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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Repairs Underway

There's not a day goes by when my mom and dad are not present in my life. This cabin was their summer retreat, and we live here full time now.  
SOOOOO......when there was another problem,
I had to call for help from our "go-to" local business. It was founded in 1975!  They do it all and have done work here for many years. As I write, "Bill" has completely scraped the bottom of the old, did I say OLD? steel shower stall where it meets the floor slab to stop the leaking. Our multiple putty attempts through the years are no longer sufficient to keep the water from soaking the floor next to that stall. He used a product to seal all around the stall bottom and  even found a hole in a corner that needed to be plugged and then sealed. 

Also needed is a new back gutter and fascia board. The bottom logs are soaking up water from overspills and that is not good. We see dampness in those logs in the bathroom and bedroom at the floor.

You must remember this is an old structure and we are not wealthy but do the best we can to preserve it.     

Handyman Link 

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Blueberry Bake

I had never made this recipe before and since it has been VERY nasty here with pouring down rains and even some snowy activity this morning I gave it a try.

The recipe called for a 9" springform cake pan. I don't have one of those - never did, so I improvised with a glass 9" square baking dish.  My blueberries were frozen. My lemon zest and pre-squeezed lemon juice were frozen. Thawing those was the first order of the day.
I should have pushed the 2nd layer of berries deeper into the dough, but it really didn't matter at all because it is a WONDERFUL CAKE! I plan to make it again and this time will  bake it for only 45 minutes so it isn't so tan on the bottom. I forgot to compensate timing for a glass foil-lined pan. A piece for you and a piece for me!
  please click on image to taste the goodness  
RECIPE Blueberry Lemon Cake
Ingredients
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream (8oz)
  • 1/2 cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 medium lemon zest and juice, divided
  • 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
  • 16 oz fresh blueberries *  
  • 1. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment. Preheat Oven to 375˚F.

  • Directions:
  • 1. Beat 2 eggs and 1 cup sugar with whisk attachment on high speed 5 min, or until light in color and thick.
  • 2. Add 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt and whisk on low speed until well combined.
  • 3. Whisk together the 2 cups flour with 2 tsp baking powder then add to batter 1/3 at a time, whisking to incorporate with each addition (DO NOT OVERMIX). Finally, add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 Tbsp zest.
  • 4. Rinse blueberries and drain well. In a medium bowl, toss blueberries with 1/2 Tbsp corn starch and 1 tsp lemon juice, stirring until well combined and no dry white cornstarch remains.
  • 5. Pour half of batter into prepared springform pan and spread evenly. Top with half of the blueberries. Spread with remaining batter then sprinkle the rest of the blueberries evenly over the top, pushing them slightly into the batter (about halfway). Bake at 375˚F for 45 to 55 min, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cake rest in the pan 15-20 min then remove ring and cool until room temp or just warm. Serve dusted with powdered sugar.
  • Recipe Notes
  • *If using frozen blueberries, thaw and drain then in step #4: toss with 1 Tbsp cornstarch and omit lemon juice. Do not add more than 16 oz blueberries or they weigh down the cake.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

FINALLY!

Now to uncover the golf car, uncover the porch swing and put away the snow thrower. Oh happy day!

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Celebration - Diamonds and Daffodils

Anything to brighten the day! These do it very well. My daughters were cleaning out an apartment after a death in the family and gave this to me, knowing how I love crystals and bright things. I set it on a bottle neck in the kitchen window for now. It is a Tiffany & Co. crystal faceted diamond-shaped prism paperweight. It's marked Tiffany & Co. on the side, with a monogrammed title "New York Times Magazine" on the bottom. It weighs about 1.25 lbs. and measures about 4 inches tall with 3.25" diameter. 
I found some very nice pictures of this exact piece on the internet!

 Don't ask me its monetary worth - I don't care. It brightens my life - just like the dozen of the very first daffodils that bloomed up in the old rock garden yesterday! My mother planted them MANY years ago and there are hundreds more to pop open.
Please click on image to view larger



Monday, April 15, 2019

Sunshine Cake

Spring! THE DUCK HAS RETURNED. Every year this single duck returns and stays for a while then leaves.
Last year almost to the day, I baked this cake. It seems as if I forget about how delicious it is until I see my first daffodil! Yes! Today one daffodil opened and it was cause for celebration after awful pouring rains and winds throughout last night into this morning.
please click on image to view larger
For  complete recipe & better pictures click on link of April 17, 2018.
 Sunshine Cake Link

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Speaking of Eggs...

Well... it is Easter season
Well... human babies come from eggs
 (three new ones so far this year in our family)

Well... appropriately I just watched a very nice PBS show,  "The Egg, Life's Perfect Invention" which was narrated by David Attenborough.

If you REALLY love nature and miracles, this is a good way to expand your knowledge about them. Perhaps you will be able to view it. Premiere date: April 10, 2019 | 0:53:29 | Video expires May 8, 2019
  Egg Video Link

Friday, April 12, 2019

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Passing Time...

And this is how it's done!
click on image to view larger
(see the kitty and the dog in this family)
Twenty fingers, twenty toes,
Plenty of work, heaven knows!

One will laugh, the other will cry
One will be wet, the other will be dry
While one will yell, the other will sleep
These memories will be .....
Most precious to keep!

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

A Shot in the Arm?

When I was a child in the 30’s and 40’s there weren’t so many vaccines available to prevent diseases. I remember most of the disease names and have had several of them as well. There was polio, scarlet fever, mumps, measles, German measles, chicken pox and whopping cough. Oh yes, staying in a dark room when measles attacked was to save my eyes. A cool bath in baking soda water was to help the awful itches of chicken pox. I remember a sign being posted on our front door when the mumps struck my brother. Most of our neighbors had those same signs.

When we were sick we were quarantined or isolated at home. That was to prevent the spread of our disease but others got them anyway. It was common. 

One of my most awful memories was when my elementary school class went to a hospital to visit friends in the iron lung. Scary, to say the least! There was a boy in my 3rd or 4th grade who wore a leg brace and a back brace after having polio. We could feel his back brace when certain games were played at recess. His name was Daniel Brown. WOW! Where did that come from? Polio was a major fear.

Many of my generation still have their chicken pox scars. That was an embarrassing and ugly condition to get through. One of my husband’s nieces was mentally disabled because her mother had measles during her pregnancy. 

I do remember having my skin scratched on my outside upper leg for a smallpox vaccination. Sometimes for others, it was on the upper arm. Surely you have seen those scars. Then there was something called the Schick test when the inside of my arm was scratched to see if I was susceptible to diphtheria. My mother had a severe bout of it in 1916 when she was age 2. The photo below is showing the sun healing her ravaged little body. It was called, "the strangling angel of children."
click image to enlarge
My six children were vaccinated for everything with what was available for them in the 50’s and 60’s. I remember vaccines then were for smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. They still got chicken pox and measles but thank goodness no polio! That was the most feared disease of all to me. They got mumps too but had mild cases. The doctor’s nurse would fill in a medical record with information of who was given what and what for. I was always glad to have my children vaccinated. Their vaccination records were kept in their home file folders along with their birth certificates, baptism records, and other individual achievement and award items.

I have no idea if my grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren have been receiving their vaccinations but I feel I did the right thing for my own. 

Monday, April 1, 2019

The Cookie Baker is Home

Since I can't play outdoors until it stops flurrying and being so winter-like, I found some gumption and baked cookies. Seventy-two to be exact! The recipe says yield would be about 4 dozen. Well I got 6 dozen! The only thing I did differently this time was to use two cups of raisins and soak them overnight in a bowl to soften them. This project is labor intensive for me now, but soooo worth the effort. It is one of my very favorite recipes and so chewy and tasty. I should tell you that I always use an old recipe that I found on the lid many years ago. (Today's recipe is a bit different on the box. It calls for less butter.)  I used Quaker Oats Old Fashion Uncooked variety of oatmeal.
please click on image to view larger
So good warm from the oven!