Christmas Cookies...Done!

 Lauren and I were making Christmas cookies last night.  Sugar cookies and gingerbread.  I cut both recipes in half because I didn't want to mess with ,what feels like, thousands. But, it was fun and we got the giggles, as usual. At some point, you get REAL tired of rolling and cutting dough.  As you can see below, the last ones are ...interesting.

So, this afternoon I decorated them.  Also one of those activities that you just want to end...Lauren didn't get to help.  She was 'recovering' from having some dental work done this morning. Not in a decorating mood.

I used the Wilton tubes of icing.  They are tasty and my icing tips fit on the tubes...yay!! This gingerbread recipe is from Martha Stewart.  Lots of spices, the way I like them. The sugar cookie recipe is from my Bette Crocker's Cooky Book. It is my all-time favorite cooky book!  My original copy is in pieces, so I latched on to my mother's copy (since she doesn't cook any more.). The recipe is called, 'Mary's Sugar Cookies'.

So, we are ready for Christmas.

SNOW DAY!!!!

FINALLY!!!!! We are having snow!!  Now, granted, its not as much as they said but it is still snow.  Moisture you can see! For the last several days all the news feeds have been harping about this blizzard.  Geesh, its Christmas...we want snow!  (I can safely be smug about this because Lauren arrived home from Beloit on Tuesday..)

This is the view from our front door.  It almost looks like it is a black and white photo, but that is the actual 'color' of the outside...gray tones. I tried to take one with snow blowing, that's why its seems blurry in the middle. The next two shots are what we see from the back 4/season porch.  The wind is howling and the snow is blowing.  Last evening, we had several incidences of 'thunder snow'!! I saw on the news this morning that a home in North Liberty was struck by Lightening!! Iowa...where weather is always news!

The next shot is of our Christmas tree because I didn't have it decorated when I took shots of my holiday decor.  Besides, the blog needed a little color.

By the way, my Gourmet luncheon was a success, I guess.  They all left full, anyway.  The menu was a little more involved that I had envisioned.  Thank God there were 9 people working to get it done.  We also had a gift exchange.  All in all it was a fun day!

Ready For Gourmet!

Well, its that time of the year again...gourmet!  Yep, its my turn to have our Gourmet group meet at my house.  The table is set and the menu is planned.  Just have to have everyone show up tomorrow to prepare it and eat it.  And, since it is December, we will have our gift exchange. A fun time will be had by all, I hope!

We are having vegetable spring rolls, coconut shrimp, cilantro lime rice, beans and red peppers, and shaved ice with fruit and cream of coconut.  I made clementine quick bread to snack on while we open gifts and white chocolate lemon biscotti to go with our dessert.  I actually made homemade fortune cookies to go with our dessert but they turned into a pintrest failure...here's what I wanted to make...

Here's what I made...

NAILED IT!!!!

Oh well, everyone will get a good laugh out of them!  Hope everyone enjoys the day.

Christmas Decorations Going Up

I've been putting up Christmas decorations this week.  We were going to accomplish this feat when Lauren was home, but time seemed to get away from us. Hopefully, I'll get them done before she's home for Christmas break! The tree isn't up yet and the outdoor lights need to be placed...but we are getting there.

I love these snowmen!  I got them last year from The Rug Cottage on the way to Kalona.  They have some of the sweetest seasonal decor.  More pix when I get the tree up.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost here!!  I made a flock of turkeys for my place setting favors. I did this last night to keep me occupied because I was trying NOT to worry about Lauren driving home in a dense fog advisory!! She made it just fine, but not without giving me a couple of more grey hairs. When she started out from Beloit, it wasn't foggy.  Only when she was in eastern Iowa did she encounter dense fog.  Why do we celebrate in winter!?! Whats wrong with a June Thanksgiving?!?

This poor guy just couldn't take the suspense, I guess.

What I Learned In Dubuque....

I forgot to tell you about the 'in-service' at the Shalom Center.  Dayna showed us how to hem jeans with ease!  Coincidentally, my Friend Deb had just shown me almost the same technique the Wednesday before I went to the retreat.  Dayna's tutorial took it one step further by trimming with the pinking shears.  The whole thing is genius! You can also go to You Tube and find the step by step process.

Thanks Dayna!

Quilt Retreat in Dubuque

Spent last weekend in Dubuque at the Shalom Retreat Center with my peeps..Jackie and Jeannie.  This is the same place we were at in April with just about the same group of people.  Its a weekend of quilting, knitting, and yakking.  So relaxing and enjoyable.

It is in an old building that used to be a Catholic Girls School.  Above is the room where we all set up our machines and spend the majority of our time. Everyone has there own room for sleeping and the bathrooms and showers are shared.  We eat down in the basement in the dinning room and all the meals are prepared for us.  They are excellent!  Its a great weekend.  We even got out on Saturday for a little excursion to the knit shop and quilt shop.  Looking forward to the spring retreat!  Thanks, Dayna!!!

 Above is a tree in downtown Iowa City that has been 'knit bombed'!!  Jackie and I went downtown today to see them.  How cool!  (I would recommend going when it is NOT 34 degrees!).  These are three of 135 trees  that received similar homemade sweaters as part of the Iowa City Downtown District’s Tree Huggers project.

All the yarn was supplied by Home Ec Workshop. They had over 200 people volunteer to make the huggers!  As you can see, we have a lot of over achievers in Iowa City!!

Great job!!!

Making Martinis

Here is my first martini!  We got a recipe booklet in the mail from Hy-Vee with nothing but cocktail recipes.  So I decided to invest in a few bar basics: shaker, strainer, martini glasses. I followed the recipe except I used gin instead of vodka.  Shaken, not stirred.  Delicious!! I also made the Old Fashion...pretty darn tasty! I could really get into the cocktail hour, I guess.  But, maybe not something I should do on a daily basis....

FURNITURE REDO....cont'd.

 Here's my first coat of paint on the writing desk.  It is upside down and I am using French Linen, first.

 The unpainted portion shows the repair work that Bob did to the legs. Lots of wood putty later.....

This one had 1/2 of the foot missing, so Bob sculpted a new one!  What a guy!!  Now I'm painting this puppy...hope it holds together!! I need to put on another coat on this side then turn it over and paint the top. To be continued....

Another Furniture Adventure

 Well, here's the next project.  I found this writing desk at TLC Vintage in Des Moines.  It's got several issues, to say the least. The veneer is very chippy and looks bad.  Hope my Annie Sloan works its magic!

 I'm planning on painting it with French Linen and maybe Old White.  We'll see.

If you look at the left leg, you can see how one foot is missing.  Bob say's he can fix it!  Sweet.  I'll post more pix of the process as we work on it. Soon...

Transplant News

David and Marcia were here October 10-13.  This photo was taken on the Saturday of the Lung and Heart Transplant Picnic sponsored by the U of I.  Everyone who has had a heart or lung transplant is invited plus their family or support.  If you have received your transplant in the last tear, you receive a t-shirt.  David got his t-shirt last year.

Above, he is telling everyone about the Transplant Games that he and several others attended in July. (He got a bronze medal in Golf).  He hopes to get the games in Des Moines in 2016!
David continues to do very well since his heart transplant.  He had his annual angiogram  and biopsy when he was here.  Everything was great and some more of his medicine was reduced.
 Marcia and he celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary on the 10th!!  We ate dinner at Iowa Power.
Lauren came home on Friday, Oct.12.  She had a mid-term break for about 9 days.  We watched both seasons of Walking Dead; last season of 30 Rock; The Music Man and Annie Get Your Gun.  Got some shopping in and ate out a few times (kitchen was being tiled).  Today I made some cheddar cheese crackers and she went back to Beloit about 2:30... : (    sniff..sniff.
She'll be home soon for Thanksgiving!! : ) Yay!!

A Beautiful Autumn

Wow! the colors this fall are spectacular!  We all thought it would be drab and dry because of the drought, but mother nature has stepped up to the plate!  This is the little maple in our neighbors back yard, just to our north.  It is a gorgeous red. Below, is the back deck.

September 28, Bob and I went to Beloit for parent's weekend.  For us, it was Parent's Day.  We drove back  on the same day.  We got to see Lauren's room and had lunch  with Lauren and her friend, Zoe.

We laughed a lot at the restaurant and visited a little while longer, then Lauren had class.  So, Bob and I headed home.
The following week we started the process of getting our new counter top in the kitchen!  So on Wednesday, Bob and some friends took out the old counter and sink.

On Thursday, the new counter and under mount sink was installed.  We got it through Lowe's.  It is Quartz with a single, stainless sink.  LOVE IT!!!

Next, we got a new back splash.  It also came from Lowe's.  It is polished marble subway tile.  LOVE IT, TOO!!

Sorry the lighting isn't better.  But, trust me, it is beautiful!  The center island remained its original black granite.  The quartz is called Silver Lake. The original counter was Formica and the sink was  a standard double bowl mounted on top. Sorry I didn't get the 'before' picture.  I need to close this entry because I feel the need to get in this new kitchen and bake some kind of 'autumn -spice-something'!!!

Fall Decorations

Its time for autumn decorations!! Man, where did the summer go??  So Thursday I was in Iowa City  and stopped at Ben Franklin .  They have a great supply of holiday decorations, whatever the season.  The fall fake flower stuff was 30% off, so that's what got me started.  Of course, by the time I got home and started putting it out, I realized I should have gotten more than I did.  Oh, well....Above is the mantel.  I really didn't want to change anything, so I just stuck in a little extra but kept the basic arrangement.

 This lantern was also at Ben Franklin's.  It is the perfect blue for the living room! And the squirrel and acorns were just too cute to pass up.  Below, is the usual scene of pumpkins and gourds I put up there every year.  I added another lantern from Ben F. only black this time.

 I struggled with this arrangement in the front entry.  I liked what was there but needed to make it look more autumnal.  So then I struggled with making a flower arrangement in a cement pot.  I STILL don't really like it, but so what....I'll enter through the garage..

 I finished the chest of drawers in the front guest bedroom.  I used Annie Sloan Old White and Antoinette.  I think it turned out well.  Very sweet.  Now I have to work at putting the room back together, so naturally nothing is working...

 I decided the bedside tables were too big of a scale for the 'look' in the room.  So I found this little guy at Kit and Caboodle, a second hand shop in Coralville.  I haven't decided if I'm going to repaint it or not.

 Next, I moved the little blue table I painted into the bedroom.  Now the room is starting to look like a fricking rainbow!!  Notice the lamp?  It used to be yellow and I painted it with Annie Sloan Antoinette.

Well, its a work in progress, I guess.  I'll keep you posted.