Some say love...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In honor of Valentine’s Day I thought I share a few thoughts on love. My outlook anyway. Especially since I am a romance writer, love is essential to achieving the satisfying happy-ever-after.

 

When I think of love my earliest memory is my mother’s love. The smell of her hands when she braided my hair. I believed that even if I were to ever go blind (you know how weird kids are) anyway, I believed I’d be able to pick out my mother just by getting close enough to breathe the soft trace of flowers. Roses, Honeysuckle or Lilac. The famous toilet water she purchased from the Fuller Brush man. But to me, the smell was love and it’ll always evoke memories of my mom.

 

Later, during my hippy-era of peace and free spirit, my love for plants, trees and every living organism began the mind-blowing decade of my teenage years. Have you ever just loved a ‘thing’ so much and imagined it personified? Back in the groovy seventies, love was a statement. Meant to be shared and embraced.  

 

Years later, after wedded bliss, loving on my babies and then grandchildren, love has taken on more important meaning. Now my mind’s eye sees that love is actually a gift. Everyone has experienced what it is to love and be loved. Love is power. The strength to endure, the power to achieve, to recognize their heart’s desire. Because of love.

 

 

Last night Bette Midler and The Rose  came on the radio and although I’d heard the song hundreds of times, for some reason the lyrics really spoke to me.

 

Phrases like: love, it is a hunger,

                     An endless, aching need.

 

                     It’s a dream afraid of waking,

                     That never takes a chance.

 

                     Just remember that in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows

                     Lies a seed that with the sun’s love
                     In the spring becomes the rose.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3SVXz3TFr8

Home timey recipes to warm the body and soul

This winter has been brutal and with so much snow, they've declared a state-or-emergency.
Which means there's nothing much to do. Oh, I could find plenty to do. I would love nothing better than to hole-up and read a good book, the bigger, the better.
I've already spent the weekend watching Centennial. And shoveled a neat path to the wood boiler outside, also to the dogs (we have four) and farther down to the chicken coop. Yep, it takes lots of hard work to keep everything watered and fed, and snuggly in their homes.
And then what??

Anyone with a family knows the next thing on the to-do list is what's for supper? I'm hungry.

So here's a few choice recipes to help keep the body warm on this chilly winter days.

Chicken & Dumplin's


Boil one chicken in salted water till done. Remove - cool and de-bone.

Add one can Campbells Chicken & Herbs soup into the chicken stock and stir until dissolved.
Turn the heat to a gentle med-low heat and add the chicken peices. Add salt, pepper to taste.

In a medium size bowl, add 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking powder, two tablespoon of oil and milk (about 1/2 cup) to make a nice sticky dough. On a floured surface, pat out and sprinkle generously with more flour. Flatten out gently with a rolling pin a little at a time, to about 1/4 in thick, cutting into squares and dropping into the pot. I work and cut a few at a time making nice bite sized dumplin's.
Cook with the lid on for ten minutes, then remove and continue to cook - gently stirring to prevent sticking. If the chicken wasn't very fat, you can add 1-or 2 Tbsp. butter to make a richer gravy.

Enjoy!



Fruit cocktail upside down cake


One large can of fruit cocktail
1 cup. brown sugar  and 1/2 cup melted butter. You can sprinkle cinnamon on this and nuts if you'd like.
1 yellow cake mix

Using a square cake pan add melted butter and sprinkle brown sugar. Next, drain the fruit cocktail and add to the pan.
Mix the cake mix according to directions and add on top of the fruit.

Place in a preheated oven at 350 and bake until done.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and allow the cake to cool for aprox. 5-10 minutes before flipping onto the other pan.

Yum! Best when eaten warm.




Southern fried Apples



5 or 6 apples, cored and sliced with skins on.
Heat 2 Tbsps. butter or margarine in a skillet and add the apples. Sprinkle heavy with brown sugar- about a cup, and cinnamon. Cook and stir until tender. I sometimes add raisins too and serve in a dish with vanilla ice cream or cool whip.



Got a craving for an icy? Try this :


1 glass milk, 1 tsp. vanilla and sugar to taste. Mix in a blender with crushed ice. You can add berries, or choco syrup or even strawberry jam to make a delicious icy.

Stay warm...stay inside...and stay safe!

A most joyous Christmas memory

I love Christmas!! Always have and always will. I love the shopping, the cooking, the visiting and even the cleaning. Everything that goes along with making Christmas bright makes me happy.

Imagine my surprise when my granddaughter asked if I'd ever thought about doing Christmas in January? She'd been considering it so she'd have the money to buy everyone on her list, and those even remotely related to her a present. I used this opportunity to reveal my thoughts about celebrating Christmas and what it means to me.

One night, eons ago, a star shone so brightly that even Kings dropped what they were doing and journeyed on foot (or on the backs of camels) to witness this miraculous event.
Common barn animals looked on in awe as the newborn uttered his first sounds while his mother wrapped him in swaddling clothes despite the expensive gifts laid at the babe's feet. Even though only a few were witness to this event, here we are, thousands of years later, re-telling the tale. Peace, Hope, and Love. God's greatest gift to all of mankind. To be celebrated. To be embraced. To be treasured and shared in our hearts and in the hearts of our children and their children on Christmas day. Without all the tinsel and fuss. Love for our neighbor, our family... a gift all its own.


And then, because grownups love to talk about how things were in their childhood, I went back. A long, way back-in-the-olden days, and shared with her a Christmas memory of mine and what made it so special.

The Tree

It was the first Christmas my brother and I would have without my father living in the house, since he and mom had divorced. Back in the sixties, women made very little money and I can remember our mom was always busy, ironing clothes or caring for the old lady down the street. We didn't have extra money to buy things other than the necessities, like food and heat. Presents were definitely not on the list that holiday season.
Still, as December progressed, my brother and I believed something good was bound to happen. We had faith that Christmas would prevail...somehow.

A snowy Christmas Eve found us hanging around the Xmas tree lot (a roped off  part of the Marathon gas station)  and trying to decide which of the remaining trees were the biggest. We brushed against thick, fluffy spruce and I remember the sticky feel and smell of cedar pine clinging to my fingers. It was nearly dark and the attendant- Mr. Pen, asked us if we had our tree yet. "No," we didn't.

Miraculously, he invited us to the pick of the lot, free of charge! Free! Nada! Zip! Eagerly we whipped through the maze of trees together stopping in front of the towering beauty. I can still recall the thrill of holding the pointy top-end of the biggest tree left while my brother held tight to the bottom. Working as a team we marched home with our beautiful Christmas tree.

Mom's face registered shock, then tears when she opened the door and stood aside as we struggled to get it inside our apartment. She agreed we could decorate it but confessed there wouldn't be anything to put underneath it. "We don't care," we said, and grabbed the paper chains and sparkly Styrofoam balls hanging from the window ledge. Before long we were stringing popcorn as mom hauled out a box of old ornaments. She told us how much she enjoyed stringing the silver icicles and her face glowed as she carefully placed them, one long strand after another, shimmering on the tree. At some point she must have put on Christmas music because I heard the soft carols being sung in the background.

Finally, the tree was finished and she turned off the lamp so we could watch the red, blue and green flashing lights. I'll never forget the warm embrace as she pulled me onto her lap and how my brother crawled up beside her in the chair- crowded, cozy and content. And we sang every Christmas song we knew, in the flickering glow, in the chair, together.

That was a Christmas to remember. And I've never forgotten how blessed I felt to have gotten such a wonderful tree. I'll always remember Mr. Pen, the nice old man who dressed in dirty coveralls and worked all year long on cars and repaired bicycle tires, except for last part of December when he made room in his lot for Christmas trees and opened his heart to us.

Oh, and the best part. Early Christmas morning I woke to hear someone banging on the door. I could smell cornbread and onions coming from the kitchen. I'd fallen asleep on the couch and was the first one to see my dad arrive, covered in snow and carrying an armload of gifts.

It was the best Christmas I ever knew.




Here's wishing you a most joyous holiday with family and friends.

Merry Christmas!!

Fast and Easy Pumpkin Roll

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1tsp. salt, 1tsp soda, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup flour



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp soft butter
1 cup powdered sugar




Spread onto greased & waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.
bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Will look dry.

Sprinkle a clean dish towel with powdered sugar on it.
Allow cake to cool in pan for about five -ten minutes and then loosen the edges and
flip cake onto the towel. Dust with more powdered sugar.

 

 

 

Roll up gently and allow to cool (I like to put mine on the porch during a crisp fall day)
Unroll and smooth filling eveningly.

 

 

 

 

 

Transfer to a cake plate and one final dusting of powdered sugar.

Enjoy!



** Note: At the time of this photo the family had already arrived. I barely got the picture taken before
they swooped in and gobbled up the rest.

Lucille Ball - Ball of Fire

I’ve loved Lucy for a long time and its great to be able to pop in an I Love Lucy re-run and laugh my troubles away. Doesn't matter if its the iconic I Love Lucy television show we’ve all come to know and love or the later version of The Lucy Show, with Gale Gordon, countless movies, Fancy Pants or Yours, Mine and Ours, and Mame, the broke socialite who inherits a boy.

No doubt about it...Lucy was funny.

But she also had a keen business head. Her top concerns were putting on a good show no matter which side of the curtain she found herself on. As an actress or business tycoon turning a profit for Desilu, Lucille Ball was smoking hot!  .

The fiery red head with her keen ability to know what makes a hit is legendary.

With Lucy at the helm of Desilu productions, she recognized the potential of two very interesting proposals that came across her desk.

When other executives refused to back her up, the stubborn read head made the decision- giving the green light to what would become sci-fi sensation.

If not for Lucy, these shows might not have gotten on the air.

Lucy was determind: Star Trek – and Mission Impossible -would be produced with or without their support.



Because of Lucy and her willingness to journey the unknown and go where no one else had ever gone before, we enjoyed the ride.

Other successful shows we’ve enjoyed thanks to Lucy:

Dick Van Dyke Show and The Andy Griffith show were produced by Desilu Studios

We met single father Fred MacMurray with his three boys and one grumpy uncle Charlie in My Three Sons.

Who says you can’t have it all? Lucy certainly did!

Summer time- perfect time- for finding great stuff!

I love everything about summer! The grilling outdoors, no messy kitchen to attend to. Soft breezy days, and I especially love staying up later. After all, it doesn't get dark until 10:00- I've even gone on a coon hunt through the orchard with my hubby! Course all that walking and crisp, night air tires me out sooner than it used to.


But, another great thing about summer...Garage sales! Seriously, like on any given weekend you can find one yard after another filled with 'stuff'. You know what they say. One man's junk...another man's treasure.

Here's a few things I've managed to add to my collection.

You may remember awhile back when I found the darling Wicked Witch doll- designed by Madame Alexander dolls especially for MacDonalds. Well, you can imagine my delight when I hit upon these two.


The Scarecrow

                                  And Cowardly Lion....

The search is on for the Tin-man and Dorothy. I'll get you, my pretty....and your little dog too!



Another part of summer I really enjoy is to sit on the porch swing and do absolutely nothing.

Except play around.  This is a handmade paddle with chicks that heads bob up and down at the corn in the middle.

Here's a table someone's taken the time to hand paint a floral design on. The neat thing about this is that the top is removable, so it can be used as a tray.

 

 

 

 

And added more dishes to my collection: by Royal- The Old Curosity Shop

Just in case I need reminded which steak is rare and which one is well done....
These little wooden picks.  Aren't they adorable?

 

 

 

 

Well, there's still plenty of days to summer. I plan to enjoy every single one. And I hope you do too!

I got a new washing machine!

 

 So I got a new washing machine. No, it's not one of those fancy smancy front-end loaders. Although I'll admit I'd love to have one. This beauty literally landed in my lap for free and ended up on my porch, country style!

 

What type washing machine is it that has my heart beating faster than a speed cycle?

 

 

 

Wha-la! 

 

 

 

A Speed Queen with a huge stainless steel tub large enough to hold  kinds of heavy comforters, rugs or even thick hunting coats and coveralls.

 

Check it out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t she great? I say she 'cause us girls stick together when it comes to age and such, but I'm estimating this particular Speed Queen to have been manufactured around 1940-1950. Her value, probably about $400.00. And I'll bet this heavy duty washing machine has seen many loads of clothes, bedspreads, blankets, you name it. That tub's reaaaalllly big! Imagine, because of this niffty appliance, countless of children marched off to school in freshly laundered little duds.

Although a wringer washer requires a little more work than what we're used to, like feeding the clothers through the rolling pins, and then rinsing them in an entirely different wash tub filled with water (that gets sudsy quicker than you think) it sure beats some of the other washing machines.

Like this one:  I don't think it'd hold more
than a couple pair or blue jeans.

 

 

 

 

Yep, no doubt this invention was greeted wholeheartedly by women everwhere. Much easier than this good ol' fashioned wash board, right? And try using homeade lye soap made from animal fat! 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at that face! She's actually smiling? Wash day...happy day. What'dya think?