Friday, April 23, 2004
Made It
Just a note to let you know that we made it to Vict. The car suffered a very flat tire just as we neared Midway and lucckily the garage I pulled into had an air hose there. The tire filled up, but when I took the air hose off, the air was pshhing out of the tire like carazy...Long story short is that the valve stem was faulty. I made forty stops after that to check on the tire and so the trip seemed rather drawn out...I did catch the 7:00 ferry just by a hair ( 3 or 4 cars more made it on after me in the lowest deck with all of the semis) K and M were still up, waiting for me and very happy to GrannyB! I was surprised at how much taller M has grown...she is so cute...and K is adorable. We are onto chemistry experiments later tonight! Dinner is served, so I better go...CU later....
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Ok It is very Late Now
Space Weather News for April 21, 2004
http://spaceweather.com
Earth is passing through a stream of dusty debris from Comet Thatcher, the
source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower. The best time to look is during
the hours before dawn on Thursday, April 22nd, when the shower peaks.
Lyrids appear to stream from the vicinity of the bright blue star Vega in
the constellation Lyra high in the northern sky. This is not an intense
shower, but some years it is pretty: northern sky watchers typically see
between 5 and 25 meteors per hour.
Visit Spaceweather.com for more information and a sky map.
Thought I'd throw that in since the sky was so beautiful tonight. Here is a pic of the crescent moon ( tiny thing to the right and Jupiter, I beleive)
Here is one I took of a partial rainbow that happened yesterday after I came back in the house
okey dokey mokey time to hit the hay or Silk will have to drive tomorrow...be back in a week or so...B.
http://spaceweather.com
Earth is passing through a stream of dusty debris from Comet Thatcher, the
source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower. The best time to look is during
the hours before dawn on Thursday, April 22nd, when the shower peaks.
Lyrids appear to stream from the vicinity of the bright blue star Vega in
the constellation Lyra high in the northern sky. This is not an intense
shower, but some years it is pretty: northern sky watchers typically see
between 5 and 25 meteors per hour.
Visit Spaceweather.com for more information and a sky map.
Thought I'd throw that in since the sky was so beautiful tonight. Here is a pic of the crescent moon ( tiny thing to the right and Jupiter, I beleive)
Here is one I took of a partial rainbow that happened yesterday after I came back in the house
okey dokey mokey time to hit the hay or Silk will have to drive tomorrow...be back in a week or so...B.
A Trail of Breadcrumbs
Do you leave a "Trail of Breadcrumbs" wherever you go? So, you left the light on in the bathroom, the cheese wrapper on the counter, your socks at the side of the bed, your magazine by the toilet...Is this You??? Do you care that someone else has to come along and "turn it off", "pick it up" or "put it away"???There used to be a whole long dialog that had those kind of reminders on it...If you turn it on-turn it off; If you open it- close it; If you take it out-put it away! If you dirtied it-clean it; If you spill it-wipe it up!
Well, you get the idea! I am bad myself on occasion, but since I am the Designated Picker Upper around here, I usually strive to keep things organized, but not to the extent of not being able to live or blog!
Looks like a beautiful garden day shaping up here so I think I'll try to get my sweetpeas planted before I leave town tomorrow. That is besides doing some ironing, checking the mail, returning D.'s white shirt...Now there is a story... L's dog took a leap up onto D's lap whilst he was about to take a drink of his lovely red wine...and yes,the whole glass pretty much erupted onto the white shirt and the couch and I said..."Take it off and I'll soak it in Vinigar". You know, soaking it in all the vinigar in the world, only mildly lightened the gross stain that now seemed to have spread down the front of the shirt and around to the back also...Thus I soaked it in some bleach and water, then washed it and washed it one more time...Believe it or not...It is white again with only a faint outline of where the stain used to be...I was amazed!!! The white shirt is white again!
Oh yes, I have some ironing to do and packing and to round up everything to take to Vict. for the kids and all.
I baked a batch of choc chip, oatmeal cookies last night and much to my dismay...what I thought to be a bag of chocky chips, was actually a bag of raisins...That would never do with my kidlets, so I opened up Hershey kiss after Hershey kiss, left-over from Easter, and chopped those up...Hmmm Yum...chunks of chocolate to die for...and I topped a few with these little coloured eggs that L brought me for a kidlet touch..They Yum those right down!
Have a great week-end...I may not be blogging much while I am away, so check back in May!
One more pic :
That is a drop of water in that primula...look closely!
Well, you get the idea! I am bad myself on occasion, but since I am the Designated Picker Upper around here, I usually strive to keep things organized, but not to the extent of not being able to live or blog!
Looks like a beautiful garden day shaping up here so I think I'll try to get my sweetpeas planted before I leave town tomorrow. That is besides doing some ironing, checking the mail, returning D.'s white shirt...Now there is a story... L's dog took a leap up onto D's lap whilst he was about to take a drink of his lovely red wine...and yes,the whole glass pretty much erupted onto the white shirt and the couch and I said..."Take it off and I'll soak it in Vinigar". You know, soaking it in all the vinigar in the world, only mildly lightened the gross stain that now seemed to have spread down the front of the shirt and around to the back also...Thus I soaked it in some bleach and water, then washed it and washed it one more time...Believe it or not...It is white again with only a faint outline of where the stain used to be...I was amazed!!! The white shirt is white again!
Oh yes, I have some ironing to do and packing and to round up everything to take to Vict. for the kids and all.
I baked a batch of choc chip, oatmeal cookies last night and much to my dismay...what I thought to be a bag of chocky chips, was actually a bag of raisins...That would never do with my kidlets, so I opened up Hershey kiss after Hershey kiss, left-over from Easter, and chopped those up...Hmmm Yum...chunks of chocolate to die for...and I topped a few with these little coloured eggs that L brought me for a kidlet touch..They Yum those right down!
Have a great week-end...I may not be blogging much while I am away, so check back in May!
One more pic :
That is a drop of water in that primula...look closely!
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Photos du Jour
This is the dirt mess in the front of the house...
Now to brighten your day... Here are a few shots of my pansies and dafs...I took a million and couldn't choose!
Now to brighten your day... Here are a few shots of my pansies and dafs...I took a million and couldn't choose!
HP Photo Fun & Crafts
HP Photo Fun & Crafts
I'm still stuck on this HP site...lots of "to-do" projects here, that look like fun...
I'm still stuck on this HP site...lots of "to-do" projects here, that look like fun...
HP Quilting projects
HP Quilting projects
If you are interested in Quilting, HP has a few patterns available to download..check it out, even if you aren't a quilter!
If you are interested in Quilting, HP has a few patterns available to download..check it out, even if you aren't a quilter!
Time to get Crackin...
I ran out and took twenty more photos of my flowers and the front yard so I'll have to get those ready if I want to blog them. Meanwhile,t he sun is starting to shine and I sense it is going to be a B-Day in the yard. My garden is crying out for help...still not tilled up and nothing planted out there. I have about a year's worth of work to do in there, but all in good time, because it all grows in the end anyhow...some is just later! :-)
E was off to Crnbrk earl early this morning ( the alarm went off at 5:30) and I have had only two cups of decaf, so it is time for breakfast and a real cup of caffiene. I want to leave for Vict. to see S and St and my little cutie pie grandaughters. Thus I have loads to do in the next two days...and I am without a car today...brakes are fixed and now the wheels need an alignment...long story that adds up to more $$$ spent than we intended, but what the hay...you have to have something to drive.
Did I mention that we returned our newish King sized mattress and Box springs and bedframe on Saturday after having to wrap it all up in plastic.. another long crappy job, but it had to be done. my back already feels better on my old bed, than it did on that new one! At least Sears took it back without complaint.Now to figure out what to get next.?????
E was off to Crnbrk earl early this morning ( the alarm went off at 5:30) and I have had only two cups of decaf, so it is time for breakfast and a real cup of caffiene. I want to leave for Vict. to see S and St and my little cutie pie grandaughters. Thus I have loads to do in the next two days...and I am without a car today...brakes are fixed and now the wheels need an alignment...long story that adds up to more $$$ spent than we intended, but what the hay...you have to have something to drive.
Did I mention that we returned our newish King sized mattress and Box springs and bedframe on Saturday after having to wrap it all up in plastic.. another long crappy job, but it had to be done. my back already feels better on my old bed, than it did on that new one! At least Sears took it back without complaint.Now to figure out what to get next.?????
Appetizer Stuffed Mushrooms
These are reasonbley easy to make and can be stuffed with nearly anything you have on hand. They are best when baked in the oven, but I often Nuke them for conveience sake and they still turn out pretty good, though without that down home baked flavour...
I know, I missed stuffing one of them!..I fixed that up at the last minute!
Here is the simple version of the recipe..
Clean and carefully take out the stems and reserve those from the musrooms. Each person seems to eat six mushrooms at least, so plan on thirty good sized mushrooms for 5 people.
I melt real butter in the nuker, so that I have half a cup of butter melted, and then add the juice of a lemon to it after it is melted. I dip each mushroom in this butter lemon mixture and set them out on a plate that can go in the nuker or on a plate that can be baked such as white corning ware or a pie plate.
Take your Pampered Chef chopper, if you have one and chop the stems up until they are fairly finely chopped and then fry those up in a bit more butter. Add a chopped green onion to the stems and what you add after that is up to your personal preference. This will be your mushroom stuffing. I have added a bit of finely chopped celery, and shrimp( or scallops if they are small)( or you could use sausage or chopped bacon -omit the lemon juice after) and lemon juice and more butter if necessary and then thicken it up with fine bread crumbs.
Add salt and pepper to taste and sometimes I add a sprinkle of Poultry seasoning or dill or lemon pepper...just make it mighty tasty and don't overcook the shrimp!
Pack as much as you can into each mushroom cap and then you are ready to nuke them for three or 4 minutes( put saran wrap over them first) or bake them or broil them( no saran wrap here!). Give everyone a plate and a fork to eat them with..and they will be enjoyed no matter what!These can be prepared a long time ahead and refrigerated.
I know, I missed stuffing one of them!..I fixed that up at the last minute!
Here is the simple version of the recipe..
Clean and carefully take out the stems and reserve those from the musrooms. Each person seems to eat six mushrooms at least, so plan on thirty good sized mushrooms for 5 people.
I melt real butter in the nuker, so that I have half a cup of butter melted, and then add the juice of a lemon to it after it is melted. I dip each mushroom in this butter lemon mixture and set them out on a plate that can go in the nuker or on a plate that can be baked such as white corning ware or a pie plate.
Take your Pampered Chef chopper, if you have one and chop the stems up until they are fairly finely chopped and then fry those up in a bit more butter. Add a chopped green onion to the stems and what you add after that is up to your personal preference. This will be your mushroom stuffing. I have added a bit of finely chopped celery, and shrimp( or scallops if they are small)( or you could use sausage or chopped bacon -omit the lemon juice after) and lemon juice and more butter if necessary and then thicken it up with fine bread crumbs.
Add salt and pepper to taste and sometimes I add a sprinkle of Poultry seasoning or dill or lemon pepper...just make it mighty tasty and don't overcook the shrimp!
Pack as much as you can into each mushroom cap and then you are ready to nuke them for three or 4 minutes( put saran wrap over them first) or bake them or broil them( no saran wrap here!). Give everyone a plate and a fork to eat them with..and they will be enjoyed no matter what!These can be prepared a long time ahead and refrigerated.
Birthday Cake
L' s Oreo Birthday Cake...
Not quite exactly as the recipe was written, but it still turned out pretty good. It came out of last week's issue of the Woman's Day magazine. Essentially you add a 4 ounce package of cream cheese to a devil's food cake cake mix, 1 cup of water, and 3 eggs and 1/4 cup of oil and beat it all up according to the directions, then you stir in 1 cup of crushed Oreo cookies ( about 12, I think) and then bake in pammed layer cake pans.
Now, I'd say that you can't really definately taste the cream cheese, but it makes for a very moist cake and the the crushed cookies give it a very dark colour and great chocolately taste. Also, the recipe suggested adding some crushed cookies to the icing layer in the middle of the cake. I crushed WAY too many cookies , and having nibbled on a few for a taste test, I ran out of cookies to decorate the cake with, so that is why there are a scant few cookies on the cake, and a LOAD of cookie crumbs on top for decorative purposes( actually just to use them all up!!)...
Only crush about three or four for the icing in the middle, then you should still have three or four to sample and still have enough remaining to decorate the cake with! :-) I sent some home with L and some with A& D, so I am down to one big slice left, that if judiciously cut up, can be made to last for two days.
Here is a pic of D. helping L to blow out the candles! ha-ha!
Now here is one of L having a cry after D and A sang her the birthday song that told her how bad she was!lol!
Not quite exactly as the recipe was written, but it still turned out pretty good. It came out of last week's issue of the Woman's Day magazine. Essentially you add a 4 ounce package of cream cheese to a devil's food cake cake mix, 1 cup of water, and 3 eggs and 1/4 cup of oil and beat it all up according to the directions, then you stir in 1 cup of crushed Oreo cookies ( about 12, I think) and then bake in pammed layer cake pans.
Now, I'd say that you can't really definately taste the cream cheese, but it makes for a very moist cake and the the crushed cookies give it a very dark colour and great chocolately taste. Also, the recipe suggested adding some crushed cookies to the icing layer in the middle of the cake. I crushed WAY too many cookies , and having nibbled on a few for a taste test, I ran out of cookies to decorate the cake with, so that is why there are a scant few cookies on the cake, and a LOAD of cookie crumbs on top for decorative purposes( actually just to use them all up!!)...
Only crush about three or four for the icing in the middle, then you should still have three or four to sample and still have enough remaining to decorate the cake with! :-) I sent some home with L and some with A& D, so I am down to one big slice left, that if judiciously cut up, can be made to last for two days.
Here is a pic of D. helping L to blow out the candles! ha-ha!
Now here is one of L having a cry after D and A sang her the birthday song that told her how bad she was!lol!
Good Morning...
I can see that as summer approaches, I will have less time to play blogmaster so bear(grr) with me if I miss a few days here and there. Yesterday, for instance, we spent the morning in town dealing with cars and brakes and oil changes etc..long expensive story there...and then came home and E. wanted to finish the DIRT project he started the day before...that is raising the level of the front yard, especially around the septic tank where it had sunk considerably over the winter. He first removed the sod from a large area,then hauled up loads and loads of sand to initially bring up the level, and then ended with loads of topsoil to finish it off. I was the raker and leveller, and so, spent my whole afternoon behind a rake, and then seeded that area, as well as many other "dips" that were filled, all with grass seed . This was between rain storms which drove us crazy and back into the house occasionally, but we did finally finish it and by then it was almost 7:00 pm.We were both pooped!
E still wanted to apply labels to his three batches of wine and put the seals on...that was my job with our new $9.00 kettle to provide the steam!So there we were till about 8:30 , doing that little job which also entailed hauling the finished wine down to the basement...that would be two flights of stairs...My legs an hip joints were crying by the time we were done. THen we watched the Canucks lose and cried some more...No desire , that team! Whahhhh!
E still wanted to apply labels to his three batches of wine and put the seals on...that was my job with our new $9.00 kettle to provide the steam!So there we were till about 8:30 , doing that little job which also entailed hauling the finished wine down to the basement...that would be two flights of stairs...My legs an hip joints were crying by the time we were done. THen we watched the Canucks lose and cried some more...No desire , that team! Whahhhh!
Sunday, April 18, 2004
And a Good Time Was Had by All
The week-end was a Terrific one as attested to by the pic. I tried to upload a little Powerpoint presentation, but after three tries, I realize I have to go about it some other way, so in the meantime here are a couple of Teasers to get the party started and I'll be back tomorrow with more!
