On this page, you'll find out more about me, things I like to do, things I don't like to do, some great tried and true family recipies, little sayings that I like, my outlook on life, etc. You just never know what might pop up next!
My favorite craft-type things are knitting, crocheting, and working with stained glass. Other than crafty things I love to read, I like to "play in the dirt" (gardening) during our growing season, and now the internet. In fact, this entire site as been manually coded, no page editors were used, and all the pictures were scanned by me.
As you can probably tell, my least favorite thing in the whole world is housework! As far as I'm concerned, it is an almost total waste of time, especially when you have four cats like I do. I can pick up all the spare kitty fuzz today and in three days I'll have enough to make another litter of kittens. Talk about beating your head against a wall! The one thing I like least is ironing. In my estimation it's right up there with jumping off of tall buildings without a parachute!
I collect Lenox Sculptures, both birds and butterflies. I have the birds on my kitchen hutch and the butterflies are in my china cabinets in the dining room. I just love pretty birds and butterflies. I also have a large and varied collection of plates. I have several themes including Russian folklore, Chinese legends, florals, cats, and of course, birds. The bird plates are also in my kitchen. My husband and I redid all the window and door moldings and made plates rails above all the doors and windows. My bird, floral, and cat plates reside there. The Chinese and Russian collections are in my dining room. I mix and match my collections to please myself and usually get compliments for it. Most people have said they would never have thought of doing it that way but they love it. I also have several pieces of very old English bone china that I love dearly. They belonged to my mother. I have a tea set for six that she bought before she got married in 1929. It is by Royal Albert and the pattern is called "Tulips". It has been out of circulation for as long as I can remember. That is in my Governor Winthrop Desk in the den along with some other pieces that were hers. Of all that I have, the pieces that were hers are my most precious and I cherish them beyond measure.
I have several very beautiful pieces of crystal, including some Waterford. But my favorite is an antique crystal punch bowl that belonged to my Godmother. The bowl part is separate from the base and has roses cut into it. The base looks much like an upside down cone with the point cut off. That's where the bowl sits. That is in my dining room bay window so the sun makes rainbows from it. If you snap the punch bowl with a fingernail, it "sings" beautifully. It must be almost 100 years old. No one will touch it but me!
I guess maybe I should tell you that my house is a converted old Baptist Church. My husband and I bought it in 1976 and have done all the work (except electrical and plumbing) ourselves. The building had been empty for seven years and there were hundreds of pigeons living inside. We completely gutted the building so that we had only a roof, a floor, and four outside walls. We drew up all the plans ourselves for approval by the City Building Department. From there we put in a second floor, moved the stairs to the basement so we could have the kitchen we wanted, and on and on and on. We still have work to do. You know the drill, when you have the time, you don't have the money and when you have the money, you don't have the time. Everyone knows where I live as soon as I tell them it's the old church. Their eyes get big and they start exclaiming about the work we've done. Little do they know just how much work has been involved. With a little luck, we'll have it finished one day.
Feels good ~*~ |   |
Once in a chat room, someone asked me, "Why do you fiddle your sticks?" I responded, "Because I can't play the guitar!" He didn't ask any more questions.
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Patience is a virture
possess it if you can.
It's seldom found in women
and never found in men.
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
...Aesop
This recipe came from my mother. It's the best gingerbread ever. Serve it warm with whipped cream or ice cream. YUMMY. Oh, and just a good next day warmed up in the microwave. I think this recipe might have come from England with my grandmother.
1/2 cup sugar (white) 1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 rsp ginger
1 egg 1/2 tsp cloves (optional)
1 cup molasses 1/2 tsp salt
2-1/2 cups flour 1-1/2 tsp soda dissolved
in 1 cup hot water
Cream sugar and butter until light, add egg and beat well. Mix together dry ingredients. Add molasses then dry ingredients. Add hot water and soda last. Pour into a greased 13x9x2 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees ~30 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
 PLEASANTVILLE
I want to live in Pleasantville,
I want to live where Honor, Truth, ...Erroll Hay Colcock
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My husbands loves these muffins more than any you can get at even the most expensive bakery. If you would like to try something a little different, use half blueberries and half cranberries (if available). That is really good. I also use this recipe to make apple cinnamon muffins. Just prepare enough apple slices (like you would for pie) to put at least two in each muffin. After filling the muffin tins a little less than 2/3 full, push the apple slices into the center of each muffin tin and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
1/2 cup butter or margarine 2 eggs 2 cups flour 1/2 cup milk 1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups blueberries 2 tsp baking powder
Cream butter (or margarine) and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Blend well. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk and vanilla. Add blueberries. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Optional: Sprinkle sugar on tops. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned on tops. Makes approximately 12 muffins.
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~*~ A SMILE ~*~
A SMILE COSTS NOTHING,
A smile creates happiness in the home, ~*~ |
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When I do something especially stupid, I say either, "You can't be cute and smart too, and God blessed me with cute!", or "It's a good thing I'm cute, because I'm certainly not smart!" It usually gets a chuckle out of the people around me.
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour 1 cup light brown sugar 2 tsp baking soda 1 egg 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup molasses 1 tsp ginger sugar for dipping 1/2 tsp cloves 3/4 cup soft shortening (Crisco)
Sift flour, baking soda and spices together. Beat shortening, brown sugar and egg till fluffy. The beat in molasses. Beat in flour mixture til well combined. Refrigerate at least one hour. Roll slightly rounded teaspoonfull of dough into small balls, dip tops in sugar, put on slightly greased cookie sheets about 3" apart. Sprinkle the cookie tops with 2 or 3 drops of water (this is what makes them crinkle). Bake at 375 degrees 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 3-1/2 dozen.
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