Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Glimpses of the season . . . .



Small moments are what the big memories are made of. Very busy getting things ready. Projects to finish, foodie things to make, gifts to deliver, tea to be sipped and moments to treasure may you have all these and more, the light is coming . . .

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Gingerbread 2011






Things change and then they remain the same.  We have been making Gingerbread Houses since before kids. I am not sure exactly what element of the making is attractive . . . certainly the candy attracts the young folk but the element of creativity keeps them attracted as they grow  older.  We always make enough houses that the adults can participate and that is great fun.  I like the colors that are part of the candy palate and I think the ability to make patterns. To be able to create 3 dimensionally is actually not a common  activity.  Most things we do are 2 dimensional or 1.  Years ago these house makers were not strong enough to squeeze out the frosting. . . . now they are so strong that they collapsed their house, then turned it into a "meltdown"  more was added than in this photo. It is all good, the creativity the magic, the friendships and fellowship shared around the Gingerbread table. 

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Firetruck Parade 2011



I was having technical difficulties and was not able to post for a few weeks but think we have it worked out again.  These are pictures from our little hometown parade that happens each Holiday Season.  Fire Companies from 4 counties come all decked out to show their creativity and festivity. The airplane actually rises up and down.  The Big Santa touched the street lights on its way through.  It was a cold night but snowless.  It is a fun event with the whole town gathered to celebrate. 

Friday, December 2, 2011

Tree Kitty



Every year the Red cat "Oren" takes his place as soon as the Tree is up to sleep beneath it.  Eventually there will be a train here and he will sleep there still with the Train whistleing by.  The Black and White cat- "Sol"  does not sleep there but he joins in the drinking form the tree stand.  They are very silly cats but we love them .

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Camera Fun



Kids were decorating the tree and I played with the camera a little bit and shot these fun photos!!!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tree Gathering 2011






Getting "the Tree" somehow has made it into one of those 'yearly' traditions in our house. Where we used to walk out the back door and cut our tree from the Tree Farm that our land bordered on.  Then one day the owner transformed that acreage into 19 house lots  and we needed to find a "newplace" to call our own. We did indeed find a wonderful Christmas Tree Farm about 25 minutes away.  Once we arrive there and get a Tree "tag" , it then all starts with a tractor ride to the fields.  This tractor ( they run like 4 at a time) was the super deluxe one.  The  tractor driver had a car seat next to him with a infant/toddler in the car seat!  Tractor complete with baby.  Kids got a kick out of that. 
For the last few years we have assisted in "field clearing" gladly getting off in the "discount" field areas. This makes for an interesting experience.  In the prime tree area all the trees are trimmed and in the "perfect" Christmas tree shape that you would expect not only in height but in diameter etc.. They all basically look alike.   Well in our discount area, we have it all. Tall skinny, athletic, oversize, with limb damage, with pinecones and nests, two tops, any anomaly that you can dream up.  After much time we settled on a larger one than we needed, like 10-11 feet but we took it all and trimmed it much shorter when we arrived home. Some tell us it is now to short.   . . . . . all in all it was another successful Tree gathering in 60 degrees no less, no frozen fingers or toes this year!!  Sorry yo rattle on so with our story.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

THanksgiving Greetings

From Our house to your house Wishing you and yours  a very  Happy Thanksgiving.  May the many blessings bestowed upon us be shared today and always.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

works in progress . . . . .




Some of the things that i worked on while away sewing/quilting and being creative.  I really look forward to this weekend away as while at home there is little time to sew these days. Kid care, laundry, housekeeping and cooking seem to fill the days.   While this is fine , it is often not very well balanced .   I would love to say that I have the balance thing all worked out but sadly I do not.  I try to grab minutes to be ever so simply creative but  they often are far and few between. Only the top one of these 4 is complete.  The middle 2 are I am thinking going to be part of something bigger, and the last one is of the Falls in town and will have a brown frame around it. It may well be a year before they are what they are meant to be but they are a great reminder to a fun time and inspire me to keep grabbing those moments. Hope everyone can find a little creative everyday.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

6o minute costume


This is a miner from the Computer game Minecraft.  The miner is made of Pixels in the game.  After not having success in getting help to make this over the weekend.  . . . I brought a box home from work and stopped to buy spraypaint . . . . got home changed, and started spraying under the direction of Yoda.  It is not a very warm day so then we had to bring it in and dry it with a hair dryer. . . .The shirt being a medium blue was painted with a darker blue again to illuminate the appearance of Pixels. When the paint had dried with duck tape the goggles were fashioned after the first try that Mom did and it was wrong.  The shirt goes over the winter coat as it is not very fall like in these parts of the Northeast. Then we were out the door in record time.   Some houses knew exactly what he was and some questioned him about it.  He had one mom who wanted his picture!!!  All in all a success for such a short time.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Pumpkins 2011



Here is what 2 teens and a tween produced the night before Halloween.  We had grandparents over for a baked Potato and Apple Pie feast while the kids carved their pumpkins. This was met with mixed interest this year as some felt they needed to do homework . . . mama never said Pumpkins come first for sure.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Storytelling . . .

What stories do you think this picture can tell?  What has it seen?  For how long?

Friday, October 28, 2011

Nightly Dinners

So, "Whats for Dinner tonight mom?" How many of us hear that on a daily basis or hourly basis . . .
Over the years I have come up with a solution that seems to work.
Mondays are always Breakfast for dinner - pancakes, French toast, Eggs, Omelets, Waffles, Oven Puff Pancake.
Tuesdays - something that is easy, can be eaten at various times, prepped early, it is Scout night and things get crazy  Pulled pork, Meatloaf, hot dogs,
Wednesdays-  This tends to be the big real meal of the week - roasted chicken etc..
Thursday - Pasta night plain pasta, ravioli, stuffed shells, Pasta with shrimp etc.. the options are endless
Friday - sandwiches/ go out/ depends on who is home, who is leaving early - gone . . .
Saturday - Pizza night- we make it here versus buying it unless crazy busy
Sunday- Soup night  or Baked potatoes with toppings and Salad. Easy Peasy make ahead and enjoy a lazy Sunday.

I also have a 8 week master meal rotation schedule that gives us lots of potential ideas for meals. I try on Sunday to sit down and sketch out the following week and tweak the upcoming week.  We record it on the calendar so that the kids know where to look.   What do you do?  Any good ideas?




Thursday, October 27, 2011

Apple Farm 2011


 Golden Delicious

 Empire
 Ida Red
Apple picking is one of those seasonal family traditions that we have. We have picked Apples before the kids were born and 1-5 times a season every year since.  One of the highlights is the Tractor ride to the trees and cider doughnuts rank right up there as well. The only bad part are the bees/wasps, we do not like those.  This year we did all go . . . but one who is wearing braces and 15 was not into it as they do not eat them - even peeled and cut up . . . . must be the age . . . and then my senior in HS looks at many things as "her last" but I don't think so, we will be picking apples when she comes home from college or maybe there will be an apple farm near her college.  Yoda the youngest had the goal of finding a completely red apple all the way around and by gosh we did!! There is just something magical about all the bright red or green apples on the trees.  A rainy day today time for applesauce and crisp or pie.  My kids like fresh apples but not cooked or baked??? They are truly missing in my opinion.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

A view from . . . Chestnut Hill

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

October Garden





Well this is what is blooming in my garden this month here in Western NY.  The sun was out today which was a special treat!  It is already raining and I doubt we will see the sun for another week. That is how it goes here.  I am particularly loving the Flowering Kale in the first photo.  The third one is Pineapple Sage blooming. You can never spend enough time outside this time of year, with the long winter ahead of us.  The furnace is cleaned up for the season. We probably will not turn it on for another month, depends on how the weather goes.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Morning Sunrise

When you start out with a day like this, it can only get better.  This day the fog was very cool, in horizontal rows and the sun inter-played with the Jet Streams, it just made the day!!  So glad we could see it and take the time to catch it on the camera.  So many days we are so busy with the getting to it going somewhere we miss out on these special moments.  Somehow this fall has seemed especially busy.   My lack of posts would rather confirm that.   Alas I will try to be better.   Here's hoping for some more spectacular Sunrises and having the opportunity to see them .

Monday, October 10, 2011

Its Pumpkin time!!!





There is nothing quite so telling of this time of year as a big orange Pumpkin.  We made a stop on our fall pilgrimage of sorts to buy family pumpkins.  So many choices and it was a gorgeous fall day, warm sunny and brilliant blue skies.  After this stop was Cider, cheese and apples!! Loved some of the colors of Indian Corn this year.