Mid Week Happenings

Hi there!

Happy New Year's Eve!

Are you all planning on partying, or just taking it easy?  I think we will be in bed long before the midnight hour.  

I finally got a good night's sleep, and so I am playing catch up on all I intended to do yesterday.

I made Tillie and Barley some peanut butter dog cookies, while Ben went to the grocery.  He then took off again to go do his priestly duties, and to visit some parishioners.  Ben in his "retirement," has taken on a small congregation that needed a consistent  priest every Sunday, rather than  different one  substituting each week. He only works Wednesdays and Sundays, so he has the rest of the week to do his thing, which usually includes cycling as often as he can.  If it's too cold out, he rides his trainer in the basement.

  Tomorrow , he intends to follow his tradition of riding New Years Day, regardless of the temperature outside.   More power too him.  It's his therapy, so it's great for him to get outside an fly like the wind.

  My eldest son and his wife are coming for a brief visit over the weekend, so I have to clear out all of my shop things out of their room.  I have just been stashing things in there, so as to keep the clutter out of my studio/sewing room. It consists of two large tables, a computer desk and chair and two bookshelves, all kinda crammed in, so that there is barely enough room to turn around.  It functions though.

 I am ready to get a quick bite to eat, then back to sewing some more things for my

 shop.  Please drop by my shop after the first of the year.  I will hopefully have lots of new and different things posted.  www.peonylane.etsy.com

Thanks for dropping by.  Hugs, Mary

Tuesday's Musings

Hello again!

Today was a real drag-it was me dragging my body, and trying to stay awake.  I couldn't get to sleep the night before until 2 am.  My brain just wouldn't shut down.  I ended up having to take a Lunesta, and finally got to sleep.  When I woke up, and finally attempted to get things done, I was in a fog.  It finally lifted about two in the afternoon, after several cups of tea.

Last night, Ben and I went to our local Gilda's Club.  If you are not familiar with Gilda's, it is an organization founded by Gilda Radnor's husband Gene Wilder, after Gilda succumbed to ovarian cancer and died.  It is a place where cancer patients and their friends and families can come and be together and talk , eat, play, or participate in support groups.  It's not counseling, it is just a group of people that are going through their own cancer journeys, and everyone can relate, because we all understand where they are or have been.

 We are very fortunate to have had a Gilda's Club in Nashville, and then to have one in Louisville too.  Ben is a two time cancer survivor.  First with prostate cancer 7 years ago, then two years ago with metastatic melanoma of unknown origin.  We spent all of last year traveling back and forth to MD Anderson Cancer in Houston.  Ben qualified for a clinical vaccine trial there.  He spent the year going to Houston every three weeks for his vaccines and scans.  The trial ended in August, and so far, so good.  He remains in remission, and we pray he stays there.  We go back quarterly for now, the next trip being in February.  Thank goodness for Southwest Airlines.  We have become best friends with them because of all our trips to Houston.

When we came home from Gilda's, I got in bed, and finally got sleepy, after looking through several seed catalogues that had come in the mail.. Already thinking about what to plant in this years garden! 

Oh! I almost forgot-how sleepy of me!  It was not the Broncos, but the Colts, that beat the socks off the Titans on Sunday!  I guess I was so upset at their loss, I wasn't thinking straight.  I must have had horses on my mind, and one of my son's lives in CO,  and is a Broncos fan.  Didn't make a difference in the end results though!

More tomorrow.

  Hugs, Mary

Monday, Monday!

Hey Ya'll,

What a day this has been.  I had to get up early to go have my yearly mammogram/ torture survival test.  Everything is fine though, so I guess it is worth being sqwushed- if that's a word!

I left the diagnostic center and headed to Office Depot to stock up on sale items, then to Starbucks for my Venti, nonfat, extra hot chai.  Mmmmm!  I next headed to Kroger for milk, then headed back home.  Once home, I had to package up things to mail off to the kids from my mother.  The lines at the post office were longer than they had been before Christmas!

  I finally got things sent off, then headed to Michael's to get more supplies for my Etsy shop.  I must have spent an hour and a half just wandering around, checking out all the sales, and figuring out what I really just couldn't live without. $75 dollars poorer, I headed back home-EXHAUSTED!

I got myself some more tea, and sat down at the computer to catch up on all of my web sites.  Two emails, a blog, Facebook, and my shop.  Lots of going back and forth.

It was relatively warm here again today, up to 52*.  It was even warm enough for husband Ben to go out and cut the grass.  Strange to be doing that in December, but it needed it, and he got the last of the leaves  ground up to help fertilize the lawn.

Ben is an avid cyclist, so he plans to go ride tomorrow morning.  It is supposed to be 55* tomorrow.  Almost feels tropical, compared to the low teens expected next week. Ben even cleaned out the last remains of our vegetable garden.  We had a good crop of kale this year.  I usually don't care for it that much, but it is good for you.  I found a great , simple recipe for it though, and I love it.  Here it is:

                                                             Kale Chips

Wash and thoroughly dry the kale, then slice off the large, tough middle veins.  Cut the kale into bite size pieces, not too small. Preheat oven to 350* Line a cookie sheet with

parchment paper.  Toss the kale with some olive oil , just enough to lightly coat the leaves, and sprinkle with some kosher or sea salt.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just til the leaves begin to curl and brown.  They end up being nice and crispy, and very tasty- Not yucky like you anti- greens people might think! Try it out, you will like it!

Well, it's time to get back to work.  Hope to hear from you soon.  Mary

Slow Sunday

Hello again!

   Well today started off very slowly.  After yesterday's warm temperatures in the 70's, today was back to the 40's.  Knew it wouldn't last, but one can always hope.  Anyway, it was so warm and cuddly under the blankets, that I must have fallen back asleep, because I didn't getup til almost 10.

  I had so many things planned to do today, but I never got around to doing them all..  I have been working on new items for my Etsy shop www.peonylane.etsy.com.  I have a sale on my holiday items going on now until the first of the year, then I will add all new things, and more variety.  I am so excited.

  I have spent a great deal of time today on the computer catching up on my emails that I have neglected over the holidays.  Finally got caught up.  Now, I have to write thank you notes for gifts I received.  Momma raised me right!

  I made some wonderful soup for dinner  from a gift I received.  It was so good and hit the spot. Warmed me up considerably.

 I plan on adding some more of my favorite recipes on my blog.  I hope you will try them out and comment on them.

 Watched the Titans get demolished by the Broncos this afternoon. That did not sit 

well with this Titans fan.  I am from Nashville, their hometown. They had played so well this year, but this was a disaster for them.

 Do you have a favorite blog or Etsy shop.  If you do, please let me know, and I will check them out. It is always fun to see other peoples' creations.  There is a whole new world of ideas out there.

 Hope the coming week will be good to you and that the economy gets some help.

Later, Mary

 

Feels Like Spring!

 Hi There!

 I know it's only wishful thinking, but it feels like Spring outside.  It is 67* outside right now.  Last week, we were in the 20's!  The wind is blowing hard,and it is really balmy out.  I know all of this is being caused by a new front coming through, but it sure feels good. It will be cold again soon. 

  The dogs really love the warm weather too.  The backyard looks like a muddy race track, where the dogs have been running in circles, nipping at each others ears.  I did poop patrol earlier this morning, and I nearly slipped on the"race track" the dogs have created. Better mud than poop though! Are you dog lovers?

 With all the wind blowing, lots of loose limbs are falling off the trees.  Hurricane Ike came through here earlier in the year, with 75mph winds.  Yes, here in KY!  It did major damage to all of Louisville with all the falling trees and limbs pulling down power lines.  We were without electricity for NINE days.  Thank goodness for having a gas water heater and a gas stove.  We were able to have hot showers and we cooked the food as it started thawing in the freezer. Nights by lantern and candlelight were really fun too.

  Without power, all the neighbors came out, and we did a lot of socializing, and a lot of neighborhood walking.  I should still be doing the walking after all the food I have consumed in the last several days.  I hopped on the scales this morning-MAJOR MISTAKE!  I know what I will be making for a New Years resolution.

I feel really relieved now that the holiday stress is gone.  I am a procrastinator, and I always  find myself doing things at the last minute.  I manage to get things done though, and I actually do a better job when I work  that way.  I guess I just thrive under stress.

  How about you?  Are you a last minute doer, or one of those that has everything bought and packaged  by the end of summer?  I try to buy things throughout the year as Christmas gifts, but I seem to forget about them when I am writing out my gift list in December.

  This year, I designated  the guest room as a storage place for all my pre-bought gifts, and that really helped.  We just moved back to Louisville this past May, so the house is still disorganized.  Having a designated room was a good move on my part.

  Having moved, we are still repainting room by room.  It is slow going since we are doing it ourselves.  The downstairs is now finished, so at least we can entertain now.  I really love to have friends over for a meal and relaxation.  This summer and fall, we, and several of our neighborhood friends got together on debate nights, for pot luck dinners and political hoopla.  It was great fun, especially since everyone there was of the same political persuasion.  We wanted fun, not argument as the evening agenda.

 

What are you doing for New Years? Are you partying?  Have any really special resolutions to make?

Please share them.

 Speaking of sharing, I thought I would share one of the reasons I put on the pounds this holiday season-Glazed nuts!  I fix them and give them as gifts.  It's so easy, but they are so sinfully delicious that you can't eat just one!  Try them out.  I just hope you have better self control than I do!

Glazed Nuts

I usually double this recipe, since I buy the pecans in a 2lb bag at Costco

1 egg white

1/2c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 lb unsalted pecans, walnuts or cashews

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the nuts. Mix well, and add the nuts.  Toss well til nuts are covered.  Spread them out in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet, and bake at 250* for one hour.  Cool, and break apart any clumped ones,and store in airtight containers.

Enjoy!

Have a great Saturday!  

Mary

After Christmas Doings

This is my first attempt at blogging, so please let me introduce myself.  My name is Mary.  My wonderful husband Ben and I live in Louisville, KY.  He is an Episcopal priest, and I am an RN.  I haven't done any nursing in several years though.

I have recently set out to start a new online business on Etsy .com, selling handmade items at peonylane .etsy.com.  I named my shop peonylane because, I love peonies.

We used to live in a very old house here in KY.  The grounds were wonderful, and one of the former owners had been a fantastic gardener.  She had planted a huge path, about 150 yards long, that was lined on both sides with all different specimens of peonies.  In the summer when they bloomed, their fragrance was intoxicating.  I loved to make daily cuttings, and bring them inside, where I placed them all around the house.  If you are familiar with peonies, you know that ants are quite attracted to them also. I usually had a running battle trying to keep them from populating the house too.

Right now, I am finishing up a Christmas sale on my items, then I will populate my shop with more spring like things.  A lot of my items are geared towards babies and children, but I plan to build a lot more of an eclectic shop as I get things made.

Between the two of us, my husband and I have three sons, two daughters, a grandson, and two granddaughters.  The youngest granddaughter is just 7 months old, so that is why my focus started out with baby things.  All of the kids are spread out far distances from here. CA,WA,CO, GA, and VA.  We don't get to see them as often as we would like, as they all have busy lives of their own.  We did manage to see them all this year though, just not during the holidays.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Holiday.  Mine was quite hectic.  My husband and I took a rapid trip from home, here in Louisville, to my hometown in Nashville, TN.  We had Christmas morning brunch at my brother's home, a beautiful log cabin set in the woods, yet quite near civilization.  All my Nashville relatives were there, and after exchanging gifts and pigging out on cheese grits, Tennessee smoked pork sausage, and a breakfast egg and mushroom strata, we had to turn around and head back home.

We had left our two dogs, Tillie a four year old labradoodle, and Barley our new rescue dog, he too a labradoodle, but only two years old.  We had left Barley in his crate, only to return home to find that the dog sitter we had hired, had not come, and Barley out of boredom, had chewed up his bedding.  Fortunately, neither had done anything worse, and the house was still standing.  We took them outside, and then we hurried to get cleaned up and dressed and  took off again to go have Christmas dinner with friend's down the street.

We had a lovely dinner, and of course pigged out some more.  All of our friend's kids and grandkids were there, so it was quite festive and busy.  We returned home quite full, but happy.  During the time we were away at dinner, the dog sitter obviously showed up, and I suppose did all the things that were to have occurred during the middle of the day.  The house still in one piece, and since it was Christmas Day, I didn't get bent out of shape.  There will definitely be better communication before the next time we leave the dogs though.

I had intended on going out and doing some after Christmas sale shopping, but decided instead to stay home and relax, curl up with a cup of chai tea, and read a good book that  a friend had sent me for Christmas. "The Christmas Pearl" by Dorothea Benton Frank.  I love her books, and this one promises to be good too-truly Southern, just like me!!!

I hope you will check out my shop, visit often to see new items,  and give me any feedback or suggestions you might have-good or bad. 

More later, and thanks. Have a wonderful and happy, healthy, New Year.

Hugs, Mary