but spinning tires. I try reverse with a little less gas, because behind my car somewhere close, is a HUGE tank of propane that I imagine skidding into and blowing me, the tank and my car up a'la a McGruber episode. I break down and call in late to work. Miss DeeDee says she understand 'cause she's seen my driveway, but she still laughs at me a bit! I step out of my car, look at the wretched mess that I am in, pull up my big girl pants, get back into the car and WILL my car to move. I gun the gas forward, then back, then forward and I am moving! I'm doing it. I free my car just enough to get my tires on the grass through the snow and decide that a pile of snow might be easier to drive through than over ice and I circle through the grass and get my tires back on the skidway and am down the drive in a minute! GO ME!
-I get home after work this evening and can only get my car 3/4 of the way up again. As easy as you please, I hop out of the car, grab a cup & pocket knife, split open the bag of salt and salt the crap out of the front porch steps! There is leftover salt, so I salt the crap out of my tire ruts. I have enough to do about half of the skidway, but just MY tire ruts! When I am done, I hop back into my car and lo and behold, my car gets gription and goes right into the garage. And I don't slip on the steps going into the house. Again, GO ME! The moral of this tale is: When your husband is being a dork about an extremely necessary chore and you don't want to get stuck in the driveway anymore, sometimes a girl has got to salt her own ruts!

Veggie Chili

2011-02-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

I had lots of requests for this recipe at the Hello Muddah Crop and since I thought it was already on my blog and I found out it isn't here it is! It is VERY easy. I promise that it is "man pleasing". My brother eats it all the time and when Lance from Rusty Pickle tasted it, he said, "If you didn't tell me that it had no meat in it, I would never have known."

To make this recipe just remember 1-1-1-1.

1 bag of regular size, frozen veggie mix (I use one called "Normandy" with cauliflower, carrots and broccoli)
1 can of kidney beans,drained (I use dark)
1 can of diced tomatoes,UNdrained (I use fire roasted)
1 packet of chili mix (Mild or hot, your choice)

Toss the FROZEN bag of veggies into a pot. If you are worried about them sticking to the bottom, add a slug of olive oil. Turn the heat to medium and toss in everything else. Stir it up a bit and check on it from time to time, but that is all. The veggies usually loose their color when it is done.

Serve it with sour cream and shredded cheese. I also serve it with hot sauce.

Honesty to Pete, this is good!

I am an exotic traveler...

2011-02-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

My dad was a boat captain for the most wonderful family who used the boat all the time for fishing trips. Since we lived in Florida, a lot of those trips were in Florida or the Bahamas, so Mr. Meyer and his family and friends would fly down from the north (mostly New Jersey) and stay at our house before and/or after these fishing trips. As a young girl I would see their luggage lined up at the front door when they were ready to be driven to the airport and see these large, bulky winter coats laying on top of suitcases. To me, who had never seen snow or experienced anything but a Florida winter, this looked SO exotic. I imagined them getting off their planes, putting on those big coats and being greeted by a winter wonderland. And being a Florida girl, the idea of this was so enticing.

Yesterday my luggage was lined up at Stacey's front door and I looked down and spotted my big, red barn coat laying on top and I was instantly that little girl, imagining all sorts of winter landscapes. But, oh! That was MY coat. I was the one who was going to step off the plane into beautiful, twinkling snow. I wondered if Stacey's boys would see my luggage and coat and think the same thoughts I had.

On the plane I said a silent "good-bye" to palm trees, street lights, shopping malls, my favorite restaurants and 71 degree weather. Then as the plane started it's decent into Elmira, I said a silent "hello" to mountains, dairy farms, our 3-stop light town and a snow covered runway. I got off the plane and as I put on a sweater and winter coat for the ride home I realized that I had become one of those exotic travelers from my past. It hit me how REALLY different life has become as I was crunching through the snow piled on the sidewalk of downtown Mansfield as I picked up our pizza order. Life in a winter landscape is sometimes magical (when the sunlight hits a vast expanse of snow and it twinkles like a million diamonds), it is sometimes a pain (when you get stuck at home because the snow plows haven't yet done the roads you need to take), it is sometimes exhausting (shoveling 2 porches and a long driveway) and it is sometimes depressing (looking at the same white/grey/brown color combo for months on end can make you loopy!). But for this Florida girl, it is still exotic and plain 'ole fun!

Makes me wanna go back...

2011-01-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

I love Paris. I loved Paris even when I visited it and it was FREEZING and we didn't get to enjoy it as much because of the cold temps. But this video has me wanting to go back...

Une nuit Parisienne (Paris by night) from manemos on Vimeo.

Hello Muddah Crop Classes and Schedule

2010-12-27T12:46:00.000-08:00

Hello there all you lucky campers! Time has come to announce the class line up and a "loose" schedule of our weekend. I wanted to give you a loose schedule so that you know how to plan any "extra curricular" events you have planned on your own. Please note that the classes are "hard times" and that all others are "soft times" and could change if I need to.

Class registration is starting today. To register for class all you have to do is email me with the classes you want to take and then put a check in the mail for the total amount for the classes to me.

THURSDAY
12 pm-Registration begins
1 pm-Lunch is served
3 pm to ??-CLASS; Knitting 101 with Stacey
6 pm-Mocktail Hour & Appetizers
7 pm-Dinner is served
9 pm-Stampin' Up Make-N-Take

FRIDAY
8 am-Morning Nature Walk
9 am-Breakfast is served
10 am-CLASS; Perpetual Calender with Stacey
1 pm-Lunch is served
2-3:30 pm-CLASS; Camping Layout with Lance from Rusty Pickle
4 pm-Afternoon snack is served
4-7 pm-CLASS; Rustic Journey 2 Album with Lance from Rusty Pickle
7 pm-Dinner is served
9 pm-Ghost Stories and/or Sing-A-Long around the campfire

SATURDAY
8 am-Morning Nature Walk
9 am-Breakfast is served
10 am to 1 pm-CLASS; Panama Jack Album with Lance from Rusty Pickle
1 pm-Lunch is served
2-5 pm-CLASS; Way Cool Pop Star Album with Lance from Rusty Pickle
4 pm-Afternoon Snack is served (we will bring it to you if you are in class!)
6-7:30 pm-CLASS; Jungle Love (you can take a dinner break and finish class up after you eat!) with Lance from Rusty Pickle
7 pm-Dinner is served
9 pm-Talent Show (!!)

SUNDAY
9 am-Breakfast is served
11 am-Group Photo taken by Leisa Rice
1 pm-Lunch is served
5 pm-The party's over....

Knitting 101 with Stacey-$10Thursday, 3pm to ??
Beginner knitters will learn how to slip knot, cast-on, knit/purl and bind-off. You will get a demo during the first part of class, then you will be "let loose" to practice and work on your own. Stacey will be available throughout the weekend to work with you one-on-one to help you hone your knitting skills.
Class kit will include a set of knitting needles, yarn and printed instructions.
Students will need to bring scissors and a pen to take notes.

Perpetual Calendar with Stacey-$25 Friday, 10 am to 1 pm
Create an everlasting calendar using the Echo Park's "Life is Good" line. You will cover boxes and decorate with flowers, bling, die cuts, buttons and more. Each box will attach to the board with a magnet. Inside each box you can tuck a slip of paper with special journaling (prompts included) or a treat. You'll make boxes and month toppers in this class. Students can use their own magnetic frame/board & paints or purchase an upgraded "kit" for $25 that will include crackle paint, foam paint brush, clothespins and the magnetic home decor frame.
Students will need to bring along with the basic supply kit, dry adhesive, liquid adhesive, ruler, glue dots, pop dots & black pen with thin, journaling tip.

Camping Layout with Lance from Rusty Pickle-$17Friday, 2-3:30 pm This fun layout is specially sized for our album orientation and is done in browns, greens, rust and mustard. Great colors to compliment our album. Lance will walk us through a pop up tent and fire pit that is super cool! You will love adding this to our weekend album!
Students are asked to bring along with the basic supply kit some brown distressing ink.

Rustic Journey 2 Album with Lance from Rusty Pickle-$40 Friday, 4-7pm The beautiful chip board album takes "altered" to a whole new level. The pages of the album hold tons of creative tags and Lance will walk you through page after page and trick after trick as you create this travel album that you can use for either photos from your latest travels or your favorite "life moments".
Students are asked to bring to class along with the basic supply kit, wet and dry adhesive, red "wonder" tape and brown and black inks.

Panama Jack Album with Lance from Rusty Pickle-$40 Saturday 10am-1pm Lance tells me that this is one of their most popular classes and it is perfect for us Florida folks. This album is full of really cool scrapbooking flips and folds and pop ups. This is the perfect album for your favorite beach photos or from a recent tropical get away. It is done in blues and browns and even has a pop up tiki hut on one of the pages-a real showstopper!
Students are asked to bring to class along with the basic class kit, brown distressing ink.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IErw57gGY3c

Way Cool Pop Star Album with Lance from Rusty Pickle-$40 Saturday 2-5 pm
This has got to be my favorite one! It is so cool...honest! This 12x6 format, ring-bound album with both chipboard and acrylic album pages is done in all black and white with bold graphics and way-cool ayings. With the black and white color scheme you can leave it as is or (like I'll do) add some bright, fun colors! This album is full of the "Lance" touches with pockets & flips. This album would be perfect for a kids, 'tweens or teen album or for an adult "fun" event or friends album. You will be adding your own personal touch through out the album with lots of added embellishments, color and doodling, while creating a practical, yet very "COOL" keepsake. I cannot wait for this one!
Students are asked to bring assorted coloring pens or mediums to class along with a basic class kit.

Jungle Love Mini Album with Lance from Rusty Pickle-$20 Saturday 6-7:30pm (photo in YouTube video below) This mini album is being designed JUST FOR US! I requested a mini album done up in a Valentine's theme using Rusty Pickle's line called Jungle Love and Lance is obliging me! This album will be done in pink, white, black and teal. It is full of fun sayings and all the things we love about the RP style...fun, fun, fun! This little album can hold photos from a special "love-ey" event or just special photos of you and your sweetie(s)!
Students are asked to bring a basic class kit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVGckiC8LB4

OH! And PS! If you have not figured it out yet, Molly our wonderful masseuse will be on hand ALL WEEKEND doing massages. If you are interested please let me know if you prefer a chair or a table massage! Thanks!

Holiday photos/Project Life

2010-12-26T10:56:00.000-08:00

Charles and I lovin' the snow. Well, me a bit more than Charles!
Carol enjoys Christmas dinner.
Charles and Luna catch up on some Internet news by the fire.
Charles marvels at the beauty of the lamp that GL made for him for Christmas. It was made from reclaimed lumber from Woodhouse. It was so beautiful and he cannot wait to put it in his office.
We took the girls with us to the Dickens Festival this year. It is so cute to hear people "ooh" and "aah" when we walk by with little Chihuahuas in dog purses. Of course, Charles is a VERY popular dude and these girls in the horse drawn wagon all had to pet Kiwi.

Chopping down our tree this year...Bird nest in tree that we liked, but we couldn't chop that one down, my manly lumberjack & toting the tree back down the hill with a "tree-wheeler".
I can still manage to open up gifts with two sleeping dogs on my lap.
Luna still gets in a bit of hunting during the winter.
The BIG cash prize that we won in the Chango's Christmas Trivia contest! We got first prize...31 whole dollars!
Cornucopias that the toddlers made when I got to do the craft center one day.
The kid's boots all lined up and ready to go at the preschool.
Charles helps me make cookies for the cookie exchange at church. What a camera ham he is!
The girls visit with Santa at the Mansfield Agway.
Sniff...sniff. Charles broke the Chihuahua night light that I made at one of Corning's glass workshops.
I love it when holiday cards start to arrive.
Getting the wood cut for my raised planting beds. I am already dreaming of spring and when I can work in the earth. Oh joy!
Enjoying a spooky cocktail at a cropping party.
Charles and GL clean the front of the pellet stove in the hopes that it'll blow out more heat.
A cool trick in cleaning my sink...dental cleaning tablets. Works perfectly!
Picidilly Cafeteria. One of my all-time favorite-est places to eat. Boy howdy! I miss that place!
I LOVE snowmen!
Opening my birthday gifts from Charles. OH! I got some pretty earrings and a GREAT book on homesteading. Smart hubby!
Stone Crab claws. The first of the season. Do I need to say any more than, "YUM"!?
This is evidence that the bears come VERY close to our house. Here you see the vent for the stove in our bedroom and the corner has been pulled up by the bears. We are sure that it is naughty bears 'cause there are claw marks all around it & the window next to it and snot marks on the window screens. YIKES!!
The cute sign for the Cricut Swarm in St. Petersburg. What a fun bunch of gals!! I am so blessed to be part of that group, even if it is mostly in spirit.
Ann fell asleep after Christmas supper and her most excellent son, Alex, snuck this photo. Too funny!!
The remains of an egg toss at Tamara & Lisa's Halloween party.
CRAZY Nico and the cool marble race track that we built.
Miss Gail with the Secret Santa gift I gave her. It is a box with a monthly coupon book for "A Year of Sweet Treats". Darlene, the preschool owner, took us all out for a lovely dinner at Lamb's Creek.
The excellent spread of Indian food at the Mansfield "Presblutherian" church downtown. It was a GREAT & YUMMY fundraiser.
The earrings that I made for "The Village People" while I was at the October Swarm.
A turkey parade in our side/back yard.
Goodies for the kiddiewinkies in the Toddler room from all of us grown ups.

Recent Holiday Sweets

2010-12-12T16:50:00.000-08:00

Have been baking and having a blast. Have had a couple of requests for the recipes, so here y'all go:

Mocha Nut Balls

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tbsp. instant coffee
1 cup finely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
Confectioner's Sugar

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl combine flour, cocoa and coffee; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in nuts. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cooking sheet.
Bake at 325 degrees for 14-16 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE!! Cool a few minutes on pan. Roll warm cookies in confectioners' sugar and cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 4 1/2 dozen

Fruit Pizza

1 can crescent rolls
Lay flat in pan and bake 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and spread on cooled crust.

Assorted fruits (Mandarin oranges, pineapple, sliced apples, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwi slices, bananas, plums, peaches....)

Arrange fruit on top of cream cheese. Or for a kid's party, lay out the plain "pizzas" and bowls of fruit and let the kids add their own favorites!

Open apology to the citizens of Mansfield...

2010-12-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Citizens of Mansfield and Surrounding Areas,

Please consider this my official letter of apology. I am sorry to say that yesterday marked my first day of actual snow driving. Yes, I have been up here for over a year but for most of that time when the weather was bad I was usually the passenger, not the driver. Now that I have a job I am forced to learn how to do this, and quick!

-I am sorry to those of you who were stuck behind me yesterday as I drove home on Rt. 15 going 30 miles per hour.
-I am sorry to the dude with the New York licence plate who felt it necessary to pass me and four other cars stuck behind me.
-I am sorry to a few of you coming up behind me yesterday and today on Mainsburg Road. Those turns and dips freak me out and going 15 miles per hour is all I can handle right now!
-I am sorry to anyone who gets stuck behind me and my Vibe anytime between now and when I get comfortable driving in snow and ice. I plan on sticking to my 30 miles per hour for awhile.

In Florida they drilled a lovely little driving motto into our heads that I am adopting while driving in snow...."ARRIVE ALIVE"!!

Hey! I really am a good driver. The State of Florida stamped it on my driver's licence...'Safe Driver'. I am really good at driving at higher speeds in heavy traffic on 6-lane highways. I can drive great in tropical downpours. I can drive a go-kart around the track on two wheels! I've driven in LA and in downtown DC-both of which are terrible to drive in. And the DC driving was with a hangover. Heck! I've even driven a 47' yacht through the Bermuda Triangle. I'm pretty sure that I'll get the hang of snow driving.

So please, if you see me out there, be kind. Don't honk or give me the finger. Don't curse me under your breath or call me names. Don't tail-gate me or flash your high beams at me. Just drive patiently behind me and know that I am adjusting as fast as I can!

Viva La Revolution!

2010-11-27T05:57:00.000-08:00

I am not normally political on my blog. But I believe that this involves us all...
I got this "Happy Thanksgiving" email from Michael Moore and thought I'd share it with y'all. Whether you like or hate MM. Whether you have lovely health insurance or none. Whether you sit to the left or right of party lines. This is an interesting read. I know that I, for one, am sick of the insurance scams. We are battling with Aetna right now...something stupid with the words "preexisting condition" in them. Jerks! Power and big money corrupts. And insurance companies get their power and money from standing on the backs of folks like me. And you. Well...here you go. Mr. Moore says it better than me:

Last Thoughts Before the Turkey Comes Calling ...a letter from Michael Moore

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

Friends,

As I head off for Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a final thought with you about this past week's news regarding the health care executives who sat around that table in Philadelphia four years ago and decided on a course of action to, if need be, "push Michael Moore off a cliff."

Having spent the week reading all their secret documents (and the book "Deadly Spin"), it's clear that there was something far more scary to these companies than me.

They were, in fact, scared of you. They were afraid YOU would end up pushing them over their own greedy cliff.

Yes, they spied on me and my family in the hopes of finding something with which to smear me and my film, "Sicko." Finding nothing (sorry, guys, I live a pretty boring life), they then resorted to the old chestnuts that have been hurled at me by General Motors, the Bush White House, the National Rifle Association and others since my first film 20 years ago, and they essentially boil down to this:

"Don't listen to him! He hates America! He hates our way of life! He's not telling you the truth! He plays fast and loose with it! Patriots, don't waste your good money to see his movie!"

And it's that last message that's at the epicenter of their biggest fear. Back in 2007, these health insurance companies believed that if you strolled inside a theater showing "Sicko", their golden goose would be cooked.

They knew, according to former health care exec and whistleblower Wendell Potter, that the truth was up there on that screen -- and the LAST thing they wanted was for millions of Americans to be exposed to it.

Why? Well, we need look no further than the document containing their own secret directive on how they should deal with the movie:

"[We Must] Prepare for the Worst Case...SiCKO evolves into a sustained populist movement."

There it is. Their biggest fear. Their "worst case" scenario. That YOU, the American public, would rise up against them. I wasn't their worst nightmare -- you were. Their own research and private polling showed that you were getting fed up with how they were screwing you, gouging you, ripping you off, denying you coverage and flat out just kicking you off the insurance. They knew, according to Potter, that they were killing 45,000 of you every year simply by denying you coverage.

We Americans don't like people who kill us. We're the kind of people who will throw billions of dollars and the mightiest military on earth at just one guy because he killed just 2,977 people. What would we do if we discovered who's killing 45,000 of us every year? How fast would we act to sever the head of that beast?

You don't need to answer that question because the executives of the country's health insurance conglomerates already know it -- it's their big "What If", followed by an even bigger "Holy Shit." "What If the millions of average Joes and Janes ever got it together enough to bring us all down, to end our profiting off the misery of others? What If the citizenry one day begin electing representatives who couldn't be bought and who would end our for-profit health insurance racket?" Holy shit, indeed.

Yes, they feared that day more than anything else, and a movie coming out before a big election year with two popular Democrats pushing for some vague version of universal heath care was all that was needed to get Big Insurance to spend millions of dollars to attack me. These corporate kingpins knew they had pushed their luck too far and now they were worried that a movie -- a movie! -- could ignite a "populist movement."

All that money spent smearing me because they thought you would get up from your theater seat and start a revolution.

It's a great compliment to you. They fear the power you have. But that's 'cause they're good at math. They know there will always be more of us than there are of them. And unless they can repeal "one person, one vote," they know they are doomed. In the meantime they will try to maintain the power they have by buying off politicians, dumbing us down, distracting us with Dancing/Ice Skating/Drinking with the Stars and getting us so scared we'll acquiesce to having naked pictures taken of us at airports this Thanksgiving weekend. Over the river and through the body scan, to grandmother's house we go...

So let us give thanks today that the richest 1% begrudgingly know that we are still, on paper at least, in charge. It is, I believe, a glimmer of hope of what we could possibly accomplish in the coming new year.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Michael Moore

Let's grant some holiday wishes!

2010-11-22T14:57:00.000-08:00

Wanna do something good over the holidays for some kids who will really need the help? Read on!

Most of you know that I have a big soft spot for children in the foster care system and do what I can to help raise money for one of my favorite charities, Kid's Charity of Tampa Bay. Through my great friends at Whim So Doodle we have participated in luggage drives, school supply drives and help to make the Kid's Krop a grand success in raising all kinds of crazy money for A Kid's Place, a special and unique foster facility in Brandon, FL. Well, this year our goal is to try to grant some holiday wishes of some of the kids who have "aged out" of the system. These are the 18-22 year old young adults who have spent a great deal of time in the foster care system and once they reach age 18, they are sent off into the world with little assistance. Can you imagine not having parents in your life to borrow money from, get advice from, borrow their car, go to in times of trouble...just basic "get through these first years on your own" kind of things? And I'm sure it is especially rough at this time of year to have no one to spend the holidays with or get a gift from? It just makes my heart break.

Some of these kids have asked for the basic stuff like iPods & Docking Stations, Digital Cameras, Jewelry, Bath & Body Sets, CD's, Games, Sports Clothing & Equipment, etc. But some have asked for life essentials like Bedding, Home Goods, Towels and Cleaning Supplies. If you would like to help in any way that you can, there are many options!
1-You can go directly to the Kid's Charity website and donate by using a major credit card.
2-You can purchase a gift card and send to Kid's Charity at the address listed on their website. Please mark it for the age group listed and put it to the attention of Head Elf, Nanci March.
3-You can pick up your items and if you are in the Tampa Bay area, you can drop them off at Whim So Doodle located in downtown St. Petersburg.
4-You can order items on-line and have them shipped directly to Whim So Doodle or to Kid's Charity at either addresses listed on their websites.

The Kid's Charity is a beloved and trusted charity that is VERY dear to my heart!! Whatever is donated to them goes directly to the kids. It doesn't pass go. It doesn't collect $200. It goes directly to the kids, who deserve in every way possible the love and caring we can show them!

Toss Ten Tuesdays

2010-11-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

Holy Moly, but I have been a HUGH slacker! Not on the Toss Ten Tuesday project itself, but just about posting updates, photos and inspiration! I have remained on the path and my closets, cupboards and basement call all confirm this! After I had gotten rid of almost all of what needed to be weeded out in the main part of the house and all it's closets, I set my sights on the basement and some of the unopened boxes from the move. I figured if I hadn't opened them in a year, now was a good time to get rid of some more stuff. I was ruthless! It got ugly a few days down in the basement, but I got rid of at least 5 full boxes of stuff. Some books went to our church's fundraiser, some counted cross stitched works are now hanging in the church's nursery and some of the girls at work all have new bottles of nail polish. And of course, the Goodwill drive-through drop off site and I are grand friends!

I would like to tell you all how sorry I am that I have not kept up with posting about all the things I am getting rid of! I know and I've heard from some of y'all that you, too are still hard at work purging-purging-purging. For me, all it takes to get re-motivated is watching an episode of Hoarders. God bless those people, but thank goodness that this show is on the air to help people like me! It is always like a dose of cold water in the face, huh?!

I will share a couple of photos from the last few months that I've been secretly tossing ten! Lemme know how you are doing!

OK, this month might have been cheating a bit, because I tossed (more than) 10 bottles of nail polish. Normally I would count multiples like this as ONE item, but this month I was pretty sick with a cold, so this was as good as I could get! But, I will say this: I have looked at these bottles of OPI nail polish for months cursing myself for buying so many. See, the OPI brand of nail polish, while having a fantastic reputation, is terrible for my nails. The polish itself will wear off on the tips in a matter of hours and then my nails will get snags and tears in them in the days after. Don't know if it is me and my nails alone, but OPI just stinks for me and I continued to buy them because I LOVE their colors. Finally I had enough, piled them all into a container and made all the girls at work happy with a "free nail polish day"!

This month I concentrated on framed art work. Some were pieces were ones that I had hanging in my home a decade ago and I will never want them hanging on my walls again. Some were slightly sentimental and hard to part with, but are not something I will use anymore. Some went to Goodwill and the sentimental ones went to my niece and her sigo for their new home.

In this pile was a couple of lamps that I loved, but I figured that I haven't loved them in over a year, so to Goodwill they went. Also was some stuff for Kayla's room that never made it to the walls. Good bye to some totes (I have WAY too many!), a second blender, some rubber stamps, a really cool eggplant/bird ornament from Regan that I never knew where to hang, a corner shelf, some tubes of paint, a kitchen container that Charles got for something he couldn't remember and misc. stuff from the bathroom.

This "journey" stills feels good. Still feels like I am doing something that is good for my soul. And it has not once yet, never, been something I've regretted. I have not looked back over these photos and thought, "Oh, I wish that I still had that lamp." Or, "Where are those cake pans when I really need them?" Nope. Instead I feel a sense of lightness when I toss my ten things. I feel happy. I enjoy my space and the organization that has deeply rooted itself in my mind and home. And with only one more month in 2010 in which to enjoy Toss Ten Tuesday I am gonna make the most of my December "toss".

What will 2011 bring? I am thinking my next big tackling idea will be "De-Clutter Sunday". Every Sunday I'm gonna devote 1/2 of an hour to just de-cluttering those pesky spots in the house that seem to attract and hold onto junk mail, old keys, "notes to self", things to be filed that never get filed, recipes to be tried, brochures of places to visit, clippings from the Penny Saver, etc. Maybe if I openly devote a year to De-Clutter Sunday, then that too will enmesh itself into my routine and viola, I will be a de-clutterer. Who's with me?!

Rockin' in November

2010-11-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

To this southern girl there is nothing quite like rocking on a rocking chair. My love affair with rockin' started on my Great Aunt A's porch. I can remember many hours spent rocking (or swingin') there and for me an hour spent with my hind end parked on some wooden slats are equal for most folks to an hour on a thearapist's couch. Nothing eases my soul more. So it is hard luck for me that I cannot sit on my front porch rocker for so many months of they year without risk of frostbite. I actually look out with yearning to my rockers and wait for sunshine. Well, lo and behold, today we had some good 'ole sunshine and I wasn't long to take advantage of it. I took the dogs out 'cause they'll soon be missing the sunshine too and we just soaked it all in this afternoon. The temprature was around 56 degrees with a very slight breeze, so it was perfect for sitting outside. I was amazed that here we are in mid November in Pennsylvania and here was the perfect day for front porch sittin'! The sun was just above the mountian tops and at it's warmest around 3pm and we sat outside for almost a full hour! It was amazing! The afternoon was mostly quiet with only the sound of the stream, Luna purring on my lap and an occasional truck headed up the road. Bliss!

Couldn't be lovlier...

2010-10-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

Today has been just a lovely, good day. And it isn't over yet. I still have 45 minutes until Dancing with the Stars comes on and I can watch some fun ballroom dancing and possibly a shirtless dancer or two! But today has been spent getting ready for my trip to Florida in a couple of days and I always love to pack. I love to get everything organized and arrange it in my suitcases. I know that might seem wierd, but I love making everything fit. I loved Tetris as a teenager, so I think it might just be an oddball thing of mine. But my suitcases are getting full and this makes my husband sad. He has said on more than one evening that he really wants me to stay 'cause he is gonna miss me too much. Aaawww. I've also been finishing up a crafting project. I had this idea for months and I finally had the time and products to work on it. It is my contribution to the October Swarm I'll be going to in Florida. We are all handmaking a little goody for each other and I had an idea in my mind to do, but couldn't find the exact thing I needed, so I had to improvise. I REALLY love it when the improvation turns out better than the original. I took photos, but I cannot post them yet, 'cause I want this to be a surprise and someone could read this that will be getting these lovlies! Maybe later. But the most lovely thing that happened today was when Charlie came home and asked if there was anything he could do to help me get ready. I said, "Sure. You can make supper tonight." Knowing full well that he has NEVER made supper for us. That he HATES to cook and flat out refuses to do it. And that the last time I talked him into it we ate macaroni and chesse that tasted like cheese and paste. So I quit asking. But tonight he took pity on me and said, "OK, what'da want?" I knew that there was a package of this new meat-free "beef" tips in the freezer and that they should be easy to fix, so I picked that with some veggies. Knowing that he could nuke 'em and the food would be edible. So about 1/2 hour later my husband comes down to the basement with a plate of food he is delivering to my craft desk. It looked GREAT! The tips were char-grilled and I asked him how he cooked them? "In the skillet." He said. He must have noticed the shock on my face so he continued, "And I didn't just cook 'em up, I added seasonings!" I took a bite and was confused. It was not only edible, but damn GOOD! I said, "What kind of seasonings did you use?" He said, "You are shocked, aren't you? I'm shocked too. I just thought that I have all these spices at my fingertips and I should use some. So I added blackening spice, soy sauce and seasoned salt." Holy crap. These all go together well and he figured it out on his own. Then he said something that almost brought a tear to my eye. "I also used olive oil AND butter in the pan." That is exactly what I do...I consider it one of my "secrets"...and he must have been paying attention. Well, I set to on that plate. He came back down a few minutes later with my camera and said, "Don't you wanna take a photo?" I was so distracted by the yumminess that I totally forgot that I take photos of monumental occasions and this one was about to pass me by. So here is my supper plate. Half gone.

Now I just don't know if I should ask him to cook supper again on another night or just hold the memory of this evening dear....

Another great find.

2010-10-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

I love finding fun and unique stores and this little shop on Market Street in Corning is just that. I found this store when I first moved up here and always make sure to take visiting folks there.
Corning Stitch Works is a collection of all the stuff that I love-vintage fabrics (mixed in with some really cool, new stuff!), vintage bric-a-brac, vintage furnishings and lamps, vintage ribbons and trim and (my favorite) vintage findings. LOTS of vintage stuff! This store is stocked from the floor to the rafters with amazing stuff. The owner (lady who is usually there) is so nice and helpful and is always working on an interesting project. I love to just poke around in there and see what I can find. I usually leave there wishing that I could sew. But using this stuff in crafting projects will have to do.
Recently I was on the hunt for some cool Halloween stuff to put in a goody bag for my Swarm Sisters in Florida, so that was my first stop! I had to take some photos to share. This last photo is my favorite! This is a skirt made from a pattern called "The Study Hall Skirt" (the one on top in the fall colors). The lady there said she made it using 1970's curtain panels and some vintage brown material as trim and inserts. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this skirt!

PS to the last blog post

2010-10-12T13:23:00.001-07:00

This post is my version of a wifely chuckle!

On Monday evening I was taking the dogs out after dark. I am not the one who normally takes them out after dark, but Charles was busy, so what the hey. I turned on the front and back porch lights because if I'm going out in the dark the more lights I can turn on the merrier! So while I am out there waiting on the dogs, the lights go off! What the hey?! I rush in and have a few words with my darling husband about safety and lights and night time critters and wanting to see them just before they attack me, etc. He counters that he was just trying to save on electric. (Now is the part of the story that I'll tell you that inside the house the following lights were on: kitchen, living room, hallway #1, bathroom, bedroom #1, hallway #2 and master bedroom-where was Mr. Frugal IN the house?) Anyway...I stuck with my guns about safety and keeping outside lights on when we are outside.
Now we arrive to last night. BIG...GIANT thunderstorm brewing in the mountains. Very creepy-like setting. I put two baskets of recycling on the front porch to remind us to take it to Bloss this weekend. Charles wants to move it to the garage. OK, have at it. He sets off to move the baskets to the garage in the dark.

Now, my dear readers, remember what is in 3-4 mounds in the back yard? "Bird seed!" That's right? And remember what bird seed is called when it is not winter? "Bear food!" That is also right! And one more question. Remember what my rule is about outside lights on? "It helps to let you see the animal who is about to attack you!" Now back to Charles and that recycling!

He is in between the house and the garage when he hears snorting, huffing and lip smacking from a bear who is at or near the treeline. But he can't see 'cause he didn't turn the back porch lights on! His first thought is not to take a few steps to safety, no. He calls me on the phone! He is literally just a few steps from the house. All he would have to do is holler into an open window to get my attention. But he calls me. For what? To possibly ask me to turn on the back porch light to scare away the bear? To take photos as he wrestles a bear in the yard? I simply am dumbfounded!

Now I would like to add to the last post that HUSBANDS DO THE DARNEDEST THINGS!!!

Charles' Magnificent Obsession.

2010-10-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

My husband is funny to me. Kids say the darnedest things?! Ha! I believe that Husbands say the darnedest things! Here's the story...

We were big fans of the HBO show, The Sopranos. If you were too, and watched from the beginning, you will understand the reference: "Wild birds are to Charles as ducks were to Tony." If you do not understand that, then suffice it to say that Charles is obsessed with the wild birds in our area.
When we first moved into this house, all he wanted to do was feed them. Since we moved in here in the summer, he had to wait until the late fall and winter to feed them. You see, we are not supposed to put out bird seed until the bears are hibernating. This is considered "feeding" bears and will help to turn a wild bear into a nuisance bear. So he waited until it was "all clear" and he could feed the birds. Last year he put out more bags of seed than I could count. He would sit at the windows and watch birds. He would pick up binoculars and watch them up close. He put out feeders for the smaller birds. He talked about the birds and their feeding habits. Oh, yeah. He was really into those birds. Now when spring came he was sad that he couldn't "take care" of them anymore. I have overheard him on more than one occasion talking to birds telling them he was "sorry, but to come back in the winter." Remember that word I used? Obsessed? OK...
All spring he's been waiting. All summer he's been waiting. Now it's fall and he is still waiting. BUT the other day a bag of birdseed appeared in the hall closet. He, it appears, is done waiting.
On Saturday we got a weather alert from the Weather Channel saying that we were getting our first frost warning of the season. Temperatures were going into the low 30's and so that afternoon we started to "winterize" our porches. Bringing in perennial plants, covering others. Then Charles went to the hall closet and brought out his big bag of seed. I could almost hear his inner monologue..."temperatures at freezing, frost on the ground, frost is like snow, snow equals winter, winter is here! I can feed the birds again!!" Off he went.
Charles has given up on the bird feeders. The bears have knocked down and/or destroyed each of the ones he has put up, so instead of feeders Charles will just make 3-4 giant mounds of seed near the tree line. Kind-of like the buffet line for birds. He is a happy man. His birds will be back shortly. We wake up Sunday morning, just a few short hours from when he put out the birdseed, and while getting ready to go to fellowship, we notice a ton of blue jays, some crows, a few random brown birds, a rabbit, a hand full of squirrels and eight turkeys all feeding from the mounds. As I was standing there taking photos of the turkeys, who were the last to arrive, my crazy, funny husband says..., "I just wish that more of a variety of critters showed up."
Again I say, Husbands say the darnedest things!
(Charles, last winter. Notice the spots in the yard where he removed the snow to put down the seed?)

Guest blogger!

2010-09-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yep! That's me! A guest blogger. I was asked about 2 months ago to review some products and write up an article for the Intimates Guide blog. Yep, that means that I got to review lingerie! Curvy girl lingerie to be exact. It was really fun. I got 4 items to try out and tell everyone what I think of them. I don't know when my reviews will be posted, sometime in October. 4 spread out over the month I think, so if you want to read them, you'll just have to keep checking out: Intimates Guide Blog. It is a great blog with TONS of information about bra fittings, yoga, wellness, fun and of course, lingerie! Have fun and let me know what you think.

Hello Muddah Crop Camp Menu

2010-09-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

I'm posting the menu for the weekend crop that I'm hosting in January in north Florida. If this menu prompts anyone to sign up for the crop, just so you know...I am down to just a few seats left. You can read more about it in older posts under the title "Hello Muddah". It's gonna be a lot of fun and all the food will be home cooked! Yum-O!

Thursday
Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich, Chips, Sliced pears, Cookie
Mocktail Hour: Snowbird “Mocktail’, "TBA" Appetizers
Dinner: Dangerously Cheesy Baked Ziti, Cesar Salad, Garlic Bread & Apple Cobbler with Ice Cream

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Topping Bar & Assorted Danish
Lunch: Moroccan Pitas, Pumpkin Bisque, Cucumber Salad & Lemon Palmiers
Snack: Cheesy Popcorn & Brownie Bites with Marshmallow Frosting “Shooters”
Dinner: BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, Green Peas, Dinner Roll & Sticky Banana Bread Pudding with Whipped Cream

Saturday
Breakfast: Yogurt, Granola and Fresh Fruit
Lunch: Meatball Subs, Cole Slaw, Chips & Rice Krispy Treats
Snack: Homemade Pita Chips with Salsa & Hummus
Dinner: Veggie Chili, Cornbread & Texas Sheet Cake
Late Night Snack: S’mores Kit

Sunday
Breakfast: Biscuits & Sausage Gravy with Hash Browns
Lunch: Mushroom Quiche & Garden Salad & Derby Day Strawberries

Project Life, et al

2010-09-27T14:15:00.001-07:00

Just because I have a lot on my "To Do List" these are in totally random order. Don't have the time to put them in consecutive order for 'ya!
Stacey, the boys and I pose at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center. Henry learns how to churn butter at Troy's Heritage Festival. Nico, Ginger and Aunt Cissy rest on one of the walls of a switch back path at Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon. Mansfield is getting a Lowe's! Yippee. It even has a stop light which will make us a "three-stoplight town"! I love "junk-tique" stores and I especially love the one nearest to my house, The Treasure Chest. Nothing is marked which I love because it promotes negotiation. This place is kind-of junkey looking and there are literally holes in the floor that are patched with giant metal sheets riveted down. It is dark and filled to the brim. Heaven! My thoughts on this is when I need something, I'll hit my favorite "stores" before I go for new. I have gotten a $3 crock pot, a $5 bench, a $15 desk and more there. I always use what I buy. Charles always thinks that I've found some real "treasures" and wants me to put them away for the magical day we will re-sell them and become millionaires! Well, today was the very first day that I thought "I have something here" when I came home with this bowl. I saw it on a heap of suitcases and a potty chair. It looked really unique with the feet, and it had a "burned" name in the bottom. Well, I offered $5 and once I came home and looked up the name on the bottom found out that I had actually "picked" a find! The bowl was manufactured between 1920 and 1930 by a company that is now out of business, but was very popular back then. This bowl by my best guess is worth around $55! Not a huge amount, but I like the bowl and contrary to what Charles says, we ARE gonna be using it! Frank and Jackie pose with my "Big Oil Executive" disguise mustache lollipops at the gas well tour & potluck at our house. It's the little things that make me happy. This is a handle that Target puts on the bulky items when you don't want a bag. So cool! Nico and Henry look to Dixie to help guide us out of our "tricky" corn maze. The boys really loved it! Henry on the Tioga Train ride. It was a beautiful day, we had a blast and saw two bald eagles. Fall Still Life with Kitty. (That's a growing and HUGE "Kitten Jack"!!) Getting ready for winter with a great sale at the Agaway. This is a pallet of pellets. Since we are going on a "mostly" pellet-heat winter, we guess-timate that we'll need about 5 pallets! One down... Johnnie says 'bye to Lucky at the little pond next door. My first gift of homemade preserves. (Blueberry Butter) Luna and Matilda will come and go, but Jack waits. He knows that he has it too good in the house. He'll wait at the door, greet us and the other cats, but he'll NEVER go out. Smart dude! Fall decorations look great with the curtains that Linda from Bearly Enough made for the house. Henry & Nico really loved the tour we took of a working dairy farm. We got to go into the milking room, which was NOTHING like what I expected! The smell. The poop trough. The robotic milking machines. The darkness. The one, very happy bull among all the cows. The need for quiet around the cows. Very interesting. Matilda goes on an evening walk with the dogs and us. It is pretty cute 'cause both Matilda and Luna follow us. Nico helps Aunt Cissy around the house. He was working on a special reward from the House Rules Chart. Charles takes the boys across the little lake and teaches them to skip rocks. Pretty cool. I never knew that Charles was such an expert at rock skipping! Niagara Falls was just amazing! Two books that are teaching me loads about homesteading and sustainable living. Nico gets to pick a pumpkin from the patch at the fellowship. On the Sunday that they left, only Nico and I had it in is to go to church. I had a RE class to teach and Nico wanted to a) see what church was about and b) get McDonald's for breakfast! He really was good and loved church! Stacey and me at the Iron Kettle Farm. When we went on the tour of the dairy farm I took a shine to the farmer. He was a really sweet man and when his son hooked up a wagon to a tractor for a ride around the farm, I decided to hang around and chat. Mr. Wolf was kind enough to answer all my questions about his garden AND give me some veggies to take home. He also gave Charles a beer and a mini tour of his workshop. And that is where I spied this beauty! An actual surrey with the fringe on top! I was shocked to see that sitting in the back of his workshop! I think I was way more thrilled with that and his garden than the dairy. Minnie Mae makes friends with GL, a self-purported non-fan of cats! (Who is he kidding?!)

Hobby Lobby Demo and Classes!

2010-09-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

OK! I'm excited to announce my first demo and first two classes at Hobby Lobby. I went there thinking that I'd do a scrapbook layout first, but I decided to do two home decor projects instead. These two particular projects are VERY popular in the Florida store that I work at and we cannot keep frames and clothespins on the shelf. The Hobby Lobby clothespin is actually MUCH larger than the ones we had at Whim So Doodle. So if you live in the PA or NY area and would like to come out and make these, just give me a holler and I'll get you registered. These projects take NO PRIOR CRAFTING SKILLS to create and include almost everything you'll need to create them in your class kit!

I've got lots more up my sleeve...some fun Halloween projects, a really (REALLY) awesome Christmas project, some layouts and a new beginner class for anyone interested in learning about scrapbooking. Oh! And crops at the store too!

And PLEASE don't forget that if you are in Florida and wanna take the annual CHRISTAMS CARD CAMP with me and Stacey, registration has started on that. To register for this class, please call Whim So Doodle at: (727) 827-4911.

Christmas Card Camp
Thursday October 21st 6-9 pm

This super popular card camp is in its fifth year at The Doodle! If you have not made it to one yet, don’t miss this year’s! In our “camp-style” class you’ll be making 8 different seasonal cards that range from traditional to unique. These cards are made to teach you 8 different card layouts that are easy to duplicate for those on your own personal card list-we even include a “recipe” for each card! Most of the materials are pre-cut before you arrive, so creating these cards are quick, easy and so fun!

Fee: $30
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Instructor: Jen & Stacey

Proud moments!

2010-09-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

OK, y'all know that Stacey and the boys came for a week long visit up here and if you've been following our activites on Facebook, you know that we've been really busy. In fact I think I might still be recovering from all the fun. But before I share all the fun, I have to share this story. I was cleaning up today from the visit. Cleaning sheets, vacumming, cleaning the bathroom, etc. As I was taking down the chart that I made especially for thier visit it hit me. This thing actually worked! Lemme give you the details.

Long before the visit I decided that I needed to set some "Aunt Cissy's House Rules" and go over them with the boys once they arrived. I knew that there might be some rules that I would have and enforce that Stacey might not have set up in their house, so I put together the chart. I get comments all the time like, "You don't have kids, you don't know what it's really like." Maybe not, but I do know one thing...Jo Frost. AKA-The Super Nanny! I love that show and think that she has no-nonsense advise and tips. I know that she is always talking about "Reward Charts". So I added rewards to my House Rules list and this is what I got: Pretty good kids. Perfect kids? Nah! Didn't think that would happen, but the rules stuck while they were here. That is all an Aunt Cissy can ask for!

Two of my big things were no screaming in the house and always do good towards the animals. In fact, screaming, for me, was an automatic time out. The first time Nicholas screamed just to scream Aunt Cissy said, "1-2-3, Time Out!" and pointed to the pre-determined mat. No fussing, Nico sat down and waited for his "release". Henry, got one too shortly after that. And if memory serves, I think Nico had zero more (in the house) and Henry only one more (in the house).
The rewards I set up were either very low or NO cost rewards like: help Uncle Charles with the burning barrel, help Aunt Cissy decorate the house for Halloween, take a hike to the wind turbines, star watching with Uncle Charles, make ice cream with Aunt Cissy, game night, you-pick-dinner night or the very popular cash to spend at the candy store. Actually the most popular reward was the burning barrel. Charles didn't believe me beforehand, but I was right! They both picked that one first! Too funny!
So the rewards were for excellent behavior and/or extra help around the house. Nico figured this out right away and whenever I called out, "Who wants to help Aunt Cissy?" he was right there saying, "ME!" Every time I loaded or unloaded the dishwasher he was there. Whenever I had stuff to put away he was there. Whenever I had a house chore to do he was there. So he earned more rewards than Henry who was way more interested in video games or cartoons than helping out! But Nico sure "got it"!
On outings they were reminded about earning rewards and mostly would modify behavior to work on those rewards. Both of them lost and then re-earned a reward when they were pretty bad on an outing, but all-in-all, I am pretty proud to say that it worked!

What I learned: House Rules are very important, but consistency and follow through are key. Reward Charts are very useful tools. But, note to self, make sure that you create and set up "Car Rules". D'oh!

Important News on Women's Health Issues

2010-09-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

* Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
* Do you suffer from shyness?
* Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?
* Do you suffer exhaustion from the day to day grind?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.

Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything. You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regiment of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live. Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had.

Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.

Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include:
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Incarceration
- Erotic lustfulness
- Loss of motor control
- Loss of clothing
- Loss of money
- Table dancing
- Headache
- Dehydration
- Dry mouth
- And a desire to sing Karaoke

WARNINGS:
* The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not.
* The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
* The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing.
* The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

2010-08-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

(Photo to come tomorrow when I have company over eating it!)

Here is your directive my foodie friends: If you do not already own an ice cream maker, go directly to your local WalMart and get one. They have the small(ish) Rival ones on special for about $20. $25 at the most. It will be a fantastic investment, I promise! Then get the ingredients to make this ice cream. Double the recipe if you are smart.

Homemade ice cream is so lovely, that it should be harder than this to make. But here you go, a simply divine cinnamon creation! The recipe calls it "ice cream", but I beg to differ. Mine turned out like custard.

This recipe comes from allrecipes.com and it has a 4 1/2 (out of 5) star rating with 243 people writing reviews!

1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used the Pampered Chef "Cinnamon Plus" which has a bit of nutmeg in it)

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-an-half. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool. (I put mine in the freezer until it was cool enough.)

Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufactures instructions. (If you are using the Rival, the smart machine will actually stop it's own self when it is done!!)

Enjoy!!

(Stole this from an email...)

2010-08-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans..

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

JEN'S CONCLUSION:
My sister started losing tons of weight when she started taking French classes. Hummm....do you think ManU offers French for Dummies!?

A family of Nay-sayers!

2010-08-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

I'm here to tell you that I married into a family of Nay-sayers. That's right, those negative folks who are contrary and contradictory when presented with evidence they don't really believe.

Case in point: The changing of leaves in Pennsylvania. IE: FALL

The evidence: Photographic, 'cause that's very good proof indeed!

Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:

How it all went down: Last year in early September I noticed some leaves changing color in the front yard. I am a Florida native and had not yet witnessed the changing of leaves. I noticed these leaves and mentioned to Charles (gleefully, I might add) that I spotted some leaves changing. Without even glancing at said leaves, he replied, "Nah. It's too early for that." Disappointed, I still watched those leaves and soon there were more in the same spot. I approached Charles again and asked him to look for himself. He did and remarked once again, "Too early." Not buying it I snapped a photo (Exhibit A) and presented this to my Facebook friends who all quickly called Charles a moron. Well, they were kinder than that, but I am taking an artistic licence here. The date stamp on that photo is August 11th. We watched that area change colors throughout the fall and the spot that I had seen first actually HAD been Fall leaves starting to go early. Finally a month later and after many "told-you-so's" from yours truly, he admitted that he was wrong and those leaves were changing color.
Fast forward to a visit from the in-laws. Date of arrival, oddly enough, August 11th. We are driving around town and I spot some of those same trees (Exhibit B) from our yard that had turned early last year and (once again, gleefully) point these out to my in-laws. Johnnie, Charles' mom, quickly points out to me that, "They are not changing. It's too early." Hummm...I've heard this one before. I politely explain that this particular tree had done the same thing around the same time last year. She simply wasn't buying it. See, she grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania, and their trees didn't turn this early. Well, I try to reason that they might not have had this particular tree on or near their farm. Nope. Still I was wrong. But, unlike Charles she provided scientific evidence that I was wrong. Some trees are fragile and die off. Or perhaps it was exhaust from passing trucks. It all sounded good to her as a rebuttal to my theory. But when we kept seeing trees with not only brownish leaves, but yellow, orange and then fiery red her science was failing! Sorry, but evidence is evidence. Finally after many "look at that tree"'s from me said in my best "told-you-so" tone of voice she finally admitted that I might be right. I think it took the wisdom-filled voice of her very clever son to convince her, when he said, "Mom. Jen's right."

Moral of the story: You may have been raised as a "Nay-sayer", but good old-fashioned evidence and being married to an "I-told-you-so"er will quickly re-learn 'ya!

Tioga Fair

2010-08-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

Charles and I missed going to the Tioga Fair last year and from the fun we had this year, I wish that we hadn't. It is a week long, classic state fair. There are the 4H exhibits, Grange exhibits, a midway, rides, food vendors and all the rest. This year, we were only able to go once and we waited until Charles' mom & dad came up for a visit. We looked over the event list and we all settled on the Demolition Derby. We made our plans for the day, and since Johnnie wasn't feeling all that great, she had to skip our day of fun. We had hoped that she would feel better by the time the derby started, but she didn't and GL didn't want to go without her. So it became a "date night" for Charles and me! We had a blast! The weather was spectacular. Cool, not chilly. There was so much to do and see. Imagine the movie State Fair with the classic livestock pens, the food vendors, the auctions, the tents full with food entries, etc. You get the idea. The two things that stood out from the movie-there were the campers and RVs set up for folks who drove from far and wanted to stay right there and there was no band to dance to. There were plenty of bands, but I just remember from that movie the romance of the dancing in the evening. Oh, well. I was happy...there was polka music!
Next year we have promised ourselves that we'll buy week passes and go as much as we can. Maybe, just maybe I'll enter something in one of the contests!
Gentlemen....Start your engines!! They crashed, spewed mud, sparked, smoked, rammed, got caught on logs, had red flags waved at them, lost pieces of their cars, stalled...but most of all were cheered on by screaming fans!
There were all kinds of competitions and of course, I was loving the canning competition. Just wish that I had seen it in action and not just on display. There were some pretty cool entries...
Veggies. Quilts. Jams, jellies, pickles, etc. Goats. PS-Goats LOVE Charles!! And I'm pretty sure Charles loved them back!
Flowers. So cute in an antique, blue bottle!
Best in Show! This pumpkin and blue ribbon reminded me of a "State Fair" replica that they have in Disney World. It is so funny to see that there is still true Americana out there and not just "replicated" versions!
To ride or not to ride that is the question. We decided to act our age and not go on any of the rides. HA Not really, we just didn't feel like going on anything. Heck! Maybe we were acting our age, 'cause I can remember my mom and dad sitting rides out when we kids went on. Yikes! We ARE old!!
Charles checks out the midway. I really wanted him to win me something dorky, but neither of us really felt like playing any games. Funnel Cake. For me an essential for any fair!!

Although Fried Oreos could be interesting....

Puts things in perspective

2010-08-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

This is from an email that Charles sent me the other day. This is so cool!

This is fascinating-it's rather dazzling to see it presented this way.

I CERTAINLY THOUGHT THIS WAS ENLIGHTENING.
BEYOND OUR SUN IT'S A BIG UNIVERSE.

ANTARES IS THE 15 TH BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY. IT IS MORE THAN 1000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.

NOW, HOW BIG ARE YOU?

NOW, TRY TO WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND THIS....

THIS IS A HUBBLE TELESCOPE ULTRA DEEP FIELD INFRARED VIEW OF COUNTLESS 'ENTIRE' GALAXIES BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY.
BELOW IS A CLOSE-UP OF ONE OF THE DARKEST REGIONS OF THE PHOTO ABOVE.
HUMBLING, ISN'T IT?

NOW,HOW BIG ARE YOU?

AND HOW BIG ARE THE THINGS THAT UPSET YOU TODAY?

KEEP LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE.

I'm dreaming of blueberry pancakes...

2010-08-14T09:41:00.001-07:00

I'm dreaming of blueberry pancakes...and not just any, ordinary pancakes, but the behemoth, blueberry pancakes they serve at The Black Swan in downtown Mansfield! In fact, last night as Charles and I were snuggling down under the blankets with all the critters I said, "I'm having blueberry pancakes tomorrow. Do you know how happy that makes me?" I'll say it again...it doesn't take much to make me a happy girl!!

The lovely owner of The Black Swan always cautions about getting more than 2 pancakes, because, "For most people, two is plenty." She is right. I can't finish two. Ever.

The first time we tried these beauties we were told that not only were the blueberries fresh, but they "came from over on that hill there." How much more "local" can you get than that? And with my drive to keep our intake as local as we can get, this is simply perfect! Another wonderous thing about the pancakes at the Black Swan is that I don't get the weird "after pancake" feeling on the back of my teeth. I really don't know what causes that, maybe baking powder/soda (?), but I tend to avoid pancakes in public because of this. Not here. None of that at The Black Swan!

Make sure you stop by and try these pancakes before all the blueberries are gone until next season!

I am angry at a book!

2010-08-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Just how you may be wondering would I end up angry at a book? Let me tell you!

It all started when I saw an ad on TV for a new show on the Planet Green network called The Fabulous Beekman Boys. If you have not yet seen it, it is a reality show about two guys from Manhattan who take up farming in upstate NY. This show first aired around the same time I was having my own "Homesteading Revolution" and this show was absolutely perfect! I love every minute of this show. Nay. Every second!! I feel quite "stalker-ey" when I tell Charles, "I loved when Brent and Josh went through the process of slaughtering their own pigs." (As a vegetarian that is saying quite a lot!) Or I might comment on the funny paranormal investigation the Boys did at the Beekman on Halloween." When I talk about them, I talk as if they are two people we've met in the neighborhood. Of course, one of the first things I did was look for them on Facebook and hit the "Friend" button as quick as I could. I love getting FB tidbits from them about the Goat Cam, recipes and farming tips. It just adds a layer to the delusional friendship I am developing! When I read that Josh had written a book called, The Bucolic Plague I got on Amazon and ordered mine the same day I ordered The Backyard Homestead and Made from Scratch. The latter two came right away and I have been devouring them learning all kinds of things this city girl never knew...like did you know that you don't need a rooster to have hens lay eggs? Or did you know that you can grow lettuce through the winter in something called a Cold Frame? Or that raised planting beds are easier to tend to? Amazing stuff!!
So here comes Josh's book and I am excited to read it. In fact when I found it in the mailbox, I couldn't wait to take care of the evening chores and head to the front porch rocking chair to start the book. The prologue had me laughing so hard that I was fearful the neighbors would wonder about me. Here is one part of reading this book that I hadn't counted on: having very similar point of views. See Josh lived in NYC and moved to a rural farming community and I had lived in Tampa and moved to a rural farming community. The experiences he is writing about are some of the very same things happening in my new world. Like conversations at Agway. Like discovering the Penny Saver (Josh calls it "The Penny Savior". I just call it "The Paper". Either way, we both love it!) Like both wondering why dandelions are such a bane to some folks when to us they look like wildflowers. And of course, like our amazement at the niceness of folks in these communities.
Now here is the bad part. The part that has me mad. I just spent about 20 minutes reading a bit of this book and when I put it down I realized that I am over halfway done. I could read the whole book in a day if I didn't have anything else to do. So my madness comes from the fact that I have a very limited view into the Beekman life. Only so many more pages to learn about my new friends the only way I can. Oh, yeah. I don't think there are any or many more episodes on TV too! So I will have no Beekman Boys to learn about or to learn from.
At the very beginning of The Bucolic Plague, Josh cautions the reader that, "This book is not about living your dream. It will not inspire you. You will not be emboldened to attempt anything more than making a fresh pot of coffee." I say that I beg to differ. I have two new fruit trees in my yard-an apple and a peach. I have a spot cultivated and ready to plant fall blueberry bushes. We are putting our barn kitty to work on mice in the garage/barn without remorse. I just build a shelving unit in my basement to hold jars of put up food that I've just started to work on. I have steps in place to learn about goat soap and goat cheese making next. My idea of homestead living may not have been born watching an episode of TV, but seeing it and now reading about it from someone with a very similar starting point has just proved to me that I CAN do it! I am living it! Well, maybe not Beekman style, but my style. I am loving every minute of it. Nay. Every second.

Buy it here, buy it now!

Another current bear count!

2010-08-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

As of 4:30 this afternoon...

Jen-12!!
Charles 3

Another totally different bear caught my eye as I was coming in from sweeping the front porch. He was poking around the backyard. What a feeling to be doing something totally mundane and catch sight of a bear in the yard, technically, just feet away from you. It seems so normal and abnormal at the same time.

Current bear count

2010-08-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Jen-11 (As of 2pm today)
Charles-3

This was the kind of bear I like...big, cute and best of all, scared of me!

Crash, boom.

2010-08-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Charles and I were eating dinner, topside, and we hear a noise, below. It sounded bad and "breaky". Charles just said, "Kitten Jack." I ran to see what it was. "Breaky" isn't a good sound. I see two cats running away from the sound...Kitten Jack and Elphaba. Hummm... I look around and don't see a thing. I walk around my scrapbook desk and that is where I found it. A HUGE mess of my supplies. Aarrggg!! Murder or the woods? Tough choice!!
Just to give you an idea of how bad this was, here is a BEFORE shot of the scene. I have all my buttons, charms, brads, hard themed embellishments, etc. stored in these lovely hardware bins from Lowe's. This photo was taken right after we moved in and they were still shrink wrapped, but this is how they look normally, minus the plastic.
This is AFTER...
It appears that either Kitten Jack or Elphaba who are both notorious climbers were up in the basement window. A very favorite kitty hang-out spot. So favorite that when they kept knocking down my 12x12 paper holders, I created a shelf/ramp for them to walk on without damaging my supplies. So one/both were climbing on the ramp and decided to take a detour through my supply shelf. There someone knocked over one of those hardware bins, an entire vase full of buttons, a wire basket full of my "bling" and a basket of my felt pieces. Now, for you scrapbookers, the nine bins in question were this: Brads, Small Brads, Speciality Brads, Conchos, Charms, Photo Turns & Hinges, Bottle Caps, Snaps & Nails. Yeah. You can cringe 'cause y'all know what my afternoon "pick up" project was. All those bloody conchos had stuck in the carpet and I had to pick the each and every one from them carpet fibers! Oooh! But I wanted to strangle me a cat. But which one?! Elphaba is pretty much the one who spends the most time up in that window, but Kitten Jack is a kitten and is pretty much "all kitten". So I am gonna go with KJ. And if I wasn't 100% sure here he is returning to the scene of the crime looking all innocent and offering to help me clean up. Yeah! I would put buttons or conchos in their bins and Jack would "help me" by flicking them back out. I see right through you buddy!

"Quarantine" is the pits!

2010-08-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

OK, this is yet ANOTHER stray kitten story...

On Saturday afternoon, as Charles was off to do an errand and I was standing on the porch watering plants, a kitten walks towards us from across the big part of the front yard. We watch. She is limping or having trouble walking and both of us just stand there quietly, knowing that this isn't going to be good. The kitten, a rust, black & white calico reaches Charles first and he pats her and says to me, "He's in rough shape." Bad words. I walk over and not only is the kitten in bad shape, it is asking for help. I could tell. This is when a cat who would normally take it's time to get to know you, if at all, will walk right up to you and look at you. They are in trouble and are looking for help. Charles called it "buddy" a few times so I assumed that he "saw" something to tell him it was a boy. (Little did we know that almost all calico cats are girls.) I felt the cat and it was very emaciated and the first thing I do while Charles pets it is to get food and water. I don't care what the implication is, I would NEVER, EVER, NEVER, EVER let an animal walk away from me that needed food. I couldn't live with myself. Yes, I know the "they'll never leave" mantra. I've heard it a lot from Charles throughout our years together. And guess what, sometimes they DO leave. Sometimes they are just bumming a free meal and move on. And guess what else, sometimes they stay for a couple of weeks and then move on. And, yes, sometimes they do stay. Walter and Luna are the only ones that we've actually kept from a situation like that. Two! That isn't too shabby of a record for a certified stray-helper like myself. (In case you are wondering we are not keeping Jack or this new arrival! They are both looking for good homes, so if you want a cat, let me know!) But I digress in my story here...sorry.

Back to the kitten at hand.

Here she is. You can see that her eyes look terrible. They were watery, milky and had white, floating spots. Her nose was clogged and drippy. It was hard for her to breath, and sometimes it was very a very loud, congested breathing. Her tongue would just loll out of her head every now and then, she was covered in big, poky burrs, she was also covered in her own runny poop and what I thought was some blood too. You can just imagine how gross and stinky she was. Her meow was so pitiful and when she purred it seemed like a great effort. She didn't want to eat any of the dry food I offered, but when I gave her some canned food, she set to. I think that even Charles knew better than to say his famous words, "If you feed her, she'll never leave." She was just too bad off to ignore. He did say that we couldn't keep her, but that was understood, honey! He has to grumble a bit!
Well, we debated on what to do. He called our local SPCA in Wellsboro. They refused to take him. I don't really have a comment about that other than I thought that is what they are there for. I contacted a sweet friend who volunteers at her local SPCA and got some advice from her. Besides giving me the names of some shelters in NY who WOULD take her, she also said that she would have a better chance at the shelter if she went in as a healthy cat. So after more talking with Charles we decided that we could nurse her back to health, hopeful that whatever she had didn't mean that she'd have to be put down. Of course, there was a bit more grumbling from the Charles camp, but just in case you think I have to really push at this cause, refer to the below photo...
I hear Charles talking to someone on the porch late Sunday afternoon. I peek out there and the kitten is sitting on Charles' lap in the rocking chair. He is petting her and saying things like, "It's gonna be OK buddy (he still thinks it's a boy) we are gonna get you some medical help." or "You'll be safe here. We'll keep you safe." and "Don't worry. It'll all be fine. We love 'ya!" Should I tell him that if you tell a cat that you love it, it'll never leave?" HA! When I asked him what he was doing he said, "He just looked like he needed some love and attention. Jen, he has NO place that is his place to "BE". He just looked sad." (Yeah, I know that I have a wonderful, animal loving husband!)

SO! I had an appointment the next day at the vets to get Jack his booster shot and I think I'm gonna either piggy back new kitty or let her go in Jack's place. Our vet has been super busy lately (I think she needs a partner, but who am I to say?) and I was worried they wouldn't take her. They did and this cat was much sicker than we thought. First and foremost, she tested negative for FIV and FelV which is GREAT. She was covered in fleas-immediate Capstar. Yes, she is very underweight. She and Jack are about the same age-Jack weighed 7.8 lbs, she weighted 4.1 lbs. She had an infection which was causing the eye running, nose dripping and congestion. AND she had parasites which was also in the eye and causing the runny poo. What was the most amazing to all of us, the vet included, was that after a very long eye exam, he determined that she had worms IN HER EYES! He said it was very rare (he had never seen it live in a cat) and that they were there because the worms in her body had migrated to the wrong or "abnormal" spot. He couldn't even remember the word for it. So kitten got put on three meds-one easy liquid 2x a day, eye salve 3x a day and a very weird powder that has to be mixed, suspended and given orally thankfully only 1x a day but for 5 days, then wait three weeks and do 5 more. New one for me. What the doctor really stressed is that she is highly contagious. Both to the critters and to us. He asked if we had diarrhea. Yikes! So she had to be but in quarantine. I had four choices: #1-Keep her outdoors. I didn't like that option one bit because she might leave, might run into Luna out there, Luna might eat out of her food dish, food dish on porch and bears is a no-no, and on and on. #2-Put her in the garage. Not a bad option, but I really didn't want to walk around outside at 1:30am to go for the late-night med run. #3-Set her up in a bathroom. Runny poop? 'Nuf said? #4-Put her in the unfinished basement. I have a wonderful pet playpen (a million thanks to Vickie for that recommendation years ago) that I use for the dogs as a winter potty. It was still set up in the basement, so I just lined it with a tarp, folded up boxes, sheets, old towels, a soft and fuzzy rug, a kitty litter, food bowl and a bed. All that stuff is gonna have to be burned when we are done with this, but that's OK. I laid long shelf boards across the top and at first thought that she wouldn't have enough strength to push through. Wrong. She got out quickly, so now the boards are loaded down with heavy stuff so she can't escape. I feel so bad with her stuck down there. Every time I go down for either a med or a social visit she just wants to be loved or held. Both of which I have to do in my homemade HazMat suit! But she is cozy, doesn't have to worry about anything except resting and getting better. I guess if she was at a vet's office in one of the cages she wouldn't have as much space and she'd have all the stress of barking dogs in other cages. So, the Taj Mahal it isn't, but it at least is somewhere she can call home. Until we find her that "forever home"!

Hello Muddah Crop Location Shots

2010-08-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Notes from Camp...

Hello ladies,

We'll meet here for our next "Notes from Camp" update! Stacey traveled up to High Springs for me so that she could get some photos of our facility. You see, I had lots of questions and I didn't want to make the Rangers up there crazy with questions like, "Is there an ice cream scoop in the kitchen?" "What are the amps on the cabins?" or "What kind of pathway runs around the loop?" So off went Stacey on my recon mission! She took hundreds of photos and I found out all kinds off good stuff like, "Yes. There are two ice cream scoops including the "heat in your hand" kind!" "20." and "Dirt partially covered in leaves." So I have decided to share a few of the photos with y'all so you can get even more excited about our wonderful trip to the woods! Enjoy!

(Oh! And if you want to play along with the "I like a visual" game take out a piece of paper and a pencil and draw a pretty good sized, classic shape of a peanut, longways on the paper. Think Mr. Peanut laying on his side. At the top of the paper, just a little bit away from Mr. Peanut, draw a long wavy line.)

This is the outside of what is called, "The Dining Hall", but what we call, "The Crop Room". It is HUGE. Stacey found out that as well as having 2 giant fireplaces on either end of the room, they also have two big heaters on the walls. There will not be a problem with keeping warm in the crop room! (If you are playing the game, draw a medium sized square on the top outer ring of the peanut where Mr. Peanut's waist would be. This is the location of the Crop Room.)

These are two photos that made my Lunch Lady's heart sing! A mass of HUGE pots and a dinner bell. *sigh* I will be a jolly cook for y'all!

Let's call this Restroom Facility #2. There is a men's side and a woman's side. They have pottys, showers stalls and a bank of sinks inside. One of the veteran camp croppers has suggested that we put off showering in the morning and do it in the afternoon. That suggestion is greatly appreciated! (For the game, draw a medium sized rectangle on the outer loop of the peanut at the bottom part of his waist-directly across from the Crop Room/Dining Hall. That is Restroom Facility #2)

This is one of the Leader Cabins. The actual cabin name is Highland Hammocks. You can see that you can drive right up to the cabin. Some of them are a little more set back, but you can get pretty close to all of them. (OK, head to the inside of Mr. Peanut's head and draw a small rectangle where his brain would be. That is Highland Hammocks Cabin. Draw another rectangle to the right of Highland Hammocks, still inside the loop. This is The Infirmary, another Leader cabin.)

This is Ranger Dave, the lovely gentleman who gave Stacey and Joe the grand tour. He is walking on one of the paths around the loop. In front of Ranger Dave is another Leader Cabin called Paynes Prarie. These cabins were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s'. These are such cute and rustic cabins! (Imagine Mr. Peanut's two legs. The right leg would be towards the top of the page and the left towards the bottom. Now draw a medium rectangle, jutting out like his right leg on the outside of the shape. There you have Paynes Praire Cabin.)

These are two of the Scout cabins. I do not know which two, but you can get an idea of what they look like. Some are close together like these two, some are a bit further apart. In fact, one is at the very far end of the loop, set a bit further off in the woods. I do not have anyone bunking there just yet. That might be the "time out cabin" for naughty campers! I just crack myself up! But you can see here also, that you can drive your car close to the cabin if you want. (Our Mr. Peanut will only have a right leg. Sorry dude. I do want you to draw Restroom Facility #1 where you imagine his hip would be. This will be towards the bottom of the page on the outer loop and to the left of Paynes Prarie Cabin. Now put three X's in between Restroom Facility #1 and Paynes Prarie Cabin. Now continuing on the bottom, outer loop make 10 more X's moving along past Restroom Facility #2 and ending up with the last X where Mr. Peanut's head and top hat would be. Those are all the Scout cabins. They do all have cool camp names, but you'll find those out later!) Moving on!

This is a very cute campfire ring. Can't you just imagine all the ghost stories we could tell around it in the evenings? I'll meet y'all there around 10pm! (Head down to Mr. Peanut's guts. Draw a medium rectangle on the inner loop, kind-of where his right hip would be. This will be across and slightly higher up the body from the Restroom Facility #1. This is called the Handcrafts Pavilion. Now, in front of that, still on the inner loop, draw a small circle. That is the Campfire Ring. Remember 10pm!)

This has got to be my favorite building in our camp's campus. It is called the Rec Hall. It has wooden floors, wooden, swing-out windows, wooden rafters and totem poles all along the inner walls. It is just the cutest building and is where we'll be holding classes and maybe something else that is in the works! Very exciting stuff, make sure to watch for those "Notes from Camp" emails! (Pretend that you are walking away from Mr. Peanut's hip and the Handcrafts Pavilion. Over the loop, away from the Dining Hall and towards that wavy line. That wavy line is The Santa Fe River. Draw a medium square between the river and the Dining Hall. That is the Rec Hall.)

And finally on our camp tour this is the view from the Rec Hall. There is a glorious wrap around porch and this is looking off the back and right at the flowing Santa Fe River. This is where you could walk to the 1930's suspension bridge or just sit and soak up the beauty.

I hope that you have enjoyed our little tour. There are still a few things that we didn't see on our tour like the BBQ Pit, the Concession Stand or the spigot. Why Stacey took a photo of a spigot I'll never understand. But, please, let's give three cheers to Stacey for making this tour possible! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-HOORAY!!!

Step One...part one

2010-07-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Step one down my sustainable living path was to a) learn how to put up food (AKA-Canning) and then b) use local &/or in season produce to start to build up a store house of home-canned foods. Well last week I took my fist baby step towards that goal. I put up 6 pounds of clementines! It was so much fun!

I sat in front of the TV and peeled and de-pithed all those clementines and I only ate the ones that I ripped up.

I bought a bunch of jars from Weis & Walmart. I really loved the sticker on the packaging. I'll hop on and off this soapbox quickly-but we MUST buy local when we can and give all the support and dollars we can to American factories!

After that I boiled some water with a little bit of sugar in the bottom to make a light syrup. The stuff that the clementines will swim in until we eat them! I stuffed those clementine segements into the clean & sterilized jars and poured the syrup into the jars using the handy-dandy Bell funnel.

Then I used the air-bubble remover to get out all the bubbles I could. Now, are there any experts here? Cause I thought I got all those bubbles out, but when the jars were boiling bubbles were still appearing. What's up with that?

Then all the jars went into the jacuzzi pot and got boiled and boiled! I pulled them out when they were done, set them on dish towels on the counter and there they sit! A bit after their bath, I could here these little "pops" coming from the kitchen. I liked the sound of that! They look so pretty. Pretty enough to eat! But those are our winter treats when we cannot get cheap clementines around here. So, this weekend I'm gonna make a spot in the unfinished basement and start to store the jars down there.

I think this weekend we are finally gonna go to that blueberry farm. I found one that lets you pick blueberries FOR FREE. You pick a pint for yourself, you pick a pint for them and yours is free. You pick a bucket for yourself, you pick a bucket for them and your bucket is free. How cool is that? Do you think I could train chihuahuas to pick blueberries?

Tourist Season!

2010-07-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah, it's tourist season here in my neck of the woods. I think that last year I was too engrossed in learning my way around town and enjoying the newness of it all to notice that some folks just didn't seem to be from around here. Now that I've been up here a year I can spot the visitors. "Just what," you might be wondering, "does Mansfield, PA have there to bring in the tourists?" Well, besides the many chicken BBQ suppers, the farmer's markets & blueberry farms, Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon and the lumber museum there is plenty to do to and see! In fact just last weekend the NRA hosted their International Youth Hunters Education Challenge in Mansfield!
With just a little over a year of small town living under my belt I can tell you that I am in no ways an expert-heck I don't even own a pair of Muck books yet! But I am assimilating. I've met folks. Made friends. I know where to get a burn barrel and I can give directions to both of the funeral homes in town. One thing that I think I've gotten pretty good at over the last few months is spotting people who are not local. Being that my job puts me front and center in the busiest place in town-The Mansfield Mall (AKA-The Walmart!) I get to see 'em all coming in! Also, being that my job lets me do one of my very favorite things, chat with people, I get to ask where they are from and what brings them to our area. I absolutely do NOT have one teeny problem being nosey!
Well the other day I was giving out samples of Odwall's Mango Limeade drink and I got to meet two people that were, for me, most excellent to chat with. The first lady commented that she grows mangos in her yard at home. "Home" being Pompano Beach, Florida! Ooh! I talked her ear off about my old stompin' ground. Told her about my dad, the lighthouse and Cap's Place. She told me stories about her kids growing up in Pompano. It was awesome talking to her. A bit later in the day a family came up and tried my drink and when they spoke, I have say that like my Aunt A used to say, "it was like a salve for the soul." They were from a small town near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The way they spoke, the words they used...oh it made me realize how much I miss hearing a good 'ole Southern accent. In talking to them I learned where "their people" come from, heard the word "y'all" a few times and they drawled "thank you, ma'am." Such lovely people and I loved chatting with them.
Now I don't know about the rest of Mansfield...but I am not sick of our tourists! Yep, there are more folks around and we don't normally have to wait for the stop light to cycle through three times before we make it through. We don't normally see cars lined up 4 deep at the gas pumps. We never have to wait for a table at a restaurant. But I surely don't think we are about to hang up a sign over Main Street that says, "Benny Go Home"!

Project Life

2010-07-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Kiwi watches and waits for "Daddy" to come to bed every night.
A very cool lightning show over the tops of the mountain. Sadly we never saw a drop of rain from it and we badly need it!
The Wellsboro Town Band baby! It is one of my all-time favorite things to do. This night Miss Morgan came with us and I packed a fantastic picnic supper for us all. The dogs came tonight too, and were pretty much on their best behavior.
Another favorite of ours is to go to Crazy Bob's Harvest Moon Drive-In Theater. I cannot say enough good things about this place. First of all for $6 you can watch two first-run movies. That's two for the price of one. Second everybody brings chairs, blankets, etc. to watch the show picnic style. Hardly anyone stays in the car. Thirdly if you arrive early enough you can join in on a game of volley ball, soccer, Frisbee, etc. In front of the giant screen there are always kids and adults playing something. Fourth, they have a "car-feteria" where you can get all kinds of yummy food! It is simply a great evening!
Shhh! This is the very rare "Husband Yard-Workorous". I'm afraid if we talk too loud we'll scare it away and it won't come back for another year!

Go ahead and laugh!

2010-07-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

OK, here is another one of those "Feel Free to Laugh at Jen" moments!

Today is beautiful. Slightly overcast and nice and breezy. It is 79 and just a nice day to be outside. Since I've been working in my basement studio and doing laundry for most of the day we have not been outside too much so on an afternoon potty break I am standing at the top of our hill looking down towards the mailbox. I'm thinking, "There might be more registration forms in there and I want those! But that is where that stupid bear cub was hanging out last Saturday. Is mail worth it?" I look down at the dogs and I can tell that Kiwi really wants to take a stroll, so after I stand there thinking about what I would do if I had a close bear encounter....no neighbors at home now, not a lot of cars on the road right now, who would help? Nobody-that's who. But I decided to hike up my big girl pants and walk down the drive. Loud noise. That will let the bears know that we are coming and to move along, right? If you know me, you know that although I love to sing, I am really quite bad at it. But that never stops me! I chose the Pennsylvania Polka to sing as my "scare the bears" song and I was working it! I was telling anyone/thing who was listening that "everybody has the mania, to do the polka from Pennsylvania" when both Kiwi and I not only heard a loud rustling in the tree line ahead, but SAW a bear moving away! Yep! There was a bear exactly where I thought it would be. Yep! It heard me singing and knew enough to move along-out of earshot, I imagine. But did my big girl panties and brave girl song carry me all the way to the mail box? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!! I did a very quick, backwards shuffle almost all the way up the hill. See, I did it backwards because I've heard tell that you do not want to actually run away from a bear, just move away slowly while keeping an eye on it! I got the "keep an eye on it" part ok, but the "slowly" needs a bit more work. I moved as fast as my legs could move me backwards and uphill while corralling two barking Chihuahuas! But, lemme tell you this...I kept right on singing! Not even a stinky 'ole bear can stop me when I get a polka tune in my head!

New current score for "on property" bear sightings:
Jen-10
Charles-3

Thanks Rachel!

2010-07-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

I signed up to get email blasts from the Rachel Ray magazine that are daily and weekly menu suggestions. I love her magazine and I love her website...her? Not so much!! This recipe came across titled "Spicy Beef Pitas". I do look at recipes that contain meat, because, thanks to Morningstar Farms, I can substitute just about any meat with their stuff. This recipe looked great and best of all, super easy! You might be able to tell from my photo below, that Tops was out of Pitas so I substituted the new whole wheat hot dog "thin" buns. Still excellent! So with a few of my own modifications, here is the recipe:

Spicy Vegetarian Crumbles Pitas:

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped habanero chile (or regular diced chilies with a dash of hot sauce)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (or if you have a good friend who can get it, dried Moroccan cumin!! Thanks Roxane!)
1 bag veggie crumbles
4 pitas

Preheat the oven to 500°. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and two-thirds of the garlic; season with salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining garlic, the habanero chile and cumin; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beef and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
On a baking sheet, top each pita with a quarter of the beef mixture and bake until crisp, about 8 minutes. Serve with the garlic yogurt.

A funny John Waters story

2010-07-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I was watching a documentary on the Ovation channel about the director, John Waters. This show was a behind-the-scenes documentary about filming Pink Flamingos. (Which if you haven't seen, you must!) This movie is described in the ads as "The most vile, stupid & repulsive film ever made." Pretty much sums it up!

Anyway...I have heard a few lectures given by John Waters and to me, he is an amazing storyteller. I could listen to him all day long. I love a good verbal storyteller. I think I enjoy it so much because my dad was an excellent storyteller! So John was telling stories about his childhood and teen years and how he just knew he was meant to be a director. He talked about how he would beg his mom to take him to see crashed cars in junk yards because he loved to imagine what happened. He told how his grandmother gave him his first movie camera and he and his friends would shoot movies in and around his parent's house. But my favorite story from the documentary was from the days he would put on puppet shows for the neighborhood. His mom and dad said that everyone knew his puppet shows were a bit macabre but that they held everyone's attention and that the kids loved them. I may not get this next bit perfectly the way he told it, but I re-watched it three times, 'cause I thought it was so true & funny!

So John recalls this..."I would come out from behind the wall with a puppet on my hand. That was so taboo 'cause you were never supposed to see the person behind the scenes. But here comes this man with a dragon puppet on his hand! I would walk around and make all the little kids put their fingers in the mouth of that dragon and make the dragon bite them. I told them it was for good luck. Now, about 90% of the kids LOVED this! The other 10% were having a coronary. They were cowards. They are the ones that still live up the street from their parents, have a boring job and peaked in high school."

So funny and true!

1/4 acre of land and no mule

2010-07-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

"Sustainable living." This phrase, notion, idea, concept...it has been going around in my head for a few months now. It could be a response to a call from nature or it could be that my paranoid husband has finally rubbed off on me and I'm preparing us for "off grid" living. Either way, the notion is awesome! I am excited about it and wish that I really could do as much as I'd like. I have these "steps" in my mind of what I can be doing now and I have officially started. One of the first steps is education. I do not know a thing about living off the land, but I do know how to order books from Amazon and ask anyone who is doing this for advice. Two books that I am currently waiting for are, The Backyard Homestead and Made From Scratch:Discovering the Pleasures of a Homemade Life. The notion of the "homestead" book is that you can sustain a family (of 4?) on just 1/4 acre of land. Sounds cool, huh? Once I get the book, I'm gonna be learning about raising animals, planting crops, harvesting and preparing food for storage. Well, being that we don't own 1/4 acre of land to plant and add animals to, I'm gonna start where I can...canning, preserving, learning how to make soap and cheese from goat's milk. And, I'm gonna try planting a few berry bushes in the planting bed and see what happens!
SO! I've decided to start with canning. I've been doing some research, reading some blogs and reviews on products and today I had decided to go get a starter kit. I found the one that I liked at Agway and it included a cook book, tongs, funnel, jars and the all-important pot with the base inside. I was headed to the Agway when I remembered our Sunday lesson at church. We talked about buying less, recycling more...lessening our footprint in the world. So when I am in the mood to go shopping my first place ALWAYS to check out are the local "junk-tique" stores. I thought, "They are never gonna have canning supplies." But what the heck, I had an hour to kill so I went into my favorite store. Not a dozen steps inside the door, in the second "booth" I peeped into, there it was! A beautiful, black, enamel canning pot. I lifted the lid and saw the stand inside. Sure, it didn't have all the other bells and whistles as the "kit" at Agway had, but it also wasn't $65! This was only $10 and I didn't buy new, so...go me! I stopped off at the Mansfield Mall (AKA-WalMart) on the way home and picked up a funnel, the Blue Bell cookbook and of course, some jars!
Tomorrow I am headed to the blueberry farm just outside of town to do some U-pick blueberries and head home to start making blueberry butter & blueberry preserves. Isn't this exciting?!!
So...if you live near me and find that you have some excess of any fruits or veggies, just give me a holler and let me see what I can turn them into! Wish me luck and I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

Bear Sighting Score-UPDATE

2010-07-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

As of today (just a few moments ago, actually) the current bear sighting (on our property) stands at:

Jen-8
Charles-3

He is up one! Here's the story...

Charles is weeding the planting bed up near the side of the house. He had Kiwi tied off on a double-long leash to keep him company. She is laying on the bottom step, sunning herself and watching Daddy. Unbeknownst to either of them, a bear cub is making it's way from the back yard/woods to the front of our yard. What we don't know is just how close the bear crossed where Charles and Kiwi were because their backs were to the bear's path. But finally Charles noticed the bear cub walking away from him down the yard, paralleling the driveway. It stopped at the tree line and was just sniffing around. Kiwi, the mighty hunter, finally notices the cub and barks. The bear looks at them, and takes off loping the rest of the way down the drive and runs out into the dirt road and up towards Forrest's house. Charles said that with the IPod on, he never noticed that a bear was passing behind him! Pretty funny!

UPDATE to the UPDATE!!

As I was sitting here blogging, Charles whispers from the yard, "Get your camera. He's back!" I did, and I got some great photos of the little dude! He was just walking around in the front part of our yard for about 5 minutes!!!

So now the count is:

Jen-9
Charles-3

(Oh, and in case you are wondering...I spent the entire 5 minutes out on the front porch.)

Sleepover Crop Question...

2010-07-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

I know this will be kind-of a weird question, but here goes the set up.

Imagine you are coming to the crop with one of your friends. This crop is being held in a Florida State Park. At night there are no street lamps or outdoor lights. Each cabin has it's own lights inside but if you go to and from buildings in the evening, you'll need a light source 'cause it's dark! Each cabin sleeps 8 people in 4 sets of bunk beds. I do not think I'm gonna be so full that I'll need all the top bunks so the average amount of people in each cabin will be 4. SO. If you and one of your friends are traveling together would you prefer to have a cabin for just the two of you, or would you prefer to have another couple of people in there? Ya know? Would it be too creepy being alone in the cabin in the woods while your buddy is still cropping or taking a potty break?

So, the informal poll is this: 2 to a cabin or 4?

P365

2010-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

It is HOT! The last few days we've hit the lower 90's! That may not seem too bad to an ex-Florida girl, but we do not have air conditioning in the houses up here. I heard that WalMart doesn't have an AC unit, just a recycled air thingey. SO, when it gets hot, we know it! On Monday it was so bad that the dogs looked miserable so I went on an emergency fan run. I hooked it up and once the girls got used to the noise, it quickly became their new favorite spot in the house-right in front of the fan!

The Wellsboro Town Band is back and I couldn't be happier! They only preform three times a year and last year we only got to see them once. Not this year! We'll be there for all three! Bring a lawn chair and join us next time.

Mansfield celebrates the 4th of July on the 3rd with an entire day of fun starting with a parade down Main Street. I was working until 4, so Charles took Kiwi and his camera. This is the group that I had really been wanting to see-The Roseville Rinkydinks. They are a group of synchronized lawn chair performers. They also have a band that plays music. Charles said that they were really funny. Dang! I guess I'll have to wait until the next parade.

These purple things started showing up in the trees months ago and Charles was convinced they were toxin detectors put up as an alert if the gas companies leaked toxins into the air. Nah! Turns out they are bug collectors. There are some pretty destructive beetles that PA is monitoring.

These are the back doors to the barn/garage/workshop building. I spent a few days in there finishing the picnic table that we got at Lowe's. It turned out great and we have been using it quite a bit this summer.

These are some photos from a wedding I helped Ruth with a couple of weekends ago. This place is just beautiful! It is an old home that has been remodeled and added on to to create a lovely B&B. They also do "retreats" here...I'm thinking of another scrapbooking weekend in PA!?

Dinner at The Frog Hut in Wellsboro. A vanilla malt and "Yankee Nachos"! Seasoned waffle fries, melted cheese and sweet/hot peppers. Good, "bad" food on a fork! Yum!

Ginger and I watch the fireworks display from the car. Ginger had been having seizures, so I thought it best if we stay in the car and avoid too much noise. Weird, but it seemed like she enjoyed them.

Classic Target

2010-07-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today I headed to Big Flats to do some "big city shopping" and Target was on my list of places to visit. To me Target is both a time and a dollar suck. I could spend hours just roaming the aisles of that store and not be unhappy for one moment. Today I was going for three things. Three. Dog treats, toilet paper and to check out the "camping" chairs and possibly get two if they were nice. Here is some of my inner monologue as I walk around.

Oh. Oopsie. I forgot to make a list for what I needed to get today. Toilet paper and dog treats. Not too hard to remember. TP and DTs. Got it. Oh! The Dollar Spot. Lady, if you are gonna have four kids all in the Dollar Spot area, at least tell them they need to keep a path clear for others to get through. No? Well, I'll just wait here for your kids to move. Ooohh! Bandannas. $1? Perfect for decorations for the January crop. How many? 4s' good. I love that hat. I'm not a hat person, I'd look like a total dork. Lemme just try it on to see. Yep. Dork. But those sandals are cute. But my feet aren't. Oh. I LOVE that dress. If I was skinny, that is exactly the kind of stuff I'd be wearing. Too cute. Is this plus sized or maternity? Liz Lange. Maternity. Wonder what happened to the plus size buyer at Target? Did they give the job to monkeys? This stuff is terrible. Honestly. There are three racks here for plus size. OK, those t-shirts are cute. But that is IT. No shorts. No regular jeans. Only super stone washed and low riders. Gross. Just plain 'ole Lee jeans. Where did they go?!! Well, I'll get this pink t-shirt. I should write to someone. Humm... Should I get Charles another pair of shorts? He wont wear those plaid ones. I like 'em, but he wont. Nevermind. Don't look at the shoes. You always complain that they aren't comfortable. Ignore their cuteness. Books! Wasn't there a book on my list? Nope. Toilet paper and dog treats. Oh and those chairs. But I know I've been thinking of getting The Bucolic Plague. Target has to have it. Sam's didn't. Target's got to. Nope. Nope. Not here. Geesh. Oh, but there is the book Suze said she read and was good. I'll get that instead. Better yet-in paperback. I'll start this this weekend. Where are the magazines? Shouldn't they be right here? Oh well. Ipod stuff. I could see if they have that little cube thing. Really? You've never heard of something like that? I'm really not an idiot-I HAVE seen it. In fact I got one from Michael's as an impulse purchase and it worked for all of one hour. OK, maybe it was only $9, but still... I'll try Best Buy. Yep. Yep. There is where the chairs will be. ON SALE! Yeah baby. Rats. Only in pink and blue? I am not into either of those colors, so I'll keep looking. The Eddie Bauer ones are nice and in orange or green, but $23 vs. $9...not today. Is that a "clearance" sign in the garden & patio stuff? Wait? What was I supposed to be looking for? Dog treats and toilet paper? Oh, I'm good. Haven't gotten there yet. Look at that furniture! I am really wanting a love seat sized bench on my front porch in case company comes over and we all want to sit out there. $187? Nah. But those outdoor lights are just too cool. Charles can put them up for me tomorrow. Orange pillows? Do they have two? And they are on clearance? AND they are outdoor pillows? Perfect for the chaise lounge chairs. They are mine! Look at all this picnic stuff they have! Good thing that they are all hot colors this year. I do not need any more-plus I am into enamelware now and vintage stuff. So... But those carafes are cool. They would be good for picnics or if I pick up more catering jobs. Two should be good. Don't need food. Just went food shopping. Will need to pick up something for the 4th. Don't know what I'm making yet, so I'll just hit Tops when I pick up Ginger's medicine. Oh! Yeah right-dog treats! And toilet paper. Here is some toilet paper on special, but it looks yucky. I'll stick to my Northern. Rugs. I do need a new one for the kitchen since Charles dyed the ivory one pink the last time he did some laundry. Pink! Dork! Oh, man! Someone hooted up this aisle. Move along quickly. I love their organizational stuff. I need a new calendar to track my Whim So hours. Last year's was too big. This one looks good. Pink or red or yellow? No green? Nope. Red. Oops. I've passed dog treats. Toilet paper is right over there. But scrapbooking stuff is one aisle over. Check there first and then go back. What happened here too? Did this buyer change? They used to have such cool things. Stacey and I would ooh and aah in this aisle. There is the new MM travel stuff. Kristen said it was cute. I like this. And this. And this. Nah. I like this one better. That's good. There is still stuff at home from the Doodle that hasn't been put away. That album is adorable. Don't have a use, but it's adorable. Not for me, but for someone else. Batteries? Did I get those at Walmart the other day? Oh, yeah. I did. Look. I could get a Starbucks for the ride home. Yeah. Iced not frozen though. $112? $112? Good golly! How is it EVERY time I come into a Target I spend just about $100? Oh well. At least I didn't have a bunch of stuff to get on my list! D'oh! I forgot the dog treats and toilet paper! Oh, well...I'm working at Wally World tomorrow...

Funniest video EVER!!!

2010-06-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

I have NO idea how I found this...totally forgot what I was searching for after I watched this!! Now I can't stop laughing!

Hello Muddah Crop UPDATE!

2010-06-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

For those of you watching the progress of the crop that I will be hosting in January 2011, Hello Muddah Sleep Away Crop I have a quick update:

You know if you've been following me on Facebook that checks have been arriving EVERY day. Literally! Every day I go to my mailbox and there are registration forms just waiting for me. Some days it'll be a few envelopes and others it'll be just one envelope (many times with multiple registrations inside!). You should see me do a little happy jig all the way back up my drive as I cannot wait to open the letters!! I have to tell y'all that in my wildest dreams I was NEVER thinking of a "cap off" number. But now I am.

This post is just a 'heads up' for those of you who are still fence sitting. You may have to jump off that fence sooner than later if you'd like to come! Just a little behind-the-scenes information-normally when a crop is announced you'll get a few registrations trickle in at first and then over 50% of the registrations come closer to the crop date. If this is true, and this is the "trickle in" then I'm gonna have to pick my maximum number of croppers SOON and stop taking registrations when I hit it. With that being said, I am half way there already and the crop is still 7 months away! See the need to jump off the fence and send your registration in? I'm thinking that this crop might just fill up faster than I imagined.

Here is the link to the original post: http://twopercentbutterscotchripple.blogspot.com/2010/06/hello-muddah-sleep-away-crop_08.html

Here is the link to the registration form if you know you wanna come: http://twopercentbutterscotchripple.blogspot.com/2010/06/hello-muddah-sleep-away-crop.html

Here are the basic facts if you need a quick reference:

Thursday, January 27th through Sunday, January 30th

Starting at 12pm on Thursday and going until 5pm on Sunday prevening!

Staying and Cropping at O'Leno State Park in High Springs, FL

-A huge cropping room with plenty of personal space!
-Accommodations for your weekend stay!
-All meals, drinks and snacks all weekend long!
-Games and shenanigans!
-Small goodies for everyone, with a unique twist on the "goody bag"!

Cost of the long weekend: $170 for Scout Cabin and $200 for Leader Cabin (just a couple left of these).

I take checks and money orders. There is a payment plan if you like. You can pay in full-easiest and you will be my best friend! Or pay $50 now and the rest in three installments. The fee will depend on the cabin type you get. BUT that payment is what holds your spot!!

Please contact me if you have any questions. Also, please let me know if you have sent in your registration and have NOT received a conformation email from me. My email address is: mavenjen@yahoo.com

This is going to truly be one fun event and I am thrilled that so many of y'all think so too!

GREEN PUG RECYCLES! and changes lightbulb, carpools...

2010-06-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this on my friend, Amanda's blog and just had to share. Super cute!

You wanna see a deer?

2010-06-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

If you wanna see a deer in the wild, all you have to do is head to Liberty, PA! Since moving up here, I think I have seen a handful of deer around our property and cities, but EVERY time I head to Liberty I see more deer than I can count! In fact yesterday when I was headed home there were three deer grazing in a field with a horse and, get this, there was a lady mowing the grass very close to them and THEY WERE NOT RUNNING AWAY! It was so odd. If I see a deer in our yard all I have to do is breathe and they bolt, but in Liberty the just don't care to move. Well, at least it seems that way to me. So next time you wanna see a wildlife show, grab a lawn chair, some iced tea, find an open field in Liberty (or Morris is fine too!), plop down at dusk and wait.

Arty Summer Camp!

2010-06-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am really excited! I just signed up for a 12-week, on-line class by Claudine Helmuth called, "@ Home with Claudine". She described the class as an "arty summer camp for your creative soul." I think that just sounds wonderful. This class is going to be full of massivly cool techniques using gesso, watermark resist, faux batik, image transfers with paint and TONS more. We'll be making t-shirs, necklaces, canvas projects, mini album, cards and lots more. I really cannot wait!! If anyone is interested in taking the class right along with me and learning some great new ideas just click on over and see what you think.

P365 Photos

2010-06-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

These are pillows that I had Miss Linda from Bearly Enough cover for me. In my old semi-hoarding days one of the things I held onto was a really cool, old blanket that used to be on BrotherDoug's bed (the checked one). I loved the colors, but the thing was ripped up pretty good. My plan was to "do something" with it. For years it sat at the bottom of the linen closet waiting... Well, on one of my Toss Ten days, I noticed three big pillows that didn't really match anything we had-they were geometric patterned-so not me. So I was gonna donate them to Goodwill. But then I had a light bulb moment. Pillows...blanket? Blanket...pillows?! Viola! I took them all down to Linda, my expert seamstress friend and a few weeks later picked up three new pillows that not only match my style more, they have a cool sentimental touch. Go me!

Our old burn barrel was rusting at the bottom. We knew we had to get another one, but where? Us city slickers didn't have a clue. My first thought was the Internet. You can find everything there. I did find a super fancy burn barrel for $45! We kept looking and asked around and finally our mechanic, Scott, told me "Fat Albert Jr.'s" Sounds promising. We found a whole bunch of 'em there for cheap! I really wanted the pink one, but Charles said that there was no way he was burning trash in a PINK barrel! So we got the brown one. Little did we dunces know...one burn and the paint is all burned away! Duh.

The charming downtown/Main Street area of Towanda from across the river. We went there for First Friday this month and besides leaving my ATM card in the machine we had a fantastic time!

Peonies and Strawberries! I had very little to do with these blooms. The peonies were here when we moved in, only I didn't know that they were peonies. The strawberries came from Lowe's. I put them in a pot and made sure they had sun and water. That's it. But lookie at how cool they are!

I bought an ice cream maker because I have been wanting to try to find my favorite gelato recipe-sea salt and caramel. They were on sale at WalMart, so I couldn't resist! I tried my first recipe for a girl's scrapbooking day with Julie. I roasted some bananas in brown sugar, toasted some cashews and bashed them up with a couple of Heath bars. Then I mixed up the gelato recipe with all kinds of bad stuff like egg yolks, heavy cream and sugar. Followed the directions and in about 20 minutes we had the most yummy gelato!

Late one evening, actually very early morning, I heard a big 'ole "yowling" coming from outside. I thought we might have accidentally let one of our cats out, so I went to find out. There sitting on our back deck was a tiny kitten. With the number of bears that have been in our yard, I knew it wouldn't last outside crying like that, so in he came. He turned out to be a very sweet little boy, who is quickly making himself at home!

Bears everywhere! Foot prints in the mud behind the house. Visiting the yard quite a bit. Turning over the burn barrel. Leaving HUGE prints in the long grass in front of the porch. Oh my! This makes the bear sighting score at: Charles-2, Jen-8! All in our yard!!

The parade today at the Laurel Festival. Such wonderful, charming, small-town Americana! The parade lasted about 1 1/2 hours with tons and tons of floats, marching bands, THREE bagpipe groups, antique tractors, local politicians, etc. We sat in the grass on a blanket under a tree. We chatted with tons of people-chihuahuas are FANTASTIC conversation starters! After the parade, we went to the festival/carnival. There were booths of great crafts and artisans. Food vendors where we had classic funnel cake and an amazing veggie crepe. It was a most wonderful day!

Life's details.

2010-06-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Last night after everyone had gone to bed, I was standing at our large white sink finishing up some dishes. The house was quite and dark and was cool from all the windows being open. Brother Iz was playing his ukulele and singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow . The soft sounds of Ginger snoring from her over sized bed combined with the crickets outside. There was a lingering aroma from the sweet gelato that had just gone into the freezer. I looked out the open kitchen window as I soaped up a bowl and saw the fireflies skipping around the yard. A beautiful sight indeed. Just then a cool, night breeze swept into the window and I thought, "This is it. This is one of those moments that life is all about. Peace. Contentment. Happiness in the small details." I realized that not only was I perfectly happy, but that I was over the rainbow. And that's a good place to be.

Encouragment! We don't need no stinking encouragement! Oh, wait! Yes we do!

2010-06-11T20:44:00.001-07:00

Here are some prizes. Raffle prizes to be exact.

Here is a prize that I won.
Here is me winning a prize. (Yes, I know I look like a dork!)

I love those earrings. I love all the prizes that I win at these crops! I use my PC stone every week and I wear those earrings on special occasions and think of Jackie every time.

In case I forgot to tell you on that specific day, Jackie, I really appreciate all the hard work that you put into your crops. I, for one, know exactly what goes into making an event a success! If at any point you stumbled, got something wrong and got stuck in some "messy bits"-it's OK! Life is all about the messy bits. You learn. You adapt. You move on. I'm certain that at some point I have stepped on a toe or two, not made everyone happy or left tin foil in a plate of food! Oops! To err is human...to get understanding critiques and the opportunity to fix my mistake is divine!! My crop motto has always been, "If you enjoyed it, tell 10 friends. If you didn't, tell me so I can make it right!"

If I could run over and give you a hug right now I would, my friend.

OH! And PS-
Here is me stuffing a TON of tickets into the tub of the prize that I really, really, wanted to win!! That fire pit would have looked perfect on our back deck this past winter!

"We need to encourage one another, not discourage, backbite and be ugly!"

Sometimes you just have to choose.

2010-06-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was feeling pretty bad when I woke up. I had gotten a massive headache the night before and went to bed hurtin'. I woke up hurtin' too. It has been quite chilly and windy here the last few days, so the windows and doors are all closed. But I guess when Charles left for work, he didn't shut the front door all the way. But the time I moseyed out of bed, the wind had blown the front door wide open. I shuffled my way to the door to shut it and standing in our yard, just a few yards from the front porch was two deer! My first impulse was to run and grab my camera, but with my brain rushing information at me, I couldn't remember where I last left it. The information my brain was full of was about what I had learned about the different kinds of animals I've encountered and how they react when they spot me watching them. Turkeys bolt. They do not look back, they run to the hills as fast as turkey legs and their neck pumping action will move them. All chipmunks but one will scamper away. There is one out there who will stop and pose on a nearby rock for me to take a photo. Barn kitties will come to you with enough incentive. Cows? Well if it is Lichtey's one black and white cow, she'll run to the fence and wiggle like an excited dog until Kiwi pays attention to her. Bears. Well, I just don't think they give two hoots if you are standing and watching them. They lumber wherever they please. That is their luxury for being at the top of the food chain! But deer, they are a skittish bunch. They can sense me walking around in the house and usually I just see them from behind as they rush back into the woods. Today though I caught them up very close to the house, so for them to make a solid break to the woods would have to be a good gallop. So there I stood, knowing that I had to stand as perfectly still as I could, debating on moving to find my camera. I shifted weight from one foot to another and they moved a bit away while watching me. I knew they knew I was there. And I knew that if I went for my camera they would be gone and I'd be taking a photo of their butts headed into the woods. Not really the shot I wanted. So my decision was to find the camera to photo document this encounter or to just enjoy the encounter all by myself. I chose to stay still for about two minutes while those deer took their time walking away from me. Checking on me all the way back to the woods. Watching critters never gets old for me. After they had disappeared, I sighed and saw something else move out of the corner of my eye. It was Luna on the front porch. She had been watching the deer too. Well, I didn't get that photo, but at least I had someone there to share the moment with!

Hello Muddah Sleep Away Crop

2010-06-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Announcing for January 2011...

Hello Muddah Sleep Away Crop!!

Thursday, January 27th through Sunday, January 30th

Starting at 12pm on Thursday and going until 5pm on Sunday prevening!

Your long weekend will include:

-A huge cropping room with plenty of personal space!
-Accommodations for your weekend stay!
-All meals, drinks and snacks all weekend long!
-Games and shenanigans!
-Small goodies for everyone, with a unique twist on the "goody bag"!

Cost for the long weekend:

-$170*

(This is a long post with LOTS and LOTS of important information in it. Please read it all!!)

We will be staying and cropping in Florida's beautiful O'Leno State Park in High Springs.

This park is located along the Santa Fe River and is full of natural charm. The park has a wonderful suspension bridge over the river that along with the cabins and surrounding buildings were constructed in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

We will be staying in a large cabin loop that is for our private use during our visit. Our area consists of 17 rustic cabins, one large arts & crafts building, a pavilion, two restroom facilities including one with showers and a very large dining hall. The dining hall has windows around the room and two very large fireplaces on either end of the hall. It also has a huge kitchen where all your meals for the weekend will magically appear from!

Speaking of food, it will be my pleasure to be cooking for you all weekend! Your weekend fee will include: lunch, dinner and late night snack on Thursday, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks on Friday and Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. There will be drinks available all day long. If you are not familiar with my cooking style it is good, old-fashioned "make you happy" meals. There is no diet food at crops! (Unless you pack it in yourself!) I always have a vegetarian (not vegan) option at every meal, but cannot take "special requests" at meal time! There will be a menu posted ahead of time so that you can make other arrangements if something doesn't strike your fancy or doesn't meet your special dietary requirements. If you need a bit of 'fridge space, please let me know in advance. The park does allow alcoholic beverages as long as it remains in your cabin or in our rooms. Basically, our camping area. So you can feel free to BYOB! (And specific mixers your require!)

About the cabins! Yes, I know that some of you are worried by now about that word "rustic". I would love to paint a spectacular picture of these cabins, but they ARE "rustic"! They were built in the 1930's. They do NOT have AC or heat. (This is why this trip is not in the spring or summer time!) They DO have electric and electric plugs. The do NOT have bathrooms in the cabins. They DO have doors and windows! They have bunk beds. Most cabins sleep between 6-8 people. Depending on the number that I have sign up, I will assume that most everyone wants a bottom bunk. So unless this crop is extremely popular or you have a large group that wants to bunk together, I'm shooting for bottom bunks for all!!

About the bathrooms! Again...y'all worry too much! There are bathrooms in our cabin circle. There are two bathrooms in the crop room. If you've ever been to a state park you know what the bathrooms look like. They are concrete buildings with men on one side and women on the other. One set of bathrooms have showers, this is the one closest to our cabins. The other is located just a bit away from us and has no showers. The one with showers has a row of sinks with mirrors and electric outlets. Then it has a row of private showers. They have bench seating just outside each shower stall. There IS hot water!

More about cabins and bathrooms! There are actually two types of cabins. "Scout" cabins and "Leader" cabins. There is a LOT of "scout" sleeping accommodations, but only a few "leader" beds. There are actually 3 leader cabins. Leader cabins do NOT have AC or heat either and DO have bunk beds, but they DO have their own bathrooms. I would like to offer these cabins up to those who are a) "infirmed", b) "old" or c) "sissies"! (I have just officially cracked myself up at those last comments!! Honestly! I cannot stop laughing...) But, if you feel like you would only be able to come if you had an indoor potty, then these spaces are a little more money and are on a first pay, first get basis! You can email me for room/bed configuration for you and/or your group. I will also take on a first pay, first get basis requests to be in the cabins closest to the bathroom facilities. There are four of those cabins, so once they fill I will move out from there! Unless you have something else you want to be close to!

About the weather! I have no idea what the weather will be like come the end of January 2011! I CAN give you the last three years in weather history from that area according to Weather Underground. 2008: high 63/low 58, 2009: high 61/low 39 and 2010 high 68/low 53. Suffice it to say you will need cool weather clothes. The crop room, where you should be most of the time, will be heated with two giant fireplaces located at either end of the room. (I am looking for experienced volunteers who know how to start a fire to help me out here!!) Since the cabins are not heated you will need to bring nice warm bedding and/or a heater or electric blanket. Each cabin will only take one heater, so once we have cabins assigned you can talk amongst yourselves about who has a heater! (If you plug in more than one heater, you MAY blow a fuse! They draw a LOT of electric!!)

Even more about the cabins! You need to bring your own bedding and towels. Each bunk has a mattress pad (upgraded since the last time I was there!), but you will not, I repeat NOT want to use that as your only pad! I would suggest getting one of those egg crate mattress pads in a queen size. Fold it in half to make a super, thick twin size. Get a twin size flannel sheet set (I found a great plaid set at WalMart!)and bring blankets! You could even layer in one of those shinny emergency blankets between the layers!

About the area. I cannot tell you just how beautiful this area is. This crop will be a great chance to escape the everyday and recharge with friends, this hobby we love AND nature! There are great opportunities to just sit and be one with the beautiful Florida landscape. Hiking trails, the river, canoeing or just sitting on the porch in a chair and relaxing. This location doesn't disappoint... O'Leno State Park is about 30 minutes from Gainesville and about 5 miles from "downtown" High Springs. This is where the closest area restaurants, grocery, etc. will be located. You can come and go from the park but if you come back after dusk/the park has closed, you will need a gate entrance code to get back in. IF you should want to come to the event, but really cannot see yourself plunging into the camp adventure, you could check out hotels in the High Springs area. You will not hurt my feelings one tiny bit, but you will also still be paying the same event fee as well! But it is an option!

About the crop. Before I settled on this location, I asked a bunch of y'all where you wanted the 2011 trip to be and what kind of crop you wanted. So, from my informal poll it was determined-O'leno State Park, add an extra day in and do it on a "budget". So this crop will be just that! I've added in a Thursday and kept the cost super low! As per the poll, there will be no lavish goody bags and no door prizes. No give-aways and no make-n-takes. There will still be games and fun organized things to participate in at your leisure! BUT! We have come up with a really unique idea on the goody bag/make-n-take notion. Actually Diane, Dianne and Kathy came up with this idea at my spring crop. I will set a theme, pick the colors (and possibly a line from a specific company) and the album size and anyone who wants to contribute a handmade goody for each of the croppers is highly encouraged to do so. You could make a tag, a page topper and embellishment, a title...whatever! You would just have to make enough for everyone. Then we will swap and hopefully we will have enough stuff to make a killer album! More on that to follow.
I am also opening up the big arts & crafts room to any of our croppers who want to teach a class! If you are interested in this, just email me and I'll get you the information. So that means if we have anybody who wants to teach, we'll offer classes at an additional fee. More on that as it happens!
If you are a direct-sale merchant (like CM, CTMH, SU, MK, PC, etc.) and want to be heard from, just email me quickly and we'll talk! There will only be one person representing a company, so contact me soon!

Just a few more tips.

-Socks and lap blankets.
-You can easily walk between your cabin and the crop room, but if you prefer, you can drive!
-This is the Florida "woods". You may encounter wildlife. Deer and raccoons are very common in that area.
-We have to respect the other campers and keep our party to a dull roar.
-If you bring extra lighting, you must bring your own extension cord.
-Hobby Lobby is on the way up from the Tampa/St. Pete area!
-Insects will be sleeping in January!
-More tips will come as it gets closer!

The registration form is in the following post, so if I have convinced you that this will be an unforgettable and fun adventure, then print out the flyer and send it in with your payment.
I take checks and money orders. There is a payment plan if you like. You can pay in full-easiest and you will be my best friend! Or pay $50 now and the rest in three installments. The fee will depend on the cabin type you get. BUT that payment is what holds your spot!! So if you want to get a leader cabin or a cabin near the potties, you must get that deposit to me ASAP. Once I receive your payment/deposit I will notify you on what cabin you got. So if you are making payments, you will know how much to send.

Crop cancellations-A full refund will be given if the crop is cancelled before January 1st. If you need to cancel the crop after January 1st then all but the $50 deposit will be refunded.

Please call, email or holler any questions you might have. (My personal email is: mavenjen@yahoo.com) I am REALLY looking forward to this adventure! We are gonna have a grand time and remember this...“Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure.” -Alfred North Whitehead

Hello Muddah Sleep Away Crop Registration Form

2010-06-08T07:51:00.001-07:00

I heart Molly!

2010-06-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

I know a gal, her name is Molly. Molly is cool. Molly is fun & funny. Molly is a child of the earth and I believe she is blessed with healing hands. Molly is a thinker and shows great wisdom. I wish I could spend more personal time with Molly. But miles separate us and I have to make due with keeping up with her FB posts and reading her blog. Today I caught up on that blog reading and discovered this wise post. I loved it so much, I'm sharing it with my friends and blog readers...ENJOY!

Pseudo-Anonymity

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Ooh ooh...that smell!

2010-06-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

Imagine if you will...it is winter and I have to start parking my car in the garage so that it stays warmer and I don't have to scrape snow off if when I want to use it. One winter day I get into my car in the garage and notice a slight funky smell. I roll the windows down and air it out a bit which does the trick. Over the next month the funky smell doesn't go away, so I hang a few Yankee Candle car fresheners off of my rear view mirror. The smell of cinnamon mows down the slight funk. Yeah Yankee Candle! Now winter months turn to spring and the outside temps start to turn from "refrigerator" to "oven" and that slight funk is back. Hummm... After much debate Charles and I figured out that while in the garage for the winter some small critter had taken refuge from the cold in my warm engine. It had crawled up and up, couldn't get out and died. The cold air helped to keep the critter somewhat "preserved" and thus only created a slight funk that was kept at bay with the sweet smells of cinnamon. That was then...this is now. Now I return from my Florida visit. My car has been sitting outside of the garage and the temps are not as kind and preserving anymore. I get into the car to run some errands. OK, the funk is back, the Yankee Candle has dried up, so I spray some Febreeze around. I open the front windows and get the air circulating. All is fine. I get most of my errands done and am headed back home and I decided to "treat myself" to some good old-fashioned air conditioning! I hit the switch, hear a loud "thwack" and a gush of warm air starts to fills the car. Then I hear the unmistakable, smaller "thunk-thunk-thunks" of something caught just inside the vent being moved about by the air flow. And then...then...the smell hits me. The most rancid, eye-watering, putrid, throat-closing, musky, gagging, car-swerving, vomitus smell that has ever swirled through such an enclosed space grabs me and smacks me around!! I am stunned! I quickly turn off the AC and roll down every window, wishing I could find something to smash my windshield out with. I cough, pull my shirt over my nose and mouth and press the accelerator down and find that I CAN drive winding country roads at 60 miles per hour! Oh! And I imagine that with every bump I hit in that pastoral-view lined country road that it will be all it takes to dislodge aforementioned varmint and it will land on my flip-flopped feet as I am driving!

Take a minute here, if you'd like, to picture me on this bright and sunny day, sitting behind the wheel of my cute black Vibe, all four windows down, Lady Gaga coming out of the speakers, driving 60 mph past horses, barns, farmhouses, cows, etc. with my left foot up on the seat, my right big toe only pressed to the accelerator, my t-shirt covering my nose and mouth with my head stuck out of the window as far as I can manage....yes, you are allowed to laugh at me!!

I get home, call (in this order) Stacey to chuckle with, Matthews Automotive to make an appointment to de-mouse my car and Charles to share my tale of woe and ask if he can take me to Matthews for the appointment. The car has sat in the driveway with windows down waiting for today and the appointment with Matthews (God bless good mechanics!) But the real story is this...when Charles and I were leaving to go drop off my car, my wonderful husband, without any prompt headed to my car to drive it so I wouldn't have to. He knew that he was the one to brave that...that smell and not me. That my friends is true love! Not roses or diamonds. Not exotic trips or fancy clothes shopping sprees. It is when he'll get into a stinky car so you don't have to! *sigh*...my hero!

*Blogger's Post Script:
Just picked my car up from Matthews. The mechanic told me that yes there was a mouse in my car. Not only a mouse, but a mouse nest! AND (avert your eyes if you are weak-stomach-ed) that the mouse got chopped up when it went through the fan blades! GA-ROSS! Even the mechanic said it was gruesome!

Project Life

2010-05-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

I still love taking the photos for this project. Even though I am way behind on journaling. I need to take my cue from Kim, who just started this year-she does her journaling every week! Gotta catch up! But at least I share the photos here. These are in totally random order from before I went down to Florida up until I just got back. Post a comment and make an ole bloggers heart happy! LOL!

Jo and I spent a whole week organizing all The Doodle's classroom supplies and putting them into color coordinated boxes. "Pink" is the color for classroom supplies.
Each trip to Tampa MUST include a visit to Val's Basket Warehouse on Gunn. I spent some of my favorite dollars there and kept my fingers crossed about getting it all home in my suitcase. Silk plants weigh next to nothing!
This a "bar-sized" order of the little neck clams from Z Grille in downtown St. Petersburg. All I can say is...sublime! These were SO good. Dianne, Kim and I went the second night I was in town for Happy Hour. See they do bar-sized food and drinks at a discount until 7pm and we don't like paying full price! Those blasted clams were so good on the first night that we decided we needed to go back the very next night to try them again. Only this time we had two orders! Heaven in a coconut curry sauce with toasted sourdough bread! In fact we were so in love with them we went back two more times before I left! My goodness, but they were good.
Before I left for Florida I had to do some planting and re-potting of plants on the front and back porches. I am really trying to jump start my green thumb. I think I'm gonna ask Kim if I can try to grow peonies on the side of the house.
Charles and I found this great state park, Hills Creek, that has boat rentals & launches, picnic areas, camp sites, cabins and Yurts to rent, hiking, a lake with "beach front" swimming and more. It is just outside of Wellsboro and is the prettiest park. We cannot wait to head back.
Funny Stacey picking me up at the airport standing with the other "drivers".
The sun is out and is getting warm, so Minnie Mae finds her spot in the sun and is just luxuriating!
The cute place cards and goody buckets that we made for the Hello Sunshine Crop at The Doodle.
Stacey and I stumbled across this open area by our Tampa house that was just full of buzzards. It was just like "The Birds" only with buzzards. VERY creepy!! They were all over...tree tops, around trees, across the street... In all our years of living in Florida neither of us had seen such a thing!
On Friday morning I didn't have to be at Whim So Doodle until the afternoon, so I had my chauffeur, Bob, drop me off at Bay Walk and I wanted to do some shopping. Poor Bay Walk. There are no shops left there, so I headed to find some lunch. I stopped at Starbucks and had a sandwich and coffee. I sat outside and quickly noticed that there was a man playing saxophone right near me. It was so cool, sipping on my iced coffee enjoying songs like "Girl from Ipanema" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". What a great downtown!
Another great supper out! We ate at the Cantina next door to the Doodle and I had THE most delicious corn on the cob. The girls (except Shirley) thought that I was crazy for ordering corn on the cob, but when they saw it grilled and covered in Spanish cheese and herbs they were not laughing any more!
I am the game guru! I know this about myself. I love to play games. And at most crops I can inflict game playing on the croppers under the guise of "winning a prize"! But I can always count on Barbra and Karen to really get into my game playing! This is one of the reasons why I love them and really look forward to them being at the crops!
This is one happy dog. Ginger loves being in the sun and this day she and mommy were enjoying the new chaise cushions!

I want to leave y'all with these photos. It is going on one year since we moved up here and I discovered these photos the other month when finishing up the Flat Stanley project. These are photos of the old truck next door as I saw it through the seasons...
SPRING SUMMER FALL WINTER

A story from Charles

2010-05-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

While I am here in sunny Florida, Charles is having to mind all the critters on his own. He usually does a great job, not counting the time he lost Ginger for 2 days! So a few nights ago he called me to share a particularlly funny story about walking the dogs that I thought y'all might enjoy too!

As Charles is driving up the driveway coming home from work, he notices a new dog wandering around the street. He seems friendly, so Charles stops to say "hi". It was a very friendly dog and he pats it for awhile, but with no collar on it, he cannot notify any owner so he says 'bye and drives up to the house. He changes and get the girls ready to go outside and normally we just open the door and walk down the steps for a quick potty. Usually no leashes. This is the time that I have to remind folks that Ginger is our epileptic dog who is medicated heavily every day to keep her seizures at bay, so normal dog behavior is rare to see in Ginger. So, out Charles and the girls go on the porch and they discover that the lost dog is now up on our porch. I guess it followed Charles all the way home! Ginger sees the dog (a very large, Lab-esque dog) and takes off after it. Charles described Ginger as going bezerk! She chases the dog off our porch and half way down the driveway until she conks out and decides to rest in the driveway. Kiwi, seeing that Ginger gave up, runs past Ginger and as Charles says, "finishes off the job" and runs that poor, lost dog down into the street, up the neighbor's yard and into the woods. Charles flies by the "resting" Ginger to try to stop Kiwi from going too far into the woods. He finally finds her and the other dog, appologizes to the dog, scoops Kiwi up and heads back to retrive Ginger. He heads up the driveway and Ginger is not where he left her. He looks around and spots her nearby...chewing on something. He gets closer, calls her name and she turns around with part of a dead bird in her mouth! Gross!!!

So for all of y'all who think that the funny adventures only happen to me...here you go!

Adventures with me and my brown thumb

2010-05-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

You know, I've never been accused of having a green thumb. In fact, my thumb color tends more on the brown side. My dad was a genius gardener! He grew things like orchids and bromeliads. He grew strawberries and avocados. He build an orchid house and knew that if he put fish guts around the avocado tree it would create the biggest and tastiest fruit anyone had ever known! He had seedling and saplings and a fruit picker on a pole. Me? I have gardening gloves that I can never find. A perpetually unopened bag of soil. And really nice Fiskars gardening shears that we left in the storage closet at the Florida house. That's all. It seems pointless for me to have anything else. My idea of gardening is what I can grow in a container on the porch. My theory on plant buying is that I stick to annuals. An annual is defined as: "...a plant that usually germinates, flowers and dies in one year." I figure they are destined to die anyway, so if I kill them a little premature then it's not as bad as killing a perennial. You familiar with Pothos? It is a perennial. The easiest thing to keep alive on this planet. They are even recommended for people with "black thumbs". Sad to say, but I have been responsible for many a Pothos death. I have no earthly idea how I got to be so bad at this. One of my greatest disappointments in my life is that I killed a precious plant put into my possession-a cutting from my Great Aunt Ada's key lime tree. (I am hanging my head in shame.) Her tree was glorious! It bore fruit all the time that kept us all in a constant stream of key limeade and key lime pies! Each of us kids got a cutting from that tree that my Dad nurtured as a sapling and passed onto us to grow into a tree. I believe that Sisterdear and BrotherDoug have both been successful at this, not me...
Now when Charles and I moved to Pennsylvania, I thought, "Oh! There are some really cool plants up there that I would love to grow." I LOVE lilacs, hydrangeas and peonies. Three more green things that under my care would suffer and die! So I stuck to the annuals. In the fall I purchased mums. These were fantastic! When I bought them they were in full flower and available in tons of colors. You could just plop the ugly container into a pretty one at home and that was it. I didn't even have to re-pot it. Then when it's season was over, it knew it, I knew it. It wasn't a tearful good-bye. Winter, now that was super easy! A Christmas tree. Hey! It's dead already, I am way ahead on that game. Just have to keep the dead tree green for about a month. I got this one-sugar in the water-check! But now it is spring. A beautiful time for most folks, but for us plant growing challenged people it is torture! We see all the beautiful spring displays of plants who need good homes. I even bought a few early on thinking that I was safe as long as it is an annual. I brought those plants home (a pothos was in the bunch) and put them on the front porch only-didn't yet want to commit to the back porch! I did all the right stuff. Re-potted them into bigger containers. Watered and fertilized with Miracle Grow. Rotated them for even sun exposure. Found the right spot to make the partial shade-ers happy and the full sun-ers happy. Removed dead leaves. Watched for bugs. Heck! I would even talk to them when I was out on the porch. All good stuff. But then...our area was put under a freeze warning. I didn't know...I just didn't know. I went to bed a happy plant owner and woke up to shriveled up, wilted, brown and very unhappy plants. I quickly apologized and brought them all into the house. It was too late. I lost some good plants that day.
I didn't buy more plants until I was sure that the really cold weather was gone. No, it's not what I would call warm up here yet, but everyone has their spring plants out for sale, in the ground and on their porches so I assumed it was safe. I bought pansies, pink cosmos, a fern, some yellow flowers and some purple flowers. All so pretty! I kept them in their original pots-not wanting to get too attached. Then last weekend I finally transferred them to pretty pots, found homes for them on both the front and back porch and was feeling pretty happy with plant life! That was until this morning. I hopped on the computer and the little Weather Channel desktop icon thingey was making it's thunderstorm noise and blinking. Bad news... As I read the "weather alert" a lump was forming in my throat. "A freeze warning is issued when sub-freezing temperatures are forecast to threaten outdoor plants. Those with agricultural or gardening interests in the warned area are advised to harvest or protect tender vegetation. Potted plants normally left outdoors should be covered of brought inside." Curse my brown thumb! A better gardener would have known sooner! My dad would have put plastic tarps on the plants in the ground and would have had those plants in last night. Once again I rushed outside and while carting my plants inside to warmer digs, I was apologizing and begging them not to die. Those plants need your prayers, folks!
Inside my house I have 100% given up on indoor plants. All the greenery and floral in my house comes from Val's Basket Warehouse in Tampa. If this round of plants die, I have to ask myself one question...how horrible would it look to put silk plants outside?

There's Something About Spring-Day Six

2010-05-08T05:42:00.000-07:00

This was the last day of the crop which always starts off feeling sad. Everybody knows we are gonna say good bye today. Stacey and I made these really, really yummy sausage, egg and cheese breakfast "muffins". I got the idea of turning a traditional Bisquick "impossible pie" into a muffin and the croppers were my Guinna pigs! We also served up creamsicle smoothies to go along with the muffins. Creamsicle smoothies are orange juice, orange pieces, vanilla fro yo and ice. You could add protein powder and/or milk if you wanted too. This had to be my favorite breakfast. Easy and yummy!
Immediately after we cleaned up from breakfast I had to start on lunch. I was making a Martha Stewart cupcake recipe and it required whipping cream into stiff peaks and my mixer was me,Stacey and Kim. Well, mostly Stacey. We were making flour less chocolate cupcakes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Of course I forced more games on everyone, but they got to win some cool prizes, so I didn't feel too bad! What I did feel bad about was some of the PA girls had only been there for Saturday and today was Sunday so that side of the room was kind-of quite. I should have pushed all those tables closer so that the "OG" PA girls were closer to the FL girls. BUT, the FL girls were loud enough that I think it was OK!
It was time for us to all work on our make-n-take. I had made a cute frame that I was calling "earth friendly" 'cause it used some elements from my yard and lots of recycled ideas. I forgot the sticks, so I still owe everybody those sticks! But the frames turned out so cute. I sure hope everyone was happy with them. They learned some new tricks and techniques.
I really didn't have a set ending time, I just knew that #1-there was no supper included so most people would be leaving before supper and #2-Stacey and I were still responsible for clean up, so I didn't want to be there until midnight! We were tuckered out! Kim and Dianne were hosting a cocktail party in their room after it was all over so with the help of some good friends the heavy clean-up was done in no time and the room looked sad and lonely very quickly!
Everyone said their good-byes and I got even more presents! Can you imagine? All weekend long the presents just flowed in! I should do this more often just for the gifts alone! Thank you to each of you for such fun and lovely treats! You spoil me!
Stacey and I scrubbed, moped, wiped down, threw away, closed up, put away, swept...did all that we needed to do from the "close up" list provided by the Annex folks. We were so exhausted that we had to sit on the comfy couches for about 20 minutes before we could go to the After Party!
Boy-oh-boy what a fun After Party though! Kim and Dianne had hit up the BiLo for some great treats and put out a fantastic spread. I personally like the bath-towels-as-table clothes-look! It's all in the details! Oh! And since they couldn't take all their booze home, we had to help them out and lighten their load! It was only right! It was great fun, squeezed into their sitting room, laughing with each other, recalling fun memories and telling stories. I am very happy that my old Florida friends got to hang out with my new Pennsylvania friends. I see that some of them are now even friends on FB...too cool! I love these women and am so happy that they all came up to visit me and crop in the PA wilds! I wanted to pack them all up and take them back to the house with me and not let them fly home...

Towanda!

2010-05-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today I had to go for a drug screen test for my new job. I've never had to do this before, so I didn't even know if it was blood or urine! That's how silly I am! The list of places to go included Elmira and Corning-places I am very familiar with and places like Sayre and Towanda. I did a MapQuest and found that Towanda is 45 minutes from my house where Elmira is about 40. I figured since I have never been to Towanda, today was the day! I made my appointment, grabbed my paperwork and Kiwi and off we went! Normally going to give a urine sample would not be considered an adventure, buy I am far from normal!
What I knew about Towanda before this afternoon was limited to a street sign. When you get to the end of our road (Mainesburg Road) we turn left to get to town, Wellsboro, work, etc. To us, everything is left. There is the sign though that points right that says "Troy/Towanda". We have ventured right a few times and headed to Troy which is about 20-25 minutes from us. We've been for supper, to check out their Main Street, antiquing and when the Mansfield Video King closed down, the next closest was in Troy. Charles and I have been to Troy maybe a dozen times. Troy is charming. Troy's main drag is T-shaped unlike a traditional "Main Street". They have a few cool shops & restaurants to visit there and in my brain because I see that "Troy/Towanda" sign I thought that Troy and Towanda were close and/or similar in size and charm. I was wrong. Oh so wrong!
My directions were simple, take 6 all the way into town and make a left into the hospital. Easy. When I got into this part of Towanda I was shocked that it was like a mini city. Burger King. Dunkin' Donuts! Dry Cleaner. Hotels. Your basic city stuff. But with not only a hospital, but a Dunkin' Donuts I was thinking, "What a hip town".
My visit with the hospital was an in and out kind of deal. Small town means not a lot of waiting! Gotta love it! So here Kiwi and I were sitting in the parking lot deciding what to do. Turn right to go home or turn left and see what was down the road a piece. Knowing that I had promised Kiwi a good walk of some sort, we turned left. What a great decision! Left took us to a whole other part of Towanda. Main Street, Towanda. Let me describe it as best I can...

Coming into town, on either side of the street are these giant, old Victoria-era homes. These are all big, rambling things that sit high up off the road. There are steep steps from the sidewalk that lead up the vast front porches. Most of them wrap around porches. Being an old movie buff these homes reminded me of so many old movies, but especially Meet Me in St. Louis where the horse and buggy pulled up to the stand in front of the house. Of course, these streets are all tree-lined with decades-old trees canopying the street, and with spring that means bright new leaves and flowering trees. Every lawn was green, trimmed and beautiful! I don't know if they have some kind of "Main Street Ordinance" that they all have to follow, but their yards were ALL well kept.
Once I passed these houses the downtown opened up. There were three to four-storied buildings on either side of the street. Each building is old-very old. They each have a slightly different facade, but they are all about the same height. I spotted the movie theatre and noticed the sign at the top that read, "Hale's Opera House 1886". Amazing! It appears that they are keeping the charm of the area, by not allowing new building facades. This a great thing. There are small alleys between some of the buildings. They are cobblestone with bits of green growing through and closed in with black iron gates. Some side doors were open which revealed the entrances to the above apartments. It looked like only some of the above floors were being used as apartments. But how cool would that be? Living on Main Street, in old Victorian store buildings. *Sigh*
Kiwi poked her head into one store that looked exactly like Vandergelder's Hay and Feed from Hello Dolly with it's main & lower floor for shopping! Too cool! There were tons of great stores-antiques, hardware, a Ben Franklin, two theatres (both movie and stage), a florist with a vintage delivery truck sitting out front, book store, pubs and great places to eat. There was a diner there called "The Red Rose" which was built in the 20's and proclaimed "ladies welcome".
While walking down a side street I was greeted by a group of people setting up some tents and stuff and I asked what was going on. "First Friday!" the lady told me. I am familiar with downtown St. Petersburg's First Friday. It is a massive party/pub crawl. Lots of fun, but very urban. I asked her to tell me more. The Towanda First Friday is sidewalk sales from the merchants, strolling minstrels, live, outdoor music, games for the kids sponsored by the YMCA, a giant pinewood derby for the Boy Scouts, food, games, etc. Right up my alley! She said they have them the first Friday of every month and guess who is going back soon?

Now let me try to explain the topography of this area. Imagine that Main Street is level and if you went off Main Street one block to the left, you'd be on a river front green way and if you went one block right you'd go up steep streets into neighborhoods. Kiwi and I walked along the green way and drove through the neighborhoods. The green way was made alongside the old train tracks and has the Victorian (like) black lamp posts running all along it. The walkway is dotted with benches and little covered gazebo-like structures. It is a beautiful spot to watch the river flow past with the mountains in the background. The police station was located just off the river and even that building was charming! When we drove up into those neighborhoods, you couldn't spit without hitting a Victorian-era house.
These were smaller than the giant ones on Main Street, but still HUGE! Every 4th house was Victorian and every 4th one of those was "gingerbread". Kiwi thought that I had gone nuts because of the many times I gasped while driving those streets!
One of the first things I noticed about the downtown part of Main Street was the lamp posts. I'm gonna say that they were replicas, but I couldn't be sure. But each and EVERY lamp post that lined both sides of Main Street and the green way along the river had these banners hanging from them. All I can say is that these banners were so amazing-each one of them said, "Bradford County, Hometown Heros". Under those words was the photo of a service man or woman and under that was their military branch, what war they served in and what city they came from. I had such a sense of community pride in their men and women in service-from the Civil War to Afghanistan-it was inspiring! What a way for a city to honor their servicemen and women.

Today I fell in love with a town...cannot wait to go back. Make sure that if you are planning a visit with Charles and I that you make us take you to Towanda!

There's Something About Spring Crop-Day Five

2010-05-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Bright and early Saturday morning we all met back up at the Fire Annex. I was pretty excited about Saturday 'cause some of my new, local, scrapbooking friends were due to come and crop. We rush in the front door a little late...sleep was just too good...and once again Stacey brewed the coffee and I got breakfast started. This morning we were having blueberry pancakes and bacon. Stacey had wisely convinced me to get the pre-cooked bacon and what a find that is. All we had to do was put it in a pan and pop it into the oven for a few minutes. I had a big batch of pancakes waiting to grill up as the girls arrived so they would have hot, fresh cakes. And is was very good, 'cause they all came in nice and staggered so I didn't have too many waiting.
Once again we played a few games, got some of the girls working on their 6x6 card set for their make-n-take and gave out prizes. Miss Dianne won the scarf that Stacey knit and she was one happy girl! She wore it the rest of the day and I think the next day too. It was pink, so she was REALLY happy.
After breakfast all of the Florida girls wanted to walk around Wellsboro a bit and see "the sights". We all recommended different places for them to eat and they broke up in smaller groups and took off. They ALL went shopping, that is for sure. One of my favorite stories from their excursions was when Miss Barbara and Julie went into CVS for some cold meds, when checking out Barbara mentioned that they were in town visiting from Florida. Without out missing a beat the lady behind the counter asked, "Oh are you here with the scrapbooking event?" Tee hee! Looks like we were the talk of the town! Love it!
One of the groups took my advice and hit the Wellsboro Diner for lunch. This is the diner that I rave about their pies! I believe that they really enjoyed lunch and the walk around town. The weather was "Chamber of Commerce" weather and tons of trees were blooming with different colors, so LOTS of flower photos were taken. The diner. Flowers at a church. Downtown Wellsboro.

We posed for a group shot and then had an afternoon snack of pretzels and cheesy mustard dip and sherbet floats. Hey! I don't care that they just ate or that we were gonna eat again shortly! I had a feeding schedule that I had to stick to!
More door prizes! Johnny Cash came on the I-pod player and I just had to shake it a bit! (Karen knows what I mean!) More games. Much more cropping. Then supper! This was the first time ever that we did sit down dinner with appetizers too boot! Stacey and I set the tables, put out glasses of water and had all the plates lined up when we called everyone to supper. They sat down and we served them. I loved it! This was the first time that I rented a hall that had real plates, glasses and silver so it was kind-of cool. The yummy supper of Dijon chicken, roasted veggies and twice baked potatoes. Since we had stuffed them silly, we held off on dessert and went back to cropping. I have to tell you that one of my favorite parts of the crop is when I am in the kitchen and I listen to the laughter and fun in the other room. That fills my heart with joy. To me that makes me feel like the event is a success when ladies are chatting and laughing amongst themselves.
Pictionary was pretty popular at this crop. Even though some people had won prizes, they still wanted to play and even asked to play more. At one point in the game when we were deciding who was the next drawer, and since she is just a hoot-and-a-half the whole room started chanting "Barbara! Barbara! Barbara!" This is Miss Barbara drawing the word "fang".
Time to eat again and Stacey and I rolled out a whole mess of dark chocolate fondue with trays of great dippers like brownies, cake, strawberries and these GIANT marshmallows we found at Tops. Holey moley was that dessert yummy! Erin and her treats. The chocolate let us crop a little longer and no one really wanted to leave, but we knew we had to be back here tomorrow for more fun, so we headed out between 12:30pm and 1am. What a spectacular day!

I'm a nice person...honest!

2010-05-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

When I first moved up here I was fascinated by the sweet, kind, helpful, pleasant dispositions of most everyone we met up here. Mostly I was shocked at the salespeople. The first time in Weis the lady was so nice and chatty that I had to call Stacey about it. And I'm sure we can all remember that hug I got from the nice satellite installer. So it was with much shock that this afternoon I got the worst customer service from a cashier at Weis than I can remember in a long, long time! It started when I rolled my buggy up to her line. The store was slow and the cashiers were hanging out in front of the lines to let people know they were open. So I pick her line, she glances at my rather full buggy and rolls her eyes. I should have moved on to another line... I start to unload my cart and get zero greeting. Zip. I know that I have a number of things that were on special so I keep those until last so I can make sure they ring up correctly. I get to the pay stand and watch the dog Snuggies ring up at $9.99. I tell her, "Those were marked down to .99" She looks up and me, stares at me for a full beat and shouts to a nearby cashier, "Are these pet things only .99? She says that they are .99" The other cashier who is not busy, walks over and asks, "Did it have a 'PC' in it?" "Yes," she replies. The other cashier says, "Well her Weis Card should have discounted it." Realizing that she didn't ask for my card before she started ringing up she looks at me and says, "Where is your Weis Card?" I blink and say that it is at home. Full beat stare again. "Well, if it says 'PC' and you don't have a Weis Card then there is no way you are gonna get that price." I'm thinking, is she really talking to me like this? I say that I DO have the card, just not on me. The 2nd cashier offers to go look up the number and the 1st cashier picks up the Snuggy, leans against the counter and fans herself with the box. "At least it makes a good fan," she says over her shoulder to me. "I'm not gonna keep ringing up the rest of your stuff because I don't want to have to void this one out and then have to add it back in if she comes back with your number." I am just standing there seething at this woman. She knows that I am not feeling any love towards her and it seems to me she could care less. The 2nd cashier comes back after some more Sunggy fanning with my card number written on it. "Let's see if this works," she mutters as she types the number in the system. It does. "Looks like it took your discount off." Then she rings the rest of my stuff up. As I watch, she just flings-literally flings-the items into the bags. She is not trying to keep cold food together. Not trying to keep fragile things separate. She is just flinging and tossing the bag up onto the back counter for me to put in my buggy. Bread was given no special treatment! Bread, for goodness sakes! Once she is totally done ringing everything through she turns to me, hands me the paper with my Weis Card number written on it and says, "You should really hold on to this because you saved over $25 today." (Pet Sunggies are normally $9.99, and today they were .99, even being no mathmagician I can see that $18 of that savings is all Snuggy!) Now that seems like a nice thing to say, helping me save money and all, but it was the way she said it. Kind-of like she was talking down to me. Scolding me for leaving my card at home. Then...then...she delivered the poor customer service coup de gras. She said, "You'll also get to take an additional 5% off today because it's Senior Day." I guess I must have dropped my mouth open or gasped a little, 'cause she said, "You ARE over 55 aren't you?" Now, I'm a nice person...honest! But when this...this...lady tries to burn me with the "Senior Discount" blow I lost my mind! If I was a cartoon steam would have been pouring out of my ears! I chuckled a little and said, "Really?" "Really?!" She says, "Oh...sorry." Tells me my total and hands me my receipt quietly as I roll away.
I know her name. I know the Weis' phone number. AND I have flying monkeys and I'm not afraid to use them!

There's Something About Spring Crop-Day Four

2010-05-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

We woke up on day four to frost on the ground. Stacey made sure to take photos of it, just in case that was the closest she'd get to snow. When we got to the Fire Annex, I was really glad that I had picked an easy breakfast for the first day. Stacey made coffee while I pulled together yogurt & granola parfaits with fresh fruit. Oh! I have failed to mention that the blackberries up here are close to heaven! They are so yummy and I had a big 'ole bowl of them. I have no idea if my friends are just nice or they really do enjoy the food I put together for them, but when they come up and tell me how good breakfast was and asked were I got the good yogurt from, I kind-of suspect they are just being nice. I mean...how hard is scooping stuff into bowls? But, I am glad they enjoyed it!
The croppers started to arrive and set up their spaces right away. Everyone was loving their tote bags I made/had made for them. Each tote was monogramed and had three frayed fabric flowers stitched on them. I explained about the door prizes and how our weekend games would work. My notion was that I wanted everyone to walk away from the crop with not only a door prize, but one that they wanted to win. I had such a fun time picking out the door prizes and I kind-of had people in mind when I was shopping. This was one of my favorite door prizes-"Girl's Night In". It had a romantic move, a bag of popcorn, Italian soda, tissues, chocolate and a mud facial. Too fun!

After "cooking" breakfast, starting lunch and organizing the kitchen my favorite two parts of hosting a crop was next-socializing and playing games! I walked around and got to see what everyone was working on, chatted with everyone and then pulled out this new game-Apples to Apples. THAT is one fun game! All I can say is that the Florida girls have requested that we play it at Whim So Doodle's crop coming up in about a week! We also played a round of Pictionary later in the afternoon that was a very popular choice. It doesn't happen too many times to get requests to play games over, but Dianne and Kim asked if we could play this one again! Ruth drawing "stomach". Yep! That's a stomach!

Lunch was also super easy since we had cooked the "butt" the day before and all I had to do was warm it in the crock pot. Thankfully the Fire Annex had a giant crock pot for it all to fit in. I had also made my mom's macaroni salad. It has some ingredients that are fairly odd to macaroni salad (Cheez Whiz, vinegar, flour, sugar...) but it is so yummy and I love to make it-reminds me of mom whenever I make it! When we were dishing up lunch Dianne poked her head into the kitchen to request a plate with no macaroni salad on it 'cause she wasn't a fan of pasta salads. I told her what any good lunch lady would-try everything once! I scooped a tiny bit on her plate, only to have her come back a few minutes later with a sheepish grin on her face asking for more! THAT is Lunch Lady heaven right there, folks!
We played more games and passed out prizes. I introduced everyone to the card make-n-take and told them it was a "self-guided" make-n-take. They all got to make 4 6x6 cards with fun patterned papers and QuicKutz embellishments. After awhile it was time to get gussied up for our dinner at Timeless Destinations. We all walked the couple of short blocks to the restaurant which is located on Main Street. This meant that it was a cute walk and with our cool evening air and flowering trees, it was a beautiful walk! Our long table was in a smaller dining room with beautiful log walls and unique hanging lamps. Our waitress was a doll and the food was fantastic. I had arranged a special menu for our group and there were a number of yummy choices. In fact, it was hard for most of us to pick one. It was great fun to sit around the table together and just chat and get to know everyone. Most of us had a cocktail and we ALL had dessert! Again there were some great options, and for once, I didn't pick the best one. The best one was the chocolate cake thing-ey. It was sin on a plate! Thankfully it was too much for one person to eat and I sat next to some generous ladies! Ooooh, but it was good!

Back to the crop room and back to work! Everybody was working on some great stuff. I brought my Project Life to do some journaling in, but I only got one card done. I love to talk too much! I got the game Encore going and this happens to be my all-time favorite board game. You get to SING! We were in two teams and I was the impartial judge. That was a tough job 'cause things started to get ugly! And I do mean ugly! lol Stacey reminded me that I have probally retired that game for a reason! Gave out more door prizes and had old fashioned candies and hot cheeze balls for a late night snack. We all stayed until about midnight with the promise to be back bright and early!

2% Butterscotch Ripple

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