I can't attach the pictures . . .

Natalie took some awesome pictures during the week and loaded them on my computer. I have spent hours today trying to attach some, and there is something wrong with my computer or the operator. So, I'll try tomorrow when I'm home alone. Well, almost alone. It will be just Bob and Madeline.

We had nineteen here for Christmas dinner and not one meal during the entire week was served on paper or plastic. I still have Christmas cookies left and lots of food. Bob and I won't be hungry or need to go to the grocery store for a very long time.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas this year. Bob and I are so blessed. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if all the kids and grand kids would have been here.

Bob has run to Walmart to pick-up some mandarins to send with the kids and grand kids that are leaving in the morning at 7:00 a.m. We have to leave our house at 4:30 a.m. Bob is also making bread so we can make sandwiches to send with the kids. When they were stuck in Chicago for 24 hours, they bought breakfast (three orders of pancakes and two orders of hash browns) and it cost $44. That is just ridiculous.

During the entire week of celebrations, not one person was sick. And, now tonight my throat is feeling a little sore. I hope it's not the beginning of something . . .

I can hardly wait for everyone to see the pictures.

Still not here

Mike and Vickie and the five children spent the night at O'Hare Airport. They are now at the top of the standby list and are hoping to get a flight out this morning. Vickie reported that the baby is handling this the best. He just sleeps and eats and goes with the flow! We're anxious to receive their call letting us know when to pick them up at the airport.

We received more snow last night and it's to change during the day to freezing rain and then just rain with more snow tomorrow.

The good news! We've got a very white Christmas!!!

I think I'll make a pumpkin log and some hamatachen while I'm waiting for the arrival of all the families.

Update on Christmas Activities

This year Bob and I decided to have a Christmas "Open House". This is our fifth year to celebrate Christmas here in New York . . .

What an adventure when we moved across country, from California to New York, in December of 2004. We left most of our possessions stored in California arriving in New York with just the bare minimums. We were fortunate to rent a furnished duplex from a snowbird and were quite comfortable that first winter. Our search for a home soon began looking at numerous homes that we thought would be perfect, non of which fulfilled our list of must haves. Then one of our church members told us about a house on County Route. It wasn't for sale, but it was vacant. Bob immediately drove by the house and saw the possibilities. I wasn't quite so sure this was "the" house for us. Bob had no questions at all about this being the perfect house. I think he would have been happy with just the two old barns and the 59 acres. But, the house was a nice bonus for me. So in April of 2005 we purchased the home and began renovations while living in our travel trailer on the property. Although the renovations weren't complete, we moved into the house in December of 2005 and celebrated our first Christmas in our "new" home.

During the renovations, several neighbors and county officials came by to see the progress being made on the old house. It was only as a result of numerous friends and family pitching in to help with the renovations that we are comfortably living with the inside of our home complete.

With the milestone of the inside completion, we decided to have an open house and invite our neighbors, county officials (the former owner of our home was the county clerk and people would come to the house to buy their hunting licenses, fishing licenses, marriage licenses, etc), and those that worked on the house.

It was fun to decorate the house for Christmas. The day of the open house we had about 15 inches of snow and it snowed all day. Bob had to blow the driveway and a place for people to park. Several people that had called to let us know they would be coming, weren't able to make it due to the bad weather. We had 27 people come and everything turned out wonderful! Bob got up early and made apple pies, lemon meringue pies, and pecan pies. We had lots of homemade goodies for the table that looked beautiful. And, I was so busy greeting people and talking, I didn't take one picture.

I made a scrapbook of the before and after pictures of the house for people to look through if they wanted. Many of the guests enjoyed just relaxing and visiting. The former owner of the home came and he and his wife had a great time walking through the house (it was his mother that was the clerk). He also wanted to take a look in the basement, and I opened the door and told him to go on down, he probably would remember the way around. They were so pleased that the house had been restored. The commented that they could tell it is a very loved home, which is so true.

When the last guests left, Bob and I sat down on the couch and just relaxed. It had been a very busy day.

The snow has continued to come down non-stop. We have had more that we need. Yesterday, Ryan and Lisa and the boys and Shannon and Madeline were heading to Pennsylvania to meet Natalie and Adam to go snow skiing. Natalie called them and told them that they wouldn't have made it to the house they are staying at if they hadn't had four-wheel drive. So Ryan and Lisa borrowed our SUV with four-wheel drive and left their mini van with us.

Today Bob and I have been busy getting everything ready for the arrival of our children and grandchildren. We wish all of them could come, but we're happy that at least four of the eight children will be coming and ten of our 18 grandchildren will also be here for Christmas. I completed my menus for the next seven days and then Bob and I were going to run out and pick-up a few more groceries before we headed to the airport to pick-up Mike and Vickie and the children. We have to take two vehicles because we don't have enough seats in just one vehicle.

When we went out to get in the van to go to the grocery store, that's when the trouble began. The keys were on the driver's seat and the doors were all locked. Now what? Bob wrote down the VIN number and I called a local dealership to see if they could make a key. They said I would have to bring in proof that the vehicle belonged to me. That wouldn't work. It wasn't my car. So I told him the l-o-n-g sad s-t-o-r-y and when I finished, he told me to come on down and he'd have a key ready for me.

While we were picking up the last few groceries Bob received a call from Mike. They were at the O'hara Airport and their flight had been cancelled. Now, four hours after their expected arrival, they are still in Chicago waiting for a flight to New York.

The stockings are all hung on the fireplace . . .


The tree is all decorated, the presents all wrapped and under the tree . . .

And, the lights in the windows are ready to welcome our family home for Christmas . . .

Bob and I are so excited that soon the house will no longer be quiet and everything in it's place. Life as we enjoy it will soon begin.

It's Almost Christmas

Bob and I have been busy getting ready for Christmas. We are having an open house this coming Sunday, so we've been putting up the Christmas decorations. Mike and Vickie and the children will be arriving on Tuesday; Natalie, Adam, Ryan and Lisa and the children, and Shannon and Madeline will be arriving on Wednesday evening.

If it wasn't for Bob, there wouldn't be much done around the house. I've been so busy at work. Once again, Bob went and selected the tree, cut the tree, set-up the tree, put the lights on the tree, decorated the tree, and he even waters the tree everyday. He also put up the garland on the staircase.

I wanted some fresh wreaths for the side door and two smaller wreaths for the two front doors. When I came home from work, all three wreaths were made and hanging on the doors.

This is one of the two wreaths he made that are hanging on the front doors.

This is the wreath that is hanging on the side door. The door most visitors use.

It snowed quite a bit today. It sure is beautiful. But, it wasn't much fun to drive in today. On my way home from shopping, I pulled over to clean off the ice from the wiper blade and broke it, so I had to look out the passenger side of the windshield whilte I drove home. The roads were really bad. When I got home, Bob fixed the wiper. It wasn't broken, it had just come off the end of the arm. It looked broken to me!

The tracks I made pulling into the driveway this afternoon are now covered with snow.

Just a little note: Bob has decided that he is going to grow a beard. That is not what is on my Christmas wish list. He says that he is growing it for the 150 year celebration of the Roosevelt Church in June 2009.

He's just been growing it for a few days. It looks rediculous! And, I have to go to church tomorrow and sit with him during the Christmas program. You'd think he could have waited until after Christmas.

The Girls' Weekend

It started on Friday and it just didn't want to stop. I'm talking about the snow. I was concerned that our girls' weekend might not happen and I was so disappointed. Diane was not feeling well, and wasn't going to be able to come and then the weather was thrown into the mix which didn't mix too well with driving. Tina called Saturday morning and asked what the weather looked like for the day. It wasn't good. I took a scientific look at the weather and checked forecast.weather.gov. Lake effect snow was the forecast for the day. Bob took a different look at the weather and went outside to measure the amount that had already fallen.

It measured 12 1/2 inches on the picnic table - Saturday morning.

It was only 9 inches at the bird feeders.

Checotah loves playing in the snow. Look at the snow on her nose.

Punkin and Checotah are keeping Bob company as he takes water from the house to the barn to give fresh drinking water for the chickens and Bootsie the barn cat.

Tina took into consideration the weather report from both Bob and myself and decided that it would be best not to come. She would call Sunday morning for a weather update and if the weather looked better, she would come on Sunday. Bob received several telephone calls from church members to let him know that they wouldn't be able to make it to church. I suggested that he close the church, but he would hearing nothing of that. When we arrived at the first church, there were already three cars in the parking lot. We were both surprised to see so many people at church. I had to play the piano and then tell the children's story. I told the story about when Francie cut her hair, tried to hide the evidence by burying the cut hair in the back yard. Her punishment was memorable for the entire family and still is a topic of discussion at many family gatherings.

This is the first church we had services at Saturday morning.

As soon as church service was over, we left to go to our second church service about a 35 minute drive. This is a picture from out of our front windshield driving up I-81.

This is the second church we went to on Sabbath. There were only four people that made it out to church. However, they had a great potluck. Homemade lasagna, Spanish rice, winter squash, and more . . .

After lunch we headed out for our third service another 35 minute drive. Within 10 minutes of leaving, we noticed that the snow was disappearing and by the time we reached our destination there wasn't any snow on the ground.

As we headed home, we soon were back in snow country. These cows looked so cold and were just standing there with no where to go. I think this one was wanting us to take her home with us. Just look at those sad eyes.

We passed by the Christmas tree farm where we cut our own tree each year. It's going to be more difficult to chose the perfect tree if the snow doesn't melt. The snow sure looks pretty, doesn't it?

Sunday morning Tina called early and once again we checked the weather reports. It looked good so Tina packed her car and headed for New York. I was so excited I could hardly wait for her to arrive. The drive only took her a little over four.

When she pulled into the garage, Bob and I started helping her carry stuff in. I couldn't resist asking her how long she planned on staying. You wouldn't believe all the stuff she brought!!! Tina brings everything but the kitchen sink too!!! Just like me!!! She has the neatest "things" to make cards and scrapbook pages. I was so excited to get started. Of course we talked, and talked, and talked, and then talked some more. Oh, we had so much fun!!!

Tina helped design cards for the Christmas Open House Bob and I are planning to have the second Sunday in December. They are so beautiful!!! I told Tina she should teach a class. She is really good.

Tina has all kinds of equipment for making cards and scrapbook pages. She also showed me some of the cards she had made and they are so cute. I just love them. I took pictures of each one so I can try to duplicate them in the future.

Here's one of the cards that we made for the "Christmas Open House" The snowflakes have glitter and a crystal bead in the center. We didn't have time to complete the inside, but my friend Barb is going to help me with the verse and printing.

Tina and I decided to take a little walk around the perimeter of the garden and orchard. It was great. The dogs enjoyed going with us. At the back of the orchard we saw deer tracks.

Punkin loves going for walks.

Checotah loves the snow. This is her first winter and first snow. When she is naughty, she gets tied in the yard. We have a dog house for her, but she won't go inside it. She lays outside the dog house watching the snow fall. Crazy dog!

We made homemade bread.

Date nut cookies

Cranberry orange nut muffins

We checked the weather report Monday night and the reports weren't good. Tina decided it would be best if she left early Tuesday morning. I was so disappointed. She called me a little after noon and had made it home safely. We had such a great time together. We went shopping at Joann Fabrics, bought some adorable patterns to make for our grandchildren. Had a list of things we wanted to do and only started on the list. I'm looking forward to Tina coming to visit soon I hope.

My friend, Barb, came over this afternoon and we had a great time making pies. We made pumpkin and pecan pies and then a batch of snickerdoodle cookies. The time went much too quickly and soon she was on her way back home.

Barb making the snickerdoodles.

Barb said, "No More Pictures!"

The pies turned out picture perfect.

What a great weekend!!!!!!!!!

More Snow is on the way . . .

We woke up to more snow on the ground. It appears that we are on the edge of the lake effect snow that is falling. The snow plows have gone by twice this morning already. My cousin, Tony, has called a couple of times to let us know that he and Donna can't get out of their driveway and their road hasn't been plowed either. They live in Mexico, New York and usually get dumped on every winter. They won't be at church this morning. Then we received another call from a couple that won't be getting to church either. We probably won't have too many at church today. Since this is a three church sabbath, Bob checked with one of the other churches, and they are planning to meet. The afternoon meeting will be held at an elderly couple's house.

Tina called this morning and she isn't going to venture coming today. The weather just doesn't look good for traveling. The forecast is 100% chance for heavy snow all day. However, tomorrow looks better. We're going to keep checking the weather forecast, and hopefully she will be able to come on Sunday.

Now, I'm wondering if we should chance going to Michigan for Thanksgiving. The weather reports are snows a good part of next week.

Snow . . . Snow . . . Snow ! ! !

It snowed all day today and it's suppose to snow all night and all day tomorrow. It sure is pretty but, I'm worried that Tina and Diane won't be able to come for the weekend. We're going to keep checking the weather report to see if it changes. I have everything ready for them to come. Now what am I going to do with all this food? I had Bob go out and take a few pictures before the sun went down.

Our drive-way.
This is the county road in front of our house.

I think Bob is going to have to get out the snow blower in the morning.

I don't remember it snowing this early in the year in the four years that we have lived in New York. I hope this isn't the beginning of a long winter. (We're getting lake effect snow)

Another Potluck Blog

For the past three weeks I have been working and going directly to the church after work for evangelistic meetings. Bob did his first series of meetings using power-point. He's becoming computer literate. He did very well with each night's presentations. There was a good response from the community and great support from the members. He's planning a baptism the second Sabbath in December. During these meetings I also held a cooking school in Dexterville. There were approximately 40 people in attendance. We have several drawings during the cooking class for homemade bread which Bob makes the morning of the class. One of the members made this stained glass platter which was a nice addition to the drawings that night. I was very lucky, because the lady that won it was the aunt to the lady that made it and she already had one so after the class she gave it to me.

I love my stained glass platter.

Even though I've been busy all day and every evening, I do have Friday's off so I enjoyed doing some baking.

Five loaves of whole wheat bread.

An apple pie.


Homemade cinnamon rolls with a surprise when you flip them over.

Those cinnamon rolls turn into pecans rolls when you dump them over onto a pan.

Rachael's Apple Cake Recipe

I made an apple cake and took it for the members to enjoy after the meeting on Friday evenings. They loved it. Several people asked for the recipe.

Ryan, Lisa and the children have moved into their new home, but they haven't moved all their stuff out of our house yet. It's quite lonely now in the evenings. No little children running to me excited to tell me all about their day. While they were living with us, our garage became so full of "stuff" we could hardly even walk in it. Bob spent several hours working on cleaning it out so we could get both vehicles in it.

This morning when I went to get in my car I was so thankful that it was parked in the garage.
Because . . .

This is what I saw when I opened the garage door this morning. We have almost a foot of snow. Bob didn't get up early enough to use the snow blower on the driveway so I just used my four wheel drive and made it just fine. The roads had been plowed.

We haven't put all our summer things away yet. Like our picnic table. Maybe it will just stay there for the winter. It won't be long and we won't see it until spring anyway.
It's a beautiful snow, but I'm not quite ready to settle in for a l-o-n-g winter. We have snow much earlier than we have had since we moved to New York. It usually waits until December.

Our dogs houses have all been moved back on the porches (which I don't like the look of). Bob thinks they need their houses there so they can see what's going on inside the house without having to be out in the wind. This is Checotah's first time to experience snow. She is just loving it. Our chickens are also experiencing snow for the first time and they aren't as happy with it as Checotah. Bob went to let them out this morning, and a couple of them went out the door and immediately returned to the chicken house. The others didn't even venture out. The temperatures have been in the 20's and low 30's. Bob's trying to figure out how to keep the chicken's water from freezing. We don't have electricity in the barn. We have a heated water bowl for the dogs. There must be some way to keep the water from freezing. What did they do in the olden days? Bob's dreaming of having horses and a sleigh so he can go for a ride on the property. It would be lots of fun. Well, I guess I should stop for now. I need to get a good nights rest. We're suppose to get some snow flurries tonight. We usually get lake effect snow and that makes for more than just flurries.

I'm looking forward to this weekend when Tina and Diane come to visit. They will be coming on Saturday and staying until Monday. I've got all my menu's planned and Tina and Diane have ideas on crafts for us to work on. I can hardly wait! I'll try to do better at posting while they are here. But, no guarantees.

Pumpkin Butter

The morning after . . . the results . . . at the bottom

My friend, Cathy (she lives in California), has been making pumpkin butter and has inspired me to try. We have quite a few pumpkins out of our garden and it would be a shame to let them go to waste. She sent me her recipe which sounds really good and it uses maple syrup which we have plenty of. However, Dore (my other friend that lives in California) sent me a crock pot recipe that I decided to try since it can cook all night while I sleep. I'll put it in the jars before I leave for work tomorrow morning. While I've been watching the election results I've been taking pictures of the steps for making pumpkin butter. Please remember that I have never done this before, so these steps may give some readers quite a laugh.

The first step is to place a freshly washed pumpkin on a cutting board.

Cut the pumpkin in half and remove all the seeds.

This is the pumpkin with the seeds remove.

Place the pumpkins cut side down in a baking pan.
Fill the baking pan with about an inch to an inch and a half of water.
Bake in a 400 degree oven (375 degree convection oven) until a fork goes in easily.


This is the pumpkin after it has been baked. Be sure to drain the water off because if you leave the pumpkin sitting in the water, the pumpkin will be watery.

Once the pumpkin has cooled enough to handle,

scoop out the flesh into a bowl and discard the skin.

Then you need to puree the pumpkin. I thought I would use the equipment I used when I made applesauce, but that didn't work. It just made a big mess.

Then I decided to mix it in my Kitchenaid mixer.

Bob said that wouldn't work and I should put it in the blender.

So, I put the cooked pumpkin in the blender. And it worked.

The pumpkin pureed perfectly. I had to put it in small amounts though.

Then I placed the pureed pumpkin in my crock pot, added 4 cups of sugar, 2 Tablespoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon allspice. I'm going to cook this on low overnight and then first thing in the morning, I'll put it in jars and seal them. I'll store them in the refrigerator for up to six months. I don't think they will last six months.

Thank you Cathy and Dore for your inspiration, encouragement, and recipes. Now, you guys just need to come out so you can taste it. I'll make some homemade bread if you'll come.

This morning I got up early and finished making my pumpkin butter. I placed clean jars in the oven to warm and the jar lids in a pot of water on the stove top. Once the jars were hot, I filled them and sealed them. Once they have cooled I will store them in the refrigerator.

This is what the pumpkin butter looked like when I went to bed.


This is the finished pumpkin butter after it cooked all night.

The aroma in my house when I woke up this morning was wonderful!

Here is the finished product. I tried some this morning on dried toast

and it was delicious!

Last night I also baked four additional pumpkins and scooped out the pumpkin and instead of using the blender I used my food processor to make it smooth and that worked much easier. I filled zip-loc bags with two cups of pureed pumpkin and placed in the freezer. I made 8 bags. My pumpkin pie recipe calls for two cups of pumpkin, so I'm all ready for Bob to make 8 pies!