Down the rabbit hole....

 

I ran out of "creepy" pictures so thought I would go cheerier for your Halloween picture of the day.

I love learning and to that end I heard about a fantastic opportunity for all who are lifelong learners like me.  No, it's not those expensive "Great Courses" that you get the catalog in the mail for.  These are free and offered by one of the premier institutions of learning.  It is MIT   Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  There is no cost although you can donate and you don't get any credit just the joy of learning and keeping your mind active and engaged.  I'm still trying to decide what to sign up for.  I love science and technology and math and I have always wanted to study women's history as none of that was offered when I went to college and maybe religions of the world.....so much to choose from!

Yesterday was not too productive....I went to "early vote" and realized it isn't until the 30th.  Then I once again tried to deliver a "welcome" gift to my new neighbor...........a loaf of fresh bread and a knitted dish cloth but to no avail.  I knock and knock but no one comes to the door.  I thought maybe she had gone somewhere with someone else since her car was in the drive but later the dogs were out so I have no idea.  I don't have her phone number although she has mine and she told me her number isn't listed and she didn't offer it.  So, I tried but fresh bread doesn't last as mine has no preservatives.

 Nitty kept staring at me and through E.S.P. I deduced that she really, really wanted to go for a walk and so we did.  It was a perfect day! 

 

 

 

 

 Thanks for going on our walk with us....it was over 3 miles and up some steep hills!  But you made it!

Happy Trails!

Casper the friendly ghost.............

Creepy (beautiful) picture of the day.........

Yesterday I finally finished the financials and the ghosts!  Ta Da!  Here's Casper and his friends......

 

accompanied by my Wicked Witch sign in the background......

 

and of course her majesty herself.....the wicked witch!

These will be packed up and "flying through the night" to the grandboy's houses along with some Halloween books, treats and fun and games.  If I have any energy left I might make something for their parents too. LOL!

I also made a loaf of bread and a dish cloth as a "welcome" for my new neighbor but when I took it over (still warm) she never came to the door.  The dogs barked but no sign of her so I'll try again tomorrow.

I watched Grey's Anatomy last night and crocheted the first of a boy's preemie set for October....4 more to go before the end of the month.  I've misplaced my #7 circular and looked everywhere as I was going to start the hat for Grayson but to no avail.  I guess I'll order one as I use it for so many projects.  I also worked on the scarf and found a hole!!!!  I thought I dropped a stitch but I didn't....the yarn broke!  I found the 2 ends and tied them up good and tight and miraculously it looks okay.  I thought for sure it would start unraveling at  any moment but so far so good!  Say a prayer, please.

Today is supposed to be nice out so I think I'll go "early vote", try taking the gift to the new neighbor again and maybe get some work done outside plus so much more! LOL!

I hope you're having a great Friday and have great plans for the weekend!  Happy Trails! 

Thursday already?

 Creepy Picture of the day............

Yesterday I finally got around to changing my sheets. I usually do it on Sunday or Monday.  I did a load of laundry and took recycling. I went out and collected acorns and yes, they're finally turning brown although I did grab a few green ones. I'll post pictures tomorrow of them and "the tiniest acorns you have ever seen"...they are so cute.  They're about as big as the tip of my little finger.
I'll send some to the grand boys so they can see them.
I worked on financials all afternoon and went through more paperwork.  I'm behind and I am determined to stay on top of it this time! (Yeah right.).  In the evening I watched the news and then Nashville while I crocheted a #1 (the smallest) preemie hat for a boy and then knitted on my daughter's scarf for a bit. The colors are finally starting to change here......yippee!

Here's my Sugar Maple I planted about 10 years ago.

and in the woods.........

The majority is still pretty green though. I think our "peak" is around the end of October.  The lake is through the trees there............

 There's still a few flowers blooming..........

 these are "weeds" but I think they're pretty..........it's a bush full of tiny daisies

and lots of green tomatoes still on the vine............

and occasionally a ripe one....

Today I'm finishing up the financials and paperwork, I have to get the ghosts done, make some pumpkin bread and some regular bread for my new neighbor to welcome her, along with one of my crocheted dish cloths, more laundry, shake some rugs, vacuum, iron and that is what they call "wishful thinking"! LOL!  I hope you have a wonderful day!
Happy Trails!

Creepy Picture of the Day.....

Yesterday I cut up the leftover pork tenderloin and froze...yielded 2 C or about 1 lb

 sliced up the bread I had made and put in the frig

 this bread turned out great and had a wonderful texture..thank you King Arthur!

de-stemmed all the grapes and put in containers in the frig.  I made a mistake and washed them when I brought them home and then googled how to store grapes and you're not supposed to wash them until you eat them as they will get moldy.  Too late! LOL!  But now I know.  I think I'll throw some in that slaw salad...why not?  I'm getting adventurous in the kitchen!

 I took the garbage out and emptied and relined all the ones throughout the house (I use plastic bags from the store.  I also use them for when I clean out the litter box)  I don't have a lot because I use reusable grocery bags for the most part)
I went through a whole pile of paperwork and filled a grocery sack full to pitch and spent a good amount of time on financials, did a load of laundry, ran and emptied the dishwasher and loaded it again (I cook therefore I have a lot of dishes to wash!) and I made the "beer can chicken".  I went up town and got a can of root beer.  I poured the root beer in a glass so I could drink it and put the pumpkin ale in the can.  I slathered the chicken with olive oil and then tried to get the beer can with the beer into the chicken.....that was the hardest part.  I think my chicken was petite.  I finally got it in there and got it to stand up in the roaster....whew!
BEFORE:

AFTER:

I thought it looked a little "human" sitting in the pan and it creeped me out sitting up like that with it's little arms.  Sort of looked like me when I'm in the tub although ordinarily I try to keep my head on.  If  I had to kill my own food I would be a vegetarian for sure!  But despite all that, it was delicious, cooked perfectly and tender and moist.  And so easy!  I do believe that anything with the "bone in" is tastier.  Those boneless, skinless, tasteless, chicken breasts are for the birds! LOL!
 Annie and Grace were quite interested in the whole beer can chicken event.............
ANNIE:

GRACE:

Meanwhile Queen Nitty was outside overlooking her kingdom...lol

I fell into bed and used my tablet to peruse the King Arthur website, did my Sodoku puzzle and conitnued reading the same books.  It was a good day! What did you do yesterday?
Happy Trails!

Tuesday

Creepy picture of the day!

How I spent my Monday........
got my flu shot (pneumonia shot next week)
went to the store and got softner salt, milk, a cabbage and a whole chicken for roasting today
cleaned the litter box
put salt in the water softner
put the Hoover Floormate back together and tested...it failed so now it is out by the street for garbage pickup today
tested bread machine and it worked!
defrosted kielbasa for supper
made cabbage slaw salad with peanut dressing
made turtle brownies
talked to my daughter
watched DWTS and Castle while knitting Christmas scarf for above daughter
did my daily Sodoku puzzle
read Mary Jane's Farm magazine (Oct/Nov 2014), Bible, Those of the Forest and Joyce of the North Woods
lights out!

This is "ye old" bread maker... I'm guessing 30 years old? But I tested it and lo and behold........

 it still makes a beautiful loaf of bread..............

I used a recipe from King Arthur Flours 
their "Easy As Can Be" recipe.  They have the most wonderful website with everything a baker could want and more!  Their recipes and their flour are excellent.  I highly recommend their site and all their products and recipes.
 I also made a super simple, super healthy slaw recipe......it came from Mark Bittman's 25 Favorite Minimalist Recipes
 Mark is the food editor for the New York Times and has wonderful cookbooks out there and plenty of wonderful articles and recipes you can get on the web.  He believes good food needn't be difficult.  My sentiments exactly!  Here is an example in a comment from one of his readers: (I'm making the chicken today)

1) Indoor beer can chicken. One can froof it up with all sorts of stuff, but really, all you have to do is this: a) Preheat oven to 350F. b) Open can of beer and pour off 3/4 thereof into a glass for later (or other) use. c) Grab a whole dressed chicken, minus innards, and grease inside and out with edible lubricant of your choice (olive oil, drawn butter, etc.). d) Shove open end of can up bird’s butt. e) Set bird, can and all, onto roasting pan and put on lowest oven rack for 75 to 90 minutes. f) Serve and enjoy.2) Peanut-vinegar cabbage salad. a) Chop one head of cabbage as you would for slaw (this takes thirty seconds). b) Heat 4 tbsp. peanut butter (creamy or chunky) in microwave until liquid (this also takes thirty seconds). c) Mix with equal amount of vinegar (style points if you use Japanese rice vinegar). d) Toss in bowl with chopped cabbage. Elegant, delicious, easy.

Here's the slaw she was talking about....delish!  (BTW I did have the rice vinegar so I scored the extra points!  YES!)

I had it with some kielbasa I had defrosted and it was a perfect combo.  Tonight I'll have it with my beer can chicken that I'm roasting except I don't drink beer out of cans so I will have to find a "work around" using my pumpkin ale in a bottle. LOL!

I also made turtle brownies....if you know me you know that I don't buy very much "processed" food;  I make almost everything from scratch and I rarely eat out but once in awhile even a puritan strays off the path and stray I did...but in a good way.......

 BEFORE:

AFTER:

and it came from this box...........and they taste wonderful but next time I will make my own adding walnuts and homemade Dulce De Leche or caramel ice cream topping.  These were good in a pinch though. (tee hee)

I've rambled enough for one blog post and I need to get to work if I want to have anything to blog about tomorrow...and there's that chicken waiting.
Happy Trails!