Happy Eve of New Year's Eve!

Everyone is talking about how fast 2011 went! I agree! Where did the time go? I hope 2012 does not go at such a quick pace! I have so much I want to do! Again, in my mind, there are so many things I'd like to accomplish, learn, change, master, begin.....We will be spending a quiet New Year's Eve home, and I am so happy to do just that. We may live only an hour from Manhattan but you won't find us in Times Square! Just my nephew who will be patroling as a NYC Police Officer! Not sure if my husband is going to work or not. He is currently building a clocktower for that shopping center he built. It's coming out so nice! I was never one who wanted to be with the crowds on New Years. A quiet dinner out in a local, inexpensive restaurant or at home suits me just fine. Early bird specials are our favorites! I never wanted to leave the kids and party with the adults---hey, it's New Year's for the kids too, right? Besides the fact I have to struggle to stay awake till midnight (I'm a morning person), the idea of being out so late and driving kind of scares me. People over indulge and drive and I think I will just stay in my nice warm home surrounded by those I love!

I've been going through  my various magazines as a Winter project and I've decided to compile a section in one of my many notebooks for snowstorm meals! Sounds funny, right? Well, I know we will be in for our fair share of Winter storms, and I love having great food during them! Or when we do our sledding it is so nice to come in to the house and have some great comfort food. But what happens sometimes, is my mind goes blank when I am at the supermarket about what I want to make!  SO I thought I would compile lists and recipes of good SNOW food so that when I hear there is going to be a storm, I know what to get for extra special foods! Here is an example of stuff on my list:  A plate of loaded nachos, cheesy bacon and cheese casserole, chicken corn chowder, chilli, chilli burritos and chicken enchiladas, salisbury steak, and a whole bunch more! Finger foods, soups, quiches...if you think aboI got this great calendar they were giving out for free from a local supermarket Key Food and it is done retro style and they printed recipes from the past and it was so cool! They have a great recipe for Depression Era Corn Chowder! and SPAM Casserole. Now I personally have never tasted SPAM but the recipe sure sounds interesting! Best of all was a meal called Steak Diane which I had heard of before but never saw the ingredients or the prep for it. It looks so good with nice mushrooms and cream sauce! On my list! ut it, you can come up with great foods you would enjoy  sitting down to after an afternoon of sledding and being outside in the cold!

I guess because I am a list maker and a menu planner, planning for a storm was a no-brainer for me! I'm having fun going through all my many years of saved Taste of Home magazines and Kraft Food & Family magazines!

I have posted some pictures of Christmas morning. Of course the cats are in the middle of it all in a sea of wrapping paper!  One of Caitlin's gifts was a pop-up tent for her dolls to sleep in and camp out. As you can see, Robin & Mommy Cat made it their own personal little clubhouse!

Have a wonderful day!

Decorating & More!

Good Morning! I'm trying to remember everything I want to write about. I really should make notes this time of year! I'm so happy to be getting caught up with all of you! I may not post every day, but I do read many of the other blogs! All of you Ladies inspire me!Everyone has been doing such lovely crafts and creations, decorating like professionals, and baking up a storm. I love reading about your menus and seeing all your pictures!
My decorating was slow this year and I am still missing a box of some of my favorite things. Sadly, I do not have the time right now to hunt for it. I'm thinking it got into the Easter section of my shed. I will find it, but not before Christmas, I'm sure. So much has been going on! Between shopping and decorating and the general housework, I have also been enjoying some lovely events. The month started off with a Christmas brunch with my Ladies Bible Class. We break for the Christmas, resuming in January, and we had the nicest brunch together. It was a "bring a dish" style and what an amazing array of foods there were. What great cooks! I had butternut squash ravioli for the first time and it was DELICIOUS! Quiches and salads and desserts...oh my! All good stuff! Besides the great food, we had a great time! And I wasn't the only girl in the family with a party to go to as Caitlin was invited to a Christmas party at her friend's house where they made mini gingerbread houses and paper plate tambourines! I love little house parties! So much fun and so simple! I have a few for the children during the year, and I think house parties can be very special. I love doing an Easter egg coloring party.

Caitlin participated in our Church's Christmas Pageant. Her Sunday School class, Promise Land, sang Silent Night and Joy to the World! See the photos of her? That's my girl! She's in the dress with the gray & plaid bottom and red jacket. She was very shy but she did it! AND we had our Girl Scout Daisys Holiday party on Friday! Soooooo.....I've been a little busy :)

Now here's a strange story with  a happy ending....my neighbor across the street put out his trash one day last week and next to his garbage pails was a manger. How does someone put a manger out for trash? It's like trying to throw out a flag...Anyway, we scooped it up and brought it inside and it was NEW! I mean NEW! There was bubble wrap on the light bulb inside it! I already have a manger that my Dad made but this one was lovely too. I filled it with the figures my  Mom bought in 1949 from Woolworth. I treasure them. Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, all the animals,the wise men, the shepherd. All made of chalkware and handpainted. Some of them still have their original price tags of .29 on their base! I have two sets cause my Mom bought one set for herself, one for her Mom. Our new manger looks magnificent and glows in an alcove in our kitchen. So our story has a happy ending! BTW, I noticed on Friday an empty box across the street by the garbage pails. That same neighbor bought himself a new set and put the empty box on his curb....at least I hope it was empty!

One of the reasons I'm thinking my decorating was slow this year is because Dutchess has been sleeping in all my cartons. Yes, that is her sleeping on the lights! That can't be comfortable. She actually growled when I moved her....silly girl!

Some other things I wanted to show you --my Santa's workshop! My Dad made that for me. Probably my most treasured Christmas item. Just as he made me a haunted house for Halloween, he made this workshop. He made everything except the obvious decorations which I added. He made the desk, the fireplace, the maps on the walls, the little tools on Santa's workbench. He even made the chair & ottoman. My Mom crocheted the little rug. Over the years I have added more toys, wrapped gifts, etc. My favorite addition I put in is the little cat playing with the string of lights! I would leave this workshop up all year long! I just might! My kids adore it. As you know, my Dad is no longer with us so it really means the world to me.

I hope you enjoy my other photos! I will do my best to post before Christmas Eve!  Love you all!

Everyone is Busy, Busy, Busy!

Including me! I always feel like I'll just never get everything done in time for December 24th! I'm feeling the anxiety of it this weekend, but I always DO get it all done, and I better start reminding myself of that! We are in the process of decorating so I won't be posting any of my Christmas photos till that's done. I have really enjoyed every one's blog lately and seeing all your decorations. What creative and wonderful bloggers are out there. All the Christmas open houses, craft fairs...it's so nice to see. I'm getting myself organized to decorate and as you can see by some of my wacky pictures, there are a lot of distractions around here. Namely from a few cats! Robin just had to climb in with the bunnies (he loves EVERYONE) and the bunnies love him. Bandit gave Robin a little kiss. I literally had to bodily remove him because he wouldn't leave willingly and I had to close the cage back up. I'm think that Bandit and Lucky just think he's an exotic rabbit with a long tail.....And then there is Dutchess. Dutchess was very excited to see all the Christmas cartons come out. She squeezed herself into a wooden sleigh and I mean SQUEEZED. I was in and out of the kitchen carrying the cartons in from the shed and when I came in with an armful, she had already managed to discover and squeeze into it. At this point I can only shake my head because nothing surprises me from her. Lastly in cat nuttiness...my son  was assisting Caitlin build her Lincoln Log village. He is such a good boy that even though he's 6 years older, he will still include her and/or do things with her. She wanted his help and he obliged and it came out adorable. Then later in the day, like a scene from a bad 1950's Japanese creature movie, Robin "invaded the town" and became the newest inhabitant (albeit, giant one) in Lincoln Log Town! You gotta love them!

Okay, I'm sure you've heard enough about the cats now. We bought our Christmas tree yesterday in Kings Park. It's where we have gone the last two years and his trees LAST! Yahoo! For $65 I would like it to stay till at least Christmas Eve, right?Is that to much to ask? :) And that's a bargain. Trees are so expensive but my son and husband love the real trees for their lovely scent. I do have my artificial tree in the foyer. Anyway, Caitlin chose our tree this year and by the way, she lost another tooth! She was so glad we bought the tree she chose and I was so glad that the one she chose wasn't bald on one side! Her choices are getting better! We will be bringing it in to decorate next Sunday after we see Santa at Hicks Nursery.

Did anyone happen to see the new Vermont Country Store catalog? I was amazed to see that they reissued some Gurley style candles! The choir boys and another set as well! Only they aren't saying they are Gurleys brand. It's definitely the mold for them though! They also had knee hugger elves and reissues of the 60's fisher price toys. I saw the milk wagon that I remember.I was born in 1965 and it came out that year. I had the phone, the dog, the house, the farm. Check it out. Some of the items are pretty pricey though.  They also had the cardboard/sparkly Christmas houses! Such good stuff. Makes me dream of Christmas as a child! I love thinking back. I had my Mom remake me the same Christmas stocking I had as a child---the big granny squares! I love them. In the 1970's I always remember my Mom and Grandmas and my Mom's friends crocheting the granny blankets and my Mom made us Christmas stockings. Such a happy time!

Remember I told you I had filled a spare bird feeder with batting? It had been leftover from projects and also from a torn scarecrow. Well, the other day, one of my squirrel friends, in preparation for the cold, was helping himself to a great big bunch! I'm so happy his nest will be lined with nice warm batting! The birds were taking some as well! Animals are our best barometers for weather! Just watch their activity and behavior.

That's about it for me! Gonna start my day and organize the Christmas cartons! I'm addicted to the Archway brand of cookie called "wedding cookies". They are in the supermarket by the spice cookies and cashew nougat cookies...all good. Those "wedding cookies" YUMMMM.They are so good but I know they are loaded with fat. BUT THEY ARE SO GOOD!  Try them......I think I may be freezing several packages since they discontinue them after Christmas. The question is.....if I buy several packages will they even MAKE it to  the freezer. I kid you not ;)

It's Been A Lovely Autumn

My tree by the front porch is losing the last of her leaves. I love the color of them. They are so vivid! What a beautiful Autumn it has been. I will miss you! I know the calendar says it is still Fall, but it seems as though it disappears the day after Thanksgiving as we start out preparations for Christmas.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house yesterday. I "ate myself full" as the Amish would say. So many good things to eat! And yeah for leftovers!
The day was preceded by a wonderful evening at Church for a special Thanksgiving service filled with music and worship and then Thanksgiving morning I made a big breakfast for my family to enjoy while we watched the parade. Today it's time to take down the turkeys and clean and prep the house for the decorations for Christmas. Billy will be taking down the boxes from our shed this Sunday I hope! In the meantime, I do have some in my closet upstairs and a few new goodies to add that I bought the other day at the Christmas Tree Shoppe. I look forward to decorating my big window with my mittens and hats clothesline; this year I'm adding Santa's over-alls! :)  don't know if I spelled that right.....I may also display for the first time my Holly Hobbie children's stove for Christmas. I have had it for years but never set it up. It's from the 70's, used and in it's box but in great shape. I love all things Holly Hobbie as you know.....In my foyer I set up a tree with just gingerbread decorations ( see in "pages" pictures of my decorations from last year and you will see my gingerbread tree) and I'm thinking I may set up my little stove by the gingerbread tree. How cute would that be? Yes, it must be brought out of it's box and maybe I'll set up my Holly Hobbie sewing machine.....okay, the wheels are really turning now.....Yes, I've talked myself into it! Get the ladder Bill, the stove is in the storage area over the garage, and me, being the klutz that I am, really needs you to get it or at least hold the ladder!
I will be hosting Christmas Day this year so I am also hoping to go through the recipes this weekend to add a few new ones. I think I might add homemade scalloped potatoes. So far I'm making a turkey but before I decide on the menu for sure I am going to check with my husband to see if that is still what he would like. Last month when discussing Christmas plans, he proclaimed "make turkey!" but maybe now he's in the mood for a ham? I may also make a pasta of some type as a starter since a couple of my nephews are pasta lovers. Maybe some stuffed shells or lasagna? Hmmmmm..........
Well, time to make a fresh pot of coffee and get to work on packing up my turkeys and pilgrims till next year. Have a terrific day!

A Whole Bunch of Stuff on a Chilly Sunday!

Good Morning on this lovely Sunday! It's chilly here today and it's been downright COLD at night! I love it! I am hoping it's very chilly for Thanksgiving! Good food, family and coziness! I love shutting the cold outside and enjoying the conversation of my loved ones on that day. Catching up and sampling some of everything. I look forward to it so much.

Yesterday I finished one of the wreaths I was working on. The actual colors may not be so great when you see it on the blog but in person the vivid solid color is like a deep rusty burgundy orange (!) It's pretty, please trust me! I was very unhappy about the quality of the Styrofoam wreath. I remember them being so much more substantial. Quality has really declined in so many things. I had a hard time pushing in my fabric without snapping it! SO it took a little longer to do because I had to work so carefully and sadly in the end when I was putting in the interior pieces of the inner circle SNAP! It broke in half! I have repaired it but I think I might take out my fabric and hold onto the squares till I find something more substantial! I looked in AC Moore and Michaels and both offered the same wreath. Very disappointing. I was thinking of saving the squares and stuffing them, sewing the backs closed and making a new wreath. My Mom used to do wreaths like that when I was growing up in the 1970's. They look like mini pin cushions and you attached them all to a wreath of some kind.  I still have her Woman's Day or Family Circle magazines from that time where she used to get so many of her projects. I love those 1970's crafts. I will get them out today! I remember her doing something called "punchinella". Anyone remember that? She did so many cool projects.

As you can see all the pets in my house seem to love drinking from our fish bowl. The fish seems to enjoy the attention as well. This comical habit of my cats has now extended to the rabbit! It's not like they don't have their own water bowl!!! Silly bunny. That one is Chestnut. He scooted away and ran to the fish bowl to take a drink before I put him back in his home.
The other little silly one this weekend has been Dutchess, our elderly Calico. We have Dutchess since 2006. She was already an adult when we got her. She blended right in with our family immediately and made herself at home. Dutchess has the nickname of Doodlebug and when Caitlin was learning to talk, she would hear me say  "Dutchie Doodlebug" when addressing Dutchess. She tried imitating my words and it came out "Dadooba" so that has stuck and we also call her Dadooba. Well, little Miss Dadooba who suffers from arthritis and tends to limp some days and enjoys being "boosted" on to my couch by one of us somehow jumped onto and has been sleeping on my new breakfast bar stools! I am amazed she can still jump that high and actually stick  the landing! And boy is she proud of herself! I didn't think she had it in her. I'm starting to think she just likes us boosting her on the couch or on the chairs out of her laziness cause how she can jump that high is beyond my comprehension. She now enjoys sitting high above the others and gazing at me over the breakfast bar :) She is such a big loveable pussycat.

Before I end the animal post I have done here ;)   here is a photo of my lovely (and last) remaining pumpkin. It's on my front porch right outside the front door. My little squirrel buddy must have used some kind of power tool to neatly drill a round circle into my pumpkin to EXTRACT the seeds. This squirrel  used precision  tools! I was amazed to see his work. He diligently removed his precious pumpkin seeds and didn't leave a mess. I think he did his work so neatly because he loves that I make him peanut butter sandwiches, and he was showing some gratitude.

Happy Sunday to you all!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

One week from today is Thanksgiving! My goodness, it was just Halloween ~~or 4th of July for that matter! Time is going by so quickly and before you know it, we'll be saying goodbye to 2011. I've been working with my Daisy Girl Scout Troop putting together Thanksgiving baskets for those who could use them. We also packed 14 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. My daughter loves the collecting and packing of supplies. All the girls decorated the boxes and gift bags so happily; I am sure their packages will put a smile on the receiver's faces. The message of "service to others" is not lost on these little ones. Bless their innocent hearts. And thank you Girl Scouts for promoting 'service" as a virtue.

I'll be visiting my sister's home for Thanksgiving. She lives locally so it's a short ride. We had thought of going into NYC for the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade (we live about an hour from Manhattan) before going to my sister's house in the afternoon but it seems the kids enjoy a big breakfast at home on Thanksgiving and the parade in their jammies! That's fine with me. Billy and I went to the parade in 1997 and it was magical. There are so many things going on that the tv cameras don't show you when you are actually standing along the parade route. It's super fun. I'm thinking we may go next year and my husband has been working extra hard lately so I think a nice morning home with a big breakfast in HIS jammies will do him good! My favorite float is the the big Turkey! and of course I love Snoopy. I also love Pikachu because when my son was little, he loved Pokemon so I have a soft spot for Pikachu. Last year, Commack High School was one of the bands that marched. Commack, Long Island represented! (besides being the hometown of Rosie O'Donnell and Bob Costas). We marched and we were proud!

This is also the time of year when I watch Holiday Inn. Please don't confuse this movie with White Christmas. Although that's a good one too, Holiday Inn came first and it features Bing Crosby & Fred  Astaire and takes place at Holiday Inn, an Inn in Connecticut open only on holidays. Bing Crosby's character wanted to return to the "simple life" where a man's hard work and the satisfaction of knowing he did his best for his family was reward enough. Whereas White Christmas is a wonderful movie, it has more glitz and it is in color. It's more elaborate Hollywood production. Holiday Inn is in black and white and the message just hits you! It is very powerful. One of my favorite lines in this movie is one Bing says to a woman who keeps looking for bigger and better and of course always finding disappointment. He says "Always looking for greener pastures and finding spinach."  Words to live by!

Before I end there is also a song called Counting Your Blessings that is on the Holiday Inn soundtrack but not in the movie and again, listen  to these words:   "And when you're worried, and You can't sleep, Just count your blessings instead of sheep."  That's what I do when I go to bed!

Have a joyous day!

Organization Time!

It sure is a foggy day here in Commack, Long Island! I could barely see across the street when my husband left the house at 6:30! It's gonna be a beautiful day with the sun shining through the trees that, incidentally, still have many leaves on them! I hope you enjoy some photos I have posted. Just some random shots of some things I've been adding or rearranging around here. It's a heavy photo post. I've been doing some straightening out of closets and such  and realize I have got a whole lot of stuff. I really do. I'm good about sharing and donating what I don't need any longer but still I have lots of stuff that I treasure. Thankfully, my husband had the good sense when he built our house to build me good size storage closets and many of them. What I need to do though is organize them. I find that when it's that busy decorating time--you know, when you are altering your decor from Summer to Fall to Winter etc, sometimes you just kind of put stuff in places they don't belong. I also Christmas shop all year 'round so I often put those bags of items in the closet and then forget I bought them....I had been so good about keeping a notebook of lists. That is my goal today! I am going to go through my things and see what I have. I know I have little gifts for people, craft items, things I put away to eventually do something with, garage sale finds that I just haven't displayed....and it certainly isn't doing me any good in the closet!!! As my daughter's teacher sings in the classroom "Clean up, Clean up Now it's time to clean..." I just need another cup of coffee.....

My little buddy squirrel friend is making a meal out of my pumpkins again this year. I feed the squirrels as you all know, and I love them. Well, even though I provided this little guy with his peanuts, he couldn't resist gnawing on my pumpkins. I was sitting in my rocker on the porch yesterday waiting for Caitlin's school bus , and he just continued his chewing. I'm so glad my presence on the porch wasn't a distraction to him (!)
Speaking of my Caitlin, she lost her first tooth yesterday! I believe the tooth fairy came last night to our house, but I'm not sure till she checks under her pillow :)

My son has been enjoying his Family Consumer Science class. In my day it was called Home Economics and it was only girls. The boys were sent to "SHOP" aka as woodworking. These days, both boys and girls do home economics and shop...HE LOVES IT! He made the frog pillow all on his own! I was so impressed because he could have opted for a square pillow but he chose the more difficult project. He loves the sewing machine. He said the BROTHER sewing machine is his favorite. He also learned the proper way to iron clothes with a steam iron. Family Consumer Science has come a long way! When I took it back in 1981 we made the ugliest wrap around skirts on earth and we made cinnamon toast. That recipe consisted of softened butter with cinnamon......tough one ;)

I'm just loving this time of year so much . I could keep up all my Fall decorations all year long and never tire of them. The colors are just magical to me. That's why we painted all our interior colors earth tones. The reds and mustards and browns are so lovely this time of year. And yellows....so beautiful! I'm big into orange this year. Oh, and my owls! I LOVE owls. All of a sudden I was just loving them! It started at Halloween when I purchased a few black silhouettes of owls. Then I kept noticing them everywhere I went so I bought a couple of owl cardboard decorations. Then a friend of mine gave me one as a gift....I love them.

I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving. My sister is hosting it, and I enjoy so much sitting in her beautiful dining room with my family around me. Our family has both increased and decreased and hopefully it will increase MORE. We lost my Dad from our Thanksgiving table in 2005, but we gained a nephew when my niece got married and I know they will be adding to our table in the near future (I hope). Each Autumn passes and you never know who will be at next year's table. My sister ordered her turkey from the butcher and she is planning her menu. Love all the preparations. My kids get so caught up in the preparation of a holiday especially when it is at our house. I'll be having Christmas Day.

Other little things I've worked on lately is a little bird  nest basket to hang from one of my windows. I bought the odd shaped twig basket in PA.  Oh, and see that wooden barn star with the bird house that's on my porch? I picked that up at an Amish farm when we went to PA. In case you haven't noticed, barn stars are theme throughout my house. We have several large ones displayed on the exterior of our house over the windows, several in the garden and by our doors and throughout my house. I think every room has at least one. Even my bathroom has shower curtain rings that are barn stars! My husband bought one painted with angels for our bedroom!

Well, time for me to get moving! Have a great day and I appreciate the time you spent reading my little story! AND welcome to my new Follower!!

Daylight Savings Sunday

Happy early morning Sunday! I woke up an hour earlier than my usual 5:30 am today and try as I might to sleep longer, it wasn't happening! My mind is so set for 5:30 am I can never shut it off ---even on Sundays! And this morning I would get an extra hour cause of daylight savings time but my mind said nooooooo. RISE AND SHINE! So before I start my day I thought I would update about a few things.
It's been a pretty chilly week and I love it! We have been lighting our fireplace every night. My son enjoys bringing the wood in from our yard and stacking it. I've been working on cutting squares for my poke wreath. I don't know if you can see the colors very well of this fabric but they are so pretty and so country. I've been working on that at night.
 I made an apple crisp for dessert the other night and used the last of my apples that we picked. It was delicious especially with a big dollop of cool whip!
 I was happily surprised to see a big box behind my door on Friday from my buddy Gina of Cat Nap Inn Primitives. She sent me an incredible box of goodies. I am showing you some of it but the other items I didn't get to photograph yet. Check out the carmel apple on my table! Isn't that adorable? And I put these great pillows on the bench in my kitchen. She knows I love roosters and chickens! They both fit just right there! She sent me this great wall hanging of a cat--love that too and I think I may be hanging that in the hallway of my second floor. She also sent me an adorable pocketbook that says "born to shop" and even a pocketbook for Caitlin with a mighty fancy handle---which Caitlin immediately ran off to her room to pack! We even got cup cozies. Thank you so much Gina. You know how much you mean to us. Caitlin has made you her own special thank you that I will be sending shortly.
Remember I told you about the chair that I refinished? Well, I know I posted a picture of it in a previous post....Well, my son went to a garage sale and came home with this great rooster pillow (he knows my taste!!) and look how lovely it sits on my newly redone chair! I put the chair in my family room. Just wanted to show that to ya!

The majority of my week was spent putting away my Halloween stuff and straightening up the house after our whirlwind weekend last week. My turkeys are up for Thanksgiving. I love this time of year, and I love Thanksgiving. For twenty one years I would go shopping the day after Thanksgiving with my sister-in-law Linda. We loved the hustle and bustle of all the shoppers and it got us into a Christmas frame of mind. We stopped last year,  and we found that we both LOVED being home the day after Thanksgiving! Just relaxing and munching leftovers. Last year we still went shopping together but we went the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving instead.  We plan on doing the same this year. Sometimes it's okay to change a tradition!