One inch they said.

2015 is quickly coming to an end. Where has the time gone? The last two weeks have been so busy making time fly even faster. We celebrated Christmas with our daughters and their families. Lots of good soups, holiday snacks and fun moments. We had our annual gift exchange with those wanting to participate bringing a 5-10 gift purchased at a truck stop. As you can imagine, we had interesting and fun gifts. Fun was had by all.

Sure glad we had our gathering last Saturday as today brought unpredicted heavy snow. One inch by noon, they said.  Instead we have around 5 and it is still snowing. Suppose to start letting up. Sure hope so, Church is at 4 this afternoon.

Definitely a white Christmas for our part of the world.

Our favorite relaxing place in the summer. Not so much this time of the year.

My wish for you is a very Merry Christmas with family and friends.

Stay safe,

Rose

Favorite part of the Christmas Season

I am not very fond of winter. I tend to hibernate like the bears. But I do love Christmas. I love setting up my Nativity sets. Mornings are best. The house is quiet, soft Christmas music playing, fireplace lit, tree lights on, me in my favorite rocker and a cup of coffee. Doesn’t get much better than this.

Our first Nativity bought  53 years ago this Christmas.

Our smallest Nativity 

Our newest Nativity

 I do put out a few Santas but not many, especially since I don’t have little ones around anymore. Just a few favorites. Gave the others to family  this past Easter.

I hope to wrap up the shopping this weekend and the cards ready to go so that I can just sit back and enjoy the season.

Stay safe and warm,

Rose

Don't wait till it is too late.

A good friend of ours passed on a little over a week ago. Her funeral was Saturday. Pat and her family were among the first people we met when we first moved here over 50 years ago. Her boys mowed our lawn and I was the daycare provider for thee of her grandchildren. We became close friends of the parents of those grandchildren, too As you can tell, we are close to the family. Patty was a great lady. Full of fun. Always brought a smile to people around her. She loved visiting, eating out and most of all playing cards, any kind of cards. Loved a trip once or twice a week to a local casino. She will be missed by many. But out of this sad life event does come good. A very close friend of mine moved from here years ago because of her husband’s job. In fact, her daughter and mine became good friends. We did manage however to stay in touch over the years.  Anyway, she moved back to the area a few years ago and we would see each other occasionally at church and would always comment we need to get together. Well, we all know how that can go. Pat’s passing made us both realize that none of us know when our turn will come and we need to do it NOW. We met at a local restaurant yesterday, visited for three hours and could have gone another 3. She and I could always could do that. We talk about everything and anything. We both enjoyed our time so much that we decided we were going to meet the first Wednesday of every month. Sure hope we have many, many more Wednesday gab sessions. I sure did miss her. Point is; just do it NOW. I am sure glad we did.

Stay safe and warm,

Rose

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

Wishing you and yours a blessed and safe Thanksgiving,

Rose

Peanut Butter Cookies bring back memories.

I decided to take Peanut Butter cookies to our Thanksgiving on Saturday. Seems like a lot of grandkids like cookies better than a lot of the usual Thanksgiving desserts. Making these peanut butter cookies always brings back memories of the summer before we got married. When I was looking for a wedding dress 50 plus years ago, a local department store was giving away a cookbook if you purchased your dress at their store. At that time it was one of the best department stores in town and known for their good deals. I did buy my dress there and I did get a cookbook.  It was called TO THE BRIDE. It was supposed to help the bride choose the right sliver, china, crystal and linens, appliances and kitchen equipment for the new home. And, I image, purchased from their store. “And most important a wealth of tested recipes”. The book is falling apart just like hubby and I after 50 some years together. But on its torn and yellowing pages is this wonderful Peanut Butter cookie recipe. I have been baking these cookies forever. We think they are the best around.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup Crisco, 1cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar.

Cream together peanut butter and Crisco. Add sugars. Mix

Add 2 eggs, beat well.

Sift together 2 cups flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt.

Add to peanut butter mixture, chill dough

Flour palms of hands.

In hand roll heaping tsp of dough into a ball

*I use a cookie scoop and drop the cookies on the sheet.

Place an inch apart on greased cookie sheet.

Flatten with a floured folk; press to make crisscross pattern.

Bake in moderate over 375 for 12-14 minutes.

OH NO! I don't like that four letter word-SNOW

Looks like our fall weather is definitely over. Took time the last couple of days to snap a couple of pictures before winter arrives tomorrow.

The cold weather gave the Sweet Autumn seed pods a red tint, I think they look pretty.

  

Hard to believe winter weather is on its way with this sunset.
Bit chilly out but a nice evening. 

This sunset picture makes it hard to believe that a winter storm warning was issued this evening for our county, 4-6 inches of snow or worse, ice and strong winds. Brrrr. We put the fireplace in this summer so that we would have a backup heat source for weather just like they are predicting. But sure was hoping we wouldn’t have to use it for that especially this early in the season. But I am glad we have it.

I think tomorrow will be a good day to sit in front of the fire with a pot of homemade soup simmering on the stove. Sounds like of relaxing, doesn’t it?

Enjoy your weekend, find time to relax.

Rose

Four Seasons in 14 hours.

I can’t believe it is the 12^th of November already.  Before we know it Thanksgiving will be here. In fact it is two weeks from today. Sure doesn’t seem like it should be that time of the year. We have had an amazing fall. Warm sit on the deck weather. Until yesterday, Wednesday November 11. Fall came to a screeching halt. Woke up to a spring like day, warm and sunny. Then the fog rolled it. Went for a walk around 10 and it was still nice out. By noon the clouds rolled in and the sky looked angry. Soon we had rain mixed with pea size hail. Then a break and sun. Figured all the talk about wind and storms was over blown again. But not so. Clouds came and bought heavy rain and wind and a tornado. Yes a tornado in November. It missed our town but hit farms between us and the next down town the road, a mere three miles from us. No one was hurt, no house destroyed but a few barns and bins suffer the brunt of the storm. A trucker did have a big scare when his truck was flipped by the strong winds of the tornado. Thankfully he was hurt just shook up. 

Mother Nature wasn’t done with us yet. By evening we had a coating of slush and then snow on the ground.  And then the winds came. Very strong winds, 25-30 mile an hour with gusts up to 50. This old house moaned and groaned all night and is still “crying”. Sure hope the winds quiet down by bedtime tonight. What a day. Four seasons in one 14 hour time frame. 

No more Rolling Pin for me.

Every once in a while hubby will mention that some certain meals sounds good. Well, today it was Runzas. After all these years together, we do think alike.  That is a bit scary at times. When we bought groceries on Monday, I picked up a head of cabbage. I had Runzas in mind, too. So today was the day. There was a time when I made the bread dough from scratch. This meal took a whole morning to make back then.  But frozen dinner rolls makes it a lot easier.

I set the rolls out to thaw, browned the hamburger with the cabbage and went to work on a product. When it was time to roll out the dough, I thought there has to be an easier way to do this part too. Stood there a minute thinking maybe I should have made something else for dinner, I didn’t feel like rolling out the dinner rolls. But no turning back at this point, so I figured I better get the rolling pin out and get with the program. Whoa, there set my noodle maker right next to the rolling pin. Hmmm. Wonder if that would work. And lo and behold it worked great. No need for the rolling pin now when Runzas are on the menu. 

Using the noodle maker to roll out the dinner rolls.

Ready to fold.

Time to bake.

Time to eat.

Love this meal. And the best part, there are enough leftover for tomorrow's dinner.

Have a great weekend.
Rose

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

This has been a summer of beautiful sunsets. The fires in Canada have contributed to them. I never tire of sitting on the deck with my camera in hand trying to capture the beauty of the moment and not quite succeeding.

Here are a few pictures I have taken thus far.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

Take time to stop and smell the roses.
Rose

What do you miss the most during the winter besides warm weather?

You know  one of the things I miss the most in the winter, besides warm weather? I miss the fresh produce. Especially fruits. We go to the grocery store every couple of weeks mainly for fresh produce. It is a good thing I wasn’t hungry when I got there. I bought a lot of fruit. Oh, yes. I bought veggies too. But we can get good vegetables during the winter. But we can’t always get delicious, fresh fruit. I have peaches, plumcots, regular plums, pears and one of our favorites this time of the year, honey crisp apples. They are the best with their sweet sour taste. Oh and the usual bananas.  Hate to think what I might have bought if I would have been hungry. I put them, unwashed, in those green bags (they do work) and they will stay fresh and good for a week or two. Could make a delicious fruit salad, but probably will just eat them as is.

What do you miss the most in the winter besides warm weather?

Rose

Last hot day of summer, I hope.

Boy, it is really hot here today. The temp is 92 and the heat index is 105. Haven’t been out much this afternoon. So glad yesterday was nice. We had family home and spent a lot of time on the deck visiting. The Sweet Autumn Clematis is in full bloom making the deck very inviting. There was a nice breeze and at times was almost chilly. The fellows went fishing and caught around 30 crappie. It was a nice relaxing day.

Sweet Autumn Clematis makes a very pretty privacy fence.

So pretty and they smell great.

This critter decided to enjoy the deck, too

Few of the fish the fellows caught.

Enjoy the rest of this Holiday weekend.

Rose

Holy Cow, 53 years!

On a beautiful late summer day on September 1, 1962, I married my best friend and the love of my life.  We are blessed to have four daughters, four sons-in- law, 13 grandkids and 2 grandkids-in-law. There have been good days and not so good days, there has been serious health issues, too. But, thank God, we have, so far, survived all. We hope and pray, that God continues to showers his blessings on us for many more years to come.

It has been a quiet, relaxing day. An uneventful day. At this stage of our lives, we like uneventful. We took our morning walk, had a Dr. Pepper on the deck and one of our favorite meals, homemade chicken pie.

We enjoyed looking through our Wedding album reliving memories of that day. It was also fun to see the faces of loved ones, like our parents, grandparents, siblings, no longer with us. Life is good.

Hope you enjoy some of favorite photos of our wedding day.

We were so young. Where has the time is gone.

Bridal Party in the morning after Mass.

Bridal Party late afternoon.

Our Parents.

Rose

Thought for the week.

Have a great week.
Rose

Bring on Winter.

After living in this house for 50 years, we finally have a fireplace. I have wanted one for years but hubby didn’t want to chop wood. After spending a few days with daughters this past spring, I convinced him how nice fireplaces  were on those mornings and evenings with you need just a little bit of heat.  He agreed that one would be nice. So after shopping around, I found a ventless gas fireplace on line we liked and ordered it. I hired Brad, our local contractor to install it and now we are set for those cool mornings and evenings. What a difference it made in the size and appearance of our living room.

The Beast (home entertainment center)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Almost done.

After the beast (home entertainment center) was gone and the fire place was installed we needed a component cabinet. I wanted all those wires hid. We couldn’t find one to purchase that would fit our space. What to do? I had a vision that this old night stand would work and Brad was able to make it happen. I love it. Perfect size for our space and best of all, most of the wires are out of site.

Future component cabinet.

Night stand converted to component cabinet.

And here is the finished look. I love it.

Bring on Fall and Winter.Can’t wait to use our new fireplace.

Have a relaxing weekend,

Rose

Rainy night in Iowa

Rainy night in Iowa. Strong storms were predicted but so far just a little lightning and thunder and an inch of rain. Made for a noisy Mass tonight. Perfect ending to a nice week. We spent a couple of days with our daughter and son-in-law in Bondurant. They have a very productive garden and were willing to share the produce. Couldn’t pass up a deal like that. Plus we had a chance to visit with the grandkids before they get busy with jobs and college life. Dan and Tammy both have very green thumbs. Dan's tomato plants are 8 ft tall and there are 28 of them.

Dan peeking out from the tomato plants as he picks.

Tammy and her Dad

The fence is to keep the tomato loving black lab, Lucy, from eating all she can reach.

Fresh from the garden plus freshly made salsa.

 It rained while we were there, too. And windy and cold the next day. But we were still able to go outside and enjoy checking out the vegetable garden, flower gardens and the huge prairie garden. It has gotten so thick since the spring burn that you can’t walk through the prairie garden this time of the year. 

Results of Tam's green thumb.

Always room for more plants.

Prairie Garden

Lucy. The tomato loving black lab.

It was a fun, relaxing time.

Hope you all had a great week and an even better one coming up. 

Rose