My new “working” kitchen

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like change.  I’m not one of those women who’s constantly moving furniture, redecorating, I get things the way I like them and I leave them, and the changes I do make are usually made with baby steps.

Last year I blogged about my pantry redo and it’s been great.  I’ve managed to keep the organization, but my organized bins were stuffed so full that I still didn’t realize exactly what I had.  And now that I’ve acquired more Ball Jars, I’ve been putting a few things, like coconut, chocolate chips, marshmallows and nuts into jars, but I had to stop because I had no room left.

I know you’re rolling your eyes, thinking “oh-oh, here she goes again with those damn jars” and you’re right, but it’s been such a life changing event for me.

Hubby has been telling me for months years to redo my two glass front cabinets in the kitchen.  When we moved here nine years ago, I filled them with blue willow dishes, I have indirect lighting in them, and it’s so pretty, but if I’m honest with you, I’ve never used those dishes once in all these years and I rarely turn on the lighting.  I have the bottom of my dining room hutch filled with blue willow, these were just for display.

It’s only been in the past few years that I’ve had any appliances sitting on my counter except for my red Kitchenaid mixer, oh and that pricey DualIt toaster like Queen Elizabeth has that’s a piece of crap.  My kitchen was always decorated to the hilt with pretty bottles and pieces of pottery, and it was totally non-functional.  The kids would throw a fit when they visited because there was never enough room to cook.  I finally got smart and got rid of all that stuff and put out the small appliances and it’s made my life so much simpler.

So, this morning, I took a deep breath and had LC take every single one of those dishes out of the cabinets, and then I started a sealing frenzy.  I took things out of the pantry, sealed them in my Ball jars, and started filling my cupboards, three jars deep with pasta, grains, cereal, beans, rice, croutons, etc.  This one is finished, the other one I’m still working on.  I only have two shelves with jars because I can’t reach the top shelf, so I put pieces from mother’s kitchen on the top shelf, her mother’s old coffee grinder, a salt crock and her butter mold.  Now when I open the cabinet I see her things and smile, and I never smiled when I looked at all of those blue dishes, actually I never opened the cabinets at all.

And the pantry?  It looks positively bare, well not really, but it is a lot more accessible now.  Oh, I’m getting so smart in my old(er) age, who woulda thunk it???

If only I would have had a digital camera when I was younger…

Clotheslines have to be one of my favorite things.  When the boys were growing up, mine was in the trees, very similar to this pictures, without the pretty aprons.  Oh, how I wish I had pictures of those little boy’s clothes drying on the line, and all of my 80’s clothes flapping in the breeze.

I think if I could go back, that would be one of the things I would change, I would have taken more pictures.  We don’t realize until we grow older how much these memories mean to us. 

And now I take so many pictures, but they are in folders, organized by date on my computer, and backed up on an external harddrive.  I should get them organized but it would be a herculean effort at this point, and it’s just getting worse as time goes by.   I often wonder what will happen to all of these digital photos we all have.  Will anybody want them, will people even know what the pictures are years from now?  Probably not, but it’s so easy to take hundreds of shots in a single afternoon, and I hate to erase anything, even the blurry ones.  I seriously need to get a handle on this, maybe this summer when it’s hot and the outside isn’t beckoning me.  Maybe…

Coming full circle…

I seriously think I am coming full circle, things from the past interest me more than ever, things that were important just a few years ago no longer matter.  The changes are subtle with the aging process, but it’s happening.

I won’t go into the Ball jar sealing obsession today, but I will tell you that I’m thinking of using pint jars as drinking glasses for iced tea this summer.  I’m once again fascinated with the idea of preserving jams and jellies, and most of all, I’m fascinated by cast iron.

I’ve had so many pieces of cast iron cookware over the years, and it’s long gone now, except for a big skillet that I use constantly, and I wish I had it back.  Especially my mother’s covered dutch oven, but it’s gone and now I’m going to replace it, not with new, but with old.  Hubby will find me one at an auction, he found me a cast iron cornbread pan a couple of weeks ago, you know the kind that makes the corn sticks.

And you’re probably going ewwwwww, that’s nasty, and you’re right it was, but I have the magic bullet, my self cleaning oven.  I wish I would have taken a picture, it was pretty bad, greasy, crusty, rusty, I thought it was hopeless and I had no desire to clean it, that would involve a ton of elbow grease.  But I read online to just sit it in the bottom of your oven and turn it on the cleaning cycle.  My oven needed to be cleaned anyway, so I did it, and it came out perfectly clean, everything was gone, no grease, no crud, just light surface rust.  We went to visit the kids so I didn’t have time to finish the process, but a quick scour with steel wool, then vegetable oil, reseason in a 250 degree oven and it will be good to go.  I’ll post a picture when it’s finished.

I got a catalog from Lodge in the mail, and I’ve decided that I now need a wedge pan for cornbread and scones.

Then I found this drop biscuit pan and decided that I need it as well.

 

My mother would smile if she could see my interest in all of these things.  I was thinking last night as I put pudding in dishes that I need to find the stemmed dessert dishes that she used to have.  She gave me a set, once again they’re long gone.  I never ever thought I would want these things, but now I do.  I’m fortunate that LC likes going to auctions and tag sales, he seems to always come up with the things I’m looking for.

I’ve also been straining my plain, unflavored yogurt lately to make my own greek yogurt, and now I’m going to buy a 2 quart yogurt maker.  I’ve researched them and I like the ones from YoGourmet and Euro Cuisine.  And yep, you guessed it, I used to have one and it’s long gone.  But it was individual cups, and these are two quarts. I like the idea of using a half gallon of milk and making a big batch, because when you strain away the whey to make greek yogurt it reduces by half.  I even made Granola a few weeks ago.  What is going on with me??? 

I’ve been eating really healthy this winter, no fast food, except for the occasional Egg McMuffin, hardly any processed foods, just daily salad-in-a-jar, beans, nuts, lots of veggies and a little lean meat, a lot of yogurt, brown rice, whole grain pasta and bread.  I feel wonderful when I eat this way, and no I’m not losing weight, but I’m not gaining either.  Will it last, or is this another one of my flash-in-the-pan whims?  Time will tell, but for now I’m enjoying what I’m doing.

And about that yogurt, my favorite way to eat it is to sweeten it with the one processed food I do eat, Splenda, well except for Diet Coke, which I adore and will never give up.  A girl has to have a few vices.  I add vanilla or almond flavoring to my thick yogurt, nuts (almonds, walnuts or pecans) occasionally chopped apples and it’s amazing.  Of course it’s even better with honey or maple syrup, but I’m not eating sugar right now, so I stick with the nuts and different fruits.  I like it so much more than flavored yogurt from the grocery store that’s filled with preservatives.  And homemade yogurt is so good, it’s amazing how much better it is than the kind you get in the store, so I’m looking forward to making my own.  When I used to make it the taste was delicious, much less sour than the yogurt you get at the store, but I thought it was a little watery, but now that I know how to strain it, I’m anxious to see the results, I bet it is wonderful!

I just don’t get my sudden intense interest in “making” all of these foods.  I’m even thinking about dusting off the dehydrator and drying some fruit.  I think it goes back to childhood when we made practically everything we ate, well except for my beloved Blue Bell Bologna.

So I’ll just go with the flow, and see what happens with all of this. You notice that it all involves food, no surprise there, I’ve always been a foodie and a kitchen gadget lover.

Hope you all have a good weekend, I can’t wait til Saturday, 9am so that I can once again be mesmerized by Pioneer Woman on FoodTV.  Jeezy Pete, I’m hopeless…

Dreaming of days ahead…

I’ve been talking to hubby about moving the roses you see in the foreground of this picture to the patio.  When I bought them they were “supposed” to be carpet roses, that’s what the tag said, and instead some of them were full sized knockouts, and they weren’t right for the space.  They were too big and made the front entrance look overgrown.

So this morning, I’m in bed, because I’ve had a bug that I’m trying to get over, I hear the garage door go up, think nothing of it, and in about fifteen minutes, my cell phone rings.  It’s LC calling me from the yard.  He’s moved the roses!  WHAT, HE’S MOVED THE ROSES!!!!!  Without me to supervise and tell him exactly which ones go where, OMG, sick or not, I hustle it out of bed and race out the door to find that he put them exactly where I would have.  But, of course, I had to pull up this picture from last summer to make sure he got the right ones where I wanted them, and decided to publish it, just so the rest of you could get a taste of what’s coming at your house.  Oh, spring, glorious spring, I can’t wait!!!!

Happy Birthday sweet daughter-in-law…

John baked Deanna her Hershey’s Perfectly Perfect Chocolate Cake last night for her birthday today.  This is the ultimate chocolate cake, fudgy, moist, it’s the wonderful chocolate cake we all remember from our childhoods, and it is perfect!  My buddy V told me  about it a few years ago, I made it for the family, we we all adored it, and it’s now one of our favorites.

And tonight she requested Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits.  Oh, be still  my heart

Happy Birthday Deanna, I wish we were with you to celebrate wth you.  Your father-in-law is absolutely salivating at the thought of that chicken fried steak! 

Central Kentucky is beautiful, even in the winter…

Good morning from a Kentucky horse pasture….

How do you keep a straight face...

 Me:  "Abby, do you want to taste this orange?"

Abby:  "No t'anks Grammie"

Me:  "How about just smelling it?"

Abby:  "NO MA'AM" (very emphatically)

Me:  "How about a cracker?"

Abby:  "Okay, t'anks"

Of course I laugh, I'm trying really hard not to, but I can't help it.  "NO MA'AM" she just cracks me up...

A little shopping trip….

Abby and I were at Hobby Lobby today, she was riding in the cart, this was our conversation.

Abby: “Abby get down and walk”
Grammie:  “No Abby, Daddy said you have to stay in the cart”
Abby:  “Abby’s gonna cry”
Grammie:  “Well, you just go ahead and cry, but you can’t get out of the cart”
Abby:  “Abby won’t cry”

Then  she gave me a big megawatt smile and we continued on our way.

The Country Life

bo·vine

adj \ˈbō-ˌvīn, -ˌvēn\

Definition of BOVINE

1 : of, relating to, or resembling bovines and especially the  cow

2 : having qualities (as placidity or dullness) characteristic of cows

— bo·vine·ly adverb

— bo·vin·i·ty noun

Examples of BOVINE

1. She stared at us with a stupid, bovine expression.

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Grammie  has been spending time with Abby while her Momma is away for a few days.  I’m so eager to take country pictures, but the weather isn’t cooperating.  It was really cloudy today, but the cows that live in a pasture behind their house seemed to enjoy the photo op, anyway.  Hoping for sunshine tomorrow, more to come…

 

The good, the bad and the ugly

The bad was I had a root canal today and my mouth was clamped open for two hours, the good was I didn't know that I was going to have one so I didn't have time to work myself in a tizzy. And the ugly, that's what my smile would have looked like if they would have had to pull my tooth, but they didn't.  Whew, dodged a bullet.  That is all...

So we go out to dinner last night…

Hubby took me out for an early Valentines Day Dinner to Angelo’s, our favorite Italian restaurant.

It was warm and cozy inside, they seated us at a corner table, they had just brought our drinks and I was watching the hostess and a waitress put tables together next to us to accommodate a large party.  They apparently ran out of tables, because I saw them carrying in an outdoor table to extend the ones they put together.  I thought at the time, that looks odd, it’s really small and wire mesh and had no tablecloth.

Then the hostess comes over to us and says, “Ma’am, we’re setting those tables up for an elderly party,  can we take your table away and replace it with that table on the end?”  They were both looking at us and smiling, and I looked at her and said “no!”

The look on their faces was priceless.  I wish I would have had a camera, the smiles just fell away and they had these stunned looks on their faces.  Hubby picked up the ball, because he’s more diplomatic than me and was trying to diffuse a potentially bad situation because he knew I was not a happy camper, and went on to explain that we had made reservations weeks ago, and that table was just not appropriate.

The hostess got her bearings and said, “uh, okay, uh.”  Then she did a perimeter check and asked if she could reseat us in a booth, which we would have preferred in the first place, and of course we were happy to do that, but no way was I going to enjoy my Valentine’s Day outing eating on that dinky little outdoor table.

Shame on them, this is a nice restaurant, they should have never suggested such a thing in the first place.  Can’t you  just see us sitting there, while they removed our table and put the other one in it’s place. Puh-leez.

The owner came over to us and apologized, I think he was actually embarrassed that they suggested such a thing.  And snaps for me for being a gutsy ballsy old broad who said no instead of going along with that silly girl. Now had I been younger, actually much younger, I would have probably said “okay”, but since I’ve been to a lot of rodeos by now, I’ve learned a few things, mainly to speak up instead of being pushed around.  This was worse than when you go to a restaurant and they try to seat you next to the kitchen, Come to think of it I think I’ve refused those tables, too. ;o)

The food was wonderful, it always is, and I always feel like I’m twelve years old, because  I always  usually order spaghetti and meatballs, but that’s what I like, I’m a red sauce girl.

 

 

 

 

 

And hubby, he always gets the same thing, too.  Chicken cordon bleu, heavy wine and cream sauce, mushrooms, chicken, not my thing, but he’s a big fan…

And the best part, drats I didn’t take a picture, but it’s homemade warm, buttery little knot rolls covered in chopped garlic, and their signature salad, crisp greens, black olives, red onions, tomatoes drenched in tart, homemade Italian dressing.

It’s a really good restaurant, John and Deanna went to Café Nona in Nashville, he called later and said that he likes Angelo’s better.  And we’ll go back, and have a better experience the next time, I’m sure.  Sometimes things sh*t happens, know what I mean, Vern?

Our cute little monkey…

The look of innocence….

Do you think little Miss Maggie Moo had her nose in my bowl of cottage cheese? Well, all I have to say is “one picture is worth a thousand words…”

My sunroom smells like a pine forest today…

This rosemary was on the patio, we’ve had such a mild winter that it’s still thriving.  Temperatures are forecasted in the teens tonight, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing it, so hubby trucked it into the sunroom until the cold snap passes.

It’s smells so good, wish I had smell-o-vision on this computer, or better yet, share a few sprigs with you today.  You have no idea of how wonderful it smells in here…

Obituaries are fascinating…

I’ve read them for years, you never know who you might see and even though I seldom know anyone, I’m astonished at the things people put in obituaries.  Often they show a woman’s high school senior picture, complete with the drape, and the woman is in her 80’s.  Or they show pictures of when they were young with a picture as they are now, that’s always interesting.  And I’m always fascinated by the men’s ears, it is true, they do grow longer as they get older.

This morning, they had a lulu in the Heavensville obits.  It was an attractive man, 63 years old, sad that he died that young, but anyway, the following sentence was included in his obituary.

“He enjoyed remodeling, shopping at Rural King, while enjoying the popcorn.”

While it’s funny, it’s also sad, surely they could have found something more worthwhile to say about the poor guy than this.  Jeez Louise, and I thought it was bad that I would want my dogs mentioned in my obituary.  Kidding, family, just kidding, well kinda ;o)

Salad In a Jar, 3 months later and still going strong…

I know you’re just dying to hear how my salad in a jar is progressing, umhmmm, sure you are, and if I’m sick of salad yet, and the answer is no!  I’m still as excited about it as I was in the beginning, sealing everything I can think of, and  still eating salad every single day for lunch.  Am I losing weight, no, but then I’m not gaining either. Maybe if I start eating it for dinner, too… **sigh**

I continue to tweak it, I no longer use the great big salad bowl and toss it together, now I chop on a big cutting board, fill the jars, and then use my salad shooter to slice a pile of carrots, add them to the top of the lettuce, dice some celery and add it on top of the carrots. This week I used a head of iceberg, a bundle of leaf lettuce, and canned it separately.  I’m dreaming of spring and using the leaf lettuce to make wilted lettuce salad with green onions and bacon.

Okay, I’ll shut up about it, until the next time. Have a nice day…

~ jan

Oh, I’m seriously thinking of making jam this spring, too.  Bet you all can’t wait to hear about that either… **wicked grin**

And that’s not dirt on the side of my refrigerator cabinet, it’s how they stained the wood, drives me crazy, too!  And my coffee maker isn’t dirty either, it’s camera glare.  Glad I cleared that up for all of you…

Somebody is lazin’ in the sun…

My take on Madonna’s Half Time Show

I wasn’t going to watch, but I decided to see what all the hoopla was about.

After it was over, the reviews came in fast and furious, the younger crowd thought she was awesome.

And yours truly, okay I admit, I’m biased, however, if you took away the glitz, the special effects, the costumes and just watched the woman, what did you see?  Ummmmm, a fifty something woman who wasn’t agile on the bleachers, who did a lot of bump and grind and lip synched.

Awesome, hardly, but then I’m biased…

Are you ready for some football????

NO!!!!!!!!!  I detest football, I always have, so I’m going to be watching Netflix tonight, hubby can watch it in the den, no football for this old girl.

Oh, I’ve tried over the years to enjoy it, seriously I have, but I just don’t get it, and I don’t enjoy it.  All the hoopla over the Super Bowl, and tickets going for as much as $10,000 apiece, holy schmoly what a waste!

But that’s just my opinion, and I’m sure most of you don’t think like I do, but I just felt like venting this afternoon.

Now go watch that game and enjoy yourselves, while I watch a movie.  And no, I’m not going to watch Madonna at half time, I can’t handle her either, the woman needs to retire for gawds sake, she’s 53 years old!

Well, I’m just in a great mood this afternoon. It’s not the game, actually, sinuses are giving me fits, I trekked to convenient care for some meds because I’m dizzy as a goose, poor hubby isn’t even getting Super Bowl goodies.

And that’s just the way it is this Super Bowl Sunday, Jan here in a p*ssy mood!

90 Year Old Couple playing the piano at the Mayo Clinic

My friend Mary posted this on FaceBook, and I just had to share.  They are so full of life, this will give you a huge smile on this rainy Saturday…

Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Bars

Heads up ladies, these lemon bars are seriously, fantastic! I posted the recipe and the tweaks on Jan CAN Cook. This is a must try if you’re a lemon lover like the women in our family. THESE ARE INSANELY GOOD!!!!!!

Pioneer Woman and Saturday Morning, go together like coffee and cream

I haven’t enjoyed Saturday morning television this much since I was a kid in the 60’s, watching Fury and Sky King. I’m so glad that FoodNetwork was smart enough to bring this wonderful blogger to their network for all of her followers to enjoy.

I’m such a fan of Pioneer Woman. She’s a real person, she’s a mother, she works hard for her family, and I find her delightful. 9am is fast approaching, I’m off to my comfy chair, coffee and cuddly dogs by my side to enjoy yet another episode.

You’re awesome Pioneer Woman, seriously you are!

Moving forward with life after sixty…

I linked to a a post from Facebook this morning by Barbara Hannah Grufferman about decluttering your life after fifty, and it started me thinking about the things that I hold on to, and how they clutter my life.  And here I am, past sixty and I still struggle with decluttering.

For me, it’s clothes.  I have tubs of size ten clothes, mostly jeans and capris that has been cluttering my life for years now.  It’s a lot of clothes, too, because at that size was shopping was fun. 

But that was ten years ago, and I will never be that size again, and even if I was, the clothes would be so outdated, so why do I hold on to them?  Is it because I need the affirmation that I really wore them?  It’s not like I ever take them out and look at them, so who knows, but it’s time to throw them in the trash.  A start to that decluttering.

My closet is full of clothes I never wear.  I live in yoga pants and jeans, I seldom dress up, I detest it, so why do I have these clothes hanging in my closet?  It’s time to declutter and get rid of a lot of things.

It’s such a wonderful feeling when your world is organized.  There is a saying that when you live in clutter, you live in chaos.  Well, everything in my world, thanks to hubby is organized, the man is a whirlwind.  And for as much grief as I give him about throwing things away, I’m really grateful, because he makes our life so simple.  He’s constantly going through the refrigerator, throwing away leftovers, he straightens the cabinets, he organizes drawers, he immediately pitches junk mail, it never comes in the house, he trashes it in the garage, and it does make things flow so much smoother.

The only thing he stays away from are my computers, my closet and my makeup, hence the clutter. And yes, the files on my computers are cluttered, well do a degree, they aren’t nearly as bad as they were a few years ago.  It just goes against my nature to do things in an orderly way, and I wish I had an organized mind, but I don’t, but I’ve learned a few things along the way.  I can’t handle things out of place in my house, a messy kitchen drives me wild, so I’ve learned to compensate for my unorganized mind.  I make myself put things away immediately when I use them, as I’ve said before, I work in the sink to avoid messes in the kitchen, I fluff the sofa pillows of a morning, I do a quick walk thru.  It doesn’t take long, and I’m finished, ready for whatever the day brings.  I’ve learned that procrastinating is worse than doing something and getting it over with, and of course I still procrastinate, most of us do, but I have learned for the most part to just push through and get it over with.

But in the back of my  mind, always is the thought that I need to declutter that closet, and dump those clothes.  I think I don’t do it because there won’t be anything left.  I seriously do wear 10% of my closet, and if I get rid of all the things I don’t wear, it will be pretty bare.  But I’m not procrastinating about this, I’m just holding on to the old, because I can’t face walking into my closet and seeing empty shelves, instead of looking ahead to the new.  And I’m not even going to start talking about buying new clothes, and how the manufacturers are missing the boat by not designing cute clothes for women in our age group, my friends and I complain constantly about this, and how we seldom find anything that we just love.  And a lot of it is due to the fact that we’ve not only grown older, we’ve grown wider.  But I won’t go there, not today, I’ve got enough to worry about with the decluttering.

A little reflecting going on in Heavensville this morning, but I seriously am going to declutter my world a bit this spring, I just have to get up the nerve to do it…

The sounds of silence...

It’s another gorgeous day, sunny skies, temps in the mid 50’s. I took a ride on Milly to the creek, just sat and listened to the water, no cell phone, no dogs, just utter silence. I seldom experience silence anymore, there is always noise at my house, television, music playing, phones ringing, it’s nice to reconnect with nature and enjoy the quiet.

Then I picked up my neighbor, Trish, her little London is such a poser, she just sits and lets her take pictures of her. And yes, she’s just as tiny as she looks, all three whopping pounds of her. My girls need haircuts, and it’s gorgeous outside, I should be grooming them, I should be…

Sometimes you just need to accept a gift gracefully….

I’ve blogged about my soon to be ninety four-year old neighbor before.  The woman is a whirlwind, she can work circles around me, and is a world class cook with as many, if not more, kitchen gadgets than yours truly.  She’s the one that gave me the fabulous recipe for German Potato Salad that I posted on Jan CAN Cook.

Something happened to my bundt pan, I suspect it’s at one of my son’s houses, but for the past couple of years I haven’t had one or replaced it, I just use my neighbors.  She has three bundt pans, but she always gives me the old, heavy aluminum one that bakes to perfection.  I’ve borrowed it countless times, always returning it with some home baked goodie that makes her eyes sparkle, and she always tells me to just keep it, but I never could do that, well, not until yesterday.

I had borrowed the bundt pan once again to make my yummy Lemon Cake Supreme, and hubby took it back with a plate of granola bars fresh from the oven.  She absolutely, positively refused to take it, telling him that she never bakes anymore and she wanted me to have it.  So he came home with it tucked under his arm, shaking his head because he couldn’t dissuade her.

And you know what, I’m keeping it.  It’s a wonderful pan, something that I obviously can’t duplicate with a new one, I’ve tried, and none of them are as heavy as hers, and she obviously wants me to have it, so I decided that sometimes you just have to write a nice thank you note, and accept a gift in the spirit it is given.  I’ll always think of her when I use it, it’s such a workhouse of a pan, it will never wear out.  She’s had it forever and now it sits on my shelf, waiting until the baking urge strikes me and I need to bake in a bundt pan again.  I’ll continue to share my baked goodies, and watch her eyes sparkle, and it will work for both of us.  It’s a good thing…

~ Jan, smiling today…

Do I read Nicholas Spark's Safe Haven or not???

I said I was finished with you, Nicholas Sparks. You’ve disappointed me constantly with your bad endings, I’ve cried enough tears over you, and now here is another one of your books that looks really interesting. Do I give you another chance or do I forget about you? Maybe, or maybe not, I haven’t decided yet.. ~ jan Description: When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family. But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

When grandchildren go home...

It’s so quiet now, LC and I keep talking about Abby’s visit, remembering the cute things she said, and her infectious giggle when she was jumping on the bed. Of course she jumped on the bed, she’s at her grandparent’s house after all, she can do anything she wants.

I wish life was like it was in the old days, when families all lived nearby, and visits to Grammie’s house was a weekly occurrence. We went out for breakfast this morning, and I was talking to a grandmother who has all of her children in town. I was so jealous, and I’m not an envious person. *sigh* She’s just so sweet, I don’t want to miss a minute of her childhood.

But back to reality and another warm day, my friend Trish has phlox that are blooming, I just checked my chives in the garden, and I see green shoots peeking through the soil. I have spring fever and it’s not February yet. I’m glad to be finishing out this month, January has always been my least favorite time of the year, now I can look forward to Valentine’s Day and a hopefully early spring…

Trisha Yearwood is coming to FoodNetwork

Oh, this looks like fun, I love her cookbooks.

In the as-yet-untitled series, Yearwood will share food traditions and display her Southern hospitality, sharing recipes with friends and family and preparing Sunday dinners to planning family reunion barbecues. Each of the six themed episodes will invite viewers into Yearwood's kitchen for her favorite meals and family stories.

"Fans know Trisha best as a music powerhouse, and through her new Food Network show audiences will learn first-hand what her friends and family already know -- that Trisha is a talented, passionate rock-star cook too,” Food Network GM and senior vp programming and production Bob Tuschman said. "We look forward to sharing this side of Trisha with viewers, showcasing an intimate, entertaining look at her personal recipes, family traditions and warm Southern hospitality."

Look who’s been to visit Grammie…

I always thought I would be the Grammie that would  be in the kitchen with a little granddaughter, her hands in the cookie dough, but Abby isn’t interested in cookies, she would much rather be on Grammie’s computer, playing little games, watching Dora the Explorer.  It’s fine with me, I have two monitors, so Abby is on one, I’m on the other, we can sit here for hours.   She puts that little hand on the mouse, moving it around the desk, she hasn’t quite grasped the concept of how to work it, but I can put it on an object and tell her to click it, and she will.  If I would have had a few more days with her, she would have been surfing like a pro.

We visited the Children’s Museum for the first time.  She had a great time playing with the exhibits, and we just sat and watched her.  Oh, she’s at such a fun age now, she talks constantly, and says the funniest things. My girlfriends came to visit, and had such a fun time with her.  Her Auntie V taught her to say pink flamingo, and Auntie Trisher let her borrow a rocky horse to ride.

The weather was warm enough to go for rides on Milly, the owner of the Chinese restaurant where we ate at lunch gave her a dozen almond cookies to bring home, she looked at him and said “tanks.”


It just went too quickly, but we’re visiting again soon.


We were watching television in the den, she was on the iPad watching a little movie, so Grammie got the headset, put it over her ears, she loved it and we thought she looked so funny with those big headphones on.  She just cracked us up.











She likes to have her picture taken, says CHEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZ when the camera is pointed at her, but she squints her eyes, so all of her cheesy pictures have her eyes closed.

Oh Abby, what joy you bring to our lives.  Who would have thought at this age that I would see the world through the eyes of a child again.

It’s a beautiful thing...

It's a good day...

The family is coming in for the weekend, Ryan, Lindsay and Abby will be here this morning. Friends stopping by to say hi, what a great way to spend a January weekend...

A smle for you this morning...

People post the funniest things on FaceBook. This just cracked me up….

GCB (Good Christian Belles)

Looks like there might be some “must see” tv coming to ABC next month. From the creator of Steel Magnolias and the producer of Sex and the City, GCB is the story about a 30 something who is forced to go home and live with mother. Annie Potts, Kristin Chenowith star, and they’re both such good actresses. They’re calling this a Southern Desperate Housewives, Annie Potts says this is a tribute to her late friend, Dixie Carter, it could be interesting…

A warm, fleecy robe on a dreary winter night...

We’ve been out and about today. I used to laugh at Ma because she would always pick her days to run errands, and if the weather was bad she stayed home. Well today we had several things to do, I didn’t even look at the weather, and as soon as we pulled on the highway it started to sleet. The temperatures warmed a bit, but it rained the entire day. I wasn’t dressed that warm, it was windy, cold, miserable, just a raw, January day, and I’m thinking that once again, “Mother knows best.”

We’re at home every day, we don’t have to go out when the weather is bad anymore, but anyway, I come home, take off my clothes and put on my warm robe, turn on the fireplace and it’s pure bliss. Is there anything better than a robe? I think I remember most of the ones I’ve had through the years, too. They’re like old friends, my robes, and I only like loose, long ones. There is nothing worse than an old(er) woman in a wrap robe, it’s the most unflattering thing I can think of. I have one for when I get out of the shower, but once I’m dry, it’s history and I never look in the mirror. Nope, lose robes hide a multitude of sins, wrap robes are totally unforgiving.

I think my favorite robe through the years, actually I had two of them, a gray one and a lemon yellow one, were hooded long french terry sweatshirt styled zip front robes from Vanity Fair. Hooterville had one, too, we both loved them. I almost loved it as much as the football jersey nightshirts I used to wear. *sigh*

Every season I check Vanity Fair, thinking that they will bring back that style of robe, but they never do. With my luck they’ll bring it back as a wrap. :o(

And that’s it from Heavensville tonight. We had chinese for lunch, and I have leftovers, no cooking for me, I’m going to curl up by the fire with the dogs and read…

This robe from Norm Thompson is lovely. They also have a sweatshirt robe, but it’s belted and not nearly as cute as the ones Vanity Fair used to have.

I love this!

Straw Bale Gardening

I’m intrigued with the idea of gardening in bales of straw. You add compost, plant, water well, the straw retains the water, no weeds to pull, the roots finger out in the loose straw and grow quickly, it’s a wonderful idea. You can stack bales two high if you don’t want to bend over, how great is this!

This link to strawbalegardens.com is one of many sites online. Just Google it, click on Google Images for lots of pictures, go to YouTube, watch some videos - it's just fascinating, and a great idea to research while we’re all dreaming of spring and gardening.

I think this idea would work well for flowers, you could do the side plantings I’m so fond of and you wouldn’t even see the straw after the plants started to grow. Can’t you just see a huge mound of impatiens under a tree? Oh, the possibilities…

Dear Diary, how are you, I am fine...

I remember my first diary, I was a preteen, it was green leather and had a lock and key. Every day my entries would always start with “Dear Diary, how are you, I am fine.”

I wasn’t very creative back in the day, but I wish I had that Diary now to see if I could conjure up any childhood memories.

And today, I’m not feeling very creative at all, I’m sitting here thinking, “Dear Blog, how are you, I am fine.”

And that’s how it is today, this relatively warm, 24th of January, 2012. I’m proving Ma wrong, too, it’s the third week of January, and we’ve yet to hit the single digits in Heavensville, and only a trace of snow. The only thing I can figure is that my mother didn’t factor in global warning. Ya think?

Twins Mimic Daddy’s Sneeze…

This is the cutest thing I’ve seen in awhile…

Maxine nailed it again!!!

What I’ve been up to this weekend…

Deanna and John came to visit this weekend, we antique shopped yesterday, they found treasures, and went home with a car stuffed full, including a crystal chandelier for their bedroom.

Abby decided that she wanted to talk a lot to Grammie this afternoon.  We had multiple phone calls with her telling me her opinion about a lot of things.  For some reason she seemed to enjoy me singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to her and wanted me to sing it again and again.  This all started because she was looking at the moon and saying it was “too high,” meaning that she couldn’t reach up and touch it. 

She has a bit of a cold, and tells her parents that her nose is crying. 

I made yummy corn chowder yesterday and posted the recipe on Jan CAN Cook.  And now it’s back to quiet evenings, dogs, a warm fire, and lots of wonderful family memories.  Life is good this Sunday evening, I hope you all had a great weekend as well…