Hooked

Yarn and crochet hooks – that is what our daughter has been handling lately. A few weeks ago, I taught both children how to crochet a chain. In a matter of minutes, they understood how to hold the hook, yarn and how one makes a chain.



Our son likes to sit and crochet chains (long chains) while watching television. His loops are getting tighter and tighter and he gets excited about that and calls to show me. He has now learned how to single crochet as well. Although he doesn't crochet often.



Our daughter needed to learn a stitch as she had projects in mind, so I taught her a simple stitch – the single stitch. Her first swatch attempt turned out to be a triangle, not a square because she dropped stitches. Her second attempt turned out really well and she crocheted around the perimeter and made two ties. She created a doll bib – solo! I was so happy when she showed me this. She told me it was a gift for her friend. Third project underway, a bib for one of her dolls and before I knew it, project finished. Fourth project, she is currently working on a doll scarf or blanket.

I came home the other night and found her sitting on the couch crocheting. She told me she is “hooked”. I like to see her use her mind and get creative. We’ll have to open up the yarn bag and let her pick and choose. However, I must admit, I am started to get worried. I have all these “in progress” projects. I just need to finish projects. At this rate, she’ll put me to shame or use all my yarn!

Kneading with Neighbors

I love to bake. I have baked with our children since they were old enough to sit up on the counter. Blogging is fun and it helps me share with loved ones, every day moments from our home. Recently I posted some pictures of our latest baking adventures – those delicious donuts and I received a request from a friend.

“Hey, we want to bake with you!”

I wasn’t about to say no. So we agreed on a recipe: Cinnamon-Swirl Pumpkin Rolls (visit King Arthur Flour) and we got together Saturday afternoon in my kitchen. I made one batch of the dough with my friends' daughter and then my daughter and I made the next batch. The dough had a wonderful pumpkin color and it was very easy to handle. The girls enjoyed kneading their dough. After rising and punching down (our son asked to punch our dough down) they got to roll it out, sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and roll it up. I cut and they placed the slices in the prepared pans. More time rising and then 25 minutes of bake time. Sweet smells drifted out of the oven ever so faintly. The three little chefs got to eat their roll after glaze was drizzled over the rolls. Thumbs up – this is a "keeper" recipe that I will add to my collection - and so very delicious and easy!

Not sure what we plan to bake next time but this was fun! The kids learned more baking techniques and they had some play time and my visit with a dear friend was ever so nice and long overdue.

I am sorry to say, I was so busy helping the little chefs that I forgot to take pictures during the baking session; however, I do have a picture of our pan of rolls. Can you smell them?





Oh yummy…

Love of My Life

Remember young love?

The kind of love that you “could not live without” and the guy that was going to love you…FOREVER. I've been there. From that experience, I learned about myself, others and what real love encompasses.

I have a wonderful husband to share my life with. We met later in life as a result of wrong “love” choices; however, the roads we traveled to get to where we are now, were worth the pain, years and emotional growth. When we met, we knew who we were as individuals and we knew what we wanted out of a relationship. We became best friends. Our love developed and grew over time. We admitted our love for each other. We showed each other the love we had for one another and we lived it. Real love. Mature love. We did not want to change each other and we understood each others’ needs. I felt connected to my Big Guy because we had the same outlook about life, what we wanted out of life and where, down life’s road, we wanted to be – together. We love our family. Our homestead. Our lifestyle. We have old-fashioned beliefs. We work hard. We love God. We cherish life and the time we have today. We love each other.

My Big Guy loves me. I love him. It’s that simple. Yes, I know how lucky I am! He is thoughtful, strong and loving, and he is always there. My rock. But we work at what we have. I am happy. We’re happy! I cannot imagine life without him.

Today, Dear Big Guy, we celebrate 10 short/long years together. They have flown by and we have so much to be thankful for. I am thankful that we were brought together and grew to know and love each other, as we continue to do so. It truly gets better each year with you and us. With all my heart, I truly love you and I look forward to the next ten years, 20 years…don’t forget our date to celebrate 50 years!

And only as Sammy can sing it…
I spent a lifetime waiting / Always hesitating until you / I was lost so deep
inside my shell / 'Til you came and saved me from myself / Now all I really
know is I need you

You are the love of my life / You are the reason I'm alive

Forever your love,
Hugs and Kisses

Donuts

We finally made donuts!

I found a recipe and Sunday afternoon, I mixed up the ingredients. I only made half a batch because I did not want to make a full batch and have the donuts not taste good. After letting them rise, my assistants cut the donuts.














Then we let them rise again.
We don’t own a deep-fryer so I
pulled out the heavy cast iron
skillet and a bottle of oil. Once the oil was hot enough, I fried the doughnut holes first then the donuts. I made a butter-confectionary sugar glaze to pour over the hot donuts. The guys kept coming out to sample the donuts.
I made them wait.

End results – the recipe is a "keeper" and we plan to make a full-batch next time.