Christmas in the sticks

This year our family get together was on the 21st due to the newlyweds going to the UK to get married again and have yet another reception.


Our meal was very simple: Pasta with homemade noodles (made by RM and brother), sauce, meatballs (made by me) and salad (made by d-i-l).

This was followed by the gift opening.
































On the 25th DH and I spent the evening at the home of S, S, and K. Again, simplicity reigned. We made pizza.

Boar Head Festival

DH and I attended this festival put on by a local community theater. The pictures should speak for themselves.

12 hours of shopping

What a long day it has been. I left home at 7:30 AM and returned 12 hours later. First I had breakfast with friends ( the ones I complained about in previous blogs). I now can call them on their negative talk. Then I shopped for gifts. The most amazing accomplishment was that I actually found a gift for DH. Usually we give each other IOU's and then never get them. My friend, Mary, had her van in town so I put the gift in her van and she took it home so it really will be a surprise. I had a Holiday lunch at the office of the Board of Elections. They treated all of us who worked so hard there during the election. Then more shopping. I bought some clothes for myself as well as more gifts. Of course I cannot discuss details because of who reads this blog. Then I bought groceries for the upcoming festivities. $260 dollars worth. I told this to RM who said, "I though we were have an inexpensive meal." So I fessed up. I bought three or four bottles of wine, including one of ice wine, which is rather pricey. Also five kinds of cheese, including Bree and Drunken Goat.

So much for my ramblings. On to decorating

Looking at other people's decorated houses

For two weekends now I have gone on Holiday home tours. These are inside the house, in case you worry about me walking around in the cold. These ten houses were decorated for the holidays and opened as a fund raiser for charities. In most cases, I enjoyed looking at the architecture and interior design in the house more that the decorations. Today I saw one house built in 1832 and another in 1831. In one they found a tunnel in the basement which was probably used as part of the Underground Railroad. The owners of these old homes have been careful to keep as much of the original part as possible. It was interesting to see how they updated but still have the hand- hewn beams in the rooms.

So now that I have seen what others have done, I need to get my act together. This year it has been hard for me to get motivated with our decorations. Having said that, I will get going.

Muffins-My comfort food

I guess my comfort food is making and eating muffins. Whenever I have spare time, that is what I bake. DH sometimes takes two with him to eat as he drives to work in the morning. His very favorite is called Kona Inn banana muffins. Since I could not find the recipe on line to put a link here I will give the entire recipe:

1/2 c shortening
1 1/4 c flour
5 very ripe medium bananas
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set rack in lower middle. Line two muffins tins with liners or smear with shortening and flour.

Peal banana and put in bowl. Beat with electric mixer for a couple of minutes. Set aside. (The riper the bananas the smoother the finished product)

In another bowl, combine flour, soda, salt.

Add sugar, shortening, and eggs to bananas. Beat together. Stir in walnuts. Add flour mixture and stir until blended.

Pour into muffin pans and bake for 15 minutes. Test with a toothpick and if not done, add a couple minutes. (up to 5) When toothpick comes out clean, remove from oven.


These are very moist. When I have bananas that are old, I freeze them and then thaw, peal, and use in this recipe.

Not my favorite job

Having spent the Thanksgiving weekend giving moral support to DH with the insulating project and then giving the same moral support as he put the motorcycles to bed for the winter (which involved putting some kind of gas stabilizer in the gas tanks, running the engines, then driving them into the lean to) my desk was calling loudly for some help.

So today I sorted through mail and the mountain of papers that had accumulated. It was not just a matter of filing or paying a bill. These were things that needed research and then decisions. For example I compared the perks of two credit cards that we have. One gives us 1 or 2 % back on each purchase depending on what it is for. The other gives us miles for airfare. As it turns out, it is better to use the first one and just buy the airline ticket.

The other financial thing I worked on was finding an amortization schedule that would show me how many years we have yet to pay on the loan. We started out with a 15 year, but have put one lump sum on it and then added another monthly amount. It was sort of a backwards amortization schedule. I was able to find a calculator on line for this. Sometimes I just don't know what to call things when trying to find them on line. I know you can find everything there, but just what do you call things.

I am trying to be on top of things so we are not wasting money. Would a money manager say this is a good use of my time? I guess it depends on how much I actually saved.

Buttoning up the house

We had a great Thanksgiving day at son's home. D-i-L's father made the turkey and dressing, I brought three pies and the candied sweet potatoes. Her sis brought scalloped corn and green bean casserole. D-i-l made the mashed potatoes and had the house for us to meet in.
As usual it turned out great. We had a helper setting the table, and the naps after dinner. (Mom was napping, don't know about child.)





















Since DH had Thursday thru Sunday off we tackled a much needed project. The area in the front of our house, over the front porch needed insulation. But the problem was the access. There are three dormers so you cannot just go up there and move across the whole front of the house. DH had to take off the flashing above the porch and access each area separately. After working all weekend, there is just one part left. There is a little door through the closet in my office which he enters. I think by the end of this week it will be complete. This should make the walls in the rooms on this side of the house warmer as well as the floors.

Ramblings

The no TV was great. It is now working, but I have read three books and worked on other things around the house. I even listened on line to the Archers which was recommended by my friend in the UK, even though I need to read up on who the various characters are to really appreciate it.

The first round of interviews for the new Executive Director of Faith in Action is complete. The second round with the top three is in the hands of the Vice President. I feel very relieved that my part is over. In this organization you can be very involved if you choose. We are now looking for officers for next year. DH would take away my car keys if he knew I would even consider any such position. In the ten years that I have been involved I have held each of the four officer positions (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer). I really need to give it some serious thought as to how I want to spend my time. Even as I write this, I know that it strengthens the organization to give new people responsibility. They then take ownership.

No TV

We are on our second day without cable TV. Something happened at Time Warner and the TV signal is not working. We have high speed internet with them and that works fine. I called the company and got a recording that it is wide spread and they are working on it.

I have read that it takes 30 days to change a habit, so I can only hope that it is not up and running for 30 days. Obvious we do not have the will on our own to not watch for 30 days.

How will DH and I spend our time? It will be an interesting experiment. Last night we sat and talked in detail about his projects at work. How would you spend your time with no TV?

November snow

The winter snow has arrived. As I drove to my 7:30 AM meeting in Medina, I had to test the anti-lock brakes a couple of times. Once, when I was not even driving that fast (40 mph) I was starting to think about taking the ditch, but managed to stop. The problem was that I was not following the driving rules from DH: " Always look at what is happening 12 seconds ahead". We will get an inch or two, but it sounds like it will melt in a day. So no shoveling is involved, not that I do that anyway.

News and more news

Last Saturday we had dinner with son and family. "Grapegrandma" as K calls d-i-l's grandmother was visiting from MN. Her parents were also at the dinner. Son and wife had "Grapegrandma" open a package. She is holding up the contents. It took us all a moment to understand the message they were giving us. We are all excited that they are having a boy.




The other news is that son, after 10 years I think, got an eye exam and has a new pair of glasses. He purchased them on the internet site his sister has noted on her blog. Here is a picture of the glasses. Sorry about the flash reflection.

I have been involved with the selection of a new Executive Director for Faith in Action. DH asked "And what committee are you on?" when I told him that I was interviewing. Our President is out on medical leave which left one person on the Personnel committee to do it. So I put the ad in the paper, called candidates, scheduled the interviews, wrote the questions for the interview and then was at each one. We have interviewed six people and have one to go. We have very qualified candidates, which does make the selection more difficult. But that is good for the organization.

November 4th and an Announcement

Election day for me was a long day. I got up at 5:00 AM, was at the polls at 5:45 and stayed until about 8:30 PM. We are a rather small precinct, so did not have lines longer that 15 at a time. I am still amazed at the details that have to be followed both at the Board of Elections (where we sent out about 20,000 early ballots) and at the actual voting. At both places there always has to be a Democrat and Republican working on something together.

Now on the to the important part - the results. I was thrilled that Obama won. I still get a sick feeling in my stomach when I think that Sara P could have ended up as our president. But it was not to be.

Halloween has come and gone. I will at least post a couple of pictures of K the Bee.


This is K with her cousin, M. Note how she loves to hold her, which is good because she needs practice for when her little brother or sister arrives in March. I saved the best information for the last.

Answer to last blog question

Great guesses as to what we are building, but it is nothing so exciting as storage for cheese or wine. We are insulating the walls of our basement. Which I hope will some day be covered with dry wall and look great. The pink is polystyrene which is adhered to the walls with "Power Grab" adhesive. The wood frame is to hold it tight to the wall while it dries. We have heard a few creeks as it pulls away from the wall once the frame is removed. We'll let you know how well this great invention of DH's works. It was great fun building it with our friends visiting. The friends from Illinois have the philosophy that they should never visit us without STARTING a project with us. Note the starting, not completing part. We try to return the favor for them.

My employment will end on the November 4 th, when I am a judge at our local voting precinct. I work from 5:45 AM to about 8:00 PM on election day.

Guess what is happining "In the sticks"

The minions at work. They were immigrants from Illinois (I won't say if they are legal or not).

Looks like one of the immigrants was put in jail. And is not too unhappy. It must be the pink walls.

Look! She is out of jail and now has a job as Vanna White.

Apologies to K's Daddy

I am sure most of you will look at this picture, scratch your head and say "what is that?" Of course there is a story behind it.

You will recall a couple of weeks ago we had our granddaughter, K , here for a few days. Her parents came on Sunday to pick her up. The next week DH and I called her father and asked what he had done with our speakers. The only ones that worked were the ones positioned behind us when we sat on the couch and they had a terrible echo. He didn't call us back to tell us how to fix the situation because he did not have clue what we were talking about.

We now are quite sure K was the one who moved the speakers and pushed many buttons and dials on the stereo. And we were blaming her father. The biggest clue is that she loves to line things up in neat rows. So, K, we need you to come back and fix our stereo. (I don't feel too bad about blaming her father, because he has done things like that in the past.)

Sweetest Day

Saturday was Sweetest Day in Ohio. Rumor has it that is was started by a greeting card company in Ohio. I think American Greeting Cards. Anyway, people in other states apparently do not celebrate it. I decided to work on Saturday, so my DH did something great for me. He got up at 6:30 AM to hook up the trailer. We then went to the recycling place and loaded 1400 pounds of compost for my garden. Any of you who know DH know that he definitely is not a morning person and surely not on the weekend. So for him to do that was a great "Sweetest Day" gift. I then went to work from 9:00 AM to 6PM. In the eventing I unloaded it and spread it on the garden, and then he tilled it in.

In the Work World Again

When I went to the training to be a poll worker on the day of the election, they informed us that they could use extra help in the Board of Elections Office prior to the actual election. This year the State of Ohio has Absent Voting without giving any special reason. They have advertised it a lot because they feared the lines would be long at the polls. So a lot of people have requested absentee ballots. I told them I was interested in working and received a call the same day. I can work 8-11 hours a day and on Saturday too. It is incredible how much hands on work it is to get a ballot out. There are all kinds of controls at each step of the way. I think it will be incredibly expensive because each ballot is handled about 8 times to get it ready to send out.

I started on Friday and have now worked three days. It doesn't take a lot of skill, you just stuff envelopes, file applications and double check all items before sending them out.

I am finding it interesting being in the work world again. Like there isn't a lot of time to get anything else done. Other than being tired, I am enjoying it.

S'mores

In response to a previous blog, where there were questions from a certain person from the UK, I will expand on what S'mores are and how they are made. I will also use links for the first time, so this posting is a big experiment. There are two links which describe S'mores and Graham Crackers. The Graham Cracker entry at Wikipedia is especially interesting.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%27more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker

I was at a bonfire with a few friends last night and it was a perfect opportunity to take pictures of our S'more making.





The marshmallow is being roasted over the fire. It actually was quite dark, but I had to use the flash on the camera to get a good picture.


After the marshmallow is all puffed up from the roasting, it is place between two graham crackers with a piece of Hershey's chocolate. There is always debate as to how "burnt" the marshmallow should be.

In order to get a good picture I ended up eating at least four. That was two too many for my taste, but I could not let them go to waste and no one else wanted them.

Just a couple of pictures of the friends at the bonfire.

Fall preparations

The neighborhood picnic went well. We had 8 families come from inviting about 25. I was told that was a good turn out. A few called and said it was a great idea and they would have liked to come but had other plans. I did not take any pictures. I'm thinking we will do it again next year. One of the neighbors has a pig she slaughtered and froze and was looking for a way to roast it. We volunteered DH's pig roaster, with the understanding that we would be invited. So there may be another neighborhood party yet this Fall.

I am concentrating on the usual Fall preparations. I've planted perennials, DH tilled the garden so I could spread compost on the it. That involved loading 1000 pounds of compost into the trailer and then spreading it on the garden. It is half the price if you load it yourself so I saved a whole $20.00. Next is planting tulip and daffodil bulbs.

The joys of being a grandparent

It has been way too long since K has stayed at our house. We have been having a great time as the pictures show. Of course, the keyboard will be sent home with her. Her parents are already shouting, "Thanks."






The train ride is at a local outlet mall. We took the ride once and then Grandmother succumbed to "Just one more time, Grandma."

She and our cat, Mollie, who she calls "Maui" had a great time. At least K did. She tried to get her to stay on the seat of the swing, but to no avail. I was amazed that Mollie let K carry her around.

Picnic preparations

DH was on a motorcycle trip to West Virgina last Friday through Sunday. I spent several hours on Friday, driving up and down country roads around here inviting people to the neighborhood party we are having this Saturday. Since I did not ask for an RSVP it is anyone's guess how many will come. It is a pot luck where I asked everyone to bring a dish to share and their own drinks. I will provide coffee and lemonade. I am making pork BBQ sandwiches from the meat left over from the pig roast and Rice Krispie Bars since there may be children here. One family told me they have 7 and another has 5. For my part in the preparation, I have the lawn mowed, and today found some cool things for centerpieces on the tables. At this time, the weather forecast is in our favor with no rain.

Weather permitting we will have a big bonfire at the next door neighbors. DH found a place that gives away pine pallets so he bought a trailer load home to add to the pile they have. I am making sure we have lots of ingredients to make smores.

We are having our granddaughter visit this weekend also. She will be here from Thursday through Sunday. Seems like there is never a dull moment in the Sticks.

Sound the taps for the Physicsmobile

DH did his best to revive the Physicsmobile, but alas it no longer driving merrily down the road. In Ohio, your cars have to pass an emissions test once every two years. It did not meet the numbers, even with some repair attempts. So the decision was made to put it to rest. Besides not passing the E Check, it is rusting badly, the air conditioner and heater are not working. We are keeping it on our property until our daughter in law comes to drive it up and down the driveway so she can learn to drive a stick shift car. Then, it will most likely be parked in the back so DH can take parts from it for other projects. I will be lobbying to sell it for scrap.

Please send a condolences to SWRM and her DH.

Sharing a piece of the pie

On Sunday I made a killer peach pie, if I do say so myself. It was from my "Perfect Recipe" cookbook that I have previously mentioned. This crust was half regular shortening and half butter. The filling had the "perfect" thickening, which was pulverized instant tapioca. It was topped with a lattice top, which involved rolling out the crust, cutting it into strips, freezing it, then thawing until pliable, weaving it, and the freezing again, before placing on top of the filling. We invited two neighbor couples over to share the bounty.

Every time they come over we learn more "history" of the neighborhood. What I mean is they tell stories about each other. It's a hoot. While they were here we told them we were interested in having a neighborhood party, which they thought was a great idea. The next door neighbor who has had these in the past said to have everyone bring their own drinks. He was upset when he provided pop and found opened but full cans all over the yard the next day. His take is that if someone wants to waste it, they should have paid for it themselves.

So I am making a flier that we will distribute to houses up and down the road. This morning I told DH I could not believe I will have another party with a large group of people. Did not the family reunion and reception teach me anything? Maybe it taught me I can do it.

Appliance Roundup

In our county, they have an "Appliance Roundup" twice a year. So I got the lariat out of the closet, dusted it off and went looking for some appliances. Guess what? I found two (not one but two) refrigerators. DH and I managed to get them into the trailer, tied them down, and today I took them away. They will now go appliance heaven. Actually our waste management takes refrigerators, air conditioners for free on these two days. They hire someone to safely remove the freon and then dispose of the carcass. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture.

Do You smell Basil?

I am sure that in the past I told tales of buying huge quantities of basil plants. Today I harvested them, getting two garbage bags full. If you saw SWRM's blog you saw lots and lots of tomatoes. Well, next you will see lots and lots of basil. She and A are coming to Ohio today to get Phi (their cat) and the basil. And maybe to see us and her brother and family. Actually they are staying with her bro and we are going their for the day.

Speaking of Phi, somehow she knows that something is up. When I started loading things into the car, she went into hiding. I do have a trick to find her however. I shake the container of dry cat food that I feed our cat, and she comes running for a treat. Her food is a mush looking concoction that SWRM makes for her. She actually cooks meat for the cat, but not DH.

An old recipe made better

Tonight DH and I are going to a concert of the New Cristy Minstrels. Not the original group, of course, but hopefully they will sing the old songs.

The shed project is going along well. We (mostly DH) has added treated wood to the bottom, then additional soil so that hopefully it will be difficult for animals to live under it. He is in the process of putting electricity in it. That involves digging a drench to lay the conduit with the wire inside. My eight perennials in pots are patiently waiting for the time I can plant them in front of the shed.

One of my favorite cook books is written by the editors of Cook's Illustrated. It is called "The New Best Recipe". They try a recipe many ways and then explain how they came up with the best technique, best ingredients, and such. Last night I made the meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Having made them for years, it was fun trying their recipe. The mashed potatoes were put through a food mill and kept warm over hot water until served. Of course it had butter and half and half in it. Meat loaf was baked on a cookie sheet, not a bread pan, covered with bacon and a ketchup brown sugar glaze. It was then crisp all around. As an aside, their taste tester tested various ketchups. Their favorite was Heinz, followed closely by Del Monte then Hunts. Just in case you want to know.

The Moving of the Shed

My shed looks quite small next to DH's, don't you think? But the plan for the landscaping is big.
We tilled on two sides and I have 8 perennials to plant before frost. So over the next year, I will post improvements as I make them.

Mock Orange Shrub

When I was a young girl on the farm in Minnesota, we had a large shrub that had beautiful white flowers that had a great fragrance. I named it "Bernice's flower tree." It actually is a Mock Orange. I had planted two by my garden shed . They normally bloom in July, but one had two blooms on it today. They grow to 10 feet tall and that wide if not pruned. As you can see from the picture, mine has a ways to go. I was thrilled with the two blooms.

I am hoping to till around the shed this weekend and plant several perennials that I purchased. This is a good time of the year to buy them as they are all half price. I am sure I will be gardening until the snow drives me indoors.

Niagara Falls, editing and margaritas

As most of you know the parents of the bride and the parents of the groom spent two days at Niagara Falls while the bride and groom were in Rome. Go figure. But we had a great time.

After the last guests from the wedding festivities left, I had three days at home before driving to Kankakee, Illinois to stay with a friend who had knee replacement surgery. It really was good for me because we just had to do "laid back" kind of activities. I needed that. Driving there I decided to take the scenic route instead of the toll roads. It was through many small towns and by the end I was very tired of the scenery of fields and fields of corn and soy beans. It was not worth the additional hour and a half of driving, especially since I can see that outside my window here.

As I am putting away dishes, flatware, and glasses from the two summer events, I have decided to think carefully if I need so many. The deciding factor was if I did not use them when nearly 50 people were here, I had too many. So today I took a wonderful donation to a charity shop: a set of dishes for 12, about 50 various water and wine glasses and odds and ends of flatware. In case anyone is worried, I kept about three dozen wine glasses, 15 champagne glasses and most of the margarita glasses.

As requested by my friend in the UK, here is the margarita recipe:
6 fluid oz tequila
2 fluid oz triple sec
8 oz frozen strawberries
4 oz frozen limeade concentrate

Blend these four ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add ice (the amount depends on how thick you want it) and blend again. Dip glass in lime juice and then fine sugar or coarse salt. Enjoy. Make sure you have a blender that can crush ice.

More reception pictures

Margaritas were popular. The two margarita makers were new at this job, but very good at following a recipe.


RM's grandmother who is 88 years old came all the way from Minnesota for the occasion!


Of course Minnesota is a lot closer than the UK where the parents of the groom were from.


The parents of the bride came quite a way too. Well, maybe not.

Still among the Living

I noticed that I have not posted for a LONG time. Well, I have been busy. It may take several blogs to describe all that has taken place and to show the photos. Right now I am on a chat site with Dell regarding my laptop problems. I have spent at least six hours so far. Sure hope this time solves my problem.

Ok: a overview of my Summer shows a family reunion at our house with 27 people, then a wedding in MD and a reception at our house for 40-50 people. Then out of town guests for several days. What a whirlwind, but great fun. I now have three days to get things caught up before driving to Kankakee to stay with a friend who had a knee transplant. They have dial up internet so I may not post much from there.

So to start here are two pictures from the Wedding. In case you did not know, the dress Renee Michelle is wearing is her paternal Grandmothers. We just needed to replace the netting on the skirt.

Happy Birthday Stacey

The countdown is in progress. One week from today I will be loading the car with table linens, china, wine and champagne glasses, candle holders, containers to make floral centerpieces, etc, etc. Hope I leave enough room for Hubby and myself.

Last night G and I loaded a trailer with two filing cabinets, the electric organ and three large mirrors that were in the garage. I am taking them to Goodwill. They are happy to have them and I certainly am happy to give them. This gives us a neater area in the garage for the wedding reception. I plan to serve the food from there and it would be a shelter if additional shade is needed.



Yesterday, Shawn had a surprise birthday party for Stacey. He put it together in one week and it was was wonderful. Two neighbor women helped by asking Stacey to go shopping with them. When she returned we all were there. He had us park on another street so she did not even see the cars. She was surprised. Since this was her 31st birthday, it was not even one of the years that you would expect a big party. Since most of their friends are at the same stage of live as they are i.e. kids, there were a lot of children there, probably a dozen between 5 weeks old and 9 years. Of course they have a lot of things for children to play with so it was great for them.