Kitchen Saga

Happy Day before Thanksgiving!!! Hopefully it isn't as dreary where you are as it is here. This is the third day in a row of rain, and it is suppose to rain again tomorrow. The temps aren't all that bad, but with the rain it makes them feel much colder than it is. Can I say I am ready for warmer weather, even before we start hearing Christmas music?


My broken refrigerator saga continues, last night we went and purchased a new refrigerator and it can't be delivered until Friday, so that means we will be having Thanksgiving without my fridge. We have coolers sitting everwhere to house our food....plus my son is bringing some more over for any leftovers that will need to be kept cold. I feel like I am living in a episode of " Little House on the Praire" But through all this disturbance I am feeling very blessed. My parents are coming in today to share the holiday with us. I am looking forward to it. Should be a good time. Who knows we may even tackle some Black Friday sales. We are brave souls or silly some may say.

Just wanted to pop on and say hi and wish all my friends and their families a Very Happy Thanksgiving. Most likely I will not be posting until next week.

Many Blessings to you all!
Me

Saga continues

Happy Day before Thanksgiving!!! Hopefully it isn't as dreary where you are as it is here. This is the third day in a row of rain, and it is suppose to rain again tomorrow. The temps aren't all that bad, but with the rain it makes them feel much colder than it is. Can I say I am ready for warmer weather, even before we start hearing Christmas music?


My broken refrigerator saga continues, last night we went and purchased a new refrigerator and it can't be delivered until Friday, so that means we will be having Thanksgiving without my fridge. We have coolers sitting everwhere to house our food....plus my son is bringing some more over for any leftovers that will need to be kept cold. I feel like I am living in a episode of " Little House on the Praire" But through all this disturbance I am feeling very blessed. My parents are coming in today to share the holiday with us. I am looking forward to it. Should be a good time. Who knows we may even tackle some Black Friday sales. We are brave souls or silly some may say.

Just wanted to pop on and say hi and wish all my friends and their families a Very Happy Thanksgiving. Most likely I will not be posting until next week.

Many Blessings to you all!
Me

Problems in the kitchen....

Tuesday already... I hope everyone is having another great day and are getting ready for Thanksgiving. I would like to say that I am, but late last night I heard my refrigerator making some wierd and unusal noises, so long story short, we decided to move everything to our basement freezer.....so guess you know what that means, I think my refrigerator is going out.....thing is it is only 5 years old...if that. Oh well, hopefully its just the compressor and a service man can fix it today, but if not....guess I am going to be shopping for a new refigerator. My folks arrive tomorrow so I need to get it squared away today if I can. It always seems to happen at the most unopportune time, but I am thankful that we can replace if we have too.


Got some last minute shopping to do for my holiday menu...and then I should be set to start my cooking tomorrow evening. Tomorrow night I will be making my desserts so that I will have those out of the way on Thursday. I'm torn about what to make....definitely a pumpkin pie, but not sure what else....Everything I want to make has pumpkin in it and hubby wants a variety....so maybe a fruit pie of some sort...possibly apple. Ummmm yummy!

Last night I spent the evening in a whirlwind...there was laundry to do for the guest beds, and a shower for me, so I had time to do my hair...it takes so long for it to dry, and all the little things to catch up when your not at home during the day. Dishes to unload, and reload, dinner to make, etc....needless to say I didn't have much free time. Getting readjusted to my schedule is going to take me some time. Oh how I hate not having that relaxing time in the AM with my coffee and my computer time. :) This morning heading into work, it rained the entire way which makes a long commute even longer. But would rather take my time and get where I am going without any problems.

First Thanksgiving Poem
If I had been a Pilgrim child
Among the fields and forests wild
Where deer and turkey used to roam,
A cabin would have been my home

With fireplace and earthen floor
And bearskins hanging at the door.
I would have gathered berries bright
For candles fragrantly alight,
And dug for clams and picked the corn
And laid the table smooth and worn.

Or hunted nuts hard-shelled and good
And helped in any way I could,
With time to laugh and play and run
When Indian children came for fun.

And on the first Thanksgiving Day
I would have met with friends to pray
And thank the Lord for all his care
In keeping us together there.

By Margaret Hillert
So what are you doing today? Do you have everything ready for Thanksgiving? Tell me about it....
Have a blessed day!

Me

Busy Weekend

Happy Monday!  What a cold and dreary day it is here today, but the weekend was wonderful weather and we got lots done around the house, which needed it.  :)  I didn't get here last week to post to my blog, it was busy with various activities going on.  Anyhow, maybe I  can get here for at least a few days this week.    This week is going to be a very busy week, as I have started back to work after being off since the first of Oct. .  OUCH!  My first day back since the surgery my knee surgery.  I did well for the most part, but had to remind myself to get up and move around so that my knee and leg didn't get painfully sore.   

I didn't sleep all that well last night, maybe because I was in a great deal of pain from being on my legs all day Saturday and Sunday, or if it was just thinking about coming back to work.  Most likely both were a contributing factor. Either way, I know when I got up this morning I didn't want too. 

Saturday I spent most the day decorating for Christmas, I know...there is always alot of controversy about rushing Thanksgiving, but that wasn't my intent.  I LOVE Thanksgiving, this year it was more about time allowances.  So I decorated most of my house on Saturday and finished up on Sunday. (Need to make some pictures so that I can post them)  Although I probably only used about 1/4 of the decorations that I own because with the house on the market, I didn't want to OVERDO it, plus most of my table surfaces are in storage so there wasn't alot of places to put things out. Anyhow it is done, and now I can focus on getting everything ready for my Thanksgiving feast.  I plan to do some things each night to get me ready so that on Thursday morning I can enjoy in family and watch some of the Macy's parade.  Plus my folks are coming up on Wednesday so it will be great to have them here and also for mom and I to get a chance to cook up some goodies.  So what is going to be on your Thanksgiving table? 
Well my autumn spice tea cup is about empty so gotta get another refill....talk to you tomorrow...

Have a blessed evening,
Me

A Giveway

Who doesn't love a giveaway, I know I do. Check out this great blog and wonderful lady, Traci, you'll fall in love with her. Her blog is just great, and full of crafty inspiration. If you stop in to sign up for the giveaway which the winner is drawn tomorrow the 16th...tell her I sent ya.

Hugs, and Blessing!
Cindy

in reference to:

"I am also celebrating becausethis is my 100th post!"
- Beneath My Heart: Let’s celebrate!!! Guest blogging and 100th post Giveaway! (view on Google Sidewiki)

A Giveway

Who doesn't love a giveaway, I know I do. Check out this great blog and wonderful lady, Traci, you'll fall in love with her. Her blog is just great, and full of crafty inspiration. If you stop in to sign up for the giveaway which the winner is drawn tomorrow the 16th...tell her I sent ya.

Hugs, and Blessing!
Cindy

in reference to:

"I am also celebrating becausethis is my 100th post!"
- Beneath My Heart: Let’s celebrate!!! Guest blogging and 100th post Giveaway! (view on Google Sidewiki)

Need a laugh

She cracks me up.  You will love her. 

Hugs,

Cindy

I gotta see this

how ‘bout you?

I just know it is going to be one of those feel good movies.  Sandra Bullock looks awesome in this movie.  Love her!  Release date is 11/20.

Now here is chick flick…gotta see this one too. 

Release date is 12/04.  I love anything that Meg Ryan is in. 

Happy Viewing,

Me

Christmas time is coming…..

To our house this weekend, and I am so excited.
I am really in the mood to get started on decorating for the holidays.  I don’t have as much time this year with all the family and traveling that we are doing, so I am going to break my own tradition of decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving. 
I hope to get lots of pictures to post to share with you, but until then I will share some that I got inspiration from, and I hope they inspire you to.  Courtesy  from Country Living.  (you will note the country flair)  I always do a primitive tree at Christmas.
 

This picture (below) is my favorite, something about the glow of the tree and the stocking hung….Love it!!  Just the simplicity of it.

Aren’t these packages fun.  They look to good to open.   This is something I do every year on my front porch. 

What are some of your decorating styles, tips, etc.  I would love to hear them. 
Don’t forget to jump over to my Country Christmas blog and follow me there this season.
Love and hugs,
Me

On my Christmas list

Every year I get a Gooseberry Patch calendar for Christmas for the next year.  I have been getting one for years.  Love them!   Love all the colors and the cozy and “hominess” of them.  Take a sneak peek.

Hugs,

Me

A million different directions

is what is going on with me today.  I feel torn in all kinds of directions.  Do you ever feel this way?  Today I have a multitude of task that I really should take care of.  I have started my ongoing list for all my holiday preparations and I am so glad.  Let me share with you a wonderful blog for organization that I have run across, it is one of the best I have seen in a long time.  Jill is so creative and she has such wonderful ideas to help you.  Check her out at Controlling my Chaos.    Since I am a advocate of list, she has the ultimate ideas of organizing Christmas, recipes, and blogs.  Who knew?  Check her out and I think you will love her ideas.  Oh yeah, check out her recipes cards for download.  To cute, and something on my to do list now. 

I spent some time last night adding some new recipes to my cooking blog , most have the main ingredient PUMPKIN.  For some good and yummy recipes to bring in Thanksgiving, check them out.  Just click here.

This morning I have been puttering around in my house, moving things around….ever so often I get the itch to change things up a bit.   But in all honesty, I really am ready to put the Fall decorations away and bring out the Christmas, which I may actually do this weekend.  Bring on the holiday movies and Christmas movies.  Speaking of  holiday movies, I also posted over at Country Christmas a listing of all the holiday movies coming up soon.  Care to take a look?  Mosey on over here.

Guess I really should get back to work….just didn’t want the day to get by me without saying hi and sharing some neat places with you.  Enjoy!

Hugs and Blessings,

Me

A million different directions

is what is going on with me today.  I feel torn in all kinds of directions.  Do you ever feel this way?  Today I have a multitude of task that I really should take care of.  I have started my ongoing list for all my holiday preparations and I am so glad.  Let me share with you a wonderful blog for organization that I have run across, it is one of the best I have seen in a long time.  Jill is so creative and she has such wonderful ideas to help you.  Check her out at Controlling my Chaos.    Since I am a advocate of list, she has the ultimate ideas of organizing Christmas, recipes, and blogs.  Who knew?  Check her out and I think you will love her ideas.  Oh yeah, check out her recipes cards for download.  To cute, and something on my to do list now. 

I spent some time last night adding some new recipes to my cooking blog , most have the main ingredient PUMPKIN.  For some good and yummy recipes to bring in Thanksgiving, check them out.  Just click here.

This morning I have been puttering around in my house, moving things around….ever so often I get the itch to change things up a bit.   But in all honesty, I really am ready to put the Fall decorations away and bring out the Christmas, which I may actually do this weekend.  Bring on the holiday movies and Christmas movies.  Speaking of  holiday movies, I also posted over at Country Christmas a listing of all the holiday movies coming up soon.  Care to take a look?  Mosey on over here.

Guess I really should get back to work….just didn’t want the day to get by me without saying hi and sharing some neat places with you.  Enjoy!

Hugs and Blessings,

Me

Happy Veterans Day

I almost missed it, didn’t I?  It’s been a rather crazy day here for me, so I am just getting a chance to post to my blog. 

Did you know that … This holiday became a U.S. national holiday in 1938 and in 1954 was renamed Veterans Day to honor all veterans. I am so proud of all those that have served past and present.  For keeping our country free.  Thank you  and your families for the sacrifice  you make everyday.  I am proud of our American Troops.

Not sure how this post will come together because I am sitting here watching the CMA’s at the same time.  I really enjoy watching Brad and Carrie together.  They have a great chemistry together.  Anyhow, so far the show has been okay…hoping for some upsets tonight.  

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a wonderful day, it was spent being lazy.  It was my day to do nothing.  Wow, I never know where the year goes, it feels like I just had a birthday….my hubby surprised me over the weekend (Saturday) with a great dinner party with my kids and some friends.  It was such a shock, and I felt truly spoiled.  I didn’t have to lift a finger for anything.  How sweet is that? 

Today,  we got another call from our realtors, they wanted to show the house again.  So this was the third time in two weeks… I  am really getting tired of having to keep the house in “show ready” status.  I feel like I can’t really live in my house, I’m scared to get into projects for fear I will be in the middle of something when they want to show it. 

Guess I should scoot, got a few other things to do before calling it a night.  

Hugs!

Cindy

where do I start

seems like it has been forever since I have posted to this blog….no excuses really, except I haven’t been real motivated to do any house or home projects with everything else that has been going on in my life.  But lately I am feel very motivated to get into doing some small projects again and with Christmas coming that inspires me to decorate and play more in my house.  I do have a Christmas  blog that I will be adding things to on a regular basis so if you don’t want to miss anything, please stop over and follow me on it.  You can visit Country Christmas by clicking here. 

There is so many neat things going on here in blogland  and I am loving reading everyone's post.  So many creative women out there.  With my house still on the market it is really hard to do alot in the house without it looking cluttered.  I think that has been one of my biggest problems with wanting to do anything in my house because you have to keep it “show” ready.  And of course, the realtors tell you that make it look as big as possible so we have moved most of the big furniture out of the house and are only down to the bare essentials, and quite frankly I hate it.  It doesn’t feel like my home anymore.  :(  But I am willing to do whatever it takes to make the house sell.

I do have a decorating dilemma though, I have a sliding glass door in my family room and at the moment it doesn’t have anything covering it.  In the summer months that is fine and I like the sunlight peeking in, but in the winter, it needs to be covered so that the house has that warm and cozy feeling I love so much.  Here is my dilemma, what can I cover my doors with, without putting rods up.  Hubby doesn’t want to, in case the buyers don’t like them, or wants to put something else up.  So I am stuck.  I can’t think of anything I can do? What would you do?

K…guess I need to scoot, so I can start on my day…I think it might be  productive. 

Hope you have a blessed Monday!

Hugs!

Cindy

Wow what a wonderful weekend

I had a great weekend.  Family, great food, and great friends, who could ask for more than that, right?  My stepson and dil came into town late on Friday evening and it was great to see them.  We got to catch up with all that is going on with them.  They are the cutest little couple.  Unfortunately because of the distance we don’t get to see Michael’s children as often as we would like, so when we do, it is such a blessing and treat.

On Saturday, they had things they needed to do.  They actually came up here to buy a car.  So they had to scoot off to the dealership and hubby had to finish up some work at the office, so I headed into town to get my nails done and run a few errands, it was a nice morning, the sun was shining and it was picture perfect.  Once I finished with all my errands, I headed back home to rest before everyone got back home.  Little did I know that my hubby had planned a surprise birthday dinner for me.  (My birthday is Tuesday) So needless to say I was shocked when everyone started rolling in.  Glad I got that nap in.  :)  We had a Mexican fiesta, everything he made was scrumptious.  Everyone loved the food and had a great time. 

Sunday was a day of relaxing for me…I watched some football with my son for a bit and took another nap.  Spent some time reading and just hanging out with them.  The weather here was awesome, and so hubby worked in the yard.  Thinking that today, I should get out there and do some weeding in the flower beds and pots. 

I have been reading my blogroll this morning and I am so inspired to get to work on some projects, but think I had better make out a list if I want to get anything accomplished.  But it looks like today is going to be busy, busy, busy…so guess if I want to get anything done, I need to head off here and get at it. 

Have a Blessed Monday all,

Cindy

Funny Friday

Today I thought I would  share a wonderful video of a wonderful speaker,she is hilarious.  I love listening to Jeanne Robertson.  She is adorable.  Love that southern drawl she has.

Can you relate to this? I know I can!

Hope you have a blessed  Friday.

Cindy

My day has been busy

and I am just now getting a chance to get to my blog today.  As you can see, one thing I did today was updated my theme.  I have been wanting to do this for awhile now.  But while I was in the mist of updating all my files, I decided to do this now, and get it done.  Now I just need to do a couple of the others.   One thing that I really had wanted to do today was start with updates on my Christmas site, but didn’t get around to it.  Maybe tomorrow.  Although I have a feeling I will have some errands to run because we are having family in town this weekend.   I might just make a another list to work on next week and work on it then.  And take tomorrow to get everything ready for guest.  This has been one computer packed week for me.  And quite frankly I am getting tired of it.  :)

My day started out with me picking up the house and putting things away.  I also needed to change the sheets on the bed and wash them.  So the bed still awaits me upstairs to be put back together.  (want to get hubby to help me flip the mattress).  After starting the laundry, I got some dusting done, and actually brought out a few more fall decorations. Took down some of the halloween goodies.  Once the housework was behind me I started working on the files on the computers.  I am almost finished with all the transferring.  WooHoo!!  

Tomorrow I have a few things to do to get ready for the kids arrival..  The only thing that I really have to do in the house is clean their bathroom.  I also need to run out and get some groceries, and possibly get some baking done. 

So as you can see I have alot going on, but will try to get back tomorrow. So what do you think about the new look….What do you think it needs? 

Gotta scoot, it is 9:30 PM and I need to find something to eat, plus going to watch the San Antonio Spurs with the hubby. 

Hope you had a blessed night.

Hugs,

Cindy 

My day has been busy

and I am just now getting a chance to get to my blog today.  As you can see, one thing I did today was updated my theme.  I have been wanting to do this for awhile now.  But while I was in the mist of updating all my files, I decided to do this now, and get it done.  Now I just need to do a couple of the others.   One thing that I really had wanted to do today was start with updates on my Christmas site, but didn’t get around to it.  Maybe tomorrow.  Although I have a feeling I will have some errands to run because we are having family in town this weekend.   I might just make a another list to work on next week and work on it then.  And take tomorrow to get everything ready for guest.  This has been one computer packed week for me.  And quite frankly I am getting tired of it.  :)

My day started out with me picking up the house and putting things away.  I also needed to change the sheets on the bed and wash them.  So the bed still awaits me upstairs to be put back together.  (want to get hubby to help me flip the mattress).  After starting the laundry, I got some dusting done, and actually brought out a few more fall decorations. Took down some of the halloween goodies.  Once the housework was behind me I started working on the files on the computers.  I am almost finished with all the transferring.  WooHoo!!  

Tomorrow I have a few things to do to get ready for the kids arrival..  The only thing that I really have to do in the house is clean their bathroom.  I also need to run out and get some groceries, and possibly get some baking done. 

So as you can see I have alot going on, but will try to get back tomorrow. So what do you think about the new look….What do you think it needs? 

Gotta scoot, it is 9:30 PM and I need to find something to eat, plus going to watch the San Antonio Spurs with the hubby. 

Hope you had a blessed night.

Hugs,

Cindy 

One More Day

It’s already the middle of the week.  Can you believe that this week is half over?  I’m moving right along on organizing and updated my blogs.  Since getting my new laptop I hadn’t taken the time to update all the software that I normally use, so I have been doing that.  What a job.  I also have been rearranging and updating content. I hope that by the end of the week I will be done with this.  This is a huge job, especially when you have several blogs to work on.  I really want to get my Christmas site updated, and thinking now I just might.  I can see the light at the end of this tunnel.  Thank Goodness for Lifetime Movie Network.  I have been watching alot of movies while working on this project. My goal is to finish all this computer work by the end of this week. 

We found out that my husband’s son and daughter-in-law will be here this weekend.  They are arriving on Friday and will be here until Monday.  It will be nice to see them again.  With all his children living so far away, we enjoy every opportunity to visit with them.

Well since I have been spending all week working on my computer, I decided I wanted to share with you today a way to organize your browsers and favorites. I bookmarked this awhile ago and would like to credit where I found it, but for the life of me I can’t find it.

How to organize your browser bookmarks and favorites

How many bookmarks and favorites are on your computer? I have more than 1,000 in Firefox and Del.icio.us, and even though they're neatly organized in folders and tagged, I can't remember what I liked about most of them.

How many bookmarks is too many? Are all those sites still live? Are you really ever going back there?

Happily, there's lots of free software for PC and Mac that will help you organize your bookmarks.

For the PC
   • Bookmark Buddy
This bookmark manager offers four different ways to retrieve bookmarks, site login management, privacy functions and bookmark checking.

   • AM-Deadlink works with Firefox and Internet Explorer.

For the Mac
   • WebNote Happy does web site tagging and annotating for Mac OS X that helps you organize, bookmark, and make notes about the web pages that matter to you.

   • Bookdog lets you Click 'Analyze' to find duplicates and then fix them.

Ok…guess I should get started on my day.  Hope you have a blessed Wednesday!

Cindy

Another great site, check it out!

What a great blog, full of inspiration and free goodies. A place a girl could spend some time. I'll be back with my cup of coffee.

in reference to: Just Something I Made (view on Google Sidewiki)

Tuesday

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
Emily Bronte

Food for thought:

Do you ever feel like this woman? I know I do…today is one of those days. I feel like I have lots that I should be doing outside the home…but all I really want to do is get myself together. I am feeling like I am in a rut lately, and have to find something that I can do to get out of it. Any ideas? Suggestions appreciated.

My head is swimming with all kinds of thoughts today. I sometimes wonder when I feel this way if I will get anything accomplished. That is when it is essential that I stick to my list. Let’s see how well I do today.

BTW, the baked apples I made last night were so good. I think I would have preferred if I had of added a bit more sugar because the apples I used where a bit tart. But they were awesome. You can find the recipe here. Definitely will be making these again. They were so easy.

Last night, I didn’t do much, Michael got home from work and we watched a little TV. Afterwards he had some things to do, so I sat and listened to College Basketball via the computer. Last night was my favorite teams first game and even though it was a expedition game it was good to hear. But really made me homesick, would have loved to have been there real time. Go Cats!!

One of things I think I am going to start doing on my blog is scheduling certain days to do certain things. For instance, Monday’s I will share my weekend, Tuesday are for sharing a new site, I think you might enjoy. And so on….So since today is Tuesday, it is a site for inspiration. I love Melissa’s blog at 320*Sycamore. She always shares great home designing inspiration. If you haven’t visited with her before, please do. I am sure you will fall in love with her blog too.

Now I need to get to work on that list….

Have a blessed day!

Cindy

Welcome Back……And its Fall

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
William Cullen Bryant

I hate to start this post by saying WOW where has the time gone, but that is exactly how I feel...time has just been zooming by.  So much has been going on, but nothing really earth shattering.  Just everyday life.  But over the last several days/weeks I have been thinking alot about my blogs and thinking I need to get back into the groove.  Not sure why I always go through this about this time of year, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that this is my favorite time of the year and there is so much to do and things going on that I like to share about.  This is one of those areas where my appetite is bigger than what I can actually handle.  But I am once again going to try to get myself on some kind of a schedule. 

So I have making notes and jotting ideas down for my blog...as well as all my other ones.  They desperately need to be updated too.   Lately things have been changing around here, between work and family so think it is time to start changing things around here.

Today happens to be a great Fall day…the sun is shining so brightly outside and the temps are great.  I keep asking myself my am I sitting in the house doing this when I should be outside enjoying the last of our pretty days I am sure.   Will try to get outside for a little bit today though.

Got up this morning and decided to put some apples in the Crockpot  to make some baked apples.  So easy and so yummy.   I used Stayman Winesap apples, they are my favorite.  Since I am only making a few I am using my small Crockpot.  

Baked Apples in the Crockpot

3-4 apples
1/2 cup of water
1T. cinnamon
2 T raisins (Ididn’t use these today)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 pad of butter on each apple

Optional…sprinkle with walnuts towards the end of cooking

Peel and core apples, and place in Crockpot with water.  Mix together remaining ingredients and fill the center of the apple, sprinkle with cinnamon and add butter. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.  About the last hour I Wadd nuts.  So easy and so tasty.

It’s time to get to work on my dinner plans now…

Have a blessed Day!

Hugs,

Cindy