Happy Birthday Mike

Today is my husband's birthday.  He should have gotten a gift that is fun, but instead he got a practical gift.  At least we will call it a gift because we needed to buy this item anyway.  You know the term, killing two birds with one stone.  Last winter our snowblower was still working well.  It moved a lot of snow from our various snowstorms, but it must have worked itself to death.

This year it just wouldn't start.  At least once a year it would need to be in the shop for repair.  We thought it was time to get something dependable.  We haven't had enough snow so far this winter to use a snow blower, but that is just a matter of time. 

So Happy Birthday Mike.  Enjoy your special gift.

Trying out his new snow blower.  It looks like he is blowing leaves instead of snow.

Happy Birthday To My Sister

Today is December 12th.  It is my little sister's birthday.  She is three years younger than I am.  That is a big difference when a person is young.  We are four grades apart because I was one of the youngest in my class and being born in December she had to wait until she was five to start school.  She was also little and I was big.  They used to call her PeeWee.  Despite the size and age difference, our mother thought we were twins.  She dressed us alike until I needed big girl clothes and my sister was still in children's sizes.

It all started when I was four and my sister was one.  She started to dress us alike.

Carol Dux, Mark Anding, Me, Janice and Uncle Jeff Dux.  Yes Jeff is my uncle even though he is younger than me.

Then a year later they made us sit on a rug on the front porch.  Notice the snow.  This must have been the next year's Christmas photo.  Mom always told me not to sit on cold concrete or I would get hemorrhoids.  That's probably the reason for the rug.

Barbara age 5, Janice age 2

I think the next picture was taken in the same year.  The porch is the same and so is my same horrible hairdo.  No wonder I wet my pants everyday so I would be sent home from kindergarten. Maybe my hair was my embarrassment and not that I was shy.  My sister and I are dressed alike though. 

I was getting a belly even at age 5.

Then it was Christmas of 1954.  My mom's best friend had made us Christmas stockings.  I still have the stocking and have copied the pattern many times.  See our matching pajamas as well as the matching stockings.

Mom continued the trend of dressing us alike.  This next photo was taken at Christmas of 1955.  My sister had just turned five and I was eight.  It looks like we even have matching pajamas again.  Pin curls and a turban to keep them in place.  Geez, I hope my hair turns out as lovely as it usually does.  Good grief mom, what were you thinking.  I do like the Christmas tree.  All those individual icicles all over the tree.

Christmas 1955.

1957 when we first moved to Stoughton Wisconsin.

The matching theme continued.  We have matching winter coats in this picture.   This was the winter of 1958.  That year our dad flooded a skating rink in the backyard.  Often after school we would go outside and skate.  Those were the days when kids played outside and entertained themselves without electronics.  We barely watched television.  I remember television stations only broadcasted a few hours everyday, not 24/7 like it is today.

Posing with our matching coats and ice skates.

The next summer I was eleven and my sister was eight.  We are still dressed alike.  I could bore you with many more examples, but I won't.  Mom ordered from the Montgomery Ward catalog, and she ordered the same outfits in different sizes as long as she could.

Happy Birthday little sister.  I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.  

A Coyote In The Neighborhood

Last weekend we finally got some snow.  We got about two inches, but it was enough to see the animal tracks.  I noticed some unusual tracks out on the frozen ice.  The deer make a trail, so I knew it wasn't deer tracks.  The small animals have their own distinct little tracks. I thought perhaps a dog had been walking around.

Many different tracks in the snow.

Every morning when I get up I scan the horizon to see what I can see.  I was surprised.  At first I didn't know what I was seeing.  We have seen fox in the area so at first that is what I thought I saw.  Then as I looked closer, it was too big for a fox.  Maybe it was a wolf.  It started coming closer, and it turned out to be a coyote.  Thank goodness I don't have chickens or pet rabbits because they wouldn't have a chance with this animal.  He stayed for quite a while and I was able to get some photos from our dining room window.

Here he comes.

Even though he's a predator, he certainly is a beautiful animal.

 Later in the afternoon, he returned.  It looked like he was nosing around the area where the beaver or the muskrats live.  I didn't see him find anything and later saw him walking away.  I don't know if he got separated from his pack or if there are more in the area.  I love living where I do, you never know what you will see.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

My Tuesday recipe for today is one that I found in my recipe box and then improvised a little.  A few days ago I wrote a blog about making homemade Christmas ornaments.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/12/homemade-christmas-ornaments-are-best.html

I used dried yellow split peas for the ornament.  As I was putting the bag of peas back into the cupboard, I thought that I should use some of the peas to make some soup.  I bought the yellow split peas because I thought the soup might look more appetizing than the green.  There is something about green pea soup that those from my generation find a little distasteful.  I think it stems from seeing the movie "The Exorcist" many years ago.

The original recipe called for chicken broth but I had a big ham bone in the freezer since last Christmas.  We were given a huge ham last year.  It was delicious, but when we had enough, I froze the big bone with some meat attached.  I had intended to make something from it sooner, but I actually forgot about it.  I took it out of the freezer and put it in a big pot of water.  I simmered it for a while get the flavor into the stock.  Then I followed the recipe substituting the ham broth for the chicken broth.  I also cooked it in the pressure cooker for only 15 minutes instead of cooking on the stove for an hour.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

2 Tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced

Melt the butter in a large stock pot.  Cook the onion, celery and carrots until they are soft.

Then add:
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
some salt and pepper to taste
8 cups of chicken stock (I used the ham stock)
2 cups of dried yellow split peas
2 potatoes, diced
Add some cubed ham if you like, but it isn't necessary. (I used the excess that was still attached to the
 ham bone)

Then simmer for an hour in the stock pot or 15 minutes on high in the pressure cooker.
The recipe says you should blend everything together after it is cooked but I just left it as is.  The split peas cook until they are smooth, and I like the other vegetables in the soup still in tact. 

In case you don't remember my pressure cooker, it is digital and I use it whenever I can.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/01/my-favorite-small-appliance.html

Dad And His Lucky Sweatshirts

My dad is pretty sharp for his age (89).  He remembers things I can't.  I want to say that he doesn't have as much to keep track of, but I think he just "gets it".  Because of his poor eyesight, he listens and pays attention.  Then he retains the information.  More than once he has had to explain foreign policy to me or the impact of a sports injury on a team.  My mind tends to wander when I watch the news or sports.  Last winter, my sister gave him a Michigan State sweatshirt.  They live in Michigan and are huge sport fans.  He is a Wisconsin fan, but when they are out of the picture he will root for Michigan.  Last Saturday Michigan State played Ohio State in football.  We had gone to the grocery store, and when we returned dad was sitting in his chair with his good luck Spartans sweatshirt on waiting for the game to start.

I guess it worked because Michigan State won the game and is going to the Rose Bowl this year.  We will see if the luck holds on New Years Day.  The next game he watched was the Green Bay Packers.  When he got dressed on Sunday, he put his Green Bay sweatshirt on.

 

The Packers also managed a win, so it must be the magic in the sweatshirts.  You can bet he will be wearing the appropriate sweatshirt every game day from now on.  That theory will disappear if or when his teams lose, but it's fun to think about.  Right now, he is waiting for the Mike McCarthy show to come on.  Between meals, snacking, his audiobooks and some TV shows, he is always busy and that's a good thing.

One Year Of Blogging

A year ago I started writing this blog.  In a year I have written 311 blogs.  I can't believe I found that much to write about.  I don't know if I will have as much to say during the next year, but you never know.  One of my first blogs was written about the snows of December 8, 2012.

http://cabincountess.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-view-from-cabin.html

It was a little different this morning from a year ago.  No snow at all.  We haven't had enough to shovel yet this year, but it is very very cold.  Tonight they predict some snow so maybe by morning it will look more like winter than it did this morning.

December 8, 2013 looks more like fall than winter.

Homemade Christmas Ornaments Are The Best

Every year when I take out the Christmas decorations it brings back memories.  Every ornament makes you remember where and when you got it.  When our daughters were young, we made a lot our ornaments.  They would also make ornaments in school.  Even our friends would exchange home made ornaments using bottle caps, popsicle sticks, yarn and thread.  Back in those days we didn't just make a trip to Hallmark and load up on ornaments.  My daughters just took it for granted that is how we decorated the Christmas tree.  When they got married and left home, they took their ornaments with them.  For a few years I had to accumulate my own ornaments in my own style.  We live in a cabin and I tend to go with woodsy items.  I have used dried hydrangea flowers, we dried oranges, apples, lemons and limes and of course pine cones.  I have made gingerbread man ornaments from cinnamon and applesauce.  Back in 1995, my aunt passed away.  I won't say she was a hoarder, but she had a lot of stuff that needed to be disposed of.  I lived nearby, so day after day I would go to her apartment and go through things.  There were many things that were thrown away and donated to charity.  I bring this up because there was an old tin of cookies in the kitchen.  I opened them up and there were some old gingerbread man cookies.  I took them home and varnished them.  Then I poked a hole in the top and strung a red ribbon.  They are still being used to this day.  You have to wonder what they were made of in the first place.  We probably don't want to know.

Applesauce cinnamon ornament and 18 year old gingerbread man cookie ornaments.

Another favorite ornament was made by my oldest daughter when she was just starting school.  When the girls were little and decorated the tree, Sarah would always put her homemade ornament front and center…Heather hated it and would move it. Sarah would move it back.  They would go around and around.  Then when they were grown adults, Sarah made Heather one nearly identical to hers so she could have one of her very own.   Now every year Heather places her own ornament front and center on her tree.

I actually made some for myself.  Here it is, hanging on my tree.  It makes me happy.

This is the perfect project for kids of all ages.  All you do is find a plastic lid.  It can be any size as long as it is flat on the bottom.  Pour some school glue to cover the bottom of the lid.  Sprinkle with any kind of seeds.  I used lentils and yellow  and green split peas.

All you need to make an ornament.

After you put everything in the lid with glue, it has to dry.

Pop it out of the lid and tie it with ribbon or string.

Three Weeks Until Christmas 2013

Santa's watching us to see if we are naughty or nice.

 
It's exactly three weeks until Christmas, but it sure didn't seem that way.  It was a very dark, dreary, foggy day.  Other parts of our state of Wisconsin had a lot of snow, but we had rain.  The temperatures will be falling drastically in the next 24 hours, and I imagine the snow will be reaching us soon.  I hope so, we like it when we have a white Christmas.

The temperature was around 44 today, so some of the ice has melted.

A damp, dreary, foggy day.

Gun hunting season ended last Sunday.  Monday there was a doe and two small bucks on the trail camera, but I haven't seen any since.  I hope our deer made it though the hunting season.  It has been raining, and the deer aren't as active in this kind of weather.  Hopefully I will see them soon.

We went to a local health food store today.  With all the talk of shopping locally I wanted to give them some business.  It was sad.  I doubt if he will be able to stay in business for very much longer.  The shelves were almost bare.  He said his business partner had already left, but he was trying to weather the lack of business.   I felt obligated to buy something.  I won't bother with any photos of the place because I imagine he will be gone before the end of the year.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a nicer day for the deer, for the small business owners and for getting into the swing of the Christmas season.

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal

Every Sunday night my daughter makes this slow cooker oats recipe.  On Monday morning she has warm oatmeal and there is enough left over to heat up every morning for the rest of the week.  It's a good way to have a nice warm breakfast quickly.  She has a dairy allergy so she uses Almond milk, but any milk would work.  The recipe calls for steel cut oats.  That is necessary.  Regular oatmeal doesn't work as well.  Steel cut oats are the the inner portion of the oat kernel. Rather than being rolled flat like rolled oats, they are hulled and cut into smaller pieces.  Because they aren’t rolled, they undergo less processing. We have a Mennonite store nearby which sells Steel Cut Oats for a very good price, but they are available in every grocery store.

Ingredients for making slow cooker steel cut oatmeal.

This is her slow cooker oats recipe.
She omits the butter and brown sugar, but I think that would be a great addition.   She sprays the slow cooker with Pam and doesn't add the raisins or craisins because they get bloated and she thinks they look yucky.  She has some texture issues.  I would put craisins and almonds in.  Set a timer to turn on the slow cooker so it cooks for 7.5 hours on low.

1 cup steel cut oats
3 1/2 cup water or milk (I use Almond Milk)
1 cup apple, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Nuts, craisins or raisins optional

I think this looks delicious, and I can't wait to make it myself.  I make oatmeal almost every morning and this would add a little variety.  Thanks Heather for the recipe.

Cutting Evergreens for Decoration

Well, Thanksgiving is past and I have a good start on my Christmas decorations.  Every year I try to cut back a little and not get so stressed out.  Thank goodness I can depend on my daughters for gift ideas for the kids.  Half the time I don't have a clue what the older kids are asking for.  My granddaughter saw my phone and said "I see you upgraded to OS7".  I asked her how she knew that and she said "it looks entirely different".  It looks almost the same to me.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is a day my daughters come out to our house to cut evergreens.  They get a variety to decorate their homes.  We have a little bit of everything from cedar to soft white pine.  It was a pleasant day with temperatures in the 40's.  I think we need some snow to make it feel more like Christmas.

Heather cutting greens for decoration.

She didn't bring the pickup truck this year, but she filled the trunk.

Sarah sent a photo of the first project.  She just needs a bow.

After lunch the kids went out to play.  They went for a walk in the woods, played football and played with the dog.  Piper got quite a workout.  I bet she is tired tonight.

Playing outside with Piper.

See the shovel on one side of the garage door and a rake on the other.  You never know which you will need around here.

Piper waiting patiently for someone to chase.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

It is recipe Tuesday.  Since it's Thanksgiving week, I will post a new recipe that I am trying this year.
My family doesn't like regular cranberry sauce.  They like the sauce in the shape of a can.  I just open
the can and plop it out.  This year is going to be different.  Canned jellied cranberry sauce has high fructose corn syrup plus more corn syrup.  I had to find a recipe to make my own.

I found a website that had a pressure cooker recipe because I make most of my meals in a pressure cooker.   It was easy, but makes a big batch.  More than we need.  I also used my vitamix blender instead of a food mill.  There weren't any seeds or skins left but I put it through a mesh strainer just to be sure.  Here is the web address to give credit to her.
 http://www.barbarabakes.com/2013/11/cranberry-jelly/

I put it in a jello mold but I won't know if it unmolds properly until Thursday. I had this mold in the shape of a leaf.   If it doesn't, it tastes very good, and we will just use a spoon.

This photo from the website put it in cute turkey shaped molds.

 Cranberry Jelly

• 2 bags (12 oz each) fresh cranberries, about 6 cups
• 1 cup apple juice
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons liquid pectin

Directions

1. Wash and pick over cranberries. Add the cranberries and apple juice to the pressure cooking pot.
2. Select High Pressure and 5 minutes cook time. When timer sounds, turn pressure cooker off and use a quick pressure release. When valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
3. Pour the cooked cranberries in a food mill over a large bowl to separate the cranberry juice from the skins and seeds. (You could also use a blender to puree the berries and then use a strainer to strain the skin and seeds.) Rinse out and dry the pressure cooking pot.
4. Put the cranberry juice back in the pressure cooking pot and add the sugar and the liquid pectin. Select saute and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil one minute. Remove the pressure cooking pot from the pressure cooker.
5. Allow mixture to cool slightly and then pour jelly in to a bowl or molds. Chill until set.
6. To unmold, dip mold in warm water for 5 seconds, then invert jelly onto platter. (I turned them out on to a Silpat.)

Notes

If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook on the stove for 10 to 15 minutes until cranberries have softened and popped.

*This recipe turned out great.  It is definitely a keeper.  My daughters ask me to make it again.

Our Yellow Finches

Today was a quiet day.  My husband has a bad cold, so he is laying low for a few days.  He wants to feel better before Thanksgiving Day.  I made a kettle of Chicken Soup and put in extra onions and garlic.  That should help. 

I checked the trail camera, and I didn't see our big buck but all the other deer are still safe and sound.  In fact, our doe brought her friend again.  As I was sitting watching the birds, I noticed they were very busy.  In the summer we have a hummingbird feeder hanging with suction cups on the window.  In the winter, I hang another feeder.  This year a feeder with finch food in it.  The birds are so close it's like having a pet bird in a cage without having to change the newspaper.  Today the finches were taking turns with the nuthatches.  I saw these two finches, and they looked like very good friends having a conversation.

In this picture it looks like he is whispering in her ear.

Here he is saying "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Knitted Headband Ear Warmer

Last week I saw a wide headband ear warmer for sale.  It was really cute, and they are popular right now.  My daughters both asked me if I could make them one.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I went online and searched for a pattern.  I found a blog post with a pattern.  I asked permission to post the pattern and she allowed me to do so.

http://tmatthewsfineart.blogspot.com/2011/11/free-knitting-pattern-headband-ear.html

I decided to dig in my yarn stash to see if I had some yarn to make a sample headband.  I found a ball of bulky yarn that I thought I could use.  I basically followed the pattern for the thick yarn version, and this is what I came up with.

I had Heather try it on to see if it fit.   The flower can go in either side.

Next I needed to find some yarn in a color that would match better.  Our options are so limited where we live, but I found some chunky yarn to try.  I wanted to see how that would work.  I modified the pattern a little.  Instead of increasing to 23 stitches, I increased to 19 stitches.  It didn't stretch as much, so I made it an inch longer before the decrease.  It is a little bulky but it looks fine.  Next I will try a regular worsted weight yarn in a double strand.  These headband work up really fast, so I can try different yarns until I'm satisfied with it.

I tried another headband with worsted weight yarn.  I used Caron brand Simply Soft paints.  Rainbow Brights was the color.  It seemed a little thinner than some worsted yarn, so I used three strands for the band and two strands for the flower.  It turned out almost the same size as the one I made with chunky yarn.  Being able to use this type of yarn increases the color choices and availability for me.

Sarah and Melissa in their new headbands.

Rural Health Photo Contest Winner

In early January of 2012 my dad, who was 87 at the time, was asked to participate in a photoshoot at an area hospital.  We got some outfits together, gave him a haircut and took him.  He said almost everyone needed some makeup, but he didn't need any.  A professional photographer came in to take photos of him and others.  They had different scenarios.  They had different departments of the hospital represented. They had maternity, family practice, physical therapy, volunteers, imaging and geriatric care.  This happened a couple weeks before mom died.   It's a shame she died before seeing the final pictures.  She would have been proud of her husband being a model at his age.  All of the photos turned out great and large 4 by 6 foot canvas prints were made of each department and placed on the walls throughout the hospital.

The one of my dad was also made into a banner which is hanging in front of the nursing home which 

 is associated with the hospital.  

  

We got used to seeing the banners and the photo and forgot about it.  Then this week we heard that this photo had won a photo contest.

Wisconsin Office of Rural Health

Wisconsin Office of Rural Health

Yesterday, November 21, was Rural Health Day.  It was a day to showcase rural America and to increase awareness of rural health-related issues.  As part of the celebration, Rural Health sponsored a a photo contest.  The hospital submitted the photos from the large canvas prints they had done and three of them won—including the one of my dad.  When he heard the news he puffed up like a proud peacock and grinned.  It was so much fun to see that you are never too old to be proud of yourself.