Peeking In While It is Still January

Hello, Dear One. Did I scare you being away so long? Goodness, I just thought that I would have all kinds of time in January. Yet here it went skipping off like a mountain goat just as every other month does. I freely confess that coming up with blog fodder grows more difficult for me all the time. 

What is that? Well sometimes I take photos based on pattern or textural interest. I think I was hoping that taking a picture would spur me on. Sometimes that works.

Just a few short weeks ago, I thought that God had blessed me and all Mainers with a mild winter and, in fact, He had up to that point. Then winter arrived. I try not to be annoyed with the cold and ice since all children I know seem to enjoy snow. This is Emmanuel and Anneke and Sprocket the Rocket. He is a Tamaskan. He is big. He is still a puppy. I imagine that he will be huge when grown.

Laurel knocking off the icicles. Sam has done it since and so has Adam. Thanks be for helpers! Every member of the family, including my sister, has helped with so much around here.

Adam and Jake in negotiations. Jake was ready to split. Laurel and I had the January birthday boys over for pizza and cake and ice cream and gifts. It was just one of many birthday parties for them. 

Sam looked out at the luge and said it would be ready for sledding in another storm or two. I was surprised that he still thinks of the luge fondly now that he is 17. Jake is 16. John sure made it fun for them.

Here they are in younger years....perhaps 5 and 6 or 6 and 7. I would ask their mom, but then I would have to confess that I stole this picture from her FB page. 

Can you believe the price of groceries? Eggs!

May February be sweet... thanks for stopping by...

Love,

Vee

Bigfoot?

A sigh of relief is always breathed November 1st. I am so glad that the entire end of October scene has finished for another year. I am happily moving on to the next big holiday (not Veterans Day). We'll chat about that toward the end of this post, yet let's tidy up on the big day just past—

She arrived on her grandmother's hip wide-eyed and a little breathless. "I scare-t of Bigfoot." I look at my sister questioning this comment and am told that the children saw Bigfoot at my house last week as they were leaving. What? Who knew?! For a moment I think that I have gone down the rabbit hole and landed in Brenda's world.

Big Foot Country

I say, "There is no such thing as Bigfoot." At which point, Anneke's brother, who is playing with the rotary phone, run on imagination alone, says, "Bigfoot? Is that you? Ackkkk! It's Bigfoot!" Anneke's eyes grow even wider and she clings a little tighter to Grammie. 

I may have dialed Bigfoot

So I have no idea how this story ultimately unfolded. My sister agrees with me and says that they will ask their mommy and daddy because parents tell the truth. I am hoping that mommy and daddy didn't decide instead to crank Anneke's chain. One of them can be a bit of a prankster. I just happen to know that for.a.fact. ッ

Peach and Mario

Aren't they cute? Peach and Mario...aka Anneke and Emmanuel.

Now I do have news about my own grandchildren. Sam received his driver's license last week. Doesn't he look happy? So proud of him! 

Jake got his first deer on Saturday. I'll be careful with that picture because I'd not like to offend those who might keel over. I am thrilled that there will be extra food in the freezer and that Jake is happy too.

A few weeks ago, when sickness hit, we had to postpone plans to see Laurel for her birthday. She graciously joined us a couple of weeks later at a local restaurant where my family made plans for Thanksgiving. I saw a bit of eye-rolling, heard some comments. It boils down to this: I have messed up Thanksgiving dinner one too many times. Instead, we shall celebrate at Laurel's. She's in for the roller coaster ride that is Thanksgiving preparations. Should be fun! 

To my American brethren and sistren, have your plans for Thanksgiving firmed up? 

I want a nice sweet ending so I am sharing what I am making this week. I had to check for ingredients and found that I have them all. Yippee! 

Now I found this recipe somewhere in the last week or so. I have not named that source because my mind is a sieve. If it was yours or you know whose, let me know so I can include it.

It was *here* with a nice photo of what it should look like, too. My mind really is a sieve.🤦🏻‍♀️

 

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (the original recipe called for 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup butter, melted

*Heat oven to 350° F. 

*Grease bottom of 9 x 13″ pan.  

*Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. 

*Pour mixture into greased pan. 

*Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture and top with pecans.

*Drizzle melted butter over pecans.

*Bake 50-55 minutes.

Source: https://www.thepickyapple.com/blog/2008/11/22/pumpkin-crunch-cake/

Thank you for reading. You're good sports. 

Love,
Vee

Small Projects Among Other Things

This summer, I hope to get the back deck and the side deck painted. Before that happens, some rotten boards need replacing. Prior to that, I need to chop down the lilac bush. It has grown so tall that, in its search for light, it is leaning well over the deck. Time to say goodbye.

It is such a forest back here that one can't even see the lilac bush.

Things are so shady again in the back yard that nothing grows in the raised bed that John built for me. My sister-in-law Mary offered me that hosta you see in the box. She has had it since 1999 or before. It's never been a favorite for her and she has tried to dig it out herself over the years and it kept returning. I knew that I couldn't dig it out so my son and grandsons did it for me. Yay! Plus they planted it. Double yay!

 

The hosta seems to be doing well. I have marigolds and chives there and hopefully they'll all do fine.

That's Jake just visible through the lilac bush. Only three blossoms on that this year. Must have over trimmed it last year. 

Sam Pondering... I am pondering painting that deck.

Now I am certainly glad that I never saw this bit until I was reviewing the video frame by frame. Yikes!

The things boys do!

If you have had quite enough of this foolishness, feel free to scoot off. I am about to share a bunch of strawberry pictures and then a bunch of peony pictures, then a "it's no wonder you're fat" picture and finally I'll close with a windowsill pic because you wouldn't know where you are without that.

Fresh strawberries in June! 

I have ditched my old huller for a cheap straw. Works ever so much better! 

Strawberries look even better in a red colander.

My favorite way to enjoy strawberries is with sugar and cream. 

These are gifts from a friend...cranberry orange muffins from a mix: Krusteaz  They were just the best things!

I have a small peony bush and how I love that week of blooming peonies. It is winding down these days.

Thank you for stopping by. I am using all my powers of restraint to keep my mouth shut. ;>

He's Fourteen

A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt. He said, 'I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, violent one, the other wolf is the loving, compassionate one.' The grandson asked him, 'Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?' The grandfather answered, 'The one I feed.'

My January grandsons have each celebrated his birthday six days apart (just like always). This year, they were blessed with a trip to Boston and a Celtics Game. Thanks to a loving great-aunt, they were treated to a private box to watch the Celtics lose. (The Celtics' loss was the only bad part.)

They each play on their school teams and a rec team. On the rec team, they are teammates. It was fun to watch them play last Saturday. 

Sam has always preferred the action shots. (He's number 10 btw.) I missed too many so was happy to hand over my iPhone to Laurel. She did a good job capturing three that I hope Sam likes.

Afterward, we went out for supper at a local restaurant where one grand ordered lobster and the other a hot dog. My daughter, whose treat it was, thought it all balanced out. 

Sam's School Picture this year 2019–2020

A father~son comparison

Time has always intrigued me. It went by quickly enough when I was a child, faster still when my children were young, and it's really zipping these days.

Wasn't it just yesterday that Sam was waiting with his dad for the school bus on the first day of school? Sure do love this young man and I admire his athletic ability, too. Mostly, he's becoming a salt of the earth person who is a pleasure to spend time with.

Just as soon as Jakob's school picture becomes available, I'll be back with another installment of where has the time flown?

Speaking of which, where did January go? We were blessed with a mild one, only a few snowstorms, not too many bitter cold days, yet a lot of sickness. Hope everyone stays vertical from here on out.

Thank you for your visit!

How Long Does It Take

Hi there! I am writing this post on Thursday evening around 10 pm. Not sure when it'll post. Let's find out together.

Source

Or, in my case, it takes me all month to get nothing done. 

I actually tried posting again in February. The above three were my photo offerings, which I found waiting for me in draft on a post thrillingly named "February Thoughts." Obviously, it was to be my Valentine post, but other than that, I have no idea what my thoughts in February were.

Winter is on the wane. It was long and hard. There certainly were some beautiful days, though.

Right now, I'm hearing the steady drip, drip, drip of melting snow. Guess that means it's not freezing yet even at this hour. 

So I had the big birthday and these are my cards. I'm in the process of destroying most of the cards I've saved through the years. One can't take such things with her and I'm trying to make things easy on the kids. Shocking. But I will at least have a photo of these.

One of the cards held this photo of my grandson Sam who played basketball for the MidKnights. He is growing up fast.

This is a sweet book from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings. It arrived just this morning and I have very much enjoyed reviewing it. You can see Abby review it on her Instagram account if you'd like. Her account is not private so you should have no trouble seeing it. It is a special blessing to receive a tailor made book just for me.

Today, I finally made a grocery store run and a Mickey D run for lunch. There's been so much sickness that I decided to get some immune support in the form of these knock-offs of a well known brand that cost twice as much and have the same ingredients. The well-known brand used to have sorbitol as an ingredient to which I am highly allergic. The stuff makes me mighty sick mighty fast. I was pleased to learn that this does not have sorbitol and neither does the name brand these days. The Essiac Tea arrived in the mail from Amazon today. I am highly suggestible and when Mrs. T mentioned the tea on her blog the other day, I read with interest. You can read more about it there and I'll review it myself when I've had more than a cup of it. I didn't mind the taste, but that's all I can say about that.

I was just putzing along through the aisles when who should I run into...my sister. Now this is most unusual because she lives an hour east. I have not run into her while shopping in many years. I was so surprised. She had been stood up for a luncheon date and decided not to waste a trip so was doing her shopping as well. I said, "I'm free for lunch." She said, "I just had a Filet of Fish at McDonald's." So that is how I also wound up at Mickey D's. Told you that I am highly suggestible. 

My sister has been sick twice since last I saw her and was sick today with a cold. I opened up my gummies and gave her one on the spot. She said,"I take one every day." I said, "One? Three is what you're supposed to be taking every day." I doubt that I'll get her straightened out. I've been trying all her life. ☺

Lastly, in honor of Pi Day, I purchased this wee little lemon pie. I couldn't eat it all. I haven't been having too many sweet things lately. Still, it was mighty tasty and I enjoyed it. Did you get your piece of pie?