ANOTHER OF DAD'S PROJECTS

At the recent Portland tractor show, my dad bought an old motorcycle cargo trailer. He tore the top off and gave it away. Then he changed the bottom into a 4-person trailer to pull behind his Cub Cadet. He is AMAZING.

I wouldn't have seen value in this thing.

He took the top off and put it out by the road; it was gone within the hour.

It had good underpinnings.

He custom-ordered Amish buggy seats and the finished product looks pretty spiffy.

Here is the old trailer he had built for Mom years ago.  We used it this year.  There's something about the ladies being consigned to riding on the back that makes people laugh.  (What the guys don't know is that when the day is 90 degrees, being removed from the heat coming off that engine is a great relief!)

 FAIRY CIRCLE

This fairy circle appeared at my parents' house this year.  They have lived there for 45 years and have never had it before.  It was quite an attraction and was photographed by many people.

A fairy ring starts when the spawn ("seeds") of a mushroom falls in a good spot and sends out an underground network of threads.  The threads grow out evenly in all directions, which forms a circle--like spokes on a wheel.  So the mushrooms that grow up through the ground come out in a circle.

Some people believe that fairies dance inside the circle at night.

After a while, Dad would get tired of it, so he would mow the grass.  Dad mowed it off 4 times, but they kept growing back.

Someone stole the one he had spray-painted red, so we had to paint another one (we think it was a friend who wanted to have it analyzed by an expert...but he's not talking).

 CHRISTMAS TREE MERINGUE

IT'S BEGINNING TO SMELL A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

I had an idea this year that seems to be working out well.  What could be better than sniffing yummy Christmas-y smells when you walk into the house?  I wanted my guys to be hit with goodness when they come home from work.

Here is a method for inexpensive, non-toxic air freshener.  I've done it before, but this time I tried to find out how LITTLE it would take to work, and I found out that it takes very little indeed.

RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS AIR REFRESHMENT
1/8 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 apple core (or apple or lemon or orange peels)
4 C. water

Put this in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and let simmer without a lid.  Begin cooking it 15 minutes before guests arrive, and perhaps 5-10 minutes after.

The amazing thing is that this can be used over and over again.  For the past 5 days, I have just kept adding water (and perhaps throwing in some more peels when they become available) and boiling it some more.  If you are worried that it will spoil, keep it in the refrigerator; at this point, if mine spoils, I still got a lot of use out of it and I'll not regret the loss.

Dear Friend, 
Do not let it burn dry.  Then it doesn't smell very good.  
Signed, An Experienced User

ONE PIECE AT A TIME

We are spending a week at our favorite ocean spot:  Harvey Cedars Bible Conference.

Every afternoon I have saved an ocean animal's life by grabbing a piece of plastic from the sea. Today, Gary says I rescued a fish from de-CAP-i-tation.

WHEN YOU TURN 60 YEARS OLD

"Teens grow out of pimples," they said. "Don't worry," they said. Today I celebrate with one right on the end of my nose.

ALL I NEED ARE SIMPLE LITTLE THINGS

I keep a magic Mood Lifter Rock on the windowsill in my kitchen.  I found it in our driveway.

When the rock is dry, it doesn't look like much.

But when I need to be reminded of the wonders of the world, I only have to make the rock wet to bring out the magic in it.  This is what I see:

ELF ADVENTURES OF 2016

Before our Elf went back to the North Pole, he enjoyed himself with some "safe" adventures (at first).

He got into the gift-wrap bows and decorated the entire kitchen.

He also rummaged in the cookie cutter box.

But he got a little out of hand when he discovered the bathroom.  At first, he just wanted a shower.

Then he got into things he shouldn't.

That is MY toothbrush, by the way.

And at the end, he was rather indiscreet, embarrassing us in front of our guests.  

He quickly went home the next day!

TO EAT FROM THE CAN

I thought, “Oh, wouldn’t this be nice for a Christmas Eve dessert!”

Know what the ingredients are??

whipping cream
little bit of sugar
little bit of peppermint candy

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN EXPERIMENT WITH TIME

We often throw our recent magazines onto the top of the toilet tank, for using (you know) like other people do.  When I wash my face, I throw my eyeglasses there too, and one day something interesting occurred.

BEFORE

AFTER

OR ANOTHER WAY

So I just had to try it with others too.

Then there was a magazine lying on the kitchen table, and so I had to....

SOONER THAN WE THINK

Last year, I wanted to try my hand at dandelion jelly.  It's fun to do unusual things like that.

It was a lot of work for the end product, and truly:  jelly is just a bunch of sugar with a tiny bit of flavor added to it.  That's why you can make jelly out of anything!  Still, it's fun to brag about, and a great gift to give away.

Although there's a drift of snow on the ground, it will soon be time to consider doing it again.  Think about it, why don't you?  A bit of sunshine in a jar.

TAKING THE EASY ROAD

I might aspire to fun and fancy foods, but when it comes down to the bottom line, I always choose the easy way.  So when I had a hankering to make a "nest with cute egg" dessert for Easter, the only choices I found just sounded a le-e-e-tle bit too difficult or time-consuming.

So I adapted a recipe I already had in my box!  Known as Mud Cookies, Wax Paper Cookies, and No- Bake Cookies, these make excellent gluten-free bird nests.

WAX PAPER COOKIES

3/4 C. sugar
2 T. baking cocoa
1/4 C. butter
1/4 C. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. peanut butter
2 C. uncooked gluten-free oats

candy that looks like small bird eggs, such as jelly beans (malted bird eggs are NOT GF)


1.  Decide what type of pan you will use.  Tiny muffin tins make small nests, but you can also place wax paper onto a cookie sheet and just shape the nests with a spoon.  You can see in the photo that I tried it both ways--the muffin tins are toward the front and the hand-shaped are toward the back.

2.  Combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan.  Stir to a boil over medium heat and boil for 1 minute.

3.  Stirring constantly, add the next 3 ingredients.

4.  Quickly drop the cookies with a teaspoon into tiny muffin tins or onto wax paper.  Place a candy egg onto each one.

5.  Put the pans into the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes to help them harden well; then you can remove them and display how you wish.

BESIEGED

TOSSED OUT AND SORRY FOR IT

Well, it happened.  Highjinks got thrown out of the house and spent the night outside.

He was repentant.

Sometimes the cat gets thrown out too.  

They're becoming fast friends in times of trouble.

THE SHELF MONKEY

The Shelf Elf event happening at our house (with a small sock monkey called Highjinks) is working out well or disastrously, depending upon your viewpoint.  The monkey has been mischevious indeed:

He got into the candy.

He did something unmentionable on the kitchen table.

He xeroxed his bum.

He replaced some Christmas stockings with unders.

When he does these things, my college-age son has said we should "throw that monkey out of the house!"

My husband got a gleam in his eye and has posed the monkey with scenarios from his own mind.

Here Highjinks has gotten into the secret "saved" cookies in the freezer.

And the cat is intrigued, which makes setup a bit difficult.

So, all-in-all, I would count it a success!

________________________________
LOGISTICS UPDATE:

The wire I put in the monkey's limbs didn't work well; his arms and legs are chubbier than what the Shelf Elf has, and the wire was too thin.  The monkey's fabric is knit and so the wire kept poking out and the limbs didn't really bend.  So I took the wire out.

The monkey doesn't sit up by himself either, but that doesn't matter too much.  Packing tape comes in handy, but I can't let the cat see me use it: he LOVES to play with packing tape and will dismantle the elf scenario to enjoy himself.

I think the monkey is WAY more cute than the elf, and no matter how naughty he behaves, his sweet innocent face garners instant forgiveness.

SUPERFRIEND

Today something very exciting happened to me:  I got to meet a blog friend in real life!

Toby Bo and I first met online a few years ago through a "friend of a friend" bloggy sort of thing.

I enjoy her sort of humor, and she enjoys about me...well, I'm not sure.  But it is gratifying all the same.

We tried to meet before, but it has never worked out.  Once, I was at a wedding, and a young woman I didn't know came up to me and gave me a gift!  It was from her mother, Toby Bo.

Once, I sent handmade soap to her through the mail.

And one time, we were so excited because her family had to travel through our area and they were going to visit our church on Sunday morning!! 

But we were on vacation away from home.  They sat in our pew and met all our church friends instead.

Now today, it finally happened:  we were able to meet in person at a wedding reception.

It didn't quite work out as planned.  I did not lose weight before this day, I didn't wear a hat, and I forgot to bring my little gift for her.  But we began to know one another in a whole new way.  And that was precious indeed.

WEDDING VIDEO MONTAGE

One of the greatest ideas my daughter-in-law had for the wedding reception was to have a photo booth for the guests to play with.

She got the idea from Cara and Jeff, and I put it together with music after the wedding.  It is really great!  First, here are some still photos:

Rachel and Andrew

We used a bedsheet for the background (it turned out not to be big enough).

Our "third son" and Younger Son

We used a computer with a webcam that takes photos.

Mom and her sisters

We used a corner of the room in which we had the reception.

My husband and myself

I bought a nice frame at a yard sale and painted it a darker red. 

Some friends having a Great Time

My biggest disappointment was that not all of our guests used it.  I really wanted to have photos of everyone.  Ah well.

HERE is the 2-minute video montage (with music) itself; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

FLAT STANLEY PROJECT

Yesterday I received a letter from a young cousin from another state.  His class is doing a project in an effort to improve their reading skills, to learn about places away from home, and to possibly have a good time while doing it! 

I'm up for that.

Flat Stanley is a character from a picture book of the same name, written by Jeff Brown.  In the story, Stanley becomes flat when a bulletin board falls on him, so his parents mail him to California to visit a friend.

Now my young cousin has done the same (mailed, that is, not flattened).  Flat Stanley is visiting me for a couple of weeks and I'm to let my cousin know about his adventures here.  Below is one of the letters I am sending back.

Dear Cousin,

Have you ever heard of the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do?"  That means when you visit people, you should do things the way they do it there.

Apparently, Flat Stanley agrees with that.  Today we went shopping and he had to check out all the Pittsburgh Steelers shirts.

He bought one.

Here he is at the grocery with the check-out lady. 
As you can see, people around here are very excited about the Super Bowl.

By the time you receive this letter, the game will be over and you'll know if Flat Stanley chose the right team to cheer for or not!

With love,
Your cousin.