Spring and chocolate

Yeah, you wouldn't think they were related, but you know those Cadbury bunnies, they just keep on producing those chocolate eggs, and darn it, you just have to reward their good behavior by patronizing the little darlings. Then the M&Ms come along with the peanut butter inside their equally yummy chocolate shells done up in pastel spring colors. Well, then see, spring and chocolates DO go together!

So I whipped up some batches of different kinds of chocolate chip cookies, to see which was our favorite. It was a tie, between the oatmeal with cinnamon and two kinds of chocolate (healthy for us--oatmeal!) and chocolate chocolate chip cookies. And started giving them away. The last of the double chocolate cookies went into a big jar for Jeff, our kitchen guy, who promised to consume many for breakfast with his milk. Milk and cookies--what a great way to start the day! I still have two more recipes to try out, thank you very much Midwest Living Magazine! Because that is where I found those new recipes.

While indulging in chocolate, I realized I had a few beading projects to get to, for our church youth mission fundraiser. And found more chocolate! To be precise, chocolate jasper in clever little square beads, drilled on the points; paired with some pink coin pearls, we now have a pretty necklace almost good enough to eat.

Still dreaming of chocolate...

Another Elderberry trip

Sometimes our Elderberry trips are overnights, other times week-long, other times merely a hop and skip down the road to Olathe or Pleasant Hill. This latest trip took nine days and several thousand miles, to Manila in the Philippines. Because of our trip to Wichita, KS, and meeting with Gracia Burnham last year, and because of our Elderberries and their big hearts for orphans and people in need, we were invited as a group to visit Manila and some of the operations which the Burnham Foundation assists. So hubby and I discussed it, and thought and prayed (a lot) about it, and he volunteered to be in this group of seven. They flew over end of January and returned right before Valentine's Day. They saw many sights, and visited orphanages, a birthing center, and prisons, not your usual tourist destinations. They were also able to squeeze in a visit to the American cemetery of WWII soldiers who died on the Bataan death march. Our pastor's wife had an uncle who died in this heroic struggle during WWII, so they made it a mission to locate his grave--which they did, and take pictures. Then they did a day trip over to Corregidor, and observed all the ruins and the monument to Bataan, and got a look at Manila Bay from Corregidor.

Hubby loved seeing the different road vehicles, like Jeepneys, mo-peds, motor bikes with attachments, so I made sure to include these pictures too. He brought back many memories, all special, and even remembered pearls, for which the Philippines is famous.

More winter crafts

It's still baby time--time to get that quilt finished before baby comes! Been burning the almost midnight oils at the sewing machine and it is DONE!!! Plus, had an extra square so made a pillow cover with the leftover scraps, for mama to keep at her back while she rocks baby. Hope baby is a happy snuggler when he/she arrives.

2/ 22/10 Great news flash--it's a baby girl! Hope she likes her animals.

Winter Craftiness

In addition to kitchen renovation, and our usual travels, with Elderberries and west coast family visiting, I managed to sandwich in some jewelry projects, for ladies of the family who are involved in various and sundry special occasions, such as weddings, birthdays, etc. And babies, don't forget the babies! I have been turning out those baby bath hoodies about once a month lately. Since my friend explained to me how to make a double thickness flannel receiving blanket, that scored a huge hit on my sewing machine. Now I just wish the stores would discount flannel as much as they do fleece. Ah, I will wait for another month, and then bet they will! Meantime I use the fleece for baby hats too, so cute and tiny! Hope you enjoy what you see here.

We're making progress!

Got another phase of the kitchen done--all cabinet doors are now in place, and the glass has been mounted. Something we learned when we got the glass cut, glass is now EXPENSIVE to cut! Of course you could say that goes along with everything else via inflation, but years ago I remember getting a piece of glass cut for a dollar or two. Must have been in the '80s...sooooo long ago. Hubby figured out the silicon caulk and said it went on easier than expected. Good news for this part of the project. My drying and curing table came in handy, another use of the dining room, which so far was the repository of all the kitchen gadgetry, drawers, etc. Now it is back to being a dining room. Until the next phase.

Still snowing!

Remember that Midwest blizzard I was complaining about? Well, it hasn't stopped. Snowing that is, and blowing snows and dropping temperatures down to the bottom, zero and below. We didn't get our mail yesterday and that is most unusual, because our rural mail delivery is always there in bad weather. Who knew our road would be impassible even for the postman? Well, soup's on tonight, and we are just thankful that we have a good neighbor who plows great heights of snow with his tractor, and a great rural co-op to keep the power on and us warm.

Ralph Waldo Emerson still speaks to our times in his snow poem...

"Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river and the heaven,
And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm."

Almost done, well, maybe...

A New Year heralds in a new kitchen--at least it certainly looks like a new kitchen to me. And now we have plumbing restored, a new sink and faucet fixtures. Hey, the pioneer ladies would have loved this indoor plumbing! It was amazing what I could not do in the kitchen-without-running-water, and now I am back up to speed, even have a chowder brewing with all kinds of yummy things in it, including black eyed peas. For you people who don't understand southern cooking, black eyed peas are traditionally served on New Year's Day. We are part southern here, so I threw in some for my chowder, and besides, they're good for you!

Next I have to tackle the old newsprint wallpaper, which admittedly gives the walls character, but it also shows signs of wear and tear, so time to move on. And off. Then we tackle the floor. Can't decide yet on what to do there. Have to think about the choices, and the prices. Oh yes, and put the bottom course of tile back on the wall--kind of like assembling a puzzle on a vertical surface.

So Happy New Year to you all, and if you are considering a home renovation in your future, just a word of advice, be prepared for anything unusual or unplanned! And good luck too!