Spring flowers!

One of my favorite colors of Spring and I love the combination of different colors as well!

This would be an ideal place to hide my Creative Workshop!

I hope my best friend, Davonna, will take some more pics of her crocus's  and her flower bed this year, I'm dying to see how well they propagated and how well they filled up the garden bed beside her driveway!  As much as I love the snow, (sorry Nani, I know you hate it!) I'm eager to see, smell, and breathe Spring! 

A Wonderful cold-weather soup!

I was answering questions over on my best friend's blog http://chroniclesofnani.blogspot.com/ She got her questions from Heather over at http://www.actingbalanced.com/ .  One of her questions that she asked was regarding soups, seasonal? or Year-round?   So I am posting one of my favorite soup recipes!

Chunky Potato Soup

3 med. sized red potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 C. water

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 T. butter

3 T. all-purpose flour

3 C. milk

1/2 t. sugar

1 C. shredded Cheddar cheese

1 C. cubed cooked ham

3-4 slices of bacon, cooked well done, not burnt, and crumbled

Crushed red pepper flakes

Ground black pepper

Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add potatoes and cook until tender.  Drain, BUT

save the liquid.  Set the potatoes aside.  Measure 1 C. of the potato liquid and set aside.

Brown the bacon till well cooked.  Drain on paper towels, reserving approx 2 T. of bacon fat.  Melt butter in same saucepan over med. heat. Add onion, cook stirring frequently until onion is translucent and tender, but not brown.  Add flour to same saucepan, season with pepper flakes and pepper to taste.  Cook 3-4 min.  Gradually add potatoes, the reserved potato liquid, milk, sugar, crumbled bacon to the onion mixture and stir well.  Add cheese and ham.  Simmer over low heat for 30 min. stirring frequently.  

A nice warm loaf of crusty French or Italian bread goes beautifully with this soup! 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Much love, Kelly xoxo

Six Word Saturday

My grandchildren are such a blessing!

Autumn in Michigan

I was born and raised in Michigan, and although I have lived all over the country, there isn't a fall season that I have found that I love the most but the ones in Michigan.  The reds and oranges, yellows and browns are so vibrant.  I'm sure there are other places who have equally stunning autumn colors, I just haven't seen it yet!

The underside of an autumn leaf

 This was taken in the park at the end of my sister's street.

 This one was taken at a rest stop on one of my visits to my best friend, Davonna, over at http://chroniclesofnani.blogspot.com/

 Michigan apples, nothing like them fresh off the tree!

Maybe it's just because Michigan will always be home to me so that these colors are ingrained in my genetic code!  Or maybe it's because I love these colors and MISS my home state so much?  I can't define it...but then again, should I even try?

Wednesday Hodge Podge Vol 110

1. The popular saying, 'All is fair in love and war' is originally credited to English writer John Lyly.  Is he right?
I don't agree.  Love, as well as war, are both so volatile that fairness cannot be gauged correctly.  Both have been known to turn mild and meek mannered individuals into someone so totally contrary to their characters that it's almost negligent.  (Ok, how obtuse was that?)  However, just to set the record straight, I "love" being in "love" and everyone has the capability to fight and defend that which is theirs, be it, their bodies, families, friends, rights, freedoms, etc.  How it's done is what will determine what is fair or not.

2. Are you a cereal eater?  What's your favorite kind?
I'm not a super big breakfast eater, but I do eat cereal from time to time and one of my favorites is Cinnamon Life.

3. A five year old in Pennsylvania was recently given a ten day school suspension for talking with a friend about shooting one another with a Hello Kitty Bubble gun (the gun blows bubbles).  She did not have the gun with her at school.

A psychological evaluation was also ordered and the incident was recorded on her permanent record.  The suspension was later reduced to two days and her parents are suing to have the incident removed from her file. Your thoughts?  (If you missed the story click here for details). 
Would this story have ever made it to the light of day or public knowledge if our lawmakers weren't up in arms about gun control? I don't think so.  ...(deleted)... sorry, had to get off my soap box, almost got carried away there.  Regarding the story, I think it's absolute rubbish that this has happened and I do believe things will totally get worse.

4. Whatever happened to_____________________________?
Manners.  Saying "Please" and "Thank You" or "Excuse me" has all but disappeared.  Respecting elders and those in authority has dwindled into outer space.  I see children all the time, during meals, chewing their food like a cow chews it's cud; smacking, slurping and talking with their mouths full, and I wonder how their parents can tolerate it, until I look over and see the same behavior exhibited by them.  "No respect, I tell you!" (Rodney Dangerfield)

5.  January 23rd is National Handwriting Day, billed as a day to reacquaint yourself with a pen and pencil.  Do you like your handwriting? Do you prefer to print or write in cursive?  This date was chosen because its the birth date of John Hancock. What's the last thing you signed your name to?
I love handwriting.  I use different styles depending on what I'm doing.  Notes for school or legal documents, I'm usually printing in small block capital letters.  But when I'm writing in my journal or penning a letter to a friend, it's in cursive handwriting.  The last thing I signed my name to was a release for medical records from my doctor for an upcoming surgery.

6. Speaking of John Hancock...ever been to Philadelphia? Do you have any desire to visit the city of Brotherly Love?  

I've never been to Philadelphia and someday would like to visit.

7.  Share something funny you've heard a child say. 

Omgosh!  When my granddaughter, Madison (currently age 6), was 3 or 4, we were trying to teach her the difference between left and right in regards to putting her shoes on.  I had been working with her one weekend when she said she needed to use the bathroom.  We were outside in the backyard sitting on the patio with our ice tea and chatting with other family members.  A few minutes later, she came out the back door, of course with her shoes on the wrong feet.  I called to her, with a little bit of frustration in my voice, "Maddy! You put your shoes on the wrong feet!  Change your feet!"  She stopped for a minute then looked back up at me and yelled back, "But MeMe! 'Dese da only feet I got!"  Needless to say, when the laughter died down, she had put her shoes on the right feet.  But I can't think of a time when I laughed so hard. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Regarding my answer to question number 7:  Be careful of which words you use to instruct a child because it can come back to haunt you OR come back even a few years later and continue to make you laugh! 

Grow Your Own Blog Party

I joined this awesome Blog Party to meet more people and learn new things! I think it's fantastic!  So if you want to join... go visit http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com/2012/10/my-grow-your-blog-party-all-bloggers.html !

 

Wed Hodge Podge Vol 108

1. What is ONE thing or area in your home or life you hope to report is completely organized when 2013 draws to a close?  Do you  have a plan to make it happen?
The one part of my home/life that I intend to have completely organized is my Creativity Center.  I need to get a room or a storage unit big enough to encompass all my crafts and projects and big enough to allow me to work in.  Right now, there is so much craft stuff, yarns, fabric, scrapbooking stuff, picture frames, and much more to boot all over my bedroom and it is totally driving me to distraction.  It's pretty overwhelming. 

2. What's the worst uniform you've ever had to wear for a job?
The taco bell uniform in the 80's.  THAT was pretty bad...at least I didn't have to dress like a giant taco!  That would have been a nightmare!

3. What was your last kitchen 'mishap'?  This question comes to you courtesy of Betty who blogs over at A Glimpse Into Midlife...everyone go say hi to Betty!
I play it pretty safe in my kitchen as far as recipes and such.  But I will have to say that I tried to replace the Velveeta, Rotel Tomatoes, and Philadelphia Cream Cheese (that I use for my cheese dip) with generic replacements.........DEFINITELY will not be doing that again. 

4. How do you protect yourself from other people's negativity?

Somehow, I seemed to have developed a knack for letting negativity roll off me like water on a duck's back. Much of my life was surrounded in negativity so I finally decided that I wasn't going to go down like that!  Maybe it's the gallons of Diet Coke I drink daily or it's the hours of playtime with my grandbabies that has helped.  I have noticed though, once you have grandchildren, the world really does look a whole lot different.  A mother takes her child for a walk and by the time they return to the house, mom is ready to be committed after calling the gypsies to come take her unruly child away from her. She dumps out her "Mom bag" with a first aid kit, extra socks, an extra set of clothes, snacks, toys, books, and other various things she felt was an absolute necessity on this walk and falls onto the couch absolutely frazzled and exhausted.  Grandparents take 2 things on a walk with same child....Kleenex and Lifesavers.  It's amazing to me to see how I used to be that frazzled mother and now I'm the Grandma with the Kleenex and the camera! 

5. Who in your family do you most resemble (physically)? If you have children, who do people say they favor? Do you agree?

Apparently, my dad said that I resemble a couple of his aunts (whom I have never met) I tend to favor my dad's side of the family anyways.  Out of my four children, my two oldest resemble me, and my two youngest resemble their father! It's uncanny at times to watch my son walk into the room, or smile a certain way.

6. January 8th is National Bubble Bath Day...will you be celebrating?

Actually, I celebrated the National Bubble Bath Day a few days early.  My 1 year old granddaughter and I had fun in a bubble bath till the water got too cold and we had to end it!

7.  Some of the 'world's best winter festivals' are - Mardi Gras (New Orleans), Quebec Winter Festival (Canada), Sundance Film Festival (Park City, Utah),  Rio Carnivale (Brazil), Sapporo Snow Festival (Japan), Venice Carnival (Italy) and the Harbin Ice Festival (Northern China).  Of those listed (and if cost were not a factor) which would you most like to attend and why?

Well, Nani at Chronicles of Nani, who is my best friend, and I had made plans to hit Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge, (not New Orleans because of the crime), but Hurricane Katrina ended those plans double quick and in a hurry.  So that's still something I would like to do, someday.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
I've decided that being politically correct at all times is debilitating to your sense of who you are and I choose not to adhere so strictly to that school of thought in 2013.