Cookie Factory

This cookie factory is shutting down part of its product line. The labor-intensive process is too much for the proprietor to continue to produce this variety. 

You are only seeing half of this morning's bake. The other half is in a freezer container. The recipe makes over 60 cookies! I shall give it to you one more time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This is from an old box. The newer updated version calls for less butter.

The only thing I did different was to add 1 cup of grated walnuts.

Don't forget to enlarge the images!

 

Just Dust

There was quite an accumulation of dust on the stone mantel with all of the ducks and miscellaneous other things there. The complete chimney of bricks all needed to be vacuum brushed and the dust that clings to them removed. It took us all morning. Piece by piece each was taken to the sink for either a bath, a wiping down or a polish. The Mister was able to use the small shop vac to help when I was taking care of the items. We do this once a year. Only once a year! At our age it seems to be more labor-intensive every time. I take pictures to establish just when it is done and how I like it arranged. They really don't do the individual items justice but I'm not showcasing them, just cleaning. That's OK. It's a good feeling to have completed the project. 

"Why Dust?"

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better

to paint a picture or write a letter,

bake a cake or plant a seed.

Ponder the difference between want and need.

Dust if you must, but there is not much time,

with rivers to swim and mountains to climb!

Music to hear, and books to read,

friends to cherish and a life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there

with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,

a flutter of snow, a shower of rain,

this day will not come ‘round again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,

old age will come and it’s not kind.

And when you go, and go you must,

You, yourself, will make more dust!

       ~Author unknown to me~

April Showers

All I can say is that I know better and warmer days are coming. On April 21, 2021 around noon the stuff came down and it was a white-out!

Next comes the May flowers... They have ten days to get here! The sooner, the better. They bring the hummingbirds!

 

Recipe Needs Help!

A  friend sent this recipe to me last month, thinking I'd like to bake it because we love anything lemon flavored!  I should have studied it more because it lacked some instructions! 

Here is exactly what she sent:

LEMON BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel zest from 1 lemon

• 4 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice (I used 1 medium lemon) 

• 2 1/4 cups flour 

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

• 3/4 teaspoon salt 

• 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar 

• 3/4 cup butter softened 

• 3 eggs (large)

• 3/4 cup milk 

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Pre-heat oven to 350°, grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

• In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and 1 1/4 cups sugar, add the softened butter and with a pastry blender. blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the lemon peel.

• In a small bowl add eggs and beat lightly with a fork add milk and mix until combined, then pour this mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until flour is moistened.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Nowhere does it say when or where the lemon juice is to go into a mix.
• Nowhere does it say how long to bake it in the oven.
• And....It should have said to grease AND flour the loaf pan. It stuck - really badly.

I just added the juice into the egg and milk mixture and thought it should bake for about 60 minutes. 

End result - delicious and will slice when cold. It is a bit crumbly. All done by hand - no mixers used.

In the meantime, "Beatrice" my Raku pot is keeping warm on the stove. She sure is pretty!

Tap on image to view larger

 

Just Birds & Deer Here

I think this time I'll try making the slide show order be from 2009 to 2020. It "might" be easier. They don't really get better as I haven't improved much in the area of photography, but I just enjoy seeing them anyway. In other words... eye candy for me. Oh, and yes, I can probably identify all of the birds - or could!

Please click on link below that will take you to a video. This one was a challenge! I have wayyyyyy too many images to go through!

12 minutes of 12 years - Birds & Deer

Cruising Through My Old Photos

I really need to thin out some of my photos. The computer tells me that I have 28,250 photos on the Macbook Pro laptop alone starting with the year 2009! I'm half afraid to see how many are on the old iMac!

Today I'm choosing some insects, turtles and critters to view again. I have to really hunt for them as my photos are saved in yearly clusters. 

Here goes ... (NO birds, fish or deer this time around) please click on link to YouTube below.

6 minute video

Fifty Four Years Ago

Today is the birthday of my youngest daughter. She's 54 years old now and has two children, a son age 19 and a daughter age 17. Her husband is going to celebrate his 60th year tomorrow.

She came in a very fast way, almost in the hallway of the hospital. The delivery room trip was out of the question until after she appeared. 

As my fifth child, I should have known not to leave home at the last minute as possible. It all did work out. While her father was parking the car after dropping me off into a waiting wheelchair, she was born and my mother, her grandmother, a hospital employee, was the first to see her!

She is named after a my great aunt who willed me her beautiful hand painted Limoges china collection. 

Her name has the meaning of victory and strength, and fits her well.

please tap image to view these old photos larger

I love reliving good times through viewing my old photos and reviving the memories!

Daffodils

 "Daffodils"

~By William Wordsworth~

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Every year I cut a few for my one and only indoor bouquet. They give me pleasure to know that the original bulbs were planted by my mother, oh so many years ago!

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Repairs

James was drawing several gawkers yesterday as they passed by. The reactions were a treasure, especially when I watched two ladies stop, look, and chatter with hand hands going and heads shaking. The discussion would probably have been interesting. You see, our yardman had just completed filling the holes that the bees, bugs, and woodpeckers made last late Autumn when I wasn't paying enough attention to James and his comfort. It's now time for a fix. A little plastic surgery. The first step was to fill the holes. Well, after that operation some seeped out and it looked like he was spewing nasty stuff!

The good news is that the excess material has been removed today and the project will soon be completed with wood putty and stain. That's the plan. Then he can be dressed in his Spring Glory attire! A bluebird came and sat on his head after he was cleaned up so that is a great sign that all will be well.

Speaking of Spring Glory - the daffodils in the old-old rock garden have started to bloom. The ones in the flowerbeds around the front porch haven't. The porch area only gets a few minutes of sunshine in the early morning at this time of year. It's a waiting on Mother Nature Game! She always knows what she's doing.

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The Call

This morning when I was baking chocolate chip cookies, the phone rang. When I answered it, a sobbing male voice said, "Grandma? This is your oldest grandson and I need you." Well, I thought about it and my oldest grandson is 32 so (innocently) I replied, "Mike?" Now that wasn't true. My oldest grandson is Nick. Just a senior moment, I guess. The male voice said yes and then told me his long-time girlfriend just died of cancer and he was driving to the funeral when he had a car crash and was arrested. He said he had only 5 minutes to call someone. He said his nose is broken and his lip is cut and the accident wasn't his fault.  (Nick is married, has no girlfriend with cancer. Mike is my oldest Great grandson.)

Well....my brain started to really kick in. ALERT! He asked me if I had a pencil and paper handy. I said no and I asked him why. He said he needed me to write down a number. I said no and he asked me why. I told him he was a scammer and he hung up!

Later the Mister checked the TV which keeps a running list of the phone calls coming in and gave me the number. I Googled it. It belonged to a real estate business in Wyoming Valley. I was going to call them to alert them that their phone number was being used as a scam. Guess what? The number is no longer in service. The Mister checked it again. I researched it again. I tried calling it again. Same result.

I really wonder how many other elderly people would have helped him out of his predicament!!!!! How he got my number I don't know but I do know to always be vigilant. There are some really rotten people out there! I'm one tough cookie with an eye on my bank account. Hope others are as well.

My baked cookies are delicious! James is getting his holes filled. Our yard guy is beginning the spring cleanup, so all is good.

Yes, we ate a 'few'!

Mine!

This is a long read but it has to be - to understand why I had to have it. If you don't understand, it's OK. I do.  Al is a local potter.

Al’s Quote preceding the making of Raku Pots

Through The Fire Collection: A Raku Pottery / Metal Jewelry Collaboration

"I am happy to announce I am currently creating a body of raku pots in collaboration with metal jewelry artist Kathleen Taylor that will be on display at the Slanted Art Co-Op Gallery in Montrose, PA for the month of March.

The pandemic has taken a toll on all of us in ways we may not realize. We have been pushed to our limits at times as we traveled through our infernos. But the fires can also refine us.

May we all take time to see ourselves and each other, with community and collaboration, to recognize how the fires can make us all stronger and more beautiful.

I do hope you all enjoy this specialized collection of raku and metal handmade art. And may each one of you break forth to behold the stars in the new year."

"e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle" - Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, Canto 34

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Raku generally refers to a type of low-firing process that was inspired by traditional Japanese raku firing. Western-style raku usually involves removing pottery from the kiln while at bright red heat and placing it into containers with combustible materials. Once the materials ignite, the containers are closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

February 15th

Al created 13 pots for Raku processing, then fired first time.

Kathleen Taylor cut out the copper for the enameled pendants.

The next firing - See  3 minute VIDEO 

The raku firing after glazing 

March 13

Pots are ready for display with special selected enameled jewelry.

March 14

I selected the one I’d like to buy as my birthday gift from me to me even before it had the jewelry added. It wasn't even for sale so I begged.

March 16

All 8 pots went on display for 4 weeks at Slanted Art Cooperative. Seven have stress cracks, one has none. He made 13 altogether when starting the project. Mine has a slight stress crack. OK with me!

March 16

My pot is named Beatrice. Beatrice represents divine revelation, theology, faith, contemplation and grace. The name Beatrice then means “bringer of blessing.” So while not a Biblical name explicitly, it can have Christian connotation. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, Beatrice is the guide who leads Dante out of Purgatory and through Paradise. She was the inspiration for Dante and very beautiful.

All of the pots were named. The collaboration of both artists weren't going to sell the ones with the stress cracks but then decided to. It was decided that every one of them is beautiful in its own way. 

I have to wait a little longer to take possession of her! Slanted Art was happy to announce that Al Wayman and Kathleen Taylor will be the featured artists for March 18 through April 19th.

FYI: Stress cracks are hairline cracks in the piece due to thermal shock due to the thermal process. Al was going to hammer those pieces into shards for mosaics after the show but folks thought he should not.

Kathleen Taylor did a great job with the jewelry pieces for this special collection. Many of the copper enameled pieces were fired multiple times and are really lovely. (They are removable.)

please click on an image to view larger

Moving On

April is supposed to bring flowers BUT it started off with another snow event! The ground was covered. Today is it still cold. 11am and 24°!  

Last night while watching Life Below Zero° Next Generation, the fellow on the Brooks Range section said, "Life is movement. When you stop moving, you're dead!"

I try to keep moving. I push the Mister to keep moving. He is doing it with the walker and that is a very good  thing. I prefer to create in the kitchen and, believe me as I've aged, it's not simple now. However it does keep me moving! I have a hard time believing that, in the past, after coming home from a full day's work, I could throw together a macaroni-cheese casserole and have it ready to serve at 6pm. Yesterday I grated the two blocks of cheese and lined the pan with foil in the morning. Did the dishes. Early evening I cooked the macaroni and put together the dish and baked it for supper. Did the dishes. After the meal was thoroughly enjoyed, especially by the Mister, I packed up the remainder of the meal in 5 containers and stored it in the big freezer. Did the dishes. Let me tell you, this may be the last time I make this meal. The good news? Now we have an ample supply ready for a few more main entrees of dinners.

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Well, I haven't baked cookies for a while and the guilt is setting in. I already have chopped walnuts, golden raisins and oatmeal, brown sugar, eggs, butter - - What do you think?