Merry Christmas!

My Typewriter Gift

I finally had time to free the typewriter from it's decrepit case and hadn't had a chance to look at it before we left Missouri.  It is wonderful!  My MIL did not want to part with it when I asked if she had a typewriter for sentimental reasons, but when she found out I wanted to keep and use it she gave it to me for fear it would become damaged if left to sit in the basement where it had been for years.   I love how it types in cursive.  I had to take the ribbon from the Smith-Corona typewriter to type enough to where you could see the font.  New ribbons have been ordered.  I am very lucky to have found not one but two old portable typewriters in great working condition and did not have to worry about shipping damage. I am destined for green machines.  First the old Kenmore, then the Smith-Corona and now the Olympia, which is a dark green.  Thanks for putting up with my geekiness lol.

Want Dairy?

If you live in the United States, you might want to have some powdered milk on hand to extend your milk purchases.  If the farm bill expires the end of this year, milk prices could jump $2 to $3 a gallon.  The article I read seams to be watered down, since it  involves feed, why doesn't it give the full impact of the food supply that will be included such as cheese and already rising beef prices? 

Why milk prices could soar to $8.

Humid Day

I hope everyone who celebrates had a good Thanksgiving.  We traveled as usual and the temperature dropped to 19 degrees.  I am far too acclimated living in the south for this kind of weather.

Those who read know this is the time a year we get a deer (or two) to fill the freezer.  Since we had enough leftover we only needed one.  Bad news, we didn't get a deer, good news, one of the in-laws shot a few and gave us one.  I was very thankful indeed!  My MIL also gifted me a typewriter but I've been so busy since we got home I haven't had time to take it out of the case, it will have to wait for a future post.

It's that time of the year folks!  If you want to sign up for the Money Saving Challenge for 2014 head on over to Frugal Makes Cents Two.  I need to reel myself in more and this a perfect opportunity for me to stay on track.

I needed a break from the insanely long Dr. Who scarf I am knitting so here is the silly rabbit I made.  The pattern was free and made from materials I had on hand.

 

All About The Slow Cooker

Lately the slow cooker has been getting quite the workout.  I like using the slow cooker because earlier in the day dinner is decided.

Slow Cooker Revolution from America's Test Kitchen has been great for me.  Usually when I tell the gang dinner is in the slow cooker it is not met with any sort of appreciation.  DH's eyes glaze over and you can feel the sense of dread radiating in waves from him.  One word goes through his brain...mush.  I asked him for a new slow cooker last year I was surprised he bought one for me.  So here is the slow cooker I use:

It is a Hamilton Beach 7qt slow cooker (with lid rest).  I needed a larger slow cooker to cook a variety of meals.  I do have to reduce cooking time in using the recipes out of the cookbook, my slow cooker runs hotter.  It all works out because I can keep it on the Keep Warm function if it finishes before we are ready to eat.
If you noticed, I emphasized how Slow Cooker Revolution works for me.  In the reviews a lot of people complained about prep/cook times.  This book works best if you have more time in the morning or the night before to prepare the meal.  Some meats need to brown first in a pan and some vegetables and seasonings need to sweat in a pan also.  Some recipes only have a 4 hour cook time and need a timer used.  I have more time in the morning to devote to prep and less time in the afternoon so this works out perfectly.  This is not your dump and go cookbook.  They do have a Slow Cooker Revolution 2, yes I have it, where prep times are shortened.  I have not tried anything out of the second one yet, but it is also receiving good reviews.  I should have taken pictures as I made things out of the book but I wasn't anticipating it to work as well as it does.  So what have I made?

Braised Brisket and Onions
Cassoulet
Smothered Pork Chops with Onions and Bacon
Maple-Glazed Pork Loin
Beginner's Pulled Pork
Sticky Wings
Chicken Divan
Old-Fashioned Tamale Pie
Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I few of these I have made more than once and as you can see I have few marked off in the book that are on deck.  Last night I made the Smothered Pork Chops with Onions and Bacon.  When DH called to see what was for dinner and I told him pork chops were in the crock pot you would have thought I shot the cat.  I told him it was a new recipe from "the book" and he calmed down a little.  Now this recipe doesn't call for browning first, so the pork chops didn't look very attractive cooking.  They all loved it.  I have not made chili, stews, soups, sauces, sides, or deserts yet so I have a lot more to try and am looking forward to it.

Just to assure everyone that no domesticated animals were harmed here is a picture of the rotten cat doing what she does best.

 

My Finds, Local and Internet

I was excited to find a Smith-Corona Silent, 1950's, on Craig's List.  This is my only purchase using Craig's List, I couldn't pass it up.  It is a little rough looking for things down on the coast since Katrina to find items that haven't flooded.  This machine is beautiful, (can a typewriter be beautiful?), and the only thing needed is a new ribbon.  Early Christmas gift from mom, thanks MOM!

Off to the Salvation Army.  A new one opened in the next town. 

Every year Weight Watchers publishes their yearly annual recipes, they have to be ordered through Weight Watchers and are not available in store.  A woman at my local meeting center has all of them and would go through them and bring in recipes to share.  I picked up 2002 and 2005.  Now on a mission to find more. 

Item I have not yet ordered but would like to try out, the Grilliput:

 

 

The bottom looks like a large steamer basket, minus holes, and folds like one also.  They have two sizes of fire baskets.  The grill comes apart and is a single tube when it is put away.   Sold separately, each piece weighs less than a pound. I am not affiliated with this company, nor taking part in a promotion.  This looks pretty handy and may make a home here in the near future.    Here is the link for the Grilliput from Industrial Revolution.  

 

Getting a Little Nippy

It has been a little nippy down here on the coast.  It dips, gets warm, dips again, then it's winter at some point.  Leaves are dropping like crazy, we do not get the beautiful fall colors that neighbors to the north (or more north of us) have. 
We survived another homecoming week.  Our house was rolled three nights in a row and the last night someone had drawn male anatomy on the back window of my van.  Thankfully it was washable.  Unfortunately everyone heading out to church Sunday morning got a gander at my back van window as they drove by.  It was my daughter's first homecoming and middle son's second.  Boys are way cheaper than girls.  Everyone made it home safe and a good time was had by all.

I had a request for a crochet bird so here is my crochet bird:

He's a chunky thing, crochet in Lion Brand's Hometown USA yarn which I believe is a 6 in yarn weight so it is super chunky.  After stuffing him I'm sure he could cause injury if thrown hard enough lol.

I was browsing the Internet looking at scarves, I don't know why.  I stumbled across a site for Dr. Who scarves.  It seems that not only is there a cult following for Dr. Who but also a sub-cult if you will, of followers of the scarves worn.  I found the official BBC directions to knit or crochet the scarf, which let me to a group of Dr. Who scarf knitters, and decided to give a Dr. Who style scarf a shot.  I say style because I am not accurate on the colors and am doing a modified version of the scarf which will measure around 9ft instead of 12.....I think.  Knitting is the supreme act of patience for me.  I fly with a crochet hook but as time goes on, I am gaining speed with needles and haven't dropped a stitch yet.  It also helps that it is only knit stitch, here it is so far:

 

It's about a foot and a half long so far.

The crock pot has been getting a workout also.  I wanted to justify requesting a new crock pot and cookbooks for my birthday last year and one of the cookbooks I like came out with a part 2 and I wanted to cook more from the first one before I dive into the second. I will post more on this soon.

 

I've Been Avoiding You

It was an act of mercy.  With the closing of the government I really did not want to subject anyone with my constant rants about all the numb nuts in Washington.  Sad thing is that until they pass a budget we will have more of the same. 

Let us move on to ....... cast iron!  I am ashamed as a cast iron enthusiast that the one thing I have yet to make in a cast iron skillet is a Dutch Baby.  How could I have not made a giant pancake in my 12" skillet?  I did remedy that last weekend or else I would have had to turn in all my cast iron or let it go to rust. 

Cinnamon Sugar Dutch Baby

2-½ Tablespoons Cold Butter, Diced, Divided Use

⅓ cups Sugar

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

⅔ cups Flour

⅔ cups Milk

4 whole Eggs

2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Place one tablespoon butter in a 9-12 inch cast iron skillet or 9 inch pie plate. Place in the oven for 5 minutes.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set the bowl aside.
Put the flour, milk, eggs and 1 1/2 tablespoons of remaining cold butter in a blender. Blend until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the blender and blend for about 30 seconds more.
Remove the skillet or pan from the oven and swirl the butter all around. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture and then pour the batter into the skillet. Place in the oven at 450 F for 20 minutes. DO NOT OPEN the oven during this first 20 minutes! After 20 minutes turn the oven down to 350 F and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the edges begin to brown.
Remove from oven and let it cool for 3-5 minutes. Brush or drizzle with the melted butter, then cover in more cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately.

The kids loved it and said it reminded them of French toast.

In between political rants and regardless of furlough and shutdowns I brought this home:

 

  I know, I know, I shouldn't have.  I couldn't help it though, she was $20.  This is an old Kenmore model 158.120 or 12.   It is a basic 1965 straight stitch with reverse.  It was never used and didn't work.  After a good oiling, hence the newspaper, she purrs.  I just couldn't leave her there sitting unappreciated, she is a heavy duty machine but sews nice on thinner material as well.  The woman I bought the machine from said she had a manual typewriter she will look for and to stop by Friday to see if she has it out, yay!







 

Hurricane Season Validation From the Gulf

Tropical Storm Karen is on the way.  Our forecast shows it could increase to 70mph when it hits here but our actual forecast is calling for 20-40 mph winds.  I think our local weathermen are happy to be forecasting a more serious storm and the local news is probably happy not to be forecasting about day 4 of the furlough.  We have two military bases and a lot of people not working.  I have plants and small projectiles brought in so far.  I am not very worried about the storm, it will be windy and dump about a foot of rain on us, which we could use.  It will give the town a chance to see if all the drainage they installed in our flood prone area pans out.   I am definitely more concerned about being cooped up with 2 teens and 1 preteen.





 

Here We Go

Federal employees received notice today about their impending unpaid vacation. 

Will they put on another band aid for the third year in a row?  We wouldn't want to tax the sensibilities of our politicians by making them pass a budget, even though it should be a job description requirement or else they don't get paid.

Plan Everything, Do Nothing

I have planned for several projects to undertake and have burned myself out before even starting.  Ever happen to you?  This is even more true if the savings between buying something and making it myself are marginal.

I cleaned out the container garden the other day and put the pots away.  I still have some pepper plants waiting for cooler weather to produce, but the container garden was a bust.   I find it a little depressing to become more of a consumer but you never know what the future will bring.

We received a visit from Rocky, the other night.  No, not Rocky from Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life, Rocky nor his cohorts would connive to make a trip that long just to eat dog food.  This Rocky would:

It is a rare occasion that my dogs would leave dog food in the bowl but Rocky was waiting to clean up after he thought (and normally) would be in bed. 
 

63,728 Miles Traveled Through The Mail

On my old blog, I posted about pen pals and using the postal system more.  While looking around at pen pal sites I came across www.postcrossing.com.   This is great for people who do not want to be tied down by a pen pal but still would like to receive mail and see the world.  Since I joined three months ago, I have been receiving nice post cards.  Fair warning though you have to use international stamps.  I send out between 5-8 a month and they only let you send out so many at a time.   The family has enjoyed seeing the postcards that come in.  Here are two of my favorites from Russia:

I have sent postcards to retired people, college students, children and everyone in between and have received some nice thoughtful ones.  Some people jot a quick note and fill up the postage with many different low currency postage stamps which is also neat!

If you are looking to receive real mail other than bills and junk mail but don't want the commitment of writing long letters or keeping up a pen pal you might want to check out www.postcrossing.com.



 

Settled for Thrifting and Please Send Rain

Not too long ago my husband was talking about a typewriter (which hopefully still resides at my Mil's house) that types in script.  This automatically induced a huge fit of nostalgia and I decided I wanted a regular manual typewriter, pica preferably but would gladly scoop up an elite font (bringing back any memories yet?).    As I browsed the Internet and drooled over 1930's and above typewriters my son glanced over my shoulder and asked "What the heck do you do with that?".    Off I went to look local.  I  hit the Goodwill stores and other thrift stores.  Nada.  I thought someone has to have one that still works for a not insane price somewhere.  So I hit free cycle, craigslist and the multitudes of local swap, barter and trade boards on the Internet....zilch.  A couple of calls to over priced antique stores didn't turn up anything either but I was offered a couple of electric models.  All the while I am kicking myself for not hanging on to the typewriters that have been in my family.  The hunt is still on!
While looking at books I don't need I picked up a few.  Here are a couple:

The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.  I don't know how I didn't already have this one and Sarah Ban Breathnach's Mrs. Sharp's Traditions, Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations of Comfort & Joy.  Both look promising. 

We have a new resident that lives out back, he comes and goes as he likes, I really do hope it is a he.  He also does not like to have his picture taken and hangs out in the darkest areas of the yard when I am around, so I just aimed,  clicked and I finally caught him, he blends, can you make him out?

Maybe this one is easier:

Now you can see why I hope it is a he. 

Oh yeah, please send rain!

 

Ready for Fall Weather

I know I have a couple of months before we have fall weather, but I am ready.  School has been in full swing for over a month now and there have been all sorts of fundraisers, parent meetings, and whatever else.  Furlough was cut short by six weeks with an ominous side note as to how much expenses will be next fiscal year if we do not have a budget set in place. 
It was a wonderful day to find Vladimir Putin giving advice on democracy,  and the President at a meeting with cabinet members actually said that they had to return to figuring out a budget and something to the effect of improving customer satisfaction.  Comparing Americans to customers doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  Can we shop somewhere else??  I guess if we wanted to be Ex-pats we could. 


I am still crocheting away and here is my new favorite hat:

 

 

 

This uses a self patterning sock yarn.  I am working on scarves and hats for the homeless at the moment.  I sent the shawl off to my pen pal and now she is having warm weather.  I also have to start on blankets for the winter.   Hope all is well!

 

 

Never Forget

Budweiser aired this once as a tribute.

 

Quail Eggs

Friends of ours decided to raise chickens and quail.  Their chickens haven't been doing well thanks to their dogs.  They like chicken.  The quail have been multiplying very quickly and they have an abundance of eggs.  I have received a gift of two gallon sized bags of quail eggs.

So far we have had them boiled and fried.  I think a breakfast casserole will be in order to use them up also.  We are not big on pickled eggs.  It's a little tougher to crack a quail egg than a chicken egg.   The easiest way is to cut across the top of the egg with a serrated knife or you can crack the egg like any other and carefully break the inner membrane with your fingers.  I would go with using a knife if you want to keep the yolks whole.  

It has been pretty warm here, temperatures reached 105 yesterday.   School begins this week also.




 

Where the Hell Have I Been?

No where really.  I had a nice two week visit from my son, he left, furlough started, and I am getting the rest of the children ready to go back to school.  The powers that be are alluding that the furlough will last longer than 11 weeks.  We have income and that is a bonus, compared to an article I read here:   Signs of Declining Economic Security.
Sheila Jackson Lee (D) Texas wants to limit federal funding to states with stand your ground laws and have neighborhood watches register with the police department.  So you would have to run and hide and not have the right to look out for your neighbor unless you are registered.  The Congressional Black Caucus is recommending Sheila Jackson Lee for Homeland Security Secretary. 
Is everyone tired of hearing about Anthony Weiner or is it just me?  I don't think his biggest fear should be his ever shrinking campaign, I think that since his wife is a top aide to Clinton, his fear should be taking a dirt nap.  If the Clinton campaign is going to try to minimize Benghazi, they certainly do not want to be done in by Weinergate.
Lawmakers in the South and on the East Coast have blocked further rate hikes of the 2012 reform of the Nation Flood Insurance.  It had unintended consequences......yes it did, people, like my neighbor, have lost their homes.  I was disgusted by a Mississippi representative who said that people will walk into banks and hand over their keys, when it has already happened.  While too late for some, maybe it will help others. 

I have been baking, crocheting and playing around with the dehydrator.
 
Small bag of carrots:

This is in a sandwich bag.

Ten pounds of potatoes in a gallon freezer bag:

Hash browns!  I will be doing more but I was mainly concentrating on things that I use a little bit of and will go bad by the time I use it up.  Carrots and large bags of potatoes fit into this category.  I am trying to eliminate food waste as much as I can.

I have been crocheting quite a bit, another coping mechanism.  Having a lot of yarn that doesn't add up for a big project, such as blankets, has been put to use in making hats, mittens, etc., for the homeless. Soon everything in the house will be covered in crochet.  The loop on the lock remote for my van broke so it could not hang on the key chain, I was not about to order another so here was my fix:

As you can see not even the van is immune to the crochet hook!
 

Happy 4th!

Whitewashing

I have been reading some of the correspondence of Ben Franklin.  Here he writes while before the revolution the Americans looked to England as patterns of perfections in all things.  He did observe one custom peculiar to Americans called Whitewashing.  I would imagine this is where our Spring Cleaning comes from.

When a young couple are about to enter into matrimonial state, a never-failing article in the marriage treaty is, that the lady shall have and enjoy the free and unmolested exercise of the rights of whitewashing, with all its ceremonials, privileges, and appurtenances.  A young woman would forgo the most advantageous connexion, and even disappoint the warmest wish of her heart rather than resign the invaluable right.  You would wonder what this privilege of whitewashing is:  I will endeavor to give you some idea of the ceremony, as I have seen it performed.

There is no season of the year in which the lady may not claim her privilege, if she pleases;  but the latter end of May is most generally fixed upon the purpose.  The attentive husband may judge certain prognostics when the storm is nigh at hand.  When the lady is unusually fretful, finds fault with the servants, is discontented with the children, and complains about the filthiness of everything about her, these are the signs which ought not to be neglected; yet they are not decisive as they sometimes come on and go off again without producing any farther effect. 

- He goes on to explain a little more about the plight of the poor husband and when whitewashing commences the husband runs "from the evil which he can neither prevent nor mollify".

The husband gone, the ceremony begins.  The walls are in a few minutes stripped of their furniture:  paintings, prints, and looking-glasses lie in a huddled heap about the floors; the curtains are torn from the testers, the beds crammed into the windows; chairs and tables, bedsteads and cradles, crowd the yard; and the garden fence bends beneath the weight of carpets, blankets, cloth cloaks, old coats, and ragged breeches.  Here may be seen the lumber of the kitchen, forming a dark and confused mass:  for the foreground of the picture, grid irons and frying-pans, rusty shovels and broken tongs, spits and posts, joint-stools, and the fractured remains of rush-bottomed chairs.  There a closet has disgorged its bowels, cracked tumblers, broken wineglasses, vials of forgotten physic, papers of unknown powders, seeds, and dried herbs, handfuls of old corks, tops of teapots and stoppers of departed decanters;  from the rag hole in the garret to the rat hole in the cellar, no place escapes the unrummaged.  It would seem as the day of general doom was come, and the utensils of the house were dragged forth to judgment. 

This ceremony completed and the house thoroughly evacuated, the next operation is to smear the walls and ceilings of every room and closet with brushes dipped in a solution of lime, called white wash; to pour buckets of water over every floor, and scratch all partitions and wainscots with rough brushes with soapsuds and dipped in stone cutter's sand.  The windows by no means escape the general deluge.  A servant scrambles out upon the penthouse, at the risk of her neck, and with a mug in her hand and a bucket within reach, she dashes away innumerable gallons of water against the glass panes, to the great annoyance of the passengers in the street.

-Pretty descriptive!  He does describe the caustic effects on whitewashing on the family and how the husband has to lock up his papers lest they become victim.   Also, some poor fellow got a bucket dumped on his suit and brought a case to court and he was out of luck, he got in the way of whitewashing.

I missed spring so why am I posting this now?  Like Ben said, it doesn't matter what time of year.  Maybe it's because I have looking at blogs showing Fourth of July decor, or maybe it's because I just informed my husband I am going to repaint the living room, dining room, kitchen and hall.

News Fast

Yes, I've taken a little bit of a news fast this week.  I turned it on this morning to hear yet another rant about Snowden.  Yeah, we spy on them they spy on us.  I turned it off.  Right now Obamacare is what is bothering me the most, that and the big F (furlough) that starts in a week.  It seems that my insurance company and it's underwriters or whatever, are in renegotiation with a lot of it's doctors, I am only assuming it for the upcoming changes in January.  So, my dermatologist, is one of those doctors, and I am due for my cancer screening.  She is a great doctor (remember when Obama said you can keep your doctor?), well either I go as out of provider and try to recoup some of the cost or I wait six months to see if maybe they worked it all out.  Why don't I try another doctor?  Most of the ones in my area are in renegotiation, I have already had skin cancer, and did I mention previously my doctor is great?   As long as the children's doctor is o.k. that is all that matters right now. 

I have been busy crocheting, my youngest likes bears:

I made the one on the right first and so much fun with it I made the one on the left.  Now they hang out together.  The pattern is from http://www.lalylala.com/.  I bought it a while ago and finally sat down to make them.  Small hooks are starting to get to my hands and I might have to buy the ergonomic hooks.   

Previously I did a rant on writing more letters.   I read an article not too long ago about a 22 year old man having to have his grandmother's diaries translated.  Not because they were in a foreign language, but because they were written in cursive.  Did I not hear a blurb about a witness in the Treyvon Martin case signing a statement and couldn't read it because it was in cursive?   I have a pen pal in Australia, a lovely woman in her 70's that I write to.  She sent me this chalk picture that I have to have framed:

I love it.  It is winter there so I am working on a shawl for her:

This pattern if from Ravelry and it's called Anna's Shawl.  It is a free pattern and easy to do.  I am 95% finished with it but unfortunately I did not pick up enough yarn, it takes 4 skeins and I had to go up two hook sizes because I crochet too tight, I am hoping the dye lot won't be too far off when I pick up another skein.  I hope she likes it, you can't see it too clearly in my picture but if you click on the link you will see how nice it really is.  I also plan on doing more crochet for charity, which I will share in a future post.

Also, my pen pal is looking for other pen pals in their 60's and 70's to write to.  She asks that they are born again.  Now her handwriting is a little rough but she really is a lovely woman.  If interested let me know. 

On to food,  I am mixed up mutt of nationalities which makes me an American, that means if I wanted to experiment with foods from all of those nationalities, I would never run out of new things to try.  Italian food makes my heart sing.  My husband jokes that if I don't have sauce (and it is sauce not gravy), I go through withdrawal.  Growing up on Italian food and cooking it, I rarely look at Italian recipes.  One morning I saw this young Italian guy cooking on T.V. and thought I'm buying that book.  So here he is:

I have tried a couple of recipes and I like them and hope to make more.  Fabio Viviani is proof that the American Dream is still alive.  He is young, cocky and works hard.

My oldest is here from New York, we actually got him here without having to drive to another state to pick him up unlike last year.  That is the main reason why I haven't been posting lately.  Week one of his visit is over and we are starting on week two.  So far so good, he hasn't been bored enough to run screaming.  

Hope all is well with everyone, try to stay cool!



 

A Friend Needs Help

Some of you might have seen this post but I am posting it here also.  Maybe you can share her link also to help.

When American Prepper was in it's early stages a bunch of us jumped in and worked the blogs.  We've been on message boards, and radio shows, etc., I have stated previously that I have met the most amazing people through Prepper, from fellow bloggers to commentators and that still stands.   Well, mmpaints from Self Sustained Living needs a hand.  If you will, click on her link to find out her story.  If you ever needed to know how to grow it, kill it, cook it,or can it, she would tell you all the while making some great cheese too!   On my best day she makes me look like I am standing still.  Mmpaints recently had the rug pulled out from under her and knowing how that is I wanted to share this with you.  If you a few dollars left over from couponing, or whatever, and if you can't maybe you can share her link to get the word out.  I would hate to see her lose her farm after how hard she has worked all these years.  Thank you for hearing me out.

First it was the Boston Bomber's Wife

When they were questioning the Boston Bomber's wife a while back a statement was released that they were going through her phone calls.  Not her phone records, her phone calls.  I asked DH, how can they do that?  Then came the AP/Fox scandal followed by Edward Snowden.  Now everyone is "shocked" at the NSA and Edward Snowden is a "traitor".  Hey did you know we also hacked China and Hong Kong?  Well, at least we haven't been just a victim all these years.   While the Patriot Act was being  tossed around you might want to look up who the Gang of Eight was at that time, there is a Mississippian in there...
Also, I caught the beginning of a satire on the radio the other morning of a recording when the IRS is called;  press 1 if you are a tea party supporter, press 2, if you are pro-life, press 3 if..... you get the picture.
I would like to say we have no where to go but up, but I know better.  So here I am with the new blog and my first rant. 
I have some pictures of small silly projects that I worked on while in stress mode and two new cookbooks.  I'll be back.


 

Here I Am

I had a problem renewing my domain, Shoestring Manor, and now it doesn't look like I will be able to.  It is a huge pain relocating but maybe it's better to dust off the cobwebs a little.  I will not be registering this domain it will just remain under blogger.  More posts to follow shortly.