Some days I just wake up and decide to bake, especially since Dee complained yesterday that there wasn't much in the fridge. So I decided to make BEEROCKS
It is my understanding that this is a german delicacy, but at least it's one thing all the Fullers like. You do need to have some extra time and patience.
A DAY AHEAD
Chop up a cabbage, chop all the onions you're in the mood for(more is better)
and about a pound of cooked hamburger and mix , cook til done
TODAY
Using your favorite bun or roll recipe, roll dough out, cut into squares about
3x4, put a spoonful of the mix on, and seal edges.(that's where the patience comes in.) Let rise, bake at 350 for about 20 minutes on greased sheet.
As soon as they are cool, hide them, because they'll be GONE before supper even gets there.
RECIPE #2 PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES , SO, SO, SO EASY and a bit messy...the kids will love to help)
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
stir til smooth then add
2 cups biscuit mix
Stir all together, then roll into 1 teaspoon balls and roll in sugar
O.K. right here you'll want to know, you can't roll this stuff into balls, you just
kind of smush it between your fingers, and it will not be a ball, but that's OK
Greased pan, 375 for 6 (that's six) minutes. Do not overbake. Yummy
SOFTENED
The fence around my heart
is high
and heavy
and hard
I have left only one small opening
with one little gate
Thereon hangs a sign
NO TRESPASSING!
PRIVATE PROPERTY!
Perhaps I could prop the gate open
just a bit
so I could see out
and maybe
just maybe
the spirit would whisper
"May I come in?"
I would answer
"Oh, please come in
My heart is tired of being so hard"
and
the gate would swing wide
both ways
in
and
out
so love could cross my
invisible line
*
I should have known, bruises and bumps don't heal nearly as fast as you want them to. It's been--- what? a LOT of days since I fell, and I've been doing a LOT of sitting around. Except I keep forgetting. But gradually I'm finally feeling better.
There, that's the reason I haven't written much lately.
However, I haven't been entirely dormant. In fact, I was up last night for a couple of hours reading and writing, and even wrote a POEM. That's rare these days, and this one is different, not rhyming like most. One day soon I'll get it put together and post it and see how it looks in print.
I really miss the quiet alone time in the middle of the night, when the house is mine, no phone ringing, no TV, just peace and some paper and a pen. The real secret to night study is: go to bed early, which I'm going to do right now.
*
There is a really cute poem by Shel Silverstein in his book A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC: here it is
I'm sitting here tonight half way listening to the Obama/Clinton debate (the last one, thank heaven) My only opinion at this stage is: if Hilary is anything like me, both being women, she's apt to have mood swings, and I don't think she would be too dependable.
I speak from experience. Take today, for instance. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat, and in a grouchy mood. As the day went on, I got more grouchy, finally could tell I needed to change my mood.
My best way is to get in the car, turn good music up loud, and be alone for a few minutes. It didn't work as good today, but Dee helped me, as always, feel better by mid-afternoon, when I decided to ride the stationary bike, another thing which works. Somehow when I dusted it off, I got involved and before I knew it, I'd spent an hour and cleaned the whole garage, and the grey mood had lifted. Why do I forget that? Work helps almost anything. Plus the garage looks great.
So tonight I'm OK, and I've been counting my blessings. I was transfering names into a new address book, and ended up calling Marge, my sister who is recovering from a stroke, my sister in law Sonja who had knee surgery two weeks ago, and my other sister in law, Zoe Ann who is also bi-polar and struggling more than I do. So see, all in all it's been a good day.
Besides that, I've had e-mails from daughter in law Keiko, plus daughters Ruth and Karen. so looking back over this day in my life, I'm good, and better than almost all the rest. Some days I just should start out first thing with counting the blessings, and get out of the grey zone.
This just feels like a good day to do nothing. When all my kids were young, that was not a choice, there were always a hundred things to do. But I have to go slow today because I went too fast on Sunday.
I had wanted something out of the attic above the big outside garage, where the steps are really narrow, and no one my age has ANY business at all going up them. So, as you might expect, I missed the last step (going up, luckily) and fell flat. Bruised up both knees, and now this morning the toe on my right foot is swollen, so I'm just going to sit around and think.
Home is a really good place for that, and that's why we all need to be really glad we have one
This is a poem by Robert Frost that I really like: plus one I wrote
You know how sometimes you have an article of clothing that you just feel good in, even though it looks old and kind of ratty? That's what I'm wearing today. A sort of puffy, sort of pink open front jacket of sorts.
It is really old, and really ratty, but it just FEELS so good. Like an old friend's arms are around you. I've probably thrown it away a dozen times (but not too far) then dug it back out, when I just need it. This morning I felt a bit cold (snow in April?) and there on the floor behind my shoes I found it, my old favorite.
Being pretty well soiled, especially the sleeves, I turned it inside out, and it doesn't look half bad, and much cleaner. So I'm set to do some writing, all cozy in my old jacket.
A couple of summers ago I went to Seaside, this town in Oregon by the sea (where else) and discovered they have this wonderful salt water taffy. It was kind of spendy, $5.95 a pound, but I came home with a bag full, after I'd eaten a bag full there.
When that was gone I sent back and ordered 2 more pounds $5.95 plus a bunch of postage.
I loved that taffy, when it got a bit hard, I found that putting it in pants pocket for a while softened it up. Or about 5 seconds in the micro-wave, except if too long it stuck to the paper.
A new store in town opened up, and guess what? They had taffy. It was cheaper, but not as good, but of course being now addicted, I became a regular customer. In fact, the guy now knows my name.
One day my daughter Elaine said, "They have really good taffy at WalMart" so I tried it. Comes from Sweet's in SaltLakeCity, and she's right, it's good, and only $1.84 a pound. Best of all, it stays soft. Not quite as good as Seaside, but I don't feel as guilty eating it.
I have to hide the papers, a waste basket full of them doesn't look good for one who is grown.
I seem to need something in my hands to eat all the time when I'm not up and busy. I like those little round rice snacks from Quakers, especially Carmel Corn, and have figured out I can eat the whole bag for only 280 calories which I'm sure is better for me than taffy. Actually, I'm thinking of taking up knitting again, but probably not.
I used to be addicted to that, too. One year, when my kids were small, I made 16 sweaters. I had to limit myself, I could knit 10 minutes out of every half hour. It's amazing how much you can get done in 20 minutes if you know there is a sit-down reward at the end. Plus I was close to the kids, just rocking and knitting and watching and listening and resting.
Back in those days they encouraged you to bring your crafts to home-making meeting (now called enrichment, for those of you too young to remember) and I'd knit during the lesson. One day they told me I could no longer knit during the lesson and I said, "Why? I can knit and listen at the same time"
Their answer was that other sisters were so busy watching me knit so fast, that they couldn't listen and watch at the same time. I think they needed a hobby too, even if it was addicting.
My grand-daughter Samantha thought she would be living in Michigan all her life, and when her folks decided to move to Idaho, she went under protest. After all, her friends were there, and her music teachers were there, and ----anyway, where is Idaho?
*
Now here we are, a year and a half later, and she's accompanying a chorus at school, and singing up a storm at school and church, not to mention an upcoming solo contest. And totally happy that she went.
*
So it's only fair that she just got a new piano, and a baby grand at that!
*
The other photo is Karen's living room, just too too pretty!
****
Sometimes when I write poems, I never know if anyone reads them or not. One day I had this one laying on the table, and when I came back, there written in big red letters was the word GOOD!! by my husband so I figure if he liked it, others might also.
TODAY I WENT WITH 7 OTHER LADIES FROM THE WARD AND HELPED SERVE LUNCH AT THE LOCAL SENIOR CENTER. IT'S KIND OF STRANGE, SINCE I'M THE AGE OR OLDER THAN MANY THERE, BUT IT GIVES ME A CHANCE TO COUNT MY BLESSINGS
BLESSING # 1 I DON'T HAVE TO COOK LUNCH FOR 90 PEOPLE EVERY DAY
BLESSING #2 I HAVE A STRONG HEALTHY HUSBAND AT HOME
BLESSING #3 I'M NOT IN A WHEELCHAIR OR WITH A CANE
THEY HAVE A MUSICAL GROUP PLAY EVERY DAY, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS TOO LOUD FOR GOOD CONVERSATION, THEN I REALIZED, PEOPLE COME TO HEAR MUSIC MORE THAN TO VISIT. ABOUT 6 COUPLES WERE OUT THERE DANCING, LOOKING LIKE THEY WERE 17 AGAIN.
MEATLOAF AND BIRTHDAY CAKE------PRETTY GOOD FOR 2.50 (BUT I LIKE HOME BETTER)
It's actually amazing that I know anything about a computer at all. Dee (my hubby) was after me for years to learn how to use it, but I kept resisting. It's too hard....I'm too old...excuses like that. Then one day I went to a yard sale. The lady had a collection of about 2,000 dolls which she had started to sell at low low prices, so I said:
A LITTLE LOOK AT THE SPILLED MILK CLEAN UP
For anyone new to blogging, like I am, you can zoom on the photo and get a close up. Check out April 2nd's post for more info.
April 2nd, 2008
Well, everyone went home, as of last night when we dropped Ruth off at the Boise airport. But not before we had several other events happen.
On Sunday morning, Ruth was standing at the kitchen cupboard fixing a bowl of cereal. She was holding Dasche in one of the little carriers called a SNUGLI, all safe and sound. He reached out and grabbed the handle of the milk bottle, and as Ruth stepped back a FULL gallon of milk (and 4% at that) hit the floor and spattered on three sides of the kitchen, not to mention about a quart on the rug.
Ruth stepped back and said, "Oh, my gosh!" a statement she repeated 9 times as she grabbed all the towels in the drawer and started mopping. I of course ran upstairs to get the camera----what else do Grandmas do? and we got some really good photos, one of the baby with towel in hand helping soak up the floor.
Baby's Uncle David ended up renting a carpet shampooer, saving the day. Can you imagine how a quart of sour milk would smell after a day or two?
I'll try my luck at posting a photo tomorrow. Whenever Ruth comes, she likes to do a project that lasts after she's gone, you know, hanging wallpaper, cleaning closets, that sort of thing.
This time she got me to agree to cutting down a tree that was blocking the front window (I'll admit it does look better) moved all the furniture in the living room and got a rod to hang up the quilt all my kids gave us for our 50th wedding anniversary. Sad to say, it's been waiting now for 4 years to get up on the wall.
David has agreed to paint the room (Ruth couldn't quite work that in to her 4 day schedule) and get the quilt hung. It really does need to be up, the blocks were made by all my kids of memories from childhood, and is just so pretty.
We just got back from Boise, after spend in the night with Elaine's family. Needless to say, the house feels and sounds empty and quiet.