My Fancy Smanchy Book Review

 

Jane Austen anything = EXCELLENT

The End

Smile

Found this sweet idea on her blog.  Knew it was something that I wanted to make as well since I loooooove bunting banners.  I have a project brewing in my head using this idea for a wee little girl who will be making her appearance in my world sometime in April.  Stay tuned......

Mama's Camera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never know what I am going to find when I turn on my camera.  But one thing is for sure...when I see these two faces....it is going to be a hug in my heart.

Ice Ice Baby

 This has been an interesting couple of days for us.  We awoke Monday morning to no power.  It went off around one o'clock in the morning.  Ice was thick around my house.  This is my screen door out onto our deck.  Frozen shut.  We were without power for 36 hours total.  The news said that 46,000 people in my community were out.  We were one of the unlucky ones.  Our house got down to 45 degrees inside!  It was time to break out every single blanket we owned. 

 One of the trees in our neighbors back yard used to stand upright...it does not anymore.

 I was thankful that we had a gas stove.  This is my first gas stove.  I tried igniting the flame and it would not work.  I fretted for a moment because I was going to make something warm for my family to drink and I needed to boil some water.  I figured out that I just needed a match to light the burner and I was soon in business. Who knew that I needed some electricity for a gas stove??  Not me!  I kind of felt like this guy after I got the fire going....

 

 Hee Hee!

 

 I made our little cups of hot tea and warmed up our insides. 

I offered this fellow $50.00 for his warm fur coat but he did not take me up on it.

Here he is surveying the damage outside from my sewing room..nice and toasty in his fur coat I might add.

This picture was taken from my cell phone but you can see the ice on the trees.  The girls and I thought it looked like Narnia.

What I don't have pictures of is my dear friends and their LARGE GENEROUS hearts.  I got a call on my cell phone from my sweet friend checking up on me.  She still had power and was checking up on us.  She insisted we come to her home and camp out until the power came back on.  Which we did.   And boy were we thankful!  How can you repay someone for their generous hospitality?  She and her hubby feed us yummy food and gave us a warm bed to sleep in.  Priceless I tell you....priceless.

I have been seeing women all over blog land talking about Spring and they were ready for it to come.  I am officially on that band wagon.  Come on Spring.....I am soooo ready for you!!

Smitten With My Kitten

Dreams

Lately I have been thinking about my life.  What I would do if I knew I would not fail.  Do you have any dreams like that?  I sure do.  I have a list tucked away in a secret place of things I would love to do someday.  Not really a bucket list....just some of my dreams or wishes/wants for my life.  Some people would scoff at them if they knew what they were.  I would hear things like..."you are to old for that now" or "that costs to much money to be able to do that" or simply "that is a silly pipe dream."  But the thing is....God knows my dreams.  He knows what I would love to do.  He knows my secret desires.  And you know what....He would not laugh at me.  He would not tell me my dreams are silly.  He would be my biggest cheerleader.  He would do the same thing for you as well.  :)

Lately I have been telling God some of my dreams.  Like He does not know them anyway...but I tell Him none the less.  I will share one with you.  I would love to live on a small farm in the country.  I would love to have a very very small flock of sheep.  Not for eating mind you.  Nope.  These little darlings would be for wool.  And simply for me to tend to.  That is it.  Just a very small hobby.  There is a couple large sheep farms close to where I live.  I have driven by them so many times.  I have even parked my car and gotten out and coaxed the sheep to the fence to visit with me a time or two or eleven.  I even touched a nose once.  I love them.

I found this video of a sheep and a doggie one day on this wonderful blog.  I laughed and laughed when I watched it.  I would love to see this someday with my own eyes and my own animals.  I did not know sheep bounced!  Did you?

What kinds of dreams do you have?  Is there anything you would love to do if money or time or nothing could stand in your way?

Happy Love Day

Hope you have a wonderful day today celebrating those you love.

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (NIV)

The Fairy Door

 When I found out about our moving to Michigan, I began to research this great state.  One of the things I found was an article about Ann Arbor and something fun they do there.  Fairy doors.  There are several business and places around town that have little doors where the fairies are said to come and go.  I loved this idea!  What fun!!  I used to read fairy stories to my girls all the time when they were little.  We had wings where we would dress up during the day and pixie dust to help us sleep at night.  You know...to keep the monsters away.  :)  So, when it came time to give my husband hints for Christmas, I knew I wanted a door for our house.

I have done some fun things with my door.  I decorate it for the different seasons....just to make it more fun and whimsical.   Now, it is adorned with hearts for Valentines Day.

My girls are growing up now.  No more fairy books or pixie dust for them anymore.  But, it is good to be silly sometimes and pretend with our little pink door in this oh-so-serious world.

My husband likes to tease me about the door.  He tells me that we have a wonderful coffee fairy that comes out to make yummy hot creamy coffee for us each morning.  But when he is gone traveling for work and is staying in hotels....he tells me that the coffee fairy did not come to visit him there.  Hummmm...funny....she comes out and makes it for me.  :)

I've Got Mail

 Yesterday was a wonderful day for me!  I got home from the vet's office and found a package on my doorstep.  Usually all the packages that come are for my husband due to his job.  But this one had MY name on it.  And it was from a wonderful woman that I have meet thru the blogging world.  Sweet Trish sent it to me!!  I scurried into the house and quickly took off my coat and gloves so I could see what was inside.

 I knew it was going to be something wonderful with this written on the outside!

And this is what was inside!!  A sweet note from her to me.  Some Mary Engelbreit recipe cards.  Boy does she know me well!  A wonderful quilting magazine that I have already devoured page by page dreaming about making projects from it.  And lastly....the most darling quilted  runner that she had made with her own two hands.  For me.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  I would be lying if I said there were not tears involved with me opening this.  I have heard that it is not a quilt without tears, but I always thought that meant tears from the one who made it.  But today, I have discovered that saying can also mean from the one who receives.  Thank you so much sweet friend for your gift of kindness to me.  It is perfect and I love it all. 

Little Cherry Bombs

This little recipe just screams Valentines Day to me.  That is....if you like chocolate and cherries together....which I do.  

 

 Tiny Chocolate Cherry Bombs

2 10 oz jars maraschino cherries

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup melted and cooled butter

2 tablespoons cherry juice

1 ½ tsp vanilla

1 egg

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1 cup powdered sugar for the icing

Rest of cherry juice left from draining cherries

1.     Line mini muffin tin with bake cups.  Paper or foil works fine.  Drain cherries, reserving the juice for later.

2.    In large mixing bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add milk, cooled butter, 2 Tablespoons cherry juice and vanilla.  Beat with a mixer on low until combined.  Add egg and beat for another minute until blended.

3.    Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup.  Push a cherry into batter of each cup.

4.    Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes or until cakes spring back when lightly touched.  Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes in pan.  Remove cupcakes from pan and place on wire racks to cool completely.

5.    For icing, in a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon cherry juice.  Continue adding additional juice until it is drizzling consistency.  Drizzle over cupcakes.  Let set before serving.  Makes 48 mini cupcakes. 

 

 (Note:  These can also be packaged up in cute little Chinese take out boxes and given to people that you adore during this season-oh-love)

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Of course while making these, a song came to mind. 

Please don't hold my silliness against me, I was born in a small town......

Well, I better stop before the walls of this blog start crumbling down.....

OK OK, I will stop....but I really wish I could live in a little pink house....

A Meatball Sammie

I really like the way The Pioneer Woman cooks.  She makes some really yummy stuff.  While hanging out on her blog one night I came upon this recipe and knew it was something I had to make for my family.

 

 I can not stomach touching raw meat.  So, I mix my meat mixture up with a spoon and scoop them up with my jumbo cookie scoop.  Hey, it works for me.  :)

Here they are simmering in the skillet.  The smell was oh-so-good wafting thru the house.

And here they are all ready to be gobbled up.  I added the peppers because I like um like that.  You could also add Parmesan cheese or black olives or whatever tickles your fancy.  (Yes, the snowman plate is very appropriate for lunches here in Michigan.) 

And, here is one more picture just in case you needed to see how delish they are one more time.

Two more sisters

As if those two cuties yesterday were not cute enough....look at these two.  This is me meeting my sister for the very first time.  Some 40 years ago.

Remembering when...

I was cleaning out a drawer this afternoon and found this picture of my girls.  This is one of my favorites of them together.  I remember the day like it was yesterday...not eleven years ago.  They both had on their aprons.  They are Pampered Chef aprons because I was a consultant at the time.  We were in the kitchen making a cake for daddy since he had been gone traveling for work.  It was a chocolate cake with waaaay to many sprinkles on the icing for my taste but the girls made it their way and they were quite pleased with themselves.  I am going to find a frame for this one and keep it out where I can see it all the time.  It will be displayed in my kitchen so I can see it and remember when two little girls and their mama made a cake together with lots of sprinkles.

What Football?

Apparently today is a big day in the game of football.  Apparently it is not important to me.  My sister is calling it "a food and commercial day".  I am more of a Martha Stewart On Demand kind of gal.  I am going to settle into the easy chair with one of my favorite women this afternoon and a cup of hot creamy coffee and see what she has been up to in the crafting world.  Maybe she will teach me how to crochet a lampshade or something.  :)

A Teen In The House

Well, it's official.  I have a teen in my house.  Our cute little girls room with shabby chic decor is changing.  Down came the princess pictures and castle pictures she once had and up came this fellow....

Mr. Bieber.  Well, he is a cutie patootie.  But, not as cute as these fellows who used to hang on my walls ten, I mean thirty (gulp), years ago. I got my posters from Teen Beat.  Remember that magazine?

 Come on gals...you remember these fellows, don't you?  Da Doo Ron Ron Ron?  Crank it up and dance away.  :)

Comfort food on a cold day

Do you have this cookbook?  If so, I hope you have tried the Cheesy Potato Soup recipe on page 85 in the lunch section.  If not, you won't regret it...I promise.  :)

It is my daughters most favorite soup.  I made it last night for dinner since I was craving soup due to all the snow we had.

We ate the last of the angel food cake we ate when my parents were here over the weekend.  I did not have any more strawberries but I did have a can of cherry pie filling.  Yum.

Lots-Oh-Snow

 Well, this was my morning today.  I was chanting....Must Get Rid of Snow....Must Get Rid of Snow......  Pictures just don't really show what my driveway and yard looked like this morning.  The girls and I were on our own for this blizzard.  Daddy is traveling for work and was not here for all the fun.    We walked outside and the snow just overwhelmed me for a moment.  I kind of wanted to cry actually.  But, I had a little chat with myself.  I was quickly reminded of the quote..."How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."  That is exactly what I had before me....an elephant!

 This was right outside my door.  A wee bit of snow.

 The snow plow tried to come down our street but got stuck!  It is never a good thing when the plow gets stuck in your road!  He was spinning sideways and his wheels were smoking trying to get unstuck. 
 

 Here is all our hard work.  I was singing...."I fought the snow and I won!!" 

Darling daughter and mama after all our hard work with our rosy cheeks when we were finished.  Phew....I need some coffee and a back rub.