What A Flake

 I often joke that Mother Nature and I clash whenever I have an event planned. I won't call having friends over for a fun lunch an "event" but I did make a lot of food and was so looking forward to enjoying a Sunday afternoon with friends.  The winter weather has hit our area and we had our first really measurable snowfall last week. But as we gathered wood in on Saturday and prepared for more snow on Sunday we didn't realize it was going to be as bad as it got yesterday.  Snow was falling quickly and accumulating fast. First reports said it would be that way in the morning but by noon it would be done.  Nope, nope and nope. Church was cancelled as roads were slick. And the flakes kept coming.  And the weather folks moved the end up to late afternoon.  Canceling our lunch with friends was the safe thing to do as we live out in the country and roads in our area weren't getting plowed and in town it was just as bad.  I'm a plan ahead gal and had all my food prepared.  So Jack and I had a nice lunch and I called my son Phil and said when roads are safe come and get it!  Last night Phil came over with his girls and happily took home the bounty!  The kids got to play with Annabelle and I was happy no food would be wasted.  A win-win I guess!  Here's a few pics of our crazy weekend.

Chicken soulvaki...fancy shish kabobs!

Beef soulvaki...again, just fancy shish kabobs.  They were yummy! 

Some cheesy braided bread. It's an easy and pretty bread to make that's filled with swiss & cheddar cheese and Italian spices. I also baste with butter when it comes out of the oven and lightly sprinkle some garlic salt on top.  It's one of my favorite things to make.  I also made Greek style potatoes, fresh green beans and was going to make a Greek salad but didn't make that after cancelling.  Oh, we had a beautiful apple pie to be served warm with icecream.  Phil and kids enjoyed taking the pie home too. I did save a piece for Jack's lunch today.  Yes the weather made us "flake" out but nothing was wasted and it was a beautiful looking day outside with the snow softly falling.  When it was done we headed outside to clear the driveway.  Why is it that snow blowing machines always break down when needed most?  Maybe it's just us and Mother Nature playing tricks.  So shovel we did. We worked off any calories from lunch!  As soon as we hit the end of the drive a sweet neighbor stopped by and said he was going to plow us out and felt bad we had already shoveled.  He asked if he could do it if we get snow again and he didn't want paid to do it.  He wants his kids to learn to do service for people. What a good Dad!  What a nice neighbor.  Oh, we are going to get a battery powered snow blower with the hope it's more reliable.  

Annabelle doesn't mind the weather at all.  All snug in her coat and boots she's stylin'!  She's been doing really good.  Her biggest issue is not being potty trained.  Is potty trained the right term or "house broke"?  What ever.  I do believe she's got the idea now.  At first it took her a long time to do her business but she's not stupid and frankly it's cold out also so she's finally going pretty quick.  After only one week I think that's a good thing.  She's very curious and it makes me mad to think what a fun pup she would have been instead of being used as a baby machine.  She still can't go up the stairs but she's trying hard to learn and I know soon there will be no barriers to what she can do.  She went with me to Home Depot and seemed to enjoy that outing.  I'm trying to give her lots of new experiences and also it helps me know what will or will not work in training her.  

Last week I introduced her to the Creepy Woods.  Again, she was enjoying sniffing around every nook and cranny.  Being  a small dog I did carry her up and then let her down to roam.  

She was happy to trek home following in my footsteps.  More snow is heading our way this morning. By noon we will be back in a heavy snowfall event and Mother Nature can do what she wants.  I'll bring in more wood before then and get prepared for the deep freeze also heading our way.  This last week in January is looking pretty cold and snowy.  Makes April so appealing!  My last thought for this day is about my nephew, Jonathan. (My sister's son).  He passed away 18 years ago today, Jan, 24th.  He has been gone as long as he had lived. Hard to believe even now.  He's missed and loved by his family.  My sister has decided to start blogging again.  Her blog is on my side bar or if you'd like to visit her site the link is:https://hopeseternal.blogspot.com/ .  Have a safe and warm week everyone!

Forever Families

 This weekend we're having friends over after church to share a meal and hopefully lots of laughs and enjoyment.  I like feeding people and I always hope they enjoy the meal and the time spent together.  When I was planning what to serve I decided on souvlaki.  Yes it's Greek. It's shish kabobs actually with the meat marinaded in lemon, oil, oregano, and other spices. I've  made it before and it's pretty good. So I went to my cookbook to make my list of ingredients.  This is where food and family meet.  Some years ago my brother, Phil, gave Mom a cookbook he found in a bookstore. 

He thought Mom would enjoy this book because she grew up in Greek Town Chicago.  After Christmas Mom sat down and went through the book and was enjoying the stories inside. She came to a page that featured a women's organization.  

As she looked at the faces she was surprised, maybe a bit startled to see her Mother in that group.

I'm sorry this is blurry but it's the best that I could get from the photograph.  Mom's mother died when my Mom was 10.  So to see her face in a cookbook randomly picked out by my brother who didn't know all that was inside was a big surprise.  Mom was in her eighties when she received this gift and then to suddenly be brought back to that 10yr old who lost a dear mother was really a crazy thing to happen. But a wonderfully happy thing also. I found the cookbook on Amazon and bought it and really love it.  When Mom passed away at age 94 in 2020 she was at home and was failing quickly but she reached out her arms and said: "Momma, Momma!"  and then passed away.  It's my hope that her Mom came to get her at that moment and now they are together with her Dad, brothers, my Dad and my brother and many others who  have passed away.  I don't know what your beliefs are but mine are filled with hope that this is true.  My Grandmother's name was Sophia.  When my son and his wife had their last child, a daughter, they named her Sophia without remembering that was this child's Great Great Grandmother's name.  Families are forever.....love yours daily and don't forget to tell them.

Blame It On Betty

 Over the years I've blogged about my family.  Maybe even bragged? Ha! However, I have blogged about the humans and the pets in our household.  Over the years we've had some wonderful dogs.  Ferris the wonder dog, Eddy the best boxer ever, Chubbs the sweetest, kindest senior rescue that stole our hearts. Arnold..aka Arnie, the last senior that we rescued who went to the rainbow bridge last year.  We have had our failures, if you want to call them that.  By failure I mean they were awesome dogs but not for our family.  Lucy was so fabulous and I'm happy she's in the best family situation and that they send me photos and update often.  We had one puppy mill mom that was the saddest thing and opened my eyes to what happens to the parents of the puppies that folks buy in the pet stores or from the Amish.  After saying good-bye to Arnie we, or I should say me, stated we were done with pets.  My kids didn't believe it and frankly I did keep a watch out on Petfinder for any dogs that looked like a good fit.  So in the spirit of dear Betty White I found a dog at a local humane society shelter and applied.  Lo and behold I got a call on Thursday last week that Annabelle was available.  I saw her photo and bio but we went to check her out and make sure this was a winner for us.  She's a puppy mill Mom of 7 years.  However, she is very social unlike most puppy mill dogs.  She came right up to us and was very friendly even though just a tad bit shy. Once she was around us for a few minutes, all was good.  Knowing she wasn't even potty trained was my hesitation but I've trained dogs before so I'm sure hoping she will fall into routine soon.  She just got spayed on Wednesday and we took her home Friday. She did great with outdoor potty until today.  I walked her a bit much and I feel bad that her feet are tender.  I forget that those dogs are in a kennel and not exercised.  But she's a sweetie and hopefully I'll have more blog posts featuring her.  Meet Annabelle:

She likes TV.  My kind of gal.

Begging me to take her in the house! She was so done with walking!  The potty issue is stressful but we have lots of paper towels and cleaner.  Now I just need lots of patience to teach an older dog a new trick. She's not treat motivated either.  Puppy mill dogs don't get that either.  We hope to get her over that!  Darn you Betty White! I was just going to donate to the shelter on your 100th birthday tomorrow. Oh well.  Welcome to  our family Annabelle!

It's Ice Baby Ice!

 This weekend a little town south of us has it's annual Winter festival.  Part of that fun time are ice sculptures.  Many years there are freak warm spells on this weekend. Luckily for Loudonville it was nice and chilly and perfect for the ice sculptures not to  melt like last year.  On Saturday it was cold...around 30 but with crystal blue skies and sunshine galore it was pleasant to trek up and down the main street and enjoy the many sculptures.

Like Ashland, Loudonville has a quaint downtown with small shops and restaurants. It's  mainly a tourist town in the summer months because it's right next to the Mohican State Park and campgrounds.  The Mohican river runs through it and canoeing and kayaking are big here.  The park is beautiful and I've featured it on a few blogs in the past. Our sweet Arnold dog used to love to go and play in the river!  There was a good turnout for this weekend as the weather on Saturday was beautiful and folks are just looking for a way to have fun and be outside where masks aren't necessary.

This cute log cabin sits in the main square. I've gone here when they've had antique shows in July.

The school teams are called "The Redbirds" and here's one in ice!

This little ice piggy didn't go to the market although he could with all those pennies inside!

Every little town needs a winery...or at least a brewery!

The ice sculptures on the sunny side of the street were starting to melt even though the temps were around freezing.  I don't know who won the best ice sculpture but I thought all were really cute and clever.  There were lots of people there and many had brought along dogs. It made me wish we had a pup of our own to bring along! Maybe one day we'll get a dog again. Time will tell! I found a few cute shops to explore but the only thing I bought was a sign that I just felt I needed:

It will go nicely with my Witches Brew mug I use daily.  It was a fun afternoon adventure. We stopped at Village Point market on the way home for some cheese and other goodies.  Once home I decided I needed to try out a recipe I found in this book I found at the dollar store of all places.

The cover caught my eye and the title looked cute so I grabbed it. It's really a young adult book but it was a fun story written by an English author.  I tried out the scone recipe:

The flavor wasn't bad but they didn't rise as nice as I hoped. Probably the chef's fault! Anyway the book is good and I'm going to find the sequels online.  The temps are going to get colder by tomorrow so homemade veggie soup will be on the menu along with some homemade bread.  The woodstove is humming along keeping us toasty and comfy and this month is flying by. Covid is going crazy here in Ohio and my son and daughter-in-law who are both respiratory therapists got Covid. Evelyn is back at work and Jackie has to stay home until Thursday. His weird main symptom was a swollen right eye.  45 employees have the virus and the hospital is in crisis mode. Jackie and Evelyn are vaccinated and boosted but one employee in their department wasn't and came to work sick and it spread quickly. Hopefully all the employees will get better soon. I think we all need to keep hospital workers in our prayers. Maybe by February this will start to die down again. Night all!

Looking Back As I Move Forward

 I took a few minutes to look back at each blog month in 2021.  I wanted to highlight the good moments and take a deep breath at the not so stellar moments. So bear with me as I look back at 2021. I was going to post pics from those months but seriously, that would be a long post.  So in a nutshell this sums up last year: January...Jack had another surgery but did well. My sister, nephew and myself signed up to get pups from my friend who raises Doodles.  February: I actually fixed my microwave with the help of You Tube and a new light bulb. Sounds pretty elementary but I felt like a real winner figuring it all out!  March:  The sweet pup I bought in February...little Miss Lucy...found a new home as I was trying to figure out some health issues I was having. You Tube didn't help me there! Then I took a tumble, broke my left wrist, right arm and found out I needed neck surgery. April: I got my wrist fixed and thankfully didn't need anything done with my right arm. May: I got the neck surgery and that was the hardest thing I had done ever! June: It was a mixed month of happiness and sadness as my darling Granddaughter got married and then my wonderful older brother, Greg, died unexpectedly. We gathered to wish a sweet young couple best wishes and then gathered to say a final farewell to the best brother any one could have. July: We took a trip to Chicago to celebrate July 4th with my sister and watch a parade in the neighborhood we grew up in. My sister lives in our home that Dad built and it was fun to see the parade tradition continue. August: Sadness again as we bid farewell to our sweet pup Arnold. He was a senior rescue that we had for 3 wonderful years. He was a character and we sure loved that little dude. September: This month had me canning our garden produce and also welcoming in my favorite time of the year..FALL! October: Our son Jordan came home for a few weeks from California. It's been a full year now since he's moved and we miss him but know he's doing well out West.  Also, we had some Halloween fun with family and just enjoyed that time of year. November: We were able to gather together as a family and have a wonderful Thanksgiving. In 2020 we weren't able to do that because Jack was in the hospital for the first of 3 surgeries. Even though he had another major surgery in September this year, he was ready for some good times and good food! Thankfully he's doing good although I know he feels like he's not truly 100%. He's back in the office fulltime and pushing himself daily to get things done.  Fingers crossed for no more for him this new year! December: We had a good, mild weather month. We were able to travel again to Chicago to have a family Christmas with my siblings and nieces, nephews, and all their families. We mourned the empty chairs and shared memories and thoughts of those who have passed. Mom and Greg were deeply missed.  But life goes on and I'm glad we could celebrate as I know they would have wanted us to.  Yes, Covid is still with us. Family members have had some outbreaks but we're all vaxed and hopefully this will get better by Spring. The mild weather we've been enjoying is ending tomorrow as snow and cold descend.  We haven't had to heat up the wood burning furnace but that will start up tomorrow too. So we move forward in this new year with the hope of better things to come. I'm just taking each day as it comes .  It's like a rollercoaster ride that you get on with a smile for the ride but hold on tight for the deep drops and twists and turns that you know will also make you scream. The last few years I've picked words to use as my guide and theme. I picked 2 for this year: 1. Seek...I want to seek for new opportunities to help others, seek for better health, seek for better use of my free time, seek out prayer for more help in my daily life, seek the scriptures for more answers to daily questions. 2. Push...push my self to do better at exercise, recouping my body since my surgeries. Push myself to connect with friends more in person than just on social media.  Push myself to follow through on projects we're wanting to do this year. Push myself to prepare to travel more. In general just seek out opportunities and push myself to work harder and do better.  We'll see how I do when I blog on December 31st of this year! Happy New Year everyone!

I'm Done With 21!

 It's the last day of December loving called "New Years Eve".  Many will gather tonight and celebrate with family or friends or both.  Jack and I are home quietly having snacks for dinner and toasting with sparkling cider.  The Christmas lights and decor will be taken down this weekend.  The temps have been mild this week and today and tomorrow look like the end of this small blessing. 

I took a few walks around the Pines to enjoy this mild day.  The green will soon be taken over with white by Sunday.  That's OK.  It's going to be January for goodness sakes! Usually we're burning wood for heat by now but have been able to  put that off for a few weeks. 

I think my horse and alpaca neighbors are enjoying the day too!

The herd...well, not sure what a group of alpaca are called...is growing.  There are more that aren't in this pic and I'm guessing they have about 7 now.  If you look close you can see the fence has been decorated with garland and wreaths.  Very festive!  

Here's my loaf of Greek New Year's Bread..Vasilopita.  It came out a bit more rustic than usual! Ha! It smells wonderful and will taste good too I'm sure. Inside is hidden a lucky coin and when the bread is cut whoever gets the piece with the coin will have good luck all year. Now that's a hope we can all get behind!  I looked back at some of my previous New Years posts to see how I anticipated the years to go. Well, we never know how things will turn out and our last few years have been a bit sketchy on the good luck part!  But between the lines I have to say it wasn't all gloom and doom. Tomorrow I will do my annual New Years Day post and probably go into that a little deeper.  For now we'll just smile and toast farewell to 2021. As my title says...I'M DONE WITH 21! Before I close out I must mention the passing of Betty White.  What a class act she was. She would have celebrated her 100th birthday in January and I think we all thought she would make it.  RIP Betty, you were very much loved! 

Happy Christmas Everybody!

 The final week of Christmas flew by.  Final shopping, baking, wrapping presents, church services and all the little things that go with hosting family on Christmas day.  Today is that day and again I'm amazed that another Christmas has been celebrated and over so soon.  We had our kids, grandkids, and granddogs here and phone calls for those not able to attend.  It was a fun day and even though the weather this year was more southern than northern feeling, it was good.  Rainy and temps in the 60's...unusual! What was usual was the good food we had and the gathering of family.  Fun times, laughter, gifts and of course YaYa with her camera ready! So here's a snap shot of our weekend.  Merry Christmas to all my family, friends and blog buddies! 

Last night Jack and I had a cozy traditional...for us anyway...dinner.  Years ago we started having breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve.  Christmas morning with our four boys and then an early start to Jack's parents house made breakfast only a passing thought.  I used to make waffles for the boys but Jack likes French toast better so  I do that for him and waffles for me.  After dinner we took a ride to see Christmas decorations around town. There's those homes with all the crazy blow up decorations but my photos didn't come out great of those. 

I like this old Victorian home and they do have the yard nicely lit up!

After driving around different neighborhoods we stopped at the corner park near downtown. This is where the annual tree lighting ceremony is held and I think they've done a great job of decorating this park.

Santa's house sits all quiet now.  He saw about 900 kids this year! Whew!

Here's where the letters to Santa were posted.  I do hope all who wrote letters got what they wanted this year.  

These potted pines can be found on all the corners of downtown.  After the holidays they are planted. Such a good idea.  Also Christmas music is piped in all day, everyday, for the month of December.  Very fun to walk and listen too.

Downtown is so sparkly! I asked Jack if it was like this when he was little.  I've lived here for 44yrs and this is the best I've ever seen it.  He said: "When you're a kid at Christmas everything is sparkly".  So true!  Our Mayor has made it a project to get the downtown vibrant again and bring in that Hallmark town feeling.  It's working! Many new businesses and restaurants have come in and hopefully can continue to thrive. 

Christmas morning had the gifts wrapped and ready and the fake fire burning on the TV!

As my family arrived I made them stop for a quick pic before the day got rolling. Rae Rae isn't smiling..new braces! She's 2-1/2 yrs younger than Lexi but a few inches taller. That's their sister Aria in front.  She's a half sister but we whole love her! 

Newlyweds, Driana and Jonathan.  They bought their first home back in October so now they can have a dog. Introducing Theo...my new Granddog! 

Phil..Rae and Lexi's Dad and my funny silver fox kiddo! He just had to pose!

Anthony and Cameron.  I don't know if Cam will get as tall as  his brother but he has grown a lot this past year.  

Granddaughter Summer and her boyfriend, Spencer. Such a sweet couple.

Jack and Evelyn who didn't have to pose in front of the fireplace.  This was a hard day for Evelyn as her Dad passed away a few months ago.  I didn't get a pic of her cousin Mandy who is living with them. If  you recall I mentioned they took guardianship of her when her Mom, Evelyn's Aunt, passed away this summer.  It was a hard day for Mandy too as it's the first without her Mom.  Sometimes the holidays can be a challenge when life throws in those sad times. Mandy went and slept after eating and just wanted to be alone for a bit.  

Jack just hanging out...look at those piercing blue eyes!

After dinner we played the saran wrap game.  Inside that ball of saran wrap are tons of gifts..some silly, some good, some delish, and some lottery tickets! It's a fun, fast and furious game.  Nobody won a million on the lottery tickets but Summer won $2 and Driana won $25...not too bad I guess!  Soon it was time for all to head home.  We had a great day and I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband who helped me all along the way as it's hard to do this by yourself.  I'm grateful for my family who brings a smile to my face and happiness in my heart!  I hope everyone had a good day today!

Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Every One!

Hugs All Around

 This past weekend the pilgrimage home happened for my family. We came from distances south to north, from east and west.  Siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and parents all coming to celebrate, remember past gatherings, and make new memories.   I remember in the past how we would drive up Mom's driveway and she would be out on the porch smiling and excited to see us or in the kitchen waiting for our arrival.  Her house would be decorated and many dishes prepared for us and for the family Christmas party.  That house is now my sister's home.  We drive up the same driveway and are greeted with her smiles and the house decorated and food prepared as in the past.  But a little of the light is gone as this is the first Christmas family gathering without Mom and also without my brother Greg.  My sister arranged for a Catholic Mass to be held on Saturday morning as a memorial for Greg. His daughter Vicki and his granddaughters came.  My sister-in-law couldn't make the trip up from Georgia because of her own health issues.  But there were many family members and friends who came and after the Mass we gathered for a nice brunch and a time also to reminisce about his life and share memories.  We wanted it to be a joyous time as I know Greg would want it to be that way. He was a happy person who wouldn't want all the sadness to continue.   Later that day we gathered again at my nephew's home for the annual Christmas party.  This year some couldn't attend because of travel problems or health issues.  Still, we had fun, ate good food, opened silly gifts (white elephant gifts we call them!) and gave hugs all around.  Afterward we all departed to homes or hotels.  Most of the kids stayed at my nephew's for a huge cousin sleepover! I'm sure that was a lot of fun for them!  We left for home this morning after bidding farewell with the hope of next year on our lips that all can attend and we can continue to make memories, laugh, eat and again give hugs all around!

We got to Chicago on Thursday so we could help my sister out with preparations for the weekend and of course we were greeted by her pup, Hope. 

Hope just loves Jack....has to be by his side or begging for attention.

She even shares her favorite toys with him...she's generous like that!

Preparing food is always on the to do list and my sister is fabulous at that! 

My nephew Bill and his wife Laura hosted the party at their home. Thanks guys! Plus they had all the cousins stay all night.  They have 5 kids of their own and add a few more dozen and I bet it was pretty fun for the littles and pretty crazy for them! Thankfully a couple of the kids are teens who could help out.  The following pics are just a few of the cast of characters we lovingly call FAMILY.

My brother Phil and his wife Cilla.  They just moved back to the states from Panama and now live in Florida.  She's from England and has a delightful accent!

My nephew-in-law...Eric. He's married to my niece, Amy.

Here's Amy with her favorite Uncle...at least Jack thinks he's the favorite!

Midge and me being photo bombed by my brother, Rick.  Funny boy.

Rick and Phil having a lively discussion.  There were lots of kids here and there but I didn't get too many photos of them.  They were in the family room and having some activities of their own...

They all got to make gingerbread houses...good job kiddos! 

Remember I mentioned a "white elephant" gift exchange?  Well, this is a good example of what you might be so lucky to receive...a unicorn mask.  You never know what can be lurking in those pretty packages! 

On Sunday Midge and I took a few moments to visit Mom and Dad's gravesites.  The weather was pretty nasty on Saturday night but sunshine came through for Sunday and we had a nice day together.  The drive home today was good with warmer temps..in the 50's! And lots of sunshine.  I'll take it.  My brother Rick lives in northern Wisconsin and he got a foot of snow on Saturday! I was very glad not to come home to anything like that. Now on to planning for our family Christmas here at the Pines.  Lots to do in the coming weeks as I'm sure most of you have.  I hope all your gatherings are wonderful and contain hugs all around.