it's a keeper...

happy silent sunday, my lovelies.  and if you are of that bent, a blessed easter to you and yours. 

this year, mum insisted we have a celebration of easter.  i finally broke down and said i would cook, but to me it is just a regular day.  she was fine since it got her out of cooking and had me doing all the work. she paid for the groceries, and i have lots of leftovers even after everyone else took some home, so not a bad deal.

there is a lovely lady who cleans house for mum who is Ukranian and she sent us a paska for our meal.  She told mum the tradition, but mum couldn't remember what we were to do, and no matter how much sleuthing i did on the interwebs, i could not find out what that traditional rites are. we did pray before trying it.  i liked it a lot and thought that it was so sweet of this lady to think of us.

i should have taken a photo after it was cut so you could see the inside. it has a lovely taste and texture.  if you or someone you know is Ukrainian and could tell me what the traditional rites are with this, i would LOVE to know!

i was up early yesterday as my s-i-l and i were heading out to the old farmers market i used to frequent before covid happened. i'd seen where it was the day for their annual plant sale and since i'm feeling much better than last year and am working in the garden, i really wanted to find some plants that just aren't sold in local plant nurseries.  

i decided to wear my outlook on my shirt yesterday.  i love having shirts with funny or sarcastic statements.  i'm working on building quite a collection of them. ;)

turns out, it wasn't plant sale day.  though there were a lot of vendors with plants for sale.  i was able to get my favorite eggs though since the local grocer seems to have stopped carrying them.  and STRAWBERRIES!!!  fresh strawberries!!  yumyumyum

and on friday, my s-i-l and i had another cheesecake session.  it had to have a water bath cooking, so she left once we got it in the oven and then i finished up with the topping on saturday after returning from the market.  we tried it last night as desert for our holiday meal and let me tell you...it is a KEEPER!

Yep, a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, with a chocolate ganache topping.  it is soooooo good.  the cracks on the sides are indents from the springform pan being lined with parchment paper.  i think next time i'll leave the sides clear of paper.  Click the link if you want to give it a try.  I don't know what we'll be trying in June, but I'll let you know. hee hee hee  :-)

now that things have settled down and my house is mostly back together, i sat down today and read the booklet on my new predator cover to cover, then charged it.  i feel a little better knowing i can use this to keep some life saving devices charged and working.  now to focus on water storage and a way to cook if the grid is down. 

well, that's my weekend in a nutshell.  i ended up with a bad migraine last night and when i woke it was massive.  but now, it is a bit better, after nausea meds and abortive meds and judicious use of ice packs on the back of my neck and head.

how has your weekend been?

thanks for reading, 

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps...i've put up a link to my other site: Messages from the Ancestors if you are interested in checking it out.  the link is in the sidebar just below the copyright notice. 

went absolutely cuckoo...

About that cheesecake...

I believe I mentioned before that my sis-in-law and I are on a cheesecake making binge.  Our first was many, many years ago; back when I was still in the little cottage with the blue door. It was a Caramel Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake and was perfection! 

With that under our belts we went for the chocolate for our second attempt.  Mmmmm.... (click the link for a reminder of what that looked like and the description/link to recipe)

February was my sil's pick and she chose Key Lime Pie Cheesecake, pictured above. The recipe wasn't hard, (we haven't tried a water-bath bake yet) and it looked and sounded great in the recipe. The flavors were great as we went along but I couldn't help thinking something just wasn't right.  It turned out beautiful, zesting by sil, lime twist by me, and when we cut into it, well... it just didn't have the consistency of a cheesecake.

It tasted good, but something was just off about it.  I don't think either of us was happy about it. I'm going to try it again this summer, I don't like to let recipes defeat me.  I THINK I know what went wrong and if I'm right it was something left out of the recipe, but...

Well, 2 out of 3 aren't bad, right?  I get to choose our cheesecake for May and have already picked one that I think will be great.  If it turns out I'll share a link to the recipe for it.  And when I remake the Key Lime, if it turns out good, I'll share and link to it with my adjustments.

Anyhoo...

I'm in the middle of painting my bedroom and making it my own.  I've been really inspired by Kate from littlebohocottage on the utoobs. I love her style and am trying to find my own now.  After almost 8 years, it's time to stop letting this place feel like a rental.  Even if I found my dream home tomorrow, I would not regret making this place more me.  I promise pictures when I can.  

And speaking of promises...I'm still trying to figure out how to get that flip through video to fit on here.  I may just have to put it on my own utoobs and link it here.  We'll see.

I'm off...I have appointments all but one day this week, the weather is going from winter to summer then back to spring, so the garden is calling.  My poor garden was completely neglected last year.  Those blackberry runners are everywhere and I've a LOT of digging of roots to do to try to get them all out. 

I did get these in some pots this past Tuesday and did a little bit of clean up.  Yesterday I spent an hour outside cleaning up an area I had started several years ago so I could have more flowers.  Of course, it's become overtaken a bit by forsythia but I'm working on digging it out and getting it ready.  I was at the garden store for potting soil the other day and went absolutely cuckoo for cocoa puffs at the seed selection. Oh man.  I'll get a picture of them for next time, promise.

I really do need to go; it is late here, and the DST switch really throws me off balance.  I've still quite a few things to do before I can toss myself in bed.

What are you up to this week? Is it garden time in your neck of the interwebs?

thanks for being here...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

always & forever...

~*~ 

snippets...

 Hi there.  

Hope you are all well on this day before Christmas Eve.  Today is our family Christmas day.  We are having our traditional meal this afternoon.  We'll exchange gifts, then watch the Steelers take on the Saints in football.  Here is to hoping for a Steelers win!  :-)

I'm all done and ready to relax for several days.  Other than helping mum with the meal prep in a little bit, I've nothing calling at me to get done.  All the presents are wrapped and under the tree.  The treats have been made, packaged and given out.  

The photos above are little snippets of what I've been doing with my time.  We had our first snow two weeks ago and it was a doozy.  We so rarely get deep/long lasting snowfall here in the south.  This was such a treat!  I went for many walks and even played around in the back yard.  It wasn't the right kind of snow for snowman making, but if it had been I'd have made several.  I'm really hoping this is a sign of more to come this winter.  :-)

I did minimal decorating.  Just the tree and a little snowbabies scene on top of the sewing cabinet at my front door.  I really wasn't feeling like decorating and even considered taking down the tree before I had it decorated.  But...it's so pretty.  

Lots of little snippets of time spent was in my studio, playing around in my art journal and working on a secret Yule/Christmas gift.  Several late night/early morning times, when insomnia kicks in, experimenting with ink, starting a new piece with a collaged background and/or watching art videos on youtube. 

Last week was baking time.  I started giving food treats as gifts several years ago and it was a hit.  It seems to get bigger each year.  I should have taken better/more pictures of what I made.  This years box contains chocolate covered peanut butter crackers, homemade fruit cake, ginger snaps, peanut butter balls and chocolate caramel layer bites.  I gave out twelve boxes this year.  Whew...!

I had a nice quiet Yule. And despite my lack of enjoyment for this time of the year, it hasn't been too bad.

Well, it's about time for me to head to mum's to help out.  I also have to take the gifts over and that will require a few trips.  

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, whatever you celebrate. 

What holiday do you celebrate? Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah?  Something else?  Do you have any big traditions?

Thanks for stopping by for a read... 
love & blessings
~*~

baking overload...

 

I think I mentioned before that I've been working an Amish Friendship Bread Start for a few weeks.  Last week I was able to giveaway all but one of the extra starters.  I had planned on baking with it the next day and never did.  Because of that I've been working two starters.  The past few days I've baked my fingers to the bone.  Well, it feels that way.  

I've made biscuits (top photo before baking, second photo...fail).  I don't know what I did wrong, but for some reason they didn't rise.  They taste okay, but...

I've made lemon bread but forgot to take a photo.

I've made double chocolate muffins (third photo).

And I've made peanut butter cup bread and muffins (last two photos, before and after).

I'm pretty much baked out.  

Want to know the saddest part?  I've only tasted the biscuits.

Next on my list was white chocolate pumpkin and I may still get to it, but it won't be anytime soon.  I've put the rest of my "starter" in the freezer and will pull it out eventually and make something until I've used it all.  I just can't bear to throw it out.  One good thing is that this bread freezes really well, so I've used this baking to help prepare for some upcoming fun.

You can probably figure it out if you look closely at that last photo.  :-)

What have you been up to this week?  Any autumn plans?  

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

ps... I should never, ever, ever be left to my own devices in a craft store...

I went in there this morning looking for two specific things and with a gift card I'd not used.  I left with all that... and forgot until about 5 minutes ago that I even had a gift card.  Seriously people, I need a keeper!  :-)  xo

make a wish...

Hi There.  It's been a few days so I thought I'd pop in and share a quick Hi.  It's been a pretty decent few days.  I've been able to keep myself moving along despite the headaches and am happy with my progress.  I've got the new raised bed ready to plant.  Planting of peppers and eggplants is on the agenda for tomorrow although I'm a tad afraid that my seedlings aren't quite as big as they should be before I put them out.  So far my tomatoes are not looking good (except for the Gardener's Delight Cherry toms - they seem to be hanging in).
Yesterday was market day and I picked up a big bucket of strawberries (I have no idea what I'm going to do with them all - I'm thinking Strawberry Bread though) and the below bouquet of flowers. 

I also went to a couple of garden centers and ended up with more flowers to plant than I'd planned.  I bought cosmos, bee balm, delphinium, salvia and a few others that I can't remember.  Six of the cosmos were planted yesterday in the front of the sunflower bed.  I am not quite certain where the rest will go, but I so love them.  Tomorrow will be a mowing and planting day for certain.  I also hope to get those pumpkin seeds in the ground.

So, today is really a do nothing but lounge day.  It was going to be a garden day but we had storms during the night and it was way too wet to do anything at 6:30 this morning.  The one day when I should sleep in, I'm wide awake early and raring to go.  Figures...  :-)

Today has been pretty good.  Several phone calls, an email from an old friend, a couple of cards and a surprise invitation to lunch (which was yummy and some how resulted in my buying two new pairs of shoes).  Why is this worth mentioning?  Well, because today, I turn 44 years old.  Yep, today is my birthday.  My birthdays are pretty much like every other day.  Nothing special, just a normal day.  And today was a tad bit different.  I'm not sure why, but it does feel different.  I feel different.

So anyway, last night I got this urge so I baked up this little cake for me to have on my birthday.  It's box cake mix, but I made the frosting from scratch.

A couple hours ago, I took my little leaning tower of cake, lit three candles -past, present, future - said a little spell and blew out the candles, sending wishes floating off like smoke.  I wonder if you would like to make a wish too?  It isn't too late.  My wish is floating out there and you can send yours to join it.  Wouldn't it be great if everyone made a wish and each persons wish built on the next?  I love magical thinking.  Heck, I love magic.  :-)

So, have a slice of cake - it's a magic cake so there is enough for everyone - make your wish and enjoy the rest of your day.  I'm going to.  In fact, I might have two pieces...  :-)

blessings
~*~

ps...you don't have to share your wish, just send it out to the universe and let the magic happen.   ♥

a really good day

These beauties were found at the grocers this morning. The yellow mums are so lovely that I decided I needed more fresh flowers in my home. These are on the kitchen table so I get to enjoy them often.


Please excuse the crappy photo, I was tired, and didn't pay much attention when I snapped the photo. This is the composter that my brother and sister in law gave me at the holidays. It was finally nice enough outside and I had enough energy to work on it. I'm very excited. It even came with a little pamphlet explaining how composting works and how to get the most of your composter. :)


Before I went to the grocers this morning, I went to a local big box home improvement store looking for a seed starting tray. I found just what I was after, plus a whole lot more! I can't wait to plant those dahlias as well as the other things I found.

I spent several hours working in the gardens. Doing a little preemptive weeding and ordering of borders, as well as picking up broken limbs. While I was out there I found a few surprises...




And I'm finishing up the evening with a little laundry and this...

a few apple cinnamon and a few blueberry (they came from a packet not homemade - but that is okay). This will give me a nice little bit of breakfast for the week.

Tomorrow begins another week of work, but I have something really wonderful to look forward to at the end of the week. This will hopefully motivate me to persevere - remember that? - through the week.

I hope you have enjoyed this lovely spring-ish day and have a wonderful week ahead.

blessings
~*~

winter

Lookie what we got. I think the grand total came in around 5.5 inches. I love winter.


Dylan loves winter too. I let him out yesterday afternoon, while the heaviest snow was falling, and it took half an hour to get him to come back in.

This is my holiday baking weekend. Today I made two of the six things I plan to make...

there are peanut butter crackers under that chocolate...

and


There's more to do tomorrow. I hope I get it all done. I'll need to get an earlier start, if it is going to happen. :)

Does anyone know what type of plant this is?


Someone gave some out at work yesterday, but one person didn't want theirs and offered it to me. Never one to turn down a free plant, I took it. Now I just need to figure out what it is.

I'm off to bag up the pretzels and read some before bed.

blessings
~*~

need a ticket out of migraineville

Yep, I'm living in migraineville this week and it is not a pleasant town. I missed work and most everything else on Monday and Tuesday, forced myself to go in on Wednesday and barely made it there today. Last night was a cupcake bake-fest for a work luncheon today. I made 40 cupcakes to take to work and spent 5 hours in the kitchen. When I was finally done, I walked away and left the mess (which I'm still working on cleaning up).

There is excitement in the air around here today as we are under a winter weather watch. It started with a forecast of 1-2 inches. Around 2pm today a look at the forecast had us in the 6-12 inch range (WHAT?!?) and then 20 minutes later, we were back in the 2-4 range which seems to be where the weather people are staying.

I am excited for the possibility of snow. I'll be more excited when/if it actually happens. The weather people down here have a history of false alarms when it comes to snow. I can always dream...

A few months ago, when I was going through a serious downswing, a friend of mine suggested I do an uncrossing. It took me a while to get the things that I needed. I also put it off because I didn't think it would help based on my "symptoms". But tonight I decided I needed to do it.

So I pulled out my supplies and started the process...



working my mojo

I'll pray every day as I light this candle. Once it's finished burning, I'll do a reversal and then see how things feel. You know, I really don't do enough magically/spiritually. I need to focus again.

Anywho, I need to make a list of supplies I need for some holiday baking I want to do this weekend. If the weather does turn, I'll run to the store tomorrow on my way home and get my supplies. Then I'll be all set for being snowed in. If it doesn't, and we only get rain I'll wait and go to Mum's on Saturday to let her help me with the baking.

blessings
~*~

As I wrote this I found we have been moved to a winter weather warning and with projected 3-5 inches. I'll believe it when I see it.

goodness blossoms

Not to jinx anything, but I sure have been feeling good lately. The past few weeks have gone very well. I've made it to work every day (except the one day after the beast came home and was not well). I've been able to keep up with things around the house and yard. I feel...renewed, somehow. I'm not certain what triggered the turn around, but I am enjoying every moment of it. I'm hoping that if I enjoy it, acknowledge it and focus on it, I'll create more of it. (See, Ren, I'm learning!)

The beast is doing pretty well. He did develop an infection at the site of one of his staples, but it is starting to heal and he seems to be doing well as far as his diabetes. That makes me very happy. He was also set free from the satellite dish. (Extreme Happiness ensued!)

I've had so much fun in the kitchen lately. I had forgotten how much I enjoy baking and cooking. This weekend was a kitchen frenzy! I made a delicious Squash Casserole for thanksgiving with my dad and family. I'd had this idea for cupcake that I wanted to try, so I experimented on Sunday.


Candy Kiss Cupcakes

They turned out pretty well, but there are a few little things I'll do different when I make them again. They seemed to be a big hit at work and I liked them very much.

This weekend I also made a chicken alfredo.



It was my first from scratch alfredo and was so easy and delicious. I can't wait to do it again. It just can't be too often since it has so many carbs. :(

Tomorrow is the last day of work this week. I'm hoping for an early release and if that comes through, I'll be sitting in the theater watching "New Moon". Most everyone I've heard from that has seen it loved it and have already seen it more than once. I'm hopeful that I will like it too. I hear they've already set the release date for "Eclipse". That was fast!

My mum's side of the family won't have our thanksgiving until Sunday so I have Thursday, Friday and Saturday all to myself. I'm already planning a few things I want to bake/cook and also want to get the house decorated for Yule. I'm hoping to put up a tree this year, if the finances can afford it.

Wow..it seems my new neighbors are in a band and practice in their garage. They are VERY loud. I can hear them as if I was sitting beside them even with windows closed and the TV pretty loud. Hmmm.. guess I'm an old fuddy duddy...but I really miss the quiet of the old neighbors. It's funny, because they had a band too, and practiced there, but it was never this loud. Sheesh...

Okay, enough with my old lady-ness... I'll leave you with a few photos...


flowers and pumpkin from the farmers market


a basket of blooms for thanksgiving (found on my doorstep when I arrived home today)

I hope you have a lovely holiday (if it is one you celebrate) and a wonderful night.

blessings
~*~

over the weekend

It's been a sort of lazy weekend around here. We've been letting the beastie rest. I slept the first night on the floor beside him, hoping that would help him feel better, to have me close. That was a miserable night! Saturday he continued to rest and recuperate and I piddled around the house and made pumpkin bread and homemade chili. Saturday night was pretty rough. The beastie didn't want to sleep and had to go out to pee every couple hours. I tried to keep him on his dog bed and moved it into the bedroom beside my bed, but he just couldn't get settled. He kept falling down the stairs whenever we went out for him to pee. His legs are just not steady or strong anymore.

Sunday, I mostly surfed the internet, tried to keep up online with the Steelers game (since it wasn't on TV here) and watched the Tarheels basketball game. The beast wouldn't eat breakfast and was very lethargic. I was trying to get some roasted chicken for him, but couldn't get out of the house and couldn't get anyone to bring me one from the store. I was finally able to get him to eat late that afternoon. Last night was another round of no sleeping and constant wandering around the house/needing to pee. We must have gone out every 45minutes to an hour from 9am until about 6:30 this morning. I decided to stay home with him today because I'm worried about the constant need to pee (but apparently that is only at night) and because I was exhausted. I was able to get him to lay back down and so I could get a little sleep this morning. Now he's conked out on the sofa beside me, snoring.

This morning I made apple bread. I used the same recipe that I use for my pumpkin and banana bread, it's my grandmother's recipe. I was a little worried after I mixed it all up because the batter was more like a dough. But I went ahead and baked it anyway.



It looks okay, but tastes better. The crust is a bit crunchy which I'm not fond of on sweet breads.

I've been in a cooking/baking mood for a while now. I love to cook/bake but I get bored with the leftovers after the third or fourth meal. Something that I want to do is try new recipes. I want to experiment a bit with my cooking and start eating outside of my normal range of foods. I also want to do more baking. I'm so inspired by most everything here, here and here.

So, as part of my ever improving outlook on life, I'm going to start doing some of my favorite things. (That is what this blog is about, isn't it?) I hope to post recipes and pictures of some of my fun.

Tomorrow is back to work, lack of sleep or no, and back to the regular day to day stuff. I'm trying to come up with how to spend my Thanksgiving. I only have to spend the Sunday after with family, but that gives me Thursday, Friday and Saturday all to myself. I wonder how much fun I can have in those three days. :)

blessings
~*~

keeps getting better

I'm getting better. Every day I can feel myself feeling free-er, happier, calmer. I don't know exactly what changed, but I like it. I have ideas again, I have energy. I have ... life.

My herbal teacher brought me some things to help counteract the anxiety and stress I've been feeling. I've started taking a tincture she makes. Also, Oatstraw and Nettle infusions were started tonight.


Tomorrow is a "halloween" breakfast at work. We are supposed to bring a breakfast item. In our room we were all debating what to bring and I said I was thinking about either bagels from Panera or pumpkin bread (homemade) and everyone yelled out Pumpkin Bread! So... when I came home and got settled, I started the bread. It turned out better than any I've ever made.



I'm thinking this weekend I'll make chicken and noodles and maybe pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing. yum yum...

I love making homemade bread, but do it so rarely because a- i can't eat it all myself and b- it is so time consuming. Turns out, it really didn't take any time at all for me to put this recipe together tonight and once it was in the oven I could turn my attention to other things. I'm going to start making some kind of homemade bread at least once a week. I can always take any surplus food to the office (they are like Mikey - they'll eat anything). There are so many different types of bread I want to try. The first one will be the Buttered Rosemary Rolls that Ree over at The Pioneer Woman wrote about today. I know they aren't completely from scratch, but it's a start and sounds so fabulous! I do have a wonderful yeast roll recipe from my Grandmother that I could use for it too. mmmm... yeast rolls.... (ugh.. I can hear my blood sugar racing up the scale as I think about it). That is the one bad thing about my bread plan. Being diabetic, I really should stay away from bread. But I'll work on the breads and I'll also look for recipes that aren't as bad or are at least a little carb/diabetic friendly (is there such a thing?) :)

I'm going to go start my latest knitting project. The black and white fun fur scarf I mentioned a few days ago, hasn't been started yet, so I'll do that tonight while I watch what would loosely be termed a football team of UNC visit Virginia Tech. At least basketball season starts soon. :)

blessings
~*~