Planting & Ice Out

Yesterday, I was truly amazed at the lake in front of our house. It appeared to have small rivers running between the ice, but when I walked down to the beach to look and take some pictures, this is what I found.

Can you see the ice? There were these really odd icicles in between each chunk of ice. Here is a close up.

It was cold and windy and I didn’t stay out too long. I walked back up the hill to our house, and thought, perhaps I would snap a picture.

Friday the sun was out and it was a much nicer day! I decided to put on my crummy jeans and sweat-shirt and do some spring stuff.

Since there was no snow left in the yard, that meant one thing for me…time to plant my seeds for the garden! So, out to the green house I went, to clean it out, working planting seeds, and then clean it all up again!

Our weather was beautiful and it was actually the perfect day for working in the green house. Our temperatures reached 60 degrees. I so enjoyed the sunshine and watching the effect that it had on our lake. By nightfall we had finally had ice out on our own little lake here in Dackel Princess Land!

Friday Fill-Ins

And…here we go!

1. Pardon me, while I powder my nose.

2. The beautiful leg of ham we have for Easter is a good deal.

3. I was surprised to find that I really like gourmet cooking.

4. Having a barbecue (or cooking outside) is one of my favorite forms of entertainment.

5. Hi, my name is Maribeth and I’m an over-eater. That is what I said three years ago when I went to my first WW meeting.

6. Warm, breezy and peaceful summer afternoons.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to finishing up the laundry and vacuuming, tomorrow my plans include making the tomato aspic, peeling the potatoes and the carrots and also making the stuffed eggs and clam dip and Sunday, I want to cook the ham, get all the parts of the Easter dinner put together, so that I can enjoy everyone who will be coming up and sharing our table!

Thursday Thirteen

The Menu

Appetizers, Stuffed Eggs and New England Clam dip with chips.

1. Ham. Not my first choice, but Hubby and Janet love it and I love them, so ham it is! I have a nice piece of porky pig in the fridge for our dinner. I bet it will be delish!

2. I’m making it with a spiced cherry glaze. I know most people do it with pineapple, but I am sadly allergic to it, so we will have this glaze on the roast ham, and have a dish of pineapple for those that can have it.

3. Mashed potato. It is one thing I really love and gosh darn-it, we are going to have them! I wondered about it and finally put it on the menu. I’ll weigh my portion, but I really want them.

4. A Tomato Aspic! This is a recipe I have gotten from a friend and it is not only low in points, but it is so good!

5. Either asparagus or peas, depending on the prices in the supermarket this week. I’m hoping asparagus!

6. Carrots. I love carrots, so I plan to wash, peel, slice and cook until they are tender crisp and sweet!

7. Pickles. I make my own Moon-glow pickles and I will have a tray of those on the table.

8. Rolls. served with butter and margarine.

9. An assortment of mustards. Does everyone like the same mustard with their ham?

10. Coconut cake. My cousin is making this and I can hardly wait!

11. A Grape salad. A pound of green and a pound of seedless red, a block of fat free cream cheese, and a container of fat free vanilla yogurt. 1/4 cup of either sugar or Splenda. Make the dressing first, then add to the grapes. Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup brown sugar with a good fist-full of pecan, crunch together and toast. Cool and then toss on top of grapes. Chill overnight, and serve.

12. Drinks galore. Coffee, tea, water, soda’s etc.

13. Alka Seltzer! lol!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What are your plans for Easter Day/weekend?

My cousin, her boy friend and some of his family are coming and I am cooking a Ham. I expect to look like an Oompa Loompa the day after.

2. Besides Jesus, what one person from The Bible would you most like to meet and why?

Job. I have had so many challenges in my life, and reading the book of Job often helped me to realize that I have not been challenged nearly as much.

3. What is one modern day convenience you didn’t have as a child that was easy to live without?

A garbage disposal. We have one now, and although I love having it, it certainly isn’t a must have in this world.

4. Are you more right brained or left brained? (I took the quiz at Joyce’s site and this is what it said.)

Left Brain	Right Brain
47%	53%

Now this is weird. I’m really both. Well, thank goodness. After a closed head injury 25 years ago, it’s nice to see the two sides working so well together.

5. What is something you intended to do today but didn’t? Why?

Well, as I write it is only 9:30 AM on Tuesday, so I haven’t had a chance to mess up yet. I hope I will have a good day of getting it all done. It may be that I don’t get my seeds planted.

6. Cadbury Creme Eggs or Reeses peanut butter?

Neither. I am really a dark chocolate person, so my real addiction is sold only at Christmas. Peppermint Bark.

7. Who was your favorite cartoon character when you were a child?

I loved the Flintstones, The Jetsons and Chip and Dale.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Joanne took her first field trip home. She also wanted to have some PF Chang and when the local restaurant heard they arranged quite a party for her and even picked up the bill! She got to hold her cat, Joey and see her home! It did help her morale, but she also realized how much work she needs to do to get in shape for her discharge in a few weeks.

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Ice-Out Declared On Lake Winnipesaukee

Happy Wednesday!

Slow Cooker Pork Loin Roast

It’s a snap to make with a jar of mango or peach chutney, onions, and seasonings.
Ingredients:

* 1 boneless pork loin roast, about 3 to 4 pounds
* 1-2 large sweet onion, sliced
* Salt and pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 small clove garlic, finely minced
* 1 jar (12 ounces) mango or peach chutney
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon grainy mustard (I just used regular Guldens Mustard)
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger

Preparation:
Wash roast and pat dry; trim excess fat.

Put sliced onion in the bottom of a 5 to 7-quart slow cooker. Lightly salt and pepper the roast then rub with the garlic powder or fresh minced garlic. Place the roast in the slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and spoon over the roast. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour, then reduce to LOW and cook for 6 to 8 hours longer, or continue cooking on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours longer. The roast should register at least 160° on an instant read thermometer or meat thermometer inserted in the center of the roast. Best if you cook it slowly.

Remove the roast from the slow cooker and keep warm; pour juices into a medium saucepan. Simmer the juices for about 5 to 8 minutes to reduce by about one-third. Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water, stirring until smooth. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the juices and continue cooking for about 1 minute, until thickened. (I did not do this and it was fine just the way it was.
Serves 6 to 8.

What I Did This Passed Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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On Saturday, i thought I was going to get a lot done. I brought down all the laundry, changed the sheets, etc, but somehow lost momentum and ended the day feeling lazy and quiet. I made a meatloaf and Hubby’s favorite mashed potatoes and then we sat down and enjoyed two episodes of “From Lark Rise to Candleford”, before I fell asleep.

I woke on Sunday to the gloom and rain of the day. I made coffee, strong and hot, and then settled in to read the newspaper. Eventually Hubby got up and the day began. The sun came out, it warmed up and turned into quite a lovely day.

Now, I’d thought that Sunday would be the lazy day, but today I actually had a lot of energy and I wrote three letters (by hand, which is not easy for my slightly arthritic fingers) and paid bills. I also fulfilled Anneliese’s greatest wish of the day…I took her on a one mile walk. She was very good and we had a really great time, except when she saw that one squirrel, she just wanted it so badly! Thankfully she was on a leash so, all was well.

Hubby and I also worked cleaning out the formal dining room. In a house this big your formal rooms often equal rooms that you sort of dump “store” things in. Today we not only worked to organize, but we dusted and cleaned as well.

Friday I made a great new recipe for a slow cooked pork roast. I’ll share it tomorrow. All I can say is..EASY &…YUM!!!

Have a great Monday everyone!

2515 Posts

I was putting together this post when I realized that I have written 2515 posts as of today! I’ve done this in 6 years with over 101,838 comments! I have posted every day, with the exception of when I had emergency surgery, and shared the good, the bad, and the wonderful with you all. I started on May 11, with all of two readers. My sister and my cousin. I wrote a short post about my darling Shubi. At that time she was the center of my life, and Greta and Fritz were her little ones. It was a short post because I knew nothing about blogging, but it is there.

So why am I bringing it up now? I suppose because it kind of blew my mind that I have been doing this so long and have written so much! I never knew I had so much to say!

My family, however, would tell you that I have never had trouble talking.

When I was very young and married for the first time, living on my own with my new husband, I had been away from home for a long time. One weekend I managed a trip back to see my grandparents and parents, and I arrived at tea time.

As we sat at the dining room table sipping tea and munching cookies, I was telling them about my adventures as a newlywed, and at one point (after about half an hour) I stopped to sip my cold tea and my grandmother laughed!

“What did I say?” I asked.

“Nothing, and everything” she said “The table sure has been quiet since you left! We’ve missed your chattering!”

Grandma is probably laughing up there in Heaven. I finally have my place where I can chatter, about something or nothing at all.

Nice to have a little place in this world I can call mine!

All My Children

I know that many of you may not be Soap Opera fans. I do not watch many, but I do watch one. “All My Children”.

Many moons ago, I admitted I was addicted to “All My Children”. I’ve been watching, almost since the beginning of the wonderful and wild and sinful world of Erica Kane! So many wonderful actors and actresses have come and gone over the years, so many good and evil characters, too. Somehow, Monday through Friday, I had that time with “All My Children”, and it allowed me to escape my own life’s drama, and focus on something totally unbelievable, like women wearing sleeveless dresses in the middle of winter.

But the dresses were always lovely and the actresses always looked beautiful and the men handsome. No one ever woke up with bad breath or, heaven forbid, had spinach on their teeth after having lunch. Mostly because no one really eats on the Soaps either.

The characters fall in and out of love like I have never seen, but then, sometimes you have special loves, those long and enduring loves. Angie and Jessie, Joe and Ruth, Tad and Dixie, Mateo and Hailey! And Erica and just about every man on the show…

And now, 41 years after the show made it’s debut, it has been canceled because they want to put on a cooking and fashion show for a younger audience! I guess baby boomers aren’t a good demographic because ABC announced they want to appeal to women 18-49.

This is the first time I have not been in the correct demographic…meaning young!

Well ABC, take “All My Children” off the air. I can’t stop you, as it is obvious that you care very little about what women and men in my age bracket think.

The last air-date for the show is in September. Until then I shall value the characters just a little bit more than I would have.

Thank you to every cast member and crew member who made that hour each day during the week a nice escape for me.

Friday Fill-Ins

And…here we go!

1. For me, it was love at first sight when my daughters were born. Truth be told I loved them from the moment I knew they were in there!

2. I just bought my Easter Ham at my local supermarket.

3. Behind the sound of the wind in the trees, I heard the first Loon of the season.

4. Paint beautiful pictures is something I always wanted to do.

5. When it was over, my life was never to be the same.

6. Even when I lived in a country where I did not speak the language well, I never felt alone.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a fire in the hearth, as we are trying to use up this seasons wood, tomorrow my plans include a nice walk around the neighborhood and watching From Lark Rise to Candleford and Sunday, I want to work in my office. Now that Hubby is done with our taxes I want to put things away!

Thursday Thirteen

I’m borrowing from San this week for my Thursday Thirteen! Thanks San!

1. Current Book(s):That’s tough. Still “The Time Travelers Wife” as I am just not reading right now.

2. Current Play-list: A bunch of late ’70’s and early ’80’s rock music.

3. Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: A nice rich Brandy. Just a little…

4. Current Color: Wearing a lot of blue, however I wore bright red the other night and felt quite glamorous in it!

5. Current Drink: Besides my guilty pleasure, Diet Rite Cola!

6. Current Food: Tuna Wrap Melts!

7. Current Favorite Show: Mike and Molly. As a person who has fought their weight for a long time I love this show. It pays attention and depicts these two lovely people so tenderly. At times Hollywood treats people with weight problems as being stupid or like clowns. Mike and Molly are real people, (well their characters are) who meet fall in love, yet can really appreciate a good cannoli!

8. Current Wish-list: Just a vacation, sometime, someplace. I feel tired.

9. Current Needs: To continue to do well at Weight Watchers.

10. Current Bane(s) of my Existence: Dogs who are trying to push me out of bed at night!

11. Current Celebrity (Girl) Crush: Melissa McCarthy! She is so great as Molly.

12. Current Outfit: Jeans, sweater, Merrell slip-ons.

13. Current Excitement: I know that spring is on the way, even if it it colder than heck here today! Easter is just around the corner and then summer!