Happy New Year!!!

Pin It Just wanted to pop in quick and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Blizzard Bertha hit us on the 23rd and we have been snowed in since Monday. We could not leave the property and no one could make it in. It has been horrible! Talk about a quiet Christmas!

I was suppose to pick up my Mom on the 26th but the dangerous roads held us off until yesterday. So I will be spending the next few days with her.



I hope the new year brings everyone much luck, good health and wealth!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Pin It The countdown to Christmas Eve is on. So many things yet to do and I am finding myself with very little time to spare so I wish to take this time to wish each and everyone of you a

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I sincerely hope that you spent time with your loved ones and enjoy the best of what the season has to offer.

I will return after the holidays to share pictures with you of our special times together.

Woo hooo!!! Santa's Coming! =)

The Real Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

Pin It With Christmas approaching and so many soldiers overseas away from their families, I thought it fitting to honor them for what they do to maintain world peace. This story touched my heart and truly believe that this solider (along with all the others) are the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.


John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl also, and shoot her in the head......but they failed to kill her.




She was cared for in John's hospital and is healing up but continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing.

He is a real star of the war and a hero of peace.

May all the soldiers keep safe from danger while overseas. May they return home soon to their families safe and sound.

Merry Christmas to all the soldiers around the world who keep us safe.

Finishing Projects

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All gifts are bought/made, all gifts are wrapped and under the tree. The baking is done and now we are patiently waiting for the big day. I love being done early so there is no stress at this time of the year. I shop and make things all through the year so I don't have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off the last weeks before Christmas. =)





I finally finished these tea towels the other day. They are embroidered on linen and since I do not like when you can see the stitching in the back, I added a checkered cotton to the backside.

They turned out quite well and I will be giving them to my Mom as an extra gift since she just finished remodelling her kitchen. I hope she likes them! I have been trying my hand at candle-icking and almost finished a lovely pillow with lace. Just need to stuff it and sew up the hole.

Things have been slow around here and I am spending alot of time enjoying crafts while Bob and Luke play on the computers. Winter is a slow, mellow time where we finish projects that are done indoors. Once spring and summer hit, we spend all our time outside.

I hope each and every one of you are finishing up those last minute projects that are required to be done before the big day. Enjoy time with your family doing activities that make this season special!

Homemade Crackers

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I thought I would try another homesteading skill yesterday and try my hand at making homemade crackers.

They were easier than I thought and next time I would like to try adding some dried cheese to make cheese crackers or different herbs to make some butter/herb flavored crackers.

These were gobbled up quickly with some Kraft cheese spread that we had and I will definitely make them again.

Homemade Crackers

4 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup of shortening
1 1/3 cup of milk
salt to taste

Directions:

Mix flour, baking powder and shortening; add milk and blend well. Form a ball of dough and cut into four pieces.

Roll dough out very thin.

Cut with a cookie cutter or use a pastry wheel with crinkled edges. I decided just to use a pizza cutter and it worked well.

Place on a greased cookie sheet. Prick each piece with a fork 4 to 5 times and sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Watch them as they burn easily.





Rolled out.





So tasty!

Things have been extremely busy around here getting ready for Christmas. Baking, sewing and knitting are all top priorities right now.

All the gifts are wrapped and under the tree ready for Santa to arrive.

Enjoy your day everyone and make sure to give your loved ones a hug! :)

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Today is my Mom's 65th birthday. She retires on New Year's Day and I am so excited for her.

Now she can putter around in her garden all that she wants, enjoy her time with her two kitties; Blossom and Sir Humphrey and get plenty of rest.

For you Mom.....

Dear Mom,

I said a prayer for you

to thank the Lord above

For blessing me with a lifetime

of your tenderhearted love.

I thanked God for the caring,

you've shown me through the years,

For the closeness we have enjoyed

in time of laughter and of tears.

And so, I thank you from the heart

for all you've done for me

And I bless the Lord for giving me

the best Mother there could be.

We love you with all our hearts and miss you terribly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy Hannukah

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HAPPY HANNUKAH

To all my followers and friends who are Jewish, I wish you a Happy Hannukah!

Blizzards and Baking

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Yesterday the weather man was calling for a blizzard. We were expecting up to 18 inches of snow with high winds in the excess of 40mph. Not pretty. We hunkered down and waited for the arrival of the snow.




Nothing is better than relaxing in a warm house while the cold December winds are blowing outside. The snow began to fall and everyone went to their comfy places to relax.

I decided what a better time than to bake (unless of course we lose power) than during a blizzard. It makes the house smell wonderful and the heat from the oven beats out any chills that might try to sneak in.

I prepared my kitchen counter with all the necessary supplies and went to work. First of course I had to put on my snowman apron and tune the radio to the Christmas music channel. I was in heaven.

I started with homemade rolls that accompanied dinner's menu of sloppy joes and butter/herb rice. Yummy!

Then I began with the cookies. I was able to bake a German Chocolate Cake with icing, four dozen thumbprint cookies, four dozen meltaway cookies and four dozen Christmas sugar cookies that I iced with green icing and sprinkles. What a great start to my Christmas baking. I still want to attempt fudge and candy but that will probably have to wait until the next blizzard!



Here is my recipe for Meltaway Cookies. They are very simple and taste like a shortbread with chocolate chips. Something fun to do with the kids or grandkids.

Meltaway Cookies....

2 cups (1 pound) of butter, softened....you can use margarine but butter tastes so much better
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F

Cream softened butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

Gradually add flour, then stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoons on un-greased cookie sheets.

Bake 12 - 14 minutes, cookies will be pale in color.

Let stand two minutes before removing from cookie sheet and dust with powered sugar if desired.

Enjoy!

Thankfully we didn't receive the 18 inches of snow they were predicting but now the wind has picked up and a wind chill advisory is now in effect. With the wind we are reaching as low as
-30F temperatures. Too cold to venture far outside.

I think I will stay hunkered down in the house and work on an afghan. Winter is officially here. Stay warm folks! :)

Sinterklass

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My Mother was born in the Netherlands and the tradition is on December 6th of each year, Sinterklass would ride through the streets on a white horse with Black Peter at his side handing out candy to all the good boys and girls. If they were bad that year, then Black Peter would hand them a little bag of black coal.

We have always kept this tradition alive in our household and each evening my son Lucas would place his wooden shoes by the door in hopes that in the morning his shoes would be filled with candy.





When he was younger he would leave the horse a treat of carrots to make sure the horse had enough stamina to continue riding to each of the children. Now that he is older that part of tradition has gone by the wayside but he still looks forward to checking his wooden shoes the next morning.

This morning he awoke and found his shoes filled with his favorite candy..... Mike and Ike's Tropical flavor. As an extra special treat he even received a razor that he loves so much! He must have been extra good this year. =)

I am hoping that when Luke has children of his own, he continues the tradition. The Dutch believe that Christmas Day should be reserved for the holy aspect of Christmas thus the reason for Sinterklass to visit on December 6th.

Don't you just love traditions?

Wonderful friends

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I have made some wonderful friends over the internet. Friends that I have never met in person but we keep in touch through sites and blogs that we all visit regularly. These ''cyber'' friends have touched my heart many times with their thoughtfulness.




Yesterday I received a large parcel in the mail. It was from one of my ''cyber'' friends that I have never met but have spoken to on the phone many times.

Darlene aka 'dean' send me these lovely items as a Christmas present! I carefully unwrapped each item that she sent, amazed at her thoughtfulness.

The pinecone ornament she made herself and it is just wonderful. So creative (I just have to steal her idea!). There was also another little ornament of a little child angel. Both now adorn my Christmas tree. The Christmas book I have already begun to fill in the blanks but the best part was she signed the inside front cover. Now each year when I pull out this book, I will remember her kindness. The picture of the mittens now hangs on my wall and the little unwrapped present sits on my china hutch....it had a special message attached that read...

This is a very special gift

That you can never see

The reason it's so special is

It's just for you from me

You never can unwrap it

Please leave the ribbon tied

Just hold the box close to your heart

It's filled with love inside

Thanks Darlene, I will treasure them always. :)

Mittens

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One skill that I have been trying to perfect is making mittens. My skills as a knitter as not proficient enough to try it with needles but I made a pattern the other day by crocheting them.

These are for a friend's grandson. He asked me to make a hat/scarf/mitten set for a grandson and a granddaughter. So I really needed to sit down and figure out how to make mittens.







These mittens are crocheted open as you can see by the above picture, then whipped stitched closed when finished. Very simple and they turned out quite well.

After I had taken this picture, I decided to add a tie to the wrist part of the mitten so they can be tightened when on to keep out the snow.

These still need some tweaking but I am pleased that I was able to make it as least this far! Now only if I can figure out how to knit them....that would be wonderful!

Have a great day everyone and stay cool or warm...where ever you may be on this Earth of ours. :)