Fall Decorating

For as long as I can remember, I have cut pages out of magazines and I have a lot of files with a lot of pictures for different seasons and different occasions.  I think that is kind of the concept behind Pintrest.  I wish I had thought of that idea.  :) 

You can tell from these pictures that I like decorating with nature.  The first picture is my ideal Thanksgiving celebration.  With Oklahoma weather, I don't know that it will ever happen for me but that is my dream one day.

Hope this inspires you to do something special for the Fall.  Even the little name tags for a special Fall dinner or Thanksgiving dinner.  These would be easy and they add such a special touch.  It will make your guest feel special. 

Seeing the sunflowers on the mantle.  Just wanted to suggest to you that sunflowers are very easy to grow and you can buy some silica preservative at Hobby Lobby and you just submerge them in this mixture and leave them for about 3 weeks.  They come out looking great.  The color is still in the petals and they just look beautiful in Fall arrangements and they last two to three years.  I think next year I might try some zinnias and see how they turn out. 

My First Cookbook

I was cleaning out my workshop yesterday and found my first cookbook.  I had forgotten about it but got a big laugh when these two hand written recipes fell out.  I told you I couldn't spell.  It was a birthday gift from my mother.

As I was thinking about this yesterday, I remembered the Christmas my mother bought me the little oven with little cake pans and a couple of cake mixes for kids.  I was so excited I couldn't wait to make them.  I don't remember how it worked, I do remember that it didn't last very long.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the rainy day tomorrow!

When the Student is Ready the Teacher Will Appear

During our homeschooling years, I knew it was as much for me as it was for our children and I learned a lot.  As a child in school, my mind was on everything except listening to my teacher.   I hate to tell you I home schooled our children because I'm always using the wrong tense or I have misspelled a word.  But my reasons for homeschooling was not just reading, writing and arithmetic.  Let me get back on track and continue with my story.  We were studying Ancient  History and we were reading about Sumner or Sumeria, I can't remember now the exact name, but this civilization was very advanced.  They talked about well constructed cities and they had sewer systems.  I stopped at that point and told my children I don't get it.  How did we go from sewer systems to out houses........what happened along the way.   I remember talking to Gary about it when he arrived home that night.  He thought it was interesting but he was busy and I know he was thinking who cares about sewer systems in ancient Sumner. :)  I asked several other home school moms if they had noticed that and no one seemed to have noticed that.  It has always stayed in the back of my mind and I have not forgotten it, just one of those things that was left on the shelf with a big question mark.

In the last 5 or 6 years, I have heard several people make this quote, "when the student is ready the teacher will appear."  Well, I guess this student (me) was ready because my teacher appeared (book) and my question about sewer systems was answered.  I can't tell you the answer,  there is not enough room.  The book is over 500 pages.  But as I have questioned my beliefs, my values, my purpose, not just sewer systems in ancient Sumner,  my teacher has been appearing(in book form or lecturer) bringing the truth.  I was afraid in the beginning to ask myself some very hard questions but I knew I had to know the truth.  I wanted to know the truth!

I'm telling you this because I want you to STOP taking historical, religious or any important  information as truth until you check it out for yourself.  Humanity has been feed a lot of information that is not true.  The truth is out there for all to find and as you seek you will find the truth if you really want to know.  Let me say this again, IF you really want to know.   I was told in the beginning, to examine everything carefully and cling to that which is good.  The "good" is love!

The truth may come in some packages you weren't expecting, so open your heart.  :)

New Garden Gate

This is a long overdue project that we finally completed on Sunday.  It's one of those things that didn't take very long and after you are through, you are asking yourself, why did I wait so long to get this completed.  It really has been a long time in coming.  The old fence came from a home in Chickasha that they tore down probably 10 years ago.  I asked if I could have the old fence and the guy was glad to get it off of his hands.  Gary and I went in and took down the fence.  It was just what I wanted to go around my herb garden.  We promptly put up one side of the fence and the other side, well, I won't tell you how long it has been. 

I love the gate.  Gary made a frame for this old window and I painted the glass and sprayed it with some sealer. 

My herb garden looks a little over grown.  I had three extra tomato plants this spring and I planted them in the herb garden.  Never again,  they took over the place.  They covered my thyme and killed it.  I saw some fresh herbs at Wal-Mart and I am going to replant the thyme.  My thyme has over wintered very well.  The garden is next to the house and on the south side so that my be why a lot of my herbs make it through the winter.  Rosemary, thyme, lavender, garlic chives, these have all made it through the winter.  They may die back just a bit but quickly revive when the temperature warms.

I always say this, but if you don't have herbs please plant some.  You will love them!  They smell so wonderful and once you start cooking with them, you'll kick yourself because you didn't start using them sooner.

Have a wonderful day!  This weather is PERFECT!

John Muir

I made it to the library and checked out several books on John Muir.  I'm enjoying them as much as I thought I would.  He was a very insightful man with a free spirit.  These are a couple of pictures from a book and a couple of his quotes that I really liked.  Oh, let me tell you who he is.  Several weeks ago there was a PBS special on the national parks.  It was a week long and the first night they talked about John Muir.  He was the man who started the initial movement toward protecting and preserving our national parks. I admired his spirit as they talked about him, the things that he did and the things that he said.  I simply wanted to know more about him.

He said, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."  Here he examines a conifer branch laden with cones.

 

"Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity."

 

My favorite quote thus far is this, "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."

Fall Decorating

Thirty Years

Thirty years ago today my mother passed from this life and she was only 64.  I still vividly remember that day it was a warm Sunday afternoon.  She hadn't been feeling well all summer and the doctor finally admitted her to the hospital on September 1st to run some tests and she never came home.  My dad had just died three years previous to this. 

I read once, that no one ever quite loves you again like a beloved parent. I remember feeling this after my mother died.  Even the love shared in a good marriage is different from that of a parent.

I'm really not sad today.  I am blessed!  I can look back on a wonderful life with my parents and I have no regrets.  They were loving, giving and wise parents and we always had a wonderful relationship.  My only wish is that they could have lived longer to know my children. 

Time passes so quickly.......thirty years....sounds like a long time but the memories are all still there; clear, fresh as if it happened only yesterday.

 

My Weekend and Some New Recipes

Saturday started off with a beautiful sunrise and from there I headed to the garden to pick tomatoes.  The cherry tomatoes have been prolific all season but the larger tomatoes have not been that productive.  As you can see, the sink is full of yellow tomatoes (these are called lemon tomatoes).  If you haven't tried them, I would encourage you to do so.  They do not have a lemon taste but they are sweet and have a wonderful flavor.  They are heirloom and have been  a good producer this season. 

I haven't had enough large tomatoes to can this season but my daughter reminded me of my dehydrator and I plan on getting it out and dehydrating some of the yellow tomatoes.  I made a large batch of salsa for my children on Sunday with all the cherry tomatoes.  It turned out great and they will love it.

I also made some more basil pesto.  I was soaking the basil in the sink.  I don't normally soak the basil because if you get it right after the dew in the morning it is usually pretty clean but we have had so many grasshoppers this year.  Their little poop is usually on some of the leaves so I wash it in the sink. :)

Sunday, I also made Date Nut muffins.  This is a wonderful recipe from a lady in our co-op group years ago.  If you like dates you will love these muffins.  They are very moist and sweetened with brown sugar and some chocolate chips.  Half of these will also be shared with my kids.

I really like calzones, my husband not so much.  But I have a good pizza recipe and I thought I would try my hand at one for dinner on Sunday.  I'll show you my failures as well as my successes.  It didn't turn out exactly the way I thought.  I have some work to do on the construction of the calzone.  The crust is really good and that's the recipe I will share with you.  First, let me give you the muffin recipe.

Date Nut Muffins

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
5 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
6 tablespoons oil
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips

These are very easy.  Stir together all the dry ingredients then add brown sugar, dates, nuts, and chocolate chips.  Stir once again.  Then add oil, eggs, and buttermilk.  Stir just until combined.  Spoon into muffin cups.

Grease muffin tins well.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Makes 24 muffins.

Pizza Crust

1 package of yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups of flour

In a mixer with a dough hook add water, sugar and yeast stir a little to mix these ingredients.  Let this stand for 5 or 10 minutes until mixture become foamy. Then start your mixer on low and add the salt and olive oil.  Add flour a little at a time until it is well incorporated.  You will need to stop and scrape the edges and probably take dough off of hook and then continue to mix.  If the dough is crumbly at a little more water, if it is sticky add a little more flour.  You will probably not add all of the 3 cups. Once the dough is not sticky or crumbly turn up the speed on the mixer and mix until the dough pulls from the bowl and forms a ball.

Put dough onto a lightly floured surface and kneed several times and form into a ball and then place into a well greased glass bowl and turn dough over on both sides to coat ball.  Cover with saran wrap or wet dish towel and keep in a warm place for the dough to rise for one hour.

Once dough has risen turn out onto a lightly floured surface again.  Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 3 equal parts.  Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Then roll out dough into a 12 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.  Drizzle olive oil on crust and then add your toppings.  Slide dough onto a hot stone in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Before you add the dough onto stone, have the stone in the oven at 500 degrees to get it really hot.  You need a pizza paddle and you coat it with a little flour or corn meal build your pizza on the paddle and then slide the pizza onto the stone.  Crispy crust every time.  Just the way my husband likes it!

I don't go to all this work very often although I will say that it taste wonderful.  It's a lot better than the frozen pizza's I enhance by adding extra ingredients. 

One thing I have always wanted to try is taking homemade pizza dough and putting it on the grill.  I remember years ago seeing Martha Stewart do this and the pizza's look wonderful with all the fresh ingredients that you can use. 

I've Had a Great Day!

This is who I was today.  I had a wonderful day decorating the house for fall and cleaning.  My husband helped me change the furniture yesterday and this morning I cranked up our CD player with some favorite music and had fun.  I will finish up decorting on Friday and post some pictures of my fall décor. 

I hate to keep repeating myself but it was a wonderful day.  Our neighbor showed up to start cutting the pasture and you know that is one of my favorite things.  It will be the last cutting for the year.  Then Gary and I went out and mowed this afternoon and the weather was great and it was such a clear blue sky today. I also picked a bucket of pears from our pear trees.  I have really enjoyed this summer, it has been so pretty and green and really not too hot.  I'm usually always ready for fall and I am this year but I have thoroughly enjoyed this summer and it's beauty and bounty.

As you can tell, nothing spectacular happened but I had a great day doing some of the things I love. And I'm very thankful for my life and health and family and friends~

I'm ready for bed, goodnight all.... sleep tight!

PBS Special - America's National Parks

Last Monday night was the starting of a week long special on PBS by Ken Burns on America's national parks. I just stumbled onto it and it was excellent.  PBS almost always shows these specials more than once, so watch for it.  I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was.  I looked forward to watching it every night. 

Probably Monday was my favorite of all the episodes.  Although they talked about several men who were instrumental in the preservation of the national parks my favorite was John Muir and they talked about him on Monday night. He was the first to take up the cause for preserving these majestic places on earth.   He was a naturalist and a spiritual man and from listening to them talk about him you could tell that he understood the oneness that we have with nature.  He also understood what God wanted us to get from spending time in these majestic places.  These places are healing to our souls and bodies and Muir referred many times that these beautiful places were the sanctuaries of God.  I think he understood if man could get away and visit these beautiful places that they wouldn't totally by taken over by materialism.  I haven't made it to the library yet but I plan on checking out some books and reading more about him.  He was very impressive and someone I want to learn more about.

It was really great and I would highly recommend it.

Quilts

I finished the baby quilt this weekend.  It took me all summer and my goal was to work on it at least an hour a day but that didn't always happen.  I'm a little past schedule but I'm DONE!  It feels great to finish a project.  I'm getting more disciplined as I mature ;).  Before the end of the year, I want to finish a wall hanging quilt I started for my oldest daughter 3 or 4 years ago, a huge pot that I'm putting ceramic tiles on, that's another project over a year old . Then there is another several projects for after the first of the year.  It will take me until the end of the year to get these two finished.  Below are pictures of what I have done on my daughter's quilt.  I want to tell you about it.

I gave this to my daughter 3 years ago for her birthday. I still needed even then to sew the edge around it and then it still needs to be finished off with another row of triangles.  I'll show you the finished product in the future. My embroidery could be a lot better.  I've learned a few tricks since I did the embroidery on this quilt and if you are a quilter extraordinaire don't look to close because there are plenty of mistakes.  But in spite of all the errors, this is made with much love. 

I'll start with the last square, look close and you will see a little baby gold heart.  This was a baby necklace that belonged to my daughter and I put it on the quilt.  While I was working on the quilt I got the wonderful idea to incorporate her jewelry as a child and a piece of jewelry from my great grandmother who had given it to my mother because she was named after my great grandmother and  my daughter is named after both of them. On one of the squares, there is a pin that says Anna and that pin is about 150 years old.  I thought it was a great idea to put it on the quilt because my daughter will get it some day and it may be one of those things that would just end up in a box in a drawer.  There is the letter A on one square and that is a necklace she received from her great aunt at her first ballet recital.  Another square says precious and cherished and this has a pin that was my grandmother's.  She always wore it when she would dress up.  The charm is a picture of my daughter and I bet we all have one of these stuck in a drawer;  that is if you are my age.  Back in the day, those little charms were part of a gift package you received when you had your child's picture made. 

I lucked out when I chose the fabric.  The quilt will go great with the colors my daughter is using in her home.  I will now start working on my daughter's quilt and hopefully in the near future I can show you the finished product.

I hope I have given you some ideas for a new project.