Run Chicken! Run!

This was part of my day off yesterday. Chicken Tetrazzini

 I love trying new recipes!

After I deboned the chicken I made my own chicken stock. (I like to use the seasoned rotisserie chickens from the store.) I've done this before but never like this - throwing all the bones along with onions, carrot, celery, garlic and seasoning into pot, boiling and draining. Was easy, economical and very good, I have plenty left over for the next couple of recipes.

Fresh mushrooms, half and half and Parmesan cheese...if it involves cheese, cream and mushrooms it's got to be good, doesn't it?

Oh, and cooking sherry, hiccup!

I'm a big fan of enamel pans for casserole. I've tried all others and always return to my old standbys.

 I have three different sizes!

 Probably bought all three for under $10.

Well, the chicken tetrazzini was very good but not excellent like I had hoped. So I won't be posting the recipe, a better one will have to catch my eye...b

mums

These spider mums got me to thinking about football mums... the kind your date gave you for the homecoming dance. And then reminded me of the perfect dress I made for our senior homecoming dance in navy with white eyelet lace trim.

It was called a granny dress, maxi length.

Who didn't love the styles from the 70's? Lots of gathers, ruffles and lace, empire waists...and the pretty prints.

 (Did we all look pregnant in these styles?)

I made lots of tops from this pattern. Look at the price of these patterns! $1? Last pattern I bought was marked 14.95 minus 40%. (Don't know who they're kidding with the 40% off?)

Material and notions were affordable also.

My junior prom dress was from the middle dress

out of white dotted swiss with a yellow sash.

All good memories...b

76 trombones

I caught our high school marching band practicing

 down the street today.

I always have to stop what I'm doing to watch as they go by...

I love a good marching band.

And for a small school we have a very good band.

Wait a minute! Is that a boy in a dress?

Ha, it's homecoming here this week

and I hope that has something to do with it.

Straighten up those lines kids!

Hats off to these young dedicated musicians.  b

weekend hilight

Good Monday All!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend

 and is rejuvenated for the work week.

I rolled out a couple of new projects -

pillowcases, pumpkin painting and a knitted mouse puppet.

We happened upon this car show Saturday.

Who can resist stopping to look at old restored cars and trucks?

I love the old pickups. I would paint this black 1937 Chevy pickup a celery green and put an old advertising emblem on the doors.

It reminds me of the old pickup dad showed up with one day. He gave us a quick lesson on stick shifts and clutches and away us kids went down the back gravel roads by ourselves. I'm always amazed we survived childhood. We didn't have the truck long...

maybe mother put her foot down.   b

Farm stands

Oh ya, what a great day.

 It's always fun to hit the Forestburg farm stands

 for pumpkins, squash and gourds.

Of course I had to stop at every one of them...

Aren't they lovely?

Finding the perfect pumpkin isn't easy...b

cowboys and indians

Who doesn't remember playing cowboys and indians as a child?

I have a large battle scar on my knee from this game.

 Guess I lost that war?

I  adore this vintage looking fabric and finally broke down and ordered a couple of yards of it. I'm thinking pillow cases for grandma's house. It will work for girls and boys.

The little antique books were grandpa's (guess that makes grandpa an antique also?) They are only 3" books and so cute. Luckily Grandma Jessie kept everything...b

38 years?

Happy Anniversary to my dear husband of 38 years!

Throw in the three years we 'went steady' and we have been together 41 years, wow.

Don't we look great? All young and happy. This photo was taken a few months before we said our 'I do's'. Mr. B was in basic training in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. My parents were so thoughtful to take me to visit him there (maybe they were just tired of my mopey face?). He couldn't come off base so our time together was very short. We got married after his basic training and before he shipped off to Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey for AIT training where I eventually joined him. After a few months of AIT we made our way to Ft. Ord, California. It was a great life for a couple of very green kids from South Dakota.

 

This is what the Mr. surprised me with this morning, so beautiful in fall colors. Yup, I would definitely do it all over again with this guy...b

HELLO Autumn

Goodbye Summer!

Want to wrap up my summer reading. Trade those beachside settings to fireplace settings.

And hello fall!

It's the perfect fall day here to use up the end of the garden

 for a batch of relish.

There's always a great smell in the house

when you're canning produce...b

just rambling...

 If it's not monkey's jumping on the bed...it's monkey's on the clothesline. When the gran-girlie's decided grandma's Shrek towel was too scarey, it meant a trip to the store for these monkeys. Fortunately the "Penquin Pete" towel we had was given their approval.

 The verdict is still out on our puppet "Mr. Fuzzy Wuggs."

He can be a little scarey with his low husky voice and...he bites!    b

State Fair

Clarabelle won first prize at the SD State Fair

 with her cherry pie recipe.

Congratulations Clarabelle!

Needless to say it has put a strain on Clarabelle's friendship with long time friend and neighbor Myrtle. 

 Yes, Myrtle is quite put out about her third place ribbon.

Hang in there Myrtle...and try again next year.

I wonder if Clarabelle shares recipes?  b

busy weekend

What a busy weekend we've had.

If these hands aren't sleeping they are always on the go.

Papa bought a bag of blocks to build princess houses

and castles...b

books

Don't you just love a book that has been read and read until it is just about destroyed? I enjoy my books and don't mind them looking alittle abused due to handling. Dog ear the pages? Don't care. Stretch the binding? Don't care. Oops, spilled my coffee on a page, don't care.

Of course, I respect borrowed books and am ever so careful.

 But I love the whole process of a book, from the purchase to the read to lending it out...b

From the corner

It's so nice to see fall decor in the corners...

Our nights have been very cool.

 I'm resisting a jacket in the morning on my way to work.

Honestly? I could wear capris and sandals year round.

This is what arrived for me today...

It is the most soothing music ever! And I have been looking for it on a cd for years. I have two cassettes of it, bought an extra one in case I ruined one. Listen to it on amazon, you will love it...b

knitting woes

It's my day off and I'm giving my feet a rest! Of course laundry is always on my to-do list but decided long ago it doesn't count as work. If you've ever had to do laundry with a wringer machine and hang clothes on the line to dry you'll know what I'm talking about here. (Oh, but I still love the smell of clothes off the line.)

This is what is on my needles today. I've had this wool/mohair yarn for years! It was a splurge I made in Salt Lake City after my son was kind enough to take me to a yarn shop.

But after hours of knitting I discovered a major mistake and tore it all back, dang. I'm just so happy I had candy corn to get me through my frustration.  Hope your day is going better than mine.

May have to tune into Survivor tonight to see the South Dakota woman compete. I don't give her much of a chance, reality in the Midwest means being honest and kind. And that's not really what viewers will tune into week after week...b

Little House on the Prairie

   As we drove through Mankato, Minnesota and I saw the sign for Sleepy Eye it occurred to me that we were in the land of "Little House on the Prairie."

    What a quaint name for a town. Do you remember Pa Ingalls making trips to Sleepy Eye?
   When we got to Walnut Grove we stopped at the Laura Ingalls Wilder visitors center to get directions to the Ingall's homesite located along the banks of Plum Creek.

It is a very pretty site and easy to vision the Ingall's family living here.

The same flowers grow along the banks.

 I think Laura must have picked flowers like these for her Ma's table.

I'm sure life in the 1800's was much the same for all farm families in the Midwest - drought, grasshoppers, winds, hail... Pa's goal to become a successful farmer never happened and they eventually settled in De Smet, S.D. where he worked numerous jobs.

The family, minus Laura, are all buried in the De Smet cemetery.

Thanks to "Half Pint" we have all been able to follow the journey of the Ingall's family through her books and then the television show...   b



twirly skirts and castles

Good Monday all!

Have to share a little weekend with you...

The real princesses in our family have their very own jumping castle. Their mommy definitely has an eye for bargains and picked up this inflatable for $5 at a rummage sale! Minus the fan, their daddy went on line and purchased one on e-bay.

Now for the real reason for today's blog...

Got the gran-girlie's twirly skirts done and fitted.

Don't know about the fitted part,

 still a little large in the waist bands.

But they both looked very cute in them.  b

birthday princess

I had a very nice birthday weekend! I was definitely the birthday princess, (borrowed the word princess from the gran-girlie's world).

   All birthday princesses deserve an angel food cake with lots of fluffy pink frosting. And don't forget lots of fun presents...

My family always makes sure my birthday is extra special.

The birthday princess extends a great big thank you

 and all her love to each one of them.    mom

Izzy

This is Izzy, short for Isabelle Rose...

Isn't she sweet, all ready for cool weather in her sweater.

I think she needs a school bag.

Izzy was lonely so had to get right to work on a brother for her.

This is Markus, M.J. for short...

I knit them from my yarn odds and ends. Birdie loves it when I pull out my yarn basket, all those balls of yarn with loose ends hanging. She calls it cat paradise.

Have a great weekend...       b

mohair and goats

These goats are busy little goats...

Aren't they just so darn cute?

"Oh! Hello, what are you doing here in my barn?"

This is a mini silki fainting goat.

As the brochure said "pasture candy."

We ran across these angora goats and mohair farm by Harmony, Minnesota. Of course I couldn't resist stopping in

to inspect the place.

All this yarn from these little goats?

And how was I to choose which color yarn I wanted?

At $11 a skein I restricted myself to two skeins of the mauve mohair for felted slippers. I can't wait to get started on yet another project. Or should I just savor the yarn?

Mr. B did spoil me with a pair of mohair socks and I'm saving them for that first really chilly night to wear them!   b