Brain Dump

  This is just a collection of thoughts that have been floating through my brain right now.

  I am very happy that winter has finally arrived and now there is fresh glistening snow on the ground. I smell the joy of sledding ahead of me yet.

***

  I have been listening to a lot of Celtic music lately, and right now I am listening to "Fallen Tears" It accurately sums up my yesterday when I heard that one of my favorite actors, Alan Rickman, died.

***

  Yesterday I made Chocolate Lava Cakes and they were the most delicious disaster I have ever tasted. Every bit of the baking turned out to look just like the pictures, until, I turned the cakes over to pat them onto a plate and and all of the "Lava" oozed out onto the plate, with the cake part still firmly stuck to the pan. They were still delicious with whipped cream and strawberries!

***

     I am extremely excited that I have finally found the perfect crochet poncho pattern, I have been looking for a pretty one for ages.

***

  I am absolutely up for the challenge of making English muffins tomorrow. I have wanted to make them for the longest time and now that I've found an easy recipe I'm ready to start creating.  I calculated that making English Muffins the traditional way (which is what I'll be doing) should take four and a half hours, since I'll be frying them on a griddle like the people from the olden days used to.

 ***

 I'm feeling perfectly old fashioned today, like I should be wearing bustles and bows. Recently one of my friends taught me how to dance the Virginia Reel, and the classic Waltz, and the Soldier's Joy. All of which my sister and I have been dancing to.

 ***

  For my literature in school I am reading Pride and Prejudice. I love the quaint dialogue even though it's hard to understand what I'm reading at times. I have realized that though it's taking me a while to read the book I think Jane Austen was a wonderful author. It's sad that writing books wasn't considered proper for women back then.

***

  My brain feels considerably emptier now so I'll end this post with a favorite new quote.

  Every day might not be good, but there's something good in everyday. Anonymous

Christmas Tag

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

  I love The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, it has such an enjoyable combination of wittiness and fun, and to be honest I am a huge fan of Henry Winkler so his being in the movie made it even better.

2. Have you ever had a white Christmas?

  Every single Christmas I had since I can remember has been really snowy, until this year which seems to be nothing but drab and rainy. We still have a little time before Christmas gets here, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

3. Have you ever built a gingerbread house?

  No, I haven't ever made an actual gingerbread house but I would like to someday.

4. Candy canes or gingerbread men?

  Hmm, I actually abhor gingerbread so I have to choose candy canes. I can still remember when I was a little girl I used to lick the candy canes that hung on our tree when I thought no one was looking.

5. Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

  Our Christmas tree is fake, two years ago Diane and I went and got a real tree for our room, and I can still hear the pine needles falling onto the floor in the middle of the night. Not that listening to pine needles was that bad, but trying to clean them out of our carpeting was horrible.

6. What's the best Christmas gift you have ever received?

  Honestly out of all the gifts I have ever received, my favorite one was the one that I got when I was eight, I was excitedly tearing the crisp wrapping paper off of my present and I couldn't believe my joy when I saw that I had gotten a box of corn flakes, it seemed so wonderful to have a whole box of cereal for myself. My Mom and Dad just laughed and told me to open it, and nestled inside the box was my very own cookbook and cake decorating supplies. I can remember squealing in stunned excitement since baking was my favorite thing ever to do.

7. Are you a pro at gift wrapping or do you fail miserably?

  Not to sound vain or anything but I would consider myself a pro. The credit goes to my Mom for teaching me how to wrap a present prettily when I was a little girl.

8. What is your favorite food at Christmas?

  Christmas breakfast is the best, I don't have a specific favorite but getting to eat as much bacon as you can is pretty awesome.

9. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or peppermint mocha? What is your favorite Christmas drink?

  Ah! I can think of nothing better than to snuggle under a warm blanket with a book and a mug of hot chocolate when the winter time begins.

10. What is your favorite Christmas song?

  Either Jingle Bell Rock or  It came upon a Midnight Clear.

11. Do you go Christmas caroling? Do carolers come to your house?

  Not to sound like a grinch but I don't like caroling. Carolers used to come to our house when we lived in Missouri, but they don't where we live now.

12. What is your favorite Christmas candy?

  Ooh! My favorite Christmas candy is the Mint Chocolate Truffles my Mom makes every Christmas, sadly they never last very long.

13. Do you make homemade candy for Christmas?

  Oh yes we definitely make homemade candy, every Christmas Day we have lots of candy to snack on all day long, making the candy is probably my favorite part Christmas prep.

14. When it comes to Christmas gifts do you prefer to buy or make the things you give? Receive?

  Though buying the gifts is definitely easier I find it much more satisfying to make everything yourself. And both store bought and homemade gifts are equally as fun to receive in my opinion.

15. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve or wait until Christmas morning?

  I never understood why anyone would open their presents on Christmas Eve, it goes against the grains of how an average Christmas should go, my OCD-ness would drive me crazy opening gifts the day before Christmas.

16. Do you go to Christmas Eve services at a church?

 I think we did one year. I still remember something with candles and singing Silent Night.

17. Have you ever had a ride in a one horse open sleigh?

  No I haven't, but the dreaminess in me would absolutely love to have a sleigh ride, I'd feel as if I belonged in a fairy tale if I ever got to have a sleigh ride.

18. Do you like fruitcake?

  I love fruitcake, the good kind though, during the holiday season edible bricks so often get passed around from family to family as a so called fruitcake. Every year my Mom makes a very moist and tender fruit cake filled with delicious fruits so I don't have to worry about politely eating nastiness.

19. Do you make your own Christmas cookies, or do you prefer the store bought kind? Sprinkles, or no?

  Making homemade Christmas cookies is only one of the most fun things to ever do when Christmas time rolls around, Sean, Diane, and I always make a lot of cookies on Christmas Eve to enjoy the next day. And since I love baking, making cookies is one of my favorite Christmas traditions ever.

  And though I do love sprinkles I normally just put decorating sugar on my cookies, I find they taste better that way.

20. Of the 12 days of Christmas ..... which one is your favorite?

  The third day of Christmas is my Favorite, I don't know whether it's because of the french hens or because of the fact that there are so many more "Days of Christmas" ahead.

Christmas Time is Coming.

  With Christmas merrily prancing towards us I feel that it is only appropriate to start making Christmas inspired posts. After all, my favorite holiday deserves a spot on my blog.
 
  Every single year around Christmas time the house bursts with Christmas Spirit, the smell of baking Christmas treats wafts through the house, Christmas songs are being sung loudly by my little brother, our Christmas tree shimmers and twinkles when Sean crawls under to light the tree, homemade gifts are stuffed every where and pretty much everyone is bursting with all the secrets they can hardly keep to themselves. Goodness I love Christmas!

  But like every single Christmas before this one there is always one big problem, what ever am I supposed to give to my Dad and brothers, men are such hard to shop for people. I always manage to scratch something together last minute but all the frantic thinking just about wears my brain out.

  This year all of us "children" are making homemade gifts for each other, I have literally spent hours creating things, and now if only I knew what to make for my Dad and Eldon I'd be all set. Maybe tonight as midnight arrives a twinkling star will shoot past my bedroom window and glorious inspiration will suddenly take root in my mind. They say if you wish upon a Christmas star......

Currently.....

Reading...... . 

 My literature in school has me reading The Swiss Family Robinson, and I have to say I love their quaint dialogue.

Writing..... .

  I am writing a nonsensical little book about a teen girl and her crazy carrot loving Aunt. It is such fun writing silly little stories!

Listening..... . 

  To pots and pans being clanged around in the kitchen while Eldon makes lunch, I shall never know how he manages to use so many dishes to cook one thing.

Thinking about....... 

  The fact that the sunny cheerful fall that I love so much is almost over and leading to the cold, grey, drab fall-to-winter stage.

Smelling..... 

  Onions frying, considering Eldon is making his favorite potato dish.

Wishing.....

   That I could slip outdoors and soar through the sky like all the birds that are migrating now.

Hoping..... 

  That today's beautiful weather will last, so that in the afternoon Diane and I can go collect fallen pine cones, I am drying them and turning them into Christmas decor, though while baking the cones it smells like slabs of burning pine sap, in other words, detestably nasty.

Wearing.....

  A creamy blue Japanese print skirt with a navy blue top, my favorite outfit for sure.

Loving...... 

  Life in general at the moment, I love when I have days like that, when you feel like you could walk on clouds.

Wanting.... 

  To craft something, nothing in particular, I'm just in a crafty mood,(the nice kind).

Needing.....

  More yarn so I can work on my Fudge Ripple afghan, it just drags on and on and on, crocheting afghans always takes me ages.

Feeling..... 

  Exuberantly joyful for no good reason, maybe because today feels promising, maybe because our beautiful weather makes me happy, maybe because I get to bake later, Hmm or maybe all of the above.

Things I'm Thankful For

   Since it is the start of November and Thanksgiving is drawing near, I feel it is the perfect time to do a Thankful post.


1. Name a color you are thankful for.
 
  I am very thankful for the color purple, a world without purple would be very sad indeed.

2. Something your parents do that you are thankful for.

   My parents are the calm, always know what they are doing people in my world, and always make sure we are healthy and happy and never forget to have fun spending time with us, for that I am extremely thankful.

3. Something your siblings do that you are thankful for.

  My siblings are the spunk to my world, they bring the delightful chaos to my home that I have grown to love, and they help do dishes, I am thankful for that.

4. A food you are thankful for.

  I am really thankful for pasta, every kind really.

5. What recent good news are you thankful for?

  I am thankful for the fact that I have straight A's so far into the school year, that is good news to me.

6. Name a drink you are thankful for.

  I am extremely thankful for water, my favorite drink that I literally couldn't live without.

7. Name a restaurant you are thankful for.

  I am thankful for D'Atri's I love their food and the atmosphere at the place. My memory of the first time eating there is a little different.  I had spotted a man with a black and blue stripes painted on his face sitting near by. As a little girl I had to keep looking at him, I was in awe that this creature was eating food like a normal person, he seemed more like an alien to me.

8. Talk about an animal you are thankful for.

  I am thankful for kittens, the adorable little balls of fur are a necessity to my "Old Maid Plan B" system for when I get much older.

9. Name a beauty product you are thankful for.

  I am thankful for chap stick, I really don't care about all the other things like blush and mascara, lipstick etc. As long as I have my chap stick I will be fine.

10. Name a cleaning product you are thankful for.

  I am thankful for hand soap, I would freak if I didn't have it around to wash my hands with every hour or so when I feel that they are germ infested.

11. Name a candy you are thankful for.

  I am thankful for chocolate in general, for with it I can tolerate my morning oatmeal and satisfy midday hungers, really I love chocolate, it sweetens my life!

12. What are you looking forward to that you are thankful for?

  I am thankful for Thanksgiving, I love that holiday where our favorite traditions take place, and our family gathers around the table to enjoy our feast, One of my favorite holidays for sure.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. It's October so let's get this out there first thing...have you jumped on the all-things-pumpkin bandwagon? How so?

   Not to sound like a fall grinch but I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin flavored/spiced things, the only thing pumpkin spice like that I have "jumped upon" is pumpkin spiced pancakes, so yummy!

2.  "We have more power than will; and it is often by way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible." Francois Duc De la Rochefoucauld  

What's something you once thought impossible, but in hindsight see as more a matter of lack of will?

  Fall cleaning my room seems to answer this question rather nicely, not that I'm lazy but anything deep cleaning-wise always seems so dreadful halfway through that sometimes flopping down on the floor and laughing hysterically rather than continuing the task at hand sounds rather nice.

3. The rose is America's National Flower, but every state also has its own (click here to see the list). Are you happy with yours? If you were in charge what would you declare your state's flower? If you're outside the U.S. what bloom would you like to see labeled as your country's national flower?

   Yes I really like our State flower, I think it captures the essence of our home state very well, so even if I chose another flower I don't think it could be as perfect as the one we already have.

4. What have you lost interest in recently?

  Embroidery, I thought it would be such a marvelous thing to spend your afternoons embroidering a handkerchief while drinking a cup of tea but 20 large thread knots later I was ready to call it a day, my cloth of knots now lies upstairs tucked away, never to be seen again.

5. In your opinion, who's the best living musician?

  I really like more of a classical kind of music so Adrian Von Ziegler would have to be my choice, I love how his music takes you to mythical far away places.

6. S'mores-love 'em or no? Ever make them indoors? Last time you sat around an outdoor fire? Are making s'mores and sitting round a fire pit on your autumn bucket list? Do you have an autumn bucket list?

  Oh how I love s'mores, I really only ate them around a fire when we were on vacation several years ago.

  Though I don't have a fall bucket list I'm sure if I did, making s'mores would be at the top.

7. Your favorite small town? Why?

  One of our neighboring towns is the prettiest small town I know of, if I had to live in a town I would definitely choose that one.

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

  I am loving fall so much now that the sun has come out and the clouds have gone away, and am spending my days reading, crocheting, drinking tea, and enjoying every beautiful thing that is life.

Autumn Roses

  Just looking out my window I see leaves falling from the trees and ever so poetically floating through the air greeting the ground as an old friend. Now since autumn is so beautiful and doesn't seem to last long enough I decided to take advantage of all of its beauty and preserve and craft nature till my heart was content.
  So today since I felt crafty I made several roses and was absolutely delighted with how well they turned out to be, and decided I shall share a tutorial with you, in case you want to make some roses as well.

  To make Leaf Roses you will need:

  About 10 leaves, freshly fallen so that they aren't brittle and won't break or tear easily.
 
 A long, pliable leaf stem

 1. Starting with the smallest of the leaves with the colorless side facing you, bend the middle leaf tip down towards you.

2. Then starting from the right side tip fold it down and roll it all the way over to the other side.

3. Holding on to that rolled leaf tightly, take another leaf, colorless side towards you fold down the middle tip and place the previous leaf in its' center.

  4.Once again starting from the siding tip, fold down the outer tips and roll the leaf around the previously rolled leaf.


  Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have your desired rose shape.  Using a stem from a leaf, tie it around the other stems to secure the rose's shape.

  This tutorial is really quite simple even though sounds a little complicated. It's fun, and at the end you have a lovely rose.