If I Got In My Car...

And drove until I ran out of gas, could I live there?

Well, the question didn't specify which direction I would be driving, so I will choose a direction. North. Could I live there? Definitely! (Especially if I didn't have to find a job...which since this is a hypothetical question, I will hypothetically have an unlimited funding source and not need to work!) North would put me somewhere in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, or perhaps even in Canada if I didn't turn west in the U.P. Since the U.P and Northern Ontario are both favorite spots of mine...well, living there is a moot point ;-)

Interestingly enough, driving until he ran out of gas was exactly how my dh ended up in this state. He had $40, a car, and 4 bald tires...and when he ran out of gas, he was here. He stayed here everafter. Yay for me.

More Sewing Pictures

Here is DS7, still at his task of sewing. Good thing the apron fabric stripes are a different color from his shirt stripes or he'd blend right in!

Homeschool Sewing Class

DS7 is making himself an apron to protect his clothes when he goes to his ceramics class. Grandma is the tutor for this, since my sewing machine seems to rebel at doing things like, well, sewing ;-) The fabric is actually the bottom that was cut off his new curtains. They were long and his bedroom windows are short, so the curtains got shortened and now interesting projects are being concocted to use up those wonderful large pieces of fabric ;-) Since a sewing machine has a motor, DS likes sewing, LOL. More photos to follow tomorrow!

Chicago Boyz

DD with two of the Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team members. These guys were GOOD! I do good to jumprope with one rope and two feet. They had umpteen ropes and jumped with many more body parts than I would dream of jumping! Their tumbling routines were excellent and they definitely can fly high!

Highwire Artists

Walking the highwire Somersaulting over someone lying on the highwire

7 person pyramid crossing the highwire

Circus Critters

2 camels, 2 horses, and 2 ponies. They had a neat dance routine to show tunes.

Circus Elephants

Stupid camera didn't take the picture I wanted to get...the little elephant crawling underneath the big one. These guys were cute, especially when the lullaby played and they all laid down for a snooze ;-)

New Word for Today

BLOVIATE slang To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner.

I did not know this ;-) I hope I don't do it.

Grapefruit Pecan Bread

Grapefruit Pecan Bread

Go light on the sugar to experience the grapefruit's full puckering potential. This recipe comes from myrecipes.com.

Serves 12

1 large pink grapefruit
1 Tbs grated grapefruit rind
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 Tbs water

Coat an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2" loaf pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Peel and section grapefruit over a bowl, reserving juice and membranes. Set sections aside.

Squeeze membranes to extract juice and discard membranes. Place sections and juice in a food processor and pulse 3 times. Set aside 1-1/4 cups mixture, and reserve remaining grapefruit mixture for another use.

Combine rind, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

Combine grapefruit mixture, oil, vanilla, and egg. Stir well. Add to grapefruit mixture dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Stir in pecans.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Combine powdered sugar and water and stir well with a wire whisk. Drizzle over bread and let cool in the pan 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool completely on wire rack before serving.

Country Road in the USA...

...in the Dead of Winter

Snowy Arbor

Over the river and thru the woods...

Oh wait, never mind. With the slush and cracks in the ice, we'll just stand on our side of the river and admire the view from a safe vantage point ;-)

Nature's Christmas Tree

It just needs a few cardinals & blue jays scattered among the branches to bring complete perfection.

River Ice

Crack in the river ice, caused by spilling at the dam downriver. As we stood at the riverbank, we could hear and see new cracks forming. No, we don't often walk on the river ;-)

River View

The view downriver.

Kayak

Time to cruise on down the river, eh?

Vegetarian Turkey

It must be vegetarian--it's growing in the garden!

Snowy Pines

Hard Cider

Lends new meaning to the term, doesn't it? These are some of the 96 gallons made this fall on my late grandpa's antique (1870s vintage) cider press. Thanks to grandpa and now my dad, it's still going strong!

Snowy Berries

Great Snowy Heron

Looks a bit chilly, doesn't she?

Snow Eater

What's more fun in a snowstorm than a lovely mouthful of fresh fluffy snow?

Snowy Chiminea

It looks like it's eating snow!

It's in my blood...

Crazy flowers

I don't even remember if this is a Christmas or Easter cactus. I'm pretty sure the plant doesn't remember either. It just blooms when it feels like it...in cool weather, of course. I dare not move it once it starts to bud, or they abort. This year it bloomed prolifically (10+ flowers) around Christmas, so I guess it's a Christmas cactus. For now.

Complaint Department...

Feel free to print this picture and post wherever necessary in YOUR life ;-)

Carousel Horse

She looked pretty so I decided to photograph her. The sign said the animals were "napping" but I think she looks pretty wide awake, don't you think?

Eeyore's House

This is a collaborative effort...the house components were made and assembled by my ds7 in his ceramics lessons...the small bits (bird, owl, log, mushrooms) are ceramic bits that were made long ago by my grandma. Since Poppa helped ds put it all together, 3 of our 4 generations were involved in one way or another. Now, where to store it!

This cutie was under my Christmas tree...

...all innocent-like, too ;-) Actually, he helped me open the box containing my new blender, and then played with the contents.

This snowman has a face...

...and I really like it. My dd12 handcrafted it from ceramics. She gave careful attention to details, both in forming it and in glazing it. Now I just need the perfect place (other than my blog!) to display it!

Who Is It?

I'm not sure who this is, but he/she/it appeared on my porch today. That should scare any creepy wanderers in the neighborhood, anyway, right?