I received a call at 2:30 this afternoon, and it was my niece….the one you all want to come clean for you. She was on her way to pick up her sons after school, when a 17 year old girl broadsided her car. The paramedics had to cut her out of the car, and she was taken by ambulance to the local hospital.
She’s going to be okay. Her sister and I and a friend spent about five hours with her in the ER, making sure that nothing was broken. Her car was totaled, and she hurts from her neck to her hip, and maybe her foot, but it seems that she will recover from the ordeal. The doc requires her to be off work for at least four days, and she’s already fretting about who will do her job.
So, if I’m a little more absent that usual, you’ll know that I am caring for my niece. Keep her in your prayers, please.
Announcing…
Ta DAAAAAH! I’d like to invite one and all to welcome my youngest sister to the blogging world. You’ll find her blog a bit edgier (is that a word??) than mine. She cuts to the heart of an issue while I tap dance around it. If you don’t agree with her opinions, you’ll find her open to dialog, and she’ll do her darnedest to persuade you to her side! *G*
So, go on over and welcome the Looie, at Just My Opinion.
Welcome to the group, sis!
Thank You for….
Thank you for hot showers, Lord! A hot shower has to be one of the all time great inventions. How can you contemplate facing the day without a hot shower to help you make the transition from horizontal to vertical, from dead to the world to up and running?
Just to head off the comments, a hot shower to me is probably a lukewarm shower for most of the rest of you, but it serves the same purpose, and I can always increase the temperature for those mornings when muscles need more help.
I was in the shower on Thursday morning thinking about a blog entry I had made that mourned the fact that great blogging ideas always come when you can’t write them down. It struck a chord with Bogie, and she blogged about it.
I had six ideas I was juggling, and I hurried to dry off and get to my tape recorder. I wasn’t going to let them get away from me this time, no sir! I clicked on the record button, and it wouldn’t go down. I tried again. No luck. I opened the recorder, thinking that the tape was hung up in the works, and discovered the problem. NO TAPE!
I just laughed. What else was there to do??
See? A hot shower can even help you through the first snag of the day!
Cinnamon Dough
I did a quick search to see if I’d given this recipe in the past, but I don’t find anything. I love the smell of cinnamon when the house is closed up. I associate it with Thanksgiving and Christmas. When I can’t bake using cinnamon, I have candles scented with vanilla and cinnamon or pumpkin and cinnamon.
A number of years ago a friend shared the recipe for a simple dough made of applesauce and cinnamon for Christmas ornaments. I made several batches and we cut out angels, and gingerbread men, and rocking horses. Let me share it with you.
Compromising
I’ve talked about it before. I dislike seeing the promotion of Christmas prior to Thanksgiving. For those of you who may read this blog who are not from the USA, Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, which is the 24th, this year.
I know that a lot of people are so heavily into Christmas as a decorating/cooking/gift giving/party season that they need more time to prepare than I do, but it bothers me to see us commercialize Christmas. With that in mind, I refrain from decorating or starting my shopping until after Thanksgiving.
Usually.
Cleaning
When Spring comes, I’m so busy getting gardens ready for the blooming season that I frequently don’t have the chance to get all the heavy cleaning done. So, rather than fight it, I do my Spring cleaning in November. In the 16 years we have been in this house, we’ve hosted my family’s Thanksgiving dinner 12 or 13 times. Before they come, the entire house is cleaned. We wash windows and carpets, curtains, and the linens for the tables. We wash all the china and crystal, and clean all the decorations in the house. Everything is dusted, and the lampshades are vacuumed. We wash the quilts (or at least those which aren’t antiques.) Furniture is moved, and closets and drawers are cleaned and reorganized. We even change the wreaths, so that the appropriate season is represented.
A Bit More on Apple Butter
The apple butter is done. I had some on toast this morning. Have I told you I’m addicted to cinnamon?? This was sweet and thick and full of cinnamon.
I have a few more thoughts to share with you about apple butter before we move on to other subjects. When my links are up, you’ll find “Simply Recipes” listed among them. Elise has a recipe that is almost identical to the one I gave for apple butter, with one exception. Her recipe calls for apple cider vinegar. I thought that maybe it was an error, but according to Elise it’s just a variant on the recipe. I prefer my apple butter sweet and spicy, so I use apple cider instead.
About Apple Butter…
Last month Dear Husband and I purchased a half bushel of apples at the Farmer’s Market. I’ve used them in a variety of ways: chunky applesauce, apple pie, apple crisp, pork and apples. I have some left, and I still hope to get to the apple butter.
Word of the Day
I believe I like Dictionary.com’s definition of “avid” much better, especially when the term is used to describe my relationship with quilting:
“Marked by keen interest and enthusiasm”
Even a “fierce devouring affection” seems preferable to Google’s definition of the word: “Longing eagerly for; eager; greedy. ”
Truth be told, I dislike the idea of being called greedy, but it’s possible the shoe fits where quilting is concerned. Quilters have what they call “stashes” of fabric, so that you have the piece you need at 3:00 in the morning when the stores are closed and you can’t sleep. Actually, I’ve never pieced or quilted at 3:00, but I AM a fabriholic. One hundred per cent cotton is a beautiful fabric, and the colors and patterns available today are astonishing! I have the fabric to make at least eight quilt tops, and probably many more.
If only I had the time.
So…maybe I am greedy, but couldn’t we put a nicer face on it??
Cleaning Day
This morning, one of my nieces is coming to help me with my Spring cleaning. Maybe I should be honest about that. SHE is going to organize MY life. I’m going to push papers around and she will take them out of my hands and throw them away.
We’ll bring up the storage bins with winter clothes, and half of the clothes will go to Good Will or the Salvation Army or the wastebasket.
She will force me to deal with 15 years of magazines that no one is reading, and two months of catalogs that need to be thrown away.
My kitchen will be so clean that no one will ever be allowed to cook again!
Everyone should have a lovely person like this in their family, especially if you tend to be a “collector.”
I realized that things were so bad that I needed more than one day’s help. She’ll be here Thursday, too! I think my house is going to look like a showcase!
Yes!!!