leder legends

Tomorrow morning I am heading out to Alaska. Just imagine what that would entail before the airplane! Perhaps many many months in a horse or ox drawn wagon or in a model T ford if there  were roads. Now we can get there in a few hours. I leave at 6:00 AM and arrive in Anchorage around noon their time (4:00 PM Michigan time). Ten hours! I think that's pretty miraculous! I am praying that Nathania goes into labor before I get there but one can 't rush these things! Her due date was yesterday!  Perhaps we'll arrive at the same time.

It's almost spring and I celebrated by moving rocks! A few weeks ago a friend and I had permission to raid a farmer's rock pile. There were a great many large rocks that we wanted but could not even roll to the side. Perhaps I'll recruit a few strong guys to come with us and probably also take the trailer.   So we had to "settle" for the medium size ones and the smaller "pretty" ones. In a half hour we had the bottom of our vans loaded and they were so heavy my van tilted all the way home. They are all unceremoniously dumped my yard until that day when I feel creative and energetic enough to move them.  Last Saturday I was at it again. A daughter of a friend said she had about 100-200 smallish rocks that she wanted out of her yard.  I was imagining large softball or small melon size rocks.  They were a "tad" larger! Some (most) required two hands! We got them all (in two trips ) and carted them over to one of the rental properties. Again my...

A few years ago (is it 8 already?) a group of five ladies from PHCRC decided to celebrate our husbands' 60th birthdays. We had a blast and have been a group ever since. We try to go out for dinner about once a month and we usually go to restaurants that will honor 4 or 5  -buy one entree and get one free -coupons. The challenge is finding "that" restaurant. It's fun to get a deal but not entirely necessary! Every once in a while we splurge. This month we headed (sans coupons) to The Heritage, the restaurant linked to the culinary arts program of the local community college. We had some very fine meals.  Two dishes were prepared table side. You will have to agree after seeing the photos that the food was amazing. Nothing bad comes out of that kitchen because  the instructors keep a  watchful eye. The first was a sea scallop appetizer. It was such fun to see it in "flames"!  The sauce was pancetta, scallions, garlic, heavy cream with freshly ground salt a...

Challenges! My youngest daughter loves challenges. Every once in awhile she publishes a challenge on her blog http://sewdutchsisters.blogspot.com/  that usually involves digging into ones endless stash in the craft room. She encourages others to join but I think what it does is really gets her motivated. She currently has 10 challenges ( 1 per week) listed on her blog.  Well, it helped me get into the spirit of things as well. I had a pattern for a robe in my stash. I have always wanted a robe that was not too bulky like the old terry-towel ones of years gone by but not too thin that  it would only be good for summer weather. Every year before and after Christmas I go robe shopping and have never been able to find one that I liked enough to spend money on not to mention the fact that lately the only ones available are made from velour or other synthetic fibers...which ALWAYS give static electric shocks.  So I went to the fabric store....

Birds  After a break in the bitter cold our bird feeder is once more a hive of activity. As always,  the colorful ones  particularly impress me. I took out the camera with the zoom lens and photographed them through the kitchen window. I do hope they will remain our frequent visitors. Red-bellied woodpecker Cardinal Downy woodpecker Robins in winter. I always have thought that the robins did not winter here in Michigan, Blue jay.  

I just learned that it is possible to post to my blog from my phone. My son who needed help today to set up his blog told me. Perhaps this will make me a more faithful blogger, who knows.  For now I'll just practice.  Can I post a picture? New Year's Eve main dish: stuffed shells. They were delicious! We had a party as per usual. Every year I try to challenge our friends in some or another culinary way. Last year each couple was given a country, asked to do a bit if research and prepare an appetizer or dessert from that country.  We enjoyed some wonderful food that we would have never tried on our own.  This year we did a modified version of the TV  show Chopped! The instructions were simple: pick three ingredients from the list of nine and concoct an appetizer, side,salad or dessert on an Italian theme. We had some lovely appetizers and a side/salad. One couple brought a main dish that while  it included the three ingredients it was as far...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 EVERYONE! I CAN'T BELIEVE THE LAST TIME I POSTED WAS IN MAY!  RESOLVE TO DO BETTER IN 2014!