Aspen Bedroom

Kevin's natural Aspen bedroom suite was delivered and he and his Dad got it all set up.  It's pretty neat and very sturdy.  The hooks above the bed are some that he made when he tookd the Blacksmithing class.  It it holding his beloved long bow.  It came with two side tables and a dresser.  

His 5 drawer dress and the other side table.  

The squirrel hide that he is proud of.  Also you can see his camo pillow cover, a fitted and flat sheet came along with it.

Till Tomorrow...l.thanks foe stopping by.

Weigh In Week One

I have been wrestling with sharing this personal information with the world,and my weight is never anything that I like to talk about. Many always want to lose weight, especially after the holidays.   It's a month of sugar and food fest and it takes a toll.  It's now time to get it under control and maybe if I share it I will have more of a chance to stick to it. My husband Tom is my partner in this life altering endeavor.  He wants to lose weight also and we can be each others support.

I think that losing weight is one of the hardest things to do and then keeping it off.  A person needs to be in the right frame of mind,  not having a lot of turmoil and stress helps.  It takes alot of planning.  It also takes time and tenacity, to make sure that one gets in some sort of exercise each day.  There are many things out there to help document your daily food consumption. 15 years ago there was the fat free rage.  I documented with paper and pencil everything that I ate, added the figures up and it worked.  But life happened and I eventually went back to my old eating habits and gained the weight back and more. 

I know that food needs to be documented because it makes you think about what you are putting in your mouth.  The fat, salt, sugar, it makes you know when to stop to meet a goal.  I found a great app that is easy and gives you information on the nutritional elements that you need for a healthy body. 

 You can add friends for support and they can see your exercise, your calories and share the recipes. Every time you log something like a recipe it will automatically go to their inbox.  All positive comments.  This app is called My Fitness Pal and it is free.  Like anything, the more you use it the easier it gets because it keeps a list of foods that you search for and use in your journal. 

We have been doing this for a week, since January 1st.  Tuesdays are weigh in days and I am thrilled to say that both of us lost 3 pounds each.  I really like this app because I have a tendency to have low potassium in my body and it tells me how much I have eaten of potassium each day.  I also realized I was not eating enough iron and that could have been a reason why I was tired in the middle of the day along with not getting enough sleep. I am amazed at how fast the sugar allotment gets used up and I can't imagine how much sugar we were eating in December.  I have arthritis and deterioration in my knees and they feel so much better since I have not been eating much sugar.  My knees are another reason to lose weight, they need a break.

As for exercise, I just walk.  It's best for my knees.  I have been walking on the treadmill and watching movies.  The first one was the older version of Ice Castles.  Now I am into the first disc or North and South.  It's been enjoyable and  today I walked 1 1/2 miles.  When classes start next week I will be walking across the campus.  Tom got for me this great pocket pedometer. so I can keep track of my exercise.  It's very accurate and it just stays in your pocket. 

So stop back by on Wednesdays to see how we are doing.  Leave me a message of encouragement, cause I am going to need all the help I can get.

Book Review-The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure

I picked this book up a couple of weeks ago. It was published in 2011and was charming and utterly enjoyable.  The Little House books have always been my very favorite books.  I was thrilled when I found out that other people feel the same way and that others had written about the Little House Books.  Sometime last year I had posted a book review on the Little House Sampler after we visited the Little House in the Big Woods in Pepin Wisconsin.  The author, Wendy McClure talks about visiting this town also and I could just picture everything she was describing.  I have always wanted to visit the places where the Ingalls family lived and this book did just that in up to date details.  Her journey took her to the Little House on the Prairie and seeing the Laura and Nellie Pagents, the plays put on about the Little House on the Prarie.  She did research and figured out what happened in real life and the way it was instead of the story that Laura and her daughter Rose made up.  It seems as if the Little Books are fact and fiction.  She went down to Mansfield MO to visit Rocky Ridge where Laura and Almanzo spent most of their married life.  It was worth the time to see it.  She also made it to upstate New York where Almanzo grew up in Malone, New York. It is the original house.  I think one of the best stories though is when she wanted to get the real Ingalls feeling and to go on a homesteading weekend that turned out that most people that went to it were religious zelots waiting for the end of the world to happen so they could ride it out with their self sufficency.  I recomend this book wholeheartedly.

New Recipe-Hearty, Creamy Turkey and Vegetable Chowder

I used a turkey roast that I had already cooked.  A turkey roast is dark and white pieces together.
This recipe I found from the Looneyspoons Collection which are funny cookbooks written by two sisters-Janet and Greta Podleski.  Here is their website.

This was really tasty, easy and good for you.  317 calories per serving, 4 grams of fat, 27 grams of protein.
Here is the recipe as I made it


8 oz. cooked turkey cut into chunks
3 oz. Canadian bacon diced
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. minced garlic
4 cups 99 percent fat free chicken broth
2 cups diced carrots
3 medium sized potatoes peeled and diced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 can cream style corn
1 cup whole kernel corn
3/4 cup light sour cream

Put all the ingredients except the sour cream in a 3 quart stove top pan and bring to a boil, letting it cook for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat and stir in the sour cream letting it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. 
Serve hot and enjoy. 

Note-I had some leftover corn and peas mixed together and threw those in for the 1 cup of corn. 





 

Sugar-Sugar

Showing off my new nail color that Nicole, my Nephews girlfriend gave the gals of the group.  It is called Sugar-Sugar and it complemented the triple bracelets that my niece Angie gave to me.  I love this color of red!
 

Nicole also gave a bag of Santatizer.

Clever Stuff...it was a hit.  Thank you Nicole and Angie.

cat stuff

This new toy I got for the cats so they would get some exercise in the winter.  It seems to be a hit especially for Lily. She will start playing with the string when it's not on.  The contraption runs on 3 double A batteries and has two speed settings.  It just pulls the string around as in hiding it and then flings it out to get the attention of the cat.  Then they chase it and catch it. 

It's silly looking with a little face and ears (like the cats really pay attention to that).
Lily getting some action in on it.

It has caught Sebastions interest.  Smoke the oldest cat lays down and bats at it a little bit. 
Stonewall pays no attention to it.  He is a hard sell.  One time he had torn his scratching post up as he had really used it.  It was falling apart, I bought him a new one and he wouldn't use it for a YEAR! 

Another item the cats seem to like is this themal cat pad.  It warms up to their body temperature.  Here is Lily snoozing on it.

Stonewall finally gave in and started using it.  He turned his nose up at it at first.  So you know it must be good if it has his paw of approval on it. 

The pad that Stonewall is sitting on is the pad that I stamp on.  The cats love it.  I had bought a new one because my old had a bunch of claw marks in it. The new one now has it too.  I think Stonewall is licking his mouth.  He was just bent over sniffing noses with Lily.  He is smitten with Lily.  She can walk by and smack him and he doesn't do a thing.  Any other can he would chase after and beat up.  We call it a May-December relationship. 

mug shots

This summer we are planning a trip that will take us into Toronto Canada to watch the Tigers play the Blue Jays.  We are applying for an alternative to a passport-simply because we don't want to spend $200.00 for each person.  We don't plan on flying to Europe anytime soon.  We have to send in 2X2 pictures of ourselves and the stipulations on the pictures are an enormous task.  The background has to have nothing on it.  It cannot be too dark or too light.  There can be no shadows, no glare on the glasses.  The head cannot be too big or too small.  It has to have some upper torso showing and these are just a few of the rules. 

This first one of Tom is too dark.

This one is too light with a shadow and a little glare on his glasses.
I told him he didn't need to put his head back like a mug photo.

This one has the glare of the windows that are behind the photographer.

This one, the side of his face is too light.

This is the one we went with.  Natural color, no glare, just a little shadow, a little hint of a smile so he looks somewhat friendly. 

Here is one mean looking Mama, it scares me when I look at it!
You don't want to cross her.
I decided I needed to have a hint of a smile.

What a change....so much better.
Smile and the rest of the world smiles with you.
I went with this one.

And made it a little lighter.

Here is one happy fella, we only needed one take with him.

And I just lightened it up too. 

Hopefully these work.

Treasures Received

This wonderful 3-D pottery cardinal I pick up on our recent trip to Detroit at Thanksgiving.  It is from Pewabic Pottery.  My goal was to pick up something with red paint and I spotted it first thing.  I love the texture of the block and the branch.  It is hanging in my bedroom under my Cardinales painting by Gennine. My husband Tom knows how much I love this place and said pick out whatever you want since your birthday is coming up.  Is that not great?

This special gift was made for me by my niece Angie.  It is a pincushion and I just love it!

This cool art panel by PAPAYA my sister Linda gave to me.  It is inspirational, see the light bulb in the upper left corner?  This lovely lady has sparkles and flowers, all the things I love. 

My friend Theresa (and fellow cat lover) picked this up for me.  Needlework, felt cats surrounded by the buttonhole stitch.  It is very dear to me just like my friend. 

My sister also ordered this doll for me.  It is appropriately named "the sisters doll".  She found this artist at an outdoor art fair and the name of her company is Endearments.  She will custom design dolls for the customer. Her name is Rebecca Dearing and you can email her at beckiedearing@yahoo.com if you are interested in a doll.

Love the faces and the hair!

Also from my sister I received this really neat floor clock.  It sits perfectly in this corner between the foyer and great room.  So pretty with scrolls and leaves, such a unique piece. 

My niece Angie made this really clever plate with all kinds of great sayings on it.  It will be a conversation piece when serving cookies, muffins, vegetables....etc.  I also liked the setting with some Santas and our parents pictures. 

Here it is, closer so you can read it. 

My inspiration corner.

I enjoy sitting at my desk, though I need to clean off my bulletin board for the new year. 
It's easy to let things pile up on it.

Overnight

A quiet snow fell last night.  I never tire of looking at it in the morning.  That evergreen tree has picture perfect snow on it. 

Out the dining room window.  The pond is frozen and snow covered except for the little strip that you can see.  Yesterday, across the field someone was running their 4-wheeler all day long and pulling up to 4 kids at a time.  It was fun to watch them having so much fun. 

This morning before everyone got up I took the time to make sure all my links were working on the left side of my blog.  That is all my blogs that I follow.  Many of the addresses had changed.  It's all back in shape now.  Check that off my list. 

A little quilt

In our homemade family Christmas my gift to my sister is this little quilt.  The log cabin blocks were made by my Mother in what was going to be a quilt for my sister.  She had only 6 completed and many strips of fabric cut.  I sewed them together and drew on the pattern and embroidered it. 

Here it is with the batting and backing and pinned together all ready to quilt.

The backing fabric is pretty cute.  Just right with the primary colors.
I will show it to you when it is all done. 

Book Review-Angelina by Andrew Morton

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and it has taken me this long to decide what to write about it.  Andrew Morton is a well known author, he has produced many books about celebrities and I feel he was just reporting what he found in his investigating, but she is just a bazaar person and even though she has many adopted and biological children that may tame the bazaar personality but it doesn't remove it. Just recently I heard that Angelina and Brad Pitt and the children were going to go to the place-not even worth looking up the correct name for it- to ride out the "end of the world".  ~Still Bazaar!~ 

She came from a majorly dysfunctional family that mother Marcheline Bertrand practically ignored Angelina for a year in a white room with a series of baby sitters because she was depressed that husband Jon Voight had an affair and she kicked him out. They had an older son who stayed in another apartment with her but had Angelina in an upper floor apartment.  Finally she pulled herself out of that and was a very permissive parent.  She let Angelina's boyfriend move into the apartment and live with them when Angelina was 14 years old. 

Angelina was a heroin addict at a young age, which she has seemed to kick.  She is a sexy, lovely to look at actress with an early openly kinky sex life.  She had a problem about getting these men interested in her or adopting the children and then leaving on some trip to a far away area.  It's like she got them, then she doesn't want to deal with them. 

In the later chapters of the book she and Brand Pitt do socially conscious contributions to many good causes.  They travel together and the kids come with them.  But I was tuned into the Oscars either last year or the year before and she presented.  She walked up to the microphone, stood there with her hands on her hips and one leg to the side.  Her long skirt slit very high and had a very non-classy attitude to be presenting a prestigious award. 
I thought....Yea....no......not impressed.  I felt the the same way after reading the book too. 

By the way, I didn't pay $18.89 for the book, got it at the dollar store which was just the right price to pay.



 

Not for Human Consumption

The theme of our family Christmas exchange this year was "A Homemade Christmas". We drew names last year and made something for the person that we drew.  Lots and lots of clever ideas came out of it, and I thought it was great fun to see what people came up with.  There were fleece blankets and plates with saying written all over them.  Homemade cookies and candies and I will share our items in later posts. 

One of our family things that we made was bird seed ornaments for the trees outside, to feed the birds.  I found this idea on "of course" Pinterest. 

RECIPE

4 cups birdseed any type
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons corn syrup

Mix everything up really well and then press the mixture into open ended cookie cutters.  The toothpicks that are pictured are to make holes in the mixture to put pipe cleaners in so that they can hang from the trees.

Let them dry overnight and keep turning over so that the ornaments can dry on both sides.  When they are dry simply pop out of the cookie cutter and attach the pipe cleaner. 

We had our mixture in a large mixing bowl and must have walked away from it.  My husband Tom asked what that mixture was in the bowl, it tastes terrible!

I said "you didn't eat that did you"?  "Well I tasted it" he said. 
I just shook my head and sighed.
Before the day was done, we made him some Christmas treats.
I heard him grumbling about...make something for the BIRDS....but not a Christmas treat in the HOUSE! growl...growl..growl. 









 

A little bit of Christmas

This is such a pretty little needlework picture that I picked up in a small Ohio town. 
The Santa mug is Toms from his childhood.

Big bowl, Big ornaments.  All shiny and bright.

Kevin gave this beautiful pointsetta for my birthday.
Hope you have gotten all decorated for Christmas. 



All Decorated

Before Decorations

After Decorations

I love little houses and I had the opportunity to buy 4 more.  Here is one..two little bay windows and the colored lights around the porch.  Just too cute!

The village tea room

I have them on top of the fireplace along with the church I made eons ago. 

I am very happy with the way it turned out this year.