Life in the Bristolwood

And when times get tough, I bake cookies!  Yup.  Instead of making dinner late this afternoon, I somehow “short-circuited” and made cookies instead.  Now, you know things have been looking a bit dismal.  Yeah.  Well, I got out the cookbook and hand mixed a batch of Spritz cookies. 

I love Spritz.  I love them with frosting lavished on them with little sprinkles.  Mmmm…..actually, I am just a cookie monster, liking most varieties!  So….I got out my handy-dandy cookie press….placed some dough inside the cylinder…..put the press together…..pulled the trigger…..POW!!!  The cookie press broke. Imploded. I had to pick tiny bits of black plastic out of the dough. 

Thinking fast on my feet, I decided to convert my pressed creations (by the way, the press broke on the very FIRST cookie!) into Thumbprint cookies.  I rolled dough into delicate tiny balls, then placed my thumb into the center.  After all the cookies were on sheets for baking, I placed a bit of blueberry jam in each center.  Oh my!  The cookies were very good.

Don’t believe me?

Ask Murphy!

He climbed up on my chair when I left the room to place the first sheet in the oven.  He decided perhaps he needed to get a little more “personal” with my goodies!

Mark was sitting there next to Murphy, giving him tiny little pieces of cookie! 

As far as the Explorer goes, Mark is waiting on calls for several options.  In the end, it is likely we won’t get much for the vehicle.  I’m okay with that….We had hoped for a nice return to help pay for the new Subaru, but…..

Ah well!

I was feeling pretty chipper this morning.  Nearly restless!  So, I made a Blueberry Pie. 

Thinking that the guys would be working outside later, I decided to make up a batch of  Tomato Soup. Carly had told me the recipe in the book I have mentioned here (Slow Cooker Revolution) previously was delicious.  As a little aside….that book disappeared from its “home” for several days.  I searched everywhere…through drawers, dirty laundry,  under mattresses, all over the floors, and even the basement and garage.  The book was nowhere to be found.  Totally disappeared.

I was bemoaning the fact that I no longer have a BJ’s Wholesale Club membership as I had let it run out.  I had seriously begun to think that I would have to rejoin so I could buy another book.  Yes, THAT book is THAT important!

Well, as I sat in my favorite chair (rocking) the day before yesterday, there on the floor, next to the chair…..was my book! I immediately asked the kids if they had found it and placed it there.  Both of them got perturbed by my nagging and said they absolutely, positively did NOT put it there.  Nor did they find it.  So, I am now left with the explanation that the Lord knows just how important that book is…important enough to send an angel to place it where I would find it!

Phew…anyway, I made the tomato soup up in the Crockpot and let it cook.  Of course, what goes better with soup than a tasty loaf of bread?  I pulled out my bread machine book.  I never, ever use the machine anymore as I have found there is something therapeutic in kneading bread by hand!   I searched around and found a recipe for Carmelized Onion Bread. 

I love onions!  Mmmm…..Or maybe not! The recipe called for two onions.  The instructions were to cook the onions in butter until they were golden.  Then the liquid from the mix was to be placed in the mixing bowl.  I got quite a bit of thick, almost syrupy-looking liquid.  I mixed up the bread and then after it was almost finished being kneaded,  I added the (mostly dry) onions.  In working them into the dough,  I thought there were far too many onions.  I had used a huge onion instead of two smaller ones and it seemed there was just too much!

Well……let’s just say those onions cooked in butter sure were yummy! Here is how the bread turned out.

The tomato soup was a BIG thumbs up.  The bread was astronomical!  Yes!!! A winner, indeed.  Usually when I make bread, it gets too heavy.  This time, it was light, airy, and delish! I ate a tiny bowl of soup and a slice of bread.  Afterwards, I had a piece of pie.

By about four this afternoon,  my stomach looked like someone had pumped it up!  It was so bloated and let’s just say my “gastrointestinals” were revolting!  Apparently the probably quarter cup of onions I had demolished were now playing with my digestive system.  I am still experiencing some discomfort.  My stomach is making so much noise, it is ridiculous.

Wow….I cannot believe I just wrote about this whole situation….for awhile, I felt genuinely ill!  From now on,  I think I will not use giant onions….they might be just a tad upsetting to the stomach when “overdone”! 

So, tonight, I am so thankful we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.  It is so incredible that we were designed to recuperate from our over-indulgings!

I have no idea why I am so enamored with the eagle down in Woodville.  I think about it all the time and every time I see an eagle (there is probably more than one that roosts in that tree, I would think) it is as though I have never seen one before.

Yesterday, Michelle and I went kayaking in the morning.  The sky was a tad dark…almost “colorless”,  and I hoped we could paddle awhile any rain might come. Michelle hadn’t tried out the new kayak yet, and we wanted her opinion.  My own opinion is that the new kayak is much easier to paddle. It goes through the water much smoother and faster. When Ben tried the kayak the night before,  he also was sold!

Michelle convinced me to inflate the little yellow kayak Iwould be using (believe me, it was hard going back to the inflatable!!!) before we left home.  One yellow kayak and the new one easily fit into the back of the pickup truck with only about three feet hanging over the tailgate.  We arrived at the launch and there was an eagle…sitting in the tree once again!

I was so happy to paddle over to the eagle…unfortunately,  the lighting was miserable, but I took  lots of photos anyway!

Michelle and I decided to cross the lake over to the other side where there is a lagoon.  We paddled over the mouth of the west river and to the lagoon where the water was so calm!

I asked Michelle what she thought about the new kayak and she said it was “okay”.  When I turned around to talk to her,  Michelle was off in some greenery, trying out the  new kayak’s maneuverability.  Yeah, Michelle….the new kayak is okay, indeed!  Truth be told,  although we loved the inflatables,  their bottom is much flatter than the new kayak.  When we paddled over seaweed and plants,  the yellow kayaks would balk and complain about continuing on.  The new kayak glides right along with each stroke!  One funny thing that happened was that once we were petty far out in the lake,  Michelle said the new kayak was leaking! I looked at her and asked if there was water visibly coming into the boat.  After she said “no”,  I told her that as that new kayak breaks through the water, it makes a noise like running water!  She then confirmed that was the case!

Even though she never said so, I think Michelle was impressed!

Michelle called me over to take a photo of what she called “ a natural bouquet”.  Tiny Forget-Me-Nots seemed to appear from nowhere at the base of some pretty wild irises, mixed in with greenery.  Michelle was right…it was very pretty!

We lingered on a bit, just enjoying the tranqility and nice surroundings. We finallybegan heading back, but before we left, we went over to admire the majestic eagle just one more time. 

When we got home, it was time for Mark, Ben, and I to be off and running on a myriad of errands.  We were out for much of the  day and by the time we got back home, we were all tired!

This morning, the phone rang early and Carly asked if we might want to get together. She and the girls came down and the kids played in the pool until we called them out for a late lunch. I’m not sure if we were starving, or if the food was truly that good, but everything was delicious! Carly cooked chicken on the grill to perfection!  I had made a bean salad and Carly brought down some fresh loaves of bread.  She grilled some asparagus and it was awesome, too! Everyone ate well…the kids must have been very hungry!

I was happy when lunch was done and I could bring out dessert….

I had made a pumpkin roll andit was also a hit! I was happy with how this turned out because Wegman’s sells half  logs for (I think) over $6.00.  This was so easy to make and everyone  liked  it.  Yay for quick and easy desserts!

Especially with the new swing hung up!

Mom, we love that afghan….Michelle brought it out for a little added warmth because of the chill, and it looks so pretty on the swing! (But it won’t stay there….it is back on the couch in the living room)  Angus liked it, too.  He saton that swing for well over half an hour!  He has such a nice vantage point from the swing.

Miniature hyacinths in the front garden.  My Daffodils are quickly fading away, so these prolific growers are adding some color out front!

And, finally…

Last night’s dessert.  Oh, this was so good!

No, I have been here. I have just been overwhelmed by day to day life in general.  As I watched the days passing by one after another,  I decided I would wait until December first to begin posting once again.

In all honesty, life has been so full of this, that, and the other thing, I just thought a break would be beneficial to my overly-stimulated brain cells!  I keep bumping into myself coming and going and I was feeling a bit “fragile” to be perfectly frank.  Life has been one activity followed by another…most not lending themselves to my photography addiction and that made me feel so distraught! 

Soo….where do I begin?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Ben and I began working on painting his bedroom.  Poor Ben. He had been given a small room and it was painted a (very!) pale pink color on the walls.  I loved that pink, as it really didn’t appear to be pink. When Ben was about ten, he decided pink was not his choice of color.  Taking matters into his own hands (quite literally, indeed!) he worked frantically, using an office stapler to mount newspapers and old maps to cover what he insisted was a hideous color.

Ben learned how to not only spackle, but also repair walls with some major flaws in them! He worked for a long time, removing those small staples and filling in the holes.  He had also made some larger holes in the walls so he learned how to repair those as well. 

After visiting the home centers a few times and bringing home scads of color chips to mull over, Ben decided on a color called “Fretwire”.  *as in the wire used to form the frets on a guitar*  I thought the color might also be called buckskin, as it reminds me of that color. (really dating myself here…remember when there *weren’t* zillions of colors available?)

Here is a photo of the freshly painted room.

This photo seems a little light to me, but you can see it looks very nice with the moulding and floor. Too bad. Well, about the floor, anyway, as Ben wants to put down some carpeting.  Argh. Oh, hey, Ben’s ceiling isn’t boring white, either!  The color is Swiss Coffee.  Doesn’t that sound like something one would want to awaken to?

Mark and Ben have some plans for building a bed and finishing the room.  I will show photos as the room progresses.

This is the time of the year when we begin to think about decorating.  One of the projects we undertake is a Christmas wreath on Mark’s dad’s grave.  Al really loved Christmas, so this is really special. This year, I asked Mark if we might try doing the wreath ourselves.  We usually go to a business across the road from the cemetery, but I thought we might try our hand at this.  As it worked out, we bought a gorgeous wreath from Wegman’s.  The only thing I had put on at this point was the bow. (and yes, most always a lovely plaid!)

Michelle saw me decorating the wreath and thought she might like to give this a try, so I stepped aside. This is what she wound up creating.

I was thrilled with the end result, as was Mark.  The most surprising outcome of our do it yourself effort is that it cost about one-half of the price we typically spent.  And, it had a lot more decorations!

Thanksgiving was the 25th of November this year.  Carly had asked if we wanted to join her and her family at her in-laws’ home this year. Wow, Carly offered to make the entire feast (with lots of helo from her three kids) and I wasn’t about to let an offer like that go! 

Madeline and Cy are the most awesome hosts and we spent the hours talking and laughing, sharing stories and just having so much fun!  Carly and the kids were bustling about in the kitchen when we arrived and it was awesome watching them work!

So, here are some photos of the most awesome feast!

That turkey could not have been any more perfectly browned! It looked like something from a magazine!!! (Carly used some recipes she had found in magazines to prepare this amazingly executed fare.)

Carly spent so much time creating this fit-for-a-king meal.  The bread used in making the stuffing was made by Carly! Carly’s Sarah has an allergy to soy and soy-based products, so Carly is careful about making food without those culprits.  It is tough sometimes, but she has been doing it long enough that it isn’t so taxing anymore.

Oh my, those devilled eggs were good! Carly made the mayonnaise used in making them as well since most mayonnaise contains some soy or soy products. The stuffing to the left of the eggs was awesome with cranberries and pecans included! On the very left of the photo is the delicious cranberry sauce she made.

By the way, isn’t that table elegant?  Madeline had created a most beautiful atmosphere in which to enjoy the meal! I loved the colors….everything really was picture-perfect!

The one dish I loved that I probably overate on was Brussel Sprouts and grapes.  I thought the combination really different, but it was lip-smacking good!

Oh, the rolls behind the Brussel Sprouts and Grapes were my (humble) contribution.  Carly had initially asked me to make an apple pie, but later asked if I could bring rolls instead. I love making rolls, so I was happy to do so.

Mmmm….there was rice with cranberries as well. There were amazing bite-sized biscuits with Chai and cranberries and simply amazing mashed potatoes with celery root.

The flowers on the table just added to this special meal!  Everything was fantastic!  I enjoyed this day so much. It was obvious that Carly and the kids had put a lot into this special holiday. Carly also made the most scrumptious pumpkin pie!

After a most filling meal, the women retreated to the kitchen to put away leftovers.  The kids went to the family room to enjoy some Wii games and Mark and Ben visited with Cy for quite some time. Cy had set up his bass guitar, thinking Ben might like to give it a try.  Ben thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity and was impressed by some things Cy showed him and Mark.

It seemed like the time flew by…as always, times flies when the occasion is enjoyable!

Thanks again, Madeline, Cy, Carly, and all who contributed to make this day one of the most memorable ones we have enjoyed!  I am just sorry this is so late!

Yesterday morning, Michelle went to work at our friend Cindy the piemaker’s house.  How I would have loved to sneak past Mark and Ben and gone back to bed!  But no, I did not.  Instead, I was a good wife and mom and drove my ATV down in the woods to participate in another (dreaded) burning of brush.

I guess the main reason for my vacillating is that I just hate burning.  On the other hand,  what was being burned was indeed in need of being burned! 

That piece of “tree” isn’t really a tree at all, but rather, a section of grapevine that Ben had cut.  We had an area of woods where wild grapevine was growing rampantly and causing any tree that crossed its path to grow distorted (by strangulation), or even worse,  killing it. 

Ben to the rescue!  Ben worked in an area about 60 feet by 60 feet,  severing vines and setting saplings free of their death  grip!  He freed so many trees and cut the offensive vine into small sections that could be easily burned.

You can see in the above photo that there are some saplings in the fire as well.  Ben’s rule was that if a tree was 80% covered in grapevine,  it needed to be cut down.  Most of these saplings were growing irregularly-some were even nearly doubled in half under the grips of that horrible vine!

Ben and I worked all day long,  pruning, lopping, and chainsawing grapvine.  We also found some treetops that had been left by loggers on the property over 20 years ago.   Ben cut those pieces into small sections as well, and we burned them.  The fire never got very big, but it did burn on and on for what seemed like forever!

Ben and I were alone in the woods when Mark went to pick Michelle up from work,  so Ben decided to entertain me with a little something he had picked up at a WalMart in one of our journeys….

I sat in a chair and watched the show, but it sadly only lasted less than a minute!  (it was very small and didn’t make any noise)

Late this morning,  I decided to try my hand at baking some Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.  I had purchased a Mennonite cookbook a few days ago when we went to the store at Seneca Falls. The book is a compilstion of recipes from Mennonite ladies here in the Finger Lakes Region.  It is chock-full of all sorts of yummy-sounding recipes!

Oh, the background for the plate of cookies is my freshly painted taupe floor on the front porch!  We are still keeping everyone off the porch, but I’m sure it is good and dry by now.

And, speaking of the porch-here is a photo of the southwestern corner.  While this was the only pole finished before today,  I was able to complete two more this afternoon! 

The family thought my choice of “Apple a DayRed” on the poles was a bad one at first, but in seeing them get completed,  the red seems a little less bold. Last week, when the weather was so terribly hot, it was impossible to paint, as the paint seemed to dry faster than I could apply it!  I am working with some small brushes to do this painting as larger ones would make cutting-in so difficult and probably a mess! I have only three more poles and then the porch will be all done, although I think some touchup might be required in the deep brown here and there.

Oh, and yes, you do see autumn shaded leaves on that maple tree….The sad part is that as soon as the leaves begin to get their color,  they seem to disconnect from the branches and end up on the ground!

was that I would try to post an entry each day here on my blog.

Phooey! I have no photos today! 

The kids and I went out early this  morning to deal with the snow so Mark could plow with the ATV.  While shoveling,  I must have pulled something in my back, or twisted funny, as my back grumbled a great deal the rest of the day.

I was able to find another fun activity, though…..namely, going through what seems like zillions of receipts for items bought this year. I checked them with the statements issued by the credit card company, as well as our bank statements.  I worked on these until I thought my eyeballs would spin out of their sockets.  I had just leaned back and thought how comforting my bed would be when Ben came to the rescue, offering to further help me.  We worked together for a couple more hours, sorting and filing until we both vowed we were going to open the window and just let them sail away in the bitter winds~

I also made some hot dog buns today.  I had bought some Kosher hotdogs that I like, but they are incredibly large.  No matter what kind of buns I have bought, they always seem to come up short.  So,  I actually made the buns from scratch, even kneading them by hand!  I made up a batch of eight, and when I removed them from the oven,  Ben and Michelle were both razzle-bedazzled by their beautiful golden color.  I made eight and we each had one.  Ben and Michelle said they were good, but Mark didn’t comment….he had spent some time in the garage today, working on a wood project with Michelle.  I had made a fire in the little Jotul out there so they were relatively warm,  but they both came in and went almost immediately to bed!

The weather is the big news here….seems snow is in the forecast….over and over! Hopefully, my back will straighten back out by tomorrow! As an aside, we only got about 6 inches of the fluff, whereas my parents saw nearly 36 inches! How I miss living in the snowbelt….

After hearing rain pounding on the rooftop the past couple of nights,  it was refreshing to awaken to a less damp start to the day! Yes, I generally grumble too much because of our lack of snow, but this morning,  the temperature had dropped after the deluge of rain and the results were quite pretty!

I walked about the yard, enjoying all the scenery….

But I just loved what Jack Frost painted on the hood of the Explorer!

The sun was brilliant and the skies a crystal sapphire blue!

As I walked the wooded path behind the house,  I couldn’t help but think how springlike everything was looking…and feeling, as the temperature rose!

In all my euphoria, I noticed a ziplock bag lying on the ground behind the house.  I walked down and snatched it up, only to realize what it was.  You might remember me mentioning here that a beautiful bluebird had met an untimely death trapped in our woodstove.  I had taken a ziplock bag and placed it inside, then placed it inside another bag.  Well, the winds apparently whipped the thing about and it ended up behind the house. (not sure where the outer bag ended up!)  Anyway,  I thought since not everyone has seen an Eastern Bluebird up close,  I would show the beautiful coloration of the bird before I took it to the dump today.

Kudos to Nikon for lenses that are spot on! The color of this bird is perfect…I did nothing to “doctor” the photo.  I am sorry if the photo is disturbing…I know Mark and the kids would probably balk if they knew I showed this. These birds are fairly hard to find.  Their natural habitation is open fields and orchards.  Their population had fallen so that people were encouraged to build Bluebird nesting boxes.  The last I heard, their population had been increasing because of the boxes people placed on fences and poles.

I will leave you with something far more pleasing!

Yes,  I baked a small army of Gingerbread Boys!  I have never made these before and it was fun! Ben looked at them and asked if I was really going to let people *eat* them!  He must have thought they looked more complex than they really were….thank heaven for the wonderful tubes of Wilton’s icing for decorating!

This morning,  after bounding out of bed and doing my daily chores,  I decided to use some of the grapes I picked up yesterday.  Concord Grapes are one of my favorites!

I love the purply-blue skins on the Concords.  I also have a lot of fantastic memories of going to Lake Erie vineyards and orchards as a youngster….My parents would take us to pick bunches of the sugary treats fresh from the vines.  If I close my eyes and breathe in deeply,  I can smell the luscious seasonal bunches!  We usually picked a bushel or two of Cortland Apples first, then we would head to the vineyards.  We were handed sharp clippers to make short work of snipping bunches into our waiting baskets.  We would fill the baskets as full as possible, then set them on a huge scale to be weighed….Oh, what memories!

So, in honor of my childhood memories,  I created four quart-sized jars of grape pie filling…..

And baked a fresh crumb-topped grape pie.  I cannot wait to taste the pie as I added a few litle “extras” into both the pie as well as the topping.

Memories….the stuff we are made of… Memories are so fabulous so long as they don’t trip us up!

The kids are having their friends over late this afternoon for some fun in the pool (probably hot tub as well) and dinner.  Michelle had thought about hotdogs for dinner, but  we talked about it and decided upon grilled chicken,  potato salad,  rolls, and chocolate cake for dessert.

No problem with the potato salad.  I prepared it before eight this morning and it has been in the refrigerator since.  I baked a chocolate cake from scratch.  This one is a killer!!! I really am not fond of chocolate, but this cake is more like a moist, chewy, delicious chocolate brownie with lots of walnuts in it!  The only problem was,  I didn’t have any shortening to grease my bundt pan.  I thought perhaps a little oil with a light coating of flour might work, but I thought wrong.  The “top” of the cake still remains in the pan. ARGH!!! It’s okay….I am sure the kids won’t mind.

So…..

That leaves the chicken.  I got the chicken out to thaw.  I put just a bit of teriyaki sauce on it, because that seems to give it a good flavor.  Then, I got out my Kickin’ Chicken grinder bottle by Weber.  My family adores this seasoning. We all know that freshly-ground spices always tase better, no?

I had a ten-pound bag of chicken to season.  Have you *any* idea how PAINFUL it becomes to one’s wrists to repeat a grinding action over….and over…..and over again?  So, I am sitting on the couch now, complaining because “this is just taking far too long”!

Enter Ben.

Ben takes said bottle of seasoning and reassures me he will grind up as much as I need.  While he is swinging.  Reluctantly, I hand over the bottle, aware he really has helped me with this task previously. Ben walks to his room, then comes back through the living room with a smile on his face and a roll of duck tape in his hand. 

“I’ll be back”! 

Several minutes later, the door bursts open and in comes Ben, grinning ear to ear! I look and see Mark’s unmistakable green cordless drill in Ben’s hot little (well, not so little) hands.

Remember, Mark went to college for Mechanical Engineering!  When I saw this, my mind flashed the thought that this must have been the kind of thing my mother-in-law dealt with when Mark was a lad! Ben placed the grinder directly above the bowl the chicken was in, revved the motor, and….

Within seconds, the chicken was coated in the delightful seasoning.  Not sure how Mark might take this, I took the “modified” drill to him and I suddenly recognized the SAME silly grin Ben had on his face just a while before!  Thus, Michelle took her turn with the contraption.   And, Mark took his turn, calling out all sorts of wild claims about this new invention.  He sounded *just like* Billy Mays!  It was so funny, I nearly fell down laughing!

A  while later,  I got my computer and went to my Twitter account.  I noticed Billy Mays’s name come up.  How funny! It was then that I read of his untimely death and felt so bad.  When I told Mark and Ben, they both looked as though they had lost a dear friend….they said watching his show was one of their highlights! 

Rest in peace, Billy Mays!