Heat Wave

The icicles are forming - - -
The sun will be out soon - - -

Bring the kids - - - 
Bring the dogs - - - 
Let's have an ice fishing party!

Altogether this afternoon we counted 15 individuals out on the lake enjoying the sun and agreeability of this beautiful day.

The fish were biting and the feet were not freezing. That's a change! Please leave some scraps for the eagles~~~

Catching Up

Nope, we haven't had good road conditions or weather to go see the new Great Grandsons yet. Our daughter stopped in with a few of her little camera shots and they are growing and thriving well. We have a forecast of more snow coming over this weekend. Whoopee! Just to make Spring's approach (18 days away) even more exciting. Yeah.

We got our taxes done this morning and sent in. Simple for our preparer but well worth the small charge. Simple for us too; take papers, go there, spend 20 minutes - DONE!

The ice fishermen are out there on the lake again. We have often seen an immature Bald Eagle do the cleanup after they have left. I think dead bait is its current snack. The men and women and children are too far away to see exactly what they catch, but they do catch and often. It's a great sport if you are young enough to be agile and have the correct equipment plus warm clothes and time. One fella even brought his little dog!

My vintage photo album project is complete. The 1967 old color negatives that I found have been printed by a company in KS. They were recommended to me by a woman from a local "Then and Now" group that I joined and I am VERY pleased with the results. The speed and friendliness of the person who I talked with about getting this done was on top of it all and the cost was minimal! Here is an example of two that I scanned from the prints I had made. I scanned them all.

Nope I haven't been doing any baking lately. I had acute bronchitis and pneumonia a couple of weeks ago and, after much medicine, it is all cleared away but I'm being careful. The Mister's arm is all healed and you would never know he had injuries! His hip bruise is faded away completely. 

In case you missed the arrival of the twins this is the link to it.
Twins' Arrival Post

Back to Basics

Baking Basics that is!  I was energized today because we had no cookies! WHAT? NO COOKIES! This is my mother's recipe and it is a "no fail" one. Nowhere does it say how much energy it would take this old lady to GIT 'ER DUN....

After getting the ingredients out and ready, "Big Red" was a great help with the mixing. From parchment paper over a 40+ year old cookie sheet to a finished stack of 60 tasty devils. 

Meanwhile, out on the ice were four men fishing at 8:30am. By the time the cookie project was finished there were seven. 

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RECIPE

Peanut Butter Cookies from Grandma's Recipe Collection

Sift together - 

2 C flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Blend well before adding flour mixture -

1 C peanut butter

2 C brown sugar

1/2 C butter (1 stick) I said BUTTER!! (Don't melt!)

2 eggs

Add -

1 tsp pure vanilla

1/2 C whole milk 

Cool dough in refrigerator for a bit, then teaspoon 12 scoops to an ungreased cookie sheet. I don't press them into a ball and flatten with a sugared fork, because I don't feel it is necessary, but you can if you wish!

Bake - 350° oven 9-11 minutes depending on how crunchy you like them. The less time in the oven the chewier they are!

After baking, let them rest a bit before removing from sheet to paper bags. 

Makes about 4-5 dozen, depending on size.

Four Fishermen

As the day was much warmer and the winds had subsided, four fishermen tried their luck. One was a woman. I think women are called fishermen. I didn't watch them catch anything. They sat on their buckets and watched the holes in the ice for action. The biggest excitement was the drilling of these holes. The auger gave trouble firing up and then it took two men to hold it straight for the drilling. The ice must be very thick. 

I apologize for the lack of sharpness in my pictures. I took them through the kitchen windows and my zoom is not at all strong. I darkened the last one because I love the silhouette result.

Meanwhile, I baked a cake for us and created a card for my youngest great nephew's 4th birthday. He lives in Philadelphia so we couldn't share cake. It was a good day! 

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Weather Change

Warming up and impending rain is the latest word.  I called the township road department to alert them that the large catch basin at the side of our property was filled with debris and was plugged. I couldn't believe that within half an hour they were here digging it out. A heavy rain would cause the hillside flooding waters to go across the dirt road and down across our beachfront into the lake if it remains plugged. This has happened several times in the past. The Mister always kept the basin free and open but no longer can.  

I finally got around to baking some cookies. Yes, I used the prepackaged little squares of dough and they are very tasty. It is the easy way. Sometimes easy is a good choice. 

As I looked out the kitchen window I did finally catch the red male cardinal on the lawn by the shed under the hemlock tree.  It was a fast shot because I believe he saw my movement and he flew away quickly as I had interrupted his breakfast. 

And last, the temperature has risen to +40° and the fishermen have arrived. So far there are six of them. The ice should be very thick and safe. 

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Update: Saturday night it is supposed to go back down to 0°!! 

Groundhog Day

It had better be a VERY cloudy day so Phil will stay OUT!

UPDATE:

Well.. they say he saw his shadow. NO WAY! The only shadow he saw was one from the cameras and lights.

From Pennsylvania trivia #50:

Punxsutawney citizens are proud to be over shadowed by their town's most famous resident the world-renowned weather forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. Punxsutawney is billed as the weather capital of the world.

Bedroom floor is still very cold and the nine men ice fishing are NOT seeing their shadows!

And gold stars go to ... Meow!

Beth

Paul