7 Things About Me and Passing on the Award

An Oklahoma Granny and my friend, Dolly, from Consider The Lillies passed this award onto me. I am supposed to post 7 things about myself that most do not know.  I will try, but honestly, I think I am a pretty boring person and what you have seen so far from me is what you get.  But I will try to search the crevices of my mind and see if I can come up with any interesting facts.  Okay, here goes....


1.  When I was about 11 years old I decided to run away from home because I had gotten punished for something.  I guess I really didn't have the concept down because I left my house and went straight to my grandmother's house (she immediately called my mother who didn't even know that I was missing yet). This  escapade added a few days to my punishment but I also got the silent treatment from my heartbroken mom which was worse than anything else.

2. I have never been on an airplane and I have no desire to ever go on one either.

3. I can't swim and I live in Florida with a pool in my yard.  My poor kids weren't allowed in the pool until their father came home from work or another adult was present who could swim.

4. I found that history definitely does repeat itself.  My husband and I got secretly married and remarried a year later publicly on our 1 year anniversary.  History repeated itself with our oldest daughter who did the same thing.

5.  I accepted the Lord when I was twenty after reading the book 'The Late Great Planet Earth' by Hal Lindsey. My husband (then boyfriend) spoke often of this book that I had to read it. Immediately after reading it I went out and bought my first Bible. Many years later someone asked us the question if there was a specific person in our life that we could pinpoint that helped lead us to our decision for Christ. Naturally I said my husband because of his conversations with me about this book. To my shock, my husband's answer was me. I never knew that he had not accepted the Lord until after I had read the book and we would read and study the Bible together.


6.  I flipped my car and landed in a ditch on the side of the Long Island Expressway when I was a teenager.  I wasn't speeding but it was raining and it was kind of a freak accident.  The car was totaled, the roof smashed down and all, but the three of us that were in the car walked away without a scratch.
 
7. I miss my grandchildren and I can't wait to move to be near them.....okay, so anyone who has read my blog already knows this but I couldn't think of anything else.  Sorry!
 
The seven I pass this award onto are:
 
1.  Rachel from Breathing vs. Living
2.  Andrea from Under Grace and Over Coffee
3.  Rhoda from Southern Hospitality
4.  Michele from The Homesteading Apartment
5.  Katy from The Country Blossom
6.  Nen from Living The Small Town Life
7.  Penny from The Comforts of Home

My First Local Craft Fair

Christina came over today and told me that she signed up for her first local craft fair and suggested that I sign up also.  I thought about it for about 5 minutes and decided to do it.  About 16 years ago, a friend and I had a craft booth in a flea market but that was an every weekend thing, not a craft fair so this is going to be my first.  I have been making jewelry for a few years now, so I have an abundance of stock and Etsy has been a little slow for me and Artfire even slower, so I am ready to make a few sales at a fair.  Why not try, right?! I got 3 weeks to get organized and figure out a display.  Aside from the jewelry I have a number of cowl neck scarves that I crocheted that I will also try to sell, though that might be a hard sell for Florida weather.  A gift for family up north maybe.....

Sophia's 4th Birthday

Returned home last night from a weekend trip to Alabama.  We went there for my granddaughter's 4th birthday. My granddaughter, Sophia, and my friend, Dolly, share the same birthday and Dolly lives in Alabama too so I got to see her for her birthday also, though the weekend went entirely too fast.

Mommy and Daddy got her a new bike for her birthday.

Sophia's party was held at a place that had all those blow-up, bouncy things inside and out.  Sophia chose the outside waterslide section and the weather was perfect for it. Very HOT!!  All the kids (big and small) enjoyed themselves slipping and sliding down the waterslide. And the grandparents (both sets) enjoyed the show.


Sophia in mid air bouncing down the waterslide.



No More Freezing

No, I am not talking about the weather.  It is nothing but HOT and MUGGY here in Florida.  I am talking about my laptop.  I have an older Gateway laptop that has been dropped. 

old laptop

I had a friend who knows a lot about computers check it out and fix some of the problems(like taking an hour to turn on and load, now it only takes about 2 minutes), but he couldn't fix the intermittent freezing.  When it froze, that was it, it didn't come back, you had to turn it off and then back on.  Well, lately the freezing was happening much more often.  Like every half hour, and sometimes within 3 minutes of turning the computer on.  It was very frustrating!! Well, thanks to Best Buys sale this weekend and my wonderful husband, I am now the proud owner of a new Dell laptop. 

new laptop

I found it so exciting to be able to play a game of GemSwapII and not have it freeze up on me, or actually read some of your blog posts. Hooray!  I am back. Now all I have to do is get used to Windows 7.

Computer Problems

Been having computer issues.  I was working on my computer until 4 in the morning.  I think I finally have it fixed.  Time will tell.

Back To Crafting....Just A Little

A few weeks ago while in Joann Fabrics, looking for fabric to make new curtains for my kitchen, I came across this book. Most of the 'retro' crafts shown in this book were pretty cheesy looking even for a kid to produce but there were a few that caught my eye. Because this was the only copy of the book and it was damaged (notice the face with the cut marks) I got it for half price. But why would I want to buy it if I thought the crafts were so cheesy?

Because of these!!

When I was a kid, my grandmother would have a village display of these houses under her tree each year. I was totally entralled by them and would sit and stare for hours and imagine about the little people that might live in them. She would make rolling hills and ice skating ponds and a whole little winter wonderland under her tree. It was because of my childhood memories of her tree that I started collecting ceramic lighted village houses when I got married. The only difference was I couldn't stage my village under the tree because my houses were a tad too big. Oh, I have enough houses to make several villages in different rooms of my house complete with the 'Mr. Christmas' skating rink, but it just doesn't have the same feel as when I was small and gazing under my grandma's tree. Well, this book had the instructions on how to make these little houses.

The books suggests using wrapping paper to dress up the outside of the houses. Personally, I don't care for the ones in the picture above, they aren't reminisent of my grandma's. The first picture is more along the lines of the ones she had.

The ones in this picture aren't so bad. I could see using wrapping paper like this, though after my first attempt (which is below), I think I am going to try and stick to solid colors for the houses and keep more to the original design.

I didn't use wrapping paper on this house, I actually used a piece of felt and some trim. I added a little snow on the roof and a green door. Cute, but still not good enough....not like my grandma's. I am determined to make a village of these little houses to put under my tree this year so my grandchildren can sit and stare for hours and imagine their own little scenarios.

Rainbow Cookies

An Oklahoma Granny asked if I would share the recipe for these delicious Rainbow Cookies, so here it is:

1-8 oz. can of almond paste

3 sticks of butter, softened (1 and 1/2 cups)

1 cup of sugar

2 cups of flour

1 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp. salt

4 eggs

1 jar of seedless raspberry

12 oz chocolate chips

red and green food coloring

Oven temp: 350 degrees

Bake time: 12-15 minutes

Break up almond paste in a large bowl and beat in butter, sugar, eggs, and almond extract until light and fluffy. Beat in flour and salt. Split batter into 3 equal portions. Mix one portion with green food coloring and one with red food coloring, leaving the last portion as is. Spread each portion out to 1/4" thickness into the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Bake until lightly browned. Allow to cool. Place one layer on a cookie sheet and spread seedless raspberry jam on top, place uncolored layer on top and spread with raspberry again. Place remaining layer on top and melt chocolate chips and spread over top and sides. Chill for at least 1 hour or until firm. Slice into small rectangles.

I sure miss....

My friend Darlene recently posted about a jewish deli in Birmingham, Alabama that she tried and loved. When she talked about the different food that she and her family ordered, it made me start to think about all my favorite foods that I no longer get to enjoy because they just can not be found where I now live. I am a much more picky eater than she is, I don't like as varied a food choice as she does but I sure do miss some simple food pleasures. Things like a loaf of Italian bread. Oh, sure they sell Italian bread (or what they label as Italian bread) in the supermarkets, but it is not the same bread that I ate when I grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. The kind of bread that you buy in an Italian bakery, the kind with a hard thick crust. And speaking of Italian bakeries....cannoli's, black and white cookies, and my favorite...rainbow cookies, oh how I miss them all. There is an italian bakery in town and their stuff is good, but not really close enough to what I remember, something is missing. I have tried my hand at making these delicacies and found that my black and white cookies came out better than the local italian bakery, and my rainbow cookies aren't too bad either....but the bread just cannot be duplicated.

My rainbow cookies before I cut them.

And another thing that I miss is Spumoni. Real spumoni the kind that you get at Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn. We used to go there often when I was a kid. They served pizza and heros and italian food but on a hot summer night, nothing was better than spumoni from Spumoni Gardens.

Oh the memories!! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

I only dream about these delicious treats while living in Florida

but I guess it is just as well

'cause I would never lose weight if

I still lived in Brooklyn.