Eagles, Snow and Pictures

What a busy and exciting weekend! We went to Sam's Saturday and came across a set of Emeril pots and pans that I really liked. I spent the rest of the day and part of Sunday rearranging kitchen storage to make room for the new, cleaning out stuff and washing cabinets. Most of the new things went in the cabinets along with several of the "older" things I couldn't do without.  I've also got a pile of things to share, a few to trash and some to take to the Lake. Then several pans go down to storage as I'm not sure I will use them....but.....  

Then, of course, there was the Super Bowl....and super it was!!  As former South Jersey residents we are Eagle's fans! And boy, did they fly. What a good game! YEA Eagles!!!

And we got more snow Saturday afternoon - an inch or so - and expected to again get more on Sunday. We dithered about going out to breakfast Sunday as the forecast said snow late morning but decided to wait as the car needed to be cleaned as well as the driveway. And we were really glad we didn't go because the cloudy skies gave way to a very fine snow mid morning that turned to a sleety mess due to warming temperatures (32) by afternoon. We got another couple of inches by evening. And this morning, when Honey and I went for our first of many walks, the temperatures had dropped and the snow turned crunchy. 

The morning sky was lovely with large clouds - some that were dark. The sun was peeping through and now, at 10:30 am, the sun is shining and the clouds are white.

The sun was behind me as I took this picture. 

Honey does not walk in a straight line. We meander all over as she checks out all the smells.

She criss-crosses her steps and generally goes to the back of the property. Here our tracks show we were checking out something - I think the rabbits that "visit" us. 

Summer Thoughts

It’s Sunday about 2 PM and I’m sitting on the deck at the Park house enjoying a lovely day. I’m “seasoning” the Masterbuilt Smoker that we bought last year but never used (we were at the Lake house most of the summer). After locating the directions - filed where I keep all our directions - I realized that before smoking it needed to be seasoned…. so the pork will be dinner tomorrow and I’ve defrosted a steak for tonight. Hope to eat outside and cook on the grill. Also will have pasta veggie salad and Copper Pennies. 

It was a busy morning as I worked around the house on a variety of things. Those chores you do daily - make bed, clean bathroom, empty dishwasher, plan the day’s meals if I wasn’t pro-active enough to do that the day before. Then today I continued to clean kitchen cabinets. The cabinets are a nice cherry wood and the ones by the stove are sticky from cooking. I did one side this past week first using soapy water and then Murphy’ Oil cleaner. Today I did the other side. I’m pleased with the results and did some other stuff in the kitchen so I’m feeling accomplished.

Some things I’ve been thinking about:

• I made Copper Pennies - a cold salad made from cooked carrots and a sauce that includes tomato soup. And I was reminded that my mom made this salad when I was a kid. And I had it again at a party we attended many years ago at the house of Sue P. And here I am…serving it to B and me. Strange how things go full circle.
• I often think of people when I pull a recipe to make. Cooking and friends go hand and hand. There is Nancy, a next door neighbor in S. Jersey, who gifted us with Magic Cookie Bars for Christmas - and I still make them and think good thoughts.
• Several good recipes came from Martha D. who was one of a group of friends we would get together with all over South Jersey. The group was comprised of faculty from B’s school. Martha made the most delicious sausage with peppers and mushrooms in a tomato sauce. I made that last week - yum! 
• Loretta S. made the BEST meat balls and gravy. While I follow the recipe the batch I made recently was not up to what I used to make. Don’t know if it’s our taste or the pork of today. A bit of both I think.
• My mother-in-law (Ma) was a great cook! She did a lot to encourage me to cook. I still make her pigs in a blanket and also her beet relish which is served with kalbasa.
• And then there is the serving plate that Dorothy, a neighbor several streets over when we were in Somerdale, gave me. It held some cookies and the plate that was one she had for a long time and wanted to give it to me. Now that was so sweet of her and I still use the plate and think of her though she passed a long time ago.
• I have my mom’s glasses and figurines and while I don’t use the glasses they are on display in my china cabinet. 
• When I retired, the kindergarten teacher, Phyllis, gave me a lovely bone china dish from her collection. Another teacher, Jerri, gave me some glass bottles that her husband found on their property.

Good memories….. and it reinforces the fact that what you give or share can touch someone’s life for a long time!

Nancy's Plant and other things

September already! While we have been having cool days, today is really warming up! We are expecting to get up into the mid to upper 80s if not the low 90s. While we had cooler weather B and I were busy "cleaning". Together we worked on the garage. The garage is storage for all things that are used outside - snow blower, leaf blowers, lawn mower, wheel barrel, wagon (large), portable sink on wheels with side counter... well you get the idea, STUFF. Add to that the things that get taken to the garage and not put away (we both do that) and it was a very cluttered, very full space! No room for cars. Our goal was to weed, toss, organize, give away and generally consolidate all the stuff to fit at least one car in the garage for the winter. AND WE DID IT! It looks great! A new shelf unit, lots of things tossed or given, sorting into plastic containers that are labeled and as much as possible on shelves. While there is no car in there yet, it's now possible! A job well done and we are both pleased.

While this was going on, we were doing some tasks on our "to do" list. One of my things was to re pot a plant Nancy, our next door neighbor in South Jersey, had given me. Now I'm not even sure Nancy (who does check this blog every so often) will remember the plant. It's got stickers on it and drops the fern like leaves several times a year. So Nancy, here is a picture of it repotted.

Nancy and her husband were wonderful neighbors! We missed them when they moved and we still lived in South Jersey. Nancy would take care of our first Lab who was also named Honey. Now Honey was strong and Nancy was rather slender but Aunt Nancy and Honey were best buds! We still miss you guys!!

Another thing I did while it was cooler was make some whole wheat bread in my bread machine since one of my cleaning tasks was to move some stuff in the down stairs area where I store kitchen overflow. So, after organizing flour and baking supplies, I decided to try a new recipe. So easy - just add ingredients and turn the machine on. This is a dense bread but it wasn't "heavy" and was quite tasty as the recipe called for maple syrup. Below is the bread fresh out of the pan. Yum!

Some pictures for Mike

Here is the new car! It is quite nice and beeps as a safety feature if one gets too close to something when you back up. It also has this neat light that flashes on the dashboard by the window on both sides to tell the driver someone is in their blind spot. I haven't driven it yet but it is comfortable!

B was blowing the leaves on the driveway while I took these pictures. If you look back you can see where he had been and where he was going. It will look good for about an hour as it's windy and the leaves are really falling!

Monday Thoughts

The other day - over a week - my wireless printer stopped working. At least it stopped working when I sent it something to print from my lap top. I seem to have problems with printers but can usually solve them. So, after trying several things, I just stopped and the concern was in the back of my mind. So, today I re-installed the drivers did a few things and yep, it now works!  Yea, me!!!  I find that most things "wrong" can be resolved by stepping back and then starting again. Often the light bulb goes off and a potential solution comes to mind. Some work like this one - others don't. So I'm happy!

We had a muggy several days and I ended up cooking inside as it was raining off and on all day yesterday. Dark skies and boomers but while we had heavy rain and wind, no damage. The folk at the Pocono Races did have not only severe weather but one person died and several were injured from lightning. We are close to the lake and can often hear boats out on the water during dark storm coming weather. Crazy!

It's interesting how one notes the seasons changing. It's the first week in August and the sun comes in the kitchen window at a different angle. In the spring it hits our eyes in the breakfast area as we eat breakfast - now it's a bit moved and hitting the kitchen counter as we eat. It's also getting darker earlier (I know, duh) as we put on the outside spots both in the morning (5:30 AM) and evening (8:45 or 9:00 PM) for Honey's walk (and our safety). My herbs are doing well, the basil is bushy and the mint prolific. The dill didn't do great but better than last year when it only produced a straggly single head. I put my dill in the refrigerator pickles I made two weeks ago. However, when I made the pepper pickles I had to use purchased dried dill.

We are looking forward to a less muggy and mostly sunny week.

June is over! Summer is here!!

As you can see, Honey is enjoying her with a new rope toy. This picture was taken on my iPad and I just uploaded all the pictures to my computer to look at in Windows Live Photo Gallery. That allows me to then upload pictures and I believe video to the blog. I cropped this picture so the program lets me do basic editing. I’ll have to try video once I figure how to orient it the correct. I took all the video in horizontal and it looks like it’s sideways. So I’ll have to fool around with that.
June was a crazy month with cool, cold and now hot and muggy weather. The boat is in the water and we did take a couple rides – one to get gas. B is a great captain and I’m a very good first mate!! I just jump off the boat and tie it up when we get gas. Boating skills learned on our larger aft cabin have not been forgotten so I’m OK at securing the lines when we dock. Other than that, I sit back and enjoy the view!
This year I cut back on planting – just put herbs in the containers on the middle deck. I did plant flowers on the back patio in the two in ground planters. The chippies appear to be enjoying some of the plants but they do look nice from the kitchen window. I put red mulch in the beds today after weeding. One bed gets more weeds than the other.
We had the house and decks cleaned and painted in the beginning of June. No change in color – but the cleaning really did make a difference! We have done painting and touch up as well as cleaned parts of the house (solid cedar house) but this guy used a power washer and did the entire house (we don’t do ladders) and it really made a difference.
I’m going to post this as a draft and see if I can download pictures from the phone and then open and post….

While the picture and text was saved as a draft I could not upload a video. So, I created a video and lets see if that will upload...  It worked! The video is actually two one short (VERY short) of Honey playing with some cardboard we were ready to take to the trash and the other Honey playing with a little toy newspaper. I'll try to get some more pictures posted shortly.

January is for Organizing

When you look at the magazine covers for January - the "woman's" magazines like Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens - you see they are all focusing on getting "things" in order. I suppose it's tied in to New Years Resolutions - something that neither of us do any more. After all, it's only a matter of how long before you break them. But I have been attempting to be more organized in my approach to tasks.
I have a running To Do list that I often add to. Now this list is somewhat specific and deals with the day to day stuff rather than lofty goals and unrealistic expectations. Over the past week I have crossed off tasks such as descale Kurig (something that the coffee maker recommends to do every three months and so it's also in my phone calendar and I get a reminder) put Christmas tree away, return iPhone case (I ordered 2 in error and Amazon makes returns easy), polish kitchen counter, freeze the leftover pizza, find lost library book (I'm still looking) do laundry (and when I cross that off I then have to put it on the list again), pay bills, do labels for file folders, clean out files in filing cabinet. I have some things I've carried over several pages - still have to order vitamins and download ebooks to the iPad from the library. But I'm making headway!
Today I worked in the loft on the file cabinet. I'm rather good at keeping papers and had folders with general headings - but I broke that out to better track and locate things I refer back to. So now I have folders for Home Improvements broken out by year and purchases and invoices from contractors go in those folders. Time passes by and we lose track of just how long ago we redid the kitchen floor or fixed the deck. And I also shredded stuff that really wasn't needed. Of course to do that I had to hook up a printer and then figure out how to print out labels for the file folders. So I feel I accomplished something today and the list is helping.
While the day was cool, it wasn't cold. I'm not complaining as no snow makes things so much easier. Yesterday, when we went out to breakfast, the windshield was clear of frost so that was really easy. Walking Honey is not a chore as we don't freeze and she doesn't slide. Well, off to start dinner - and get a glass of wine.

Rain, Rain and yes, More Rain

Well, the chicken I was grilling turned out really good! And it was raining so much, I couldn't go out and cover the grill as I needed to wipe it off first. Finally got a chance to get it covered between rain. And then last night it poured!! I mean heavy rain and the stream was very loud this morning and the overcast skies told us it was going to be again a rainy day...and it was. We are getting rather sick of this. Fortunately, while the rain is heavy, we are dry as is our lower level! We are so thankful for that (and so glad we got the roof replaced several years ago!

Yesterday I did NOTHING...just sat and read a very good book "Betrayal of Trust" by J. A. Jance. She writes several "series" and this was a J. P. Beaumont novel and it was a gripping story that I enjoyed very much. So it was an enjoyable and I guess I did do something - I enjoyed reading a book.

I took pictures and will post them shortly. Right now I need to start working on dinner. The rest of the BBQ chicken from the grill and some roasted veggies in the oven. It's now 63 out so the oven on and roasting veggies should be good for a cool, gloomy evening. Hope you are all warm and dry!

Sunday

We had intended to go to breakfast this morning but Honey got sick. Tummy trouble that started at 4 o'clock and woke me up. She was doing better by 8 and we gave her some eggs and cheese which helped. By mid afternoon she was back to normal.

It was a busy weekend just doing things around the house. Several loads of laundry, meals to cook, general cleaning and dusting. I've been working downstairs trying to refuse the "stuff" we have. I'm making headway.

Dinner was roast in the oven with potatoes and carrots. It was very good and there is enough left over for sandwiches or something.

No, it's not exciting but it's enjoyable.

It rained today

It's 6 o'clock and dinner is in the oven. B is in the living room looking at the Philly news and I'm at the bar in the kitchen facing the kitchen so I can see the stove. While we had a rather gloomy and rainy day, apparently we didn't have nearly the rain South Jersey had - Elmer had 9 inches and Glassboro (where we went to college) had 7 and Philly had over 4. We didn't reach that at all. When we had rain it was a misty drizzle.

I did nothing this morning...well, it's Sunday and that's what Sunday is about! We did go to breakfast. I had a toasted corn muffin and ate the entire thing with 2 cups of coffee. YUM!  We got home and I just puttered around and really can't say what I did. I was on the computer and looked at the ads in the Sunday paper and ....well, I don't know. We at lunch around noon - hot dogs on the grill. Let me talk about that grill... it's a Charm Glow that we got at Home Depot several years ago -maybe three. I use it often - keep it covered with a heavy duty cover and feel I take good care of it. And the grates are kinda shot so when B started talking about a replacement I was all for it. The Webber grills sounded good! We had looked at them last week when we went to Ace Hardware. Went on Amazon and some other web sites and Amazon looked good with no tax and no shipping charge....and we ordered it. YEA. As I cooked the hot dogs I thought - gosh these things are taking forever to get done...and the temperature on the lid (not that it's accurate) said 320 so.. anyway the new grill should get here this week.

So for whatever reason, this afternoon I felt inspired. First I worked downstairs on the lower level. I have books on line to sell for our local library and I reviewed what I had and removed about 12 that were not going to sell since they had been on line for over 2 years. I also straightened things up and made it look neater. I then went up to the loft and did a quick sort of the "stuff" on my desk and filed, shredded or did something with everything. YEA..

And then I went to the kitchen. I've been trying to get back into canning. The other day I did blueberry jam - and it was good. Rather sweet but good. So I canned 7 jars in 3 batches. Today I first baked a cake. Now it was a mix so all I did was mix it up and pop it into the oven. And I still have to make icing. I then started the next canning project Vidalia Onion Thyme Relish which turned out OK. I canned three half pints and have a bit to taste. It's oniony with a sweet tart taste.

I also just finished icing the cake.Icing is REALLY good!  For diner we had roasted chicken using the convection oven...love convection.

And the day was good...and I'm tired. Busy afternoon and it's still kinda soggy out. So we will have some cake and relax..happy Sunday!

A new week ...A new month

I'm posting from the iPad Realized I could do that easily while we sit at the table having coffee, reading the paper and watching the news. Maybe I'll post more as this is easy and convenient. It's 65 out and we had rain overnight. B just brought Honey in from one of her many morning walks.

The news jus reported that there was a tornado touchdown both in Scranton and on Wayne County. Fortunately we only had heavy rain and moderate winds.

Catching up on my pictures

Back in May, Honey and I were spending some quality time in the living room. I had my IPad and find it works better up on the arm of the sofa since she often lands in my lap. When we first got her I was very adamant that she not be on the chairs or sofa. That didn't last very long! I cover the sofa with a sheet and have accepted doggie tracks on the two leather chairs by the front windows that she bounds into to see outside. The sofa still looks OK but it's hairy as she really sheds!

 We got a kiddie pool since our first lab loved to splash in the water. It's up on the deck that runs around the house and with the gates, that is an area that she can run around in. Well, she is interested in the water but looks upon the pool as a VERY large water bowl. Here I am trying to encourage her to "come on in".....

 This is as far as we got... and she still doesn't go in the water!! Thought labs were water dogs???

Maybe some day.

 My day lilies continue to look good. I took a lot of pictures because this is the first year they have done well. Really pretty.

 And it's not all fun and games around here, either!

I did a beer can chicken on the grill last night that turned out very good! Since it was a large 6 pound Purdue chicken it took about 2 hours but was worth the wait. I made potato salad that was exemplary, if I do say so. Along with that fresh green beans that B purchased the other day when he stopped off at the store for me. And he also purchased Kirby pickles so I could make another batch of Ma's pickles.  This time I purchased some dill at the store since my dill is not doing well. I also cut up 3 green peppers and put the vinegar/water mix on them as well. And, to fill up the final jar I added some sweet onions. Never did onions before with this recipe so it remains to be seen how that will taste. The pickles sit out for several hours and then into the refrigerator. Much easier than canning and very good! I think of B's mom and what good things she made whenever I make one of her dishes.

Rain and Ice Cream

When we got up this morning it was muggy but the sun was out. The forecast said rain in the afternoon and they were right!

After breakfast out, I had French toast, we came home and while I was busy, I think – what did I do? Well, I got a load of laundry done, washed the master bath floor and cleaned the shower, cleaned up around the house, emptied the dishwasher and made sure the kitchen was clean. I also read a book – now I mean I speed read it. I didn't like it and after the first chapter I just hit several pages every so often and in a rather short time, finished it. And having finished I'm glad I speed read it – dumb book. I also spent time with B as we put together the weekly email we send out to the members of the community we are in. And then it was 11 and then we looked at The View. We really do enjoy that. Then lunch and a trip to the library to prepare for the book sale tomorrow. Touched base with several people at the library and shelved books and cleaned up the area. When I came up (the book sale area is on the lower level) it was raining – HARD. So I decided not to go to the Farmers Market in town and went home. And it was almost 3 so that meant time to feed Honey. After doing some more stuff around the house, I read the mail and got ready for dinner. And here I am at 7:00.

Honey was funny today. She is not fond of the rain. She enjoyed playing in the snow but for some reason she does not like water. So, she needed to go out and the rain was really heavy. Thunder and such but that doesn't bother her – but she really didn't want to go out. However she clearly needed to go out... and so we attempted to entice her out and she looked at us like “you have to be kidding”. Well, during a lull in the rain, she did head out and yep, she really needed to!!! Then we all relaxed.

Tonight we are having ice cream for dessert. I ran out of ice cream several days ago and refuse to pay nearly $5 for a container of ice cream that at one time was half a gallon but is now less. I did make a blueberry coffee cake that was good but we both wanted ice cream. I remember home made ice cream when I was a kid. Mom would make the base cooking it on the stove. We would put it in the churner with ice and salt and crank away. The best part of it was when Daddy would remove the paddle which I got to lick. Soft serve on a paddle. Then it would go in the freezer to “cure” and later be eaten. Well, we don't make our own but we are partial to Turkey Hill. The local store had it on special this week (finally) and it was $2.00. So I got a vanilla bean and a mint chocolate chip. Then this morning we got 2 vanilla bean on the way home from breakfast. Guess what we are having for dessert??? YUM...

Another beautiful day!

What a beautiful day! This morning we went out for breakfast - french toast for me and bacon and eggs for B. YUM....  I went to our local kitchen store as they were having a moving sale and did some shopping. I picked up several items at a good price. Then on to the library to process donated books. I only found one that can be sold on Amazon while we will sell the rest at the library for $1  This afternoon I did laundry and other stuff around the house.

Tomorrow I'm planing on making blueberry cake or muffins. We got a 2 pound container of blueberries last week that we have almost finished and I got a pint at the store a few days ago. Both are from South Jersey where the blueberries are so good!! I do miss the Jersey veggies - nothing like a Jersey tomato.

July already!

Good Grief, how did it get to be July already????

This past week the weather was really lovely. While Sunday it rained off and on rather heavily, for the most part the weather has been warm in the day and cool at night. Just great NEPA weather.

I was using the grill over the past several days - and used the pressure cooker to make a blueberry cake.

Honey improves every day! She has more or less calmed down and while she has here crazy times, she has stopped the biting she was doing. She is also jumping up less. We try to praise her often when she is doing what she should and ignore her when she is bad. In this picture she is relaxing on the sofa in the living room which I keep covered with a sheet. She just came down to "ask" to go out so I'd better take her.

A relaxing day

One of the nice things about retirement is that you set the pace. Normally I have an idea of what I want to accomplish during the day. B has a daily list and so I thought I'd try that – and it worked.What doesn't get done moves to the next day's list. But today I did nothing – and that was on my list. Now I don't mean I did NOTHING... I made breakfast and lunch and will make dinner. I made the bed and cleaned up the kitchen and even cleaned a bathroom...but I had no list and spent the day on the Internet and reading a book. I also took Honey for a walk, and then a walk, then he took her for a walk and then I took her for a walk... well, you get the idea!


Rain again last night and we cooled down considerably. Right now it's 48 out and is raw, damp and cloudy. It's been drizzling off and on often in sync with when we take Honey out. At least it isn't snow!!


Maybe tomorrow will be more productive – I've started a list.

A busy day

What a lovely day...warmish temperatures right now at 56 and lovely clouds in a blue sky. Breakfast was good since we went out. Then we headed out to pick up my lap top that crashed last week. I was getting warnings that there were hard drive problems...and I do back up my computers and backed this one up every day. And it died and so I took it back to Best Buy. And picked it up today with a new hard drive that was covered under warranty. The good news, I backed up and got the drive replaced...the bad news... I'm going to have to reload programs and then files. But that's workable.

While we were in the area, we stopped at Sam's for a few things and then on to Mane's, a store in Scranton right on the border of Scranton and Taylor. The had great prices for produce and we also got a rib roast. Actually, we got a rather large one and had them cut it for us. So, one half is in the oven and the other has been put in the freezer. The roast in the oven is on convection roast and was covered with a mixture of olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper and thyme. It's now smelling great! With that we will have asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. Good food (hopefully)

It was a nice day. Tomorrow we should get rain but at least it isn't snow. Happy April1